By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.

Circumcision. Even just the word makes me cringe anymore. Not being religiously obliged to do so, we chose not to circumcise our boys. My husband was a staunch advocate of this position but for some reason lately has been expressing worry that they will be teased in school due to the natural, um, beauty of their apparatus. Now there’s part of me that realizes that some of this is just him worrying, because he needs something to obsess about and the airplanes are no longer flying over our house every 45 seconds. There’s another part of me that angrily defies him to circumcise two toddlers (he is NOT suggesting this, I am just extraordinarily defensive). And then the Wall Street Journal published this blurb about a study conducted in South Africa apparently proving that circumcision helps prevent contraction of AIDS. I imagine they vetted the participants pretty strictly but I still can’t help but wonder about 1) the participants’ health conditions before the year-long study, and 2) how sexual behavior due to cultural differences (i.e., versus the sexual behavior of American or European men ) would skew the results. Maybe I am just trying to not feel guilty about one more thing. Since, you know, Jude practically had heatstroke yesterday and I am still feeling way guilty about that.

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Tom/Katie just get freakier and freakier.
Can I get a Scientology chaperone for my boys? I’ll bet it would be cheaper than a babysitter.

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This is such a cool idea, science classes based on Harry Potter. Parents should be thrilled to death that such an innovative and enthusiastic teacher is taking a special interest in their kids. If she gets slammed by the conservatives and/or parents out to ban HP, then all I can say is that I will be heartily disappointed.

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Apparently the ref desk is now also Directory Assistance. This morning I have looked up the phone numbers for: two county bar associations, a city-based pro bono organization, an out-of-state pro bono organization, the county’s family appeals court, and the new Shop ‘n’ Save in the East End. All for my Private Number patron. Is AT&T charging for 411 service now? Well, it’s still simpler than delving into the Latin roots of the Hail Mary, or finding out a Supreme Court Justice’s personal stance on reproductive-rights law, which is normally the sort of thing PNP wants. That is, when she’s not trying to find out biographical information on the judges of Dancing with the Stars.

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I’m sitting at the ref desk smelling this yummy, lightly citrus scent and wondering where it’s coming from. Thursday we had a patron who smelt of orange Pez (this is a good thing) and I had to ask her what her perfume was (Giorgio Wings). So I was prepared to do so again when I realized it’s ME. I am the yummy smell. I put on my French perfume this morning. It’s probably the Parisian equivalent of Charlie, you can buy it in any pharmacy in Paris, but I love it. It’s Molinard’s Les Senteurs Orange-Cannelle. I have a good friend who is always jetting off to exotic places and whenever she’s in Paris, she buys me some more for my birthday. As long as she can keep me supplied, I will happily wear it for the rest of my natural life. It comes in these beautiful blue bottles of which I have quite the collection growing on my bathroom window sill. They’re empty but they’re so pretty I can’t bear to just toss them. I occasionally alternate it with this stuff I picked up in Stone Harbor last year, specially formulated “for the Aries.” It’s peppermint and honeysuckle, so nice, but I do adore the citrus. This is my next fragrance purchase: Bath & Body Works verbena body splash Yum. Because smelling like a lemon is a good thing.

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I am working on a post about sharks. I happen to totally dig sharks, love reading about them, and mostly sympathize with the poor man-eating creatures. I actually have favorite shark books. And I shall share them with you. Soon. Along with this cool poem idea I found out about on another blog.