Walking Under Chandeliers

2003-03-03T13:21:00.000-06:00

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Last week, Jeff and I purchased our very own domain and webspace so...let this serve as your notice that...

Our BLOGS Have Moved!

You can find Walking Under Chandeliers (Katie's Blog) at http://kathleen.theutechs.com/blog/ or http://theutechs.com/kathleen/blog

You can find A Stranger in a Strange Land (Jeff's Blog) at http://jeffrey.theutechs.com/blog orhttp://www.theutechs.com/jeffrey/blog/

Please update your links or blogrolls with our new sites!! See you there!

2003-03-02T22:03:00.000-06:00

Bottle Deposit

While watching the Iowa Basketball disaster last night from our local Old Chicago, I was struck by an interesting question. I posed the question to my drinking mates, and we didn't come up with an answer, so I thought I'd pose it here on my blog.

In the state of Iowa, we pay a 5-cent bottle deposit on all aluminum cans and glass bottles.

Therefore, when you go to a bar and buy a can or bottle of beer, shouldn't you be able to take the bottle with you, regardless of the amount of liquid left in it, because the case could be made that in purchasing the bottle of beer you are the one paying the bottle deposit and therefore should be able to return it to the store for your 5-cent refund?

2003-02-28T08:13:00.000-06:00

Friday Five!

Happy Weekend!

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?
It's hard to pick a favorite, honestly. I read anything I can. Jeff and I have almost 20 magazine subscriptions that we get every month, and I read them every month. So, I obviously enjoy reading magazines. But, that's not necessarily my favorite. For leisure reading, I enjoy novels and I read on average of two novels a month. I would have to say that newspapers and poetry fall to the bottom of my list. Newspapers would rate higher on my list if I lived somewhere where we could get a quality daily delivered every morning. Such is not the case in North Liberty.

2. What is your favorite novel?
Again...hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say that my first favorite novel was Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel, I read it when I was in 7th grade, it's a fantastic novel. Another one that I enjoyed recently and I am currently recommending to people is Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner. Other books near the top of my list: The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts, Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain) and any of the Harry Potter books.

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)
I'm not a big poetry buff anymore (in my youth I was--ha ha!). I enjoy Maya Angelou and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Shel Silverstein.

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?
One thing? How about half of Barnes and Noble? Seriously, my "Book Backlog" is currently at 9 books. They're all sitting on the shelf waiting for me to read them. It's funny, because the backlog never seems to decline...

5. What are you currently reading?
Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer

2003-02-27T20:16:00.000-06:00

A Legend

As I am sure you know, today, Mr. Fred Rogers died after a short battle with stomach cancer. I had avoided posting about his death today because, I didn't know exactly what to say about it, and because it's been widely covered on the net and I didn't want to be repetitious.

But...I got to thinking, and I do have a few things that I think need to be said about Mr. Rogers.

Everyone is talking about Mr. Rogers today. It happens frequently when a celebrity dies, their popularity spikes in the days following their death. Mr. Rogers is no different. I am sure that many of us in the Gen X generation haven't had a conscious thought about Mr. Rogers in years, yet today we're all talking about him. In fact I even heard a caller on Talk of the Nation on NPR who said that his company has dedicated tomorrow as "Cardigan Day" as a small way to honor Mr. Rogers. The mere fact that every newscast, radio call-in show, workplace and private conversation is dominated by the death of this man really got me thinking.

Mr. Rogers gave all of us a gift that we may not have realized until now. In giving us the gift of himself, he gave us the gift of ourselves. Let me explain. Mr. Rogers taught us to be genuine, to be accepting and to be an individual. I remember, as I'm sure many of you do, a particular episode when Mr. Rogers was trying to make a rainbow with water mist and a flashlight. He couldn't do it. He was obviously getting frustrated until eventually his neighbor came over with a prism and helped him make the rainbow. Mr. Rogers was frustrated on a children's program. They aired his frustrations, teaching us that it's ok to be frustrated, it's ok not to succeed at first, you should keep trying.

In a world where we are all worried about how we look, how much money we make, what kind of car we drive, how big our houses are and what our job title is. We could probably stand to remember some of the lessons we learned from a man who wasn't afraid to wear an uncool cardigan, sing off key, and care about his neighbors. Fred Rogers was a very special man.

2003-02-27T16:26:00.000-06:00

And you wonder why there are so many Drunk Catholic Jokes...

A priest in Germany, needing to stretch his limited church budget, has started brewing beer in his washing machine.

I'm not kidding...check this out.

2003-02-27T11:48:00.000-06:00

From the Covering of The Derriere Department

State Farm is cautioning their insured drivers to drive carefully, because it won't cover auto damage caused by nuclear blasts or radioactive fallout. All policyholders are expected to receive the notices by mid-2004.

Can't wait to get that one...

2003-02-27T09:33:00.000-06:00

Do you Really Need to Be an Expert to Figure this Out?

The headline on Kaiser Network this morning reads:

Health Policy Experts, Officials Say Medicare Must Be Restructured To Focus on Chronic Disease Prevention

Seriously? Do you need to be an "expert" or an "official" to know that if you reformed Medicare to allow better preventative health care and disease management you would save yourself money by reducing hospital stays? This just seems to be common sense to me, but apparently it isn't to the House Ways and Means Committee. They had to hold hearings Tuesday to help them to make this recommendation.

All kidding aside...
Reforming Medicare to include increased benefits and coverage for preventative care is critical to the health of the program. Given the influx of baby boom enrollees Medicare is going to see in the next few years they need to do everything they can to keep these people healthy and out of the hospital. Spending a little money up front can potentially save thousands of dollars in hospital and surgical charges. It looks like, after hearing the testimonies of chronically ill patients, the message has been heard. Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) said that Medicare "must change soon" to prepare for the aging baby boom population, adding that without reforms, "Medicare cannot adopt ... advances" in chronic disease management.

I wonder how long it's going to take for these reforms to be realized.

2003-02-27T08:55:00.000-06:00

Oh Where Oh Where...
Has my Comment Feature gone?

(thank goodness I'm working on that new MT template...soon...very soon...I won't have to worry about things like this anymore....)

UPDATE: Apperantly if you want something to stop slacking...Call it Out!! As soon as I posted this...voila...comments were back! (Good to see "Calling Out" works on things other than basketball players and washing machines)

2003-02-27T08:40:00.000-06:00

Maybe the Curse is Broken

Jeff and I are a Curse. We are a curse on Televison shows, rest assured that as soon as we fall madly in love with a TV show, that we will do anything not to miss every week...remember, we don't watch much TV at all, so the shows we fall in love with really have to meet high standards...it will get CANCELED! Such has been the case with Once and Again and Gideon's Crossing. However, it looks like the curse is either broken, or at least weakening. Because...

ABC has jumped the gun and issued early renewal notices for the Fall season for some of their programs. These programs include Alias! Huzzah!

2003-02-27T08:25:00.000-06:00

Adding to the Ole' Blogroll

I am always on the hunt for new blogs to read, I enjoy all of the ones on my blogroll right now, and I read most of the ones that Jeff links to, but I'm always looking for new perspectives and therefore new blogs. Much to my surprise I stumbled on a blog this morning authored by an author. Specifically it's Jennifer Weiner's blog. Weiner is the author of the fantastic, side-splittingly-funny, book Good In Bed, as well as the book In Her Shoes.

Ladies, (and men I suppose), if you haven't read Good In Bed yet...it's a must-read. It's a quick read (I tore threw it in less than a week) and gives you a whole new perspective on your love life! Very Good Stuff!

So...in short, even though I have just stumbled on her blog, I'm going to add Jennifer to my Blogroll on the presumption that if she writes great books, her blog's going to be top notch as well!

2003-02-26T17:06:00.000-06:00

Go Away Already...

Why won't Jesse Jackson just go away? He tries to make himself an expert on everything...his latest? He's going to make friends with Saddam, and together they'll save the world, or something like that.

2003-02-26T16:59:00.000-06:00

Virtual March on Washington!

In a perfect illustration of our dependence on technology in this New Millenium....Today, there is a Virtual March on Washington going on. People are being urged to email their congressmen and the White House and show their support for the anti-war movement.

While I don't agree with the anit-war movement, I do agree with the idea of a Virtual March on Washington. With all of the junk that floats around on the internet, all the emails claiming to enlarge your sex organs or make you rich while you work part time, we've finally stumbled on a good use of email. This is a perfect way for every American to participate in the democratic system. Make your voice heard, email your representative whether you are for the war or against it.....This is the beautiful part of being an American!

UPDATE:
I have just been listening to the news on my way home from work and on the radio now that I'm home. While I agree that this was a good idea, an EMAIL march on Washington was a good idea, what apparently happened was that people jammed the phone lines and shut down the circuts because of overload. I don't think that's a good set-up. Emailing is one thing, email can be read afterhours, deleted if they aren't interested, or saved for later. Simply calling with the goal of shutting down the phone system of Congress, now that's just idiotic.

2003-02-25T08:27:00.000-06:00

A Debate?

Debates over the impending war in Iraq have become a virtual hobby for most American's and Europeans in the past few months. Everyone has an opinion that they want to debate with anyone who doesn't agree. Well, the level of war debates has been taken to a new level this morning.

Yesterday, CBS News' veteran anchorman Dan Rather conducted the first face to face interview between an American reporter and Saddam Hussein in over 10 years. During this interview Saddam declared : "We do not have missiles that go beyond the proscribed range." He thereby strongly indicated Iraq would resist efforts to begin the destruction of the missiles. On top of that, Saddam has decided that he needs to debate, in traditional American Election style, Dubya on live television/radio, about the need to go to war. This is what CBS reports about the challenge:

"Saddam also challenged the president of the United States to join him in a live radio and television satellite linkup and debate the need for war before the entire world. "I am ready," said the Iraqi president, "to conduct a direct dialogue with your president. I will say what I want and he will say what he wants." "This will be an opportunity for him, if he's committed to war, this will be an opportunity to convince the world." "This is something proposed in earnest," Saddam said, "out of my respect for the people of the United States and my respect for the people of Iraq and the people of the world. I call for this because war is not a joke." "As leaders," the Iraqi president said to his American counterpart, "why don't we use this opportunity?"

Are you kidding me? This guy is a genius, he thinks he can come off looking like the kid being bullied here, but we're not going to buy the charade. After 12 years of out rightly defying UN sanctions you can't just suddenly ask to debate the need for a war that's purpose is to enforce the sanctions. In addition, I find it incredibly interesting that one of the worst dictators of all time is willing to subject himself to one of the most democratic processes in existence. Obviously, Dubya isn't going to take him up on the challenge, Ari Fleischer said last night that the White House views the request as a dramatic stalling tactic by Saddam. No matter what, it amuses me that Saddam would request this.

Another note about the interview: I had originally heard last night that portions of the interview would air on the CBS Morning Show this morning, those segments did not air. According to the CBS News Website the Iraqi authorities held up transmission of the tapes while they were being translated and instead Rather will have more on the interview on Tuesday's CBS Evening News, and on a special edition of 60 Minutes II on Wednesday night.

2003-02-21T13:53:00.000-06:00

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, Please Shine Down on, Won’t you Shine Down On, Please Shine Down on Me!

This is your PSA for today:

Never underestimate the power of the Sun!

Here is why: I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, fighting a small cold (given to me by my loving husband, I'm sure) , feeling quite lethargic, and finding myself a little crankier than usual. I was discussing my out-of-sort feeling with Jeff the other day and he suggested that I might be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I brushed it off as nothing. But, ladies and gentlemen, I think he was right. I just drove home from work and I was feeling awful on the way home from work, I had a horrible stomach ache and I was all sorts of crabby. I got home and stood at the kitchen cabinets wondering what to eat for lunch, the south sun was beating in the sliding doors and hitting me. The warmth felt unusually good, so I did what any normal person would do, I grabbed a pillow off the couch and laid down on the kitchen floor with the sun beating on me for 30 minutes...and now...you guessed it...I feel incredible.

Amazing. Just wanted to share!

2003-02-21T08:50:00.000-06:00

Kinda Like Loosing a Family Friend

Cruising the blogosphere this morning, I stopped in at Interrobang, where I read Dave's post from yesterday about the approaching end of the comic strip For Better For Worse. FBFW is Lyn Johnston's 24-year old strip about the Patterson family and it has always been near and dear to my family's heart (being that we are Patterson's and all.) Over the years the strip and it's characters have had terrifyingly realistic parallels to the life of my family, for example Michael, the oldest child in the strip went to college when I did, was a Journalism major and got married the same year that I did. We've always chuckled that someone was spying on our family for the material Johnston uses in the strip.

It's going to be sad to see it end, at least we have a four-year warning.

2003-02-21T08:05:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

It's that time of the week again...Friday Five! Happy Weekend everyone!

1. What is your most prized material possession?
That's tough, right off the cuff I don't think there is one thing that I value more than any other. I tired to think of it in terms of, if my house was burning what would I grab...the answer to that would be pictures, as many as I can carry. I don't think that really answers the question.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?
My teddy bear. I have had Quillan (aka Q-Bear) since I was in 4th grade (that's almost 18 years), he is a very well loved bear, with a tear or two here and there. But that bear is full of secrets that I've told him over the years, he's well traveled and still sleeps in our bed every night. Him and Jeff even have conversations sometimes. No I'm not crazy.

3. Are you a packrat?
ABSOULTELY!

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?
Prefer? A spic-and-span clean house. Notice I say prefer, that's not always how the house is, but if I would like it to be.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?
Our house is full of themes...I love themes! Our living room and kitchen have a beach house/seaside theme, the office is done up in Iowa stuff, our bedroom has a rustic/autumn theme going and the entire lower level of our house is dedicated to my love for our country and decorated in stars and stripes complete with red walls in the family room.

2003-02-20T13:22:00.000-06:00

Another Sign that the World is Ending

A lot of people have been bantering back and forth for the last few weeks about whether or not the end of the world is upon us. I had been firmly planted on the logical side that it's not ending, and these people proclaiming it was were out of their noogins.

That was until I read this headline on Chicago Tribune.com:

Wheaton College eases alcohol, dancing ban

Having grown up in Wheaton, a town that was completely dry until the early 1980's and didn't allow dances at the highschool until around the same time, I can assure you that this is a sign of something and I think it might just be armagedon. Your duct tape and plastic aren't going to help you with this one!

Read the story here.

2003-02-19T17:30:00.000-06:00

Movies Times

Miriam Frisch, a high school teacher in Evanston has filed a class action law suit against Lowes Cineplex Entertainment Group for breach of contract. Frisch claims that when a movie theatre sells you a ticket for a 7:00pm movie, you are under the impression that the movie will start at 7:00. Rather the movie starts at 7:10 or 7:20, after 10-20 minutes of advertising. Frisch claims this is breech of contract.

So....for my own blog poll...here is my question:
First, do you think that this is breech of contract? Second, would you rather pay $7.00 for a movie and sit through 10 minutes of ads or pay $10 for a movie without ads? Comment away...

2003-02-19T16:01:00.000-06:00

Marriage in America: Reality TV's Influence and the Legality of Homosexual Marriage

I have frequently used this blog as an outlet for my disgust with reality television, so for those of you who are my regular readers go ahead and say to yourself..."Here we go again!"

As a general rule of thumb I watch very little TV. I watch Alias, West Wing, Friends and Will and Grace just about every week, but outside of that the only TV that I watch is either news or sports programming. However, Monday night, I had some extra time on my hands and found myself sitting in front of the tube flipping channels at about 8pm. Realizing that I had my choice between Michael Jackson documentaries on ABC and NBC, sitcoms on CBS or the Joe Millionaire finale on FOX I decided to bite the bullet and watch the Millionaire finale. I had never seen the show before and I quickly found myself in a fit of disgust, not because of the show itself but because of the commercials for FOX's newest reality TV show: Married BY America that ran at just about every commercial break.

If you're keeping score at home so far America has witnessed Darva Conger marry Rick Rockwell on a game show in which she was basically awarded as his prize. We've seen two men select women to be their finance's on the Bachelor and tonight a woman will select her own fiancé the same way on the Bachelorette. But this newest show stoops to a new low...the two people getting married will not have ever even seen each other until after the knot is tied. That's right, America will call in and select two complete strangers who will marry each other on the show. The ratings are predicted to be huge! And we wonder why America has a divorce rate over 50%.

Seriously people, what happened to the sanctity, the insolubility and the respect of the union of marriage? I believe that Marriage is a sacrament. It is a covenant between two people that is blessed by God. It is the creation of one entity from two....you know that whole "What God has joined let no man break apart" line? What do you think it means? No man can break it, as long as you weren't married on a TV show or that you didn't find someone that you think would be more fun to be married to? Wrong! It means, it's unbreakable. Period. Marriage is not about ratings or entertainment. It is about love, commitment and the understanding that what you are doing it FOREVER...that's a long time folks!

Jeff and I have discussed at length how American's view marriage and we are both disgusted. We are both 26 years old and we'll have been married for 2 years next month. We're at the time of our life when most of our friends are getting married and in the last four years we've been to almost 30 weddings together. It's hard to believe that statistically half of those couples will end up divorced. When we were preparing for our wedding we both took the time to think to ourselves and talk about with each other what we were doing. I understood when I stood at the alter on March 31, 2001 in front of 350 of my closest friends and family that I was making a commitment that I would take Jeff as my husband for the rest of my life. I had thought about all the "what if's"..."what if I get bored of him?", "what if he cheats on me?", "what if...(there were hundreds of scenarios)" and I knew in my heart that the commitment I was making was one that I could be true to regardless of the what if question. I admitted to myself that no matter what the "what if" was, no matter how angry I would get or how much pain could be brought to me, I was going to be with this man forever. Luckily, I know that Jeff and I love each other enough that we weren't going to have a lot of the major issues that couples face in loveless marriages. Still, I was still ready to face whatever was thrown my way. My guess is that a good majority of people don't think about these things before they get married, if they did, we wouldn't have the divorce rate that we do. (And we certainly wouldn't have complete strangers marrying each other on TV for ratings or money. These shows let people think that marriage is a game. I disagree with them one hundred percent.)

On to the second part of my rant: All of that said, I understand that not everyone has the spiritual belief in marriage that I do and that is perfectly fine, everyone is allowed their own opinion. A lot of people believe that marriage is a legal union approved by the state rather than God. Jeff's youngest brother, Doug, is getting married next February and he and his fiancé have chosen to have a secular wedding ceremony which I am really looking forward to. Doug and Alberta both believe in the unbreakable bond that marriage is, even though they don't believe in the spiritual sacrament. What has amazed me about their wedding is the research that Doug has done about how to get married. Specifically, Doug has discovered that in the state of Colorado anyone can perform a marriage ceremony for anyone else. You don't need to be certified by the state as a minister or judge. I presume that Doug and Allie will have to file for an official marriage certificate from the state in order to have their marriage recognized by the state, but that's it. It's going to be easier than getting a drivers license.

Here's what I don't understand: If the legal part of marriage has become nothing more than filing for a license and it is increasingly easier to end that marriage, then why don't we expand the limits on marriage in this country? Seriously, if legally (in the eyes of the government, not in the eyes of any church) marriage is simply a certificate that allows two people to share the same last name, make decisions for each other when one is incapacitated and pay higher taxes, then why don't we let anyone marry anyone? Specifically why are homosexual marriages illegal? I understand that the reason the legislation has never been passed to allow homosexuals to marry is because of the spiritual opposition of the law makers . But that seems silly to me because these same people who oppose homosexuals marrying, citing that the bible says it's wrong, should be opposing marriage in it's current disrespected state, period, no matter who's marrying who and opposing the ease of divorce.

Thanks to the separation of church and state, the government is not a spiritual entity and they don't have the right to make laws that promote religious teachings. Therefore, the government allows divorce, they allow people to marry in any type of ceremony presided over by anyone, they allow complete strangers to marry, and I don't understand why they don't allow homosexual marriage. (Note: I am in no way shape or form saying that homosexual marriage is ok from a religious/spiritual perspective, rather simply from the legal perspective.) The laws the way they stand seem like a double standard.

2003-02-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Worst Living Dictator

In yesterday's edition of the Parade Magazine that is published in Sunday newspapers across the country the cover story is "The 10 Worst Living Dictators." The list of course includes, Sadaam Hussein, Kim Jong Il and Fidel Castro. The seven others are equaly oppressive and horrible to their people. My question is: Next week are they going to publish the 10 BEST living dictators? Is it possible to have a good dictator? This just seems like a waste of a story to me.

2003-02-17T08:03:00.000-06:00

21 Dead

At least 21 people are confirmed dead at a Chicago Nightclub, due to a stampede of humans trying to exit the building after a fight broke out inside and a security guard sprayed pepper spray in the building to break up the distrubance.

2003-02-13T12:46:00.000-06:00

Critics unglued by government's advice to buy duct tape

Everyone knows that for the last week, American's have been urged to stock up on emergency supplies, such as bottled water, batteries and food. And everyone knows that in addition to the emergency kit supplies, the government has been suggesting that we buy plastic and duct tape to seal our homes in the case of a chemical attack. Mind you, I've been one of the first to laugh about everyone rushing out to buy duct tape and plastic, mostly because I live in the middle of Iowa and the idea that there would be an attack here in the middle of the country seems a little far fetched to me. None the less, there have been higher than usual sales of duct tape and plastic in and around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. At the same time, I've also wondered whether or not said plastic would really cut the mustard in the face of a serious chemical or radiological attack, and the answer is probably not.

However, despite my own criticisms, I think it's ok that the government is encouraging us to at least do this much preparation. In the end there is probably very little that we can do to protect ourselves from the rumored attacks, so why not do what we can that will make us feel at least a little better about the situation. The amount of preparations people have to do to feel comfortable are going to be different for everyone. For instance, Jeff and I haven't done anything. However, if we lived in a bigger city we probably would have at least bought batteries for the radio and a little extra food. (even though our friends think our fridge is ready for a nuclear winter every day of the week.) On the other hand, a coworker of mine received a phone call this morning from her ex-husband in Salt Lake City. He wanted to make sure they had spoken and were on civil terms should the world end this weekend.

What's irritating me is that there are so many experts running to the media discounting the governments advice because they believe it's not going to be effective. As Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters said : "I mean, duct tape and plastic? Where's the good air coming from? How's it going to be recirculated? Beyond the fact that we already know, for nerve gas and other elements, the plastic is totally ineffective. I think it was done just to give people a sense of `Everything will be OK,' and to give them a sense of confidence." Seriously folks, We all know that the whole buying plastic thing really isn't going to save your life in a major attack. But isn't peace of mind worth something?

Other than buying plastic and duct tape there really isn't anything that most American's can do to protect themselves, so what's the issue with the government at least encouraging an action that could make you feel a little more comfortable, maybe allow you to sleep a little better at night.

2003-02-13T11:08:00.000-06:00

North Korea

The Onion, the satirical newspaper, published the following headline in their latest issue:

"N. Korea Wondering What It Has To Do To Attract U.S. Military Attention."

The Onion is not known for the journalistic accuracy, however this headline seems to ring frighteningly true. Given that yesterday CIA director George Tenet and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby reported to Congress that a still-untested North Korean missile could carry a small nuclear warhead to the West Coast. In addition to that report, The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency officially found North Korea in breach of its nonproliferation commitments on Wednesday.

To calm fears the Chicago Tribune included these statements in their report on the directors' testimony:

"Some experts on nuclear proliferation said the missiles are rudimentary and highly inaccurate, adding that the officials' statements Wednesday make their capability appear far greater than it may actually be. The intelligence officials "were putting out the worst-case scenario," said Jon Wolfsthal, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He said the missiles were so inaccurate that "if they aimed for the United States, they might hit South America."

Either way. I have a hard time finding comfort with the fact that even if they launch a strike against us they have a large chance of hitting South America instead. They still would have launched a nuclear warhead at the United States. That's more than a little unsettling to me. I also have to wonder, if North Korea was crazy enough to send their Nuclear Warheads in our direction, what would the United States do? The knee jerk response is that we'd bomb them back to the stone age. While we might want that to be the response, it probably won't be. But what will? It's an interesting question to ponder.

2003-02-13T09:57:00.000-06:00

Enough Already!

A certain someone filed a complaint last night about my lack of blogging this week. To which I responded "bite me" and she was forced to recind from her attack.

Seriously, I have been under a load of stress this week at work because of an impending deadline, that I am now well past and still not close to meeting. Thus my blog has fallen off my radar almost completely. However, I have a couple things on my mind this morning that I hope to get up here at somepoint today.

So, friends and foes, stay tuned...hopefully by lunchtime I'll be able to compose a few sentences about something other than the piles of medical codes that are all over my desk.

2003-02-10T17:44:00.000-06:00

My Newest Brain Child

I have an idea. (well, I actually have lots of ideas, but I have this one that is on my mind a lot lately...so bear with me) This specific idea is to start a local charity. I am always looking for ways to help other people and ways to serve my community, and this idea I have for a charity is one that I believe could not only help people but it could also, in a small way, make a difference in a few people's lives.

My idea for a charity is to create an organization that collects the gently used prom and bridesmaid dresses that are hanging in every woman's closet and makes them available to underprivileged girls whose families cannot afford to buy them a new dress to wear to their high school prom.

My idea is not an original one by any means, there are organizations like this all over the country (for example the one in Chicago is The Glass Slipper Project, on the east coast a lot of them are called Fairy Godmothers, in Florida there's Sequin Dreams and on the west coast there's Cinderella's Closet...to name a few), but as far as I can tell, there isn't an organization like this in Iowa. (If anyone knows of one...please tell me!)

Obviously this is still an idea in my head and I haven't ironed out all of the details. The essential idea is that women will donate their used dresses/formalwear and a girl would be given a prom dress, shoes, accessories and makeup (sample sizes) for free from the donated items. I haven't decided on the distribution specifics, there are two ways the items can be distributed. The first option is to help girls on a case by case basis (school guidance counselors and social workers would call and request the service for a specific student). The other popular distribution process is to set up a boutique and the girls can come "shop" for their dress on specific days. Which ever way we do it, I will certainly limit the participants to underprivileged high school junior and senior girl.(Maybe eventually we can work in a program for guys...that'll come down the road.)

The inital setup of this project is going to take a lot of time and work, but I am more than willing to invest myself in it. However, since it's February, I think this year's program will be limited in size, with the hopes that by next prom season I can have this thing off the ground and flying. I am currently researching how to organize the charity such that it's a "recognized charity" for tax purposes (I know nothing about doing this, I think it has something to do with becoming a 501(c) organization, but I need to do more research...if anyone knows about this and can save me the research time please speak up!).

I blog about this today because I need your help! A big key in the set up of this organization will be naming it, and thus I'm seeking the input of my fellow bloggers. Any ideas? Obviously the names I've mentioned above are taken, but they are all very catchy and appropriate, so basically I'm looking for something along the same lines as those other names without directly stealing a name from another organization. Please use my comment button to leave your name ideas or thoughts on the project. (Don't hesitate to tell me if this is a crazy idea, sometimes I need to hear that before I go head first into something!) Thanks for your help!

Walking Under Chandeliers

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Our BLOGS Have Moved!

You can find Walking Under Chandeliers (Katie's Blog) at http://kathleen.theutechs.com/blog/ or http://theutechs.com/kathleen/blog You can find A Stranger in a Strange Land (Jeff's Blog) at http://jeffrey.theutechs.com/blog orhttp://www.theutechs.com/jeffrey/blog/

You can find Walking Under Chandeliers (Katie's Blog) at http://kathleen.theutechs.com/blog/ or http://theutechs.com/kathleen/blog

You can find A Stranger in a Strange Land (Jeff's Blog) at http://jeffrey.theutechs.com/blog orhttp://www.theutechs.com/jeffrey/blog/