It just keeps getting better...not!

*Dusts off soapbox* Ahem.

Last year I decided to attempt and be an advocate for a few things that I feel fairly strongly about: people not giving a damn about other people, universal access to clean water, same-sex marriages, etc. Each of these issues is important to me and I would love to take my little soapbox all the way to D.C. to bitch at the people who are being so ignorant about all of it.

But today is a special day. Today I want to rant about legislation that directly affects me. To begin I want to say that I am not as well-educated on this subject as I am on the other issues I've discussed. I don't have a lot of pretty statistics to write down or any fancy and convincing quotations from experts. or anything like that. What I have is a brain and feelings, and I want to have those feelings heard- if only be the internet.

So, let's just get this sort of taken care of right here: I'm going to be ranting about all this extremely terrible legislation involving rape and abortion. And I'm fairly certain this is not going to be pretty.

When I first learned about rape I was told, repeatedly, that it was not about sex. It's about power and control. (Unfortunately for the second part of my ranting, it's still sex, but we'll get to that.) I'm not sure when the psychology of rape was lost on all these politicians, but it seems like they've never heard this concept. I get that some of them may be a little older than this being taught in schools- but why the hell aren't they researching this subject in depth?

Not to mention the biology of it- I know they learned about that. Or at least learned enough to know what sex is and what sex isn't. Unless they're just a bunch of virgins and can't admit it because they have four kids.

Now, what confuses me most about all of this hullabaloo is this idea of "legitimate rape."

Let me say that again: Legitimate. Rape.

As if somehow being raped isn't bad enough, now there's a question about whether or not it was legitimate. "Oh, I'm sorry, it appears your body had an involuntary reaction to this forced act, clearly that was a conscious decision on your part and you liked it.

Or, my favorite, "You were in an area, alone, at night, where you know there would be other people. Why do such a thing when you know something like this could happen?" "Why wear such a short skirt and a tube top unless you wanted some?"

I mean, what? Somehow you are responsible for things your body does, like...oh I don't know, yawning after seeing someone yawn. Sure there's a slight difference because yawning isn't traumatic, nor does it often bring out your fight or flight response. But still- the idea is the same. It's an involuntary response to a stimulus.

And this whole business about "asking for it"? What. The. Hell? Maybe someone, somewhere, has one of those domination kinks where something like this is desirable. But for the majority of us? Uncomfortable, humiliating, and all around demoralizing.

Yes, I'll have a side helping of "my life is shit" tonight. I really needed something truly horrible to happen to me to make everything else in my life look just that much worse.

I love when that happens, don't you? Somehow adding another crappy thing to my life makes everything okay. So of course I would encourage such a thing.

Barf. Just...barf.

And, finally, this whole thing where, if a woman is impregnated during rape it's not actually rape because "the body has natural defenses to stop itself from getting pregnant if it's rape."

Um...what? I think I smell something, and it's not formaldehyde because they clearly skipped biology.

Where do they get this information? Do they live in that world that Katie talks about in Horton Hears a Who where everyone eats rainbows and poops butterflies? Just...no.

Sorry, the body cannot somehow distinguish between forced ejaculate and....happy ejaculate. It's all sent into the body in the same way. A woman has the same chance of getting pregnant during rape that she does any other time sex happens.

There are a lot of things I partially understand. Hell even this new Arizona legislation I'm going to bitch about makes some sense.

What I don't understand, is why this kind of stuff exists in politics. To be so completely ignorant and just plain stupid should not be allowed in the public sphere- and certainly not out there making the laws that govern us. Keep your stupidity to yourself.

Which brings me to my next topic- this new law in Arizona that defines pregnancy as starting at the end of the previous menstrual cycle.

See, this almost makes sense to me. I get that the idea is that the ovum is technically beginning it's maturation. So the potential for life exists. I get it.

But...come on. Really? Unless that egg is fertilized that day, there's no potential for life. Honestly, even if the deal was that it was something ridiculous like "once conception has occurred the pregnancy is considered to have started the first time the female participated in coitus after the termination of the previous menstrual cycle." (Like how fancy that sounded?) See- then at least the potential for conception existed. Still stupid.

And all of this bureaucratic bullshit is focusing on one thing- abortion laws.

I'm not sure if I've said this on here, but I'm pro-choice with a very pro-life mentality. I don't want abortion to exist, I certainly don't want my taxes to go towards it, and I always hope that there's another option for those women to choose.

But God help you if you try to take that right away from women. Because as much as I don't want it to happen- those women are going to make that choice regardless and I want the safest possible environment for them and will defend them


It takes a lot of guts to go through with an abortion. Because every time they go into that clinic, people will insulting them, telling them they are horrible people, and generally making the whole situation even more stressful than it is by default. There's no reason that these protestors should be allowed anywhere near that building.

But this is America. And we're free to do shit like that.

One more time: This is America. Let's try and uphold those values we've been trying to- you know that whole freedom thing?

The most startling thing in all of this is that most of these legislators, the people making laws that affect women and their bodies and mental state, are men.

I honestly cannot think of anything more insulting and horrifying as a bunch of men who don't know basic biology and psychology making laws that affect woman where biology and psychology are important factors. 

So to these men who just want to "protect unborn lives," just...fuck off.  If you're so concerned with the global population go have sex with your wife and your five mistresses and leave the policy-making to someone who understands what they're talking about.

Reading...Or Something Along Those Lines

Alright, so I have a little ranty-rant that I've gone over about 20 times with people in real life, so here I am to bring it to the internet.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I'm usually not a reader, but..." since the horror that is Twilight was unleashed on the unsuspecting masses.

I was standing in a checkout line in Target a few years ago and this woman behind me had a copy of New Moon in her hands. It was the only item she was purchasing. I told her to go put it back before she regretted it.

Her response: "Well, I'm usually not a reader, but these books are really good! It only took me three days to finish the last one."

I imagine this is the mindset of most of the people who really enjoyed the Twilight books, and most of the popular crap out there today. They don't actually read often enough to recognize when bad things are published.

I, less than politely, told her that the first book had tricked her into thinking it was good because it was easy to read. They are actually at a 4th grade reading level- which probably says more about reading habits than anything.

It took me four hours to read each of the Twilight books- that's 16 hours total and I sorely wish that I had that time back.

Don't get me wrong- props to Smeyer for writing four books.My problem is that people are so enthralled with something that's just...not good.

I admit, part of me is probably just really upset that people keep comparing it to Harry Potter. I mean... that's like comparing an apple to a fire-breathing dragon (haha, ironically the cover of the first Twilight book has an apple on it and the first Harry Potter book has a fire-breathing dragon- comparison win!)

The thing about Twilight that's truly tragic is that there's really nothing good that can come from it. There are no good morals or characters to strive to live up to. I mean, really, the protagonist is a blah girl who moves and falls in love with a creepy stalker. She spends most of her time worrying about the fact that she's growing older and won't be attractive to him anymore.

Then she gets married. And has a baby. The end.

For example, Beauty and the Beast has sometimes been mocked as a story about Stockholm Syndrome and all the main character does is fall in love and get married.

Except that at least there's a deeper level in that Belle has to overcome society norms regarding what one should find attractive.

What does Bella do? Falls in love with a "Greek god" figure.

There's also nothing truly original about it. I guess it's kind of interesting that becoming a vampire enhances ones psychic ability- even if it's completely latent when a human. But there's massive potential to recreate well-known mythology and make it something different.

Again- Harry Potter. Rowling managed to create an entire fantasy world that has redefined what we think of wizards and magic.

Even the Percy Jackson series- which I admit I thoroughly enjoyed- managed to revamp the classics and build a new perspective for younger audiences.

Vegetarian vampires are not a new concept. Vampires having psychic abilities isn't new. Vampires being able to go out in sunlight isn't new.

The sparkling is new, but almost not even worth mentioning.

Alright, enough ragging on Twilight. I just needed to get all of that out to get to the main point- Parents really need to start reading books before they let their kids read them.



I'm not saying kids can't think for themselves and choose what they want to read. But seriously- what kids read affects the way they think and act. Do you want your sons to grow up to be stalkers because Edward did it? Do you want your daughter to name-smash your name with her mother-in-law's (okay, worse things could happen, but I think it's stupid so it belongs here)?

Traveling Woes

I love the internet, it's a nice way to see and learn things in a convenient way (particularly at 3 am the day a big research paper is due). Unfortunately, it has a HUGE downside- photos of places across the globe.

I'm kind of a travel junkie- I've known this for a long time. But when I'm bored at work and the internet draws me in, I inevitably add another location I want to see before I die. I'm basically to the point where I'll have to be a hitchhiking hobo to see everything I want to.

 But, as much of a desire as I have to see all the countries and all the things everywhere, I feel like I need to appreciate the US as well.

I've been to 25 of the 50 states- I'm super determined to make all 50 happen. I have a list of places that I think people need to experience here.

I saw a picture of Zion National Park- I MUST SEE IT! Garden of the Gods too! Gonna take a nice long geology field trip! :D

And now for something completely different

Actually, this is pretty much like the crap I was posting on here last year. I would say last post was something completely different and I felt super squicky after I realized I actually posted it.

Boo Past Self! Boo!

Anyway, I was standing around doing nothing at work as usual- trying desperately not to fall asleep after a random bout of insomnia that caused me to get about three hours of sleep (it was closer to three and a half, but who's counting that extra half hour? Certainly not my REM cycles!)- when I began thinking about Disney.

Disney is a beautiful, horrible, thing.

I grew up on Disney movies, my friends grew up on Disney movies, and any children that I'm involved in the upbringing up will damn well grow up on Disney movies.

The primary difference between my generation and the next will be this: media.

When I was a kid, I had to learn how to fast forward through crappy previews (okay, I used to watch them!) and remember to rewind or be pissed at myself the next time I wanted to watch that same movie.

That being said, my Disney collection- and that of many of my friends- is beginning to deteriorate.

Years of loving these movies has caused the tapes to become worn and sad, colors muted and sound just a teensy bit off. One of my roommates VHS cases is literally falling apart, damn plastic covering.

This realization was horrible- what if the next time I put in Tarzan was the time the VCR decided it was snack time?!

Thus, I have been slowly upgrading my Disney collection to DVD. But, honestly, it makes me feel kinda dirty- like I'm betraying the person I was and my entire childhood.

I don't have many, but I have Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, which are really all about anyone needs. But I'm thinking I kind of need Mulan and Tarzan.

I dunno...just a thought.

When crappy metaphors become your life

Sometimes I feel like we're two pages in a book- one an odd page and the other even. There are times when we're back to back- can hardly comprehend that the other page is just there on the other side contributing to the story. Other times we're face to face, understanding perfectly where one is coming from and the other is going.

I guess both situations are necessary for a book to work, there'd be no real story otherwise. I suppose it's also important that there be times that pages just need to be turned, otherwise there'd be no sense of anticipation and it wouldn't be a very good book at all.

Brainwaves- A Study on Friendship

Have you ever had one of those moments where you and a friend or family member of yours have said the exact same thing at the same time? I've had several of these myself, and they have influenced my thinking on how humans make friends.

See, you know about brainwaves, they're just a natural rhythm that is formed by the electric current running around in your head.

I like to think of them as radio frequencies.

I imagine that relatives are simply born within a close range of frequencies, like a mother is set at 97.4FM and her child is like a 97.6FM- close but not quite the same. Depending on the location, one frequency can get a blip of another nearby "station."

This is how we make friends. Statistically, someone is bound to have the same/a very similar frequency as you- regardless of how complete unrelated you might be. Someone who broadcasts on the same frequency has similar thought processes and interests because everything pings at the same speed.

And that's why I think we're all basically just radios picking up on other radio stations.

"Roughing It"

So, when I was younger my brother played hockey. This was kind of a big deal where I come from- like 80% of males play hockey until high school (okay, I made that number up but it's probably fairly accurate).

Anyway, once they hit traveling hockey age (like...9) it gets to be a huge commitment. There are only a few weekends out of three and a half months where you won't be on the road at least partially.

Not having any family immediately by, and being a good big sister, I was along for most of these trips. (I got perfect attendance a lot before this- then I just started laughing at the concept of a full week of school.)

My brother and I are about three and a half years apart in age, the only thing we really had in common was a mutual love of our parents and cousins.

Until traveling hockey.

He was now old enough to share my love of Pokemon and DragonBall Z; we would sometimes swap games for our Gameboy.

Then we got the most amazing thing ever- A PS2.

No, it doesn't sound good anymore what with modern gaming consoles- BUT IT WAS GLORIOUS THEN! Because it not only played DBZ Budokai or Backyard Baseball (which I was pretty terrible at), but it played DVDs.

My parents got a little converter that plugged into the cigarette lighter and could generate enough power from that to power a little television we had placed between the driver and front passenger's seats AND the PS2.

(As a side-story, I sort of resent that television- it ended up eating my Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring VHS.)

It was amazing. Five hour drive to frickin' Virginia, MN? NO PROBLEM!!! We would just plug in some headphones and watch a movie or try and destroy each other with some Super Saiyan skillz.

Of course we also tried to do our homework >_> (Mostly we slept...that's probably why neither of us graduated with honors.)

Sometimes I wonder what kids did before this kind of technology existed...I imagine some of them ended up throwing their siblings out of the car door (obviously child safety locks didn't exist).