JB... I was walking by this bar the other day, and the little guy in the sombrero made me think of you. So... this picture is for you, my little brother!

Nilesh and I are going to Richmond, Virginia this weekend for some big business conference thing. I bought two fancy maternity shirts and a pair of black maternity slacks last week that look cute, but not sickeningly sweet. To get to Virginia we are first driving to Cleveland, where we will then get on a bus with a bunch of other conference goers. I was terrified of the bus at first, because all I kept thinking of was how often I have to pee. Asking a bus of 50 people to pull over every 40-60 minutes because of my bladder made me terrified. But, Nilesh assures me that this bus is equipped with a bathroom. Woo hoo!

Food for the weekend is about to be packed. I bought a bunch of fruit. Have a big block of cheese I'm gonna slice up. Some bread, some peanut butter, some chutney. And a whole bagful of weird, funky, Indian snacks. Peppered banana chips? Mashed and fried chickpea paste with red pepper and tumeric? Well, they all taste good... they're just weird. And so I don't give in to crazy convenience store candy bar urges during the many bathroom stops on the way to Cleveland, I bought a small bag of Reisens.

Alex and Char, when you visit we should definitely take a trip up to Devon street so you can check out all the crazy weird vegetables in the Indian grocery store. Other than that, my peoples.... I've got to finish laundry, pack, pack the car, and slice up some fruit and cheese! yee haw!

What have I been up to lately? I've been learning to cook more Indian food! I've been devouring Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series. I've been attending childbirth education classes, prenatal yoga, trying to find a doula, and doing tons of reading on parenting and birth. I've also renewed my NPR addiction, supplemented with a lot of articles on Truthout. I've been growing my eyebrows out so that I can reshape them. I've been growing my hair into a good little white-girl fro. I've been going to Curves, eating lots of kale, and slowly learning my way around Chicago. Also, I've been playing Sims2.

Those of you who know me, know my tendancy to play Sims for hours and hours at a time, obsessively, and blind to the world. I've been good this time though. I only play a little bit a day. I swear. My current project is recreating my family tree. All aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephew... etc. And as proof that I haven't been playing too much, I will tell you that I just barely got Aunt Paula moved out and engaged to her first husband. There's a long way to go before my little experiment is complete. Will the first girl born to my parents be anything like me? We'll see.

In other news, I just finished reading this article, a speech actually, by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Normally, I tend to read the first couple paragraphs of truthout articles, and then decide if its something I'm vaguely aware of, or if the writer is preaching to the choir. RFK, Jr's article is long. It took me a while to read through it, but my god, it is worth it. Take some time, if you have to read it in pieces, do that. But read this article: "We Must Take America Back." That is your homework assignment from me. Seriously, read this article.

New Orleans really is becoming our own little underwater Baghdad. Super deadly mercenaries who have normally been used to supplement US forces in the middle east are now patrolling the streets of New Orleans. With automatic weapons... yay! And now, reporters in Iraq can breath a sigh of relief that they aren't the only ones who might get shot by our own government. Gotta love it.

I made a movie!

With the help of all these fabulous people.


Entire Crew at Wrap

Kyle wrote a script last spring, we planned on shooting in July, but finally this weekend, we got the movie shot. No sound, lots of post-production still to do... but "morning in the jungle" is in the can.

Science is real.

In February 2004, 60 of the nation's leading scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, warned in a statement, "Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking": "Successful application of science has played a large part in the policies that have made the United States of America the world's most powerful nation and its citizens increasingly prosperous and healthy ... Indeed, this principle has long been adhered to by presidents and administrations of both parties in forming and implementing policies. The administration of George W. Bush has, however, disregarded this principle ... The distortion of scientific knowledge for partisan political ends must cease." Bush completely ignored this statement. (truthout)

In other news, Nilesh and I are driving down to Mulberry Grove tonight to shoot a movie! Whee! Kyle and Bek's house is going to become the site of Trinfinity Film's first production. We were technically supposed to shoot back in July, but the script needed finalizing, and the dolly needed work, and we needed to gather a crew and set aside more than one day for the shoot. So, we picked Labor Day weekend because everyone had at least three days off. I'm gonna be director/director of photography/co-screenwriter. Nilesh is gonna be part of the dolly crew. Hee. We've got about 30 feet of homemade dolly track laid out, two wheelchairs jury-rigged together as the dolly. A sweet little digital camera. Two actors. 2-3 people to push the dolly. 2 people cookin' meals and taking care of kids. All in all, its gonna be a fun weekend.

Am I a bad person because I don't care about the hurrican damage in the south? Am I a bad person because part of my brain is going, "good... y'all voted for bush and NOW look what you get." Though, of course I know that it is highly likely that the people who couldn't afford to evacuate either didn't vote at all, or voted against bush. At least I hope. Not that it should matter.

I scrolled down through my NYT email this morning, to wade past all the Katrina baloney, to find a little story hidden in the international section. This bothers me a lot more than anything happening down south. Though, of course, having to drive 5 hours this weekend is not going to be fun because gas prices are shooting through the roof due to the mess down there.

I'm just a selfish, evil, pregnant lady who cares more that her mp3 player isn't working properly and she can't download her audio book onto it for the drive this weekend.