Marginal Notes

Listen bitch, I said I'm a feminist.

This cartoon pretty much sums up my thoughts on the guys who dismissed the feminist blogosphere, adding insult to injury with their defense of the botched job of selecting candidates for the 'best feminist blog' category of the Canadian Blog Awards.

My thanks and votes go out to all the great feminist bloggers in Canada who have strengthened the presence of feminism in the blogosphere. You have enriched my perspectives and have been a great source of support as I've muddled my way through the blogging world over the past few years.

All Work and No Play Makes Polly a Dull Girl

Oh mon dieu, my life is dull.

 I'm busy these days with my research. When I'm not doing that, I try to engage in activism and try to write for popular publications.

Besides that, I sit at home watching old movies and So You Think You Can Dance.

Most of my friends are married. Many have kids.

I try to date, but I usually find mama boys or freaks who have yet to recover from their ex-wives.

I mean seriously - a girl deserves a break.

So, anyway, I have nothing interesting to write 'cause I have become dull.

Until I recover, here is some list to fill up some blog space:

My life in 200 Questions:

200. My middle name is: Yvonne.    

199. I was born in: Calgary, Alberta.

198. I am really: DULL!

197. My phone is: turned off.

196. My eye color is: hazel.

194. My ring size is: Hmm...I used to know this, but I forget.

193. My height is: 5 feet, 6 inches.

192. I am allergic to: all of the natural word. This includes dogs, cats, horses, hamsters, trees, grass...You get the picture. For the record, to all the people who think they know how to "cure" allergies, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

191. I was born in: a manger...Ok, I was born in Foothills Hospital in Calgary.

190. I am annoyed by: people who are highly self-deceptive.

189. Last book you read: I'm reading 'Another World is Possible' by McNally.

188. My bed is: empty.

187: One thing you hate about yourself: I am highly anxious at times. On a related note, I need to stop biting my nails; it's gross.

178. The Perfect Kiss is: only the beginning.

177. The last CD I bought was: I think it was The Shins...I mostly download singles now.

175. Are you living at home? I live in a home.

174. Do you have any siblings? I have two older brothers and two older sisters.

173. What did you do yesterday? I transcribed a research interview, went on a walk, searched for articles, had a nap...My life is boring.

:::I Do/Do Not Believe In:::

142. Love at first sight? No.

141. Luck? Yes.

140. Fate? Huh?

139. Yourself? Yes!

138. Aliens? Yes. E.T. go home.

137. Heaven? Not really.

136. Hell? Only Hallmark Hell.

135. Ghosts? Maybe.

136. Horoscopes? Well, the basics for Gemini reflect my personality well, but that's where it ends for me...

133. Soulmates? Nope.

:::Which is Better?::

128. Drunk or High? Both...but, if I must choose, I would like to be drunk.

127. On phone or online? Online!

126. Red heads or Black heads? Black hair.

125. Blondes or Brunettes? Brunettes.

124. Hot or cold? Neither. I don't like temperature extremes.

123. Summer or winter? Summer.

121. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate.

120. Night or Day? Night...although I am beginning to like the day now.

119. Oranges or Apples? Hands down - oranges.

118. Curly or Straight hair? Wavy?

:::Here's What I Think About:::

116. Abortion: Ugh. What do you think?

115. Backstabbers: I am super annoyed by people who don't have the guts to take you on to your face.

114. Parents: They are the best and the worst.

:::Last time I:::

100. Hugged someone? It's been a while...

101. Saw someone: I had a great visit with my dad earlier today.

100. Cried in front of someone: I teared up in front of my dad today.

:::MISC:::

90. Who is the ditziest person you know: My friend 'L' who is ditzy, but also very smart.

89. Who makes you laugh? My family...when my family plays games like Pictionary or Charades, I laugh to the point that it hurts.

88. Last show you watched? Hmm. I can't remember, but I'll be watching So You Think You Can Dance this Wednesday!

87. What you don't understand is? One thing I cannot understand is why people are so threatened by activism.

80. The most unsatisfying answer I've ever received is: likely from the lips of a man about some relationship issue.

76. Something I will really miss when I leave home is? I think it is really sad that I am doing a survey that was clearly designed for teenagers.

75. The thing I'm looking forward to the most is? Having my maybe-kid look at me after years of sacrifice and hearing her or him say, "I hate you. I wish you weren't my mother!"

73. Tomorrow: is the day before my blood infusion - "prep" day.

72. Today: was OK.

71. Next Summer: I will hopefully be finishing up my thesis.

70. This Weekend: I want to get drunk.

67. People call me: crazy, but they call me.

62. The person(s) who knows the most about me is/are: my parents.

60. The most difficult thing to do is: accept.

59. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket: in some time.

55. The first person I talked to today was: myself. "Get up," I said.

54. First time you had a crush: I was 5 years old. I was visiting my grandmother in Scotland. His name was Keith. When I returned at nine, he bough me pig earrings.

53. The one person who I can't hide things from: I don't cope well with hiding much although I can guard others' secrets with no trouble.

52. Last time someone said something you were thinking: I dunno.

51. Right now I am talking to: an imaginary reader.

50. What is your dream job? I would love to be a writer, an activist...I would love to be a hip hop dancer.

49. First job? I was a busgirl at Calaway Park.

47. I have these pets: I call them "my nephews."

46. I wish: for so, so much, but I would like no health problems for the rest of my life.

45. The worst sound in the world is: lying.

44. The person that makes me cry the most is: me.

43. Best sound in the world? Laughter!

42. Who makes you happy? My family, my friends, people with great ideas...

38. Cats or dogs? Neither. I'm allergic and I would choose a Guinea Pig if I could have a pet.

36. Which Golden Girl would you be? I guess Blanche because she got laid in her 60s more than I do now.

35. Myspace or Facebook: Facebook...C'mon.

34. Mexican food or Chinese? Chinese for sure.

33. My favorite piece of clothing? I have jeans that I like.

32. My favorite color(s) is/are: I don't have one.

31. Last time I cried: Today.

30. My friends are: mostly from childhood and I am super lucky to have seen them evolve into very different people, while retaining the qualities that make them incredible women.

29. My computer is: a Dell. I'm not a computer chick.

27. Last person I got mad at? The last lame guy that I was dating.

26. Person you secretly crush? I don't really have one...As I said, I am too much work and not enough play!

25. Favorite food place? Planet Organic.

24. Favorite song: 'Miss World by Hole' or 'Polly' by Nirvana...I could really go on here...

23. Paper or plastic? Are we talking shopping bags?

22. The all-time best show is: Six Feet Under.

21. The all-time best feeling in the world is: love.

20. Favorite scent? Green tea...at least I have a lotion that is green tea lotion and I like that scent.

19. What color is your hairbrush: Brown - it's wooden.

18. Favorite shoes: I have several that I like. I like a pair of brown boots.

17. I lose all respect for people who: lie to themselves.

15. Color of your room? All my walls are washed out taupe and I want to paint them.

14. TV channels you watch? CBC, Global, Showcase, Bravo.

13. Best Feature(s) in the opposite/same sex: their necks and shoulders and arms...if only I could find one with a spine.

12. My best feature: I have nice legs.

11. The worst pain I was ever in was? When I was eighteen, I suffered terrible emotional pain.

10. Best Memory? swimming in the ocean, following a sea turtle.

9. Favorite TV show? For the love of God, So You Think You Can Dance!

8. My favorite celebrity: John Cusack.

7. Favorite Stuffed Animal: Huh?

6. Greatest Fear: Abandonment.

5. My weakness is: I have many.

4. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? I wanted sex.

3. Who broke your heart? Usually, I break my own heart because I fall out of love.

2. One thing that makes you feel great is: writing a good essay.

1. One person that you wish you could see right now? John Cusack would do nicely.

Links:

I've seen this survey a number of places. I copied the questions from this blogger so I wouldn't have to fool around with html coding. Some of the questions are missing. This may be the original survey. Who knows?!

Best Raging Militarized Feminist Personal Blog

Please note that nominations are now open for the following:

'Best Raging Militarized Feminist Personal Blog'

AND

'Bitch-Ass Blogosphere Citizen of the Year'

Nominations will be open until Friday at noon (insert cowboy high noon music here). Please note, that I have already chosen myself as winner for 'Bitch-Ass Blogosphere Citizen of the Year', but you can try...

Also, please note that since I'm running the show, I will delete nominations as I wish.

For more gong-show fun, visit The Canadian Blog Awards run by Sasktoy and his flying monkeys...

Monkey Business and Other Minutia

So, the news around here is that I have had a few weeks of decent health. The irony is that this means less blogging, because I am busy catching up on serious writing for school and I am actually able to partake in leisure activities outside of the house!!!

I have been dating a bit...though somewhat unsuccessfully. Why is it that all the lefty guys are sort of assholes, while the neo-con, big business guys are thoughtful and chivalrous? Will I be endlessly forced to choose between someone who is kind to the world and someone who is kind to me?

Fortunately, I have been able to spend time with the xy-reliables: my nephews. Last Thursday, I took them to see the seven-thirty showing of the new Harry Potter. It was sold out and, of course, I gave into the two sets of brown eyes staring up at me and agreed to buy tickets to the ten-o-clock show as a special summer treat. Anyway, it was like being in deep freeze in the damn over air conditioned theatre. I also hate Harry Potter...

...a funny nephew story as an aside: the younger one has been emailing someone in Cameroon about the purchase of a monkey. (We know this because his mother snoops through his email and, apparently, so should she!)

What else? More energy, means more time for fighting. I took my stress out on my mother the other day and was a real witch to her. We made up several days later, but only after she told me that I am 'unlikable' and make her wish that she wasn't a mother!!!

Well, that's about it. I'll be posting the usual social issue stuff again sometime I imagine. I just feel that there are so many blogs posting about this stuff anyway. Sometimes the whole thing feels pointless...y'know? It just seems like there is limited discussion...

As, I have mentioned before, I am wondering about a group blog...

I should have stuck with brain surgery...

I've been tagged by Engaged Spectator with the 'Random 8' meme':

The Rules:

• Each player must post these rules first.
• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged.

My eight random fact/habits:

1. My first brain surgery was at age three; my patient was my dolly 'Rose'. I was disappointed to see there was no brain beneath her plastic head. (If you look at the photo of me and Rose, you'll see the incision on her creepy, alien-like head.)
2. I used to be a math major. I used to be an English major. I used to be a psychology major.
3. I used to be a pothead.
4. When I was 18, I wrote the LSATs.
5. I am deathly allergic to much of the natural world including fur-bearing animals, grass and trees.
6. Despite seven years of ballet training, I am a sucky dancer. I still wish that I was a great dancer.
7. Lately, I say 'taco' in my head a lot to relieve anxiety. It is strange because I don't even eat tacos.
8. I am a British citizen as well as a Canadian citizen.
9. I bite my nails, but I'm trying to quit.
10. I used to be what they call 'a cutter' and I did quit.

My eight people:  lept, dd, thwap, red jenny, psychols, devin, kersplebedeb, and mandos.

I think, therefore...

...i blog?

Thanks to the fantastic Red Jenny for the Thinking Blogger Award.

The rules of the meme are:

• If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
• Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
• Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

I've noticed that many of the blogs that are my main staples for brain candy have already been tagged, so I'm going with some blogs that I am just getting to know (which may or may not have been tagged before...i have no idea):

Paulitics is great for its highly critical view of capitalism, which is dangerously absent among today's thinkers. Read his recent post  'All That Glitters is Not Golden' in which he challenges a Canada that prays at the altar of profit and consumerism.

Home Grown Socialist  is a blog I discovered a couple of months ago, written by a member of the NDP youth. On Harper refusing to meet with Bono at the G8, HGS writes, "Truth be told, it requires a little more than buying red i-pods and shopping till we drop (we being the global bourgeoisie) in order to "solve" the problems of starvation, aids, etc. in Africa. Maybe it is a little too "radical" to suggest that liberal-esque guilt is not going to save the world this time." This is kick ass thinking and I like it.

The Cylinder is a great blog that really makes me think and forces me to educate myself on the history and contemporary context of world issues. Sometimes, reading this blog feels like I have to think too much and that's a good thing.

Having Read The Fine Print is a blog that I discovered when I was pulled in by its author's comments on a thread at Feministe. 'Blackamazon' is scathingly critical of feminism for overlooking women of colour. She writes in a strong voice and cuts through bullshit quickly.

All About Pamusement is blog that gets me thinking about my intuition. She dares to speak in her own voice, wading through the complexities of the everyday. On top of that, she's damn funny. On Christmas, 'Pamusement' writes, "yup, xmas is an annual asshole who comes around like clockwork to press insistently at your door, ready to ooze through any crack in your doorway or armor to fill your cocoon with gingerbread and bing crosby and self-loathing. every year, she and her rat bastard entourage do their best to violently replace your soul with pap."

So, there you have it: a range of critical thinkers who will tell it like it is on a wide range of topics, from liberal-esque guilt to assholish X-mas.

Triple X

I was so hoping this blog would be X-rated, but it didn't quite make the grade.

Apparently, this rating was based on the presence of the following words:

• sex (18x)
• whore (8x)
• pain (2x)
• abortion (1x)

Via Red Jenny who received a whopping 'R' rating for the presence of the words 'bomb', 'murder', and 'crap'!