botany, shoes, books, and justice
These shoes are so sturdy and practical looking, but so lovely and bossy at the same time. And the little bit of lacing makes them much more interesting. Perfect for with a sweater and jeans, which is pretty much all I wear in the winter. Maybe I could ride my bike in these…
Zimbabwe: from a model of success to abandoned hospitals and rampant disease. This is what happens when leaders squander money.
Don’t forget to call in “gay” on Dec 10.
You know those reports of horrific treatment of Palestineans by Isreal? Now it’s on video.
Have you read The Arabian Nights? I remember finding an old copy in my school library in elementary school. The stories are wonderful!
Antarctic sea life (with awesome pictures).
Really really hot Dresden Dolls singer told she’s “too fat” by her label.
Awesome review of Milk with some incredible insights:
This is the paradox of gay existence that is often the source of so much misunderstanding. The outside world sometimes puts us in a box of cultural otherness – “San Francisco values” – while we are also, simultaneously, as integrated into normality as any heterosexual. Because we are your kids. We grew up in your homes. We can never be totally other when we are also totally mainstream.
My new favorite blog series: An Evil God?
Crowds, Wal-Mart and Black Friday.
Religion makes people so stupid and cruel.
Blogging, migraines, and “sick-lit.”
she wrote about how her head pain that day made her cancel yet another plan she had been looking forward to — this time a cooking class with her husband at Whole Foods. It was hardly a tragedy, she admitted. But it did add to the cumulative frustration of years of missed plans. After all, such minor cancellations remind you of the bigger things you are missing. “Headaches steal so much of your life,” she had written in another entry. “The list is long, but includes jobs, relationships, having children, self-respect, ambition and identity.”
Companies finally catch on that doing business in China SUCKS.
It’s been far too long since I’ve blogged about shoes. I haven’t stopped spending precious sleep time perusing zappos, however. I’ve got a gazillion boots in my favorites, and have been recently inspired by my freaking HERO Dr. Isis to start back up with the shoe blogging. Reading Sublimefemme also gets me thinking about shoes and other things that make me feel wonderfully femme.
Besides, it’s finals week. Like I have anything better to do!
So, to make your Saturday morning that much better, Brook, by Via Spiga:
I bet I could even walk to class in these, though I don’t imagine I’ll ever be able to afford shoes like this as a student. Or maybe even with a real job. How much do ecologists get paid again?
My migraines are triggered primarily by pressure changes, especially pressure drops. So things like a change in elevation, flying, and weather changes are terrible for me. I’m living in a place much drier than I used to, and my migraines are much better – several a month as opposed to one almost all day every day. But they’ve been getting worse lately. Maybe being stressed is triggering more. Maybe my body has adapted to this climate and is getting migraines with ever smaller pressure changes. Whatever the reason, I’ve decided to start treating my migraines again.
I would like to go to a neurologist, but there is no way I can afford that right now. And since my insurance doesn’t cover prescription drugs, it’s unlikely I’d be able to afford any medication a neurologist prescribed either.
I’m going to try a drug available without a prescription called Petadolex. It’s manufactured by a German pharmaceutical company and is subject to strict regulations. Petadolex is an extract of butterbur, has extremely rare and very mild side effects, is relatively affordable, and most importantly, has been shown to reduce migraine frequency.
I’ve started keeping a headache diary again and will start taking Petadolex in the next couple weeks. I’ll give it 2 or 3 months. Keep your fingers crossed, or better yet, donate to the college fund using the paypal donate button in the sidebar. Petadolex is inexpensive by migraine medication standards, but will still cost me about $75/month.
While much of the news has focused on foreigners in Mumbai, Indians have borne the brunt of the attacks.
SublimeFemme weighs in on the gay-marriage issue – I agree with her:
But why should anyone have to be married in order to have access to a basic human right like health care? I would like to see queers participating in a larger conversation about economic benefits and justice for all–one that recognizes the diversity of families, partnerships and households rather than requires people to conform to the traditional nuclear family (which is no longer a norm for most Americans, anyway). Furthermore, for marriage equality to be inclusive of intersex, genderqueer and transgender people, marriage rights cannot be contingent on narrow definitions of sex, which the “same-sex marriage” movement has largely failed to interrogate.
Pharyngula points out yet another example of “real” Christian behavior:
After contacting the ACLU and filing a lawsuit, Bell and McCord became the subjects of hatred and even violence. Bell’s house was burned down by a firebomb. McCord’s 12-year-old son’s prize goats were slashed and mutilated with a knife. Bell was assaulted by a school cafeteria worker who smashed her head repeatedly against a car door. (School authorities praised the cafeteria worker, and she was forced to pay a $10 fine and Bell’s hospital bills, community residents raised donations on the assailant’s behalf.) McCord and Bell were both mailed their own obituaries.
The bailout is really, really, really, really, really, really, really expensive.
Arkansas may have made it illegal for queers to adopt and foster children, but Florida has just overturned such a ban.