Mistress of Public Health

Baby's First Meeting Proposal

2011-08-26T03:35:00.001-04:00

After two months and too many drafts to count, I pressed the submit button. Not since my common application did I feel that level of pressure, and this time I didn't have my parents literally holding my hand.

Much of me wants to go into the details of the reams paper wasted full of chicken scratch, but alas it is still pending. What I can share is how it essentially took two real meetings and one person piping up to move from what now seems a very vague and distant A to a pointed B.

Of all the package elements I had to create, it was the meeting agenda that was most mentally taxing and enjoyable. I would have never guessed that on either account. Populating three days with activities for a group of people you idolize sounds to good to be true. And that's the problem. You want them to solve all the world's problems at once, but yet again you learn the lesson that this is impossible. Perhaps one day it will stick...

I too am without health insurance.

2011-08-19T12:03:00.000-04:00

I have been ousted from my health insurance. I suppose I haven't been in school for months now, so really it was kind of them to keep me on this long. That said, I'm in limbo until my new work insurance kicks in, and giving that extra look before jaywalking doesn't really reassure me quite enough...but I'm not alone.

30% of folks in their twenties are without insurance according to the Census... Um, no wonder women are waiting to have kids. They don't have insurance! No wonder there are so many unintended pregnancies and the highest number of abortions in this age group. Like hello.

Now that's done. It is really scary. Yesterday I had drinks with two friends, two out of three of us didn't have insurance. Is it a random sample? No, but it's still disturbing. I also have lots of friends who have gone through similar bouts without insurance, some much longer than others. I even have a friend who spent 400 dollars a month for insurance while on unemployment. How exactly does one pay rent and do that? Oh right, you can't.

In a sense I'm lucky this is my first time without insurance (thanks to team Obama pushing the limit to siphon parental insurance until 26). But we shouldn't need such luck in the country that by far spends the most on healthcare per peson. We are not getting the bang for our buck and need to seriously overhaul the system and stop dumping money into technologies for three people with a crazy rare disease and start investing in preventive care for EVERYONE. And I mean everyone, over, under, and uninsured alike.

With that I will now continue to pray that I do not come down with a terminal illness in the next month. Here's hoping...

Let's talk about sex (Ed) baby. Let's talk about you and me.

2011-08-12T15:27:00.000-04:00

Gratuitious Salt n' Pepa, sure. But New York City has a sex ed mandate!!!

According to the NYTimes, the new Bloomberg Inc. mandate forces schools to use a health curriculum that includes two things:
1) Lessons on how to use a condom (which crazily was not required before, in fact, condom demonstrations (even on a banana) were forbidden).
2) The appropriate age for sexual activity (umm what? Is this not on a case-by-case basis??).

Going beyond the NYS regulations (win!), the mandate requires both middle and high school students to be subject to a semester of health class. HealthSmart is recommended for the middle kidlets and either HealthSmart or Reducing the Risk for the brattier older ones.

K, sounds pretty good, right? Well yes, but super skeptical me had to take a closer look at these curricula.

HealthSmart looks like my health class as a kid, plus injury prevention and mental health. Lots of don't smoke, eat right, and today I will show you a condom for one time only ("oooo" go the alien dolls). It appears to be abstinence plus and has a focus on decision-making skills. Even gets some healthy relationship lessons in there, great. The better news, 64% of middle schools are already using it. Now, is there a pleasure component? Is there a sexual satisfaction, love yourself, your body and the world? Well no, but as a friend said to me earlier, baby steps.

Reducing the Risk excitingly is strictly a "sexual" health curricula meaning not a general healthy living but a lets take care of those naughty bits. With 16 classes it breaks down as follows (according to me):

Class 1: Introduction to Reducing the Risk: Pregnancy Prevention (Let's talk about sex!)

Alternate Class 1: HIV Prevention (But if you're afraid then we don't need to yet kind innocent teacher.)

Class 2: Abstinence: Not Having Sex (Abstinence means not doing something. For example today I will abstain from chocolate to avoid increasing the circumference of my thighs... or due to lack of change for the vending machine.)

Classes 3 & 4: Using Refusal Skills (You have now introduced abstience to your partner, what do you do that does not involve wielding a stick?)

Class 5: Delaying Tactics (That doesn't seem to be working out for you, here, try this stick instead.)

Class 6: Avoiding High-Risk Situations (Still no go? Avoid candlelit rooms and movie theaters at all costs.)

Classes 7 & 8: Getting and Using Protection (Okay fine, you are clearly a lost cause. Go to Duane Reade throw a box of tissues, some peanut butter and a toothbrush in a basket, then slowly creep up to the condom display grab a box at random and skulk to the counter staring at the ground. But we'd still really, really prefer you didn't do "it.")

Classes 9, 10 & 11: Skills Integration (Teacher speak? Or 7-Up time?)

Class 12: Preventing HIV and other STDs (Condom balloon party time!)

Class 13: HIV Risk Behaviors (No shooting up drugs or Twilight reenactments, okay? )

Class 14: Implementing Protection from STD and Pregnancy (Wait, this prevents pregnancy? How is this only coming up in lesson 14 kind innocent teacher!?!)

Class 15: Sticking with Abstinence and Protection (So you want me to wear a purity ring and a condom?)

Class 16: Skills Integration (Teacher speak.)

Well, there you have it. The future of sex education in New York City. At least, as long as Bloomberg runs for a fourth term...

Happy (Un)birthday

2011-07-31T07:48:00.003-04:00

A big thank you to the ice cream cake master, picnic goers, Magnolia bearers, and zucchini blossom lovers for making all my birthday festivities so incredible. You are the best.

Just a simple weekend in the country.

2011-07-20T19:59:00.000-04:00

Did I mention I love, love, love my godmother's country home?

When you are without words, steal some.

2011-07-06T22:13:00.001-04:00

The subtlest change in New York is something people don't speak much about but that is in everyone's mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate the millions. The intimation of mortality is part of New York now: in the sound of jets overhead, in the black headlines of the latest edition.

-E.B. White, Here is New York, 1949

A little luck.

2011-06-12T16:27:00.001-04:00

Now my foray into the NYC school system ended the Friday before last, and somehow I had a new job by this Wednesday. That, my friend, is luck. Or my new job snatching scheme where I shamelessly plug myself to everyone I know and try and make as many informational interviews as possible. Try it. I have proven results.

I am now a full-time PAID intern at the Population Council. Yeah, the people who INVENTED the IUD. The people behind uniting demography and policy. That Population Council. So I have joined the ranks of this very fist class of demography interns from 1965.

Only the sex ratio is a wee bit different these days.

The project I'm focusing is on is great, but I shouldn't really go into details. So I'll leave you in suspense.

The true sign of potential for this position lies in it's location. East 48th may not sound alluring, but it may very well be the center of the universe. Four blocks away is Buttercup Bakery (which still stands strong as Magnolia falters), two blocks away are soup buns (which miraculously three days in I have yet to try), and one block away is this:

I believe this may be what they call a sign. Who knows.

From Lindsey.

2011-06-06T14:10:00.002-04:00

Found digging through my old journals.

2011-05-30T21:59:00.000-04:00

"If light can be both a particle and a wave, why can't inequality be both raced and sexed simultaneously?" - Catherine MacKinnon, conveyed to me by a student in her class at Harvard Law

"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap." -Napolean Bonaparte

"Remember the Empire State Building is at 5th & 34th. And all good love stories come to involve it." -Me

Big feminist high five for Tina Fey.

2011-05-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

I feel about Photoshop the way some people feel about abortion. It is appalling and a tragic reflection on the moral decay of our society... unless it I need it, in which case, everybody be cool.

-Tina Fey, Bossypants

Happiness is...

2011-05-27T19:50:00.001-04:00

walking a hundred blocks with an old friend for no good reason.

chinese takeout WITH the fried rice.

watching Jack Sparrow (featuring Michael Bolton) at least three times in a row.

Underemployment ain't so bad.

Graduated.

2011-05-17T00:07:00.000-04:00

Out of Context.

2011-05-16T10:13:00.000-04:00

"It's so hard to express yourself." "I understand this." "I want to express myself." "The same is true for me." "I'm looking for my voice." "It is in your mouth." "I want to do something I am not ashamed of." "Something you are proud of, yes?" "Not even. I just don't want to be ashamed."

- Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated

Pretty Much Sums it Up.

2011-05-13T19:58:00.000-04:00

"Where are we going, man?"
"I don't know but we gotta go."

-Jack Kerouac, On the Road

And done.

2011-05-11T10:46:00.000-04:00

So you might be thinking this is when it all gets really interesting: classes are over, finals tackled, graduation less than a week away--and yes she still doesn't have a job. Hysterical breakdown ensues.

Not so! In fact, for the first time in at least a month I'm not worried about finding a job. Why you ask? Two wise men who showed me the truth of it all.

Brooklyn first grader William had to draw a picture of who he wanted to be when he grew-up. Among a slew of princesses, teachers, and that poor child who aspires to be a lawyer, William really stood out. And if you can't read what he wrote, he simply states, "I want to be me."

Then last night I had the honor of receiving another illuminating image from Brooklyn not first grader James. His picture needs no explanation.

Guttmacher Gets it Right.

2011-05-03T11:10:00.002-04:00

Nicole is studying for finals.

2011-05-02T21:56:00.000-04:00

She'll get back to you on the 10th when she begins the transition from industrious graduate student to overqualified unemployed person.

No more classes!

2011-04-29T16:21:00.002-04:00

... alas I still have two exams and a paper.

Clearly the senioritis has kicked in though, as studying has morphed into epic Scrabble battles with the boyfriend and enjoying a full English breakfast at 6am in honor of a dying monarchy trying to resuscitate itself.

Sadly, from a full day of royal procrastination I have found but one redeeming thing:

Yoga Word of the Day: Enlightenment

2011-04-26T09:28:00.000-04:00

What if enlightenment is not a goal but an undue burden? A question I hadn't really thought about until today when my favorite yogi Luscious recounted a story of a student who refused enlightenment simply because he didn't want the responsibility of forgiving everyone in his life, particularly his family.

For somewhat obvious reasons this one resonated with me. Perhaps a little too much. No conclusions yet but I'll keep you posted.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:55:00.021-04:00

After years and years missing the delicious italian easter bread my cousin made us as kids, I finally attempted it myself. The sprinkled results are below, and I know it was a true success as my mom stole a chunk of basket handle when no one was looking (though she failed to hide the evidence). Win!

Happy Easter!

Three Classes Left.

2011-04-21T08:07:00.000-04:00

One week of graduate school classes, then finals, then outta there.

How did it go so quickly?!

Procrastination.

2011-04-18T14:56:00.002-04:00

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.”

— Douglas Adams

God bless Chinatown.

2011-04-17T20:46:00.001-04:00

Yes that is a random deer and some peaches.

Big, big thanks to "Mittens" Mama for the coolest Chinatown bag ever. Our Obama love is forever, though I really hope we don't have to trek back to rural Pennsylvania to test it all over again.

Can you find me and Anna??

2011-04-12T21:49:00.002-04:00

Today's lesson: Gender binary?

2011-04-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

With the mystical land of in-depth interviews with porn star bodyguards and cellphone purveyors behind me, I have moved on to an exploration of, perhaps, an even stranger terrain: the New York City public school system. A place where music consists of tv karaoke on a cart and sniper drills are a part of life. My job is to sit in one classroom for one day somewhere in the five boroughs and note all incidents of exercise. Basically, I'm the stranger in the corner clicking a stop watch and leering at small children without saying anything. Amazing people watching, questionable appearance though.

Today's adventure was particularly exciting as I observed kindergardeners who are easily the most entertaining, particularly when you don't have to control them. The classroom was full of bright colors and happiness. And I had plenty of time to explore it's intricacies.

And my eyes stumbled upon this.

Now I understand we live in a heteronormative society blah, blah, blah. And maybe if I didn't have the background I do I wouldn't even take note of this, but I do have this background and I did take note of it. And for the record, from the mute observer, I disapprove.

CUPCAKES!

2011-04-08T17:26:00.001-04:00

Reason #42 my boyfriend rocks: He supports my fat kid habits with easy bake cupcakes.

Step one: Open box. Mix contents with approximately two sticks of butter. (Thank you barefoot contessa.)

Step two: Bake cupcakes. Note puncture to test doneness.

Step 3: Open icing packet. Make icing.

Step 4: Enjoy cupcakes and give starving kittens a treat.

If Little Miss and Mr. Men wasn't demeaning enough

2011-04-07T14:01:00.000-04:00

Found while diligently searching for images of ARTs for a presentation. Someone has too much time on their hands, perhaps they'd like to do some of my homework...

A Dream Deferred.

2011-04-01T16:30:00.000-04:00

A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

-Langston Hughes

Capstone. Conquered.

2011-03-31T12:55:00.000-04:00

Thank YOU North Dakota! Bet you don't hear that every day.

Happy Back-Up Your Birth Control Day!

2011-03-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

The population of Central Park is 25.

2011-03-25T11:34:00.000-04:00

Really. The Census told me so!

What's worse than being Italian on St. Patrick's Day?

2011-03-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

Being Italian on a dry reservation on St. Patrick's Day. Happy, happy?

Multiple Scoregasms. My Bowling Team.

2011-03-15T22:33:00.003-04:00

What do bowling and abortion funds have in common? The National Abortion Access Bowl-a-Thon! Join us today.

Please donate to my team! I'm not saying I will bowl well, but what is more hilarious than a series of gutter balls and scoregasms??

Focus Group Numero Uno

2011-03-14T21:13:00.000-04:00

As part of my Capstone research out here in North Dakota I not only get to enjoy a two-story waterslide but am conducting three focus groups with community members. Today was the first of the three and though I can't share any of the details about what the participants shared I can tell you five not-so secret tidbits I learned.

1) Sharing circles go from left to right in Indian country.
2) Bringing snacks is indeed a good way to win people over, but gift cards get EXTRA people into the room. Who knew recruitment could be so easy?
3) Having a notetaker is AMAZING.
4) Remember to note demographics!
5) Lay off the over eager nodding at everything... maybe that's just me.

Return to North Dakota

2011-03-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

A frozen lake you can drive onto, living in a casino, rocking weather in the single digits... spring break bitches!

I am a vagina warrior.

2011-03-09T17:11:00.000-05:00

Working from home or...

2011-03-07T14:36:00.003-05:00

why you sometimes have to leave the apartment to study.

To live in Manhattan is to be persistently amazed...

2011-03-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

To live in Manhattan is to be persistently amazed at the worlds squirreled inside one another, the chaotic intricacy with which realms interleave, like those lines of television cable and fresh water and steam heat and outgoing sewage and telephone wire and whatever else which cohabit in the same intestinal holes that pavement-demolishing workmen periodically wrench open to the daylight and to our passing, disturbed glances. - Chronic City, Jonathan Lethem

The Cat Awesome.

2011-03-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

"If only it were so simple." -a wise woman

2011-03-03T11:33:00.000-05:00

My coffice, My happy place

2011-03-01T12:38:00.001-05:00

Oh Grounded, where would I be with out you?

Rainy Days and Sundays Always Get Me Down

2011-02-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

When in doubt think:

Photos from Foley Square on Saturday courtesy of It's her choice and the roommie.

Yoga Word of the Day: Self

2011-02-25T09:01:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up... now what the hell is the universe trying to tell me?!

Here's what was read during savasana today:

I'd Pick More Daisies
By Nadine Stair, age 85

If I had my life to live over,
        I'd try to make more mistakes next time.
             I would relax. I would limber up.
      I would be sillier than I have on this trip.
      I would be crazier. I would be less hygienic.
   I would take more chances, I would take more trips.
  I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, 
  and watch more sunsets.
I would burn more gasoline. I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
  I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.
         You see, I am one of those people who lives
    prophylactically and sensibly and sanely, 
 hour after hour, day after day.

               Oh, I have had my moments
  And if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them.
        In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. 
    Just moments,one after another.
      Instead of living so many years ahead each day.
     I have been one of those people who never go anywhere
    without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a
  raincoat, and a parachute.

    If I had to do it over again, I would go places and do things.
                       I'd travel lighter than I have.
      If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted
         earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.
           I would play hooky more. I wouldn't make such good grades
        except by accident.
                   I would ride on merry-go-rounds.

                        I'd pick more daisies!

Rally on Saturday at Foley Square!

2011-02-23T23:44:00.002-05:00

Whether you need to make some noise about Title X or the hideous new billboard up in Soho, Saturday is your day.

And if you're looking for some inspiration before taking to the streets, watch the ever fabulous abortion gang founder's latest, the safe abortion project.

"50% of the population has a vagina and they seem to be doing well."

2011-02-22T08:43:00.001-05:00

Tampax underwrote a short film about a 16 year-old boy waking up one morning with a vagina. It is everything that is wrong with the world. You can see it here.

Wishing You a Happy White Presidents Day this Black History Month.

2011-02-21T19:19:00.000-05:00

Will Obama get a national holiday?

Pro: His birthday is in August, the no man's land month of holidays.

Con: He is not a white guy who has been dead for quite some time conveniently born a couple weeks from another former president.

Only time will tell.

All I Ever Needed to Know is What I learned from Karl Pilkington

2011-02-16T00:00:00.003-05:00

If you found an anteater that was weak and needed food, you'd know exactly what to get it, due to its useful name. But if I found a starving, stranded badger, I wouldn't know what to give it. Saying that, I've only ever seen dead badgers. -Karl Pilkington

WTF South Dakota.

2011-02-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

You would think the unending abortion ban debacle in South Dakota would keep the anti-choice activists entertained at the least, but today Mother Jones broke the news that the antis are going to a whole new and exciting place... attempting to make it legal to murder an abortion provider.

Reverting to Hammurabi's code under the strange assumption that abortion is akin to murder, killing an abortion provider would be considered "justifiable homicide for the protection of certain unborn children" or "in the defense of the unborn child or any such enumerated person." Doesn't that have a lovely ring to it?

Things that jump out at me first:

"certain unborn children" - Why certain? Must the unborn face all the prejudices of the born? I thought we were supposed to love and protect ALL babies. Isn't that the whole argument?

"justifiable homicide" - Perhaps this language could be reapplied to mob debts, scorned lovers, even frustrating family members.

Now I'm pretty sure this isn't what they were going for but couldn't this language be twisted around to prosecute pregnant women? Are we seeing a theme here?

Happy Red Lobster Love Day!

2011-02-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

Yoga Word of the Day: Disco

2011-02-13T12:05:00.001-05:00

Because sometimes you're going to have to do a split.

Today on the Subway...

2011-02-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

I learned that osteoporosis is worse than HIV. Really?

Yoga Word of the Day: Yearning.

2011-02-06T14:00:00.000-05:00

There are three ingredients to the good life: learning, earning, and yearning. -Christopher Morley

The Cat Awesome.

2011-02-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

Research can lead you to interesting places..

2011-02-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

When in doubt...

2011-01-26T07:27:00.002-05:00

KITTENS!

Lost somewhere between

2011-01-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

Here...

and here.

New Semester, New Job

2011-01-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

It is official. I have had a different job every semester of grad school. Win?

For the home stretch I am working as a qualitative in-depth interviewer for a study of young adults in four boroughs (sorry Staten Island) examining "social position" i.e. SES and "family formation" i.e. do you wanna get married, have babies, and/or none of the above.

So I get PAID to talk to people about their sex lives. PAID?!

This is gonna be awesome.

Food for thought

2011-01-17T08:34:00.000-05:00

A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. -Gloria Steinem

Aruba, Jamaica,

2011-01-10T00:00:00.003-05:00

oh I wanna take you to... St. Croix.

I will be here sitting under an umbrella sipping a pina colada if you need me.

Good luck with the snow!

The Cat Awesome.

2011-01-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

I can cook!

2011-01-06T15:31:00.000-05:00

Around May of last year I decided it was high time to expand my culinary expeditions from Trader Joe's microwave meals and tofu stir fry. My reign as queen of take out had reached its apex where it could only devolve into fast food gluttony.

To avoid heart disease and acne, each week I now choose a recipe from the Greenmarket, buy as many local ingredients as possible and make a dish. A method proven so effective I can even make non-locavore food! AND it's pretty enough for a real photographer to put on the internet.

This week it's easy bake potatoes. I switched the recipe up a bit, as I am somehow already a cocky cook, and used red and white potatoes. Then all you need is onion, thyme, salt, pepper, butter, and cheddar cheese which is "optional." Cheesy, buttery yums.

Are Women People?

2011-01-02T07:36:00.000-05:00

My most fabulous roommate found me a 1915 copy of Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times. Think Calvin Trillin crossed with Maureen Dowd and Mother Goose. I read it in one sitting:

Evolution

Said Mr. Jones in 1910:

"Women, subject yourselves to men."

Nineteen-Eleven heard him quote:

"They rule the world without the vote."

By Nineteen-Twelve, he would submit

"When all the women wanted it."

By Nineteen-Thirteen, looking glum,

He said that it was bound to come.

This year I heard him say with pride:

"No reasons on the other side!"

By Nineteen-Fifteen, he'll insist

He's always been a suffragist.

And what is really stranger, too,

He'll think that what he says is true.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

2010-12-30T18:27:00.002-05:00

2011 is gonna be HUGE.

Pretending to do homework, better than blogging?

2010-12-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

School started, school ended and I am now panicking about having one semester until graduation. That's five months for those of you who no longer speak semester. Or as I like to call it an impossibly short time for economy to improve tenfold or why did I think I could find a job with a masters in sex that wasn't sex work.

Yesterday my post-graduation employment back-up plan flopped. The major issue, I don't have a back-up back-up. If you have a back-up back-up to offer me that does not involve dedicating the majority of my time to my cats and praying to win the lottery, please do let me know.

Public Health Intervention of the Week!

2010-09-01T08:46:00.000-04:00

The NYC Department of Health has been running a great new healthy living/exercise intervention called ShapeUpNYC/BeFitNYC all summer long. Sadly, as I have been traveling, I had yet to take part in these awesome FREE exercise classes throughout all five boroughs, well, until yesterday.

Taught by professionals (including those ultra scary/compelling Equinox folks). These classes are not fluff. Even if you have a good deal of experience with the practice, whether it is pilates, yoga or just plain walking, you'll get a workout. At least, I did.

It was so surreal unfurling my mat under the overhang on the Highline. Tourists were constantly passing and gawking at the 50 people bending and curling in and out of pilates poses. Yes, I do mean 50. This program is actually being used-- that's right folks, people are voluntarily exercising through a state sponsored program. Miracle of miracles.

Check the s chedule to see if there is a class two-blocks from your home too, and join the Fry Bread exercise detox. Or if you are not quite mentally prepared to tackle actual exercise start-off by making an awesome inspirational exercise avatar.

Don't I look fierce running by the Hudson?

Beached: A Story of Food Access

2010-08-25T11:46:00.000-04:00

You never really understand "food access" until you live somewhere without it. On the reservation, about 405 square miles, there were four bodegas and a commodities program (which few people qualify for). That's it. You have to drive 20 minutes to get to the supermarket, and of course that's assuming you have a car.

This past weekend I went to the beach for the first time this summer, yes it was not the best beach weather, but thankfully the rain held out on Saturday. We were very lucky. We also made our own luck by planning ahead and bringing lots of delicious reserves. The folks who didn't were left to a boardwalk wasteland of fried food. Zeppoles. Fries. Funnel Cake. Even fried scallops.

Though the kitschy boardwalk really did suit the beachfront, the nutritional value of the food from the stands that populated it was about null. This is not uncommon and makes very little sense. Who can eat fattening foods in a bathing suit? Food alone is sometimes sort of daunting when you're showing so much skin, chowing down just seems completely counterintuitive. If there were healthier options I'm pretty sure the scantily clad folks would err on the side of vegetables. As such I think it's about time there was a new type of stand to add to the carnival/street fair/beach circuit-- a fruit stand.

Radical, a little, practical, definitely. What is more refreshing on a summer's day than a fruit salad? Sweet, delicious, and the market's waters have already been tested by the folks who make the smoothies and have those cups of watermelon available. I always see lots of people eating those, so why not take it one small step further and expand the circuit? Everyone sees fruit carts all over the city, clearly there is a market for it here. It's about time we moved the party to the seaside, at least for the summer.

Viva la food access!

BS (Back to School or Peanut Butter)

2010-08-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my baby brother flew off to college, such a grand adventure lies before him I couldn't even begin to prepare him for it. Thankfully, his university is experienced in bestowing such advice. They reach out to thousands of young adults every year before they land on campus and provide them with essential tools: how to add points to your magic card so you can charge your folks for pizza and cigarettes, when and where to collect your key as to beat your roommate to the dorm, etc.

What struck me was the very last communication my brother received from the school via mail, a reminder to complete an online module on alcohol abuse. Now, I understand that I have yet to receive my MPH, I have a whole year of learning ahead of me, BUT I can tell you this is the world's most useless public health intervention. And apparently it is a growing trend.

Two of my brother's buddies completed their modules drunk. Now perhaps at their institutions it was structured to help kids test and learn their alcohol limits. They may have been hooked up to a finger monitor with a usb port and at the point where they consumed enough alcohol to be unable to function, i.e. complete the module, the school mascot pops up doing a song and dance announcing your BAC and how many drinks your personal max should be.

This was not the case.

It was simply a click through quiz that records your personal information, which probably goes straight to legal (who is clearly the force behind such innovations, just in case you get involved in some sort of sticky sexual assault matter the school now has an out on paper with an electronic signature).

Stranger yet the request for an ONLINE module was delivered via mail. Clearly, we should make it harder for college freshmen to do something they don't want to. Do 18 year-olds even check the mail?? Half of my brother's friends have smartphones, why kill all those trees? (Yet another sign that is legal not health folks who are behind this nonsense.)

Nonetheless alcohol use education is extremely important for folks entering college. Alcohol abuse is a major problem on college campuses and is a huge factor in sexual assaults. Even the live skits I was forced to sit through seem more effective than this. Adult learning is about interaction, and this is something they need to learn. If schools truly value the need to curtail binge drinking in their communities, they should show it by talking time out of the school day to talk about it. If you make it a BS add-on that's exactly how it will be treated.

If universities aren't ready to treat their students like grown-ups, I would suggest rephrasing Back to School to BS or perhaps more aptly Peanut Butter.

The video formerly known as PSA

2010-08-11T12:50:00.000-04:00

With yesterday's confirmation that my capstone (i.e. thesis) is set, I have not so much on my plate. Though temporarily amazing, we'll see how long it takes my head to start inventing crazy projects. Thus far I have been reorganizing the apartment and, wait for it, teaching myself to cook. Clearly, doom is upon us.

For my sanity's sake, I have been doing some work, or rather sending lots and lots of e-mails. Mostly on practicum wrap-up and where do we go from here. As part of all this, my supervisor from the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board passed along videos the youth in the program made on Native STAND curricula topics including healthy relationships, condom use, and American Indian culture. Not only was I impressed they made it to YouTube, and not just on some org website, check, but the youth made the films themselves. The clips in turn are actually relevant to young Indian folks and generally circumvent the high and mighty nonprofit viewpoint, double check.

I think these videos, and those similar, really speak to the dawn of a new era in social marketing. The pamphlet died a decade ago, what we now know as a TV PSA is not far behind. But I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Lessons learned

2010-08-03T23:45:00.000-04:00

Encapsulating my North Dakota experience seems nearly impossible. A couple hundred words just wouldn't do it justice, so in lieu of justice I defer to the ultimate injustice and resort to my go-to thinking out loud methodology. A list.

Top Ten Lessons Learned while in North Dakota

1) It really is that flat.
2) Research local environmental disasters (i.e. the lake overflow) in advance as to not appear clueless.
3) Prepare many more slides/notes/activities for class each day then you will ever use.
4) You will make lots of cuts and changes once you get to know your class.
5) You will also learn more from your class than they will from you.
6) Avoid feeling guilty about this, it is apparently how teaching works.
7) Most public health practitioners have no idea they are a public health practitioner.
8) Program evaluation is never going to be sexy, but people do listen when you talk about it.
9) Ditto for drafting survey questions. Who knew.
10) Eat the Fry bread, overdosing aside, you will miss it when it's gone.

Back at Home

2010-07-28T13:21:00.001-04:00

I never thought I would say this, but it is weird being in New York. Wandering the city again for the first time yesterday was mind-bending, and I was only gone for three weeks!

It wasn't all the people or the noise, but more the clothes and all the stuff. New York felt like one big battle of the Jones (only much more fashionable). Thankfully after spending a little more time on the street I had one of those quintessential New York moments that remind everyone why they came here in the first place. Though, the fact that it was someone selling pickles from the barrel on the street probably says more about me then the city.

Now to digest all that I learned into some sort of readable form...

Pow Wow Interlude

2010-07-27T18:12:00.000-04:00

Pow Wows (alternately known as a Wacipi) are celebrations throughout the year that center on dancing, singing, drumming, and overdosing on fry bread. The Spirit Lake reservation's biggest pow wow is Fort Totten days, which conveniently occurred right at the end of my stay. As part of incentivizing the revival of this traditional practice, there are now extended dance and signing contests which culminate with cash prizes for the winners. There are a wide range of opinions about this, but I only bring it up as it begins to shed light on how the pow wow, as one of the few visible traditional practices open to the public, is a visible battleground contenting with modern day life.

The Grand Entry is a chance for all participants to formally file in and open the ceremony each day at the start of the pow wow and after supper break. Here you see all the different types of dancers and regalia: traditional, fancy, jingle, what we affectionately called chicken. But at the start of every Grand Entry are veterans of the U.S. military, our modern day warriors. They're followed by the princesses of the pow wow (think pageant but with real skills), then comes the women, the men, and finally the kids.

One of the most interesting things I learned is that all the regalia is handmade, generally by family members. Some of it passed down but most is unique to one person. One thing that most if not all the designers do the same is make the jingles for the jingle dress dancers out of the tops of chewing tobacco containers.

You could never tell, could you?

My absolute favorite of the dances was the fancy shawl. It is easily the most challenging dance for women (the inherent sexism of the dances is not so different from ballet--I suppose some things translate in all cultures). The women looked like they were flying as they spread their shawls like wings and twirled with their feet moving a mile a minute, barely touching the ground.

Pets?

2010-07-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

Puck and Dinah are, well, the best cats in the entire world. No question about it.

Strangely enough, some folks think those kinds of thoughts about pets are in fact something to be discouraged. Here on the reservation many, if not most people, have dogs. Unlike the luxurious NYC life of Puck and Dinah, these puppies live mainly outside and serve a primary purpose as protection and an alarm system. Often strays are left to fend for themselves. There is very little sense of loyalty and love for one's pets (this is clearly not the case across the board but appears to be the overwhelming sentiment).

While wandering to the post office last week, one such stray followed me all the way home to the inn. He even patiently waited outside by the door to the post office while I dropped off my letter. His name is now and forever will be Fred, as Fred is our family's infamous lost member who is blamed for many a problem. Well, Fred and I sat on the lawn, outside of the barbed wire fence that encircles the inn, as I scrambled and called my favorite puppy people, the boyfriend and the roommate, to guide me through what I should do. As a responsible pet person I wanted to find this little guy a home/take him home with me. Unfortunately there is no animal shelter within an hour and a half radius of the rez, only animal control (which was NOT happening). After talking to the local vet program and the folks at the shelter in distant Grand Forks, I decided it was best to leave Fred to his own devices. So after he fell asleep under a tree I slinked away and by the time I came back I could see him running off in the distance chasing a butterfly. I just hope he found his way to a new home. Really, who wouldn't want to snatch this guy up? Except maybe Puck and Dinah.

ND Weekend Style

2010-07-19T00:22:00.001-04:00

In a lot of ways it was very much like a weekend back in New York, shopping, bar hopping, dinner with the family, a lazy Sunday. It's just that everything here is a wee bit different.

Shopping might be better classified as rummaging. Some of our garage sale finds were true gems, including a copy of the Tender Pirate, a perfectly cheesy harlequin novel clearly meant to be read aloud by city girls bored in the country, and a 10 cent paint-by-numbers (which unfortunately had no functional paints left).

Bar hopping consisted of hitting 3 of the 4 bars that exist in downtown Devil's Lake. You eerily saw some of the same faces, like the bachelorette party that inadvertently followed us from one bar to another. It is moments like this you become grateful for NYC anonymity.

Dinner with the family consisted of Indian tacos, in lew of pasta, and you know, an entirely different family. Yet, somehow, I still ended up chasing after a little brother. The big sister gene remains strong still!

Finally, my lazy Sunday was spent intermittently reading the 25 cent copy of Fahrenheit 451, that I picked up the day before, and watching Little Big Man, an "Indian film" one of our students passed along for our cultural education. In the evening, we ventured to the posh side of the lake for dinner and I was struck by the "enormous" "gorgeous" homes that probably wouldn't have even really registered on my radar a couple weeks ago. My how time flies.

Fort Sweet Fort

2010-07-16T00:47:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to Ms. Alvarez and Mr. McLeod for their undying interest in creepy, haunted forts.

Fort Totten was built in 1867, but only functioned as an actual fort until 1890. From then until 1959 the space was used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to run an Indian boarding school. The Indian boarding school system was created to divide Indian American families, and attempted to eradicate their native languages and customs.

This torrid yet rather recent history makes for not only a fascinating walking tour, but a breeding ground for the scary and superstitious. It also encourages one to sleep with the lights on.

Fort Totten on the Outside

Fort Totten on the Inside

A lesson in Dakota

2010-07-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

The real lesson from lunch today is that anything, and I mean anything, can be solved with soup and fry bread. It is the food of the gods and beggars alike. The soup can come in one of many varities, but fry bread can only be made one way. Doughnut like. For those Italians out there think zeppole sans powdered sugar and flatter. For everyone else, do not be deceived by the use of the term "bread." To be true to the form it should be read as "dough." Delicious, delicious fry dough.

The touted lesson, though, was learning some simple phrases in Dakota, the native language here. Generally speaking, sentences in Dakota are constructed in the complete opposite order of those in English. Out of only five phrases taught during the class, four had to do with food. Strangely enough, following lunch, we began to discuss our mounting need for a detox upon our return to NYC.

Here's a taste of some of the phrases we learned:

July is the middle of summer month.
Bdoketu cokaya wi.

Food is medicine.
Woyute kin hena pejuta.

Eat a lot of June Berries, they are good for you.
Wipazuka ota yutapi, iniwatekta.

A new fun family game: Racist or not?

2010-07-12T22:13:00.000-04:00

One was found on the reservation. The other was not. Any guesses?

A Moment of Clarity.

2010-07-12T21:55:00.001-04:00

It's difficult to find the words to recreate that moment. It was just heart wrenching seeing a brand new baby knowing, truly, he doesn't have a shot in hell. Looking down at an infant and up at flashing pictures of a life lost for no good reason. Up to a life cut short at 26, because there are no fucking no guard rails or lights on a state road. Down to a baby so small and helpless, still brimming with the hope that time will give him a real chance. It was almost unbearable.

And yet, for that one second I may have actually understood what it was like to live here. Maybe that's exactly what I needed. Who knows.

"Broadway on the Prairie" and other firsts

2010-07-09T20:58:00.001-04:00

I taught my first class today and no one fell asleep! In fact, it appeared everyone was taking notes. Who knew research design could be so illuminating?

Perhaps more than anything it was the shock that community-based participatory research is such a new concept and having some bubbly white girl admitting to being just that in front of class on a reservation in Indian country. Or maybe it was taking personal responsibility for John Kerry losing as the group I was canvassing to was not an appropriate "cultural match."

Outside of the classroom we have been just as busy. On Wednesday we went off the reservation for dinner in the next town, Devil's Lake, and came back to the theatre at the very fort we are staying at to see self-proclaimed "Broadway on the Prairie." Somehow they did not quite capture the New York accent. Two people could even actually sing. It was quite the cultural experience though. Sitting in a theatre, in a fort, on a reservation, surrounded by a sea of white people.

We hit the casino buffet for lunch -- basically one of two available lunch places on the rez- and all of a sudden all that nonsense about food access connecting to obesity and diabetes and heart disease became clear.

Finally, last night we went over the Sully's Hill to see where the buffalo roam.

But perhaps more interesting was prairie dog town. You know, where you go to feed the wild animals cheetos. Apparently the running joke is they're diabetic too.

Only for Lindsey.

2010-07-07T00:09:00.001-04:00

I am so ready for bed, but I swore to the world's bestest roommate I'd post some pictures. So here ya go.

The Fort Totten Historic Site, i.e. my new home away from home.

My room was switched from the aviation room to the Jerome room, alternately known as the girly room. Apparently the innkeeper took one look at me and knew I'd be the one drudging across the gravel road in heels the next morning.

Devil's Lake: Tree Graveyard. The lake has quadrupled in size since 1993. Hello global climate change? It's almost impossible to imagine that not too long ago these trees stood on dry ground.

Oh and another thing. There are no lights or guard rails alongside the very skinny road that cuts through and around this lake. And yes you will die if you drive off into it. In fact someone did this morning. If only that were a joke...

Spirit Lake and other mythical realities

2010-07-06T00:16:00.000-04:00

Arrived in Grand Forks, North Dakota save and sound WITH all my luggage. This is the first time I have ever gone over the suitcase weight limit, but thankfully they allow you to sneak shoes into carry-ons. Crisis averted.

After traversing about 1,500 miles it was time for some lunch so we stopped in nearby East Grand Forks, MINNESOTA. Yes, that is right. I set foot in two new states today.

The drive from Grand Forks was flatter than you can imagine. I've never seen so much sky. There was also this crazy five minute flash flood that arrived as instantaneously as it disappeared.

One of the administrators at Cankdeska Cikana Community College ("CCCC") kindly hosted our entire teaching team of seven people for dinner. Their house sits right on Spirit Lake with only a wheat field between them and not another home in sight. They also served homemade juneberry pie. A juneberry is like a blueberry only smaller and better for pie fixin.

After dinner we had our first team teaching meeting to prep for day one of the class, which starts bright and early tomorrow. With seven instructors and eight students "Introduction to Public Health and Research Methods" may just be the course with the best student-teacher ratio at CCCC, or really any classroom anywhere in the U.S.

It's been quite the whirlwind of a first day out. Twenty four hours ago I was sitting on my roof in Chelsea eating chinese food from the container, staring off at the skyline. Now I'm in bed in an inn which was converted from a boarding school, which was converted from a fort. Apparently, there are ghosts but they've been advertised as friendly so I think we should be okay. I'm actually much more worried about the Lake which has quadrupled in size since 1993 and is steadily growing. But maybe that's just the public health kid in me.

Addendum to Working Remotely Ups and Downs

2010-06-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

There is one upside of working remotely that had not really occurred to me until now, it is how much more thankful you are to finally meet your co-workers and put a face to a name. You have no idea until you've tried.

Also, having my own desk in a real office again isn't so bad either.

Portland: City of Roses... and Voodoo Doughnuts!

2010-06-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

While in Portland I feel like I have been living a double life. By day, I have predominantly been editing my findings from the Native STAND pilot evaluation. I also had the chance to take a class on conducting focus groups as part of the Summer Institute here at NPAIHB. By night, I have wandered all over Portland from the alphabet district (which may very well be the antithesis of Alphabet City) to Hawthorne (which seemed like a time warp to Brookline, MA). Here are just some of the things I've found along the way.

see the mountain in the distance?

(i am studying American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) health and all.)

the infamous Powell's books. Yes, it is all that and more.

i had doughnuts two days in a row! And no, they do not ship.

Posts to come on on working west coast style and all I ever needed to know was what I learned in Dr. Cushman's Research Design class.

And all of a sudden I'm on my way!

2010-06-11T16:30:00.002-04:00

Next week will be my last full one in New York until *gasp* I'm 26. It's not the over 25 hill I worry about, more the fact that I'll be beyond the limits of my city for so long. I haven't done that since 2006... Thankfully I have, what is shaping up to be, quite an incredible adventure ahead of me!

First, I fly off on a jet plane to Portland - the ticket is REALLY almost booked now- to spend a work week intermittently handing-off my analysis of the Native STAND program to the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and taking a course which is part of their Summer Institute. The course teaches special techniques on how to conduct focus groups in Native communities, and hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) they will let me skip day one as there are apparently no overnight flights to Portland (boo hiss).

So yes, I WANT to learn about focus groups. I would be disappointed if I didn't get to learn more about focus groups. I REALLY did like doing this qualitative analysis. And you know what, that is okay. I like qualitative research and I'm not afraid to say it!

Ahem. So then I get a week of fun travel in Victoria and Vancouver with the boyfriend- wandering, meeting the grandparents, and possibly even driving in a not-so foreign land that may still require a passport. And I promise, here and now, not to go around polling Canadians about their opinions on National Health care. Really James, I do.

Then three days to unpack, wash clothes, and repack. Maybe even see some fireworks.

With that, I'm off on another jet plane to Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. To teach public health and research design at Cikana Cankdeska Community College. We get to work with our students to administer an Administration of the Aging survey on the health of senior citizens in the community. All the info for which lives here.

I'll be staying in what was an infamous Indian boarding school, and sleeping in an aviation themed room, because really why not.

*photos credited to the Fort Totten Trail Historic Inn

And no doubt I will come home with this hat, just in time for my birthday party.

Read this!

2010-06-08T22:40:00.000-04:00

The Rise of Bad Medical Writing as an Undetected Impending Public Health Crisis.
...so maybe if I get really lucky someone will pay me to write about public health and I'll inadverently save the world from itself.

A Vacation from My Vacation

2010-05-31T21:50:00.008-04:00

It felt like finals bled directly into practicum, frankly because it did. But with the help of my ever fabulous boyfriend, I escaped the city, and for the first time in months took three days (THREE FULL DAYS) all to myself.

Boston was lovely as always, and I'm finally refreshed in a real way. Sometimes you just really need a break. And though it may not seem feasible, it is so very worth it.

Here's a little piece of serenity to start your week off right:

Working Remotely: Ups and Downs during week one

2010-05-23T22:08:00.000-04:00

Ups
Refrigerator Access
Cat playtime breaks
Endless Tea
Quiet or Music whenever and whatever I want
Working on MY OWN schedule (very conducive to my ADHD tendencies)
Main office on Pacific time
Couch to desk to bed to counter surfing
No fears of boss catching you on that two minute Facebook break

Downs
Refrigerator Access
So many distractions (cleaning never looked so good)
Phone Orientations with pre-recorded messages
No face time with other human beings
Assignments sent via snail mail

*Despite the lists looking pretty evenly matched, I'm loving working from home oh so much. The pros trump the cons any day.

Practicum 101

2010-05-21T11:02:00.001-04:00

In Public Health School, the summer between your two years of coursework is dedicated to your "practicum." Practicum is essentially a glorified skills-based internship. It is a chance to take what you learn in the classroom during year one and apply and identify gaps in your knowledge that you would like to focus your studies on in year 2.

My practicum this summer is honestly better than anything I could have dreamed up on my own, and I have my fabulous award winning professor to thank. True, I reached out to her first, but it's her plan that is going to make this summer so special. Starting as of this past Monday I am working with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board on some qualitative analysis. I'll be working with them through the end of June when I get to go to Portland and hand-off my final product in-person! Simultaneously, I'll be preparing to teach a research design course on the Spirit Lake reservation in North Dakota, during the month of July. Then sometime in August I get to breathe again.

So for the rest of the summer my posts will be documenting these experiences. The blog will serve as a space for reflection as well as a resource to other MPH students if they are curious what to include (or not) in their practicum and what their summer will really look like.

Official Blog Hiatus.

2010-04-25T19:25:00.000-04:00

As finals have really taken over my life, I will not be posting until they are over May 10th.

BUT be excited for a regular account of my summer practicum including my fabulous adventure to the middle where I'll be living and teaching on a reservation. More to follow soon!

Will one day blog again...

2010-04-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Maybe sometime after finals... silly grad school.

In the interim read my latest on abortion gang.

Tri Sprintec Lo where did you go?

2010-04-11T22:43:00.000-04:00

It seems anyone on birth control has a long winded tale to tell about it. What worked, what didn't, what still doesn't. Well this month brought a new chapter to my very own tale, with an unexpected twist: my birth control disappeared.

Now, I don't mean the pill pack fell under the bed never to be heard from again. No, instead when I dutifully went to the pharmacy the pharmacist told me I was being switched to the brand label drug (Othro tri cyclen lo) from the generic (tri-lo-sprintec). No further explanation.

Being a dutiful repro kid/aspiring Encyclopedia Brown style detective, I went to a second pharmacy to investigate. The pharmacist there was kind enough to share that the drug had been taken off the market, no rhyme or reason. With only a pill left, I didn't have enough time to do much more research into alternate venues to obtain it/if it was even still possible so I went on Othro tri cyclen lo. Brands have a reputation of including less extra crap in the pills and it was only 10 bucks more a month, not a big deal.

Then I go back this week to get a refill and the pharmacist tell me it is now $50, and she has no idea why. What she does know is still yet to be confirmed. Thankfully, the nice woman on the insurance customer service line did know something. She said the original generic pill I was on was still on her available list so it should be on the market, and that I only get four months of birth control at the reduced rate, that's why it went up $30 in a single month.

So now I'm thoroughly confused, the pharmacies say there is no generic but the insurance company says there is. With my super awesome boyfriend's assistance via gcaht, we surf the web to find some real answers. Really, I find a single sketchy discussion board that mentions the generic is off the market, while he finds the pharmaceutical company's official drug list with the tri-lo-sprintec glaringly missing.

So what we learned:
1) Tri-lo-sprintec is officially no longer available,
2) Insurance companies are confused, but not quite as confused as pharmacists, and
3) I must learn the boyfriend's voodoo magic googling skills.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T14:52:00.000-04:00

Doing schoolwork at the Parent's for the first time in what feels like a Millennia. So weird.

But yay for finishing my managed care reading! Apparently the wide variation in health care costs by region is due to either available hospital beds, number of specialists in the area, cost of living in the surrounding area, or none of the above. Very helpful...

And yes I know Moses has little to nothing to do with Easter, but this can also appeal to the Passover set, and it's a Peeps diorama! This is just too good not to share.

[Found on Blondie and Brownie.]

Female Genital Mutilation?

2010-03-30T20:49:00.003-04:00

One of the most fascinating points in my reading today was how women, who have experienced female genital mutilation, saw it as a means of power, destroying their "manliness."

In the US, on the other hand, women find power in the exact opposite, equality and emulation not differentiation of the sexes. Does that make these African communities more highly evolved? Are they at a point where femininity is powerful? Maybe not in a Western sense but what does that matter really? They’re not Western.

Perhaps we are going about this all wrong. Clearly “mutilation” bares no reflection on this point and really only stems from a US perspective.

If we lived in a fanciful world where we could pull terminology out of thin air, I would suggest using “genital modification” for procedures for both men and women instead. This drops the gendered framing, which I think is essential. It also takes away the valued connotation, which we see in the current available terminology. It could even include women in the US who are now choosing to have vaginal surgery for cosmetic purposes. This inclusive frame might be the key to creating the space to see that these procedures are not all that different and that maybe the world is better off without them all.

The Good Ole U.S. of A.

2010-03-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

My practicum for the summer is this incredible combination of qualitative analysis and teaching, all safely here in the good ole U.S. of A., but I had the pleasure of taking the train back from school with some Global Health folks. And let's just say their preparations are a wee bit different than my own.

First they were contemplating which malaria drugs were best: the ones that make you hallucinate, the ones that make you nauseous, or the ones that are not covered by insurance. Then there was the safety net of Medevac. You know, just in case civil war erupts and you need to be airlifted out of the country. Of course there are also vaccinations, dinky airplanes, and 100 km hitchhikes to the grocery store.

My face at the mention of hitchhiking in Rwanda was powerful enough to induce hysterical laughter across the car. That face explains so much why I am domestic policy person.

What a week!

2010-03-28T20:56:00.001-04:00

True blue health care reform for the first time in fifty years and then today the Washington Post released new polling data indicating that Sarah Palin may be going out of style!

55% of those polled indicated they had somewhat or strong "unfavorable impression" of Ms. Palin. How that is only 55% is a little shocking to me, but then again she is on Fox now. If "can this poodle wearing a tin foil hat get more fans than Glenn Beck" can get blocked from Facebook, surely Ms. Palin can win the hearts of Americans from a somewhat to strong degree.

More interesting though are the polling numbers in support if the tea party movement, which are essentially split 50-50. As a grassroots activist, I find this sort of mind blowing. People have not only heard of this work but support it?! Here I was thinking street protest was dying. Silly me that's only among liberal causes where we get pinned as hippies stuck in times gone by. If it's for a conservative cause, it's suddenly radical and newsworthy. Not bitter at all.

God bless America?

2010-03-26T19:13:00.001-04:00

If there was ever a week to have Health Policy and Management, it was this week.

Clearly, class was cancelled on Monday.

So until next week I provide no wisdom on the monumental health care reform which will theoretically bring insurance to 31 million Americans.

But for the record, I think this may be the dawning of new era for public health, partisan politics, and maybe, just maybe, America.

Bunnies and EC.

2010-03-22T19:18:00.001-04:00

I now remember why I liked working here so much.

Tell the FDA to Act on Emergency Contraception from Center for Reproductive Rights on Vimeo.

As it is still spring break and I am on real post hiatus...LOL cats!

2010-03-18T17:44:00.002-04:00

Sarah Haskins Love.

2010-03-15T17:41:00.002-04:00

As it's spring break and I have a super gross change-o-season cold, I give you yet another video which will hopefully brighten this blah rainy day.

the truth about pregnancy.

2010-03-13T10:00:00.002-05:00

I knew it wasn't all sunshine and roses BUT this is a serious dose of reality about pregnancy. What gets me every time is the fact that people universally refuse to discuss the negative aspects of pregnancy. As if all women would just throw their hands up and get tubal ligations, if they understood what they could get themselves into. Lots of people want to have babies, even some that don't get pangs once in a while as we have been programmed to procreate. There's little you can do to fight it. So why leave women in the dark, petrified about the changes in their body and mind? Why make women believe they are terrible people for wanting to punch women who come up to every pregnant person they see and say good luck, it's so magical? It is okay to want to punch them. Under what other circumstance do you have embrace total strangers unsolicited advice. None that I can think of. In fact, I believe under almost all other circumstances you would assume they have a mental issue and would walk-off while muttering some sort of curse words under your breath. I say take heed pregnant women and curse away.

Then I thought self...

2010-03-10T22:58:00.003-05:00

your supervisor knows more about this. Let the experts speak for themselves.

For more info check out National Advocates for Pregnant Women.