In Honor of Jane Austen

Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817, and in honor of that, Tony, who often comments on this blog, posted photos of things connected to her, like her home, the Jane Austen Center in Bath and the places that showed up in her writing. What a nice tribute. Some of the photos, like those of the coast, are absolutely stunning.

Expat Aid Workers

I came across this blog today called Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like.  The title is probably a joke on Stuff White People Like and talks about various humanitarian programs.
I've gotten skeptical about charities in the last six months or so.  I've been reading things about them that bothers me and have made some observations about others that I find appalling.  I was saddened, but not surprised, to read this tongue in cheek piece about how aid workers have to live away from the people who probably need the most help.       
I find this entire thing so depressing.  It makes me feel like even if I am compelled to do that right thing, by giving my time or money to an organization, it's being wasted. 

Yay for Medieval Facts and Fun

Okay, so the good news is that I am not the only one in blogworld who had an unannounced hiatus from their blog.  So did Got Medieval, which I love for obvious reasons. 
There recent bit of reader mail seemed really cool.  In the first bit, the lovely medievalist talked about Origen, the church father who cut off his special bits.  Ick.  "if you see a dude holding his own castrated scrotum in his hands in a medieval manuscript, ninety-nine times out of a hundred the dude is Origen."  Haha.
And then the second bit about mermaids and the Catholic Church and coffee.  Well.  That's just a little too good. 
Best part about this?  I learned some great new bits of history. 
Oh, and the sense of humor.  I love the wonderful tidbits followed by a joke. 

Beowulf, Retold by Odd Future

So this medieval blog I occasionally check out posted a link to a retelling of Beowulf, and because I'm a masochist, I looked at it anyway. 
It's actually not as bad as I feared it would be.  Mostly, it's just as crazy and ridiculous as actual Beowulf, but with some humor thrown in.  Honestly, it reads like Odd Future wrote it, except with less rape.  (And I'm honestly not complaining.  All the rape in Odd Future really turns me off.) 
So enjoy.  If you can.  I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go near the thing. 

Sequels

Was reading a pop culture blog today and came across this post that discussed sequels.  I love that the post described sequels as each being uniquely idiotic.  I find that really funny, because that's how I think of so many people I went to high school as.  They were idiots, but each in fairly different ways from each other, though I guess if I thought of it, I could put them into categories of stupidity. 
Back to the issue at hand: Mostly, it said, sequels are bad, and there's even a graph that proves it.  (We're so mathy about things.  So many people organize their lives in terms of graphs.)  I really take umbrage with putting The Silence of the Lambs as only slightly better than the original.  I love that movie; it could easily stand on its own as a well-played thriller. 

My Parents Were Awesome

I'm not sure if I could really submit anything to this, but there's this new tumblr blog called My Parents Were Awesome.  Basically, it features pictures of cool parents back before they became parents.  I'm loving some of the fashion statements being made.     

Harry and Hermione

I must be having a Harry Potter week, because I ended up reading this little post on the relationship between Harry and Hermione. 
I should come out to you all now, officially, as a Harry/Hermione shipper.  And unlike most fans, it's actually because I hate Ron.  I think he's a jerk.  He's nasty to Hermione, he is selfish, and he's a coward.  I was really hoping he would die in the last book, though if he went out with a blaze of glory, I guess I would have been okay with that.  (I wish a lot more characters would have died in the books, just because it was meant to be a war, and it was meant to be sad and hurt, and basically no one of any consequence died.  I think half the Weasley family and most of the students should have died.  I really wanted Neville to go down in the most epic way possible, saving the school in a way Harry never did, because in a lot of ways he was more of a hero.) 

I also dislike Ginny because she had no character development.  She was one character, and then suddenly she was someone else.  Hermione did the same thing, but the other way around, become weaker and more hysterical in the later books.  This really irks me, because I feel like it's poor writing and misogynist.  Women get depicted enough in the world as weak/emotional/a pain in the ass.  We need more stories about strong women. 

Last Letter

Found this great little blog post discussing the publication of the a poem Ted Hughes wrote about his wife Sylvia Plath.  I'm a big Plath fan, and although Hughes is a good poet, I hate him as a person.  I think it's pretty telling that his companion after Plath died also committed suicide later on.  This sort of thing also reminds me why I'm so glad feminism exists, because it gave women permission to take care of themselves and not sacrifice always for their husbands at the expense of their minds and well-being.  Talented young women are far less likely to kill themselves now, and for that I am entirely grateful.  We need those talented women to create art, music, and books that forces us to see the suffering and strength of modern young women.

The Well-Read Wife

This morning I stumbled across a blog called The Well-Read Wife.  It basically looks like a small book review blog. 
What got my attention (and, obviously, got me thinking) was that the site's title basically identifies the author in a traditional woman's role.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Of all the things to think of one's self as, being something of another's seems strange.  Haven't women spent enough time being someone else's and not their own? 
She is reading Cassandra Clare, and, back before she was a well-loved children's author, I read her too, so it is hard for me to hate on her.  And I do like the author's (the well-read wife's?) observation about the Millennium Wheel being so Victorian.  So I guess it isn't all bad.  

On the Jezebel Outrage

I've been really disappointed by the response people have had to the Jezebel article on the Daily Show's woman problem. 
I should probably start off by saying that I love the Daily Show.  I started watching it when I was about thirteen or fourteen, around 2002.  And I've regularly watched the show ever since, sometimes going years without missing an episode.  At the same time, I've only recently discovered Jezebel.  Even though I don't believe in everything the blog says, I like it.  I like that it's one of the few spaces on the Internet where women are unafraid to say something particular hurts women, and that the commentators are generally funny or interested in positive solutions to these problems.
First, I was really disappointed by the letter the Daily Show's women employees penned on the subject.  The letter did several things.  First, it dismissed Jezebel completely, which was unwise, since it defends the idea that the Daily Show is dismissive of women by being dismissive of a woman's article on a woman-centric blog mostly read by women.  Then it also discussed how there were lots of women who worked for the show, then went on to list them.  This would be fine if the article was about all the people on the show.  The article specifically focused on the writers and on-air talent, and, unfortunately, nothing Jezebel said appears to be a lie, since the numbers (or lack, in this case) are public knowledge.  The letter instead looks like a fearful, rash reaction, since it didn't correctly identify the point of the article.  In not correctly speaking to the problem that Jezebel pointed out, it looks like no one at the Daily Show actually read the article, just heard someone was unhappy and carried on from there. 
It would be easy, at this point, for the Daily Show to correct this problem, though the letter really hurts things.  They could offer to do the interviews which the Jezebel author specifically asked for before the article went to print.  Or, and this would be the smart move here, invite her to spend a week or so at the show's office.  Seriously.  She could blog about her time at the Daily Show office on the Jezebel blog, and then issue a final report after she's spent her time there and had time to consider it.  If it turns out that she still stands by what she said, then the Daily Show can say they wanted to get an outsider's point of view and that they're going to make some changes (which the Jezebel author already pointed to some easy ones.)  If she comes back and says things were fine, then presto! controversy over. 
Even if the Daily Show does handle this better in the future (which, given the sorry state of that letter, I'm afraid they won't), that won't cut down on the rest of the Internet obfuscating this whole thing.  Slate published an article on it that also misses the point and then decides to castrate the blog for asking questions.  The Slate article makes it about Olivia Munn, who is discussed in the Jezebel article because she is the first woman to be hired in seven years.  Seven years.  Jezebel complained that they hired Munn because she is pretty.  She is pretty, and there would be nothing wrong with this if writers on the show hadn't commented that they thought prettier woman did better because they were pretty or if Samantha Bee, the only regular woman correspondent over the recent years hadn't mentioned they were looking for older women, which Munn doesn't qualify as.  Slate took this part of the argument and made it sound in their article like it was the only thing the Jezebel article discussed, which it didn't.  Then it discussed how Jezebel was just trying to stir up controversy, again, dismissing a woman for asking questions about women's representation in media.  Jezebel should just rest its case at this point, because, once again, they're being willfully misunderstood and then dismissed for it.  And for an article that complains about Jezebel's ads, it doesn't mention how Slate has ads as well and in no way above this.  Nor does it mention how the author of the Slate piece left Gawker media, which owns Jezebel, though it does mention she formally was employed by them.
The reactions from some groups has really disappointed me.  There are positive, easy, non-reactionary responses to these issues.  The reactions so far have failed to reach that very high mark.    

Everything You Love is Bad for You

After the whole aluminum thing, I've been thinking a lot more about what I put into/on/near my body.  One of the things I found was a blog called Green Living Q and A, which covers some thoughts on green living, including discussion of the whole aluminum debate.  Some of the things I've learned so far:
- Juice is not that much better than sugar water.  I kind of suspected this was true.  Apparently consuming high levels of fructose increases the risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.  So, I guess I'm going to have to try drinking less of that.  Mostly, there days, I'm drinking pop (I know!  It's one of my few vices, and everyone gets a few, right?) and Arnold Palmer's, which my Dad is obsessed with. 
- PVC is unhealthy for you.  Now that I've read this, I remember it, but I'm wondering how the heck I could have forgotten that.  Now I feel bad for admiring so much PVC clothing over the years.  And it looks like leather is not necessarily a good option either.  Other fabrics I shouldn't apparently want include EcoSpun Fabric.  
- Christmas lights have chemicals, but there are kinds out there that have less chemicals.  The European Union (God bless them!) certify a type of Christmas lights as "RoHA compliant," which just means that they have less chemicals than other lights.  (How much is unclear to me.)
- Wall decals are made of vinyl.  Which is dangerous (see the PVC comment above.)  Great.  There goes my easy, Etsy-encouraged decorating idea.  Also, vinyl wallpaper and paint are dangerous, so I'm wondering what I am going to be able to use to decorate my walls.  I'm in trouble if I'm not allowed posters or framed art.  I was thinking of making a display on my ceiling of those Chinese paper lanterns, but not I'm afraid to even research what might be in them, especially given that China does not have such a great record when it comes to lead. 
- Heartworm Preventing Medications aren't that different from pesticides.  This I can blame on having a rabbit as a young girl as one of my few pets.  (My other pets?  Insects.  No kidding.)  I bet Jennifer, animal expert and fellow aluminum shunner, would have something to say about this, so I'm going to have to remember to ask her next chance I get. 
Also, I found some new research on aluminum through the blog, including this one detailing how it is related to Alzheimer's.  This pdf also talks about aluminum levels in various everyday stuff.  I find this one particularly scary, since it appears to be a lot of stuff.  It says that it's in pop cans, which I guess means I'm going to prefer bottled pop from now on.  They're also in clay cat litter, so I guess if I ever get that cat I was thinking of getting, I'm going to have to be careful of that.  There's also this study that details aluminum in tea.  One of the people over at Jane Austen Today once discussed herself as a tea snob, and I guess I am in some ways too, but this study is now putting me off of tea.   
One of the many things that comes up on this blog a lot is how people are chemically sensitive.  It seems like way more people are chemically sensitive than I would have guessed.  It also makes me wonder what causes it, because I can't really think of a time I've been overly sensitive to a chemical.   
I find this stuff exhausting.  Nothing is apparently safe.  I hated Walden, but reading this stuff makes me want to pack my bags and go live out in the wilderness. 

Wasting Time Better Through Blogging

I love discovering new blogs.  This morning, I happened upon one called Procrastinate Better, which is all about the best movies, online games, and other ways to "waste" your time.  If anything, it's a more effective way to waste your time, since then you won't be like me, wasting your time on stuff that wasn't as much fun. 

There's a great review up right now of Foyle's War, which I've seen bits and pieces of and is pretty solid.  The review is absolutely true, except they miss how entertaining the sidekick is.  There's some other delightful stuff already up, like on Stair Porn and hip hop, which I'm going to go use to waste my time on now.

Crashing

Often, in the mornings, I like to read some blogs and news-sites to get a feel for what’s going on in the world. I don’t necessarily read tons of serious stuff, but some of it is. Today, I was disheartened to hear about this story involving a young girl committing suicide after being bullied. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, but of course I can’t help reliving my own unhappy high school years and thinking about how cruel a few girls were.
Later on in the day, I was out for another one of my walks. In front of Hannah, I found four girls on the ground. They were all sitting on the ground, on the edge of the sidewalk, crouched down around each other. What were they looking at? I could only imagine the one time Virginia discovered a sick squirrel next to the psychology building and took it to the Vet Clinic to be looked at.
As I approached them, it became clear: one of them had fallen, or maybe had crashed her bike. The bike was discarded, and three girls were around the one girl with a bruised leg. They were asked her if she was alright, if she needed help, and then one kindly gave her bike back to the bruised girl.
I smiled. These little moments give me hope that we’re at least trying to be good.