crap in south dakota

I usually like to share these links on Facebook so that my friends and contacts can be made aware of what kinds of events and policies and ideas are being circulated. However, each time I tried to think of a comment to attach to the link, I found myself wanting to write something that was mildly offensive or perhaps too scandalous for me to want to write it on a public space. So, I've decided to retreat to my personal blog for now. But one day, I'll take the advice of my friends and start a political blog of my own...when I'm confident enough to share all my stances with more people.

The governor of South Dakota, Michael Rounds, signed into law a bill banning abortion, except in the case in which the mother's life is put at risk, in which case the abortion will not be considered a felony. This is a depressing and infuriating step in a chain of anti-choice legislation that has been proposed and/or passed in various states across the country, confirming my suspicion that we are moving backwards in time, and that our society and government have unfortunately decided to listen to extremists and polarizing voices rather than trying to find solutions that help as many people as possible. As if the broad ban of abortions weren't enough, another law, signed by Governor Rounds on Tuesday, requires women considering abortions to attend consultations at "pregnancy help centers". Why the quotation marks? Well, because these "pregnancy help centers" in South Dakota are run by people with an agenda that is decidedly anti-choice.

The factions in the debate surrounding abortion call themselves a variety of things:

"anti-abortion"

"pro-life"

"pro-choice"

I've decided to call the two sides "anti-choice" and "pro-choice," because that's what they are. As far as I know, NO ONE is "pro" abortion. Anyone who knows anything about the options and procedures for abortion know that it's not an easy choice, that it can be somewhat traumatic, and that it's not something that anyone would want to choose to go through. Those on the anti-choice side wave around graphic images of fetuses in jars, rant and rave about how anyone getting an abortion will burn in hell, etc., etc. But what they don't seem to understand is that NO ONE thinks that abortion is some fun joy ride. It is a painful, difficult choice that some women unfortunately have to make, and making it even more painful, even more difficult, even more traumatic, making it ILLEGAL won't change the fact that nobody WANTS to get an abortion.

I find it horrendously hypocritical and bizarre that the Republican Party was founded on the principles of individual choice and small government but today seems to so haphazardly apply these principles. When it comes to policies that would help low-income families and historically disadvantaged people such as the Affordable Care Act, strengthening Social Security, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, the government, they say, has no role and should not be involved. But when it comes to treating women like beings without agency or minds of their own, when it comes to funneling money to the Department of Defense, when it comes to artificially protecting the agricultural sector, when it comes to making cheap trade deals, there is no hesitation: government rules, whether the people agree or not!

I am terrified and angry and depressed and inspired to act when I hear about things like the recently-passed legislation in South Dakota, and I hope that you all get as enraged and inspired to act, as well.

workin' out

Okay. So, my team has a workout group on Facebook...I posted to it for a little while, but I stopped and don't really feel like doing it again. Here's my own little log:

3-14 : Indoor league

3-15 : Nada. Just a birthday dinner :)

3-16 : Something...I don't remember.

3-17 : Nuttin'.

3-18 : 2.5-mile run, plyos (1st outdoor run in months!)

3-19 : 2-mile run, almost all uphill

3-20 : Rien.

3-21 : Indoor league

3-22: 1.5-mile run, strength training (legs, arms, core), balance training

IWPR blog post: part 2

So, my blog post has been reposted on a few different sites, which is kinda cool :)

At Feministing,

At the Roosevelt Institute's Campus Network blog, Think 2040,

At the Younger Women's Task Force blog,

And it was highlighted in New Deal 2.0's Daily Digest.

japan

I am absolutely horrified, as is everyone else, with what the country of Japan is going through right now. I just cannot fathom having to endure the devastation of both an earthquake and a tsunami, along with the radiation exposure and ramifications of the damage to the nuclear plants in Northern Japan. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have avoided reading the front page of the paper the past couple of days simply because I can't bear to look at the pictures and feel that it's gotten to the point that I'm no longer taking in information about the progress of the rescue, clean-up, and damage control efforts overseas, and that looking at and reading the news coverage is simply adding to the already overwhelming and somewhat unproductive emotion that I feel for the Japanese people.

I am frustrated, upset, overcome with sympathy, and I was glad to be able to make a donation to Global Giving on my birthday to go towards the cause but wish that I could do more. I almost feel lazy giving money when I know that in the end, someone has to help collect and identify the bodies, someone has to rebuild the homes and the offices and the stores, someone has to help console and heal the injured, both physically and emotionally...I wish I could do more.

Please consider donating to the cause. I just learned that Living Social is matching donations over $5 to the American Red Cross, so that's another donation opportunity to look into.

birthday

A while ago, one of my close friends (Sara, actually), asked me something very interest. She asked me if I thought I might have a different idea of birthdays and felt differently around my birthday compared to other people because I had always had to share this day. While for others, birthdays are often an opportunity take a moment and celebrate oneself, I always shared it with someone, and made sure to call and write cards and send gifts around the time I was celebrating my own additional year of life. She wondered if that changed how I person treats his or her birthday.

I don't think that the sharing of my birthday has made me any more generous or selfless than the next person. I've still thrown myself parties and dinners, and sometimes I'll treat myself to a new outfit or some expensive books I've been wanting to read, or some other delightful treat. I don't think that sharing my birthday has made me a more thoughtful or better person. But I do believe that sharing my birthday every year makes me a lucky person.

I'm officially 23 years old (as of 27 minutes ago), and as I am a rather introspective person, it makes me think of all I've learned, everything I've felt, all I've seen in the past year. All the happiness, all of the pain, all of the loss, the new friends, the old friends, the changes, and all the things that have stayed the same. But I also think of the 23 years that I've shared with my twin sister.

As people go, we are as different as we could possibly be:

She has light brown eyes while mine are so dark that my driver's license indicates that I have black eyes.

She has a round face. I have an oval face.

She is a mechanical engineer studying architecture. I am a wannabe economist researching public policy.

When she's upset, she yells. When I'm upset, I cry.

We are different. But something about this sisterly bond keeps us tied closely to one another though we see ourselves diverging in our personalities more and more every day. Though she infuriates me sometimes, and I stretch her every last nerve, she is still the one person that can quell my incontrollable sobbing when I find myself up late panicking about life. She is beautiful, brilliant, hilarious, creative, an independent thinker, self-assured in her ideas about living and life, and stronger than almost anyone I know, and she is my sister.

It is possible that I treat birthdays differently, as I've always shared this day, a day that for many is more of a day to celebrate the self. But I'm lucky that it didn't turn out that way. Because on my birthday, I get to celebrate not only my own life, but also the life of my incredible sister.

Happy 23rd Birthday, Jin! I love you.

spring!

Goodbye, Winter.

Hello, Spring!

I haven't had any life-changing events occur during these past few weeks, but have enjoyed a number of activities including my President's Day trip to New York City to reunite with some

Wellesley friends, my winter league games, my weekly winter league games, a free National Symphony Orchestra concert with Alex at the Kennedy Center, some lovely dinners, a "Friendsgiving" event which was essentially a massive Thanksgiving-themed potluck, viewing of an independent film about campaign financing pertaining to the agriculture and energy industries, and I also got to celebrate Sara's numerous graduate school acceptances!

Christina, Sara, Colette, Nick (Colette's wonderful boyfriend), and I met up for brunch at Eatonville, a delicious restaurant in the U Street area of DC that is inspired by Zora Neale

Hurston and named for her hometown in Florida, I had a yummy plate of eggs benedict and potatoes with a cup of hot coffee. De-lish!

We then headed down to the Natural History Museum for the afternoon two look at two exhibits: one about the island of Cyprus and another about forensics in Jamestown, VA...a little creepy, particularly the skeleton of a 22-week old fetus and another one of a woman who had died with the skeleton of an unborn child in her uterus. Yikes. After we parted ways,Christina and I strolled around enjoying the weather and took a little sitting-break in the Hirschorn Sculpture Garden. On our way to the Chinatown metro stop, we passed the lovely magnolia trees pictured above, and noticed that the blossoms were beginning to emerge. Temperature in the 60s? Check. Blue skies? Check. Sunshine? Check. Budding flowers? Check. I'd say Spring has arrived!

Now, I did write a New Year's Resolution for the year 2011. However, they were so abstract and general that I realized lately that I don't actually know what I'm supposed to do with them. Seeing as Spring is a time that represents birth, rejuvenation, and a change, and considering the fact that I kick off my 23rd year of life this Tuesday, March 15, I have deemed this month a perfectly appropriate time for me to make new resolutions that I can actually aim to accomplish. While some of them are too personal to share, I will share with you that I am going to try to continue to live in a more eco-friendly manner by adjusting some of my choices as a consumer, try to continue to learn (specifically, practice my language skills and read up on certain topics), and to continue to improve myself and the way I interact with the world around me.

I am excited to start fresh. I am excited to see how much more I can get out of the remaining 4 months of my fellowship (it got extended 2 months). I am excited to learn, excited to change, excited to grow. Other things I'm excited about?

1. My trip home to NJ to see my parents, Jin, and Jenn!

2. Fool's Fest with the Whiptails/W-hipsters!

3. The National Cherry Blossom Festival!

4. The start of the Renegade club season!

Bring in the new season! I'm ready for it :)

quote

I found this while poking around on the internet the other day. Its author is unknown, but it was posted in The Torch on September 14, 1987. I love it. And while I love it, it also depresses me because the same quote has been applicable since...forever:

"Because women's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a "real" man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and 'unfeminine' and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we still can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and...for lots of other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement."

almond rice w/sautéed kale

Oh man. I love food. And because cooking leads to food, I love cooking, as well. Having grown up in a society in which instant gratification is almost always expected (you know who you are, you texters who freak out if you don't get a response within 5 seconds of sending something to your friends), cooking is wonderful. As soon as you put the effort in, something wonderful is almost always produced!

This afternoon, I decided to try something new. I had seen my friend Annamaria eat rice with whole almonds in it before, so I decided to put a spin on that. I don't know what to call this dish, but for now, I'm thinking of calling it Almond Rice with Sautéed Kale. Here is how you make it:

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan with a cube of vegetable bouillon.

2. When the water is boiling, add rice and boil until cooked (you can use any rice that you want, I used regular long-grain white rice).

3. Coarsely chop a handful of unsalted almonds and toast in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat.

4. Wash about 1/4-head of kale and cut away and discard the base of each stem; then cut the kale leaves and stems into bite-size pieces.

5. Season the kale in a mixing bowl with olive oil, rice vinegar, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Massage the oil and vinegar into the kale leaves.

6. Take the almonds out of the pan and put in the kale leaves and sautée very lightly, just enough to soften the stems.

7. When all three items are ready (rice, almonds, and kale), mix them all together with a little bit more rice vinegar to flavor the rice. It's now ready to eat! Mix with pan-fried tofu for a lil' more protein.

SO TASTY!!! OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

IWPR blog post!

An exciting work development: my first-ever blog post for IWPR went up today! It's about younger Americans and Social Security. I've reposted it below, and you can also find it at the IWPR FemChat blog.

Young Americans and Social Security

Bloggers, policy experts, and politicians are urging young Americans to care more about Social Security, whether they are asking us to love it, hate it, tweak it, or scrap it. But the results are already in: we care.

And if we could have it our way, Social Security would be here forever.

According to findings from an AARP report, the vast majority of people of all ages believe that Social Security is important, including 90 percent of those aged 18-29. A recent Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) survey confirms this sentiment among young adults: 63 percent of those aged 18-39 don’t support cutting Social Security benefits for deficit reduction and more than 60 percent of the group don’t think we pay enough for Social Security.

People my age (somewhere in my 20s) have grown up knowing and expecting that Social Security will be there for us in the future. Another IWPR report shows just how vital the program is for older Americans. It provides 50 percent or more of income for more than half of all men and women over the age of 65. Social Security also kept over 14 million people over the age of 65 out of poverty in 2009, 60 percent of whom are women.

In the wake of the Great Recession, American households saw their savings, home equity, and investments slip away, leaving many scrambling for resources. Pension payouts and asset values rise and fall with the tumultuous economy, and earnings remain uncertain in the face of high unemployment. But Social Security has remained a steadfast source of income in both good and bad times.

It is clear that Social Security will be important when we face retirement. But as the discussion remains focused on current retirees and deficit projections for future decades, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the Social Security debate needs our attention now and will affect us – young workers – more than anyone else.

Why is our voice important now?

Some of us already need Social Security.

If you’re like me and my friends, the term Social Security conjures up images of old age and years that lie far ahead. However, as of December 31, 2010, approximately 3.2 million children under the age of 18 were receiving Social Security benefits as children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers. 949,000 disabled children over the age of 18 were receiving benefits, as well. More than a third of Social Security beneficiaries are not retired workers. To some among us, Social Security is not only a promise of security when we are old, it is vital now.

We are already paying for and earning our retirement security.

Take a look at your most recent pay stub. It shows that you have had 4.2 percent of your wages withheld for the payroll tax, and therefore, Social Security; before the December 2010 tax package was passed, that amount was 6.2 percent of wages. The inflammatory media anddisconnected politicians have hammered away at the misguided notion that the exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund means ruin for us all. Their hypocrisy lies in the fact that younger people are told to worry and care about our future, yet policymakers give us even more of a reason to worry by threatening to cut and weaken the very program that would ensure income security for us in old age. Meanwhile, working Americans, including those our age, have been paying into Social Security with the expectation that we will receive the benefits that we have earned when it comes time to claim them.

Young Americans want Social Security to stay and stay secure.

We’ve heard the miscalculated and misrepresented statistics and the apocalyptic fear-mongering about this vital program. Now, it’s time that the naysayers listen to what young people have been saying all along.