Review: Radical Sanity: Commonsense Advice for Uncommon Women

Published in 1999, the year I graduated high school, this book has more than a few dated pop culture references (back when Brangelina didn't exist), but I guess that's the risk you take.

This is a very Girl-Power book, and I loved the quotes used at the beginning of each essay. As I was reading it (and I read it quickly, technically within 24 hours of checking it out of the library), I was thinking how blog-like it seemed. But of course, these entries were more thought out and precisely edited than your average (ahem) blogger can produce!

Basically this is an advice book for women, but written with a bit of tongue-in-cheek and kick ass attitude. Some quotes I wrote down:
"Doing nothing is opting for the sweetness of stillness...
Instead of fighting with that which you cannot control, you might as well just see it through..."
It's nice to get the advice and reminder to be MORE than just a girlfriend/fiance/wife. Read, write, watch movies, see plays and be an actual person. That's what it comes down to. (Oh, and pay someone else to do the things you don't like doing...I can get behind that!)

~Mari.

Reuters: Women needed for clinical research

Doctors lack female participants in clinical trials | Health & Fitness | Reuters

I love this quote:
"As research advanced, we started to recognize more and more that women were not just small men with different plumbing and a hormone problem, that there were real biological differences between men and women that had an impact on whether or not a drug was going to work well or cause side effects," said Sherry Marts, vice-president of scientific affairs at the Society for Women's Health Research, which works to increase awareness of the need for women to be properly represented in medical research.
Disclosure: SWHR is an RA member.

~M.

Sighting

AH! I saw Minnie Driver walking down the street. It was rainy and I was carrying a lot of things ... she just looked so pretty. Apparently she's 6 months pregnant, but she had a rain coat on and was carrying an umbrella. She was talking on a cell phone - DEFINITE British accent. She's so pretty!

Small World - Via Stillwater

My good friend Holly, whom I met at the O'Colly (we're perfect for each other, what with the rhymes and all), met another friend, Tamara, last night. Turns out Holly's BF is good friends with Tamara's husband. Tamara and I worked at OSU together at the School of International Studies, and she had quite the impact on me -- being ESPECIALLY supportive during the biggest, meanest breakup of my life.

Today, I got an email from Tamara about this article on Nurse.com: Nurse.com - Including Texas Parents in the Care of Children.

I long to have the right words to say to her - three years ago and now. Her son was born around the time Owen was born. But I am so glad she's able to turn her grief into helping others.

It is a small world after all, and I'm so grateful for all those who are a part of mine.

~Mari.

Touch My ...

Could this be true? It seems I've won an iPod Touch. I won't FULLY believe it until I've got it in my hot little hands, but I'm so excited that I could have this. I've given the address to the people and they're supposed to send it to me in New York. It just seems too good to be true.

The trip to DC has been OK. I'm ready to get the wedding show on the road and be happily, smugly married. The train ride will be fun too - I have Felicity DVDs. I watched disc one on the trip up.

Owen just called me on the phone. He's so funny - telling me jokes that I can't understand. Oh how I love this bubba.

~Mari.

may showers

i came to DC this weekend - took the train on Saturday (which happened to be National Train Day) - and was given a bridal shower by my grad school friends. There were 8 of us and we just hung out talking for hours. It was so fun. I got some great gifts - just too much. It was so great to see everyone again.

Now I'm in a motel - staying until Tuesday for work. I've got some award applications to prepare for work (requiring me to have use of the color copier - and my bosses' immediate feedback), and since I was coming down anyway, two birds! At least I hope I'll be able to knock out these award applications. The deadline is May 23...the day before I leave for Oklahoma. Time is really ticking down!

I had a bit of an adventure today. Because I got so many presents (some of which were bigger than my smallest suitcase could accommodate), I was making my way from the Metro to the motel with my rolly suitcase, my laptop bag and three large gift bags, two of which broke because of the weight of the gifts inside. After that struggle (my arms, legs and back feel like I've been to the gym!) I was able to take the bus to Target and enjoy that suburban shopping experience - and to buy a tote bag to get everything back home. UNFORTUNATELY it started to rain - cold, windy, pouring rain. But I had to wait for the bus... So I got soaking wet from waiting for over 20 minutes. AND I was the only one on the bus. How eco-friendly is that? Um, not. But I made it back here, got a Starbucks coffee to warm me up (I'm very taken with the new Pikes blend), spilled it all down my front as I was opening my umbrella, and came back here to rest. I had a blinding headache, but a little Target brand acetaminophen cleared that up. Oh, and I got to read a Washington Post. I may be turning into a New Yorker - I'm glad the Sunday Times will be waiting for me when I get back. :)

And now I'm waiting for food delivery and a call back from my mom for a mother's day chat. All in all a good day. If transportation hadn't been such a hassle (I probably spent more than 3 hours total today on Metro and the bus and WAITING for Metro and the bus) I could have seen a movie. BUT I live in Manhattan, so who needs a car???

I should have photos from the shower to add soon, and I've been meaning to add photos of the Indiahoma shower... Beth posted them on Photobucket, so I'll add that link (or something) to my wed site soon. Much to do!

~Mari.

Review: The Best Day of Someone Else's Life

On Friday, Shawn and I tried to go see Iron Man at the local Regal Cinemas. It was sold out, so we bought our tickets for Saturday (a hilarious, wonderful action film, BTW). Because the theater is near The Strand, we decided to go in for a look. I stumbled across this book on the half off table. It sounded like the movie 27 Dresses (which was based on a book by Meg Cabot apparently) and I'm all about weddings. So I bought it. Turns out it hadn't even been released yet - it came out 5/6/08 and I bought it on 5/2/08. Imagine that!

When I got home I started reading it, and I really did devour it quickly (I amaze Shawn with my ability to speed read). It's definitely not high literature, but I liked it. It's set in DC - about a girl who's in several weddings and then has a lot more to attend over the course of a year and a half. It had a lot of great DC settings and details, so I liked that. But there were way too many characters. I guess it's just a factor of me being non-social, but I can't imagine having regular interaction with 6-8 girls every single week - plus random work people and friends from childhood, etc. So keeping them all straight was confusing - so I didn't keep them straight. It didn't really matter to me, and the characters didn't really matter either - ha!

I'm going to pass along this book, even though the blurb on the cover isn't really supported by the book. I didn't read about any hook ups at any wedding - and the cover says "Six seriously regretted hook-ups" - there also weren't four allergic reactions and the main character never added up how much she spent (although I'm sure $50K for that many weddings isn't unbelievable, it just wasn't ever added up within the book).

Chick flick book that made me think "I can do this" more than anything else!

~Mari.

At least I didn't do this...

iDo - WSJ.com
Using online polls, wedding guests are deciding on nuptial details traditionally hashed out behind closed doors by brides, grooms and their parents. Guests used to pick between chicken or fish. Now they face questions about the cake, the cocktails, the band and the honeymoon.
Meh. I'm just lucky it's almost over!

~M.

Apocalyptica


We rocked out to this band last night. Getting older - not as able to rock out like I could in my younger days - HA! I really had fun though. Just imagine if I could get to a concert for a band that I actually know the songs.

Tra. ~M.

Mood

In such a bad one today. I've been mean to coworkers, short with consultants. Not sure what the matter is. Is my bridezilla-ness seeping into my non-bride life?!

~M.

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