Today’s happy sea otter comes from sgrace on flickr.
Please feel free to use this thread as an open thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Is there anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Reading a great book? Anything in the news that you’d like to discuss? Commiserations, felicitations, temptations, contemplations, speculations?
Hoydenizens, over to you.
Well, I ‘m about to go shopping for a new couch(es), after a busy morning of other weekend stuff. I wish I could just have a happy float for a bit like that otter!
Lurker El sent me this link earlier this week – see what the rest of you think. (The discussion page on that entry is also interesting)
A few MRAs want us to know that they took themselves off the marriage market, so ner? It’s all a bit of a yawn, isn’t it?
Their Wikipedia article does rather lay bare the actual motivations of the buy-a-submissive-wife crowd, though. (Not that they should come as any surprise.)
Um, MRAs saying they won’t marry anyone?
And this is bad because…?
Helen, isn’t it obvious? This is obviously devastating news to feminists the world over – because NOW WE’LL BE SORRY!
That’s exactly the laugh I needed to start my week-end properly! :)
The latest (stronger than usual)rumour on Obama choosing a running mate has him choosing Joe Biden. Kim’s got a post up on LP, and there’ll be commentary breaking on all your favourite US blogs. Here’s
Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend
Making Light (open thread)
Jesse Taylor at Pandagon
If you’re feeling really keen, there’s already more than 200 comments up at Daily Kos.
I’m going to use the open thread as an opportunity to post the latest “cute things they say” story from my LJ. This happened a few minutes ago:
The lad had a balloon. He brought it home from school yesterday. A regular rubber balloon, air only.
He observed the process of it getting smaller and smaller. He was fascinated, and a little disappointed. We explained that the air molecules were diffusing out through the rubber. He thought for a second, and said:
“Well, at least it’s not your life source. Imagine if your life source drained out through your skin! That would be terrifying.”
Horrifically terrifying! I love his vocabulary!
My kids and I had one of those conversations that makes your head explode at the time and gives you LOLs later: I was chiding them about their lollygagging in bed and ineffectual faffing about in the mornings, resulting in missed buses etc, and my first born said, in a tone of innocent seriousness “maybe we should set our alarm clocks”. I gaped, and went a little bit mental, along the lines of when did you stop setting your alarm clocks/why do you think we paid good money for those/what on earth were you thinking lines. A few minutes later I was able to say that I could see the funny side, but could they please start using them immediately.
(P.S. I just realised that I didn’t look closely enough at Kos – the fourth open thread on the running mate announcement is up to 200+ comments – the previous three open threads on the same have hundreds of comments each, as well)
Minor vent on behalf of a mate as well: what is it with a bloke who decides to move away from his kids to another state a few years after the break-up, and now that he’s not doing the 50/50 custody thing any more has decided to drop all pretence of any friendship with the woman who is now the primary carer for their kids again?
He doesn’t even ask her for an adult assessment of how the kids are going at school (you know that if you ask kids they’ll always just say “oh, it’s okay”).
I got txted by Barack! Unfortunately, I was totally asleep at the time and it didn’t wake me up. Oh well. I get up, try to tell my mother the news, and it’s above the fold in today’s paper…I’m always the last to know.
As for the Wiki article, I’m totally lulzing about the fact that it has a ‘This article or section appears to contradict itself’ warning at the top.
I heart Otterday.
That is all.
I too heart Otterday, but would also like to take advantage of this lovely invitation to get things off one’s chest to say that my dear friends D and M lost their much-loved father and husband S to lung cancer last week, after an 18-month nightmare. If anyone is reading this holding a cigarette: put it out, and do not pick up another one evah.
Funeral highlights included S’s younger brother, whom I saw and heard debate for his and my old school in 1978, who was my fellow-witness at the wedding in 1987 and also best man (in which role he gave another magnificent speech), and who on Friday delivered his brother’s eulogy, again magnificently. M, who is 20, turned up in the company of 15 or so mates and fellow-choristers and sang with them for her father at his funeral; they were joined at one point by both her mother and her auntie (also seasoned competitive choristers in their youth) to boost the soprano part of ‘Come Again, Sweet Love’, which D taught me at the kitchen table of our student share house in 1978.
Generally speaking, ageing sucks, but it has massive compensations as long as your memory still works.
PC, I can imagine that glorious choral tribute so clearly, it must have been a powerfully moving funeral. My sympathies for the loss you and your friends are enduring.
Smoking is evil.
Pippilicious over at For Battle! on the spin surrounding plans to introduce fees to cover funding for services providing “the non-academic aspects of student life” – those services that have withered since the legislation outlawing compulsory student unionisation. You know, those services that student unions actually provided. I wonder who’s going to run these student services now? And how such a managing body will avoid any politicisation? Just nobody mention the “U” word.
Yes, those completely unnecessary, frivolous services. Like support for mature-age, indigenous, queer, female, disabled, and parent students; emergency loans; budget and Centrelink assistance; mental health education; information on academic matters including appeals and negotiating special consideration; advice on matters concerning discrimination; social justice week; the secondhand bookshop; catering that isn’t limited to KFC and McDonald’s; Orientation programmes and the Mentoring programme. (These are just examples from my alma mater.)
Yeah. Nothing to do with real University life.
PC, I’m so sorry. My family has been touched by early lung cancer also.
Love that song – it’s a standard in the university choirs’ songbooks.
: /
Outed myself as a feminist to one of my co-workers. She said “I’m not a feminist” and seemed very emphatic about it, so I asked her why. “Because men fight in wars, and if you want equality then you’re going to have to be equal in every way, but you don’t want to be subject to the draft, do you? Yeah, see?”
: /
Quixotess: *eyeroll*. There has been a fairly protracted discussion of the draft red herring over at Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog – have you seen it?
[Aside: did you find your way here from the xkcd forums? Welcome.]
I actually hadn’t seen that post (though I am familiar with the blog), so thank you for linking me. I was aware of many of the given points, and I’d like to say that I was able to convince her, but I was so gobsmacked all I did was sort of laugh disbelievingly.
I came here from Shakesville, actually, been lurking for a while, but the fora are my main haunt. (Don’t think I’ve seen a mention of Hoyden on there, except re: the restraining order comic and Munroes subsequent appearance on here to discuss same.) Recommended place to be as the management are very progressive and good at creating a safe space. Thanks for the welcome. :)
There was a mention of us there recently in the Olympic uniforms thread. Yes, I’ve noticed they’re a bit less feminist-hostile than most, erm, not-explicitly-feminist forums.
Oh yeah. That was me. Heh, forgot. Also mentioned you in the discussion on Mount Isa nonsense, but they didn’t like that.
Because of course, the *users* on that forum are a bit, hm, not always progressive. I sometimes forget I’m not in the feminist blogosphere when there, and am then surprised when I have to actually argue comments that would, here or at Shakesville, get the commenter banned or laughed out of the room. *shakes fist*