This weekend we actually snuggled on the couch as man and wife and watched a movie on Netflix. My phone lit up and I looked down to see a CNN push notification that on a Saturday night the jury in the Zimmerman trial was coming back with a verdict.

I got that old familiar itch and I looked to my sweet husband. He said, “No, we’re not watching it live! We’re watching a movie.” Dang, you can take the girl out of the newsroom… We kept watching Bradley Cooper play a bipolar Philadelphia Eagles fan until I gasped at my phone when I saw this…

For the last few days I’ve been watching all the coverage and reading all the tweets. I watched Anderson Cooper exclusively question the controversial, shadowy figure that is Juror B37. I haven’t written about it until now because I’ve been thinking long and hard about this verdict. I want to write about it now, before the Royal Baby is born and the media forgets about the civil rights woes of Sanford, Florida.

Yes, I believe that racism was part of what fueled George Zimmerman’s behavior that led to the sad death of Trayvon Martin. I’m a white woman, so no, I’ve never been a victim of racism and feel it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this case as if I had experienced racism. But, two other things stick out to me that I think should also be part of the conversation.

1. I am an adult and I was once a teenager, so I CAN comment on this. In this case George Zimmerman was the adult and Trayvon Martin was the child. Zimmerman should have done what police told him and got back in his car, gone home and let law enforcement do their job. Instead, he acted like a juvenile vigilante and a youth in his community died because of his actions. That young man was 17-years-old. He was a kid! Zimmerman was the 29-year-old grown-up. I applaud any adult for participating in their neighborhood community watch programs, but part of being a community watch volunteer means you allow authorities to do their job. You do not take the law into your own hands.

Alright, so he didn’t listen to police. He still could have stopped this. Some might argue that evidence showed Martin started the fight. Okay, then I say again, Mr. Zimmerman you were the adult! Don’t fight back and definitely don’t pull out a gun! You are the adult. Stop this behavior. Maybe Martin would have gotten in some trouble for assault, trespassing or fighting or something. Okay, that stinks, but he would still be alive.

2. I think the Stand Your Ground law goes too far. From what we have heard so far, it sounds like the jury based their decision on the Stand Your Ground Law, believing their verdict was in keeping with Florida law. I don’t have a problem with the 2nd Amendment. I understand it. I personally do not want to carry a gun, but I would never take away the right of another American to own one. My worry is that law will continue to fuel citizens like Zimmerman to take the law into their own hands.

Okay, I got it out. Phew! I feel better. Am I off base here? What do you think? Hurry up and respond! Our attention will soon turn to London when the royal waters break across the pond.

So apparently I’ve been living under a rock while I’ve been rockin’ out. All summer I’ve been turning up Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and dancing in the car. It’s a similar scene to this spring when Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” came out and people stared at me at stoplights. I have no shame.

So, I’ve been singing “I know you want it…hey, hey, hey!” It’s catchy. It’s fun. Plus, we’re all sick of that Macklemore song. I turn up “Blurred Lines” and holler back to the car seat, “Listen, sweetie! It’s that song!” My toddler happily bobs her head to the tune.

Then I read all this whining, “That song is about rape! It discriminates against women! It promotes sexual violence! Wah! Blah..blah..blah”

Huh!?  Can’t we just have a fun summer anthem to rock out to?! Is that too much to ask?! Remember “Call Me Maybe” last year? Remember?!  I know it’s not innocent enough for the US Olympic Swim Team to make a cute viral video of, but let us have a catchy song without controversy. It’s the summer, let’s keep it light. That’s why I’m in denial that Robin Thicke might be a perv.

Dear Governor Bryant,

I bet you’ve had a weird day, today.  Were your PR and Communications team running around like mad men? I bet their mouths dropped open and they whipped out their Blackberries during that Washington Post Live event. They hoped their calls, texts and Tweets were the extinguisher to put out the firestorm you started.  How many reporters have called your office for comment and response since then? I would wager to guess at least some of your staff are still at the office in crisis mode tonight.  The local news media in Jackson is probably swamped covering this story and getting reaction for the evening and night news.  I wonder how busy they are at the Mississippi Republican Party headquarters?

You knew what you were doing when you said it.  You knew it!  The event was focused on improving children’s literacy by the third grade.  The moderator asked you how American education had “become so mediocre.”

Your response? “I think both parents started working. And the mom is in the work place.”

Your backpedaling began immediately.  You went on to recognize you would get a ton of emails about this, knowing it was a controversial statement and would likely offend millions of working mothers and their families.  In your defense, during the backpedaling you did say that US students were behind other countries because they invest more in education.  Okay, I agree with you there.  That could be a good explanation.

Your statement meant journalists and fact checkers went into overdrive today too.  This ABC News report cites statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the National Center for Education Statistics.  The OECD finds 67% of US mothers with children under 15 work outside the home.  The NCES states that 77% of Finnish mothers work outside the home, but Finland ranks higher in reading than American students.
Sounds like you were right with your backpedaling, Governor.  I also heard your wife worked outside the home for decades, even while raising your kids.  I think I speak for everyone when I say, “Huh?”

Governor, my heart is with all the working PR, communications, news media and political advisors that are working overtime tonight because you said something so ridiculous.  I have to imagine a number of them are working mothers and not able to be home tonight with their children.

Sounds like you are contributing to the mediocrity of those children because their mothers aren’t at home.  Way to go.

For the record, I wrote this after my child went to bed.  Fingers crossed, my working after hours won’t make her fall further behind the Finnish.

Sincerely,

Amy

#@&*!  I have the worst #$&^*#$ head cold I have ever had in my entire %&#$*&@ life.  Ahh!

Why all the cursing?  Well, one for thing I feel terrible and I can’t breathe through my nose.  But, really I’m cussing up a storm because it’s Fat Tuesday.  I need to get it out of my system.  For Lent I’m giving up cuss words.  Yep, our darling girl is getting into the repeating phase.  Greyson and I mean well, but we let the foul language fly on many an occasion.  In his mind, what else is he supposed to say when a running back fumbles the ball?

I give you a football watching quote from my better half: “You #$&^*#$,  %*&&^, hold on to the God #@*&#$ ball!

Pretty bad, huh?  Yeah, I’m not much better when my Internet connection is slow or I drop an armload of something I should have taken in two trips. You get the idea.

It’s not just the repeating.  Charlotte is also saying “Was dat?” to everything she sees and “Was dat?” whenever we say a new word she doesn’t recognize.  I imagine phrases like the ones above would be repeated eagerly followed by a “Was dat?”

I thought about a swear jar where we have to put in money every time we say a cuss word, but that $%*# is expensive.  So, I figure a good start would be this solemn six week observance.  We’re not Catholic, but I figure the Holy Father would approve.

$%*&!  That’s right!  The Pope quit!  ::sigh::  I guess we’ll do it anyway.  That way maybe our kid won’t have a mouth so foul it needs to be stuffed with King Cake.

Watching the Golden Globes tonight made me realize, it’s not the silly little starlets that are being celebrated these days.  Yes, cleavage and ass shaking by 19-year-old’s is still glorified.

But, those girls didn’t win awards.

It’s the women who are seasoned writers and comedians that are not only nominated for awards, but asked to host the show.  The women who took the honors weren’t slutty or too thin or too plastic.  The winners were women like Adele.  She wrote a beautiful song, won an award, and admitted she was a new mom getting tipsy on a night out.  Anne Hathaway acted her brains out and performed a role we’ve seen a thousand times in a way we’ve never seen before.

Yes, there were risque dresses that objectified the female form.  Yes, award shows are circle jerks for the rich and famous.  But, I have to believe there is hope for Hollywood when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler bring the house down with insightful, unique comedy.  Jodie Foster is honored for a body of work spanning decades of perfecting her craft, not her body spanning a centerfold.  Anne Hathaway paid homage to the generation of women before her with her salute to Sally Field.

My favorite moment of the whole night was on the red carpet before the show when Claire Danes told Ryan Seacrest about how her mother is babysitting her one-month-old and how she really hoped she didn’t leak on her dress.  I fell out laughing and ran to Twitter to tell my fellow mom bloggers about how Claire Danes was my new hero.

It’s honesty like that, that gives me pride as a working mother.  20 years ago you probably wouldn’t see a woman making boob leaking jokes before winning a best acting award.  I’m so glad to be a mother in this era.  Rock on, career mamas!

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