Get ready for the weekend with your 1995* Skate Party Play List

The only play list you'll need this weekend will remind you of awkwardly rolling around with minimal body control, gripping any stable surface hoping to God that maybe just MAYBE you won't have to watch couple's skate from the food court again. Or was that just me. It couldn't have been just me.



Related question: Are skate rinks still a thing?

First up: The song that was played at all of my middle school dances: Come Baby Come. When listening to the lyrics as an adult, I can't help but to question that decision. What gives middle school dance DJ? Not appropriate.





Moving on: Tell 'em Montell.




I distinctly remember being horrified that Skateland DJ played Cher. I mean, you can see her BUTT in the video! I was a sheltered child.





And who can forget the Fine Young Cannibals? You did, actually. Until just now, when I reminded you.




COUPLE'S SKATE!
[Looks around awkwardly...nope. Well, I kinda wanted some popcorn anyway...Couple skate is totally lame.]





(I had a boyfriend tell me once that this song was about blow jobs.)


ALL SKATE!

Taylor Dane is underrated. I believe this strongly.




The "Hey Let's Play One of those Rock Songs Here Now." As if DJ's in the 90's recognized what ROCK really was, man.


Also, if you have the time, this is an amazing oral history about We Built This City.

Tag team back again! Check it direct and let's begin. Party on party people let me hear some noise. DC's in the house. Jump Jump rejoice. Party over here, party over there. Wave your hands in the air, shake your derierre.
I thought you knew...




The Quad City DJs' masterpiece:





Well, kids! Your parents are out front, ready to pick you sweaty hormonal jerks up. Did you have fun? Was Adam there? He is always so polite. Why don't you go with him to the Fall dance? What do you mean you're not going? Of course you're going. We just bought you that baby doll dress you begged for.


*Disclaimer: I did not do due diligence to determine if any of these songs were actually released in or about 1995.

Whoa! There used to be a blog here!

Hello friends! Look what I dusted off! A blog! Awesome!

 In true "I'm too busy to deal with this" fashion, we kept the other site up waaaay too long without posting. Occasionally, I'd get a note that someone left an inappropriate comment (almost always from Eastern Europe, almost always trying to sell something) or that I owed some money to someone for a domain/corporation/etc. Basically, my wonderful husband got sick of paying late fees on a zombie website so I turned it off. But hey! The free blogger site is still here!

 In poking around, I found a few articles that I thought were still relevant. Like THIS ONE about Anthony Weiner. Seriously! This guy is still a thing that we talk about. Crazy. Gotta admire his staying power...(insert "that's what she said" joke here)

And everyone loves a free lunch! This Ask Idgie tells you how to score one.

Finally, I stand by my Unlikely Celebrity Crushes. Dennis Farina, may he rest in peace, was one foxy bitch.

Maybe I'll post more. Maybe I won't. Who knows.

Would you eat your lunch here?

I have two kids.  I’ve nursed both of them for fairly long periods of time.  It was the right choice for me and mine, but I’m not a member of La Leche League, and I don’t think moms should beat themselves up about it — do whatever works for you.  I wanted to do it for my kids because I had read a lot touting both the health benefits and the bonding experience.  And the 600 cal./day post-baby burn sounded pretty good too!

But with that said, it was a huge pain!  Not at home, where my family (extended family too) got used to it, but in public.  I’m still irritated by the fact that even though I could be completely covered with blankets, the fact that two little feet were poking out and so you could tell what I was doing was enough to cause people to give me dirty looks.  Seriously?  All I’m doing is feeding my kid.  If I had to stay home to feed her, at least in the beginning, I’d never be able to go anywhere!*  Newborns (at least mine) eat every hour and a half!  It’s crazy.

Generally speaking, I did try to go to someplace that wasn’t quite in the middle of traffic — maybe a fairly secluded bench.  But on a recent trip to the mall, when I went into the bathroom, I was greeted by the lovely and comfortable spot depicted above.  A bench, maybe a foot deep, right across the door back into the mall, smack in the middle of the bathroom.  People trying to get to a stall would have to wiggle around anyone sitting on the bench.

 I just don’t get it.  NOBODY would eat their lunch in a bathroom on that bench.  Why should my newborn be forced to eat lunch there?  Hundreds of thousands of kids are born in the United States every day.  All of them need to eat.  If nursing mothers must be kept out of view, then surely nicer areas could be set aside for us?  I’m not looking for something grand or cushy.  Just something that would pass food safety standards for grown-ups.  After all, it’s the newborn who has zero immune system — maybe we should protect her too, rather than forcing her to eat lunch in a bathroom where roughly 50% of the users failed to wash their hands?

* I understand I can pump bottles and bring those in public, but a) when you’re trying to establish a good milk supply you’re supposed to nurse as often as the kid wants to eat so by feeding a bottle while out you’d be skipping a nursing session, b) in the beginning you may not have enough extra milk that you can pre-pump in anticipation of going out, and c) if society hadn’t over-sexualized breasts to start with there would be no expectation that I should bring a bottle and I could just do as nature intended.

Are Libertarians really “free”?

The Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank at George Mason University, put out their yearly ranking of the 50 states based on how “free” they are. I’m not sure whether to be pleased or dismayed with Virginia coming out as #9 because the methodology of “freedom” leaves a lot to be desired. For example, when calculating the paternalism of a particular state, automotive laws are taken into account. One would assume that basic safety laws would be neutral in the libertarian worldview.

However, the Mercatus Center says this:
“… seatbelt laws and sobriety checkpoints count as notable infringements on individual liberty”



I’m sorry, what? If I’m reading this correctly, and I think I am, the Libertarian would argue that I should be free to drive around drunk without my seatbelt on as long as I didn’t hurt others. If I did hurt others, then I would be responsible for the full extent of the injury.

I could see simple world where this makes sense–you are responsible and accountable for all your actions and only your actions. However, that world is not the real one. Your actions affect me. If you choose to drive drunk, I am affected by being on the same road as you. Or, if we both have insurance, my rate is higher because there are no checkpoints to prevent you from driving drunk so the insurance company must use my rates to cover your risk. Economists call this the “free rider” problem. You, drunk driver, are free riding on my responsible choices. Jerk.

The Libertarian is assuming that there is some mechanism that identifies drunk drivers/seat belt wearers which informs insurance companies so that we are charged appropriately for our individual behavior. But, wait, there is! It is sobriety checks and seatbelt laws!

Personally, I value the freedom to drive down the road with limited interactions with drunk drivers more than the freedom to drive down the road without the occasional sobriety check. And if you want to get into paternalism, why focus on seatbelt laws? Why not focus on efforts to restrict legal birth control and family planning aids? Or abortion*? Or don’t exempt breastfeeding in public from indecent exposure laws? Or conduct academic research without having the Attorney General subpoena your emails? Oh, because men wrote the report and don’t think about the issues surrounding us ladies.

*Abortion restrictions were evaluated for the Mercatus report, but were not part of the freedom calculation due to differing views on who deserves the freedom, the woman seeking the abortion or the fetus to be born.

The Well-Stocked Pantry for the Working Woman

Unlike K, I do not cook dinner. I assemble dinner. As such, I need a couple of go-to items in my pantry that I can toss together for a quick, easy, and yummy dinner that will satisfy my family without much planning.

Here are my staples for the pantry, fridge, and freezer to get me through an entire week of dinners without an emergency trip to the grocery store.
Pantry:

• Pasta and sauce
• Balsamic vinager
• Good olive oil
• Brown rice
• Trader Joe’s Indian food (in the boxes)
• Chopped nuts
• Refried beans
• Tortillas
• Chips
• Canned black beans

Fridge:

• Goat cheese
• Bag of spinach
• Fresh fruit
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Salsa
• Hummus
• Fresh corn

Freezer:

• Frozen chicken breasts
• Morning Star Chipotle Black Bean Vegiburgers

With just these items, I can mix and match dinners, snacks, and lunch for the whole week.

Monday: Summer salad with fruit, goat cheese, and grilled chicken breast
Tuesday: Indian food with rice and grilled “naan” (tortilla)
Wednesday: Soft chicken tacos with Spanish rice (rice & salsa)
Thursday: Spaghetti & sauce with side salad
Friday: Southwest salad (spinach, corn, black beans, tomatoes, chips) with vegiburgers

Calling all chicken dinner recipes!

I can cook pork like a champ.  Chops?  Got it.  Tenderloin?  Done.  I’ve got beef covered pretty well, too — whether it’s ground up, or a steak, or in a pie — I can do it.  Fish, yeah okay.  Even lamb, I can do that.

But chicken just confuses me!  I defrosted some on Sunday night and Mr. K and I just stared at it for a while, kind of like in The Jungle Book — “What do you want to do with it?”  “I dunno, what do YOU want to do with it?”  “Well I don’t know!”  What on earth do you do with it?  It’s so bland and boring.  Even my kids won’t eat it!  So I need some good chicken recipes.  Please help me!

The Mommy Diet

You moms out there may be familiar with this phenomenon….  You have a kid, kid progresses to “real food” age, and then “picky eater of real food” age — oh, and “able to request my own fudge cookies, thank you very much” age — all of which make food a central part of your day, because you’re the one who has to go get the fudge cookies off the top shelf for the kid.  I am finding that all of these reminders to eat are making my pants straight up not fit.  I’ve tried blaming it on pregnancy, metabolism, Mirena, yanking-out-of Mirena, menopause?, and anything else I could think of, but the fact is, I’m still 10lbs heavier than I need to be to fit into my pants.

I wouldn’t care if I had the expendable cash to revamp my work and weekend wardrobes, and if my fat was sitting in optimal places — hello, boobs and butt!  Unfortunately, I don’t have the expendable cash, and the fat is sitting in a nice spare tire leaving me as flat as I started and looking a bit like a kid with an inflatable ring around his belly.  So I’m just going to have to do something about it.

Exercise, at this point in my life, is roughly out of the question.  On an absolutely perfect day, when all goes smoothly and according to schedule, there is about a 50% chance I will have enough energy to do some yoga.  On a normal day, maybe 10%.  On any one of the days in the last month, there was about a -50% chance of me doing anything.  Oh, and a 100% chance that I would eat some ice cream while I was sulking.  Good times.

So I began Weight Watchers for the 80 millionth time yesterday.  Each time I do it, it works.  Of course, then I get lazy around week 13 and quit.  Already I’m mad at it — what do you mean 1/2 a bag of M&Ms is 4 points?  Surely not.  It took me 30 seconds to eat them!  And they’ve revamped all of the point system, so the point values I remember are lower than what they are now.

Sigh.