The Double-Edged Sword

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the Vice-Presidential debate this week. I think it was a little over-hyped, for one thing. How many more red-neck homilies could Sarah Palin squeeze in? I was mostly disappointed by Joe Biden because he didn't do his job. Why didn't he do his job?

Well, the GOP base has brought up the issue of gender: Questions are being asked that would never be asked of a man; issues are being brought up that would never be brought up with a man; if Joe Biden goes into attack mode--which is primarily what the VP candidate does--he will be attacking Palin as a woman. Huh? You've got to be kidding me?

Here's the thing: Sarah Palin wants to paint herself as a feminist. Now, I don't have a problem with feminism in general, but there does seem to be a certain hypocrisy that goes along with it, just like every other POV platform that people may choose to stand on. (ie, hearing people say, "I'm a vegetarian because I think it's cruel to kill animals," while they're standing on their platform with nice leather Nikes wearing a leather belt to hold up their pants.) The feminist platform demands equal treatment, but they only want the good side of the equal treatment such as equal pay, equal position, equal opportunity, etc. When it comes to the bad side of equal treatment, they play the damsel in distress being attacked as a woman. Men attack. That's what they do. It's in their genetics. It's in that Y chromosome. They hunt, they attack, they kill. Whether they're doing it with their fists, weapons, or words, that's what men do. Offensively or defensively, that's what they do.

So, if Joe Biden had done his job as the VP candidate, if he had done his job the way that he would have done for any other male VP candidate, he would have been condemned immediately for attacking Sarah Palin, the woman. So, here's the "feminist" getting special treatment, not equal.

Now, we'll wander a little in this vein.......

Over the time of centuries, the role of man has changed. The role of woman has essentially stayed the same, but with a few added options. We no longer need them to hunt and kill for us; we can just go to the grocery store. We no longer need them to provide a home for us; we can just buy or rent one ourselves. We no longer need them to defend our honor or virtue; we take our honor and virtue into our own hands and those that have anything to say about it be damned. We continue to be the care-givers and nurturers, but are also providers, protectors, and defenders of the faith. Men get to pursue their more aggressive aspects in sports, weekend warrior play, sharpening their verbal skills into weapons of mass destruction. Hell, we barely need them to provide babies anymore! None of us stand on equal ground. To stand on equal ground we would be working together and we're still for the most part pushing against each other. We've forgotten to need each other.

That's not to say that there aren't pockets of equality, but I'm talking about an overall picture, a whole world view, if you will. There have been societies throughout the centuries, that have been able to achieve the kind of equality I speak of, but we have destroyed them (ie, the Algonquian Indian nations, the Celtic race). We live contradictory lives.

We're feminists, almost-feminists, strong independent females and yet our blood races and our hearts flutter while reading historical fiction novels over the hero that's always grimed with sweat, blood and dirt and waving a broadsword around. We swoon over these characters in the movies that take place 200 or more years ago. The best ones are the heroes that are grimed with sweat and blood, but come home from the battle and speak from the heart with the words of a poet. Sigh. We still want the bad boy. We're confused.

I've rambled far from the debate. I'm dissatisfied. An essential piece of the intricate puzzle that is our lives is missing. We all speak with forked tongues; our words say one things and our deeds do another. Hypocrisy rules. I wish we could just strip down to the basics, look at the common things that we all need, and work together to achieve those goals and leave all the other junk behind.
There are too many cooks in the kitchen.

So good luck deciphering where I'm going in this odd little ramble. I think I may have gone too long without letting some thoughts out of my head. The ragweed may have me slightly befuddled right now. This is, after all, the world according to a Gemini and we are by definition kind of all over the place:)

Guy-friends

Okay...so I just finished watching When Harry Met Sally...
for the millionth time, and it got me thinking. Are they right? Can women and men never be friends?

Can you think of any men that you're just friends with? Or guys, girls that you're just friends with? Gay friends, for obvious reasons, don't count.

I had a lot of guy-friends in high school and college. I had more guy friends than girlfriends. I started thinking, "Did they all want to have sex with me?" Yes, I knew a few of them did want to have sex with me, and yes...I did have sex with one of them, but that involved a lot of Jamaican rum and we remained friends - for a while. That's a different story.

I don't have any guy-friends now. I have acquaintances, but not friends. Not a guy that I could call in the middle of the night if I needed a guy shoulder to cry on. So it made me start wondering: have I moved past the point where my age and attractiveness - or lack thereof - have made it not worth the time for a guy to bother being friends with me? Do men only want to be friends with someone they're ultimately attracted to? Or do they want to be friends with you, but are afraid to be friends because of the underlying "sex" thing?

So...do ya'll (we are in TX) have friends that are the opposite sex, that are not gay, that are just friends?

If it's any indication.......

Okay...I've kept my mouth shut long enough. I know it's taboo to start talking politics, but....

OMG!

So, McCain is supposed to be a "maverick". He supposedly does his own thing, not kowtowing to anyone. So his first "presidential" decision is in choosing his running mate. He wants Joe Lieberman. That's his choice. The right-wing GOP "handlers", however, said, "No...you can't have him. Take this woman instead." And what did he do?

He kowtowed!!!!!!!

These are the same "handlers" that have run the country for the past eight years. So, what do you think it would mean to elect John McCain?

Well, if his first "presidential" decision is at all any indication, I guess it would mean more of the same.

I don't know about you, but I agree with Barack Obama: Eight is enough!!!

Tagged

So, Anne tagged me with some top ten list. I don't really understand how this whole "tag" thing works...I usually ignore them. When I was growing up, tag was a physical activity. But, in the interest of trying to keep up with society and technology, I'll give this one a whirl--I hope I can put the "tags" in.

1. List your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. If you're tagged, you've got to post & tag 3-5 other people.
3. Give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. Give a hat tip (HT) to Dan.

My favorite movies:
1) The Holiday (Dream vacation we'd all love to take--well, us single girls anyway)
2)Platoon (Gives me a better understanding of what my dad went through in 'Nam, since he doesn't talk about it much)
3) Lord of the Rings trilogy (Got 12 hours to spare?)
4) The Last of the Mohicans (Oh, to find a man that could love me that passionately--and what spectacular views!)
5) It's A Wonderful Life (A Christmas-time must! I absolutely adore Jimmy Stewart)
6) The Breakfast Club (Hey! I went to school with those people!)
7) Quills (You just have to see it)
8) The Usual Suspects (I love Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey is awesome, and what an ending!)
9) Bull Durham (All hale the church of baseball!)
10) Dances With Wolves (What a beautiful story...until you get to the white people)
Honorable Mention: Dogma (Everything that turns me off of organized religion is brought up in this movie. Ben Affleck's diatribe in the parking garage is quite possibly the best monologue ever written!)

Tag! You're it: Alissa
Because I don't know what your favorite movies are
Leah Because we need to share more!
Jennifer Because you need some mindless task after three weeks in Europe!

Love, always, back to Anne

HT to Dan!! Who the hell is Dan? (I don't think this Dan is your husband, Alissa.)

Okay...next?

It's Joey's Fault

Okay, so after reading Joey's glowing review of being fitted for a bra at Nordstrom's, I decided that I,too, must do this. Bras have not been feeling good lately...not that they ever really have. I felt that it would be a really nice thing to do for myself for my birthday. (I celebrate my birthday all week, since it usually occurs around a holiday weekend.) Today, I finally went to Nordstrom's. I try to avoid the mall as much as possible, but I had a free Aveda gift for my birthday to pick up anyway and I wanted to get my eyebrows threaded--more on that later.

But, I digress...we're talking about bras. Turns out, I've been wearing the right size bra all along. I've worn nothing but Victoria's Secret for at least 10 years. I've been very unsatisfied with their bras lately. I tried on several at Nordstrom's and fell in love with another brand. Talk about comfort! (Wacoal) Anyway, after picking out a few bras and matching panties (you have to have at least one matching panty for every bra--there are occasions where it matters!), I ended up spending over $350. I also ended up with a new Platinum Visa card. Definitely Joey's fault.

Off I went to Aveda to get my free gift. Picked up a couple of other things as well. Spent over $80. Yep...Joey's fault, because, like I said, I usually don't go to the mall at all.

I found the eyebrow threading place. I highly recommend this--Joey; then you can blame me for outrageous mall expenditures. She uses a device that's a combination string/rubber band. She just rolls it over your brow and pulls them out. It did occasionally feel like I was being thwacked by a rubber band on the brow, but I love the shape of my brows now. I never could pluck them this well and I hate what waxing does to my skin.

So, all told today, I did end up spending over $400. I feel so pretty though!

And it's all Joey's fault.

Why We Hate Filthy Rich People

I usually ignore a lot of celebrity gossip, but something caught my eye today that just epitomizes the separation between those that have and those that have not:

It was a story about 2 celebrities, that--frankly--I've never heard of. Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt. I have no idea who these people are, but it's quite obvious that they have too much money for their own good. It seems they had dinner somewhere with a bill that totaled $783. $720 of that bill was shots of tequila at $60/shot. SERIOUSLY???? Even the best tequila isn't worth $60/shot. I bet if you had set a half-way decent $10 shot of tequila in front of them, they wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Their tequila of choice was Patron. It didn't say what kind of Patron, but I know that you and I can go to Spec's and buy the most expensive bottle of Patron for $483--$460 if I pay with cash. That's a 50-shot bottle. $60 a pop and I've got $3000. Maybe I should be selling this stuff on my balcony. You and I can get a really good bottle of Patron for $60 at Spec's--the Anejo is really good.

But, I digress. Their--no doubt, harried--server at this restaurant, received a whopping tip of...sixteen dollars. Yes--$16.
Now, as a former waitress, I must shout out my outrage at this affront. Even the worst server gets 10% from me, because I know what they're working for and what they're going through to get that pittance of a salary. And believe me, one has to be really bad to just get 10% from me. $16 is 2% of that bill. The bartender typically gets 5% of the bar tab. The server wasn't even tipped 5%!

So, this is why we hate filthy rich people. It's not that we're jealous of their fortunes. I know that all that money can't buy all the happiness and love in the world, and that's what is really important in life. We hate them because of the absolute wastefulness. Really? Even if you had $60, would you spend it on a shot of tequila? $720 and they could have bought almost 2 bottles of the most expensive stuff. Or maybe they could have given it to any of 12 dozen charity organizations. Or maybe they could sponsor a child in a starving country. Maybe they could FEED HAITI. You know--that place where people are making cookies out of mud just to survive!

What pees me off most about these people, is they have absolutely no clue what the actual value of a dollar is. And we just keep giving them more.

And A Good Time Was Had By All...

My daddy came to town last week. This is a big event, given that I have lived in Texas 19 years and he has been down all of 5 times!

He and my stepmother, Miriam, stayed at the Doubletree downtown. I know! How awful that I didn't let them stay here! Look, my dad is allergic to cats, so believe me, he was much better off. Plus, if he had stayed here, he wouldn't have been able to witness such spectacular storms! Nothing happened here in South Austin. The first night, he watched lightening hit the Capital (off their lightening rods). The second night, he couldn't see the Capital anymore, but he sure could see huge pieces of hail and every piece of downtown debris you can think of flying past his 10th story window. So nice for Austin to give him a show.

Wednesday night, we went to Ruth's Chris. OMG!!!!! Nobody is lying when they say it's the best steak you will ever eat in a restaurant. Talk about done to perfection! I like my steak medium-well, and it was that and it still melted in my mouth. Well worth the $$$$$$!

I also met a second cousin, who happens to live in town. His name is Jason. My dad and his mom were very close when they were younger; it was driving them crazy that their kids lived in the same city and didn't even know each other. He's about my age and works a lot in the local music business. Ironic, considering that I went to school for music business stuff. Anyway, we're acquainted now and we'll see where it goes from there.

Dad and I went to see the last Longhorn baseball game of the season together. My usual seat-mate had to go out of town for a wedding, so she gave me her ticket. We beat the Aggies handily! My dad can come to a game anytime! The Aggies have been playing much better than we have this season, but we still managed to sweep them. Aggies SUCK!!! (Except when they become Veterinarians). We had a good time at the game. It was fun going with him. He always took me to Cubs games. I bought him a Longhorn baseball hat, since I wouldn't let him wear his IU baseball hat to the game.

They had to leave early Saturday morning, but even though the visit was short it was well-spent. Hopefully, the next time they come down, I'll have a house with no carpet and they can stay with me. Me buying a house is something we've been talking about. They were going to help me buy property in Colorado, but now I think it would be more prudent to have them help me buy a house. It's time I became a grown up.

Maybe......