Of all of the poses someone could be in...

Bill Clinton agreed to this one for his official portrait? Really? The psychoanalysis of this is just too easy. This is from the digitized collection at the National Portrait Gallery.

I'm one of Abe's Babes...

I've been working on Smithsonian Connections for awhile, and our first project is about Abraham Lincoln. The Bicentennial of his birth is this year so there's been a lot of hoopla around the country at museums and historical Civil War locations. It sounds boring, but you end of finding lots of cool stuff. Like portraits of Lincoln made out of cupcakes and stuff like this:

Ummm... Donald Duck and Taxes

My taxes were never this easy. Maybe it was easier during World War II.



This is a documentary short done by Disney for the Department of the Treasury to encourage people to pay the "Victory Tax". A year after the United States entered the Second World War the federal government needed additional revenues to pay for the war effort, but at the time most people didn't pay income tax. Considering we all pay taxes out the nose (unless you are a congressperson, and then you pay only if you get caught), it's interesting to see this video today. We are at war, we are in a recession, but is it propaganda to ask people to pay their taxes or is it a patriotic duty? Hmmm....

Yes, we'll miss Bush....

Inauguration Day can't come fast enough...

I've worked in Washington, DC for the past 6 years. I can honestly say the motivation in the Federal Government is pretty low. The people at the Department of Interior have been depressed, the people at the non-profits are broke, and the people trying to make the world a better place just feel defeated. Now I'm worried all that momentum from the election is going to fade away. So, play the YouTube clip, find your inner mojo... and let's go clean out the jerks out of the government... (that means you, Blagojevich! Your name even sounds like someone just hurled.) Plus, I love that this clip included a little Newsies action. Awesome.

Dear Hillary,

Time to go accept some serious apologies...

Happy Veteran's Day...

Yeah, I've written a bit on Obama, but I have to say that I really hope he will fix this mess we are in and start providing Veterans with the medical, psychological and family benefits they deserve. A lot of people aren't aware that even though I tend to lean on the liberal side, my brother is currently serving in the U.S. Army. This is a photo taken at Fort Bliss in Texas where he is right now. He volunteered over 4 years ago, and was recently caught in the stop-loss system and is now putting his life on hold. He will likely have to go to the Middle East (again) and serve there for over a year before he is released and can go to graduate school. My problem with all of this is if we have a volunteer Army, how can the Army force someone to stay beyond their contractual limit? The unfortunate fact is that they can, and they did the exact same thing to my grandfather. He was sent to Korea.

The fact is, the military is far more complicated and infuriating than the media reports. It's full of problems and issues that are continually brushed under the carpet. I'm hoping that with this next administration, there will be more transparency to show the issues these soldiers face and how the federal government is responding to those needs. Military families are going through difficult times right now, and I hope those programs get the funding they rightfully deserve. On that note, Happy Veteran's Day.... and I hope you all enjoy this beautiful photo of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC from my friend Brent Tomerlin

Thank God.

I don't think I could handle another Vice-President that likes guns and hunting. That didn't work out well the last time.

Deadheads for Obama

I'm not much of a Grateful Dead fan (even though I met Mickey Hart a few years ago...) but my husband is. So here is his Deadheads for Obama shout-out!

The Wizard of Id...

... got that right.

Since my hometown is in Northeast Ohio...

I feel that I must give some sort of explanation every election season. Luckily, this guy did it for me. Thank you, Mike Polk!

Who doesn't love ta-tas?

There are certain topics that come up in the Mommy Club. Once you have a munchkin, you are automatically a member whether you are a Stay-at-Home Mom or a Working Mom. Since I have two friends who are about to give birth, I've been thinking back to my own pregnancy and early months, as well as all of the absurd things that went along with it. One of the issues that comes up a lot is breastfeeding, and the issues that come up when you have to do it in public or at work. I struggled with this part of parenting, and ended up doing some pumping and a little formula. But then I read articles like this woman's experience and it makes me crazy.

Let's be honest, anyone how picks up a pregnancy or baby magazine is bombarded with the Breast is Best message, which medically is true. My issue is that even though the Federal Government wants women to breastfeed for the first 3 months, they don't legislate that a woman can do it anywhere she chooses. The states can legislate, as New York has done in 2002 (that's right, only 6 years ago), but most states have not:

N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 79-e (McKinney 2002) guarantees a mother the right to breastfeed her baby any place she has the right to be, public or private, even if the nipple is exposed during or incidental to breastfeeding.

As a result of not having a Federal law, people feel that it is their right to criticize and harass a woman who is simply feeding her child. People can't separate the sexy boobies from the actual baby feeding machines they actually are. So, breastfeeding mamas run into situations where people feel it is completely acceptable to give their opinions, tell them to cover up, or better yet- just do it at home. For any woman who is breastfeeding, there is a limit to how much milk your ta-ta's can handle before you really need to feed someone. That's like asking someone to drink 4 gallons of water and hold it. Plus, is a woman really expected to stay at home for a full 3 months? Or longer if she chooses to continues to breastfeed? Why don't we just banish her from the real world for having a kid? We want women to have babies, we just don't want to watch women to actually feed them.

If you do have funny and sassy comebacks for this issue, feel free to comment or go over to one of my favorite blogs: Thingamababy. He's running a contest for the best sassy comeback for stupid people who feel they can tell a breastfeeding mommy what to do.

I can't wait until Election Day....

This used to be my view from my old office. In many ways, I'm glad I don't have this view anymore. I now work for another part of a particular institution that will remain nameless, in an office... with no windows. Blah.

I spent most of the morning doing nothing but Human Resources hoo-ha. Performance evaluations, leave slips, etc. That's right, nothing actually job related. I just want all you taxpayers to know that.