It’s the day for weird stuff. Enter your url to see how good or evil your website is. I find the use of Wiccan and Christian symbolism to denote evil and good to be offensive, but it’s a cool concept.

Looks like I’m going to have to try harder to be evil.

Interesting note: it comes up with different results every time. Something tells me there’s randomness at work here.

Update on the interesting note: I scrolled to the bottom of the page and took a look at how it’s figuring the response. Mine was changing because of comments added between the time I first checked it and when I looked again later.

Found via Digg.

I’m definitely media over-exposed. Take the Logo Quiz and see how many advertising logos you recognize.

Found via Digg.

Last night I went to the Cathedral of St. John The Evangelist to hear Meredith play with the Pacific Lutheran University Orchestra on tour. St. John’s is a wonderful old Gothic cathedral, made of hewn stone, 3 stories high open to the top, with a labyrinth in one of the alcoves. They played one movement of Mahler’s 5th Symphony and Debussey’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, two of my favorite pieces. St. John’s is a gorgeous venue, but has nightmare acoustics. Luckily I got there early enough to get a good listening spot.

Best of all, I got to take her out to lunch at Cyrus O’Leary’s when they first arrived in town. This was the last stop on their tour and they’re returning to Tacoma today, assuming the road crews get the avalanche in Snoqualmie Pass cleared. Just what a mother needs to worry about–road hazards. I’ll feel better when she calls to say she’s safely back at the dorm.

Illinois is leading the nation in the battle for access to emergency contraception. To meet this need, the state has passed a rule stating that pharmacies that sell federally approved contraceptives must fill prescriptions for emergency birth control “without delay” if they have the medication in stock.

However, the rule is at odds with the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which allows pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions which conflict with their moral code.

In the meantime, Walgreens has instituted a written pledge to fill contraceptive prescriptions which Illinois pharmacists must sign to keep their jobs. Four pharmacists have taken exception to the pledge and refused to sign it, and are suing the company after being suspended indefinitely without pay. The employees are being represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, a public-interest group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson.

The outcome of this case could be a watershed event for both sides of the debate. I’ll be watching it closely to see if a woman’s right to legal drugs will be crushed by moralistic, paternal druggists who feel they have the right to overrule a physician’s decision. At issue is not just emergency contraception, but all forms of contraception.

I can remember the days even in the early 80s when condoms and spermicidal diaphram creams were kept behind the counter in drug stores. It was up to the pharmacist to decide whether to allow a person to purchase them, and denial was not uncommon. At my pharmacy, one elderly man was notorious for repeating the request in a loud voice guaranteed to be overheard by other customers, and keeping women waiting for long periods of time while he waited on other customers. In short order, half my small town knew who was “doing it” and what form of birth control they chose to use. I don’t remember any cases of men being similarly harassed.

When I was in college, my close friends and I would go to the pharmacy together to fill our birth control pills to avoid such initimidation. But still we would wait to go to the counter until the drug store was empty.

That kind of interference must end. Kudos to Illinois and Walgreens for standing up for the rights of women.

See the full story in the Seattle PI.

Perfect for Sunday dinner or company.

Burgundy Pot Roast

olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 bunch green onions, chopped, including greens
1/2 large head of garlic, crushed
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
chuck roast, 2-3 lbs. (fancier, leaner cuts don’t work as well)
1/2 large head of garlic, separated into buds
salt & pepper
2 cups Burgundy

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a dutch oven, put in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Saute on low heat onions, crushed garlic, rosemary and thyme. Add additional olive oil if needed, then add mushrooms and saute until soft.

Cuts slits in roast and insert buds of garlic in various places in the roast. Rub with salt and pepper. Set heat to high. Sear meat in the pan, browning both sides. Add Burgundy, letting cook 2 minutes to release alcohol.

Cover with lid and place in oven for 1.5 - 2 hours. The wine will make a rich gravy. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Slice and serve topped with gravy and mushrooms.

For leftovers, combine meat and gravy in a ziplock bag and freeze. To reheat, cut small slits in the top side of bag to vent and microwave.

I see fat girls…. Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re fat.

From azcentral.com:

Many girls think it’s normal to be fat

A new study on girls’ attitudes toward weight and body image suggests anti-obesity programs focused solely on proper diet and exercise may not work for girls whose health goals come down to one thing: “appearing normal.”

Placing a higher premium on emotional health than on body weight, 88 percent of 11- to 17-year-old girls say feeling good about yourself is better than how you look, according to a Girl Scout Research Institute survey of 2,060 girls released Wednesday.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

With the number of obese American children reaching 9 million, the study, “The New Normal? What Girls Say about Healthy Living,” suggests girls in some instances consider being overweight to be normal. The survey found 45 percent of overweight girls didn’t realize they were overweight.

Oh now I see–this is supposed to be bad news.

The fact that 88% of girls in the study value their self-esteem more than the numbers on their scales is a sure sign that their priorities are skewed. They might be walking around feeling good about themselves even if they’re fat. We need to set those girls straight. How about if we mandate weigh-ins at schools with pass/fail signs hung around their necks to let them know if they conform to the standard or not? The study notes that Hispanic and African-American girls, though they have the highest incidence of overweight, are the happiest with their bodies. We can’t let that go on.

I sincerely doubt that half of all fat girls are unaware of their status as fat girls. Society and peers provide plenty of feedback on what is an acceptable body.

I’d love to know how this on-line survey deduced who was overweight. Did they make height and weight a requisite for taking the survey? How do they make those judgments about who is overweight? Also, no mention is made of how many girls believe themselves to be fat when they’re not. Given the numbers of teenagers (and others) afflicted with eating disorders, this would be a critical data point.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I stood 5′2″ and weighed 126 lbs. That was 20 lbs overweight, according to the chart my gym teacher quoted. Never mind that I could leg press 200 lbs. and wore a size 9–I was overweight and needed to diet immediately.

Until that required weigh-in in gym class, I’d never given my weight much thought. I liked my body because it performed well; I could run for miles, play 3 hours of pickup hoops and climb a tree with the best of them. If there was any part of me I didn’t like, it was my large breasts. From puberty on, I bound them with a large ace bandage to keep them out of the way while I played ball. But suddenly, a body that worked well wasn’t good enough. I felt like an imposter because I hadn’t obsessed about it before. I needed to be thinner to be pretty, to be acceptable. Maybe that’s why boys weren’t interested in me. Being smart and athletic wasn’t enough. The charts and the gym teacher said I was fat, so I must be.

I look back at those picture now and I want to cry. I see someone healthy and strong, with thighs to do Tina Turner proud. But I thought I was fat and beat myself up over it, the shame eventually leading to a real weight problem.

Now the Girl Scouts of America are concerned that fat girls might not know they’re fat. Or worse, they might like themselves anyway.

It makes me sad and it makes me angry. What’s so wrong with accepting ourselves as we are? A deep love and respect for our bodies is the first step toward healthier living at any weight.

“Now I lay me down to sleep ….”

If I were able to reinvent myself at mid-life, I’d be an archaeologist. The distant and not so distant past fascinates me in a way that I wish I’d discovered when I was younger. Not that it would have been any more practical than studying music, but I wish I’d had the option. Ancient bones and buried artifacts whisper to me of common people whose existance was unknown until a dig discovered them. In exposing the layers, archaeologists uncover history.

So I indulge my passion with a subscription to Archaeology Magazine, the official publication of the Archaeological Institute of America. When it comes I drop what I’m doing and read the bimonthly magazine cover to cover. I stay current on what’s going on where and when in the field. I highly recommend it.

But you don’t need a subscription to take advantage of some of the features on the AIA website. One of my favorite sections is Interactive Digs. From there you can read diaries of archaeologists on interesting digs around the world. You can explore in words and pictures the reconstruction of George Washington’s Distillery, examine the Find Of The Week in Sagalassos, Turkey or read about the search for shipwrecks in the Black Sea. Perhaps you’d like to visit Petra. That option is there, too.

The website also features selected articles from current and past issues, like Back to Cyrene, a series of articles on the current state of archaeology in Libya.

For me, it’s the next best thing to being there.

On a related note see this article from BBC News: Time changes modern human’s face. Researchers have found that the shape of the human skull has changed significantly over the past 650 years. (Found via Digg.)

I’ve always had a fascination with aftermath. What happens after history types The End on tragedy? How do those involved pick up the scattered pieces of their lives and go on living in a world they no longer recognize? It interests me so much that the second novel I wrote was set in Lawrence, KS, not during but after the infamous Quantrill’s Raid and the end of the Civil War. How did the people of this town cope after the targeted murders of 150 men?

So it’s only logical that I’ve wondered what happens today after the yellow tape comes down, after the crime scene investigators and police have vacated a crime scene. I wanted to know how a family can return to a house bathed in blood after the suicide or murder of a loved one.

Thanks to the Seattle PI, I now know. Relatives or landlords hire a company who specializes in cleaning up after the crime. Businesses like the one run by Richard and Alicia Fleming of Seattle, WA don hazardous waste suits, gloves and ventilator masks to remove blood and other body fluids as well as odors from floors, walls and furniture. They also specialize in cleaning up the backs of police cars for a flat $50 fee.

Other companies are qualified to clean up after methamphetamine lab busts, allowing landlords to re-rent property. This dangerous duty requires special training with a 40 hour course.

It’s a dirty job, but thank goodness there are those who do it. Companies like this allow survivors to return home and get on with the rest of their lives.

Specialists can be found in the yellow pages under Crime Scene Cleaning.

Sherry Chandler has a great piece today called Wanton Destruction? Incompetence? about the high price the cultural history and archaeology of Iraq has suffered in the war. The loss didn’t stop with the looting of museums during the early days of the war; it continues in the paving over of dig sites to provide parking space for military vehicles. Once destroyed, they can never be restored.

Go read the entire piece and grieve with me for the things we now will never know.