Category Archives: Politics

7 Quick Takes: TGIAF!

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7 Quick Takes

It’s been an insane week here and I have one more thing tomorrow before I feel like I can breathe again. Thank goodness it’s almost Friday!

— 1 —

Prayer request. The person assigned to Daniel at the Lodi Social Security Office fouled up his SSI payments and I have an appeal hearing tomorrow on some issues related to them. Please lift me in prayer around noon PDT. Thanks!

— 2 —

Climate change deniers. This video explains climate change in a way that even Donald Trump supporters can understand. 😉

— 3 —

One last political take. While I am completely overjoyed at Ted Cruz dropping out of the race and Carly Fiorina being an even bigger loser than before, I’m kind of bummed that I won’t be using this picture more often…

Thank goodness this isn't a possible combination in the White House!

— 4 —

I want this shirt! My birthday is two weeks from today and I will be your BFF if you get me this shirt in green and XL.

— 5 —

On the homeschooling front… Dawn of Ladydusk wrote this amazing piece on starting to homeschool and what she learned from it. I recommend reading it if you think you eventually want to homeschool your kids as Dawn is a mom I trust for this kind of thing.

— 6 —

Making a crossbow out of office supplies. This is kind of cool.

— 7 —

Doctrine vs. discipline. Simcha nails it with her post on Ascension, the crazy go nuts schedule of her kids, and why it actually matters to make it to Mass if it’s a holy day in your diocese. (San Jose abrogates it to Sunday.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: I Can Haz Quick Takes???

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Planner nerd. I finally got my planner filled out with numbered days and stuff today. (I was up to August and somehow got waylaid from finishing for 3 months. A small child might have something to do with it.) Of course, because it’s me, it’s also color-coded. 🙂

Then today, I started drooling over the planner section while at Staples giving the kid a pre-dinner run to work off energy until he could have his ADHD meds. None of the ones being sold there really work for what I need but visions of rulers and colored pens and schedules were dancing in my head.

— 2 —

Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh!!! Bunmi Laditan has a YouTube channel now!!!! (I may or may not be dancing around the room at this discovery.)

— 3 —

*sighs* The #DemDebate hashtag is trending on Twitter. While the Democratic field doesn’t entice me to take a screwdriver to my temple as much as the Republican field does, I would REALLYREALLYREALLY like the various political conventions to please take place so there can be only TWO candidates to block out instead of eleventy billion of them.

— 4 —

Clickbait fun. I love this list of 16 times Dad won at life. #4 and #10 are the best ones.

— 5 —

How did I not know about this?!?!?!?!? I just discovered the 50 Days of Fabulous page on Rev. Tim Schenck’s Twitter. (Fr. Tim is the founder of Lent Madness, for those who are unaware of his awesomeness.) I really need to pay better attention to Forward Movement. #badepiscopalian

— 6 —

Because Ben and Jerry’s. It’s been a stressy week so I picked up some ice cream at Target and was encouraged to see some non-dairy Chunky Monkey. I just had a little bit and it is AWESOME!!!! I highly recommend it to my vegan and non-dairy people.

— 7 —

So much grace. It was revealed in the last week that the father of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Church of England and Anglican Communion), is not the person he thought he was and is instead the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, secretary to Winston Churchill. Archbishop Welby released this beautiful and grace-filled statement that I think needs to be read by everyone. He makes me proud to be Anglican.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LXI)

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#5Faves

One

Orthodox Celts. This is another installment of “Jen is a music snob” but I love the vocal harmonies that are reminiscent of what I hear when I’m listening to Eastern Orthodox liturgical music to fall asleep at night. And seriously, what is with the step-dancing on the cliffs in “Rocky Road to Dublin”?!?!?!?

Two

The High Kings. They are probably my favorite for “Rocky Road of Dublin” and “The Little Beggarman”. I like their version of “Màiri’s Wedding” but not as much as the version by Van Morrison and the Chieftains.

Three

Austism-friendly activity bags. Two ELCA congregations in Pennsylvania made autism-friendly activity bags. I’m seriously wanting one for my kiddo!

Four

Office supplies. Staples is my idea of nirvana. 🙂 I got a back-up set of pens for my planner (because it’s color-coded) and I almost started drooling in the three aisles of Tar-zhay that had binders and notebooks and pens.

Five

My friend John. I did something somewhat stupid and got into a fight with someone on his Facebook wall over an asinine statement that Muslims have to stop using the name Allah because it’s the Arabic word for “God” and they should have to use a different word. (Trust me… it was pretty bad.) I had history and linguistics on my side but the guy was seriously nasty to me. John not only backed me up but unfriended the guy for his treatment of me. John is the guy I trusted to be Daniel’s buddy last summer during VBS — he is a stand-up guy and the person I go to if I have *ANY* weaponry questions because he knows his stuff. 🙂 I know he’ll catch flak from some of his Facebook groups for backing me up and I appreciate it especially because of that.

Go love up Ashley and the others.

7 Quick Takes: St. Patrick’s Breastplate, the Faith of John Kasich, and Other Findings From The Web This Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

St. Patrick’s Breastplate. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all! I thought I’d share the hymn form of St. Patrick’s Breastplate as it is a beautiful (but VERRRRRY long) hymn. Click here to read the whole prayer which is also quite long but very pretty.

— 2 —

Something penitential for meat eaters for today. 🙂 It’s not Friday so technically observant Catholics, Episcopalians, and some Lutherans aren’t having to abstain from meat… unless you went vegan like I did. I’m Irish-American, did my senior comps in college on Celtic Christianity, and have kissed the Blarney Stone so I’m treating today as a feast and *gasp* eating meat and having dairy. (Sorry, Laura.) As a penitential act for today (since, you know, I’m being a heathen and all), I’m listening to all of the videos on here, especially #6 and #7.

— 3 —

I knew there was a reason I kinda sorta like John Kasich. It turns out that boyfriend is Anglican and shares my view that it’s obnoxious to try and win votes using God’s name. I would rather see positive spiritual fruit in one’s life than have someone claim to be one on national television and see the opposite in how they treat people. (Ahem… Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.) I love also that Kasich is focused on living out Matthew 25 and not just on winning political office. It makes a difference to ne and this is why he would be the only Republican in the race for whom I would consider voting.

— 4 —

My scars are signs of life. A bunch of men and women bared their scars for everyone to see and explained the story of them. Mine would only all be visible if I was wearing a string bikini so we’ll just skip my c-section scar reveal even though that story is worth telling. Still, the account of each scar is worth a read and the video is worth a watch.

— 5 —

Passover Rube Goldberg-style. This is pretty amazing and would be a good tool to teach kids about the Passover story. Props to priest’s wife for sharing it with me on Facebook!

— 6 —

Why many women are skittish around men. This is a good read about why many women like me have no sense of humor when men make sexually-driven comments. Seriously, it pisses me off that I have to weave my keys between my fingers if I’m walking on the street to my car after dark in case someone decides to assault me.

— 7 —

Why victim-blaming falls apart. Two girls from Peru were traveling to Ecuador and were brutally murdered by two men they met, their bodies found several days later in plastic bags. In the midst of all the people decrying what happened were the people who were blaming the girls for their murder, saying that they put themselves at risk. A student from Paraguay thought this was incredibly wrong and wrote an account in the voices of the victims.

I share this because it pisses me off to no end that if I were to get raped, the first question would be “what were you wearing?” When we were doing the required self-defense class in high school so that we could fight off rapists and attackers, nobody ever mentioned teaching the boys not to rape. I shouldn’t have to be worried about walking down the street by myself or that some man is going to be turned on by what I’m wearing and decide to assault me. I mean, I have more than a few friends who were wearing a t-shirt and sweats when they were sexually assaulted!

We have a serious problem in our society when the victims of a crime receive blame than the person who committed the crime against them.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 13, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 13, 2016

Outside my window… rainy. It’s absolutely spectacular to have a rainy weekend here.

I am thinking… about some of the things that are happening this week. It’s not going to be as abnormal as last week but it will be relatively busy.

I am thankful… for the Dimetapp which finally helped get the kiddo to sleep at 1 a.m. after he woke up coughing. *shakes fist at all the pollen in the air*

In the kitchen… I think Dad is making steak tonight.

I am wearing… burgundy top from Old Navy and black sweats from Target.

I am going… to try and get caught up on my temperature afghan this week or at least get caught up with recording the temperatures. (My illness threw me off a bit.)

I am wondering… the structure of the readings in the Coptic lectionary. (Laura will have an email in her box tonight. :))

I am reading… Calmness by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I still have Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber on my NOOK and got a little bit of that read this past week.

I am hoping… to get some walks in this week now that the bronchitis is (almost) gone and the rain should be going away. Now if only the bursitis would take a hike!

I am looking forward to… the games night on Saturday. Bob is making red beans and rice and someone else is bringing corn bread.

I am hearing… Coptic liturgical music (I’m keeping their Lenten fast so I’m checking out their music) and my dad drilling various things into walls.

A Daniel story for today… when I took the precious sweetling to Target on Friday to get his happy meds refilled, I was telling him “first shopping, then toys.” (First/then statements are an ABA thing.) Daniel’s response: “OK. Buh-bye.” I seriously need to record myself saying it the way he does because it was ADORABLE.

Around the house… Dad is attaching towel rods now that the painting of various bathrooms is done.

A favorite quote for today… I found this on Facebook and thought it was appropriate.

Political wisdom from the Lakota.

One of my favorite things… a fire in the fireplace on a rainy night.

A few plans for the rest of the week: catching up on things tomorrow morning, psych appointment for the kid on Tuesday, knitting/crocheting group on Tuesday night, morning prayer/Bible study/choir on Thursday, psych appointment for me on Friday, and games night on Saturday.

A peek into my day… I love this cover of “The Sounds of Silence” by the artist Disturbed. I’m a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan so I appreciate how he was faithful to the original song while giving it kind of a metal spin.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Politics and Other Musings From Bronchitis-Suffering Jen

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

#NeverTrump To the people who thought that last Thursday’s #GOPDebate was entertaining and who actually *LIKE* Trump: you are the embodiment of everything that is wrong with politics and America today and I really wonder if you think that the 2016 election is just another season of “The Apprentice”. Discussions of one’s genitalia are not remotely appropriate for policy debate and the candidates who participated in this immature exchange have made me even more resolute in my plans to stay as far away from the Republican Party as I can.

Twitter, you have my undying thanks for giving me the highlights of these debacles so that I don’t have to traumatize myself more by actually watching them.

— 2 —

Sorting out what is true and false. If you want help sorting out the truthfulness of what the various candidates in the presidential election are saying, Polifact is a pretty good source.

— 3 —

So who would I most likely vote for? At this point, I think I’m liking Bernie Sanders the best of everyone in the race. If Hilary got the Democratic nomination, I would most likely vote for her. If both Sanders and Clinton were abducted by aliens and I had to pick which Republican candidate I would be OK with having in office, I would probably go with John Kasich because he’s the least batcrap crazy person in the Republican Party that is currently running. One of my Facebook friends commented that he’s the Democrat’s Republican and my response was, “that’s probably why I like him ;)”

— 4 —

Most importantly… You need to vote for not only the presidential candidate of your choice but *ALSO* the local/state/congressional races. No presidential candidate can fix every single problem or ram every single piece of legislation through Congress but if you actually exercise some common sense in picking the other people involved in governing and legislating, you can reasonably survive a 4-8 year term of the candidate you hate most.

Please vote.

— 5 —

Update on the bronchitis. The Z-pack seems to have knocked out the worst of the bronchitis and the low grade fever is gone so I’m just left with a coughing reflex. My childhood apiarist friend is out of local honey so I’m having to make do with some from Safeway. 🙁

— 6 —

Finally home again. We had some painting going on and as the dust and paint fumes (and wet walls) were not good things for Daniel (or me recovering from the bronchitis), my parents stuck us in a motel room for two nights until the painters finished. When we got everything up to the room and I closed and locked the door, Daniel had a panic attack. At that point, it hit me that Daniel’s meltdowns at doctor’s appointments and when he was stuck in one room while living with in-laws was due to claustrophobia on his part and not necessarily bad behavior. It put me in a really tough spot because we couldn’t be home — it was not a good place for Daniel — so we had to really push through it. I ended up curling up with him and his tablet on one of the beds in the room and eventually he calmed down. He started panicking again when it was time to take his shower (motel bathrooms tend to be pretty small) but once he was in the shower, he was OK. I even got to take my own shower before he went to sleep because I was able to trust that he would stay on the bed and play with tablet instead of escaping the room.

The painters finished this morning and I am really happy to be home in my own bed with my parents’ grey cat Homer hanging out with me.

— 7 —

Self-promotion. On Monday, I went over to hang out with Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom to talk about my Lenten discipline of (kinda sorta) fasting Coptic-style. Go check it out!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.