A Night For America

They say you will always remember certain moments in time, and where you were when you hear news that makes history. In 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, I was home from school and in the car with my mom, able to look into the sky and see the smoke and debris. On that horrific 11th day in September 2001, I was in my apartment in Gainesville getting ready for morning class, and watching events unfold on the Today Show. I actually saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center live. In March 2003, when we invaded Iraq, I was in a computer lab taking the GRE in hopes of going to grad school. Now I can add one more; where I was when I heard the news that Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday.

Here in Australia, it was a brilliant day, and some friends and I had driven down to Burleigh Heads to watch a mass of surfers go after some incredible waves. As we approached the car to drive home, I saw two people lying in the grass, holding a small radio that was broadcasting news about the USA. The scene struck me as odd, but I didn't stick around to hear what was being said. It was not until I got into the car and looked at my phone that I found out the news about the firefight that killed the world's most wanted terrorist. I quickly told everyone in the car, and we switched the radio to the news for details. Yet I couldn't help thinking as we drove that I was the only one in the car that was truly shocked, relieved, even downright jubilant about this news. Don't get me wrong, my Aussie friends were happy, but I just don't think they can begin to understand how greatly 9/11 affected all Americans. I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that it changed my life forever. Furthermore, I never thought this day would come.

It gave me chills to watch the news from halfway across the globe and see Americans celebrating in the streets. I've read that perhaps we should have kept quiet out of fear of retaliation, but after all that has happened, didn't we deserve this moment? Especially those in New York City at Ground Zero and those in our nation's capitol? I didn't see one image of destruction or anti-al Qaeda sentiment, only happy faces, patriotic cheers, American flags being waved. This is the American spirit at it's best. We deserve this.

So thank you to our troops who continue to endanger their own lives to protect our freedom, especially my friends Scott and Zach. Because of you, perhaps little people like this will never have to remember a tragic moment in time.

"Let us remember that we can do these things not because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." - President Barack Obama in his address to the nation

Are Sweatpants Killing This Blog?

For my long trip back to Australia from Orlando, my mother was kind enough to pick up some of the latest gossip rags for me to peruse. I'm touched that she not only recognizes but supports my penchant for this respected form of journalism. Just wait until she comes here for a visit and sees that I've hung a magazine rack on my living room wall that is chock full o' tabloid goodness.

While picking through the pages of InTouch Weekly somewhere between hours 9 and 12 over the Pacific Ocean, I stumbled upon an article that at first made me laugh, but really stuck with me and is now ticking me off. Sounds straightforward enough - 'How He Broke Her Heart' details the breakup of Bradley Cooper and Renee Zellweger, who (full disclosure) is not one of my favorite leading ladies (Bridget Jones' Diary aside). My personal feelings about her, however, do not excuse this magazine for creating an entire sidebar within the article to blame the fact that she wears sweatpants as a key to their breakup.

The 'Did Sweatpants Kill the Relationship' sidebar left me both amused and appalled. Amused because it is so far fetched and shows a lack of hard facts in the article (what did I expect from InTouch?); appalled because I take offense to the implication here that women have to be dressed to the nines and made up perfectly at all times in order to keep a man interested. Of course I believe there is a time and a place for that, but there is no way a woman can be comfortable with herself if she's that high maintenance 24/7. The article captions one picture with 'so sexy before' and shows Renee in a dress and Bradley with his hands all over her arse, then moves through a shame spiral of more casual shots until the last one depicts her in *gasp* running shorts and him walking two steps in front of her as if she's not there. How symbolic.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I'm single and no expert on men at this point in my life. But I'll be damned if I'm going to buy into this notion that being casual or sporty or, I don't know, YOURSELF around your partner is going to drive him away. Isn't it supposed to be what's on the inside that counts? I mean, I'm sure Renee had to overlook more than a few nasty habits of old Bradley's throughout their relationship, but she still kept him around! And look where that's gotten her...

I'm hopeful that the author of this piece has a sense of humor and is trying to be tongue in cheek, as potentially evidenced by the closing line of 'One can only wonder if the right low-cut dress might have changed Bradley's mind,' but if not, shame on him! And even more shame if the author is a her!!

Time to face the facts, people. They actually broke up because he was cheating on her with Tom Cruise.

p.s. - I don't think I've ever felt so strongly about a feminist issue until this moment. And it's really so dumb AND was brought about because of a trashy magazine.

p.p.s. - I'm wearing Old Navy sweatpants as I write this :)