Meryl Streep is a great actress. But she's not bad for box office either, especially when you consider that her movies are generally made for far less money than the latest action thrillers. Doubt made $50 million worldwide, which is probably not much compared to "Transformers" or "GI Joe" but is a lot for a small movie with a small budget (and considering the subject matter). Mamma Mia made more than $600 million worldwide - which is more than Iron Man, but which movie got all the attention?

I think that's what Streep was getting at when she talked about male bloggers - "male" movies get a lot of press, but no one seems to notice when a movie like Mamma Mia makes a boatload of money. No one seems to be running to make more "Mamma Mia" type movies even though it made more money than a lot of movies that are getting sequels and press and glowing blog articles. Maybe because the movie reviewers and bloggers don't "get" the appeal of a movie like that, a movie that appeals to middle aged women, and so they don't recognize that there's money to be made. Most of my friends have been waiting eagerly for Julie and Julia, and our dollars spend just as well as anyone else's.

I think everyone who has dealt with insurance companies during a serious illness has a story like this, on a smaller scale. Mine is much less serious than the stories described here, but it’s probably typical. I was laid off from my job, and had to switch from regular insurance to Cobra coverage. Somehow I managed to find the money to pay for Cobra, because I was undergoing cancer treatments. But my insurance company refused to pay for the bills I incurred during my first month of Cobra, because they claim I wasn’t covered. No matter how much proof I send them, they ignore it and just keep denying the claims. Nine months later, I still haven’t been reimbursed. It’s only a couple of thousand dollars, but still, when you’re broke and unemployed, that’s a lot.

What has surprised me isn’t that the insurance company is trying to get out of paying. It’s an insurance company, I expect them to be weasels. It’s that there is very little recourse. I’ve filed appeals, filed complaints with my state insurance agency and the Department of Labor and ERISA, written letters to every person I can think of, even contacted a lawyer. None of it does any good. Evidently, if an insurance company won’t pay, no one will make them – unless your story is horrible enough to get on the news.

That’s why I think we need a public option, to provide competition for the insurance companies. In theory, we should be able to regulate private insurance companies and force them to follow the rules. It works in parts of Europe. But our government doesn’t "believe" in regulation. (Even the Democrats – look at what’s happening in the financial industry.) And without enforcement behind them, regulations are useless. With a public option, at least consumers would have a choice – and insurance companies are more likely to follow the rules, if they know their customers could walk away. Right now, they know that people have no choice, and they can do whatever they want with no consequences.

A cell phone is something you use every day. Does it make sense that everyone would like the same one? We all have different cars and different furniture and different jobs, so it makes sense that we would like different cell phones. (The only problem with this are cell phone contracts that make it difficult to change phones.) If you don't like your iPhone, get a different phone. It's not like you're giving away your first born child. (I love my Mac, but I don't feel personally insulted if someone else prefers Windows.)

But seriously, whatever cell phone you use, get a protective case for it. The silicone ones are nice. It will protect it from breaking and probably keep it from slipping out of your hands.

Last year, I was laid off from my job, and then found out I had cancer. I just barely managed to hold onto my Cobra coverage long enough to finish my cancer treatments, mostly by running up a frightening debt on my credit cards, but if I hadn't been lucky enough to get a job, I would have ended up bankrupt. I still had a gap when I was uninsured, which is very scary when you have cancer. I saw firsthand how easy it is to slip through the cracks, even when you've spent your whole life working and paying your insurance premiums.

So when my more conservative friends start talking about how we don't need health care reform, I remind them that I was one of those "uninsured people" not long ago. The answer I always get is "oh, well, I don't mean people like YOU, I mean "THOSE OTHER PEOPLE". When I respond by saying "well, how are you going to keep "those other people" from getting insurance without throwing people like me under the bus?" they don't have an answer.

I don't think it's directly racial for my friends, I think it's more of a class issue. But it's hard to get them to understand how little it takes to go from one of the "haves" to one of the "have nots" when it comes to health insurance.