A bunch of random stuff. Ready.... go!

1. Today is the kind of day I REALLY wish I had a yard/deck/porch/balcony. Or at least a sturdy fire escape, for god sake. I don't want to be stuck inside, and I don't want to sit on my 9' x 9' plot of cement that is two feet away from the new addition that has sprung up beside us. Boo! At least I have AC in our computer room - it's my only salvation.

2. I hate Mitt Romney. Super duper hate. He is such a bastard! I can't even believe that he just vetoed the emergency contraception bill. From www.boston.com today: ''I do support expansion of emergency contraception; I have no problem with emergency contraception," he told reporters in his office. ''This product not only does that, but in some cases terminates life after conception. In that case, it ceases to be an emergency contraception bill and becomes an emergency abortion bill."

What the fuck?! First of all, you can't really extricate the whole after-conception part out of the 'emergency contraception' idea. It's physically impossible. Second of all, why does being a white, Republican, Mormon MAN give you any say whatsoever about what women do to their bodies? If this is some shitty platform to give him a boost up with the conservatives should he choose to run in 2008, what an asshat. Seriously, how did this guy get to be governor of this state?

On the whole abortion issue, my opinion changes about how I myself would handle the situation should I fall into it. I really don't know. I mean, I never question the right to choose - that I've believed forever, and don't anticipate wavering on that. But as for what I would do myself... I'm really not sure. Hopefully this won't sound callous, but I really don't consider an embryo that's divided a few times to equal life. My issue would be the 'what ifs' - who would this person turn out to be? etc. etc. But I don't feel that I would have terminated a life. All of our cells technically are alive, right? And we lose cells every single day, every hour we're kickin' around. I know they're not the same thing, but still. It just baffles me that people who are so freaked out about aborting a baby embryo have no qualms about killing incarcerated criminals - people who are most certainly alive by anyone's standards, and have family members who care for them. ?

3. I went on a 40 mile bike ride this weekend at the cape, which was fantastic. I was really scared because I've only biked a little this summer so far, and didn't know how my body would handle a longer ride. Especially with my low back/sacroiliac joint issue. But it was okay - it felt sore about 2/3 of the way through the ride, but it never got really painful. And I stretched a ton afterwards, which must have helped a lot.

The BBQ at F's house was great, as per usual. Lots of people, young and old, eating tasty food and chilling. There was some drinking, some smoking, some pool playing. No bocce this year, but that's okay.

The weekend made me really want to bike more. I just love cycling - it's so good for you, and so low impact on your body. It's definitely the best way to get around Boston. I always have to chuckle when I pass car after car stuck in rush hour traffic!