I watched a disturbing documentary on psychological torture techniques in political prisons recently. As they described the tactics that were used to get these prisoners to break down mentally, I felt a disturbing flash of recognition in many areas. Any of these sound familiar? sleep deprivation - not allowing the subject to sleep noise flooding - subjecting prisoners to loud, unrelenting high-pitched noises, particularly while sleeping repeated questioning -asking the subject the same . . .
the post-script to the post-racial barbie
I am loving the conversation in the comments after last night's post. Race is always a sticky topic, and I really appreciate the dialogue. I do feel like I need to clarify: I do not think American Girl dolls are racist. I think it is completely normal for kids to want a doll that looks just like them, and fine if we indulge that wish. (For $90 plus tax, though, maybe someone can point me to a cheaper brand when India wants a twin doll?) I'm just saying . . . we should . . .
post-racial barbie
Mark and I had a much-anticipated date night tonight, to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. We went dinner at our favorite Cuban spot, and then we decided to get crazy and spontaneous, so we went to Target to buy a new rice cooker. HOT DATE. I know. We were cutting through the toy aisle on our way to look at the kitchen wares, and noticed a row of multiracial Barbies. Okay, cool. Barbie has got the diversity thing going on. Only, do you notice . . .
my little liability
My kids have spent a good portion of their summer in the backyard jumping on the trampoline. Consequently, Karis has spent a good portion of her summer in this position: (We use an old Little Tikes climbing structure as the trampoline ladder. It actually works perfectly - it is much more sturdy that a trampoline ladder and the platform is helpful for when one kid is coming out while another kid is going in, since of course they refuse to heed my constant warning of "one kid on the . . .
the anti-hedonist: a case for reform
When I was a little girl, my parents had a cartoon philosophy book in our library. I loved that book - probably because it was the only book with illustrations in a room full of hardbound theology books and bible commentaries. As an adult, I now see the humor in the book - it was a simple book with a different philosophy exemplified on each page by a hand-drawn pig. There is a Socratic pig in deep conversation with a disciple, a Franciscan pig with his congregation of animals, . . .
hait tees *ten bucks* this week
Okay, internet friends. Now is your chance. We are having a major - MAJOR - sale on our Haiti tees. Special price, just for you! $10 Because: a) Our matching grant from Running for Orphans ends in ONE WEEK and we are still under our goal. b) We might have ordered a few too many t-shirts. c) I would like to allow the children back into the garage without fear of them being crushed by the T-Shirt Boxes Tower of Doom. So . . . $10 a shirt. Pretty much at-cost, because . . .
morning, interrupted
I woke up this morning to a phone call from Diane Sawyer's producer. An hour and a half later there was a film crew at my house. So. I guess we're on World News with Diane Sawyer tonight? I think it's at 6:30. [EDITED: NOT TONIGHT. LATER THIS WEEK] They are doing a follow-up to the orphans Diane visited right after the quake. (That would be Kembe in her arms. Can't express how that felt - seeing him on the news happy and playing with his friends the night I got home . . .
observations at the mall
Three Things That Drive Me Crazy: The iphone "this changes everything . . . again" slogan. Um, no. The new iphone does not change everything. It changes the way a few privileged hipsters update their tweets and play Words With Friends. The lady who sells $5 balloons right next to the merry-go-round. Are my kids bothering you with the begging and the screaming and the throwing themselves on the ground? Well, blame her. I'm not spending $20 on . . .
that’s what she said: on colorblind love
Do you ever read a post and think, Oh my gosh, this is exactly what I'm always trying to say, but this person just said it much better? And then you think you just HAVE to share it, so everyone you know will read it? But you are afraid people won't follow a link, so you just post the majority of the post onto your own blog, hoping the author won't mind? Yeah, that happens to me, too. Here is an inappropriately long except from an amazing post written by Amie Sexton, guest post . . .
what I wanted to say. . .
I'm being told The View is on repeat today, so I'm gonna go ahead and bump this up to the top. Well, folks, my fifteen minutes on The View is up. Despite a slightly mortifying gaffe, I was glad to share a bit of our adoption story on a national media outlet. Leading up to the show, my mind was racing with points I wanted to make about adoption. It's something I'm so passionate about, and it's hard not to replay what I wish I would have said. Here's a bit of it . . . . .
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