The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

Supreme Court Health Care Decision: Individual Mandate Survives

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

Obamacare wins at U.S. Supreme Court - The Maddow Blog

Breaking news just came in that The Affordable Health Care Act has been upheld by the SCOTUS!  Chief Justice Roberts was the swing vote!  Finally, finally, finally, they did what was right for the American People. My daughter is one of 17 million children in America who would be affected if her FIVE preexisting conditions prevented her from having health care, she would be dead, frankly, without access to health care. My son who suffered nerve damage as a victim of a gunshot and attempted murder is affected.  He was be and now stay on our insurance up to age 26.  He has been able to have his physical therapy that moved him from a walker to being able to walk again. My entire family has access to preventive care. I am tremendously happy.  Yes, it is a victory for President Obama, but is really is a victory for the American people.  Health care is a right, access is huge.  I am preparing right now to take my daughter to the doctor for a previousl...

I was driving this evening and heard the NPR news report that the President of UVA-Charlottsville had been restored after an essential hostile ouster by the Board of Visitors , lead by a first-term visitor,Helen Dragas, who is a real estate mogul.  None of the Board of Visitors have degrees or backgrounds in higher education, they wanted to push Teresa Sullivan, the first female president, to a more corporate and "profitable" structure that favored online classes and elimination of classical liberal arts education.  I, like many who value education were outraged at her ouster and the audacity of another move by the lack-of-transparency corporate-elite to take over the nation. The little people prevailed and of course the Board of Visitors were surrounding her as she spoke to a crowd of students, faculty, and administrators who protested against her discharge. It made me think of the power of the people who rally together to stand strong in the face of tyranny.  The move...

What happened to Gen X and frankly, late Baby Boomers? Why are we, this generation that came of age in the 1980s, just so plain mean? stay I wonder if we have been jilted, scared, and over stimulated the last 30+ years. It has been 30 years since I graduated high school, 32 years since Reagan's policies changed civility in public discourse. What is it with these late 40s, early 50s men who are poised to ruin generations.  Some things need to go back. Case in point, the extreme bullying of the 68 year old grandmother on the bus yesterday by a bunch of middle school kids.  I would have been punished beyond the ability to sit down if I even thought to say those things to an elder.  I never would have and my classmates never would have either.  We grew up in a time of yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am, and calling adults by their last name, and staying in a child's place - outside on our bikes! Another is the complete and utter destruction of our economy by ...

One of the biggest aspects of our trip out East was my daughter’s budding fashion sense and chance to do her own shopping in New York. Watching her as she dressed every day in the “ensembles” she packed for our ten-day-vacation gave me a glimpse of her sense of individuality and what looks good on her, very mature for only being a pre-teen.  She had a keen awareness of what she wanted to add to her wardrobe and what pair of colorful jeans would be the perfect addition. I kept thinking about the fashion magazines, runway books, and what they try to market as NYC style.  I can tell you that it is very different from reality.  Take Times Square, Manhattan, Central Park, Harlem, Little Italy, Chinatown, Soho, Chelsea for example.  I saw lots of simple skirts, jeans, t-shirts, and flats.   NYC is a town where walking is the order of the day, up and down city streets, on and off subways, from women headed to work on Wall Street to the students heade...

I am absolutely convinced that excellent coffee, mouthwatering ice cream or gelatto, moist and flavorful cupcakes, and stimulating literary collections are the work of truly passionate people. My trip from St. Louis took me through several states.  I did not stop for coffee in Illinois but did in Indianapolis, Indiana and it was a wonderful little non-profit that my GPS/places app directed me find. It was worth the exit off I-70. I did not have excellent coffee again until NYC and we were somewhere in Soho.  It was an iced coffee that tickled my taste buds then. NYC has great coffee on almost every corner in every borough, which made me wonder why anyone would settle for that burnt stuff peddled by Starbucks.  Anyway, I found what became my little haven, a spot called Caffe' Bene on Times Square.  This was a great hide-out for breakfast (wonderful waffles) and for the caramel hazelnut latte. I really wanted to coffee drink my way through Manhattan and love th...

I have always found it curious that the “haves” of this country think they are so much better than the “have nots” simply by accident of birth. Today, I took my daughter to her violin camp (see, even that makes me one of those bourgeois blacks!) and decided after a pit stop at the county library to pop over to Plaza Frontenac for a moment to relax, after all, why drive all the way back home.  Walking through the polished brass doors and getting my complimentary coffee at the concierge desk, it hit me, all of this consumerism is to have a badge, a purpose, a raison d'être. It is all so hollow, stuff for the landfill, decidedly American, a way to show that I have, look at me, I am worthy because I am wearing…name a designer!  I’m sitting here on a designer leather contemporary sofa with my laptop on a granite table surrounded by MAC, Kate Spade, Juicy Couture, and Talbots.  What have we done to ourselves? The questions reach beyond race even and cut to th...

Potential and Peril Lie 'Between Two Rivers'

Remember summer vacation? That Christmas-meets-birthday-meets-end-of-school-excitement? My kids are having their dose of that right now planning our semi-cross-country drive to New York. Each kid has a different assignment - shopping, cultural, must-sees.  The two youngest are really getting into it...and getting an early dose of New York prices! It is funny to watch their eyes light up when they journey through the five boroughs (on google, of course) and find out all the fun things to do as kids.  Each of them is taking their job seriously.  We will see what they produce. I did have to exercise parental veto and tell my daughter, "Uh, no, we will NOT be shopping at Bergdorff Goodman!" Big Apple...here we come!