beagle!

[click photo for website]

My parents keep telling me about the cute little beagle puppy that their backyard neighbors just got, so I had to do a google search to find one of my own. Isn't he the cutest little thing you've ever seen? Look at those smooshable cheekies and those floppy, velvety ears!

peace and love,

m

spring has sprung

What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Not only is it 3 days away from work, it's absolutely gorgeous outside; perfect spring weather. I was a little bored and cranky yesterday, but that all changed after a stroll down by the lake. Tux loves this weather too, for the sole fact that all the little birdies are flitting about. In fact, he was just stalking a pigeon that landed on the walk! His ears went up, he stretched up as tall as he could, silly thing! I think he would have a great time outside, but I'll never get him past the front door, even with the promise of treats...or birdies.

peace and love,

m

BP cares?

From the fake BP PR twitter account, these great shirts. The proceeds go to the non-profit Gulf Restoration Network, which will, I'm sure, do a lot more than BP is doing to recover our precious coast and wetlands.

peace and love,

m

you know you...

...have been working in the OR too long when you bump the cookie tray on the counter when you're taking it out of the oven, and think, "Shit, I just contaminated it!"

peace and love,

m

awkward

I don't know if there is anything quite as awkward as hearing reporters old enough to be my grandparents talk about "sexting."

peace and love,

m

catch up

I've been neglecting personal blogging as of late, so here is a hodgepodge of happenings.

• Friday was my Pawpaw's official last day of work. He also gave the BHHS commencement address [I think I got my mammoth dislike of public speaking from him]. The man is now retired and free to do whatever he wants...okay, free to do whatever is on the honey-do list ;)
• Saturday was my parents' 34th wedding anniversary! Hawaii for the big 3-5? I don't know, that requires getting on a plane, and the Pawpaw is not a fan.
• Tux has spring fever. He knocked a lamp over on Wednesday and has been quite naughty as of late--trying to climb screens, sitting on tables, and mrow-ing.
• Work is...trying. I struggle every single day with the fact that people come to work and expect others to do their job for them. I struggle with the lack of team players, the lack of unit cohesiveness, and the me-first attitude of so many. We are there to take care of the patients, not our own selfish needs. If you see something that needs to be done, do it! Don't wait for someone else to come along and tell him/her to do it. No one is "above" anything...and my license trumps your nothing, so deal.
• I am so excited for the upcoming nuptials of both my dear friend Teresa and my amazing cousin Danielle [Lindsey too, but we've got a bit of time before that one]. I'm honored to have been asked to stand up in Teresa's and to read in Dani's. <--Yes, I can deal with public speaking in this sense :)
• Girls' Weekend 3.0 is a go, with hotel reservations in WI Dells made, and Chicks in the City 2010 is also a go, with vacation time granted! That's good, as I was planning on calling in sick every day from NYC if I didn't get it!!

peace and love,

m

Chanel Larkin

Why is this murder in my Milwaukee not getting the attention it deserves? Oh wait...because Chanel was a MTF [male to female]. A black MTF. A black MTF murdered during an exchange of sex for money. A blatant hate crime...and the victim is a person who has been marginalized to the extreme by society.

Had Chanel been a straight, white female, this murder would be splashed across the front page and all over the airwaves. I'm willing to bet my left foot on that. Instead, the coverage has been limited to 2 paltry paragraphs on 2 news websites.

I just don't understand. It's murder. It's the wanton taking of life. And because Chanel didn't fit society's standard of a "proper victim," her murder is relegated to the back pages.

peace and love,

m

BP > US government?

From Crooks and Liars, this story on the oil spill in the Gulf. A few observations:

1. The Coast Guard, a branch of the US military, is "looking into" British Petroleum's rule that journalists* cannot tour and film the damage that their catastrophic oil rig explosion is causing to the Gulf States?
2. Journalists* = the Kelly reporter and Katie Couric, really? You're not even going to question the Coast Guard official telling your reporter that it's "BP's rules," and that it certainly looks like a foreign oil company is telling the US government what to do?
3. The Coast Guard, again, a branch of the US military, is withholding live video of the explosion and resulting oil spill from its beginning from Congress and the public. Lemme guess...BP's calling the shots again!
4. Poor, poor sea turtles and dolphins. And who knows what else, with the oil plumes underwater, tar balls washing up in Florida, and the well still spilling millions of gallons of oil into our fragile ecosystem.

amos lee

peace and love,

m

interesting developments...

Who says you can't meet straight men at a gay bar :)

peace and love,

m

seriously?

What.

the.

effffffff??

Now, I know I'm not one to write about fashion...I mean, I wear scrubs over 40 hours a week, and prefer comfy jeans and t-shirts to couture. However, I can still tell you that wrapping the slipcover from Sarah Palin's college sofa around your waist and accessorizing with what appears to be a leopard print gauze curtain, a denim purse, sandals from Payless, and a seriously bad hair dye job is not fashionable!!

peace and love,

m

do i look illegal?

In our history, we've been through this before: singling people out and discriminating against them because of their skin color. We had a civil war over it. We interned people over it. We created second-class people because of it. They've been Europeans, Asians, Africans, and now, Latinos.

Haven't we learned our lesson yet? I guess not, because we keep repeating our mistake, and we keep dividing ourselves over something as minor as a person's perceived skin color.

Humanity is not based on color, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, or gender. Humanity is being human, and loving and accepting each other as we are. When you look at the big picture of things, we share many more similarities than differences. Isn't it time we started focusing on the big picture, working together to make this world a better place? Our conflicts are seeded in our refusal to acknowledge and accept the differences among us, and trying to force one point of view over another--think about it.

• Nazis and just about everyone else.
• Israelis and Palestinians.
• Al Qaeda and the western world.
• The Taliban and Afghanistan.
• Southern border states and Latinos.
• Mississippi and gay teens.
• The Christian Right and secularists.

I guess I just have one question. Do I look illegal?

peace and love,

m