Jenn Martinelli Blogging in Boston

I will of course humor Clementine and play along, but I have a fairly long middle name and like 2 other friends who actually have blogs so... I'm only tagging Melissa because she's the only one I think will play, though Heather is welcome to if she so pleases.

R: Right. I am this all the time. OK, not really, but I'm kind of stubborn sometimes. Also, if I am certain I'm right, I'll never back down. Ever. I might shut up about it but I'll go around with it in the back of my mind forever how wrong you are about whatever it is. Think of it as a part of my charm. When I was a teenager my dad and I used to argue a lot because we are BOTH right all the time, and when we disagreed this caused strife. Poor Keyrock.

E: Eating. Is it sad that this is the first word that popped into my head? It might be. But it is, so, there you have it. I love eating. As I said last weekend at my uncle's house while shoveling hors d'ouevres in my mouth, "Don't worry, I'm a Martinelli. There's still room for dinner." This was later proven.

B: Baking. It's getting to be cooler and that makes me want to bake. Like every day. Even though it's time-consuming, messy, and the cookies/pie/cake whatever get(s) eaten way too fast. I love making yummy treats... to Eat. See above.

E: Come on, another E? How about Equine. Clementine will love this one. As in hello, as a little girl I LOVED HORSES. I wanted a horse. I wanted a whole horse farm probably. I was in 4H and went to horse shows. No joke. I had horse posters in my room. It is my sincere desire that Hester Willa will share this love of horses. Oh, and unicorns. I still actually would be perfectly happy to have a horse or a stable full of horses. But I don't plaster my walls with them anymore.

C: Cavities. As in I've never had any. Well, I had one, but it doesn't count because it was diagnosed by Gentle Dental in Porter Square who we later realized had lied about Rob's alleged "several" cavities and about the need for him to have his wisdom teeth removed (luckily we found out these claims were untrue before doing anything about any of them). So I judge this cavity and filling as illegitimate. Still, only 1 cavity my whole life is pretty freaking good, right? I'm a total neurotic freak about my teeth. I used to have nightmares about my teeth crumbling or falling out.

C: Caretaker. I can't help it, maybe it's being the oldest child and the only girl, but I pretty much "Mom" everybody I know. I worry about them, check up on them, bake them things, run to the store to get them things they're too lazy to get themselves [or, sometimes, don't even want that badly] (note to Rob and Heather, this started in high school, it's not limited to you guys), hold their keys, hold their hair when they puke, clean up their messes, etc. This includes both human beings and pets. The good news? I might not ever have to actually go through childbirth because I think I've almost used my Mom gene up. I reserve the rest of it for Hester Willa.

A: Athlete. I am NOT this. Not that I'm lazy because I'm really not. But I don't have a natural athletic bent. I do love riding a bike and I love hiking and I don't mind walking my ass from one end of the city to the other. But going for a jog? No thanks. Joining a gym? Ha, that's hilarious. Being in some kind of organized sport-related venture? Funnily enough, I was on the ultimate frisbee team at Smith in its very early days, but when that started taking up too much time I quit. It's a big joke among my friends from college that when one of them first met me she thought I was an athlete. Principally because I wore sweats and sneakers a lot. I laughed hysterically when I heard this.

I guess that a lot of parents are now deciding, based on what evidence I can't figure out, that vaccinations are more dangerous for their children then the chance that they might get the disease the vaccination is supposed to protect them from.

I'm no expert or doctor obviously, but at least from this article the concerns seem pretty illegitimate and the parents sound a little wacko.

Clementine, what do you think? I know Hester Willa has already had some vaccinations so I'm pretty sure I don't have to decide you're nutty.

Do these people have a point? Or are they in the same boat with folks who enjoy having colonics? (ie: the boat full of crazy people)