Something’s Gotta Change!

Filed Under All Posts, Group Posts, Melissa Howden, Politics | 12 Comments

Did you hear the one about the Justice Department attorney Leslie Hagen who was not re-hired in her position because she was rumored to be a lesbian?

Under the ever-so-questionable leadership of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it seems his senior counsel, Monica Goodling, took it upon herself, after hearing the rumor of lesbianism, to remove Ms. Hagen from her position. This action was taken despite the fact that Ms. Hagen had consistently performed at the highest levels with the notation “Outstanding” on every category of her performance review.

“The problem it was suggested during the conversation was sexual orientation or what was rumored to be Hagen’s sexual orientation.” —Ari Shapiro, NPR

Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”—in the U.S. Justice Department no less! Or how about this, being gay is not a crime. Read more

Baby got Back!

Filed Under All Posts, Group Posts, Humor, Prudence Baird | 15 Comments

After almost two decades of being so thin that I could pull my size 4 pants down to my ankles without unzipping the fly, I finally have some junk in my trunk.

Believe it or not, that’s change I can live with.

For years, I’ve felt like the oddball when girlfriends discussed the inevitable weight gain that seems to come with age. I pretended to by sympathetic, cocking my head, clucking at all the right moments. Not that I was unsympathetic, but while they were worried about morphing into Mama Cass, my fear was I was withering into Margaret Hamilton, whose bony wrists I found almost as frightening as the Flying Monkeys she commanded.

And sympathy is only a one-way street when it comes to weight. I learned this the hard way when a girlfriend once snapped at me, “What would you know about it? You’re probably always thinking, ‘At least I’m the thinnest person in the room.’”

Not really. I’m usually thinking, “I’m the most wrinkled woman in the room.” Read more

Ch-Ch-Changes

Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Group Posts, Politics | 10 Comments

The day after the election I left my house in an elated state; filled with hope and joy and possibility.  Visiting business after business passing out fliers and gathering support for our local domestic violence agency, Mountain Crisis Services, I was feeling empowered and basking in that “Yes, We Can” glow, when I saw a bumper sticker that read, “I’ll keep my guns, bible, and my money—You can keep the ‘change.’”  Why, thank you knuckledragger, I think I will.

Already our new, young, biracial, intellectual, forward-thinking, forward-looking president has closed that bastion of shame, the Guantanamo detention center; has banned secret CIA prisons overseas and pledged to fight terrorism “in a manner that is consistent with our values and out ideals;” banned TORTURE and is moving to restore our precious, unique country to its promise.  Remember, America promised the world that no matter what your background, no matter how humble or disorganized, that if you worked hard and participated in this system, that you, your children and your grandchildren, could live a better life, and you could rise as high as your dreams could lift you.  My heart tells me that we are again, back on the path to showing the world that we keep our promises. Read more

Winds of Change

Filed Under All Posts, Cathy Fischer, Environment, Group Posts | 5 Comments

When we decided to write about change, I didn’t realize how omnipresent it was. It’s everywhere. Change pricks up my ears and engages my senses.

The artist Andy Goldsworthy comes to mind. I recently re-watched his documentary Rivers and Tides to inspire my chemo flow visualizations. His creations are often ephemeral; captured in time, mostly by photographs or film. His work consists of painstaking ice sculptures that melt away; bursts of colored rock powders that disappear into thin air; leaves held together by fragile twigs which flow down a river, shaped by the rocks, shaped by the river, shaped by the rain.

The weather is warm in California. It’s February and the trees are confused. Magnolias are blooming and my pedicure is seeing the light of day. Biologists document the disappearance of a butterfly in the Bay Area.

I’m seeing change in my urban life as well. Read more

The More Things Change…

Filed Under All Posts, Christie Healey, Group Posts | 5 Comments

 

The more things change, the more things stay the same.  My mother could muster an old saw for every occasion and this was one of her favourites. I have probably inherited a little of this annoying trait.  Change has been in the air and in everyone’s mind a lot lately and this phrase (and my mother’s voice) has been running through my mind constantly.

Do things really appear to change and then end up staying the same?   Well, if one is intent upon only creating the appearance of change, then my mother’s comment will have a certain truth to it.  I waited years for my late husband to change (being late was one of the things I waited for him to change).  Then I woke up one day and realized it was me who had to change.  So I did.  I changed my attitude, the locks on the doors and my marital state.  Things were not the same afterwards. 

Women go through “the change.” Men do too, but we haven’t been able to make them feel comfortable enough to openly discuss it yet.   Read more

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