This year we were going to go, as a family, as the Ghostbusters and a ghost or two to the annual costume party where prizes are given. It is very competitive, very subjective, and this year there is supposed to be a family costume theme prize.
Unfortunately everyone wants to be something different. So although we will still have a Ghostbuster, we will have instead Meta Knight and Princess Peach.
Which brings me to the sewing part. The Meta Knight is an original design based on a video game character, and no one sells a Princess Peach costume. So on Saturday we spent two hours at the fabric superstore finding patterns that can be adapted and fabric.
When I said, "Now we need to buy notions," there was an exclamation of surprise and dismay. I wasn't about to go back and buy all the thread and odds and ends needed, so we did the hard work of finding the trims that will make the costumes look like they should.
Of course I have already been back to the fabric store for additional things. And I discovered the greatest invention yet: fabric glue stick. I can't way to try it out, and see if I can save myself a couple of hours.
The kids are supposed to help me, too; we'll see how that plays out. I hope they do; I am sure they will be better than I am at some of the construction work.
We will see how it goes! And we will go to the party as an assortment of pop culture figures.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Health Care Reform (again)
Have an hour and a half? I can make it worth your while. Watch the "town hall" meeting Joe Biden, along with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, conducted at a senior center in Maryland. He clearly and powerfully outlines not only the need for health care reform, but just what will and will not happen.
Joe Biden's comment, "Mom, it's hokum. It's a bunch of malarky," regarding the so-called "death panels" has been widely quoted. But he said a couple of other things I like even better.
He talked about his Senate history of defending Medicare, and he posed the question: Why would he, and the other people who worked so hard to defend and preserve Medicare, suddenly try to get rid of it? As he said, "It just doesn't make sense."
Biden also pointed out that the same people who are claiming now to be trying to save Medicare while making dire predictions about government interference and benefits reductions, are the same ones who have opposed Medicare, and were some of the same who voted for the law that will take effect in 2010 that will reduce Medicare benefits paid to doctors by 27%. If nothing is done to change that law.
The reality of this is, as I have said before, that the health insurance companies are the ones who will benefit if things stay the way they are. The companies make enormous profits each year, including subsidy payments from the government (Medicare Advantage, anyone?), and right now are unregulated and in control of who gets what kind of coverage, and what we pay. There is no reason, based on recent history, to expect that they will not continue to raise premiums, exclude people for coverage, and pay their executives million dollar bonuses.
The reform package being considered by the Congress does not go nearly as far as it could in reforming a system crippled by greed and no accountability on the part of the insurance companies. However, there at least are some regulations, a guarantee of coverage for everyone, and an attempt to bring down costs. It includes a government option that will provide coverage for people who can't afford private insurance, and will make it competitive with the insurance companies.
The opponents can pontificate and bluster all they want to. But no matter what argument they make, their interest lies not in helping the people, but in preserving the profits of the insurance companies. And that sends us the message that the profits of business are more important than the individual.
So I want to say to the opponents of reform: Show me your criteria for deciding who gets coverage and who doesn't. Because without reform that is what is happening. And any kind of bill without a guarantee of coverage for every American means they have decided that there are Americans who don't deserve to be able to afford their health care. I just want to know who those Americans are.
Joe Biden's comment, "Mom, it's hokum. It's a bunch of malarky," regarding the so-called "death panels" has been widely quoted. But he said a couple of other things I like even better.
He talked about his Senate history of defending Medicare, and he posed the question: Why would he, and the other people who worked so hard to defend and preserve Medicare, suddenly try to get rid of it? As he said, "It just doesn't make sense."
Biden also pointed out that the same people who are claiming now to be trying to save Medicare while making dire predictions about government interference and benefits reductions, are the same ones who have opposed Medicare, and were some of the same who voted for the law that will take effect in 2010 that will reduce Medicare benefits paid to doctors by 27%. If nothing is done to change that law.
The reality of this is, as I have said before, that the health insurance companies are the ones who will benefit if things stay the way they are. The companies make enormous profits each year, including subsidy payments from the government (Medicare Advantage, anyone?), and right now are unregulated and in control of who gets what kind of coverage, and what we pay. There is no reason, based on recent history, to expect that they will not continue to raise premiums, exclude people for coverage, and pay their executives million dollar bonuses.
The reform package being considered by the Congress does not go nearly as far as it could in reforming a system crippled by greed and no accountability on the part of the insurance companies. However, there at least are some regulations, a guarantee of coverage for everyone, and an attempt to bring down costs. It includes a government option that will provide coverage for people who can't afford private insurance, and will make it competitive with the insurance companies.
The opponents can pontificate and bluster all they want to. But no matter what argument they make, their interest lies not in helping the people, but in preserving the profits of the insurance companies. And that sends us the message that the profits of business are more important than the individual.
So I want to say to the opponents of reform: Show me your criteria for deciding who gets coverage and who doesn't. Because without reform that is what is happening. And any kind of bill without a guarantee of coverage for every American means they have decided that there are Americans who don't deserve to be able to afford their health care. I just want to know who those Americans are.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
Friday Night
It's Friday evening, and the kids are occupied with Mario on the Wii, the dog has taken over the bed, and outside it is raining.
Today we registered the boat with the state, and paid the user tax (like a sales tax on an out-of-state purchase when you don't pay sales tax in that state) so we could get the title and registration, along with the required stickers.
College football season starts tomorrow; Purdue plays Toledo and will hopefully win the game. Although no one is expecting Purdue to burst out in the first year under Coach Hope, there is always a possibility that they will have a great season -- Purdue went to a bowl game following a dismal year in their first year under Coach Tiller; Minnesota went to a bowl game their first year under Coach Holtz. Precedent!
The Betsy-Tacy high school books are being reissued, and I'm very excited! Each book contains two volumes, and the covers are using the original Vera Neville artwork. (See the covers and read what the editor in charge has to say about them on her blog.) They were my favorite books growing up, and I reread them often, even more than the Little House books and the Louisa Mae Alcott books. I readily confess that, as an adult, I have continued to reread them. Maud Hart Lovelace's fine writing and attention to historic accuracy, along with her focus on family dynamics, gives the books an authenticity that lasts.
I read the books to my own girls when they were small, and they went on to read them on their own. (When my older daughter realized she could read independently, it was Betsy-Tacy she chose to tackle, rereading the first chapter for two weeks until she could read it smoothly.) These days I often hear one or the other of them say, "That is just like what happened to Betsy!" or "Didn't (fill in here) happen in one of the Betsy Tacy books, Mom?" In October I will be buying the new editions. As often as we reread them, we can never have too many copies.
The kids have gone up to bed, and it is quiet in the kitchen except for the soft patter of rain outside and the tick of the clock over the doorway. Another Friday night draws to a close.
Today we registered the boat with the state, and paid the user tax (like a sales tax on an out-of-state purchase when you don't pay sales tax in that state) so we could get the title and registration, along with the required stickers.
College football season starts tomorrow; Purdue plays Toledo and will hopefully win the game. Although no one is expecting Purdue to burst out in the first year under Coach Hope, there is always a possibility that they will have a great season -- Purdue went to a bowl game following a dismal year in their first year under Coach Tiller; Minnesota went to a bowl game their first year under Coach Holtz. Precedent!
The Betsy-Tacy high school books are being reissued, and I'm very excited! Each book contains two volumes, and the covers are using the original Vera Neville artwork. (See the covers and read what the editor in charge has to say about them on her blog.) They were my favorite books growing up, and I reread them often, even more than the Little House books and the Louisa Mae Alcott books. I readily confess that, as an adult, I have continued to reread them. Maud Hart Lovelace's fine writing and attention to historic accuracy, along with her focus on family dynamics, gives the books an authenticity that lasts.
I read the books to my own girls when they were small, and they went on to read them on their own. (When my older daughter realized she could read independently, it was Betsy-Tacy she chose to tackle, rereading the first chapter for two weeks until she could read it smoothly.) These days I often hear one or the other of them say, "That is just like what happened to Betsy!" or "Didn't (fill in here) happen in one of the Betsy Tacy books, Mom?" In October I will be buying the new editions. As often as we reread them, we can never have too many copies.
The kids have gone up to bed, and it is quiet in the kitchen except for the soft patter of rain outside and the tick of the clock over the doorway. Another Friday night draws to a close.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Gonzales Cantata
Someone has rewritten the 2007 Roberto Gonzales testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a cantata. Check it out here.
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