Category Archives: Media/TV

7 Quick Takes: The Inland Regional Center Shooting

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Why I am focusing on this today. This shooting affects me particularly strongly because Daniel has received services from the various Regional Centers in the parts of California in which we have lived. They help parents like me get services for their special kids. I would honestly have a hard time being able to do anything without them. (Here is my post on this from yesterday.)

— 2 —

My fears. When I heard where the shooting took place, my first thought was wondering how many kids and developmentally disabled adults were killed. Seriously, it could have been Daniel and I in that building if we had lived one town farther east on the 210. We were part of a different Regional Center because we lived in Los Angeles County whereas the one where the shooting took place serves San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The people who work there are all social workers who try and make sure that kiddos like Daniel can thrive and that means that they meet with the kids and parents at the center. I know the one we went to was a warren of offices and conference rooms so it is completely possible for someone to go in and hide in there. I’m also not surprised that the Health Department was holding a Christmas party there because they have a lot of conference rooms and meeting spaces.

— 3 —

The fact that the shooters were Muslim. This saddens me even more because it could be throwing terrorism into the investigation which could be a complete red herring. There are Muslims who commit crimes like these but there are also non-Muslims who do as well. My heart goes out to the Muslim community of San Bernardino and I pray that nobody “takes matters into their own hands” as people are wont to do.

— 4 —

Gun control. I was in middle school when the 101 California Street shooting happened and I remember the Brady Bill being passed. Believe me, it makes an impression when you’re seeing people fleeing a building on local TV. (I live about an hour southeast of San Francisco depending on traffic.) I’m absolutely livid that we cannot get meaningful gun control legislation passed, especially after the Bush administration failed to keep the Federal Assault Weapon Ban from expiring.

— 5 —

Mixed motive. As I’m writing this on Thursday afternoon (as opposed to Quick Take #3 which was Wednesday night), there is speculation that Syed Rizwan Farook (the male shooter) had ties to terrorists and that he went to Pakistan and came back with Tashfeen Malik (his wife). It is possible that he was radicalized in Pakistan… or he could have just gone there because he is of Indo-Pakistani descent and he wanted a wife who was from the same country/ethnicity. It is possible that he could have just been really infuriated with his coworkers over something. I agree with President Obama’s take that it could be both terrorism and workplace violence and this complicates things.

— 6 —

Why so violent? Another angle to this which I know my NRA-loving friend John would want me to mention is WHY Farook reacted so violently if this was a workplace issue. I know I’ve had coworkers who drive me absolutely crazy but I haven’t acted on any urges to take a gun and blow them away.

— 7 —

How common this is in America. This image from Facebook says it all:

My thoughts on the frequency of these shootings.

Even Fox News reporters are commenting on this.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 8, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 8, 2015

Outside my window… Dark and down in the 40’s right now. I love that I’m getting to feel winter in northern California. The only more perfect thing would be my dad building a fire in the fireplace.

I am thinking… about the stupidity erupting over the holiday cups at $tarbux. There’s even a wacko calling for people to go to $tarbux and give their name as “Merry Christmas” to force the baristas to say it… which is pretty ludicrous when you consider that all their baristas are literate (and many have probably read this or other pieces on the subject) and the practice in most of the ones I visit is to call out “I have a [insert name of drink] for [insert first name]!” It isn’t going to force them to say “Merry Christmas” more than anything else will.

Another thing: $tarbux still gets your money if you do that so you’re basically funding a company whose morals you hate. Wouldn’t it be better to patronize your local independent coffee shops or to just make your coffee at home and donate what you would have spent to charity? Just a thought!

I am thankful… for rain and cold weather. Bring it, El Niño!

In the kitchen… Dad made shrimp pasta with lemon, basil, garlic, and prosciutto. *swoons*

I am wearing… navy blue fitted tee from Old Navy and blue/white striped pj bottoms from Tarzhay.

I am going… to be calling and annoying the Special Ed peeps at San Jose Unified again tomorrow morning to see if I can get them moving faster on finding Daniel a placement.

I am wondering… how many words I can get through tonight for my NaNo piece.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I finished Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson on Tuesday during my two hour wait at the local Social Security office to find out that they don’t do what I needed them to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I would have to come back on Friday. (I prevailed on Friday thankfully.)

I am hoping… for Daniel to get placed in a school program this week.

I am looking forward to… seeing some family friends for the first time in 9 years on Friday.

I am hearing… my mom watching The Librarians.

A Daniel story for today… Mom took him to a local park while I was at church and partway through their park date, she heard him howl. She rushed over and he was covered in blood and one of his front teeth was missing. We think he likely was grinding his teeth and bit it strangely so it came out sideways because he’s still a bit bloody in that spot and has a dark bruise there. His other front tooth is loose as well!

Around the house… I can hear the furnace. It’s making me feel all koselig, which is a Norwegian word for a sense of coziness. (HT: this article)

A favorite quote for today… “TIL that Starbucks is rounding Christians up into coffee death camps and making them drink Pagan Spice Lattes.” — Mark Jaquith snarking about the flipping out over the $tarbux holiday cups. (Just for the record, I really prefer Peet’s and It’s A Grind over $tarbux any day.)

One of my favorite things… coffee with Rebecca… at $tarbux. 😉

A few plans for the rest of the week: park dates with Daniel, Bible study and choir on Thursday, dinner with friends on Friday, and a game night with a good friend from childhood on Saturday night.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Thoughts While Trying to Get My Kiddo to Sleep…

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Dealing with SSA is an occasion of sin for me. Every so often, the Social Security Administration makes people receiving SSI prove that they qualify medically (what… you thought “SSA” was “same-sex attraction?) so I spent the better part of two evenings filling out a ton of paperwork and copying about 50-100 pages of documentation to send in to their office in Pomona. The 50-100 pages of documentation are the assessments and IEP from March because it’s a triennial IEP. (Every three years, they do a whole new battery of tests to see if an IEP is really necessary. In Daniel’s case, that would be a resounding “YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”) I couldn’t fit the documentation in the envelope they sent so off to the post office for a Priority Mail envelope I went! The good thing about using them: I can track it to make sure the SSA office received it as I’m completely convinced from past experience that their mailbox is connected to a paper shredder with all the paperwork they lose! (Currently, it is sitting at the sorting center in City of Industry.)

— 2 —

I resonate with this. A friend sent me this article on how doctors take women’s pain less seriously. I’ve had several ovarian cysts and on a scale of 1-10, the pain is an 11. It is seriously the worst pain I have ever had and required Demerol to even remotely touch it. (Waking up after abdominal surgery is a 7.) Anyway, I agree — doctors do not take our pain seriously and I say this having a fairly high pain tolerance. This might also be why many doctors think fibro pain is imaginary.

— 3 —

Prayer request. My dear friend Mandi is in the home stretch of her pregnancy and I would like to ask if you’d please pray her through. Thanks!

— 4 —

Srsly?!?!?!?!? I’ve had a couple of friends whose younger sisters have gone through this. I get the need for modesty but subjecting young women to a hem test like this one is just wrong. Equally if not more wrong were some of the adult comments.

— 5 —

What are the odds??? All three radio stations I listen to on a regular basis (Air1, NPR, and a classical station) are having their pledge drives right now. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I could afford to give to all three, I would totally do it just to make the madness stop!!!

— 6 —

Prerequisite baseball take. So… THE METS KNOCKED THE DODGERS OUT OF THE PENNANT RACE LAST WEEK!!!!! The Mets also just took the National League pennant. (I feel that any news about Dodger losses trumps any other baseball news unless it’s the Giants winning.) I haven’t even looked to see who the Mets will play!

— 7 —

I’ve been saying this for a while… Yet another person talking about the movement of my peer group to more ancient forms of worship. Not all of us want rock n’ roll!

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

7 Quick Takes: Mining My Links Collection and a Post-Season Baseball Take

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Very interesting. My priest’s husband shared this article on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing. If Oklahoma City can lose a million pounds, what is stopping other cities with at-risk health populations from doing the same?

— 2 —

#MedicatedAndMighty Because there is no shame in me taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to keep myself healthy and I am not alone.

Me and my meds.

— 3 —

Impressed. I don’t know who shared the Fat Girl Running blog with me; but dang it, y’all need to go read it and give Mirna some love. She is freaking amazing!

— 4 —

Holy frivolous lawsuits, Batman! Did you hear about the woman who sued her 12 year old nephew for $127,000 because he was overly effusive in greeting her when he was 8 and accidentally knocked her down and broke her wrist? I mean, he injured her so badly that this “severely disrupted her life in Manhattan” and she was at a party the week before where couldn’t hold her hors d’ouevres plate. Yeah… I’m thinking she’s childless because HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD!!!!!

— 5 —

Prerequisite baseball take. The Mets play the Dodgers tonight in LA to determine who gets to go on and face the Cubs. Go Mets! #BeatLA (Bummed that the Cards were knocked out by the Cubs but I’ll live.)

— 6 —

Calvinism humor. Jessica posted this link to a page about the warning signs of adult onset Calvinism. This is totally tongue-in-cheek and scarily reminds me of some people I knew in college!

— 7 —

IKEA contest. I saw this IKEA contest in my email and wanted to share. I’m probably going to enter a recipe my dad made for my mom when they were dating. (They’ve been married for 43 years.)

— Bonus —

Link-toberfest: Week 3. Kelly’s bonus question this week is: “Who is your favorite blogger that you discovered through Quick Takes?” She shared me as hers and she is definitely mine — as she said, we’ve bonded over the struggles of special needs parenting, I love her off-the-wall sense of humor, and the fact that she doesn’t gloss over the good and bad in her life. She is very truly the definition of “authentic”. I also am pretty sure that there isn’t a place that can contain all the AWESOME if the two of us get a chance to meet. 🙂

Some others who make my favorites list are… Kathleen (another mama who I defer to when it comes to parenting a kiddo with special needs), Jeanne, Angie, Thomas (not blogging these days as being the dad of twins occupies his spare time), Emily, Kate, Jessica (a fellow CofE person and southern Californian), Beth Anne, Mandi, Bonnie, Jennifer (I prayed Joshua home), Marie, Bobbi, and so many others. My Bloglovin overflows on Friday because of Quick Takes! 🙂

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

#5Faves: Miscellanea (XLV)

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#5Faves

One

Ramen. I’ve been having a lot of ramen/Cup-of-Noodles stuff for lunch or dinner lately because it’s quick and it doesn’t irritate my stomach. It’s not ideal and not particularly healthy but it works.

Two

“The Echo Song” from Sesame Street. My favorite version is Madeline Kahn and Grover. The version with Ernie and Elmo is blasphemy.

Three

“Boldly I Approach” from Rend Collective This song takes its name from one of my favorite passages of Scripture (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Four

Taebo I have to actually enjoy something to make myself do it regularly and this is pretty fun. The kicking and punching is also quite therapeutic.

Five

Cool mornings. It’s been beachy and cool in the mornings lately. Given that I was soaked when I’d get home from my walks last week, I’m quite a happy camper

Go love up Jenna and the others.

#5Faves: Miscellanea (XLIV)

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#5Faves

One

Rend Collective. I am seriously in love with this band. Their music is stuck in my mind and right now, it’s actually keeping me going.

Two

Margaret Maron. My mother-in-law was #1 on the library list for her latest book and she gave it to me to read when she finished it. Of all the murder mystery authors I read, she is in the top 3 favorites if not my favorite because I can actually get lost in her books without realizing it.

Three

Air1. Listening to music keeps me sane while driving and Air1 is the local nationally-broadcasted Christian station that I can get down here. (I could actually get it and KLOVE equally well when we lived up north and would switch off when a song came up that I didn’t like.)

Four

Trader Joe’s. The people at my Trader Joe’s are just fabulous and they love Daniel. (Then again, who doesn’t love Daniel that has met him?) I’ll be having some of their chili when I get home.

Five

Iced vanilla lattés made with whole milk. I fully believe that the existence of these is proof that God wants me to be happy. 😉

Go love up Jenna and the others.

7 Quick Takes: Ramblings from Tiredness

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

504 plans and IEP’s. Around this time of year, the question of 504 plans vs. IEP’s comes up in the groups with whom I hang on Facebook. This is the definition of a 504 plan and this is how it compares with an IEP. (The difference is accommodations vs. specialized instruction.)

For those keeping track, Daniel has an IEP.

— 2 —

For moms of non-verbal kiddos… Daniel’s 1:1 buddy from VBS at my church sent me this. It also works for elderly adults who may wander.

— 3 —

Prerequisite baseball take. Currently, the Dodgers are losing to Cincinnati and the Giants are beating the Nats. Life is as it should be. 🙂 (Why yes, I am conveniently ignoring the fact that the Giants are 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the standings and am instead baiting my husband with tonight’s scores.)

— 4 —

Cosmo and controversy. Last week while heading somewhere with Daniel (I think to get x-rays), I heard something about Rite Aid and a couple other national supermarket chains putting Cosmopolitan magazine behind a screen in checkout stands because the titles are too lewd for kids to read; and apparently, kids are asking their parents some pretty uncomfortable questions based on them. (We’re talking questions about sex acts and anatomy that their parents aren’t comfortable explaining to a 4 year old.)

So… should Cosmo be put behind a screen: yea or nay?

— 5 —

Don’t piss off women! Donald Trump insulted Megyn Kelly last week by blaming her hard questioning of him on her being on her period so there’s now a hashtag on Twitter with which women are trolling him with their period announcements.

I’m also heartened by Donald Trump being uninvited from the RedState Gathering for being such a jerk to Megyn Kelly. Even better: Megyn Kelly was invited in his place. It shows that Republicans are taking women seriously this time.

— 6 —

Eschet chayil! Dr. Frances Kelsey, who protected Americans from thalidomide, died last week at the age of 101. Because of her, the US was spared the scores of kids born with deformed arms and legs, deformed eyes and hearts, deformed alimentary and urinary tracts, blindness and deafness born in other countries where the use of the drug hadn’t been restricted. (It was used as an anti-nausea med and crossed the placental barrier.)

Irony of ironies, it is actually one of the chemotherapeutic agents used for my father-in-law’s type of cancer but they are meticulous about making sure that anyone prescribed it has no chance of getting pregnant or getting anyone else pregnant. It is also used to treat leprosy.

— 7 —

For Potterheads. This is funny but mildly NSFW.

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