artykins

So I've finally decided to say my part in the whole Nadya Suleman thing.  For those of you who have been in a cave the last month, allow me (much like Inigo Montoya) to sum up what's been happening here:

Whittier, California.  It's a suburb in Los Angeles County.  A home is there that belongs to Angela Suleman.  She shares it with her daughter, Nadya and her six children, ranging in age from 2 years to 7 years.  Nadya is unmarried (because she lef ther husband...I guess the 'constrains' of married life were too much for her), unemployed, collecting food stamps and disability checks for three of her six children.

Here's the kicker, though.

Nadya is also pregnant with octuplets.  That's right.  Through in vitro fertilization, this little mother was able to conceive six children at once, two of which morphed into sets of twins.  So she gives birth to said litter of screamers in late January and immediately problems start arising with 'finances.'

Of course, the children are kept at the hospital.  It's not often that even twins go home right away.  Eight children at once means that each child is much smaller than an average baby.  As such some things might not be fully developed.  Like lungs.  I know about this because my youngest brother was one baby and he was born prematurely with under-developed lungs.  It was terrifying.  Now imagine that times eight.

So financial questions start popping up.  For example, the hospital is seeking payment for the special care they gave Nadya during the pregnancy and the care that the babies are receiving now.  That's something at least in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  All done at a time when the state of California is nearly 50 billion dollars in debt.  So where does the media think the burden will fall.  On the tax payers of California.  Keep that in mind as I move on.  It's important.

Nadya used to work in a mental hospital (which if you ask me, should have admitted her) before she got pregnant the first time.  At that point she was married still, but couldn't get pregnant without the help of in vitro fertilization.  Fair enough, really.  I see no reason why in vitro shouldn't be used if it can improve the chances of a couple conceiving when...shall we say, 'normal'...methods don't work.  But this woman is out of control.

While on the job during one of her pregnancies, Nadya was involved in some kind of riot at the hospital and she was hurt, sustaining injuries to her back that prevented her from working.  Again, fair enough.  But this injury caused lots of pain and discomfort for her during pregnancies one through three or something crazy like that.  So why not collect disability from the state?

There are also rumors flying that Nadya is striving to be like Angelina Jolie.  They do look similar in my opinion, but here's where I'm really going to rant.  Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have the MEANS with which to raise a brood of children!  I mean, come on!  They're both millionaires.  They have the wherewithal to have lots of kids.  Those kids that they have are never gonna want for anything.  Ever.  They're going to be taken care of and have the best things that money can buy.

And it's one thing to have lots of kids anyway, but something entirely different when you don't have a way to provide for those kids.  What Nadya Suleman did was, and continues to be, irresponsible on a level that I can't even begin to cope with.  People have said she's stupid, that she's crazy (which I happen to agree with...there's something not right about her or her logic) and that she's taking advantage of the system.  All true, perhaps, but that fact remains that she, more so than any of her children (fourteen of them now, mind you) is a child herself.

And she needs a time out corner to go to more than any child I know.

THAT is all I have to say about that.

So another one leaves you
Another leaf falls
No one to hope for
Nothing at all

Diamonds sparkle
Sunshine warmth
But at the end of the day
It's just another day marked

The long dusty road
It's left you beaten and torn
Remembering tales
Ones that don't end with the hero forlorn

She's not out there
Perfection cannot exist
Fallen sinful natures
Are witness to this

You can't find her
You're looking too hard
The one you want
Ahead by tale and bard

And so it goes
Another year has passed
Lessons learned
Knowledge amassed

Icarus, Apollo, Persephone too
All have a thread
It's in me
And in you

The thread is a thread
Finely woven
Delicately made
The thread is a thread either or not chosen

Knotted and crumpled
The thread often wears
Reflecting our paths
And showing our wear

But how knotted is yours
Is there any straight way
Are you desperately trying
To escape your life's fray

Covering pain
With saccharin kisses
Well wishes said idly
While hearts cover misses

Will you miss her at all
Since you're not a part of that life
It's sacred and special
Though tested by strife

Your job now is different
You're no longer the one
Who can take her and hold her
When the talking is done

She's taken by someone
And has given her soul
Your job now is to push her
Back into that fold

So has she really chosen
I'm not sure she knows
It's hard to make out
When things hide in repose

Another one leaves you
Another leaf falls
But the good news in this
Is that new leaves can now call

So there seems to be a wave pattern of 'fill in the blank' type of posts that travel around the internet.  This one is Jane's fault.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?  No.  In fact my dad's parents thought he and my mom were crazy for giving me my name.  They had never heard of it before.  It's not like they've ever liked it either.  I'm pretty sure the sound of my name makes my grandmother's skin prickle.  Most people would be worried/annoyed/upset over it.  I just don't have the time or energy to care.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday.  It was over some deep issues that I happened to be talking over with Matt.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?  When it's neat, yes.  Although I wish I could write in cursive like my great-grandmother, Nana.  She had GORGEOUS handwriting.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?  Turkey.  Pair it up with some avocado and sprouts and you've got yourself some kind of strange, but delicious food orgy in your mouth.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?  No.  Not any time soon, either.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?  Only after an introductory period and a large sum of cash.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Me?  Never.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes. *knocks on wood*

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Absolutely not.  I have all the pieces of my brain intact.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?   Whole Grain Cheerios.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?   No.  I just kick them off.  Lazy?  Perhaps.  But I like to think this particular behavior is the mark of a genius.

12. CAN YOU DRIVE A STICK-SHIFT??  Define 'can' and you'll get my answer.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?  If we're talking plain ice cream then it's generally chocolate.  If it's an ice cream 'treat' then the hands down winner is an Its-It.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their ninja skills.

15. RED OR PINK?  Pink.  For Save the Ta-Tas!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?   I'm prideful.  

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?   Catherine and/or Emily and/or Tamah and/or Andy and/or Lexi...I just miss college friends in general.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?  I'm not putting any huge hopes in it, but it would be fun to see some people do it.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?  Black yoga pants and I'm shoeless, but I have black socks with colored stripes around them.

20. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? No, although I'm thinking of adopting the raccoons that come around and drink out of the fountain in our courtyard.  If all else fails I can ride those suckers into some kind of battle from which I will emerge victorious.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?  Dvorak something or other.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?  I agree with Jane on this one.  I'm the whole box.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?  Matt's neck.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?   My mother.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?  She's a pretty funny girl, so yeah.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?  College football.

27. HAIR COLOR?  Dark brown and red.

28. EYE COLOR?  I like to refer to it as chocolate caramel colored, but we'll all be happier if I just say brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?  I don't like the idea of touching my own eyeball.  It makes me cringe.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?  Really?  I have to pick one?

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?  Happy endings...because the music is always better.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?   Touch the Sound.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?  It's a brick color with a little golden reindeer on it that's skiing. 

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?  Yes.

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?  A teenager at heart.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?  A disgruntled teenager at heart.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Alcoholica Esoterica.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?  I have a trackpad.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?  We don't have TV, really.  

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).  F-18s are pretty amazing when they fly right over you.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?  The Beatles.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?  St. Moritz, Switzerland.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?  I have many, but to name them here would take far too long and to choose one would be far too modest for me.  Deal with it.

46 WHERE WERE U BORN?  California.

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? *shrugs*

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?  He got me drunk, talked me onto a plane and then tricked me into marrying him.  I met him, really, for the first time when I woke up in Europe with a mammoth hangover and no menudo or posole in sight.  It was a sad, dark day for us all.