Ladybusiness, Music

That Is Not What I Do

Shelly


Not a Pretty Girl by Ani Difranco

This song came up on the magical iPod during my drive home. Years ago, one of my student employees introduced me to Ani Difranco, and this song in particular was like a kick in the stomach. It was the first time I ever thought about femininity as something we perform. It’s something we’re taught to do, not something innate.

There’s a lot of feminist theory to unpack in the song–indeed, it could serve as a Feminism 101 primer–but that’s the part that jumped out and grabbed me this afternoon.

Ladybusiness, News & Politics

Dear Mitch Daniels

Shelly

Mitch Daniels
Mitch Daniels, grossly over-estimating the size of his shriveled little heart

Dear Mitch Daniels,

I’ve long suspected that you were even smaller on the inside than you are on the outside, and today you’ve proved it. Planned Parenthood is many women’s only access to health care. And now you’re doing your best to make sure they don’t have even that.

Every time I see a photo of your smug, self-righteous face, I get angry, because it reminds me that men are still in control of women’s bodies. You will never, EVER become pregnant, so you will never, EVER have to decide whether or not YOU should have an abortion. So what makes you think you are at all qualified to make that decision for one woman, much less hundreds of thousands of us? What makes you think it’s your place to ensure that women–many of whom voted for you, for some unfathomable reason–will not receive basic health care? Care that can and does save women’s lives? How many women’s death warrants did you sign today, with one sweep of your pen? What have women done to you, to deserve that? Nothing, of course, except to be born women.

You’re a malicious, misogynist, malignant cancer on the ass of humanity.

Photography

Wish

Shelly

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I love dandelions. I don’t know why people think they need to spray toxic crap all over their yards to get rid of them. They’re one of the first things that blooms in the spring. Not only are they a welcome burst of color, but they are an important early source of food for pollinating insects. We should be doing everything we can to support bees, and spraying pesticides on dandelions is the opposite of that.

Music, Pets, Photography

Gratuitous Catblogging

Shelly

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Henry Sitting on the Back of the Couch, Watching Me Watching TV

Accidental hiatus was accidental. There’s just not a whole lot going on here, unless you want to hear about my big, tedious CD ripping project (about 50 linear feet of shelving). I found lots of CDs I’d forgotten I had, some I never knew I had, and some I was happy to put in the Goodwill pile. I suspect that might be the definition of “too much music.” But now it’s done, and all my music is backed up. Hallelujah!

News & Politics

Guess What?

Shelly

It’s raining. AGAIN.

This was the wettest April on record for Bloomington. According to the local paper, it rained 18 out of 30 days last month, most of that in the last two weeks, which had only three rain free days. It’s wet, y’all.

Alsoplustoo, Miss Brown would like everyone to know that going outside to pee in the rain really, really, REALLY sucks, and that she deserves an extra special treat for doing so.

In entirely-unrelated-to-the-weather news, I’m a little nauseated by all the joyful joy that people are feeling at the news that Osama bin Laden was killed. The whole thing makes me feel skeevy. Yes he was a pretty awful human being, but killing people is always wrong. Executing someone without even the pretense of a trial is evil. When we give in to vengeance, we become no better than terrorists ourselves. When we dehumanize people by painting them as monsters, by turning them into something not human, then we give up all moral high ground. Even Osama bin Laden had a mother and father who loved him once.

What we did? It was not justice, and it was not something to be joyful about.

Music

Five + Five = Ten

Shelly


Five Years by David Bowie, 1972


Five Years by David Bowie with Arcade Fire, Fashion Rocks

This weekend is the 10th anniversary of me leaving Muncie. It seems like that should be commemorated in some way, and since I’ll take any excuse to listen to David Bowie, I think this will do. It does involve a little bit of math, though. (Ten years. Holy crap!)

Music

Candle Wax

Shelly

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I spent the afternoon going through old CDs, looking for stuff I wanted to transfer to my iPod. This one has green candle wax all over it. I don’t know why I never cleaned it off or put the CD in a new case, but I’m kind of glad I didn’t, because it reminded me of Nica.

Years ago, when she was living with us, she borrowed some of my CDs and spilled candle wax all over them. I was a little irritated about it at the time. She hadn’t asked permission to take them, and she returned them in less than stellar condition. It’s certainly not a big deal in the great scheme of things, though, and I’d completely forgotten about it until just now. I’ll be putting this one away with the wax still on the case, so that the next time I take it out I’ll think of her again.