Be afraid...

Not of Halloween. With less than 60 days until primary elections begin, I find myself troubled and scared. I should find it hopeful and educational. I should be able to vote for the best candidate that I feel is worthy of being the big 'P'. I've been told I cannot vote out of fear and yet in my very short voting life, I have already done so. Its no secret I'm a pretty liberal person, married to a more liberal dude (I can say that we live in California). I'm not ashamed I voted for Nader, but I wish I could vote for the Green Party more often without being afraid that it would cause another ugly election like in 2000. Something is definitely still messed up with our system. How about this quote from a blog on the NYT
'Mr. Obama is lagging far behind Mrs. Clinton in the polls because he still hasn’t positioned himself as a unique candidate, reports Scott Helman of the Boston Globe.
“It’s Wal-Mart and Kmart - they’re occupying the same space,” said Benjamin Ginsberg, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.'
I don't want Kmart and I certainly don't want Wal Mart in charge of cleanup for the next 4 years. So here it is, attack me now if you need to. I'm voting for Edwards, not out of fear, but out of hope. And I hope I can do the same when it comes to next November.

Halloween Hound

Happy Halloween! Here is a picture of Lulu from last Saturday. I hope to have one of Weezy (friend's dog) and maybe even one of us after tomorrow night. Until then, enjoy Lulu-bug. (Not a piece of watermelon)

Sister Weekend 2

Sunday we caught a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf where we took a great little tour of the bay. We caught a bus back through China town and then did a little shopping before heading back to Davis.

Sister weekend

Sheila flew in on Friday and we had dinner with friends and went Contra dancing with more friends. It was quiet the experience, here is part of the group resting. The next morning we headed to Santa Cruz, saw the butterflies and the boardwalk, had lunch and then headed to the city to catch the sunset from Telegraph Hill and drive down Lombard - which also meant I had to drive poor Teddi up some of the steepest hills.

Fuming all night...

Last night I logged in and saw that some one named 'anonymous' had posted to my blog. This happens occasionally. I don't usually post controversial topics so I don't usually get negative feedback. I didn't even mean to post something controversial with my environmental day blog. However, it seems to have gotten someone rather worked up and I am not sure why. Then I posted in retaliation, but I am still thinking about it. I am very confused as to why this person was upset. I didn't tell them what they could or could not do. I believe that recycling is the easiest thing we can do and there really is no excuse not to do it. I didn't tell anyone what to do on their property, I didn't tell anyone to become a vegan, or give up any modern conveniences. And calling me a fascist, that is interesting. Call me a socialist, an environmentalist, but a fascist? So let me be controversial now. I believe health care is a human right. I believe women have the right to choose. I believe in free speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. I believe church and state have two completely different roles in our life. I believe in taxes. I believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. I believe men and women should be regarded as equals - equal pay, equal rights, equal abilities. I believe global warming is happening. I believe if you are an industrial polluter or a Hummer owner, you should be taxed for it. I believe we all need help now and then. I believe every action has a reaction. I believe in prayer. I believe we can make a difference. So if you want to attack me, get to know me first and please have the guts to post who you are. Comments will have to be approved by me and can not be anonymous. And if you don't know my fellow bloggers attached to this page, leave them out of this. Now, I suppose you can tell me that I told you what to do. If you still can't figure out that we all benefit from living a little bit 'greener' life, then I am sorry. You are no longer hurting yourself but those around you in the long term. I believe if we don't start changing the ways we use energy and consume goods, that there will be a problem in the near future. So why wait until we are forced to recycle and conserve, why pay the higher prices for fuel and products made with petroleum bases, why wait until garbage dumps are located inside city limits, why wait until all children have asthma, why not start now. For those of us that can afford to do so, should.
On another note, my sister comes to visit this weekend so I hope the picture posting problem is fixed soon!

Fall!

It rained today, but here are pictures from the last couple of weeks of our 'fall' weather.

Lulu and Mani after the soccer game. Mani likes to steal the frisbee! The beginning of my fall garden.

National Environmental Blog Day

I believe I still have a couple hours left to leave you with my thoughts on the environment. Don't abuse it. Respect it. Recycling is probably my biggest pet peeve, or I should say the lack of it and the misuse of it. It is so easy to do and yet either people can't figure it out, or aren't willing. No, your used paper towel is trash, but your box from the crackers you just chewed with your mouth open, is recyclable. No, you don't put recyclables in a trash sack and then in the recycle bin. Yes, your Starbucks cup, lid, and jacket are recyclable, but hey why not take your own cup or at least reuse the jacket?

Let's talk about School

It is fall after all, so let's talk about school. I hope to have pictures of fall in Northern California soon, but in the meantime, check out this article about statistics of the PhD. Graduate Student Article

I'm Okay with it, I guess

I failed a test. I think there is only a 5% chance that one passes everything the first time, so it was bound to happen with one of these tricky tests. I now have to wait 6 months from when I took it, to take it again. It is a little bit of a bummer, but what can I do. I was marginal in only one of the seven areas and I don't know whether to feel good about that or be even more frustrated for being so close.
I took another one yesterday also. I fell good about 70% of it so let's hope that is enough to pass. If not, then March 6 and April 1 will both be retesting time. I hope to take test 8 on October 19 and number nine in November. Thanks again to everyone for pushing me forward and cheering me on!