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Rape Culture is still Comedy Gold, and it Shouldn’t Be
I have often said I am amazed at how many good men of my generation (and earlier generations) there are. How many of them truly get it, or at least try to get it, when we talk about rape culture. Because I know the pop culture they were raised with, because I was raised in the same popular culture. The whole Han, Leia, Luke dynamic is truly cringeworthy and actually a little creepy when watching it now. Toxic masculinity dominates all of their personal relationships, right down to Leia kissing Luke at in the first part of Empire just to make a point to Han. And yet, as a geek,…
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He Only Does That Because He Likes You
In February of 2014, I hadn’t yet started this blog, so I didn’t really have a place to put long thoughts on things not specifically related to finance, pets, pop culture, or writing. So I made the following post on Facebook. Again, this post is 4.5 years old, and yet, it is still relevant. “He only does that because he likes you.” Pop Tart is 10. She just started a karate class that’s offered by a group working with the school district. On the first night (the only night parents are allowed to remain for the class), I noticed a boy kind of picking on her. I thought it might…
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Junebug & Beagle Breed Memory
The first time Junebug ever “Beagled”, she was deep in the blackberry brambles. We heard this terrible sound that we knew was her, and thought she had tripped in a hole and broken her leg. I, at least, was pondering how in the world I was going to find her, let alone get to her, in the middle of the bramble patch. But none of that was needed, because in less than the time it took me to actually formulate the thought, I realized that Junebug was now chasing something through the brambles. A moment later, in a less dense spot, I saw a rabbit run through, and seconds after that,…
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Salary History, Yes or No?
I like talking about money. I think talking about personal finances is important. I disagree firmly with the idea that polite company does not discuss money. Money is hugely important in all of our lives. It is a major factor in decisions we make every day. And like the ad campaign says “the more you know…” I like talking about money so much that I used to have a blog dedicated to personal finance. I have been an active participant on a money focused message board for almost 10 years. When students in my department ask me how much money I make, I give them an actual answer. And yet,…
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The Housing Market Changed
First off, getting back into blogging is HARD. I have lost the discipline of setting aside specific time to write on a weekly basis, and now I am struggling not just with what to say, but finding the time to actually say it. We currently have our house on the market. We live in the Seattle area, where, up until May, houses went on the market on Wednesday. They had open houses that weekend and offer review dates on Tuesday. They were under contract by end of day Wednesday, maybe Thursday if the bidding war was intense. And just about every house had some kind of bidding war. Most…
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Serenity
On Facebook, a friend of mine is running an introspection group page, where each day, she poses a question for us to think about. We started in August and are continuing in September. One question from August was “What’s something you wish someone would say to you?” and yesterday the question was “What would make you happy right now?” These may seem like fairly innocuous questions, but for me, they have sparked a serious bit of introspection, for how I answer them. You see, the first answers that pop to my mind when I read these questions are things that are not going to happen. I can want. I can…
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Back in the Saddle
Here I am, back in front of a blank page, trying to figure out exactly how to say what I want to say, in the way I want to say it. If you have followed this blog (and thank you, if you have), you know I have taken most of the last two years off from blogging. I have put up a post here and there, and tried to do some things for NaNoWriMo, but really, I have not been writing here. The truth is, I have not been writing anywhere. The last two years have been a slice of hell for my family. And no, I do not say…
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November 15-17
Darling Karolus – I know not if this letter will get to you, or when it will get to you. Even more doubtful than the Hawk is tonight’s chosen delivery method – a message in a bottle, along a river that runs we know not where. But there is no other way we can see to get news out, and so, it is what we are trying. You know I hate the major arcana showing up in small readings. I hate it even more when they are literal. The night of the Hawk, we all settled down for hopefully a good night’s rest (while still keeping watches), expecting to spend…
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November 10-14
Dearest Karolus – Even as I write this, I have no idea if it will get to you, but there is a Hawk sitting near us, something strapped to his leg, that looks as if it will hold letters. We are all writing letters tonight. I expect Nadzia will try and instruct him on where to go, but given that he arrived here seemingly on his own, I think that maybe he will know already. You may wonder what happened to the homing pigeons, or, with any luck, you may be wondering why all the homing pigeons came back together, carrying nothing after the last letter. As we entered the…
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November 7-9
Dearest Karolus – It seems as if it has been forever since I last had a chance to sit and write to you, but in truth, it has only been a little more than a week. However, the last few days have felt longer than normal. We reached the foothills of the mountains only two days after I sent the last letter off with the traveler. I was certain we would need to pass along the foothills and down into the swamps, based on the what I had been witnessing from the crows. Dymek believed, based on the nature of our quest, that we would need to turn into foothills…
