What Jenno Saw...

This post is written by my sister, Jenno. She had the fortunate (or unfortunate -- your call) opportunity to watch The Today Show this morning...

We were snowed in this morning so I had the chance to drink my coffee in front of The Today Show while my diligent husband plowed the driveway. I haven't seen The Today Show in quite a while, but my memory of it is of a fairly 'newsworthy' show with some fluffy 'feel good' pieces thrown in there... apparently my memory did not serve me today.

This morning Meredeth Vieira did a piece on Obama vs. 50cent: Who will be this generations icon? I was confused... was Obama a rapper and I'd been living under a rock? Was 50cent running for government and this was his 'coming out'? What was the point of this comparison? The more I listened the more I realized how ridiculous this piece was. We are comparing these two high powered men simply because they are both African American. Oh, and because 50cent is misunderstood- can't leave that point out. It lead me to wonder all sorts of things- How did the show decide on Mr. Cent? Does Obama know he's being compared to a gansta? Will these to unite to collaborate on 50's next album? Really the piece lead me to one solid conclusion... I'm not missing anything in the morning news.

Good God Gross!

My friend Annie sent me this story today from the United Kingdom's The Sun. It's the grossest thing I've read in a while and therefore, ripe to share!

Huang Yijun, a 92-year-old woman from Huangjiaotan, China, went into a hospital looking for a cure for her stomach aches. Doctors found that the cause of her pain wasn’t her stomach, but her womb.

In 1948, Huang discovered that her unborn child had died. Unable to afford the medical fees, Huang decided not to remove the fetus: "It was a huge sum at the time - more than the whole family earned in several years so I did nothing and ignored it." 60 years later, doctors are amazed at how little the body has decayed, and how well Huang has fared.

The thought of keeping a decaying fetus in my womb for 60 years makes me dry heave. I honestly can't believe this woman is still alive.

Cold Weather Stories

It's bitter out. There is no other word to describe it. But if you think it's bad where you live, think about those who live in Alaska.

My sister and I like to read Scribbit: A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska by Michelle Mitchell. Her recent blog, "A Regret," particularly touched my heart. How many of us have been in the same situation? I have.

Take a moment to read it. It may remind you how lucky you are.

A Poetry Break

Today a book called to me from my shelf. It was a book I bought and haven't read yet. Amazing! It's a book of essays by one of my favorite poets, Mark Strand. As soon as I started reading the first essay I realized why Strand appealed to me so much -- he uses the absolute correct amount of words. Not too many (like Joyce Carol Oats) or too few (like e.e. cummings). Perfect.

Here is an example. One of my favorite poems of all time:

Keeping Things Whole

In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.

When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body's been.

We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

See? There are no words that don't belong there. This is very hard to do...especially in creative writing. I try hard in my own writing to pare it down to only what is necessary to tell the story. I'm not nearly as good at is as Strand is, but I can strive to be better. I could wax poetic (no pun intended) on Strand for a good hour but I'll spare you. If you head to the library or bookstore and check out one of his books (I suggest Reasons for Moving or a book of his selected poems) you'll see for yourself what I mean.

To learn more about this amazing Canadian poet go here.

What Mimi Saw

Stop motion video is amazing! Smashing Magazine has a good description of the super cool video art style:

It works by shooting a single frame of an object, then moving the object slightly, and then shooting another frame. When the film runs continuously in a film projector, or other video playback system, the illusion of fluid motion is created and the objects appear to move by themselves. This is similar to the animation of cartoons, but using real objects instead of drawings.

The mag also has 50 stop motion videos for you to watch. Here is one of my favorites...



For all 50 go here.

Strep throat = lots of reading time

I have had a nasty sore throat and glands so swollen it hurt to turn my head these past few days. Stuck inside with some boy movies (300, Iron Man, and Shaun of the Dead courtesy of my friend B), a bottle of Ginger Ale, and my dog Miles, I had lots of time on my hands.

After spending all day Tuesday sleeping so that I wouldn't have to feel the scorching pain of swallowing, I took turns watching movies and finishing my book, What Happened to Anna K. Even if you haven't read Anna Karenina I dare you to not enjoy this book. You don't even have to know the original Tolstoy story to appreciate Irina Reyn's version. I swear.

I grew to admire Anna K., and then my pity for her grew more and more throughout the book as her self-worth was measured by the man she was with. She gets more desperate as the book goes on and eventually kills herself. You'll have to read the book to find out how.

Done with the Russian book I decided to peel my autographed copy of Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter off my shelf and re-read it. I love Tan's books but I must say that since they practically all deal with the relationship between a Chinese mother and her Chinese-American daughter it's easy to get the story lines mixed up. And because this book is autographed it has extra special meaning. I attended a reading by Tan in Boston when this book came out and it's something I'll never forget. Even though I am not Chinese, have never been to China, never been to San Francisco, and have a very normal and healthy relationship with my mother, I fall in love with Amy Tan's stories so easily.

Tan's first book, The Joy Luck Club is a great first read for anyone new to Amy Tan. It's also a movie but the book is way better.

Use your friends!

The holidays are over and my bank account is feeling empty. Sigh. And I still need a watch even after asking Santa for one. (Actually, I got a watch for my birthday but the leather strap was too big so my mother re-gifted it to my sister for Christmas).

My friend Nicole is writing a five part series on her blog, Breaking Even, Inc., on how your friends can save you money.

I've decided to do a five part mini-series about how friends can help friends for free. On the surface, it's a common sense series of posts but a concept I think a lot of us need to be reminded of, especially single folks who have families far away like myself. My point: we need to rely on each other now more than ever!

My friend Annie and I are planning a fun clothing swap between local gals this spring. The concept? Bring a bunch of your gently worn clothes and shoes to Annie's house and swap them for other stuff. I already have a pile going of clothes that don't fit me anymore or that I'm just sick of looking at. Sure I could bring them to Goodwill but why not give my friends first dibs?

Check out Nicole's blog for some great ideas on personal finance.