The Big Move

Okay, people-- this is it. The Big One.

Tomorrow, at about 8 a.m., we shall leave for New York City.

We should get there around 2 or 3 pm, but we'll need to unload the truck, get all the furniture up four flights of stairs, have the new air conditioner installed (Thanks, ma! And Adam's grandparents bought us a new TV, too-- thank God for family!), and figure out what the heck is going on. Plus, I have yet to discover the wireless internet capabilities of the campus, so it might be (gasp!) an entire DAY before I can post again.

But fear not! At the end of this dark tunnel I shall emerge victorious, and might even have some delicious pictures for you.

Love you all dearly. Wish me luck!

Another Big Trip

Once again, I'm going to be traveling! We're leaving Florida tomorrow (Tuesday), and stopping for the night in Charlotte, N.C., before continuing on to Ohio. We'll be there for ten days until the big move to NYC!

I'll update from the road, if I can find some internet service somewhere.

Wish me luck!

I'm back!

We've finally returned from Sanibel! We had a great time— and Adam managed to turn 27 years old in the process, I might add. Happy birthday, my love!

So regular posting will commence as of now. I'm sorry I had to miss the Girls' Night Out— tent camping doesn't make for easy internet access. :)

It's good to be back in New Port Richey. In about ten days, though, we'll be driving back up to Ohio to spend two weeks visiting with family! Such adventures...

Update: A Few Days Off

Just to warn y'all— Adam and I will be spending most of this week camping at Sanibel Island, so I might be a little lax on posting this week. I'm bringing my computer just in case I can get WiFi somewhere for free (my devotion to this blog is obsessive!), but just in case there isn't any WiFi, or in case it's spotty, just know that I'll be back by Saturday, at which point regular daily posts shall commence.

I know it's not a big deal...I just like to keep my readers informed, so they know that the blog is still active even though I may be away!

Wine Is Fine!

I'm so pleased to have been awarded the wine gift certificate at last night's Girls' Night Out!

It was a fun night— made all the more fun by the fact that I now get to purchase some wine. I've already decided how to spend the booty: half will go to purchasing a birthday gift for my mom, and half will go to a birthday gift for my husband! And that's good news, because we're pretty poor right now and I was getting all worried about being able to give people gifts this coming month. I love to do the present thing (and I get SO EXCITED when people open presents!), so it'll be like a present for me, too!

Thanks for contributing to my peace of mind (a frail thing these days), and lifting my spirits in general, my fellow PNNers (and especially our wonderful Leigh!). I really do appreciate how kind and generous you all are.

A Visit

Sorry I've been slacking off on blog these past two days. I've been visiting with Mistress of Snark, who has voyaged far and wide to come and see our great state!

If you haven't already, check out her blog. Also, expect some posts this week on the topic Olivia told me about in her comment (Is "fat" a choice?) and some musings on the nature of the immortal soul.

Yeah, I've been doing some deep thinking.

Who Wants To Volunteer?

So both of our priests at St. John's have recently left, one for a new church (he's only a few years older than I am, so he and his wife had to move on from here, since he was our curate and not our full rector), and one for retirement. And the younger priest was in charge of the Youngstown Initiative, and now that he's leaving, he emailed me some stuff indicating that I could do some organizing stuff with the YI, should I wish to do so.

Uh, anyone want to come to Youngstown and do service work with me? Perks include:

1. Helping people in need;

2. Putting something cool on your resume/CV/college application;

3. Getting to meet ME. Awesome, right?

So c'mon...anyone?

Question About "Question"

Hey, PNN: what happened to the feature "Question of the Day?" The poll on the front page is cool, I guess, but it doesn't change every day like QotD used to, and I don't think you can leave comments. 

What happened to QotD? I miss it like whoa. I always liked seeing people's responses and viewing the map to see where they came from. Was it just not a big hit draw anymore?

Consider this my official petition...bring back Question of the Day!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas to all...

...and to all, a good night.

Especially tiny kitties.

Important Announcement

As you can see, A New Philosophy has undergone a few changes. I'm gonna keep it like this for a week, then evaluate how I like it.

The most obvious change is that I've renamed this section "Hot Off The Presses", and will be using it as a sort of "What's new" section. My most recent articles will be here, and then later archived to their particular section.

I've also added a "Site Updates" tab in order to keep serving up those exciting hit counts and publicity news posts you've all come to love!

I'd appreciate any comments relating to how you feel about this change. At the end of the week, as I've said, I'll evaluate how it's going and make the necessary corrections.

Kitty's Sick

My poor Charlotte Bronte is sick!

Today we took her to get her rabies vaccine from a wellness clinic that was being held at the local pet store. She was due for a new one in July, and while I'm not usually that big on vaccinating indoor cats (since several vets have told me that indoor cats don't need vaccines, due to their extreme isolation from other cats), but I wanted to make sure that my two were up on all their medical stuff before we move next week.

So the local animal charity clinic was having a two-hour session today, and I took Charlotte in and got her vaccinated for about $8. Good deal...until, on the way home, she threw up, began panting, and crapped all over her cage.

So we called the animal charity vet, and he said, "Oh, that happens sometimes." Okaaaaaay... and then she kept doing it. For hours. Now she's sleeping and she seems to have attempted to eat something, but she's still occasionally vomiting and she still seems lethargic and ill.

So we called a SECOND vet-- this time, the 24-hour emergency vet up in  Niles-- and they actually said the SAME THING: "Oh, that happens sometimes. Don't worry." In fact, the woman Adam spoke to said that she has a few cats herself, and that they always get like that after shots.

But...how can this be okay? When I was growing up, I don't think our cats ever reacted this badly to shots. Well, Sylvia did, but she was hospitalized after her bad reaction. Which makes me want to take Charlotte in...but I just don't know where we'd get the several hundred dollars it would cost to take her to the emergency place. And really, she's actually looking a little better, although she's still clearly sick.

ARGH. I don't want to be paranoid, but I don't want my kitty to suffer because I'm poor.

Please keep my little cat in your thoughts tonight!

Update From South Carolina

We're in Columbia, SC!

It's funny how exhausting it can be to just sit still in a car for ten hours. I'm totally wiped out, and I haven't even done anything today except read and listen to the radio and talk to my cats!

We're still trying to figure out how we can set up our wireless internet when we get to Florida, so it may be another few days until I update again, or until I get to comment on other posts. But stay strong! I shall return! Stay the course! :)

Reality Check

Okay. I don't know what was said or written to make everybody all pissy this week. To be frank with you, I usually avoid the personality conflict drama that goes on here; I'm a lot more interested in talking about, y'know, important stuff. So I have no idea what's gone down this week, and I have no idea why everyone's gotten all defensive, or why some people have been rumored to be leaving the site, or why everyone seems to be sniping at one another like teenagers on MySpace.

But I DO know that it better stop RIGHT NOW.

I think we need to keep a few things in mind as we move forward here on PNN:

1. This is not a message board.

Guys, this is a blog site. A blog site hosts many different blogs— some personal, some professional— and creates a loosely bound community of different people with different interests. Dialogue is one aspect of a blog site, but it is not the ONLY aspect.

My mother frequents some silly message board site called "Moms Who Think," and she's always talking about the drama that ensues there. One person gets pissy, and all of a sudden it's like they're all back in high school— name-calling and accusations and gossip and rumors. This is the natural state of message boards; they're intended for people to hold anonymous conversations, and having petty dialogue with someone you've never met can get real ugly, real fast.

But, uh, that's not really how this whole PNN thing is supposed to work. See, on a blog, the author writes a post, and then the reader takes time to read the post, to reflect upon it, and then (perhaps, if he or she finds some of the content particularly laudable or offensive) to write a respectful, insightful, and USEFUL comment below. The way it does NOT work is for a person to come on, half-heartedly skim the post, and then write some hip, disaffected bullshit about the author. If you don't want to participate by engaging the issue at hand in the post, then DON'T. You have the power to walk away. You have the power to click on a different website.

This is not a place for personal attacks, and it is ALSO not a place for childish antics. This is a blog site. If you would LIKE to find a silly, mean-spirited message board on which to mock others, here's the site for you.

2. This is not highschool.

I was under the impression that the vast majority of us on PNN are adults. We are no longer in highschool— ergo, we are no longer permitted to act in the way teenagers act.

This means we are prohibited from doing the following: name-calling, gossiping about other people, posting nasty things about particular people, engaging in "popularity contests" or making others feel left out or ignored, acting or behaving petulantly, making comments anonymously in order to be absolved from the responsibility of justifying those comments, and otherwise belittling or putting others down for no other reason that it makes the belittler feel good about him/herself.

3. This is not an exclusive website.

Anyone who wants to sign up for PNN can do so. Anyone who wants to write for PNN can do so. Anyone who wants to leave PNN can do so. There are no restrictions (other than, I believe, the usual age guidelines regarding the privacy rights of minors).

I would also like us to keep in mind the way PNN was ORIGINALLY set up. I've been writing for PNN since April of 2008; I first became a paid feature writer on May or June of that month. Therefore, I've been with PNN for more than a year now, and I remember how PNN was originally set up.

PNN was not "the global water cooler for women" then. That tagline came much, much later. PNN was a blog site about telling one's story; the name "Personal News Network" implies, after all, a sort of broad cross-section of society, a gathering place where people from all different backgrounds could share their stories and discover the stories of others. This is why I joined PNN, at first— because I loved the idea that people in all different parts of the world were writing and communicating together.

I have been skeptical of the the move from "Personal News Network" to "PNN: the global water cooler for women" for a multitude of reasons, most significantly because I think the phrase "water cooler" implies a certain fluffiness that was not an original component of the site. When standing around the water cooler at work, I might discuss important issues (politics, religion, marriage) or unimportant ones (who won America's Next Top Model, the chick in accounting who brought in a wicked cute puppy last week, the number of phone calls we've been getting in the office that day), but no matter what I talk about, it's surface chatter, designed to pass the few minutes of my break time but not intended to move beyond those minutes.

When we write on PNN, I would hope that we attempt to comport ourselves in a respectful manner that does not in any way minimize the importance of the topics we're discussing. Sometimes we talk about elections, and sometime we talk about babies; sometimes we vent about our jobs, and sometimes we vent about sexism. But I think we should treat each poster's topic the way we would treat a post on a major, syndicated blog— not only with respect, but with a certain attention to audience. When you comment on a post, everyone who reads the blog, not just the original poster, can access your comment. I feel like some of us have forgotten this.

I've also become unsure about the "water cooler for women" change because I think some of us use it as an excuse to shunt out the men who come here looking for new perspectives. I think it's important to remember that when this site started, there were an equal number of men and women writing here; when the site's tagline changed, however, the men began to disappear, and I really HAVE missed their perspective on things. I'm also discouraged that it's so hard to convince my male friends to read my blog, or to start their own blogs on PNN; it seems unfair to claim to be open to all perspectives and then to blatantly discourage half the planet from participating. I don't mind the focus on women— but I think that men might have some perspectives on women and women's issues that they should be able to share. After all, it's clear from our blogs that we women have plenty of things to say about men, right?

I only know that I would be hurt and offended if I felt I had something valuable to say on a men's-themed site, and I was told to go away because I'm a woman. Obviously, women have a certain authority on issues that deal with them exclusively, but I don't think you have to be a woman to discuss friendships, boyfriends, girlfriends, politics, books, or any of the vast number of topics we exhaust in even a day.

This is really my main point, in summary: we seem to be forgetting why we came here, and what PNN has meant for us, and why other people may have come to the site. And I think we need to sort of get back to basics, in a way— to remind ourselves why we first started writing in this excellent place. Perhaps we should all go back and look at some of our original posts and remember what we said then.

I looked at some of my first posts just now. I wrote so much about weddings and relationships back then! And with the big election coming up, I wrote much more about serious political topics, and got a lot of serious comments in return. Some of the comment-leavers are long gone— like Lori, an uber-conservative lady who left before many of you had ever even heard of PNN. Others have remained to this day— chitown, and cereals (now known as welshgrl), and many more.

For the first time ever, I'm disabling comments on a post— not because I don't want to hear from you (you can send me a message if you want), but because I fear that I'll just provide yet another space for people to hash this thing out. I don't want to perpetuate the whole brouhaha, so I'm going to ask that you not use my other posts for comments relating to this one. I did not write this post in order to provoke either praise or controversy, so I don't want to court either by starting yet another comment-based argument.

I just felt that maybe we've all gotten a little bent out of shape, and that it might be high time to get a grip and remember what drew us all here in the first place.

NOTICE

Just a head's up, guys: on Thursday, I will, if all goes according to plan, be having oral surgery in order to remove three impacted wisdom teeth. The dentist has informed me that, due to the invasive nature of the procedure (there will be blood, there will be stitches, there will be small tooth slivers being systematically plucked out...sounds like fun, no?) and the sedative nature of the drug cocktail they will be giving me, I may or may not sleep through the entire weekend.

Therefore, this note is to warn you all that I will probably not be posting on Thursday or Friday, and may not be doing so during the weekend, either. However, I promise that I will make it up to you with some fabulous posts later on!

And I shall end this brief post with a series of questions: who here has had their impacted wisdom teeth out? How badly did you hurt afterwards? How long was it before you could speak properly again? And how in tarnation did you keep yourself entertained while wasting away on the couch/in bed? There are only so many times I can watch endless loops of America's Next Top Model before I go insane.

Twenty-four years of crazy!

Today is my birthday! I'm 24 years old.

It was a wonderful day— we had a party at work (not really for me, but rather in celebration of tax season being over) and then we went out to dinner with my parents.

Adam made me a birthday cake:

And he bought me a dress as a birthday present:

So here are some fun facts about what happened on April 16th in history:

1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.

1724 - 1st Easter observed.

1789 - George Washington heads for 1st presidential inauguration.

1862 - Slavery abolished in District of Columbia.

1900 - US Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps.

1917 - Lenin returns to Russia to start Bolshevik Revolution.

1924 - 1st radio-transmission of wireless: Mattheus Passion.

1926 - Book of the Month Club sends out its 1st selections: "Lolly Willowes" & "Loving Huntsman" by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.

1962 - Brazil nationalizes US businesses.

1962 - Walter Cronkite begins anchoring CBS Evening News.

1972 - Apollo 16 launched; 5th manned lunar landing.

2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.

And here are some of the famous people who share my birthday:

1319 - King John II of France

1652 - Clement XII, Pope

1693 - Anne Sophie Reventlow, queen of Denmark and Norway

1696 - Giovanni Battista Tupolo, Italian painter

1800 - William Chambers, author/publisher

1844 - Anatole France, writer

1867 - Wilbur Wright, of aeronautical fame

1889 - Charlie Chaplin, actor

1924 - Henry Mancini (born in Cleveland!), composer/conductor

1927 - Joseph Ratzinger, German theologist/dogmaticus

1927 - Pope Benedict XVI

1940 - Queen Margrethe II, of Denmark

1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist

1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA center

Anyone cool share your birthday? Anything nifty happen on that date? (You can find out here.)

Birthday Shout-out

Today is my dad's birthday— he's 55 years old!

I just wanted to take a moment to tell everyone what a fabulous guy my dad is. He's an accomplished research scientist; having become one of the premier proteomics researchers in the country, he was elevated this year to chair of the biology department at YSU. He's a devoted family man, having raised three daughters with my mother, to whom he has been married since they were 23. And he's very involved in the community— he served as the senior warden at St. John's Church (where he is now the director of adult Christian education), he's the vice-president of the board of directors for Help Hotline, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization in Youngstown, and he does so many other things (judging middle school science fairs, helping with NEOUCOM interviews, donating money to lots of charitable organizations) for the community on a regular basis.

My parents are the most amazing people in the world, and I hope that I can be just like them as I continue to grow and change. I can never thank them enough for everything they've done for me, and I hope they know how much I love and appreciate them.

Happy birthday, dad! You rock!

Ohio Encore

We're back in Ohio!

In comparison to Florida, it feels kind of cold here (I wore a sweatshirt this afternoon!), and the smell of manure will, as always, take some re-adjusting for me to get used to it once more. But we're back here for about ten days until the Big Move, which is already making me more excited than a kitty in a catnip patch!

The day has managed to elicit several burning questions in my mind:

Why does traveling long distances in the car without moving at all make you feel so bone tired?

Why does your car window get stuck open ONLY when you are entering a sheet of heavy rain?

And why oh why does it cost a whole $6 to travel on the West Virginia Turnpike?

Keep The Faith, My Brave Companions!

Adam and I are, as you have probably noticed, in the process of moving. In fact, right now I'm getting ready to go to sleep on an air mattress, surrounded by boxes and piles of clothes.

So I wanted to warn you that I might not be able to post as regularly as usual for the next few days. Before leaving the state entirely on the 6th, I'll be at my grandmother-in-law's house, so my internet access may be limited.

But please don't stop reading! I promise that, in about two or three days, I will update on a host of awesome topics, including (but not limited to) a thrilling press release on where exactly we'll be attending seminary! (Hint: expect the news around Thursday.)

So I beg of you: do not lose hope. A New Philosophy shall forge bravely onward, make no mistake!

Tragic News

I've been watching and waiting for a week, and today, at long last, my mug from PNN finally arrived.

BROKEN.

Adam says we can't even put it back together, because the handle is broken into so many pieces. I'm disappointed with UPS— I mean, the package was wrapped and packed really well, so they must've been flinging it around a great deal during shipping for it to end up so fractured.

Well, BOO. That was pretty much my big disappointment for the day. :(

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

So the first anniversary of A New Philosophy is coming up, and I've been doing some thinking about the blog and the direction in which it can go in the future. And I'm wondering if maybe I should shift the focus of the whole project a little bit.

See, I first began this blog in response to the large number of Baby Boomer blogs I found online. I thought, "Why are there so many blogs for Baby Boomers and so few for twenty-somethings?" So I decided to start one, in the hopes that my post-grad life (filled with lots of typical twenties stuff, like marriage, jobs, money worries, and what-am-I-doing-with-my-life moments) could help me reach out to other people who are also having a crazy time in their twenties.

Now, though I've noticed that many of my readers aren't in their twenties, and are more interested in my humor and political bent than my advice and questions. On the other hand, many other readers seem to read one particular section of the blog (my religion section, for example, or my love-and-marriage section) and ignore the rest.

So my question to you, the readers, is this:

Should I make A New Philosophy into a single-topic blog?

If you think so, on what should I focus? Potential ideas: one of my current topic sections; being a seminarian's wife; writing; poetry. Feel free to suggest others.

Let me know what you think! Do you want to see changes, or not?

She's baaaaaack!

I am better today, somewhat, although the Vicoden prevents me from writing too much at the moment. Can I just say that I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would be addicted to this stuff? It makes me feel sleepy and sick to my stomach.

So I will simply have to promise you all a fabulous post tomorrow.

Just wanted you to know that I'm not dead or anything.

A Thank-You Post

So A New Philosophy now has more than 13,000 hits!

I just wanted to say: thanks so much to everyone who has supported me during these tough times. Every time you read my blog, you're helping to keep my husband and I fed and clothed. With both of us unemployed, it's difficult to make ends meet, and my income from this blog really helps out.

Your attentions to this blog have purchased Christmas presents for my family this year. They've even paid next month's rent. Without each and every one of you, Adam and I would be a LOT more screwed than we already are.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

<3

Technical Problems

I'm currently experiencing some technical difficulties at A New Philosophy. My posts keep showing up as blank on the main website but not on the blog. We'll see if it happens with this post. I've found that one of my articles has mysteriously become blank all of a sudden, as well.

Please stand by while I correct this issue. Thanks!

EDIT: The issue seems to be corrected at this point.