My Mind: Lifesized

Cole played Evel Knievel in his school's wax museum this year. It was a hoot. he worked really hard to memorize all the details and also to use exaggerated hand gestures as recommended by his teacher. Pretty funny stuff.

I've been in some pretty vigorous debates on health reform over the past year. I've been surprised at the anger and downright misinformation displayed by some of my friends who sit on the far right. During one exchange I was shocked by comments from a friend who is quite religious and who basically said there is nothing in the bible that says she has to pay for the health care of those who won't pay for themselves. Another friend told me she couldn't believe the government would try to penalize people who worked hard their whole life and now wanted to have cosmetic surgery (this was when a tax was proposed on cosmetic surgery). The whole thing has turned sour. I am a big fan of T.R. Reid and his research on health care around the world. He presents a fair and unbiased view on the shortcomings of our system and just the economic sense covering all citizens makes. I am not a fan of a single payer system, but I am a fan of universal coverage done in a private/public comb

From Newsweeks Oscar roundtable.

Tonight we let Coley (my 10 yo step son) have a birthday sleepover party. 6 boys and much chaos! I took the opportunity to sneak into the back room and flip on the tube. VH1 happened to be on and to my surprise, Death Cab for Cutie was performing live at the VH1 Critics Choice Awards. Cool performance of Simple Minds with a tribute to John Hughes was playing as I tuned in. Sweet memories as John Hughes movies played in the background. Check out the video:

At this point I am figuring my blog is now really more like a diary that is left on a counter so any hapless passerby with nothing better to do could open it and peruse as opposed to a real blog...I continually bemoan my own pathetic attempts to maintain anything similar to a regular posting regimen. And it's a shame really, as so many things have happened to me, my family, and friends since my last entry and well, I think they are rather interesting. Oh well, trudge onward. The most significant event of all was the birth of my second son, Quinlan Charles Terry O'Connor on December 2nd, 2009. After another hard labor (not quite as long or hard as Liam, according to Jen), Jen delivered the mighty Quinn at about 5:15 PM. He is an awesome little boy who has already developed one heck of a personality. My wonderful parents were able to be here again and stayed for almost three weeks; they were amazing in their support and help and love. As is our habit, we couldn't decide on