It was the President’s birthday yesterday. I’m finding it odd to have a President younger than my mother. It’s even more odd to realize that one day, I’ll have a President younger than I am.

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Well, today I turn 34.  People keep asking me if I’m worried about being a 30-something.  I actually tend to forget how old I am at any given moment.  I often have to do math during the year when people ask me.  I just don’t see myself as defined by my age.  I am younger than 34 in many ways.  I am older than 34 in many ways.  I have achieved less than some 34 year olds and achieved way more than many others.  So maybe 34 or whatever age I am is just the right age for me.

I plan to be just the right age forever.  I will have my ridiculously long hair, I will have my young-esque face, with the little gap between my teeth.  I just really want to be able to lose some weight so I can fit into leather pants.

One of my birthday presents is a kindle, so if you own one, let me know what I should do with it to reach its full potential.  If you don’t have one, I’ll do my best to review the product as I work with it.

I have to say that I am blessed.  The problems I have could mainly be fixed with money, which makes them generally uninteresting in the larger scheme.  The other problems keep life interesting, at least.

I am blessed to have the friends that I do.  My bookgroup threw me a lovely birthday party last Thursday and presented me with cookware, something I’ll be needing soon.  They also presented me with great food and laughter and love.

Another friend emailed me this week to try to help me run away from home (something I feel like I need to do for a little while).  I haven’t seen this friend in months.  Even though we have declared our friendship, we have not had the chance to hang out on our own.  She asked me about things–we have friends between us.  I think about how my friends talk about me.  It’s not gossip.  My friends love me, so they pass along news and concerns and it’s nice to be reminded that their friendship extends beyond the time that they’re with me.   And this friend, this wonderful woman and I will finally be able to have lunch this week.

Happy Birthday to me!

The Governator has cut ALL funding to battered women’s shelters. He’s also cut aid to family programs which primarily serve women and children in need.

Now I know that some women are the batterers and that some men are single fathers, but I’m going to address this call to men.

Men: We have one of the largest economies in the world. It is your patriotic duty to pay your child support and to quit hitting your wives and children. I realize that the economic crunch is difficult for you, making it harder to pay your bills, including child support. And I know that when the economy is hitting you in the balls, you are more likely to prove to the world that you can hit back by picking on the women around you.

The Republican idea is that we can take these funds away and thus encourage the women using these services to stop needing these services. They’ll just stay with you instead of fleeing for their lives. They’ll somehow find jobs when no one can (and when they don’t have child care).

Someone said once that you can’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps unless you have boots. Men, you not only can provide those boots, but you should provide those boots.

If you’re one of the good guys reading this, remember that it’s your job to protect the least of us in society. People don’t often uphold morality unless there’s a social imperative. Good guys–encourage those other guys (and I know you know them) to straighten up. Pulling the money won’t make these problems go away; it will exacerbate them. It’s up to each of us to do what we can.

And what we can do is to make wife beating completely unacceptable. What we can do is to look at fathers who’ve left their children without income with the same disdain we give to the women who have stayed, who are trying, who are loving, who are “single mothers.”

Deadbeat dads get to pass in our society. If they don’t tell people they’ve abandoned their children, no one knows. It’s time to know.

is here: http://www.matchflick.com/column/1996

Apparently, the cats look forward to me opening the door.  They’ve all learned to jump the back fence, although not all of them have learned to jump back in (which would be great, since the cat door opens to the back).  Methinks the cats like to trap themselves out front so I have to play the doorman again.

I’m looking forward to the following:

1. having a break from teaching.  As much as I love teaching (and I really, really do), it’s a difficult job to do non-stop, so I need to recharge a bit.

2. being on track with the book.  Denise and I are going gangbusters & now that I have a teaching break, the writing will go faster.

3. perhaps holing up in a cave/condo/cabin somewhere with a laptop to write said book.

4. Margaret Atwood’s new novel, The Year of the Flood, which comes out September 22nd.

5. The Simpsons, Season 12 on DVD, dropping on the 18th.  The boy, who is 16 today, is going to buy it for me for my birthday.

In order: I saw Niagara Falls at night, which is when they light the water with lasers. There were people of all colors and water of slightly more colors. Purple water and red water is lovely, but yellow water is a bad idea.

The falls are amazing, though the city around them is overgrown and the sound of the falls isn’t as loud as you anticipate. Do they inspire awe? Yes.

Did I think about SUPERMAN II the whole damn time? Sure did.

Eddie Izzard is going to run 1100 miles over the next few weeks for charity. Better him than me.

I’ve been flying a lot recently & I actually saw an airline worker go off on a disgruntled passenger. In other words, she yelled back after he started in on her. I can’t say I blame her. I don’t think I could do that job. And each time I was in an area of a delay, there was some guy or another yelling. One man in particular was screaming that the airline shouldn’t have sold him a ticket if the flight wasn’t going to go on time. When the staff tried to explain weather, he (with the most comically downturned lips I had ever seen) said that the weather wasn’t the point, but that in his business, he can’t sell something blah blah blah. Have these people never flown before?

The Matthew Shepard Act has passed. I’m of two minds about it. On the one hand, I want protection for those people who are attacked because of hate. On the other, it’s weird to persecute people because of the thoughts they had when hurting someone.

Of course, if we could count on people and police to protect people who were being attacked because of their nationality, race, sexuality, etc., we could all rest a bit better, but in too many places, people turn away from what their society and beliefs make abject.

At least all those senators who said the Matthew Shepard story was a “hoax” and who indicated that all homosexuals are pedophiles were voted down. In fact, can’t we get them for hate speech now?

In other news, I saw a new edition of ORYX AND CRAKE that indicated that it was the first in the MADADAM TRILOGY. So I guess we’re about to get something new going on in AFTER THE FLOOD, which comes out in September. Margaret Atwood fans, get ready!

My dear friend David, after being incommunicado for quite some time:

You’re more important to me than my behavior indicates.

I just love that. I want to preemptively say that to everyone I know or will ever know.

Especially those whom I know during difficult times. Of course, you can always try Ken’s approach to dealing with me. I tell him what I’m worried about. “Would you like a glass of wine?” It’s about two in the afternoon and I’m working. “Would you like a beer?”

I’ve been behind on my blogging–all of my writing energy is going into the book (as of this week, finally).

So let’s play I never . . .

I have never enjoyed snow.

I have never read anything by Agatha Cristie.

I have never eaten veal.

I have never enjoyed shoe shopping.

I have never been Governor of Alaska and then left the post my constituents trusted me to because I didn’t want to be a lame duck, all the while wanting to be President, even though that’s a job where I would be a lame duck at the end.

And now, the flipside:

I have given a lightsaber as a birthday present to an adult.

I have been in every open to the public room of the British Museum.

I have smiled every time I see a Finnish flag sticket on a car.

I have enough unread books in my house to keep me reading for a while, but I keep buying more.

I have actually disliked relatively few students, but oh, those few.