The Eph Word

Things and Stuff

2008-06-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Hello out there on the interwebs! I’ve been thinking about my blog all week, trying to come up with something relevant to say, and I am drawing a blank.

Yeah, Hillary had to end her campaign last week and that pissed me off (though it did not surprise me at all). Now we have to wrap our heads around voting for Obama and wonder and wait until he chooses a running mate. Hmph.

The anti-gay-marriage people are flooding millions of dollars into California to try and stop the legal same-sex weddings that are about to begin. In Merced and Kern counties the county clerks will cease marrying everyone just so they don’t have to marry same sex couples. Isn’t that nice and non-discriminatory of them? However, in LA county, the county clerk is opening extra offices to accommadate everyone. They're even opening special "auxillary offices" for a few months in West Hollywood and the like.

Then there’s all the depressing and continuous discussion of the lousy economy, the crazy prices we’re all paying for gas and food that seem to be on every news show every day all day no matter what. I’ve stopped watching for now. It makes my head hurt.

So, there are all these big things going on and I can’t think of anything I would really like to write to you about this week. Call it summer apathy, I suppose. Maybe I’m feeling a little lost without school to force me to focus and work ‘til I drop. I don’t know.

In lieu of writing about anything of substance, I give you…

more pictures of my garden!

Enjoy

We finally picked the carrots. Um....yeah.

Awww, to heck with carrots! We're gonna have strawberries now. So there.

And herbs. Lots and lots of herbs.

Skip-The-Flying-Pug thinks this is all a great idea.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

2008-05-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm growing a garden!

So far I have some very healthy tomato plants, a few struggling green beans, some very enthusiastic pea plants (that need something to grow up onto) and some pathetic little pepper plants that have been chewed to pieces by some unknown chompy bug. I'm going to try planting some corn plants in a sunny spot on the side of the house next and see what happens.

Oh, there is also one surviving baby carrot plant in a planter box on the side of the house. We started with six or so so, but they all died. I'm afraid to pick this thing and find one skinny pathetic carrot, so I keep putting it off.

Here are some pictures of my wee garden:

I'm really excited about the tomatoes. They seem to be coming along nicely and so far no aphids!

Ninja-The-Wonder-Hound guards the failing carrot plant in the lower right corner. Good dog!

Here's the little veggie patch. Beans in the front, peas in the middle and sad little peppers in the back. We trimmed back the trees last week so the garden will be getting more sun. Maybe that will miraculously heal the pepper plants.

Maybe I'll go to Osh and miraculously replace the little buggers with healthier plants.

Ninja sings to the plants to help them grow big and strong!

With any luck, after months and months of hard work and patience, I might have enough veg to make myself a salad. I shall keep you aprised of the progress of my produce.

Take Back the Night Part II

2008-05-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

I know it's taken me a while to post the other half of this one so here it is. This is the "hard news" story I wrote about the rally at CSUN. One of the things that I've noticed about journalism thus far, is that "hard news" is supposed to be considered more challenging, more real. Feature stories seem to have a reputation for being fluff oe soft. This pisses me off.

I would much rather read a Wall Street Journal style feature story that a typical inverted pyramid who-what-when-where-why news story any day. I also find it to be much more fun to write a feature story. Knowing what the news is is important, but I also want to know who it affects. How does it affect them and why? Putting an individual, human take on a story does not make it weaker. I think it strengthens it and can have much more impact.

One way isn't really better or more important than the other, but I hate how feature stories are dismissed by some people. The real news-men cover the real news and the women write fluffy little feature pieces. Ugh.

That said, here's my "real" news story about the Take Back the Night rally. I admit, I had a much more interesting time writing the feature piece below, but this was challenging as well because I had to distill all the information into something readable.

(Warning: there is some explicit language at the end that could be triggering for some readers.)

Here you go:

Over 250 CSUN students attended the Take Back the Night rally at Plaza del Sol Thursday night to raise awareness about violence against women and offer support to victims of domestic violence.
Domestic violence, rape and other forms of sexual abuse are still common occurrences but are rarely talked about in public. Take Back the Night rallies have been organized around the country for more than 20 years in an effort to educate the public about the issue.

CSUN alumna, Alexis Lawrence, founder of the university’s first Take Back the Night rally five years ago, opened the event. “Every eight minutes a woman is raped according to R.A.I.N.N. Every two minutes a woman is sexually assaulted,” she said. “That’s appalling. I’m here because we are going to take back the night. This is our night to take it back.”

The evening continued with short speeches by representatives of campus and community groups. Mark Stevens of University Counseling Services, Professor Shira Brown from the Women’s Studies Department and Peggy Raina director of Peace Over Violence spoke, read poetry and offered their thoughts about ways to end the violence.

“Why does rape exist?” Stevens asked. “For one main reason, because it can. It is essential for us, as men, to break the code of silence that we have been taught to uphold and speak out against rape,” he said.

The plaza was ringed with tables set up by different groups such as The Valley Trauma Center, the CSUN V-Day club, the CSUN Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance, the University Counseling Services and Project D.A.T.E.

Behind the tables a clothes line hung with t-shirts provided a back drop for the speeches and activities. The shirts are part of the Clothesline Project, an art project where women who have experienced violence can express their emotions by decorating a t-shirt and displaying it as part of the larger piece. One small, pink shirt read, “It’s not my fault” in red fabric paint. A larger, yellow shirt had the words “No means no!” scrawled across it in blue paint.

Once the speeches had concluded, participants were given candles by volunteers of the campus Women’s Resource and Research Center and hand-painted posters to carry in an evening march across campus. They chanted “Two, four, six, eight, no more violence, no more rape!”, as they walked past the Oviatt Library and the Arbor Court. Others chanted “Join together, free our lives, we will not be victimized.” Their signs were emblazoned with slogans such as “My body my right” and simply, “I won’t be afraid.”

When the boisterous group reached the corner of Etiwanda Ave. and North University Dr. they fell silent and continued their walk to recognize victims of domestic violence who have not survived. They ended the march in front of the Chicano/a House where a small stage had been set up on the front lawn with a microphone and speakers. The approximately 200 marchers extinguished their candles and gathered together, sitting on metal, folding chairs and blankets on the ground to share their stories and support one another.

Stephanie Montes, student director of The Women’s Resource and Research Center and the lead organizer of the event, thanked the crowd and encouraged them to support the group at an upcoming meeting with the University Provost’s office. The Women’s Resource and Research Center is seeking funds to rebuild their house which was gutted by an electrical fire on Dec. 18, 2007 following a power surge that occurred the same night.

The rally concluded with almost two hours of people getting up onstage and telling their stories of surviving violence, some through tears and shaking voices, many with the support of friends standing with them. Women and men got up over and over again and told variations of the same story. “He pinned my arms over my head and penetrated me,” said one woman while her friends stood beside her.

“He hit me over and over again,” said a young man of his father’s abuse.

Lawrence told the group why she decided to share her story five years ago and start Take Back the Night at CSUN. “Some people call it a transformation from victim to survivor, I just call it surviving.”

Same Sex Marriage Ban Struck Down in CA!

2008-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Today, California became the second state in the country to strike down a same-sex marriage ban and allow gay and lesbian couples to marry (not just be domestic partners). Currently, lesbian and gay couples may legally marry in Massachusetts and in Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa.

The decision is in response to lawsuits brought against the state by nine couples and various civil rights groups after the San Francisco same-sex marriages of 2000 were struck down. It also overturns a ban on same-sex marriage that passed in 2000 as a voter initiative.

In the 4-3 decision the court ruled: “In light of the fundamental nature of the substantive rights embodied in the right to marry — and their central importance to an individual’s opportunity to live a happy, meaningful, and satisfying life as a full member of society — the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all individuals and couples, without regard to their sexual orientation.”

I knew this case was up before the California Supreme Court, but I honestly was too nervous about the outcome to pay too much attention to it. Since it has only passed by one vote, I may have been correct in my apprehension. I am beyond thrilled that it passed…but I’m also sad that it was such a close vote. I just don’t understand how people can be so narrow-minded and cruel about something that does not directly affect them.

Ok – I’m gonna rant for a minute. Fair warning.

If I want to marry the person I love and am committed to, why should anyone but the two of us care? How does my getting married to another woman affect the heterosexual couple next door? How can it possibly do any harm to the Christian conservative right-wing nut jobs down the street? It can’t because it’s none of their business. Just like their marriage is none of my business.

The legal status that goes with marriage (ie. tax status, health benefits, discrimination laws) have nothing to do with religious beliefs. A straight couple can go down to the courthouse, get married by a judge in front of a stranger and receive the same rights and benefits from the government as a devoutly religious couple who holds a full ceremony in a place of worship. The religious aspects have nothing to do with the legitimacy of the union under the law.

Rant over.

The ruling continued:

“Furthermore, in contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.” (Emphasis mine)

Outstanding!

Of course, some people are not too happy about this ruling. There is a plan underway to try and get enough signatures to force a voter initiative on the September ballot to overturn the ruling.
My favorite quote from the opposition (in the CNN article linked above) is this one:
"So-called 'same-sex' marriage is counterfeit marriage. Marriage is, and has always been, between a man and a woman,” said Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues for the group Concerned Women for America, in a written statement. “We know that it's in the best interest of children to be raised with a mother and a father. To use children as guinea pigs in radical San Francisco-style social experimentation is deplorable."

What is a San Francisco-style social experiment anyway? Does it have to take place on a street car like the Rice-A-Roni commercials? (ding, ding!) Can it be radical if it occurs outside the city limits? Shouldn’t it really be a radical Massachusetts style social experiment since they’ve had legal same-sex marriages for years? Maybe that’s not radical enough since the state seems to be doing just fine and has not collapsed into anarchy and degradation. Hmmm..

I did enjoy this little written statement from the govenator:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - "I respect the Court's decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling. Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling."

There’s a lot of things Arnold has done in office that I disagree with, but I hope he really intends to stand behind this statement. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
So, now that California has gone down this path I wonder what effect it will have on the rest of the country. Iowa’s Supreme Court is about to hear a similar case later this year. I suppose we shall just have to wait and see.

Take Back the Night - Part I

2008-05-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, better late than never, right?

I went to CSUN's fifth annual Take Back the Night rally about two weeks ago now (April 24th) and had an amazing time. I wanted to go anyway and I managed to talk my journalism prof into letting me cover it for my final writing project. (Whee!) We had to write a hard news story and a feature piece. We could also put together some graphics and take pictures if we wanted.

I had never been to a Take Back the Night rally, myself and it was quite an experience. It was amazing to see so many people come together and speak out against sexual violence. There were some men who spoke as well which I thought was great. I was afraid there wouldn't be much support from the college guys, but it was very encouraging.

After the formal speeches, we were all given candles and we marched across campus to another location. I guess the rally is usually held earlier in the year, so at 7:00 is actually dark. This looked more like Take Back the Afternoon, but it was ok. The people involved were just as motivated anyway.

Once we got to the end of the walk, there was a stage set up with a microphone and a little podium. People could come up and talk about their own experiences with sexual violence. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. People got up there alone, or with friends, and told an audience of people they didn't know about rape, sexual molestation and assaults. Everyone was supportive and made sure that those who shared knew they were in a safe place.

I chose to write my feature piece about one of the girls at the open mic and one of the presenters at the formal speech portion...

(I have changed some names and other info to protect privacy.)

Madeline Hoover , a 22-year-old CSUN student, is working towards a degree in sociology and criminology. When she’s not at school or working at her job as a teacher’s assistant at San Fernando High School, she can often be found at local night clubs performing her poetry at open-mic nights. One of her most emotional pieces centers on her experience with a sexual assault.

“The first couple of times I performed it, it was really hard to read it out loud. I’m over it…but I’m not,” she said of the assault that occurred over a year ago.

Hoover, or Lady May as she’s known at the poetry clubs, has performed the piece over the past year at many different venues. She attended CSUN’s Take Back the Night rally for the first time this year and decided to share the poem during the open-mic session at the Chicano/a house. The young woman stepped up onto the little stage, and with a strong, clear voice, shared her story with the unique audience of survivors and their supporters.

“I’ve never performed the piece in front of an audience like that,” she said. “I was a little nervous.”

There are as many ways to overcome the trauma of violence against women as there are victims. For those who survive, the path to healing is often long and may lead to surprising destinations.

In the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, the Valley Trauma Center is where many victims begin to heal. According to CSUN educational psychology and counseling professor Charles Hanson, every month the center sees between 60 and 80 cases for child abuse, rape, or sexual assault. Over half of those are children under 14.

Hoover is never quite sure how the piece will be received from one audience to the next. Sometimes she can tell they don’t know handle it. Often, she will disappear to the back of the room after a performance and wait to see how the audience has received her public, spoken-word reaction to a very personal assault.

The oldest child of Nicaraguan and Syrian parents, she has a 14-year-old sister she is very protective of. “I feel like the mama bear sometimes,” she said. “She’s going to my old high school now, so everyone’s like, oh, you’re Madeline's sister.”

She recently performed the piece for some of her High School students in a new poetry workshop she is leading. She said it was important to let them know it happened to her and it can be talked about.
As Hoover completes her third year at CSUN and plans to continue to help other women through her poetry and her degree, Jae Farkiss is hard at work at Valley Trauma Center, speaking out to try and prevent the violence.

Farkiss, herself a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault in the early 80s, has worked at the Valley Trauma Center in Van Nuys for almost eight years as a Prevention Education Specialist. She speaks at schools on a regular basis, at health fairs in low-income communities, at Take Back the Night rallies and with small children at elementary schools about “good touch/bad touch.”

“I’m a very optimistic person and this job makes me feel empowered every day,” she said. “If even one person behaves differently, I’ve done my job.”

After Farkiss’ own experience with violence in a relationship, she used her skills as a writer and a journalist to run support groups and journal-writing sessions for other survivors. That work turned into a compilation book called Finding Our Voices - Speaking Out Against The Violence in 1991.

After returning to school and earning a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, Farkiss returned to the shelter that helped saved her life, Haven House, and worked for 13 years as a counselor. She felt the work was vitally important to the individuals and to the community, but it could also be difficult.

“You have to have good boundaries,” she said. “But, I really believe in the tenacity of the human spirit.”

Farkiss also spoke at CSUN’s Take Back the Night rally and shared some of her experiences working with young people. She often asks a room full of teenagers about cat-calling young women on the street. While the boys usually say it is just a joke, the girls often express feeling of intimidation according to Farkiss.

“How many of you have ever curtailed your activities, or changed what you were going to wear, or didn’t go somewhere at night because you were worried about getting raped?” she asks. “Not a male child in any of those classrooms will raise a hand. Virtually 100 percent of the girls in every presentation I do will raise their hand

Hoover and Farkiss have both taken one of the most profound, personal violations someone can go through and redirected the pain into creative works of healing.

“I just automatically had to write about it,” said Hoover. “I didn’t know how to talk about it yet, so I wrote it down.”

Who Needs Equal Pay Anyhow?

2008-04-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hello my few, but faithful, readers!

I have been crazy busy producing copy for my journalism 210 class the past week or so. I just finished an opinion piece about the Senate's inability to pass the Fair Pay Act last week. Boy, did that piss me off! I know this might come across as a little lazy, but rather than write another piece here that basically says the same thing, I thought I'd share what I wrote for class.

I'm also working on a package about the Take Back the Night Rally that was held on campus Thurs. night. More about that to come...

Senate Republicans Side With Special Interests - Block Equal Pay Bill

Equal pay for equal work should be a no-brainer in this day and age. None of us should have to launch an investigation to find out if we’re getting shorted on our paychecks because of gender, race, religion or any other discriminatory factor. Unfortunately for us working stiffs, Senate Republicans do not agree.

The Senate failed to pass the Fair Pay Restoration Act last Wed. by the four votes needed to avoid a filibuster. The bill is a response to the Supreme Court decision in 2007 in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear that prevented an employee from suing their employer for pay discrimination after 180 days of receiving their first pay check. In the case of Lily Ledbetter, she worked in the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. factory in Gadsden, Ala. as a supervisor in the Tire Assembly Department for years before she discovered that her male counterparts were making 15 to 40 percent more than she was.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, written by Bush appointee Judge Samuel Alito, failed to take into consideration the fact that most people do not have access to their employer’s payroll information and can’t find out exactly what their counterparts are making in the company, at least not within the first six months at a new job. They did seem to consider that large corporations don’t like lots of lawsuits from angry employees whose pensions and Social Security benefits are significantly lower thanks to the pay discrimination they suffered while employed.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Fair Pay Restoration Act last June as a way of setting right what the Supreme Court screwed up. But alas, senators such as Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ted Stevens (R-AK), seem to think that big business interests are more important than making sure vulnerable people have recourse when their employers screw them over. All a company has to do is keep their employees in the dark for 180 days and they are free and clear. The court has put the burden on the individual employee to find out what a corporation is doing with their payroll. Sounds fair to me.

Republican presidential nominee, John McCain didn’t bother to show up for the vote, but said that he would also have voted to oppose the bill according to the Associated Press. This while campaigning through poverty stricken states and concluding in New Orleans, an area where fair pay for working-class families is a daily concern with very tangible results.

Both Democratic candidates for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were able to make it back to the Senate floor to vote in support of the bill.

The Senate’s failure to pass the Fair Pay Act is yet another testament to the power of special interests in our governmental system. While the people cast their votes every two years and hope for the best, those voted into power turn their backs yet again on the folks who put them there.

At least the high-paid executives at Goodyear (and every other business in America) can rest easy knowing they can continue to grossly underpay anyone they want.

(P.S. I found Jen Sorensen's great comic Here)

What if I don't want to Shine?

2008-04-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late on this one, but it's been bugging me for a while now, so I'm going to have to share.

Yahoo has developed a new website for women called Shine. Isn't that sweet and pseudo-inspiring? Maybe it’s all the pink assaulting me on the first page (why, why, why!?) but I was'nt all that hopeful about a website for women created by corporate geniuses and their advertisers.

A quick tour through the new site reveals the usual Food, Fashion and Family focus of women's publications both on and off the Internet. Our areas of interest include: Love + Sex, Work + Money, Fashion + Beauty, Healthy Living, Entertainment and (my favorite) Astrology.

No mention of politics even though we're in the middle of one of the most interesting and historically important elections in years. Uhmm, first viable female candidate? Hello? First African American candidate? Anyone, anyone...Buehler?

There is an area called Speak Up that looked promising, but it turns out to be a forum where we ladies can weigh in on such heady matters as "Do you diet with your best friend?" and "If Boob-Job-in-a-Bottle worked, would you try it?. A few of the questions were in reference to the recent Elliot Spitzer scandal - "Would you stand by your man if he were busted with a prostitute?" and "Would you bust your porn-watching coworker?" Obviously, questions that keep women up at night.

Ok, so the most interactive part of the website is a little light. Fine. Things look more promising over in Work+ Money. There are blog articles about the recent mortgage crisis and a piece giving advice on how to approach the topic of past mistakes in an interview. There are also the typical articles about managing expenses at home and planning for high prices on vacation in Europe.

Shine doesn't feel like an Internet space that really has my interests at heart. I can waste time money and valuable self-esteem looking at Glamour or Oprah magazine. Why on Earth would I want to go to a web site that seems to be the lowest common denominator of typical "women's" magazines? The content seems just as dictated by advertiser dollars as any fashion mag. Ads for weight loss supplements and make-up appear around every corner. I would not be surprised to find out some of the content is agreed upon between Yahoo and the advertisers who literally pop up on this site.

Besides the obvious insults to my intelligence and assumptions about what I (as a woman) find important in life, I'm offended at the idea that we even need a site like this. What, the Yahoo home page I've been going to is actually for men? Since the default gender in our society is male (white, heterosexual, middle-class male actually), am I to assume that the default home page at Yahoo is intended mostly for men? It must be, since they went to all the time and trouble to create a special pink website just for us little ole' women folk.

What do Geraldine Ferraro and Margaret Cho Have in Common?

2008-03-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Sooooo, uhm...hi. Blogin'.

Yup.

Well, first thing, I felt like a little change so I'm trying out a new template. I also had to change my quote at the top of the page. "We've chosen the path to equality, don't let them turn us around." —Geraldine Ferraro. I had to ask her to resign. Sorry Geraldine, but those racial comments were not cool. With staffers like that, Hillary doesn't need actual opponents.

And what is the deal with all these pundits and media people telling Hillary Clinton to give up on the whole "being president thing"? They just can not wait to force her out of this race. I am so sick of hearing that she should quit. She has some incredibly valuable ideas and iniatives and has invested way too much effort into the race to just throw up her hands and go home. It would be unfair to her, because I think she still has a chance, and it would be heartbreaking to all her supporters who have poured so much of their blood sweat and tears into her canidacy. Quit? Just like that? I don't think so. On to Pennsylvania!

So, now I have a Margaret Cho quote up there at the top of the page. I like it. I think it's true and I think she's pretty cool. I've actually been watching a lot of her stuff lately and reading up on her. I'm writing a paper on a "succesful" woman for my Women's Studies class and I chose her. If surviving eating disorders, drug addiction, relationship disasters and Hollywood b.s. counts for anything, then I'd say she's a success. I also get to watch a bunch of stand-up comedy for research. That doesn't suck. :)

One of the things I really like about Margaret is her fearless outspokenness. I know she's a comedian and they all have to have some of that just to get on stage, but she takes it to another level. I love that she'll talk about how the media can make us feel fat (and a little crazy) and hate our bodies, what her body image issues did to her and how sex mixes into the whole mess. I also love that instead of feeling beat down by it all, she makes me laugh about it. It's good to sit back every now and then and realize that some of this stuff can be pretty ridiculous. I mean, have you ever really looked at the cover of Cosmo? I mean, really examined the thing. It's pretty stupid when you get down to it and, while these media images are incredibly harmful, I think one way to disarm them is to point out how incredibly stupid they are.

Sometimes you have to laugh because you're just too tired of crying.

Treats!

2007-11-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Halloween has come and gone and we're all recovering from the sugar shock. There are quite a few bags of candy lying around the house...calling for me. As Rosie O'Donnell said. "How can I sleep when I know there's an Almond Joy one floor below me?" Indeed.

In honor of recent festivities and because I can' t focus on any one thing...I give you:
Yet Another Grab Bag Post.

Wheeeee! Enjoy.

The first thing floating around in my head is the FEMA press conference that wasn't. Good lord. Where to start?

The good people over at FEMA wanted to be sure to project a proactive image (in light of their shameful failure in New Orleans) and decided to inform the public of what exactly they were doing for the California wild fires. This would have been a good thing. We like accurate information, yes? Of course yes.

So they announced a press conference fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to start and apparently didn't know what to do when - surprise, surprise - no journalists showed up in time. So they just staged the whole thing and didn't tell anyone.

Yep, they faked a news conference.

My biggest question here, is not why did they do it. It's why did they think they could get away with it? Do they think journalists in D.C. don't talk to each other? Do they think no one would notice the incredibly softball questions that were being asked or the fact that Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy administrator, knew the first names of at least two of the supposed journalists who were asking the questions. It boggles the mind.

You can read the Washington Post story about this HERE.

Yeah, so that pissed me off.

Then there was this odd bit of advertising. Apparently Heidi Klum has returned to modeling after having her third child. Hurrah.

She signed a deal with Jordache Jeans who turned out this advertisement in the major glossy mags this month. Notice anything missing? (besides her shirt)

My god, what have they done to that poor woman's breasts? She's missing a rather important part of the female anatomy. Kind of the whole biological reason we have breasts and all. I'd be offended but I'm too weirded out.

Does this mean that she didn't breastfeed child number three?

Bizarre ads aside, there has been some cool stuff going on that brightened up my days this week.

Ms. Magazine turned 35 and has put out a very cool fall issue. I highly recommend checking it out. There are the usual incredibly well-written pieces focusing on issues like the wage gap, political involvement and breast cancer research. I particularly loved the piece on Title IX.

Title IX was legislation, passed in 1972 that prohibited sex discrimination in education. It's the reason we now have girl's sports in middle and high schools. It's also the reason we have significantly more female doctors, lawyers, engineers and scientists.

Title IX states,
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

They have a little graph that shows how many women were enrolled in college programs for Business, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Doctoral, Dental, Medical and Law degrees. The first figures are for 1970 (pre-Title IX) and the second are for 2005. Needless to say most of the numbers more than tripled. Very, very, cool stuff.

Now if we could just get paid the same.

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to be shackled to my computer this weekend working on a presentation for my Women, Men and the Media class. I'm analyzing the differences between Cosmopolitan and Bitch Magazine and their portrayals of minority and gay women. Perhaps I will have something fun to post here when I'm done.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dress Up?

2007-10-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just around the corner!

I love this holiday. I really do. Halloween means it's really truly fall. It means I get to play dress up and make-believe with the other kids. It means girls will be running around campus scantily clad as sexy nurses, sexy cops in hot pants and and witches in teeny-tiny skirts...wait a minute.

I love most of the stuff about Halloween, but this shit is just stupid.

Sadly, these costumes are nothing to be surprised/shocked about.

I'm all for feeling good about yourself and showing off a little and when you want to. Halloween is a great opportunity to have some fun, get dressed up and be a little silly.

I just wish there wasn't such a tendency to use the holiday as an excuse to get girls to dress like strippers.

If those typical sexist, objectifying, insluting and tacky costumes are a bit much, the one below has crossed the line into 'truly offensive'.

Because there is nothing funnier than dressing up like a life threatening disease. This is the costume you can buy (and yes, it does come in plus sizes) to be Anna Rexia this Halloween. The dress comes with a measuring tape belt and choker and a heart-shaped name tag so everyone will be able to get the joke.

I love that the model they chose is a very buxom, healthy looking curvy woman. As if we need to glamorize eating disorders a little more. Mary Kate and Ashley? Keira? I will not suprised when I see this picture show up on a "thinspiration" page at a pro-ana or pro-mia website.

About a week ago we had a couple of young ladies from an eating disorder awareness group on campus come to our journalism class to talk to us about their program and what is offered on campus. They were a little nervous I think, trying to give their presentation in front of a bunch of journalism students who were writing down everything they said. I think they did a great job, though. We had to take notes and write a story covering thier presentation. Here's mine:

Images in the media such as super thin models and emaciated actresses are a major factor contributing to people developing eating disorders, according to two representatives from an eating disorder awareness group on campus.

The models seen daily in ads and on commercials are digitally enhanced, slimmed down and otherwise manipulated in order to sell products, said the representatives at a recent presentation. People don’t always realize that even the models don’t look perfect and many suffer from disordered eating themselves, said one.

“We pick our friends because they are there for us not because they’re skinny or pretty or have nice clothes,” said presenter Kristy Williams, a 21-year-old journalism major at CSUN.

Williams and Jaycee DeFillipo spoke to a group of about 20 students in Manzanita Hall Thursday night about the reasons, signs and consequences of eating disorders. Both young women are members of JADE, or the Joint Advocates on Eating Disorders at CSUN.

According to JADE statistics, 60 percent of CSUN students have known someone with an eating disorder and 38 percent have had or currently have one. Of that 28 percent, 20 percent are males. The students who seem most affected, according to the JADE web-site, are majoring in kinesiology, health science, nutrition and journalism – areas that focus either on food or the media.

There are many signs a person has an eating disorder, said DeFillipo. The 23-year-old journalism student said anorexics may display a fear of gaining weight and avoid situations where they are expected to eat in front of people, such as going out to dinner. They may also have hair loss or develop a thin layer of hair on their bodies. This is the body’s attempt to try to keep warm when so much body fat has been lost, she said.

Williams said that bulimics can develop different problems. Their weight may actually stay the same, but because they are throwing up so often they could have tooth decay, a hole in the esophagus, calluses on their fingers as well as hair loss and heart problems, she said. The 21-year-old broadcast journalism major added that they will often exercise a lot and also display a fear of gaining weight.

“The main way people get an eating disorder is to start dieting, it turns into an obsession because of a mental background of anxiety or depression,” said DeFillipo.

Both Williams and DeFillipo emphasized that eating disorders are serious problems. According to the JADE website, between 5 and 20 percent of people who develop eating disorders die as a result of medical complications.

“If you do know someone who has an eating disorder it can be a really touchy subject,” said Williams.

Never attack your friend or make fun of them, she advised. Try to use ‘I statements’ such as, I feel like you haven’t been eating a lot lately. Approach them when they are alone so they don’t feel embarrassed or ganged up on.

“If they won’t listen to you and you feel it is very serious, tell someone,” said DeFillipo.

JADE is part of the University Counseling Services and offers many resources to help students who may have or know someone who suffering from an eating disorder. There is a screening quiz on the website at www. csun.edu/counseling. To speak with a counselor about eating disorders, students can call the center at (818) 677-7500 or the main line at (818) 677-2366. All calls are confidential.

If you're having an issue with an eating disorder and don't happen to go to Cal State Northridge like me, you can contact one of these groups for help:

1-858-481-1515
National Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center

1-800-931-2237
National Eating Disorders Association
International treatment referrals and information

Since eating disorders are usually linked to other problems like depression and suicidal feelings, I thought I should include these numbers as well:

Hope Line Network
1-800-273-TALK

800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433)
National Suicide Hotline
Trained volunteers and professional counselors there to listen

A Short Play About The Space in My Head Reserved for Blogging

2007-10-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Curtain Rises on an long neglected room. There are large items covered with dusty white sheets stage left and right that could possibly be a couch and a chair. A desk sits against a back wall with a computer and monitor long untouched and turned off. Everything is dusty. The room is dimly lit.

Enter Meesh. She is a young woman in her late 20s to mid 30s of average height and weight. Her brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail by way of a baseball cap. Her blue jeans are old and broken in and her t-shirt looks like an old favorite. It is not tucked in. She opens a door stage right and pokes her head into the room.

Meesh: Hello? Anyone in here?

She tentatively steps into the room.

Meesh: Hello? (she looks around) I remember this place! Huh. Guess it’s been longer than I thought.

She walks over to the desk and tries to turn on the computer. It won’t start up. She checks to make sure it’s plugged in and tries again. Nothing. She gives up on that for the moment and heads over to the comfy chair and removes the sheet. A flurry of dust surrounds her and she sneezes. Once the sneezing fit has passed she plops down into the chair.

Meesh: (settling in) I missed it here. I wonder if anyone’s been by…

There is a sudden sound as if something is skittering across the floor. Meesh stiffens in the chair. The sound of skittering again followed by a thump and then:

Creature: Ow. Damnit.

Meesh jumps to her feet.

Meesh: Who’s there? (silence) Hey! Who’s in here?

Creature: (popping up from behind the desk) Well, la de da. Where the hell have you been?

The Creature is no more than three feet tall, covered in fur that would be brown were it not for all the dust and seems to have a stuffed up nose. She has ears like a fox, the general facial features of a bear and a long tail the ends in a tuft of fur. She is also possessed of a small pair of wings that are inclined to flutter when agitated. These wings are larger versions of what can be found on a dragon fly and do not look at all up to the task of actually achieving flight.

Meesh takes this all in for a second.

Meesh: Excuse me?

Creature: You disappear for months on end without so much as a word, not even an update! And you expect to come barging back in like nothing’s happened. Excuse me, Meesh but as far as I’m concerned you’re the one who should be explaining. So I’ll ask again, where the hell have you been?

Meesh: I don’t think I like your tone. Besides, I’m not inclined to answer interrogative questions from small furry creatures who know my name but don’t have the common courtesy to tell me theirs. (she plops back down in her chair)

Creature: I’m your cyber muse you fool! I’m the one who helps you find all that great stuff to blog about. My Little Ponies with suggestive poses – that was me. The story idea about the birth control pills on campus getting more expensive – me. The Supreme Court passing stupid decisions down about abortion – me again! I can’t believe you don’t recognize me. We used to work together at least once a week!

Meesh: Wait a minute…you’re the little creature in my subconscious that helps me sort through the news and decide what to write about! But I never see you. You always hang out behind the scenes. I thought you didn’t like come out much.

Creature: What’s the point of hiding out? You haven’t been here in months.

Meesh: I’m sorry. Things have been…well…weird lately.

Creature: Weird? You want to know about weird? The Little Ponies you blogged about have been through here every day looking for you and now they’re starting to follow Helen Thomas around. You need to sort out your posts, my dear.

Meesh: Sorry. I will be by more often. I promise. It’s just that my life has been changing a lot and I don’t have much spare time.

Creature: You can make time. What’s been going on anyway?

Meesh: Well…I have a new job at Cal State Northridge that I really like and then I’m taking classes four nights a week. And these are upper division classes with a lot of writing requirements. And I have this amazing new person in my life and we go out every now and then. And then there’re all the doctor’s appointments and the radiation treatments. Not to mention all the home work, did I tell you about the homework and weekends at my mom’s here and there and…

Creature: Back up! What radiation treatments?

Meesh: (all innocence) Hmmm?

Creature: Why are you getting radiated?

Meesh: (sigh) Because I have a stage one cancer.

Creature: (fluttering closer) Say again?

Meesh: I got a little stage one cancer and they have to give me radiation every morning so I kind of feel like crap and mostly want to nap all the time.

Creature: (walking up to her and placing a paw on her knee) Are you going to be ok?

Meesh: Oh yeah. I’ll be fine once it’s all over. It’s just pretty sucky right now ‘cause the radiation is killing a lot of white blood cells and I get run down. My doctors are really good and they’re keeping an eye on things, though.

Creature: Oh. That’s good then. (she sits on the floor near her feet and looks up at her) So are you gonna come by here more often? Your blog misses you and someone has to keep these ponies you wrote about in line. They’re randy little things. They won’t listen to me. I’m just a muse you know.

Meesh: I’d like to stop in more often but what can I write about here anymore? I’m so busy writing for my classes I hardly have the time anymore.

Creature: You could write about your classes…or post some of the stories you’ve written for your journalism class…or tell us about what’s going on in you Women in Media classes. That way you could review your material and share cool info with the other blog people. I bet they miss you too.

Meesh: You might be right. I could easily blog about my classes like last semester. And my Women in Media class is pretty interesting. We did this whole thing on Barbie last week that was pretty cool. Did you know she was modeled after a naughty sex doll from Germany?

Creature: You don’t say?

Meesh: Yeah and then they marketed the doll to mothers as a way of teaching their daughters how to grow up and catch a husband so…hey! I see what you’re doing here.

Creature: What?

The Creature gets up and flutters over to the computer desk. With a flick of a switch she is able to fire up the computer and the screen is soon open to a blank word document. Meesh walks over to the desk in amazement and sits down in front of the computer. The Creature plops down on the floor next to her.

Creature: So…tell me about Barbie…

Fade to black out and
Curtain

I [heart] Helen Thomas

2007-08-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

She is one of the coolest journalists around, male or female and one of my all time favorites. She has been a White House correspondent since the Kennedy administration and has covered every president since. She worked for United Press International as a correspondent and chief for 57 years. She is practically an institution in the White House press room and is the only journalist who has her name printed on the plaque for her chair. Everyone else has the name of the news organization they work for.

Helen broke through many barriers as a female journalist in a very male dominated profession. She was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, the first woman member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and the first woman member of the Gridiron Club. Yeah, I had to look that last one up too. The Gridiron club is an old, prestigious group consisting of 65 active members from major news organizations and membership is by invitation only. (So, la-dee-da.)

She was named one of the "Most influential Women in America" by The World Almanac back in 1976. In 1998, she received the International Women's Media Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. And on May 20th of this year, Thomas received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena College in Loudonville, NY for her contributions to breaking the gender barrier in journalism.

She has always been an outspoken, bold reporter and has never shirked from asking the tough questions. Up until today I think my favorite Helen Thomas moment was from March of 2006, when she asked President Bush point blank why he really got us into the war in Iraq.

"I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounded Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war?"

I have a new favorite Helen Thomas quote today. Let me set this up for you a bit. Context is everything, people. - Helen was at the White House for a press conference with Tony Snow last Friday July 27th. Mr. Snow was attempting to answer questions about the Gonzales hearings and government wire tapping programs. So, he's doing his damnedest to cover his lies upon lies with linguistic double-back-flips. Helen is having none of it and finally brings him to a screeching halt with this: "You're not speaking English, really."

Here's part of the transcript:

Q: Is the administration giving any consideration to declassifying any of this material to try to clear up this controversy and clear Gonzales's name?

MR. SNOW: Not if it involves compromising national security.

Q: But are you considering declassifying --

MR. SNOW: I'm not going to get into conversations that we may or may not be having. We understand how frustrating it is, but again, what we're talking about -- this is what happens when one turns into a political football highly classified programs, knowing that you have free rein to say whatever you want, knowing that the other side can't respond. Cannot respond without violating the law.

Q: Are you saying it was not about the wiretapping that had already been acknowledged?

MR. SNOW: I'm saying that that acknowledged program -- the program that the President disclosed to the American people was not something that was legally controversial.

Q: Wait a minute, Tony you said one thing --
Q: Why are you saying then that nothing --
Q: -- you said there was no controversy, and you also said that whatever controversy there was was resolved. Can you say which it is?

MR. SNOW: Because -- what I'm saying is that there was the discussion of a controversy; the controversy did not hinge upon this program that I've discussed --

Q: Controversy over what?

MR. SNOW: Okay --

Q: Controversy over what?

MR. SNOW: I thought I was pretty clear, but maybe I'm just being too --

Q: No, you're not speaking English, really. (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: Okay, let me try again. The terrorist surveillance program, as it has been labeled -- it was not so labeled at the time -- was a program of doing surveillance on communications of al Qaeda or suspected al Qaeda members internationally -- internationally into the United States. The legal basis of that was accepted by the Department of Justice" ...blah, blah, blah ad-infinitum...

The Huffington Post has a video of the news conference here. You really should take a look. It's priceless.

For some good reading, check out her columns at King Features. I particularly enjoyed reading "What Planet is Cheney Living On?" in which she discusses our Vice President's concept of reality, his political history and points out how his opinions about Iraq have done a complete 180 in the last few years. I also have to recommend "The U.S. Supreme Court Sets The Country Back" but only if you have a strong stomach and are not prone to beating your computer to death when angry.

Guess What I Did Last Night!

2007-07-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hey, get your minds out of the gutter people.

Ok, fine…(sigh) Guess what I did before that.

I officially registered for my fall classes at California State University Northridge. I have two honest to goddess, real journalism classes, an anthropology class on women’s roles in ancient to modern societies and a class on comparative art studies. Can you tell I’m putting off the science and math requirements again? (ah-hem) Next semester. I promise.

While it was exciting to finally register for classes at the big kid’s school, the thrill was tempered by the constantly running calculator in my head. How much of this will my student loans cover? How much are the books going to cost? How much is the parking pass going to be for the semester? College is an expensive endeavor at any age, and I would say, a bit more precarious when it’s just little ole’ you paying the bills. I’ve long since passed the time where my parents will be helping out with this sort of thing.

One of the things I have been looking forward to as a student on a state campus, is access to the student health facilities. As a registered college kid, I can get lower cost health care on campus. As far as I can tell, this includes nifty things like eye exams, prescriptions, minor doctor’s visits and the like. I even heard something about massage appointments. I will definitely be looking into that! I was also under the impression that young women could get low cost, discreetly handled birth control pills through the health center should they want to keep the information that they're sexually active to themselves…or at least, not broadcast it to their parents. Apparently, I was mistaken.

Back in 2005, President Bush pushed through Congress and signed a complex budget bill called the Deficit Reduction Act into law. The goal of this nifty bit o’ legislation was to reduce spending on federal programs by $39 billion. Most of this money , of course, is coming from subsidized student loans and Medicaid. One of the effects of this bit of accounting acrobatics was to create a disincentive for drug companies to offer school discounts. The result is that birth control pills, which were once available to young women on campus for about $15 per month, have sky-rocketed to upwards of $50 per month. When you’re trying to pay for $150 text books and eat a decent meal every now and again that adds up.

The Wall Street Journal Online ran an article about this on July 25th. They reported that many students are having to switch to a generic pill (where available) or tell their parents and try to get it covered in their family health plan. Neither of these are terrific options. Once your body is used to a certain dose of hormones, it’s not a great idea to start fiddling around with it by taking a different pill that may have higher levers of hormones. There is also the issue of remembering to take the thing. Young women who were on the Nuva Ring or patch may forget to take their pill if they have had to switch. You have to get into the habit of taking them. Forget once or twice and it’s enough to cause an unwanted pregnancy.

I won’t even go into the issues with having to tell your father you need your birth control pills to be covered on his insurance. Not a conversation I would have wanted to have at the age of 18 with my dad. Ugh.

“Susan Maly, a 22-year-old student at the University of Iowa, says she struggled
with switching pills recently. When she went to her college health center to get
a refill on her Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo prescription a few months ago, she was
distressed to find out that it had gone up to $54 from about $18. Starting this
month, she has switched to a cheaper generic pill that has higher levels of
estrogen than the Lo brand.
"That was an issue for me," says Ms. Maly, but she says she will see how things work out for a couple of months. Initially, she says she felt some heartburn side effects from the new pill, but that has since gone away. She finds the dramatic price increase "unfair" to women who have come to rely on birth control, and feel comfortable with the brand they are on.
"This is the one thing that many females on campus are getting from student health," says Ms. Maly. "It felt like we were a target."

I think I would feel the same way – targeted. Let’s face it; I don’t think my college boyfriend would have offered to go halvsies with me on my birth control pill. The guys can pick up their free condoms, and they’re all set. What do they need to worry about higher pill prices for anyway?

Then there is this little monetary issue for the schools:

“College health centers also say the change threatens to lessen the quality of
service they can provide, since the price increases have eaten into the profits
that they make. Pamela Houle, administrative director for the health
center at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., says the health center
now subsidizes each NuvaRing by about $4. "Previously, we were making $17 a
ring." That may mean fewer educational resources and materials down
the line, she says.”

Oh well, I’m sure they could save a lot of money if they just stopped offering all STD testing, counseling, birth control and condom programs and just taught “abstinence only” on campus. After all, that’s what the Bush administration advocates for high school students, people up to age 29 and government subsidized programs to fight AIDS in Africa, so it must be what works the best.

This just in, "Former Bush Surgeon General Says He Was Muzzled"

2007-07-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this article that popped up today at ABC News is not at all surprising. Former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona (2002 - 06), who was appointed by the Bush administration, spoke today about the administration's policies about important health issues being ignored or blocked for political reasons. (What a shock, ah-hem.) He's talking about little things like stem cell research, abstinence only education and reproductive health.Dr. Carmona is quoted in article:

"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological,theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried. The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science, or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds. The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party," Carmona added.

Referring to stem cell research:

“Carmona said he was prevented from talking publicly even about the science
underpinning the research to enable the U.S. public to have a better understanding of a complicated issue. He said most of the public debate over the matter has been driven by political, ideological or theological motivations."I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made -- stand down, don't talk about it," he said.

My favorite part of the article was at the very end. Referring to some of Carmona's predecessors including Dr. C. Everett Koop who served under President Reagan,

"Carmona said some of his predecessors told him, "We have never seen it
as partisan, as malicious, as vindictive, as mean-spirited as it is today, and
you clearly have worse than anyone's had."

I really wonder what these people in the Bush administration are thinking sometimes. Hasn't history shown, that you may be able to keep people in the dark for a while, but eventually the truth leaks out? No matter how hard these conservatives try to stifle common sense and proven scientific facts and statistics, eventually the people are going to figure it out. Take abstinence only education for example. No matter how hard they try to convince a high school full of teenagers that sex is an evil, dirty thing, most of these kids are going to come to the conclusion that their abstinence only sex ed class is full of you-know-what. Scaring people with religion is no way to prepare them for real life. Education and awareness is good. Fear and misinformation is disastrous.

This all comes as Congress is preparing to review Bush's new appointee for Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger. Sounds like George has gotten tired of censoring the rational voice of science and is looking for someone who will toe the line a little better. This guy is a real gem.

According to the article at Think Progress, he was a member of the United Methodist Judicial Council and tried to block the appointment of a female pastor who was also a "practicing lesbian." What the heck is a practicing lesbian, anyway? Does she only practice lesbianism on alternate Thursdays and Sunday afternoons? More importantly, why is her sexual orientation any business of the church? He has also been quoted as saying that he sees homosexuality as “an issue not of orientation but of lifestyle.” Which is probably why he founded the Hope Springs Community Church with a commitment to curing people of their homosexuality. Nice.

This sounds like a rational, scientific guy that I feel comfortable putting in charge of informing the nation about important health issues.I can't wait to hear what he has to say about Plan B contraceptives, stem cell research and abortion. Let's just hope Congress asks the tough questions in the upcoming confirmation hearings.

Update:

Here's this morning's article at The New York Times.

Here's a thought...

2007-06-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

I know there are a lot of awards shows out there and more "Top 100" lists than we could ever hope to ingest. We've got the Oscars, the Grammys, the Pulitzer Prize, the MTV Movie Awards and a few hundred others. I really think we need a new one, though. Just hear me out, people.

I propose that one of the toy companies, say Mattel or someone, gets together with us feminists and nominate someone every year for their own action figure. There could be a whole on-line campaign, we could all vote and at the end the person with the most votes gets a collectible action figure of their likeness manufactured for retail sale. The nominees would have to be people who have taken significant action and worked towards making the world a little bit better for women (and therefore society as a whole). By making a cool toy out of the winning person's likeness, little kids would see that you don't necessarily have to be an X-Man or a Marvel character to be a hero. Also, all the proceeds from the sale of the toy would have to go to a charitable organization that helps women and kids.

If such a campaign existed, and if I could nominate someone this week, it would be Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She rocks and here's why:

She has delivered TWO oral dissents this session regarding the ban on partial birth abortion and the recent shenanigans concerning the 180 day limit for women to sue for workplace discrimination. This is highly unusual for Justice Ginsberg who has usually opted for a more congenial approach to dealing with decisions she disagrees with and has never delivered two oral dissents in one session. Clearly, she's concerned about where this new court is headed. I have to say I agree.

She became the first woman to be on both the Harvard and Columbia law reviews. She earned her L.L.B. degree at Columbia and tied for first in her class. So, the lady studied and worked hard!

She was a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963 to 1972, and at Columbia Law School from 1972 to 1980, where she became the first tenured woman and co-authored the first law school case book on sex discrimination.

In 1977 she became a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

In 1972, as the chief litigator of the ACLU's women's rights project, she argued several cases in front of the Supreme Court and attained a reputation as a skilled oral advocate. Over the next eight years, she sought to persuade a majority of the Supreme Court that sex-based legal distinctions should trigger some form of heightened judicial scrutiny.

Her distinguished teaching career and ACLU achievements won her a national reputation and prompted President Jimmy Carter to appoint her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.

In 1993 President Bill Clinton had the opportunity to become the first Democratic president in twenty-six years to make a Supreme Court appointment. Clinton announced that he was looking for a nominee with "a fine mind, good judgment, wide experience in the law and in the problems of real people, and somebody with a big heart." Calling Ginsburg "the Thurgood Marshall of gender equality law," he concluded that she possessed the requisite intellectual and emotional stature for the job.

She's listed in the Encyclopedia Britannica and there is a very interesting piece about her at http://www.supremecourthistory.org/.

"Between 1972 and 1978, Ginsburg argued six cases before the Court involving sex-role stereotyping and won five. In Craig v. Boren (1976), the Court finally accepted Ginsburg’s view (expressed in a "friend-of-the-court" brief) that gender-based legal distinctions deserved heightened scrutiny.
A later generation of feminist legal scholars has criticized Ginsburg's equal protection theories. They argue that her approach failed to take account of the real differences between the sexes that may sometimes warrant laws giving women preferential treatment. Critics and admirers agree, however, that Ginsburg's work in the 1970s fundamentally altered the legal and social landscape, creating unprecedented personal and professional opportunities for women."

So - to recap- she's been fighting the good fight in regards to gender equality for most of her professional life. She's smart, tough and she knows how to work within the system to effect change. This might not be as visually stimulating as actually leaping over a tall building, but I think it's much more impressive.

I would totally buy a Ruth Bader Ginsberg action figure.

Who would you nominate?

Would You Take It?

2007-05-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

The FDA just approved a new birth control pill, called Lybrel. It's designed to allow women to suppress their periods indefinitely by providing a continuous low dose of hormones all month. It's being manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and is poised to hit the market in July.

From ABC News -

"Lybrel, a name meant to evoke "liberty," would be the fourth new oral contraceptive that doesn't follow the standard schedule of 21 daily active pills, followed by seven sugar pills -- a design meant to mimic a woman's monthly cycle. Among the others, Yaz and Loestrin 24 shorten monthly periods to three days or less and Seasonique, an updated version of Seasonale, reduces them to four times a year."

Something about this just makes me sad. I know it sounds silly, but I really miss having my period. Yeah, yeah, I know. I remember the cramps and the water retention and the bloating...and the zits.(ugh) It was a drag some of the time. But it was also a very powerful thing. It meant that I was a woman and it was a natural part of life.

Our society looks on this amazing thing us women can do as a "curse" and that's just not cool. It is not a curse. It is not shameful. It is not something to discuss via embarrassed whispers in the ladies room, damn-it! If men could could bleed continuously for five days and live to tell the tale every month do you really think it would be a shameful thing? Hell no, there would be parades and national holidays devoted to the phenomenon. C'mon people have you seen the Washington monument? Uh-huh.

So, now we have a pill that will eradicate this icky, shameful, awful thing us gals have to put up with every month. That's just great.

I particularly enjoyed this passage from the ABC article.

She [Dr. Mindy Wiser-Estin] has seen a big increase in the last year in patients asking about it, but has one concern that leads her to encourage younger women to take a break every 12 weeks. About 1 percent of oral contraceptive users become pregnant each year, and young women taking continuous pills who have never been pregnant may not recognize the symptoms, she said. "They may not know it in time to do something about it," Wiser-Estin said.

Wyeth obviously thinks otherwise. (I'll bet they do. ah-hem)

"It allows women to put their menstrual cycle on hold" and reduces 17 related symptoms, from irritability to bloating, said Dr. Amy Marren, director of clinical affairs for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Call me cynical, but I don't think Wyeth has our best interests at heart here. That quote sounds like she read it off of the pamphlet for one thing. For another, they are set to make a considerable amount of money off of convincing us that our periods are unneccesary, obsolete functions that we would all be better off without. I find it disturbing that this pill creates a situation where a woman is so out of touch with her body that she may not notice that she's pregnant. This does not sound like a great idea to me.

Slate.com had this intersting little tid-bit back on Oct. 18, 2006

"In two different surveys of college women, Ingrid Johnston-Robledo, associate professor of psychology and women's studies at the State University of New York, College at Fredonia, found that women who were asked to name positive aspects of menstruation reported that it was a sign of health and fertility and that it helped connect them to other women and the rhythms of nature. This may sound like an ode to the inner moon goddess, but it has relevance. Johnston-Robledo found that women who didn't like their periods were also more ashamed of their bodies."

I know there are women who have terrible cramps and pain every month who may be looking forward to this new pill. I understand why they would want to take this. I just hope that they do it it responsibly and with great care.

I personally wouldn't take one of these things if you paid me to.

Would you?

I'm ba-ack

2007-05-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I kind of disappeared there for a month or so. Uhmm..sorry about that. It's not that I haven't had anything to say, 'cause I always have something to carry on about. Recently, though, my mind has been a little occupied with personal matters. Nothing bad. Quite the opposite, really. (Grinning from ear to ear) You see, I met someone a little while ago and I've been so damn happy I can barely concentrate. It's all I can do lately to get my school work done. Stringing together whole sentences is a trial because I keep finding myself doodling little hearts in the margins of my notes.

Makes studying for finals difficult, let me tell you. Sure feels good, though.

This is just a post to say "Hey, I'm still here!" and to promise that I'll come up with something interesting to write about this week. Honest.

There's got to be something going on that I can make a post out of that doesn't involve my twitterpated ramblings and carrying-ons about my new love. (happy sigh) I mean, surely Hillary has been busy or the preview for the new Bratz movie has come out or maybe Good Morning America has pissed me off again. Something.

In the mean time, I hope everyone has a great week and that you're all making plans for the holiday weekend coming up. I know I am.

More to come...

-Michelle

What To Do?

2007-04-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I mentioned the appalling decision our oh-so-wise-and-virtuous Supreme Court just passed down regarding the recent federal ban on certain abortion rights. I've been doing a lot of reading this past week, trying to make heads or tails of the facts. As you can imagine, there has been quite a lot written in just a matter of days (more like hours, really) about this case. Pro-choice organizations have lost no time organizing protests and actions against it.

Pro-life organization have mostly been gloating.

To them I say this: Enjoy your brief moment of what you think is a victory. All this has done is mobilize a once complacent majority who foolishly believed they had a right to their own bodies. Those of us who have grown up in a post Roe vs. Wade era had no idea what government invasion into our most basic rights truly entails. Let me assure you, we won't stand for it. We're calling 'bullshit' on this one, kids. Oh yes.

In case you are unfamiliar with the decision, here are the basics:

* The Supreme Court has ignored past precedent and has outlawed a vaguely determined kind of second-trimester abortion.
* They have made no exception in cases when a woman's health is in danger.
* They have ignored findings by the most respected aspects of the medical community regarding the safety and necessity of such procedures in certain cases.
* The decision was passed with a narrow 5 to 4 margin with the most recent Bush appointees voting in favor of the ban.

Lynn Harris over at Salon.com has written an amazing and easily understood piece about this. I highly recommend you check it out.

Another fun fact - over 85% of abortions are performed before the so-called "partial birth abortions" would come into play. Also, there is no medical term for what the Supreme Court has just outlawed. The term "partial birth abortion" is a phrase cooked up by pro-life legislators to sound more like someone is killing a baby. Ah, fun with semantics.

I didn't want to write about this little news story until I had something to offer in the way of action. Luckily, there seems to be a lot mobilizing going on in response to this attack on our freedoms. Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York are sponsoring the Freedom of Choice Act. This act, if passed, would restore our reproductive rights as outlined in Roe vs Wade. It's crucial that our representatives hear from us on this issue. A "national call in day" has been organized for TODAY (4/25) to show congress how much support there is for this bill. You can bet the pro-life folks are going to be very vocal in their opposition, so we have to call in too. Go to the link below for information on who to call and don't forget to tell your friends who may be interested.

http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/congress_foca_0407

Here's some additional information from the National Organization for Women (NOW):

You can help jump-start the legislative reversal of last week's Supreme Court
decision, by making a phone call or sending an email. Join NOW and our allies
for a National Call-in Day on Wednesday, April 25, the anniversary of our 2004
March for Women's Lives, to ask your members of Congress to co-sponsor the
Freedom of Choice Act.

As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it in her stinging dissent, "the Act, and the Court's defense of it, cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court." That effort to chip away at reproductive rights is well underway in state legislatures around the country and we have every reason to expect that this decision will galvanize those efforts. What can we do?

In addition to vigilantly opposing abortion restrictions that are proposed in our state houses, we need a federal law that will protect this right and place it beyond the reach of individual state legislatures. The Freedom of Choice Act would do just that. The Act would guarantee that women can exercise the reproductive freedom that was promised in Roe v. Wade and additionally would preserve that freedom should Roe be overturned by the new 5-4 anti-abortion majority on the Supreme Court

Call Your Members of Congress - 202-224-3121

Join women's rights supporters across the country for this national call-in day on
Wednesday -- and keep calling until you get through. Use the switchboard number above, and ask for your members of Congress -- or get their receptionist's direct phone number from our directory. Ask for the staff person who handles this issue, and request politely that the member co-sponsor the Freedom of Choice Act. If your senator or representative is already a co-sponsor (see a list of Senate and House co-sponsors), say thank you (trust us, they're hearing from the other side!) While you're at it, drop them an e-mail for added impact. Send a message to both of your senators and to your representative today using our easy alert system.

UPDATE

I just called all my representatives. Here's the breakdown.

Congressman Berman - has already signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill. I expressed my thanks.

Senator Diane Fienstein - The staff member I spoke to wasn't sure if she is a co-sponsor, but did assure me that she is pro-choice and would be supporting the bill. I said "thank you" again!

Senator Barbara Boxer - She is already a sponsor on the bill so I just called to say "thank you" again and voice my support.

It was really easy to make the calls. Just ask the operator who answers to send you to the appropriate person's office and their staff will answer any questions you have and take note of your opinion.

Grab Bag

2007-04-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking that I want to post something this week, but I'm having a terrible time focusing on one thing. There's so much going on in the world and in my life right now, it's impossible to pluck one item out of the air and write about it. I have therefore decided, to choose a few things and jot down some impressions. I hope you don't mind...

First, the news from Virginia Tech this week is heartbreaking. There aren't powerful enough words to express what's going on for those students, their families, the staff and community there. The healing process is going to be long and painful for those left behind.

I have a little experience with this, having managed to survive the events of September 11th, 2001 when I was working near the World Trade Center. I have one little bit of advice for anyone connected with this terrible incident: Turn off your television. Seriously, get out of the house, avoid newspapers, TVs, radios - just get away from it. The media is going to be feeding on this story for weeks. You don't need to see it. It's not healthy.

After 9/11, it was impossible for anyone to avoid all the news reports and disturbing images. They will take a toll on you and your delicate state of mental health at times like these. Get outside, go for a walk, go to a silly movie...anything. You'll drive yourself crazy if you immerse yourself in the evening news. Take care of yourselves and your friends/family. Don't worry about what's going on with the reporters.

And please know that people are praying for you and sending out all the good healing energy we can.

(((Whew)))

On to other shitty news. What the hell is going on with the Supreme Court? Wait, don't answer that. I know exactly what's going on. Our lovely president has appointed just enough scary, Christian conservative, S.O.B.s to the court to start chipping away at Roe vs. Wade until every woman in this country is legally no more than a barefoot-baby-producing-machine beholden to the old white men in power for any decisions that concern her own health. Y'know, I think the less I write about this today the better. I'll probably just get myself into trouble. Besides, I'm thinking the recent 5 to 4 decision to ban partial birth abortions is worthy of it's own, detailed and well thought out post. Yeah...more on that later.

In other thoughts:

I got my admission letter from California State University Northridge this week! I'm going to be a junior in college. I've never been that before. Very, very cool! I am really looking forward to finding out what classes I can take (women's studies?) and actually getting to take a journalism class or two. Hooray!

Also, a thought about spring cleaning.

I finally sold my old car this week! I'm also getting rid of an old computer desk. All of this purging of stuff is requiring me to go through closets, reorganize, prioritize and generally throw away lots of miscellaneous stuff. Some of these things are connected with an old relationship that I've been sloughing off for a little while now. I would have expected it to make me sad, but actually... it's incredibly freeing.

Who new spring cleaning could be so liberating?

Hmmmm, there's a few other things I could carry on with but I'm going to wrap this up now. I hope everyone is having a great week and is looking forward to an even better weekend. I'll catch up with y'all in a day or two!

Spring Has Sprung

2007-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring everyone!

I'm sorry I've been lax in my posting lately but who can think about blogging when it's so beautiful outside? I have the spring fever something terrible right now. It's so nice out I can barely drag myself back to the office after I escape for lunch. Not to mention that this week is (gasp!) mid terms! Oh, the horror.

One very cool outdoor activity I got to partake in was going to a horse show this past Saturday. In the past I've talked a little bit about my mom and her horse Kahlua-n-Cream. Mom and my step-dad got Kahlua from a group that rescues horses from Premarin farms in Canada. She's been growing up into a beautiful horse and she and my mom have been working very hard together, getting ready for this dressage show last weekend. I was lucky enough to get to hang around and see what all the hard work has been leading up to.

Horse shows are generally early morning affairs. When I was in high school, I remember many mornings, getting up well before the crack of dawn and trying to convince a sleepy horse to get into a trailer. Poor Shadow (my horse) would look at us like, "You have got to be kidding, right?" Mom would help me get all my tack together, make sure I had all my show clothes, all of Shadow's wraps and blankets and treats (a horse needs cookies too!) and we'd set off for yet another horse show. I usually went to hunter/jumper shows with Shadow. This involved a lot of me memorizing courses of jumps and Mom...not looking. She'd do all the hard work with me and then it would be just too much for her to watch.

I look back over my childhood and it is just filled with band concerts, horse shows, choir concerts, school plays, piano recitals, solo and ensemble festivals etcetera ad infinitum. My poor parents sat through endless hours of this stuff. They really should get some kind of medal or merit badge for all that time and unconditional support. Those seventh grade band concerts alone make me cringe for them.

Last Saturday, though, the shoe was on the other foot. There I was with my mom at a horse show and she was the one trying to remember her dressage test and I all I could do was pat Kahlua on the nose and tell Mom that she was going to be great. She rode two different training level tests which means she had to memorize two different "routines". No mean feat when you're riding a five year old filly who isn't always interested in staying in the arena, much less picking up the right lead in a twenty meter circle. I could barely watch the first test. I was so excited and nervous. I really wanted her to do well because she'd worked so hard and it meant a lot to her.

Well, they came out of the arena and everyone who had been watching clapped. They did great! We found out later that Mom and Kahlua got the highest score in that class so they got the blue ribbon! It was all very exciting and quite an accomplishment at their very first show. I felt like such the proud...daughter.

I can never say thank you enough to my mom for the years she's spent supporting me. Any time I've jumped into some new phase of my life, she's been there for me no matter what. I could call her tomorrow and tell her I've decided to take up Yak herding in the Andes and, as long as it made me happy, I know she'd help me pick out the best Yak herding gear and send me on my way. (as long as i promise to call often and come home for Christmas.) There is no "thank you" big enough for that. So, I'll just have to try and repay the favor as best I can...

Mom and "Lulu" riding training level test #1:

Artsy Outings

2007-03-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I got to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles to see the exhibit, Wack! Art and The Feminist Revolution with my friend, T3. It was at the Geffen Conemporary gallery, which is right next to Little Tokyo. I had never been to either place so it was quite an adventure! It was so cool to have a great friend to go with too.

Now, my art expertise begins and ends with Art History 102, a class I took last semester to fullfill a fine arts requirement. We covered the proto-Renaissance through about 1915. We didn't really get much further than "Suprematist Painting" and a little Picasso. So, modern art is still something of a mystery to me. Nevertheless, I was really excited to see this exhibit. Another big plus was that all of the artists featured are women! What a contrast to my searches through Art History to find one or two female artists!

This is how they introduce the pieces at the website:

"During the late 1960s and early ’70s, feminism fundamentally changed
contemporary art practice, critiquing its assumptions and radically altering its
structures and methodologies. WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution is
predicated on the notion that gender was and remains fundamental to the
organization of culture, and that a contemporary understanding of the feminist
in art must necessarily look to the late 1960s and ‘70s. While the American
feminist art movement coalesced in the late 1960s in the United States and is
embedded within the exhibition, this international survey of 120 artists,
activists, filmmakers, writers, teachers, and thinkers necessarily moves beyond
the now-canonical list of American feminist artists to include women of other
geographies, formal approaches, socio-political alliances, and critical and
theoretical positions. This exhibition argues for simultaneous feminisms
internationally that together and retrospectively can be viewed as the most
influential movement in postwar contemporary art."

One of the things I was excited about was that they included artists from all over the world. Feminism is more than a middle-class white woman's movement. I think it is just as important (if not more so) that women from other classes and cultures be able to identify and benefit from what feminism can achieve. By including these works in the exhibit, I think the museum is helping to bridge that gap that is sometimes felt between the perceived face of feminism and the reality of what all women experience.

We were surprised at the size of the exhibition. T3 and I were there for a few hours and I don't think we saw the whole thing! There were a lot of pieces that I really liked. Mary Beth Edelson's collages were interesting. She took famous paintings, like The Last Supper and replaced the heads of the men with cutouts of important women artists. They also had some of Judy Baca's mural art work. There was a piece called "Uprising of the Mujeres" that I thought was just breathtaking. This large, colorful piece depicts "an indigenous woman at the forefront of political struggle against the prioritization of military spending, the formation of a police state at the expense of social welfare and the exploitation of workers to further capitalism." Pretty heady stuff. She had another piece there that showed a Rosie the Riveter type woman being sucked into a television by a 1950s-esque happy house wife and her vacuum cleaner. I wish I knew what it was called, but it sure gave me pause. I think my favorite painting though, was by Sylvia Plimack Mangold. It simply shows an empty mirror in a room with a wood floor. You realize as you're looking at it that the artist should be reflected in the mirror, but she's not there... perhaps because women have been invisible in the art world.

A lot of the pieces were film or video works. We saw some short animated pieces that dealt with art history as a male dominated institution, a mesmerising video of a woman almost violently brushing her hair and one of Yoko Ono where she sat looking stone faced as a man literally cut off her dress piece by piece with a pair of scissors. I had read that a lot of feminist artists rejected painting and other typical (and mostly male dominated) mediums for uncharted territory, like video and certain sculpture work.

There was so much to see, I couldn't begin to tell you about all of it. You can see and read a lot more at the MOCA website which I linked to above. I didn't post any pictures because I'm not sure what the rules are for posting original copyrighted art on blogs. My guess is that it's not allowed without express permission from the artist. You can get an idea of what they have at the museum's site and if you live near Los Angeles, you should definitely check it out. The show runs until July 16th

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some of my previous posts the other day, and I realized that I seem to focus on negative stuff a lot. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I think it's important for people to keep and eye on government policies and big business nonsense, so we can recognize when situations are just totally out of whack. Still, it's not all doom and gloom. Lots of folks are fighting the good fight out there or just being their own cool little selves.

So I thought I'd make short-ish list of some of some of my favorite things - people, publications, commercials and other what-not that put a smile on my face. This is by no means a complete list and please feel free to add an item or two of your own in the "comments" section.

Some of my favorite things are:
(hey, if it's good enough for Oprah...)

Red Fraggle - this independent, mouthy little muppet just makes me giggle every time I watch one of my Fraggle Rock DVDs. (Yes, I have Fraggle Rock DVDs)

Bitch Magazine - Always great, insightful, writing with amazing, influential and smart articles. I will consider myself an accomplished writer when I get an article published in this magazine.

Post Secret - This is an ongoing art project where anonymous people send in post cards with a secret written on it. They can decorate the post card any way they want. Every Sunday new secrets go up on the blog and there are a few books out now as well. Something about reading the post cards every week makes me feel a little less alone in the world.

This commercial - for the HPV vaccine, Guardasil. I don't usually like the pharmaceutical industry, but their choice of young women in this 60 second spot is fantastic. Girls come in all shapes and sizes and with all kinds of interests (skateboarding, dancing, soccer) and they all deserve to be protected from STDs and cervical cancer. Oh, not to mention that Kaki King has little part in it. She's one of the most amazing guitarists around these days. Check her out, too. :)

Now i have to put Kaki King on my list! Go to her website (linked above) and scroll about half way over to the frame that has the word "ears" highlighted. Click on "video" then "Playing With Pink Noise."

Yep, new favorite gurl musician.

The L Word - kind of a guilty pleasure since the writing ain't all that (lately) and I have no idea what they were thinking when they plotted out the third season. Why was Alice crazy all of a sudden and what the eff is goin' on with Tina!? Still, I can't seem to turn an episode off until the credits roll. Check out season 1 on DVD if you're so inclined.

Good Magazine - "For people who give a damn." Right on. Check out this new magazine if you have a minute. I love their optimistic outlook - real people actually can make a difference. The website has a blog, links to some of the articles and a "project" section where they ask readers to submit different art projects every few months.

Fables by Bill Willingham - a rare graphic novel series that is not only clever and well written, but has some kick ass female characters. You've never seen Snow White like this before.

Lush - Not only are they totally free of animal testing, not only are their products divine and effective, but going there for me usually involves a day out with my best girls. How can you possibly beat that?

Feministing.com - this is where I go for my daily dose of feminism. Always something going on there! What I really get a kick out of is the fact that actual discussions go on in the comments section. This gives me hope for the future.

I could go on like this all afternoon, so I'm gonna stop it here.

What are some of your favorite things?

Say It Isn't So

2007-03-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

It has been one hell of a week, friends! I am very excited to report that I am writing this post from my very own, brand new laptop computer. Hooray! This is soooo cool. :)

Another very cool event this week was finding the latest copy of Bitch magazine waiting for me in my teeny tiny mailbox. (Why do they insist on stuffing all the junk mail in there with my real mail? Gah!) There was an article in the "Love It/Shove It" section that really got me thinking. It's titled "My Little Calliponian" and was penned by Jesse Rutherford. In this article she compared the original My Pretty Pony released in 1981 by a Hasbro subsidiary, to the subsequent My Little Pony that most women now nearing their thirties probably remember.

These were the little plastic horses with long brushable hair that came in all kinds of different colors. Each one had a little symbol on it's rear end that sort of went with it's whimsical name. There were unicorn ponies, Pegasus ponies, sea horse ponies (for bath time!) and little baby ponies, to name a very few. Being a horse crazy little girl, I had a whole herd of these plastic equine facsimiles. I used to spend hours playing with them. One year I received the My Little Pony stable for my birthday and I don't think I came out of my room for a week. There were pony clothes, shoes, and every accessory under the sun. I hate to think about how much money my parents must have spent on them. I loved all of my ponies and I still have many of them packed away in a box with other childhood treasures.

So imagine my horror when I read Jesse Rutherford's article about my beloved pastel ponies. She had some very astute observations about the drastic change the ponies underwent at the hands of Hasbro executives. According to her the original My Pretty Pony was:

"Brown with flat set feet, straight legs and a lowered chin concealing a switch that made her wink, flick her tail, and twitch her ears."

She continues: "In 1982 the toy now called My Little Pony, was released in a rainbow of pastel colors with longer tail, more brushable manes, and names like Cotton Candy, Minty, Butterscotch and Blossom. Though their feet remained flat, the front legs had been shortened, pushing the callipygian pony's rump up higher than it's chest - a display of sexual availability known in studies of animal mating behaviour as mammalian lardosis, and more commonly called, "asking for it.' "

Oh god, say it isn't so. There's more though.

"This toy...was positively child like with it's small nose and large eyes, which are traits of infancy in humans and other animals. My Little Pony featured... bigger pupils than the original My Pretty Pony. Bedroom eyes are not just an armchair sociologist's observation: Barbara and Allan Pease explain in their book The Definitive Book of Body Language that bedroom eyes are another sign of sexual availability."

Here are some my own ponies from back in the day (ie. circa 1985).

After reading this, I went home and dug out that old box of treasures. Now, I also have to admit that I received a brand new My Little Pony for Christmas this year. I had seen them around and thought it was so cool that my old toys were out again. My mom spent yet more money on plastic ponies for me this year. Bless her.

Another of my old ponies
After I found (read: took out of the box and played with for half an hour) my old ponies I immediately saw other differences in the design. The ponies I have from my youth do indeed have the slightly raised back end and the large eyes and pupils described in the article. However, compared to the newest pony, they look downright chubby. The latest model is a little smaller, much slimmer and has longer legs in proportion to her body. At least my old pastel ponies had a bit of healthy pony chub. This pony has been on a diet!

I also noticed that her eyes are even bigger and the shape of her head has changed again. The old ponies had a sloping forehead and more horse-like nose and cheeks. The new ponies have a scooped forehead and an even more childlike face.

I thought it was sad that not only is this new pony more sexualized, she's downright slim and petite. There's a lot of talk these days about the pressures to be slim, celebrity diets and eating disorders. I'm not saying that toy ponies are responsible for any of it, but I do think it shows our culture's obsession with the impossible thin ideal when we even alter girl's toys to fit into the thin mold. I mean, have you ever seen a real live, skinny pony? I've seen one in my life, and that poor animal...well, that animal was very sick.

Blog Against Sexism

2007-03-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

I just found out that March 8th is Blog Against Sexism Day. Damn, I almost missed the memo! It's also International Women's Day. So there's a lot to celebrate, I guess.

This works out great though 'cause there is a series of commercials I keep seeing that are driving me berserk. They're the ads for Sunsilk hair products that use the tag line "Get Hair-apy!" The first ad that I just found annoying was the blond girl who "stuffs" her hair. Stupid and poorly written, but it's just a commercial.

Then they started in with these blonds vs. brunettes commercials.

Ah, yes. Nothing like a cat fight to sell your product, right? Not only are we supposed to be obsessed with our looks because, you know, that's all we as women have to offer, we're also evil catty little things. Ugh. At the website, you can join either the blond or brunette team by clicking on the icon that says "Grab your weapons, girls. The color showdown in ON!" Once you're there, you have to choose between the Blond or Brunette "VIP lounge". There are nifty little polls with questions like "How many dates have you gone on in the last month?" and "How many people have you hooked up with at one time?" I kid you not.

The really fun thing about this, is that Sunsilk is part of the Unilever Company. Unilever is the company that also owns and manages Dove. So, while they use happy-touchy-feely-everyone-is-beautiful marketing on one product, they turn around and use girls-are-shallow-and-will-claw-each-other's-eyes-out-over-hair-color humor on another. Just another reason I'm glad to be a red head, I guess. (sigh)

Madison Ave. has done a fantastic job over the years making women the prime consumers in our society. Even back in the "happy homemaker" 1950s we were the ones getting all the pitches for high end items like the fabulous new washer and dryer and the vacuum cleaner that will make house work a breeze! In the 70s and 80s it became more about their commercialized idea of empowerment. They took the reality of the women's movement and repackaged it into expensive skin creams and Virginia Slims cigarettes. Now, they've co-opted "Girl Power" and turned it into anything pink and sparkly with a bit of an edge to it. Is it any wonder more and more of us are opting into the DIY (Do It Yourself) movement? It may take a while to design and sew my own clothes or make my own soap, but at least I'm sidestepping these creeps who think blond jokes are a reasonable way to sell shampoo.

So, since it is International Women's Day and since I'm Blogging Against Sexism, I'm putting a call out to all my sisters. Let's turn off the damn TV when these stupid catty stereotypes come at us. Let's remember that we're all in this thing together. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the media bullshit, just remember that you can turn it off. You can go outside and enjoy a walk. You can read a book. You can volunteer as a mentor to a girl who doesn't have the life experience yet to sift through all this nonsense. You can simply choose not to buy the lie.

Or you could not buy the shampoo. Whatever.

Gratuitous Puppy Stealing

2007-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

You probably already know this, but most of what we see on the local evening news isn't really news. The stories about celebrities, or studies that show that "milk can make you lose weight." are heavily influenced by commercial concerns and sensationalism. I usually find no more than one or two actual news items on my local evening news. Sad, but true.

So, last night this story came on the local ABC 7 news that got me so angry I was talking back to the TV. This morning, I saw the same story on Good Morning America so it has now garnered national attention. It was so stupid and just plain infuriating that I have to tell you about it. 'Cause it's my blog and I can do that.

The story was this:

A family in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles put an ad in the paper (I'm not sure which paper) for Yorkshire Terrier puppies. They were asking $2,500 per puppy. (!) They had recently installed a home security system with surveillance cameras. A couple of young men answered the ad and arranged to come to the home and look at the puppies. When they got there, they held up the family at gunpoint and stole the puppies as well as the family pet, a three year old Yorkshire Terrier named Tan-ja. The whole thing was caught on the new security cameras.

You can read the original story at the ABC 7 Los Angeles website.

This makes a fantastic television news story! You've got violence, cute puppies, sad people to interview and a color video of these guys chasing the puppies around the living room. Could a news producer ask for anything more? I think not.

Now, let me just say right here, that nobody deserves to be threatened like this. It's a terrible thing that happened and it's a blessing that nobody was shot or otherwise harmed. It's also pretty disturbing to watch the theives stuff those poor little puppies into the big black trash bag they brought. I sincerely hope those little dogs are OK and are found soon.

What really got my blood boiling is that in every instance I've seen or read about this story, they keep saying that the dogs were valued at $2,500 each. That may be the amount these people were asking for their dogs, but I highly doubt they are really worth so much. Here's why.

No real breeder would ever sell a dog like this. These people are what we call back yard breeders. Any reputable breeder would have had potential homes lined up for their puppies before they ever bred their dog. They would have information on the health of both parents, a fairly long and detailed history of the health of the puppies' ancestors (or "line"). They would never sell their dogs to someone who simply answered an ad in the paper. Reputable breeders usually do home checks on potential owners and reserve the right to refuse sale of the animals if they feel the situation is not acceptable. They also usually agree to take the animal back in a certain period of time if there should be an unforeseen, genetic health problem. Finally, they often insist that the dog be given back to them if at any point in it's life the owner is no longer able to take care of the animal. Reputable breeders don't want to see their animals end up in a shelter or worse.

Back yard breeders are a problem for so many reasons. The most evident and infuriating reason for me is that they are adding to the pet overpopulation problem we have in this country. Thousands of animals are killed in our animal shelters every week. Every time someone buys an animal from some bozo who's trying to make a buck off of their cute family pet, they are condemning another shelter pet to death. Backyard breeders steal homes from dogs in animal shelters. They also tend to disappear when your $2,500 puppy starts to show signs of poor breeding such as chronic seizures, breathing problems and heart conditions. I'm not even going to start in about puppy mills and pet store animals on this post. I just don't have the stomach for it today.

If you're thinking of adding a pet to your life, please always consider your local animal shelter or rescue organizations first. Most animal shelters provide an initial vet check as part of their adoption process. Many rescues do a home visit. If you are really interested in a particular breed, consider adopting from a breed specific rescue. (ie. Greyhound rescue, Dalmation rescue etc.) When I adopted my cat, Nicodemus, from the shelter, I had thirty days to take him for a free vet visit and I did have the option of bringing him back to the shelter should he have had a medical condition that I couldn't handle. The idea of returning him after I fell in love with him at first sight is pretty abhorrent to me, but it's something to consider. And, of course, when you adopt from the shelter or rescue you're saving a life.

If you are dead set on buying a dog, you want to make sure that you are dealing with a reputable breeder with a stable history. The best place to start is with your local breed club. These are people who know a lot about the breed and have dealt with breeders for their show dogs. Dog shows are great places to hang out and chat with owners and possible breeders. Always do your research and make sure the breed is one that you really can live with. You may think Chesapeake Bay Retreivers are gorgeous, but do you have the space, time and energy that the breed requires? These are all things you can find out with a little research and time. A great resource to start with is the American Kennel Club.

I really do hope the Lee family gets their dogs back unharmed. Once they have their puppies safely at home again, I further hope that they get them all vet checked, spayed and neutered...including their "beloved pet", Tan-ja that they seem to be using as a "cash cow".

Is it Friday Already?

2007-02-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

I feel like a walking jigsaw puzzle these days. There is so much going on in my head this week, I don't even know where to start. I was going to tell you guys about my fabulous experience trying to buy a car this week. (gah!)

Then I thought I'd write about my psychology professor and his creepy misogynistic lecture examples. ("Little Mary makes the bed and her mommy gives her an M&M.")

I read a news story about the Olympic women's ski jumpers who I wrote about a year ago. They're trying to get the Canadian officials to let them jump in competition and maybe get those fools at the winter Olympics to let the women compete too. They say that it is not appropriate for ladies to jump. Their concern is actually the landing part, which they say will damage our bones and reproductive systems. Yet, women can run marathons and participate in figure skating. Go figure.

I saw the new Dove ad at their website and had all kinds of thoughts about that one.

Somehow Tuesday turned into Friday and I hadn't posted a thing. Maybe it was all the classes, work assignments, auto loan applications and that exhilarating episode of Grey's Anatomy last night, but I haven't written a thing.

Sorry.

We'll try again next week, 'kay

Here's a random picture of The Cat That Ate Cleveland for your viewing enjoyment.

Oh, Yeah...

2007-02-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday

Oh, is there something else going on today?

I hadn't noticed...

30 Going On 13

2007-02-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

We've all been there:

You've gone to the library after school. It's been kind of a hectic day, maybe you had a fight with your best friend or your boyfriend, maybe a teacher singled you out for humiliation in Algebra that day. The point is you're feeling a little down. There is some crazy huge paper looming in your near future so you decide to get started on it. After navigating through the Dewy Decimal System, avoiding the creepy librarian and wandering the aisles you've finally found the books you need for your report. You think "I'll just sit down at one of the big tables and get a little work done while I wait for my ride." So, you plop down as quietly as you can at the ancient scarred wood table... and then you hear it.

The whispers and the giggles.

There are two girls huddled together in one of those study hutches across from you. You can see their heads pop up as they peer over it.They are both wearing different versions of the same trendy outfit. Their hair is sleek and shiny and long. They're wearing way too much eye make-up that just seems to accentuate their catty-ness. They are looking at you in your almost floor length, frumpy skirt and long sleeved knit top with your over sized coat and fuzzy red scarf. They sneer. They whisper to each other and dissolve into another bout of barely concealed laughter.

You wish you could disappear into the floor.

This happened to me last night.

It's so infuriating! I think I'm a pretty terrific person, y'know? I've been places, I've done stuff. I'm working really hard on a degree and most of the time I wouldn't let that kind of high school crap get to me. I've gotten used to the little "clackers" running around campus. These are the kids who are fresh out of high school and just haven't figured out that none of that stuff matters anymore. You know the ones. They're always on their pink Razr phones talking to their friends about what so-and-so said to them about who-ever-that-was blah, blah, blah. They're the girls that used to give me a hard time when I was in school. But I'm a grown up now. I don't have to take that shit from 19 year old little snots anymore!

Damnit.

This got me thinking about all that crap that's been in news over the last couple of years about female bullies and the like. Books like Queen Bees And Wannabees, Mean Girls Grown Up and Odd Girl Out. While I really do believe it's just a lot of hype, I can't deny that it sucks when you feel like that insecure kid all over again because of some snarky teen-ager. I found a terrific article written by Jennifer Foote Sweeney at Health.com about this idea that women are somehow meaner than men. She points out that: 1. there are no studies that prove that girls and woman are any "meaner" than men and boys, 2. if you're writing about female bullies and go out looking for stories about female bullies, chances are you're going to hear a lot about female bullies and 3. people tend to be "meaner" to their own gender. So men practice a slightly different version of bullying amongst themselves than women do.

It only makes sense that if men use a better-disguised form of bullying,
women are going to be more easily busted for aggressive behavior. And if people
are most aggressive with their own genders, women are going to have stories
about female bullies. Unfortunately, a book that uses those differences to
reveal a new vein of nastiness in the female gender profile is bound to be a big
hit. What better way to tap into feminism fatigue than to produce evidence of
the dangerous by-products? No doubt, Mean Girls Grown Up will be used to
validate the position that women have abused the privileges of their new
empowerment and need to back off and be nice.

Well, to heck with that whole "back off and be nice" crap. I'll be nice when I make the same amount of money as a man and when our government stops trying to compromise my rights over my own body. "Polite women rarely make history" you know. Still, could we all just get together and agree not to snicker at each other in the library?

The best part about this scene: I was in the library reading A Vindication for The Rights of Women and The Feminine Mystique.

Am I going to have to separate you children?

2007-02-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the latest hoo-ha going on in D.C. this week? Apparently certain folks are getting their undies in a bunch because the Speaker of The House wants to be able to fly home. Don't these people have more important things to do? Isn't there a health care crisis in this country and a disastrous war going on?

The gist of it is this: The previous Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, was provided a plane by the Pentagon in order to fly home to his district in Illinois after September 11th. It was deemed a security issue. Since the Speaker is second in line for the presidency, they thought perhaps we should keep this person safe by making a military plane available for their use. Not a bad idea all around.

C-20 Jet that Hastert used

According to ABC News "Since Sept. 11, 2001, the speaker of the House of Representatives — second in the line of succession to the presidency behind the vice president — has received what the Air Force refers to as "shuttle service," the use of military planes to travel for security reasons. Pelosi's predecessor, Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., used a C-20, the military version of the Gulf Stream 3 business jet, a twin-engine turbo-fan aircraft that seats 12 passengers with a crew of five. "

That's all well and good if you only live 700 miles from Washington D.C. But what if your home district is over 2,800 miles away? Say you live in...Oh, I don't know...San Francisco? You would need a bigger plane to get you and your necessary staff safely home from time to time. Apparently that's just not Ok with some Republicans and certain members of Pentagon staff.
They're making a big stink out of Nany Pelosi's request for a plane large enough to get her to CA non-stop. She and her staff were shown the options and they seem to have been told that the C-32 (shown on the left) was the only plane available that could make the trip. Of course, this is a much larger plane and is usually used by higher-ups like the first lady. It has all kinds of nifty amenities and whatnot that, admittedly, seem like a bit much for a politician who is trying balance the budget.

A bunch of folks at the Pentagon are pissed off that this woman (who has been very outspoken about their war) has risen to a position of power, a position in which she could very well threaten their plans for said war. Since they are a bunch of mid to high level bureaucrats, they can really make her life difficult, by leaking what sounds like information pertaining to an abuse of that power. I work in a large corporation, I know more about bureaucracies than I ever cared to. All these angry little people have to do is spin the info just so and...voila! you have a new Democratic female Speaker who is requesting special perks at the tax payer's expense. Makes a nice non-story, huh? SO much for bi-partisanship. Personally I think the Republicans must be pretty desperate if they're already resorting to this kind of crap.

This woman just wants to be able to fly non-stop safely from her work in D.C. to her home district in San Fran. Turns out there is another plane called a C-37A that can make the trip.

C-37A jet
"There is also the C-37A — a military version of the Gulf Stream 5, which is about the same size as the C-20, but is able to fly nonstop to California. One military source who asked not to be identified says that it may be that Pelosi and her aides were shown a C-37A and didn't understand that it was different and more potent than a C-20, since they look so similar."

After reading the story (linked above) here's what it sounds like to me.

Nancy Pelosi and Staff: We need a plane that can fly non-stop to California.

Pentagon Bureaucrats: You can either have this teeny tiny plane that will have to stop and refuel at least once each way or this giant swanky plane that can make the trip.

Military Guy: (to Pentagon Bureaucrat) Hey, what about this middle plane that looks like the teeny tiny plane but can easily fly 3,000 miles without stopping?

Penatgon Buerocrat: Shhhhhh! Don't tell that anti-war, peace loving hippie woman about that! We're trying to make her look bad here.

Military Guy: Uhhh...how is that helpful?

Nancy Pelosi and Staff: Ok, fine. I just want a plane that can fly me home non-stop.

Penatgon Buerocrat: (rubbing hands together and twirling mustache) Not to worry little lady. Muwa-ha-ha-ha!

Sounds like we are having a major communication problem here, folks.

Urban Wildlife

2007-02-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

I'm Baaa'ack!

Hi everyone. I'm sorry I kind of dropped off the face of the web there for a while. Things have been ...well...weird lately. I blame the post-holiday blues and life in general for my recent malaise. It's not that there hasn't been stuff to write about ('cause there's lots!) it's just that I haven't been able to gather the energy necessary and/or to concentrate long enough to write anything. I honestly think I was depressed there for a while. No fun at all.

But things are looking up. School started this week and I've already had some interesting classes. I was all prepared for the required Speech 101 class to be a real drag, but the teacher seems great and I think it's going to be a very cool class. I'm such a great big nerd that I think Statistics 225 is actually interesting and I have my first Psychology class this evening, so we'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to that one a lot. I'm also trying an online Oceanography class. I've never done an online class before so we'll see how that goes. I think if I stay organized and keep track of all my due dates for stuff, I'll be OK.

I'm still adjusting to my new lifestyle as a single gal. I really do like my new apartment and if it's a little lonely at night, at least it's also nice and quiet for studying. I've gotten to decorate with my favorite pictures and whatnot so it feels like my home. I even went out and bought rabbit ear antennas for my TV so I can watch Grey's Anatomy on Thursday nights. I have my cat, Nicodemus, who is always there to say 'meow' rather a lot, actually. And my neighbors seem like nice folks. My amazingly supportive friends come over on the weekends and call me so I'm really a lucky girl.

There is one little area of single life that I am having a hard time with, though - pest control.

The other night I'm curled with my latest Netflix DVD, Veronica Guerin with Cate Blanchet. (amazing film by the way. Highly recommended) and I notice that Nicodemus is really interested in my shoe. Like crouched down on the carpet, tail-twitching interested. This is odd, I think. But then Veronica got attacked by some thug with a gun at her back door, so I left Nic to his own devices. A little while later, the wee beastie pounces on something from across the room and then I notice that he's chewing on something. Something crunchy. Upon closer inspection I see that it's a giant, brown cricket. I'm talking monster squeaker here, people. This thing looks like the Cricket That Time Forgot and it's in my apartment. And my cat is EATING IT! Eeeewwwwww!

I hate bugs. I can handle all manner of mice and rats and even snakes or lizards. I once got a sparrow out of my bedroom at some un-godly hour of the morning. But I draw the line at disease carrying, crunchy creepy-crawlies. In all my years of New York living I never once killed a roach. I had boyfriends come over and do it. I once asked the security guard in my dorm building to come up and deal with a particularly huge flying creature one summer. I don't do bugs.

But apparently my cat does.

<---- See the six-toed feet of cricket immolation!

Because There Aren't Enough People Blogging About This...

2007-01-23T23:27:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I just watched the President's state of the union speech. Since I don't think anyone else in the blogosphere is going to write about it, I guess I should. Ah-hem.

I admit that I can't usually watch the man on television too long before I need to turn the channel or leave the room. He infuriates me. He's also usually incredibly embarrassing. It's like watching those poor people audition on American Idol. I find myself clutching a pillow and averting my gaze. It's just an ordeal all around. Tonight I sat through the whole speech and boy was I glad I did. First of all, there was Nancy Pelosi. Did you see some of the looks she was trying not to shoot at our fearless leader during that speech? Especially during the part about balancing the budget. I think perhaps she has a few ideas about that and I can't wait to find out what they are as this session of Congress continues.

While Nancy was great to watch, the few times the camera cut to Hillary Clinton were priceless. She looked like she wanted to leap out of her seat and bump him right off that podium when he started in on his half-assed health care plan. I sincerely hope she gets the chance. Both she and Nancy did that pursed lip thing that I used to see from my mom right before she lit into somebody. Formidable women indeed!

And I think I have a little crush on Jim Webb now. What was it he said at the end of the Democratic response to the President's speech? Oh, yes -

"As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the general who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War II. And as soon as he became president, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this president to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way."

I'm exhausted and it's way past bed time here on the east coast. I'll come up with a more coherent post in a day or two. In the mean time, I'm going to get some sleep and try to have nice dreams where we get our people safely home from overseas and when they get back they find out that we all have affordable universal health care, our schools are well-funded, and all our cars now run on cow dung.

While I'm at it, I think I'll also dream that I've married Vigo Mortensen in an outdoor wedding ceremony that concluded with the release of little bitty flying pigs.

Blog For Choice

2007-01-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

The theme for this year's Blog For Choice seemed pretty straight forward. They wanted folks to write about why they are pro-choice. As I thought about it over the last few days, though, it's not that simple. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to my opinion on this amazingly polarizing debate. My upbringing, religious experiences, education and medical experiences have all contributed in one form or another.

First of all there was my mom. She never really had to come out and say it, but I know that she held the basic belief that your body is your own and nobody has a right to tell you what to do with it, least of all some government officials. Whenever a news story would come on after dinner about Roe vs Wade etc., she just had a way of shaking her head at the television that made it perfectly clear what she thought of the mess. When she did mutter something under her breath at the news announcer, it was always in the pro-choice direction.

As a teenager I did the usual questioning of authority figures, pushing boundaries...that sort of thing. I was baptised in a Lutheran church as a baby, but ended up a practicing Wiccan. I read a lot, listened to my friends and made up my own mind about a lot of stuff that I had taken for granted for most of my life. I think we all do that to a certain degree. Luckily, I never had to make the decision about whether or not to go down to the Family Planning Clinic in my town, but I know some girls that did. A few of them chose to go there and came back to school a week or two later...changed. Others chose not to and disappeared from our school hallways a few months later. It wasn't the kind of thing you talked about much, but it happened and we knew it. They (and their parents, I'm sure) were able to decide what was best for them at the time. They made their own choice and lived with it afterwards.

Another very real factor that I think solidified my position on the matter occurred a couple of years ago. I got very sick with an infection that threatened and finally destroyed my reproductive system and landed me in the hospital multiple times. I wasn't allowed to make some incredibly important decisions about my own care at the time because the male doctors believed that I was too young and didn't know what I really wanted. Now, I'm sure they did what they thought medically best (and probably financially best as well) but I couldn't get them to listen to me. It was not a good feeling. I learned the hard way that I need to be able to make fully informed choices about my health. It was terrifying to have that basic right so blithely taken from me. I don't want to live in a world where we make any pregnant woman feel that way as a matter of law.

Being pro-choice does not mean you are pro-abortion. It means that you respect another person's ability to make their own choices for themselves. I don't see how an institution like our government can seriously try and make that decision for anybody. Governments are good at large, sweeping policies that help run a nation of millions of people. They are not designed to dictate the complex, personal decisions of that citizenry. Whether or not a woman is able to carry a pregnancy to term emotionally, financially and realistically are all decisions that are best made at home, by the people involved, not in a courtroom.

I'm pro-choice because I don't think that I have any right to tell another person what is best for their family and neither does anyone else. I don't know if having a baby would make your life complete or ruin it. I don't know if you are a devout Catholic or an agnostic. It seems very strange to me that America is supposed to be founded on this idea of religious freedom (among others), yet our lawmakers continually make decisions for everyone based on one religious ideal. I'm pro-choice because I want to make my own decisions about my health and because I believe other women have the same right.

Cars and Birthdays and the State of Being Female

2007-01-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

What a week! Not only did I turn 30 on Monday (whoo-hoo!), had a great dinner with my friends and another with my family, but I also got to experience the joy of a free AAA tow and the wonders of public transportation in Los Angeles.

Perhaps I should back up a bit.

On Saturday night I drove out to my parent's house, about 45 miles away from where I live. My thought was to go out there and help my mom and some of her friends put up fences at the horse ranch where they will be moving to soon. Horses need fences, y'know? I'm the helpful sort and I thought it was better than sitting around my new apartment all alone. I mean, a girl can only vacuum the carpet and organize her spice rack so many times.

So, I help the horse folks for a while, then go back to mom's and grab a nice bite to eat with my good friends Marz and T3. After dinner, I thought I was going to drive back to my place, feed the cat and get to sleep. My car had other plans. I turned the ignition and it sputtered. Tried again, more sputtering, the sound of squeaky belts and a smell of burning rubber. Not good.

I spent the night at the 'rents.

My cat went hungry.

Really, really not good.

Not to worry, animal lovers. I borrowed my mom's car Sunday morning and went home to feed the kitty. I had to go back out to mom's place though, 'cause I wasn't about to tow my car the 45 miles back to my mechanic.

Long story not so short - I got the car fixed on my birthday and took the Metrolink train to work.

Which brings me to my topic of the day - Women and car buying/fixing.

I actually ended up with a decent mechanic that my cousin and his parents have used a lot. After I got the car towed to this guy's place, my couz stopped by in the afternoon to check on the prognosis. Basically, I had a guy go check it out for me. When I went to pick the car up on Tuesday, my ex-boyfriend was in town and since we're still friends, he came with me and grilled the mechanic about what he did, which parts he replaced and how much he charged for labor. I am very grateful to these men for helping me out, but I'm a little pissed off that I needed their help in the first place. I mean, why is it women have made fantastic progress in the workplace and government positions but dealing with cars slams us back to the 1950s?

I dumped rather a lot of money into my 1990 Acura Integra and I'm thinking it's about time to cut my losses, sell the thing, and go get myself a car loan like a grown-up, thirty-year-old person. This is going to involve negotiating a decent interest rate, making sound mechanical decisions and being aggressive and informed about what I want. I'm fine with that. Hell, I just found out I got a "A" in Intermediate Algebra. I can do anything!

Right?

Since most car salesmen tend to either ignore women or try to sell us on how nifty the vanity mirror is, I plan on doing my homework. I found this website helpful as a starting place. It's sponsored by GM, but a lot of the tips and information are quite good. They have a list of things to consider when choosing a car and what to look for in a test drive.

Here's an interesting article by Julie E. Huston at Bankrate.com called Women's Survival Guide To Buying A Car. I take exception to the idea that I need a survival guide because I have ovaries, but I still found the article interesting. It's kind of a "what to look out for" thing.

Finally, this website has some invaluable information on buying and selling a used car and why it may not be such a good idea to stay with your broken down car on the side of the road. The writing is conversational and informative, always a good combination.

And of course, don't forget carfax.com. This is the incredibly useful website where you can enter in a VIN number for a car and see if it has ever been in an accident, sold with a salvage title, in a flood etc. It won't tell you if a six-teen year-old drove it for two years without ever changing the oil, but it will tell you about the major stuff.

It's going to be a process for me to find a nifty car that I like enough to make payments on for the next two years. I have a good idea of what I'm looking for and luckily, time is on my side. I don't need a car immediately. I intend to go into this process with all the tools necessary to get what I want at the price I can afford. And hey, if I don't like the way I'm being treated I can always walk the hell out of there. One nice thing about Los Angeles is that there are more than a few places to buy a car around here.

A New Day

2007-01-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and stuff! I hope everyone of you had a wonderful holiday season. I hope you survived the family fun, the exsessive amounts of food, the holiday travel. I hope your New Year's eve was fun and that those of you who wanted one, got a kiss at mid-night.

'tis the season for resolutions and I have a couple this year. Not only is it a new year, but it's a rather momentous birthday for me. I'm going to be turning the big 3-0 in a few days. I don't feel quite so old. David Bowie will be turning 60 on the same day and poor Elvis is dead, so it could be worse...or better depending on your perspective I suppose. Anyway, in light of all this I thought I'd make a list. Here goes...

2007 - To Do

Submit an article (or 10) to a real publication, magazines, newspapers, websites, whatever.
Get an article published.
Find a better job or get a substantial raise at this one.
Tell my mom that I love her more often
Write in my blog more
Keep working on positive thoughts. Such as - instead of looking in the mirror and thinking to myself "Ugh, I look like crap today." I will think in a loud and confident inner voice "Damn, I'm cute...and SMART!" Hell, I may even say it out loud.
Take my cat to the vet for a check-up. No matter how much he yowls in the kitty carrier
Learn more vegan recipes
Try more veggies that I used to not like as a kid. Mmmmmm...broccoli

Learn to touch type a little faster
And of course..get to the gym/out for a jog/go hiking more often.

Now for the whole 'thirties' thing. There are a few things that I would like to accomplish in the coming ten years. Let's see...

To Do - over the next Ten Years

Graduate with a B.A. in journalism
Get a good job with a newspaper or magazine and write great stories

Travel more

Get my masters degree at some fabulous place like Berkley, Harvard or NYU
Meet someone nice who isn't A.) manipulative B.) cold, compartmentalized and distant and C.) (a' la Bridget Jones) an emotional f*#k-wit.

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can think of right now.

What's on your New Year's resolution list?

Happy (sniffle) Holidays

2006-12-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I'm sick.

I'm like lost-my-voice, feel-like-I'm-moving-in-slow-motion sick. This is not at all good.

I have one more final exam tonight in Art History. Then I have to finish my wrapping and last minute mailing of gifts and whatnot. After that, I will pack up everything I need to survive the weekend at my parent's house. This entails not only pajamas worthy of being worn on Christmas morning (a girl cannot be photographed opening gifts in just any ole thing) but a fair amount of groceries. Oh, and my cat.

I'm bringing egg replacer for baking, various tofus, silk soy nog (YUM!) and fixen's for a vegan main dish for Christmas dinner. I will not be eating any of the roast beef that is being planned. (ahem)

Then there is the issue with my poor kitty-boo. Nicodemus, the six toed wonder, will be coming along with me for the holiday weekend since I just moved and have no one to check in on him while I'm gone. I fully expect to spend the hour or so driving to my parent's house with a yowling box o' kitteh. I hope he forgives me fore this.

Even though there are quite a number of obstacles between myself and the festivities ahead, I still can't help being excited. I love Christmas time. I love getting to be with my family and spend time with my mom. I love getting to see friends and eating too much with them at Christmas parties. I just love the whole thing.

So, I hope all you wonderful bloggers have a great holiday season. You guys write some of the coolest stuff. Even though I have not been commenting much, I have been swinging by to read a bit before studying or wrapping etc. I can't wait to see what some of you are cooking for the holiday dinner.

Have a beautiful holiday!

Is this "Devil Food" in your kitchen?

2006-12-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

This has already popped up on Feministing and Good Magazine today, but I just could not resist. Apparently, the truth is out. The fundies have finally discovered the feminist's and vegetarian's master plan. Yep, we're trying to turn them all gay through tofu.

It's true I tell you! Read on...

According to Jim Rutz at WorldNetDaily,

"There's a slow poison out there that's severely
damaging our children and threatening to tear apart our culture. The ironic part
is, it's a "health food," one of our most popular. The dangerous food I'm
speaking of is soy. Soybean products are feminizing, and they're all over the
place. You can hardly escape them anymore. "

Ahhhhh! Help, I can't escape the raging soybeans taking over my society. Eeeeek! (runs down hallway, waving arms madly)

"Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the
penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not
socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise
in soy formula and other soy products...

Doctors used to hope soy would reduce hot flashes, prevent cancer and heart
disease, and save millions in the Third World from starvation. That was before
they knew much about long-term soy use. Now we know it's a classic example of a
cure that's worse than the disease. For example, if your baby gets colic from
cow's milk, do you switch him to soy milk? Don't even think about it. His
phytoestrogen level will jump to 20 times normal. If he is a she, brace yourself
for watching her reach menarche as young as seven, robbing her of years of
childhood. If he is a boy, it's far worse: He may not reach puberty till much
later than normal."
The completely fabricated pseudo science he uses in this piece of shit is truly astounding.
And hey, why would it be "far worse" for a boy to reach puberty a little late? There seems to be no mention of concerns about RBgh and other hormones in cow's milk that may be linked to early onset of a girl's period. Maybe all those girls were just secretly drinking soy milk while their parents weren't looking. It's so feminizing y'know? I bet they were trying to get bigger breasts so they could attract a really manly, red-meat-eatin' kind of guy whowould get them all barefoot and pregnant. Yeah, but then they were brain-washed by the vegetarians and became propaganda hawkers for the new Soy Gay Empire that is, at this very moment, working to undermine our president and the American way of life through hormone injections and demand for equal marriage rights. Uh-huh. I bet so.

Beware the soy!

More Fun With Advertising

2006-12-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

I finally got the rough draft of my research paper back from my Mass Comm professor last night. Hooray! Now I can spruce it up a bit and get me an "A".

We had to choose a topic having to do with the media and write a five page paper discussing it with findings from research done in books, journals, interviews and the like. I chose to write my paper on the effects of advertising on body image. Not terribly original, but it's something I'm interested in and I thought it would be fairly easy to come up with five pages. I now have a twelve page paper that covers body image issues as well as gender roles for both men and women. (sigh) I can never do anything the easy way.

While I was researching ad images I came across some very cool pieces. Rather than share with you the worst of the worst (and there are some doosies) I wanted to show you some ads that I thought were constructive.

The first one is an ad campaign that was run in Portugal. You have to look at it for a second, but the hands that are silencing the women belong to men. They also had one of a young boy with a man's hand over his mouth and one of an elderly man with a younger mans large hand. So they were targeting child abuse, elder abuse and violence against women. Nice.

This one is from India. It's an ad campaign created by a group called The Sisterhood Collective to address the problem of dowry in arranged marriages there. Apparently, women are often beaten, abused and murdered due to issues with the dowry. Yeah, "accidental kitchen deaths" my ass.

"What began as gifts of land to a woman as her inheritance in an essentially agricultural economy today has degenerated into gifts of gold, clothes, consumer dur-ables, and large sums of cash, which has sometimes entailed the impoverishment and heavy indebtedness of poor families. The dowry is often used by the receiving family for business purposes, family members' education, or the dowry to be given for the husband's sisters. The transaction of dowry often does not end with the actual wedding ceremony, as the family is expected to continue to give gifts. It was only in the middle of the 1970s that the women's movement and other human rights groups exposed the perniciousness of the system in India, when it was realized that there were an increased number of "accidental kitchen deaths" of young married women. The first reports to the police were often registered as suicides or accidents. The available statistics of dowry death are chilling and disturbing. "

This one reads; "Violence against women. Do nothing and you might as well lend a hand."

I thought the collage approach was very effective on this one. All the hands reaching out at the viewer make the image even more confrontational and intimidating. You get a real visceral reaction from this piece.

Here is yet another line of Dove ads. I've talked about my concerns with Dove and Unilever before but I do like these ads. I especially like the "Grey or Gorgeous?" one and the "wrinkled or Wonderful?" one. I think the older women look amazing.

And finally, here is a rare underwear ad that does not feature a leggy model with fake boobs.

'nuff said. :)

Animal Rights vs. Entertainment

2006-11-30T12:15:00.001-08:00

We are blessed to live in a world with so much beautiful and diverse wildlife. If you really think about the amazing array of creatures we share the planet with, it's astounding. There's itty bitty insects you can hardly see and blue whales that are larger than most NYC apartments. We've got flying critters, swimming critters, creepy-crawly critters...you name it. The problem is, that most people would never get to see these animals if it weren't for things like zoos and wild animal parks. This is a problem for me.

On one hand, there is the whole conservation issue. There are some species who now only exist in zoos. Many of the world's leading zoos, like the ones in San Diego and Washington D.C. have extensive breeding programs to try and save these animals from extinction. I would say most of the folks who work directly with the wildlife in their care do their best to provide them with a safe, engaging living environment and try to keep them stimulated and happy. I try to think of the animals in zoos as ambassadors for their kind. After all, would people really care that much about preserving habitats of animals they had never seen? When you think of saving wild tigers in Asia, you can't help but recall the captive ones you've seen at the zoo. At least no body's hunting them for their pretty skin, right?

I get all that. And I still get so sad and angry when I see them there. The elephants just kill me. When I see them standing in some dusty enclosure, swaying back and forth, I can't help but think that they aren't very happy. I used to go to a little zoo on Staten Island in NY and they had a leopard in an indoor enclosure. That poor cat paced back and forth along the glass all day long. It was heartbreaking to see. I wonder if given the chance, he would rather live free and risk getting killed by some poacher.

There was a news story this morning about one of my absolute favorite animals that just got me so mad. I practice a religion that uses animal spirit guides called totems. My animal totem is the orca Whale. To me, the orca is a symbol embodying strength, intelligence, courage, compassion, freedom and a certain playful, dark sense of humor. Yes, they are ruthless hunters and nobody likes to see that Animal Planet footage of them "playing" with their food before they eat it. Still, there is just something about them that gives me the chills.

Seeing them in those tanks at Sea World makes me cry. They are supposed to have miles and miles of ocean to roam with their clan. They are not fish to be put in a tank and made to literally jump through hoops for our entertainment. It's not right no matter how much I try to think about conservation and breeding programs and nice trainers.

An orca named Kasatka who lives at Sea World in San Diego grabbed her trainer, Ken Peters, by the foot yesterday and dragged him to the bottom of the tank during a show. I bet that was a shock to the parents and kiddies in the audience. The trainer is in "good" condition at the hospital and the big brains at Sea World are trying to figure out why she "acted out."

Hmmm...I can't imagine why a two ton mammal with feelings and thoughts of her own might act out while being forced to perform for frozen fish day after day. Gosh, what could possibly be wrong with her? Doesn't she like her cage?

The Associated press printed this today:

Kasatka and Peters were involved in a scrape in 1999, when the whale tried to bite the trainer during a show, Scarpuzzi said. Peters hopped out of the tank and was not injured. The whale also tried to bite a different trainer in 1993, Scarpuzzi said.
Peters has 16 years of experience as a trainer, including 12 years in Shamu Stadium.
Scapuzzi pointed out that the animals perform as many as eight times a day, 365 days a year, "so this, even though it can be expected because they are killer whales, it is definitely abnormal."

Two things - first, she has tried to bite this guy before. Hello!? Perhaps she's not too crazy about working with this trainer. What if he pisses her off enough for her to really injure or kill him? You know what would happen to her then, right? Second, they perform EIGHT times a DAY, 365 days a year. WTF!? I hope he means that they rotate the whales who are performing everyday. So, there are eight shows a day, but maybe each whale only goes out three or four times a day and has days off. I'm no trained marine biologist, but otherwise, that sounds a bit excessive to me. They go on to say:

"In the wild they're not dangerous to humans and there's no incidences of them attacking humans unprovoked," Balcomb said. But in captivity, "they're dangerous because they're big and sometimes they're not happy with their situation."

If there are no incidences of them attacking humans unprovoked, then I would conclude that all the attacks at Sea World are therefore provoked. I think the phrase "not happy with their situation" is a gross understatement. How about " they are bored and depressed. The ones captured in the wild are devastatingly homesick?" I'm glad we are acknowledging that these incredible animals might be less than thrilled to be living out the lives of performing monkeys, but let's call a spade a spade.

Look, I really hope the trainer is OK and recovers fully. It's not good for people to get hurt any more than animals. Still, I wish they'd just close the damn parks down, keep the whales they have in the biggest enclosures possible, try to rehabilitate the ones they can for release, and never, ever capture or breed another one again.

I'd rather get to see one orca whale in my entire life here,

than see a hundred of them every day, like this:

You Gotta Have Friends

2006-11-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hello Blogosphere,

Sorry I've been away for a while. It's been a hell of a week. I am happy to report that I have survived mid-term exams and got As on my tests. I have also managed to write a rough draft of my research paper on the effects of advertising on body image. Hooray! I have another Intermediate Algebra exam on Mon. though, so we're not out of the woods yet, campers. Ah, I love school.

I don't have any huge topic to discuss, no news story to disseminate or videos to share.

I just wanted to talk about friends.

I am lucky enough to have a great little circle of friends that I know I can turn to when things get tough. I have two girl friends (no not that kind of girl friend) that I've know since junior high. There are a couple of buddies I've know since high school. There is the incredible woman I met on 9/11 that is one of my dearest friends. Talk about having some history. I can't hide much from these people and I'm glad.

I feel like I am so blessed to have these people in my life. They are my other family. I worry that I take them for granted, though. It's so easy to get used to someone always being there. It happens in every relationship, romantic or otherwise. You just get accustomed to folks being around and we maybe forget to say thank you.

So...thank you.

I've also "met" some of you other bloggers through e-mails etc. and may I say, you are very cool folk. I wish I could get us all together for brunch or something. As soon as I work out the bugs on my transporter device, I'm havin' y'all over. Tofu scramble and Morningstar Farms sausage patties for all!

That's all I really wanted to say. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Remember to give your friends a hug or send them a card or something. Everyone loves getting cards.

Oh, and here is a gratuitous cute and cuddly pic of a big dog and little kittens.

Awwwwwwww...

HOOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!

2006-11-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

I am grinning from ear to ear this morning. This is the best day politically speaking in a very very long time. We did it, folks. We took back the House of Representatives. We are two incredibly close elections away from taking back the Senate. And the best thing about all of this is Nancy Pelosi, the first ever female speaker of the house. This is a big deal. This is wonderful.

This is a little scary.

I mean, the democrats have a lot of promises to keep. They have a lot to prove and only two years to prove it. That's kind of a tall order. Not to mention they still have a conservative, right wing, constitution stomping, pro-life zealot in the White House. Ugh. Stay the course indeed.

Still, I think this might be the beginning of the end of a long nightmare that started in Florida back in 2000. Maybe we're starting to recover from the fear mongering of the post 9/11 agenda and the backlash that rose up after the Clinton administration. Damn people, can't we all just get along?

In other terrific, amazing, wonderful news, the South Dakota abortion ban was voted down yesterday! I 'whoooped' out loud when I heard that last night and then I honestly felt this amazing sense of relief kind of wash over me. I just sat on my couch and pondered the implications of it. This means that they won't be able to push the issue in front of our new, highly conservative Supreme Court any time in the very near future. The nine highest judges will be hearing another case, I believe this week, about abortion rights, but at least they won't have the power to overturn Roe v. Wade anytime soon. That is the kind of scary, Orwellian crap that keeps me up nights. And I can't even get pregnant anymore.

So, to re-cap:

1. Democrats take the House!

2. Nancy Pelosi is our new Speaker!!

3. South Dakota voted down the abortion ban!!!

And now for the not-so-great stuff.

There were two ballot initiatives here in California that got voted down due mostly to the amazing amounts of money that the big tobacco and oil companies were willing to spend to defeat them. Ah, democracy in action. Come to find out that California is the largest domestic market for Phillip Morris. That company spent about $100 million to defeat proposition 86. Prop. 86 would have added another tax to cigarettes and put the money towards health care and other public service programs. Then, Chevron et al. spent another $102 million to defeat prop. 87 which would have taxed oil production in CA and provided incentives for cleaner, alternative fuels. The fact is they could afford more tv and radio commercials. I probably saw five of the negative commercials to every one of the positive ones in the last month. TV ad time is expensive stuff. How can we compete with the vast coffers of Chevron and Phillip Morris?

By being persistent, loud, and relentless, that's how. This was just one setback and it wasn't wasted effort. These issues are out there now and in the public conscience. The cool, progressive people in this state and others just have to keep bringing these ballot initiatives to the voters. Eventually they will get it. I honestly believe that enough concerned people can overthrow the wealthy minority in big business. It just takes a little time and a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

UPDATE - It looks like Democrat, Jon Tester just took Montana. The Senate is now tied!

It's Time!

2006-11-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

"It was we the people, not we the white male citizens; but we the whole people who formed the union." - Susan B. Anthony

Click to enlarge

Ok, folks. This is it. It's November the 7th, 2006. You know what this means, don't you?

Of course you do. It means that you have until the polls close this evening to get your tails down to your local polling place and vote. Don't know where your local polling station is? Not sure where to go? These people can tell you.

And ladies especially, you have no excuses here as far as I'm concerned. It wasn't all that long ago that we weren't allowed to vote. Your great grandma would be spinning in her grave if she found out that the rights that she may have marched and picketed for, the rights that some women went to jail for, are not being exercised today. Back in 1920 we managed to get the men to drop the weenie check at the voting booth and let a person with a uterus cast a ballot. Don't throw that away.

Not to mention that female candidates are poised to take over a lot of seats in Congress today. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

Besides, if you don't go vote today, you are not allowed to complain about anything the government does to you for at least the next two years. That's my own personal rule and I will enforce it. (ah-hem)

You might even get a little sticker that says "I Voted" too. Won't that be nice?

Now get out there and tell Congress what you think of them! Oh, and for those of you who think that your one little vote doesn't really matter, I have three words for you....Florida and Ohio.

Art..emisia

2006-10-31T13:05:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite classes this semester is Art History 102. It covers the early Renaissance up through the early 1900s. We get to study all the big, important guys like Donatello, DaVinci, Michelanglo, Raphael (and other assorted teenage mutant ninja turtles) as well as some pretty cool architechts like Alberti and Bramonte. One of the things sadly lacking, as I expected, is any discussion of female artists. Not a big surprise, really. During the period we're concentrating on women couldn't go outside without an escort, they couldn't own property in most places and were routinely sold into marriage for a few acres of good grazing land. They certainly could not attend any schools, much less look at the male nude form in order to study classical technique. I always found it interesting that there are hardly any female painters in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but there sure are a lot of pictures of nude women on the walls. Typical.

So I was thrilled that we got to briefly discuss the work of Atemisia Gentileschi in class last week. Because of the restrictions placed on women, what female artists there were at the time mostly painted portraits and landscapes. They certainly weren't getting any of the big commissions from mama church or the local aristocracy. Artemisia was an incredibly talented painter who was the first female artist to paint major religious and historical scenarios.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, her life was not without troubles. Her father, a successful artist, recognized her precocious genius and sent her to study with an artist named Agosino Tassi. Tassi took advantage of the situation and raped her. There was a long, highly publicized trial that lasted for seven months around the time Artemisia was 18 or so. She was subjected to vaginal examination, torture with thumbscrews and accused publicly of being unchaste. Tassi was eventually sentenced to banishment from Rome, but due to his powerful relationships within the local government, he was back in town within four months.

Some people believe that Artemisia used her art to cathartically and symbolically work through the pain. Just take a look at these for example.

The first painting is called Judith and Maidservant With the Head of Holofernes. It's a rendition of the old testament story from the book of Judith. Judith was a beautiful widow who sneaked into the enemy camp of the invading Babylonian army. She seduced the general, Holofernes, then beheaded him while he slept off the night of drinking and debauchery, thus securing the victory and salvation of her people. Tough gal, huh?

The next one is called Judith Slaying Holofernes, a rather gory depiction of the act itself. The thing I really love about her work, is not the so much the dark subject matter, but the rich colors and her amazing use of shadow and light. Check out the shadow that is cast on Judith's face from her hand blocking the candle light. And, of course, these are depictions of strong, heroic women taking action (however violent). Sure beats another damn reclining nude if you ask me.

Here's another interesting piece:

This is Susanna and the Elders. This painting is a scene from the Old Testament story of Susanna. She was a respectable Jewish married lady. In this painting the corrupt town elders have hidden in her garden while she is having a bath. They tell her that she has to "lay" with them or else they will tell everyone that she was waiting for her lover in the garden. She refuses and they put her on trial for adultery. Finally, a young man named David believes Susanna and questions the elders separately. They can't agree on what kind of tree Susanna was sitting under and are convicted of being dirty old lying attempted rapists and are put to death. (Ok, maybe that's not what the story said exactly...)Look at how Artemisia has portrayed Susanna's reaction to the men's advances. It's quite a different telling than this one by Rembrandt.

Artemisia's Susanna looks truly distraught and scared. Can you imagine the feeling of violation, fear and repulsion that a woman would feel at being interrupted while bathing by a couple of strange old men? She's a respectable, sheltered, married woman being threatened in her home by two powerful men. I think Artemsisa had a better grasp on the reality of those feelings than Rembrandt (and many others) ever portrayed. Usually, when male artists painted this story, it was simply an excuse to paint a coyingly seductive female nude figure.

Here are a few more of my favorite Artemisia Gentileschi paintings.

The Penitent Magdalene

Madonna and Child - look how she has captured the relationship between mother and child. Some historians believe this to be her first painting, completed at the age of 16.

Birth of St. John The Baptist - quite the cozy, domestic scene isn't it? I love how the birth is dominated by (gasp!) women who traditionally controlled birthings. Not sure who the old guy is on the right though.

I've been looking online for a poster of one of her less violent works to hang in my new apartment. Sadly, they are really hard to find. For a long time Artemsisa was all but forgotten. Many of her works were attributed to other artists. Thanks to the work of some very tenacious art historians, her work has finally come to light. I think she is more than worthy of our attention and I hope I can get to see one of these paintings in person some day. That would involve a trip to Europe, though. Hmmm....

If you want to learn more about Artemisia Gentileschi, there is an amazing website HERE.

Movies and Manifestos

2006-10-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

I am having way too much fun with this new found ability to post movies.
Wheeee!

Below is a clip from MomsRising about their new book (and film) The Motherhood Manifesto. MomsRising is a group that is working to bring awareness to the myriad obstacles faced by families and working moms in this country. They are also involved in supporting legislation that would help to solve some of these problems. Trivial little shit like paid maternity leave, adequate health care for children (and their parents!) and the crazy wage gap between working moms and their male counterparts.

You can check out and support some of their efforts with petitions and alerts on items coming up on state ballots. There's one in San Francisco (not a state, I know) that is trying to get Proposition F passed. Prop F would "provide employer-paid sick days to all workers in San Francisco. Workers could take time off to care for their own health and could also take time to care for sick children, parents and immediate family members. Paid sick days could also be used to go to routine doctors appointments, or to take family members to the doctor."

There is another on-line petition called "Mothers Cease Fire Petition - sign on to ask the media to stop the 'Mommy Wars' and start reporting on real issues." Wouldn't that be refreshing.

Here are a few fun-filled facts from the web site:

The U.S. is one of only five countries of 168 studied that doesn't mandate some form of paid maternal leave, putting us on par with Papua New Guinea, Lesotho, and Swaziland. (this one if just embarrassing...and horrifying all at once.)
Both parents work in 61% of American families
Businesses that implement flex-time policies often benefit with higher employee retention, lower training and recruiting costs, and better employee performance.
A study found non-mothers made 90 cents to a man's dollar, moms made 73 cents to the dollar, and single moms made 56 to 66 cents to a man's dollar.
There was a twenty-threefold (2,300 %) increase in medical-related bankruptcy filings between 1981 and 2001. (about the time more women were entering the workforce. hmmmmm....)

And finally, here's the movie!

The documentary was released this week. I've only seen the promo clips, but it looks like a good combination of fact and entertainment with a little progressive political activism thrown in. Think The Corporation for families. I'm definitely going to check it out and get back to you on what I think about the movie. (Y'know, in all of my spare time.)

With the fall mid-term elections just weeks away I think this is something to consider when voting for your senator or congress-person. 'Cause you are ALL going to go vote, right? Of course you are.

I mean, the fact is, for a country that talks so much about "family values" we sure don't put our policies where our mouths are. I personally cringe whenever I hear the term anymore. It seems synonymous with Jerry Falwell, pro-life zealots and oppressive government sanctioned wholesomeness. Why can't "family values" actually mean valuing the family in all it's forms? I think it's time for Washington and corporate America to wake up and realize that the working family needs a little help here. They also need to realize that the so-called "American family" has changed. We've got everything from same sex parents to single parents raising kids. Wouldn't it be amazing to live someplace where the corporate sector is encouraged (possibly even required) to work with it's employees on issues such as maternity and (gasp!) paternity leave? What if you could take your kids to work with you and drop them off at the clean, well run, happily-staffed day care center in your office building?

Here's another fun/informative/scary read - The American Family Grows Up. It's from the very first ever issue of Good Magazine. I read the whole thing cover to cover in a weekend and LOVED it.

Dove Movies

2006-10-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to post these Dove ads all week with no luck so I hope this works. Technology can be truly baffling sometimes.

I love both of these commercials, yet I am still conflicted. I think it's great that a "beauty" company is putting out this kind of message. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is certainly a breath of fresh air. My problem is that they are still, of course, selling me their skin care products through these ads. They are a commercial company. That's what they do. I would almost rather they use the skinny, touched-up models to pitch their skin care line because then I could just dismiss it. By using footage of sweet little girls expressing fears of being fat and/or unattractive, I feel like Dove is somewhat using these girls and their insecurities to make a profit.

Advertising sells us more than simply products, though. It sells us values. We see an average of 3000 ads a day. We may not buy the dress or the car, but we all get the message. Advertising tells us what the ideal is in our society. Then it shows us exactly how we fail to meet that ideal. Finally, it offers us the product we need to achieve happiness and fulfillment if only we have the money to spend. Clever and insidious stuff, no? At least the Dove ads are offering us an alternative to the unattainable beauty myth.

Then there is the whole Unilever issue. Unilever is the corporation that owns Dove. Among other things, they still use animal testing in their product development. That guarantees that I won't be running down to my local Walgreens and buying myself a cartload of their soap. However, according the the Unilver web site "non-animal testing is the rule and animal testing is the exception. Unilever does not undertake animal testing or commission others to do such testing on its behalf unless it is necessary to meet its health, safety and environmental obligations or it is demanded by government regulators or other official bodies. " Well, that may be so (I have no way of confirming that statement right now) but the fact is that they still test on little bunny rabbits. Ew.

For the time being, I think I will continue to shop at Lush and other cruelty free shops.

I'll still look forward to the Dove ads though. Whatever their motivation, at least they're getting out a much more positive message than this one.

And for more fun with photo retouching, check out this little website. Yikes!

Hey, Baby! How You Doin'?

2006-10-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

Has this ever happened to you?

I was walking down 38th street in midtown Manhattan one afternoon, on my way to a rehearsal. As I'm passing a store front, one of the guys lounging against the building leans over and says "Hey baby, you got great tits."
I try to ignore him and walk on by, but he starts to follow me. He's making comments about my ass, asking me what I'm doing that night etc. I get to the corner of 38th and Broadway and duck into a store until he walks away. I'm scared, angry and late for rehearsal.

Or how about this?

I'm driving home from class last week in Valley Village, CA around 10:00 at night. As I approach a stop light a white car pulls up next to me and honks the horn. I look over and there are two guys in the other car. The driver is making the universal sign for "roll down your window." I just look at them and shake my head. When the light changes I continue driving and he stays right next to me, making nasty gestures and doing something particularly gross with his tongue. I slow down, he slows down. I speed up, he speeds up. I finally lose them at another light when I make a left turn. I'm shaking. I'm pissed off and I just took a turn that brings me nowhere near my house, so I have to drive around the block so I can get going back in the right direction.

This is called street harassment. It's the kind of crap all women risk being exposed to whenever we dare go out someplace without a male escort. It is not acceptable behavior even though our society tends to just laugh it off as "harmless". It is not harmless. It can be scary. It can be infuriating. It can be demoralizing.

Whenever this happens to me, I usually just try not to look at the guy and get past him as quickly as possible. Inevitably I blame myself for provoking the attention. Maybe my make-up was too much or my shirt was too tight. I wish my boobs were smaller or my hips were less curvy. Whatever. Then I get angry because I feel scared and guilty and none of it is my fault. I am not the pervy little half-wit who gets off by harassing random women. Here I am feeling like shit and the guy who should be feeling like shit is probably laughing about it. Other than carrying mace or a firearm, what is a girl to do?

Carry a camera phone.

There are these websites popping up all over the place called "Hollaback..." There's Hollaback New York, Hollaback Boston, and Hollaback California to name a few. The idea is that whenever you see a guy harassing you or another woman, take the bastard's picture. Then e-mail your story to one of these sites and they will post it along with lover boy's pretty picture for all the world to see. It's a way of standing up for ourselves and telling the world that this kind of behavior may be common place but it is not acceptable. It's amazing how people reconsider their actions when you're capturing them for posterity. Suddenly, a guy grabbing his crotch and making kissy noises at a random girl on the street seems like it might just be a bad idea.

There is also a great sense of community and quite a lot of attitude at these sites. So often, when a woman is harassed on the street, she feels isolated. Very rarely does anyone else notice or help out. It's your problem alone. The Hollaback project makes it clear that it is our problem and we are going to do something about it together.

There's another very interesting site called Blank Noise, based in India where women are taking a stand against "Eve-teasing". Eve-teasing is a deceptively innocuous term for the street harrasment that goes on in cities there. More and more these incidents are escalating into physical violence and assault on women. The women involved in the Blank Noise Project plan walks after dark, put up posters and paint messages on the side walk to raise awareness about this sort of violence against women. Check out their entry for Friday Sept 29th where they document an evening out on the town.

So, the next time some scummy guy decides to make unsolicited remarks about your anatomy, consider snapping a pic and sharing your experience with the world. Maybe his wife will see him on the internet and give him a little talking to. At the very least you'll feel better for having shared you experience with some sympathetic readers

Note: The photograph at the top of this post is called American Girl in Italy by Ruth Orkin. I see the stupid thing in poster sizes suitable for framing at places like Pier 1 and Cost Plus World Market all the time and it gives me the creeps. That girl looks scared to me. The picture could just as easily be called American Girl Seconds Before a Sexual Assault. Ugh.

1 Math Class + Old Regrets = ?

2006-10-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I'm back in college and working on a degree in journalism. It's been an interesting and sometimes grueling adventure since I'm no longer a teenager and have bills of my own to pay. I've been enjoying the challenge, though and learning a lot about myself. It's amazing what you discover when you challenge yourself just a little. For years, while I was working and pursuing acting, I never had to apply myself to much beyond character studies and audition techniques. In the last year I've written papers on philosophy, sociological patterns at work, comparative essays on Frankenstein and Blade Runner ( that one was a blast) and an anthropological description of an American wedding (someitmes being a bridesmaid is useful). While I don't love missing outings with my friends so I can stay home and "work on a paper", I get a kick out of exercising my mental muscles a bit. It's down right addictive.

This semester I'm taking my first math class since high school. Back in high school I was the kind of student who did very well in anything that involved reading and writing. I had to work a lot harder at math and I actually ended up taking geometry twice because if you get a C they don't send you on to Algebra II. Needless to say I was a little worried that this college level math course might mess up my GPA. I've never had a 4.0 before and I don't intend to lose it now.

So, imagine my surprise when I got back my first test in Intermediate Algebra this week. I got an "A". A great big, fat "A". And I realized that this math thing is not so scary. I've been catching on pretty well in class, but I wasn't sure I really had it down until I got that test back. And I began to wonder where I might be today if I had realized this sooner. Say, back in the 6th grade. If I'm getting "A"s in math now and I got "C"s in math ten years ago, what does that mean? Did my brain suddenly learn how to manipulate algorithms while I was out of school? Am I smarter that I was ten years ago? Or am I just more confident? Maybe the amazingly patient and supportive teacher I have has a little bit to do with it too.

Last night in class our professor handed out the test again, put us in groups and had us work out the problems together. My group consisted of four young women and one guy. All the girls seemed to automatically defer to the guy in our group for help with the answers even though I had gotten a higher score than him on the test. Fine with me, I'm no teacher. But the thing that really irked me was how they all just assumed that they couldn't figure out the problems on their own. They had no confidence in themselves! It was just an automatic response to them. "Oh, well I'm no good at math so I'll ask this guy because guys are better at math than girls."
And these are smart, well spoken girls. Two of them are going into the nursing program and I know there's going to be more math and science for them master before they get out of there.

I was just so saddened to see how they all short changed themselves without even noticing they were doing it. And I was angry with myself for doing the same thing all these years. I used to want to be a marine biologist and study orca whales when I was a kid. By the time I got to high school I had given up on that idea. Too much math and science required for that. I thought I could never get through all the hard science classes to get a degree in marine biology. Now I'll never know.

If you have a little girl, please please encourage her in her math and science classes. It's not just the realm of super smart boys. We need more female doctors and scientists. We need more women getting masters degrees in engineering and computer science.

We need more female marine biologists.

We Came, We Saw, We Walked

2006-10-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend I participated in the 2006 Walk For Farm Animals to benefit Farm Sanctuary. It was so much fun. We had a beautiful day in Santa Monica for the walk, a little cloudy and cool. Just what we needed.

I got to do the walk with a new friend of mine, Robin. She was my sociology proffesor (remember all the "I'm taking this amazing sociology class" posts from a few months ago?) and is one of the coolest people I've met in my college adventure this year. It's actually all her fault I went all out vegan so, a great big 'thank you' to you, Robin!

Also, I wanted to say a huge and heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who donated to the cause and supported me and the critters. You guys are amazing. I was so touched because more than half of the people who donated were folks that I have never actually met in person. This on-line community of concerned bloggers came together and made a difference in the lives of some animals who really need the help. I am honored to "know" you. ;)

I was really impressed when I found out that the woman who organized the event, Valerie Belt, did so as a volunteer. She got the permits from the city, gift cards for the raffle, organized all the walkers etc. ad infinitum, because she cares that much about the plight of these animals. I was quite inspired.

Without further ado....here are some promised pics from the day.

Here's our mascot, the little plush pink piggy. Isn't she cute?

This woman spoke for a few minutes before we started the walk. She's done undercover work which has been used to fight for legislation to protect farm animals. Right now, they are working on getting a bill passed in AZ to ban the tiny little pens that they keep pigs in. I am in awe of people like this because I don't know that I could stomach the cruelty long enough to write anything about it.

We're off on our walk! I carried a sign that said "Say No to Foi Gras!"

Some people brought their dogs. I thought this poodle was an adorable participant. Nice shirt, pooch!
This woman was kind enough to let me take a picture of her t-shirt. I thought the message was great. It says "Why love one and eat the other. Make the connection. Go Veg for life." There is a picture of a cat, a dog, a pig and a cow. I found out later that she's also a veterinarian.

Here's a group shot. Some people had gone home already but I think we had about 80 participants. Not bad.

And here's all that was left of our piggy at the end of the day...

All in all, it was a great experience. I found that people's reactions were varied and pretty extreme. We basically just walked through the neighborhood carrying our signs. We got everything from people waving and honking their car horns while giving us the 'thumbs up', to other people shouting "I love beef!" And "Why don't you go eat spinach!" (yeah, real clever.) I thought it was interesting how threatened people seem to get when they feel like their values are being attacked. Nobody was yelling at these folks or getting in their faces, yet they felt compelled to shout some pretty nasty stuff at us. Hmmm...

One little girl came up to us with her mom and wanted to tell one of the ladies that she was also a vegetarian and that she loved animals. We bumped into a woman who was taking her twin girls for a walk in their stroller. She said she was vegan, had remained a vegan through her pregnancy and was raising her girls with a vegan diet as well. We had an interesting talk about some of the resistance and support she got from her doctors and family.

And guess what, I also won a gift card in the raffle! I will be going to dinner (or lunch) at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica one day fairly soon. It's a vegan restaurant down by the third street promenade. I can't wait to see what they have to offer.

But that's another blog...

I Couldn't Make This Sh*t Up

2006-09-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

I know the Learning Annex isn't exactly Harvard. Usually, it's a lot of classes like "How To Find The Next Hot Areas to Invest" and "Managing Income Property for Profit". There are always the vegetarian cooking classes (hooray!) and the "How To Start Your Own Business" classes too. I have even thought about taking a class on tarot card reading techniques or voice over pointers. I never thought I could get the tools I need to find and keep my man for only $99.95 though! My God, what a bargain!

What do you get for your money? Well, there are three classes designed to instruct poor, lonely women in the best man-finding methods. According to Maryanne, there are many things you need to know before you "drop your drawers". (yes, that's a direct quote.) First you have to Find The Man. They are so elusive aren't they? I can never find one when I need one either. Apparently this involves "creating a powerful vortex for attracting your ideal partnership. Presto! You're entering into the realm of becoming a divine man magnet." Vortex? I'm already worried. I get motion sick so easily.

Then, you have to "Get The Man." Now, if just the thought of speaking to a guy at the grocery store makes your palms sweat, Maryanne has the solution. "Practice, practice, practice 'til you feel like a pro, getting ready for the real-time interviews with men, men and more men!" I know a date is like an interview, but this sounds so...I don't know...fake. I have visions of women role-playing bumping into guys at the mailbox. First you say "hello" and smile. Be sure to make eye contact etc. Blech.

Now, once you have managed to get the guy interested, you have to trap him into a long term relationship and (hopefully!) marriage. "Now that I've found him, how do I make him stay?" If you have to make him do anything, then perhaps we should take a look at your relationship from the beginning. Oh wait, you attracted this guy using manipulative techniques you learned at a Learning Annex class. I forgot. Carry on.

"What you need to know before you drop your drawers counts here the most! This
is the biggest secret of all, and Maryanne Comatoro has the answer to this
billion dollar question! You want to get married or at least have a commitment?
Of course you do! She will show you how. You'll plan top to bottom, the wedding
of your dreams - a ceremony you'll never forget. This is the fun part, and the
most necessary step of all in creating that lasting commitment you have always
wanted - and Maryanne will even introduce you to your beloved! You'll write your
vows and set a date for your Sacred Commitment Ceremony, It's physics, ladies
-it is simply the law of attraction. She will teach you how creating and
cultivating a sustainable climate for a lasting, fulfilling relationship is as
easy as marrying yourself!"

Well, I don't know about you, but that last part is just confusing. Does she mean that by planning my wedding and setting a date, I will ensure that I will meet the perfect man and get married? Am I supposed to walk down the aisle by myself for fun? How does the guest list work for that kind of thing? Do I only have to order half the food and flowers since there is no groom yet? Do I still get to do a registry? And who exactly is she introducing me to?

This all kind of reminds me of those awful quizzes in Cosmo or the articles that promise to tell you the secrets to getting the guy. It's like a real live interactive glossy women's magazine circa 1955. Who needs Glamor, now you can just go to the Learning Annex! I don't know what bugs me more, the assumption that we all need a man to feel like a complete and whole person or the pseudo new-age jargon used to pitch the class. As if all you need to do to attain the lofty heights of "married gal" is to find your inner self. Ugh.

I didn't need any fancy class to get me a man. I just bumped into him on the street one day. He was good at giving shoulder rubs, playing guitar and I just generally liked the look of him. How have I kept him? Well, I used to keep him chained to the radiator, but now I allow him out on his own as long as he wears his radio collar.
That will be $100, please.

On This Day In 1973

2006-09-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is one of those events that make me wish Dr. Scott really had created a time machine out of a Delorean car. (sigh) Oh, to travel back to the Astrodome in '73 and see this event for myself.
On Sept 20th, 1973 Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a tennis match that came to be known as the quintessential battle of the sexes. I don't know enough about tennis to understand the (what seems to me) rather complicated scoring, but it was a "best three out of five" situation. Billie Jean King slaughtered the guy in the first three sets and it was all over.

The New York Times article from that day is HERE.

I get all proud and teary-eyed just reading about it. I can't imagine how amazing this must have been for women who actually got to watch it on TV or in person. I would have been terrified that she might lose and still excited about what it would mean if she won. Can you imagine what it must have felt like on Sept 21, 1973? Did Billie Jean's accomplishment make other women feel proud that morning and hopeful about our futures? It was such a media circus at the time. Did people understand how important this was, or did it just seem like another publicity stunt?

By 1973 women had been able to make some progress within the feminist movement, but it was all still so new. The Title IX law had just been passed in 1972. Title IX was the law that prohibited sex discrimination in sports for any federally funded programs, mostly public schools. This is the law that allowed girls to get a chance to play basketball, soccer, be on the swim team etc. Other laws had been passed that prohibited sex discrimination in job hiring, sex discrimination while on the job and also against women with pre-school age children. We had accomplished a lot, but there was still so much to do. Hey, we're still working on that whole "equal pay for equal work" thing.

And so was Bille Jean. She started the Women's Tennis Association and the first thing on her list was the gap between what male athletes earned in prize money and what women earned. Here's what Larry Schwartz wrote about it for ESPN.

from Billie Jean
Won For All Women

"In those days, women players received much less money than men earned.
King's voice was heard loudest in the quest for equality. When a new women's
tour was started, with Philip Morris sponsoring a new brand of cigarette, King
was perceived as a "radical" heading a breakaway group. The Virginia Slims Tour
was marketed with the slogan "You've Come a Long Way, Baby."

She convinced her colleagues to form a players' union, and the Women's
Tennis Association was born. King was its first president in 1973. King, who
received $15,000 less than Ilie Nastase did for winning the U.S. Open in 1972,
said if the prize money wasn't equal by the next year, she wouldn't play, and
she didn't think the other women would either. In 1973, the U.S. Open became the
first major tournament to offer equal prize money for men and women."

Even though I was never a big athlete myself, I still get excited about the implications of Title IX and Billie Jean King's winning tennis match. These things happened before I was even born and they made the world a little better for me and my girl friends. It meant that a girl could pursue her talents even if those talents have more to do with hitting a ball than sewing (not that there's anything wrong with sewing!). It meant that a girl could have more choices and experiences in her life than what was traditionally offered. If we could get girls on the basketball team, what else might we accomplish?

So, when Billie Jean King beat the crap out of that loud mouth, blustering, nasty little man, I imagine it felt pretty good. I imagine a lot of women jumped up off their couches and cheered. And for a moment, they got to feel like there was a place for them in this sometimes hostile, usually male-dominated little world. How cool is that?

Ahoy, me beauties!

2006-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Just a friendly reminder that today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Oh yes. It's true.

So....Arrrrr! If yer wantin' to know the history of this day, ye must click HERE.

And if yer wantin' to learn some useful pirate-ese, click HERE.

And here'e some pictures of me favorite pirates for yer enjoyment, me hearties! Arrrr.

Ahoy, ye crafty wenches*! Now we can KNIT like a pirate too.

* The term "wench" is not considered offensive ONLY on International Talk Like A Pirate Day and on trips to the Renaissance Faire while in costume. (see below)

Fun With iTunes

2006-09-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

So, I have this iPod...

It's an older model, but I think it's cool. It holds more music than I could ever listen to. I have discovered pod casts because of this thing too. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to take a cross country trip just so I can listen to all the music and pod casts I now have. (I can play stuff through my speakers in my car.)

This little iPod thingy has introduced me to a whole new world of downloading (legally!) new music that I might not have listened to before. It's terribly addictive. Rather like heroine. Not that I would know or anything, but....well...you get the idea.

I have learned something about myself that I never thought would have been true of me. I never in a million years would have thought this, but I think it's time to come clean and admit it. Ok. Here goes.

I like country music.

There, I said it. Not ALL country music mind you. I'm still not down with that twangy stand-by-your-man nonsense. But there are a few out and out country artists whose music I have happily purchased. Like a dieter gleefully buying a Three Musketeers bar and hording it away in a dark corner, I have country music files secretly tucked away on my iPod. They're mixed in with the Ani DiFranco, David Bowie and Indigo Girls. It's true.

My two favorites these days are Gretchen Wilson and Trish Murphy.

Gretchen has two songs on her latest album, All Jacked Up, that I have been known to sing along with, erm..with great gusto while drivin' down the road. The first one, California Girls is one of my favorites. Check out these lyrics,

"Ain't you glad we ain't all California girls
Ain't you glad there's still a few of us left.
That know how to rock your world
Ain't afraid to eat fried chicken and dirty dance to Merle
Ain't you glad we ain't all California girls.

There ain't nothing wrong with plastic surgery
Well Dolly Parton never looked so good to me
Everybody ought to be exactly who they want to be
But that Paris Hilton Gets under my skin
With her big fake smile and and her painted on tan..."

I admit, I have never listened to an entire Merle Haggard record and I would be eatin' fried tofu rather than chicken, but this is the kind of tune that makes me proud to have curves. Especially in this town. Then there's Full Time Job, a relaxing little number about how easy it is to be a mom.

"It's the hardest gig I've known,
I work my fingers to the bone
Yeah, the dishes and the diapers never stop
Lousy pay, there ain't no 401k
I know this may come as a shock.
But this here's a full time job

Well I'm takin' a vacation
I could use a little fun
I'll be sippin' on the silence
And soaking up the sun
I'm leavin' you my apron
You can try it on for size
You said there's nothing to it
So I'm sure you'll be fine."

Trish Murphy is a singer/songwriter from Austin, Texas that I think I found on a compilation list from Lilith Fair. She has this one song called Thelma and Louise that's kind of in the same spirit as the Dixie Chick's song Goodbye, Earle. It's about two girlfriends hittin' the road after their marriages disintegrate into an angry pile of divorce papers and abuse.

"I should have run away I said, but I just didn't care.
You get so used to feelin' fear that you don't know it's there.
You holy rollers don't know jack about domestic strife
Until you seen my daddy lit up, beatin' on his wife.
I clocked him with a skillet, grabbed Momma and the keys
And we floored it on the interstate
Like Thelma and Louise."

You can listen to a 60 second clip of the song HERE

I always like an artist who writes their own music as these two ladies both do. I guess what I really get a kick out of is their outspokenness and spunk. How refreshing to hear a song making fun of the Hollywood ideal of super-thinness or the double standard of mothers working all day for no pay. Trish has this great honesty to her voice. I feel like she's telling me a story that she thinks I really ought to hear.

If this kind of thing keeps going on, I may have to buy a pair of cowboy boots and learn how to line dance.

How to Leave a Comment

2006-09-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been getting lots of complaints from folks who say they can't leave a comment on my blog here since I switched to Blogger Beta. I hear that the good folks at Blogger are working on this but in the meantime:

When you write a comment DON'T click on your Blogger name below the comment box.

DO click on Anon or Other

If you do Other you can type in your blogger name and then put a link to your blog if you want to.

I hope that helps.

P.S. Of course, you could switch over to the new Blogger Beta and enjoy all the new goodies they have put together. C'mon....you know you want to.
Ah, peer pressure. :)

Farewell, Ann

2006-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sad news today. Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas and all around amazing gal has passed away. She died of esophageal cancer last night at her family home. She was 73.

Ann was one hell of an feisty woman. For one thing, she was an outspoken politician in a state that doesn't exactly have a history of equal rights. When I think of Texas the first thing that comes to mind is the phrase "good ole' boys club." Ann Richards blew the doors off that club when she won the gubernatorial election against Clayton "Claytie" Williams in 1990. Mr. Williams, by the way, was once quoted comparing rape to the weather saying, "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." Nice, huh?

While in office Ann Richards appointed more women, black and Hispanic representatives to state government than any other governor before her. According to KWTX-TV she appointed "the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education." A teacher on the State Board of Education? A crime victim on the Criminal Justice Board? Imagine! Kind of scary when you get somebody in office who uses plain old common sense for a change.

Richards often used humor to get her political ideas across to a possibly hostile audience. Here's a few of my favorite quotes:

"Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in
his mouth" - referring to George H.W. Bush during the key note address at the
1988 Democratic National Convention.
"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean
house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government
to everyone.' "
Encouraging other women to get into politics - "Let me tell you,
sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than
anything I've had to deal with in politics." Yeah...I usually just throw that
plate away.
"Ginger Rodgers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did
it backwards and in heels." Yeah, she's the one who said that!

She really did so much. There is just too much to list without missing something else phenomenal that this lady did. She lobbied corporations like Apple and Southwestern Bell to move to Texas. She fought with the state financial board to get rich school districts to play nice and share some cash with poorer ones (the poor kids want books!?) and tried to get the "abstinence only" policy changed for the sex education programs in public schools. She was a busy lady and an inspiration.

Her most lasting legacy may turn out to be the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, which is planning on opening it's doors to 6th and 7th graders in 2007. The school will be a college preparatory school for grades 6 through 12. The first graduating class will be in 2013.

Ann Richards was one of a kind. Hopefully she will also be the inspiration for another generation of outspoken leaders.

Angry Dilbert?

2006-09-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

What is up with Dilbert this week? Did Scott Adams break up with his girlfriend? Maybe he was just bloated and cranky the day he drew these. (ah-hem) Where does this sudden hostility towards women at the office come from?

click to enlarge

Ok, the first one from Saturday Sept. 9th is kind of funny. The observation that guys just wear whatever is up next in the laundry rotation while we have to run around matching shoes to handbags is funny 'cause it's true. I even get a bit of a nasty chuckle at the idea of the co-worker in question beating the crap out of poor little Dilbert for pointing out this gulf between men's and women's fashion obligations. I know I recently spent about a week's worth of lunch hours trying to find a pair of shoes for a pink bride's maid dress that, let's face it, nobody ever really saw. The guys? They rented tuxes and bought a pair of black shoes the day before the wedding. Bastards. Still, is society's demand that women's appearances are so much more critical then men's "nonsense". Hmmm....

click to enlarge

But the Sunday strip really irked me. "Success is the happy feeling you get between the time you do something and the time you tell a woman what you did." WTF?! To begin with Dilbert doesn't even know who he spoke with on the conference call (was it Bill, or Bob or...uhm....?) because he didn't bother to confirm the information. Sounds like the typical move of an incompetent mid-level employee of a soulless corporation to me.

So, when his female coworker points out that not only doesn't he know who to follow up with, but he doesn't know enough about his team members to know who not to give the job to, he gets all huffy. If this is like any of the office jobs I've had, chances are she's the one whose going to have to clean up the mess that he just created with his stupid delegation choice anyway. Of course, she's also only making 70 cents to the dollar that he is. Unless she's a single mom, then she's probably making 56 to 66 cents to his dollar. And who the heck does he have to support? Catbert?!

Seems to me his time would be better spent finding out who works in his office than bitching about his female coworkers to a dog employed at the Human Resources department. Doesn't he know that you never complain to HR about your fellow employees unless you have a resignation letter typed and a new job lined up? Has he learned nothing in his years at this comic strip? (sigh)

And what's up with that tie?

Fragile: Handle With Care

2006-09-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm at work today. All I want to do is go home and watch the news channels and old video tapes. I want to look at every picture I can, read every word written about it. I feel like if I could just absorb everything there is to absorb, then maybe it would make some sense. Maybe I could understand what happened to me on September 11th, 2001.

I live in Los Angeles now, a world away from Wall St. and Broadway and Ground Zero. It's all so far away here. How can people understand what 9/11 was here among the palm trees and movie stars? I know that everyone felt horrible and scared when they saw it on television, but does it mean the same thing when you've never eaten lunch by the fountain in the huge courtyard between the towers, if you've never gone up to Window On The Worlds just to see what it feels like to be that high up? I don't know.

I wish I could wear a big sign that says "Handle With Care". I wish I could make people understand how much I still hurt today.

I know I'm lucky. I didn't die on 9/11. Nobody I worked with died. I escaped relatively unhurt. Banged up a bit, smothered in dust and debris, but still not mutilated...at least not on the outside. And that's the thing about it. Since I don't look messed up on the outside, who's to know how much I'm bleeding on the inside? I don't even know. I thought I was doing pretty well, actually. This year has been really tough, though. I guess I thought I was more healed than I am. It still feels so raw. To me 9/11 was yesterday...and it was a hundred years ago.

And I really miss being a part of New York City. I miss riding the subway and walking through the Upper West Side to Central Park. I miss the grit and the realness of life there. I miss the people. It's like missing a lover or a dear friend. It's a physical feeling. But I lived in NYC from 1995 to 2002. My New York is mostly a pre-9/11 New York. My memories are from a city that doesn't really exist anymore and maybe that's why I grieve so deeply.

I wrote about that day at the September 11 Digital Archive. You can read it here if you want to. I don't think I'm up for writing about it all over again today...although I probably should.

Gotta Help the Critters

2006-09-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

So, I'm doing something that I've not done since....oh, high school.

I think it's kind of a big deal.

I hope you'll think so too...

I'm doing the Walk For Farm Animals to benefit Farm Sanctuary.

Farm Sanctuary is an organization that works to rescue animals from factory farms and raise awareness to help the millions of animals being hurt and killed on these farms every year. They have two rescue farms that you can just go and visit! How cool is that? One in northern California and the other in upstate New York. I would love to go and visit or, even better - volunteer, but it's just too far for me right now, so I'm doing this walk to raise money for them.

Why am I posting this on my blog that is supposed to be about feminist stuff? Well, the part of me that believes that women have rights (shocking, I know) is the same part that believes animals have rights too. I wrote about it here as well. I would like to live in a world where ALL living creatures are respected and treated with the dignity they deserve. To me factory farming is a symptom of the same societal disease that oppresses women or destroys our environment. It's all tied together.

This organization is just amazing too. I feel good about asking folks to support them. Honestly, I can't read more than a page or two of their rescue stories at a time without tearing up. Their story about Hilda, the first animal they rescued is both heart breaking and inspiring. She was a "downed" sheep they found left to die in a stockyard. One of the things that I just don't get about farm animals and people is the way we compartmentalize their suffering. I mean, we would be beyond outraged if we saw a dog or cat or horse being treated the way factory farm animals are treated every day. If a horse were left to die because it had been so abused and neglected that it could not stand up, we would call the SPCA, rush the animal to a vet and prosecute the owner for abuse. Not so if the animals is a sheep or cow.

So, if you have a few dollars you could spare, I think the animals would be really grateful for your help. You can go to my giving page here:

Michelle's Farm Sanctuary Giving Page

The site is totally safe and uses VeriSign technology to protect all your information.

Thank you for reading all of this. I hope we can all do a little bit to help these animals have better lives.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicodemus is helping me with the paperwork for the walk!

He says he will be sitting in vigil at the window until the farm animals are as happy and healthy as he is.

He will, however, be taking a break to play with his 100% vegan mousie every now and then! (his mommy likes to knit)

What's in a Name

2006-08-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

I have a fairly common name. Michelle. Michelle my belle...blah, blah, blah. If I had a dollar for every bozo who started singing that piece of drivel at me, college would be all but paid for. If I ever meet Paul McCartney, we're going to have words about that one, let me tell you. The cool thing about a common name is that you can almost always find personalized stationary and little key chains with your name on them. Drawbacks include being one of three or more "Michelles" in school and the ongoing one or two "l" debate. I'm a two "l" girl myself.

I kind of figured, when I named my blog that it wasn't a terribly original name either. Hence the creative spelling. I seem to remember a singer called Phranc, so the ph thing has probably been done to death too, but hey, it's my little blog and I'll call it what I want. Right? Right.

My dear friend Marz found the coolest new 'zine called...yep, The F-Word. (sigh) I'd be kind of annoyed at myself for being so boring except that this 'zine is ephin' cool! I read the thing cover to cover over the last two days and have also inhaled the earlier online version. Seriously, you must check them out.

A few favorite articles include:

The Left Needs An Extreme Makeover - in which Zhubin Parang discusses the tendency for us lefties to scare the bejesus out of mainstream America and why this can be not so good.

I Am Controversy - in which Katrina Wong skewers glitzy Broadway show-stoppers about Vietnamese women pining away for distant white guys and gets an earful from an audience member.

On Virginity - in which Kat Allen writes about the "hot dog in the bun" theory and trying to give "it" up at the ripe old age of 21.

The F-Word 'zine is the labor of love of one Melody Berger, a senior at Temple University majoring in, what else, women's studies. She started the project as a continuation of a feminist theory workshop she taught to high school kids for the past three summers. While I like the original on-line version, I am in love with the subsequent printed edition. It looks like it was laid out by a scrapbook happy, angsty sixteen-year-old. Yet the articles are intelligent, sometimes angry, sometimes funny and always well written. Including an interview with the indomitable Margaret Cho and another with (ohmigod!) Gloria Steinem entitled "A Royal Audience with the Queen of the Feminists" The art work inside is edgy, provocative and fun. There are ink and pencil images of fiesty females generally making a ruckus (drawn by the amazing Cristy C. Road) as well as darker images like the gun wielding woman clutching a silicone breast implant gone wrong drawn by Lis Boriss. That one accompanies Zhubin Parang's article about fighting the FDA's approval of silicone breast implants with NOW.

Maybe I'm getting a little old for this sort of thing, but I just love it. It's so refreshing, so inspiring to read these words pieced together by people motivated enough to bother. It's nice to know that somebody is still awake in this country. I guess that's always been the appeal of little 'zines, though. They are by nature an alternative source of news and opinions from young people who don't have to answer to the mainstream media conglomerates.

I remember a quote from the afterward of Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel (another favorite writer of mine) She said she wanted to write like rock and roll. After reading her first book, I think she accomplished just that. So have the writers at The F-Word.

Rock on.

Another Reason I Miss My NYC

2006-08-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is starting to wind down. The temperatures will be dropping a bit. Football season is starting. Hey, we may even get a few pretty orange and yellow trees this fall (though that is not the norm in sunny L.A.).

Fall is coming. My favorite time of the year. When I was a New Yorker, I loved the fall. There was a particular kind of "bite" to the fresh air in Central Park. The trees all changed into the most amazing colors. I got to rescue my favorite coat and gloves from the back of the closet. The city seemed to wake up from it's lazy summer days and begin to really move again. Of course, New Yorkers are never lazy. It just gets too damn hot to do anything in August.

After 9/11, it just sort of lost that magical quality. I guess I associate clear blue skies and crisp air with airplanes falling out of the sky now... and other things. Damn it.

Still, autumn always makes me a little wistful for the upper west side and H&H Bagels...maybe a stroll through the park to the carousel.

Here's another cool thing about New York City that I stumbled across the other day. They have a program called Nontradional Employment for Women, or NEW. This program trains women for jobs like "sheet metal worker", "electrician" and "train operator". When you figure that many of these women are heads of household (read: single working moms) and working at traditional minimum wage jobs, this is pretty kick ass. You can make a lot more money working in construction than you usually can waiting tables. Not to mention the total lack of health care and nifty things like pension plans that you suddenly get when working in unionized, skilled labor jobs. Why should we deny ourselves the opportunity to earn a living wage because girls don't lay bricks?

NEW is New York City's top training program for women in the
trades. After completing NEW's curriculum, graduates enter local apprenticeships
or begin nontraditional jobs in the building and construction trades, the
utilities and transportation fields, or facilities maintenance and repair.

Skilled blue-collar work
is an excellent choice for women who are fitÂor ready to get in shapeÂand who
like active, physically challenging work: It offers high wages (a journey-level
worker generally earns over $35 per hour); excellent medical benefits; pensions,
annuities, and paid vacation time; and the opportunity for further education.

I just love this. It's so New York. I'm sure programs like this exist in many other cities (at least, I hope so) but there is something very gritty and "gettin' our hands dirty" about this program that reminds me of the atmosphere around town after that September day. Yes, we grieved. Yes, we were afraid. But we also rolled up our sleeves and started taking care of each other.

That's what this program made me think of. New Yorkers are so refreshingly real, compared to some of the people in the entertainment biz that I meet out here. These people at NEW are giving women the tools to make a better life for themselves and their families .

I like that.

Eatin' Vegan

2006-08-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

Usually, my blog is dedicated to feminist issues and interests. I believe that I am just as worthy a person as any guy and I deserve to be treated as an equal. I also have this crazy idea that human animals are not the only creatures who have a right to live in peace on this planet. Yup. Go figure.

I recently committed myself to buying only cruelty free beauty products. I don't think little bunny rabbits and beagle puppies should have to suffer for me to have pretty eyeliner. (and yes, feminists wear eyeliner). ;p

Not long after, I started to think about what I was spending my money on at the grocery store. Did I really need to eat factory farmed meat? What was I supporting when I spent money on milk and eggs? The more I found out, the more I liked tofu scramble, soy milk and fresh veggies. So, these days I am trying for a mostly vegan menu at home.

Last week Marz, T3 and I had a little cooking party and made some loverly things. I was feeling pretty optimistic so, this weekend I bought my first vegan cookbook, Vive le Vegan by Dreena Burton. I've never really been much of a cook. I can bake like a pro, but cooking regular food always seemed kind of scary. When you bake, there are precise instructions to be followed. You put in the right amount of baking powder and flour and things turn out ok. Cooking is a lot more...well, free-form. I need my instructions.

I've found a lot of really cool vegan/vegetarian bloggers here that are so inspiring. After reading some of their posts (and drooling over their food pics!) and checking out some recipes on-line, I felt inspired enough to give this cooking thing a shot.

This cookbook is great. It has clear, easy to follow recipes and the food tastes great. No more bland steamed veggies! Hooray!

Here are pics of my very first vegan meal that I cooked all by myself. I did the Greek Basmati Rice (pg 94) and Lemon Herb Tofu (pg 65) and a salad. I loved getting to go shopping for my ingredients at the farmer's market this morning, too.

Here's the tofu. This was my favorite part of the meal. The tofu really absorbed all the flavors and baked up nicely. Very tasty!

And here is the Greek basmati rice. Yum! Next time I will remember to add the garlic (doh!) and maybe a little more water for the rice. But, even with my little mistakes, it turned out pretty good.

All in all, I was pleased with my first attempt flying solo. I love that I had a great, flavorfull meal that didn't support factory farming. Thus, doing my little part to help ensure that this planet is around for future generations of little girls and boys who will treat each other with respect and get equal pay for equal work.

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Missing a Blog "Friend"

2006-08-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have another confession to make.

I have gotten terribly addicted to blogging. Not just writing my own blog, but reading other people's blogs. It's amazing to me, that there are all these other folks out there, writing about stuff that I think about too. The vegetarian/vegan bloggers alone have an amazing little community. Then there are the political folks. Of course, I'm a big fan of the cyber feminists and BlogHers. The blogging moms blow me away with their adventures in parenting. It's a weird thing, the internet. You get to "meet" people you live thousands of miles away from. Whole virtual communities spring up around beliefs, causes, shared ideas. Blogging is such a strange hybrid too, because you feel like you sort of know a person through their posts, even though those posts are not directed at you specifically. There is an intimacy here that seems out of place sometimes and very reassuring at others.

This brings me to an interesting dilemma.

There is a woman whose blog I used to love to read. She posted almost every day, then mysteriously vanished. Was she hacked? Is she all right? I don't know. We never communicated through e-mail, I just left comments on her blog and she left comments here. I hope this doesn't come across as being nosy. I really do believe the world is a better place when people look out for each other. Especially as women, it's much better to have each other's back than to be constantly clawing each others eyes out.

So, if anyone knows or is in contact with Painter Beach Girl (or if she's reading this post), please let her know that Meesh and Marz and other folks are worried about her. We miss hearing about Chef and Red and Blue. We hope she is all right. We hope she comes back soon...

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

2006-08-14T17:03:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I am going back to school these days. I'm working on a degree in journalism. Someday I will have my beautiful degree and I will be able to leave this soul-killing admin job for good. Oh yes! Until then, I must study, study, study.

I am often asked, "What field do you want to work in?" Well, I know I don't want to do television. I want to reduce the emphasis on my appearance as much as possible in my next career. (I have also been an actress for many years).

I might want to work at a newspaper. I can see myself running around town 'a la Lois Lane...but with actual super powers, writing up stories for The New York Times or the Chicago Tribune, righting wrongs about town. (insert my personal theme music here) Maybe I could work my way up to being a foreign correspondent and travel around the world, writing stories and helping to make the world a better place for the people who don't usually have a voice. That would be my alter ego of course. When I'm not fighting for the under dog through my superior investigative reporting, I will be flying through the air, plucking kittens from tress and lifting school buses full of children off of rickety bridges!

Perhaps, I will eschew the whole super hero thing and simply work at a magazine like Newsweek or Time. I can freelance a bit and have articles published in Bitch magazine. This will be when I'm not covering stories at the U.N. thus facilitating my work for Interpol as an international spy.

Then again, I just might want to go work for The Onion.

Report: 47% Of Satellites Currently Monitoring
Celebrity Parenting
July 24, 2006 Issue 42Ã•30

LOS ANGELES—Just days after the launch of SURI-II, whose state-of-the-art instruments are expected to provide the first-ever infrared images of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' infant daughter, a report published by NASA revealed that nearly half of all communications and reconnaissance satellites currently in orbit are engaged in collecting and transmitting data relating to the child-rearing practices of Hollywood stars.
According to Monday's report, the SURI-II is one of 73 celebrity-surveying satellites currently deployed by the U.S. and assigned a variety of tasks including analyzing the rising levels of hostility between new mother Britney Spears and husband Kevin Federline, calculating the long-term effects of Julia Roberts' decision to bottle-feed her twins, and tracking the ever-changing whereabouts of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
"In the 15 years since the first crude orbital crafts were launched to monitor Demi Moore's second pregnancy, fame-monitoring satellites have proven invaluable in our pursuit to better understand the star-studded world around us," New York Post Page Six columnist Richard Johnson said. "Were it not for the highly detailed information these satellites transmit back to Earth, celebrity researchers today would be unable to explain the origins of the adorable outfits Brooke Shields picks up for Rowan."

See the rest of this article HERE.

And...
Dewey Decimal System Helpless To Categorize New Jim
Belushi Book
August 14, 2006 Issue 42Ã•33

DUBLIN, OHIO—Members of the OCLC Online Computer Library Center’s Editorial Policy Committee, which oversees the Dewey Decimal System library classification system, were no closer Monday to assigning a definitive call number to the recently published Jim Belushi book Real Men Don’t Apologize.
"With all due respect to the author, we remain unsure how to categorize this particular work," said committee chair Leslie Buncombe, who, despite repeated readings, still wasn’t sure if Real Men was "an actual book." "What is it Autobiography? Self-help? We can’t even tell if it’s fiction or nonfiction," Added Buncombe: "Too bad it can’t be shelved by its ISBN number. Maybe it’s Fantasy Biography? I don’t even think there’s a code for that." If no decision is reached within the week, librarians may be forced to shelve it in the "phantom zone" between Jenny McCarthy’s book of marriage tips and novels in which a cat helps solve a mystery.

History Corner or Women I'd Like to Meet

2006-08-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ever play that game where you try to come up with five or ten people, dead or alive, that you would want to meet? I'm really bad at that game. No matter what the numerical limit is, I can never stay under it. There's always just one more fascinating person I would want to have coffee with. Well, add another one to the list.

Margaret Brown.

You know, "Molly" Brown, The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Last week I rented A Night To Remember. It's a British film made back in 1958 about the sinking of the Titanic. I totally recommend picking this up if you have the inclination. It was a great flick. You can play a rousing game of "What did James Cameron Steal From This Movie" if you have a pen and paper and an ounce of sense. Great fun. But, I digress. As with any story about the doomed Titanic, Margaret Brown figures in as a colorful, outspoken, brassy gal traveling in first class. Kathy Bates played her in the most recent version, Tucker McGuire played her in A Night To Remember. She has always been one of my favorite parts of the tale. At a time when most women were forced into very confined roles and given very little power over our own lives (we were still eight years away from the right to vote in 1912) she seemed like a woman who didn't suffer this sort of nonsense.

But aside from talking back to sailors in life boats and being generally outspoken, what did she really do? Who was she? I did a little reading this week and I gotta say, Margaret Brown was an amazing woman.

She was born into a poor, working class, Irish family. Her parents emigrated to the U.S. during the Irish potato famine like so very many others. The family of seven lived together in a one bedroom house in Hannibal, Missouri. She worked in a tobacco factory as a child to help earn money for the family after attending school until the ripe old age of 12.

She moved to Leadville, Colorado with her brother and later met John James Brown, an engineer for one of the local gold mining companies. They fell in love and got married even though Margaret had planned on finding herself a rich man to marry. I guess she figured love was a more important consideration for life-long commitment than a large bank account despite her childhood experiences with extreme poverty and child labor. As it turned out, J.J. invented a method of preventing cave-ins at The Little Johnny Mine and was rewarded by his employers with a share of the gold mine. Nice little bonus, huh?

So, now that Maggie was a wealthy gal, what was she to do with her new found position in society? Lounge around the big house and eat bon-bons? Hells no! She put her good fortune (literally!) to use helping people who didn't happen to marry successful gold mine engineers. Check out some of the stuff she did:

* She put her money to use first in getting herself a little more education. She learned to speakFrench, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian with the help of tutors.

* She became a travel writer for the Denver Times newspaper, and wrote of her adventures, such as crossing the Alps in a Mercedes limousine. (Do they have roads across the Alps suitable for a limo?)

* She was one of the first women to attend the Carnegie Institute. Molly studied acting in the style of Sarah Bernhardt.

* While in Switzerland, she hired a master yodeler, and became adept at yodeling.

* For the Catholic Church, Molly organized a "Carnival of Nations," in 1906 based on the St. Louis World's Fair she had attended in 1904. Being the progressive person she was, she included booths not only for the mainstream European nationalities, but also for the African -Americans, the Chinese-Americans, and the Native-Americans.

* She also became friends with Denver's Judge Ben Lindsey who organized the nation's first juvenile court system, (which helped form the basis of the modern U.S. juvenile courts system)for which Molly raised funds by donating the proceeds of a Cripple Creek mining operation.

* She became a suffragette and attended national rallies on women's rights in places like Newport, Rhode Island, where the Browns rented a summer house.

* She was on the picket lines with the United Mine Workers, and the United Garment Workers, fighting for improved labor conditions. After the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado, she was there with Mother Jones aiding the relief work for the victims of that strike.

* In 1909 and 1914, she ran for Congress

Titanic Stuff:

We know from the transcripts of the hearings that took place in New York and England after the sinking that Mrs. Brown had words with the officer in charge of her life boat. He was convinced that they were all goners and that the Titanic would simply suck them all to the bottom of the sea when it went down. What were they teaching these guys back in the day? Anyway, she wasn't having any of it and she organized the ladies in the boat to keep rowing in order to stay warm. Then, once they were all aboard The Carpathia, she began putting together a fund for the victims of the disaster who would be left completely broke. Now really, who starts organizing a relief committee after a night spent bobbing around on the freezing cold North Atlantic after watching the largest ship in the world sink to the bottom of the ocean with most of the steerage passengers still aboard?

When the RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the survivors, Margaret assisted with the rescue efforts; her proficiency in languages was an asset, she helped prepare survivor lists for outside communication and raised funds with other rich survivors to help those less fortunate among surviving passengers and crew, collecting $10,000 by the time the ship made port in New York City. For her calm action in the disaster, the media acclaimed her as one of the heroines of the hour. She was quoted as saying that her survival was attributable to "typical Brown luck... we're unsinkable". She became known as the Unsinkable Mrs. Brown for the rest of her life.

She went on to head the Titanic Survivors' Committee, participated in
fundraising for victims of the sinking and helped to get a memorial to the Titanic erected in Washington, D.C.

I think my favorite thing is that she ran for Congress years before women could even vote in The United States. That just rocks. With her concern for less fortunate, working class folks and her ability to get things done, she'd have been a great congreswoman. I would have voted for her...if I had been allowed to vote.

So, I now have to add Mrs. Margaret Brown to my list of people (dead or alive) that I would want to have a long talk with over tea and biscuits. I mean, c'mon, checkout the look she is giving the photographer here...

That's a woman with opinions and a story or two to tell.

A Little Friday Fun

2006-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I go to the gym. (sigh) I also get outside once and a while and go hiking or take a run around the park. No really, I do. I swear!

I used to go to this really crap gym down the street from where I work. The equipment was never really clean, some of it was broken. The staff was surly and most of the people were just too cool to bother being friendly to anyone. Combine all that with my love of public dressing rooms (shudder!) and you can imagine how much I looked forward to working out. Oh. The joy.

Something that has always seemed funny to me is how we get in our cars and drive to the gym so we can get on a treadmill and run in place. One of my favorite things about going to the tenth level of workout hell (a.k.a. my old gym), was the cool kids on the treadmills. They'd be all dolled up in their designer sweatpants with their iPods and imported French water just killin' themselves running, yet they were getting nowhere. I like to think of it as a metaphore for life.

I came across this video on YouTube today and could not stop giggling. Finally someone has put the acursed treadmill to good use.

Enjoy.

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Ohmigosh, Put That Away!

2006-08-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Breastfeeding Awareness month! You might not be seeing that on any Hallmark cards this month, but there it is. Are you aware?

I came across this article online the other day and it really got me thinking. The Reader's Digest recap is this: A small parenting magazine printed a picture of a baby breastfeeding on their cover and lots of people, including mothers of small children, freaked out.

It's no secret that breastfeeding is a complicated issue in this country. Americans have a pretty strong puritanical streak and we get all weirded out about anything involving sex. We can watch all kinds of gun fights and implied rape scenes on TV, but please, for the love of god, keep the sex on the Playboy channel!

Personally, I look at this photo and I think it's beautiful. I can only imagine the feeling of holding your baby close to you, of being that connected to another living being. That's probably really romantic, but hey, I've never had a newborn baby to try and raise. Would I want to whip out a breast and partake of that closeness in the food court at the local mall? It might not be my first choice, but with a nursing bra and a light blankie to drape over myself, I don't see why not. I certainly wouldn't want to banish myself to the smelly, not-so-clean, crowded bathroom to feed my hungry baby. Talk about insulting and unsanitary.

Like so many other things about a woman's body, breasts are more than their outward appearance. They are symbolic. Whether you need a sturdy amount of under-wire or can go braless while jogging, those mammaries have meaning. Are they just a sexual object for men to oogle? Do we celebrate their biological purpose in relation to our kids? What happens when the symbolic, sexualized meaning we are so obsessed with clashes with the practical reality of them?

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it. "I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast, it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

Wow, I had no idea my boobs were so dangerous.

"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote. "I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another. "Gross," said a third.

Gross. Really? What about these?

Somehow I doubt that Maxim or Sports Illustrated gets quite the amount of outraged letters that this baby magazine received. As a matter of fact, I think it is safe to say that both publications have made quite a healthy profit based on their titillating covers month after month. It's not just men's magazines either. Women don't seem to have a problem buying magazines with covers like these:

National Geographic hasn't lost circulation because of photos like this one of African tribeswomen .

And who could forget this Vanity Fair cover of a pregnant Demi Moore? This was one of their best selling issues ever.

It seems that breasts are ok. Nipples, clearly are not. (just ask Janet Jackson). The sexualized pictures of scantily clad models are perfectly fine to put by the checkout stand at the supermarket where any 13 year old boy may see them. The nonsexual pictures of "exotic" women from an anthropological study are ok to publish. It seems that once we add a baby though, all goodness-gracious breaks loose.

Whether or not to breast feed is obviously a very personal decision. I certainly don't think that women who choose not to should be labeled as "bad mothers" either, as some recent ad campaigns and government guidelines are doing. The more I read about it, the more I see yet another situation where we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. If you choose to breast feed, my god don't do it in public because it's indecent. If you choose to bottle feed, you are a terrible parent who isn't providing the best for your baby. WTF?!

There are certainly benefits and drawbacks to either plan of action. Call me a "lactavist" , but I think people could calm down a bit on this issue. I would much rather my kid (if I had one) see a woman breastfeeding her baby, than the cover of Maxim any day.

This is why I got out of acting!

2006-07-29T00:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I can hardly believe the things we put ourselves through as women. It's bad enough just being a regular person bombarded with the beauty myth in our society. When I was a professional actress, it was paralyzing. The pressure to be Mary-Kate-and-Ashley thin is unbelievable in Hollywood. Everyone is dieting. Everyone is liposucking or botoxing or injecting something. It's absolutely insane.

I have not been on an audition since January and I have to say, I thought it would be hard. I thought I would miss it. I don't. At all. I don't miss comparing myself to every girl at an audition, trying to see if I was as thin or thinner than they were. I don't miss eating beef jerky and salad with lemon juice as a dressing. I don't miss the guilt when I would enjoy myself and eat something real. I certainly never had an eating disorder. This is proven by the fact that I never got cast in a major motion picture out here. Not to mention the fact that I'm diabetic and not about to risk my life for a few extra pounds. But, I understand where the compulsion can come from.

Two things made me want to scream today.

The first was at my dermatologist's office. I'm seeing a doctor for a little acne problem. I'm just to damn old to be messing around with da' zits anymore. The only reading materials in the plush waiting room are books full of "before and after" pictures of patients who have undergone some sort of cosmetic surgery. "Look at how her wrinkles have faded from around her eyes! Wow, her neck looks so much less wrinkled! Oooo, she looks ten years younger after that face-lift." Gah! There is also a plasma TV on the wall playing a fifteen-minute video over and over and over, extolling the wonders of a new non-surgical method for eliminating cellulite. I was sitting in this uncomfortable couch-like chair thing with no armrests (I guess it looks slimmer that way) seething as I watched all the other women in the room rapt with awe as they absorbed the infomercial. It was all I could do, not to stand up and shout at the room, "Cellulite is a word created by ad execs in the 80s to sell women expensive creams and make a mint for the cosmetic companies!"

Can you say "airbrush?"

I restrained myself and continued to seethe. I got my prescription for an antibiotic and went back to work.

After work this evening, I went to my little gym to work out some of the stress of the day. These days I don't have to work out, I get to work out. I do it because it makes me feel good, not because I have a big audition in three weeks and I have to lose ten pounds. I also love this gym. It's small, it's clean and the people are genuinely friendly. There is always a trainer there so you get a personalized work out every time you go. I get bored really fast doing any kind of exercise, so this works out great for me.

One of my favorite trainers is a young lady I'll just call "D". D is in amazing shape. She's all lean muscle. She can do real push-ups. She can do ab exercises I can only dream of. She's out here in L.A. working on being an actress and she's been trying to get an agent and a better manager. Cool. More power to ya, I say. We're chitchatting this evening and she mentions that she had a meeting with a highly reputable agency the other day. She was very excited to get the meeting, but was crushed when they told her...

she'd have to lose a lot of weight.

This town is sick.

I would love to be in the kind of shape this young lady is in. She looks healthy and fit and beautiful. They want her to look like Keira Knightly on diuretics...and she's considering doing it!!!!

Nope, I am not missing acting at ephing all!

The less said about this the better

Doesn't that look like fun? Mmmm...

And in related news...

Apparantly they did this study either at my old acting school in NYC or ANYWHERE in Hollywood.

click below for the whole article...
Suicide risk high with body image obsession

WARNING: Womanly Talk Inside

2006-07-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

I stopped by my friendly neighborhood news stand on my lunch today and behold! the new Bust magazine is on the stands. Wheee! I spent the better part of my lunch hour flipping through the pages, skimming through articles on how to alter thrift store finds so they will actually fit, how to make my own raw milk yogurt (?) and why I should pick up a copy of The Notebook Girls this weekend. Ah, bliss. My favorite part about this mag is the plethora of itty bitty ads for online DIY businesses like this one and this one. I could spend the whole afternoon flitting from site to site, spending way too much of my hard earned money on vintage style dresses and thigh high striped socks. I almost wish I still had a period so I could try the Lunapads. (sigh)

Speaking of periods and all things gurl (sorry, boys, I warned you) I saw this headline yesterday:

FDA Approves IMPLANON, The First and Only Single-Rod Implantable Contraceptive

"Hmmmm," I thought to myself, "Self, whatever could this be?" Like any good American I am immediately distrustful of anything the government says is safe and/or good for us so I started to do a little digging. (Hey, these are the same folks that approved fen-phen and vioxx.) Call me a skeptic. Besides, I just found out that the Woman's Health Iniative was only started in 1990 in order to include more women of child bearing age in medical studies. 1990! Up until then, we were just considered "abnormal men" for research purposes so there was hardly any way to tell how a drug might actually work on us. The reasons given were that the scientists didn't want to have to account for a menstrual cycle in their analysis and they were concerned about effects on women who may want to become pregnant. Nice.

Of course, a birth control drug would only be tested on women (I hope!) but let's just say I'm not brimming over with trust and confidence here.

Implanon is a birth control drug that is implanted under your skin in a small "rod", about the size of a toothpick. You can leave it in there for up to three years and it's supposed to keep you from getting preggers more effectively than the pill or the patch. The idea being that you don't have to remember to take it every day or worry about it coming unstuck. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (yep, the Premarin people) had a similar product back in 2000. Theirs was called Norplant. It used 6 rods, lasted for 7 years and spawned quite a few lawsuits by women injured during the removal process and other side effects. Good times.

With Implanon, a doctor uses a local anesthetic to put the device under your skin and you can have them take it out at any time. Once you remove it, you can get pregnant right away. They've been using it in about 30 countries since 1998 and about 2.5 million women have tried it, so maybe it is actually safe. It works by releasing something called etonogestrel, which causes your cervical mucus to thicken. (Did I actually just type the words "cervical mucus"? Gah! I did it again!) The result being that sperm have a hell of a time fertilizing the eggs. Any eggs that might get lucky (or not lucky depending on your point of view) are unable to attach to the wall of your uterus. It also can prevent ovulation entirely.

There are, of course some problems with it. It can get lost in your arm over time so the doc might have to use an ultrasound to find it. A hassle, but not too painful I should hope. They have not done much testing on women who are very overweight, so they don't know how effective it would be or if there is a greater chance of the rod getting lost. The side effect that would creep me out is the possibility of abnormal periods and skipping of your periods altogether. That just does not seem ok.

So, I'm curious what other women think. Would you use this thing if you could forget about taking the pill every morning or worrying that your patch came off in the shower? Do the possible side effects bother you? I'm all for women having more options in their choice to control their own reproductive future. I guess I'm just a little jumpy about new drugs and whatnot. I worry that the financial motivation can override safety or health concerns. I have to admit, I would be pretty tempted to try it out. Of course, with my terrific medical luck the thing would probably disappear after a few months and turn up floating around in my left butt cheek three years later.

Monday..Tuesday...Wednesday...wait, did I take Wednesday? Crap!

I love these demonstration photos. Who has a belly like this!?
Where do I put the patch if I don't have a super model tummy?

One Door Closes...

2006-07-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

Last post about my Sociology class, folks. I promise.

Last night was our final class. We took our last test and answered some extra credit questions about factory farming. (more about that in a minute) and I couldn't help feeling that this was a lot like closing night of a play. I've seen these people four nights a week for over a month now. It's pretty intense. We got to know each other a little bit, friendships developed, maybe even a crush or two. When you're in a professional stage production the same things occurs. You see your cast and crew almost every day and you...well, you bond. Then, one night it's just all over. The curtain goes down, you all go out for a drink afterwards or maybe a cast party and you promise to call.

But you never do.

Or if you do call, or maybe bump into each other at another audition, it's just not the same. That's how tonight felt. We all took our tests and met up at a little pub down the street. It was cool, we exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch. I'll probably see some of my classmates around campus. Perhaps we'll even be in another class together, but it won't be the same and that makes me feel kind of...orphaned somehow.

Maybe it's just that I'm going through a really cool period of my life right now and these people will forever be associated with it. I'm just starting to realize my potential, I guess. I'm finally acting on the ideals that I've always said I believe in. Women being valued for their education instead of just our bodies, actually using my creativity and enjoying something outside of planning a wedding or making babies. Who knew? It was seriously suggested tonight that I look into going to UCLA. Me, applying to UCLA!

Damn.

I have to start applying for financial aid.

So anyway, the last thing we covered in class was something called speciesism. It's like sexism or racism only it's biased against animals. At first it sounds a little out there even to an animal lover like me. But when you think about it, it starts to make sense. Basically it's the idea that all sentient creatures have a right to live on this earth and we as human animals do not have the right to deny them that life. This is especially significant when you really get into what goes on in factory farms. I'm not going to get into the gory specifics, but it's not good. If you want to learn more about it, you can start here.

"Whatchya got there little kid?"

We watched a twelve minute documentary called Meet Your Meat in class the other night and I think I made it through about five minutes before I had to leave the room and sob in the hallway. I really should have known better than to stay for any of the film, but I guess I was hoping if I closed my eyes I would be OK. What the %@&*! was I thinking? After watching the film I'm seriously considering switching to soy milk and giving up eggs altogether. Tofu burgers are just as tasty as the real thing and soy beans don't get beaten, mutilated or otherwise abused. They also don't scream in fear. I like that about soy beans.

It's all about distance I think. I mean let's face it, how many of us would eat a burger if we actually had to raise and kill a cow? I know I would never have the stomach for it. Since our meat just arrives at the grocery stores, neatly packed and ready to toss on the grill, we don't ever have to think about how it got there. I guess I'm starting to think about it.

Look at those eyes and that softy little nose!

Fortunalty there are people who are trying to combat factory faming and it's terrible effects on animals, our health (ie. Avian Flu, antibiotic resistant strains of "super" bacteria) and the environment. There is one group called Farm Sanctuary that has two rescue farms, one in upstate NY and another in northern Cali. I'm thinking a road trip up north would be pretty cool right about now.

But no! I start my next class on Monday. Yep, it's on to the Health 11 and another step closer to my scholarly goals and dreams. Maybe I can ask the professor about switching to a vegan diet and what supplements a growing girl might need. Hmmm.

I doubt my Health class will be as cool as Sociology was, but then you never know...

Happy chickens!

Very, very sad chickens.

In the News This Week...

2006-07-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I have survived the holiday weekend. Whew! I have been buried in school work and job work and such, so I have been a baaaad blogger lately. Nothing like taking a twelve week course in five weeks to keep you on your toes. I'm actually kind of bummed that I took Sociology in the summer now 'cause I love this class. I think it would have been way cooler to have taken it in the fall when I could really enjoy it and not feel like I'm sprinting through the book. I'm down to mostly science and math courses now, though and I know I can't hack an accelerated math course. Yikes!

So, dear readers, what the hell has been going on in the last week or so? Here's a little headline out of the New York Times that I couldn't help but notice a few days ago:

"G.I.'s Investigated in Slayings of 4 and Rape in Iraq"

Nice, huh? It seems that four of our servicemen allegedly attacked a young woman, killed her and her family then burned her body in an effort to cover up the crime back in March. You can read the article here. Apparently these men are from the same unit as the two soldiers who were abducted in early June and found dead and mutilated, their bodies left on the side of a road that was infested with hidden explosives. (shudder) One of the soldiers from the unit revealed what he knew about the rape and killings after that incident. Perhaps he thought the two might be connected. I can't imagine why.

What an incredibly sad and tragic mess. I usually don't write about Iraq because it's just so controversial and we all have very passionate feelings about the situation. I think we can all agree, however, that there is something very wrong going on when good people do horrific things. I have family members who have fought in Iraq and I don't think this is the kind of thing any of them would would want to see. The guys I've met who were there were proud of their work and the time they spent there. Whatever I may believe about the motivations for this particular war, I really do believe you have to support the troops who are over there. And no, I don't see a disparity in condemning the decision, but defending those whose job it is to carry it out.

The government will probably try to pass this off as another one of those "a few bad apples" things, but I just don't buy it. After the Abu Garhib mess they tried to use that kind of reasoning to justify what happened and it just doesn't gel. I mean you've got good people with impeccable service records, never been in trouble a day in their lives and all of a sudden they're torturing prisoners and/or allegedly raping and murdering people. I don't think so. I am not saying it is an excuse, but we certainly have to consider the pressures of life in a combat zone and the culture of the military as factors.

For example, we were just studying about this sociologist Prof. Phillip Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment that he performed back in the 70s. He took a bunch of regular college kids and randomly divided them up into two groups, prisoners and guards. They staged mock arrests of the "prisoners", brought them to a fake jail set up in the basement of the psychology building, assigned them numbers and gave them all the same "prison" uniform. They took the "guards" and gave them all mirrored sunglasses, sticks, handcuffs and other symbolically powerful items. Guess what happened? After only a few days the fake guards started to abuse the fake prisoners. They made the prisoners do humiliating things and generally enjoyed picking on these people who they would have hung out with a week before. The "prisoners" started to have emotional breakdowns.

My point is, if regular college kids can start to develop sadistic tendencies after only six days of a prison experiment, perhaps we should not just be looking at the individuals involved in these terrible incidents. If the institutions are set up in a way that somehow encourages and/or condones the rape and murder of a young woman and her family (or the inhumane treatment of prisoners) then we really need to rethink the institutions. It's so easy to arrest a couple of soldiers and have a trial, then declare that we are good people for having taken care of the situation. But, have we really taken care of the root of the problem?

Unfortunately I think there will be a lot more rapes and Goddess knows what else before the powers that be figure out what the folks at Stanford learned back in 1971.

Note: I could not find the name of the artist for the picture at the beginning of the post. However, I linked to the website I found it on. You can click on the picture to see the original website.

Ad-nauseum

2006-06-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you just wanted to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over your head? I was seriously considering doing just that today. I was tired. My head hurt. Between work and school I've been going non-stop since January. This girl could use a break! But I was prepared to soldier on and be a productive member of society. Well, maybe I thought I could manage to drag myself into work at the very least. Then, I made a major tactical error during my morning preparations. I tried on a pair of pants that used to fit me just fine only to discover that they are a little tighter in the thigh than they used to be. And that was it. I was officially too depressed to carry on. I suddenly felt hopeless and ugly. The idea of going out and facing people today was just overwhelming. How could I possibly expose myself to the judgments and critisims of the outside world when I'm obviously putting on so much weight? Add to that my current issues with my skin (ANOTHER effing zit? gah!) and I was seriously considering calling in sick today.

Kind of stupid, huh?

I mean, with all the real issues going on the world, am I actually this concerned about my thighs?!

I'm taking a sociology course right now as part of my general education requirements for a degree in journalism. I am loving this class. The teacher is engaging, open minded and very approachable. She runs a relaxed class that encourages discussion. I have a big mouth, I like discussion.

Last week we watched a film called Killing Us Softly, made by Jean Kilbourne. The piece is about the advertisements we are bombarded with all day, every day and how they tend to portray women. Kilbourne says that we see an average of 3,000 ads a day and spend about two YEARS of our lives watching television commercials (not the shows, just the commercials!). While most people say that the ads they see don't affect them, the truth is that they really do (as evidenced from my near breakdown this morning). Advertisements have a cumulative effect. You may not run out and buy the new Ford Mustang because you saw the commercial for it, but the message of the ad works on a sub-conscious level and is reinforced throughout the day by the other 2,999 ads you see. Messages like what a woman should look like and how men should behave etc.

The point of Ms. Kilbourne's film was that women are very often portrayed as submissive and are exclusively valued for their appearance. She uses a plethora of ads throughout the presentation to get her point across. Over and over again you see stick thin women, in overtly sexual, submissive poses while men are usually portrayed as powerful and active. Not a huge shock there. I don't know a woman in this country who is totally free from the pressure society puts on us to be attractive. We are taught from an early age that "pretty" is the ideal and to deviate from that is going to have major consequences. People won't like you, you won't get a husband, you won't be valued as a member of our society, blah, blah, blah.

With all this insanity bombarding us every day, is it any wonder our priorities might be a little skewed?

I mean check out that first picture. When do you think that poor girl ate last? Yikes!

Here's the amusing part. When we talk about wanting equality in our society ie. for men and women to be valued and respected equally, part of what we are talking about is seeing more images like this:

...and one of my all time favorites...

NOT this:

The copy reads -

Aging Gracefully?
Vince Vaughn epitomized Los Angeles' swinging lifestyle in "Swingers," when his svelte figure cut a fine silhouette in his shiny bowling shirts. Today, Vaughn covers a paunchier waistline in "The Breakup." Maybe no one told him he wasn't supposed to eat all that cake in "The Wedding Crashers."

I want a PONY!

2006-06-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, can we get a pony? Please, Mommy! She could live in the back yard and I would feed her and brush her every day after school. I promise I would! Can we, Mommy, pleeeease, pleeeease?"

I worked on that horse deal for years as a kid. I wanted one so badly. I read Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, My Friend Flicka and every damn Saddle Club book I could my little hands on. I wore out our vhs copy of National Velvet. I begged to go to the two week Girl Scout camp where you got to ride horses every day and learn how to brush them and pick their hooves and braid their manes. I didn't get to go because we moved that summer. I was crushed.

Then, fortune smiled on this little horse nut. We moved to southern California, the friggin horsey capital of the west. There were entire housing tracts designed for people to own and ride their horses in their back yards! There were barns full of ponies and riding instructors everywhere I looked. My parents were doomed. Eventually, I got a job mucking out stalls and feeding forty some odd horses at a local barn. Mom and I bought a horse named Shadow for (get this) $300! He even came with a saddle. There is no such thing as an inexpensive horse, what with shoes, vet bills, deworming, feed, boarding costs etc. ad nauseum. I worked my tail off to help pay for him. Shadow was the kind of horse that comes around once in a lifetime. He was smart, opiniated and incredibly talented. He passed away last year, an accomplished and happy "old man". He is missed.

What's the point of this reader's digest account of my horsey history? Just this, what little girl didn't want a pony growing up? I lucked out and managed to be in the right place with the right parents at the right time. (my mom had a horse named Sugar when she was in high school so she was predisposed to the idea). Just because you might not have gotten your pony, though doesn't mean that you can't still have something to do with them.

Have you heard about Premarin?

Premarin is an estrogen product extracted from pregnant mare urine - "Premarin" - get it?. It is manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals and is most commonly prescribed for women going through menopause or those who have had a hysterectomy. It is the most widely used drug today for estrogen replacement therapy. It has been marketed for more than fifty years and is currently prescribed to more than 9,000,000 American women.

The problem with the stuff is that 1.) the method of collection and the use of the horses is cruel 2.) the babies are treated as a by-product and slaughtered and 3.) there are now better, safer hormone replacements called bio-identical hormones that are derived from plants.

"Mares may be used for up to twenty years providing they become pregnant during
the short summer breeding season. Once they have outlived their usefulness they
are usually sent to auction and thence to slaughter. It is estimated that there
are between 50,000 and 75,000 mares giving birth annually at the PMU farms. The
foals that result are allowed to be with their mothers for about four months,
rather than the usual six before being weaned. These foals are then sent
directly to slaughter or unsheltered feedlots to gain weight before being sent
to slaughter with the meat used for human consumption in Europe, Japan and
Mexico via American Airlines, one of the largest carriers of frozen horse meat.
Young foal meat is very much in demand since according to the USDA it is much
more tender."

Yeah, that's just not good.

Then there is the financial factor. You see, Wyclef can patent "Premarin" and "Prempro" because it is not a naturally occurring substance in the human body. Thus they can make a lot of money off of their patented product. Bio-identical hormones are plant derived hormones that are identical at the molecular level to the hormones naturally created by the human body. You can't patent something that is identical to a naturally occurring substance. Guess what a huge pharmaceutical company can make more money on? Yep, the unnatural, cruel, but patented substance.

I am on hormone replacement therapy myself and will be for the rest of my life. I'm a little young for it (29) but, hey that's the way things worked out. When I was first going through all this fun, I didn't question my doctors too much. I just listened to what they told me and behaved myself. These days I am much more of a pain in the ass. When I found out what they were trying to prescribe for me I went ballistic. The hormone patch that I currently use is called "Climara" and, despite the similar name, is derived from soy. Amazing little things those soy beans.

There is good news and bad news to all this today. The good news is that women are becoming aware of how Premarin is made and are switching to other methods of hormone replacement therapy. The bad news is that as the PMU farms slow down production, the mares are no longer needed. If you think it's hard to find homes for a million cats and dogs at the animal shelter, try finding homes for thousands of premarin mares. But, folks are working on it!

Why do I give a damn?

My mom recently adopted a new horse. Her name is Kahlua 'n Creme. She's a beautiful, gentle filly who is going to grow up to be a lovely horse.

She was rescued from a Premarin farm in Canada.

The Truth Comes Out.

2006-06-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

I like yarn. I like the pretty colors. I like the different textures. I go simply weak in the knees when I pick up a skein of soft merino wool at my local yarn shop. Visions of nifty knit items fall over themselves for attention in my head. I could spend a truly offensive amount of money on hand dyed wool and wooden knitting kneedles.

I spend lots and lots of time online looking up knitting patterns and knitting advice. How exactly do I "purl two together knitwise?", how do I accomplish the perfect "intarsia pattern" without leaving little tails of yarn all over my work? These questions, and others like them, plague me. One of my favorite places to find these answers is www.knitty.com. I highly recommend browsing through there if you have a spare day or two. Seriously, it's a slippery slope. Be careful. :)

The really cool thing about being a happy little feminist and a slightly angsty knitter is that I am not alone. You may have noticed that in recent years, knitting is popular again. And not just with your grandma, but with the gurrrls knitting on the subway and the ladies clicking and clacking away at the coffee shop. It's downright cool to be a crafty woman. We are reclaiming such "womanly arts" and updating them for today. Guys are even getting into the act as well, which is very cool.

I have opined in previous entries on this blog that I wish I had something to throw at my television when stupid things invade my living room via the "idiot box". Everytime that heinous Carl's Junior ad with that vapid plastic surgeon and the chicken comes on, I can't find the mute button fast enough. Oh, what could I possibly have in my hand that would be safe to chuck at my television screen yet not leave me feeling as though I am railing at the world with tiny little ineffectual fists? I stumbled across the answer a few weeks ago and am proud to announce that I have finally knit something not only useful but darn fun.

Um, I may have mentioned that I have a rather twisted sense of humor.

I give you...."Hand Grenade in Green Yarn."

The pattern and article from The Guardian can be found here.

Yes, the little grey and gold item in the second pic is a knitted bullet (of my own design). I've been thinking I could knit them in sets of six and toss them in handfuls at offending commercials and whatnot.

I know I need therapy. Until I can afford it I'm going to continue to knit and laugh and laugh and laugh.

The "Chicks" Speak

2006-06-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

I love David Bowie...and The Who...and The Beatles, also Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell and The Indigo Girls, to name a few. My iPod/cd collection/record collection is a bit eclectic to be sure. However, there are no country music types on my shelves. I don't have anything in particular against country. I'm just not a fan.

I think I'm going to have to break with precedent, though and go out and buy the new Dixie Chicks album. It's just a matter of principal damn it! I knew they were different when a friend had me listen to "Goodbye Earl" off of their 1999 album, Fly. It's this rollicking, upbeat song about a battered woman and her best friend. After her husband, Earl, beats her into the I.C.U. her friend comes for a visit and they kill the S.O.B. and quietly dispose of the body. The police half-heartedly look for him but don't pursue the matter because "It turned out he was a missing person that nobody missed at all." I smile every time I hear that. I have a rather dark and twisted sense of humor.

Anyway, all the craziness that went on with the Dixie Chicks three years ago is being discussed again because of their new album. You may remember that they made an off-hand comment about our peace loving President, saying that they were embarrassed to be from the same state. The comment was repeated in a review and the shit exploded from there. Record sales dropped, country music stations stopped playing their songs and they actually received death threats. Kind of an extreme response to me, but I guess politics is a more contentious issue than even I thought. Or maybe it's just that some people's heads explode when an attractive woman (or three) has the unmitigated temerity to have a controversial opinion as well as tits. Hmmmm....

Now they have this new album out called "Taking The Long Way" with a single titled "Not Ready To Make Nice". I just adore them for this. It's so inspiring to see these ladies come back with an album that has spunk, character and musical integrity. The songs that I have heard are pretty cool. I'm no professional, but I like 'em. They have spent the last couple of years having kids, taking care of their families and writing new music. They have had to acknowledge the fall-out from their "outspokenness" and are dealing with it head on.

"It would have felt very false to just kind of go, 'OK. Nothing happened.' And
there is obviously this important issue that hasn't been dealt with, because we
did go away to have kids, and I think a lot of people thought we were in hiding,"
said group member EmilyRobison. "But we went away to have lives and let things
settle down a little bit, and to come back out and act as if nothing had happened
would have been strange to me."

So often, after I've gone and shot my mouth off, I want to do just that - hide and pretend nothing has happened. Couldn't I just pretend like it never occurred, move to another city so I don't ever have to see the person again and have radical plastic surgery so I wouldn’t be recognized in case I do run into them? (sigh) Let's just say I am no stranger to chewing on my own foot. With my big mouth, I tend to offend by accident and realize it a split second after the words have escaped. I don't know that I would have the guts to come out and release a record with songs addressing the fun-filled situation, especially if I had done it on a "national" level.

So, right now The Dixie Chicks exemplify the courage that I would like to bring out in myself. I would like to think that I would stand up for myself in a similar situation.

Maybe I'll start wearing cowboy boots and learn to play the fiddle.

'Tis The Season

2006-06-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Summer is upon us. The temperature has been in the 90s all week and I am eyeing the A/C at home with a dangerous disregard for my electric bill.

I hate summer. I know, I know, it's the time of year when you're supposed to have fun, go to the beach and generally enjoy yourself in the great Out-of-Doors. For me, it means the beginning of three to four months of misery, slinking from one air conditioned building to the next, not venturing outside until after dark and feeling like a beached whale 'cause my clothes are sticking to me. I hate being sweaty. I don't wear shorts. I will not try on a bathing suit. I won't, I won't, I won't! You can't make me!! (stamps foot) So there.

I currently own three of the cursed things. They reside in the back of my sock and undies drawer where they are mercifully ignored for most of the year. On the hottest day of the summer, when I am forced to take a dip in the apartment complex's pool, I pluck them from obscurity, toss them on the bedspread and glare at them. Their mere existence is an offense to me. The first is a black one-piece I have had for so long I don't remember when I bought it. The second suit is a tank-ini. It is green with "boy bottoms". There is also an alternate bikini top that I have never had the guts to wear outside. I tried it on once in the privacy of my bedroom and immediately fell into a deep depression. The last one is a festive, red tank-ini given to me by my friend Marisa. This is the least hated of the three because it fits nicely, is generally flattering and besides, I can always trust Marisa's sense of style. The girl has good taste.

I hate the pressure of having to look good in a f*%#ing swimsuit. Every year I am bombarded with pictures of tall, skinny, long-legged women in their string bikinis parading around Malibu and South Beach. Even if I had a figure like that, I wouldn't feel comfortable out in public with naught between me and nakedness but a bit of absorbent floss and luck. Yikes! I am a shortish, roundy girl with comparatively stumpy legs. These women make me feel like a toad in my frumpy old one piece.

Then there are the unavoidable talk show segments about how to choose the right swim suit for your body type (Does anyone sell a burlap sack suitable for full aqua submersion?). I am constantly amazed that this is of interest year after year after year. I can only assume that there are a lot of slow news days at the beginning of summer. Personally, I'd like to see a segment where the fashion experts come out and explain why the speedo is a bad idea for 99% percent of the male population. Now that would at least serve the public good.

Now Glamour Magazine has a solution. In addition to their fashion Dos and Donts (barf) you can now create a computer model in your likeness to try on swimsuits for you. I don't know if I am amused or disturbed. On one hand, these glossy mags are so stuffed with articles about how to loose weight, catch the man and properly apply mascara that they can scarcely be taken seriously. On the other, they are so prevalent, that it's almost impossible to escape their air-brushed images. My interest and possibly my hope was piqued, so I went to the site and made my model.

Here she is:

She's supposedly 5'4", 130-ish lbs (ah-hem) and generally my body type. You can choose your face, hair style, height, weight, approximate bust and waist size et al. I was disturbingly fascinated with seeing what I would look like at the same weight, but taller, or with 20 lbs less on my frame. Sad, huh?

Once you create your cyber self, you can have her try on different designer, brand-name swimsuits. As long as we're messing with your head, we might as well push our overpriced lycra scraps on you, right? It's fascinating and kind of creepy all at once. First of all, I think they need to let you customize your model a little bit more. I needed to add the belly pooch and slightly chubby upper arms to mine for a start. I would also have liked the option to see the suits that would properly display or conceal my tattoo. I have one on by back right butt cheek. Most of the time my swim suits just cut it in half and it looks stupid. I would also like to add tan lines, freckles, the occasional zit and unsightly skin discolorations. I mean come on, let's be accurate.

As long as I'm living in fantasyland, though, here is my model in some different styles:

Yeah, if I actually looked like that in real life, I wouldn't be afraid of trying on swimsuits in the first place now would I? I walk into the dressing room thinking I look something like that because I am safely contained in a cute pair of jeans and a long, streamlined top. Once I get into the evil bit of swim wear, though, and turn around to face the mirror, I feel more like this.

After all of that, I have decided that if I were to buy another swimsuit, it would probably be a newer version of the Red Tank-ini Marisa Special (perhaps with added tummy holding technology).

Of course, the real innovation here would not be that I would go out and buy one of Glamour Magazine's contributing advertiser's swimsuits, as much as I'm sure they would like me to. Nope, what I want is a life size version of that airbrushed looking faux me to send out to the beach in my stead. She can parade around in the new Calvin Klein bikini while I hunker down at the air conditioned, 65 degree movie theatre and watch car chases and see things blow up while imbibing pop-corn.

I may even bring a jacket!

I Want to be a Diva When I Grow Up

2006-05-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

There was an auspicious event in my home this morning. Something that I have been working towards for over a year has finally come to pass. A thing that will open the gates of communication and information into my realm of existence. As of 10:00 this morning I have cable and internet in my house! Whoo-hoo!

It's true. Until today all my internet time has been through my computer at work. And TV has been a slightly fuzzy picture that comes in best on the Spanish and Korean channels for some reason. Now I can enjoy crystal clear pictures on all the basic cable channels and update my blog whenever I want to. Even on the weekends! Oh, the possibilities.

What am I most excited about finally getting to watch? Law & Order? Cagney and Lacey re-runs? Old episodes of The Muppett Show? Nope - I wanna see Adventure Divas on PBS.

What is an Adventure Diva? Well, as far as I can tell, it is this incredible organization of women who travel all over the world, looking for other amazing women (or "divas") and documenting their travails and accomplishments. I stumbled into their website a while back and I was so inspired by them. I wish I could just throw a toothbrush and a towel into a knap-sack and take off to help dig wells in India or help The Kids in Mongolia. Seriously. It's that cool.

They have helpful information on their web site such as whether or not to pack your sex toys when traveling and a list of "things we learned the hard way" about traveling in South America. They do interviews with women all over the place and write travel dispatches about their own experiences in far off lands.

Holly Morris, a co-founder of Adventure Divas had this to say in a speech about the mission of the group:

"Adventure Divas is a program of travel and biography and is driven by the energy of what we're calling diva-dom. At the heart of each program lies a diva, and as we've worked our way towards a definition of diva, a few essential traits keep showing up. Divas are all over the world; they're women who've not simply waited for their ships to come in, but rowed out to meet them. Be they musicians or mountain climbers, activists or poets, the common denominator in their lives, besides a healthy sense of humor, is a compass set on passion. Divas realize their full potential, and in doing so inspire not only admiration, but action. Divas show us that to indulge your passions fully is to know yourself completely. Only then can you treat the rest of the world - its people, its ecosystems - with wit and compassion."

How effin' cool is that?!

One of the things about feminism that drives be beserk, is the media driven stereoro-type that a feminist is an unattractive, man-hating, angry woman with no sense of humor. These ladies are out there, helping women all over the world, using all kinds of media to get their message heard. They are doing it with a sense of adventure and, dare I say it, a sense of fun.

Yeah, I wanna be a diva when I grow up.

So, I'm going to go home and check out my shiny new cable TV schedule and find out when I can watch this show. 'Cause we all could use a little inspiration now and then.

Celebrity Corner (gah!)

2006-05-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd say this, but...

Can we just leave Britney Spears alone?

Seriously. This media craziness over her supposedly bad mothering skills is getting old. Yeah, I know she should not be driving around with her baby in her lap or nearly dropping the poor kid on his head, but this is getting out of hand. In another news story released last week (is this really news by the way?) it was reported that Britney tripped on her long pants while exiting The Ritz Carlton and fell forward while holding her baby boy, Sean Preston in one arm. I particularly liked this passage:

"As her bodyguards walked Spears to her car, she stumbled, her long pants apparently getting tangled in her open-toed shoes, and bent low as Sean Preston's head flung backward, knocking off his orange hat." - Associated Press
You can check out the story here

They make it sound like his head damn near came off his neck. This young lady is surrounded by bodyguards, personal assistants, nannies and general handlers all day long. I suspect that the actual danger this child is in from being neglected is pretty slim.

What is the point of this kind of story? I suppose it's the old feeling of schadenfreude that makes it so appealing. Britney has that aire of white trashiness combined with tacky "new money" and a career based on taking off her clothes. It's just so much fun to see her perfect little blond, perky ass taken down a notch. After all if Britney Spears is a rotten mother, then I can enjoy my little glow of superiority at my own mothering skills. So what if I don't actually have kids? My cat loves me!

The problem, of course, is that if it's ok to srutinize this pop star's every movement while mothering, we are encouraging the same scrutiny on every mother in America. The fact is that American media loves to pick apart "mom". From celebrity mom profiles that seem engineered to make us feel inferior to the scare tactic news stories about day care, we have put women under a social microscope. So, let's cut Britney some slack and in doing so, give every other hard working mom a break, too.

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On to GQ and the recent Tom Cruise interview. I went to see Mission Impossible III last week and you know what, it was a fun summer movie. Things blew up, cars moved quickly, people leapt from buildings and a good time was had by all. The truth is, I really want to like Tom Cruise. He's cute and he's even a decent actor. I just wonder if he thinks about the things that fall out of his mouth during interviews and on television. He must know that the interviewer is not his buddy, they are writing down everything you say. So, be careful, Tom. Think before you speak.

In the interview in GQ this month Mr. Cruise is asked quite a lot about Katie Holmes and their baby. At the time of the interview, of course, little Suri had not been born yet. He was talking about preparing for the birth and all the things you need to learn about, going to the doctor and things that can go wrong.

"Early on when we were interviewing different doctors, you sense that they come with this trepidation, telling you all the things that can go wrong. They go, "Well, I just have to tell you..." and I go, "I understand that, and I thank you for telling me this stuff, but this is a beautiful thing and we want to celebrate it." And I also remember saying, "Tell me these things; don't tell her." You just think how women have been giving birth for ever. I mean we now know that there are vitamins that you better be taking. Folic acid, the vitamin E, the vitamin C - there are very specific things that are gonna help the placenta feed the child. And why worry the mother about it?"

I nearly dropped the magazine! Was he serious? Why "worry" the mother about it? Oh, I don't know, perhaps Katie would like to be informed about what's going on with HER OWN BODY! This idea that women don't need medical information because someone else will take care of it upsets my stomach. We have a long sad history in medicine of doctors not listening to women's concerns because they are "just women". The doctor, or husband, or father etc. knows better than the woman in question what's going on with her own body. For years, serious medical conditions were dismissed as "hysteria" and women were told to take a nap or get their hair done in order to feel better. At best, we might have been prescribed some valium to help get you through the day.

I think Tom Cruise is coming from a place of good intentions. He probably thinks he's being a good dad and protector of Katie and his baby. By taking on the responsibility of "worrying" for her, he is showing her how much he loves her and cares about her. The truth is, women don't need someone to worry for them. We need someone to worry with us. A loving relationship should have trust and communication. If you have that, then you can work through any tough decisions together.

I hope that Katie figures that out soon and that their daughter has a chance to grow up and make decisions for herself concerning her own health. That's a basic right that loving husbands and well intentioned doctors need to understand is not something they can relieve us of, even if they mean well.

There's Got To Be A Morning After...

2006-05-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

la,la,la,la ...We're moving closer to the shore
I know we'll be there by tomorrow
And we'll escape the darkness
We won't be searchin' any more

Sing with me! Aww come on....you know the words. It's that sappy song from the 1972 classic The Poseidon Adventure. Wheee!

Or not.

It seems the right wing powers that be are freaking out over a different morning after. They don't want young women to have the option of purchasing Plan B, the morning after pill, over the counter. Among the arguments (and there are quite a few) are the theory that it will allow girls to be more promiscuous. Now, if it were just girls that were having sex we wouldn't have any pregnancies at all would we? Oops, but that's another whole blog, isn't it? Ah-hem.

My favorite theory is that allowing easier access to The Morning After Pill will allow teenagers to create sex cults where they will have all kinds of crazy monkey sex and then just pop the pill the next day. I am not making this up. This was the concern voiced by a conservative Christian group on Nightline Monday night. They equate making the Plan B pill readily available to the sexual revolution of the 60s and the freedom that was allowed women due to The Pill (birth control). Heaven forefend women have some control over their reproductive futures.

What an odd argument. Don't they realize, that times have changed considerably? When the young people of the 60s were discovering a new found freedom of reproductive choice, about the worst thing you could catch during sex was the clap. I may not be a teenager anymore, but I'm not that far removed and I know that I grew up in an age where having sex CAN KILL YOU. As far as I know things have not changed in that regard. HIV and AIDS is still out there and the message is clear. "Have unprotected sex and risk your life." Besides, we are not talking about handing out Plan B like candy to underage kids. You would need an I.D. to get it and I believe you would have to be over 18. (I'll have to check my sources on that one to be sure.) It might be 21. The point is, it would not be easily accessible to your average 15 year old.

I find it terrifying that our current president has been able to appoint supreme court justices that will be gleefully chipping away at Roe v. Wade for the foreseeable future. We have companies making a mint on little blue pills for men. Yet we can't seem to get it together and help a woman prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Plan B is most effective when taken less than 72 hours after intercourse. If you have ever tried to get a prescription filled that requires a doctor visit, you know that 72 hours ain't long. The sooner you can take this pill the better. Not to mention that there are many pharmacists that won't distribute the Plan B pill even with a prescription because it contradicts their moral ideals. Now there's a terrifying thought. Plan B does not kill a fetus. It produces a massive amount of hormones that prevents an egg from being fertilized or stops the fertilization process. The pharmacist issue freaks me out because it's hard enough to get a doctor to listen to your choices and act on them. The last thing a patient needs is yet another wall of resistance barring her way to completing a difficult and possibly traumatic decision.

If getting preggers were still an issue for me, I would be asking for a prescription and getting it filled as soon as I could. I think it's good advice. Shit happens. Condoms break. We forget to take our birth control pill. Not to mention possible really bad things like date rape and worse. Better to have it an not need it than to need it and not be able to get it in time, then find yourself at a planned parenthood clinic talking to a counselor about your "options."

For more information, click here to go to thePlan B website.