Vertigo

We didn't wonder if we'd grow up and be happy

2012-02-06T17:12:00.023-05:00

Distance: 11.01 miles
Time: 1 hr 13 mins 47 sec
Average: 8.9 mph
Maximum: 26.3 mph
Calories: 801
Miles in 2012: 40.83
Total Miles: 1,243.22

I haven't been biking a lot lately. Mostly out of lethargy. I feel like my body is frozen and I can't move. I do go to the gym once in a while but I am just not mentally into it. Anyway, today was a beautiful day and I needed to go to the library. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to bike. The day was indeed glorious, albeit very windy at times. I took this opportunity to also visit the downtown of Sherborn which I have been to many times, but now I am currently working for the town and I wanted to share that here. Its funny because biking in Sherborn is a love/hate relationship. It is a very scenic town but with brutal hills. When I applied for my very part time job (I only work 10 hours per month) I wrote this lovely essay about biking in the town of Sherborn (they needed a writing sample). When I had my interview in front of the Commission (6 people), three of them told me they found out about Sherborn while biking. That was a great way to break the ice and I got the job. So, I thank biking for getting the job! :)

Walden enjoying the scene of Fiske Pond

Fiske Pond, half frozen

Sherborn, settled in 1662 and called Boggastow, became a town in 1674.

Sherborn, MA (I remember the first time I visited this place, I found a small snake. I jumped like 5 feet, got on my bike, and peddled away).

Sherborn, MA - I am sure by 'man' they mean 'human'

Sherborn Town Hall (where I work)

Sherborn - I love the architecture of the churches around here. They get extra points if they have a pride flag like this one.

A farm in Sherborn

Cute horses in Framingham, MA

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

2012-02-04T17:34:00.040-05:00

"The Damnation of Women"

Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil (1920)

W.E.B. Du Bois

From Wiki: In his chapter called "The Damnation of Women," Du Bois seeks to elevate women by acknowledging their labor in the home, the workplace and the black church. The chapter has been described as one of the first proto-feminist analyses by a male intellectual. In the chapter, Du Bois gives the black mother even more glorification for her role as child bearer. He calls for women to seek a life of economic independence, and argues that women have a right to control their own bodies and reproductive choices. Yet in his description of women he often describes their physical traits first such as his description of journalist Mary Shadd Cary whom Du Bois described as a "ravishing dream-born beauty."

I found this essay while searching for free feminists text in the public domain. I have found some great feminists classic texts online. I went to Amazon.com to find some inspiration in some feminists theory books. Amazon allows a 'look inside', and I am able to peruse the table of context. That is how I found the chapter titled 'The Damnation of Women' in the book Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil by W.E.B. Du Bois. I read The Souls of Black Folk, a seminal work in African-American literature in college, so I am partially familiar with his work. However, I wasn't familiar with his views on women, and the chapter 'The Damnation of Women' is considered to be a proto-feminist text and a tribute to the dignity and worth of women, particularly black women. You can find the book free here.

The chapter is beautifully written and demonstrates Du Bois' strong respect and admiration for women, particularly black women. Du Bois begins the chapter by writing about four women of his childhood- his mother, cousin, and two friends. They were of different races. He claims that 'they existed not for themselves, but for men.' Du Bois describes the damnation of women as follows:

The world wants healthy babies and intelligent workers. Today we refuse to allow the combination and force thousands of intelligent workers to go childless at a horrible expenditure of moral force, or we damn them if they break our idiotic conventions. Only at the sacrifice of intelligence and the chance to do their best work can the majority of modern women bear children. This is the damnation of women.
All womanhood is hampered today because the world on which it is emerging is a world that tries to worship both virgins and mothers and in the end despises motherhood and despoils virgins.
The future woman must have a life work and economic independence. She must have knowledge. She must have the right of motherhood at her own discretion. The present mincing horror at free womanhood must pass if we are ever to be rid of the bestiality of free manhood; not by guarding the weak in weakness do we gain strength, but by making weakness free and strong.

When I first read those lines, I thought to myself, 'if that isn't feminism, I don't know what is!' In a text published in 1920, Du Bois indicates that women had to choice between being intelligent (I presume an education) and being a mother. I did find perplexing that he found those issues to be mutually exclusive, which they are not. Du Bois then explains that this world both worships and despises motherhood and virginity. Then Du Bois expresses his support for fundamental issues pertaining self-determination in all women - 1) economic independence 2) education and 3) reproductive autonomy. Du Bois concludes that instead of protecting 'weakness' we must make women 'free and strong.'

I felt this chapter seeks to highlight the role of black women because, according to Du Bois, the world worships womankind but 'forgets its darker sisters.' Quoting Scheneider, Du Bois writes, 'No mother can love more tenderly and none is more tenderly loved than the Negro mother.' Du Bois writes about the role of women in Africa and Asia, and specially its role during slavery. He writes, 'the crushing weight of slavery fell on black women. Under it there was no legal marriage, no legal family, no legal control over children.' He also condemns the insulting of black womanhood who is shown as prostitutes of lust, as he writes. I think the oversexualization of the black body (or any women of color) is common even today.

To conclude, it is always refreshing to read scholarly text from the 1920s expressing its support for the social and economical independence of black women.

Sh*t White Feminists Say

2012-02-02T12:58:00.003-05:00

This is hilarious!

Defund Susan G. Komen

2012-02-01T22:07:00.009-05:00

The news broke that Susan G. Komen has stopped its funding for Planned Parenthood bowing down to right wing pressure. As expected, many people are angry, including myself, specially seeing how many low income people use Planned Parenthood for breast exams. I send them this message:

I am very disappointed about SGK removal of funding for Planned Parenthood. You are discriminating women who need breast exams based on political beliefs. From now on, I'll stop donating to SGK and instead, give that money to organizations who truly care about the health of people, not pandering to misguided and dangerous religious/political beliefs.

I strongly urge others to do the same. This is very sickening, 16% of the work PP does is breast cancer-related. Women's bodies are a battleground, and this is a clear demonstration of that. I read that the head of SGK, Karen Handel, is a GPO supporter and donor who ran for Governor of Georgia on an anti-abortion platform and to defund Planned Parenthood. No more buying pink related SGK merchandise at the stores. I want to support organization who stand for helping everyone!

breaking secrets and telling other truths

2012-01-30T05:44:00.013-05:00

No More Secrets, No More Lies:

African American History and Compulsory Heterosexuality (2003)

Mettie Udora Richardson

I found this scholarly essay by pure chance in my Google Reader. Since I have read Adrienne Rich's Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence someone made reference to Mettie Udora Richardson's essay which looks into Compulsory Heterosexuality in African American History. That is a topic I know nothing about, so I found Richardson's essay to be extremely informative and scholarly well done. Compulsory heterosexuality (heterosexuality as default sexual orientation) is a very fascinating topic, and this essay brought more information to light.
Richardson begins by explaining the impact Rich's article had on her, 'a manifesto of lesbian existence that declared us pervasive and distinct.' However, she also highlighted the shortcomings of Rich's essay, particularly 'lack of distinction between various genders and sexualities, claims of a uniform global lesbian sisterhood, the presence of ubiquitous and monolithic male oppressors, and the assertion of a universal lesbian experience.'
Richardson said she wants to go away from the notion of silence, and instead write about 'Black people [having] written histories that exalted their manhood and heralded their femininity to protect themselves from defamation, and have proven their heterosexuality, there
by establishing,themselves as decent, moral and above all, 'normal human beings'.
Richardson, quoting Evelyn Hammonds, said that Black females sexuality outside the boundaries of acceptable sexual and gendered behavior are seem as traitors and dangerous. Richardson states that research about slavery has neglected relationship outside wife/husband normative and also, those living about 'male' and 'female' gender roles. For the later, she used the case of William Cathay/Cathay Williams who posed as a man to join the Buffalo Soldier during the Civil War.
Richardson later states that Black history is a triumvirate of 'equality, freedom, and manhood', consequently a 'culture of dissemblance' has erased the 'emergence of bisexual, lesbians, and alternatively gendered' peoples. Then, Richardson writes about various books addressing the 'matriarchate' in the Black family, and how those researches argue that strong female figures are bringing the demise of Black families. Richardson ends by saying that Black history must incorporate Black queer people because that will enrich research and scholarly discourse.

What a lover Sappho was

2012-01-29T17:00:00.033-05:00

Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (1903)

Bliss Carman

While babysitting this Saturday, I read the whole book of Sappho's poetry. Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet who was born between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC. Sappho's poetry centers on passions and love for both genders. I found her language to be clear, and I particularly enjoyed her use of nature in her rhetoric. Her images of her surroundings -- sky, fauna, flora -- and her use of Greek mythology brought her poetry to live. You can read the book for free here.
I must confess my primary knowledge of Sappho is her iconic role as a lesbian poet. In this poetry collection there were a few poems address to a female person. Of course, her homoerotica poetry should be placed in the context of the seventh century (BC).
Here are some stanzas of her poetry:

There is a medlar-tree
Growing in afront of my lover's house,
And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.
And when the evening comes,
we sit there together in the dusk
And watch the stars
Appear in the quiet blue. (XIX)

I shall be ever maiden,
If thou be not my lover,
And no man shall possess me
Henceforth and forever.
But thou alone shalt gather
This fragile flower of beauty, -
To cruch and keep the fragrance
Like a holy incense.
Thou only shalt remember
This love of mine, or hallow
The coming years with gladness,
Calm and pride and passion. (XXIV)

It was summer whne I found you
In the meadow long ago,
and the golden vetch was growing
by the shore
Did we falter when love took us
with a gust of great desire?
Does the barley bid the wind wait
in his course? (XXV)

"Who was Atthis?" men shall ask,
When the world is old, and time
Has accomplished without haste
The strange destiny of men.
Haply in that far-off age
One shall find these silver songs,
With their human freight, and guess
What a lover Sappho was. (XXXIV)

Those poem collections were wonderful and I am very happy to have read this book. She reminded me a lot of poets like Neruda and Rumi.

And ain't I a woman?

2012-01-27T19:46:00.033-05:00

And ain't I a woman? (1851)

Sojourner Truth

"Ain't I a woman?' is the name of a speech given by Sojourner Truth at the Women's Convention in Ohio on May 1851 in regards to racial inequality. In her speech, Truth argued that while American culture often placed white women upon a pedestal and gave them certain privileges (most notably that of not working), this attitude was not extended to black women. There are various versions of this speech. From the Marius Robinson version, I got the following notes:
1) She physically work just like a man -- plowing, reaping, choping, mowing. 2) Women are of equal intellect as men. 3) Women will not 'take' more rights than equal rights 4) Using religious reference: a) Since Eve 'caused man to sin' give women equal rights so she can 'set it right side up again' b) Mary and Martha pleaded with Jesus to raise Lazarus with faith and love c) Jesus came from God and woman. I also read the Matilda Joslyn Gage version (1863, first version 12 years after the speech) written in the original dialect. You can find both here.
Gage described the result: "Amid roars of applause, she returned to her corner leaving more than one of us with streaming eyes, and hearts beating with gratitude. She had taken us up in her strong arms and carried us safely over the slough of difficulty turning the whole tide in our favor. I have never in my life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish spirit of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes of respect and admiration. Hundreds rushed up to shake hands with her, and congratulate the glorious old mother, and bid her God-speed on her mission of 'testifyin' agin concerning the wickedness of this 'ere people.'"

Sojourner Truth had a fascinating life, and a great role model for many. She was an abolitionist and women's rights activist. This speech is one that is referred to even today.

in return we will transact your domestick affairs

2012-01-25T17:54:00.020-05:00

On the Equality of the Sexes (1790)
Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820)

Judith Sargent Murray was born in Gloucester, MA to a prosperous family. Since she had a bother, she was permitted to study by his side as he took his classes. Her family had liberal views and were supporters of the Revolution. They also converted to Universalist creed. After her marriage, she began a productive writing career. She was the first native-born American woman to had a play professionally performed. Her essay 'On the Equality of the Sexes' was published in 1790, two years before Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'.
The ideas of 'On the Equality of the Sexes' are similar to that of 'Vindication.' Sargent Murray begins by writing that she doesn't think God has yield to one half the human species all mental superiority. She writes that women are good a gossip, and that indicates creative faculty and lively imagination (interesting example). Like Wollstonecraft and many women rights writers of that period, she strongly argue for equal education. She writes that women feel unhappy because they have uncultivated minds. I find interesting that she uses 'brother' as the dichotomy while other writers use 'husband' as the 'other' to compare women. Of course, this has to do with the fact that her bother was studying to enter Harvard College, and she only got an education because of him. Furthermore, Sargent Murray indicates that women of religion are so invested in immortally, the joys of heaven and intelligent beings, that they should not be degraded "as to be allowed no other ideas, than those which are suggested by the mechanism of pudding, or the sewing the seams of a garment." That was a tongue in cheek comment and made me smile (women back then writing about women's rights had a sense of humor, I believe. They had to, in my opinion, because otherwise they would spend all their time in depression. Much like the case today, I think feminists are funny).
The ending of her essay was dripping with sarcasm:
But in one respect, O ye arbiters of our fate! we confess that the superiority is indubitably yours; you are by nature formed for our protectors; we pretend not to vie with you in bodily strength; upon this point we will never contend for victory. Shield us then, we beseech you, from external evils, and in return we will transact your domestick affairs. Yes, your, for are you not equally interested in those matters with ourselves? Is not the elegancy of neatness as agreeable to your sight as to ours; is not the well favoured viand equally delightful to your taste; and doth not your sense of hearing suffer as much, from the discordant sounds prevalent in an ill regulated family, produced by the voices of children and many et ceteras?

I like her wit.
By the way, I found out about Sargent Murray from the book 'The Feminist Papers' by Alice Rossi, ed. It was pure luck and what sparked my interest was the fact that she published this essay two years before "Vindication." This short essay is in the public domain, and I highly recommend it.

~~_~_~_~_~_~_

Picture source.

The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to

2012-01-23T20:25:00.036-05:00

Essay Review:

The Enfranchisement of Women (1851)

Harriet Taylor Mill

I have been meaning to read the classic "On the Subjection of Women' (1869) by John Stuart Mill. I started reading it a couple of weeks ago, but I found the language to be difficult. While taking a break, I read that his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, wrote an essay 18 years before the publication of "On the Subjection of Women" highlighting the same issues as Mill. It is also believed that "On the Subjection of Women" was co-written by Taylor Mill. Consequently, I thought it was important for me to read the essay by Taylor Mill because 1) women should have their voices and concerns value and 2) I felt uneasy that Mill is the popular one when his wife wrote the same arguments 18 years before him. In reading her essay, I felt that I was acknowledging her contribution to the work of Mill and women's rights.

The essay is an erudite appeal for women's suffrage and equality. I was surprise with how much she draw from the suffrage movement in the United States at the time. She began by discussing the Women's Rights Convention (1850) in Worcester, MA. That sparked my interest since Worcester is not far from my home. She praised the women's movement in the USA and how it was a movement by women for women. Then Taylor Mill discussed the many reasons why women should have suffrage. She particularly disbanded the many reasons why people during that period argued against women's suffrage or even women entering the public sphere. She argued that customs should not be a reason why things should continue as they are, but that there have been many women in history who have demonstrated that they were capable individuals. She also argued that maternity should not be a reason why women should stay in the private sphere. Women can work and also take care of their children (I feel that we still have this discussion in the 21th century). Taylor Mill wrote against the notion that politics will corrupt women and that educated women would 'take' jobs from men. She said intelligent individuals will only better the work force. She encouraged equal education opportunities for both genders. In terms of physical characteristics (weak vs strong), she argued that the world is moving away from wars and towards a more civilized humanity.
In all, Taylor Mill wrote a very conscience and intelligent essay for the fight of women's rights. While reading it, I had to stop and be grateful for my foremothers and forefathers because what Taylor Mill argued for, today, seems so... obvious and normal. I don't think there was one thing she advocated for that is currently seem as taboo or spectacular. Of course, at the time it was. Thank you Harriet Taylor Mill.

My favorite quote from the essay: We deny the right of any portion of the species to decide for another what is and what is not their "proper sphere." The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to.

Blog for Choice 2012

2012-01-22T10:26:00.013-05:00

On this 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the guiding question for NARAL’s Blog for Choice Day is this: What will you do to help elect pro-choice candidates in 2012?

Personally, I think they could have come up with a better question. I think for those of us who are passionate about keeping abortion legal and safe in this country, the answer will be simple: donate to pro-choice candidates, help support their campaigns, and vote for them during elections. Odds are that candidate will be a democrat.

But, I don't like the vacillation of so called pro-choice politicians when it comes to reproductive autonomy. I am particularly thinking of President Obama and the Plan B betrayal. I don't like the fact that we help them get elected but we still have to fight for them to be strong pro-choice politicians. I think the answer to that is that they are politicians in the end. So, I guess we have to make being pro-choice a deal-breaker, continue making our voices heard, and demand that a person's body sovereignty when it comes to reproductive autonomy should be respected.

False history gets made all day, any day, the truth of the new is never on the news

2012-01-20T18:45:00.052-05:00

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980)
by

Adrienne Rich

I was lucky to find Adrienne Rich's essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" on pfd file. Like the previous writers that I have read in my one-person book club, Rich is a name that constantly pops up when it comes to feminist theory. I was very excited to read this essay about compulsory heterosexuality (heterosexuality as default sexual orientation). The first time I came across that notion, it was very lightly addressed by my political science professor when he stated blankly to the class, "Everyone assumes you are straight."

You can read Wikipedia synopsis of the essay. Basically Rich's argues that heterosexuality has been present in our social consciouses and a dictating narrative in literature, culture, and lifestyle. Rich uses Kathleen Gough list of '“eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies” to identify the denial of sexuality for women by means of control and suppression. Rich also identifies lesbianism in two terms: lesbian existence “both the fact of the historical presence of lesbians and our continuing creation of the meaning of that existence. The other, lesbian continuum, refers to the overall “range - through each woman’s life and throughout history - of woman-identified experiences, not simply the fact that a woman has had or consciously desired genital sexual experience with another woman”.

I did some highlights (on the Kindle). The following are her quotes:

"I am concerned here with two other matters as well: first, how and why women's choice of women as passionate comrades, like partners co-workers, lovers, tribe has been crushed, invalidated, forced into hiding and disguise; and second, the virtual or total neglect of lesbian existence in a wide range of writings, including feminist scholarship."

"A feminist critique of compulsory heterosexual orientation for women is long overdue"

"Heterosexuality is presumed as a 'sexual preference' of most women,' either implicitly or explicitly."

Women as consumer victims: "it has reflected male needs, male fantasies about women, and male interest in controlling women -- particularly in the realms of sexuality and motherhood -- fused with the requirements of industrial capitalism."

"I am suggesting that heterosexuality, like motherhood, needs to be recognized and studied as a political institution..." [When I finished reading this essay, this is the most important idea I came out with, and something that I haven't thought of before, that we need to see heterosexuality as a political institution. If we begin to see it as such, we begin to understand the power structures it enforces in society]

"But even so-called soft-core pornography and advertising depict women as objects of sexual appetite devoid of emotional context, without individual meaning or personality: essentially as a sexual commodity to be consumed by males."

"A lesbian, closeted on her job because of heterosexist prejudice, is not simply forced into denying the truth of her outside relationships or private life; her job depends on her pretending to be not merely heterosexual but a heterosexual woman, in terms of dressing and playing the feminine, deferential role required of "real" women."

"Enormous male population engaging in female sexual slavery": Rich lists wife beaters, child molesters, incest perpetrators, johns (tricks) and rapists, pornography purveyors, associated with prostitution, pimps, slavery gangs, etc.

Rich doesn't like the term 'gay' nor 'lesbian' because it is a "stigmatized clinical term"

"If we think of heterosexuality as the 'natural' emotional and sensual inclination for women, lives such as [Emily Dickinson and Zora Neale Hurston] are seen as deviant, as pathological, or as emotionally and sensually deprived."

"Heterosexuality has been both forcibly and subliminally imposed on women, yet everywhere women have resisted it, often at the cost of physical torture, imprisonment, psychosurgery, social ostracism, and extreme poverty."

Rich writing about lesbian women who are in a heterosexual marriage, they see it as a 'natural destiny' and 'their only expectation for ECONOMIC security."

"For black woman -- already twice an outsider -- to choose to assume still another 'hated identity' is problematic indeed.'

~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Picture source

Touch me 'til my ribs become piano keys

2012-01-16T18:52:00.033-05:00

Distance: 23.04 miles
Time: 2 hr 26 mins 48 sec
Average: 9.4 mph
Maximum: 24.2 mph
Calories: 1,603
Miles in 2012: 29.82
Total Miles: 1,232.21

I biked to Sudbury, MA in order to do the Sudbury Historical Trail Walk. I was only able to do part of the trail because it started to get dark and very cold. I left home at 1:30pm, and got home at around 5:30ish. It look me longer than I thought, mostly because I didn't calculate the many stops I took. I did 16 stops, finishing at the Goodnow Library. However, the next section would be visiting the Longfellow Inn which I have already visited.
The temperature was in the low 20s and when I left my house the sky was picture perfect blue. However, that changed rather quickly and it got cloudy, windy, and the temperature drop. I was very well dressed and the cold was not a big nuanse. The trail itself was not difficult. I am familiar with the general topography of my county, so I was ready for the hills. The only difficult part was probably the last 6 miles when I was going home. It was getting dark fast, and I found out my lights didn't work. For some reason, the switch is lock, and I can't turn it on. It was also getting colder and windier. The street was narrow with no bike lane, so I became very worry about not having lights and not being visible. Visibility is crucial for bikers, I think. I always make sure that all the cars around me, specially when I arrive at a light or an intersection, that they see me. I was also getting tired and I knew a couple of hills ahead of me were going to be difficult. I had a horrible moment of doubt, and I had to stop and regroup. I put my reflective vest on, took a couple of deep breath, and encourage myself to finish the 6+ miles. It wasn't that bad, I thought. I just needed to pace myself and try to enjoy the moment.
Highlights:

This was my first time really seeing the town of Sudbury. I have been there previously to visit the Longfellow Inn, but I only saw a very small part of the town. Sudbury is a very affluent town (median income is $141,041) and very New England picturesque. It has a very rich history particularly during the Revolution and King Phillip's War.

I found Sudbury to be very beautiful and the Historical Trail Walk to be very well done and easy to follow.

I would like to thank a Sudbury cop who stoped traffic so I could make a left turn! It was nice of him, specially because I thought I was going to be there forever.

Downside:

It is a shame the sun started to set so fast and I wasn't able to finish all the sites. The cold and wind didn't help.

Sudbury River, Framingham, MA

North Cemetery, First Town Center - Site of the first meeting house and center of settlement of the Sudbury Plantation, 1638.

Settle 1638 by a compnay of Puritans who arrived in the ship 'Confidence" and were attracted by the meadows on the Musketaquid River. Named after Sudbury in Suffolk.

Meadows -- One of my favorite locations in the trail. Very beautiful.

Haynes Garrison Site - Only the foundation remains of the Haynes Garrison, one of six fortified houses that existed in Sudbury at the time of King Philip's War in 1676. The Haynes Garrison House was 42’ long and 25’ deep and was able to successfully give refuge to the settlers from King Philips warriors during the Sudbury Fight in 1676. The Haynes Garrison House site is the only King Philip battle site left basically untouched in Sudbury.

The Revolutionary War cemetery (I think)

First Parish

Sudbury Town Hall

Goodnow Library (1862)

what you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority

2012-01-15T17:21:00.031-05:00

Book Review:

Sister Outsider:

Essay & Speeches by Audre Lorde

The back cover of Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde states that 'Lorde's works will be important to those truly interested in growing up sensitive, intelligent, and aware.' I couldn't agree more. This book is a collection of essays and speeches by black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde. I have heard countless of praises for Lorde, and after reading this collection of her work, I understand why she is such a powerful force in the fight against sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, classism, and other social differences. She wrote with a clear voice, one with determination and convition.

Unfortunately, I didn't take notes while reading because I read the book while at the gym, and since the book is from the library, I wasn't able to highlight (love doing that!). But here are some of the topics/quotes she wrote:

The Master's Tools will never dismantle the master's house: "The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower. / Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women."

Poetry is not a luxury - "The woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deep." / 'Poetry coins the language to express and charter this revolutionary demand, the implmentation of that freedom.'

The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action: "My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you.'

Notes from a trip to Russia: Lorde's trip to USSR in 1976. Her experience as a black female trying to understand Russia.

Man Child: Her response of raising a son as a black lesbian feminist

An Open Letter to Mary Daly: White feminists erasure of black females

Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference

Uses of the Erotic: The erotic as Power: Women shouldn't supress the erotic as a source of power

The uses of anger: women responding to racism: white feminists priviledge against black females

I highly recommend Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. Of the many books that I have read in my one-person book club, this one made me think and see many issues in a different light.

If I rest, if I think inward, I go mad

2012-01-12T21:17:00.037-05:00

It goes by, and whatever dream you use to dope up the pains and hurts, it goes…you’ve only got so long to live

2012-01-10T21:43:00.033-05:00

thank you for letting me fall in love without withholding

2012-01-09T05:44:00.040-05:00

Shakesville posts daily questions and I have been saving them. Here are my answers.

What are three character traits you have that you strive to mitigate? Slothfulness, indifference, and Shyness

What are three character traits you strive to have? Resilience, Responsibility, Scholarship

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Yes, I do 12 wishes, even though I see it more as goals than resolutions.

What was your favorite film of 2011? Source Code

What is your favorite fictional character's name? Levin from Anna Karenina

What's your favorite breakfast? Right now, french toast sticks.

What one actor/actress would you like to see in hir own television series, with a perfectly matched writer and director and superb supporting cast? Jennifer Beals (I saw too much of The L Word)

What is the single most important quality that you would like to have your president, prime minister, or leader of another name to have? Truthfulness (yes, fat chance)

Who is your favorite character on a currently-airing television show? Detective Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay) on Law & Order: SUV

If you were offered the choice between an afterlife over the design of which you could not exert control, or no afterlife at all, which would you choose? Good question. I guess due to my religious belief I believe in an afterlife which I have no control of. I just hope it looks like a deserted island with coconuts and an endless supply of books.

What is the worst campaign advertisement you've ever seen? As a feminist, I have seen very sexist campaigns... the most recent one is the Dr. Pepper one (for men only!)

What is your favorite animated film? Even though Finding Nemo is a classic, I have a soft spot for A Bug's Life.

What's the worst movie you've seen in the last month? The Smurfs

In light of Fox News host Megyn Kelly's absurd, horrifying, and utterly indefensible proclamation that pepper spray is "a food product, essentially", what food(s) would you most like to see available in aerosol form? Queso Jeo (cheese from the Dominican Republic).

Are you more likely to experience a fear of failure, or a fear of success?Neither? Both? Fear of failure, without a doubt. I find that to be a strong driving force for me.

Your face saving promises whispered like prayers

2012-01-08T14:22:00.009-05:00

Blue Valentine	2010	Feature	8
The Ghost Writer	2010	Feature	8
Four Lions	2010	Feature	8
The Times of Harvey Milk	1984	Documentary	8
Fraulein	2006	Feature	6
Mermaid	2007	Feature	7
Mary and Max	2009	Feature	7.5



Fright Night	2011	Feature	5
Sleepwalking	2008	Feature	6
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas	2010	TV Movie	5
Let It Be Me	1995	Feature	6
Plain Truth	2004	TV Movie	6
Superbad	2007	Feature	8
Unbreakable	2000	Feature	7
The Soloist	2009	Feature	7
My Big Fat Greek Wedding	2002	Feature	7
OT: Our Town	2002	Documentary	6
Due Date	2010	Feature	7
Honored	2007	Short Film	3
La vie d'un chien	2005	Short Film	6
Limitless	2011	Feature	7
National Treasure: Book of Secrets	2007	Feature	7
Monsters vs Aliens	2009	Feature	7
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness	1958	Feature	6
Marvin's Room	1996	Feature	7
Ivan's Childhood	1962	Feature	7
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan	2007	Feature	8
Ajami	2009	Feature	7
The Class	2008	Feature	8
Rabbit Hole	2010	Feature	8
12	2007	Feature	7.5
Bubot Niyar	2006	Documentary	7
The Aura	2005	Feature	8
Tell No One	2006	Feature	6
The Baader Meinhof Complex	2008	Feature	8
Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams	2006	Feature	7.5
Séraphine	2008	Feature	7
Tuya's Marriage	2006	Feature	7
Elite Squad	2007	Feature	8
Coraline	2009	Feature	7

if you want this you’re going to have to ask

2012-01-07T15:09:00.014-05:00

Distance: 6.78 miles

Time: 42 mins 15 sec

Average: 9.6 mph

Maximum: 16.7 mph

Calories: 461

Miles in 2012: 6.78

Total Miles: 1,209.17

I did a little bit of errands today. It is absolutely lovely outside in the low 40s. Actually, I didn't even need my gloves and I had to take my outside layer of my coat because I started to get really hot. I first went to Walgreen pharmacy to get my medicine. I parked Walden outside but was a little bit paranoid that someone might take him. I did locked it and I usually carry two locks but this time I only had one (wire not the u-lock). I had to wait around 30 minutes for my medicine, and I took part of that time to take some pictures of the Fiske Pond (see above) and keep an eye out for Walden. Then I went back to the pharmacy and waited for what it felt like an eternity. This old lady sat next to me and started a conversation. She fell down the stairs and was telling me all about her illnesses. When she left she gave me her hand, told me her name, and ask to pray for her. She was very nice.

After that I went to the library to pick up season one of Law & Order, SVU, my new current obsession. I have been seeing tons of episodes lately, but they are out of order, so I decided to watch them from the very first episode. While at the library, I printed the Sudbury Historical Trail Walk map which I plan to bike tomorrow. Big day!

You Construct Intricate Rituals

2012-01-06T04:46:00.002-05:00

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (You Construct Intricate Rituals), 1980
Gelatin silver print

With just my conscience And a bitter sense of irony As my chaperone

2012-01-05T21:39:00.002-05:00

*Bonus points for the first person who gets this reference.

She had been in revolt all her life

2012-01-04T00:37:00.011-05:00

Virginia Woolf writing about Mary Wollstonecraft:

"... she had never known what happiness was, and, in its default, had fabricated a creed fitted to meet the sordid misery of real human life. The staple of her doctrine was that nothing mattered save independence. "Every obligation we receive from our fellow-creatures is a new shackle, takes from our native freedom, and debases the mind." Independence was the first necessity for a woman; not grace or charm, but energy and courage and the power to put her will into effect were her necessary qualities.' (143)

"Mary's life had been an experiment from the start, an attempt to make human conventions conform more closely to human needs." (148)

"She whose sense of her own existence was so intense, who had cried out even in her misery, "I cannot bear to think of being no more - of losing myself - nay, it appears to me impossible that I should cease to exists," died at the age of thirty-six. But she has her revenge. Many millions have died and been forgotten in the hundred and thirty years that have passed since she was buried; and yet as we read her letters and listen to her arguments and consider her experiments, above all that most fruitful experiment, her relation with Godwin, and realise the high-handed and hot-blooded manner in which she cut her way to the quick of life, one form of immortality is hers undoubtedly: she is alive and active, she argues and experiments, we hear her voice and trace her influence even now among the living." (148)

Woolf, Virginia. The Second Common Reader. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1932.

None of us are pretty. But our ugly has an alibi.

2012-01-03T05:06:00.022-05:00

Poetry Review:

The Madness Vase (2011)
Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson is a powerful poet. There are lines that I read that leave me speechless. The topics are thunder: war, sex, class, gender, family, and spirituality. When I saw Andrea in Wellesley College, she performed many of the poems in her new poetry collection, The Madness Vase.
I am very grateful my library was able to buy this book, so I can have a chance to read it. The only disappointment of this book is that it is not a collection of new poems, but some of the poems in this book was also in her previous poetry book 'Pole Dancing to gospel hymn'. Additional, like in 'Pole', I caught a few typing mistakes.
Other than that, the new poems are excellent, specially 'The madness vase', 'sleeping', 'somewhere, a carpenter', 'close for comfort', 'and 'glider plane'. Her metaphors are spectacular, and her topics are contemporary. She uses plain language that people can understand and relate to. Here are some examples:

The Madness Vase:
But my bones said, 'Tyler Clementi jumped
from the George Washington Bridge
into the Hudson River convinced
he was entirely alone.
My bones said, "Write the poems"

Sleeping:
When a war ends, what does that look like exactly?
Do the cells in the body stop detonating themselves?
Does the orphanage stop screaming for its mother?
When the sand in the desert has been melted down to glass
and our reflection is not something we can stand to look at
does the white flag make for a perfect blindfold?

Glider Plane:
Too bad love is an Etch A Sketch
Good thing love is an Etch A sketch

A letter to Kelsey, Who loves Jesus:
A man came in so hungry
he started drinking the coffee creamers.
When he'd drank about a dozen
the preacher's wife ran up and
scolded him for his "terrible manners."
I served the man dinner
wished him a peaceful holiday,
and left the church.
But I talked to Jesus, Kelsey,
the whole way home.

A letter to the playground bully, from Andrea Gibson, 8 1/2:
My mother says it is totally fine
if I blow off steam
as long as I speak in an octave
my kindness can still reach.

I sing the body electric, specially when my power's out:
When I'm nervous my teeth chatter
like a wheelbarrow collecting rain.
I am rusty when I talk.
It's the storm in me.

The day will come when we will all have to live with less

2012-01-02T04:10:00.006-05:00

Book Review:

Where We Stand: Class Matters (2000)

bell hooks

From Amazon: This incisive examination of class is rooted in cultural critic hooks' (All About Love) personal experience, political commitment, and social theory, which links gender, race, and class. Starting with her working-class childhood, the author illustrates how everyday interactions reproduce class hierarchy while simultaneously denying its existence. Because she sustains an unflinching gaze on both her own personal motivations and on persistent social structures, hooks provides a valuable framework for discussing such difficult and unexplored areas as greed, the quest to live simply, the ruling-class co-optation of youth through popular culture, and real estate speculation as an instrument of racism.

bell hooks (no capitalization of her name) is an important figure in feminist theory circles, and she ranked high in my list of people to read. I went to the library and got 'Where we stand: class matters' a book about class in this country. She is known for her theories on gender, race, culture and sexuality, so for what I have read, the topic of class is not what she usually writes about. That being said, this book was a great read, specially now that this country is starting to talk about class due to the Occupy movement. This book is written from her own perspective of being born from a poor background and moving up to be an affluent scholar. The book made excellent points, even though those who are of conservative nature will disagree with her views on wealth distribution. If you want to read a book about class and social justice, I high recommend this book.

I made some notes while reading the book even though hooks made a plethora of excellent points.

The Fear on the part of those with greater class privilege that they or their objects will be damaged if they share resources.

Patriarchal males using financial power to control his family

Class shame of poor student attending upper class colleges.

Living simply does not mean poverty. It is not life without luxuries, but life without excess.

"Understanding class politics of money and greed has been essential to crating a life where I can be economically self-sufficient without hoarding and without refusing to identity with those who remain economically disadvantaged."

Mainstream culture socializing all classes, specially the poor, that greed is essential in making it in this society.

Mass media never celebrates the lives of those who live simply, never acknowledges in a celebratory way the poor and underprivileged who life happy, meaningful lives.

Mass media is selling the notion that identification with the rich and powerful is the only way to get ahead in this society. In American there is a notion that we live in a 'class-less society'

Mass media advertising has created in the youth population a symbolically 'classless' society were hedonistic consumerism values are shared by youth culture irrespective of race, gender, or class nationality.

No matter your class, no matter your race, if you have access to credit, to cash, every store is open to you.

Externalized and internalized shame among young people for lacking signs of material success.

Black bourgeoisie serves as mediators between black masses and the white folks. They openly espoused contempt for less privileged black folks even as they needed that group to stay on the bottom so they could measure how far up they had gotten by how far down the black masses remained.

Rich and upper class black folks allegiance is to their class interests and not racial solidarity.

White Poverty: The Politics of Invisibility

Real Estate Racism

The book is only 164 pages long, and easy to read. She draws a lot of the examples from her personal life. I am looking forward to reading more of her work, and I highly recommend this book is you want to read about class and race issues in this country.

love is all over the place there's nothing wrong with your face

2012-01-01T13:29:00.024-05:00

My workout stat for the year 2011. Eventhough I only biked with Walden 353.35 miles this year, I actually excersized 2,693.82 miles. Not bad. That is a combination of biking, running, swimming, and elliptical. Since I bougth Walden a couple of years ago, I have biked 1,202.39 miles total.

This is the total miles I did in the year 2011. I did a total of 2,693.82 miles. I guess August was one heck of a month!

Even though I did 353.35 miles using Walden (bike), I did a total of 2,480.37 miles of biking.

This is the total miles I ran. I hate running, so I am surprised I actually ran 120.36 miles. I do hope to run more this year. I hope to start to love it like I do biking.

Total stats since I started using Dailymile.com. In the past two years I have done 3,646 miles (did I just reached California?)

Highlights of biking with Walden:

1) Biking more than 30 miles with Walden for the first time

2) Tracing the roots of Sylvia Plath

3) Biking to Walden Pond, Concord (home of Henry David Thoreau) and reaching 1,000 miles mark!

Is she bright? so well? read are there novels by her bed?

2011-12-30T20:39:00.006-05:00

What I got for Christmas

(yes, late post)

Kindle

Kindle Case

Scarf, gloves, hat, boots

Snickers

Two books about dogs from my little cousin

Walden (bike) related gifts:

25oz Camelbak Water Bottle

Boeshield T9 Bicycle Lubrication

meets minimum standards of decent human

2011-12-29T13:10:00.016-05:00

(source)

Sometimes I wonder if I read too much feminists blogs because I now see almost everything through a feminists lens, and things that might not have bother me before, greatly bother me now. For example, I get the newspaper everyday and I enjoy reading about what is going on in my town and surrounding locations. My newspaper has a section call 'person of distinction' where they interview someone that is doing something positive for the town. Today, a woman was interview who is in charged of assistance agencies. She gave an interview and here was one of the questions:

How has someone else's kindness made a difference to you?

When my husband shows great kindness by doing more than this share of chores in the home, taking care of the kids tirelessly, and letting me know that he is here for me.

For some strange reason I felt rather bothered by her response. Is the husband really doing anything special? He is doing chores in his house, taking care of his kids, and supporting her. I think that is his job and if a woman was doing those things, the husband (some) nor society would see it as anything special. That would be her obvious job as a caretaker. This goes back to one of my biggest pet peeves when men say they are 'babysitting' their kids... no, you are not babysitting your kids, you are being a parent. It is what we call in the feminists jargon, "meets minimum standards of decent human", and no, you don't get cookies* for that.

*Feminist cookies: The idea that sometimes people expect to be rewarded for doing the things that, really, when examined, come down to meeting the minimum standards of decent behavior anyway.

how none of us heard a word

2011-12-23T18:23:00.005-05:00

(Source: [A] Funny Feminist)

As a person who is pro-choice, I often come across bizarre campaigns by the anti-choice folks. Here we have this one from Toronto's Niagara Region Right To life. That is right folks, safe and legal abortion must be eradicated because innate objects like toys will be SAD! As one blogger wrote, "Don’t make more toys than are in demand, or donate your surplus to needy kids." Was that that difficult to understand? But, God forbid those toys become SAD.

I had never seen a person so finished with god

2011-12-23T14:55:00.005-05:00

We wear our traumas

the way the guillotine

wears gravity.

Out lovers' necks

are so soft.

-- Andrea Gibson 'Gravity'

I asked my local library to buy 'The Madness Vase' by Andrea Gibson, and they did. I didn't have the money to buy it when I saw Andrea at Wellesley College. This is a good thing, not only will I have the chance to read her powerful new poems, but others in my area will have the chance to get to know her poetry, too.

I may know the word but not say it

2011-12-22T15:17:00.008-05:00

Distance: 6.34 miles
Time: 39 mins 35 sec
Average: 9.6 mph
Maximum: 20 mph
Calories: 428
Miles in 2011: 353.35
Total Miles: 1,202.39

Today was a beautiful day this morning. The weather must have been mid 60s (but windy!). I decided to go to the library to pick two DVDs. I haven't biked in more than a month, and I feel slightly guilty for that. I guess life got in the way and things started to become chaotic. So, even though I was planning on going to the gym, it would have been impossible to miss this opportunity. The ride to the library is great as usual. I have made this trip to many times, that I know where each road inclination is located. I know where every pot hole and bump is located. The ride home got a little bit more complicated because the weather drooped around 10 degrees and the wind pick up. I don't like biking with high winds. But, in all, I am glad I got to bike today. I missed it.

Coexist!

While enjoying the view of Fiske Pond I saw used needles on the ground. I was disgusted by it. They are a danger to public health. On that note, Natick is thinking of allowing a clinic where people can go there and do drugs in a save environment. (I might not be phrasing that correctly). One of the reasons the doctor is pushing for the clinic is so there can be clean and healthy use of needles. What do you guys think?

To my dearest family,

2011-12-18T15:24:00.003-05:00

And for some strange reason I knew this wouldn't be the last late night drive from Boston

2011-12-07T13:58:00.005-05:00

Another fun map... I live between the 'pretentious people' and 'hillbillies'. Now, I am not sure how much I agree with this map, but it is fun. The folks in western Mass always gets it worst.

The most violent element in society is ignorance

2011-12-05T22:41:00.047-05:00

Essay Review:

Marriage and Love (1911)

Emma Goldman

I first heard of Emma Goldman in my political theory class sophomore year of college. Now that I think about it, I think I would not have read her work (or that of Mary Wollstonecraft) if I didn't attended an all women's college. When I first read Goldman, I was shock that a woman would be bold enough to write about those topics in her time period. Goldman was an anarchist and an advocated of free love. Even though she didn't labeled herself a feminists, and distanced herself from the suffrage movement, she did believed and championed gender equality. She is definably one of the most interesting characters in American history.

The short essay 'Marriage and Love' which, I downloaded for a quick read, goes straight to the point: Goldman is vehemently against marriage. Goldman explains that love and marriage are not synonymous, in fact, if a couple love continues in married life, 'it does so regardless of marriage, and not because of it.' She states that 'marriage is primarily an economic arrangement.' Goldman writes: "If, however, woman's premium is a husband, she pays for it with her name, her privacy, her self-respect, her very life, "until death doth part." Moreover, the marriage insurance condemns her to life-long dependency, to parasitism, to complete uselessness, individual as well as social. Man, too, pays his toll, but as his sphere is wider, marriage does not limit him as much as woman. He feels his chains more in an economic sense." In terms of economic strain on the men, Goldman writes that men have to carry the burden of economically providing for his family.

Goldman also draws on the statistic of high divorce rates, one in twelve marriage ends in divorce when she wrote this piece in 1911.* Goldman states that the marriage institution has remained intact for so long because women are seen as having 'no soul', in other words, just an appendix or a rib of a man. Another interesting factor against marriage is the education and training women have towards marriage. She states that women are trained from infancy to get married and have children, yet, they are not taught about sex. Goldman writes, "It is indecent and filthy for a respectable girl to know anything of the marital relation. [...] The prospective wife and mother is kept in complete ignorance of her only asset in the competitive field—sex. Thus she enters into life-long relations with a man only to find herself shocked, repelled, outraged beyond measure by the most natural and healthy instinct, sex. It is safe to say that a large percentage of the unhappiness, misery, distress, and physical suffering of matrimony is due to the criminal ignorance in sex matters that is being extolled as a great virtue. Nor is it at all an exaggeration when I say that more than one home has been broken up because of this deplorable fact." This is something I always wonder about women and marriage from those times. Just imagine how awkward and frightening it must be for her to be completely ignorant about sex, and expected to perform with little or no knowledge.

Goldman writes that if a women does know the 'mystery of sex without the sanction of State or Church', she will be deemed unfit to become the wife of a 'good' man. She ends by saying that marriage only guarantees woman a home 'only by the grace of her husband.' She could not leave if she wanted to, and the husband would leave if she was a 'nag, petty quarrelsome, gossipy, unbearable, thus driving the man from the house.' She also criticised the idea that marriage protects children, since asylums, reformatories, and the streets are full with unwanted children. Furthermore, marriage does not protect women, since is makes them 'absolute dependent' on her husband. She also writes against those who want to stop 'free motherhood' (women who get pregnant willingly). She writes, " Who would fight wars? Who would create wealth? Who would make the policeman, the jailer, if woman were to refuse the indiscriminate breeding of children? The race, the race! shouts the king, the president, the capitalist, the priest. The race must be preserved, though woman be degraded to a mere machine,—and the marriage institution is our only safety valve against the pernicious sex awakening of woman." In other words, women are more than walking incubators and they should decide if, and when, they want to have children.

Goldman concludes that love, without the need of marriage, is enough to bond two people together. "If the world is ever to give birth to true companionship and oneness, not marriage, but love will be the parent." This essay reminded me a lot to the Mary Wollstonecraft's biography that I read, and her views on marriage. Hers were similar to that of Goldman, in that love and respect between two people was enough to make their relationship valid.

* I searched online but couldn't find a reliable statistic for current divorce rates. It ranges from 1 out of 2, to 1 out of 8 marriages will end in divorce.

The first of a new genus

2011-11-30T18:39:00.065-05:00

Book Review:

Life Of Mary Wollstonecraft (1890)

Elizabeth Robins Pennell

While playing with my IPod on my way to Washington D.C., I downloaded the App Kobo which, allows users to download and read books/magazines on your IPod. It is a great App which I recommend to others. Anyway, I began searching for Wollstonecraft since I just began reading her most famous work, A Vindication on the Rights of Women. I have written about her numerous times here since, I consider Wollstonecraft to be the genesis of my interest in feminism. Thus, I downloaded her biography written by Elizabeth Robins Pennell in 1890. The book is in the public domain, so you can read it too, here.

I think it is important to analyzed why Elizabeth Robins Pennell is writing this book. After the death of Wollstonecraft, her husband, philosopher William Godwin, published her posthumous works, including her letters. Wollstonecraft life was unconventional to say the least. She had a daughter out of wedlock with the American Gilbert Imlay who left her with the newborn in France during the French Revolution. There were also rumors that she had an affair with Henry Fuseli and she began cohabitating with Godwin before marrying. Due to her unorthodox lifestyles, her reputation was destroyed for almost a century. With this in mind, Robins Pennell's goal is to restore or at least explain the reasons for Wollstoncraft's actions. Robins Pennell is an admirer of Wollstonecraft, and she writes with high praises of the life and work of Wollstonecraft.

Wollstonecraft had a very tragic life impacted by domestic abuse and poverty. She moved a lot during her young life because her drunken father's inability to provide for his family. As the eldest, she was in charge of her young siblings. Robins Pennell goes into great detail about Mary's relationship with her siblings, her best friend Fanny Blood, and her short career as a governess. The book excellently uses Wollstonecraft letter's and work to narrate her story.

I knew fairly a lot about Wollstonecraft's life, but one aspect that Robins Pennell emphasized was new to me, and that was Wollstonecraft's relationship with religion. She was not an atheist like Godwin, and in fact, drew heavily on religion in her work and letters. Granted her understanding of religion and God changed as she got older, she still believed in a higher power. The author writes the following explaing how Mary was trying to help her sister Eliza, "Her one source of consolation and strength at this time was her religion. This will seem strange to many, who, knowing but few facts of her life, conclude from her connection with Godwin and her social radicalism that she was an atheist. But the sincerest spirit of piety breathes through her letters written during her early troubles."

It was very interesting seeing Robins Pennell explain Wollstonecraft's relationship with Fuseli, Imlay, and Godwin. The story regarding Wollstonecraft and Fuseli, a married Swiss artists, is that Wollstonecraft has hopelessly in love with him and didn't particularly hided it. However, since he was married, it was impossible for them to establish a socially acceptable relationship. The notorious rumor is that Wollstonecraft asked Fuseli and his wife is she could live with them. In trying to debunk this rumor, Robins Pennell explains that there are many versions of the story. Biographer Kegan Paul states that this story must not be true since "Mary remained to the end the correspondent and close friend of Mrs. Fuseli."

Robins Pennell is not kind to Imlay who was Wollstonecraft partner (non-husband?) while they were in France. Imaly was often absent from Mary and their daughter's life since his main preocupation was to gain riches. Robins Pennell stated that Imlay and Wollstonecraft did not marry because she, in revolutionary France, "would be obliged to proclaim herself a British subject, and would thus be risking imprisonment and perhaps death." Mary believed that in marriage, the mutual feelings are more important than what the law demands.

Mary's relationship with Godwin was frowned upon by many because she was seen as Imlay's wife (she used his last name even though they never were legally married). Thus, when Mary began a relationship with Godwin, people started to comment and whisper. They ultimately decided to marry because they didn't want their future child to be born out of wedlock, and avoid the social turmoil that would cause. Robins Pennell writes, "The plan he proposed was that they should be as independent of each other as they had hitherto been, that the time spent together should not in any way be restricted or regulated by stated hours, and that, in their amusements and social intercourse, each should continue wholly free." The wedding was such a low affair event for Godwin that he didn't even noted in his diary. They lived in separate houses and corresponded with each other through letters.

Thankfully, Wollstonecraft now is known for her book Vindication rather than her personal romances. This books states that Wollstonecraft wrote her book 'to demonstrate that the old ideas were false.' She wanted to show that women are human and 'should be given the opportunity to assert themselves as such.' Wollstonecraft was very critical of the educational system which aimed women as being 'alluring mistresses'. Her book is directed towards the middle class because they 'appear to her to be in a more natural state.' Robins Pennell states that Vindication is a 'work of inspiration', and one that will live forever because Mary believed in what she wrote. Robins Pennell writes, "She eloquently denied [women's] inferiority to men, not that they might claim superiority, but simply that they might show themselves to be the equals of the other sex."

I am very grateful that I was able to read the biography of someone that I have great admiration for. This biography increased by respect for Wollstonecraft, and this will help me have a reference point everytime I read her work. She was forced to live a life that women in the 21th century take for granted --- back in the 18th century. The book concludes with the following, "Whether her principles and conduct be applauded or condemned, she must always be honored for her integrity of motive, her fearlessness of action, and her faithful devotion to the cause of humanity. Like Heine, she deserves to have a sword laid upon her grave, for she was a brave soldier in the battle of freedom for mankind."

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

On a side note, this is the first book that I read on a e-reader. I have been personally against them because I like to feel a book in my hand, plus I like to highlight and write on the margins of books. However, this experience wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One of the advantages is that I can use a dictionary right away, so I am able to understand and learn new words. Also, I am able to highlight and add 'notes'. I am not sure that I might be able to read, say "War and Peace', on my tiny IPod, but I would consider it for short stories and essays. I feel like I am betraying books, though.

Thespian

2011-11-29T16:28:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Motherland, cradle me, close my eyes lullaby me to sleep

2011-11-26T16:38:00.012-05:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. 2011

I went to Washington, DC this past Sunday in order to do some business. I only stayed for one day, returned on Monday. I wished I had more time to see the Capital. I particularly enjoyed seeing the many embassies located on Massachusetts Ave. I hope that in the future I'll be able to return there and enjoy more of the place.

It was a very long ride both to DC and coming back home since I took the Greyhound/Peter Pan buses. The only thing I am grateful for is that those buses are now equip with WiFi which, made the ride a little bit less painful. However, on the way home, it was a catastrophe. Somewhere on the New Jersey highway, the water pipe of the bus broke. This was at around 4:30pm and I needed to take the next Bus to Massachusetts at 6pm. We waited siting on the bus until 5:30pm and it took us around one hour extra just to pass the Lincoln Tunnel due to the massive traffic jams. Needless to say, I arrived at the 42nd Port Authority at 7pm. I had missed the bus home. Then I was on the Greyhound service line for an hour (only one person serving like 30 people), and they told me the next bus that would take me to my town leaves at 12:30am. After deciding what to do, I had to take the bus to Boston at 10:30pm. I arrived at South Station, Boston, at 3am. Then had to wait until the commuter train would take me home at 4am (I got home at 4:30ish). Boston at 3am is eery. It was a very long way home. I am thinking that I'll take the train next time.

Washington, DC

New York

Union Station

Supreme Court

End Violence Against Women

2011-11-25T11:21:00.009-05:00

As today Americans indulged in what is commonly known as Black Friday, I would like to remind my dear readers that today is also the International Day To Stop Violence Against Women. This day commemorates the brutal murders of the Dominican Mirabal sisters under the dictatorship of Trujillo. I highly recommend reading the book 'In The Time of the Butterflies' by Julia Alvarez if you want to learn more about the Mirabal sisters.
If you want to learn more about violence against women, please click here and here.

Woman, you see, is an object of such a kind that study it as much as you will, it is always quite new

2011-11-14T05:46:00.022-05:00

Essay Review:

'What to do?' (1882)

By Leo Tolstoy

Even though I envision my literature reviews to be literature written by women, I might bend the rule to also include works by men about the topic of women (through not much). For example, I plan to read John Stuart Mill 'On the subjection of women' soon which, is a text many feminists read.

I was bored a couple days ago and I opened my Stanza App on my IPod and noticed that I have downloaded Leo Tolstoy essay 'What to do?'. The essay has two chapters, 'on labor and luxury' and 'to women'. I was interested to read what Tolstoy had to say 'to women' since, I have read mixed message about his views on women rights.

The premise of his message 'to women' is driven by Tolstoy's influence of Christianity. He states that the bible has given man the 'law of labor' and woman 'the law of bearing children.' With that statement, Tolstoy embarks on the ardours defence of such rigid and binary excuse. In terms of men, Tolstoy criticizes the upper class gentlemen, those 'in position to subject others', from departing from the law given by God to labor. He notes that the common thinking of the time is that 'machines will work, and people will be bundles of nerves devoted to enjoyment.' Due to this phenomenon, Tolstoy continues, women had to fulfilled both laws -- that of bearing children and performing the labor. He writes that it is not 'the childless woman who has conquered man, but the mother, that woman who has fulfilled her law, while the man has not fulfilled his.' It is men who have 'corrupted' woman into both laws.

In the next paragraph, Tolstoy describes the movement of women's writes in relationship to these laws. He describes the rights of women as 'remarkable piece of stupidity' and states that women want to be part of the 'laws of labor' in order to 'make use of the labor of others, and to live for the gratification of our caprices alone.' In other words, women, like upper class men, want to live a capricious life from the work of others. Tolstoy indicates that if men were to return to the 'law of labor', the question of women rights would not exist because women would 'never demand the right to share the toil of men in the mines and in the fields. She could only demand to share in the fictitious labors of the men of the wealthy classes.'

Then Tolstoy writes that women, too, have begun to neglect the law given to her. He states that wealthy women are refusing to bear children and lay their strength in the 'witchery of her charms, or in her skill in Pharisaical pretences at intellectual work.' Next, Tolstoy makes the case for his urgent plea, and that is that women should be 'the salvation of all men!'. In other words, typical in patriarchal mentality, men are childlike savages who cannot think for themselves. Woman are the saviors, that is our job.

The chapter is titled 'to women', and here is that Tolstoy has to tell them: 'the salvation of the men of our world from the evils from which they are suffering, lies in your hands.' Tolstoy goes on the describe the 'bliss' of childbirth and stating that even though it is not a heroic deed, you are fulfilling the 'will of God'. True mothers, Tolstoy writes, are those who do not seek praise, but raise their children because it needs to be so, even if those children 'often torture and reproach you.' Additionally, the work of women, apart from bearing children, is to instruct her children to fulfil the will of God. She will encourage her daughter to marry a man aware of his duty in life. Tolstoy writes that if, 'she has complied with it in submissiveness and in simplicity of spirit, she, standing on that loftiest height of bliss which the human being is permitted to attain, will become a guiding-star for all men who are seeking good.' Tolstoy ends his essay reiterating his plea that only women can prepare the new generation and fix public opinion, and thus, save 'men from the prevailing and threatening evils of our times.'

I finished reading the essay saying to myself, "well, in the context of his time...". The truth is that there is little that I personally agree with Tolstoy's view on such rigid gender roles. I don't believe that the sole law of men is to work and for women to bear children. I think those times are over, even though there are many who would wish us to go back to those times. In addition, it is not the work of women to 'save' men. I have read this in current times and lies on the assumption that men are childlike imbeciles and women are superior beings. That is not the case, and we should depart from such narrative.

In terms of reproductive rights, we have come a long way since 1882 when this essay was written. Women of all economic standings are choosing not to have children. There are many women, including myself, who don't see childbearing as a requirement for a fulfilling life. While reading Tolstoy essay, I noticed how dated it was. I am not sure how useful his section 'to women' could be to contemporary readers. Or perhaps his rigid views are so far away from my views that I couldn't connect to them. The only people whom I see might agree are those fundamentalist religious folks who would want women at home bearing children and men in the public sphere working.

*Source of picture: here.

Loveless as the multiplication table

2011-11-13T14:04:00.015-05:00

Poetry Review:

Ariel: The Restored Edition

By Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

I was a little big apprehensive about picking up Sylvia Plath's poetry book Ariel, which she was working on right before her suicide. I am was not an English major and I understood there will be many poems which I'll simply not understand, which was the case.

Out of this collection the poems that I enjoyed were "Tulips", "Lady Lazarus", "Elm", "Death & Co", "The Rival", and "Daddy". Lady Lazarus and Daddy, in particular, were two that have become favourites. I am glad that I have read Plath's biography previously, because it served as a great source of knowledge in dealing with Plath, often authobiographical, poetry. Plath was a very gifted poet and writer, and the book Ariel was bold and defient.

Here is Sylvia Plath reading "Lady Lazarus"

"Dying
Is an art, like everything else,
I do it exceptionally well."

y'know, i don't look forward in seeing you again

2011-11-11T15:27:00.011-05:00

How I might be becoming a local bike sensation:

I went a couple of days ago to Roches Brothers to buy something quick to eat. I got a pistacio muffin and a fruit juice. I went to the cashier person, Max, to pay. The conversation was as follows:

"Do you ride a bike?", said Max.

"Yes, I do!" said I, rather surprised.

"Do you ride in the summer? .. "

"yes..."

"... because I have seen you around. I also bike. Not that I am stalking you or anything.'

I had a nervous smile and left with a face of total confussion. Max, whose name I got from my receipt, has seen me bike even though, I can say this with total honestly, I have never seen him before. In addition, I can never recognize or even memorize the face of someone that I see while bike. Things happen very quickly, and sunglasses/helmet makes for difficult recognition. The only thing that might have ticked him off were my sunglasses and winter jacket (even though he said he recognized me from my summer rides).

I was sitting in my car completely puzzled. Either I have a stalker in my hands, or I am kind of a big deal.

I came to the conclusion that I am kind of a big deal.

Don't you think you can take me for a pretty little ride, I know "once upon a time" and "ever after" is a lie

2011-11-05T16:41:00.040-04:00

Distance: 2o.01 miles
Time: 2 hrs 05 mins 33 sec
Average: 9.5 mph
Maximum: 23.3 mph
Calories: 1,372
Miles in 2011: 347.01
Total Miles: 1,196.05

Today's ride was... challenging and defeating. I wanted to bike to Babson College to see how long it would take me to bike there. I made the horrible mistake of forgetting my water, which means that I had to cut my bike ride by half, it was more ambitious what I had in mind. I wanted to go to Weston, too. So, as expected my body was craving water the whole time. It was also cold and windy. From the topography above, the (B) is where Babson College is located. That would be at the top of a hill. The (M) is where Mass Bay Community College is located. I actually had to walk part of that hill. I was too thirsty and tired. I kind of wanted to sit on the sidewalk and cry. The section between the two black lines were extremely difficult and knocked the air out of me, specially the hill to Mass Bay Community College. The (W) stands for writhe which, means 'to twists the body, face, or limbs or as in pain or distress.' ;)
On my way back home, I stopped at a CVS and bought the worlds tastiest water. Later on, I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and bought a chocolate glaze donuts and a croissant. My leg hurts.

Babson College... it took me around 41 minutes to get there.

Longfellow Pond in Wellesley, MA. It was a pleasant surprise... it was very beautiful and tranquil.
Centennial Park, Wellesley, MA
Mass Bay Community College, Wellesley, MAWhat interested me about this clock was the time... 4:06... how did they decide which time to use? I actually stood there and thought about that for a while.

UPDATE: I think I have figured out the mistery!! Wellesley was established on April (4) , day 6!

AN OASIS IN THE MIDDLE OF WELLESLEY?!?!?!?!? I felt like those travelers in the Sahara Desert when they find those oasis in the middle of the desert. I walked with amazement and realized this was a water fountain. I didn't think it work since every part looked rusty. I stepped on the side pedal, and the water took about 10 seconds to reach the top. It made strange sounds. I tasted the water and it tasted.... decayed. I didn't drank more but at least my tongue wasn't dead dry.

Unitarian Universalit Society of Wellesley Hill in Wellesley, MA. They have a pride flag outside.

Wellesley, MA

Natick Common .... my view while eating the donuts and croissant

I drank about half of that water bottle... the water tasted like nectar from the gods in Mount Olympus.

late blooming flowers lye frozen underneath the stars, I want you to remember me that way

2011-11-02T14:55:00.017-04:00

Distance: 6.96 miles
Time: 40 mins 54 sec
Average: 10.2 mph
Maximum: 16.7 mph
Calories: 439
Miles in 2011: 327
Total Miles: 1,176.04

Small bike ride to the library today. We are having great weather this week, in the mid 50s. I think I put more layers than what I needed, but at least I wasn't freezing. In fact, I even biked without gloves on. Biking in cold weather is not as bad as it sounds. My complain is all the layers of clothes that you need, and sometimes that impides a smooth bike movement that otherwise you might have. Due to the layers, I sweat more during the winter than I do during the summer.

There are two things I have become interested in since I have started biking. The first one are moving bodies of water (every time I see a river/lake, I can't help but stop, enjoy the scenery, and take a picture of it), and second are cemeteries. I used to be scare of cemeteries as a child, which I guess its only natural. However, now I am fasinated by the dates, and the older the tombstone is, the more my imagination runs wild. This tombstone tells us that Nancy Jennings at the age of 30 had a child named Otis. He died at 10 months old. Nancy lived to be 72 years old. I want to know more about this Nancy Jennings.

Up close and personal with Walden. Notice that he is registered with the local police in case someone steals him. It is a good idea to register your bike, and actually the ordinates of bike law here in MA stipuates that you have to. The police department says that in case your bike is stolen, and someone tries to re-sell it, they might be able to cath them if you have your bike registered. I am sure that if Walden is stolen, the federal government and Interpol will be involve in his speedy and safe return. right? (just say 'yes')

A cementery in Natick, MA

I was impressed by this plant that didn't get the memo that we were already in Autumn. Everything is dead around her, yet she has the most vibrant of green colors. Does anyone knows the name of this plant? I would like to read more into her.

4,813,263,670

2011-10-27T13:45:00.009-04:00

BBC: 7 billion people and you: What's your number?

The BBC has this really cool interactive website that tells you which number are you, out of the 7 billion that will soon populate this planet. According to the website, I am number 4,813,263,670th. Also, there has been 79,610,066,256 people since the history began.

I feel special.

More info from the website:

What's next? The global population will continue to increase during your lifetime and beyond, reaching 10 billion by 2083. However, the rate of growth is expected to slow. Little of the current growth is happening in developed countries like yours.

Longer lives: In your area, women can expect to have one or two children. People are also living longer. This means people of working age like you will be supporting increasing numbers of older people. By 2050, there will be just 2.2 working-age people supporting every person 65 or older. In Europe, this will drop to two.

Battle for resources: It is estimated that your group of the richest countries consumes double the resources used by the rest of the world. The UN estimates that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the 2030s we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us.

Did you know? By mid-century, the world's urban population is likely to be the same size as the global population was in 2004.

184 people

the amount the population has grown while you've been on this site

Elizabeth Warren at Framingham State University

2011-10-26T13:24:00.027-04:00

Elizabeth Warren at Framingham State University
First Volunteer Organization Meeting

(Source: A picture taken by Warren of over 400 people who met at the Framingham State University in order to learn more about how we can volunteer in her campaign. We are all waving hello! I was sitting right behind the big flash)

Our Senator Karen Spilka introducing Elizabeth Warren. Sen. Spilka said what she admires about Warren is her independence, her people smart, and her passion.
This is Elizabeth Warren. She is running as a democrat for Senator in Massachusetts. This is the first time I have seen her speak, and I was eager to hear what her story is and why she is running for senator. I still don't have my mind set on whom I am going to vote, but I wanted to know more about her. She gave a short speech about her background and her campaign. I thought she was very engaging, and comical at times. Warren spoke about how when she was young, America invested in children. America invested in economic peace and invested in the middle class. She said her campaign will be about values, and to answer the question: what future do we see for ourselves here in Massachusetts and in the United States? She spoke about her battle to ensure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and how she was told not to bother because she will face the biggest lobbying group in the world. She said, 'what I heard was to work harder'. We all laughed. Then she spoke about her campaign, and said she will have a campaign that is smart. It will 1) focus on message and 2) build to make it work (use multiple voices). She said, that together, we will be smart, tough, and work hard. It will focus on values and the future of America. At the end, she said that we will win if we focus on grassroots work and person to person campaign. We had over 400 people. In all honestly, I was expecting between 50 to 100 people. I was in the first big group that entered the Hall. Warren greeted each and every person in this room. I thought she was going to do it for the first 100 people or so, but she greeted each person. I think it took her around 30 minutes to greet us, sometimes even taking personal pictures with people and listening to what they have to say. People came from all over Massachusetts... like Brookeline and Marblehead (far from Framingham). I didn't know that we were actually going to meet her... while in line I was thinking of what I was going to tell her. At the end, she introduced herself to me, and I told her my name, and she thanked me for being there. Then I meet Senator Spilka and did the same thing.

Do I have to put the law on you babyfor all the wicked things you do?

2011-10-22T21:54:00.054-04:00

It's movie review time! The scores are give out of 10 (ten). Enjoy. (By the way, if you want to read the synopsis, just click on the title of the movie... I didn't write it here because that would take too much space. My vote history is here and I'll add the trailers of those movies which I think are worthy of a movie rental.)

Lust, Caution (China) 2007 Feature 8 - Big fan of both Ang Lee and Tony Leung

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts 2006 Mini-Series 9 - Excellent documentary about hurricanes Katrina by Spike Lee. I saw all five hours.

Apocalypto 2006 Feature 8 - Yes, it is by Mel Gibson, but this is truly an excellent film.

Monster House 2006 Feature 6
Hunger (UK) 2008 Feature 8 - Powerful film and excellent acting by the lead

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans 2008 Documentary 8
North Face (Germany) 2008 Feature 8 - A true hiking story, one of the best I have seen about this topic

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 1997 Feature 6
Dresden (Germany) 2006 TV Movie 6
Jane Eyre 2011 Feature 8 - very good, and excellent acting

Never Let Me Go (UK) 2010 Feature 7
Lioness 2008 Documentary 8 - About female fighters in Iraq

Source Code 2011 Feature 8 - Excellent!

The Debt 2007 Feature 7
Roots of Love 2011 Documentary 7
Summer Hours 2008 Feature 7
A History of Violence 2005 Feature 8 - very powerful

A Woman Under the Influence 1974 Feature 8

Eastern Promises (UK) 2007 Feature 9 - extremely powerful story about human trafficking in the UK. I highly recommend this one.

The Smurfs 2011 Feature 3
The Color Purple 1985 Feature 7
The Long Kiss Goodnight 1996 Feature 5
Downfall (Germany) 2004 Feature 9 - Another one I highly recommend out of this list. This powerful movie shows the last hours of Hitler and the people around him. Unlike the many WWII films, this one shows us that interesting point of view. Fascinating to see those who stayed with Hitler until the very end, and those who wanted out.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 2009 Feature 5
The Cable Guy 1996 Feature 5
Dangerous Moves 1984 Feature 5

Is she bright? so well read? are there novels by her bed?

2011-10-21T20:26:00.008-04:00

I went on a date today . I took her to Upper Crust Pizza at downtown Wellesley. We had cheese pizza and coke. She only ate a slice and half. I went for four or more. Then we held hands and walked around Wellesley College campus. The sun was setting, but the buildings and atmosphere was wonderful. We were looking for Waban Lake, but got lost around Wellesley College Library. I was trying to explain to her the importance of women education, and how wonderful women colleges are. Her respond was that she was tired from walking. I told her we needed another date in order to take pictures when the sun is out, and perhaps I can convince her to apply there in the future. She is in 3rd grade, so I still have time to convince her. She did liked Waban Lake, see picture above.

Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.

2011-10-17T17:11:00.027-04:00

VISITING SYLVIA PLATH'S WORKING PLACE
AND THE CEMETERY WHERE HER MOTHER
AND GRANDPARENTS ARE BURIED

Distance: 20.01 miles
Time: 2 hrs 01 mins 11 sec
Average: 9.9 mph
Maximum: 27.2 mph
Calories: 1,329
Miles in 2011: 320.04
Total Miles: 1,169.08

Part One: Sylvia Plath's Wellesley Home

I have been postponing my bike ride to visit other locations associated with Sylvia Plath because it has been very windy here in Massachusetts. Over the weekend, we had winds of around 25 to 30 mph. When I went biking, the weather channel said winds were around 20 mph. Up until I did 16 miles, the wind was not powerful at all, and actually, I was thinking of where all the wind went. But, nature played a bad hand, and about 3 miles away from home, the wind picked up out of nowhere. It was tiring and debilitating. I really dislike biking against high winds. There were parts where the wind would stop me, and I couldn't even bike faster than 6 mph. So, those last 3 miles were not fun at all, but overall, I enjoyed this second installment of visiting locations associated with Sylvia Plath. I visited Lookout Farm in South Natick where she worked, and also Woodlawn Cemetery of Wellesley where her mother Aurelia Plath and maternal grandparents, the Schobers, are buried. Sadly, I couldn't find their tombstone but at least I visited the cemetery. I thought the cemetery was small, but when I got there, it was very big and finding their tombstone would be like finding a needle on a haystack.

Lookout Farm, South Natick, MA

Lookout Farm, South Natick, MALookout Farm, South Natick, MA

Woodlawn Cemetery Wellesley, MA

Not part of the Plath's tour... but this is my church.

Wellesley Town Hall

Walden enjoying the lovely view of the Natick Dam

Wellesley Congregational Church

I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still

2011-10-14T20:50:00.021-04:00

Book Review

Sylvia Plath: A Biography
Linda Wagner-Martin

Before I start reading Plath's poetry and her journals, I thought it would be a good idea to read her biography, since it would help me understand Plath's work to a greater extend. Plath has made her life her art work, and this biography by Linda Wagner-Martin was a great introduction to Plath's life. The book is insightful, and easy to read. This informative and precise book covers the life of Plath from her infancy to her tragic death. It draws information from her letters and journals. I have read The Bell Jar previously, and this book helped me understand Plath intention in writing her book which I missed the first time (it is about 'rebirth'!). This is a great starting point for those who want a conscience biography of Sylvia Plath's life.

I greatly enjoyed reading about Plath's life. Plath was a very gifted student, and an overachiever. Her father died when she was young, and that left a lasting impact on her. She had a permanent fear of people leaving her. Her mother had to take care of her and her brother but Plath resented the fact of her mother was not spending time with them. Her relationship with her mother was peculiar in the fact that she needed her, financial and emotional, but Plath disliked her mother's influence in her life. In addition, it was tragic to see the social constrains of the 50s and its effects on Plath's life. She wanted to marry and have children, but she also wanted to be a famous writer. I feel that at the end of the day, she couldn't have both. Being a writer for Plath was central to her life and her mental well-being, and when that was challenged, like being a housewife and taking care of her children, that infrastructure began to tumble. It was funny but even though I knew how the ending was, her tragic suicide, I was hoping that the ending would be diffident, that somehow she could make. She was suffering from depression, and her separation from her husband, Ted Hughes, was her breaking point. She was a single parent with two little kids living alone in London. She was running low on cash. For me it was a great tragedy that she didn't live to see herself become one of the foremost poets of the 20th century.

I was surprised to hear Plath speak... for some reason, I thought she had a different voice (perhaps even a Bostonian accent, but no). Her voice is very commanding and powerful, and after reading how insecure she was with her work and life, I thought she was shy and spoke softly. On the other hand, after reading this biography, I learned that Plath was notorious for hidding what she really felt about issues. Either way, I thank YouTube for this!

When your heart is broken, you plant seeds in the cracks and you pray for rain

2011-10-13T15:17:00.036-04:00

(source)

Yesterday, I was fortunately to attend Andrea Gibson poetry reading at Wellesley College. The show started at 8pm, but I got there around 7:20pm. I stayed inside my car in the parking garage until 7:40pm because I didn't know if people were already entering the auditorium. I often get nervous about new experiences, but my excitement to see my favorite poet won over. I started walking towards the auditorium and saw that many people were walking towards there too. About 300 people RVSP on Facebook, so I was expecting a big multitude of people. I paid my $10 entry fee, and saw that about 40+ people were already inside. I sat about 6 rows away from the stage. I was kind of sad that I didn't enter earlier, and thus, couldn't sit closer, but I was in a good location nonetheless. While waiting, I caught a glimpse of Andrea who was in the far right of the auditorium getting ready for the show. I have read that she gets nervous before a show, and I was able to notice that from my seat. She was very serious, walking back and forth. The people in charge were getting the lights and audio ready before the show, and I was able to experience it all. I have been a fan of Andrea since I first heard her love poem 'Photograph', and I have been waiting diligently until she came close to my house to see her.

Everyone showing Cara love!

Perhaps my biggest surprise and one that made the whole experience even more magical, is the role Cara, my favorite person in the web, had in the show. Cara is a terminal ill person whose tumblr I have follow since April. I wrote very briefly about hir here. Anyway, Cara is a huge fan of Andrea, and ze was able to skype and see the show (see picture above). It was very strange because I wanted to scream, 'hey, I know Cara too!' but I didn't. During Andrea's show, she made various references to Cara, particularly how ze has changed Andrea's life, and I just smiled and agreed.
During the show, Andrea was very funny and engaging. It was just like I imagined her shows to be like. The highlights for me were the poems 'Dive' which she dedicated to Cara, 'Ashes', and 'I Do'. I had a lovely time there, and I am sure other people did, too. I wish I could write poetry like Andrea, but for the time being I am content with listening to her write phenomenal poems. Thank you for sharing your art, Andrea.

Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they're falling like they're falling in love with the ground

2011-10-12T17:05:00.010-04:00

Distance: 11.05 miles
Time: 1 hrs 05 mins 30 sec
Average: 10.1 mph
Maximum: 25.4 mph
Calories: 713
Miles in 2011: 300.03
Total Miles: 1,,149.07

Today I went to the library to pick up two DVDs. Then I went to Natick Falls to visit a small Cafe, Charles River Coffee House, where I bought a rather delicious chocolate chip muffin. They had a 'help wanted' sign and I fantasized about working there. I took my chocolate chip muffin and went to the waterfalls right in front of the coffee house and enjoyed the fantastic scenery.

Tonight, I'll go to Wellesley College and see for the first time my favorite spoken word poet Andrea Gibson. For some strange reason I am very nervous about it, maybe because a lot of people RSVP and I hope there is space for everyone. I can't contain my excitement.

ever since Adam cracked his ribs and let us go

2011-10-08T18:37:00.039-04:00

Distance: 30.14 miles
Time: 3 hrs 05 mins 17 sec
Average: 9.7 mhp
Maximum: 29.1 mph
Calories: 2,060
Miles in 2011: 288.98
Total Miles: 1,138.02

Quick update about the flat tire: I went to Landry's to get it fix. They charged me less than $20, and the guy fixed it right in front of me, explaining step by step how to do it. I think I can do it on my own next time. I'll add a spare tube to my Christmas list. Also, the guy was very nice and friendly. Mom wanted me to go to that place where the guy was very sexists because it is at a walking distance from my house, but I have principles and decided not to go there. For those wanting to compared bike vs car maintenance, this year I have spend $25.50 on bike maintenance (flat tire + battery for bike computer).

Today I did my first ever 30+ miles with Walden. I have biked 30+ miles at the gym, so I knew my legs were ready. I have been eager to go for a long bike ride, and seeing how favorable the weather is now, it was impossible to stay home and do nothing. This trip took me to the towns of Natick, Sherborn, Medfield, Millis, Holliston. This was my first time visiting the towns of Medfield and Millis. I am not going to lie, the bike ride was difficult. It wasn't so much the distance, but the perpetual hills in this part of Massachusetts. You can see in details from the topography above how it was just one hill after another. I dream of flat land and, while riding I imagined how pleasurable it must be to bike in places like Iowa. Taking those dreaded hills aside, I did enjoy visiting those towns. They are quintessential New England. (Info above is from Wiki)

While on my bike

In the above album is a collection of all pictures I have taken since I've started biking.

Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,024 according to the 2010 Census. Medfield was first settled in 1649.

One of my favorite pictures that I have taken since I started biking. It is the back of the Unitarian Church in Medfield Center.
The Dwight-Derby House: Constructed in 1697. It was long thought that the house was built in 1651, but irrefutable scientific evidence has established that this house was not built until 1697. Still, it is one of only several dozen documented 17th century houses still standing. The Dwight-Derby House is at 7 Frairy Street in Medfield, Massachusetts. The house is one of the top ten oldest homes in the United States. The town bought the house in 1996, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Medfield State Hospital, located at 45 Hospital Road, opened in 1896 and originally operated on 685 acres (2.77 km²) pastoral. At its peak in 1952, it housed 1,500 patients. The film Shutter Island started prepping February 2008 and started filming at Medfield State Hospital in March 2008. The film The Box was filmed at the hospital in December 2007
Lowell Mason Museum and Music Center. Birthplace of Lowell Mason and a rare example of First Period American architecture and construction. Portions of the house date to 1651 according to a dendrochronology survey. A community effort saved the home from demolition and relocated it to Hinkley Pond in 2010. The Lowell Mason Foundation maintains the house, which will house the Lowell Mason Museum, community space, and a music center.

Medfield Town Hall

Medfield Public Library

Millis Public Library. Millis is a town in Norfolk County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is a small town with a population of 7,891 according to the 2010 census.
Old Train Station, Millis (I think)The Charles River which passes by Millis. In this area is where King Philip's War occurred. From Wiki: The history of Millis is closely tied with King Philip's War of 1675 to 1676. On February 21, 1676, Native Americans killed 17 Medfield citizens and destroyed half of the town (32 houses, two mills, and many barns). Immediately after this attack, the Native Americans under King Philip (Metacom) fled to Millis where they held a grand feast. This spot is marked by “The King Phillip Trees”, which are two hundred year old trees protected by the Millis Historical Society. The next day, on February 22, the Native American forces led an offensive against the Fayerbanke Palisades at Boggestowe Farms, which are in present-day Millis. This attack was repulsed, as well as a second attack, which occurred on May 6.

Part of Route 115 which changed names three times - Exchange St., Middlesex St, and Central St. on my way to Holliston. It felt ETERNAL. This was a very difficult part of the trip, however, it was very scenic.

Down town Holliston, which I have biked before. A very lovely town and I simply love how this church looks like.

First Congregational Church of Holliston on the Town Green. This is the site of Holliston's original meeting house.

Holliston Town HallA farm in Sherborn, MA

I never learned to count my blessings I choose instead to dwell in my disasters

2011-10-06T17:04:00.013-04:00

VISITING SYLVIA PLATH HOUSE IN WELLESLEY
& MY FIRST FLAT TIRE ::sob::

Distance: 14.56 miles
Time: 1 hrs 25 mins 26 sec
Average: 10.2 av
Maximum: 23.7 mph
Calories: 946
Miles in 2011: 258.84
Total Miles: 1,107.88

THE GOOD: I am currently reading Sylvia Plath A Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin which, I am enjoying greatly. Plath was a phenomenal woman and I simply love her thoughts and style of writing. It was with great enthusiasm to realized that she used to live around 7 miles from my house in Wellesley. So, I decided to bike there and see the house where she grew up. I have biked to Wellesley, MA many times, and it is pretty cool to realized that Plath walked those same streets too. When I finally reached her home, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I almost saw her standing at the door. :)

THE BAD: Less than one minute away from my house I started to hear the hissssing noise coming from my front tire. I knew right away what it was, my first ever flat tire. I've been feeling pretty bad about it, but I guess it was bound to happen anyway. I have never fixed a flat tire nor do I have the tools to do it. Landry's is too far away for me to walk, and I wonder how much they would charge to get it fix. On the other hand, this can be a learning experience for me and I should buy the tools and fix it myself. After all, it doesn't seem that difficult. I don't know, I will see with that mood I wake up tomorrow and then I'll decide. ::really sad face::

Elmwood Rd, Wellesley MA where Sylvia Plath lived as a teenager. It was also where she first tried to commit suicide on August 24, 1953 by swallowing sleeping pills.

I didn't take a picture of the house because 1) it is a private home and 2) the mailman was walking around. I found this picture online.There is a park further down the street.

The book also said Plath worked at Lookout Farm. It didn't state which town, but it was probably this one in Natick. I have biked pass it a few times and it is a very big farm.

St Patrick's Church, Natick MA (on my way home)

Straight talk, give me the straight talk

2011-10-05T14:18:00.010-04:00

(source: channelATE.com: Comics and Cartoons by Ryan Hudson by Ryan)

I have had ChannelATE on my Google Reader for a long time. Some of the comics are very funny, but there are many done by Ryan Hudson which minimized and makes light of rape/sexual assault. I saw this one today, and its blatant portrayal of how chloroform can get you 'laid' while your partner is unconscious, is very disgusting.
I think this cartoon, and many others of this nature, is part of the greater rape culture in society. Rape and sexual assault is a tragedy of great proportion, and the promotion and dismissal of it should not be tolerated. I have unsubscribe.

hasta que me olvides voy a intentarlo

2011-10-05T10:23:00.042-04:00

And now some talk about Spanish music! Billboard has ranked the top 25 Latin Artists since 1986 and here is the list:

25) Bronco: El Gigante De America : I remember little about this band which broke up a while ago. What I do remember is that when I moved to the USA, was when they were very popular, but I failed to remember which was their top hit.

24) Emmanuel : I am extremely happy to see his name here. Emmanuel is one of my all time favorite singers. The height of his carrier was in the 80s and early 90s, but I find his music to be very sophisticated and romantic. He also has a very distinctive voice and charisma. My favorite song by him is 'Pobre Diablo.' (39 songs on my IPod)

23) Marc Anthony : Marc made me a fan of Salsa, at least when he is the singer. I am a huge fan of his voice and the excellence of his songs. (34 songs on my IPod)

22) Juan Luis Guerra Y 440: He is the pride of the Dominicans and one of the best musicians of Latin America. He plays Bachata and merengue, and if you want to be familiar with those genres of music, look no further than Juan Luis Guerra. He is one of my favorites. (39 songs on my IPod)

21) La Mafia: I remember little about this band from the 90s...

20) Los Bukis: I have a few of his band's songs but I am more familiar with the head singer/songwriter Marco Antonio Solís who went solo when the band broke up.

19) Intocable: Not familiar with this norteño band.

18) Los Temerarios: Not familiar with their music... on a side note, I couldn't stand the brothers Adolfo and Gustavo Angel who made up the band.

17) Juanes: Juanes is a very popular Colombian artists who mixes rock to his fusion of Latin rhythm . However, I have never understood the appeal.

16) Conjunto Primavera: Not familiar with them...

15) Shakira: I have mixed feelings about Shakira. I have her first two albums in Spanish and I think they great. She is a very talented songwriter. Then she made the 'crossover' and I think the sold out badly. After her album 'donde estan los ladrones?', I don't care about her music. I think she is too talented to be recording what she is doing now.

14) Los Tigres Del Norte: Not familiar with their music...

13) Vincente Fernandez: Vicente is one of my 'feminists problems'. Some of his songs are very sexists but I like a few of them, like 'aca entre nos.' (6 songs on IPod)

12) Gloria Estefan: She never did it for me (1 songs on my Ipod -- 'no te olvidare')

11) Ricky Martin : I have always loved Ricky Martin. He is an excellent singer and human being. (4 songs on my IPod -- I haven't gone around to adding more)

10) Juan Gabriel : Juan Gabriel is an iconic singer/songwriter of Latin America. Almost everyone has sung a song by him (he is a prolific songwriter). His songs are among the best ones. Actually, when I was around 4 or 5, he was my favorite singer. (27 songs on my Ipod)

09) Ricardo Montaner : After Juan Gabriel, Ricardo Montaner was my favorite singer (when I was 6-10 years old). He writes romantic songs and is a personal favorite of mine. He is not as famous as in the 90s, but still makes music. ( 33 songs on my IPod -- favorite song is 'me va extrañar')

08) Selena : Even though she died in 1994, Selena is still part of the Latino consciousness, specially here in the US. Of all the entertainers who have died, I still mourn her death. I always ask myself, 'how big would she have been...'

07) Alejandro Fernandez: I'll add this to the 'feminists problem' along with this father Vicente. Some of his songs are sexists, but he was a lovely voice and excellent songs. (34 songs on my IPod)

06) Marco Antonio Solís : He is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. His lyrics are poetic and romantic. (36 songs on my IPod)

05) Ana Gabriel: I was very surprise to see her on this list, and also this high! She is one of my favorite Spanish artists, specially because 1) She writes her own songs and 2) her ranchera album 'Mi Mexico' made me a fan of ranchera music. Ana Gabriel is Mexican of Chinese ancestry. I find some of her songs to be sexually suggestive, and in a way very refreshing for a woman to be writing and singing that. Anyway, my favorite album 'Mi Mexico' is a must if you want to listen to excellent ranchera music. (44 songs on my IPod)

04) Chayanne : He is one of those very solid pop singers who is loved by his fans. Every time he has an album out, most likely than not, the single will be great. (22 songs in my IPod)

03) Cristian Castro : I am very surprise to see him on his list... and not in a good way. Castro is a domestic abuser... I don't care about his music (I find his music to be average at best).

02) Enrique Iglesias: I liked him when he first came out... I even have a few of his old albums, but then the interest died down for me.

01) Luis Miguel: Ah, the number one. I would dismiss any 'top artists' list if Luis Miguel is not on top. Not because he is my favorite non-trova singer, but because he is simply the number one singer since 1987. In my view, he has been constant in his production of excellent albums. Even if they were not excellent (33 or Mis Romances) , they are better than the average album by any other artists. His concerts are just magnificent. I went to his concert in 1997 and it was one of the best concerts that I have ever been. I could write forever about Luis Miguel. I have been a faithful fan since 1994, and he is one of the few artists whom I buy a new album without knowing much about it. He sings boleros, pop, rancheras, tango, and everything in between. Some of my favorite albums are 'Romance' (Boleros), Mexico en la Piel (Ranchera), and Aries (pop).
(159 songs on my IPod)

"Hasta que me Olvides' Luis Miguel (written by Juan Luis Guerra)

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Since I do like to analyses all things gender... this list has only four female singers, one who died in 1994. Like in the American music market, I find male singers to reach popularity and remain on top easier than female singers.

Blue like the winter snow in this full moon black like the silhouettes of the trees

2011-10-04T16:41:00.007-04:00

Random pictures and stories:

I stayed in a Hotel last Sunday/Monday in order to take a test which I failed. Not the end of the world. Anyway, I stayed at the Westin in South Boston and here is a picture from my view.

My cousin was kind enough to be the hand model for 'The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath' which, I checked out from the library. I have become more interested in the life of Plath, and in the next coming months, I think she will be an excellent companion to me. Trivia: Both Plath and I attended Newham College, Cambridge.

The cold winter is coming soon. My mom already took out all the heavy blankets so I can be warm and crispy.

A picture I took while in South Station, Boston. I was waiting for my train to take me home. It was very cold and sitting close to the doors didn't help.

sexism is a social disease

2011-10-03T20:15:00.013-04:00

If there is something that made me really proud was being a participant of Boston Slutwalk. This is the first time that I feel connected to an international movement. I clearly remember the first few posts from the many blogs that I read about the incident in Toronto where a policeman said women would stop being rape if they didn't dress like sluts. I remember the first Slutwalk in Toronto, and how it started to germinate around the world. LIFE has collected some pictures of the demonstrations from around the world -- Paris, Berlin, New York, Indonesia, etc. We are part of something big and beautiful. You can check out my pictures from Boston Slutwalk here. You can read more about Slutwalk here.
On a personal note, I am rather indifferent about the usage of the term 'slut'. My main motive for participating in the demonstration was not so much to reclaim the word 'slut', but rather to rebuke the myth that what a persons wears or does is in anyway an invitation for rape/sexual assault. You don't have to reclaim the word 'slut' to participate, and actually in the Boston Slutwalk, they would make sure to always say 'sluts and allies'. The main speaker thanked those who, for one reason or another, don't feel comfortable with the word 'slut', and yet participated in the demonstration.

So bury me underneath the willow, under the weeping willow tree

2011-09-29T14:16:00.012-04:00

I might be poor, but I always have money for books! All these books cost me $9 at my local library book sale.

Contemporary Feminist Thought by Hester Eisenstein, The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche, Psycho-Analysis and Feminism by Juliet Mitchell, Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism by Zillah Eisenstein, Ed, The Dialectic of Sex The Case for Feminist Revolution by Shulamith Firestone, Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault.

The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Vol II by Adam Smith, The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen, Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov, and The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

Elective Affinities by Johan Von Goethe, The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Viking Portable Library of Nietzsche, Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, and The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.

Two GRE Study Books

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A couple of days ago I visited by old college, and I took a few pictures. I always love going there because it was a place where I was very happy.The main entrance of Regis College, Weston, MA

When they ring the golden bells for you and me

2011-09-25T15:41:00.032-04:00

Distance: 20.07 miles
Time: 2 hrs 09 mins 16 sec
Average: 9.3 av
Maximum: 25 mph
Calories: 1,436
Miles in 2011: 244.28
Total Miles: 1,093.32

Today's bike ride took me to Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. It is a non-profit Massachusetts Historic landmark. From the website it says, 'Longfellow's Wayside Inn—a nationally significant Massachusetts Historic Landmark—is the oldest Inn still operating in the United States and has been serving travelers along the old Boston Post Road for almost 300 years. What began as a two-room home in 1707, the Howe family ran a successful tavern and innkeeping business on this site from 1716 to 1861.' It is a very beautiful place, and I recommend checking out their website. I already told mom that we must go there and try out their dining, since it smelled heavenly when I arrived there. I saw their menu and they have many historical meals and drinks. It looks like a very popular place since it was full when I got there. Also, it is a popular venue for weddings.
The reason that took me to the Wayside Inn is actually more... morbid and sad. I was watching Dateline on ID episode 'The Friday the 13th Murder' about the killing of a local man, Ed Schiller. It is always interesting when you see your local town on TV even when it is about a murder. Long story short, Mr Schiller is a local guy and was killed in Newton back in 2006. He was dating a woman who was the love of his life, and her ex-husband had him killed. They were planning on marrying at the Wayside Inn. When I saw the story unfold on TV, I thought it was romantic and the scenes of the Wayside Inn lovely. Thus, I decided to go there.
I have never biked to Sudbury, but I have driven there a few times. It is a lovely town with lots of farms and quiet roads. I took Grove St in order to reach Route 20 where Wayside Inn is located. The massive mountain on the topography shows you how challenging it was. I was biking at average of 8 mph because everything seemed uphill. The (J) part was at the top of a very difficult hill, and when I saw the downhill part was beginning, I screamed 'Jesus!'. I mean, it felt like I was biking off a cliff! I usually check out and meticulously study the topography of my trip, but I didn't this time. It made every hill and turn interesting. Sudbury is a lovely place, and I hope to go back there soon to do their history tour. Enjoy the pictures!

Grove St. -- Autumn is slowly creeping in!
Built in 1693 by Jeremiah Pike. He and his descendants were Town and Militia Officers, Yeomen and makers of spinning wheels in the Colonial Period; occupied by the same family for eight generations. (source)

My scenic route towards Wayside Inn.

In 1716, David Howe expanded his own home and began a small tavern along the Old Boston Post Road, one of the first mail routes in the country. Business thrived by way of the busy coach traffic to and from the cities of Boston, Worcester, and New York. In 1746, David Howe passed the family business to his son, Ezekiel, a Lieutenant Colonial in the Sudbury Minute and Militia. Each generation expanded the Inn’s main building as business thrived. (source)

Henry Ford moved the Barn onto the property in the 1920s to add to the agricultural buildings for the historic village he envisioned.Wayside Inn

The Martha-Mary Chapel was built by Henry Ford, the Inn's last private owner. Its secluded setting, perched at the top of a grassy knoll and framed by a backdrop of towering white pines, makes this a very popular place for weddings.I didn't know this... this was a pleasant surprise! I was singing 'Mary had a little lamb' all the way home!
The Redstone School (so named because of its former location on Redstone Hill in Sterling, MA) is a classic New England one-room school, dating from 1798 and moved to Sudbury in 1927. The building was used as part of the Sudbury school system from 1927 to 1951, teaching grades one through four.
Too bad you can't read it... but George Washington passed by the Inn on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Patriot Army.

The Martha-Mary Chapel was built by boys from the Wayside Inn Boys' School operated by Henry Ford on the Wayside Inn property. Wood for the building came from trees felled by the historic hurricane of 1938. The Chapel celebrated its first wedding in 1941.

The Martha- Mary Chapel is one of six non-denominational chapels built around the country as a tribute to Henry and Clara Ford's mothers, Martha Bryant and Mary Litogot Ford.

Behind Wayside Inn there is his small pond. Notice that the workers are setting the camp for a wedding.

Sideview of Wayside Inn

One of the small utility buildings Henry Ford moved on to the property during the 1920s and 1930s (Ice House)

Being born a woman is an awful tragedy

2011-09-25T07:38:00.001-04:00

“Being born a woman is an awful tragedy… Yes, my consuming desire to mingle with road crews, sailors and soldiers, bar room regulars - to be a part of a scene, anonymous, listening, recording - all is spoiled by the fact that I am a girl, a female always in danger of assault and battery. My consuming interest in men and their lives is often misconstrued as a desire to seduce them, or as an invitation to intimacy. Yet, God, I want to talk to everybody I can as deeply as I can. I want to be able to sleep in an open field, to travel west, to walk freely at night…”

- Sylvia Plath, on rape culture, etc (via fourmarys)

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I love Plath more each day.

In the majority of sexual assault cases

2011-09-24T07:34:00.000-04:00

“In the majority of sexual assault cases, where a woman is the victim of a man’s violence, rape apology is rooted primarily not in the denial that male violence exists, but in the denial that male violence means something and needs to be stopped. Conversely, in cases where a man is the victim of a woman’s violence, rape apologism is strongly rooted in the denial that women’s actions can count as violence at all—and especially that their actions can count as sexual violence against men, who are routinely construed as incapable of being victims.”

- (via sexismandthecity)

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patriarchy hurt us all.

it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

2011-09-23T18:04:00.014-04:00

An update on my Jazz Music/Guitar Playing Endeavors

Last Thursday was my last guitar lesson. I canceled the classes due to monetary constrains. My mom didn't tell me to cancel it, but I made the choice that taking classes at this time might not be appropriate. I just started a new teacher who is not into Jazz, so the decision was not that devastating. I have plenty of books and online resources to play by myself. I do hope in the future to take professional classes, specially of music theory, but those things can wait. I have always been motivated to practice my guitar, Ani, even months before I started taking classes, and my motivation has not dwindled. Playing my guitar takes me to a peaceful place where I block everything that is going on around me.
Over the past few weeks, I have been listening to a lot of Jazz, and I have been lucky enough to acquired a few of the fundamental Jazz albums (see list below). I also read two books - Jazz for Dummies and Jazz 101 which, have been tremendously helpful in understanding the history of Jazz and learning about different Jazz players/styles. Listening to Jazz is different for me. I am a lyrics oriented listener of music, that is that moves me when I hear a song. Music style and arrangement usually comes second. With Jazz, devoid of lyrics, you have to pay more attention to the melody, harmony, and how each instrument complement each other. It is like my former teacher said, you have to train your ear to listen to Jazz. I am liking it thus far!

Barney Kessel - To Swing Or Not to Swing
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Charlie Parker - The Complete Dial Sessions
The Dave Brucket Quartet - Time Out
Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Diamonds - Best of
Duke Ellington -- The Best of Duke Ellington
John Coltrane - Giant Steps; A love Supreme Deluxe; The Very Best of John Coltrane
Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines (Volume IV)
Miles Davis - Birth of Cool; Bitches Brew; Kind of Blue; The Best of Miles Davis and John Coltrane 1955-1961
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
Stan Getz - The Best of the Verve Years; The Artistry of Stan Getz
Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners ; Live At the Five Spot
West Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar ; Jazz Guitar

One of my favorites:

you have looked at one of the world’s more obviously fucked up power structures

2011-09-23T07:21:00.003-04:00

“I am deeply, deeply suspicious of the idea that being a feminist makes you a better person. It doesn’t. It makes you a person who opposes a specific political and social structure. That’s not “morality,” it’s not “love,” it’s not “compassion” or “empathy” or “decency” or anything else that we so frequently call it; all it means is that you have looked at one of the world’s more obviously fucked up power structures and somehow, genius that you are, saw that it was fucked up.”

- Sady Doyle

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It's funny because I always said that feminism has made me a better person. Not in the "I am better than you' tone, but that I view society radically different, particularly when it comes to gender and power. I guess Doyle has a point about feminists understand of power structures, and that at the end of the day, that is what makes us feminists.

Where in hell can you go far from the things that you know

2011-09-22T15:27:00.054-04:00

I got the following question from Anon:

So, I've read quite a few of your blog entries and was wondering...(if you have addressed this already you can just point me to the blog) Do you feel safe when biking alone? being a young woman and all? I read one of your post about not hiking alone anymore but do you feel generally safer biking? or do you stay in busy areas? Just wondering cause I'm a young female too and I'd love to ride my bike/run everywhere but the roads around me a so lightly traveled I don't. Same with hiking......I one day dream of hiking the AT but since I'm a woman alone..... :( and I don't generally have anyone to go with.

Hi Anon! Great question! The short answer is that 'yes', I do feel safe when I bike, but there are many factors to that. One of the reasons that I blog so much about rape, and violence against women, is because it hits home more than I have been able to openly talk about it on my blog.
Taking that into consideration, I greatly value feeling safe in my surroundings. As a survivor, I think I have my brained wired differently when it comes to dealing with compromising situations like hiking or biking in lightly traveled areas. I must confess that there are places in my town that I avoid. My town has taken in many rapists because the city (Worcester) where they were didn't have the financial means to house them. Plus we are closer to Boston where they can jobs (I guess). They tend to be concentrated in the center of town, so I avoid that area. The plus side is that since it is in the center of town, there are many people around. On the other hand, I live in a very safe county. Places like Wellesley, Natick, Sherborn, Wayland, etc, are very safe. It is important to note, that if you are going to get sexually assaulted by someone, that person will most likely know you, and you will know them. So, the odds of me biking and someone grabbing me are slim. That being said, some of the places where I bike are also lightly traveled with lots of forests. I am not going to lie, there have been occasions when I said to myself, 'Man, someone can grave me and nobody would know.' Or, 'I left my house without saying where I was going, or what route I was going to take.' But, apart from that, I do feel save.
I do follow some biking relating blogs geared towards women bikers, and I do remember a post where one blog addressed the whole 'biking while being women' issue. They provided some helpful tips, which anyone can follow disregarding gender identification. Things like using your voice (scream!), your U-Lock to defend yourself, carrying cellphone/ID, always being visible at night, telling people where you are going, etc are very helpful tips (sorry, I can't find the link!). If you don't know anyone to bike/run, you can start your own Meetup where you can find people with similar interests (or find a biking/running/hiking group in your area).
Hiking, on the other hand, is something I don't feel save doing by myself. As a consequence, I don't do it, which is a great shame because I did plenty of research about hiking in my area. I did went to a couple of places, but I felt vulnerable so I stopped. It's funny because one of my dreams in to do the Appalachian Trail but even if I wasn't a woman, those things are better to do it in pairs or with more people. Hey, maybe we can do it together!
If you have more question, feel free to let me know.

Come on life, I mean, give me a little more Behind my back, that singer is stabbing

2011-09-22T07:10:00.006-04:00

RANDOM PICTURES:

So warm and insightful were you in my eyes

2011-09-21T15:34:00.009-04:00

Distance: 6.91 miles
Time: 41 mins 02 sec
Average: 10.1 av
Calories: 456
Miles in 2011: 224.21
Total Miles: 1,073.25

Today I went to the library to pick up two three albums (Miles Davis and "Cannonball" Adderley). Then I took the slightly longish way home, in order to visit Dug's Pond. I didn't eat property before biking, so I didn't push it with a longer ride.
For the first time ever, I forgot to properly adjust the air pressure of my bike. I left in a hurry, and wasn't able to do it. It surprised me how different the bike feels. I mostly have the PSI at 75-80, but I think right now it must be bellow 60. It is one of those things that if you ride a lot your bike, you tend to notice. The bike felt heavier and with more traction to the ground.
I enjoyed the bike ride. I have been hard on myself lately for not biking more often, specially since the weather has been very nice lately. I have lots of places that I want to visit, I just need the motivation.

Dug's Pond

Walden waiting for me.

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Unrelated pictures -- I went to Boston a couple of days ago, and the weather was gloomy to say the least. This is John Hancock Tower in Back Bay, Boston.Back Bay, Boston

Lately I have been traveling to Walthan, MA... and here is a picture of the City Hall.

I realized I compromised, I sacrificed far too much for far too long

2011-09-21T06:50:00.010-04:00

The wonderful people who make up the Men's Rights Activist (MRA) have a new Internet meme (Men's Rights Activist Marmoset). If you haven't had the great pleasure of encountering them, they are the folks who decry the horrible oppression of (white, Christian, heterosexual, and rich?) men in this country. And how do they express their activism, you ask? Well, through misogyny (which I can't say that... because pointing out their misogyny makes me a misandric, according to them... but, oh well). Here are some of the memes:

except getting off his back

2011-09-20T18:29:00.006-04:00

“I sit on a man’s back, choking him, and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by any means possible, except getting off his back.”

- Leo Tolstoy, Writings on Civil Disobedience and Nonviolence (via liquidnight)

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Today on CNN, the 'Talk Back' question was if Obama is creating a class war by increasing the taxes of the wealthy (as the Republicans are trying to say). While reading my Google Reader, I can across this quote by Count Tolstoy and immediately thought about the 'class war' narrative that is taking this country (a concept addressed by Marx of how the proletarians will rise against the bourgeois who are exploiting them). Tolstoy hit the nail in the head.

Have I been blind, have I been lost inside myself and my own mind

2011-09-20T08:00:00.008-04:00

I have written here many times how my room faces a children's playground. Every summer I brace myself for the onslaught of noises that disturb my afternoon naps (white whine!). There is a silver lining, however, and that is that I get to spy on my neighbors since, the playground is shared with around 15+ other houses. It is like the movie Rear Window minus the camera. I look out my window and spend countless hours watching people pass, play, talk, drink, fight, etc.
Nevertheless, one thing that simply freaks me out are the screams. The picture above of Fry from Futurama greatly describes my train of thought seconds after I hear those vicious screams. I have convinced myself, with great certainty, that I will be the start witness of a murder case that will take place in my playground. I cannot tell you how many times I have jumped from my bed or chair to take note of the bloodbath that might be taking place, but in reality, it is just children doing down the slide. I even have a camera next to the window just in case I need hard evidence for the police.

At the end of the day, the children are only playing.

HOW THEN, I ASK, SHALL WE DRINK WATER?!

2011-09-19T19:39:00.009-04:00

There is this website called White Whine - A Collection of First World Problems that I find amusing. It has really made me stop and think of things that I struggle with, like my computer not having audio, and how much of my energy I spend on whining about it. On the other hand, there are people suffering with innumerable problems. Here are a collection of a few of those whine:

And it goes on and on. I recommend following this website, you'll get a few good laughs. However, for me, the one that takes the cake for the best White Whine is a vintage one from times of Slavery:

From the website:

From Perilous Fight, a book about the War of 1812. This is the secretary of the Navy, Paul Hamilton, whining about the forced sale of his slaves to cover his debts.

“I do not now expect that I shall be left a shelter for myself and family, or a Servant to hand them a cup of water.”

HOW THEN, I ASK, SHALL WE DRINK WATER?!

We possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past

2011-09-16T20:52:00.034-04:00

BOOK REVIEW

My Ántonia (1918)
Willa Cather

The book's narrator, Jim Burden, arrives in the fictional town of Black Hawk, Nebraska, on the same train as the Shimerdas, when he goes to live with his grandparents after his parents have died. Jim develops strong feelings for Ántonia, something between a crush and a filial bond, and the reader views Ántonia's life, including its attendant struggles and triumphs, through that lens.

My Ántonia is a book that I struggled to read, which is surprising since it is only 175 pages, but it took me an incredible amount of time to read it. I vacillated between liking and dismissing the story, but it didn't keep me glued like previous books that I have read. My initial dislike is that I am trying to read books by woman narrators and seeing how their respective shape the story. In this case, even though it is a woman writer (with an interesting back story), the narrator and main protagonist is Jim Burden. That being said, I found that I liked both Jim and the women characters in the story. Taking the book in the context of its time, Jim was very respecting of women and I found that he valued them for their humanity and strength.
The story is beautifully written, and I personally enjoyed how the roles of nature and the plight of immigration were interwoven in the story.

Humankind’s Relationship to the Past: The story is of Jim narrating the story of Ántonia and his own from when they were children until adulthood. The narrative of the story has a dense sense of nostalgia, and the common feeling that the past is better than the future. In this story, the naivete of living in the prairies and, enjoying a sense of stability with the surrounding serves as a welcoming respite.

Humankind’s Relationship to Its Environment: One of my favorite themes of the book is the environment and its role in shaping the characters. I have never been to the mid-west, but like many people, I have read an almost romanticized description of the landscape. Sadly by the end of the book, many of the places that held an important symbolical meaning, have been ravished by industrialization.

The Immigrant Experience in the United States: What kept me interested in this story is how Cather brilliantly describes the plight of immigrants coming into this country. Granted she was writing about late 19th century immigrants, I couldn't help but think of the people coming to this country today, and how they face similar hardship. They have to deal with homesickness, inability to speak English, and cultural/religious differences. In addition, immigrants have to struggle with social constrained that makes it difficult to fully integrate into American society.

In hindsight, I am glad I read this story even though it took me so long to do it. I admire the personal strength of Ántonia, and how she had to struggle with integrating into American culture. However, I am rather sadden with how her life turned out to be, married with 10 children. In her late teen , she was so wild, curious and free. I wonder why she turned out that way (yes, I know, she got pregnant and her first husband left her... but still). I guess this story has kept me thinking...

Ours is not a caravan of despair

2011-09-15T19:10:00.004-04:00

Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times.
Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair.
-- Rumi

I've walked these streets in a carnival of sights to see

2011-09-15T07:53:00.000-04:00

RANDOM PICTURES:

the difference between mansplaining and simply explaining something

2011-09-14T07:49:00.004-04:00

“A feminist man should be able to understand the difference between mansplaining and simply explaining something while simultaneously being a man. The difference is the invalidation of the marginalized person’s expertise and experience as well as the general patronizing or condescending tone. The argument that the word “mansplain” is divisive is ridiculous. The only thing that’s divisive is the propensity for men to mansplain in the first place. Marginalized people should not have to suffer communicative indignities just to keep privileged people around. If those marginalized communities must be silenced or spoken down to in order for the privileged to stay, I would be just fine with showing those with unexamined privilege the door.”

- —Megan Milanese, kicking some ass over at Lawsonry (via stfusexists)

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Lots of 'manspaning' when I was in grad school... specially from male teacher to female students. It was simply insulting.

People ruthless, people cruel see the damage that some people do full of hatred, full of pride it's enough to make you loose your mind

2011-09-13T07:24:00.004-04:00

(source)

Of the many things that I read online, this one gave me chills. This used to be the history of the United States of America. There is a huge difference between leaning this in school, and seeing this flyer. Simply appalling.

I must get my soul back from you; I am killing my flesh without it

2011-09-12T07:18:00.004-04:00

RANDOM PICTURES:

I dreamed that you loved me

2011-09-11T07:10:00.004-04:00

I dreamed that you loved me

What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age

2011-09-10T07:07:00.003-04:00

“What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age.”

- Sylvia Plath (via toast-andbananas)

I have never been able to express my fear... and Plath is just.

::sigh::

almost instinctive assumption

2011-09-09T07:02:00.003-04:00

“But one of the most persistent traits of the Western white man has always been his fanatical and almost instinctive assumption that his systems and ideas about the world are the most desirable, and further, that people who do not aspire to them, or at least think them admirable, are savages or enemies. The idea that Western thought might be exotic if viewed from another landscape never presents itself to most Westerners.”

- Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones), in his book Blues People (via solitudinous)

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

This quote reminded me of western countries persistent work in exporting western style democracy. The idea that some countries might not like it is simply so inconceivable.

the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak

2011-09-08T06:49:00.004-04:00

What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am Black, because I am lesbian, because I am myself — a Black woman warrior poet doing my work — come to ask you, are you doing yours?

And of course I am afraid, because the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger. But my daughter, when I told her of our topic and my difficulty with it, said, “Tell them about how you’re never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there’s always that one little piece inside you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter, and if you don’t speak it out one day it will just up and punch you in the mouth from the inside.”

In the cause of silence, each of us draws the face of her own fear — fear of contempt, of censure, of some judgment, or recognition, of challenge, of annihilation. But most of all, I think, we fear the visibility without which we cannot truly live.

And that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength. Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in our corners mute forever while our sisters and our selves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned; we can sit in our safe corners mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid.”

Audre Lorde, from “The Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action” (1977).
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
One of my favorite quotes from Audre Lorde is that our silence will not save us. I guess that is one of the reasons why I like blogging so much, and reading that other people have to say. It is a way for us, any person with access to the Internet, to share our ideas, history, and concerns. When it comes to fighting oppression of any kind, language and action is vital. It is imperative to tell our side of the story, to create our own narrative. We cannot live in self-annihilating silence.

I earnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and human happiness consists

2011-09-07T06:34:00.002-04:00

Some pictures are just bad ass!
Janelle- Bangladesh by Surfing The Nations on Flickr.

And I'll leave you with this quote by Wollstronecraft:

“My own sex, I hope, will excuse me if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone. I earnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and human happiness consists. I wish to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness.”

- Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication on the Rights of Woman) (source)

you're just about the lowest and the dirtiest thing I've ever seen

2011-09-06T06:21:00.002-04:00

RANDOM PICTURES:

I've walked these streets in a spectacle of wealth & poverty

2011-09-04T20:55:00.007-04:00

This labor weekend has been like any other weekend, I suppose. Tomorrow I was planning on biking to Medfield and Millis, but this week I biked 143 miles (mostly at the gym) and I am beyond tired. That is the most I have biked in a week, ever. I think I'll stay home and recuperate my strength and energy.

On other news, this week I will get to know if I got accepted into a job/program I applied last... January! I am both excited and a total nervous wreck.
And to the people reviewing my application:

you go home with Sally Ann

2011-09-02T15:53:00.014-04:00

Distance: 11.19 miles
Time: 1 hr 8 mins 35 sec
Average: 9.8 ave
Calories: 762
Miles in 2011: 217.3
Total Miles: 1,066.34

I did some errands today. I went to the library to return and get some Jazz albums. I am developing an impressive collection of Jazz songs. However, bad news, my teacher Brad left my music school, and now I'll have a new teacher next week for the start of the new semester. I have had him as substitute, and he is very nice and laid back, but he is more into classical guitar. I am not sure what is his Jazz background. If he is not familiar with the genre then I might ask for another teacher. I am currently reading "Jazz for Dummies' which, has been very helpful to learn the history and icons of Jazz.
After the library I went to Shoppers World to buy mom a gift card since yesterday was her birthday. We will be going to Olive Garden this Sunday to celebrate. While I was paying the cashier asked me how the weather was outside. You could tell that she was tired from standing up the whole day. I told her the weather was gorgeous... a perfectly day. No a cloud in sight with mid 70s temperature. She told me she was envious, as she looked at my bike helmet.

Walden at the Shoppers World

real woman-hating is celebrated

2011-09-01T09:14:00.008-04:00

““It’s awesome that a movement of women supposedly hating men is complete and irrefutable proof that [women are] wrong, but all the woman-hating men are Great Men and great artists and cool, admired role models, like rappers or rock stars or all of those philosophers who thought women were inferior. Imaginary man-hating is condemned and yet real woman-hating is celebrated. Why shouldn’t I hate men? Clearly they hate me and that impacts my life daily.””

- Blamer Fictional Queen via I Blame the Patriarchy

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I have to think of this quote every time someone belittles the feminists movement because someone was accused of hating men (which is NOT what the movement is about). I have seen many people having to apologized on behalf of those people, but no one does it for those Great Men who are misogynistic but society insist in glorifying them, and even electing them to office. I'll be waiting for those apologies. (link here for an awesome respond by stfufauxminists to someone who thought this quote didn't apply to them)

Ableism must be included in our analysis of oppression

2011-08-31T04:45:00.001-04:00

“Ableism must be included in our analysis of oppression and in our conversations about violence, responses to violence and ending violence. Ableism cuts across all of our movements because ableism dictates how bodies should function against a mythical norm—an able-bodied standard of white supremacy, heterosexism, sexism, economic exploitation, moral/religious beliefs, age and ability. Ableism set the stage for queer and trans people to be institutionalized as mentally disabled; for communities of color to be understood as less capable, smart and intelligent, therefore “naturally” fit for slave labor; for women’s bodies to be used to produce children, when, where and how men needed them; for people with disabilities to be seen as “disposable” in a capitalist and exploitative culture because we are not seen as “productive;” for immigrants to be thought of as a “disease” that we must “cure” because it is “weakening” our country; for violence, cycles of poverty, lack of resources and war to be used as systematic tools to construct disability in communities and entire countries.”

- Mia Mingus, Moving Toward the Ugly: A Politic Beyond Desirability (via classycoochie)

This is one of my fav quotes from her speech.

(via liquornspice)

I know that it will break your heart the way things are

2011-08-30T20:28:00.032-04:00

Or how people you admire say vapid, insensitive things

Spiegel Interview with Director Michael Haneke

In discussing his film 'White Ribbon':

Haneke: I believe that the purpose of drama is not to let you go home feeling reassured. That was never its purpose, even as far back as the Greek tragedies. Every film is manipulative, raping the viewer. So the question is: Why do I rape the viewer? I try to rape him into being reflective, and into being intellectually independent and seeing his role in the game of manipulation. I believe in his intelligence. At its best, film should be like a ski jump. It should give the viewer the option of taking flight, while the act of jumping is left up to him.

::sigh:: Really, 'rape'? See, I am a huge fan of Haneke. I often say he is my favorite director of all times (sometimes he is switch with Kar Wai Wong depending on my mood). I have seen every Haneke movie that has been released here in the USA. His movies are very different from anything that you have seen. I actually don't even recommend them because they are... an acquired taste. He deals with violence, fear, miscommunication in society. His movies are not easy to watch. For starter, they can be confusing since he doesn't explain what is going on. His movies will leave you baffled and angry. But, I like them because they are unique.
The problem that I have with the above quote is that it desensitizes what rape is. Rape is not watching a Haneke movie, no matter how perplexing and disturbing they are. You cannot 'rape' someone in order for them to be reflective or for them to use their intelligence. That analogy is insensitive and troubling. It is a very poor choice of word, one that portrays Haneke in a very negative light.
This quote also makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I have been played by Haneke. I enjoyed his films tremendously, but is that how he sees me as a viewer? As someone he has to 'rape' in order for me to be able to use my intelligence? His movies are very manipulative, and even brilliant at times, but did he sat on his director's chair and asked himself, 'gee, how can I make his movie more rape-y just so it can fuck the mind of the viewer?'

And when asked about Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" he said:

Haneke: I was upset because I think it's irresponsible. I can't stand violence. I'm allergic to any form of physical violence. It makes me sick. It's wrong to make it consumable as something fun.

If you are against violence, what the heck is rape?

This goes back to something that I struggle with, and that is how can I deal with artists whom I enjoyed, but promote rape culture/sexism. I remember blogging a while back about Rob Thomas from the group Matchbox Twenty, who would make tasteless rape jokes on his Twitter. He doesn't do them anymore, thankfully, but I really like his music, and there he was twitting rape jokes to thousands of his fans. Like Sady Doyle wrote in her blog Tiger Beatdown, I now make a conscious decision not to make any financial contribution to artist who promote rape culture/sexism no matter how much I like them. Actually, after a while, I stop liking them. After becoming more educated about feminism, I know there are artists out there who battle rape culture/sexism, and their work is worth paying money to enjoy.

They just want you to remember to be careful where you walk

2011-08-30T08:29:00.000-04:00

“Having privilege isn’t something you can usually change, but that’s okay, because it’s not something you should be ashamed of, or feel bad about. Being told you have privilege, or that you’re privileged, isn’t an insult. It’s a reminder! The key to privilege isn’t worrying about having it, or trying to deny it, or apologize for it, or get rid of it. It’s just paying attention to it, and knowing what it means for you and the people around you. Having privilege is like having big feet. No one hates you for having big feet! They just want you to remember to be careful where you walk.”

Sindeloke, on Privilege (via rebel-grrrl)

Lately I've been walking all alone through the wind and through the rain

2011-08-29T17:19:00.016-04:00

Seeing the Damage of Hurricane Irene

Distance: 14.80 miles
Calories: 1,008
Miles in 2011: 206.11
Total Miles: 1,055.15

I went to the library today to pick up some jazz albums, and to see firsthand the damage hurricane Irene has done in the area. We were lucky that our power didn't went out yesterday, even though most of my town and surrounding area didn't have electricity nor running water. We had winds of around 35 mph and rain. It was tropical storm once it got in my area, and for what I saw, the material damage wasn't so great. In my bike ride of 14+ miles, I only saw five trees down. The Charles River and Fiske Pond are about one to two feet higher with water. The bike lanes are fill with tree debris which made it very challenging to bike while hitting sticks and rocks. However, in the town of Natick, I saw those machines that clean up the sides of the street. In all, we were not hit like other places, and our main fear is flooding due to our many lakes/rivers, but we had none of that (in my area).
On my way to the library I noticed that the battery of my bike computer died. It lasted two years, which is not bad. It cost me $5.50 in Walgreen to get a new one (the miles above is a guess using Google). When I got home, I was able to program it again. I actually saved the box the bike computer came in which, is great because I needed it to reprogram the computer. When I bought it, the guys at Landry's were kind enough to do it for me, so I was happy to be able to do it for myself.
Also, when I was biking home, I stopped at a lemonade stand these two kids had. I was running low on water anyways, plus it made me feels good to support their entrepreneurship. I gave them a dollar for a .50 cup of pink lemonade. It tasted very good and I was on my merry way.

Walden today at the Natick Waterfalls. It is difficult to tell from this picture but the water was about one foot higher, and the current stronger.

Some streets in Sherborn were closed.

Fiske Pond -- The fishing dock was under water.

This is the picture taken in April of the fishing dock in Fiske Pond.

Strong currents of the Charles River!

Uneducated fools can be found in every country and every period of history

2011-08-29T08:26:00.002-04:00

“There is nothing unusual about Governor Rick Perry. Uneducated fools can be found in every country and every period of history, and they are not unknown in high office. What is unusual about today’s Republican party (I disavow the ridiculous ‘GOP’ nickname, because the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt has lately forfeited all claim to be considered ‘grand’) is this: In any other party and in any other country, an individual may occasionally rise to the top in spite of being an uneducated ignoramus. In today’s Republican Party ‘in spite of’ is not the phrase we need. Ignorance and lack of education are positive qualifications, bordering on obligatory. Intellect, knowledge and linguistic mastery are mistrusted by Republican voters, who, when choosing a president, would apparently prefer someone like themselves over someone actually qualified for the job.”

Richard Dawkins (via cultureofresistance)

Sexuality is different from objectification

2011-08-28T08:16:00.001-04:00

"Sexuality is different from objectification. When a woman is made to be an object they are dehumanized. When a woman portrays their own sexuality, they are humanized.❞ -slutrevolution

Vertigo

We didn't wonder if we'd grow up and be happy

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

Sh*t White Feminists Say

Defund Susan G. Komen

breaking secrets and telling other truths

What a lover Sappho was

And ain't I a woman?

in return we will transact your domestick affairs

The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to

Blog for Choice 2012

False history gets made all day, any day, the truth of the new is never on the news

Touch me 'til my ribs become piano keys

what you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority

If I rest, if I think inward, I go mad

It goes by, and whatever dream you use to dope up the pains and hurts, it goes…you’ve only got so long to live

thank you for letting me fall in love without withholding

Your face saving promises whispered like prayers

if you want this you’re going to have to ask

You Construct Intricate Rituals

With just my conscience And a bitter sense of irony As my chaperone

She had been in revolt all her life

None of us are pretty. But our ugly has an alibi.

The day will come when we will all have to live with less

love is all over the place there's nothing wrong with your face

Is she bright? so well? read are there novels by her bed?

meets minimum standards of decent human

how none of us heard a word

I had never seen a person so finished with god

I may know the word but not say it

To my dearest family,

And for some strange reason I knew this wouldn't be the last late night drive from Boston

The most violent element in society is ignorance

The first of a new genus

Thespian

Motherland, cradle me, close my eyes lullaby me to sleep

End Violence Against Women

Woman, you see, is an object of such a kind that study it as much as you will, it is always quite new

Loveless as the multiplication table

y'know, i don't look forward in seeing you again

Don't you think you can take me for a pretty little ride, I know "once upon a time" and "ever after" is a lie

late blooming flowers lye frozen underneath the stars, I want you to remember me that way

4,813,263,670

Elizabeth Warren at Framingham State University

Do I have to put the law on you babyfor all the wicked things you do?

Is she bright? so well read? are there novels by her bed?

Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.

I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still

When your heart is broken, you plant seeds in the cracks and you pray for rain

Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they're falling like they're falling in love with the ground

ever since Adam cracked his ribs and let us go

I never learned to count my blessings I choose instead to dwell in my disasters

Straight talk, give me the straight talk

hasta que me﻿ olvides voy a intentarlo

Blue like the winter snow in this full moon black like the silhouettes of the trees

sexism is a social disease

So bury me underneath the willow, under the weeping willow tree

When they ring the golden bells for you and me

Being born a woman is an awful tragedy

In the majority of sexual assault cases

it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

you have looked at one of the world’s more obviously fucked up power structures

Where in hell can you go far from the things that you know

Come on life, I mean, give me a little more Behind my back, that singer is stabbing

So warm and insightful were you in my eyes

I realized I compromised, I sacrificed far too much for far too long

except getting off his back

Have I been blind, have I been lost inside myself and my own mind

HOW THEN, I ASK, SHALL WE DRINK WATER?!

We possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past

Ours is not a caravan of despair

I've walked these streets in a carnival of sights to see

the difference between mansplaining and simply explaining something

People ruthless, people cruel see the damage that some people do full of hatred, full of pride it's enough to make you loose your mind

I must get my soul back from you; I am killing my flesh without it

I dreamed that you loved me

What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age

almost instinctive assumption

the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak

I earnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and human happiness consists

hasta que me olvides voy a intentarlo