Barbie Dolls and Princesses

Before I go on my rant, I feel I have to preface it by saying that, for the most part, I was not a normal little girl. Mom went into motherhood imagining that I would, like all little girls, love playing with dolls and dressing up. She instead ended up with a little girl that pitched a fit if she had to wear a dress, and knew more about baseball by the age of four than most little boys do by the time they are old enough to play it. I had a room full of dolls, given to me for birthdays and Christmas that I never played with. When I overheard my mother telling a friend that she had given up on buying dolls for me because I ignored them, I thought I would give playing with dolls a go because I felt a little sorry for her. What did I do? I stripped them naked, hung them by the neck from the curtain rods, and taped signs to their butts that read, "Help me." I thought it was great fun. My mom, at this point, was not overly surprised, but never again did she complain.

Smoking Bans

The UK smoking ban went effect on July 1, 2007, and as a result, many pub owners have been forced to close down, sparking the beginning of the end of the traditional village local.

On Feminism...

If you go to this link, you will find a vintage photo of a young woman in a bathing suit on a playground swing. The caption will read: "Women: The most beautiful thing in the universe". If you go into the comment section, you will find a great debate between a group of radical feminists, and well...everyone else.  I realize that not everyone has time to read the 119 comments, so I will try to establish both positions as briefly as I can before I go on my little rant about how radical feminism has it all wrong. And yes, even I jumped into the fray. Guess who I am.

You're Doing It Wrong

It's been a while, I know. I have had some serious computer issues and was using a different computer, which is really no excuse for not posting, but it threw me off of my general life routine.

Anyway, during the days of slumming it on Facebook and watching banned commercials and weird Japanese game shows on YouTube, I did occasionally read the news, and I ran across an article more disturbing than anything on Japanese television. Unfortunately, I cannot find the article now, and I am not going to go on a great big hunt for it since it really isn't going to be necessary in order for me to say what I have to say.

Hollywood Magic Is Dead

A few years ago, while sitting in front of the television with a friend, this trailer for the then new, Kangaroo Jack, prompted me to turn to her and say, "That's it. Hollywood has officially run out of ideas." Little did I know then that I was well off the mark.

Generation: Socially Inept

“I think it is kids’ preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults — teachers and counselors — we try to encourage them not to do that,” said Christine Laycob, director of counseling at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis. “We try to talk to kids and work with them to get them to have big groups of friends and not be so possessive about friends.”

“Parents sometimes say Johnny needs that one special friend,” she continued. “We say he doesn’t need a best friend.”

Link

Same Sex Marriage

Congratulations to Portugal for joining the modern world and legalizing same sex marriage. In celebration of this milestone, I am recycling a blog post that I wrote nearly a year ago elsewhere on the subject.