on planned parenthood and abortion

i had to write an article about recently released abortion statistics. went to planned parenthood for the first time and WOW - i was  out of breath when i got back to my car. there were no dogs chasing me. it is just that heavy of an atmosphere inside. and i'm not exaggerating when i say that everyone in the waiting room stared at me when i went in.

their public relations team is so elusive. their comments (when i finally reached them) were vague and practically worthless for a decent article. "that's such a small statistical change it's not even worth speculating why abortions rose in that county ..." and literally the same answer to explain the 65% rate of complications on abortions in PA. i don't know, i think thousands of dead babies is significant whether it's a "small percentage" to you or not.

if you're not sure where you stand about abortion, or find my comments abrasive or uneducated, please check out this excellent post by john piper titled "we know they are killing children - all of us know." oh and what about the disproportionate number of african-american women receiving abortions? care to comment about that? or about the reason margaret sanger founded planned parenthood in the first place? and why they were (and are) strategically located in certain areas?

the whole "thing" saddens me. the way so many people in our country are being conditioned to think that abortion is okay. the way people give up on thinking it is wrong and fighting for it to end. the language created to distort what abortion actually IS in people's minds. it is heartbreaking. my editor kept correcting me whenever i said "pro-life" he would say "anti-abortion." uh, no. please stop trying to trick your mind. why do you get to decide the language used to discuss this? the opposite of abortion is LIFE. the opposite of LIFE is death.

thoughts on a thursday

--- wedding plans are in full swing. i hit my stressful peak last week and i am now back to being excited, well, actually even more excited because the day is getting closer and closer! at our food tasting last week (YUM), our wedding coordinator said: "you're easy! are you always this easy?" i said, "i try to be" and i also tried to bore my eyes into my mother's soul to make sure she would both hear and remember this proclamation. to make it even better, the coordinator continued and said i should give lessons to all of her other brides so they could be more like me. um, i'd love to!

--- i am going to miss the baristas at the coffee shop i became a regular at in york when i move. i love talking to them and they make the best chai. plus i already fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams of becoming a regular somewhere. so much so that they stopped saying "the usual?" after awhile, ahh bliss. it is good to be known. and the little things are always good. i've also really come to love york city, in spite of myself. it is a great city, especially for an aspiring young professional.

--- it turns out i like "crafting" more than i thought. i've been making random things for the wedding and i have had a lot of fun doing it.

--- the best part of winter is my lands end parka. it is one of the best things i've ever bought. you can't even feel the cold when you wear it zipped up to the neck with the fur-lined hood up. only problem is you then lose all peripheral vision. i almost got hit by a car trying to cross the street the other day. it was really close. i had the walk sign and looked before i stepped out, but nonetheless the speeding car almost hit me and i didn't even see it coming because of my hood. but the statue of liberty graciously started yelling at the car for me. there are people dressed up like the statue of liberty singing and dancing all over the city, and i still have no idea what they're advertising for so that tells you how effective that campaign is. or maybe how clueless i am. i think it has something to do with taxes or loans? maybe?

--- suit shopping with my dad = success! i was dreading it, but it went really well and the third one he tried on worked great. which was good because i think we had both already hit our limit at that point, ha. after lunch he ordered cheesecake and when he was halfway through the enormous slice that probably could have served a table of four he said, "is this a concentrated sweet?" "what? yes, of course it is! dad! i forgot you're not supposed to have that, now i'm going to get in trouble, great. that is literally about as concentrated of a sweet as you could have ordered!" he's on a diabetic diet and i'm obviously a great caretaker.

someone else's article on inspiration

"They're called sparks of genius and flashes of inspiration, but your creative ideas don't actually come out of the blue -- they're rooted in science. Because of this, you can create a system and life that allows yourself to have better ideas more often.

Everything you've read, tasted, viewed, experienced and learned over the years is stored in your brain as unrelated connections. A section of your brain called the superior anterior temporal gyrus (right side, just behind your ear) helps connect the dots and puts them together into a cohesive idea.

However, if you're stressed all the time or have created a crazy busy schedule with little to no margin your brain has a harder time looking for those dots because it is so focused on what you have going on. When your body can relax, your creativity can shine as your creativity is really your brain connecting the dots and presenting solutions.

This is why many people get their best ideas in the shower. They are completely disconnected -- no phones, no email, no computers -- which allows the brain to get to work.

If you want better ideas in 2013, set a resolution to regularly do something out of your norm. Read better books and read them more often. Go to museums. Go to the zoo. Watch well-made films. Watch films that make you laugh. Go for a walk. Go for a swim. Go kayaking. Go skiing. Learn to cook. Make an A-Z list of countries and work your way through it trying restaurants specializing in the respective culture's cuisine. Take up knitting.

You don't have to this alone (though you certainly can). Make it a date with your partner, kids, friends. The trick is to get out of your usual routine and allow yourself to have fun and relax.

The well-intentioned but misinformed "I can sleep when I'm dead" or "Vacation days are for lazy people" mantras will put you behind in the long run. Take a break and you'll find that you become more creative, more often."

{source: Think Splendid.com}