unforunately, patricia ireland ran into traffic or something; she never made it to the panel today. but ellie smiel (pres. of feminist majority and past pres. of now) did. she and a couple other vanguards of the feminist movement stood in front of the group of like-30 of us, all collegiate interns for various women's groups in the area, and lectured us passionately about the state of feminism today, what needs to be done, what's disgraceful, and what we have to be hopeful about. they also answered questions. the girls are extremely bright: articulate, energetic, and really engaged. just the atmosphere was inspiring.
it's a six week program combining discussion, think-tank-like elements, a public speaking class, activities, speakers, and finally a lobbying session on capital hill. yeah, i'm excited. not to mention lucky.

i met nomi at teaism, and maya who's working there, and we discussed the international arm of the women's movement and aids in africa, nomi's hotbotton issue. then nomi and i wandered over to cvs to feed my habit and while there we stopped in the feminine product aisle to see which tampons have bleach in them. "this is ridiculous," i said, surveying the aisle. "they should rearrange this so that it goes condoms, then pregnancy tests, then diapers." a woman standing next to us with a pregnancy test burst out laughing. "sorry," she said. "i couldn't help but overhear. ... you're absolutely right." later, when she was buying the test, the checkout lady congratulated her. "yeah, i hope so," she said. which, nomi and i agreed, was better than 'i hope not.'

i'm going to becca's for shabbes dinner in a bit. i get to meet her cousins and apparently her grandma too. yeeeehaw.
and i'm getting such a kick out of my guestbook; it's like one long extended private joke ... trying to figure out who each message belongs to is twisted fun (clearly, my friends have not yet learned the art of attribution.) still, i appreciate each entry: thanks, y'all. i feel loved. and amused, which may or may not be better.
happy weekend, chitlins.