Great sites!

If you haven't discovered the joy of Apartment Therapy yet, wander over. It's fantastic, even if you don't live in an apartment. The design ideas are gorgeous and innovative, and there is no way you can't up your efficiency (and hipness) just by applying an idea or two from there.

And you gotta love that they include, for "inspiration," a link to an article about Craigslist in the Wall Street Journal. The article is mostly about why craigslist operates the way it does- to serve end users. This concept is a little hard for the WSJ writer to grasp, and he repeatedly wonders why craigslist doesn't simply try to maxamize profit. It's enlightening.

gun owners write to the UN

I'm not in a mood to be particularly nice and beat around the bush. I saw this article on msnbc and it saddens me how ignorant of the law many Americans are. Fine, be a gun owner, but please don't be an idiot gun owner. From that article:

"LaPierre [executive director of the NRA], who also uses the site to pitch his new book, “The Global War on Your Guns,” asks NRA members to send letters to Kariyawasam and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warning that “the American people will never let you take away the rights that our 4th of July holiday represents.”

It's called state sovereignty, Wayne, and it means that Dubya, our criminal in chief, can take away those hallowed rights-- but not an international organization. And NOT EVEN an international treaty-- EVEN IF we've signed it!-- if we haven't ratified it!

By the way, those rights that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights? The president has ALREADY taken many of them away, Wayne! Ever hear of the Fourth Amendment, or is your head stuck too far up the ass of the Second (which is meant to protect against the King's Royal Army of Yesteryear) to realize we HAVE other rights?

There's also the First Amendment, and a whole mess of others that have been seriously eroded BY YOUR OWN government. The president has said on numerous occasions that some laws (like those found in the Bill of Rights) just don't apply to him and his administration. And he has acted on that. So Wayne, why don't you and your minions do something about *that*?

God, are these the same people who read the Left Behind series like it's The Truth? Yeah, the "evil" head of the UN...

I get pissed at lazy thinking and lack of thinking.

figuring out mothering is maybe not so bad

I have never been one of those people who felt like the most special thing in the world would be to become a mother. Now, I was and am deeply passionate about the principles of Safe Motherhood and the general Anne Crittenden-esque belief that the world needs to (and can) do much better in respecting women who mother. I type that and feel like it couldn't be more true.

The journey for me in pregnancy is not about facing labor and delivery. Because to tell the truth, I'm not afraid of labor and delivery. I'm looking forward to it as a huge challenge, a beautiful and incredibly powerful transition, and even as a meditative time to release all expectations and all hoped-for outcomes and simply let it happen. I'm not looking forward to pain, I'm looking forward to the release and to the ritual and to the rebirth of me-as-mother.

The journey for me in pregnancy IS about facing motherhood. To be honest, up until very recently (like, today) I've been a little panicky about it. I love my mom, who basically made mothering her life's work. But I wonder if she would describe her life as fulfilled. Maybe, probably, she would. Yet there are ways in which parts of her life seem really left behind- her independence, her education, her self-confidence.

I realized I don't know many mothers who seem fulfilled and self-confident. I'm not talking about working moms who find fulfillment in work. I'm talking about women who find fulfillment in mothering itself, who don't just say "it's a TON of work!" "you'll never sleep again!" "you'll miss adult conversation" and all those other scare-mongering comments.

I'm over the scare-mongering- HOORAY!!! This is huge for me. I recently read about moms (in a Berkeley Parents Network newsletter) who were giving advice to a new, anxious stay-at-home mom. They sounded like women who are self-confident, ok to make and learn from mistakes, who love museums and traveling and getting out, who love the challenge of mothering and love the opportunity to see their babies grow.

They made it sound great to me! I've begun to appreciate the beauty of hanging out with and caring for this little person, getting to know her/him so deeply, and just enjoying life and all its transitions.

I think my journey during pregnancy-- that is, what I've got to learn more about-- is about accepting motherhood as a path about which I know very little now and will have to learn about "on the job." A path with its own deep challenges and rewards that are not recognized by society. (But I can enjoy them nonetheless-- and it's huge that my husband is the most encouraging, respectful and loving partner ever.)

I think because society doesn't recognize the challenges and rewards, I assumed that there aren't any. Despite my advocacy and passion for Safe Motherhood, I didn't really believe that motherhood itself could be *that* special-- after all, millions of women do it. But I am joyfully discovering that I was wrong, and I can't wait to open my mind more everyday to the possibilities for richer living that motherhood generously provides.