...In which our heroine takes a stand.

Friends, I'm really worried. The rash of recent anti-choice laws, including South Dakota's bill to make killing abortion providers a justifiable homicide, Georgia's bill to make miscarriage criminal, and Ohio's bill to make abortion illegal within the first heartbeat of a fetus, as well as Congress' proposed cuts to Planned Parenthood are making me nervous to be a woman of child-bearing age in America.

For most of our beliefs, it's difficult to trace a specific source from which they came. But when it comes to reproductive choice about my own body, the decision was made for me at an early age. I don't remember how old I was when I watched HBO's exploration of abortion, If These Walls Could Talk, but I can tell you I remember the feeling I had after watching this scene in my grandma's basement:


The failed back-alley abortion Demi Moore gets is horrifying to me as a 21-year old, so as a child, it was nightmare inducing for weeks. Watching her struggle to call for help in that pool of blood decided my views on abortion for the rest of my life. There was no morality left in the issue: no woman should ever have to die that way, alone, and scared, simply because she did not want to have a child.

I'll never argue that abortion isn't ending a life, because it is. Abortion stops a life before it begins. But for me, bringing a truly unwanted child into the world is a sin far graver than not giving it that chance. Over Christmas break, my mother and I were watching Teen Mom, and she asked me what I would do. My answer was so honest, I left her speechless. If I found out I was pregnant tomorrow, I would get an abortion because at this stage in my life, I do not have the capacity to care for another life. She asked how I could live with such a decision - wouldn't it haunt me for the rest of my life - and I have no doubt that it would, but still, on a personal level, I have no business having a child right now, so why would I should subject it to a life that it doesn't deserve? Sure, there's adoption but in an overpopulated world, we don't need more unwanted children.

And to the same extent, I totally understand the moral objections to abortion. While I certainly wouldn't call it murder, it isn't as casual as some make it. Prevention is key. With that being said, there can be no legal objection to abortion. Make it illegal, and we go back to a state where women will go to any means necessary to obtain them anyway. Hell, you can walk into any natural foods store and buy a variety of herbs that might cause miscarriage...or dire hemorrhage. Ending the legality of abortion will lead to the deaths of many, many more women than need be.

This isn't even an abortion only issue: 97% of Planned Parenthood's services are non-abortion related, for preventive care for things like birth control and cancer screening, and for 60% of their patients, it's the only medical care they get all year. I have plenty of friends who rely on PP for the pill so they don't need to rely on them for an abortion. Cutting funding means fewer women who can prevent pregnancies, HIV, and cancer, which ultimately means more deaths for women in America.

I am thankful everyday for a world in which pills in varying shades of blue give me the extra reassurance that having sex doesn't have to mean a baby I don't want. And you know what, there have certainly been times that for whatever reason, I have no doubt my access to birth control prevented a pregnancy.  One of the organizers of Columbia's student feminist group, FEMMES, had a shirt that said "I FUCK TO COME, NOT TO CONCEIVE." While (hopefully) most men would be at least concerned that their orgasm could result in unwanted pregnancy, women should be afforded the same luxury that their sexual pleasure shouldn't come at the risk and cost of a child they do not want.

Even if you're against abortion, I would hope you at least would want women to have access to birth control. The last time I went to buy condoms, they were in a locked case. Don't tell me that doesn't deter people from being shamed into not buying them. I highly doubt that any women, once in a cold room, with feet in stirrups, thinks "gee, I'm SO glad I get to be having this abortion when I could be do just about anything else." It's undoubtedly an unpleasant part of life, but if we can prevent abortions with contraception - the very thing Planned Parenthood is trying to do -  we prevent the loss of more life.

It's my body, and my choice whether I want a child or not. I'm scared at what a world where this choice is taken away from me may look like. I'm scared for my fellow women, women who aren't lucky enough like me to have a regular gynecologist and an $8 birth control prescription. A woman shouldn't have to sacrifice sex, the most natural act on earth besides being born and dying, because she's so terrified of what the outcome might be.

So if you like me, or any ladies in your life, which I'm sure you do, please take a minute and sign the petition to make Congress reconsider cutting their federal tax dollars for a preventive care organization. 

I thank you, and my sisters, mothers, friends, nieces, and aunts thank you.

These are scary, scary times folks, and I certainly don't think we should bring more innocent lives into them without them being truly wanted. As my father says, "every child should be a wanted child."

...In which our heroine brings the fun.

Ladies and gentlemen, today I present the late, great Bill Hicks. I like his comedy so much because he certainly adheres to certain moral and social ideas that I support, but also has a real care for humanity. Yeah, he's cynical and jaded, but something about his comedy shows a hope for the ability of humans to make peace. Obviously, these are all vulgar.

Legal drugs vs. illegal drugs


The meaning of life


"I laid in a field of green grass and said, my god, I love everything." This one might be my favorite.


UFOs in Alabama


Christians vs. Dinosaurs


The world of marketing


New Kids on the Block vs. dead rock stars


The total plausibility of the JFK assassination


Gays in the military


"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the Weather..."


A little levity for your Saturday.

...In which our heroine is stacked.

Partially inspired by ChemGuy's shelf porn post via CBR...and the fact that I'm currently in a notoriously snowy city who just experienced its second or third largest snowfall ever. I believe this is what they call cabin fever:

The mantle in our living room. We've got some McDonald's toys, some VHS treasures liberated from the laundry room trash can, a couple birthday gifts, and a duo of Ginger Spice Barbies. Most of this stuff is mine, the most recent finds being the California Raisin dude and the New Kids on the Block mug.

My admittedly larger portion of the DVD shelves. Of course they're alphabetized. To the far right on the top shelf is the small collection of Blu-ray discs I've gotten since May. On the second shelf, far left, there's the even smaller Criterion Collection discs (in spine order, duh) then the Kubrick and Alien box sets, then television series, then the oversized Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Oz box sets.

I needed an overflow bookshelf, so this is the latest addition from IKEA. Mostly this is for oversized books and to-be-reads. The seashells are from my late great-grandmother's windowsill, the Wicked Witch from my other grandmother. The wooden box is where I keep, you know, stuff.

Ah, the top of the regular bookshelf is me at my kitschiest. The postcards are mostly from the wonderful Cassandra, as is Boris, the largest of the anteaters (Connie, the smaller is a recent find), and the decorated cigar box. Some family photos, the coolest Barbie EVER, and some assorted stuffed animals complete the shelf.

Unlike my DVDs, I arrange books by author. Lots of King, Palahniuk, and Klosterman on these top two shelves. The buddhas are from Hawaii, New York, and everywhere in-between. The ladybugs, which are too cool to use as they're meant to be as salt and pepper shakers, are from my grandmother. The Clarice mug is from our Christmas collection, and the Joker/Harvey Dent Pez dispensers are from Bob Evans. I honestly don't know where Mr. Turtle came from...

Big books down here. The Sandman collection, the hardcover King titles, the film books. The hunk o' quartz is from a friend of my momma, and the monkey cup keeps quarters for laundry.

Terribly thrilling, I know. I went outside yesterday and while main roads are cleared, side streets and sidewalks are certainly not. Tuesday night sounded like hellfire and damnation was bearing down on the city.  It really was kind of pretty - for a while at least - especially the drifts in our alley. And now it's grey and disgusting. I think I might be over Chicago winters for a while.

I've watched Jackie Brown (re-watch) and Miller's Crossing in my boredom. Neither of them are my favorite from Mr. Taratino or Mr.'s Coen, but still interesting. This is pretty fantastic, though.

Tarantino vs Coen Brothers from Leandro Copperfield on Vimeo.

As is this, which makes feel compelled to watch Barry Lyndon and Shutter Island, both in the Netflix queue.

Kubrick vs Scorsese from Leandro Copperfield on Vimeo.

Please don't make me choose between those five geniuses, either.