Why Hello There, Little, Old, Me.....

Welcome to Challenge 34 over at Blog This!. The challenge topic this time is:
If you met your younger self - What would you tell yourself? Would you give advice? What advice would that be? Ask about your perception of the world? Give us an idea of who you think you were or who you think you'll be in the future...

( Note, i have done a post similar in topic to this back in 2007, but in the past two years i've learnt so much more! So this challenge post is a completely new and different post to the old one.... )

If i were able to travel back in time, Marty McFly style, and have a bit of a deep and meaningful with my younger self, i think there would have to be three key bits of advice i'd have to impart to teenage me:
Number one: DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR NEGATIVE SELF-VOICE. Seriously, thats in capital letters for a reason, 'cause its pretty damn important. You miss out on so much fun and adventure because you listen so attentively to your worst critic - you. Thats right, its nobody else saying it but you. Its entirely in your head, and in your head is where you'll be spending most of your formative years if you dont tell your inner critic to back the fork off, okay? Turn it off, tune it out and instead of backing out of things when they get a little scary, run into them head first and see which parts hit and which parts glance right off without so much as a scratch.

Number two: Save more money.  How very pedestrian of me to advise you, but yea - save more money. You start working at the age of 14 which means you've literally earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, but now at 26 its nowhere to be found. I'm not saying you have to turn all Scrooge on me and not spend a single cent - i'm just saying maybe dont waste so much of it on crap. CD's are great and all ( although you could have done without East 17's " Walthamstow " or Ricky Martins self titled release... ) and its great having a different top to wear for every day of the month, but all that money frittered away on junk could have had you paying off more of your house or got you overseas sooner, and more often. Future-You loves to travel, but you wont get to do all that much of it ( a year sent living overseas and one short trip to SE Asia ) before your first child arrives because Young-You didnt save, save, save!

Lastly, Number three: Pay more attention at your Year 12 formal. Particularly to a young man that comes as a guest of one of your classmates. His name is Mick and you will meet him 8 years into the future, fall madly in love, get engaged and have a gorgeous baby boy. When you meet, you have no idea you were both at that same function all those years ago, and find it amusing that the universe sees fit to bring you back together after that first faint brush with fate. If you had both only known, you could have been together so much sooner, and both of your lives would have been completely different!
Also, rethink the velvet dress- right cut, right colour, wroooooooong fabric.......

Naming and Shamming: my nemesis (and a few brief encounters)

I received an email this week alerting me to the date and times of the Schools Graduation Day this year. I both love and hate occasion. I love Graduation as I get to dress up in fine academic gowns, be on the stage and perform to an international audience via the web. It is a time of celebration and reflection, a brief moment when we can sit and watch our students receive their awards, and be glad they achieved their dreams. We share this wonderful time with families, friends and over the last two years, our ceremonies have been supported by most of the entire School staff.

To my shame, it is also a time I dread. Despite my life long love affair with words, I struggle with the pronunciation of non-English words. All my life I have shied away from languages other than English. I struggle to learn even the odd phrase of a foreign language. I cannot visualize these words, and even when each word is presented phonetically, I find it difficult to then pronounce the words out in a way that doesn’t leave them shredded and incomprehensible. This state of personal being is not helpful when it comes to presenting students at the graduation ceremony. Many of our students have names that are not of English origin. I can practice and practice but can still end up with my anxieties over producing the correct pronunciation completely destroying my self confidence. I then get locked into a vicious circle of a self fulfilling prophecy. This year I am seeking advice from those who know about such problems and will (apart from undertaking a course of brief interventions (CBT and the like) listen and act upon what they have to say (Cura te ipsum).

Interestingly at last years Graduation our Executive Dean, wondered out aloud as to why we didn’t get our nurses to make a public pledge of their professional intent and commitment to nursing and midwifery at the Graduation ceremony. Whilst it is unlikely we will do anything this year to take this idea forward such a pledge is one of the many recommendations coming out of therecently published Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery. This recommendation has not been greeted with universal approval and in some places, even ridiculed by those within the profession. However, perhaps a statement of purpose, one that celebrates the potential, power and values of nursing, along with its unique role is long overdue. When I qualified in 1978 we didn’t have a Graduation Ceremony as such, but we did have the Chief Nursing Officer come and present our certificates and along with parents, family and friends, we all took time out to celebrate nursing and all that this meant. But that was a long time ago.

Also a long time ago I grew up in a place that claims to be the start/end point of the Northern Line (the Black Line on the Underground map). It is also known for being an ancient hamlet in the county of Middlesex, and the place of dastardly deeds by the Highway Man – Dick Turpin, and has one of the largest Jewish populations in London.

The town is called Edgware, and I took my Mum and Dad back there this weekend. The church we all went to as a family was celebrating 75 years of existence, and my parents had been part of the church and community from 1954 - 1974.

It was a strange trip, and one I hadn’t taken for some 40 years. Everything had changed, but also very familiar. There were people at the celebration who clearly remembered me, although I had no recollection of who they were. I am ashamed to say this included a couple of former girlfriends – more brief encounters. I wandered down to look at the house I grew up in. I am the eldest child of seven children, all of whom were born and raised there. The house now seemed very small and not as I remembered it at all.

As I sat there and listened to the many stories, joined in the singing, laughter and shared the reminiscences of people, places and progress, I felt a real sense of disassociation. I was mindful that despite all that has been achieved in the world since that time some forty years ago; much has also been lost from our lives and communities. As I drove back up to Manchester and started to think about making my personal preparations for this year’s Graduation Ceremony I also thought, actually a Nursing Pledge might be a good thing for the profession to embrace. At the graduation ceremony such a pledge would be a very public demonstration of the values and beliefs that are important to us as professionals, people and possible patients.

Thinking Happy, Week 5

Time again for " Operation Think Happy ", as brought to you by Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly! In no particular order:

1. Winnie the Pooh - Flynn is just starting to take an interest in toys and this week he's really started to pay attention to a small Winnie the Pooh comforter he was given. Mick and i wave it in front of his face and talk to him as Winnie and he's started to smile and giggle at it. Smiles and giggles make me happy!

2. Hot cross buns - so Easter is still a month away, i dont care. Fresh, warm, hot cross buns with sultanas in them are the bomb!

3. Bloggy love - I got me some bloggy love from DaughterOfTheStars this week. She bestowed the 'Sunshine Award " on me and directed her lovely readers to my page. Thanks much! She also described my son as gorgeous, so extra happiness points for that!

4. My beautiful fiance - he's done so mcuh work around the house today, and i've done nothing but feed the baby, read the sunday papers and take a nap on the lounge. I just really appreciate him. Aww....

5. Engagement party stuff - again. We've settled on a date - April 3rd, which is Easter Saturday. Party time!

6. Operation Sleep - its starting to work! 3 days in a row Flynn has settled down to a 2 hr nap in the middle of the day. His efforts, even though it must be hard for him being put into a new routine, have really made me happy. Tonight ? He's moving into his own room for night time sleep!

7. Knowing my weight - yep, i finally weighed myself for the first time after giving birth. And i have to say, the results werent too bad. In fact, i'm only 3 and half kilos heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight, and i'm happy with that. Still, am i going to tell you the actual number ? Uh...no.

Operation ' Get My Child To Sleep Longer So I Can Stop Being A Dairy Cow ' Begins....Now!

Perhaps i should just refer to it as Operation Sleep for the sake of not having to type all that over and over. Either way I'm on a mission to get Flynn to nap for a longer period during the day, so that i can have my boobs to myself for a little longer and i can get some stuff done around the house on a regular basis. Dont get me wrong: Flynn is not a 'problem' baby. He doesnt do a great deal of this:

So its not like i have a problem with him howling all day long. However, i need him to do is more of this:

Thats right - he needs sleep more during the day. We dont have a problem at night ( thank gawd! ) but during the day we've had a little bit of issue. What kind of issue? Well, even though i'm well aware that our 'schedule' is inside the bounds of normal, i've started to become a little weary of breastfeeding my son every two hours. So, for example, we might start a feed at 8am, have a little play and then be put down to sleep by 9am. If i'm lucky he will sleep between 20-40 mins, and then he's ready for another feed by 10am. As i said, this kind of feeding schedule is considered to be normal, so thats not the issue - what is the issue is that its exhausting. I've been eating more than i normally would, just to keep up the calories to have enough energy to produce and supply the milk, not to mention its just demanding on a mum to have so little time to herself to have a shower, or eat lunch, or get any household chores done.

So - i got a hold of a counsellor from the Australian Breastfeeding Association  ( can i just say how awesome the ABA is, what with having counsellors and a forum for mums to discuss stuff and weekly meetings in some areas? ) and she was really helpful - she's given me a few ideas of how to lengthen out our little feed schedule and to help me to get him to sleep for a longer period. I'm also taking this opportunity, while i'm already implementing some change, to move Flynn out of his bassinette in our room and into his cot in his own bedroom. So big changes afoot!

We've started today and so far its gone pretty well. Its feed, play , wrap and then a quick pat and cuddle before i put him into bed. If he cries i leave him for 10 minutes before i lift him out, give him another cuddle and put him back. He's managed, after two cry/cuddles to sleep for a total of 2 hrs, twice, already today. So, cross your fingers for me for the rest of the weekend!

I Wanna Be Like Mike...Umm, I Mean Martha

And by Martha, i mean Martha Stewart. See, since becoming a first-time, stay at home mum ( SAHM ) i've been watching a fair bit of day time tv. I've kept up with Dr Phil, Oprah, Ellen and the girls from the view, but i've also found a new found love for 'The Martha Stewart Show' and for the Australian version of 'Ready!Steady!Cook!' I've been drooling madly over all the delicious food they cook on these shows and then it gets to dinner time and i'm inspired to make something just awesome for Mick and myself - only i dont have the pantry stocked with fancy ingredients that Martha has. I dont do too badly - its not like i dish up the boring old meat-and-two-veg - but i cant just whip up some gorgeous fancy meal without some degree of preparation.

So as of grocery shopping this week i'm inspired to stock my cupboards and fridge with some cooking show basics: filo pastry, rock salt, bread crumbs, frozen berries, tumeric, paprika, soba noodles. You know, things like that. I mean, i already have mixed dried herbs, plain salt and 2 minute noodles, but they just dont cut it. If i have all that stuff then i can just pop on my favourite recipe website, www.taste.com.au, and find myself a meal to impress my fiance with every night, without having to drag poor Flynn to the supermarket when i only need to buy one or two items.

So tonight, bearing in mind that i dont yet have my fancy pantry set up, we'll be having barbecued lamb steaks topped with avocado and melted feta, accompanied by my mixed tzatziki salad concotion - cubed cucumber, red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach covered in tzatziki dressing. Y-u-mmmmmmm......

Welcome to the 'New' .....

Whats this? Where are you? Who am i? whats with the questions Amy?
Well, in case you havent noticed, i've changed my blog name. Thats right, take a look up there on the header - " Insomniatic Musings " is gone and has been replaced with " New Adventures in Dreamworld ". Huh?

Well, to be truthful, i just wasnt feeling the whole " Insomniatic Musings " thing anymore. It hasnt matched 'me' or my blog for a while - i started this blog in the midst of depression, when i wasnt getting much sleep, and i was using the blog as a tool to get all those things that kept me awake at night off my chest. With the depression gone and the sleep ( somewhat ) returned, the name just didnt feel relative anymore. I wanted to find something new, something that better reflected whats happening with me now and what could be happening in the future. So, after a little thought, i've gone with:

" New Adventures in Dreamworld ".

The ' New Adventures " part is pretty self explanatory. Why the " Dreamworld " bit? Well not to sound too schmaltzy, but thats where i'm living now - in the world i'd always dreamed of when sleep did eventually come to me. I have a beautiful man who i'm in love with and who loves me back; a gorgeous son; my wonderful family and friends; and a whole bunch of positivity to move forward with. I dont just see light at the end of a tunnel - i generate the light and its a damned beautiful glow!

So welcome to my ' Dreamworld '. Oh, and if you arent already following me, go press that button over to your left and become an official follower!

Everyone (but particularly Elton when it comes to my Mum) Hurts - sometime

Acetylcholine (ACh) a neurotransmitter, has been shown to be the most important inducer of REM sleep. I mention this as on my flight back from India on Tuesday, when I was trying to sleep, I took advantage of Emirates extensive CD collection and spent a couple of relaxing hours listening to some very fine music. REM was one of the groups I listened to. They produced one of my all time top 10 favourite songs: Everybody Hurts. This is song to be found on their most popular CD Automatic for the People.

Everybody Hurts, was the song chosen by the music entrepreneur Simon Cowell as a way many famous pop and rock stars (and Susan Boyle) could help raise money for the victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti. It sold 453000 copies in the first week of its release and looks lightly to become the best ever selling single of all time – more of which later – but first back to ACh.

ACh was formally identified in 1914 by the pharmacologist Henry Dale. His work explored the action of ACh on heart tissue. It was later confirmed as a neurotransmitter by the Father of Neuroscience and fellow pharmacologist Otto Loewi. Both Henry and Otto received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936 for their work.

On going work in this area has shown that damage to the cholinergic (ACh producing) system in the brain is associated with the memory deficits characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a unique brain disorder that affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Alzheimer’s usually begins after the age of 60.

Elton John, who although originally thought to be involved in recording the REM song for Haiti, for some reason didn’t contribute. Elton is 62.

In an interview this week, Elton said that ‘I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems’. This is from a man who likes to dress up in Donald Duck costumes. Unlike the two scientists Henry and Otto it is difficult to see how such contributions increase our understanding about humanity, society and the human condition.

Elton made these comments in the magazine Parade. In the article he talks about the death of John Lennon, Princess Diana, Gianni Versace and Michael Jackson. In his characteristically PC oblivious way he notes that ‘Two of them were shot outside their houses. None of this would have happened if they hadn’t been famous. Fame attracts lunatics’.

‘I never had a bodyguard until Gianni died. I don’t like celebrity anymore’

Yeah Right!

Sitting here watching the snow fall, it all feels a long way from last Sunday morning where I was writing my blog in Chennai and the temperature was 30C. I knew I was well and truly back in the good old UK when I read about the Jobcentre in Newcastle who refused to accept an advertisement for a ‘Junior Stylist’ at a local hairdresser. Apparently the term was seen to be discriminatory against older people. Having visited my hairdresser today, I am reliably informed the term ‘junior’ refers to someone’s level of experience not their age. Such indiscriminate interpretation of what is discrimination appears to be a national issue. In Norfolk, Nicole Mamo also tried to place an advertisement for a domestic cleaner on her local Jobcentre Plus website. The advertisement ended by stating that applicants for the post ‘must be very reliable and hard-working’. She was told that her advertisement could not be displayed. A Jobcentre Plus worker claimed that the word ‘reliable’ meant they could be sued for discriminating against unreliable workers!

Finally, and coincidently given last weeks blog, many CONGRATULATIONS to Amy Williams for getting her Gold Medal at the winter Olympics.

Thinking Happy, Week 4

Hello again, and welcome to week 4 of Holly's " Operation Think Happy "! Just a reminder that this involves listing 7 things that have made you happy this week. Focus on the positives people!

1. The moment, #1 - I was in the middle of getting dinner ready last night when Flynn decided he wanted to have a grizzle, so Mick scooped him up and took him outside. After a few minutes i go to the door and out in our driveway, there they are - Mick lokking down at this little wrapped up bundle in his arms, chatting to him about God knows what. I just stood at the door, unseen and smiling.

2. The moment, #2 - A few hours later, i've finished feeding Flynn and he's lying back, all milk drunk.... but not taking his eyes off his daddy. Its like, even at 8 weeks old, Daddy is his hero. Too, too sweet.

3. Planning an engagement party - finally! We've been engaged since October but havent even thought about an engagement party yet. Its not going to be anything fancy, just a big bbq at my parents house, with family and friends.

4. Chocolate truffle balls - I stole this very simple recipe from Welfare Wisdom and completely loved it! Basically get a packet of your favourite biscuits ( like Caramel Tim Tams for me, or it could be Oreos, Mint Slice etc ), blend them into crumbs, mix with cream cheese, chill, roll into balls and then cover with melted chocolate. Yummmmm.....

5. Cucumbers - or, more specifically, cucumbers from our vegetable garden. I dont know how my farmer fiance does it but they're big, green and fresh...oh, and free!

6. Mothers group - This was the fourth week of meeting up with my mothers group ( a group of first time mums - our babies range in age from 8 to 16 weeks ) but its the first i've actually ' clicked with ' some of the other mums. I'm a little shy and it takes me a while to warm up to strangers, so it was nice to be able to have a little chat and not feel too self-concious about it this week.

7. Hitting the 8 week mark - that is, my son is now 8 weeks old and i havent broken him yet! He's also gone up a size in the clothing for the first time, so that was a nice little milestone to hit...

CPAC 2010 - Saturday Afternoon

Half the time I venture out to another venue here in this huge hotel, I get turned around. So much of both the hotel and this city are laid out in circular pattern and it's counterintuitive for me.

Coming into the home stretch now. Still to come are Newt Gingrich at 2:00 PM, the new Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell after him, Colonel Allen West at 4:15, Then Glenn Beck at 6:00. Not sure I'll be staying for Beck - see how I'm feeling then. Two consecutive late nights in the lounge are taking their toll on me and I might call my old friend, Dave Morine, early. I'm going to have to find my way through the subway system to a certain stop and he'll pick me up. It's treacherous driving around this city with all the snow piled up everywhere. Many streets are down to one lane. I'm staying with Dave and his lovely wife, Ruth, in Great Falls, VA tonight and flying home tomorrow.Smitty and Crowder
Lots of people come and go here in the bloggers' lounge. PJTV's Kevin Crowder just came through and my new friend Smitty of "The Other McCain" blog asked me to take a picture with him and Crowder. Then someone obliged me to get a shot with him. I show a lot of "Louder with Crowder" clips to my students. He's a sketch.Me and Crowder
Gingrich will be coming on any minute. I remember last year, he didn't enter stage right or left. He came in with an entourage up the center aisle with "Eye of The Tiger" playing loudly - as if he were about to enter the ring and defend his title. It was great. We'll see what he does this year in a few seconds.Newt entering the room
Yup. He did it again.
Newt approaching the podium
The crowd sounds like it's booing, but it's shouting "Newt! Newt!" He isn't using the teleprompter and he's not using notes. He's the smartest Republican leader out there in my opinion. I would never want to be his opponent in a debate. I don't always agree with him, but I've got to respect him.He's drafting a "Contract From America" that, as of now, has 22 points. He's asking for feedback to bring it down to ten, like he did in his "Contract with America" back in 1994 when he took over the House.

Can't type fast enough. Among other things, he said the City of New York spends $50 million a year to maintain a "rubber room" of teachers who have been declared incompetent, but are waiting out the process of being fired by getting full pay and sitting in the rubber room every day reading books, knitting, or whatever. And each one is there an average of seven years, during which time they are accumulating larger pensions. Outrageous.

As I said yesterday, there are candidates coming through the bloggers' lounge all the time. Advance people come through first passing out literature. Patrick Murray is a recently-retired army colonel who happens to be running in Dave Morine's district nearby here.Me and Colonel Murray
I told him I was from Maine, but I'd be staying with a slightly left-of-center friend in his district tonight, and what could I say to him that might get him to consider voting for you? Well, he explained his position on deficit spending. He said we're now at the point where our interest payment on the debt - $600 billion annually - is exceeding the defense budget. Well, that nailed it. If there's anyone who might be cheaper than I am, it's Dave. He's most generous with family and friends, but quite frugal with everything else.

Colonel Murray knew the answer to my signature question I've asked six presidential candidates two years ago: "Who is the 12th imam, or "Mahdi"? Only two of the six knew it in 2008, but Murray answered it right off. He explained that Ahmadinejad believes he can bring the imam out of the well and rule over the world in the end times. Bravo Colonel Murray. He also chuckled when he read my business card with "Heterosexual White Guy Journalists Association" printed prominently in the middle. I'll make my pitch for Murray to Dave and Ruth over dinner tonight.Okay, Colonel Alan West - another good man running for congress in Florida - is addressing CPAC and the house is packed. "Join me in a dream that will preserve the legacy of this great republic for our children and our grandchildren," he just said, and the crowd responded vigorously. He's a very good speaker. The crowd likes him. I hope he wins.

As I go to iPhoto and download images for the past few days, I see a recent shot of my 5-month-old granddaughter, Claire, and my heart swells. I'm reminded of what the most important things are and that I'm a very lucky man.I love Claire
This is my fourth day in the city and I'm lonesome for home. It's exciting here, but I'm always reminded of why I left urban life 33 years ago. I love Maine and I'm homesick. Thinking now that I'll skip Glenn Beck and try to navigate the DC subway system before 10,000 people rush out of this building.

That's all from CPAC 2010. It's been grand.

CPAC 2010 - Saturday morning

Saw a great film "Atomic Jihad" this morning written and directed by fellow Family Security Matters contributing editor, Joel Gilbert. It'll be released Tuesday and I bought an advance copy. It's a great compilation of Islamic history and I'll definitely be using it in my classroom. I had to miss Andrew Breitbart's big speech to see it, but Joel is a great guy and I wanted to support him.

Ann Coulter is coming up next. She'll energize things and there's an overflow crowd down there. I'll get some pictures from the Bloggers' Lounge with my 270mm lens.She wrote a devastating speech. Started with Kevin Jennings, our Obama-appointed Safe Schools Czar "and his book: 'Queering Elementary Education.'" It's a whole series of one-liners.
She's referring to the Tea Party activists who are all over the place this year. "CNN is calling them 'Tea Baggers,' which is the gayest term since Anderson Cooper."
The crowd loves her. She ended her remarks with "Remember - Keith Olberman is a girl."

She's taking questions from the audience now and she's definitely fast on her feet. "Have you ever dated a liberal before?" some guy asked.

"Umm. They weren't liberal for long," she answered.

CPAC - Friday afternoon

Wish I could be in several places at once down here. Just came back to the main ballroom while Congresswoman Michelle Bachman was speaking and it was standing room only. She was reciting passages from the Declaration of Independence: ...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" and people were following along. I walked through the room and up to the bloggers' lounge to set up my work station again. Dang. Sorry I missed her.

John Ashcroft is at the podium now. Can't help but think about what a contrast he is with our present Attorney General, Eric Holder. Colonel Alan West
My mind is reeling, however, because from 10:00 AM until 12:30 PM, I attended Pam Geller's and Richard Spencer's "Freedom Defense Initiative." Colonel Alan West, Major Stephen Coughlin, Wafa Sultan, Simon Deng, and others.The room
It was the most powerful presentation of the conference so far as I suspected it would be.
Pam Geller
There's just too much to write about here. I'm going to need time to collect my thoughts and write a few columns on what I learned, and it's disturbing. Simon Deng is a human rights activist living in New York City right now, but...
Simon Deng
Congressman Dan Lundgren of California is speaking now in the Maine hall. We get video/audio feeds here in the bloggers' lounge. He's the former Atty General there - a measured speaker and he's talking about the Islamist threat. He's somber and the audience is too. So am I, after the Geller presentation.
Simon and me
... I went back to my room after that presentation which involved a circuitous walk through this huge hotel and, it turned out, Simon Deng's room is in the same tower and on the same floor as mine. We rode up together in the elevator, but we were talking so intently in the back that we rode it up and down several times while others came in and went out. Then we went out into the little lobby and talked some more. I have most of it recorded on my digital audio device and I'll be quoting from him in future pieces, but I'm going to have to do some more research on the history of Christians in southern Sudan where Simon grew up. His accent is still pretty thick and it was hard sometimes to follow all he was telling me.

Simon was kidnapped and sold into slavery for three-and-a-half years to Arab Muslim masters in the north...

Ovide Lamontagne just walked over and we talked about his race for the US Senate in New Hampshire. Seems like a good man. I recorded our interview. More later...

Now I just have to venture out and find a men's room. Back later...

CPAC - Friday Morning

Here I am back in the Bloggers' Lounge bright and early and Herman Cain is speaking. He's good. He's a businessman from Pennsylvania and a Fox business news contributor. Too bad there are so few people in the room. I'd never heard of this guy before. Wish they'd given him a different slot because he could have pumped up an audience.

Where is everybody? I was in the lounge drinking along with everybody else and I'm here. I went to bed a little after midnight, but maybe they didn't. I didn't start until late because I had to "appear" on a radio talk show in Florida at 9:00 PM with Andrea Shea King, whom I met last year here. She's a sketch and I wanted to float around to the various bloggers' receptions she always hears about.

Met so many great people from all over the country and we're all here for the same reason - we're conservatives. There were as many in the lounge alone as there are in all of Maine.
I attended an awards ceremony at Accuracy in Media (AIM) where Marc Morano got an award for his wonderful work on Climategate. Andrew Breitbart was getting one too for his expose of ACORN and it was a small venue. He's a pit bull with liberals. Love to watch him whenever I can. Both guys gave great presentations. AIM has picked up my pieces a few times in their "guest columns" section and I'm proud to be associated with them in a small way.
Got to get ready for Pam Geller's thing at 10:00. Don't want to miss that! More later.

More Surprises at CPAC

Scott Brown just showed up to introduce Mitt Romney. He wasn’t on the program either. Said he had his pickup truck right outside - and he’ll need it to get around this city. There’s way more snow here than there was in Lovell, Maine when I left yesterday.
Romney said, “Whoever thought you’d hear anyone say at CPAC: Thank you Massachusetts!”

Then he said that Leanne Smith has to give back her medal because, as it turns out, “Barack Obama has been going downhill faster than she has.”

Those are good lines and Romney is a good guy. I've heard him speak many times - at every one of these conferences I've attended - and I've interviewed him once at The Conway Daily Sun. He seems to have everything but one essential thing - fire in the belly. He has never convinced me that he's got steel in him. I just don't sense it and that's something the next president is going to need desperately. Colonel West has it as you can see if you clicked on the link in the post above (sorry I didn't add it until just now). West has steel. He has fire in his belly. I don't know him well enough yet as to his positions on other issues, but I'll find out and I'll be watching him.

Author Richard Spencer and blogger Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs just passed me a reminder of their presentation tomorrow at which West will be speaking along with Stephen Coughlin, Wafa Sultan, and other luminaries who raise public awareness of our battle against Radical Islam. Looking forward to that one. More tomorrow.

Thaddeus McCotter, congressman from Michigan is talking. I like him. He's smart, and a low-key kind of guy. He's a good Catholic and a scholar. Someone said he can play the guitar behind his head, but that's tough to visualize while I listen to him speak.

Having so much fun I haven't eaten anything all day. Supper is going to taste good tonight.

CPAC 2010 - There's Energy Here

I'm at CPAC again and I'm stoked. I'm recharged already and it's only been three hours. It's worth the time, the expense, and the bother to get here each year. This is my fourth and I've finally gotten smart about how to operate. Got my bloggers credentials and I'm writing from "Bloggers Row." Got wireless access, a table to work on - they even pass out candy to us. I recognize other bloggers from around the country. I'm loving this.
Marco Rubio is genuine. He's about to become the next senator from Florida and he's a real conservative. Charlie Crist thought he was going to walk into the senate seat the way Martha Coakley thought she was going to walk into her's in Massachusetts, but Marco Rubio got in the way. He was 30 points behind a few months ago. He's 10 points ahead now.

He was introduced by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who alone has a 100% conservative rating in the US Senate. He said, "I'd rather have 30 senators like Marco Rubio than 60 like Arlen Spector." Here here. Are you listening Olympia Snowe?

Rubio is real. I was seated close to the podium to tell and he never set off my BS alarm. It never even peeped. He’s the genuine article. There was a crack behind his voice when he talked about where he came from that wasn’t staged. I've heard a lot of politicians tell their stories and darned few passed my gut test. "This guy really believes what he’s saying," I was thinking, and the audience picked that up bigtime. He's going to do great things.

"I was raised by [Cuban] exiles," he said, "by people who know what it’s like to lose their country. I’m one generation removed from a very different life. [I live in] a country that recognizes that our rights come from God and not from anybody else. Americans chose a limited government to protect our rights, not grant them."
He said more things than I had time to type (I've got to get faster), and these quotes aren't necessarily in the order he said them, but say they he did. This guy is good and he's only 39.

"[The] 2010 [election] is a referendum on the very identity of our nation. People get it. They understand that if we get this wrong, there may not be any turning back for America. [Our leaders] are asking us to abandon the things that separate us from the rest of the world."

I love this guy.
This is a Tea Party guy I met in the lobby early this morning. He led the September 12th March on Washington last fall. It was only about 7:00 AM and very few people were around, so he posed for me.

I walked around the lounge last night after unpacking in my room, but didn't sit down and order a glass of wine. The trip exhausted me and I decided to go to bed early. Tonight will be different though. I have to speak on The Andrea Shea King radio talk show in Florida at 9:00 PM. Met Andrea last year and she introduced me to Colonel Alan West - a candidate for Congress from Florida and an Iraq veteran. He's speaking later in the conference and I very much recommend you click on this link to one of his speeches. Good people down there in Florida, huh?

Oh my. Dick Cheney just walked to the podium. He wasn't on the program. His daughter, Liz, was speaking and she brought him along. "As 'arm candy' her father said. Then he said, 'I think Barack Obama is going to be a one-term president."

Here here. I believe he's right.

More updates later. Got to go to the bathroom.

A Recap, Valentines Style

So i promised that i would make a quick recap post of what happened on my Valentines Day. To be quite honest, there isnt anything overly exciting to recap - thats not to say that i didnt enjoy the day, only that there was nothing incredibly adventurous or parade-worthy to make note of.

Mick and I exchanged gifts at 6am when Flynn woke for a feed. I had bought him a dog tag style pendant to go on a chain he already owns, and had it engraved - " With Love, Amy. 14.02.10 ". I know, i'm too sweet. What did Mick get me ?

This gorgeous little charm to go on the Pandora bracelet that he had bought for my birthday. Pretty, right ? And what was also lovely was that he told me it wasnt a charm - he was giving me a piece of his heart. Awwwwww.....

I made pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast; we took turns reading the Sunday papers while i fed the baby; we just lolled around the house and took it easy until mid afternoon, when it came time for me to start gettng ready for dinner. I specify " me " because i had to spread the whole " getting ready " thing out over an hour or two: i had to shower, shave my legs,blow dry and straighten my hair and do my makeup. Which is not too bad except that i had to have a half hour break somewhere in there to breastfeed Flynn, before he got too cranky at Daddy for not having any boobies. But i got prettified ( unfortunately we werent clever enough to take any photos ) and i must say it felt great to get all dolled up again without having to contend with a huge belly.

We dropped Flynn off at my parents place and Mick and I had a nice dinner at a semi-fancy resturant. I got the chicken, stuffed with cheese and bacon, wrapped in filo pastry; he had the nutcrusted barramundi; and we both indulged in dessert. We werent out long - Mick, especially, missed his " little mate " - but it was nice to have an hour and half to be a couple again, not just " parents ".

I know its kind of late, but i hope the rest of you had a great Valentines Day, whether you were coupled up for the day or not!

The Vagina Monologues

“The Vagina Monologues” just won’t die. When I first read of the play more than a decade ago, it sounded bizarre. When I saw the playwright, Eve Ensler, interviewed on TV, she was another kooky, man-hating feminist and her play was becoming a rallying point for NOW (National Organization for Women) types and “Women’s Studies” majors across the country. When I spoke disdainfully of it last year in front of a young, female colleague, she asked, “Have you ever read it?”

“No,” I admitted and she offered to lend it to me. I promised to check it out, but not to read it all if it didn’t grab me. It was interesting the way train wrecks are interesting and so short that I read it all. It was even more bizarre than the newspaper descriptions because most of its content couldn’t be published in a newspaper. Women chanted several dozen slang terms for that part of their anatomy - way more than I’d ever heard. Then they described what their vagina looked like, smelled like, what it would say if it could speak, and what it would wear if it could get dressed up. It reminded me of puerile conversations sixth grade boys would have about their anatomy when out of the earshot of adults. But these were grown women.

My wife didn’t want to read the book last year, but I persuaded her to watch an HBO film of the play I rented from Netflix starring its author, Eve Ensler. Her impression was the same as mine - bizarre. Then a local theater company decided to produce it at the Magic Lantern in nearby Bridgton, Maine - a community whose newspaper carries this column. I thought it would be interesting to watch local women willing to shout the C-word to an audience and see if the audience would join in the chant. Again, it would be interesting the way a train wreck is. I bought tickets, but then gave them away when the date conflicted with a trip to Ireland.

Last weekend, a theater company in North Conway, New Hampshire produced it - another community whose newspaper carries this column. My wife said, “Nah. I’ll stay home. You go.” It was a very small venue at M&D Productions, but nice enough and quite reasonable at $15. They even served wine which I could take into the theater with me - very civilized. Most of the actresses were my age - late middle age - and so was the audience - mostly women and about 80% late middle aged. The script was modified with local writers adding monologues, but the flavor was the same. Women offering feminist laments about bad treatment of them and their vaginas by the world at large - especially by men, of course.

Being familiar with the script, I was more interested in watching the audience. Most laughed in that way some junior high school girls will when they’re shocked at outrageous sexual comments made by junior high boys. They don’t consider the remarks funny, but laugh because they don’t know how else to react. It seemed that some of the men laughed because they thought they were supposed to and it would have been impolite not to. I smiled at one performance by a local woman mimicking a triple orgasm. She bettered Meg Ryan’s performance in “When Harry Met Sally.”

The play’s nadir was a monologue by an actress playing a 13-year-old girl describing her seduction by a 24-year-old woman.

“Vagina Monologues” explored many aspects of vaginas except what I would consider their most important one - procreation. Vaginas are, after all, vehicles for pregnancy and birth. Ensler said in a revised version of TVM: “I had been performing this piece for over two years when it suddenly occurred to me that there were no pieces about birth. It was a bizarre omission.”

Um, yeah.

Radical feminists’ disconnect from the maternal is the essence of what’s bizarre about them. Ensler went on: “Although when I told a journalist [about] this [bizarre omission] recently, he asked me, ‘What’s the connection [between vaginas and birth]?’”

Uh-duh. It’s hard to imagine any journalist asking that question. I know there are dumb ones out there, but still. Ensler then described how she was present at a birth and what she saw. I’ve been present at four and it wasn’t a bad piece of writing.

TVM’s forward was written by feminist guru Gloria Steinem, who seems to deny that women have a maternal instinct at all. In his television special “Boys and Girls Are Different: Men, Women, and the Sex Difference,” ABC’s John Stossel asked Steinem: “Aren't women, in general, better nurturers?” Icily, she answered: “No. Next question.” In TVM’s forward, she referred to the women’s movement as an alternative to the “patriarchal/political/religious control over women’s bodies as a means of reproduction.” Is Steinem referring to abortion here? I learned elsewhere that she’s had at least one herself and described it as “a pivotal and constructive experience.”

Constructive experience? Abortion?

Given that vaginas are the vehicle for 40 million-plus abortions in the United States alone, and given that abortion is the single most important issue on the radical feminist agenda, it’s very interesting that it's completely ignored in what has become the iconic feminist play. Maybe that’s because the worst and most horrible violence perpetrated on a vagina is by a woman’s own choice.

Comfort Food, Come Full Circle

So i've joined an exclusively Australian blog community called " Blog This! ", which is all about finding and sharing great Aussie blogs - and participating in blog post challenges. Basically an idea for a blog post is issued as a " challenge " and once you've completed your post on the topic hand, you link back to yourself on the Blog This! site and after an extensive find/read/vote, a winner is chosen. So good luck me! This weeks challenge reads thusly:



'Blog about your comfort food. What is it? Do you make it? How did you stumble upon it? Is it at your favourite restaurant? How does it make you feel ? Share a recipe, restaurant review or about the last time you ate it!'



To be quite honest with you, i didnt know that the concept of a " comfort " food existed until i became a regular viewer of reality tv. That is, it wasnt until every second episode of " Oprah " or " Dr Phil " mentioned comfort eating, or that " The Biggest Loser " exploded onto our screens with its cast of comfort eaters and comfort eating combatants ... well, before all that i just thought food was divided into foods you did like, and foods you didnt; foods you craved more than others and foods you wouldnt eat in a pink fit. But once the whole " comfort eating " concept, for better or worse, had been drummed into me i realised i've had a love affair with more than one comfort food throughout my life. Never more than one comfort food at a time though - that would be like cheating on your partner or lying to your Dad.



So where did i start ? Peanut butter. Or, more specifically, smooth peanut butter on white toast. It couldnt be the crunchy variety, and it couldnt be brown bread. Hell, it couldnt even be just 'bread ' - it had to be toasted. It happened in my teens - in the throes of a deep rooted depression ( which i had diagnosed yet, but thats another a story ) i would turn to the sweet, nutty, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth goodness of humble peanut butter to make me feel better. To feel normal. I would come in from school and go straight to the bread bin, make me up some toast and slather it in peanut butter. I'd eat 5 or 6 pieces in one sitting and it would never fail to make me feel okay. Or full....

Fast forward a few years. I've finished high school, started medication, and am now working in a part-time retail job. I've given the humble peanut butter the flick. What's comforting me now? Tuna, avocado and lettuce sandwiches. I've upgraded from white bread to the far more complex multigrain, and have discovered the exotic, creamy delight that is avocado. I'd always enjoyed tuna sandwiches - but no brine, ok? - but the avocado just gave it that little something extra. I'd eat this same thing for lunch everyday, day in, day out. It was there when those pesky custmers were giving me hell and it was there when i was just so bored/tired/lazy i couldnt be bothered to make anything else. Tuna and avocado gave me that same sense of order and normalcy that peanut butter did - just in a so uch more grown up way.

A new adventure - now i'm living in the United States, working as an au pair. I'm on the opposite side of the world to everyone i know and love, and i've left the tuna sandwiches behind along with that stubborn depression. Where do i turn for comfort this time? This great little deli in the town where i live ( very originally called Towne Deli ) and their amazing chicken salad sandwiches. I eat so many of them that i no longer need to order them specifically, i just need to turn up and Roberto or Nathan or whomever i was behind the counter would say " The usual ? ". Yep - a chicken salad sandwich, lettuce, and tomato on a Portuguese roll. The chicken salad was comprised of diced chicken, finely chopped cucumber and this delicious mayonnaise who's ingredients were never revealed to me. It wasnt like anything i could get at home so i'm not quite sure how eased my homesickness, but somehow this chicken salad just " got " me. Thats what we all really want, right ?

Rewind to last year and a situation that practically guarantees i'm going to find a new food affair - i'm pregnant! I'm expecting to crave the cliche pickles-and-icecream combo but no - no crazy, far out, weird pregnancy cravings for me. Nope, just, well... devon. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that ( lets face it, devon is not exactly the rockstar of the deli meat world). I also had the tendency to exhale whole loaves of garlic bread in one go, but devon was the easiest, yummiest, bestest on the go snack during my pregnancy. A midwife tells me that craving salty, savoury foods like these mean i'm having a boy - and i do!

And now? My Flynn is 7 weeks old and where am i at? I'm back with my first real love - peanut butter. Its still the smooth kind only this time it has to be on multi grain toast. Its my breakfast staple and if i cant my beautiful boy to sleep or i'm pushed for time or he just wont for the love of God stop crying! - well sometimes its my lunch aswell.

My life my have changed forever, certain people and things may have come and gone, but i think peanut butter is here to stay.....

GPs Customs and Contracts (the PhD reprise) Chennai and Cream

Hats off to Dr Martin Scurr. He is of course, the Daily Mails resident Doctor. On Tuesday this week he launched a blistering attack on the greed of GPs, said to be second only to that of MPs. Dr Scurr’s concerns in the main relate to the introduction of 2004 GP contract and the changes in service provision that have resulted. As you may recall, this was the contract that put in place an approach to paying GPs based upon the perverse incentives of achieving so called ‘public health targets’. For every box GPs could tick they got a payment.

In reality of course it was often nurses who were giving vaccinations, undertaking cervical smears and generally providing MOTs for older people. (Just as an aside, I failed these weeks Daily Mail MOT for men. I achieved a big fat red cross against each of the 12 tests of health and well being.

GPs now earn more than they ever did for doing less than they perhaps ever wanted to. They gave up out of hour’s provision, and many other aspects of the once cradle to grave approach to health care they once represented.

And all this in the week that saw the results of the inquest into the death of David Gray alleged to have been caused by Daniel Ubani, a German doctor working here in the UK as a locum GP. David Gray was a 70 year old man who was suffering from kidney stones and renal colic and in need of relief from pain.

Interestingly, the 2004 contract resulted in many hundreds of doctors like Dr Ubani coming into the UK to provide weekend out of hours services at a cost of some £4000 a weekend. Nice work if you can get it.

Whilst we don’t want a return to the Dr Finlay’s Case Book era of soothing words and nice but not NICE proven tinctures and potions, we do deserve something better than we have today.

I came face to face with Dr Finlay’s world in my quest to find a bottle of red wine here at the conference in Chennai, India. In India wine is not a popular drink, and even in the hotels it can be difficult to find or buy. The government adds a ‘70% of the purchase price’ tax onto the price of overseas wine. It is only a 57% tax for local wines, but these are not so renowned as a drink. Whichever you chose the price can be exorbitant. While traveling between my hotel and conference centre I asked the taxi driver if he could take me to a wine shop. After a couple of false attempts we found one who had just three bottles of red wine left. After a bit of a haggle I bought two, the bottles were wrapped up, and I returned to my hotel feeling smug. However, the wine when unwrapped turned out to be rather ancient tonic wine and totally undrinkable. Just the smell of it made it impossible to get from glass to lip, and some readers will know just how much I like a glass of wine now and then.

In 1955, the year I was born, ‘Sanatogen’ was the most famous tonic wine of its time and a great favourite of my Grandmothers. Whilst the You can feel it doing you good - In these hustling, bustling days, when every hour seems a rush hour, there's a particular need for ‘Sanatogen’ Tonic Wine... may have been an applicable slogan then it certainly wasn’t in up-town Chennai on a 31oc sunny afternoon.

I will report on my experience of contributing to the conference more fully in future blog’s. India is a wonderful place, full of contradictions and excitement. Extreme wealth sits along side extreme poverty and squalor. It is a huge busy, bustling place.

Two completely unrelated and random early thoughts from this experience, the first was that despite many enquiries from delegates across India about the possibilities of coming to the UK to study and work, listening to the presentations and having many conversations with others delegates it was clear that people in Indian health care systems have much to offer us in terms of their experiences in promoting health and well being. The second thought was that as I write this blog, it is the second day of the winter Olympics, and despite the tragic news of the death of a luge contestant during a training run, the event seem to have passed the conference delegates by.

Finally, in 1940 Ginger Baker was born. He was of course, the drummer in the original super group Cream. The significance of this fact might pass some of the blogs younger readers by. Now some 70 years later he is to marry 28 year old Kudzai Machokoto, a nurse. They live in South Africa. Kudzai will be his forth wife. They are reputedly not looking to have any more children.

Heart.

My heart was crumpled, stomped and stabbed.
But worse than that it was ripped in half.
Now it's mended with handy duct tape
And I'm waiting for someone willing to take.
My crumpled, stomped, stabbed, ripped up heart.






This past Wednesday I was in a skit for youth about getting your heart broken and it inspired a photo shoot. So it's based off the skit. Hope you enjoy.

Thinking Happy, Week 3 - Happy Valentines Day!

Ok, so its actually the day before Valentines Day but i'm getting in early while i have both my children ( the baby-child AND the man-child ) asleep . Once again, i'm joining in Good Golly Miss Holly!'s " Operation Think Happy " by making a list of 7 things that have made me happy or put a smile on my face this week - feel free to join if you like!

1. Being healthy - both Flynn and I had our 6 week post-natal check ups this week and i'm happy to say we're both healthy and problem free!

2. Having time to myself - I left Flynn at Grandma and Poppy's house ( thats my mum and dad ) while i went to get a haircut. Its the first time i've had in 7 weeks to get and out and about by myself - it was so nice just to have an hour and half just doing something for me. Of course i wondered what Flynn was doing and went straight to him and smothered him with kisses when i got back.... but in the moment, it made me happy to have that little ounce of freedom.

3. An early morning snuggle - with everybody! Now before you let your imagination run away with you, i'm taking me, Mick and Flynn, all curled up together this morning. I had Flynn curled into my chest trying to get him back to sleep and then Mick rolled over and hugged me into him. It was just a blissful little moment where i realised what a beautiful little family we've made....

4. Blog posts - not mine: yours! I've read so many interesting posts this week.... keep up the good work people!

5. My haircut - ok so i've already mentioned that being able to get out and go for a haircut made me happy, but the haircut itself has put a smile on my face too. I've had about 6cm/2 inches-ish taken off so i now have a shoulder length bob type thing happening. I have a natural wave in my hair which, with the new length, looks much more bouncy and less weighty. Noice!

6. A full nights sleep - Flynn had one night of what is called ' sleeping through ' - that is, he slept from 10:30pm til 6:30am, which means Mummy got almost a full 8 hrs. Might not sound like much but it made my day!

7. Facebook friend requests - i had one from a blog buddy ( hey Paula! ) and one from a girl i went to high school with. She still lives here in town but - as you do - we lost touch, so it was nice to get a friend request and be able to catch up a bit. I've also realised that there are at least 5 girls from my class ( including me ) who still live here who have babies 1 yr old or younger. Maybe i should try and start a mummas group with them?

So there you be - with Valentines Day up tomorrow hopefully i will have some more highlights for next weeks list.... and a specific Valentines Day recap post for you aswell!