Attn Stalkers:

Bellydancers for BARC. Good beer, fun prizes, $5 all-you-can-eat food, selflessly aiding cute animals, and me!


I'll be dancing two numbers in the benefit show for BARC, the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition, which is a nice private shelter in Williamsburg that preys upon every sentimental cell in my body by helping homeless domestic animals find food, shelter, and someone who will neuter them.

Saturday at The Boulevard Tavern in Williamsburg/Greenpoint (get directions here). I'll vouch for Boulevard as a cool place to hang out. The food is delicious backyard barbecue grill-out goodness with options for meaties and veggies alike, plus bonus potato salad. Save a dog or cat, buy a beer, or just come to watch me and my bellydancer friends swish around in our fluffy skirts, midriffs blazin'. Bring your friends! Helicopter will be there! Be there or be square!

Arlen and Sandy

So I'm standing in the lobby sort of area outside our production office eating a popsicle, and the usually-annoying TV suddenly flips to Arlen Specter becoming a Democrat.

Cool, right? Suddenly the Dems are filibuster-proof. Advance-a Obama Agenda.

This dude from one of the other companies that rents office space on our floor looks over at me and goes "It sure makes you wonder what they offered him, huh." All I could think was, Dude! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!! I mean, it's good to question and everything, but to be that cynical right off the bat?

Upon further research, it so far appears that Specter is making the move out of a genuine shift in politics (from the article I linked above, it seems the politics shifted more than he did, which was the issue he had). I mean, it is kind of odd that the guy who invented the Magic Bullet Theory (not the blender, the Kennedy thing) would be the guy who gave the Democratic senators phenomenal cosmic power. But dude. Seriously, just go with it.

I finished my popsicle, thoughtfully watching reporters circling around Specter as he walked through some hallway somewhere in D.C. It was cherry flavored. I looked down at the stick when I was done, and the joke on it was this:

"What did the beachcomber name his daughter?"

The answer, of course, was "Sandy."

Now back to your regularly scheduled Miss A

Yep. Still thinking about taking the blog down, which is why I'm all "out" now or whatever. I guess I used to refrain from having my identity out there because I had lots of personal private stuff to say. And now that stuff is all safely tucked away in the privacy of somewhere else. So.

I thought about posting another video because it was fun and I was all worked up after the Vice Presidential debates, but then I got caught up doing like a million other things, including reading the debate transcript. Seriously.


Anyway, health care is an issue that has come up a lot for me lately, so I figured I'd say something about it. First, here is what Sarah Palin said tonight:

"[McCain is] proposing a $5000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That's a smart thing to do. That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds."


Huh. $5000. That's a lot of money for a lot of families. I wonder, if I was a low-income family that needed a lot more than just health insurance and maybe I wasn't the most fiscally responsible person ever...I wonder, would I spend it on health insurance?

Well I have a little extra money to squirrel away each month. Admittedly I'm not the most fiscally responsible person ever, but I do not spend any of my extra cash on health insurance. I'm a freelancer, and I could probably afford some kind of cheap and terrible health insurance if I joined the Freelancer's Union, but I don't because I have bigger financial fish to fry (like for instance a month of unemployment). And in fact, like I said in my last post, unless I've just been mugged I think I'm an invincible superhero, so I kind of feel like health insurance is just unnecessary. I go to the dentist and pay the dentist. I go to the doctor and pay the doctor. I go to the optometrist and pay the optometrist. It's just as normal to me as can be.

I feel like it is the responsibility of America to take care of Americans, I just do. In my mind there is only one difference between tax credits for privatized health care and socialized health care: money in pockets. And not my pockets, not your pockets....the pockets of the people who run those insurance companies that so notoriously deny nearly every claim that crosses in front of them.

I know it's kind of irresponsible or whatever, but I just cannot get on board with the current system and I feel very strongly that I would rather take my chances than buy into it. I also feel very strongly that if every American decided not to buy into private insurance because we "need" it (they make us need it, we think we need it, whatever) then the system would dissolve and we would have no choice but to be left with a solid public health care system. It would be soooo awesome.

And what difference does it make to me if my money is spent on taxes that pay for health care than on an insurance plan that pays for health care? Here are the differences:

Public: go to any doctor I want
Private: choose from a few specific doctors

Public: it's always the same from day one
Private: if I switch jobs or if my employer/Union switches carriers I could be looking at a major disruption in my life, depending on my medical needs

Public: what you want, they got it.
Private: often doesn't cover specific drugs or procedures. My favorite is when they won't provide birth control. The most common instance is pre-existing conditions.

Public: Deal with a lot of red tape
Private: Deal with a lot of red tape (have you ever had to contest a denied claim? It's a nightmare)

Public: Pay extra money into taxes
Private: Pay extra money out of paycheck

I heart Sarah Palin

I have this sick, twisted voyeuristic fascination with Sarah Palin. The Sound Scientist refers her as "America's Mom," which maybe he coined, but maybe someone else said first, he's not sure..

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that someone in McCain's campaign office is shaking her head and muttering, "I TOLD them this would be a disaster."

Apparently they KNEW about the bun in Bristol's oven before they chose her. But really, that's neither here nor there. Beyond the obvious stuff, like the lack of experience thing, It seems like every time I see her name in the news it's about some new disastrous fact from her past. Two years ago she said if her daughter became pregnant from a rape she would want her daughter to have the child. She's like a really fabulous trainwreck with tiny little explosions that just keep on coming!

My friend the Cartoonist says she's the gift that keeps on giving.

This is how George W. Bush supports Choice

I do not want children. Ever. And don't give me that "you'll change your mind someday" crap, because I'm absolutely serious. I do not want children. That said, I love kids! I do! I can't wait for Peanut to be born, and I'm totally excited to be Auntie Adventurous! I just don't want any children of my own...for a variety of reasons. Overpopulation factors in, as does the overwhelming disgust I feel at the idea of having another living thing inside of me (tapeworm! trichinella!). The biggest one? I know it sounds callous, but it's true. It's the same reason I don't want a dog; I value my freedom and I enjoy being selfish with my time.

The truth of the matter is (cover your eyes, Grand Life), although I don't want to have any babies at all, ever, I do want to have sex. Preferably lots and lots of sex. Responsible sex! I want to enjoy the sex. I want to enjoy it with freedom and abandon. And even if there is a tear in the condom, even if the condom slips off, yes, even then I want to be 99.9% sure (the highest amount of sure there is) that I am not with child at the end of the delicious, amazing, sexy sexy day. Or night. Or morning, in which case that would be the sexy sexy beginning of the day.

(Ever notice how saying sexy twice makes its direct object sound funny instead of sexy? Sexy sexy direct object.)

What you may not realize is that the accessibility of birth control to low-income women (like me) is under duress in this, the most "free" of nations. By lifting the cap on birth control cost, Congress essentially placed a $40+ monthly tax on women for having reproductive rights. That's for the pill, the patch, the Nuva Ring, and the like.

"No problem!" say some folks. "Their health insurance will take care of it! And if they don't have health insurance, they're probably on Medicaid!"

Guess what!? Me and about a kerjillion other women foil that particular system, and most of us aren't even crack addicts or whores (I, of course, am only a social crack user). We make way too much money to be on the gov'ment dole for health coverage, and we don't have jobs that provide us with health care. And, with my (astronomical, according to the government) salary, even if my job did provide health care I wouldn't be able to afford it. So when it comes time to address medical issues, I fork up the dough myself. Meanwhile, I pray every day: "If I have an accident or develop some horrible life-threatening illness, please, if there is anyone out there listening, please let it be someone else's fault. Actually, please let me get into a minor accident that is someone else's fault and also let me settle for a very very large sum. Then maybe I can afford health insurance!"

With the cost of my former prescription at about $50 (before tax), the cost of me being baby-free for the next five years using the pill, the patch, or the ring? Between $3,000 and $3,600, not including the cost of my annual exams or extras, or the cost of Plan B if some kind of freak accident happens...because although I am a very smart girl, I am not known for being the kind of person who remembers to do a thing at the same time every day. And as luck has had it once before, I've had to make that mad dash to Planned Parenthood.

So. Now you know the backstory, you know the legislation, and here's where that leaves us:

Like most of you probably did, I got a $600 check from the United States Treasury. I have decided to use it as an investment in my future. While researching for the Women's Health Nonprofit (remember when I worked for them?) I found a loophole in this expensive and hassle-filled mess of birth control availability. The IUD. The cost of my freedom using an IUD? $480. That's right; five blissful, 99.9% sure years for the bargain price of $480.

Yep, it's gonna be uncomfortable for a couple of days after it gets put in. Yep, I'll have a little string dangling out of my cervix. But nope, I won't ever have to worry about missing a day. And nope, I won't have "oh my god, I'm late" freak outs, which were a regular occurrence when I was foolishly trusted to remember taking tiny little pink and white pills every day.

Peace of mind? $480. Knowing that you used money given to you by G.W. Bush for nearly failsafe birth control? Priceless.

Out of curiosity, what are y'all doing with your checks?

I am at the New York Dance Parade. The rest of y'all suckers oughtta be jealous.

Let's say that you and three of your friends are in a bar one night in the East Village. Let's say that you hear a song you like...for kicks, we'll say it's "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey (you may be a little drunk in this scenario). So you get up and start dancing, right? Right!? Wooo! Then your friends all get up and dance! Wooo! Guess what? IT'S ILLEGAL.

Seriously, it's illegal. The cops can come in and shut the bar down for it. No joke. New York has a thing called a Cabaret Law (AKA the Lamest Law I've Ever Heard Of) Have you heard of this thing? It's insane. It requires bars and restaurants to either have a license or to prohibit dancing by more than three people at a time.

Enter the New York Dance Parade, an event designed to raise awareness (and hopefully funding) about this ridiculous law and try to get it changed. I encourage you to speak up, because it's really just one more way that annoying rich people are going to destroy New York's cool factor. Scenario #2: Club X is super fun for all of us poor slobs who can't afford to dine at the Rainbow Room every night and shop at Bendel's for our entertainment. Annoying Rich Resident of Manhattan Y doesn't like all the noise at 3 a.m. and complains to the cops. The cops come in to Club X and shut it down...not for underage drinkers, not for drugs, no no... They are well within their rights to shut it down just for giving people like you and me a place to dance.

That sucks, because dancing is fun! And now that I am done with my public service announcement I will share with you some of the fun had at the NYDP:

The style of belly dance I study is called American Tribal Style. For frame of reference, it's not like this:



That's Caberet belly dance. One chick, doin' her thing. Sometimes more than one chick, but then it's always choreographed. They touch their hair a lot. They do the sexy dance thing a lot. That's all well and good, but it's not what I do.

Here is my teacher and her troupe, known to my blog as the Squirrel Girls:



This is the style of dance I do. Several chicks together, dancing with each other and interacting with each other. It looks kind of like a school of fish...one leads, the rest follow. Sometimes another one takes the lead, the rest follow. Sometimes everyone dances in a circle and then you just hope everyone's following the right chick!

The Squirrels are dancing in the intersection at Broadway and 23rd, right near Madison Square Park. We were lucky to be joined by live musicians today! A drummer and an oud player. Neato!



Down by 8th street...Check out those gorgeous fluffy skirts! Each one is made from 25 yards of fabric. Today the Squirrels were each wearing 2 skirts over pantaloons for that nifty layered look. Add on the weight of the belts and tassles and hip scarves, (not to mention the coin bras and the intense amount of jewelry and hair dangles) and that's one heavy outfit.



On St. Mark's Place...getting close to the finish line...



Here's a great shot of the fluffy skirts in action as the Squirrels do a few spins!



Oh, and there were some other dancers there too. (:

Dancing is not only freedom of expression, it's a great way to remind yourself that you're free! And it feels good! So everybody go out tonight and dance in a bar! I know I will...I'm off to a birthday party!