in which the author makes claims as to the numerous nature of her cells

Disclaimer: I equate the antichoice (a.k.a. "pro-life") movement with the belief that women are incapable of making choices about what is best for ourselves and our families.

This evening I've come to lodge a protest against this image:

It has appeared a number of places, but most recently I saw it on a family member's facebook page with a caption that reads, "12 weeks gestation.....legal to kill in all 50 states.....is this a blob of cells to you?..."

First of all, my husband is a wise and loving man who warned me not to respond with the full extent of my reaction on my family member's post.  (Read: I did respond, but only to observe that the image has been photoshopped.)

Secondly, this image is obviously not a likeness of a human embryo at 12 weeks' gestation, and to state that it is negates, in my opinion, the very nature of the appeal being made: "Look at me, I'm so cute and fully formed, I'm clearly too adorable to scrape into a biohazard bag."  Bullshit.  If human embryos were this fully developed at 12 weeks, nobody would bother gestating for another 28 weeks.  If a 12 week fetus is valuable to you as a fully-fledged member of the human species, don't represent it in your appeal as something else entirely.  To do so is more than a concession that a 12 week fetus isn't actually terribly lovely, it's a tacit admission that a 12 week fetus, as it truly exists, is not worthy of legal protection.  Here's a real human fetus at approximately 12 weeks' gestation:

While possessed of many attributes that lead to the suspicion it might be en route to humanhood -- and while admittedly fascinating to contemplate at this stage of development -- this creature looks like a prop in a B horror movie based on radiation exposure.  It is decidedly un-cute.  And it'd be even less cute cradled in an adult human hand (due to the implication of its unceremonious removal from the womb, where it will likely remain until it manages to pack some flesh onto its scrawny limbs and perform some extensive remodeling of its cranial vault).  Abortion photographs, paradoxically, are a tactic employed by groups with the same goal as the misguided artist above, except that the products of abortion are never photoshopped into miniaturized adorableness.

This post will not enter into a diatribe on the right to choose (except for the strongly stated disclaimer above), but rather observes that to proffer a false image as testimony for a cause implies that the cause does not stand on its own merit but requires bolstering to attain viability.  Like a freaking 12 week fetus -- it requires a lot of bolstering to attain viability.

We're all freaking blobs of cells.  Some of us have just amassed a larger collection than others.

mother hubbard's bare little cupboard

Twice recently I threw together a meal from some disparate ingredients that were all that remained in the house.  I don't fancy myself a gifted chef, but I do hit on a keeper once in a while.  Next time I make them I'll have to take pictures.

Roasted Veggies & Mushroom Ravioli with Maple Orange Glaze

1 small yellow crookneck squash
1 bulb fennel
2 small parsnips
20 or so baby carrots
2 oranges
2 tsp maple syrup
1 package wild mushroom ravioli

Preheat oven to 400F.  Coarsely chop fennel, squash, and parsnips.  Zest oranges, then juice.  Toss veggies in mixing bowl with juice from 1/2 of one orange and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Spread in jelly roll pan, sprinkle lightly with salt.  Roast for ~35 mns or until tender.  In the meantime, prepare maple orange glaze and start water boiling for ravioli.

Maple Orange Glaze:
Combine remaining OJ and maple syrup in saucepan and bring to boil, then reduce heat and cook down until mixture begins to thicken.  Add zest and cook another 2-5 minutes.

Remove veggies when tender and toss with maple orange glaze.  It will have cooked down substantially and what is left is a small amount of syrupy glaze -- just enough to glue the zest to the veggies.  Serve on a bed of ravioli with a wild yeast chardonnay.

Summer Spaetzle Salad

6 oz. spaetzle

1 can white beans, drained & rinsed

1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and slightly chopped

1/2 pouch ( 1 1/2 oz.) sun-dried tomatoes, julienne cut

12-20 leaves fresh basil, julienned

1/4 cup romano cheese, grated

1 Tbsp. cream cheese

Boil spaetzle in lightly salted water 20-25 mns or until tender.  Drain and return to warm cooking pot.  Stir in cream cheese until melted.  In a large bowl, toss remaining ingredients.  Add spaetzle mixture and stir until combined.  Serve immediately.  Leftovers can be refrigerated and eaten cold.

This recipe is deliberately bland to showcase the basil, but I do think it could be "kicked up a notch" if desired.  What pleased me the most about it was the complementary textures of the spaetzle and white beans. It's got to be the German in me.  I'm definitely taking it on my next camping trip.

archives encore

The previous selection was less about authorship than content. This selection is more about the latter and less about the former.  But, really, who can argue with adolescent poetry for abject quality?  These are all taken from a blank book I had in 9th grade called The Nothing Book, which was intended as a starting place but which I kept as a title.  It was circulated about amongst anyone who cared to write in it.  "DOE" is date of entry.

theirs:

and because keeping safe my own adolescent angst seems unfair:


[from when I used to sneak out onto the roof to smoke:]

[this one must be from 10th grade:]