Backstreet's back... alright?

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the Backstreet Boys being introduced before Game 1 of the World Series in Tampa Bay.



I thought we'd seen the end of Nick Carter after that weirdo reality show about his family. So dramatic!



Honestly, I stopped watching after the manager says, "Your sisters are making their presence felt (in LA)." Ugh. I can't even fathom what that means. In any case, it is clearly GRIPPING REALITY DRAMA and I don't even know why its not on anymore. (Also, I just learned how to add videos, so naturally there needed to be two.)

P.S. WHERE THE HELL WAS KEVIN?! I don't buy this "starting a family" crap. As a former (ahem, current) Backstreet devotee, I find it unacceptable that he was not present. See Wiki Article.

The answer is... everything

Thanks Teddy

“The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.” -Senator Ted Kennedy, at the 2008 Democratic Convention

Let's hope he's right.

Day One at the NY Times. Props to Lady Obama, as well. It was a tear jerker!

So this changes things a bit

The Sunday Ideas section of the Boston Globe is always interesting. They've covered a lot of good shit recently.

This week they ran an article titled, Head Fake that describes new research about Prozac's effect on the brain. It turns out there is a reason that Prozac is so successful at treating depression symptoms in so many people... but its not the reason they thought.

The effectiveness of Prozac, these scientists say, has little to do with the amount of serotonin in the brain. Rather, the drug works because it helps heal our neurons, allowing them to grow and thrive again.

In this sense, Prozac is simply a bottled version of other activities that have a similar effect, such as physical exercise. They aren't happy pills, but healing pills.

Awesome! I'm no neuropsychologist, but as a psychology geek I can recognize that this is kind of a big deal. As in, this completely changes the way that we'll have to think about not only depression, but about Prozac and specifically fluoxetine (the active drug). The more we understand about the problem, the better able we are to treat it. Any any drug that actually heals the brain is ok by me.

But even beyond the obvious implications, I think this could have a serious impact on the social conception of depression and mental illness in general. Depression becomes more accessible when you talk about it in more tangible, biological terms.

"The best way to think about depression is as a mild neurodegenerative disorder," says Ronald Duman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale. "Your brain cells atrophy, just like in other diseases [such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's]. The only difference with depression is that it's reversible. The brain can recover."

Across the board, mental illness, from anxiety to schizophrenia, is so misunderstood on a societal level that its embarrassing. Advancements like this not only provide hope that people living with depression can recover their lives, but that one day they can get the personal and professional support necessary to recover fully. This could be HUGE!

I Get My Inspiration from the Vegan Pastries

Excitable musician: (singing) I was raised on muffin tops in the Tennessee Valley!


*There were about 5 verses to this spontaneous ballad, but I could only get down the first because it was hard to stifle laughter and type without interrupting the performance.

Overheard in JP

A group of slow talking (possibly brain damaged) guys with Boston accents discuss their favorite trilogy of action movies:

Guy #1 (impassioned): That shit is so amazing. You're watching and you're like wha-wha-wha-wha-what?? (accompanied by a remix hand movement)
Guys #2-4 (nodding in agreement): Yeah, definitely.


In Java Jo's, where magic lives and dreams come true.

Wait, did I have an abortion and not know it?

Get out your calendars!

June 7, 2008 is Protest the Pill Day '08 , sponsored by your friends and mine, the American Life League. Awesome.

Feministing covered this pretty thoroughly here, but I felt the need to add my two cents.

There are two special features on the Pill Kills website that you should not miss.

Number one is the Q&A under Talking Points. The highlights:

Q: How do you know when life begins?
A: It is a proven, scientific fact that when the human egg and human sperm unite, fertilization occurs and a new human being is created.

Where is the source for your "proven, scientific fact", eh? Also, I'm pretty sure a zygote isn't a fetus which isn't a human baby. Not even dictionary.com will tell you those are synonymous. Sorry friends.

Q: Isn’t it better to be on the pill when you
are sexually active?
A: Better for whom? The pill does not prevent you from getting a sexually transmitted disease, it is not 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and you could conceive a child who gets chemically aborted before the baby’s presence is even known to you. Moreover, sexual activity outside of marriage is seriously wrong.

Better for me! Thanks for calling me a slut, jerks.

Q: Why does Planned Parenthood say the pill does not cause an abortion?
A: Planned Parenthood and other organizations cover up the reality that the birth control pill can, in fact, kill a preborn baby. They have a vested interest in lying to young women because they exploit them. Planned Parenthood brainwashes young girls by telling them that the pill merely prevents pregnancy, when the fact is that the pill can act after fertilization, which is when pregnancy begins, and kill the preborn baby. Planned Parenthood says that pregnancy does not begin at fertilization, but this is their biggest lie. In 2006, Planned Parenthood received over $345 million in clinic income. One-third of its clinic income is from selling birth control. Obviously, they make big money by lying to women.

Really. Planned Parenthood is making "big money"? Look, it's not like Planned Parenthood markets birth control to the vulnerable masses. When was the last time you saw a Planned Parenthood commercial during American Idol promoting intercourse? I can see it now... a 15-year-old girl lays on her bed, chewing the end of her glitter pen, then writes "Dear Diary, I really want to have sex with Johnny but I'd just DIE if I got pregnant!" Just then, the fabulous Planned Parenthood fairy godfather, Patrick, floats in through her curtained window, radiating confidence and sparkles. "Oh sweetie," Patrick coos. "I have just what you need!" and he hands her a round of birth control pills. Her face lights up and she clutches the pills to her training bra in delight. "Now the rest is up to you!" he encourages, giggling as he floats back out the window.

Wow. That'd be a damn good commercial. Call me, Planned Parenthood, if you ever want to use Patrick.

My second favorite thing on the Pill Kills website is
The Pill Kills Babies Day , a Facebook event. The early wall postings were penned by a Nicole F. with a very strange cat as her picture (not relevant, yet relevant). She's had a little too much Kool-Aid, if you ask me.

Nicole relates the story of her experience as a pregnancy counselor.

Many of the clients I saw when I was a pregnancy counselor were already on contraception. The problem was that these girls thought they were “safe” from pregnancy because they were on contraceptives. In reality, it was a false security that prompted promiscuity. Many of these girls initially wanted abortions because they were angry that their contraceptives “failed.” In the end I had to work with these girls on learning to care for their bodies before sex rather than blindly relying on contraceptives because if they continued on their path, abortion would simply become a back-up method of contraception.

Let me get this straight... girls on birth control are slutty? Ouch. Right, having sex is a risk you take. But unless Nicole and The Pill Kills offer a better alternative than abstinence, I don't see the abstinent craze sweeping the nation, nay THE WORLD, anytime soon. (I wonder though... was she actually a pregnancy counselor, or did she just get drunk and watch a Lifetime original marathon?)