Lucky Me

At the end of this three day weekend, please take a moment to remember those who don't get many days off. Here's Lucky Me, a true story put to music by Helene Cronin.

To my brothers and sisters-in-arms, now and forever.

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Wave of the flag to my Hot Mom.

Labor Day (Without the Labor)

I'm a tired human today, thanks to a busy, busy weekend. Saturday night the Smart Man and I went to see Government Mule at Red Rocks Amphitheater with the Incomparable Anne™. It was a fabulous show in a great venue, but a late night. Of course I woke up early on Sunday (thanks, brain).

We threw a going away party for my Smart Boy on Sunday, who is shipping out for U.S. Navy boot camp in about a week, so yesterday was a hectic (if fun) day. And last night - insomnia returns!

In any event, today is liable to involve nothing more complex than navel-gazing and knitting. So here's Government Mule for your entertainment.

2010 Flower Pr0n

My Misogyny - Let Me Show You It*

I was listening to the Bob and Elvis show last week, and Bob was complaining that his doofus neighbor let his wife mow the lawn. Bob thought this was an especially egregious example of not-manliness, and while listening, I had to agree.

But it did make me think about my own gender-based stereotypes.

I consider myself a feminist. I have definite opinions about equal pay for equal work, the ability of women to be considered on a level playing field with men, and the inclusion of women in public life. But there are some things about which I am decidedly backwards:

• The mowing of lawns. If a man and a woman live in the same house, and there's a lawn to be mowed, the man should get his hairy butt out there and mow the damn lawn. The couple that owns the home behind us doesn't adhere to this truism - the woman mows the lawn. It makes me assume the man is a big putz. Disclaimer: This assumes, of course, that he's physically able to do so.
• Dying of hair. If you don't like the color of your hair and you're a woman, feel free to join the 80% of American women whose hair color is not their own. If you're a man - learn to live with it. Seriously. 
• Wearing of wigs/toupees. If you're a woman and you lose your hair for some reason, please enjoy the really remarkably realistic wigs available for your use if that's what makes you happy. If you're a man - again, learn to live with it, you big sissy. Shaving your head is so much more attractive than even the highest quality toupee. Trust me on this one.
• Personal grooming. If I was a single kind of gal instead of happily ensconced in my contented rut with the Smart Man, I would never consider a man who spent more time on his personal grooming than I did. I'm not talking about health maintenance such as exercise and such. I mean personal grooming. If you take longer to fix your hair than I do, you're a write-off. 

Do I realize that this makes me a big ole hypocrite? Sure do. Do I realize that this is unfair, because everyone should be entitled to do whatever they need to do in order to feel good themselves? Yep. Am I going to change my mind? Probably not. Because I'm backwards. 

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*I'm not really a misogynist. But that sounds so much better than "The Awareness of my Gender-Based Stereotypes - Let Me Show You It."

Boogie Blogging Friday - Bad Dog Edition

Boogie's in trouble today, as you can tell from his shamed posture.

You see, the neighbor dog Chester, whom you met when he was just a pup, is now an adult dog, and he's full of piss and vinegar. Boogie doesn't have much use for him, growling "get off my lawn!" whenever they meet on neutral territory. But the real issue is the privacy fence we share with our neighbors on the South side of our property.

You see, whenever they're both out in our respective yards, they meet at the fence and neither one will admit that the fence might be neutral territory. Therefore, the only reasonable thing to do is to bark your fool head off while simultaneously jumping on the fence to show that uppity youngster/grouchy old man who's really in charge around here.

Needless to say, this isn't doing much for the integrity of the fence, or the nerves of anyone within earshot. So there's a lot of "BAD DOG! NO!" going on around here lately.

Not-So-Legendary

I have to say - it drives me crazy when people say this person or that accomplishment is LEGENDARY.

Legendary. Really? Some overpaid high school graduate runs around a basketball court throwing a ball into a little hoop and he's legendary?

I don't think so.

Jonas Salk was legendary. Stephen Hawking is legendary. William Shakespeare was legendary. LeBron James? Not-so-legendary.

Which is not to say that sports figures can't achieve that status. But in my mind, their athletic prowess on its own isn't enough to grant them such accolades.

In order for someone to be considered legendary, I think they have to accomplish one of two things: Either fundamentally change the way we look at the world, or fundamentally change the way we live in the world. So while there is no question that Mr. James is an extremely gifted athlete who works his butt off to achieve a truly impressive skill set, he's not legendary. Jackie Robinson - he was legendary. Muhammad Ali - again, legendary. In my opinion, Mr. James just doesn't make the cut.


Who do you admire that fundamentally changed the way we look at the world, or fundamentally changed the way we live in the world?

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History - Volume XXIX

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

It seems like Justice Ginsburg often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to recognition for her achievements in American law. After all, she wasn't the first female Supreme Court Justice. But based on a recent article in Slate by Dahlia Lithwick, I have to say that she's done an incredible amount for gender equality in the country. From the article:

She scored five victories in six Supreme Court appeals, using the 14^th Amendment to slowly and systematically eradicate gender discrimination in one law after another, pushing the courts to scrutinize laws that classify on the basis of gender with a standard higher than the deferential "rational basis" standard.

Indeed she did. And unlike the Palinistas referenced in Lithwick's article, I think it's dreadfully important to recognize the women who have made my life and my work possible. Thanks to the past and current work of this incredible woman, institutional discrimination against my gender has been slowly and surely brought to the light of day and seen for what it is - wrong.

For such a proper and elegant woman, Justice Bader Ginsburg is delightfully and thankfully ill-behaved.

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Flutter of the robe to UCF heartthrob Eric of Standing on the Shoulders of Giant Midgets, who brought the Slate article to my attention.