Quick Thoughts

My 7-year-old is writing a story. It's pretty stream-of-consciousness, and she doesn't like paragraphing, but it's got some good details. She has a writer's mind--she said she keeps writing a sentence, then backspacing to write it "the same idea, but different words."

I'm so proud.

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I don't know why I read letters to the editor in People magazine. They are full of judgmental jerks. This week, there was one chastising Kirstie Alley for saying "if I can do it [lose weight], anyone can." This person, of course, snidely said if she got free portion-controlled meals from Jenny Craig she could do it, too. Sounds like big excuses to me. 'Cause if *I* got free portion-controlled meals? I still wouldn't lose weight, because those meals don't force me to exercise or prevent me from eating Pringles and ice cream and large bowls of buttered popcorn.

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We had a slumber party here last night, four 11-year-old girls. While they were doing manicures, they voiced the following opinions:

--The voting age should be raised to 21 because some 18- and 19-year-olds are jerks

--Bush is such a good president, he should be able to run for another term

--If the new president doesn't care about kids, we (they) could all end up living on the street

--The No Child Left Behind Act sucks

In the same five-minute period, they also discussed:

--The new war in Israel

--The plane that was heading for the White House and crashed in PA, the heroism of those on board, and how they saved us ("But we weren't in the White House" said with a remarkable lack of "duh" in the tone)

--Starbucks

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There are three bills addressing stem cell research coming up for vote. One would allow embryos createde for in vitro fertilization and about to be destroyed to have stem cells extracted. Bush will veto the bill. Because, you know, if those stem cells aren't extracted, the embryos will live.

How come there are no activists protesting in vitro fertilization in the first place? I'm sure they're out there, but they aren't very visible. Why is it okay to create and destroy embryos because you want to have a baby, but not because you want to find a way to treat or cure debilitating and fatal diseases?

Those are rhetorical questions, by the way. I don't want to start a flame war here. But that doesn't mean you can't post your thoughts in the comments. Just no hate mail, please. :)