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[03 Jan 2028|05:43pm] |
"Anyone who tries to improve the lives of animals invariably comes in for criticism from those who believe such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity."
-- Jane Goodall
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[22 Nov 2007|10:08pm] |
I hope everyone is having a good holiday today. It's been a really quiet one for me; my family gathered at my maternal grandmother's house for a small meal, then my brothers and I watched the football games on TV, which reminded me I'd forgotten to set my fantasy football roster for this week. It had to be set early since some of the players would be in today's games, so I just have to hope that the lineup I set last week performs well this week. At some point, my sister cornered me and started talking up some guy the man she's dating right now knows who'd be "perfect" for me (though I should probably mention here that my sister's definition of the perfect guy for me is pretty loose) and trying to pin me down to a double date sometime soon.
I understand the importance of Thanksgiving, but for me it's never been a big thing. Even though my mom is American, my dad is Brasilian and most of my childhood was spent growing up in Brasil. We continue to make memories throughout our lives, but when it comes to holidays, I think it's the memories we have from childhood that stick with us most strongly, and the holidays we celebrated when I was a little girl were Brasilian ones. We did spend two Thanksgivings in the States with my mother's family, though the first one was when I was still a baby and don't remember, but we spent many more Christmases here, since it's a holiday not limited to national borders. And we did move to the US when I was 10, but our first couple of Thanksgivings after we moved here were pretty low-key, given that my paternal grandfather was undergoing cancer treatment at the time. So it's never been a holiday my family has gone all out for, at least not in my memory.
In a strange way, though, I think that's not a bad thing. We keep it on a small scale, but we do spend time together as a family. My siblings and I get to catch up with each other and with our parents and our grandmother, my brothers and I get to annoy our sister, and my mom and my sister get to gang up on me and try to coerce me into dates or makeovers or shopping trips. We get on each other's nerves a little bit, but overall we enjoy each other's company. There are advantages and disadvantages to being a citizen of two countries, and even though I've lived in the US longer than I lived in Brasil, spending the larger part of my childhood there made me consider myself more Brasilian than American. But on Thanksgiving, I usually feel pretty American.
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[31 Oct 2007|10:06pm] |
I'm beginning to understand why so many NFL coaches have heart attacks. My poor team has been plagued with injuries all season, and every week I've had to scramble to be able to field a full team. And this weekend is going to be an absolute nightmare. Four of my players have a bye this weekend, so they won't be available for play. I'm going to have to drop at least two of them and add new players from the free agent pool. I've already decided to drop my lowest-performing wide receiver, and I'm hoping I can pick up my first choice to replace him. The other player I need to cover for is going to be a bit more of a problem, though. I'm going to end up having to let one of my good players go and keep my fingers crossed that nobody picks him up off of waivers before I can get him back.
This would be so much easier if I could just get rid of Rudi Johnson's freeloading, benchwarming, perpetually injured ass! All I can say right now is, thank God for Donovan McNabb and Antonio Gates. If it weren't for those two, my team would be at the bottom of its division.
And yes, I'm still planning on starting up a men vs. women fantasy league next year. Call me crazy, but despite coming close to pulling all my hair out every week trying to be sure I've got every position covered and my best players on the field, it's still a lot of fun.
It's bad that I'm updating about fantasy football, but between my classes and my work at the zoo, I haven't had much free time lately. On the positive side, most of my major assignments for the semester are out of the way, so that should free up some extra time in the next few weeks. Including, of course, time for the Samuel L. Jackson Movie Marathon! So far, it looks like the lineup will be Pulp Fiction, Shaft, and Snakes on a Plane, unless one of the other movies suddenly passes Shaft in the voting. And I still need to decide on a night to have it, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.
I should probably move George and Lennie's habitats into my bedroom for that evening, too. On the other hand, they'd certainly give the living room a "you are there" feel during Snakes on a Plane!
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