Wednesday, April 30

When god made me born a Yankee, he was teasing

Jen, Pam, and I went to Magnolia's in Cambridge tonight for a little Southern comfort food in celebration of Pam's birthday. It was amazing. First, I didn't know you could fry an avocado. Yes, we had fried avocado with cheese as an appetizer. Then I had some really good barbeque chicken. There may have been an incident. I'm fine now. I never need to eat again, however.

In addition to yummy Southern cuisine with my friends, I also learned how to pronounce andouille (I pronounced it then ate it!) and maquechoux (okay, picture this: Jen says, "Mak-shoe," and I reply, "Bless you." Jen: "It was on your blog!" Me: "It was?" Jen: "Oh, yeah ... if you don't know how to pronounce it you have no idea what I'm talking about.")

Other topics discussed: threesome, foursome...at what point does it become an orgy? Pam and I in unison: "Five."

Orient Yourself


Who hasn't felt like they wanted a gay boyfriend? (It's a long download, but so worth the wait.)

I'm working on an alternate version, Gay Girlfriend. Because what guy doesn't want a girl who will watch sports and never talk about her feelings?

Wow. That is so me. Anyone wanna catch the game?

Underachievers Anonymous


Today is the 2003 Ruhlman Conference here at Wellesley. Classes are cancelled so students can present various projects they have worked on -- theses, art exhibits, performances, etc. -- and everyone can pause and go and listen/watch.

Which means two things: Free lunch, and Jen feels like a total underachieving idiot. It's amazing how an 18-year-old presenting a paper on Chaucer or what have you can make you realize that you've never actually had a decent thought in your life.

Tuesday, April 29

To Do List

1. Learn how to do this.
2. Buy this.
3. Drive off into the sunset.

Would that be a salt marsh?

A marsh fire swept through Mentor, Ohio. I didn't know that such a thing as a marsh fire even existed. Brush fire, sure -- it's dry, fire, no problem. Marshes seem kind of ... wet for fires, don't they?

I think the fire chief explained it best when he said of Mentor, "It's a beautiful place to live until it's on fire."

Which is why I no longer live in Ohio. If it's not beautiful when it's on fire, what's the point?

Monday, April 28

I'm frightened

I haven't blogged all day. There's this big hole in my life. I keep asking myself, "Why haven't I blogged? What's wrong? Has the bubble burst? Am I no longer enamored of the blog? Where will I go from here?"

Straight to Blogger to blog about why I haven't blogged.

Sunday, April 27

Confidence in confidence alone

I like Ed Burns. I realized the other day that I like him in much the same way I like Ben Affleck: They both have a hometown, boy-next-door "whatever" attitude that I just find immensely appealing. They both can say "fuck you" with authority. I find this trait important, what can I say? My mother always said I had a mouth like a trucker. The point being, I like Ed Burns, so I went to see his latest flick, Confidence.

It had some ... flaws. First, it tried to be Ocean's Eleven and without George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Steven Soderbergh, forget about it. Second, I don't like Rachel Weisz. She is suddenly ubiquitous and I can't figure out why. Third, the plot tried to con you and failed.

That said, I still like Ed Burns. And he has good hair in the movie, which he didn't in his earlier, better movies, like The Brothers McMullen.

Saturday, April 26

Blogging in bed

The really cool thing about laptops is that you can actually use them on your lap. Hence, I am here, under the covers, blogging and listening to the rain. My bedroom window looks out over my back porch (love the Boston triple-deckers) and the roof of my neighbors' garage. It's oddly soothing to watch the rain and listen to the muffled sounds of Boston life from my perch here.

Giving in to the geek

After a few complaints about my photo pages not working, I finally fixed the friends page. It's still pretty lame, but at least the links work now. And if they don't, please let me know so I can shoot myself in the head. The other photo pages are still under construction -- what, working on my web site until 2 am isn't enough for you?

Disclaimer: I have friends whose pictures do not appear on this page. This is because I don't have a good one of them or an appropriately humiliating one of them or just because I haven't gotten around to scanning it in yet. I still love them and they're still my friends. Pam, this means you.

Friday, April 25

The Ante is Upped

Apparently, quinoa was just the beginning. Steve challenges me with "maquechoux, boudin, chaudin, tasso, and andouille."

These names look suspiciously French to me. Now, as everyone knows, I was a Spanish major in college. This means two things: 1) I cannot pronounce a damn thing in French; and 2) I cannot pronounce a damn thing in Spanish.

First person to clue me in as to the mysterious food stuffs above without consulting a French-English dictionary or asking someone they know in Louisiana wins the prize.

Steve adds, "I see that no less than 3 of my LSU Lady Tigers were drafted. Excellent!" I should acknowledge here, in public, that LSU had a great team this year, as did LA Tech. The match-up between them in the NCAA tournament was intense. And while we're on the draft, I was surprised to see how long it took a team to snap up Villanova's Trish Juhline (32). She'll be joining the Washington Mystics.

Biz Blogging

Stone has some smart stuff to say in the Business 2.0 article, Management by Blog? Author Jimmy Guterman concludes, "Companies should always explore new ways of getting messages out and new tactics for fostering idea-exchange among the staff, but right now the blogging action is almost exclusively for external readers."
Number 1 Draft Pick
Goes to LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State. She was followed by Chantelle Anderson (Vandy), Cheryl Ford (Louisiana Tech), Plenette Pierson (Texas Tech), and from Tennessee Kara Lawson and Gwen Jackson in the first round of the WNBA draft. I was a little surprised that Gwen Jackson was picked sixth, but she has had an uneven career at Tennessee. I can't wait to see these women play pro. Detroit has picked up some good players, which could make the team (at last) a real contender.
It's getting a little drafty
The WNBA is holding their draft today at 1; I stupidly came into work instead of staying home to watch it. They held a dispersal draft last night, to divy up the players from the now-defunct Miami Sol and Portland Fire.

Connecticut chose Debbie Black, who has long had an intense rivalry with my girl, the NY Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon. Now, as you'll all remember, I don't like UConn, so the Connecticut Sun expansion team was going to have to work to win my affections away from the Liberty.

This was not the way to do it.

Thursday, April 24

Say my name, bitch

I love my unique name as much as the next Jen, but this may go too far: The Jen Journals Web Ring. It also includes people who misspell their name as "Jenn," but I think that's being a bit too lenient. I wonder if Jennifer Eccleston is in the ring?
Tips
Steve chimes in with this helpful advice on the quinoa controversy: "It's 'keen-wa.' At least that's how they pronounce it on the food channel."

I see someone (other than my roommate Jen) watches a little too much Food Network.

Ow, ow, ow

Yesterday, my poor niece broke her ankle in two places while she was skating -- or, apparently, attempting to stop skating. She's the first person in my family to break something (we're not really athletic people). She also lives in Ohio, and I, obviously, do not, so I am at a loss for what to do. Cards and gifts in the mail are always fun, but it's not the same as having your aunt come by to entertain you while you hobble around on crutches.

Wednesday, April 23

Sure you can eat it, but can you pronounce it?
Quinoa. Quinoa. Quinoa.

WNBA lives to play another day

WNBA's continued existence is something to cheer about: "The WNBA lives on. Thank goodness. Don't slide this story to the back of your mind. This is a story that you should care about.

You should care if you have a daughter.

You should care if you have a son.

You should care if you believe in equal life chances.

You should care if you believe in role models and heroes.

You should care if you believe in the positives of sport.

You should care if you understand the ramifications upon women's sports if the labor agreement wasn't achieved."

Anyone who has read my blog knows this: I love women's sports, and women's basketball in particular. You can't imagine what a relief it is to know that the WNBA isn't folding. I know it's "just sports," but, for me, women's sports take on special meaning; when they play, the athletes show me a little bit of who I want to be. And maybe they do that for the next generation as well: "The young girl who enters KeyArena on a summer evening to watch women play professional sports leaves the arena with an expanded view of the world. She has seen women in the spotlight. She has seen women with insane competitiveness, and she has seen strength. Most importantly, it was those qualities that were applauded with gusto."

Just a little bit of history repeating

Watching Rabbit-Proof Fence last night reminded me of how much I used to love history -- and how important it is to learn about both the great and horrible things that we have done. I'd never heard of Australia's "Stolen Generations" before; apparently, there was a long-standing practice in Australia of taking "half-caste" (half Aboriginal, half white) children away from their families to better integrate them into white society. The movie is based on the true story of three little girls who are taken, but who run away and then walk some 1500 miles to return to their mother.

"Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence," about the making of the film, was included on the DVD. The three girls were total novices. It was amazing to watch how they were chosen and the process which produced such fine performances. At one point, an interviewer asks Everlyn Sampi if she'd like to become "a black Nicole Kidman," and she replies, "Nah, Cathy Freeman." Freeman, for those who don't remember, won the gold in the 400 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and carried both the Australian and Aboriginal flags for her victory lap.

Tuesday, April 22

Jennifer who?

For all those who continue to seek Jennifer Eccleston: Cable News Hotties (link thanks to Stone). Jennifer has "got those no-nonsense eyes that tell you she knows just what you're thinking, and a thick, shapely set of lips that just beckon you with every word that passes through them. Man, she's hot. I don't think I've ever once heard a damn thing she's said."

I want to think it's funny but some part of me rebels...whether or not this woman is a good reporter, I don't know. I've never actually seen her on TV. But as someone who long aspired to be a journalist, I can't be comfortable with her intellect being ignored because of her looks.

That said, by all appearances, she's hot. I support hot people doing the news.

Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves

Jen and I watched Cher's farewell concert again last night -- just to catch the parts we missed before of course.

Jen: I hope I look that good when I'm in my 50s.
Me: I wish I looked that good now.
Jen: Ohmygod, you're right! I'm 26 and I don't look as good as Cher does at 56!

You must check out Cher.com. That is intense.

Monday, April 21

Born to Run

I am always struck by the desire to go out and run when I watch the Boston Marathon. Athletes amaze me; none more so than the winners of this year's race. Is the marathon as big a deal in other cities? It seems like Boston just stops to watch these people go by. Maybe I just feel that way because I went to Wellesley and the race goes right past us. Maybe it's because it's Patriot's Day here and most of us have the day off anyway. Maybe it's true.

Maybe I'm just nervous and talking too much because I'm waiting to hear word on the state of the WNBA labor agreement.
Calling in Sick
I can't blog today. My throat hurts.

Sunday, April 20

Which Led Zeppelin song are you?
Apparently, I am "When the Levee Breaks," which is cool because I love that song. "Just like 'When the Levee Breaks' dominates Led Zeppelin IV, you dominate your world.  You don't have time for nonsense (it's surprising you even took this quiz) and you would love to be dictator of the world someday.

You are dark and scary, and you probably don't at all care about this quiz, if you even bothered to read your results."

Saw it at the Ghost of Ferro Lad

Beware: Freckles Ahead

I went to Manchester by the Sea today. It was beautiful and sunny -- a little cold, but I love to walk along the ocean and feel the chill off the waves (which were unusually high today). The sun made up for the temperature and we stopped at Captain Dusty's for a soft-serve twist cone. When I got to my sister's for Easter dinner, my face felt a little hot; apparently I'd gotten more sun than I thought. I checked in the mirror and there they were: the season's first freckles.

Saturday, April 19

Coach writes, "Did you ever want to write something profound but just end up with nothing to say? I feel like that 90% of the time. It makes you wonder how anyone could actually be a writer full time." I don't know how he gets that 10%, but I feel my lack of profundity keenly at all times. I'm supposed to be writing right now, actually. Hence, I'm surfing the web, reading what other people have written, searching for inspiration. Or just trying to be intimidated by how good other writers are so I can justify not writing.
Stone was talking the other day about author blogs (a great idea), so I thought I would poke around and see what my favorite authors had on the web. It's not a blog, but Dani Shapiro has a good site, with essays and stories as well as information on her books. I'm trying to resist buying her latest, Family History, because I just bought three CDs and the plastic can only take so much, you know?

Saturdays rock

Especially sunny ones. I had the sunroof open, sunglasses on, and the music blaring. (I was literally rocking Natick.) There is just something about listening to "Bitch" when you're driving. Saw Anger Management at my local cineplex (I'm a suburban girl at heart. I have to leave the big city when I see Adam Sandler flicks). Enjoyed it for the most part -- why I think uncontrolled rage is fun, I'll never know, but there you have it. When I'm looking for "happy" music to listen to, frequently I'll whip out the Eminem. It makes me smile, what can I say? I'm a nutcase.

Friday, April 18

Oh, we like the Sarfari browser. And by "we," I mean my minions and I.

Tabbed browsing is the best thing ever. The pop-up ads blocking is also pretty sweet.

If you don't have a Mac to try this out on, all I can say is, go get one.
I like a little exploitation every now and then: Exploit Boston! The Independent Guide to What's Happening Around Metro Boston.

I am evil

I like to surf. Who doesn't? I mean, why else would we read and write blogs if not to read other people's stuff and then write about it? But today, whilst happily surfing and ignoring the work on my desk, a site was loading ... the background was pink. I stopped the procedure before the text even appeared.

I'm not nice.
FYI.

Holidays

Passover, Good Friday, Easter, and Patriot's Day. It's a big weekend here in Massachusetts. Patriot's Day weekend has always been a big one at Wellesley, as we are conveniently located at the half-way mark of the Boston Marathon. The students line up along the marathon route and scream as loud as they can for as long as they can. It's one of my favorite Wellesley traditions. I was hoarse for a week after my first marathon here. The crowd gets particularly enthusiastic for anyone with a Wellesley connection, like this dad, who's running the race in his daughter's senior year at Wellesley. And, as any runner will tell you, Wellesley is the high point of the whole thing.

Thursday, April 17

In Back Bay alleys, piles of promise. The Boston Globe reports on what any recent college grad could tell you: People throw away perfectly good stuff. The Globe says now is a good time to look for loot in the trash (spring cleaning), but my money is on the last two weeks in August, when everyone is moving. You'll throw away almost anything if it means you don't have to move it.

Wednesday, April 16

Um, no comment: The penis blog project.

via Asylum
Finally, Jennifer Eccleston gets her own fan site.
Remember when I took the "What kind of smile are you test" and it said I was a glare? Well, imagine my response to this: Boston hopes to make people smile in traffic.

Yes, they are proposing a Mass. license plate with a smiley face on it. People in Boston don't want to smile in traffic. We like our bitterness. We're proud of it, like our ability to withstand nine months of winter. "How can you be riding the tail of someone with a Smiley Face plate?" said Charles Ball, son of the original designer of the smiley face. "If there are enough of those plates on the road, all kidding aside, there would be a positive effect out there."

Sorry, but the first smiley-face plate I see, I'm going to ram them. Right after I smash into the "baby on board" minivan.

Tuesday, April 15

Looting 101: "A rule of thumb: It's shoplifting until you break into a run. Once you break into a trot, it transcends from shoplifting to looting. Plundering is an entirely different category from looting. It isn't plundering unless you're carrying a parrot on your shoulder and wearing a patch over your eye. I don't even want to talk about pillaging."
Landlord encourages timely rent with contests. I guess that's one way to do it. If I pay my rent early, can I get a discount? That would be nice: "This month my rent is on sale! 10% off! I gotta get to the post office and send that bad boy before the sale is over." And here I thought you were just supposed to, I don't know, pay your bills.

Monday, April 14

Circuit Girl is back!

Who's for drinks?

Female fighter pilots

Female fighter pilots take on challenges full throttle
[Capt. Jessica] Rhyne is an F-16CJ Fighting Falcon pilot. Her job is suppression of enemy air defenses. Each time she flies a SEAD mission, she puts her life and her aircraft on the line to launch high-speed anti-radiation missiles on target. She travels to the hot spots of the world, where she relies partly on her state-of-the-art equipment and partly on her wits to survive.
Just 10 years ago, her job was not open to women. Although women have been entering pilot training since 1976, before 1993, government officials did not believe women had the "right stuff" for combat.
Rhyne always believed she did.
My dad (working at WPAFB) sent the link with the message "Go girls!!" I love my dad.

On a side note, anyone want to tell me why using blockquote tags makes my normal paragraphs go all wonky? No? Okay.

Sunday, April 13

Save the Shade

I'm cruising CVS today, and I am inexplicably drawn, as always, to the crayon/marker section of the store. They've got a new 100 crayon box of Crayolas, in honor of Crayola's Centennial. I support boxes of 100 crayons. I still have their first-issue box of 96 (it's a collector's item, people). While I'm contemplating purchasing a new box of 100 (my other crayons are getting old ... and there are four more colors), I see it. The notice. Crayola is retiring four colors, and they're asking people to vote for one color to save out of five possible retirees. How am I supposed to make such an important decision?

The options are burnt siena, blizzard blue, mulberry, teal blue, and magic mint. Now, first, may I say that they can go ahead and retire such trumped-up colors as "blizzard blue" and "magic mint" (or macaroni and cheese! What is that?), but you can't retire such necessary hues as mulberry, teal blue, or burnt sienna. Burnt sienna is excellent for putting highlights in brown hair, and mulberry is a vital component of the red/purple spectrum. And teal -- it's teal. You just need it.

I voted. I won't tell you which one made my cut, but rest assured I thought long and hard before voting these crayons off the color island.

Biking to nowhere

I did it: I bought a NordicTrack SL 700 exercise bike. I knew that I was going to have to invest some money to sufficiently motivate me to get off my ass and away from the computer, TV, etc. And now my muscles are all a quiver from putting the thing together (not quite as light or easy as my Sears salesman would have me believe -- Jen, Pam, and I took all the parts out of the box in my driveway and took the pieces up the stairs). I may be too wiped out from assembly to actually use the thing tomorrow.

Saturday, April 12

Ahem. I understand (kinda) why I'm getting hits for Jennifer Eccleston. My name is Jennifer. But today I discover that my site comes up in the Yahoo! Search Results for high school voyeur. Just to clarify: I am neither in high school nor am I a voyeur of people who are in high school...unless watching Dawson's Creek reruns counts, in which case....

Friday, April 11

Questions
I have been relatively quiet about the situation in which my country has placed itself--it seems strange to call such an unequal contest a "war" but so it is. I've been hesitant to write because I haven't felt strongly enough about anything to commit an opinion to print. Michael Kinsley's piece on Slate, "Unsettled: Victory in the war is not victory in the argument about the war," poses some important questions:
What will toppling Saddam ultimately cost in dollars and in lives (American, Iraqi, others)? Will the result be a stable Iraq and a blossoming of democracy in the Middle East or something less attractive? How many young Muslims and others will be turned against the United States, and what will they do about it?

Oh, Pacey

When I saw the MSN headline Dawson's Creek Star in Rehab, somehow I knew it was going to be Josh Jackson. However, he was drunk at a hockey game (he's Canadian! It's in his blood), and he has to participate in an "alcohol education program," which ain't the same as rehab. Love misleading headlines. Love 'em.
Activist tells Wellesley women: Feminism is a fraud

Yes, it's true, Wellesley hosted Phyllis Schlafly earlier this week. The Milford Daily News quotes her as saying, "Feminism is not compatible with marriage and motherhood ... I feel sorry for the feminists, but they made their choice." Many women today seem afraid to call themselves a feminist, but I'm not. To paraphrase/misquote somebody, "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." And somehow, I feel the many feminists who are also mothers and wives might take umbrage at Schlafly's statement.

Sadly, I could not be at the event to debate with Schlafly, because I had to support the endeavors of the women playing their hearts out in the NCAA basketball tournament. I'm sure that Schlafly would have found them to be distinctly unfeminine, but I found them simply amazing.

Via Ms. Musings

Thursday, April 10

I've vowed to mention Jennifer Eccleston at least once a post from now on, but that's mainly because checking my site stats has become an obsession since I've been mistakenly picked up by the search engines. My Nedstats are way too interesting....For instance, I'm becoming huge in the UK. Canada was second for a long time, but the British invasion has been helped along by James, who has now somehow gotten Chris to visit my blog. A fellow Buffy/Angel fan, Chris has to suffer the agony of waiting for new material in England. I'm not sure I could take it. I have a hard enough time waiting from week to week. Of course, Buffy will continue a bit longer for him. I'm at T-minus 40 days until the last episode.
Just when I think I have nothing to blog, I receive a lovely e-mail from James, with some much-needed blog appreciation. Here I was beginning to think that everyone was simply disappointed that I wasn't Jennifer Eccleston.

I should tell you that I'm writing this entire post with a English accent. I blame James.

Wednesday, April 9

No, I am not Jennifer Eccleston, despite being right up there on Popdex's search.

Doin' the Dew

Yes, I drink Mountain Dew. I know this means I am either a) a boy who sits around programming all day or b) a snow-boarding, extreme-sports-loving, wild and crazy boy who sits around programming all day.

But this time, the Dew has gone too far: I get my Dewsletter today, and they are advertising my chance to get an advance taste of this:

LiveWire Dew.
I don't know what it is, but it's orange. And much like the supremely nasto Code Red Dew, I gotta say: No.
I don't even want to talk about it
The orange type didn't work. That's all I'm going to say. I had to watch Dawson's Creek on DVD after the game. Josh Jackson always makes me feel better.

Tuesday, April 8

I'm not superstitious...
...except when it comes to sports. Go Lady Vols!
Yet again, I say: Ew, ew, ew
Luckily, I haven't seen this happening on the T in Boston: Token Sucking.

from the Job Blog
I noticed this photo essay (Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield) when I was cruising kottke.org. I didn't identify with any of the pictures personally--I couldn't find my girlhood there--but it shows a wide range of the influences that are shaping girls today. And I am increasingly disturbed by how sexualized girls are becominig at younger and younger ages.
Jen says she likes this design better. I'd ask for reader feedback, but I don't take criticism well. This could take a while for me to get used to it. The red links feel very...deadly. Beware all those who link here!

Monday, April 7

I ain't no monument to justice!
I watched Peggy Sue Got Married with Jen tonight. Every time I see it, I remember how funny and strange and weird and wonderful Nic Cage was. Not as good as he was in Moonstruck, but that was perfection.
...and then there were two
It was an intense night of basketball--Tennessee held on to beat Duke 66-56, and UConn barely managed to squeak past a very tough Texas team, 71-69. The UConn win nearly broke me; I really thought Texas was going to do it. I couldn't sleep after that. If I have to hear Geno say, "We have Diana and they don't," one more time, I'm going to seriously lose my shit. Here's hoping the Lady Vols show both their depth and their experience Tuesday night when they add another chapter to the Tennesse/UConn rivalry.

Sunday, April 6

Grr. Argh.
My normal level of crankiness goes through the roof when I hit sites like MSN.com. I'm innocently trying to log out of my Hotmail account, and first they have to give me a page confirming my logout (I'm not that freaking paranoid, okay?) and then they automatically redirect me to their stupid homepage which take 8,000 years to load because of all the useless crap and graphics they have on it. Same time lag happens when I try to read an MSNBC article. Look, I want some text and links, okay? Maybe a graphic--"a," as in single, one, minimal.

And it's daylight savings time again, which means I'm losing an hour. A precious hour of my weekend. See why I'm so cranky?

Okay, you're right. I'm always this cranky. Shut it.

Saturday, April 5

Just your average Saturday afternoon
Working on some site redesign (yes, again. I'll keep working on it until I'm happy...and then I'll get bored and start all over again, okay? Don't say I didn't warn you). Doing laundry. Watching way too much TLC, including a interesting show called "Faking It," about a straight boy who wants to try out life as a drag queen. I also watched the first 10 minutes of a show about repairing facial deformities...when they pulled the bone out to show us what they were using for the grafts, I was done. Now I'm watching my tape of Angel. (Yes, I am a Joss Whedon ho. You got a problem with that?) Sitting here, drinking a Cherry Coke (you capitalize Coke, but do you capitalize the cherry?), worrying about grammar rules, watching the snow fall. Just another typical April day in New England.

Friday, April 4

What Kind of Smile are You?
"You...are definitely not a smile. In fact, if I asked you to smile you'd probably punch me in the face. You're angry and bitter about something, but no one knows what because you get violent when people ask questions. Sheesh."

brought to you by Quizilla.
I love my job, part 813
But I really, really, really hate transcribing. I think if people knew what transcribing was actually like, no one would ever go into writing for a living. No one. Certainly not me. I could have been a taxidermist.

Thursday, April 3

If you let me play...

The WNBA sent out their e-mail newsletter recently, reminding me that the WNBA draft is quickly approaching as the NCAA tournament draws to a close (go Lady Vols!). They also reminded me to sign their petition in support of Title IX:
Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, the number of women in college sports has grown dramatically from 32,000 to 163,000 today -- a gain of 400%. Girls' participation in high school sports has increased 847%, from 294,000 to almost 2.8 million.
Even with these advances, discrimination still limits girls' and women's opportunities in sports. Although women in Division I colleges represent 53% of the student body, they receive only 41% of opportunities to play sports, 36% of overall athletic operating budgets and 32% of the dollars spent to recruit new athletes. In high schools, the situation is even more concerning, with many schools still failing to administer boys' and girls' programs in an equitable manner.
Title IX is a fair and flexible law. Men's sports opportunities have not suffered as a result of Title IX; in fact, nationwide, men's participatory opportunities, numbers of teams and sports budgets have all grown since Title IX was enacted.
Online petitions are not always effective, but I had to sign this one.

"If you let me play sports ... I will like myself more ... I will have more self-confidence ... I'll be 50 percent less likely to get breast cancer ... I will suffer less depression ... I will be more likely to leave a man who beats me ... I'll be less likely to be pregnant before I want to ... I will learn to be strong." My favorite Nike ad ever.
Welcome to the Blogosphere
I'm still surprised when I find out unknown people have read/do read my blog. But it's a good kind of surprise, like when your roommate brings you home a cannoli from Mike's "just because." Today, I discoverd that Coach read my blog and characterized me a "funny, cool chick." Smart guy.

I want to blog a lot of things today. I'm going to try to resist until I'm no longer...oh, I don't know, at work?
The Cure for What Ails You
This week's TV Guide features a cover story on using television to mend your malaise: "The TV Cure: Anxious? Sad? Lonely? Watch these shows and feel better fast."

Geez, I was going to read Chicken Soup for the Soul, but watching TV is so much easier!

Wednesday, April 2

Ew, ew, ew, ew
Weight Watchers recipe cards, circa 1974.

Thanks, Jen.

Hi, my name is Jen, and I'm a dork

Okay, for all my dorky geekiness, I'm remarkably blind to a lot of technology. No, I don't own a cell phone. Yes, I am capable of breathing without a cell phone. No, I won't put you in my Palm, because I don't own one. Yes, that is a paper calendar. So it really isn't that surprising that I had never used Mozilla before.

I was having fun with my Nedstats this morning, and I discovered that 22% of the thousands of people who read my blog use Mozilla. Clearly, I needed to check into this. This is my first ever blog using the Mozilla browser. You're witnessing history here, people.

Tuesday, April 1

I'm a dork, reason #976: BlogShares. I am having way too much fun. Apparently, Stone is quite the hot commodity. I work next to greatness, people. Is it cheating if I link to a site after I buy stock in it? I'm new to the stocks game. I should probably buy some real ones, prepare for retirement or something. Is it bad to want to retire at 27?