My Weird Day

Yet another secret obsession

Ok I know I have a lot of secret obsessions, but it’s time to confess another one:

Photo via

I mean, just LOOKING at him calms me down. The bushy brows, the piercing eyes, the crazy moustache-less beard, the super duper thin upper lip, the GIANT ears, that weird mole…all of it combines to create an image of a man with whom I would feel comfortable running this country.

Still.

I mean, clearly he’d have to be debriefed on a few things. Imagine:

me: Ok, so, Abe. There are a few things you need to learn about the last 150 years.

Abe: *eyes my jeans* Hmm. Oh?

me: Yup. For example, it’s totally cool for me to be wearing these jeans now. Everyone does it.

Abe: They aren’t entirely becoming of a lady.

me: Well, I’m not a lady, per se. You know what they say, a lady on the street, but a freak in the bed?

Abe: Wait, what?

me: Nevermind. Moving on. Ok, so other things that have happened include women voting…

Abe: Voting? Really?

me: Yup. We’re a pretty powerful bunch. Girl power and all that.

Abe: Girl power?

me: Remind me to introduce you to the Spice Girls.

Abe: ……

me: We also work.

Abe: Work? Where?

me: Oh, anywhere.

Abe: Well, surely not in Congress. Or the White House! *chorttle*

me: Well, you’re right about the White House *scowl*, but we’ve got some chicas in Congress. And a biracial man in the White House!

Abe: Is he related to Frederick Douglass?

me: ……..no.

Abe: Hmm.

me: Either way, we’ve come a long way. Gay couples can get married.

Abe: Most couples who get married are gay, I would imagine….my wedding would’ve been an exception.

me: Yeah, sorry about that. Mary was…..difficult, huh? But I mean homosexual couples.

Abe: Homosexuals?

me: Yup. Remember your “roommate”?

Abe: *blushes* Oh. *cough cough*

me: It’s cool, Abe. You guys could totally get down now.

Abe: ………..so, how would one get in touch with a long-lost acquaintance these days….?

That is not, of course, to say that Lincoln was definitely gay, but come on, it was a hilarious conversation.

Anyway, I think there is a tendency to canonize Lincoln. He was a truly wonderful man, clearly, but I also love his foibles. For most of his political career, and well into his presidency, he thought the best way to deal with the “race issue” was to colonize black Americans. Meaning send ‘em back to Africa. Or Haiti. Then he met with good ol’ Freddy D, and he seems to have changed his mind. I will let you know when I’m finished reading Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. This is part of my non-fiction kick (I’ve read, like 5 non-fiction books in a row. This is a record for the ol’ Jackie).

In D.C., I was again in awe of the Lincoln Memorial. Despite the marked disrespect of my fellow tourists, I was able to have a moment to myself, to stare at the man. He was underappreciated in his own time, and as I mentioned earlier, I think that he is placed on a pedastal in our own time, but he truly was a wonderful man. His compassion was very real. He ultimately did fight for black Union soldiers, and even female Civil War soldiers. He put up with his crazy wife, the loss of two sons, and educated himself on the Bible and Shakespeare. Plus he was really tall. I like tall guys. Oh, and have you ever seen this?

Look at his HAIR!

I.

LOVE.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIM.

That’s HILARIOUS. I can see why Mary Lincoln was driven to distraction about her self-made husband, because a president should really comb his hair, but you can’t help but admire a man who a.) had a daugerreotype taken with uncombed hair and b.) then went on to be elected president during what is arguably the most contentious time of our nation’s history. That takes cajones, man.

Anyway, the Lincoln Memorial is truly an emotional experience. You feel as though you’re in the presence of greatness. You feel the President is there with you. Even surrounded by loudly chatting people (insert beligerent growl here), you can escape into your own space and reflect upon what a loss for our country when Lincoln was assassinated. How would the country be different today if he had served his second term in full? Would we be in a better place?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again….why do they get all the good ones?

Secret obsession: CONFESSED. And continuing.

Dear DC: I love you.

Anyone who has been to Washington DC knows that there are SO many things to see that it could take years to see everything that one wants to see. That being said, Emily and I saw A LOT in our week in DC. So, in order to NOT bore you to tears (not that THAT is possible, considering how witty and entertaining I am, if I DO say so myself), may I present my favorites (in chronological order) from the District of Columbia, fulfilling taxation without representation since 1791.

1. Arlington National Cemetary (specifically the Kennedy grave sights)

Ok, admittedly, my family is full of Kennedy fans.

Deal with it.

And I mayyyyyyyyy have started BAWLING MY EYES OUT before I even got to the point depicted above. Sure, Jack Kennedy was assassinated almost 20 years before I was born, but I’m a sensitive lady. I cry EVERY TIME I see footage of the assassination and news coverage of his death. I’m a sap, I realize.

As I said to Emily, “Why did they get all the good ones??” JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy…even going back to Lincoln? Then losers like Ronald Reagan escape assassination attempts with their lives! What the deuce?!

The older I’ve gotten, the more attached I feel to Bobby. First of all, I’ve always loved his grave site. Right next to, and in marked contrast to his older brother’s, it’s so perfect for him. He, unfortunately, grew up in the shadow of his brothers, and still lies in his shadow. But it suits him. Understated, elegant, eloquent. Smiling at his grave site doesn’t feel quite right…I was so happy to be there, and honored, but sobriety and grief are still very present, over 40 years later.

Then there’s this:

Robert E. Lee’s home (which you can see in the picture of Bobby’s grave site) was on the grounds of the cemetary before it became a cemetary, so it is part of what you can see when you visit. It was, of course, under construction while we were there, but you get the picture…elegance, lovely view, the general loved it, etc.

2. Irreverance in the bread line at the FDR Memorial

This is entirely inappropriate, I realize, but also hilarious. This was one moment of levity in the middle of serious contemplation of the President’s legacy.

This, especially, hit home to me. This pre-dated the racial civil rights movement, as well as the gay rights movement…a man ahead of his time, that Franky.

3. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech spot

Does it GET more amazing?

4. My life in the Smithsonian

My family had this same camera when I was growing up. How old am I???

5. It’s Lincoln’s hat!!

I realize that I’m a dork, but I was SO EXCITED to see Lincoln’s hat; he was wearing this the night he was shot. Poor dear man.

6. This is just hilarious

7. Library of Congress special exhibits

This isn’t my actual favorite part of the Library of Congress, but we weren’t allowed to take photos (curses!!) of my favorite parts, which were exhibits of Thomas Jefferson’s Library and The Last Full Measure, which is a collection of Civil War daugerreotypes…and, can I just say? Dudes were equally as hot back in the diz-zay, and I almost broke down in tears that they were dead, and have been for about 100 years. Reincarnate yourselves, boys!!!

Also cool: in the Last Full Measure exhibit, among the photographs, was a piece of lace, and a note accompanying it explaining that it was taken from the hand of a dead rebel following a battle. This, of course, ignited the romantic in me…who was the “dead rebel”? Did his wife hand-make the lace? Was he a rich guy? Was it his secret lovah? I want to know MORE. But I can’t. Because, once again, the guy is dead.

Damn you, the progression of time!!

8. Folger Shakespeare Library

I promise I’m not scratching my crotch here.

Anyway, if ya knows me, ya knows I heart the Bard. So clearly the Folger is a must-see for the ol’ Jackie.

This is what happened when we walked in:

guard: Hi, ladies. How are you today?

me: HI! Excited!!

guard: *confusion*

Emily: She’s a Shakespeare geek.

guard: Oh! Then SHE’S the lady you want to speak to (pointing to a very frail-looking lady leading a small group of people).

me: *leaves, in hot pursuit of frail-looking lady, who turned out to be named Martha*

This also happened:

me: *takes out camera to photograph First Folio*

Emily: You’re going to get in trrrrrrrrrroublllllllllle.

me: No, I’m not.

*victory dance*

So the Folger Shakespeare Library has a bunch of stuff besides Shakespeare-related work. But I didn’t give a shit about it. Show me one of your 83 First Folios, Folger, and I’ll be a happy Jackie.

I also mayyyyyyyyy have spent, like, $50 there. BUT it was worth it to express my undying Shakespeare love in a t-shirt that itemizes my very strong feelings about who wrote the Shakespearean canon (hint: it was William Shakespeare).

What was the most exciting thing, honestly, was seeing the First Folio. I’ve held another copy of it in the Rare Books Room at the Boston Public Library, and even have an awesome photo of me holding it, so it was very cool to have seen TWO of these quite rare books. Especially since the First Folio is the reason we have so much of Shakespeare today (ask me sometime…I’ll tell you allllllllllllllllllllllllll about it).

9. National Portrait Gallery

In a turn of events very unlike me, I didn’t photograph a lot in the National Portrait Gallery. I was truly overwhelmed by the art in front of me, so I just enjoyed walking quietly around and gazing at dozens of portraits that we’ve all seen dozens of times. And the originals were RIGHT in front of me, like Pocahontas, John Singleton Copley, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and of course the Presidential portraits.

Given my above reaction to the Kennedy grave site, it should come as no surprise that I loved the above portrait, painted by Elaine de Kooning in 1963. She painted 23 portraits of him in less than a year, and after his assassination stopped painting for a full year. THAT is dedication to one’s president, people.

I just adore this portrait. I’m going to search high and low for a print. Ready, set….go!

10. Bruins win the Stanley Cup

And we watched game 7 with this guy:

Total hottie, right?

Also remarkable: we’ve known one another for TEN YEARS.

11. More JFK

Ok, so I may have a slight obsession, BUT, in my defense, this was over the course of a much more extended time frame, AND his was glorious.

Look how large this bust is!!! Can I take it home?!

Emily and I both marvelled at its size, and stated that we had been expecting a much more wee-sized JFK head. How wrong we were. And I, for one, was oh-so-pleased.

12. Lincoln Memorial

We went to the Lincoln Memorial twice, once during the day, and once at night. We were quite shocked at how LOUD everyone was being in the memorial. I know that I, for one, am in awe of the monument. I am in awe of the president, and I want to sit and reflect.

Apparently, I am one of the few.

We hoped that it would be a bit quieter at night, which it was, marginally so. I don’t get it; LOOK at the man!!

Again: why do they get the good ones??

13. I took this photo. I know, I know. Genius.

This is the World War II Memorial. It is actually really perfect for the War, because it is an oval of the states and territories that participated in the war, surrounding larger sections for the Pacific and Atlantic arenas, all around this fountain. It’s just so…peaceful and reflective of the war. It’s very symbolic. Le sigh.

14. Visiting Barry.

It’s cool. The President and I are on a first name basis. NBD.

Last time I was in DC, Clinton was president, and I was a far less socially aware individual. All I REALLY knew was that my parents were Democrats. Now I KNOW why I’m a Democrat, and am proud of being a bleeding heart.

Very cool to get super-close to the White House and see the wee men hopping about on the roof (you can’t really see them here, but trust me….they were there…with large weapons….*eep!*)

Sadly didn’t have the opportunity to tour the White House, but still being in such close proximity where all Presidents after George Washington have lived.

(And I mayyyyyyy have been quite pleased that I was NOT there during the last administration…..O:) )

15. Ford’s Theater

They have the ACTUAL SUIT Lincoln was wearing when he was SHOT. How UNREAL. There was actually a very thorough and informative exhibit leading up to this highlight, which included:

The GUN John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Lincoln, so chosen because of its wee proportions, which allowed it to be easily hidden.

Unreal.

Quite the collection, really. Very inspiring.

Sadly, the original theater was refurbished into an office building at one point, so when this was turned BACK into a theater, they rebuilt it as it would’ve looked in 1865, so this is NOT the actual box in which Lincoln was shot. But you get the idea.

We used the audio tour, which I would HIGHLY recommend if you were to go to Ford’s Theater. You could definitely self-guide, but it seems much more informative and interesting when you have both the audio and the plaques to read.

Poor ol’ Honest Abe.

16. Mount Vernon

Taaaa-daaaaa!

Ok, so I don’t feel a particular affinity with George Washington. I’m much more of a Lincoln sort of girl. And Kennedy, as you well know, by now.

BUT.

Mount Vernon?

GORGEOUS.

Imagine this view every day?!

Also? What I took away from my visit to Mount Vernon 16 or 17 years ago was the memory of the green formal dining room and also the ha-ha wall:

HA!! This picture is fucking hilarious. Go ahead. Laugh your arse off.

What is a ha-ha wall?

Well, as I so beautifully illustrate above, it is a wall used to keep livestock out of a particular section of land, and also for irrigation purposes. But it is called a ha-ha wall because people would stumble off the wall because it isn’t visible from far away (see photo of Emily’s disembodied head).

So people would laugh. Ha ha. Get it?

On top of G. Dub’s house, we ALSO saw his teeth. Sadly, not wooden.

That’s everything we saw in DC, because right after Mount Vernon, we headed up to Gettysburg, about which I will write later.

You’re pumped, I know.

You’ve been waiting on tenterhooks…

…I’m SURE, to hear all about the DC trip.

Well, it’s your lucky day, readlings.

So I’m going to start with the main purpose of the trip: the 5th Annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day.

It was actually a two day fandango, and day one involved this:

As you know, I adore beautiful food presentation. And when the food also looks delicious, it makes my life even better. I think I took two pictures on training day, and that was one of them. Clearly I was focused.

Training day was actually really productive. The most important thing that they continued to emphasize was our individual stories. Obviously that’s the heart of the issue, and the most powerful reason for which our Congressmen and women should sponsor the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act.

What was really great is how so much was clarified what we were doing there and how we were to do it.

What the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act does is to instruct the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to create a plan for pancreatic cancer research. It doesn’t tell NCI how to do it, but it tells them to do it. As was said over and over to us, you can’t have a business without a business plan…this would be NCI’s business plan for researching pancreatic cancer.

I know I’ve said it before, but pancreatic cancer is the only of the 5 major cancers that is still in the single digits survival rate, and that it only gets 2% of federal funding for cancer research. The PCR&EA asks for $169 million for the first year, and supplies for similar funding (depending on the wording in the Senate bill or the House bill) for the next two years. Imagine! Researchers follow the money, and with that amount of federal money (not to mention private grants), the research for pancreatic cancer would be increased exponentially.

And that’s what we need.

*stepping off soapbox*

Ready for the sob story of training day?

There were actually a number of kids present, and they got their own little training session, in which they drew pictures to give to the Congressmen and women as a way to help them become involved in what is really a very adult process.

In the course of a role-playing scenario, one of our trainers brought up a little 7 year old girl from Iowa, who had a picture of her dad “parachuting.”

“Senator”: Does your daddy like to go parachuting?

Girl: Yes.

“Senator”: Do you do that with him? How do you know he likes to do this?

Girl: My mommy told me.

“Senator”: Where’s your daddy now?

Girl: Heaven.

“Senator”: Why is he in heaven?

Girl:……….pancreatic cancer.

*SOB!!*

There seriously was not a dry eye in the house.

That was one of the great things. All 550 people (550!!! EVERY STATE was represented for the first time this year) had been through this. We all understood what it means to have a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

These were the awesome people I got to spend the second day with. Please note Senator Kerry’s photo wall! Eeee!

Advocacy Day was amazing in a lot of ways, and frustrating in others. It made me feel heard and powerful and like an actual participant in the legislative process that affects all of us, but there is also a certain amount of juggling…playing the game of politics, being unable to say, “Listen, I know your boss [the Congressman/woman] is an idiot, but if you don’t do what we say, we’re going to go ahead and alert everyone we know to NOT vote for him/her when we get home. And elections are looming, in case you were unaware…”

Can’t say that, apparently.

So I didn’t. Instead I said, “This will create jobs in our state. This will save lives. This will prevent many other families from having to go through what my family has gone through. THIS WILL SAVE LIVES.”

So far we’ve had some great results from Advocacy Day. As of yesterday, 26 Senators and 126 Representatives have co-sponsored the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act. We need more though. So, if I could impose?

Here is how you can help. Call or write to your Senators and Representatives. Ask them to co-sponsor this bill. If you know me, or you know my family, you know how much this disease can affect someone, and how it can grapple outwards and attack not only the patient but the patient’s friends and family.

Maybe I said it more eloquently here, but you get the point. Speaking up is vital. Congress really does listen. And we are obligated as citizens to be active participants, and demand what we need; the only hope for a cure (or improved survival) of deadly cancers like pancreatic cancer is that we demand research.  

And to quote the great Harvey Milk, “You gotta give ‘em hope!”

Advocate!

Tomorrow’s the big day…my aunt Emily and I are headed down to Washington D.C. to meet with members of Congress to request that they pass the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act. We’ll be training with 600 people from ALL OVER the country on Monday, and then on Tuesday we’ll head to Capitol Hill to meet with our respective Congressmen and women to ask that they support this incredibly important bill.

I know I’ve soapboxed about this before, so I don’t mean to be redundant, but I feel very strongly about this issue. To repeat some statistics:

• Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of any major cancer. 75 percent of patients diagnosed die within the first year of diagnosis, and only 6 percent will survive more than five years.
• It is the most under-funded, under-recognized and least-studied of all major cancer killers with only two percent of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) annual budget dedicated to pancreatic cancer research. 
• the number of new pancreatic cancer cases and the number of deaths caused by the disease are both increasing at a time when many other cancers are seeing a decline in both figures.  In fact, the expected number of new pancreatic cancer cases is projected to increase by 55% between the years 2010 and 2030.

Of course, Emily and I are also having a D.C. adventure (Smithsonian! Monuments! Memorials! The White House! DC Cupcakes!) while we’re down there, and are incredibly fortunate to be staying with family (thank you, Melissa!!), so it won’t be all business, but I’m definitely focusing on Tuesday. I can’t wait to post pictures and blog all about it.

I’m so excited to be proactive and a participant in our government’s system. I’m going to OWN CAPITOL HILL!!

The Lunatics



Rules of Summer

This is a total copycat post.

If you haven’t checked out Cupcakes and Cashmere, you should. If you’re like me, and prefer photos and blurbs as opposed to long-winded posts (oddly….considering how lengthy most of mine are….whoooooops).

Anyshit, Emily created what is, in essence, a bucket list for the summer (before the summer dies, not Emily).

So Jackie shall do the same!

1. Re-upholster my kitchen chairs (GOODBYE avacado green leather, HELLO red gingham!)

Photo via

2. Lose 15 lbs.

3. Do a few long swims at the beach.

4. Get and spend time in a hammock.

Photo via

5. Go to a Sea Dogs game…they’re the future of the Red Sox!!

6. Repurpose this dress because it is kind of visually boring (except for the color), and the shoulders always slip down. (Yes, I was dancing in a ridiculous fashion. You love it.)

7. Visit Provincetown. I know. It’s HORRIBLE that I’ve never been.

8. Learn how to make a martini.

9. Make use of my patio on weekend mornings, armed with a book and Starbucks chai.

10. Ride on a motorcycle (*coughRTD!cough*)

Weekly Observations

To brighten up the Mondays, some very high quality photographs:

1. My little brother graduated from high school and was very huggy about it.

Photo via

2. It’s cool to get emails that say they’re from the President of the United States.

3. My little sister went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and brought me back Dumbledore’s wand. I cried tears of joy. I HAVE THE ELDER WAND, BITCHES.

4. This happened last week, but my Matey and I met this little lady on the walk to the train…….it wouldn’t be so weird if I lived in a rural area, but, ya know, it’s a city.

“It’s my job….”

So my current job is with a health insurance. It was “that job” that so many recent college graduates take just so they can earn money while they figure things out. I’ve been here 5 years…through my post-undergrad break, through grad school, and through the post-grad school economic slump.

I am grateful for so many things about my job…primarily that I HAVE a job (when so many people don’t), but also that I have really great benefits, I am able to pay for (most of) my life (rent, bills, fun, etc.). So that’s great.

What I don’t like about my job, of course, is what it is.

It goes against every fiber of my being.

The last few months have been particularly frustrating. I’ve been searching for a teaching job (or, frankly, ANY job), but because of a. lack of teaching experience and b. economic difficulties which lead to cuts in the education system (DON’T get me started on THAT!), I haven’t gotten a job yet. And the process in and of itself is incredibly frustrating.

This is pretty much how I feel about the job search/application process.

My boss and coworkers have been very supportive of me from the beginning. I know how lucky I am in that capacity, as well. My frustration with my job has very little to do with the people with whom I work, and moreso the job.

If you’re not doing what you KNOW you’re supposed to be doing, it feels like you’re a failure. It’s confining, saddening and disheartening.

My boss said to me, “You’re done. I know you’re done. I understand that.”

She’s so right it’s scary.

Now, I also hate feeling as though I need to DEFEND my job. I was recently, in essence, called a “motherfucker” because I work in the health insurance industry. And this wasn’t by a member of the health plan. It was by someone I have known MY ENTIRE LIFE. That’s pretty fucked, right? This is what I’m dealing with, people.

Anyway, that doesn’t change that I know this job isn’t my CAREER.

Today and yesterday have been particularly difficult for me.

There is so much about the health insurance process that is confusing and debilitating for people who do not deal with it every day. And the problem is exacerbated by issues of miscommunication.

I have had no less that FIVE issues which I have brought to the attention of higher-ups in my office for which I have had to deny coverage for people. In the last 24 hours. FIVE ISSUES IN 24 HOURS. This is an exceptionally high number, and the fact that I have interacted with every single one of them is like the universe reminding me to get my rear in gear and get out of here.

The health plan on which I work is excellent in many ways…services which are actually covered are quite exceptional, and the coverage itself is usually very good. However, when members don’t know HOW the health plan works, it can be quite restrictive, and if they make a mistake in using the plan, they can be screwed. Big time.

Oh dear.

What is worse, is that two of the issues that came up yesterday were quite possibly because of an error made on the part of the the health plan. But because their is no documentation proving the case of the members, the health plan is not covering this.

The problem I have with THIS is that the higher-ups are refusing to accept the possibility that someone mucked up and that the members are both lying.

I’m sorry, but I refuse to live my life under assumption that people always lie. X and I had a number of conversations regarding my supposed naivete. And maybe it is naive to a certain extent. But I would rather suppose the best in people, and believe that most people are not going to lie.

Yes, there is a lot of money on the line in some of these scenarios (in others, not so much), but I know in my heart of hearts that these people aren’t lying.

Why is it more possible that two members are lying about conversations they had with someone at the health plan, than someone (or someones) messed up and gave incorrect information? I understand loyalty to a certain extent, but COME ON.

So while I appreciate my job and my coworkers on many levels, I hate that it goes against the grain of everything in which I believe, and that in many, many circumstances (as the last two days have shown), I am not helping people in any feasible way. Yes, there are days on which I DO help people, and when I can do something along those lines, it certainly is gratifying (That’s right, bitches!! Screw The Man!!!).

But days like this, when I have to call a new dad and tell him that he has to pay $1400 for his wife’s IUD because people don’t believe that he’s telling the truth about being given incorrect information…..I want to cut out my intestines.

Image via

Now, who wants to gimme a job molding young minds???

Plan Swoop In: Full Swing!

I have this not even remotely secret obsession with one Jason Varitek, who is (for those of you who are a. not from Boston, b. not Red Sox fans, c. not baseball fans, or d. live under a rock) the catcher/captain for the Red Sox.

Look right at me, lover. Look into my eyes….

This is really an obsession.

Por ejemplo?

Picture it: Boston, 2004.

The Red Sox had a rolling rally to celebrate their World Series win, and Sarah and I travelled down from school in Maine for the event. I came fully prepared for the event with a poster that said “I <3 VARITEK”. This elicited responses from the team and administrators of the team as they rolled by, including “I love him, too!” and “He loves you, too!” (I knew it!!!!)

Oooo, I like that stretch…

Unfortunately for you, this was before Jackie had moved into the digital age and didn’t have a digital camera at the time, so you will not be able to see the sign, BUT part of the exciting events of the day included Sarah and I dashing off from outside the Four Seasons to alongside the Longfellow Bridge on the Banks of the River Charles to see the boys again. While Jason had been on the WRONG SIDE OF THE DUCK BOAT (I got a picture of his leg dangling as he sat on the front of the duck boat), the boys were compelled to be on my side of the river.

So there I stood, GIANT poster in hand as his duck boat puttered along towards me. It was within hearing range. At this point, I began jumping up and down with the sign, screaming, “JASON!! JASON!! JAAAAAAAAAASSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”

I mayyyyyy have slightly resembled this moment when I was jumping up and down on the Banks of the River Charles…photo cred to Glenn!

He had his daughter on his shoulders.

He waved at me.

He looked slightly scared.

But I didn’t care. Sarah turned to me and said, “HE WAVED TO YOU!” I think we both nearly died.

Clearly this has been a long-standing affair.

Yes, I have a Varitek t-shirt AND jersey…what of it?

Anyway, I recently found out he’s engaged….clearly horrifying on many levels.

My solution to this problem, as always, is action.

My plan, you ask?

Remember “My Best Friend’s Wedding”?

Ok, the plan is:

1. Make my way over to Fenway and beguile him with my charm and become besties with him, stat.

2. Because of best friend status, be in the wedding party.

3. Pull a Julia Roberts

Photo via

4. Be more successful and more ruthless than Julia was.

5. Run away to Vegas and be married immediately.

I was obviously fully aware of my love for Jason prior to today, but I realized that when I watched this video that I MUST marry a man who can make my heart go pitter-patter when he flashes those baby blues in a hilariously exasperated fashion and gently, magically manipulates a keyboard. Le sigh.

Ok, so my point is: who’s gonna help me? Go, fans, go!!

Some days….

…are like literature. Themes just tie together in one day.

Last night, I ordered a sub (and had it delivered…from the place around the corner…clearly my “health living” is NOT going as well as planned, but that’s another story…), and it (along with a side of small mozzarella sticks) came to $11 and some change. When the delivery person arrived, I gave him a $20 and he said, “How much would you like back?” I said, “Eh, just $5 is fine.” He looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you very much.”

Ok, I appreciate the thanks, but seriously, what kind of world do we live in when a $3 plus some change tip elicit a very sincere thanks from a delivery fella? I was on the verge of saying, ”Just keep it all” because he clearly needs it more than I do. Ugh.

Earlier in the day, I had had one of my extensive political debates on the Faceplace with a person whose political views diverge on almost every level from my own. It turned, as it always inevitably does, to the “handouts” the government gives to “people who sit on their asses.” I, obviously, take exception to this. I explained my perspective that “United we stand, divided we fall” doesn’t apply exclusively to terrorist attacks, but as a nation, we will fall if we don’t take care of our poorest, those who are less fortunate than we are.

This person’s response?

“I’m not fortunate.”

Me, being the definition of fortunate, at my supwise birfday party.

I nearly blew a gasket.

How can anyone with a roof over his/her head, a job, food on his/her table, access to a vehicle, ability to pay for child care, etc. etc. NOT consider him/herself fortunate?!

There are people in this world, in this COUNTRY, who can’t afford these very basics.

This person’s definition of fortunate, apparently, was that to be considered thus, one must: own a home, own a car without car payments, and not have to pay for child care because one parent can stay home.

When I see that there are children who live in trash heaps, who dig through them every day looking for food, who make their homes out of scraps that other people consider trash; when I see that there are elderly people who have to choose between paying for medication and paying for heat; when I see that drug addicts who want help in recovery can’t get it because rehab facilities won’t accept them without insurance; when I see the vicious self-perpetuating cycle of homelessness and joblessness; when I see any sign of those who ARE LESS FORTUNATE THAN MYSELF, I become irrate thinking that there are those out there who don’t see how incredibly fortunate they are.

People make choices, and need the accept responsibility for their choices. If you don’t have a lot of money, you need to look at how you spend it. I KNOW that I don’t have a lot of money because I go to Starbucks wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much, among other reasons. I’m not blaming the government for it. It’s called BUDGET, people.

And what makes me even more irrate is to hear that someone who has all of these things to be grateful for say s/he is not fortunate. How horrible. So horrible that it’s almost to be pitied. Almost.

So when I see the difference between the delivery person’s thanks and the lack of gratitude, I glow from the inside. Because I know what it means to be grateful for what I have.

Even if I don’t have a lot.

Damn you, Starbucks, for your amazing chais.