AHMEDI Taleb Sassi Blog

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• Snoqualmie Pass - 2/19/2015 3:07:59 PM
• Public art update: Writing in the City
• Lady Gaga was our biggest pop star. What happened?
• HUFFPOST HILL - More Like RUDE Giuliani
• Is this the app every gay man has been waiting for?
• Is Apple Really Making A Car? Here's What We Know
• The U.S. Has Actually Been Having An Unusually Warm Winter
• The Surprising Words The Brother Of 2 ISIS Victims Has For Their Killers
• #TBT: Dear Less-Than-Perfect Mom
• Spies Hacked Virtually Every Cell Phone
• Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program
• Best swimsuit photo shoot ever!
• JPMorgan Goes to War
• Le Figaro vient d’être publié sur tous vos écrans
• Quelle coupe de cheveux pour aller travailler?
• Retire To This Paradise For $1,200 A Month
• What Women REALLY Love About Being Married
• E-Commerce Minute
• Streetstyle: cinq tendances repérées à la sortie des défilés de New York
• Beyoncé’s Beauty: The Undoctored Truth
• The 14 Most Outrageous Looks From New York Fashion Week
• Alien star gave our solar system a very close shave
• Construction alert: University of Washington Station
• Snoqualmie Pass - 2/19/2015 11:28:05 AM
• Stop using your Lenovo laptop until you remove its adware (Here's how) | ZDNet Must-Read News - US

Snoqualmie Pass - 2/19/2015 3:07:59 PM Posted: 19 Feb 2015 03:34 PM PST You are subscribed to Snoqualmie Pass - I-90 for WSDOT. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Snoqualmie Pass - 2/19/2015 3:07:59 PM Snoqualmie Pass I-90 2/19/2015 3:07:59 PM Temperature: 40 °F Elevation Feet:3022 Elevation Meters:921 Restrictions Eastbound: No restrictions Restrictions Westbound: No restrictions Conditions: Roadway is bare and wet Weather: Raining Advertisement STAY CONNECTED:   SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help  This email was sent to ahmedi.taleb.sassi.publication@blogger.com using GovDelivery, on behalf of: WSDOT  310 Maple Park Ave SE · Olympia, WA 98504  Source : http://tsahmedi.blogspot.com

Public art update: Writing in the City Posted: 19 Feb 2015 03:23 PM PST Writing in the City A Capitol Hill Red Wall event Join us: Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 7 p.m. At the HUGO HOUSE 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 Hugo House and Sound Transit present Writing the City, a literary series edited by Charles Tonderai Mudede, who is also emcee. Featured writers will read their work about lives linked by light rail. Sound Transit incorporates the work and thinking of artists in its facilities to enhance the experience for transit riders, and to create culturally relevant landmarks for the communities. View map: HUGO HOUSE 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 For more information For more information about this event, contact Mylinda Sneed at (206) 689-4978 or mylinda.sneed@soundtransit.org. Find more information about STart - Sound Transit’s art program at: soundtransit.org/start Sound Transit | Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St. | Seattle, WA 98104 | 1-800-201-4900/ TTY Relay: 711 main@soundtransit.org | soundtransit.org To request accommodations for persons with disabilities, call 1-800-201-4900/ TTY Relay: 711 or email accessibility@soundtransit.org.   Unsubscribe | Edit Subscription Preferences   This email was sent to ahmedi.taleb.sassi.publication@blogger.com using GovDelivery, on behalf of: Sound Transit · 401 South Jackson St · Seattle WA 98104 · 206-398-5000 If you have any questions about this service, contact click here for assistance. Source : http://tsahmedi.blogspot.com

Lady Gaga was our biggest pop star. What happened? Posted: 19 Feb 2015 03:00 PM PST By Lauren Duca Middlebrow is a recap of the week in entertainment, celebrity and television news that provides a comprehensive look at the state of pop culture. From the rock bottom to highfalutin, Middlebrow is your accessible guidebook to the world of entertainment. Sign up to receive it in your inbox here. Lady Gaga was the biggest pop star in the world. And not just circa 2010. In the post-tabloid, instant-access landscape of the manufactured celebrity figure, there has never been a more rapid rocketing to mega fame than Gaga’s rise about five years ago. She had six No. 1 hits over the course of a single year. She sold 1.1 million copies of “Born This Way” in its first week alone. Beyonce played her backup on “Telephone.” Now, her off-brand engagement to Taylor Kinney (he proposed with a heart-shaped ring on Valentine's day!) is barely news. She’s duetting with Tony Bennett and it’s unclear who is benefitting more from the collaboration. What happened? “Is it because she’s not good anymore?” HuffPost Entertainment managing editor Christopher Rosen asked in an email. If we’re talking about “good” meaning “fun to dance to while drinking flavored vodka,” then, no, she's not. “Artpop” and that “Cheek To Cheek” cover are not as “good” as her past stuff. Although, really that distinction has always been more about Gaga's persona than her hit singles. She reached a new level of complexity with “Bad Romance” and “The Fame Monster,” but her music was mostly fluff sprinkled with hooks. At its core, her discography has been catchy pop that didn’t even attempt to match the level of complexity purported by her sartorial choices, post-modern approach to the music video and aggressive name dropping of Andy Warhol. Gaga’s appeal was always in the packaging. She emerged as a true performer equipped with her own mythology and symbolism -- the sort of figure that we hadn’t seen since Madonna. That's where the fascination began, and also where it ended. “Gaga’s presence introduces the formerly unthinkable idea that Madonna, another voracious Italian girl, may really, truly, finally be on her way out,” Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote for New York magazine in 2010. At the time, that made sense. The similarities were clear -- both had the dark penciled brows, platinum hair and an uncanny ability to dance the fine line between art and consumerism. The creatively controversial stylings of both found a careful balance of capitalism and subversion by sheer virtue of being churned out in the form of radio hits. Madonna has stayed relevant by navigating the tenuous space between the two realms, while Gaga quickly pushed herself over the edge by force-feeding us her artistry in light of her pop stardom. And that's why she's already on her way out, while Madonna is still providing "controversy" to the masses. Look at "Artpop." The message of the album is the idea of Gaga as art. (Like, very literally: “Pop culture was in art, now art's in pop culture in me.”) With "Applause," Gaga's avant gardism has become as hollow as one of Jeff Koons’ balloon animal sculptures. Being avant-garde, truly experimenting in any medium, has always been about breaking from the accepted milieu and refusing to compete. Yet, Gaga purported the avant-garde, while her purest motivation was competition for fame. For a more recent comparison, we can look to Katy Perry. Back in 2010, that same Grigordias New York magazine piece likened Perry to one of the "rising talents unable to push through to superstardom." In 2014, "Roar" beat out "Applause" as part of Perry's ever-swelling collection of hits. Perry's timeline and approach to stardom make her the ultimate foil for Gaga. Where Gaga steeped herself in meaning and pretension, Perry stands for nothing. Her songs are not anymore about her than they are about the 13-year-old girl in Tulsa who really does feel like a plastic bag. As Rich Juzwiak wrote after her Super Bowl performance, "[It's unclear] Katy Perry has anything to say, any unique perspective, any capacity to challenge or surprise, any persona beyond vaguely goofy and occasionally sentimental." It’s in the comparison of all three that we see where Madonna and Perry have maintained their fame while Gaga has waned. Perry is a sort of a vessel for the pop-culture machine, where Madonna imbues artistry into the artifice of her persona, but both embrace the manufactured nature of their stardom. We know that these figures are created for us, almost as if in a "Josie And The Pussycats" lab. Gaga didn't fail because she is inauthentic -- all pop stars are -- but because she refused to embrace the reality of her act. As an icon of the millennial pop, Gaga may never truly be "over," but until she can channel the authentic inauthenticity we see in Perry and Madonna, let's hope she has enough room for that meat dress in her freezer. Everything Else You Should Know: Jessica Williams took herself out of the race of Jon Stewart's seat on "The Daily Show" and everyone freaked out. Read The Billfold's piece on how she is the latest high-profile victim of "impostor syndrome," one Williams herself took umbrage with. There are new "Mad Men" photos, in case you want to start speculating wildly about our last half season with Don Draper. A British TV channel is producing a docuseries about Robin Williams' death. And if that wasn't tasteless enough, they've cast a porn actor for the lead role. The Oscars are on Sunday! Here are our predictions and, more important, the nominees' most embarrassing roles. Also, Kanye and Taylor got dinner together, so their friendship is real and the sweetheart / villain narrative is ruined forever. Sorry, Katy Perry. Follow Lauren Duca on Twitter: @laurenduca You received this email from The Huffington Post. If you'd like to update your account settings please go here. If you'd like to unsubscribe from The Huffington Post please click here. (C) 2014 The Huffington Post PO Box 4668 #22504 New York, NY 10163-4668 - Source : http://tsahmedi.blogspot.com

HUFFPOST HILL - More Like RUDE Giuliani Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:55 PM PST By Eliot Nelson and Arthur Delaney Like the communist that he is, President Obama appropriated some land for the state, designating three new national monuments. Democrats have started a 2020 redistricting super PAC called "Advantage 2020," while the GOP is readying its counterpart, "John Boehner, The 91-Year-Old Speaker." And Rudy Giuliani thinks Obama doesn’t love America like he does, though he might just be jealous of the time he went to America’s apartment and, standing on the sidewalk drenched in rain, saw the president through the window. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, February 19th, 2015: RUDY GIULIANI NOUN/VERB/OBAMA'D SO HARD - You mean to tell us that Rudy GIuliani still isn't embracing his fate and appearing in home security system commercials? ("I'm former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, if ISIS knows one thing, it's that it hates America. If it knows another thing, it's that it never messes with the Slomin Shield.") Igor Bobic: "Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) sparked a firestorm on Wednesday, when he proclaimed that President Barack Obama 'doesn't love' America. The backlash keeps rolling in. 'I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,' Giuliani reportedly said at a private New York fundraiser for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. 'He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.' Asked about the matter during a flight aboard Air Force One to Chicago, a White House...'It was a horrible thing to say,' deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said, according to a pool report. Schultz further jabbed at the onetime presidential hopeful by noting that Giuliani had tested the line during his 'fleeting 2007 run for the presidency.' Democrats have also denounced Giuliani's comments as offensive and called on Walker and the rest of the potential 2016 GOP presidential field to do the same… Walker, who was in the room while Giuliani was speaking, responded Thursday morning. "The mayor can speak for himself. I'm not going to comment on what the president thinks or not," Walker said. "I'm in New York. I'm used to people saying things that are aggressive." [HuffPost] Not that anyone asked, but Bobby Jindal released a statement refusing to condemn Giuliani's remarks. Thanks, Bobby! GROUNDHOG SEES SHADOW - Every year we do this story. It's a tradition. Sam Stein: "The wave of progress on LGBT rights has yet to reach the halls of the unsuitably named Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. For yet another year, the Conservative Political Action Conference will exclude from its list of sponsors the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative group that advocates for gay rights." [HuffPost] HuffPost Hill XTRA: The American Conservative Union claimed to Sam that the Log Cabin Republicans hadn't actually asked to sponsor CPAC. The Log Cabin Republicans then forwarded a December email saying they'd be "honored" to sponsor the event. Oopsie. HuffPost Haircuts: Kate Sheppard. DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Woop woop, da sound of da food police. Oregon state senator Chris Edwards (D-Eugene) wants to stop people from buying "junk food" with food stamps. "Edwards says he personally doesn’t think it’s good policy to let people use SNAP to buy things like Cheetos. He says since many people on the program are also enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan, it would be beneficial to direct consumers towards whole foods with higher nutritional content. 'EugeneWeekly.com] DOUBLE DOWNER - Why do people always want to control other people's food stamp purchases? Bryce Covert has the answer. Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill BUSINESSMAN IS SHREWD - We're pretty sure "Ocean's 13" was the last time we watched this many famous men vie for the affection of an old Jewish dude in Las Vegas (Elliott Gould is a national treasure, BTW). Bloomberg: "Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson won't get involved in the presidential primary contest until 'well into 2016,' his top political adviser said in an interview Thursday. 'Any support of a presidential candidate is at least a year away,' the adviser, Andy Abboud, said. What Adelson does matters. The 81-year-old billionaire casino owner spent more money on the 2012 presidential race than anyone else in the country, and his every move is being closely watched for signs that he has a favorite this time around. In 2012, Adelson and his family invested more than $15 million in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential aspirations through a super-PAC, keeping him competitive far longer than he would have been otherwise. The Adelsons backed Mitt Romney after he won the nominating contest. All told, the family put about $93 million into super-PACs and campaigns during the cycle. Abboud's remarks came in response to questions about Sheldon and his wife Miriam Adelson's participation in a March 3 fundraiser in Washington for South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham's presidential exploratory group, Security Through Strength." [Bloomberg] DEMOCRATS WOULD LIKE TO CONTROL THE HOUSE BEFORE 2030 - Is it just us or does "Advantage 2020" sound less like a super PAC and more like a vision supplemental program for your health insurance? Samantha Lachman: "Democrats launched a super PAC Thursday with the purpose of flipping state legislatures before the next round of redistricting, which will follow the 2020 elections. The PAC, called Advantage 2020, will be led by Mark Schauer, a former Democratic congressman and Michigan state Senate leader who lost the state's gubernatorial race to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder last year. Advantage 2020 plans to spend about $70 million over the next three elections in an attempt to chip away at GOP majorities in key battleground states where Republicans established legislative districts after the 2010 elections. 'The coming round of congressional redistricting will shape the political landscape for the next decade, and Mark’s leadership of Advantage 2020 is crucial to empowering us to win the state legislative seats critical to that process,' said Michael Sargeant, the executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which is funding the PAC, in a statement." [HuffPost] Here is an incredibly uncomfortable video of Joe Biden touching women. Our proposal -- "spot where balloon boy landed" -- remains unconsecrated: "President Barack Obama will designate three new national monuments on Thursday and announce a new initiative to increase the number of children who visit national parks. Obama will formally name the three monuments this afternoon in remarks near Chicago's Pullman neighborhood, an industrial community known for its historic role in labor and civil rights organizing. The Pullman neighborhood will be the first National Park Service-protected area in Chicago. Obama is also designating Honouliuli National Monument in Hawaii, which was the site of a Japanese internment camp during World War II, and Browns Canyon in Colorado. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents have the power to grant federal protection to certain areas due to their historic or natural significance. National monuments can be managed by several agencies, including the National Park Service." [HuffPost's Kate Sheppard] BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a cat who isn't intimidated by snow. REALLY INTENSE CONGRESSMAN DIES - If ever there were a Tom Wolfe character roaming the halls of Congress, it was Cass Ballenger. Roll Call: "Ballenger [R-NC] announced his retirement from Congress in 2004, facing a defamation lawsuit from the nation’s largest Islamic civil liberties group. He was quoted calling the Council on American-Islamic Relations 'the fundraising arm for Hezbollah' and saying living near its Washington headquarters had contributed to the breakup of his marriage. The lawsuit was thrown out by a federal appeals court in 2006... [Ballenger and his wife, Donna] went on missions to Central and South America. After hitting it off with Chavez on a trip to Venezuela, Ballenger invited the leftist president to visit his home in Hickory, N.C., as an effort to press him closer to the political center. Ballenger liked to tell a story that Chavez, who spoke little English, once walked up to Donna Ballenger and said, 'I love you very much.' ... Ballenger’s tongue got him into trouble in 2002...Ballenger told a local paper he had 'segregationist feelings' himself after run-ins with black Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney. He quickly apologized and rescinded the comments, but some groups called for him to resign. Back home, Ballenger tried to counter further fallout by having his yard’s 3 1/2-foot tall black lawn jockey statue painted white. The cast iron statue had been a thorn in Ballenger’s side during re-election campaigns." [Roll Call] COMFORT FOOD - A man bought an unused 1950s prefab home that had a untouched kitchen in it. - Website plots a graph of IMDB episode ratings of any TV show. - Gossip about the hunks and babes of international politics with "Hottest Heads Of State." We see u, Stephen Harper. TWITTERAMA @SimonMaloy: why is this not more embarrassing MT @realDonaldTrump: Gov. Scott Walker just left my office--we had a really wonderful talk. - @SabrinaSiddiqui: I have the same dress as RBG and I'm totally ok with that. pic.twitter.com/RnXtsLuIuk @GrahamDavidA: Remember Andrew Sullivan? Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e You received this email from The Huffington Post. If you'd like to update your account settings please go here. If you'd like to unsubscribe from The Huffington Post please click here. (C) 2014 The Huffington Post PO Box 4668 #22504 New York, NY 10163-4668 - Source : http://tsahmedi.blogspot.com

Is this the app every gay man has been waiting for? Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:26 PM PST View in Browser Gay Voices Thursday February 19, 2015 Pediatrician Refuses To Care For Baby With Lesbian Moms "After much prayer following your prenatal, I felt that I would not be able to develop the personal patient doctor relationship that I normally do with my patients," the doctor wrote. Read more. Businesses May Soon Be Forced To Cater To Man-Dog Weddings, Pat Robertson Claims Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson slammed a Washington state judge's ruling that a florist's refusal to provide flowers for a gay couple's wedding had violated local anti-discrimination laws. Read more. Vladimir Putin's 'Official DJ' Loves His Gay Fans Russian President Vladimir Putin's staunch anti-gay agenda isn't deterring prominent musicians within his country from embracing the love from queer fans. Read more. Judge: Florist Illegally Refused To Provide Flowers For Same-Sex Wedding The florist originally told the men she wouldn't provide wedding flowers because of her "relationship with Jesus Christ." Read more. Why Alan Cumming Is Advocating Gay Men Give Up Sex For An Entire Year Actor Alan Cumming puts a cheeky spin on news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended an end to the nation's lifetime ban on gay and bisexual male blood donors only to replace it with a new policy that would prohibit donations from men who have had sex with other men over the past 12 months. Read more. 21 Things You Must Do In San Francisco A little something for everyone. Read more. Texas Same-Sex Couple Marries Despite State Ban On Gay Marriage The two were wed by Rabbi Kerry Baker on Thursday. Read more. After Winning On Twitter, Ellen Page Is Now Prepared To Takeover Instagram Ellen Page isn't just an A list star -- she's also a social media maven. Read more. Gay Rights Group Excluded From Conservative Conference Yet Again The wave of progress on LGBT rights has yet to reach the halls of the unsuitably named Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Read more. Is This The App Every Gay Man Has Been Waiting For? Are you ready for the newest gay app that's always on top of gay culture? Read more. Follow HuffPost on Facebook and Twitter: Get Huffington Post on the Go Know something we don't? E-mail us at dailybrief@huffingtonpost.com Unsubscribe  |  Forward  |  MANAGE MY ALERTS Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 Source : http://tsahmedi.blogspot.com

Is Apple Really Making A Car? Here's What We Know Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:25 PM PST Is Apple Really Making A Car? Here's What We Know TECHNOLOGY Is Apple Really Making A Car? Here's What We Know So Far Lenovo Pre-Installed Software That Made Laptops Vulnerable to Hacking YouTube To Launch Ad-Free Subscription Model Facebook Now Lets You Put Stickers On Pictures From Your Phone Continue reading Computers Try To Communicate Like Humans, Fail Hilariously Continue reading Received this from a friend? Sign up for alerts from The Huffington Post here. Forward  •  Unsubscribe Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

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The U.S. Has Actually Been Having An Unusually Warm Winter

Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:31 PM PST

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Thursday February 19, 2015

The U.S. Has Actually Been Having An Unusually Warm Winter

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Obama Names 3 New National Monuments

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Unprecedented Sea Lion Strandings Linked To Warmer Pacific

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Aerial Photos Show Just How Devastating An Oil Train Derailment Can Be

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TransCanada To Seek U.S. Approval For Another Pipeline

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This Cold Weather Pretty Much Freezes Everything

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Want To Borrow A Shelter Dog For A Walk? There May Soon Be An App For That

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The Surprising Words The Brother Of 2 ISIS Victims Has For Their Killers

Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:18 PM PST

The Surprising Words The Brother Of 2 ISIS Victims Has For Their Killers

RELIGION The Surprising Words The Brother Of 2 ISIS Victims Has For Their Killers Muslim Group To Form Human Shield Around Oslo Synagogue Exclusive: Meet Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Francis' Former Secretary Of State 9 Reasons Why Doing Random Acts of Kindness Can Heal a Lonely Heart Personal satisfaction and serving others does go hand-in-hand. The general hopelessness about relationships and life I previously felt was like a sickness in my soul. Doing random acts of kindness is a giddy remedy I would recommend to anyone for these reasons. Continue reading Daily Meditation: Your Journey Continue reading How Atheists Are Giving Back In The Wake Of The Chapel Hill Shooting Continue reading Fireworks, Prayers Usher In Chinese New Year Continue reading ISIS Boasted Of These Christians' Deaths. Here Are The Lives They Lived. Continue reading Carnival Looks Pretty Wild In Europe, Too Continue reading 'Peeping Tom' Rabbi Admits To Taping More Than 150 Women Taking Ritual Jewish Baths Continue reading Received this from a friend? Sign up for alerts from The Huffington Post here. Forward  •  Unsubscribe Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

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#TBT: Dear Less-Than-Perfect Mom

Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:24 PM PST

HuffPost Parents Happy #TBT! This week's throwback post is a reassuring letter by Becoming Supermommy's Lea Grover. Dear Less-Than-Perfect Mom Dear Mom, I've seen you around. I've seen you screaming at your kids in public, I've seen you ignoring them at the playground, I've seen you unshowered and wearing last night's pajama pants at preschool drop-off. I've seen you begging your children, bribing them, threatening them. I've seen you shouting back and forth with your husband, with your mom, with the police officer at the crosswalk. I've seen you running around with your kids, getting dirty and occasionally swearing audibly when you bang a knee. I've seen you sharing a milkshake with a manic 4-year-old. I've seen you wiping your kids' boogers with your bare palm, and then smearing them on the back of your jeans. I've seen you carry your toddler flopped over the crook of your arm while chasing a runaway ball. I've also seen you gritting your teeth while your kid screamed at you for making him practice piano, or soccer, or basket weaving or whatever it was. I've seen you close your eyes and breathe slowly after finding a gallon of milk dumped into your trunk. I've seen you crying into the sink while you desperately scrub crayon off your best designer purse. I've seen you pacing in front of the house. I've seen you at the hospital waiting room. I've seen you at the pharmacy counter. I've seen you looking tired and frightened. I've seen a lot of you, actually. I see you every single day. I don't know if you planned to be a parent or not. If you always knew from your earliest years that you wanted to bring children into the world, to tend to them, or if motherhood was thrust upon you unexpectedly. I don't know if it meets your expectations, or if you spent your first days as a mom terrified that you would never feel what you imagined "motherly love" would feel like for your child. I don't know if you struggled with infertility, or with pregnancy loss, or with a traumatic birth. I don't know if you created your child with your body, or created your family by welcoming your child into it. But I know a lot about you. I know that you didn't get everything that you wanted. I know that you got a wealth of things you never knew you wanted until they were there in front of you. I know that you don't believe that you're doing your best, that you think you can do better. I know you are doing better than you think. I know that when you look at your child, your children, you see yourself. And I know that you don't, that you see a stranger who can't understand why the small details of childhood that were so important to you are a bother to this small person who resembles you. I know that you want to throw a lamp at your teenager's head sometimes. I know you want to toss your 3-year-old out the window once in a while. I know that some nights, once it's finally quiet, you curl up in bed and cry. I know that sometimes, you don't, even though you wanted to. I know that some days are so hard that all you want is for them to end, and then at bedtime your children hug you and kiss you and tell you how much they love you and want to be like you, and you wish the day could last forever. But it never does. The day always ends, and the next day brings new challenges. Fevers, heartbreak, art projects, new friends, new pets, new fights. And every day you do what you need to do. You take care of things, because that's your job. You go to work, or you fill up the crock pot, or you climb into the garden, or strap the baby to your back and pull out the vacuum cleaner. You drop everything you're doing to moderate an argument over whose turn it is to use a specifically colored marker, or to kiss a boo-boo, or to have a conversation about what kind of lipstick Pinocchio's Mommy wears. I know that you have tickle fights in blanket forts, and that you have the words to at least eight different picture books memorized. I've heard that you dance like a wild woman when it's just you and them. That you have no shame about farting or belching in their presence, that you make up goofy songs about peas and potatoes and cheese. I know that an hour past bedtime, you drop what you're doing and trim the fingernail that your 3-year-old insists is keeping her up. I know that you stop cleaning dishes because your kids insist you need to join their tea party. I know you fed your kids PB&J for four days straight when you had the flu. I know that you eat leftover crusts over the sink while your kids watch "Super Why." I know you didn't expect most of this. I know you didn't anticipate loving somebody so intensely, or loathing your post-baby body so much, or being so tired or being the mom you've turned out to be. You thought you had it figured out. Or you were blind and terrified. You hired the perfect nanny. Or you quit your job and learned to assemble flat-packed baby furniture. You get confused by the conflict of feeling like nothing has changed since you were free and unfettered by children, and looking back on the choices you made as though an impostor was wearing your skin. You're not a perfect mom. No matter how you try, no matter what you do. You will never be a perfect mom. And maybe that haunts you. Or maybe you've made peace with it. Or maybe it was never a problem to begin with. No matter how much you do, there is always more. No matter how little you do, when the day is over, your children are still loved. They still smile at you, believing you have magical powers to fix almost anything. No matter what happened at work, or at school, or in playgroup, you have still done everything in your power to ensure that the next morning will dawn and your children will be as happy, healthy, and wise as could possibly be hoped. There's an old Yiddish saying: "There is one perfect child in the world, and every mother has it." Unfortunately, there are no perfect parents. Your kids will grow up determined to be different than you. They will grow up certain that they won't make their kids take piano lessons, or they'll be more lenient, or more strict, or have more kids, or have fewer, or have none at all. No matter how far from perfect you are, you are better than you think. Someday your kids will be running around like crazy people at synagogue and concuss themselves on a hand rail, and somebody will still walk up to you and tell you what a beautiful family you have. You'll be at the park and your kids will be covered in mud and jam up to the elbows, smearing your car with sugary cement, and a pregnant lady will stop and smile at you wistfully. No matter how many doubts you might have, you never need doubt this one thing: You are not perfect. And that's good. Because really, neither is your child. And that means nobody can care for them the way you can, with the wealth of your understanding and your experience. Nobody knows what your child's squall means, or what their jokes mean, or why they are crying better than you do. And since no mother is perfect, chances are you are caught in a two billion way tie for Best Mom in the World. Congratulations, Best Mom in the World. You're not perfect. You are as good as anybody can get. With love, Lea Read the whole story Follow HuffPost Parents on Facebook and Twitter Unsubscribe | Forward | Manage your notification preferences 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

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