Category: news
01/22/08 04:33 - ID#42986
roe vs. wade
I'm back in Albany. I start work tommorow, and class on thursday. I'm looking forward to it. I've been feeling blue lately about having to leave my family and friends back home. I also miss Buffalo. I've been feeling pretty homesick. I am thinking about going to see Ani Difranco in concert this week, as she is playing downtown. I probably shouldn't go because I shouldn't spend the money on the ticket. On the other hand, she's one of my favorite musicians, and I always wanted to see her a second time (I saw her back in 2002).
Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. I was reading about how abortion rates have been decreasing:
I'm pro-choice, but I've always felt uneasy about the fact that I am pro-choice. I feel as though I should not have the right to tell another woman what to do with her body, especially when I've never walked through her shoes. Had my life turned out differently in certain points, I might have made the choice to terminate a pregnancy. I never became pregnant, but I've become aware of how quick your life can become permanently changed from another person's actions.
But I also feel uncomfortable about abortion, because I do feel that there is a developing human life that is lost when someone has an abortion. I always feel that whatever position I look at the issue from, I'm a little bit in the wrong. So hopefully, my views here aren't too offensive to anyone on here.
Permalink: roe_vs_wade.html
Words: 264
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: life
01/18/08 03:29 - 27ºF - ID#42938
solving the puzzle
Permalink: solving_the_puzzle.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: music
01/10/08 08:38 - 30ºF - ID#42815
itunes card
I want to thank my (e:strip) secret santa.
I just got my itunes card in the mail yesterday- what a great surprise! I loved it. I bought "the toaster's" retrospective cd and a liz janes lp. Thank you so very much, to the person who sent it. That was the perfect gift.
Permalink: itunes_card.html
Words: 53
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: dating
01/08/08 03:53 - 65ºF - ID#42790
the holidays
I spent Christmas at my grandparents in Olean, then I went to a couple of friend's holiday parties. I went to Pittsburgh for a rheumatologist appointment and my bloodwork came back good. I was having some problems with liver functioning and blood cell counts, so it was a relief that is okay again. I've had bad arthritis lately, but its managable.
I went back on the 30th to Brockport for Aaron's 30th birthday. We had dinner with his mom, sister, and brother in law. On New Years Eve, we went to Rochester to see the "Golden Compass" and then go out for dinner at a great micro-brewery. I liked how the Golden Compass turned out, though part of the ending from the book was cut out of the movie. Later, we snuggled into bed with some ice cream and watched some tv. I wish I could have made it to the estrip party, but I couldn't imagine having a better time than I did with Aaron:).
Lately, I've been working on some research and school-related things. There's a lot of things I should do, unfortunately, I'm not a motivated person at all. I'm supposed to go back to Albany in less than two weeks. I have mixed-feelings about this. I'm looking forward to classes and seeing most of the people back there, but work hasn't been so great. Hopefully, this semester will go better than the previous semester in that respect. I'm grateful I still have a job, though.
Speaking of work, I should probably go do some...
Permalink: the_holidays.html
Words: 326
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: albany
12/15/07 11:04 - 15ºF - ID#42523
adventures in albany
I had my first ever glass of champagne on weds. It was good! No wonder people like it so much. One of my profs was serving us glasses at an end of the semester party for some of the grad students and faculty. I definitely enjoyed the party and thought it was fun, but I felt somewhat self-conscious. Most people there were sophisticated and well-traveled, and obviously, I am not really either of those things. I'm just this girl from a small-town.
I met up with some of my friends on thursday night, for karaoke at a place called Pintos. It was my first time going through the lark st. neighborhood. It's neat... lark reminds me of allentown in Buffalo. Lots of bars and small businesses. My friend Matt sang some cheesy eighties songs, christmas tunes, and even a Hank Williams number. I think it made him happy that I told him that he sounded like Bob Dylan. (I didn't tell him which Bob Dylan era, heh). Seriously, though, he was good.
I'm all done with my classes. A few more days of TA stuff, then I'm headed back to WNY for the holidays. I'm looking forward to it.
Permalink: adventures_in_albany.html
Words: 258
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: family
12/04/07 01:35 - 27ºF - ID#42392
hannukah
Tonight is the first night of Hannukah. Hannukah's not one of the most important Jewish holidays, and I came from a mixed-faith background where we celebrated Christmas, too. I've felt down the past couple of days not to be able to see my mom or the rest of my family for Hannukah, though. I don't think I've ever not spent at least part of it with her.
She actually sent me this really nice package yesterday with an itunes gift certificate, socks, five dollars, and a funny card. It was a great surprise... I wasn't really expecting anything.
I'm pretty stressed out between work and school, but I'm "hanging in there." I'm looking forward to Christmas and New Years.
Permalink: hannukah.html
Words: 149
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: news
12/03/07 09:35 - 26ºF - ID#42386
least dangerous drunk study
I'm not really sure about their methodology, but I did find it kind of interesting, to say the least.
Permalink: least_dangerous_drunk_study.html
Words: 45
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: life
11/26/07 12:14 - 34ºF - ID#42279
what's been going on
A quick recap on what's been going on lately:
A week and a half ago, Mary (one of my best friends) came up to visit me from Jamestown. I really enjoyed having her stay with me for a few days. We ended up going to see some cool art exhibits- one on chinese silk paintings, and another on kirigami. Her dad came up the final day she was here to go to a conference, and he ended up taking us out to dinner at this great restaurant called the Macaroni Factory. I had never been to it before, but it was this fun Italian place. I loved their Eggplant Parm.
On that Friday, I went to a great party that some friends in my program were having. Good company, and equally good rum and cokes.
I spent the next couple of days working on papers for school. Then, I went back home on weds. to Jimmytown for thanksgiving. On Thursday, we went to Northwest PA to visit my grandfather, Aunt and Cousin for thanksgiving. We had dinner at this one restaurant there. I enjoyed it. My grandfather was talking about meeting Jimmy Stewart and Jack Parr during the war- it made for interesting stories.
My parents decided to give me a ride back to Albany today, and we stopped for a little while near brockport to see A. I could only see him for an hour. It's hard to be so far away from him, and not getting to see him as much as I would like... but when I do, it's worth it. Even if its only an hour- it will be the best hour I've had in a long time. Fortunately, I will get to see him again in only a few weeks:).
I'm back to the grind. There's so much work to be done to wrap the semester up over the next few weeks. Right now, I'm trying to grade the remainder of my student's term papers- but no luck. With all due respect to my student's, a lot of their papers were not very readable. It scares me a little that college students do not know that you have to cite sources in a paper, or use a bibliography. It bothers me that I'm supposed to give all of these students a B- or above, considering that. The class average was 64% for the midterm, so the paper was supposed to balance that out somehow. *shrugs*
Permalink: what_s_been_going_on.html
Words: 524
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: life
11/22/07 04:30 - 28ºF - ID#42240
thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jess
Permalink: thanksgiving.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: tech
11/12/07 03:29 - 53ºF - ID#42097
bad luck
In the course of the past two weeks, I've had some misshaps. My computer has died (all files gone and unrecoverable). I lost my USB drive in the library today with my school files. Some were saved in another place, some not. My attendance files for the TA class are gone, though I saved most of the paper records for it. My TV stopped working. My DVD player no longer works.
I guess I wasn't suited for a world of techology, heh.
Permalink: bad_luck.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY
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But I think it's going to happen, whether it's legal or not, unfortunately. So we might as well make it SAFE. And obviously work on education etc to prevent the NEED.
I totally agree with 'safe, legal, and rare'.
I don't think pro-choice has to mean pro-abortion. And I hate the way people make it sound like it's the opposite of pro-life- It's pro-CHOICE not pro-DEATH. I think I should get to make the decisions about my body. That said- would I ever be able to bring myself to have an abortion? I dunno... Just b/c I'm pro-choice doesn't mean I think abortion is the only answer.
What I mean by a perfect answer is a solution that 100% of the people are going to be happy with.
Now, that is not to say that it invalidates your question, which I think is exactly the right one to be asking. I care about results the most, not clinging hopelessly to ideology.
Nor does it invalidate your premise, which is to have people from two groups come together. I don't think you get 100% of the people, but you do get a huge majority, enough to find a solution that works for most. I'm willing to live with that.
I think our perspectives on it are basically the same, unless you think there IS a perfect solution out there (my definition) - in which case I am all ears, because I've tried like crazy to influence people based on an appeal to common sense - "What is worse to you, education, prevention, or an abortion?" - and some of them always want things on their terms.
Roe v. Wade was, and remains of course, a shockingly bad legal decision, although debating the nerdy merits of a legal decision seems rather silly when you're talking life versus death.
To me, the fact that you feel uneasy about things does not reveal a lack of a spine - no - it means you have a better understanding than most that it just isn't a perfect world, and there are no perfect answers.
It is because we understand that while infanticide is not new to us, the technology has gotten much better, and so we can smile and feel better about ourselves than our barbaric ancestors.
(e:Drew)'s understanding of this, as a Christian, is not at all different than my Mormon Uncle's understanding of it. The words of my Uncle were, it is isn't a perfect world, Jason.
I completely agree that the answer is to have abortions be safe, legal, and rare - the Clinton definition - and that we can't afford to be choosy concerning methods of prevention.
In terms of abortions maybe they are not as bad as some people think. I'm not saying that Abortions should be encouraged. But what if teens who have no business having kids and who have sex as a way to find love that they never got cause daddy was never there might be better off. This way they don't have 4 kids and pull the community down. Then they have kids who they can't take care of who get screwed up and have a horid life. Again these are the kids that won't get adopted so they would just wind up being in foster care if they where given away.
My belief is that women should have a right to abort the baby. I do agree that once it is the 3rd trimester it should be illegal. I also think that any place that gives abortions should half to have information about other options like adoption. I do think that abortion clinics should be safe. Moraly it is up to the person who does it. I would rather it be safe for those people who decide to do it. The one thing I wonder is will there ever be a time that through science if a man wants the kid and the women doesn't if they will have some way to do that, the point can be made that the fathers have no rights here and that is kinda true but it isn't there body so.
I think Drew has a good comment as well. After all, it isn't as if abortions didn't happen when they were illegal. The social conditions which drive people to it are around whether or not it it legal. Better to make the world a better place than to put a band-aid on it.