Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A bunch of blogs over the past week all in one spot!
April 24
the art of love
As I grew up, I tried to study the art of love. I think what I found is that fiction is good for knowing how to flirt and attract. And self-help books are good for knowing how to maintain it.
I'm still working on the latter, though. In fact, I may be so into that area of study that I want to become a professional matchmaker and relationship coach! Websites can't solve all your problems, you know!
Unless you are looking for porn. :)
Apr 24
ARGH. Don't want kids.
Why is it that we can sort our matches by height and ethnicity, but not by whether or not they want the intense responsibility of raising new little humans? What kind of fucked up world is this?
Smirk.
Apr 24
HAHAHA!
Oh man, I just scored so badly at this "Wifely virtues" test from the 1930's: http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-marital-rating-scale-for-wives-test .
I guess I'm not the average 1930's housewife after all. :9 Hehe. Hilarious. You have got to check out some of those questions.
April 29
Gray hairs on men.
I think it's so cute when men have little gray hairs creeping through. It shows their mortality, their eventual weakness, and makes me appreciate them that much more while they are here.
Apr 29
Assholery vs Douchbagishness
Wasnr, a user on the dating site I use, suggested I expand upon a comment I made regarding assholery. I asked him what I would talk about and he said, "the economy?" and then, "Oo, douchebaggery. that's a good topic." So there I was, writing this little thingy on this dating site when I should be looking for a job better than the ones I'm trying to get.
So, let's be clear. I think people who describe themselves as assholes are snarky, mean, and rarely put themselves in other's shoes. They are less compassionate, they think they're super cool and desirable, and they have a harder time speaking earnestly than Modernist Literature T.A. has in not sleeping with his students. Often, people try on the asshole persona for a little while, thinking it will get them laid. Sometimes it does. Deep down, assholes probably just want to be loved and accepted. Yet, once they are, the person who did so is either no longer worthy, or they grow terrified of ultimate rejection. Thus, they either reject first, or, my guess is, they get extremely possessive. But, honestly, I really don't know what I'm talking about, this is just rhetorical bullshit. If you find any truth here, let me know. I don't have that much experience with assholes. They're assholes. :P
Douchebags are a different brand entirely. Or at least the word is associated with different things in my mind. I feel like the way girls use douchebag, they are refering to a person who fucked up. As in, "He slept with me and never called. What a douchebag." It's almost a one-time thing. And interestly enough, when guys use the word douchebag, it's almost always in self-deprication because they said something mildly condescending, like, "at least I can digest cheese!" and yet feel immensely bad about it. Ironically, the very guys who use the word douchebag to describe themselves are the exact opposite of the asshole. They are compassionate, introspective, their teasing is mild at worst, they don't think they are God's gift to womankind, and they speak earnestly. If they receive love, they can generally return it, though they might need a little self-esteem work. Of course, deep down, they might actually be assholes who just fight their assholery with a giant mental sword! Yay swords!
If you think about it, a douche-bag is used in front, and is associated with the sissy female genitalia. :) While the asshole is used by men, too. For pooping. :) So asshole has more machismo associated with it, where as a douche-bag might be a guy who advertises himself as useful, in order to enter a female, when in fact, we women would probably retain a healthier ph-balance if we never douched. Think a "tool" verses a "jerk."
So, the economy. So, who is doing better in this economy? The assholes, or the douchebags? What do you think?
May 2
Fourth Wave Feminism?
I like this quote, from this book I read, "I Love You, Let's Meet; Adventures in Online Dating." Ellen, a single woman in her fifties, calls herself a casualty of the women's lib movement, and says, "When I came of age, it was very black and white in the women's movement. Up to this point, we were slaves and after this point we were fine on our own. We were there and now we're here. [Postfeminist] society assumed I wanted to go get some job because I was smart. I didn't want to admit this to myself for years, but because of my skill set, I think I would have been happy staying at home raising kids. I'm very creative, I cook, I sew, I've always wanted to make Halloween costumes."
Hear, hear. Except I don't want to birth those youngin's. :) Anyway, the reason I wanted to post this is simply to offer another perspective as to why things are so fucked up between men and women. :)
May 5 (Right now)
Fourth Wave Anti-Feminism
So, some books have really pissed me off lately. So, to start, let's start with the books I respect. I loved the book, "The Sexual Paradox," by Susan Pinker. This was a book about how men and women are different. This book detailed having compassion for the opposite gender, and realizing that they aren't your oppressor (whether you are a woman or a man), they just have different needs, and impact society differently. For instance, there are a great deal of female teachers, who require boys to learn in rather female ways (sit still, work together with others rather than compete, share, talk, etc.) and boys do notoriously worse than girls in school. Yet in corporate situations, even though women are actually given more opportunities, because of all the press feminism has received, women will often do poorly in climbing the ladder, because they will often gravitate towards wanting to do something more sociologically fulfilling, as, on average, they are more "socially compassionate" (however you want to define this... this isn't a direct quote, rather a generalization based on the concepts of what careers women chose to pursue, and why, in the book) creatures than men. Therefore, they will, in fact, choose lesser-paying positions, messing with the statistics of "who is doing 'better' in society."
Also, check out "The Hazards of Being Male." Such a great, compassionate book.
Now, two books following the trend of "the flaws in third wave feminism" came out after The Sexual Paradox, in 2008. One is "Save the Males," by a woman, and the other is "The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future" by a guy, who is, in fact, named Guy. These two books are HORRIBLE. They are reductive and filled with misogyny. They remind me of some of the over-dramatic feminist activists of the 1970's who proclaimed, "All men are rapists," or claimed to be feminists, fighting for equality, when in fact, their real aim was to kick men in the balls. Basically, with chapters like, "Celebrity Sluts, and America's Ho-down," they will say things like, "Torpedoed by cultural messages that are relentlessly sexual, by pole-dancing moms and prostitots decked in baby hookerware, [men] are nonetheless expected to treat females as ladies. Except don't call them 'ladies,' which is insultingly patriarchal."
Sentiments like these miss the point entirely. The Save the Males female authoress who wrote that quote is relying on the crutch of the age-old virgin/whore dichotomy, a cheap stereotyping cliche that belongs on late-night reality TV shows, not in a serious book dissecting the despair of gender dynamics.
the art of love
As I grew up, I tried to study the art of love. I think what I found is that fiction is good for knowing how to flirt and attract. And self-help books are good for knowing how to maintain it.
I'm still working on the latter, though. In fact, I may be so into that area of study that I want to become a professional matchmaker and relationship coach! Websites can't solve all your problems, you know!
Unless you are looking for porn. :)
Apr 24
ARGH. Don't want kids.
Why is it that we can sort our matches by height and ethnicity, but not by whether or not they want the intense responsibility of raising new little humans? What kind of fucked up world is this?
Smirk.
Apr 24
HAHAHA!
Oh man, I just scored so badly at this "Wifely virtues" test from the 1930's: http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-marital-rating-scale-for-wives-test .
I guess I'm not the average 1930's housewife after all. :9 Hehe. Hilarious. You have got to check out some of those questions.
April 29
Gray hairs on men.
I think it's so cute when men have little gray hairs creeping through. It shows their mortality, their eventual weakness, and makes me appreciate them that much more while they are here.
Apr 29
Assholery vs Douchbagishness
Wasnr, a user on the dating site I use, suggested I expand upon a comment I made regarding assholery. I asked him what I would talk about and he said, "the economy?" and then, "Oo, douchebaggery. that's a good topic." So there I was, writing this little thingy on this dating site when I should be looking for a job better than the ones I'm trying to get.
So, let's be clear. I think people who describe themselves as assholes are snarky, mean, and rarely put themselves in other's shoes. They are less compassionate, they think they're super cool and desirable, and they have a harder time speaking earnestly than Modernist Literature T.A. has in not sleeping with his students. Often, people try on the asshole persona for a little while, thinking it will get them laid. Sometimes it does. Deep down, assholes probably just want to be loved and accepted. Yet, once they are, the person who did so is either no longer worthy, or they grow terrified of ultimate rejection. Thus, they either reject first, or, my guess is, they get extremely possessive. But, honestly, I really don't know what I'm talking about, this is just rhetorical bullshit. If you find any truth here, let me know. I don't have that much experience with assholes. They're assholes. :P
Douchebags are a different brand entirely. Or at least the word is associated with different things in my mind. I feel like the way girls use douchebag, they are refering to a person who fucked up. As in, "He slept with me and never called. What a douchebag." It's almost a one-time thing. And interestly enough, when guys use the word douchebag, it's almost always in self-deprication because they said something mildly condescending, like, "at least I can digest cheese!" and yet feel immensely bad about it. Ironically, the very guys who use the word douchebag to describe themselves are the exact opposite of the asshole. They are compassionate, introspective, their teasing is mild at worst, they don't think they are God's gift to womankind, and they speak earnestly. If they receive love, they can generally return it, though they might need a little self-esteem work. Of course, deep down, they might actually be assholes who just fight their assholery with a giant mental sword! Yay swords!
If you think about it, a douche-bag is used in front, and is associated with the sissy female genitalia. :) While the asshole is used by men, too. For pooping. :) So asshole has more machismo associated with it, where as a douche-bag might be a guy who advertises himself as useful, in order to enter a female, when in fact, we women would probably retain a healthier ph-balance if we never douched. Think a "tool" verses a "jerk."
So, the economy. So, who is doing better in this economy? The assholes, or the douchebags? What do you think?
May 2
Fourth Wave Feminism?
I like this quote, from this book I read, "I Love You, Let's Meet; Adventures in Online Dating." Ellen, a single woman in her fifties, calls herself a casualty of the women's lib movement, and says, "When I came of age, it was very black and white in the women's movement. Up to this point, we were slaves and after this point we were fine on our own. We were there and now we're here. [Postfeminist] society assumed I wanted to go get some job because I was smart. I didn't want to admit this to myself for years, but because of my skill set, I think I would have been happy staying at home raising kids. I'm very creative, I cook, I sew, I've always wanted to make Halloween costumes."
Hear, hear. Except I don't want to birth those youngin's. :) Anyway, the reason I wanted to post this is simply to offer another perspective as to why things are so fucked up between men and women. :)
May 5 (Right now)
Fourth Wave Anti-Feminism
So, some books have really pissed me off lately. So, to start, let's start with the books I respect. I loved the book, "The Sexual Paradox," by Susan Pinker. This was a book about how men and women are different. This book detailed having compassion for the opposite gender, and realizing that they aren't your oppressor (whether you are a woman or a man), they just have different needs, and impact society differently. For instance, there are a great deal of female teachers, who require boys to learn in rather female ways (sit still, work together with others rather than compete, share, talk, etc.) and boys do notoriously worse than girls in school. Yet in corporate situations, even though women are actually given more opportunities, because of all the press feminism has received, women will often do poorly in climbing the ladder, because they will often gravitate towards wanting to do something more sociologically fulfilling, as, on average, they are more "socially compassionate" (however you want to define this... this isn't a direct quote, rather a generalization based on the concepts of what careers women chose to pursue, and why, in the book) creatures than men. Therefore, they will, in fact, choose lesser-paying positions, messing with the statistics of "who is doing 'better' in society."
Also, check out "The Hazards of Being Male." Such a great, compassionate book.
Now, two books following the trend of "the flaws in third wave feminism" came out after The Sexual Paradox, in 2008. One is "Save the Males," by a woman, and the other is "The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future" by a guy, who is, in fact, named Guy. These two books are HORRIBLE. They are reductive and filled with misogyny. They remind me of some of the over-dramatic feminist activists of the 1970's who proclaimed, "All men are rapists," or claimed to be feminists, fighting for equality, when in fact, their real aim was to kick men in the balls. Basically, with chapters like, "Celebrity Sluts, and America's Ho-down," they will say things like, "Torpedoed by cultural messages that are relentlessly sexual, by pole-dancing moms and prostitots decked in baby hookerware, [men] are nonetheless expected to treat females as ladies. Except don't call them 'ladies,' which is insultingly patriarchal."
Sentiments like these miss the point entirely. The Save the Males female authoress who wrote that quote is relying on the crutch of the age-old virgin/whore dichotomy, a cheap stereotyping cliche that belongs on late-night reality TV shows, not in a serious book dissecting the despair of gender dynamics.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Brush with fame
I was on the bart train yesterday, visiting a friend. It was scorching outside, and hotter inside the train. It must have been 100 degrees, and the only way I was surviving was by lathering water from my canteen all over myself. I don't know how the other people were still conscious.
Anyway, I moved to stand in front of the doors, so at least I'd get a breeze when the doors opened. There was this dude standing by the doors, and after a few moments of standing there, as the only other person to use this strategy to combat the heat, he started a friendly conversation with me. Of course about the weather. That is history's epic conversation starter, and I think it will continue beyond humanity. Cockroaches will start conversations about the weather. But in this scene, how could we think of anything else but the way we were cooking in the bart oven.
Then he said, "At least it's not the bad kind of heat... the humid kind..."
I looked at him. So he was probably from the East coast. For some reason that made me instantly realize that he looked like another East coast boy I know of, a famous singer in a band I really adore. Maybe I thought of that because he also got on in Oakland, and I know that this band happens to live in Oakland now.
So, after a few more questions about where he was from, I laughed and told him who he reminded me of, and asked him if he was him. He laughed and said no. I laughed at myself. Then he joked, saying that maybe he wouldn't tell me, even if he was him.
"You'd probably tell me, though, right?" I said.
"Yeah, probably." He replied.
I was about to change the subject when I noticed his shirt, with the somewhat obscure record label emblazoned across his chest. That little rascal. It was him, after all.
"You jerk," I said. "It is you! Nice to meet you, ----!" I finished, saying his name.
He looked a little embarrassed, but then relaxed. We talked music, and decided to hang out in the future.
Hilarious.
Anyway, I moved to stand in front of the doors, so at least I'd get a breeze when the doors opened. There was this dude standing by the doors, and after a few moments of standing there, as the only other person to use this strategy to combat the heat, he started a friendly conversation with me. Of course about the weather. That is history's epic conversation starter, and I think it will continue beyond humanity. Cockroaches will start conversations about the weather. But in this scene, how could we think of anything else but the way we were cooking in the bart oven.
Then he said, "At least it's not the bad kind of heat... the humid kind..."
I looked at him. So he was probably from the East coast. For some reason that made me instantly realize that he looked like another East coast boy I know of, a famous singer in a band I really adore. Maybe I thought of that because he also got on in Oakland, and I know that this band happens to live in Oakland now.
So, after a few more questions about where he was from, I laughed and told him who he reminded me of, and asked him if he was him. He laughed and said no. I laughed at myself. Then he joked, saying that maybe he wouldn't tell me, even if he was him.
"You'd probably tell me, though, right?" I said.
"Yeah, probably." He replied.
I was about to change the subject when I noticed his shirt, with the somewhat obscure record label emblazoned across his chest. That little rascal. It was him, after all.
"You jerk," I said. "It is you! Nice to meet you, ----!" I finished, saying his name.
He looked a little embarrassed, but then relaxed. We talked music, and decided to hang out in the future.
Hilarious.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Following the Followers
I'd like to explore my "follower's" blogs, or find out more about them, but I have no idea how to do this. Any ideas?
Sincerely,
Karen
Sincerely,
Karen
Friday, April 10, 2009
I like plants.
Today I applied for a plant nursery job. Yet, I really have very little experience working with plants. But they are so freaking wonderful, that if I could be around them all day and get paid, I think I'd be a happy girl indeed.
I've grown my own little plants, and I've even studied herbalism (using plants to heal). So this comic was a tribute to finding out that I actually knew something that an herbalist friend of mine didn't know, for once.
I've grown my own little plants, and I've even studied herbalism (using plants to heal). So this comic was a tribute to finding out that I actually knew something that an herbalist friend of mine didn't know, for once.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Meaning of Life.
I have this board game, Life, and it's the modern version, not the old version you remember from childhood. It has a little computer that you use with the game board. The computer was out of batteries, so my friend and I had to keep track of our house appreciation and debt interest rates, and money in the bank and such by hand. At the end of the game, we were supposed to press "convert," and the computer would convert all of our money and assets and experience and babies and love into "life points" and whoever had the most of these would win. Unfortunately, because the computer was broken and we didn't have the algorithm for doing this, we couldn't determine how much money or how many babies were worth each life point. At which point I said, "That's a subjective thing! Nobody can say how many kisses it takes to have more life points than someone with a house!" To which my friend responded, "Apparently this computer can."
"Argh," I said. "Apparently this computer has the meaning of life, and we just don't have any batteries."
"Story of my life," he said.
To make a Douglas Adams reference, we had a good guess that you need over "42" life points to win, though. ;)
"Argh," I said. "Apparently this computer has the meaning of life, and we just don't have any batteries."
"Story of my life," he said.
To make a Douglas Adams reference, we had a good guess that you need over "42" life points to win, though. ;)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Fan Rewrites Dialog!
YEY! So much better! Dialog by A. Physicist. For original: http://letsgababoutlife.
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