The Negligence of Parents

I was reading a book and it referenced a quote by Mary Wollstonecraft. It reads in relevant part, "A great proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms, around the world, is allowed to rise from the negligence of parents."

What do you think of this quote? I tend to agree with it. I look at people nowadays: no morality, no sense of direction, no appreciation for anything not portrayed in the videos or on TV as glamorous. In this age of "I Want A Famous Face," "MTV Cribs," and "The Bachelorette," is it the negligence of parents that have gotten us this way?

It kind of reminded me of a question that came up at dinner the other day. My boyfriend's aunt asked "What's wrong with kids today?" in reference to why so many kids have a difficult time even getting through the 6th grade without the help of Prozac, Riddlin, Adderol and a whole host of other drugs. My boyfriend's mother and I automatically and adamantly blamed the "negligence of parents." As a parent, you have a duty to make sure that your kid is properly fed, clothed, and prepared to get through the school day without the help of drugs. What is so hard about that? It was done in the 50s, 40s, and generations before that. So, what's the deal now? Negligent parenting was the exception then, today is seems the norm. And the cure for the now-common crime of careless parenting is Prozac ... for the kids.

I hope that when I have children I will be able to make them the center of my world. You must love, care for and nurture your children; make them feel like they're the center of your very stable universe. Otherwise, it just invites all the "misery" that Ms. Wollstonecraft wrote about. Thoughts?

The Perfect Cupcake - Volume 1

My new obsession is cupcakes. I am a plain Jane when it comes to flavors. I just like vanilla with a light frosting. But it must be moist, fluffy and very vanilla-like to my taste buds(if that makes sense), lol. So, there was this write-up in yahoo buzz log yesterday about cupcakes and people started talking about their favorite cupcake places in different cities.

In New York, there were four recommendations. One was "Sugar Sweet Sunshine" on Rivington in the LES. I went and um - yuck! First of all, the front counter guy was rude to me. Second, the cupcake tasted like it came from a very mediocre batch of Duncan Hines - very bland and tasteless. I do not recommend them at all. I mean, the place does get points for being cute. It was nice enough that I would have stayed, read my WSJ and eaten my lone vanilla cupcake had the aforementioned dude not been so rude to me. I could give them another shot, but why? Every batch of cupcake should be bedazzling and this, simply, was not.

I am the quest to find the perfect cupcake. The winner so far (and I am ashamed to admit it) is this vanilla cupcake that Starbucks sells with lilac frosting -- so good!! I will go to and review the rest of the recommendations in the next few days. Next stop - Buttercup.

Is this a good reason to dump a friend? Installment 3

Over the course of the past three years, I have let a lot of friends go. I will tell you about how and why I let some of them go. You tell me if this is a good reason ...

I never received a formal invitation to # 3's wedding. She allegedly invited me, I just never got it. And for months ahead of her wedding, I kept asking where she was registered and when the invitation was coming, etc. She invited all the friends that were part of our "circle" in college. One of our "circle" even went to see her a few weeks before the wedding (because she could not make it) and I asked that friend to pick up the invitation for me. I never got it ...

She claimed someone else was in charge of the invitations, but even if that were true, since we were good friends she should have made sure I got mine, especially after I told her repeatedly that I didn't get it ... That sounds eerily similar to my dumped friend #1's argument regarding me not inviting her to my birthday party and making sure she got the evite (see Installment 1 of this series for reference). I distinguish it in the following ways. First - This was a wedding and not a silly birthday party - HUGE difference. Second - At the time of my birthday, me and dumped friend #1 were not really on speaking terms; contrast this with dumped friend #3- at the time of her wedding we were speaking on a regular basis. Third - Dumped friend #1 did not find out about the party until way after it was done. Had she found out about it before and asked for an invite I would have surely evited her. Contrast that with me asking #3 repeatedly for an invitation (and never getting it).

After that I never called her. She has since gotten pregnant ... she may have even had the baby by now. I just really don't care. Friendship - over. Was that a good reason?

Comment and stay tuned for Installment 4 ...

Quarter Life Crisis

With all the stress that people my age have to deal with, it is not uncommon for most of us to go through a quarter-life crisis. This is like a mid-life crisis except it's happening right now. And unfortunately it has nothing to do with tattoos, convertible cars or partying. Quite the contrary, it has to do with the stress of being an adult. When I graduated college the crisis was deciding which graduate program I was going to embark on. While in law school the crisis was trying (unsuccessfully) to be top of my class and figuring out what type of law (if any) I wanted to practice. Now, the crisis is paying back school loans, pondering whether not practicing was my best option, trying to save money and realizing that some of my dreams (marriage, kids, fancy house) may be deferred for quite some time. I think for me it's the unknown that scares me. What if I never get married? What if I can't afford a better life for my kids? What if I never have kids? What if I will be paying off loans for the rest of my life? What if I made the wrong decision by deciding to be an administrator and not actually practice law? How do you know you're not making a mistake with anything (job, career, man, place to live, etc.)you do? It's enough to make a woman go crazy! No wonder I can't sleep at night. Does anyone else feel like they're in a quarter-life crisis?

Summer Solstice

Summer solstice is the longest day of each year occurring around June 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. The nearest holiday to this solstice is 4th of July. So in my head I've decided 4th of July is the real summer solstice. And it's such a happy holiday. But, it also means we are winding back down to shorter days and winter and snow and all that is utterly depressing (can you guess I hate winter?).

I love summer, especially in New York. There's so much to do and see and it can all be done and seen outdoors! Free concerts in the park, movies in the park, opera in the park, Shakespeare in the park ... Are you sensing a theme here? Long days and delayed nights all make the merriment seem all the more exciting.

What's your favorite season?

On How to Be Lovely ...

The other day my boyfriend and I had an interesting debate. He said something about Hillary Clinton and asked if I admired her. My instant reaction to Hill may not be in the same vein as Ann Coulter, but I told him that I absolutely do not admire her. To me, she lacks feminine qualities and stays in her loveless marriage for political convenience. Not a person whom I'd like to emulate (though I do not take away from her intelligence, wisdom, speaking skills, etc,). He then asked me whom I do admire. The first woman that came to my mind was Audrey Hepburn. The debate ensued and in the end we had to agree to disagree.

Audrey Hepburn happens to be my absolute favorite old-school actress. I love ALL of her movies even the horribly corny ones like Roman Holiday. She was a great actress and a beautiful woman. She is certainly known for her undeniable beauty, style, grace and femininity. What most people don't know, however, is that Ms. Hepburn was a great humanitarian as well. In her later years,she became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and devoted her life to helping starving children in places like Somilia.

For more information on Audrey, her humanitarian endeavors and to find out about The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, please visit http://www.audreyhepburn.com/.

That is someone who I admire and would like to emulate. A mother and wife, a style icon, a beautiful, poised, perfectly feminine and lovely woman; yet, she dedicated her life to things that were not so lovely. Whom do you admire? Why?

Girls Day Out

Yesterday I went on a girls days out. It was fun and it's been a long time since I've been able to relax with so many girls. The group consisted of ten young women (mid twenties to early thirties) that work in various departments in the school. We went to this Tapas place near work for lunch and it was such a good time. As we were walking to the place, this guy called out to us - "Sex and the City!" That was pretty funny. The food was yummy, the chatter was constant, and bonds were either formed or strengthened.

Our conversations ranged from stupid things our boyfriends do, to benefits at work, to upcoming events like vacations and pending wedding ceremonies. And it was nice to be on a table full of urban professional women. No jealousy or competition, no unnecessary cattiness and the best part ... no dividing the check as per what you ate --- everyone understood that dividing the check evenly is what will be done (thank the Lord).

Well, I had a fantastic time. Since I'm not too keen on female friendships (and I'm in the process of dumping most of the ones I did have), this was a really nice experience for me. I forgot how fun girls can really be! When was the last time you had a really great girls day (or night) out?