Silence is golden

Today the members of the Stillwater High School Gay/Straight Alliance are participating in the National Day of Silence, a protest in support of the millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons who are forced to remain silent about who they are by a society that is hostile towards them. Both of my girls are participating and have taken an oath of silence for the day. It begins as soon as they step onto the school property, and ends when they return home. Fliers will be distributed on the high school campus explaining it, and the participants will wear special shirts and buttons identifying themselves as a participant.

Yet another reason I have to be proud of my kids.

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Weary Pamina

For those of you who know the story of Mozart's The Magic Flute, this post will probably make sense to you. I am at a point in my life when I am feeling a bit like Pamina when she sits herself down and begins to sing, Ach! Ich fühls est ist verschwunden!

I'm weary. I'm tired of working a dead-end, go-nowhere job that doesn't pay shit, working to build somebody else's dream and not appreciated for it. I'm sick to death of living on a shoestring budget and not being able to provide for my children in the way that they really need.

I'm fucking tired of always having the rug pulled out from underneath me, just as I'm feeling as if I'm finally gaining some footing. I'm tired of knowing that there is something else out there that I'm supposed to do and accomplish, but I can't ever seem to get there because the path to it is endless. What the fuck is going on here?

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We still remember

Eleven years ago today, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, was bombed, killing 168 men, women, and children. Until September 11, 2001, it stood as the single most deadly terrorist attack on American soil.

Our thoughts are still with the survivors and families of those who perished.

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Couldn't have said it better myself

A copy of the following letter to the makers of Kotex feminine products was posted in the bathroom of my workplace the other day. I found of copy of it online and couldn't resist posting it. In my current state of bronchial irritation, I nearly died of a coughing fit from laughter. This woman said it in a way that most women probably would if they had thought of it.

Dear Kotex,

I recently noticed that the peel-off strip of my pantiliner had a bunch of "Kotex Tips for Life" on it. Annoying advice such as:

• Staying active during your period can relieve cramps.
• Avoiding caffeine may help reduce cramps and headaches.
• Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day to keep you hydrated and feeling fresh.
• Try Kotex blah blah blah other products.
  

Obviously the person behind this was someone who has never possessed a functioning pair of ovaries. Go ahead and tell a menstruating woman TO HER FACE that drinking 6-8 glasses of water will help keep her feeling fresh. See what happens and report back. I'll wait here. While you're at it, dump out the coffee at work and remove the chocolate from the vending machine. I guaran-damn-tee that the first responders will be females who just ovulated.

Look, females don't need or want tips for living on feminine hygiene products. Younger girls are already hearing "helpful" crap like that from their elderly relatives. Veteran females have already concocted their own recipes for survival, most containing alcohol.

Printing out crap advice while sneaking in ads for the brand THAT WAS ALREADY PURCHASED is just plain annoying, not to mention rude and enough to send a girl running to the Always brand. Mostly we'd like to forget that we even need these products. It's not a fun time, but DO NOT try to cheer us up by adding smiley faces or bunnies or flowery cutesy crap to your products or the packaging. Put the shit in a plain brown wrapper so we can throw it in our carts discreetly and have it blend in among the wine and chocolates. There is nothing more annoying than having a blinding pink package announcing your uterine state to everyone in the dammed store. The ultimate goal of your product should be functional invisibility at every stage, including the point of purchase. So take your tips for living and shove them up your ass. (Try drinking six to eight glasses of water to make you feel fresher while you're doing it!)

Ovarily Yours
Miss PMS

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Musical illustrations of life

My kids grew up in the 90's, in the middle of the era of the animated movie musical. I swear that every time Disney or Don Bluth put out a new animated film, we not only took the kids to see it, but as soon as the video came out, we bought it.

The songs in these films, just as in a Broadway musical, serve as audio illustrations and enhancements to the story line. As I began to recall and identify some of my favorite songs from these films, I realized that they were all songs that I related to, that had meaning for me, and in a very real sense serve as illustrations of events in my life, or at least of my thoughts and emotions, if not my real life. The following are a list of some of these songs and the event(s), and/or emotions that they illustrate.

1. "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail, 1986: This song became very popular and was played on all the radio stations. The first time I heard it, I cried. I had been married for four years, but I knew I wasn't with the right person and that "somewhere out there" was the one I was supposed to be with.
   
   
2. "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia, 1997: When we took the kids to see this film, I was mesmerized by the haunting music and lyrics of this song. Since I was a small child, I had experienced foggy memories of a life not in this time or place and I couldn't make sense of it. I knew what Anya sang of when she sang, "Things my heart used to know, things I long to remember...". It was only two years later that I met the person who would help me remember the things my heart used to know.
   
   
3. "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, 1959: This film debuted the year before I was born and has always been my very favorite Disney animated film. And the song illustrates exactly what I felt when I found Mozart on line, in May of 1999.
   
   
4. "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast, 1991: The opening scene of this film was my life until May of 1999.
   
   
5. "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, 1992: This song became my life beginning in May of 1999. I've flown on the magic carpet, and now I can't go back to where I used to be...
   

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April's Fool

One of my very favorite cards in the Tarot deck is The Fool. He is traditionally depicted as a traveler carrying a small bundle with a little dog following close behind. Notice too, that he is looking up as he is just about to step off of a cliff!
I must admit that I have felt like The Fool a number of times over the last several years! However, it looks as if my fool's journey is near it's end, as I ready myself to walk through the doors to a new phase. I'm glad, too, because blindly stepping off of cliffs is scary!

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