I used to live in Indiana

I thought this video was interesting.....what do you think?

I don't get scared at haunted houses....

So really....this has been my journey.  I would love to tell you it all works out in the end...that it wasn't all for naught....but I can't.  I wanted to learn something by going through this journey...at times I felt that I hadn't...sometimes I felt more disillusioned...  but here is what I have come up with.


First, because of my experiences I have learned to not trust men...not trust what they say or what they do....I am working on that.  But if you have read the whole journey, you can understand why it is difficult.  Next, while I don't like to admit it...because of the lack of success in the past 20 years of relationships, I thought that there was something wrong with me.  All the times I was told I did things wrong, wasn't enough or was too much caused me to try to fix it by changing my behavior...trying different things.  But what I had done was this:  create my own pretzel-sheep.  I have twisted myself into something that vaguely resembles me.  I have edited my self to almost nothing.  AND. THAT. HAS. TO. STOP.


I realize that I cannot stop people judging me....but I don't have to care....and that has been my problem.  I cared if people liked me....I don't want to anymore.  Last Halloween my friends and I made a joke that I was still single because I don't get scared at haunted houses....because the conversation came around to how guys like to protect girls when they are all vulnerable and stuff....  well, that's sweet and all...but what about the real and big and scary bits of life?  THAT is where I want protection where I am vulnerable...not when a kid in a Jason mask jumps out of a corner...  when the chips are down and things are bad...THAT is where I want my hero.  So really, I am still single...not because I am not girly enough...but because the men I have met are not ....manly enough to really take on the challenges that life gives us.  I don't want to do it on my own, and I am truly tired of it....but, because I have no other choice....I have to be strong enough myself....  And hope that there is an equal out there for me...someone who matches me...who is strong enough.... because I am going back to being myself......if you don't like it...well I can tell you where to jump....  

I AM awesome because I am:
*a girl with high standards
*not going to put up with anyone's shit
*sometimes a bitch
*blunt....without tact
*funny
*highly intelligent
*motivated...having ambition
*fighter for the little guy
*an artist
*a tone deaf singer
*a talker
*a feminist
*super sensitive
*have a sarcastic wit
*I like inane things and mixing it up
*a risk taker
*a good friend


I am so much more...but if you choose not to see it...that is totally your issue...and I do not have to subscribe. :)

selling virginity

This is unbelievable to me.....who would do this?  Some girl in China offers to sell her virginity for an iPhone.   An iPhone of all things??

Wheels of Change

so...I figured I would share the blog that started it all...it was called:  Wheels of Change and I thought it was totally cool because I had recently learned how the bicycle helped to raise momentum to a critical point in the women's movement... the bicycle?  my second favorite form of transportation?  oh wow....how cool is that?  


apparently not cool enough...as my partner pointed out....apparently this blog was too thought provoking for the general public....and too biased....which is confusing...since this one seems slightly skewed...don't you think?  Or am I missing the inherent sexism in this post??




Here are some other great links about sexism in sports and just in general:  


http://jezebel.com/5821580/some-advice-how-to-cover-young-girls-playing-sports



http://jezebel.com/5820354/8+year+old-girl-kickboxes-in-a-ring-government-official-is-appalled

REALLY?

There is a lot of blaming the victim issues when it comes to rape...but this is ridiculous!  The girl was eleven!  What is even more sickening is that adult women are saying it is the little girls fault....what happened to supporting and protecting each other?????

What I didn't know about Flight Attendants

Ok...really this is just funny...  read and listen....


I don't know if the pilot involved really gave a crap...but it is funny when people are caught giving opinions that they would only give in private (in a public manner) ....or more likely that they would only give to one up another man...you know...the comments and stories men use to metaphorically take out the ruler and measure?  I bet that is what this was...poor person with a penis...maybe if you didn't have to engage in machismo around other men you might not have been suspended...

Princesses and Legos

I have been shopping for my five year old nieces and have become more and more disgusted by some of the clothing made for little girls.  I couldn't help but think that much of girls clothing has become a smorgasbord for pedophiles (who already have major issues).  I was appalled to see string bikinis and thongs for little girls--I mean sizes for six year olds, people!  And very adult looking bras...  What have we become?   I cam across this blog...and I think the picture and commentary is telling.

Kids seem to be growing up faster...knowing things younger than I knew them (for the most part)....being exposed to things earlier....  what happened to idyllic childhoods where you could just be...have fun...tell your mom where you will be and take off on your bike and be back in time for dinner?  Is our world really that evil?  or is it that it has always been--but now we have more exposure to it due to the sensationalism of the media?  Maybe it is both...

all I know that it scares me for when I have children...

Is there really an end to gender?

I really hope there is not an end to gender.  I really like being a girl!   Yeah there are times when I wish I were a man because something would be easier...but in the end...I can carry life--they can't do that....  my uterus makes me much, much cooler...  :) [sorry people with penises!]


So apparently it is a big deal that this Canadian couple is not telling the gender of thier child...and a mom paints her kids toenails pink...I read the NPR article that points to a neutralization of gender.  I agree with talking about humankind instead of mankind because words (as I have said before) are very powerful...in exclusion and inclusion.  I don't get offended when it is not used...I mean...we have been talking like this for hundreds of years...gonna be hard to change....but a slow one works for me.   So this got me thinking...I have a book in the store called My Princess Boy.  It is a book about acceptance.  We really get freaked out when boys play with dolls and girls play with guns...and if boys wear pink...  Why?  really it is the fear of the kids being different...but if we change things...will the kids actually grow up to be:  eek....homosexual?  eek eek... transgender?  eek eek eek...something more horrifying? (as if any of these are the end of the world...now--Lukemia...that one sucks....maybe that is what I should be worrying about...)


I don't think that is the case at all--this is a societal thing.... (not gender--but the freaking out when stereotypes are not matched).  For example....pink used to be a boy color (as a toned down red and red is a strong, mans color) and girls wore blue (because the Virgin Mary was seen in blue).  So "Storm"  the androgynous Canadian child may wear yellow until it decides on a color it likes....how refreshing will it be.... having the choice to try or like something without being told it is something wrong based on cultural norms?  won't that cause identity issues you say?  Really, I wouldn't think so...he/she may be teased you say?  really?  every child is teased...it sucks...it is part of growing up. I think giving a child a strong sense of self and the ability to be who they want--with no repercussions might just give an edge when those bullies come around....they won't worry as much about what other kids think of them....because they know how cool they are already...(trust me...it is SO much better if they get this now....)


So really what I am saying...is let them figure out who they are... with out telling them they are wrong for "trying out"  different things....and always, always, always remind kids why they are so awesome, what is so great about them and that they are worth something (even if they don't fit the the "parents" dreams)....

Sex sells?

I ran across this blog about how condoms are doing well in this economy...go figure!  Pregnancy and kids are expensive....and if you don't currently have a job or are underemployed.....this makes fiscal sense.  Additionally, unfortunately services for women have been under fire because of the 2% of abortions performed...so women controlled birth control is much more difficult to get.  But I won't get into that so much now...but I have a blog planned for later on this subject :)




Really...this writer is hilarious....you should read it!  At one point he says:  "Why are condoms up while the rest of the economy goes flaccid?"  LOL  it's a fun read!






http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/humannature/archive/2009/02/12/sex-is-cheap.aspx?wpisrc=obnetwork

Occam's razor doesn't account for context....since women face more than sexism and objectification daily

You know, I am not exactly sure how I stumbled across this blog…but I am very intrigued by the blog and the varied responses to it.  And truthfully, some of the responses infuriate me to no end.  From my not so copious research here is what I know.  This woman named Rebecca Watson made a video blog to further prove her points on the sexism and objectification women face every day.  Ms.  Watson is in the Atheist/Skeptic camp.  From reading her blogs, she provides some very interesting points….specifically as a feminist.  She was apparently speaking at a conference about how religion objectifies women, but had to argue that it is also prevalent in the Atheist community.    She spoke about how people coming from religious viewpoints have threatened to rape her and how she also had to deal with sexist behaviors in all contexts, making it an overarching cultural issue.

 

In this video, she describes an incident where she felt unsafe and creeped out by the behavior of a man.  He was alone at 4am with her in an elevator and asked her to come to his room for coffee.  And that she wanted to educate men, that this type of behavior is not ok.  I spent hours reading the responses…and I felt deeply saddened that we really have not come very far in the last couple hundred years.  Many of the comments defended the actions of the man, saying he didn’t know better…or you should be happy that he is hitting on you...or equal rights means he can do this....but really it is missing the point.  I bet that he really did not mean any harm and was really a drunken bumbling idiot.  This is not the issue.  The issue is that many people do not understand what it is like to be vulnerable.  And flipping it around as if she would have done the "asking"  is completely a diversionary tactic...men and women are...newsflash...different!  Especially when it comes to sex.

We have to be constantly on guard to keep ourselves out of unsafe situations, because if we are walking alone at night on a dark street or parking lot….it is not surprising we get raped (as is the thought process of many).    ESPECIALLY if we are in a short skirt, low cut top and have had many previous sexual partners…because all of these things scream “please violate me!”   Additionally, there are many men out there who are offended that we view every stranger in nearly any unprotected situation as a possible rapist.  You can’t have it both ways—we have to be aware…because if we find ourselves in a situation where it is possible that we could be raped...and are…it is our fault for being so stupid…  I hate this blaming the victim mentality.  First of all…rape is rarely about sex…it is about power….always has been…why do you think the phrase “rape and pillage” has rape in it?  If it weren’t such a big deal…it wouldn’t be used to subdue conquered populations (while furthering your own “population”).  Secondly, as one commenter on the blog said…it’s not like people wear nametags that say “Hi, I’m Tim, I’ll be your rapist today.”   It is always there…that concern.  EVERY. DAY.

This also goes for when the victim knows the rapist (often called date rape)…it is about power…i.e., getting what they want when there has been a refusal…like “how dare she”?  I have a friend who was raped in college.  She was dating the guy, they started making out…she did not want to have sex.  He did.  He decided that since she was turning him on, and was his girlfriend…etc…that her no really meant yes.  First, yes it sucks to be turned on and not get anything out of it…and if she was really leading him on or teasing…shame on her…she was being a bitch… IRREGARDLESS…if she doesn’t want it…he needs to respect that!  AND it pisses me off when people say she didn’t say the word “no”…she said “not right now” or “I don’t feel like it”….so she really didn’t mean no.  Ok…who hasn’t had an experience where you said “NO”…and the person persisted…very pushy…bullied…maybe even physically threatened?  Or being called a cold, heinous bitch?  We have been conditioned to not give the direct no as a way to sugarcoat and spare feelings…and possibly not incite anger.  I agree that the indirect is murky…but this is where we are.  Again…it’s still not giving permission.  (as a side note—I really hate that when I stand up for myself to men—I am a bitch, too emotional, crazy or my feelings written off as unimportant!)

The thing that frightened me the most about the responses to this blog is that many people didn’t see what the fuss was about.  First, I am the first to admit that I am not a small person…nor am I weak…nor am I often hit on…but I have felt very uncomfortable, scared and even threatened by men because of the situation and their behavior.   I am fully aware that it would not take much for the average male (especially if drunk and/or determined) to overpower me.  This knowledge is scary as shit!  I am a single woman who has lived by myself for years.  I have left work to go into a dark parking lot with my keys between my fingers, checked under the car and in the back seat…not really taking a breath until I pull safely away.  I have heard a sound in my house having only a rock and my cel phone to defend myself…walking throughout the house, whole body trembling, turning on lights making sure there is no intruder.  I have locked up the bookstore and had a strange man follow me in the alley (at night, in the dark) talking to me the whole way to the Jeep…barely responding--trying to be polite so as not to anger…but praying that he leaves me alone so I can run to the Jeep and get out.  I have been in the store alone with a drunken man, afraid of what he will do….the whole time figuring out an escape plan.  See…I wouldn’t be afraid, if there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.  I have been molested by an older cousin, I have had a stalker, a man tell me he could rape me (after coming uninvited into my room), been sexually harassed walking down the street and had a man get very angry when I told him no, I am not looking to have sex with you.  AND...think about this...I am not one of the pretty women...they unfortunately get this ten-fold!  We as women have to be aware of it. ALL. THE. TIME.  

And yes…I would have been totally creeped out by a guy asking me to go to his room at 4am when it was just the two of us in the elevator.  It wouldn’t necessarily have to do anything with him…just the situation.  If admitting that and agreeing with Ms. Watson by saying… hey dudes don’t do that… makes me a femi-nazi…then I am.  Especially to those who said that he was drunk as an excuse…remember alcohol amplifies our tendencies and reduces inhibitions…if this guy thought it wasn’t a big deal to corner a girl in a small box where he could push the emergency stop button and trap her in there—when he was drunk…it is so ingrained that it is ok not to consider her feelings…we have major, major problems!  (this phenomenon by the way is called objectification)

I want equal pay for equal work.  I want equal opportunity for advancement.  I want to be respected….especially when I express my opinion.   I want to not walk around with fear always in the back of my mind.  I want my feelings, wants, wishes to be respected…and to be spoken to respectfully.  I want to feel safe.  This is another point where feminism and chivalry are not far off.  Respect of women….for me…that’s all I want.

AND...IF YOU CLICK NO OTHER LINK...CLICK THIS ONE...IT IS WELL WRITTEN AND APT!

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Autopsy File #301

I met the Marine when my roommate and I went out for the evening early in my senior year of college.  He was funny and he seemed interested in my roomie.  I became the wing-woman (something I am fairly good at...)...   I had very tentatively built a fragile bridge to trust.  It had been almost two years....I guess I should try again, I thought to myself....and began scanning the room....the marine stayed with us the whole night...he was ok to talk to...kinda cute if you like the military type...  my roommate then told him that I (the designated driver and the only one who had a car) would be taking him home....It might have been nice if she had asked me...but as I would learn...this is how roomie was when she drank.


He became a fixture in our apartment...as my roommate fell deeper and deeper into alcoholism.  I was not completely comfortable around the marine... something about him rubbed me the wrong way.... I just couldn't put a finger on it....but he was roomie's boyfriend...I would have to tolerate him.  One evening we were watching movies and she passed out during the movie.  He talked to me for a bit.....I was trying to be polite.  Uncomfortable, I said that I was going to bed...would he need help taking roomie to her room?   He said no...and I read in my room.  A few minutes after I turned out the light he crawled into bed with me!  (I wished I had a locking door!)....I pushed him off and asked him "what the hell was he doing?!".  He said that how could I deny that we had had a connection....that he was just using her to get to me...I told him to leave my room....he told me that I turned him on so much that he could rape me right now.....WHAT??!!  (this was not said in a menacing way...but still!)  I grabbed my cel phone and dialed 911.  He became angry and asked my what I was doing...I told him that I had called the police and that if he didn't leave right now, I would have him arrested.  He left (after calling me not so nice names).


In the morning, when my roommate finally stumbled out of her room.  I told her what had happened.  She was pissed with me!  I was flabbergasted!  She accused me of trying to steal her boyfriend....really?!?!  She left to go find him.  She didn't come back for two days.  I was worried about her...but had no means to contact her. I called her parents and asked if she had gone home.  They said no...and unfortunately, now I got them worried!  When she finally arrived home...she was still mad....but they "worked things out".   For the next couple of days, she avoided me.   I was going home for the weekend...I hoped some time would help her out.
When I arrived back, most of my furniture and belongings were gone.  She had moved out and took most of my stuff!


I was sad and relieved at the same time.  I thought roomie and I were friends.  But all too often it seems that women allow men to get in between their friendships.  I (as usual) am the different one.  I didn't believe a guy worth it to completely diss your friends.  Your friends will always be there...through thick and thin....and by my meager experience, guys will not usually be.  I understand wanting to spend time with him....but not at the expense of your friends.  I really missed something with this class...how do you negotiate friendships with women hell bent on competitiveness over guys? 


A few months later, I ran into a mutual friend and she told me the story of what happened to my former roommate.  Her parents had come to get her.  They checked her into the hospital.  And the worst part of it was what I found out about the marine.  Apparently, roomie let it slip that I was still a virgin...and he thought he would help me out with that....holy cow!  Thank God that he left and really didn't try anything!  I can defend myself to a point...but this guy had been a marine...who knows what kind of skills he had?!  I was being watched over that day for sure!


After this experience, I really started to think about the phrase I have heard from many girl friends "he only wants sex"....I had really thought that men weren't that base...at least the ones I knew....I would learn as I got older :)

Women 2 Drive

I am truly blessed to be born in America!  Do not get me wrong...I think there are some things that we can work on here when it comes to the equality and respect of women....but compared to the rest of the world this is minor... minuscule really...


I have been actively watching and supporting the women's rights movement in Saudi Arabia.  They have a much bigger hill to climb than we ever did.  In America we were fighting against a cultural norm rooted in more in history than religion   In the Middle East, their cultural norm is rooted more strongly in religion...and their cultural norms stronger based on the less dichotomous nature of their populations... which is more difficult to change  While the Qu'ran and Mohammad have instances of strong women, the culture has ingrained beliefs as part of it's religion in regards to the place and treatment of women.  Christianity also did a lot for women's rights throughout the world.  While women may not have been exactly equal...they had changed from property to people/disciples that would spread the word of Jesus.  Still bound by cultural norms, they couldn't fully participate...but no longer were they exempt.  The same is true today...in Catholicism, women are not allowed to be priests based on this norm.  Slowly, there has been a movement to change that...but since it is entrenched in dogma it is difficult...thankfully the Bible does not explicitly prohibit women...so the change will eventually happen.  


This is not so in many Middle Eastern countries...in part because BOTH genders have some resistance.  In Saudi Arabia, not only can women not be without a male guardian (husband or father), they are the only women not allowed to drive.  The guardianship is directly from the Qu'ran:  

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard.

Qur'an 4:34

I honestly do not have an issue with the premise of guardianship.  I have lived alone for over 17 years and it would have been really nice, many times to have a man to watch over and protect you.  I have had to learn to do that job for myself....but would willing give it up...with one caveat.  I disagree with the way guardianship has manifested....what started out as a protection, has become a prison.  Unfortunately, women were again treated like property.  The men make the decisions for the women and they must ask permission to even leave their houses.  I would not like someone telling me what I can or can't do...therein lies the rub.  Women in Saudi Arabia who want change...also want the same thing...to be afforded the protection  but have the ability to decide their lives for themselves.  There are some facebook pages to support Women 2 Drive in Saudi Arabia:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women2drive-Manal-and-Bertha-Woman2drive-17-June-Saudi-Arabia/176962935691371


http://www.facebook.com/Women2Drive

http://arabnews.com/opinion/letters/article464039.ece




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Slut-Walks

In January a Toronto police officer was talking to a bunch of college students on safety. He said something to the effect of: "I’ve been told I shouldn’t say this, but, to avoid being raped or victimized, one of the safety tips was for women not to dress like sluts." A series of protests known as SlutWalks, sparked by the officer's flippant comments is taking root all over the world. It has been noted that o rganizers use the world slut because that was the officer's choice of words....to protest what a woman wears in no means offers an invitation.... Some women and men protest dress in jeans and T-shirts, while others wear provocative or revealing outfits to bring attention to "slut-shaming," or shaming women for being sexual, and the treatment of sexual assault victims....but this goes much, much deeper.




What scares and saddens me is that this cop has no clue what rape or sexual harassment is about. It is not about the lack of self control that people with penises seem to have (from his statement and historically). Truthfully over the centuries much has been done to restrict men's "views" of women to protect THEM from the inability of men to HELP THEMSELVES. Apparently men are weak creatures indeed. "Oh no! I have seen her ankles! Now I must take her. I cannot control this!" Really, lets give the male gender some credit here. First, most rapes occur irregardless of what the victim is wearing. Often she knows her attacker...and 99% of the time rape is about power and control....not about sex. A Federal Commission on Crima dn Violence Study found that only 4.4% (that is right folks, less than 5%) of ALL reported rapes involved provocative behavior ( as simple as a glance) on the part of the victim....INCLUDING her clothing! AND most convicted rapists do not remember what their victims were wearing! So Mr. Toronto Police Officer....thank you for furthering a silly gender stereotype...it drew attention to the fact that we have a long long way to go!




and really I could not resist this last picture....for solidarity....maybe I should show of the "girls" more often... LOL

How I grew up to be a Femi-Nazi

I think that I may have always had feminist tendencies....but I remember clearly the day I crossed the line and became one....


I have always been fascinated by what my pa does in the barn...he fixes things, makes things, tinkers....I learned early on that while my family is very egalitarian...there are some things that are in the realm of women and some in the realm of men.  My parents shared cooking and yard maintenance duties, while my mom did most of the cleaning (pa helped out a lot) and my pa did all of the fixing and vehicle things....  What my pa did was much more fascinating to me than the cleaning...so I pushed to be his helper while learning (unbeknownst to me) gender roles.


Fast forward to when I was about 13.  My brother was trying out for the "Raiders" youth football team.  I am, and always have been, a huge football fan!  I pushed and pushed to get to try out...if my brother was doing it...why can't I?  I learned that they wouldn't let me even try out!  There are no girls in football!  I was already the only girl in the entire soccer league, let alone my team.  But no...they wouldn't let me.  I had over heard the coach talking to my father..."...size, probably would have to be center...but with her brother as quarterback..."  the next thing was my pa's emphatic "NO"...and that was it.  No football for me (my mom was worried I would get hurt anyway).  I have to give my pa credit here...he actually considered it...  As a side note...it was years before it dawned on me what the issue with the center/quarterback was....oh yeah...remember I missed that class....


Ever closer to the line...at age 15 I argued with my father nearly incessantly about the fact that my fourteen year old brother could start the vehicle and move it around the driveway or drive it at camp...I was the one who was in driver's training....I thought this supremely unfair!  I could not figure out for the life of me how have a penis made it easier/better to drive!  I still don't!  Does the appendage somehow help with steering?  I have never seen evidence of it....and yet the stereotype that men are better drivers persists today.  I know awful drivers of both genders...and they are awful for different reasons....but should not be driving nonetheless....


The final push to the femi-nazi camp was when I was sixteen years old.  I had just received my driver's license and was driving into town all by myself.  It was winter and the roads were really icy.  I was driving the "green-machine"  my father's massive full size work truck that I adored.  I was nervous, so I was driving quite slowly.  I remember that I had been going 15 in a 45....I am about halfway to town when this car comes around a sharper corner too fast and completely loses control of his vehicle about a quarter mile a head of me.  I take my foot off the gas and begin pumping my brakes...he is in MY lane!  The truck is sliding a little, but I keep it under control...the vehicle is still careening toward me.  At about a hundred feet away, I make a decision...I am going to try to pull off the road into a driveway...I hit the brakes harder...bracing for a head on collision...I begin to swerve and hit a patch of ice and fishtail into the deep ditch at the other side of the road.  I wasn't hit!  The truck is on it's side and I cannot unbuckle myself from the seat belt from which I am hanging.  The neighbors who witnessed the whole thing help me out of my vehicle, call my father and the police.  When I get out I expect the other vehicle to be there too.  It is not.  I am very shaken up....realizing that I probably would have hit the windshield had it not been for the seat belt.  The police officer arrives and speaks with the witnesses, my father and then me.


My mother has bundled me into the car and my pa is towing out the truck. Pa comes back and hands me a ticket from the police officer...I read it...it says I was going too fast for road conditions!  I am angry!  I go to the cop and ask him how fast I should have been going...and how else I should have reacted.  He is aware that there was another vehicle and I avoided a head on collision.  He just tells me I am too fast...nothing more.  My father, knowing how I get when I defend myself against things I find unfair...pulls me off to the side and speaks with the cop.  He refuses to talk about it until we get home.  I ask him what the cop said.  After a few minutes of cajoling he finally tells me.  The cop gave me a ticket because:  GIRLS SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING TRUCKS.  THEY CAN'T HANDLE THEM!  He also told my father to get me a little car.  I am furious!  I did the best I could with my limited driving skills and the MAN that caused the accident got away with it...even though the witnesses explained the whole story!  They saw the other driver lose control and me avoid the collision.


That was it...just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside does not make me any less of a person....I crossed the line....I became a feminist...or femi-nazi as I have been called.  I would do many things over the years to prove a point that in this day and age...women are still treated unfairly.  I agree with equality to a point..there are some things we will never be equal in (I can grow life inside of me)...but there should be no reason that I can't try to do something based on my gender!  

Skirts on Bikes

image via New Amsterdam Bicycle Show

I rarely wear pants....this is for personal reasons...I love wearing skirts and dresses.  I also love to ride my bicycle!    And yes...I ride the bike in skirts and dresses...it is much more comfortable to me!  (I am not the only one!)  So when I came across a story about a tourist nearly getting fined by a police officer for wearing a skirt on a bike (see pic above)....I was intrigued....as were many of my fellow bloggers...  Apparently the girl was a "distraction" to motorists....but how is it that I am rarely distracted by men in spandex?  What was this police officer stating about the driving ability of New Yorkers?

If a tree falls...

For a long time I mocked bloggers....the masses of lonely, overwired people spewing out their opinions and the minutia of their lives over all of those poor unsuspecting 3am insomniacs...

Now I have decided to become one of them.  I did this for the most immature of reasons...someone pissed me off!  I was told I should write a femi-nazi blog...because I have something to say (and apparently the forum I was using was inappropriate).  But then I thought:  So who really cares?


And thus it comes to the age old question:  if a tree falls in the woods with no one around...does it make a sound?  I always thought...of course it does! (what a silly philosophical question we try to wrap the 5% of our brains around!)  It does not matter if there is a human around to hear it.  Just because we think we are this supreme life form does not negate what happens around us...or because of us.  The tree still existed.  It still fell.  Energy was released...there was still sound.  Unless you believe this interesting post.  Overall I think as a species we think of ourselves as over-important....just because we can reason and communicate, etc.  And yet...I can think of several examples where this may not be the case.... I think Douglas Adams was onto something....the dolphins are really the ones with the supreme brains here....but I digress.


So...what's the point of this blog?  It is simple:  I don't understand relationships between men and women. It baffles my puny melon daily.  This goes far deeper than my femi-nazi tendencies (which I am sure I will rant about frequently in the posts to come).  But really, I feel like I am on a train speeding past...trying to decipher the blur I got a glimpse of.  So....I write because I am clueless.  I might be more educated if I hadn't missed that class in high school...