Go USA

I'd like to find a permanent link to the photo of the USA women's football (sock-ah) team jumping in the air after winning the gold medal in the Olympics today, but I'm not sure if I can.  However, this photo is in the public domain, and it's relevant to my thoughts after seeing the previously mentioned photo:

Senator Birch Bayh, the primary senate sponsor and author of Title IX.  (Yes, I had to look it up on Wikipedia).

The first time I heard anything about Title IX it was related to something about a men's college sport program being canceled.  I was fairly young and don't remember the exact context, and I am certainly not any sort of expert on Title IX, casual or otherwise.  However, it does make me think of what my mother has told me about her going to college in the early 1960's: My grandparent's friends (and some family) wondered why they were wasting all the money to send a girl to college; and she was asked if she was going to be a teacher, or a nurse (I mean, what else to women go to college for?).

My sister and I weren't much into sports growing up (just a dabble of park district soccer or 4-H softball), and I wonder if my nieces will be.  If not, that's OK.  I've already got photo's from ballet recitals, and I love that my niece (when presented with the options) choose playing outside in the park over shopping for stuffed animal accessories.  But if she chooses to, I would never want her being told that she shouldn't play sports because she is a girl.  Seeing the look sheer ecstasy (that really is the best word) on the USA football team member's faces, and the thought that they don't deserve that joy is not simply unfair, it's un-american.

Go USA.

The City of Richardson Public Library

One book that I like is "Homegrown Democrat" by Garrison Keillor.  In the book,  Keillor  lays out some of his own political views, the events of his life that shaped them, and how these views align him with the Democratic party despite it's imperfections.  A point that is raised  at least once is the importance of funding public libraries, and I tend to agree.

Granted, I do see people checking out stacks of DVDs, which to me can come across like using the library as a free DVD renting service, but I guess that's not so bad.  

I also see things that really illustrate the importance of these public services, like someone using the computers to fill out an online job application or taking notes from a guidebook for a certification exam.  These people do not come across like they want to milk the system for a handout.  The look like they want a job, or they want a job that is better than the one they have now.

Then there are the things that just make me smile: kids getting excited about a book, or a little kid I saw to day who was wearing an empty backpack around.  I know it was empty because it was unzipped nearly all they way and was hanging open.  It also looked very new.  I don't know for sure, but I imagined that it was his new backpack for school and he was excited to wear it.  At least that is what I'm hoping.

I also saw this gem today: a man standing in the checkout line by himself with a stack of books.  All had titles like "Your First Pregnancy" and "A Guide to Yoga for Pregnant Women."

Congratulations man, did you just find out today?