On Robert Frost

The Senate recently passed a bill to allow for the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico. I'm not really going to go into my personal feelings regarding this wall (except for one comment--if this wall is also about terrorism, then we need to build a wall on the Canadian border too). I am actually far more upset that a well-known Robert Frost poem is being used by some Republican senators as justification that a wall would improve relations with our neighbor to the south.

The poem is called Mending Wall. Alabama Republican senator Jeff Sessions quoted Frost after the vote, "Good fences make good neighbors." Little known fact--I have a degree in English, with an emphasis on American Literature and I've studied this Frost poem on quite a few occasions. The story is of two men, resurrecting a wall between their two properties on a Spring day. The speaker, Frost, is questioning the purpose of this wall, which is consistently debilitated by nature. The speaker wonders (as he is working with his neighbor to rebuild the wall), "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down." The speaker claims that there is no need for the wall, as their respective apple orchards and pine trees don't mix. Additionally, neither has pets that they'd want to confine to their property. The neighbor reiterates, "Good fences make good neighbors" as Frost is left wondering if that's true.

So, all you senators who voted to approve this bill, please do not use Frost's line. If you had read the poem you'd see that he clearly wouldn't support your measure.

Thanksgiving day

Ok, so it's not the last Thursday in November (thank God, because that would mean that it is very, very cold with the chance of freezing rain followed by the possibility of snow). However, yesterday I received the most generous donation for Race for the Cure and I'd like to send a very public, very heartfelt shout out of "THANKS" to my friend Matt in San Fran. Not all good deeds go unnoticed and I wanted to make sure that everyone noticed! Matt, you rock (although you probably already know that)!! Your generosity is awesome and I so appreciate it.

It's not too late to donate, peeps. Please follow this link to donate. Any amount would be appreciated, even if that means giving up your Starbucks non-fat-iced-mocha-no-whip for a day.

2006 National Race for the Cure

Hey, this is actually me here (not the Komen message below). I just wanted to say that I would appreciate your support whether it is financial or emotional or BOTH! I'm doing this walk especially for Jesse's mom, who is a breast cancer survivor, and for Jesse's aunt, who fell victim to breast cancer. So, whatever you can do to help out would be awesome! Ok...and now for the sponsored message...

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently accepted the challenge to support the fight against breast cancer by participating in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation National Race for the Cure® on June 3, 2006 in Washington, DC.

1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime and the more money we raise, the more the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community.

Please join me in the fight by pledging to support my participation in the National Race or contributing generously to the Komen National Race for the Cure®. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities and national breast cancer research.

To donate online please follow this link. Any amount would be appreciated. Thanks, peeps.

just in from the "Best Side" (aka West Side)

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I'm sure ya'll were waiting with bated breath for my next post. I went home for the weekend and just got back yesterday. It was quite the quickie visit, just long enough for me to want to stay longer. The weather wasn't that good to me--it rained on Sunday and Monday morning. But true to form, the OC averaged 70 degrees over the few days I was there. Some notes on my trip:

• Irvine Spectrum looked nothing like what I remember. There's an Anthropologie now! And a Nordstroms. I remember when it was just a movie theatre and a food court.
  
• My niece (and goddaughter) has no idea who I am. In fact, I came bearing gifts, which she suspiciously handed back to me (as the BIGGEST lump in my throat was forming). I have vowed to shower her with gifts during future visits in order to buy her love.
  
• On Monday morning, I made it from Orange to Aliso Viejo in 15 minutes, thanks to the carpool (or HOV for you East Coasters) lanes on the 5, 55, 405 freeways. Even so, traffic was flowing in the loser lanes. In fact, I don't think I sat through a single back up on the 405 for the first time in my life.
• The Prime Outlets in Camarillo are the best outlets I've ever been to. Gives Potomic Mills a run for their money.
• Apparently, there are tons of girls in the OC with babies. And by "girls" I mean chicks that are in their late teens and early 20s. I felt a little behind (for just one second, Jesse, I promise).
• I saw how much work it was to care for my neice for one day (and I didn't even change her diaper, yuck)...she's like an 8-hour public service announcement for family planning services.
  

Ah...it was good to be home.

something positive for a change

Although I have never been accused of being optimistic, it struck me as odd that Jesse (my boo and hot guy at right) would be unhappy with my previous post. So, to make all things right with the world again, I have compiled the following list:

Top 10 things I like about living in NoVA

1. The extraordinarily large number of fellow brown peeps in the area. Strangely, Latinos aren't the minority in Arlington.
2. The fabulous Latin American whole-in-the-wall food places, such as Super Pollo and Pollo Rico.
3. Baileys, which isn't such a bad sports bar. Hey, not everyone can be ESPN Zone.
   
4. The popularity of the Nats here. I don't see very many MoCo residents going to Nats games.
   
5. The relatively cheaper cost of living compared to DC.
6. It is the blue part of a VERY red state (thank God, but I will continue to vote CA absentee).
7. Metered cabs.
8. Tysons Corner is the closest thing I have to South Coast Plaza shopping.
9. Most of my friends live here now, including work friends.

And finally at #10...
I like living in NoVA because my boyfriend lives here and I live with him and I love him very much.

on Metro

Dear Dan Tangherlini,

Belated congratulations on being named Metro's Interim GM. Being a regular metro-rider, I have seen your pictures in station ads and I have even heard your voice over the PA system while waiting for a train. In the announcement, you announce your "one-point plan" for improving Metro--improving customer service. As a metro customer for over 3 years, I thought you might want to know what I think.

Before April 1st, I was a DC resident living along the red line. Although I certainly didn't appreciate it at the time, the red line does run with some efficiency (although the occasional weekend single-tracking really does suck). The trains were never jam-packed during rush hour (unless a tour bus had just stopped at Union Station). Sometimes I rode the D6 and it tended to stick to its schedule most of the time. If only I realized then how good I had it.

Now, I live in Arlington, VA (whoa...it is with all my strength that I can say that). And the picture of Metro service is MUCH different. First of all, the bus I take to get to the metro is never on time. In fact, there are days when I am grateful to see a 23A/23C bus at all. The ART is more timely. Secondly, the orange line is a mess. During rush hour, it's already standing room only at Ballston. By the time the train gets to Clarendon (two stops away), you can't even get on the train. Oh yeah, the whole 8-car-train experiment--dreadful. It's advertised as a smoother ride into the city with increased capacity on trains. How is it that I STILL see 4 car orange line trains during rush hour? And if it really increased capacity, why are the trains still standing room only at Ballston? Moreover, if it truly is a smoother ride, why does the train stop repeatedly before Courthouse, and then before Rosslyn, and then at Rosslyn, and then before Foggy Bottom?

My solutions are these: make the orange line like the red line. Or you can lower housing prices in DC so people don't have to live in Arlington when they really want to live in the city.

Thank you,
*sigh* an Orange Line regular

incriminating evidence...

of a fun-filled weekend...







With my boys!











only in DC would there be political graffiti in a bar bathroom (note Ben Franklin quote)





Perfect end to a night in Adams Morgan--Pizza Mart!

Wake up, America! Your kids are having sex

The Washington Post's health section today was devoted to teens and sex. WaPo online hosted a chat with Robert Blum, MD, MPH, PhD of Johns Hopkins, who answered various questions in response to the Post's articles. My favorite was the following

Washington, D.C.: My daughter is 15 and claims that she is bi-sexual. How can this be? Is this normal or is this is just her way of rebelling?

Why is it so hard to believe that teenagers may actually have some understanding of their own sexuality? Having gone to a private, Catholic school for half of my life, even I had an idea. The message that "sex is bad" was pushed on me so much that I'm surprised I have a normal sex life. Here's the thing, peeps--teens are having sex. And they're having oral sex before they hit 13.

I realized this truth as we were doing our AMSA USC AIDS Education Project. Teaching kids about AIDS in LA middle schools was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. The first class we taught had both 6th and 7th graders. During the Q&A session, someone asked about oral sex. Oh my God! What do 12 year olds know about oral sex? Plenty, apparently. And this was 1999.

It's now 2006. And what are we doing to our kids? We're telling them that sex is bad until you're married. How is it that marriage suddenly makes sex ok? And why is our government spending millions of dollars on abstinence only sex ed. programs that don't work? Sounds like we're setting up our kids for failure...or an STD.

feliz dia de las madres

para la mama mas linda en todo el mundo. gracias por todo que has hecho por mi en mi vida. te quiero mucho.

love,
baby

alcohol is the best medicine

Yesterday, I concluded that the best medicine for ankle sprain pain is alcohol--preferably in abundant amounts. My initial venture into this theory was my experience at the Wizards game last week. My sprain, only two days old, was practically unnoticeable after our little pre-game drinking excursion at Fado's. Jesse informed me, as we were walking to the Verizon Center, that my limp was gone. I hadn't even noticed. I walked up and down stairs with relative ease. And then, the worst thing happened. I got sober. By the time we finally got home, my ankle had become so swollen that my ankle was now the size of a softball. Not only that, but the sides of my ankle had become far more purple than that morning.

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of getting drunk with my co-workers on company cash. On my way home, I barely noticed any pain and I certainly wasn't limping. It wasn't until I had come home and sobered up that the pain returned--although I think it was more painful to see that the rain had soaked the stuff I had near the open windows in the condo (damn torrential downpour).

On Friday, I went out for drinks again after work, followed that up with drinks in G-town and finished up with drinks in Adams Morgan. Let's just say I might have overdosed on pain relief. I was pain-free from 4 p.m. til about 2 a.m.

Thus far, alcohol has done more to relieve my pain than any amount of ibuprofen. So,boys and girls, the lesson is that I should just be drunk all the time while in pain. Or maybe I should just be drunk all the time.

no OC tonight

When "The OC" first came on, I was adamantly opposed to watching it. It was, after all, a fictional depiciton of the fictional lives of fictional people who reside in a fictional OC--the show is filmed mostly in Malibu, which is in LA County. But then I kept on hearing about how great the show was and how it was the 90210 of the next generation. And I liked 90210, even after Brandon left the show and Luke made a comeback. So, I decided to give "The OC" a shot and watch. Dude, was it great! So much drama. So much teen angst. It was awesome. My friends and I would get together and have OC watching parties. I even got my boyfriend into it (well, kinda...he still doesn't get some of the character's names right).

But that was season 1. Now it's season 3 and the show has lost its luster. I'm sorry, Josh Schwartz (OC creator, exec. producer and fellow USC alum)!!! This OC girl just isn't that excited about "The OC" anymore. So much drama happens in just one episode that it is stretching the limits of "believability." And frankly, Marisa is annoying.

I remember during season 2 when the show was not shown on the East Coast because of a last minute Bush address (just another reason why I don't like him). I was incredibly upset. I needed a support group to get me through the mental anguish (support group= Enzo and Dave feeling my pain). And tonight, "The OC" will not be shown. Eh...I'll just catch the finale next week.

I've been schooled

Seeing as that the whole immigration debate is hot right now, I thought it would be good to introduce y'all to Gustavo Arellano. Trust me, if you don't know this name now, you should commit it to memory. If you have heard of him, then you already know that he is somewhat of a local celebrity in the OC, or at least in the OC Weekly reading circles. He's an OC native, graduate of Chapman U. and UCLA (unfortunately) and is the writer of the politically incorrect column, Ask a Mexican. Although I must admit it is an acquired taste, his column is funny and smart and a not-so-subtle attempt to squash Mexican stereotypes. I read it regularly because I often find myself learning a lot from his answers. A sample (which I can personally relate to):

I’m a Mexican güero: light-skinned, green-eyed and blond/brown-haired. I experience more racism from my own people than gabachos. Why so much hate toward Mexican güeros by my darker-skinned raza? Do I remind the pinches indios too much of their Spanish conquerors? Are they just jealous that their horny rucas and sisters keep putting the moves on me? All of the above?

Güero and Loving It!

Dear Pocho,
The only thing Mexicans alternately love and hate more than los Estados Unidos are güero (light-skinned) Mexicans. Blame the Aztecs: when the light-skinned, bearded Spaniards showed up in Mexico in 1519, Moctezuma and amigos thought the conquistadors were manifestations of Quetzalcoatl, a light-skinned, bearded deity that oral tradition promised would return to save mankind in 1519—the very year the Spaniards showed up. The Spaniards quickly put that myth to waste by destroying the Aztec empire, but that initial reverence for güeros seared itself in the Mexican psyche. Light skin became synonymous with power, wealth, destruction. Dark skin meant indio: loser, poor, estúpido enough to believe that marauders were gods. Not even the efforts of Mexican intellectuals during the 1920s to popularize the idea of Mexicans as la raza cósmica (the cosmic race, made up of black, Indian and white blood) could destroy the stranglehold guerismo has on Mexico. That’s why you see light-skinned Mexicans on television, in the presidential palaces and in corporate offices. Being a Mexican güero takes you only so far, though, Güero and Loving It: you’re still Mexican, after all.

So the brilliant Mr. Arellano had an op-ed in the LA Times yesterday that was particularly eye-opening, titled, "O.C. can you say...'anti-Mexican'?." It was a history of anti-Mexican sentiment in Orange County. Some of the references I had no idea about and some were particularly eye-opening. I look forward to his book with bated breath.

free lube? umm...sure, why not

I was at the Convention Center today for the ACOG meeting (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and had an opportunity to check out the exhibits. I was in the mood to collect some freebies--even free pens are nice. Here are my random observations:

• The lone pro-life organization booth was not popular and their publications lacked color. Come on, I'm sure Bush is sending moola your way! Splurge on some color!
• Apparently, there is a HUGE market for umbilical cord blood registration. I'll leave that one alone.
• Why does every pharmaceutical company's plastic vagina models come with two leg trunks? Are you trying to confirm that yes, a woman's vagina is located between her legs? How are the trunks a necessary part of your visual?
  
• USC was there and I was so proud. Sure it was the Marshall School of Business promoting their Medical Management program, but still!
• If you are going to provide frozen yogurt at the osteoporosis prevention stand, shouldn't it be dairy?
• Chocolate fondue is a great way to lure women to your booth.

Finally, the best part of the exhibit hall was the Astroglide booth, being "manned" (no pun intended) by a stately, elderly gentleman who was handing out full size bottles of lube. Apparently, he was VERY popular with the ladies.

appreciation at work? yes, it's possible!

In my entire time in DC thus far, there have only been two occasions during which I've said to myself, "ohhhhh...so this is what it's supposed to be like." The first is obviously my relationship with Jesse--the first rational, healthy, truly happy relationship I've ever had. (I could write several posts about how wonderful Jesse is, so I'll move on before I get carried away). The second is my job. Today, although I had plenty of work of my own to do, I decided to help out my fellow co-workers with their tasks. Their projects were more pressing than mine, so I decided to alleviate some of their workloads by volunteering my assistance. Everyone that I helped actually thanked me and their gratitude was so genuine that I was touched by it. I thought to myself, so this is what work should be like--partnerships, collaborations, grateful participants, an earnest willingness to lend a hand. I rarely experienced this at the Gap, and I would imagine that some people may never experience this at work on a regular basis. And I thought to myself, wow, I am incredibly lucky.

wouldn't be the first time

Ok, so I was wrong. The Wiz didn't win, although it was an exciting game to watch. After having seen LeBron James in person, I've decided that he is nothing like Jordan. Before people can start making that comparison, James needs to stop whining to the officials after every single call against him. And he needs to work on the whole "dribbling while in motion" thing. The man takes more steps than Moses and the Israelites did while wandering the desert. I've never seen someone travel so much. Or whine so much after being called for travelling. They need to change those "witness" shirts to "whiner."

let's go, Wiz!

Tonight is Game 6 of the NBA playoffs series between my Washington Wizards (oooh...this is a momentous occasion--I have not referred to an NBA team as 'mine' in forever) and the Cleveland Cavs. The star player on the Cleveland Cavs is LeBron James, the newest heir to Jordan's throne (for those of you who don't remember, the original heir was Baby Jordan himself, Harold Minor, a USC alum). From what I've seen, James is alright. But from what I remember of Jordan's career, the Bulls did not win their first playoffs series with Jordan. They ended up losing, which will also happen to the Cavs this time around because they're too busy "witnessing" James' game. Apparently, James is also buying into his "Witness" hype by recently wearing a t-shirt with the promo tag line. Ugh. Whatever. His arrogance annoys me. DUDE, win a couple of championships and then we can talk about how great you are.

So, I predict victory for my Wiz and my boy Gilbert Arenas, arguably the best player on the team. I claim Gil as my own because I just recently found out that the kid was born in LA and when to high school in the Valley! That's right, he's a Valley boy and I'm proud. I'm even more proud of the fact that he went to U of AZ and is a Pac-10 boy. I'll be cheering loudly (and proudly) for Gil and the rest of the team at the game tonight. Nothing like a Game 6 must-win-situation to pump up the crowd at Verizon Center! I love this game!

Thanks for the tickets, boo boo!

chivalry is clearly dead...on the metro

As you've read by now, I have sprained my ankle. Yes, I know that I had a sprained ankle just 3 months ago. Lucky me, it is the same ankle this time. Considering my current "disability," one would have to assume that I might be offered some special consideration as a Metro rider. Oh no no no...you know what happens when you assume...

This morning, during rush hour, I got on the train at Ballston and it was already standing room only. As a large group of us tried to enter the train, I got pushed up against a gentleman (and I use the term loosely) who was seated. With every passing stop, the train became more crowded and it was really difficult to leverage my weight onto the good leg/ankle when I didn't have much space to leverage (that and I was also practically on top of the alleged gentleman). The train came to many abrupt and jolting stops, further thwarting my efforts to have a relatively pain-free ride into town. I was clearly struggling at some points and I was really hoping that the man would let me have his seat. I thought for sure he would offer me his seat when we came to an abrupt stop before Courthouse because of a disabled train at Rosslyn. But noooooooo, he didn't.

So to the man who didn't give up his seat to me on the Orange Line today, I have one word for you--Karma. I only wish I could be there when it comes around to you.

Confidential to birthday girl in AZ

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear MICHELLE!
Happy birthday to you.

great falls

So, there I was, walking out of the Cannon Building (which is a House Office Building for those of you who aren't familiar), pretty excited about the briefing I had attended and the connections I had made, when suddenly, my good feelings were quickly replaced with sheer embarassment, shame, and pain! I fell on my way out. The good thing is that people asked me if I was ok (unlike the time I fell and sprained my ankle on K St. during rush hour and dozens of people walked past me and didn't ask me if I was ok or needed help). The two Capitol Police officers doing security screenings came to my aid. The bad thing is they didn't have a wheelchair, so they transported me to the nurse's office via a wheeled office chair. There I was, "whizzing" by congressman and their gophers on my way to treatment (and hopefully pain relief). The nurse was great tho...offered me some sweets and wrapped my ankle...let me elevate and ice it while reading People magazine (she originally offered me a Roll Call but I refused). At least the whole debacle is over; I only wish the pain was too.

Not too bad considering this is my third fall (and subsequent sprained ankle) on federal property--Capitol steps, Korean War Memorial, and now Cannon.