sunny blizzard

~E~ This sounds like a lot of fun. Basically, women get together, someone brings an hour and a half of dance music, and everyone just dances. The three rules are 'no boys, no booze and no judgement'. I want! And they make a seriously big deal of the “no judgment” part, making it clear that if you even look like you’re judging someone else, you’ll be out on your ass. Nice! ...There’s also a fourth rule they don’t mention on the website: No talking. Naturally, when I first heard this, I panicked. WHY DON’T YOU JUST ASK ME NOT TO BREATHE FOR 90 MINUTES? But once we got started, I realized how brilliant that rule is. If I’d been allowed to talk, I would have spent the first ten minutes giggling nervously... This would be so much fun! I loved to go out dancing and would love to do it again. It's a high, it really is.

~E~ Where was Mr. Rogers coming from at the beginning of the show? And where was he going when he left at the end? I always thought he was coming home for lunch, but I just read somewhere that the house isn't his, it is supposed to be a "TV" home where his TV kid friends can visit him. Hm. I think that's a bit too deep for your average 4 year old.

~E~ I saw a truck that had truck nuts on it today. Daughter was rather perturbed. I told her guys who have those are very insecure. I'm feeling strangely attractive and confident today. Odd, after that horrid hair cut. I've been getting a CSA box for about 12 weeks now. It's cool to support a local farm, and to try new veggies, but I don't think I'll do it next year. We don't get enough of any one thing to really use in recipes; and we get one or two of so many different things that it's hard to consume it all. I feel like too much gets wasted. I am going to take a mosaics class with the mom. That, or take a day trip somewhere fun. She has to let me know which she prefers. It will be my birthday gift to her - is it a good gift if she can't stand the sight of me? har har, just kidding. I have a couple of deeper posts brewing in my head. Promise.

~E~ Al and I went in for our five-times-a-year haircut this weekend. My stylist was off so I saw someone else. Not a good idea. As we were waiting for our cuts, I mentioned to Al that I saw several women leave with really shitty haircuts. I, however, still felt secure. C introduced herself and took me to her station; she was a really funky-looking person so I still felt secure. We discussed the cut. We agreed that she would cut 1 to 11/2 inches off the length. We agreed she would do some layering around my face, with the layers to start about jaw level. She washed my hair and started cutting. I still felt secure. I felt a little bit like she was rushing, but not enough to worry. I had to take my glasses off so couldn't see what she was doing, but still I felt secure. She cut, she trimmed, she blow dried, she styled. She was finally finished. I put on my glasses and looked at myself in the mirror. My first thought was, "are you serious?" I couldn't think of anything to

~E~ Here it be, mates! I still have to hem the bottom of the shirt but I'm thrilled with it. It even has a lining. (hint - click on the picture) Here's a previous costume:

~E~ Since elementary school, I have had countless nightmares involving driving on raised roads that suddenly end, or have no barriers on the side, or the car dies and I have to somehow climb the rest of the way because the roads are steep and scary. These were and are truly nightmares. I wake up shaking and scared. For ages I couldn't figure out why I was having these dreams. Then I went to Milwaukee. Mystery solved. Apparently my class went to Milwaukee for a field trip and these roads freaked me out so much that it has stuck with me. I still hate driving in Milwaukee.

~E~ When I got into the car this afternoon to head home (taking sick day. poor me) the radio was tuned to Air America. The Ed Schultz show was on, and I really don't care for him, but I listened for a bit anyway. He was talking about the J0hn Edw@rds 'scandal'. I should have changed the station. It's all women's fault, you know? He actually said that forty-something year old women KNOW how to prevent pregnancy, so it sure smells like entrapment to him!! Good lord. Doesn't he think that forty-something year old MEN know how to prevent pregnancy? Is he aware that contraceptives fail? Poor John, that woman took advantage of him. Male caller number one, after that comment: All Democratic politicians must beware of every woman that flirts with him (women, apparently, are not politicians), because these ebul wimmen could very well be on the Republican payroll and trying to trap the poor men in a political sex scandal. Male caller number two: The woman he had the affai

~E~ I just found this really amazing website about verbal abuse. Every woman should read it. I was reading along and thinking YES! Yes, that's exactly it! I would suggest taking the time to listen to the recording of the conversation the woman has with her (EX) boyfriend, and read along with the transcript, to see how abusive people work. This was almost triggering for me to listen to. How he belittles her feelings, refuses to listen to her points, changes the subject every time she makes sense, accuses her of the behavior HE is engaging in, making everything about himself and how he is the victim in this whole thing. Just wow. Here.

~E~ Daughter just finished up an Irish step dancing class, and now will be able to perform at a large festival in front of hundreds of cheering fans! She's quite excited, as am I, and I'm frustrated because we weren't allowed to watch class. It will all be a surprise to me! Daughter was aglow after the rehearsal today, and assured me it would be a fine performance. I can't wait!!

~E~ In Germany, someone took into account the fact that lots of women are police officers, and most of those women wear bras, and off-the-rack bras can be dangerous! ""The impact of a bullet can push the metal and plastic bits of the bra into an officer's body, causing serious injury," said Carmen Kibat, an adviser on equal opportunities for the Hamburg-based Bundespolizei - Germany's federal police force." I think this is pretty cool. Not only are women accepted in the force, but situations that affect only women working as police officers are noticed and acted upon. THAT is a huge step. It means women are being taken seriously in their jobs. Linkie

~E~ I love to read. He mocked me for reading, he thought it was stupid and a waste of time, I should be doing other worthwhile things like knitting. I don't knit. Strangely, if I just sat there for hours, motionless, staring at the TV he was fine with that. I wanted to start a vegetable garden because I think digging in the dirt is fun and relaxing. He mocked me for that and insisted that it was cheaper to just buy vegetables at the store. Miss the point much? His time was so valuable that you couldn't put a price on it. After becoming a mother, I almost never got alone time. I would ask him that day or a day ahead to stay home with OUR child so I could go to a movie, or just kick around town a little. He would refuse, and demand that I give him more notice. I would then ask a week ahead of time, he would agree, but as the day got closer he would get angrier and angrier and start a huge fight with me about his 'valuable' time and ultimately I would not get to go out wit

~E~ This is a fun little website. I made this! Lets see what you can do!

~E~ I was reading a news story recently about a man who killed his wife. The police gave a statement that said they don't believe this was a serial killer, so you're all fine. That's bullshit. Women ARE serially killed every single day by their male partners, boyfriends, stalkers, husbands. Just because they are all killed by different men makes it ok in the eyes of the law, they were killed by people they knew, so other women are 'safe'. Because they were killed by different men each killing is an isolated incident. But it's not isolated, men are killing women in huge numbers and I think that matters. I think that should be said out loud. I think that should be screamed on the news every single newscast. There should be a tally of how many cowardly men killed a woman every day, just like there is a tally of how many have died in the Iraq war. These killings are not isolated incidents. They are part of a huge pattern of men feeling they have the right to a woman