They moved to the Edge, away from the bright lights and danger. Building walls of concrete to keep out Evil and keep in Good. They raised their children on streets lined with front porches and green lawns. A fortress from the world, from the harsh sun that bears down on those left outside the sidewalks and driveways. Lemonade stands and ice cream trucks deal out their wears, leaving their customers comfortably numb. Locked doors and closed blinds, keeping the shouts and emotions from breaking out into the streets. The padding on the walls, accented with the perfect trim and specifically picked to match the imported apolstry, absorbs any sound from within.
What is to be done when these walls no longer can hold in those they were built to protect? No longer pacified by playdates and Friday night movies. The lemonade leaves a bitter sting in the back of your throat, the football games no longer filling that void. Left blinded by the whiteness of the walls, groping for something to hold on to. No wonder the children, no longer comfortable feeling the stillness those places create, no longer accepting the image of the American Dream so passively eaten by them, yearn to feel. Crashing into each other, into themselves they greedily swallow any pill of emotion or experience, beyond the perfectness of their childhood. Suburbia has fallen, those left, unaware the experiment has collapsed, lumber on into a paralyzing white light. Those who have fled, stumble arms stretched out, unaccustomed to the dim light that was once to bright for their fathers.
I remember writing this in 2008, I was a little drunk and 20. I'm not as bitter as I once was, does that mean I can't write the same as I did?
I got my last rejection letter the other day. No more school for me...for now. And I can't be happier.
If you didn't know, I'm about to graduate next month with a Master of Science in Sociology. I specialized in quantitative research in gender and sexuality, with an emphasis on STDs and HIV. My thesis is on behavioral outcomes and identity conflicts within racial and gender groups. Health research on heterosexual populations isn't always what it appears to be.
While I'm disappointed to be out of school, mostly I'm relieved. I know that sounds like I'm trying to be positive about the whole thing but it's the truth. No more running from work to class or putting in a ten hour day to go home and work on a paper. "Wait, I get to read this book for fun and don't have to cite it in my thesis?" I've been running nonstop for the last few years. It took me about the same amount of time to get two degrees that it is now taking the average student to get one. Plus I have two degrees more than over half the population. Go me!
Hopefully I'll be starting a new career. I'm averaging four to five resumes a week right now, holding all other variables constant (statistical humor). The goal is to have a full time, Monday thru Friday, this time next year. So... shameless plug, anyone hiring in market research or Analytics?
To sum it up. No PhD right now, stop asking. I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, but that's ok. Seriously happy to be done with school and can't wait to start a career. More time to read, write, and paint.
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4/20/12
Been awhile since my last post, I know. I just finished a section of my thesis so I don't feel like I'm cheating on school when I write something not for academia.
I was working on my literature review at Starbucks, going through old articles and books, summing up past arguments and such. I'm specializing in sexuality and gender so my thesis is about sexual behavior across races. Nobody knows what I'm doing there, sipping my wonderful crack in a cup latte. I'm a student that is doing his homework...and getting the third weird look from a mom since I sat down.
Then it hits me. I'm not doing homework, apparently I'm a 20 something year old guy reading bad romance smut he got off of a check out aisle shelf at the Sack-and-Save. And in the middle of Starbucks? The nerve. Let's look at some of the books I'm using. Forbidden Fruit: Teenage Sexuality and Religion, Black Sexual Politics, and (the best title) Sex at Dawn. The covers of all three books are innocent on their own but paired with the titles and in a pile with other books and articles along the same lines...you get the idea.
Classic case of not judging a book by its cover. I can see it. I'm chasing some poor mom out of the shop as she panics to ushers her small children into the family minivan, rear window plastered with soccer team and school spirit stickers. Arms stretched out in front of me, holding the pages open in desperation, "No, no. This isn't a bad erotic romance novel. It's full of charts and graphs. Look! An extremely boring nonlinear regression model! (Well that's a bad example, that equation is kind of sexy.) But the charts are boring!" I press the pages against her window as she fumbles for her keys. The children, in their car seats, crying behind her. They have nightmares about sampling bias and non significant findings for years to come. (sounds a lot like graduate school actually)
After the third look of judgment I received I decided to put a few books away. In hind sight it really is a shame people have such reactions to my area of study. The research is actually rather interesting and informative. Forbidden Fruit might be of particular interest to those concerned parents. You'd be surprised what kind of affect all those Bible classes and Sunday church brunches are having on your child's sexual biography.
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2/11/12
I got called out the other day in a health class for being what the kid called "too skinny". I want to believe that he didn't mean any harm by that statement. I'm sure he didn't choose his words very carefully, he never does. But the statement kind of follows along the same line a lot of people say. "Have another piece of cake, you can stand it," "Why are you worried about what you eat" "You can skip the run, it's not going to hurt you."
As anyone in my family can tell you, I'm not naturally small. Wasn't always a normal weight. Simply put, "fat kid likes cookies." I work at it everyday. I think about what I eat (sometimes knowingly make the wrong choice), skip the sweets for the most part, and try to get in a couple of work outs every week. Nothing huge, but when people assume it comes without thinking, they ignore traits I'm most proud of, self control and discipline.
The comment he made also brings up another point. "Too skinny?" yeah people can be too skinny but medically I'm where I should be for my height and age. With a growin number of Americans gaining weight and talks about raising the healthy weight benchmark, have we started to "normalize" an unhealthy lifestyle? Diversity? All for it. Healthy self image? You go girl! You are who you are? Damn straight. But ignoring a health condition for the sake of feelings or basing health on what is average? Iffy at best.
I'm gay. (shocker right?) And although it's not politically correct to say, that's not normal. Under 7% of the population? Yup not the norm. And a fact that I've had to tell a few parents is that te gay population has to deal with certain health risks most people outside the population don't think that much about. It's a fact, and to ignore that fact in order to make some people feel better is wrong and irresponsible.
Yeah I know not exactly the same things, gay an overweight. But the point is certain characteristics come with specific issues and health concerns. To ignore these issues or differences, in order to make everyone feel equal or the same is idiotic. The same people that shout Diversity shush you when you mention the differences that diversity brings.
So while doctors may have a set number for overweight or ill health, people base their judgments on what they see. Fill a room with blue skinned people and the "normal" pigment is going to start to look awfully close to cyan #3. Just a parting thought, when's the last time we treated or discouraged an average condition or something that's normal in a population?
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11/1/11
Mickey Weems, a columnist, had an interesting thing to say a few weeks ago. He was listing wins and fails of the last year in LGBT issues. It's Pride month if you didn't know. His last fail? "It Get Better". I had to read it twice. Yup. Fail.
I've been saying the whole project/movement is misguided, for awhile now. I don't agree with the idea that it is a total fail but agree with his argument. When kids are dying, something needs to be done. "It Gets Better" is a temporary bandage but not a solution. As Weems puts it, when the house is on fire you don't tell the kids inside that it will get better, just sit and wait.
"Your Child is a Killer" seems more effective to me. The problem isn't the queer kids. The problem is the students, parents, facility, and society that allows bullying to continue and treats a portion of the population as less than the rest. Queer youths are killing themselves because they feel helpless and ashamed. Those feelings do not come from within the kids, they are products of being targeted and isolated. These suicides are the bullies' fault. They are the parents' fault. They are the result of a community that tries to fix the effects of a problem but not the cause.
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6/8/11
I made a website for a client not too long ago. It was real simple and nothing special. They just wanted a few pages on the site. Easy right? It was until I told the client the site was ready and live. "Go check it out and see if you want anything changed." I get a text a few minutes later. "No website?!?" I pull up the website, yup it's there. Call the client:
Me: "It's up. I'm looking at it"
Client: "My computer says it can't find it"
Me: "Let me pull it up on my phone. Yup still comes up. Is your Internet on?"
C: "Yes! Do you know what you're doing?" (Yes. Do you?)
M: "I have the site up on my desktop, phone, and laptop now. Can you get to google.com?"
They get pretty mad at this time
C: "YES! I type it into my homepage and it says it can't find it!"
M: "Wait, where are you typing the address? Does it say Bing or Google next to the field?"
C: "What's a field?"
M: "The little white bar you type into."
C: "Yeah that's where I type everything."
M: "No, go higher up"
C: "Where it says msn?...oh there it is. How is anyone supposed to know that!? Nobody is going to know that!!"
M: "Umm that's where you type the address..."
C: "That's stupid. I don't like that. Nobody knows that. Fix that."
M: "Learn to use the Internet" <click>
Yeah I hung up on them. Wonderful customer service I know. I spent probably ten minutes on the phone with them trying to trouble shoot. Not thinking they didn't know how to use their own computer or the Internet. The site isn't even 30 minutes old and they want it at the top of every search engine? Technology will only speed up. When all the old people who don't know how to use the tools we have now, die off and the rest of us won't have to slow down to explain everything so much and we will be more productive for it.
Here's the street address. How am I supposed to find that house? First find the street, then the houses go in numerical order. That's stupid, who knows that?! (Same idea)
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6/2/11
I know it's been a long tine since I last posted. I just got done with my first year of graduate school an have been real busy with papers. All done for the summer though. Wrote three of my best papers this semester. All were done early I'll add.
First one was on feminist theory and rape statistics. A lot of feminist theory proponents theorize that as equality increases, rape rates will increase as well. Think of rape as a product of devaluing women. A backlash feminist perspective predicts the opposite. Rape is a tool to suppress women. So as women gain social status, some men will react to this advancement with sexual violence. This second, backlash theory is supported by the data but isn't as popular amount researchers and pop culture science. It's a hard sell, convincing people that reducing inequality within a society will "cost" women in the short run.
Also did a paper on education and gender inequality. Most of my class mates know that I'm a hard core social constructionist. Boys an girls aren't different at birth, they are made that way. Education is a big part of that process. Education has also been credited for reducing gender inequality and racial prejudice. Again, a popular idea that makes sense, but has no scientific backing. If you look at people's attitudes towards segregation an gender stereotypes, you'll see a change in what people say as they gain education. The more education a person receives the less likely they will support general inequalities. What you would expect right? A better question to ask though is how much support they give to specific policies that would reduce inequality. These policies would change the current power balance, reducing the dominance some groups have (educated white males) and empowering other groups. Education has no affect on these opinions. So in other words, education just makes us better at hiding our prejudices and appearing supportive of change without actually costing us power through actual change.
One study looked at racial segregation of neighborhoods. While those whites with higher education showed very low levels of support for segregation, when compared to their less educated white cohorts, they drew the line at any actual change in power. The less educated and college graduates showed no difference in their lack of support for living in a neighborhood that was 50/50 between Blacks and whites. So while education taught them to be supportive of equality, they were well aware of their social position and did not change their desire to maintain the majority position in their neighborhood.
I'm not saying whites are intentionally racist or even unintentionally racist. Hell, I'm white and educated. I'm just pointing out that whites hold a position of power still and have interest in maintaining that privilege. This is true for anyone in a privileged place. They want to keep that spot. It's foolish to think any group would be willing to concede power. Individuals will definitely be able to act against their self interest, and for a greater good, but on a group level a collection of people can't be expected to exhibit the same level of altruistic behavior. Education just enables the group to conceal their position and maintain it better.
I go into a lot more on both papers, than I did above, but I just typed this all on my iPhone and so I cut a bunch out. I welcome any comments or questions. I think this stuff is so fun, but I'm a dork with Sociology. Excuse any typos by the way. Each paper was roughly 25 pages. And all three were A's. Woot woot. I promise to crank out more posts this summer.
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5/19/11
It is so fucking cold!!! I know people up north are thinking "you don't know what cold is," but I live in Texas and this is cold. Someone dropped an ice cube in the parking lot at my apartment, it has been there for over five hours now. I don't do cold. I do hot triple digit temperatures, pass out when you open the door, sweat your ass off walking to the car weather. The last two days though I think I finally figured out how to dress for the cold. It only took 22 years of practice. Three layers under a coat, with a scarf and hat, two pairs of pants on. Probably in the upper 20's here but I'm dressed for the arctic apocalypse. Being able to bend your legs is so over rated.
2/3/11
I've been proposed to three times, four if you count the drunk friend on Congress Ave. For the record, I'm 22 years old. I guess when you can't get legally married, a proposal seems like the thing to do... The first time however was probably the most traumatic for me. Great way to describe a proposal huh? Traumatic.
I was trying to go to sleep, totally exhausted. Was almost gone when my boyfriend at the time asked if I was awake. Always seemed like a stupid question to me. "Are you awake?" "No, I talk in my sleep." He kind of hesitates; "Can I ask you a question?" Without even thinking, I responded in my typical sarcastic way, "As long as you don't ask me to marry you, yeah what is it?" There's a pause. (Oh Fuck) Then he tells me not to look in the nightstand drawer, where he hid the ring. I calmly get up, walk to the bathroom, lock the door, and proceed to have what I only can describe as a slight panic attack on the tile floor. WTF! Who proposes after six months? The relationship quickly went downhill after that. It's kind of hard to keep up a relationship when you know the other person is constantly tinkering with a ring in their pocket.
I think about that night every time I hear about one of my old classmates getting hitched a few month after they change their relationship status to "in a relationship". Can we all just slow down a little, take some time, deal with these things with some levelheadedness? I have a few friends who did it the right way. Dated, got to know each other, didn't treat marriage as a trap to ensure someone never leaves you. Marriage is all fine and dandy, but really shouldn't be the "I'm bored, let's get married" alternative to dating.
I was trying to go to sleep, totally exhausted. Was almost gone when my boyfriend at the time asked if I was awake. Always seemed like a stupid question to me. "Are you awake?" "No, I talk in my sleep." He kind of hesitates; "Can I ask you a question?" Without even thinking, I responded in my typical sarcastic way, "As long as you don't ask me to marry you, yeah what is it?" There's a pause. (Oh Fuck) Then he tells me not to look in the nightstand drawer, where he hid the ring. I calmly get up, walk to the bathroom, lock the door, and proceed to have what I only can describe as a slight panic attack on the tile floor. WTF! Who proposes after six months? The relationship quickly went downhill after that. It's kind of hard to keep up a relationship when you know the other person is constantly tinkering with a ring in their pocket.
I think about that night every time I hear about one of my old classmates getting hitched a few month after they change their relationship status to "in a relationship". Can we all just slow down a little, take some time, deal with these things with some levelheadedness? I have a few friends who did it the right way. Dated, got to know each other, didn't treat marriage as a trap to ensure someone never leaves you. Marriage is all fine and dandy, but really shouldn't be the "I'm bored, let's get married" alternative to dating.
12/25/10
I've ran out of wall space for my paintings. I either need to start selling some of them or repaint the older ones. I don't see the purpose behind painting something that nobody is going to see or enjoy. A lot of people ask for paintings from me, but I don't think they realize the time, effort, or money that goes into each one. Especially if I'm going to give the painting to someone, I don't want to just whip one out. If the canvas is going to be hanging in someone's home or space I want it to be good work that means something to me. I have a canvas sitting on my coffee table that I doodled on with paint, but nowhere to put it up. Something must go.
12/16/10
Most of my friends know that I don't really care for children. They are loud, messy, and for the most part not very useful to anyone. I know, "not my children, not every child, blah blah". The other day at work thought I found myself standing up for the temporary little people, not to be confused with the permanently little people that get handicap parking spaces and their own shows on the Discovery channel. One of my coworkers was talking about her child and how they keep getting into the Christmas ornaments, how the little girl has broken a lot of the glass ones on the bottom of the tree (a bad place to put glass ornaments if you ask me) and one of the supervisors made the remark that his puppy does the same thing, "He's still a puppy so he gets into a lot of stuff he shouldn't too." This struck me as an odd connection, but after thinking about it, a connection that seems to appear often.
Maybe it is an attempt to make a connection to parents. Single people don't have kids most of the time, but rather they fill that space with pets. They personify their pets and treat them as their children. I'm really not that bothered by this; if I could have a dog I would in a heartbeat and would probably treat him as my child. The problem is when they start comparing their animal to other people's children. Your cat will not grow up to drive, go to college, and generally be a productive member of society. You do not need to worry that your dog will fall into the wrong crowd. No your pet goldfish with his friendly personality and dashing good looks isn't falling behind in class or going through "a stage". I know they may feel like your child, but really they aren't exactly on the same level.
If I had a kid and someone compared them to their Great Dane I think I would nicely smile at them and nod my head as I thought "What the F#$#% are you talking about. At no time did my partner and I worry that our child had hookworms or flick them on their nose for begging at the table." I'm trying real hard to give pet owners some leeway here. But really I think people just put up with them out of consideration and a need to appear nicer than their thoughts really are. Do we really want children to be compared to animals, more than they already are?
Maybe it is an attempt to make a connection to parents. Single people don't have kids most of the time, but rather they fill that space with pets. They personify their pets and treat them as their children. I'm really not that bothered by this; if I could have a dog I would in a heartbeat and would probably treat him as my child. The problem is when they start comparing their animal to other people's children. Your cat will not grow up to drive, go to college, and generally be a productive member of society. You do not need to worry that your dog will fall into the wrong crowd. No your pet goldfish with his friendly personality and dashing good looks isn't falling behind in class or going through "a stage". I know they may feel like your child, but really they aren't exactly on the same level.
If I had a kid and someone compared them to their Great Dane I think I would nicely smile at them and nod my head as I thought "What the F#$#% are you talking about. At no time did my partner and I worry that our child had hookworms or flick them on their nose for begging at the table." I'm trying real hard to give pet owners some leeway here. But really I think people just put up with them out of consideration and a need to appear nicer than their thoughts really are. Do we really want children to be compared to animals, more than they already are?
I have a problem with gays and lesbian couples who refer to their partner as their wife or husband. You aren't. Sorry. If you went to some state or country an made it all legal, that's a different story. But if you just decided that you two have been together long enough to take that title, your wrong. You can't even get a common law marriage. I'll put up with "partner", "life partner", and even "spouse.". Marriage requires legal documentation and recognition from some type of government. And no, marriage of the heart doesn't count either.
When you use the term husband, your ignoring the fact that you can't actually get married. Your saying it doesn't matter what the government says, you aren't going to bother with that pesky step. Maybe your thinking, your being some kind of activist or pointing out how your partnership is just as valid as a marriage. It's not. You don't get the same rights, responsibilities, and respect. Don't get me wrong, I wish we could get married, but by ignoring the fact you aren't your ignoring the importance of fighting for that right.
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12/2/10
I work retail, if you don't know that already. We are currently asking for donations from our customers for a wonderful charity. I have a few suggestions however. First off, if someone asks you to donate your change of 10 cents and you say, "No thanks, I've already given", you just come out looking like a liar. I know you didn't donate. People who give to charity aren't going to think 10 cents more is going to break them. I especially love the, "oh I volunteer." Again you just look foolish. I missed the part where it was one or the other. "I just spent all day down at the homeless shelter feeding the hungry, I can't possibly spare a dime." I understand that people are tight for cash and that everyone seems to be asking for donations this time of year. I'm not so bothered by the people that just say no. I assume you hate children and don't care about them. Don't insult me though by making up some reason. I don't need an excuse, I'm judging you either way. I'm truly sorry I make you feel guilty by asking for a few cents. Your lack of charitable giving is completely my fault. It's alright, you and your healthy children have a nice day shopping for your $500 bags and over priced sunglasses. No, no I understand your watching your spending this holiday season. Isn't everyone? Little Timmy's mom even had to pick up a third job so she could afford his Christmas Chemotherapy. I hear Santa might bring him a Burberry hat so his head doesn't get cold.
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11/23/10
Just got home from Austin. Awesome weekend. Started off Friday with Asleep at the Wheel and Blues Traveler. Then saw Black Keys and Spoon. Never really was a big fan of the keys but got to say nice show. Spoon was awesome of course. The Strokes were last that night. Dude had to be drunk or something. Went on about nothing between songs.
Got to the park way early Saturday. Walked around a little stopped by Austin Ventures and caught some of Balmorhea. Not my scene but good music. Saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Had no clue who she was but will make a point to check her out. I guess I saw Lucero after her but don't remember at all. Maybe that says something about their show? Broken Bells were great. Not a real active performance but their music makes you drift off. Left them and caught the last half of XX. Never saw someone wale on a cymbal so hard. Managed to get front and center for Deadmau5. Damn! Best show of the year. Hour long set of awesome. Huge Rubix cube on stage, talking mouse head, deadmau5 ghost, glitches in computers, awesome crowd of people to party with. I left right after, I was so tired. Skipped MIA and Muse. Really didn't care enough.
Today, Sunday, was a more chill day. Nobody on the top of my list left to see. Started off with White Rabbit. They were great. Never heard them before but their lead played with Spoon during their set. New fan here. Listened to Foals from the back of the crowd. Then back front with Devendra Banhart. I could take him or leave him. Yeasayer was a great surprise. Nice dance music I've managed to miss. Then Flaming Lips. They aren't my style of music but have a reputation for putting on a great show. Was three people from the front. Held up the space ball :-) and saw a once in a lifetime...event..? It was something. Talking huge naked ladies, cannons with confetti, dancing fans in orange, and a huge gong. Saw a tiny bit of Cage the Elephant but they were terrible on stage. So I left. Again skipped the headliner, like last year. No interest in Eagles. :-/
So I'm home now. Burnt. My clothes smell like weed despite the fact I never touch the stuff. Plan on getting tickets next year, even if I have to go solo again. It's worth it. Besides, managed to see every show I wanted and get within a couple of yards of each one.
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10/10/10
A couple of my friends really liked my last sociology post so I decided to do another real quick one. Most people don't really think about gender and sex very much in their day to day lives, but the two concepts might be some of the most important traits you carry in life. Everything you do, say, and think tends to be colored by your concept of self and the gender you have. In sociology however the two words have very different meanings and implications.
Sex is largely a biological characteristic. When you think sex, think xx or xy. For all intents and purposes you can think of this as dichotomous grouping of male and female, although a reasonable argument can be made against this bipolar treatment of sex.
Gender is the socially constructed groups or spectrum of man and woman, feminine and masculine. They have no meaning outside of social constructs and science has trouble finding biological backing for these groups. In sociology it is often refereed to as "doing gender". What you wear, how you walk, the manner in which you speak, and your thinking all have a part in constructing your gender.
Some of the most frustrating conversations I've had with people revolve around these two ideas. A large portion of my studies and research have to do with gender as a social construct. People ask me what I do, I start of explaining the "safe" topic of sociology, then they ask more questions and I say the three words that always are returned with a weird half interested half perplexed look; gender and sexuality. The idea of gender is one so familiar to everyone that they vary rarely take time to think about it. And they certainly don't think of it as a by product of society. Most people have a hard time letting go of the concept that men and women are genetically different (beyond very real physical differences) and they often get rather agitated when faced with the alternative view. They have been taught since birth, "your a boy, you act this way" and "girls play with dolls, boys play with action figures." Women aren't better at art, they aren't more caring, and they aren't more cautious than men because of some gene they have. Men don't excel in engineering and math, aren't naturally daring, and don't posses some innate rejection of the color pink. (I highlight with a pink highlighter for exactly that reason, boys aren't supposed to use pink highlighters :-p) All these things are part of a gender role. The gender gap in earnings, education, and power have nothing to do with your chromosomes.
In Houston I was waiting on one of my friends in a nail salon. I was sitting in the waiting area (I have a thing about people I don't know touching my feet) and a extended African American family walked in. Two kids, their parents, and an aunt and uncle all came in to get their nails done. The two kids, a boy and girl, were probably six or seven. Everyone was going to get a mani/pedi, a family event. The little boy was having none of it however. "I don't want to be here. It's for girls." The mom and dad explained to him that boys and girls can get their nails done. "See Uncle Steven is doing it too." I couldn't help but smile. These parents were with the times. They were trying their best to counter the education their son was receiving from the rest of the world. I wanted to tell them "Damn right it's for boys and girls! You go with your awesome parenting skills!"
Sex is largely a biological characteristic. When you think sex, think xx or xy. For all intents and purposes you can think of this as dichotomous grouping of male and female, although a reasonable argument can be made against this bipolar treatment of sex.
Gender is the socially constructed groups or spectrum of man and woman, feminine and masculine. They have no meaning outside of social constructs and science has trouble finding biological backing for these groups. In sociology it is often refereed to as "doing gender". What you wear, how you walk, the manner in which you speak, and your thinking all have a part in constructing your gender.
Some of the most frustrating conversations I've had with people revolve around these two ideas. A large portion of my studies and research have to do with gender as a social construct. People ask me what I do, I start of explaining the "safe" topic of sociology, then they ask more questions and I say the three words that always are returned with a weird half interested half perplexed look; gender and sexuality. The idea of gender is one so familiar to everyone that they vary rarely take time to think about it. And they certainly don't think of it as a by product of society. Most people have a hard time letting go of the concept that men and women are genetically different (beyond very real physical differences) and they often get rather agitated when faced with the alternative view. They have been taught since birth, "your a boy, you act this way" and "girls play with dolls, boys play with action figures." Women aren't better at art, they aren't more caring, and they aren't more cautious than men because of some gene they have. Men don't excel in engineering and math, aren't naturally daring, and don't posses some innate rejection of the color pink. (I highlight with a pink highlighter for exactly that reason, boys aren't supposed to use pink highlighters :-p) All these things are part of a gender role. The gender gap in earnings, education, and power have nothing to do with your chromosomes.
In Houston I was waiting on one of my friends in a nail salon. I was sitting in the waiting area (I have a thing about people I don't know touching my feet) and a extended African American family walked in. Two kids, their parents, and an aunt and uncle all came in to get their nails done. The two kids, a boy and girl, were probably six or seven. Everyone was going to get a mani/pedi, a family event. The little boy was having none of it however. "I don't want to be here. It's for girls." The mom and dad explained to him that boys and girls can get their nails done. "See Uncle Steven is doing it too." I couldn't help but smile. These parents were with the times. They were trying their best to counter the education their son was receiving from the rest of the world. I wanted to tell them "Damn right it's for boys and girls! You go with your awesome parenting skills!"
8/29/10
Tought I'd pass this little tid bit along. I was trying to post something in one of my class forums and had to look up if it was "suppose to" or "supposed to". If your like me you sound things out in your head when you type but it didn't really look right when I wrote "suppose to". You can suppose things are true but your not supposed to "suppose to do anything". Although when your speaking the 'd' is silent. Sooooo "suppose" -yes "suppose to" -no "supposed to" -yes (unless your speaking)
I moved into my new place a few weeks ago. It's tinny, like ten steps to the other side tiny. I'm getting ready to move to a big city where rent is expensive and I only can afford 500 square feet. One room. Notice I said one room, not one bedroom. I love it. Problem is finding a sofa small enough to fit in the tiny studio apartment without having to crawl over it to get from the door to the kitchen. I found a few options, but none are real comfy. Then today midway through the second movie I was watching, ironically enough about design, I realized something. I'd been sitting on the floor for the last three hours rather comfortably. Actually I spend a whole lot of time sitting on the floor. My friends back home used to make fun of me for the exact same reason. This isn't to say that I'm not going to buy a sofa. I need one to make my place look a little more finished. However, the floor isn't the softest place to sit and I'm quite at home sitting on it. Maybe I'd be better off with a firm, classy, sofa that fits my place, opposed to a big fluffy sofa.
8/21/10
I start graduate school in a few weeks. YAY!! Finally get to learn useful things that actually matter and not crap that I need to know for some standardized test. Yesterday I went to the bookstore to buy my books for the semester. I'm taking three classes, nine hours. Not a whole lot but I'll be done in under two years if everything goes all right.
After a short search for all my books and waiting a half hour to get rung up I left the store with books in hand. Over $400 worth of books. DAMN. I'm not a medical student, none of them were textbooks. It was absurd. Over a foot and a half of books. Not really a yard but a bunch of books I think. You know those people with floor to ceiling bookshelves? Yeah I'm a little closer to that status today.
After a short search for all my books and waiting a half hour to get rung up I left the store with books in hand. Over $400 worth of books. DAMN. I'm not a medical student, none of them were textbooks. It was absurd. Over a foot and a half of books. Not really a yard but a bunch of books I think. You know those people with floor to ceiling bookshelves? Yeah I'm a little closer to that status today.
8/3/10
I was at a friends house the other day in Houston. His roommate had
recently lost his job and everyone was kin of bummed, talkin about it.
I was a little hesitant but asked what happened. Cometo find out he
missed work one day, skipped a on-call shift, and a few other things.
"Wait, you didn't go to work a few times and now your surprised you
don't have a job. AND everyone feels sorry for you?" What's wrong with
this picture. I've never just not showed up for work. Never skipped a
shift I was assigned. I don't understand how people do that sort of
thing. "Hmm I don't feel like going into work today, I'll just sleep."
To top it off everyone else was shocked, and offering the "that really
sucks man" comfort. No it doesn't suck. That's exactly how the world
does and should work. What sucks is when you lose your job for no
reason or for something that is totally out of your control. Not for
being a sucky worker and employee.
recently lost his job and everyone was kin of bummed, talkin about it.
I was a little hesitant but asked what happened. Cometo find out he
missed work one day, skipped a on-call shift, and a few other things.
"Wait, you didn't go to work a few times and now your surprised you
don't have a job. AND everyone feels sorry for you?" What's wrong with
this picture. I've never just not showed up for work. Never skipped a
shift I was assigned. I don't understand how people do that sort of
thing. "Hmm I don't feel like going into work today, I'll just sleep."
To top it off everyone else was shocked, and offering the "that really
sucks man" comfort. No it doesn't suck. That's exactly how the world
does and should work. What sucks is when you lose your job for no
reason or for something that is totally out of your control. Not for
being a sucky worker and employee.
Sent from my iPhone
7/12/10
I have a MySpace profile. I know, that is so 1999. I don't really use it that much. More there just in case someone's like, "hey check out my MySpace profile!" It opens in a tab on my homepage settings, so a few times a day I can glance and see what's new with Red or a few of my friends who are behind the Facebook curve. (Quick note, my spell check doesn't know what MySpace or Facebook is.) Lately however I've been having to do much more work on MySpace than before. People keep trying to add me as their friends and I don't even know them. "$$%-Dave-%$$ wants to be your friend" "JANEO234 just added you!" Who are these people? My favorite is when some profile adds me and sends a message. "Hey sexy, remember me? Add me as your friend?" Hmmm no I don't remember you and I'm pretty sure your a girl with entirely too large breasts...SPAM (Nother side note, when did a meat substitute in a can become bogus Internet messages that try to sell you something?) I know I'm rather popular, everyone who's anyone wants to be my B.F.F., but the **SAM**'s of the world really need to lay off.
7/7/10
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