Gratitude Journal

• My glorious bed and electric blanket

• Growth

• Enjoying "Lost" with Jeremy

• Ordering and devouring pizza with mushrooms, black olives, and pineapples sans the sauce

• Staying up late and sleeping in

Knowledge: Bertrand Russel on Religion and Philosophy

Bertrand Russell discusses religion and philosophy

Carl Sagan

The Day Carl Sagan Died

"We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself." - Carl

It’s been 14 years since Carl Sagan died at the age of 62 on December 20, 1996.

Gender Identity and Expression

I Am Just Anneke
With the support of family and friends, a 12-year-old experiences the onset of puberty in the fluid space between genders.

From filmmaker Jonathan Skurnik:

I'm Just Anneke is the first film in a four-part series of short films called The Youth and Gender Media Project designed to educate school communities about transgender and gender nonconforming youth. The completed films are being used in schools and conferences throughout the U.S. to train administrators, teachers and students about the importance of protecting all children from harassment due to gender identity and expression.

Transgender and gender fluid youth are the most courageous people I have ever met. Despite overwhelming pressure to conform to an oppressive gender binary paradigm, they refuse to do it in order to be true to themselves. I wanted to pay tribute to these courageous young people and to inspire all of us to reconsider our own decisions about gender identity and expression.

Anneke is going into eighth grade in the fall of 2010 and I plan to film her over the course of her first year in high school. This footage will become a feature length documentary about Anneke's life as she starts to take testosterone and begins a slow and thoughtful transition to fully embody her own unique gender identity.

Christopher Hitchens - The Best of Hitchslap

Christopher Hitchens - The Best of the Hitchslap


"The most overrated of the virtues is faith. The metaphysical claims of religion are untrue." - Christopher Hitchens

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for...

Visiting old friends and a new baby friend

Southwestern Baked Casserole (thanks to The Vegetarian Family Cookbook)

Leaves all over our backyard

Sitting outside in the dark with my husband and pups, lost in conversation