a better son/daughter

During January--June in California, the incidence of pertussis was 3.4 cases per 100,000 population. County rates ranged from zero to 76.9 cases per 100,000 (median: 2.0 cases). By age group, incidence was highest (38.5 cases per 100,000) among infants aged <1 year; 89% of cases were among infants aged <6 months, who are too young to be fully immunized. Incidence among children aged 7--9 years and 10--18 years was 10.1 cases and 9.3 cases per 100,000, respectively.

That would be fresh off the MMWR press.

*taps toes against tile* What I am seeing -- what I can infer, at least -- is that enough people "forgot" to vaccinate their kids that those who couldn't be vaccinated had to get sick and risk a very unpleasant death.

Herd immunity saves lives. Please don't make it go away.

GET YOUR DAMN DISEASE VECTORS KIDS THEIR SHOTS.

Four kittens to good homes in Maryland. Anyone interested?

threat level CYAN: Nobody's getting evicted, nobody's going to die. This opportunity is good clean fun.

Ten wishes. Ten gratitudes.

Wish #1: reliable transportation.
gratitude #1: that i am not bed-bound. so many others with similar problems to mine are. i can still laugh, sing, dance a little, swim, love.

Wish #2: the right job.
gratitude #2: that i have the intelligence and chutzpah to adapt to many and varied situations.

Wish #3: peace among my family -- blood and chosen.
gratitude #3: that i have so many people who love me, even if they don't always get along.

Wish #4: to tell my story somehow.
gratitude #4: that i have words, even if they don't come as easily as they used to.

Wish #5: a place of my own.
gratitude #5: my table! i have my table! well, actually, it's a desk. but. it's put together. all we have to do is take it upstairs and then my room will be even more of a sanctuary.

Wish #6: the right career.
gratitude #6: an affordable college education is coming my way. i will have to work hard, but i should be able to do whatever i need to do in order to pursue whatever dreams i have.

Wish #7: better health insurance.
gratitude #7: that in the meantime, i have something at all. so many people don't.

Wish #8: ...okay, I'm going to be vain. A haircut.
gratitude #8: that i have hair to cut at all.

Wish #9: that my Bodie's leg will heal quickly.
gratitude #9: i know a really good vet who is an absolute sweetheart.

Wish #10: for my dear ones to be okay, too.
gratitude #10: so many dear ones in my life. i'm so lucky that i have to list you all twice.

...which is why I took the time to verify that it was, indeed, as urgent as it sounded.

Fae Hollow is in serious trouble. Unless its owners can raise the $30,000 necessary to save it, the whole thing goes. They cannot parcel out the land due to a quirk of Oregon law, which is probably causing a lot more trouble than it's worth. (That was the part I asked about first.) Since it's all or nothing, and homeless is homeless is homeless, I'm asking you to at least take a look and see if there's anything you can do. It's my understanding that they're offering shares in their company for $50, or you can flat-out donate less.

The World Cup, and football in general? This is a part of my culture. :-D

(Unfortunately, being a Germany fan means watching every little foul with your heart in your throat. Come on, lads, don't let's go to ten men now...)

...

I'm reading about cultural appropriation today. (I usually do this after reading Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier; it's a fantastic book that's got so much to offer, no matter where you are w.r.t. privilege issues.) I see a lot of white people questioning the existence of white culture, as I've done myself over time.

Intellectually, I know that white American culture is McDonald's, Madonna, country music, etc., but I have no real connection to a lot of it. This might be a consequence of growing up with one foot in each of two countries, which makes my journey just a tad bit different from the usual "waaah I got no culture!" problem -- I do have culture. I have two, even. I kind of have to figure out where I fit in it.

And, yeah, I'll claim McDonald's. We ate there even in Germany. ;-) Just as I have to acknowledge what sucks about being part-German, I have to acknowledge what sucks about being part-American: the effects of imperialism are inescapable. Wherever I go, I will know that there is something of America, because we forced it to go everywhere with us. We are dominant, arrogant shits.

There is also the problem of not knowing the other other side of my heritage, the part that was lost with my grandmother. Specifically, there's some question as to whether we're Jewish. I don't know if it's something we could discover with a DNA test and an educated guess when we get the results. Neither do I know if it's cultural appropriation that a good deal of my vocabulary derives from Yiddish -- I blame Nanny Fine! -- and I am really trying not to step on toes.

I don't expect to be educated by anyone else. If you have pieces you can fill in for me, I welcome them, but it's not your job to fix my confusion. I understand that. I am having these talks with myself in public in the hopes that maybe I'll help some other confused white person sort out her own cultural issues. It's all thorny, and I expect I shall slip up from time to time. (Or put my foot in my mouth. Mmm, toesies.)

...sod it, I'm not capable of thinky thoughts when Germany's up one-nil.

I stood in front of my mirror, after my bath, moving my arms slowly and with purpose. Out, up, out, down, out, repeat. As I watched my muscles move, I thought that I would like very much to see my body change again -- to see it turn into something useful, something strong. I could take yoga, perhaps, or get weights to lift at home.

But I was so determined not to set foot in a gym.

It occurred to me then that I've become a complete snob about gyms, or more precisely, about the kind of woman I would become if I used one. I am not very fond of my skinny suburban friends who use them obsessively; to join their ranks would stink of hypocrisy, not to mention other people's sweat. Of all of us in that particular circle, I could actually use the facility the most -- I really am out of shape, and I feel unhealthy. Even if this whatever-it-is turns out to be CFS, I'm supposed to use graded exercise to build back up to something approaching normal.

I just don't want to do that under painful fluorescent lights, drowning in the stench of industrial cleaner, surrounded by people who will look at me and only see that I am not blonde or built. I would rather aim for an environment where I'll be with women -- yes, women -- or at least people of all different body types and backgrounds. I'm not sure why I expect to be judged more harshly at a gym. Okay, part of me still remembers an exchange with a gym manager who hated himself so much that I was sure he'd hate anyone else who wanted to join.

Maybe it's a style thing. Maybe I'm more interested in getting fit my way, not the corporate way, the sleek way, the way that downs energy drinks and expects that's actually healthy, the way that would encourage me to cut my fat by using drugs that aggravate my anxiety.

Maybe I want something a little more peaceful than an all-out war on my body.

The genital mutilation issue at Cornell appears to be getting thornier.

We need to talk about IGM: It seems increasingly likely to me that, not only are we talking about a research project on intersex children, but also that that fact is being suppressed in Dreger and Feder’s article, even though it seems clear from the original report that this is exactly the situation.

Which throws a whole new wrench into these works.

It is bad enough that genitals are being mutilated. Period. But when you consider that they are possibly the genitals of intersex children, suddenly we're dealing with the dehumanization of those children on the grounds that they are not society's expected cis kiddies.

And I still say "WTF is this shit?" I say it from a privileged cis position; I will never have to deal with this issue; my bits are textbook, and I am not planning to reproduce or parent in any other capacity. But I say it. Violation of any person's genitals, regardless of how abnormal the medical profession thinks they are, violates that person. These experiments fall entirely on the wrong side of "ethical", and I'm wondering what these kids' parents are thinking now.

Happiest of birthday wishes to twistedchick! May it be a year of peace and joy.

In other news, my mother saw a news story on an American picked up overseas with a sword; apparently he was intending to use it on Osama bin Laden. "There's a bounty on his head, right?" she asked.

"Bounty... hunter. Bounty... hunter." My mind made the natural leap. "I know! Let's send Dog the Bounty Hunter to catch Osama bin Laden!"

Ladies and gentlemen, cerebellar putrefaction via pop culture.

Kim from Jersey Couture has a gorgeous affirming view on motherhood: Not only is she more than willing to find an awesome dress for a pregnant customer (for said customer's shower), but she can recommend dresses she wore herself. You're not dead. You're pregnant.

And isn't that the truth?

Why shroud yourself if you have a bump? You're the opposite of dead. You are nurturing life within your body -- so show it off. We've come a long way from the days when pregnancy was cause for quarantine. May those days never, ever rise again.

19-year-old boy beaten to death following overdose; scholarship fund in the works.

NYC-area kitty needs good home. If you want her, there's the details!