35 posts from April 2008

***********************************************************************************************************************
Original post:
Here's the deal: There is currently a bill in the US Senate, that basically states one's genetic disposition for pre-existing conditions cannot be grounds for refusing health insurance to an individual. This has already passed the House of Representatives.

Wikipedia puts it better: "The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) is designed to prohibit the improper use of genetic information in health insurance and employment. "

This is important to me because my son was not only diagnosed with a chronic heart disease, but he is proven to have the genetic mutation as well. Current law does not protect him from discrimination by health insurance or future employment  based on his heart disease. Any health insurance company can deny coverage to him; any employer can refuse to hire, simply based on the genetic results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the HCMA (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association), of which I am a member:

Dear HCMA families - this is an exciting week and one that could ensure our genetic information is protected by Federal Law! Senator Reid is ready to bring GINA to the floor for a vote. But you need to call YOUR Senator and ensure they will vote to pass GINA.  Call this weekend and just leave a message - flood the Senate offices Monday with calls of support for The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA, (S.358)

Staffers tell us that your calls and faxes have made the difference – cosponsors are being added every few days and all Senators are hearing that this issue is a major one for their constituents – we have to keep this level of interest up until passage – so please reach out even further to all of your networks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The severity of his heart disease makes it mandatory that he have adequate health care in order to survive. The law currently coming to the Senate floor for a vote, allows him an equal opportunity to get the coverage that he needs when he becomes an adult.

This law has already been passed by the House of Representatives, and is in the hands of the Senate now.

I am asking you to email/fax/call your state senator NOW and ask them to approve this bill (S.358).

Find out how to contact your senators

More links for more info:
From genome.gov
From wikipedia

IZ LOCAL (Seattle). AND HIRING!

I haz noe ideea. :)

u can workz 4 me kthxbai

For those of you not in the know, I'm 38. I've always felt like I'm on the younger side of my age, no matter what decade of my life I'm in. But in the past few years, I've felt like I've not worn my life very well, and that some of the trauma (and drama) has worked me over to the point where it's beginning to show.

In a few months I'll be turning 39. The last year of my thirties. The year I start gearing up for my forties. It seems to me every decade has a different set of challenges and mentalities for me to take on, and I don't expect the forties to be any different. I have a feeling the next decade is going to be one of transition and changing roles. And to be very honest, I already sense a shift moving inside me, physically, emotionally, and mentally. It's not that I'm getting old, it's that I'm starting to age. I feel much better being able to now discern the difference.

I know I have it in me to age gracefully. I have a picture in my mind of how I want to be as I age, and it doesn't involve fighting the natural progression of things, nor clinging to various tokens of youth that aren't valuable or beneficial to me. My picture is a positive one, and I'm hopeful for my future years. As I age, the better I feel about being myself, and I see that continuing. I also intend to continue challenging myself in various ways, because I enjoy that process of discovery.

But it's the outside that needs a little bit of work right now. :) That's not as shallow as it sounds.

I've slowly begun my own silent revolution in this aging gracefully thing. Phase One: I stopped dyeing my hair. A while ago, I decided I was tired of paying lots of money for something that was so temporary. More importantly, how will I know when to stop? I worried about becoming one of those women who get their hair colored and end up looking older than they really are because of it. They aren't fooling anyone.  

I've had gray hair since I was in my teens. Slowly over the years, more and more gray has grown in. Then at 30, it really started growing in. My visits to the colorist that in the past had been a hobby, (What color shall I be today???) had gradually turned into visits of necessity. Every 6-8 weeks, there I was, sitting for an hour or 2 depending on what I was getting done. It was just too much in both money and time. The picture on the left shows you where all that cash was going. 

I'm letting the gray grow out and it's a bit more scary than I realized. I've a few inches of gray now, and it's embarrassing to go to meetings, out with friends, etc, with my two-toned hair. I've been wearing it back in a ponytail or bun in the hopes that people won't notice. But I know they do. Sometimes I feel like it's the big elephant in the room. I didn't think about this part – the how-to-grow-it-out part.

I work as a designer, mainly in publishing. Women with gray hair are quite successful in this arena, so I wouldn't be out of place. I don't think it would be a detriment where I live either. 

So I'm thinking the second part of Phase One is just cutting it all off. Like I said, it's a few inches' worth of gray and I certainly wouldn't be bald if I got it cut at that point. Then I can grow it out, fully gray in all it's gray glory. But that also involves getting about 6 inches cut off. Colored or not, that's a big adjustment.

Some will say it's just hair. And while I agree, what a woman does with her hair affects how she is perceived, and how people relate to her. And by the way, I'm giving myself 2 weeks to do this. 

There are a few folks in my vox hood who are part of a vox book group. I think they are all trying to read a book a week, or something like that.

I love to read. But let's face it: In my life, there ain't gonna be no 52 books read per year.

I think if I really made an effort, prioritized and managed my time well, I could do it. But I don't do any of that. But also, if I do too much of something, it all meshes together and I don't enjoy something, or remember crucial details.

For example, when the boyfriend and I broke up a few years ago, I went into this movie-watching frenzy. At first, it was just so I didn't have to think about him. Then it was more of a quest to see as many as I could with all this new 'free-time' I had (which wasn't really free. I was just avoiding a lot of other things). Some time later, I went into my netflix account to see what I had watched over that Year of Getting Over It, and I don't remember any of it. A few movies stick out here and there, but for the most part, it's all a bind mind blur.

So back to this book thing. I really do want to start reading more again. I noticed crankypants puts page counts on her to-do lists (good on ye mate for sticking to that resolution still... it's almost May and you're still at it!). I suddenly made the connection this morning...I may not read 52 books this year, but 100 pages a week? That's doable! That's much less daunting and it's a quantity that my tiny pea brain can absorb. Little 'snacks' of reading. For me to think about and ponder over the rest of the day.

So that's my new year's resolution. 100 pages a week. So what if it took me until April 28 to figure it out. Go me!

The Art of Possibility

<-- UPDATE: My first book for my venture.  

Let me say it was just awesome. Before I forget, my favorite parts were:

The little tiny lady floating over the crowd with balloons. She was so tiny. Like little person tiny but perfectly proportioned. And she floated with a few big balloons! The audience pushed her back up when she got too low. Very cool.

The guy and lady on the ribbons. When she had each ribbon on her foot and did the splits, then had the guy stand on her... wow. And ouch. And when he hung from her hair... again... wow.

The team that spun in the hula hoop thingies. Awesome.

Oooo... and the marionette on pulleys. very cool.

I had no idea the music was live. Neither did my kid until he noticed the guy with the drum machine. Do you know what he did during the entire highwire act? Watched the musicians. He would have watched them the entire time if the intermission didn't sidetrack him. Dang.

LOVED IT!

Now back to work..

Regardless of my opinion (I think it's stupid, pointless) about the stimulus tax rebate or whatever the hell you want to call it, I'm still going to accept the money.

Just an FYI on when you may get your funds....

Picture 3

Small rant: Do you ever cross paths with particular women who just have BITCH written all over their faces? In my hoity toity town, they are very commonplace unfortunately. I try to stay away if I spot one, but occasionally I'm caught off guard. I'll cross paths with one, thinking they are nice or normal and poof! their eyes turn into red laser beams, ready to destroy anyone who tries to share the air they breathe. When I run into someone like that, the desire to scratch their eyes out is almost overwhelming, but usually I just get away as fast as I can.

I was at the store and this lady was taking up the whole aisle with her bacon crisis, so I stood there for a few seconds, thinking she'd see me and realize she and her air of superiority were taking up the entire left side of the store. She turned around, made a concerted effort to GLARE at me, then turned back around to her very important conversation with her kid about which bacon they were going to buy. Or something like that. All I could tell was she had just given me the grocery store equivalent of flipping me the bird.

So I said excuse me and gently pushed her cart out of the way. I think the fact that I touched her cart almost brought her to the edge. She was pissed. When people get that mad about really stupid stuff, I get nervous and laugh inappropriately. Today was no exception. I know my giggling made her pop a blood vessel in her eyeball or something, but I couldn't help it.

If we had been closer to the toiletries/pharmacy section, I would have picked up some laxatives to covertly drop in her cart the next time I walked by. But it was too far out of my way. She needed them though. I would have only been doing her a favor.

Seriously. Just look at some of my notes from a phone call just now....

gutters • overnight • dummy • STDs

Terms like gutter and bleed and slice... all common phrases. :) We are a sick breed. 

Does anyone know some of these bands? We're going to the Warped Tour concert in August and I only know about 5 of them. (We're going to a lot of concerts this summer – at least, from my kid's perspective.) My kid knows more, but I'm wondering who's worth getting to know before we go. I put an asterisk by the ones I know. If anyone knows any of the other bands, I'd love to hear what you think of them.

Bands at the warped tour on August 9:

3OH!3
The Aggrolites
The Academy Is...
* The A.K.A.s
The Audition
Alesana
All That Remains  
All Time Low      
Anberlin
* Angels and Airwaves
Beat Union
Between the Trees
The Briggs       
Bring Me the Horizon      
Broadway Calls      
The Bronx
Charlotte Sometimes
Classic Crime
Cobra Starship      
The Color Fred      
Confide      
Danger Radio      
The Devil Wears Prada
Dr. Manhattan
Evergreen Terrace
Every Time I Die       
* The Fabulous Rudies      
Fall From Grace 
Family Force 5
Fear Nuttin' Band
Forever the Sickest Kids       
Four Year Strong      
From First to Last
GBH       
Greeley Estates 
* Gym Class Heroes      
Hi-Fi Hand Grenades
Horrorpops       
The Human Abstract
Katy Perry
The Lordz
Ludo
The Maine       
Mayday Parade
MC Chris
Norma Jean       
Oreska
Pierce the Veil
The Pinker Tones       
Protest the Hero      
The Randies      
* Reel Big Fish      
* Relient K      
Revolution Mother      
* Rise Against
Say Anything
Set Your Goals       
Shwayze
Single File       
* Sky Eats Airplane
* Story of the Year       
Street Dogs      
The Vandals
We The Kings