Yes, I have a naked man on my fridge....

heh, that sounds like the title of a book of short stories... "I have a naked man on my fridge, and other stories"... Anyway, I really do have a naked man on my fridge, the David magnet. I also have the Venus, but Venus has her clothes, unlike David's, which went 'poof' in the move (not that I mind, mind you...this is the only naked man I have in my life, might as well be a pretty one!--not well endowed, but that is a modern thing...the Greeks actually thought large 'equipment' was coarse, and smaller was better... and yes, I have eclectic knowledge--my brain is a strange place to live).

Anyway, I'm so used to my naked man that when I had a party this last weekend, I forgot to take him off!! (It was a church party too, with lots of 'good Catholics' and a few children!) Ooops. Venus was fully dressed, but not David. I only woke up to this when I walked into the kitchen and found that someone had undressed Venus, and put a dress on David.... heh.

Its funny, the things you get so used to when you live alone.........

(And no, I wouldn't mind having a naked man in my bed sometime in the next couple of years...God, if you are listening!)

But it started me wondering, again, about the subtle sexism in this day and age...its ok for women to be undressed but men not? Still? Its indecent having pics of naked men around, but its more acceptable to have naked women than men... in film, in art, in pornography, even. Even on the Internet, you are more likely (unless you go to a gay site) to find more pictures of naked women. I used to subscribe to Playgirl, supposedly marketed to women. Even there, you had pictures of naked women. (And that magazine actually catered to a lot of gay men...I also started receiving a catalog marketed to gay men of sex toys...some were very very imaginative). Mapplethorpe got in trouble for his erotic photos of men, not necessarily of women.. in film you see naked breasts all the time, but naked penises? No, that would be indecent. *sigh*

I'm reading a book now, by Gina Barraca, that is discussing the younger woman/older man syndrome, but another syndrome that also exists, but is less accepted somehow, is the older woman/younger man. The older woman becomes a 'cougar' or 'Mrs Robinson'. Both of these are labels I hate! And what is wrong with an older woman and younger man? Younger men are cute, they have stamina, and they won't be tottering around while you want to dance the night away! But there are so many fewer older-women/younger-men couples out there....

I just think we still have a ways to go in this society... we need to have equality. So that single women can have pictures of naked men in their house without having to worry about taking them down!

Confidence is a funny thing....

Sometimes, the less you know about something, the more confident you can be in just jumping in. Its only now, after I've had some training, that, in some ways, I'm less self-assured. What brought this on? Well, hearingaids and loose molds. Because my molds are loose, I'm squeaky. Squeak, squeak, squeak.... but sometimes life marches up to you and says "You CAN do this".

I had a voice lesson yesterday. I haven't sung all summer. I have squeaky ears. One of my batteries died in the middle of the lesson. Guess what? I sung well. I was mostly on pitch, and I proved to myself that I could do it, even with one ear with a loose mold.

I need to remind myself that I have a decent voice now, that I can sing on pitch, I know how it feels to sing the right note (and a lot of singing is actually mental). I need to keep that confidence and not denigrate myself, and not be scared of screwing up. Because most of the time, I am singing well.

I need to remember that.

This summer, I joined a group of "mezzo-soprano" singers, the rest of whom are professional singers. One of the founders described the group as "talented people", and, sadly, my brain added "and me". I know I still have work to do on my voice, but I wish I could stop the negative self-talk, because I am worlds away from where I was. But it feels, at times, that the more I know about my voice, the more negative I can get.

The Presidency

*sigh*

I did not vote for George Bush (either one), or approve of their foreign policies. But they were the Presidents of the United States of America. They were elected, and served their terms. I respected the office while not necessarily respecting the choices. WHY can we not have that with our current President? Why can't he make a speech to children about staying in school? He is the POTUS. The Commander-in-chief.

Presidents have made speeches to the Nation in the past.

Both sides are becoming so derogatory of the other... I am just appalled. I did a search for Presidential addresses, and found such wildly divergent sides... when did we, as a country, become so negative about our elected leadership? Why is he accused of being like royalty? I can't actually read the things being posted by both sides because they are both so negative!

Can we not have a dialogue? Conversation? Listen to the speech with your child and explain if you disagree with anything our President has said.

I really just don't understand. And its not a comment on one side or the other. Both sides have grandstanded in the past. I didn't like that they brought out "W." right before Bush left office, I thought that was disrespectful.

Can we please, please find some common ground?

Staying in school is a good thing. Learning is a good thing. Respect is a good thing. Don't take your kids out of school because the leader of our country is going to address them. (But also remember, you have the freedom to do this. There are some countries where you would be arrested for such an action). If we have the freedom to do something does not mean that we should.

Can we not treat people the way we wish to be treated? Can we not treat our president with the respect that he deserves? He is the leader of our country, and if we don't treat him with respect, how can we expect other countries to do the same?

The problem with obesity in the US.

Ok. We have a huge problem in the US. HUGE. We have obesity. And we have it for a number of reasons. We sit on our asses with Facebook, Twitter, blogging away... playing computer games... but we also have it because we are a culture of cheap-asses too.

I was just at Target, home of cheap stuff. Now granted, some of Target's stuff is good quality... I have never seen so much bulk crap in my life. I went into the candy aisle because I wanted a small box of Reese's pieces. No such luck. Everything was bulk candy. Big bags of candy, big things of soda (and they no longer have the sugar-sweetened soda I like). Everything with high-fructose corn syrup. I was also looking for a drying rack (God Forbid! Drying clothes on a drying rack?) Flimsy, cheap. And everything was plastic. Went to the garden section, because I was looking for a couple of things, including trowels. Chemicals and more plastic.

Whatever happened to real stuff? to things that are built to last? To wooden drying racks, to trowels that don't break the minute they hit a stone? Its all image gardening. Its nothing that people actually use! People sit on their riding mowers to mow the lawn. They spray chemicals all over, eat chemicals, and its my opinion that the chemicals contribute to the ill-health of the nation.

Bleah. And whatever happened to shorts? I just want a nice pair of summer shorts.

Raw Milk, for and against...

Like so many things in my life, I find myself in the center on this one. (I just read Marler's blog on the subject). I've found that I am healthier on raw milk, raw milk cheeses, natural cheeses...

That being said, I only buy the raw milk at the farmers market, from the folks there, who have brought it straight from the farm. I know that Sat is the best day to get it, because they milk on Friday. I do NOT buy it from the grocery. I've tried, but it just does not stay cold enough, and sours more quickly.

I do think we need to have the option of having raw milk if we desire, but it has to be safe. We have to keep it safe. We know enough about milk, cleanliness, etc, to have it be safe. To have the dairies clean and tested.

I would never drink raw milk from a farm where they didn't have to adhere to standards. I grew up in Egypt, animals are not pristine, pure, naturally clean.... I would never drink raw milk in Egypt, that's when you cook the heck out of it! I would never go to a random farm, or one that was selling the raw milk secretly, and get raw milk.

I would certainly not buy Mexican raw milk cheeses! Eeek. (or Egyptian raw milk cheeses, for that matter!).

No I don't think raw milk is the shining star of health and beauty, but it should not be outlawed either. It should be made safe, legal. I think the current craze for raw milk is dangerous. I really do. Too many people don't treat it with respect, don't realise that if you leave it in the hot car, or you get it from a country that does not have good safety rules, good sanitation, then, guess what? Not such a healthy option. But if you do get it from a clean dairy, take it home, put it in the fridge right away, and drink it fast, its good.

(And a side note, it is interesting that when it sours, it behaves completely differently from the pasteurized/homogenized milk)

The strength of photography...

So, ten days ago, my cousin got married. And at the wedding they had photographers. Who took HIDEOUS pics of me. (I was, fortunately, in the background for most of them). But I was about ready to run off and get liposuction or try to go live with Gillian MacKeith for two months. I really felt that I was frumpy and fat and dust-bin ready. I've never been a huge fan of photos of myself, but fortunately, my wonderful sister got some really good pics of me, which did boost my mood, and my self-image.

Now this is just pics of myself, but it shows what an impact good photography (and bad) can have. And photography carries an impact for much more than just one person... if all people see are pictures of overly skinny women, or fat men with skinny women, then that carries overtones too. Because the skinny becomes the new norm, that becomes the hallmark of looking good, and it eventually becomes an impossible ideal. Whereas I honestly believe that if more media pics were just normal women, then we would not have such an obesity problem in this country. If more women could measure themselves against realistic images...


Photography carries a lot of impact in other ways as well... its a societal, historical record, as well as being a personal one... but, at the moment, it can be a powerful self-esteem tool...

Its a small world, in many ways....

I grew up in different countries. In Kuwait, and Egypt. I went to school with kids from different countries, from Thailand, Pakistan, Germany, and yes, even the occasional American.

We'd run in to people in airports when I was growing up...but the Internet has really made the world a smaller place. Facebook has made the world a smaller place. I'd, even a couple years ago, look at old pictures and say "hmmm, I wonder whatever happened to that person". And now, sometimes, I know.

I got a Facebook friend request yesterday that made my jaw drop. A boy I went to school with, in Egypt, who is in Thailand. THAILAND. And we're in touch again! How cool is that?

Its surreal in some ways, to be reconnecting with all these elements of one's past that you always thought would be a closed door... people from college, from school, from your childhood, commenting on your status along with people from your current life...

Modern kids are growing up in a much more 'connected' life. They'll never know pictures that don't come out, they'll have more ability to stay in touch with folks as they grow up...

Its just so odd, when 20 years ago, computers were a special thing....