h1n1 is a dumb name

who named the swine flu 'h1n1'? call me silly, but i don't think it is necessary for a flu name to be four syllables. i prefer 'swine' because it has a comical ring to it, and Lord knows when you have the flu you need to find humor in it. i have to laugh at the graphics that i see on tv with the little pigs and the headline "SWINE FLU". what kind of cute graphics are they going to have for "H1N1"? that's not fun! so here we have another case of dumbing down america. rather than continuing to educate people that they will not get the flu from eating pork, we are just going to change the name for the ignorant masses. i would assume that most people, like me, hear 'h1n1' and think to themselves, 'that's the swine flu!' so what is the point?

yesterday i watched kirstie alley talking about her weight gain on oprah. (yes, i DID swear off oprah, but have allowed myself to get sucked back in once she stopped with her 'woo woo' new age subjects.) anyway, back to the fatties...it was refreshing to listen to kirstie talk to oprah about her journey. she's just like me (except i'm not a famous-scientologist-actress and i haven't gained back all of my weight plus ten extra pounds). i've always liked kirstie alley because of the transparency with which she shares. i like people who are authentic. plus, she was able to laugh about it, and you know how i feel about laughter. you've gotta laugh.

no withchild today as i am too sick to go in. i will leave you with this story-of-the-week. a forty five year old woman called withchild and said that she needed an ultrasound so that she could find out how far along her baby was and plan an abortion. my director, kim, met her at the doctor's office for an ultrasound. when the technician put the device on her stomach the screen was taken up with a baby's face staring back at them. kim said that in all of her years of doing this work she has never seen a sight like that. this little boy was looking out of the womb right at them. the woman, who was 22 1/2 weeks along, said she could never abort a baby that was just looking at her and said she wanted to talk adoption. the end of the story is that she has picked a couple who, like her, are older and not the young, beautiful type. they have embraced her despite her tattoos and piercings and she has embraced them despite the fact that they wouldn't be most people's first choice. baby is coming in august and i praise God for this 'snapshot' that saved a life.