In Which I Declare Myself...

A nerd. 



I know, I know, big gasps of surprise from...



No one. 



"Wil Wheaton explained in a much-shared YouTube clip about why it’s “awesome” to be a nerd. He declared that the defining characteristic of being a nerd was loving things. It’s not what we love, he said, but how we love: with passion. That passion makes us nerds." --Jason Boyett, in Parenting and Passions and Making Nerds of Your Children.


Upon reading this, a huge smile spread across my face. Yes, I'm a nerd, and I'm darn proud of it. I've often thought about the concept of hipsters, and their "nothing is cool" attitude. I couldn't ever subscribe to that notion, because there are just so many cool things out there.



For instance, I've watched several butterflies hatch from their chrysalides in the last week. 



I've watched kids slowly learn to put letters together into words, and those words into meaning. 



I've watched great movies, read wonderful books, gasped, laughed, and sobbed along to my favorite stories and characters. 



I've watched babies become toddlers, and toddlers become children, and children become people. 



There are just too many cool things to be excited about. This passion, this excitement, this desire to experience things fully...why would you want to suppress that?


So, hats off to nerds everywhere. Wave your nerdy flag, and don't forget to pass that enthusiasm and passion on! 

How Media is a Powerful Tool

Today I read one of the most bone-chilling, mind-boggling, horrifying stories of my life.



I'm part of a minority trying to bring this story to the light.



This story is the story of Kermit Gosnell, a medical practitioner from my very own Philadelphia. Gosnell ran the Women's Medical Society, a fake clinic that treated women, mostly non-white women of low socioeconomic status. He offered illegal drug prescriptions, as well as abortions.



Full disclosure: I'm pro-life. Simply on a scientific basis, I think that once you can detect a pregnancy, it's a human life and deserves to be protected. I also understand that abortion is a many-faceted topic, and saying "just outlaw it!" glosses over so many issues, and an answer that simplistic will never suffice. We live in a broken system, and many things need to happen in regards to education, prevention, and healthcare before we can really deal effectively with abortion laws.



All that aside, nobody should be able to read Gosnell's story without shuddering. The language is graphic, with details about how this man (and his largely untrained staff) murdered babies aborted at 30 weeks, punctured the organs of the women he treated, and even killed some of his patients. It will (and should) turn your stomach.



And remarkably few people are aware.



This is just as gruesome and horrific as stories like Sandy Hook, Trayvon Martin, and so many other tales of gore and violence. Our media eats this stuff up. Why is no one talking about this? No matter where you stand on abortions, we should all be able to agree that cases like Gosnell should never ever happen. We can use this to dialogue about pro-choice/pro-life laws, we can use this as a jumping-off point to reform and improve women's healthcare, we can take this platform to make sure that medical procedures regulated for the health and safety of everyone.



Help me spread this story. We cannot allow horrors and injustices like this to go unnoticed.

J-Law

Yeah, I know. Everyone and their brother is talking about Jennifer Lawrence and how awesome she is. She's so beautiful! So down-to-earth! So funny!


I'm one of 'em.



I can't quite put my finger on why my girl crush on this chick has mushroomed so intensely. She just seems so real, like an actual person you'd like to know. She has no facade (or an incredibly realistic awkward-girl facade) and I just can't get over how genuine she is. Genuine doesn't even seem like the right word--she's more than that. She's raw. She doesn't care what you think.


Anyways, I stumbled upon this article on Why Jennifer Lawrence is Your New BFF and I actually laughed out loud several times. She's just hilarious.


(BTW, I totally do not endorse the general site Jezebel...but this particular article was awesome. I'm sure there are plenty of others like it out there).


At any rate, enjoy!



PS-I know it's totally lame to do the whole I-like-her-when, but I definitely knew about Jennifer Lawrence when she was in Winter's Bone and the Hunger Games, before Silver Linings. Which was an awesome movie, so if you haven't seen it, you should.


PPS-How is this girl three years younger than me?! Holy moly.