Wow!

I spent the day watching my best friend give birth to her beautiful baby girl. It was amazing! She was amazing! After 13 or so hours of labour she gave birth to the loveliest 8 1/2 pound little baby. She had a waterbirth at home, and it was a priviledge and an honour to be able to be a part of this miraculous event along with her husband and midwife. I am in awe.

Congratulations Roberta!! And welcome to the world, little Muriel Elizabeth!!

If you haven't heard already, South Africa's Sesame Street will be introducing an HIV positive muppet. This scandalous fact seems to be on everyone's lips lately, and I just don't get it. Maybe I am missing something here, because I'm really having a hard time wrapping my brain around why this is such a big deal.

It is estimated that one in nine people in South Africa have HIV. One in nine. With numbers like that, an HIV positive character is far more socially relevant than wether or not the Cookie Monster will learn the value of sharing, and the significance of the letter B. For many children the specter of HIV won't be some far off boogeyman, but instead their reality. One of their friends will have it, one of their parents, or relatives, or teachers, or maybe it will be them. When 40% of adult deaths in South Africa are attributed to HIV, it's no longer about the dangers of needle sharing and unprotected sex, or the tragedies of contaminated blood supplies - it's about a population trying to come to grips with what is now everybody's problem.

Nor do I understand the outrage about Sesame Street's supposedly "PC" attitude towards modern programming. This isn't new and it isn't news. If you hadn't noticed this until recently, you've been watching the wrong show. This latest brouhaha is just Sesame Street doing what Sesame Street has always done. Ethnic diversity, multiculturalism, and tolerance - along with a host of other "liberal" mores - have been a mainstay of the show since it started. This is PBS. Broadcasting with a social conscience and a liberal political bent is kinda what it's all about.

'Course, I could be wrong, what the hell do I know - I love Sesame Street.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it,
And look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.

(And yeah, I know the Rainbow Connection is from The Muppets. Sometimes we must make do. )

I have spent three hours on the computer, and what have I managed to accomplish? I changed my comments box. Productivity at it's finest!

I'm planning on working on my blog template sometime during the next couple of days. If this place vanishes, I screwed up.

I Need To Get Out More

I was flipping through the channels tonight, and noticed the beginning of Sixteen Candles. As I was glued to the couch by the mean hand of unrelenting humidity, I figured I would watch for a few minutes. (We will studiously ignore why I would watch a movie on TV that I happen to own on video, as it raises far too many pesky questions about the true extent of my laziness.) As I was watching, suddenly there appeared a scene (specifically a cafeteria scene) that I had never seen before. Ever! I have watched this movie dozens of times, both in the theatre and on video, and I am now consumed with a burning need to know where this scene came from!

Not to mention that I now feel compelled to watch the whole damn movie, just to see if there are any other mysterious additional scenes.

Did I mention I need to get out more?

Job Interview Tip #207

Picking an argument with the person who will ultimately decide wether or not to hire you is a bad idea.

So this actually happened yesterday. A woman dropped her resume off at work, and during a few normal questions with the soon to be manager, managed to be both belligerent and argumentative. Needless to say, she will not be getting hired.

The results of the Google Game:

Chryse is eerily deserted.
Chryse is covered with morning cloud.
Chryse is in charge of the Groundwork Erewash Valley Land Team.
Chryse is very bright in red light.
Chryse is firmly of the opinion that looking into the future locks you into the timeline you see, which is a pretty stupid thing to do to yourself.
Chryse is boggled.
Chryse is small, but it is large enough for him to be lost in.
Chryse is effectively ruled by the merchants.
Chryse is quite attached to those things that she designates as cute.
Chryse is a rich second-circle Shadow, looking much like Amber.

Ever so appropriately, the final search result was this:
Chryse is right!