Current Affairs

In Praise of Precipitation

July 19, 2011 Austin

We got a notice this week full of phrases like “extremely critical conditions” and “to prevent catastrophic effects.” It said we’re not allowed to water our plants with sprinklers (at all), wash our cars (or airplanes), fill up our pools or jacuzzis (not that we have one), or run decorative fountains. We can water plants, [...]

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Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2011 Austin

Earlier this week, my son came home from kindergarten and asked if we could start recycling. I almost laughed. We live in an area where there’s no curbside recycling. I even asked our private trash collection company, and they said that, though they offered the service, it’s not available in our area. There’s not even [...]

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Disbelief

March 17, 2011 Current Affairs

These days, I treasure the early-morning moments listening to Rory sleep, peaceful little snores emanating from his cuddly little toddler body. I cover his bare legs with the feather quilt, and everything seems calm, and safe, and warm. This scene feeds my worldview of choice, in which we parents can keep our little ones protected [...]

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That Tingling Feeling

February 7, 2011 Austin

They talked about it for days, and I refused to believe it. So many times, especially here in Texas, it’s predicted, but fails to materialize. The weather forecasters get you dreaming of snow angels and snowball fights, but what you get is wet, or just cold. Last Friday, the elements delivered the goods. I walked [...]

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Different

January 2, 2011 Current Affairs

On New Year’s Day morning, I wanted to make our breakfast special, so I pulled out the frozen package of pastured bacon I’d gotten in December at the Sassy Pea Market. Little did I know I was in for a surprise. Instead of the thin-sliced, salty, deliciousness I was accustomed to buying a the grocery [...]

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Wasting Energy

July 26, 2010 Current Affairs

The Age of Stupid – Wasting Energy Animation from Daniel Haskett on Vimeo.

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Anticipating Babies

April 1, 2010 Current Affairs

This upcoming documentary, featuring the first year of life for four babies from around the world, looks like it’s going to be a great one. Just the trailer, above, had me in tears of sentimentality. It’s amazing to see not only how different the external realities are for newborns in different cultures, but also how [...]

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Raising “Little Citizens of the World”

November 2, 2009 Current Affairs

Photo credit: NYRRC This weekend, we strolled down to the end of our block with Callum and Rory and watched the world stream by. It was the 40th running of the New York City Marathon, and 4th avenue, here in Brooklyn, was one of the main thoroughfares through our borough. As hordes of participants made [...]

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I love that the CDC has an embeddable Swine Flu widget

April 26, 2009 Current Affairs

Little known fact about me: I’m kind of interested in emerging infectious diseases. This isn’t something I mention a lot at parties, but it’s been an enduring interest for many years. I did some reporting on it a while back, including in my science reporting class at journalism school. (LOVED that class!)

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In defense of pumping

January 17, 2009 Current Affairs

Every workday, around three times a day, I stand up, grab my computer from my desk and shuffle off into another small office (in WiFi range, luckily). I shut and lock the door behind me, and I get down to business. Most of my co-workers know where I’m going; those who don’t must wonder where [...]

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