The Social Justice Challenge: Water

Wordlily turned me on to the Social Justice Challenge. The way I understand it is that every month, a new issue will be raised for discussion, reading, and activism. This month’s focus is on water, and these are the questions being asked:

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1.  What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of water as a social justice issue?

I think of water in much the same way I think of access to food; we know, as a species, how to make water clean, safe, and accessible to damned near everyone and for relatively little money.  The fact that we’re still using access to water (and food) for monetary and political gain is repugnant.  That people are still living without access to clean, safe water is completely unacceptable to me as a human being; water should be among the most basic of human rights.

2. What, if any, exposure have you personally had to a water shortage?

Practically?  None.  I’ve gone a couple of days during camping trips where I’ve had to lug water from faucets at the bottom of the trail, and there have been a few days where the water in our house was shut off for the installation of new furnaces or washing machines, but that’s it.  Every once in a while, the city sends us notices that the water might be a little “off” – something about the treatments – but I’ve never had to boil my water for safety.

3. What potential action steps can you think of that relate to this month’s theme of water?

Knowledge is power, right?  The first thing I’d want to know is who needs access to clean water?  I bet that there are a lot of people in my proverbial neighborhood – people right here in the US – who don’t have it.  From there, I’d want to know what agencies – governmental and non – are working in the field of water delivery, then I’d want to know what they’re doing – and what they could be doing better.  Finally, I’d want to impose sanctions against those agencies, wherever they are, that are using water as a bargaining tool or are taking it hostage for political or monetary reasons.  The delivery of clean, safe water should be an humanitarian issue; I’d like to see it treated as such by the international community.

I don’t have time to read a water novel this month.  If any of you decides to read one, make sure you point me to your reviews, would you, please?

Quick Hit: Doing the Right Thing

It seems that my state’s House Judiciary Committee today killed two proposed bills that would overturn our gay marriage law.  I cannot tell you how gratified that makes me; as soon as I heard the news, I composed and sent this letter:

Dear Committee Members:

Thank you so much for voting to kill bills that would reverse our same-sex marriage provision.  If the past few years’ votes in other states on such issues have proven anything, it is that it is inappropriate for the majority to vote on the rights of the minority; one of the main purposes of government is to protect the minority from such things and I am heartened – and delighted – to see that our House Judiciary Committee understands this.

Equal rights HAS to mean equal for EVERYONE; thank you so much for reaffirming this truth.

Most sincerely,

Mrs. Chili

‘Bout TIME this happened!

Ten Things Tuesday

The Passing Love Around to the Guys Edition

Here are ten online men I love, respect and/or admire (and a brief reason why I love, respect and/or admire them).  This list is in no particular order and in no way should be considered exhaustive or exclusive.

1.  MAB over at (get this) Spanky McSchmanky’s Extraterrestrial House of Pancakes (formerly known as the Cub Scout Den of Iniquity). While I am often astounded at his capacity to withstand some of the dumbest people I’ve ever encountered in print, I admire his ability to be rational, calm, and logical in the face of it.  He deconstructs some of the most jaw-droppingly idiotic Letters to the Editor I’ve ever seen; that he has the stones to read all the way to the end of these rants and ravings and still has the wherewithal to take them apart piece by piece for my edification and enjoyment only makes me love him more.

2.  Success Warrior. I love this guy.  He’s a little freaky about the exercise (I’m pretty sure I’d be dead by now if I lived with him) and our political thinking is often a little off-frequency, but I always love reading what he has to say.  He’s had a lot of experiences that I will never have, and that makes him an especially valuable friend to me; he challenges me to think outside of my little box, and I love him for that.  Plus, he writes sonnets about his blog for homework assignments and posts lovely bits of man flesh on Sundays; how much more could a girl ask?

3.  Field Negro.  Though I often feel lost in the Field’s comment section (that man commands an audience, you guys!), I read every word the man posts.  He’s got a keen sense of the controversial, he calls bullshit when he sees it, and he’s not afraid to take an uncompromising stand against dumbassery.  He’s one of my go-to guys when I need some perspective on where to steer my (white, affluent) students in questions of race and history in the literature I teach.

4. Carson.  I have been waiting, for about two years now, to meet this man in person; I have no doubt whatsoever that I’m going to love him as much standing in front of me as I do through my computer screen.  I can’t really say what it is about Carson that clicks with me, but I know that I’ve felt it for as long as I’ve been reading him.  We’re getting a little closer all the time – we’ve started talking on the phone, and he keeps promising to come from Texas to New England (it hasn’t happened yet, but he keeps promising!).  Until then, we read together, we email back and forth, and we’re working on putting together a teleconference so I can invite him to one of my English classes (and I’d love nothing more than to come to one of his history classes!).  In short, I’ve got a wicked internet crush on this man.

5.  Falcon.  A lot of people wonder just how it is that I can be friends with this guy; after all, he’s a self-admitted sexist pig who listens to Glenn Beck.  The truth of the matter is that while he and I very rarely see eye-to-eye about politics, we do understand and respect each other’s right to hold opinions that make us wonder what the hell the other is thinking.  The truth of the matter is that despite our disagreements, when it comes right down to it, he would put it down to defend my right to believe and to speak that belief (as I would his), and the fact that we DON’T think as the other does is immaterial to the fact that we are friends.  We have learned the precious art of agreeing to disagree, and despite some of the things he says (or writes) that make me roll my eyes and wonder just what the hell he’s thinking, the truth of the matter is that I love him.

6.  The Colonel, also known as The Mad Bookseller.  Here’s a guy who goes for the “less is more” approach.  His posts are very often short, but just as often pointy.  LOVE that about him.

7.  TV over at My Own Personal Piece of Doom Cake.  Here’s a guy who’s seen the face of evil; in fact, it looks back at him every morning in the mirror.  He writes about his undying wish for a death ray app for his iPhone, about the absolute goat-fuckery going on in the Texas State School Board, and about how he’s pretty sure there’s a gene for evil (and he’s passed it on to his younger daughter, Dirt Urchin 2.0).  He is a lover of all things bacon and a hater of dumbass drivers; in short, he’s a man after my own heart.  My favorite feature on his blog is his “Notes to Myself.”  This one, I think, is a classic:

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8.  Gerry over at TwoBlueDay.  Gerry’s been a little less prolific in his posting lately, but that doesn’t diminish my love for him in the least.  He is a man who thinks – a lot – and often has insights into issues and topics that intrigue me; like Success Warrior, Gerry inspires me to think about things in ways that I wouldn’t do on my own.  I know Gerry in real life, and I know him to be a man with an exceedingly large and generous heart, and I’m honored that he’s taken me in not only as a friend, but as a member of his family.  Oh, and he takes gorgeous pictures, too.

9.  Improbable Joe over at The Real Me.  Here’s another one that some of my friends scratch their heads in wonder over.  Joe is among those who tell it like they sees it and damn the torpedoes, and that rubs a few of my other blog buddies the wrong way sometimes.  I like it, though; while I don’t always agree with the way Joe sees things (he’s more than once accused me of being too soft and forgiving), I actually kind of like that he shocks me out of my complacency every once in a while.  He’s still reading me, and I’m still reading him, so we can’t have pushed each other too far past our edges… yet.  : )

10.  Ed over at Gin and Tacos.  I have to admit that, sometimes, I don’t feel very smart when I read Ed’s posts.  He notices things that I miss (that, after he points them out, seem so painfully obvious that I’m ashamed I didn’t see them myself), and makes conclusions and draws connections that make very clear this guy is a thinker of a pretty high order.  Sometimes, he loses me altogether, but I keep coming back to his blog in the hopes that some of that smart will rub off on me.  Oh, and he’s also a good one for calling “bullshit!” when he sees it, often doing so in acerbic (and damned funny) ways.

Go blog-hopping, Everyone, and tell the boys I sent you!

Happy Tuesday!

Monday Meme

Boosted, with gratitude, from NurseExec a while back.

1. How long have you been blogging?
I posted my first blog entry on August 21, 2005.

2. What made you start?
I started the blog as a place to write and document what I did and thought.

3. Who inspired you?
Kizz, who still inspires me.

4. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog?
Probably far more than I should.

5. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing?
I’ve never been a diary-keeper, but I’ve been a writer all my life.  My education is strongly rooted in writing instruction, as well, so writing is both my work and my art.

6. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. Where do you get your ideas?
Most of the time, the ideas just come to ME – I find that, when I have to chase ideas down, the writing is less – less engaging, less good. I usually just write about things I observe or overhear or think; very rarely do I write about deep or profound things, though that can sometimes happen.

7. What or who inspires you and your blog?
Didn’t I just answer that question?  I’m inspired in my everyday life by my friends and colleagues, and I’m inspired by people who do the right thing just because it’s the right thing.  I aspire to be that kind of person.

8. Where and/or how do your brainstorming for your blog?
My ideas come to me in all the places of my life – the shower, the car, walking around, cooking dinner.  I’m actually pretty good at holding an idea until I have a chance to get to the computer, though, so I don’t keep a list of blog fodder anywhere.

9. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow?
I change names to protect the innocent (or the not-so-innocent, as the case may be).  I only publish photographs of the backs of my children’s heads.  I always give credit for the images I post here that I get from other sites.  There are rules, too, about what’s too personal to blog about, and about how far I will engage arguments on my blog; I’m fine with people disagreeing, but I’m not okay with people being disagreeable about it.

10. Is there anything you will not blog about?
Yes; quite a few “anythings,” in fact.

11. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic?
I have managed to post every single day since NaBloPoMo 2006, missing only St. Patrick’s Day 2007.  I like posting every day; I don’t feel pressure to say something profound every day – some days, I post LOL cats and call it done – but I like having my post-a-day touchstone.

Quick Hit: Chores

Guess what I’m spending most of my weekend doing?

Quick Hit: Jinx

Dammit! Just when I thought it was all worked out!

I double-checked the movie listings and discovered that the theatre decided to change the show times for Eli (“the management reserves the right to change the schedule without notice”). We had two choices; 12:45 (I checked the listing at 4:00; too late) and 10:45. GAH!

I let Bowyer off the hook; we’re staying in tonight. I’m going to try again for next week, though, because I’m committed about having a date night with my husband.

(Gerry, my review of the film will be a bit delayed… sorry…)

Profiting from Another’s Misfortune

One of the big-box video rental places in my town is going out of business, and this morning O’Mama and I swung through the aisles so I could pick up some movies on the (relative) cheap. I came away with copies of The Pianist, Angels in America, Paper Clips, Apocalypse Now; Redux, Flags of our Fathers, The Soloist, and the last Indiana Jones flick. Though this isn’t what this post is about, I would like to point out that, with the exception of the Indy Jones picture, I’ve seen none of these films before. I bought them, as I often buy movies, on the strength of their reputations, especially their reputations among people whose opinions about such things I trust.

What I’m thinking about as I log these new discs into my DVD library software is this; several of the first DVDs I bought were obtained several years ago through the demise of a little, privately owned video shop. As I bought armloads of $5 DVDs, I chatted with the owner, a lovely lady who told me that she had to close her store because she couldn’t compete with the Bl*ckbuster that had opened up about a quarter mile down the road. She wasn’t sad about having to close the business – she was a “glass half full” kind of gal and was excited about what the closing of this store meant in terms of her availability to pursue other adventures – but I distinctly remember her saying that she would have continued on as long as the demand for her shop remained constant. The big-box siphoned business away from her, though, and her venture was no longer profitable, much less breaking even.

Now, one of those giant video stores is closing (it’s not the Bl*ckbuster, for the sake of clarity – it’s the H*llywood Video across the way). While I didn’t talk much to the girl behind the counter – I’m not sure she would know the whys of the store’s closing – I did talk about it with Mr. Chili. We suspect that outfits like N*tfilx and R*dbox (our usual video supplier) are making brick-and-mortar stores obsolete. Why would I go all the way uptown to pay $4.99 for a video for three days when I can go up the street to my local grocery store and pay .99 for an ATM-like machine to spit out a DVD for a night?

I find a kind of delicious, karma-like irony in this giant store having to close because an automated video machine (or a company that sends DVDs to people’s mailboxes) is siphoning their business away…

Date Night

Sometimes, even shit that doesn’t work out according to plan still works out…

I had scheduled a date night with Mr. Chili for this evening. The plan was that Ms. J the flute teacher was going to come for Punkin’s weekly lesson and then STAY to be the grown-up in the house so that Mr. Chili and I could go out, get dinner, and then catch Denzel Washington’s new film, The Book of Eli. The planets aligned such that Ms. J could stay, so I was all over it.

That was, until my best friend called to ask if we could take the boys tonight so that he and Tonks could go to the Celtics’ game.

It’s not that big a deal; I love the boys (and I love Boywer and Tonks), so saying “yes” despite our plans was kind of a no-brainer for me. That does not mean, however, that I was going to give it up for free; I made a counter-offer and asked if they’d keep the girls tomorrow so we could just shift our date night up 24 hours. It turns out that they can do that, so the girls are going to Chez Bowyer for an overnight tomorrow. Not only do Mr. Chili and I get to go out on a date, but we get to come home to an empty house, to boot!

SCORE!

Love Notes

Karen, over at Chookooloonks, does what she calls “Love Thursday.” Every week on this day, she posts something that has to do with love and her posts, whether long or short, always inspire me. While I’m not ready to add another theme day to my blog (I’ve already got Monday Memes and Ten Things Tuesday as regular features), I’m going to boost Karen’s idea for today. Every once in a while, I’m struck by how incredibly wonderful some of the people in my life really are, and I’m going to share some of that here with you today.

Let’s start with Miss E., the Front Desk Goddess at CHS. This woman is about sixteen different shades of delightful. You know how I say that one of the reasons I’m so happy in my marriage is that I get to laugh every day? Well, one of the reasons I’m so happy in my job is because I get to laugh with this woman every day. Miss E. and I giggle Every. Single. Day. Sometimes, all it takes is a look – she’ll glance sideways at me or I’ll come into her office and roll my eyes at her, and we’re off. She listens to all my “you-can’t-make-this-shit-up” stories and starts laughing long before I get to the punchline. We share little conspiratorial conversations by the copy machine that end in our chuckling long after I take my copies and leave her office. She’s a lot of fun.

More than that, she knows her shit. She’s got the office running like the proverbial well-oiled machine. She’s got the kids under control (don’t even TRY to sneak into the space before 7:30, and forget sneaking in after 7:45 without signing the tardy log!). She knows where everything is and knows when something is running low. She’s got paperwork, newsletters, email addresses and phone numbers in her complete and unyielding command. She’s ON it.

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Being in this woman’s presence is always a delight. She is a major reason why I love working at CHS, and I’m so glad that she is such a big part of my professional life.

Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over, Ma’am?

So, I’m zipping home from across the state on Monday night, right? I attended a lecture at the Holocaust Center that ended at about 8:30, and it’s a good two and a half hour drive to from there to Chez Chili. Do the math, People; that’s waaay past my bedtime.

About half a mile from my exit off the highway, I pass a cop in the median. I was in the travel lane with my cruise control set at just under 70 miles an hour (where it had been for a little less than the hour I’d been on the highway). It should be noted, here, that the speed limit on this stretch of that road is 55. It should also be noted that the car about 50 yards in front of me had been there for miles and I hadn’t caught up with it yet. It should further be noted that there was a car in the left lane passing me when we passed the cop. Anyway, the blues come on, I drop out of cruise control and watch my rear-view. I was assuming that he would go after the guy who was passing me, but he pulled in behind me, instead. “Okay,” I thought; “you’ve got me.”

I pull WAY off the road – I know *I* wouldn’t want to be standing on this road in broad daylight, never mind at about quarter past ten at night – and get my license and registration out. The cop comes to my window and says, “Good evening, Ma’am. Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“Yessir,” I reply, “I was doing about 70 in a 55.”

I was surprised to see his eyebrows go up. “No,” he said. “Actually, I noticed that your headlight on the passenger side is out.”

I did not know this; my headlights are pretty spiffy, and the one on the driver’s side was doing a more than adequate job of lighting the road. He took my documents – to register the stop – and when he came back he said, “Two things, Mrs. Chili: One; I really appreciate your honesty. Most people don’t admit to doing anything wrong. You have no idea how old that gets. Two, I really appreciate that you pulled this far off the road. It’s a harrowing experience to be out here, and I’m grateful to you for making it a little safer for me.” Then, he handed my documents back, reached in to shake my hand, and wished me a good night.

Here’s my thinking; if you’re going to break the rules, at least have the decency to know what rules you’re breaking, be aware that you’re actually breaking them, and be man enough to admit to it when you are. Claiming ignorance just makes you look more careless than you already are. When your answer to a cop’s first question is “um… no?” you’re either lying or clueless about what you’re doing behind the wheel; either way, you lose. Also? These guys put their lives on the line every time they clock in. Do what you can to make their job safer, would you? It costs you nothing to pull way off the road, or to pull into a parking lot or something. Trust me; they appreciate the gesture.