November 30, 2009

Thanksiving Chicken?


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with tons of family and tons of food. My Aunt Gaby, who is gracious host, braved having our entire family together for the big dinner. I love to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house for the company, spacious home and beautiful yard. Sterling, however, loves the Chandler's house because they have their own chickens (among cows and turkeys and. . .). John and Gaby's five-year-old son, Jacob, has so kindly taken Sterling under his wing (no pun intended) to tutor my city slicker about fine country living (at it's best-right Gaby?). This curriculum includes how to properly catch a chicken, and regardless that Sterling is my son-he makes a pretty good study!


If you have the patience to watch a sideways video-this is pretty funny.




November 18, 2009

Shame on Oprah

I probably should have included in my 10 honest things that I am a die-hard Oprah fan. However, yesterday's show on pornography really struck a chord with me. She featured Jenna Jamison as the most famous porn star in the world, and portrayed pornography as a tool for women's sexual liberation. It was reported that 1 in 3 pornography viewers are now women.
I am not upset that Oprah chose to do a show on pornography or even that she invited Jenna Jamison to be a guest. Rather, I am disappointed that she failed to ask the hard hitting questions about the exploitation of women, and the role of porn in the disintegration of marriage and family.

For the first time in my long-standing, Oprah-viewing career I published the following comment on her website:

"Just because something sounds good, tastes good, or feels good-does not mean that it is good for us. I would argue that porn ADDICTION has done more to tear apart the nuclear family then strengthen marriage. Would you support your own daughter in her aspirations to become a star in this industry? Essentially you are when you chose to engage in viewing any pornographic media. Let us remember that these are some one's daughters-and if their own parents didn't care enough about them, it doesn't eliminate our responsibility to not endorse their poor moral decisions.

I too, like Jenna, knew that I would aspire to greatness someday. However, for me this greatness is validated by the establishment of a happy home. Unfortunately, this was not rewarded with fame, a lavish lifestyle and early retirement! I hope that Jenna realizes that her most important accomplishments are yet to come as she raises those precious little boys, and I sincerely wish her true happiness in this great endeavor."