October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.
Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.
On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.
Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.
GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word
Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.
GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.
Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: “Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.”
GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.
As a personal note, if you need convincing on the devastation this can bring to a couple (and their families, and the people who love them) here's some related reading.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Habits
I have really gotten out of the habit of blogging, haven't I? I was all into Twitter for a while (and still love it), but I even got out of that habit during Fantastic Fest. I often think about things I'd like to say here, but the thought of logging in and typing them seems like such a drag. My yoga and tai chi teachers are always on about how many times you have to do something until it becomes a habit (3 times a week comes to mind - I obviously blow them off during these comments now that I think about it), so perhaps I'll make that committment to NCTM for a bit and see how it goes.
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Cure Happens Today
I've been volunteering with the Austin Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure for almost exactly a year - first as a member now co-chair of the Technology Committee, also helping with a special project for the Annual Race for the Cure, and I've applied to be on the board (keep your fingers crossed for the big vote on the 18th).
Before I had the chance to work with this group, I might not have listed finding a cure for breast cancer in my top 5 causes, but I've had such a positive experience working with all of the women and men who are so passionate about the goal of finding a cure that I am now equally as committed. Several things happened really; I'm now coming in direct contact with the people who are affected by this terrible disease; I haven't met a single volunteer who hasn't impressed the hell out of me; AND (last but not least) I finally took a moment to think about my relationship with my own body, and what it would mean to have my own breasts (certainly a part of my femininity, despite my conflicted relationship with them) under attack.
All of this to say, I'm on a Race for the Cure team and if you feel like supporting me or this fantastic cause you can run with us or make a donation here. There's also a Facebook group if you want to learn more about other events, volunteering opportunities, etc.
And now that I'm thinking about it, here are the other causes I'm doing my best to support as well: helping children grow into happy, successful adults (I'm a mentor with BBBS, certainly another life changing experience); supporting reproductive rights for all women regardless of class or race; ending violence against women; suicide prevention. The list goes on and on now that I've started...
Feeling the need to stand on a soap box for a minute. Pick a cause (or 10) and REALLY support it. Writing a big check is great, but every single group needs committed volunteers, too. You can decide how much of a time committment you're willing to make and I promise you'll get at least as much out of it as you've put in.
Before I had the chance to work with this group, I might not have listed finding a cure for breast cancer in my top 5 causes, but I've had such a positive experience working with all of the women and men who are so passionate about the goal of finding a cure that I am now equally as committed. Several things happened really; I'm now coming in direct contact with the people who are affected by this terrible disease; I haven't met a single volunteer who hasn't impressed the hell out of me; AND (last but not least) I finally took a moment to think about my relationship with my own body, and what it would mean to have my own breasts (certainly a part of my femininity, despite my conflicted relationship with them) under attack.
All of this to say, I'm on a Race for the Cure team and if you feel like supporting me or this fantastic cause you can run with us or make a donation here. There's also a Facebook group if you want to learn more about other events, volunteering opportunities, etc.
And now that I'm thinking about it, here are the other causes I'm doing my best to support as well: helping children grow into happy, successful adults (I'm a mentor with BBBS, certainly another life changing experience); supporting reproductive rights for all women regardless of class or race; ending violence against women; suicide prevention. The list goes on and on now that I've started...
Feeling the need to stand on a soap box for a minute. Pick a cause (or 10) and REALLY support it. Writing a big check is great, but every single group needs committed volunteers, too. You can decide how much of a time committment you're willing to make and I promise you'll get at least as much out of it as you've put in.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Book Review: Clown Girl
I am not remotely like any of the characters in Monica Drake's Clown Girl and nothing about their lives is remotely familiar to me. And yet, I loved the lead character Nita (aka Clown Girl) and the assorted hoodlums and heroes in this strange story. Drake clearly has a talent with misfit characters and I ended up being really drawn into the frantic world she creates. It took me a while to get into it, but I stayed up late to finish - something that I haven't done with a non-YA book in quite a while.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
IndieSpensable Volume IV: Clown Girl
A while back, I decided to spring for an IndieSpensable subscription from one of my super favorite bookstores, Powell's Books. According to the site, IndieSpensable is a subscription that "delivers the best new books, with special attention to leading independent publishers. Signed first editions. Inventive, original sets. Exclusive printings.... Every six weeks, another installment to read and admire." What better thing for a girl who loves books, supporting local bookstores, AND getting fantastic fun things in the mail?
My first installment arrived today and I'm not dissapointed. Here's what's inside:
My first installment arrived today and I'm not dissapointed. Here's what's inside:
- The Super Crazy Cat Dance - a "super-fun crazy comic for kids and grownups alike" by Aron Nels Steinke
- Clown Girl by Monica Drake - one of a special limited edition of 750, and the novel's only hardcover printing
- A rubber chicken key chain
- A collection of extra large postcards featuring stuff abou the authors, Portland (Powell's Books hometown), and the series
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Missing the boat on Twilight
This Salon article on the Twilight phenomenon is a perfect example of why I decided not to go into academia. There are some good points here, to be sure (Clee and I have long regreted that reading Twilight turns us into petulent teenage girls), but I seriously wish that this woman would lighten up.
The fact that she's so dismissive of these books really pisses me off. Just because they're popular doesn't mean they're bad. Have we learned nothing from Harry Potter? Plus, the fact that teenage girls and their Moms agree on anything is completely fantastic, let alone that these books are getting people to read at all. And say what you want about Bella, but I think it's pretty great that the female lead of the series - a smart, shy, physically awkward girl who is capable of speaking her mind - gets to be the love interest of not one but 2 heroes.
I've read plenty of the crap that Harold Bloom was always on about, and sure, lots of it is really great. But it's also usually dense, and pretentious and totally overwrought.
I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of Breaking Dawn on the day it comes out, and I'll probably go to the release party at Book People, too. And I'll stand there with all of the other fangirls of all ages, and shriek and sigh and moon, and embrace the beautifully absurd romance of these fantastic books. And if I come home expecting a little more from my own knight in shining armor, so be it.
The fact that she's so dismissive of these books really pisses me off. Just because they're popular doesn't mean they're bad. Have we learned nothing from Harry Potter? Plus, the fact that teenage girls and their Moms agree on anything is completely fantastic, let alone that these books are getting people to read at all. And say what you want about Bella, but I think it's pretty great that the female lead of the series - a smart, shy, physically awkward girl who is capable of speaking her mind - gets to be the love interest of not one but 2 heroes.
I've read plenty of the crap that Harold Bloom was always on about, and sure, lots of it is really great. But it's also usually dense, and pretentious and totally overwrought.
I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of Breaking Dawn on the day it comes out, and I'll probably go to the release party at Book People, too. And I'll stand there with all of the other fangirls of all ages, and shriek and sigh and moon, and embrace the beautifully absurd romance of these fantastic books. And if I come home expecting a little more from my own knight in shining armor, so be it.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Negative Effects of Suicide (aka Bad Ripples)
My Dad committed suicide a little over 3 years ago now, and I often wonder what would have happened if he had come to me before hand, if he had given me a chance to try to talk to him out of it. He died because he was very depressed, and feeling hopeless, and thought he was doing me and my Mom a favor.
Because the universe works in mysterious ways, I recently had the chance to have this conversation with someone dear to me. Only time will tell if I had any effect, but it occured to me that maybe there are other people out there who are considering taking their own lives because they believe the same lie that he believed - that the world, my world, was better without him in it. Trouble is, NOW, I know what I would have said, but I wouldn't have had any idea back then, I probably would have just said the same old crap that people say in Hallmark movies, or when adversting about medication for troubled teens. So, here's what I would tell him now, with the benefit of hindsight.
But, first, a disclaimer or 2. I'm just a woman who lost her Dad and in no way capable of giving actual advice. If you're thinking about it, please talk to someone in your own life who you trust, or even someone that you don't (they may surprise you). My Dad did not have a serious life threatening illness, nor was he ever a threat to others - these possibilities and many others would likely change my answers. I can only speak to what happened to me, and how I feel about it now. It feels strange to be putting this "out there" at all, but I am still strangely compelled to do so. Here goes:
1. I'm not going to "get over it." Loved ones aren't just sad for a while and then move on. My mom still cries every day, 3 years and 1 month later. I'm the stoic one, but I still cry plenty. There are moments - quite often - when the loss hits me like a ton of bricks, and it feels like I'm just getting that phone call on the day he died. A woman in a support group I went to lost her father over 30 years ago and she still obviously misses the hell out of him.
2. My life is worse - aside from the grief - for several practical reasons. Mom's life is way harder now and I'm the one who has to constantly pick up the pieces. Every day, I spend time and mental energy that at this stage of my life would typically be going to something else, like starting a family of my own. I may not ever have kids now and I know that this, too, is grief that I will have to work through at some point.
3. Things that were fun now make me vomit - like the game Hangman, for example, or that ridiculous movie The Happening that I'll never get to see because people kill themselves in it. For the first year after it happened, every time I heard the word rope, or saw a picture of one, or God forbid saw someone hanging, I literally threw up. EVERY TIME. I'd estimate about 50 times in the first year. Now I just feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I'd imagine the same applies for other methods, but guns, cars and pills are way more prevalent than ropes, so multiply my issue by a nice round number.
4. Mom and I are more at risk of committing suicide ourselves. The numbers vary, but I've read that I'm as much as 40% more likely now that a person close to me as done it. Those aren't very good odds - how often would you make a choice where you knew someone you loved had a 40% chance of dying? Or even a 10% chance?
5. Mom will always blame herself. The fact that she is now doomed to that hardly seems like something he would have wanted for her, and it certainly didn't make her life easier.
6. Other general "bad ripples" - I don't know and may never know all of the other things that changed with his death. Maybe things would have gotten better for him, maybe not, but this not knowing is I think the hardest thing for me. He met a violent end - physically and emotionally. How could that not have unknown consequences in this vast universe?
So I think that about covers it. I really do understand and of course I forgave him immediately. Everyone has to make their own choices in this world, and who am I to say that this isn't the right choice for some people? Maybe it even was right for him, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it. I just thought you should know.
Because the universe works in mysterious ways, I recently had the chance to have this conversation with someone dear to me. Only time will tell if I had any effect, but it occured to me that maybe there are other people out there who are considering taking their own lives because they believe the same lie that he believed - that the world, my world, was better without him in it. Trouble is, NOW, I know what I would have said, but I wouldn't have had any idea back then, I probably would have just said the same old crap that people say in Hallmark movies, or when adversting about medication for troubled teens. So, here's what I would tell him now, with the benefit of hindsight.
But, first, a disclaimer or 2. I'm just a woman who lost her Dad and in no way capable of giving actual advice. If you're thinking about it, please talk to someone in your own life who you trust, or even someone that you don't (they may surprise you). My Dad did not have a serious life threatening illness, nor was he ever a threat to others - these possibilities and many others would likely change my answers. I can only speak to what happened to me, and how I feel about it now. It feels strange to be putting this "out there" at all, but I am still strangely compelled to do so. Here goes:
1. I'm not going to "get over it." Loved ones aren't just sad for a while and then move on. My mom still cries every day, 3 years and 1 month later. I'm the stoic one, but I still cry plenty. There are moments - quite often - when the loss hits me like a ton of bricks, and it feels like I'm just getting that phone call on the day he died. A woman in a support group I went to lost her father over 30 years ago and she still obviously misses the hell out of him.
2. My life is worse - aside from the grief - for several practical reasons. Mom's life is way harder now and I'm the one who has to constantly pick up the pieces. Every day, I spend time and mental energy that at this stage of my life would typically be going to something else, like starting a family of my own. I may not ever have kids now and I know that this, too, is grief that I will have to work through at some point.
3. Things that were fun now make me vomit - like the game Hangman, for example, or that ridiculous movie The Happening that I'll never get to see because people kill themselves in it. For the first year after it happened, every time I heard the word rope, or saw a picture of one, or God forbid saw someone hanging, I literally threw up. EVERY TIME. I'd estimate about 50 times in the first year. Now I just feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I'd imagine the same applies for other methods, but guns, cars and pills are way more prevalent than ropes, so multiply my issue by a nice round number.
4. Mom and I are more at risk of committing suicide ourselves. The numbers vary, but I've read that I'm as much as 40% more likely now that a person close to me as done it. Those aren't very good odds - how often would you make a choice where you knew someone you loved had a 40% chance of dying? Or even a 10% chance?
5. Mom will always blame herself. The fact that she is now doomed to that hardly seems like something he would have wanted for her, and it certainly didn't make her life easier.
6. Other general "bad ripples" - I don't know and may never know all of the other things that changed with his death. Maybe things would have gotten better for him, maybe not, but this not knowing is I think the hardest thing for me. He met a violent end - physically and emotionally. How could that not have unknown consequences in this vast universe?
So I think that about covers it. I really do understand and of course I forgave him immediately. Everyone has to make their own choices in this world, and who am I to say that this isn't the right choice for some people? Maybe it even was right for him, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it. I just thought you should know.
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