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Pessimistic year end
The 3,000th American soldier died in Iraq today.
Check out the op-ed piece in the LA Times asking what George Washington would think about Iraq.
Saddam is dead. Does anyone think this accomplished anything, really? (I'm not saying he wasn't an evil human being, I'm just questioning the validity of his conviction and the purpose of his execution.)
Car bomb at Barajas. I thought ETA had declared a cease fire. Anyone interested in the history of the car bomb? Check out the October issue of Harpers, which hasa brief summary Mike Davis's article The Poor Man's Air Force, which can also be found online at TomDispatch.com here.
I read today at BBC New's website that a 67 year old Spanish woman has become the oldest woman to ever give birth. To twins, which are now in incubators. The article is here. I don't know any background, but becoming a parent for the first time at 67? Of twins? That's an exhausting thing to do when you are 27, forget adding four more decades. That's not to say that older parents can't (or aren't) good parents, but stop and think. When he (if either twin is a boy) is 15 and wants to play football, will either parent be in good enough shape to go out and kick the ball around? When she (if either is a girl) is a teenager needing to talk about sex with an adult who gets it, is her 80ish parent really going to be that person? And everyone is going to assume that Mom is Grandmom when they are out and about.
Judgmental much me? Well, yes. You can tell I'm not likely to decide that I need to be a parent when I'm 50, can't you?
Unrelated to headline news, can someone explain the purpose of holiday photo postcards to me? Do people really think that acquaintances want a copy of the annual family photo turned into a postcard? Especially one the sender couldn't be bothered to even personalize by signing or addressing personally? I like the cards with a small photo and an actual handwritten note or signature on the inside; I even like the annual letter sometimes, especially from friends or colleagues that live long distance. The photo postcard? Don't bother to send it to me, please. And what was Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless thinking to turn a photo of her two dogs into the family photo postcard? WTF? I'm pretty sure that even if I were stoned out of my mind, I would know better than to use a photo of The Goofy Cat as my holiday card. If the photo is of the entire family, I smile at the photo then feel vaguely guilty about throwing the photo away. I have no such problem when looking at a (poorly taken) shot of Fluffy and Fido. If one doesn't have any good family photos that include humans, then perhaps the photo postcard should not be attempted.
Check out the op-ed piece in the LA Times asking what George Washington would think about Iraq.
Saddam is dead. Does anyone think this accomplished anything, really? (I'm not saying he wasn't an evil human being, I'm just questioning the validity of his conviction and the purpose of his execution.)
Car bomb at Barajas. I thought ETA had declared a cease fire. Anyone interested in the history of the car bomb? Check out the October issue of Harpers, which has
I read today at BBC New's website that a 67 year old Spanish woman has become the oldest woman to ever give birth. To twins, which are now in incubators. The article is here. I don't know any background, but becoming a parent for the first time at 67? Of twins? That's an exhausting thing to do when you are 27, forget adding four more decades. That's not to say that older parents can't (or aren't) good parents, but stop and think. When he (if either twin is a boy) is 15 and wants to play football, will either parent be in good enough shape to go out and kick the ball around? When she (if either is a girl) is a teenager needing to talk about sex with an adult who gets it, is her 80ish parent really going to be that person? And everyone is going to assume that Mom is Grandmom when they are out and about.
Judgmental much me? Well, yes. You can tell I'm not likely to decide that I need to be a parent when I'm 50, can't you?
Unrelated to headline news, can someone explain the purpose of holiday photo postcards to me? Do people really think that acquaintances want a copy of the annual family photo turned into a postcard? Especially one the sender couldn't be bothered to even personalize by signing or addressing personally? I like the cards with a small photo and an actual handwritten note or signature on the inside; I even like the annual letter sometimes, especially from friends or colleagues that live long distance. The photo postcard? Don't bother to send it to me, please. And what was Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless thinking to turn a photo of her two dogs into the family photo postcard? WTF? I'm pretty sure that even if I were stoned out of my mind, I would know better than to use a photo of The Goofy Cat as my holiday card. If the photo is of the entire family, I smile at the photo then feel vaguely guilty about throwing the photo away. I have no such problem when looking at a (poorly taken) shot of Fluffy and Fido. If one doesn't have any good family photos that include humans, then perhaps the photo postcard should not be attempted.
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I think the "best" child bearing age must be a moving target, different for everyone. My admittedly jaundiced view of latter years children comes from watching a second, later (but not significantly late) pregnancy, and comparing/contrasting the relationships and child-rearing strategies of each child, and also watching my mom with her godchildren (my favorite youngest cousins). She had us young (too young), and by the time she was helping with the cousins, we were grown and she was out of the young child groove, even though she was only in her early 40s.