My Friends

Man, i have some amazing and wonderful friends.  I really do.  Some of them live far away, some of them i haven't met in person yet, and some of them i see regularly.  I love them all.  In a couple weeks, i'm going to see several of my photographer friends and an old Air Force buddy i haven't seen in 21 years.  Todd and the kids finally get to meet 5 friends who appear in my stories almost daily.  I'm so excited!

Viva Las Vegas!

Sometimes Research Sucks It { Children Raised in Single-parent families are Screwed }

So i read an article yesterday that referred to research that showed kids who are raised in pretty much anything other than a family with a mother and a father are screwed.  The author indicated that single-parent families were less healthy/successful/happy and were more prone to crime and poverty, etc. It also said that future research would likely show that children raised in gay-parent families would have similar results as the vagabonds raised by single parents.  This article (and i've lost the link to it, or else i would quote it and thus be more accurate about what it said) really pissed me off. 

First of all, where are the VAST majority of single-parent families?  Inner cities.  Are those kids affected by a hell of a lot more than just the fact that they only have ONE parent?  OF COURSE they are.  Drugs, violence, gangs, crime...all these thing affect those kids. 

You can't use that study to speak for the majority of single-parent families from "average" society.  And you certainly can't use those studies to predict the future outcome of children raised in gay-parent families. 

I'm just an average, white, middle class chick who was a single mom for about 6 years before remarrying.  Is single-parenting more challenging than having two parents in the picture?  Of course it is.  I can speak for that.  But i can also speak for all the single moms i knew (and still know) personally. 

I'm going to list a few of the single moms (anonymously) that i know, and the outcomes of their kids:

S - 2 girls, one graduated college with honors, the other graduated from a language-submersive high school with high honors; both are involved in clubs and/or sports

W - raising a son pretty much since birth, on her own.  The son is smart as a whip, does great in school, is kind, concerned, and loving. 

L - single mom for many years to one daughter who does well in school, behaves well, is not scarred in any way; fully functional

H - single mom for several years, one son who never had issues in school or at home, no acting out; completely functional

Come on, let's face it.  We could all sit down and compile a list of perfectly normal, healthy, functional families who don't fit the mold of "one mother and one father." 

I think it's quite easy and convenient for certain groups to take research and twist it into whatever they want it to imply.  I think it's rubbish and downright manipulative to do that. 

What do i predict for children raised in gay-parent families?  I predict they will have more open minds, more compassion and understanding and less judgment, in general.  I think they'll perform alone the same lines as any other child in a family with healthy parents (or parent), and be prone to the same ups and downs, challenges, truimphs, failures as the rest of "average" society (and by that, i mean kids not growing up in the harsh reality of inner cities or other less than ideal situations).  I think they'll just be "normal."

And let's face, it, i'm usually right.  ;oP

It's a Good Thing Religion is Such a Force for Good in the World

It's a really good thing all those Catholic missionaries went to Africa and taught the people that condoms are bad, and against god.  That AIDS epidemic is sure awesome!

It's a good thing missionaries, preachers, and pastors taught (and teach) the world that homosexuality is evil, otherwise people wouldn't be beaten to death for being born that way. 

And just think, if it weren't for religion, there might be peace in the middle east, and that would just suck. 

There would be thousands of gay mormons still alive had their general "authorities" not told them they could "change" or that who were they born as is an "abomination."  None of their families would be missing them right now, and that would be just awful!

Children of pentacostals wouldn't be beaten with wooden rods; the shame!

Thank god for religion!  It brings such peace to the world!

Minnow Paws, the Movie

So, as i lay awake last night channel surfing for something boring enough to knock me out, a commercial came on that caught my attention.  The first scene was a woman holding a sign that said something along the lines of:  "My husband is no longer afraid of me."  The next scene showed a different woman holding yet another sign that read, "I can sleep at night," or yada yada.  Anyway, seeing as how i couldn't sleep (no comment on whether Todd has been afraid of me lately, bwa!), i continued to watch the commercial.  It was for Estroven.  Oh, menopause, you devil, you.

I don't get why this video has "cougar" in the title; there is nothing cougary in the video.  It speaks volumes about this particular age in my life, though.  "I'm just going to wear the fuckin' hat!"  Bwahahahaha!  You go!

 

A Quotey Quote

"People are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is reavealed only if there is a light within." — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross


so true, so true, so true.

Demotivation

Can i just say that i do NOT miss working in an office?

I Interrupt This Editing Session { for Girls' Night Out! }

I've worked hard this week, almost non-stop editing, appointment making, planning, order taking.  Now it's time to take a little break and have a much-needed Girls' Night Out!  Then, i have another full weekend of magic-making (portraits).  Thank dog for caffeine (especially in the form of lucious milk chocolate).

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Cracklins and Fat Back { and Animal Ass }

"It's so nice to not have to smell animal ass when you walk in the house."  --Quote of the day by Todd Miller.  He's in a lot of houses for his job and smells a lot of odd aromas.  Animal ass is just the tip of the iceberg.  You do not want to know.  Trust.

So, we had a bunch of teens at our house over the weekend and one of them was talking about how he cracks his girlfriend's back by grabbing and pulling the skin over the lumbar spine.  You pull it up really quickly and firmly and a vertebra will crack.  I was intrigued, having spent the past couple days with terrific back pain.  I lay down on the floor and had Todd grasp my fat back* and give it a yank.  Sure enough, CRACK!  This sent me into hysterics; i could not stop laughing.  Finally, i said, "Do it again! Do it again!"  A little higher up this time, and again...CRACK!  I have to admit, i'm feeling tons better today. 

*i'm back to the same weight i was at this time last year.  Thanks to a high-carb diet, i once again qualify as a sumo wrestler.  { almost }