What's the fabric of your life?

Have you ever really thought about what's the true fabric of your life?

I know that denim is definitely not the fabric of my life. I can't honestly think of the last time I had a pair of jeans that actually fit me comfortably. In fact, not many people know this, but I dislike the word 'denim' immensely. So given all my issues with denim, it clearly and unequivocally can't be the fabric of my life.

I mostly wear skirts of various fabrics with my favorite skirt, made by my mother no less, being a mystery fabric. We think it's rayon, but neither of us can remember where or when we got it. I love it for many reasons, the color (mostly black with tiny white and lavender flowers on it), the fit (it's a very flattering wrap shirt), but mostly I love it because of the fabric. I can ball that skirt up any which way and that thing will not wrinkle! It's like magic fabric! If I could, I'd have shirts, skirts, and anything else I could think of, made out of that fabric.

In actuality, I guess my favorite fabric is cotton. I wear cotton shirts nearly every day. Most of the pants that I wear are a cotton/polyester blend.

So I guess, like the ad says, cotton really is the fabric of my life.

Now having said that and having planted the seed in your mind about your personal choice of fabric, here's a very funny video from CBS Sunday Morning about people who love ........corduroy. And, I'm not taking about the lovable bear in the children's books. I'm talking about the actual fabric.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

To watch the story, please go to  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7053836n&tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea

What the best seller list says about the world

The recent hardcover best seller list features quite a cast of unique characters in the nonfiction section.

In the top ten are such authors as The Rolling Stones Keith Richard, political pundunit Glenn Beck, actress Portia de Rossi, TV newsman Jon Stewart, Howard Stern "Wack Pack" member Gary Dell'Abate, singer Ricky Martin and comedian Adam Corolla.

The other two titles in the top ten are "That Last Boy" a book about baseball's Mickey Mantle and another book about Mark Twain.

Wow.

I'm not sure what this says about the book buying public. I just thought I'd point it out as it looked a little odd to me with it seeming like 'celebrity' authors had taken over a section, that while it has seen its fair share of famous authors, usually includes some more 'intellectual' titles, like offerings from Malcolm Gladwell and the like.

The books currently on this list do cover a wide range of subjects, including drug use (Richards), anorexia (de Rossi), and coming out as a gay man (Martin).

And I'm sure that former President George W. Bush's memoir "Decision Points" will hit, probably at the top, of this list shortly, where it will sit until the next big thing arrives.

If you go beyond the top ten, there are more political titles and more biographies with a splash of humor thrown in. And there always seems to be some title about a dog, doesn't there? Currently it's "Oogy", the story of an abused dog who learns to trust again.

But this is how it should be, right? Some fun stuff with some serious stuff?

I always find it interesting to see what's on this list. It seems to pretty accurately reflect the times.

I know I'm in probably in the minority in that I check the best seller list often to get ideas about what to read next.

It may not seem like much, but if just one person descibes me as well-read, then I'm happy as I think that's a huge compliment.

So while others might always be looking to see what's trending on Yahoo, I think the best seller list is a more accurate gage of what's really happening and how people feel about it.

The Pope + Condoms, and Your Votes Will Decide if a Couple Should Abort Their Child

It's quite fascinating how two seemingly unrelated stories can pop up at the same time, shaping thought and opinion about a topic. In this case, the two items fall under the category of  the resulting life and death decisions that come from condom usage, or lack-there-of.

In the first story, we have Pope Benedict, who, exhibiting a truly bizarre thought pattern, said earlier this year that distributing condoms might actually increase the spread of HIV and AIDS, changed his stance on condom usage this weekend.     

He said that condom use by male prostitutes could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility for the risk of transmitting the disease, thus possibly reducing the number of infected individuals.

But, he said this statement in response to a question about Africa, where heterosexual, not homosexually transmitted, AIDS is rampant. 

The church has long held the stance that contraception among childbearing adults is unacceptable. Thus, condoms have long been condemned by Catholics.

Since there is no chance of conception between males, the procreation issue is mute.

At the time, the pontiff made no mention of heterosexual couples of any kind, including those that might contain one infected partner.

So, it seems that this statement has no bearing on the church's stance on using condoms as a form of contraception between consenting adults.

While it might seem to be a step in the right direction regarding the spread of HIV and AIDS, it remains to be seen if the church will make a change in its teachings regarding the use of condoms to avoid contraception.

Now, on the same weekend that this story was breaking came another story that seems just as confusing, and, unusually related to this one. 

A couple has put up a website where people can vote on whether they should abort their unborn child or not. 


You read that right. 

A married Minnesota couple, who have had two miscarriages this year, are asking the public to vote on the fate of their unborn son.

Website visitors have until Dec 7th to vote. The last day for the woman to legally get an abortion is two days later.
She will be approximately 18 weeks pregnant.

On the site http://www.birthornot.com/  they've posted sonogram photos and a history of their time together as a couple. 

Right now, there are more votes for having an abortion.  

In the interest of full disclosure, I was raised Catholic and my parents are very pro-life.

While I lean toward a fetus' right to life, I do not consider myself 'super' pro-life as I believe that I am not one to tell anyone else how to live their life. 

But in this instance, this fetus will be 18 weeks. A pregnancy is 40 weeks. That means that this woman will be almost halfway through her pregnancy. That's almost five months pregnant. I find it hard to believe that she could carry this baby for that long and then just discard it like it means nothing. 

As I mentioned, the couple has hard two miscarriages just this year which in and of itself begs for some clarification. 
What's the real story here? Do they want kids or not? Clearly they're not using birth control.

Are they just using this as a sick ploy to become famous in some way? What if the final vote is for the abortion? Will they really go through with it?

Why isn't there an option on the site to put the baby up for adoption? There are millions of couples who can't have children and would gladly raise this boy as their own.

I'm a little skeptical about this whole thing. While there is a sonogram picture with woman's name on it, that could be a doctored in some way as there are some very savvy photoshop artists out there. And, there are no pictures of the couple. 

It says on the site that they have been getting media requests. It will be very interesting if they really come forward. Can you imagine the firestorm an appearance on a morning show would create? 

Could this whole thing be made up?

Maybe this is all just a hoax by some ethicists trying to see how people will actually vote and what kind of comments this site will generate.

If this is a real couple I just wish they would have used condoms. Given this stunt, it seems unlikely to me that they'll be very good parents. And that's just what we need in this world, more idiots procreating.


Could the Pope maybe add that stipulation to condom use -- that you must have some level of intelligence, compassion and class to procreate and that all others MUST use some form of contraception?

What are your thoughts on these two issues -- the catholic church and condom use, and the site http://www.birthornot.com/.

I am truly curious to see how all this will play out.

One last vote, please!

I know that this last election wore you out. Especially with all the campaigning. Those ads! Ugghhhhh!

But there is one more thing you should vote for.

I've written about it before and I will continue to write about it as these are people that really are, with no political agendas involved, changing the world.

I'm talking about the CNN Heroes.  

In a world where it often seems greed is the only thing we hear about, it's nice to finally see some generous folks getting their air time.

And if you haven't ever watched the show on Thanksgiving night, you're really missing out. Trust me, you will be inspired and feel good about our world, for a change.

Now is the time to vote for the CNN Hero of the Year.   

You only have a short time left as voting closes on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 6 am est.

To vote, please go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html?hpt=T2

Then settle in on Thanksgiving night and prepare to  celebrate the lives of those everyday people who are changing the world.

Consumerism at its finest

I've discovered a new website that helps me to know that I'm not alone in my frustration with customer service.

Check out The Consumerist at http://consumerist.com/

It's fascinating!

The site is full of interesting stories from consumers about customer service issues. Some are resolved, most are not.

And, readers often weigh in about how they handled similiar problems.

The site's seven official bloggers also often offer helpful information about all kinds of consumer-related things. Things like ways to avoid early termination fees or coupon codes for hot deals.

There's even a company directory that you can use to explore various topics about individual companies. For example, here's a great article on the American Airlines tab:  http://consumerist.com/2010/07/your-complete-big-ass-guide-to-annoying-airline-fees.html 

You may have guessed from the link address that the article is called "Your Complete Big-Ass Guide To Annoying Airline Fees".

This site is serious, snarky and informative, all at the same time.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

What the Week

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you're already aware that I frequently write about my television likes and dislikes.

While I have some issues with CNN (see my post on Eliot Spitzer's new show at http://akeaston.blogspot.com/2010/10/question-of-credibility.html and my continued disdain of Larry King at http://akeaston.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-really-all-that-surprising.html), I do like my Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta.

I've also recently become a fan of "The Joy Behar Show". She has a refreshing take on many issues.   

And, as a documentary fan and news junkie, I have to commend CNN on their in-depth specials, including the series "Black in America" with Soledad O'Brien.  

In this post, I also I want to give a shout out to a new show on CNN. It's called "What the Week" and it airs on Saturday nights at 10:30e/7:30p with another airing at 1:30e/10:30p.

Hosted by Pete Dominick, it's a humorous weekly wrap-up of the week's events. This past week, Dominick had a great interview with marijuana advocate Tommy Chong about the vote to legalize marijuana in California. It was quite funny when Chong said, "Well, we're getting ready to vote here in California." Dominick didn't even chuckle a little when he pointed out that the vote on the issue had taken place several days earlier and that measure had, in fact, not passed.

If this is a sign of things to come on this show, I'll most likely be checking it out with some frequency.

It helps that Dominick doesn't come off as some stuffed suit talking head, but more like your neighbor that you'd joke about politics with as you met in the street after lunging your trashcans to the curb.

I'm not going  to profess my undying love for "What the Week" yet as I have been burned by a CNN/HLN show before with disastrous results.

I loved "Showbiz Tonight" on HLN when it first aired as it seemed to truly be about the behind the scenes goings on in the entertainment industry, interviewing writers, producers and the like, but then it devolved into a mere gossip show, focusing on celebrity issues, mostly high profile meltdowns.

So while I will give my support to "What the Week",  I will not proclaim it the best show on television or anything like that, but I am truly happy to have a new entry into the news mix on CNN that is not hosted by a loud, rather annoying former attorney or a man who openly frequented prostitutes on the taxpayers dollar.
 (Please tell me, Pete Dominick, that you are neither of these things!)

Dominick is a radio show host on who's show former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez unleashed his anti-Semitic rant. People not in the know, find it ironic that Sanchez was fired and Dominick was hired shortly after their on-air conversation. What they don't know is that Dominick's show was already in the works when the controversy went down.

So let's give Dominick and the new show a chance.

Check out "What the Week" and please share with my readers and I what you think.