Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Moon PSA for my husband

Ok- recently in my favorite magazine, Sunset, there was an article about biodynamic methods of farming as applied on vineyards. Who doesn't love the romantic as well as practical, eco-friendly aspects of biodynamic farming?

It was all great until I got to the section on how they time certain activities on the vineyard depending on whether the moon is full or "new." This article actually said that "[a] full moon is a great levitating force" and that it lifts the tides. And that "when the moon goes dark and Earth's gravity holds complete sway, the sediment in barrels stays put during racking."

Oh. My. GOD. PEOPLE!!! When you close your eyes, things don't disappear! When the moon "goes dark," it does NOT ACTUALLY SHRINK. It only looks like that because of how the sun's light hits it. It is ACTUALLY STILL THERE, still exerting the SAME gravitational pull on Earth and everything on Earth with the same force.

Get this straight-- the tides happen four times a day and have nothing to do with what phase the moon is in. The tides occur due to gravitational interaction between the moon, Earth and sun and are observable only because the ocean is relatively enormous. You cannot observe tidal effects in yourself or in grapevines-- gravity is such a weak force, you can only observe Earth's gravitational effects on you. If you figure out how to observe the gravitational effects of other heavenly bodies, you better get on the horn to the Nobel folks STAT, because you're up next year.

Please tell everyone you know. My husband is going crazy with crap like this in widely read publications.

Like in Yoga Journal magazine. Where they made similar claims-- that in Ashtanga yoga, there's a theory that you shouldn't practice yoga during the extremes of the moon's phases because "different" gravitational pulls would throw you off. Now I am open minded, but not to crap!!! It's as bad as saying the world is flat. It is THAT BAD.

Sorry for kind of ranting here, but with the constant misunderstandings of something as beautiful as gravity (ok, so I'm married to a physicist!), I had to use my little public space for good not evil.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

pure nerd

For your quiz-taking pleasure:







Pure Nerd
65 % Nerd, 8% Geek, 8% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!


Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST







My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
















free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on nerdiness





free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on geekosity





free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on dork points
Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Thursday, October 12, 2006

kind strangers and fertility

Walking around my neighborhood lately, I've felt even more happy than usual. Random strangers smile at me. The librarian (Mr. Charming Smile) told me he hopes I have the baby this weekend because that's his birthday too, and that he'll be thinking of me. How friendly is that- how wonderful is that?! Another guy said that I carry the pregnancy very well and that I looked adorable. Just as he was walking down the street and I was walking up it.

I wish that random strangers would be this kind and friendly to each other when one of them isn't obviously pregnant.

I went to my moms' group today and it was wonderful, again, to be with a group of moms and their new babies in a relaxed setting. We were just in someone's living room, they were nursing and playing with the babies, we were chatting, having snacks... it felt lovely, slow, convivial. Babies cried, were held, slept, nursed. I look at these women and know that no matter how much naysayers want me to believe them (why is it that the most negative people NEED me to validate their experience and NEED my experience to be as horrid as they perceive theirs to be), that I will have this support group and I also have inner resources, vastly.

Also, there's also 800-4-A-CHILD if I feel like I'm going through serious postpartum and the baby's in danger.

But man. I feel like if I'm complaining about something, it's going to be at that PPD-call-the-hotline-stat point. Because after knowing the issues others go through just trying to get pregnant or just waiting for their adopted or foster kid's paperwork to go through-- well, I just will not complain.

I am grateful. That's my mantra. I am grateful. I am grateful.

***************

I remember that when I was doing doula work and some pregnancy education, one client asked if I was a mom, because it seemed like I had kids. And I remember being really flattered that she thought that (especially since I was nineteen at the time and far from thinking of having kids). I felt good about being able to connect with people. And especially with these pregnant women, because they were low-income and mostly really young and without partners.

But along the way, somehow I got the message that it wasn't special to be a mom. I'm thinking that a lot (like maybe 90%) of that comes straight from my parents' relationship, and the way my father treats my mother. Which is, disrespectfully.

I've said before that pregnancy has given me gifts that I never, ever could have imagined. Gifts of emotional growth and insight that are so precious to me, that strengthen me and reveal to me truths about who I am. Here is one truth- despite the way my father treats my mother, despite the way American culture treats parents (and elderly people), there is another way. The truth is that motherhood is an amazing gift and that I am ready to do it.

************

Which leads me to yet another thing I love about my husband. He's a physicist, which means he's also got the creativity of a poet. His imagination is limitless. He's really a phenomenal thinker, and more emotionally aware than anyone I've ever known. And his approach to parenthood is like that of a Buddhist-- with a friendly curiosity. Without fear.

Which is how I'm approaching labor and delivery. :)

And I must add that the awesome women in the moms' group told me not to forget that contractions are only a minute long-- and that no one told them that it can be downright euphoric in between contractions. Ah, the full story is so much better than people's bits-and-pieces.

I'm not saying it won't be challenging-- labor and delivery AND motherhood. I'm just saying I want to approach it with curiosity, with grace, with patience, with a great love.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

more on Moms Rising, and- Houston, we have a NAME!

I'm getting excited to meet this little one. I've loved being pregnant, which I know isn't how it always is. So I'm really grateful for my mellow, healthy experience. It's been amazing already-- I feel like pregnancy has taught me a lifetime's worth of lessons in 37 (going on 38) short weeks. I can look back and see how my views and emotions around motherhood have changed-- how my views of *myself* have changed. I've become a lot more happy to be who I am, not longing for who I want to be in a few years. Ironically, in relaxing into that, I'm finding that opportunities have been emerging in great ways.

For example, I've been working with Joan Blades to volunteer for her new organization, MomsRising. I told her what I think about the concepts of Safe Motherhood and my interest in one day supporting mothers in conflict areas. So exciting to get to join this organization on the ground floor- I think it's going to do great things. Just last week, she and Kristin (co-writer of the Motherhood Manifesto were in Washington DC, presenting the film version of the book to Sens. Obama, Clinton, Dodd, and others. Not just their staffers, but the Senators themselves. Very exciting to have the ear of Congress for such an important and truly wide-ranging topic.

Oh yeah- we have a girl name picked out!! We have two boy names chosen, but could NOT find a girl name we both loved. But we've finally come up with one, and it's not Mink Blister (our late-night fits-of-laughter choice). It's FANTASTIC. Not trendy, not overly popular, but not unrecognizable or difficult to say or spell, and with a great nickname. It's pretty, strong, clean, versatile. I can't wait to share it (and pics of the new one)! Less than a month now!