Wow!

I haven't been on in so long that I almost forgot my password to my google email. I was up in Virginia with my family but now I'm south again. My life long friend George came south with me this time, I've so missed him. For the first night of him being my roommate I cooked spaghetti with pork, beef, spinach and oats meatballs, a favorite of our childhood. Then remembering spaghetti always led to food fights between us I scooped the noodles out of the pan of water into a bowl. I let the water cool and scooped the congealed top into a little cup that I set aside on the table, hiding a smirk. George, my tall, blond, grey eyed friend, walked in without knocking, another tradition of ours. We ate peacefully with a lot of baudy laughter and then I flung my surprise at him. It stuck to his cheek and my friend's face blanched and I thought, oh shit, I did something really wrong. Then he said, "When did you come across an used condom?" Oh my, the amusement of that.

Family

I'm spending a month in Virginia, much to my boss's chagrin. Should I even annoy a man who handles a gin bottle like he'd handle a baseball bat? Oh, well enough musing about my boss; I promised to not think about what I left behind until I had to. I'm here with my family, watching someone else raise a baby, cook, clean, laugh, and kiss. I took a moment of self-pity when I realized I was watching someone else and talked to my cousin. She said it's okay to be jealous of someone as long as you want to have the same joy as them, instead of wanting to take it from them. She gave me this example of watching entranced as her boyfriend's parents stuck their tongues out at each other, kissed, grabbed each other's asses, and passed beers. As much as  it was awkward for her boyfriend, Ray would trade her family's excuse me's, and seperate room habits for one hour of immaturity. They both feel out of place in each other's homes so I wondered who would be out of place with us in Virginia. Then my aunt got mad with me feeling like I was in someone else's home and I made icecream and in all the laughter I stopped feeling like someone else and more just like me.

Georgia

I used to live in New Hampshire. Now I live in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It's a city like Concord but instead of parks with flat grass and man made structures; with concrete; and tall buildings with glass walls. But instead here there is cobblestones in patterns of red, brown, and gray; gardens with flowers and smooth white tile paths; and the town is set up on a grid with each church indictating a community, a way of life, and sometimes sadly a race. There's a strict dignity here and social structure.

In citys there is a survival principle called the isolationalist principle. It's where you walk in a straight lines with your body upright, and your head turned slightly down enough to look away from people's faces, but not enough to not notice who's around. It's body language that says I'm not a threat but I'll make sure you aren't either. It makes you invisible as anything but a body without a mind to someone else; you wear a suit or a bum, just a label that allows some kind of safety. Here even though it's a city, some blocks seem to have that survival instinct and some don't. My cousin says you only live because you may die. She uses the example "Live Like you are Dieing," by Tim McGraw. So next time someone leans out a window and hails me, I'll try not to jump and walk away. I'll take a little chance of death just to be able to see and be seen. I'll give a little wave and maybe if I'm daring a smile.

Patience

I do not understand my cousin, she bears a different last name than me but she is reading a four thousand page manuscript on the names Locke, Berry, Abbott, and Drake. The document has abbreviations, references to places that no longer exist, and repeated names. Rachel's in her absolute element and I don't understand it. How in the hell does she do it, I love to write but I'm not into non-fiction, or history. I have her records though and their much more interesting than her initial resource material so I read them because they read like an erotic, realistic fiction, and an autobiography at once. It's amazing how close we are considering we met each other at eighteen and only have one similarity an enjoyment of writing. Hmm, she is more like my brother who actually annoys me.

Utah Criminalizes Miscarrage

For the safety of the mother I agree that some legal interference and intervention is necessary in cases where the mother tries to terminate a pregnancy outside the care of a doctor.  A mother risks her own safety trying to abtain an illegal abortion so should receive a psychological evaluation and possibly be hospitablized in a mental health clinic, not be punished for up to a life sentence in prison. The bill uses the phrase reckless behavior such as drinking or smoking during pregnancy to constitute a murder charge? Then arrest my mother for the one drink she had in nine months!

Utah Bill Criminalizes Miscarrage

By Leader Staff. Published on 02/24/2010 - 1:39pm

Last week, the Utah House and Senate passed a bill that would make it a crime for a woman to have a miscarriage, and would in most instances make induced abortion a crime. The bill still needs the signature of the governor to be signed into law, but already it is causing concern across the United States.

The bill amends Utah's criminal statute to allow the state go charge a woman with criminal homicide for inducing a miscarriage or obtaining an illegal abortion. The case on which the bill was based was one in which a 17-year-old girl who was seven months pregnant paid a man $150 to beat her in an attempt to cause a miscarriage. The gave birth and later gave the child up for adoption, but was initially charged with attempted murder. The charges, however, were dropped because under Utah law at the time, a woman could not be prosecuted for attempting to arrange an abortion, whether it was lawful or unlawful. The bill recently passed by Utah legislature would change that.
The bill does not affect legally obtained abortions, but it does criminalize the actions taken by a woman to induce a miscarriage or an abortion outside a doctor's care. Penalties range up to life in prison.

Perhaps the most troubling part of the bill is a standard that could make women legally responsible for miscarriages caused by so-called "reckless" behavior. Under the "reckless behavior" standard, an attorney only needs to show that the woman behaved in a manner that is thought to cause miscarriage, even if she did not intend to lose the pregnancy. Under this law, if a woman drinks too much and has a miscarriage, she could face prosecution.

Many states have fetal homicide laws, most of which apply only in the third trimester. Utah's bill, however, would apply through the entire duration of a woman's pregnancy. Even common first trimester miscarriages could trigger a murder trial.

The bill does exempt from prosecution fetal deaths due to failure to follow medical advice, accept treatment, or refuse a cesarean section.

Here's a response to this legal bullshit: http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/under_new_utah_law_miscarriage_could_get_you_life_in_prison

The Script - Breakeven (Falling To Pieces)