Sparks and Butterflies

So, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is something that I do not understand. I really and truly don’t.

The deadline for nominations were a mere two weeks after his presidency started.

To date, while he’s had lots of meetings, nothing has been accomplished. I’m not saying it won’t be – but it hasn’t happened yet.

An imperfect analogy: It’s like a freshman going into high school… The incoming freshman has signed up for all the right AP classes, all the right curriculars, has had numerous meetings about his plans with parents, teachers and counselors. And then halfway through his freshman year, he’s named Valedictorian. It just doesn’t work.

Apparently Hope and Change without bearing the fruits can get you an international Peace Prize. What’s interesting to me is that the actual wording of the announcement uses those buzzwords. This opens up the award to all of us “common man!” They’re passing out awards just for thinking and potentially acting on great things! In addition, I’m afraid that this might diminish the contributions of those who went before him and actually accomplished what they won for.

I do not understand the obsession with this man.

Dear U.S. Government,

I would like to provide my services to you to post the proposed health care bill on the internet.

I’ve thought about it, and I am, indeed, prepared in my home office for such an undertaking. I would need about 3 days and a babysitter. And maybe lots of coffee. You would also have to supply the bandwidth, as I’m sorry – my blog can’t take that kind of traffic. Please let me know if you’d like a contract. You’ll find my hourly rate to be very reasonable.

No?

You were just afraid to tell me that I’m too stupid to read it? And you might want to sneak some stuff in there? And you don’t even really want the members voting on it to see it, much less the little peabrained cattle like me?

Oh, I see. It’s ok, I understand. I’ll compensate you with my own voting record.

School has started. This is where I get 10 months of daytime solitude. You know… When Poe gets a job that is.

School started two days late due to the Station Fire. The air quality around our little town is much better today – although this morning the smoke smell was still rich. But the sky is blue. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen blue.

So far the fire is 150,000+ acres. The perimeter is 50 miles. About the size of Chicago. As of 9am this morning we were at 42% containment. They expect containment by 9/15. It is the largest Los Angeles County or Angeles National Forest fire ever in their histories. It is suspected arson. Homicide charges are also being investigated, due to the two firefighters, Captain Ted Hall and Fire
Fighter Specialist Arnie Quinones, who lost their lives. While neither worked here anymore – both of them used to work in our town. So very sad. Despite the good news of higher humidity and the containment percentages, this comes from my town’s website (now that it’s left our personal area we’re updated twice a day instead of hourly:)

Overall, growth potential for the Station Fire continues to be extreme. The fire is progressing south toward Pasadena; west toward the Yerba Buena Ridge; north toward the 14 Freeway and Santa Clara Ridge; east toward Mt. Wilson and into the San Gabriel Wilderness. The fire is in extremely steep and inaccessible terrain, burning in 40+ year old 15-20 foot high decadent vegetation. Fire is active during the day and night operational periods, and is currently directly threatening Mount Wilson, which is a major communications facility servicing all of Southern California.

So, if you stop hearing about it – or they say it’s all good – it’s not. In addition, today begins a review process while the experts come in and figure out what our mudslide and flooding issues are going to be. They’ll also be letting the individual homeowners know as well in an advisory capacity and assisting our town in preventative measures. The brush in our area hadn’t burned in 40-60 years. We’re a foothill community. When the rains come, regardless of the precautions, we’re all going to hold our breaths.

I’ve updated some information below.
***

For those that know me, a short personal update. We’re OK. My mother is holding her own in terms of the smoke, although it’s really really bad today and this might be the day that takes her to the hospital. We’re out of danger of embers now. We’ll have a massive cleanup of our property to undertake, but not only can we not work outside in these conditions, the fire’s been so unpredictable, I’m hesitating on doing the work until we know it’s out ashes are falling like snow again. We keep alternating between clear skies or ash depending on the breeze. Our air quality is currently Hazardous (as opposed to just unhealthy.) I’ll know by 3pm if the school district will start school tomorrow as previously scheduled. School was indeed canceled. And is canceled again today. And I’m waiting to see about tomorrow.

Now. This fire is the Station Fire. It started above La Canada on Wednesday, around 3:30pm. That means that we’re into day 5 Day 7 of this thing. In fact, the kid’s were in their pool on Wednesday, as I wasn’t sure if air quality from the Azuza fire would hamper it for the rest of the week. As we were sitting there a rather large helicopter buzzed us really low, so I took a look. Shit, a column. If you live in southern California, you know what I meant.

Since then, our mountain has been decimated. Homes threatened in our town. Ashes the size of my pinky in whole leaf form. We watched the fire literally eat the mountain alive. It’s, well, gone. Haunts I hung out it in growing up, gone. Friends, and friends’ families evacuated to my alma mater. JPL closed. My yard glowed bright red. Explosions as transformers heated too much. Threats of losing all communications as it threatened Mt. Wilson yesterday. Those threats are still a factor. Last night, it hadn’t quite been over run, but I haven’t heard an update. I also have gotten conflicting messages on what that would mean to us, besides the loss of the observatory and scientific items. Is it just TV? Is it just broadcast TV? Or is it everything communication wise? I just don’t know.

It seems that after the firefighters fought for 5 7 days, 6 nights, the portion above La Canada seems out. Perhaps. It’s been unpredictable, so I’m willing to say “seems.” However, the fire is most certainly not done. In fact at no point was it over 5% containment. It went from 10 acres to 20,000 105,000+ acres and now spreads through the city limits of 6 cities that I know of. 6 CITIES. It now threatens more, but I’m not sure I’m getting an accurate count. Acton and Soledad Canyon? Same fire. Altadena? Same fire.

Where have I gotten my information? I’ll tell you where. FACEBOOK. Going up to the hospital (a high point in the city) and then telling others what I saw. My city’s website too – but their hourly updates were usually closer to the next hour, and while reliable in information, usually out of date by the time posted. Evacuees were contacted via reverse 911. Did you notice something missing?

In my opinion, one of the reasons for media to exist is to inform the public in times of crisis. I don’t expect crisis management from national news media, but you bet your ass I expect if from the local media. I want to know specifically who’s being evacuated. Streets and street numbers. I want acreage. I want to know how the firemen are doing. I want to know where the animals go. I want to know the predicted outlook. And then I want that information constantly updated and constantly referred to. BECAUSE I’M LIVING IN THE MIDST OF THAT CRISIS. It’s the local media’s duty, in my opinion, not to fan fear, but to give real information, so that people know what’s going on around them, and they know what they’re next steps are supposed to be.

Our local media, has given brief minutes, “updating on the Station Fire.” No they weren’t. They were showing you the pretty pretty flames for a 3 minute spot. This is huge, people. I was getting sent photographs from Lancaster, which is something like 50 miles away from me, from friends. In a couple towns over, people have lost homes and been injured. This isn’t a little thing. Sup. Antonovich was giving a briefing on the fire, and he actually berated the media for not being there for the citizens. Which you didn’t hear about, because NOT ONE TV STATION SHOWED UP. We’re getting more coverage now that it’s as big as it is. No breaking news, just more facetime on the previously scheduled news broadcasts. Of course, it’s too late to be of any help to my town. It’s already swept through and done it’s damage. Last night on the 11pm news they did this big poetic thing with all our pictures. Gag me. HOWEVER… One place that has been great is KNX1070 Newsradio. Their website was giving specific school closure information, evacuations by actual street name, etc. Apparently, they’ve been a good source of solid information throughout, and I wanted them to have a shoutout. Although, I was never angry with radio. Shoot, they were probably the radio station at that press conference I mentioned.

Me? I’ve been putting up pictures in flickr when I can. I’m reading the city website, I’m in a Facebook group about the fire, and we keep each other in the loop when information falls into our laps. My – NOT a photographer – flickr photos ended up in a story on the fire in Canada, BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T GET ANY FROM THE MEDIA. I was quoted from Facebook on something else. This is SAD.

Where it REALLY sucks is for people like my parents. They’re older. They don’t use “new media.” They have no need for call waiting. They only have a cell phone because they travel and I had a nice temper tantrum and made them get one. They think that their source for this crisis is the TV news. They’ll tell them what they need to know of course. And since it’s not there – all’s well… Right?

So… Yeah. You go on and mourn Kennedy. It’s the proper thing to do. You go ahead and mourn the cracked clavicle of the USC football player, it’s news if you’re into sports. Me? I’m worried about living people who are terrified everything’s going up in smoke with a fire that is out of control still after 5 DAYS 7 DAYS. I could have used the media’s help.

Responsible media, my ass.

Now I’m starting to be the eyes and ears of friends and family who are living away from our town, and their parents, etc. still live here.

Here are photos I took on Thursday.

Here are photos I took on Friday (today.)

I’m going to hit up the hospital and drive a bit and get some more pictures before the sun goes down.

Last I heard at 6pm from the chamber, we’re at 5% contained, and it was getting pretty close to Greenridge, although ground crews are standing by. Evacuations are still voluntary.

So – I’m on an internet break til the kids start school next week. Except that my area had a fire start yesterday, and now it’s kind of scary.

So. Yes, we’re ok. Our home is safe. I’m not sure I can say the same for some friends and parents of friends, but they’re safe for now.

It’s called the Station Fire. Anyway – here are some pics. I thought I would get this up now, ’cause we just lost our internet connection (I’m on my wireless laptop card now) and we could also lose power at any moment, we’ve been warned.

My home is getting hit hard by ash. And it’s surreal. There’s ash, yes, but most of it is the size of my thumbnail, and a lot of them are leaves. You can see the veins and everything.

Anyway – yes, we’re OK. Unless it starts getting windy and embers start to fly, or the the other mountain parallel goes up (that’s the one we’re by) we’re ok. Here are some pictures I took earlier today… However, what the photos don’t show is that the flames have now crested that mountain and are half way down this side now. I’m no photographer though, and can’t take good night shots.

If the power does go down, I’ll be reserving my laptop juice for finding information, but I will twitter and such if necessary.

*Note: Some graphic biological information ahead. And another note? I’m ticked and therefore ramble.*

Dear AOL,

I was reading what passes for your headlines today and saw your article, “Dual-Womb Mother Shocks Doctors.” I had to click. Because I have Uterine Didelphys.

Thanks a lot, AOL. You have made me look like a freak. No, I’m not the new mom from the article. I’m one of the thousands (millions?) with this “condition.” It’s a birth defect. And it’s not as uncommon as you may think.

Yes, I have two uteruses/uteri. Yes I have two cervices/cervixes. I get to have double the pap smears! Had to have a septum between the cervices removed to end pain for both myself and my husband during “relations.” I also get to have double the hormones, double the blood, double the PMS. (Don’t you want to be in my husband’s shoes now?) I’ve been hospitalized for loss of blood during a normal plain old period. Oh – and I have two children that I gave natural vaginal birth to.

It’s not as uncommon as you think. I have even run into doctors who have seen it before me. Sometimes. But you see, there are no doctors who specialize in it, and no one wants to study it. Here’s what I know about it from my various doctors visits over the years, as I’m now 34, and have known about it since I was 17.

Yes, there is some risk in pregnancy because sometimes the uteri are smaller. Not the “shocking” thing you make it out to be. And yes, you can have more than one pregnancy. I’m proof. Your hormones can also be out of wack. You can also have abnormalities in your kidneys so you need them to have an ultrasound to be sure. You also get the added benefit of potential cysts on your kidneys and/or uteri (Yep – I have several.)

And maybe if the medical community decided to study it, you’d have some more information. But they’re not interested. Instead, my crotch is a revolving door when I go to a new doctor because they’re so fascinated.

That’s right – I just said I have a fascinating cootch.

Want to know how that turns out? In labor with my first, I punched a nurse in the face and kicked a doctor in the face. Why? I had 5 doctors fascinated with my COMPLETELY NORMAL birth. Thanks for all those eyes up my privates at my most painful and most vulnerable. You know, ’cause I’m just a freak.

Let’s go over the article.

Dual-Womb Mother Shocks Doctors

So, we know they’re not very well-read.

A woman with two wombs gave birth to a healthy baby despite warnings that the chances were unlikely.

You’re not a freak, you just need to be monitored.

…was born through Caesarean section

Obviously, I don’t know the mom’s actual medical information and personal case. However, if it was JUST because of the Uterine Didelphys in an effort to “save the freak” it was a totally unnecessary medical procedure with it’s own risks. Just ask my vaginally delivered children.

…who has two sets of reproductive systems, surprises doctors and the medical world by giving birth to a healthy baby girl

Really? The medical world? Shoot – I could have been rich 9 years ago.

Doctors told her the rare condition would leave her with only a 50 percent chance of having a normal pregnancy.

Really? According to what? The medical community hasn’t studied it enough to have any numbers.

Physicians told her that although Mirela is healthy, she is likely to be the her only child.

How irresponsible!! Doom and gloom, seriously. Oh and again? I’m proof. And if we wanted more children, my body could indeed go again.

Look. That child IS a miracle. As ALL children are. And yes, I’m very glad that the mom found out about her uterine didelphys, because to be responsible about her body she’ll need extra paps, and her kidneys checked out, and that’s extremely important.

But as a “normal” mom with an “abnormal defect” in her body – I couldn’t help but feel like a total freak after reading this article.

So, thanks AOL! If nothing else, you gave me an excuse to get on my soapbox. I have been contacted by several people over the years. I once wrote a freelance article as a Layman’s Guide to Uterine Didelphys when I couldn’t find any information. And women with this condition still track me down to talk about it – even desperate enough to track down my home phone number (I talked to that mom worried that her daughter was going to DIE for an hour,) because the “medical world” can’t be bothered. You know what? That parts ok. I’m happy to help them understand that they’re going to be FINE.

Sincerely,

Michele Wilcox

P.S. – That new mom needs new doctors.

As an update to my last post – while nothing has changed and I’m still not hearing from God, it was a relief to write it all down. I always feel better once I write it all out. Thanks to a couple of sleeping pills, I was able to get two full night’s sleep, so I feel better physically. We’ll live through it… We always do. God’s will will be shown, it always is. One’s spiritual walk ebbs and flows. I just hope it starts flowing again soon.

Now. I want to talk about something. I’m going to do it carefully. I have no wish for legal ramifications.

I have a long religious testimony – this isn’t about that, and how I came to Christianity. But during that time, I did an inordinate amount of research on religions, their tenets, their beliefs. It was a time of searching. Some people find themselves by hiking through Tibet… I do hours and hours and hours of research on my own without the help of others. 1) Research is a skill set of mine, which is one of the reasons I’m such a good assistant. It’s systematic, and that’s soothing to me. 2) I like to start my own opinions before bringing someone else’s opinion in to muddy things up. 3) I like my facts.

One of the religions I researched was the Church of Scientology. I can’t remember right now what prompted it – it could very well have been the fact that a number of celebrities are members, which may have brought it to my mind. The first place I went to, of course, was their own website. What are they about? What do they believe? What do services look like? I’ll be honest. It looked really good. A lot of things about what they believe make real sense and look good on paper. So, I did more research. And then I realized that I would have to pay. For everything. To me… That rubbed wrong. It was a religion. This wasn’t tithes you were paying, but actually paying for spiritual teaching. That didn’t sound like a religion to me, but a business. I fully believe in giving to your religious institution – as gifts, not as payment for services rendered. I fully believe that spirituality leads to charitable contributions of all kinds, as you want to help your fellow man who may need help. So while I do believe monetary things come into play, unless it’s an actual fundraising event (like the spaghetti dinner to help pay for the addition to the church) I don’t think money should be exchanging hands in the interest of spiritual enlightenment.

In light of that, I decided to do more research along non-official means. A lot of it has come to light in mainstream media, but at the time, these were early BBS boards, and people writing about Scientology under the guise of anonymity for safety’s sake.

While, I didn’t wish pay for my spiritual enlightenment – the real deal breaker for me was Xenu. Normally you have to pay thousands of dollars to find that treasure out, but the age of the internet has thrown all confidential information out the window. You can find other information about the religion’s beliefs at Operation Clambake, which you won’t find out at the Scientology website or Centers (until you’ve paid for the proper courses, of course.)

But, I am only one person who’s done some research. I don’t even have a stake in it, as I was not a member, not bilked, and none of my family is involved either. Who’s going to listen to me, and why should I say anything? So, while after all my research I concluded that the institution is a money-grubbing, scandalous, down-right dangerous institution, I didn’t think anyone would listen to me. There are other more articulate people out there who talk about it, and they have even more information.

However. The St. Petersburg Times has released (links below) a three part report. In the mainstream media. If you’ve ever considered the Church of Scientology, I urge you to read it. If you’ve heard about it, and just think it’s another religious denomination, I urge you to read it.

I absolutely am a Christian, and believe in Christ and the Bible and everything that entails. However, while I don’t agree with the tenets of most religions, I don’t knock them. I simply don’t believe in them, but I believe in those people’s rights to practice them. Scientology, however, is something I simply can’t say “believe your own way.” At best, I believe it shouldn’t have Church tax-exempt status. I believe that it was a way to package something to SELL, in addition to having tax incentives to L. Ron Hubbard when he was alive. At worst, it’s dangerous. People have died. People have been harassed to financial and familial ruin. Now, I know that people have died in the name of Christendom – but the year is 2009. We know better, and we have access to information.

No – this isn’t going to become a “knock Scientology” blog. In fact, I may not mention them again, unless something BIG happens. But the report is well done, and I really wanted to pass the information along to you. Maybe you know someone in Scientology. They’re not allowed to view material that’s negative towards Scientology, and in fact some use filters on their computers to prevent it from happening inadvertently. Perhaps YOU can get it front of them. The least you might do is save them some money. The most you might do is save their mind and life.

Here is Part 1: Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology – Below the article you’ll find a index to parts 2 & 3, as well as more information.

I’m still rather sick, and definitely not with it on my daily routine. So, to kill time, I’m going through my bookmarks, ’cause I can do that without a lot of thinking. I wanted to share this video with you. Maybe you’ve seen it – it was uploaded two years ago – but I just found it, and it’s amazing. If you haven’t seen it, watch it the whole way through. There are some plot twists, and considering it’s a home video of wild animals, you’d think that is a strange statement. But it’s true.

It’s not embeddable – so go watch Battle at Kruger.

There are a few books I remember from my childhood.  Trixie Belden.  Judy Blume.  Encyclopedia Brown.  Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.  The boxcar children.  Little House on the Prairie.  Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.  Anne of Green Gables.  All those memories.  Leaving my life and enjoying theirs.  All those memories came from the library.  Hours and hours.

Many of you have already heard about CPSCIA.  You can read more about the act at the link, but the basic synopsis is – many if not most handmade children’s retailers, and thrift/secondhand retail shops will close.  The act requires testing for lead.  Of every.single.item used in a product, by each retailer, in every form of the item.  Even if someone else, already has tested from the batch.  Even if another retailer has already tested the item.  So – these retailers and small homemade manufactures will have to close their doors because they simply can’t afford the testing.  Think about it.  If you sell a onesie for $10, but it costs hundreds of dollars to test that version, how many do you need to sell to break even merely on the testing?  Not too mention the manufacturing costs.  Now multiply that by the various versions and sizes.  It just doesn’t work.

What I didn’t realize is this, as of now, also applies to paper materials.  As in books.  As in libraries.

Under the CPSIA, which was passed by Congress in August, children’s products are required to undergo stringent testing for lead and phthalates. Currently, the General Counsel of the CPSC  is interpreting the law  to  apply to ordinary, paper-based books for children  12  years of age or younger, so that all such books and product would have to be tested for lead content.  Therefore, public, school, academic and museum libraries would be required either to remove all their children’s books or ban all children under 12 from visiting the facilities as of February 10.

This comes from the American Library Association.

Do you remember seeing any reports of lead poisoning of children and babies from their clothing?  From the books they read.

Come February 10th – unless the laws change, you’ll now be required to go to the stores that can afford the testing.  And you’ll be buying all your children’s books new.  Forget the mom you buy bibs from.  Forget library days at school.

Welcome to our Brave New World.