beer bubbles, two mommies and no more books

so i was in borders tonight perusing the headlines of the n&o and on the front page (near the bottom left) was an article about beer bubbles. it seems that a mathematician and a scientist got together and worked out the formula for why beer bubbles change size. really? that's how we are spending our time and energy? that's where all the creative talent is going? what's it going to take to really channel that into, oh, i don't know, renewable energy sources? alternative fuel sources? a viable plan for healthcare? a viable plan for immigration? come on!

and i was at work today and a mom dropped her 2 children off at the beginning of the day. well, one of her children caught sight of another woman and said "that's my mommy." at the end of the day, mommy #1 came over and, as the children were saying good-bye to me, she introduced their "other" mommy. my first thought went to the whole surrogate, everyone has 5 "mommies" line of thinking. you know...there's mom and then there are the other women in our lives who serve somewhat of a maternal function. it hit me about 30 seconds later...this other woman really is the other mommy. wow. i'm not really sure what to do with all of that...still in a little bit of shock at how nonchalant the whole thing was. i know that happens...i know it does...and i'm really not terribly uncomfortable with it...well, maybe a little...just because i haven't really been around that aspect of homosexuality as much. it was just an interesting moment in my life.

and now for the biggie...

i made a decree tonight that i was not going to buy books for myself until i finished my ph.d. (the caveat of course being the books i need for school and the like...professional reading, so to speak). i figure that i have enough on my shelves to read to keep me busy while i'm in school...and then there's always the library. i'm just trying not to think of this as a 5-year lent experience. it may serve as a powerful motivator...

so.

incidentally, just because i'm not buying books for myself doesn't mean you all can't...the amazon wish list is still in existence.