Sister Wives (Not the TV Show)

A friend of ours, more a friend of my significant other, has a certain personality that invites contention wherever she may be. Nothing is safe from her scorn, ridicule, or excoriating sermons. She never seems to tire of having something to complain about, someone to be angry with, or a cause to support, especially if it is controversial. And what is worse than this, is that she often fishes for arguments, dropping little lures of layered meaning into conversation just to snag the unsuspecting. Most of our circle of friends are aware of this habit, and generally avoid it. Sometimes this may not be enough, and she will explode on some topic, usually mundane or of no interest to her, and verbally destroy a conversation. She exhibits what I see as a childish denial of others to have a differing opinion: you either agree with her, or you're wrong. Usually to the tune of something like, "NO, you f*cking idiot."

No matter how much we try to support her causes, it is never quite enough. She has a stable of high-horses that include: circumcision (wrong), public breast-feeding (right), body-image (it's easy to say fat is beautiful when you're less than ninety pounds), and her favorite--the prominence of rape culture. So I have recently been tempted to fall victim to her preying, as I have taken issue with a new term she has been using. Set-up: she has a group of mother friends, some form of support-group or whatever. She occasionally references these women, with some phrase like "from my mommie-activist group." Admittedly long, it is, however, accurate. But her new term of endearment, as can be guessed, is: "sister wives." I understand the implication of such a term, the sisterhood aspect of motherhood, and take no issue with that.

But--and it's a big but--there is a very specific connotation connected to the term "sister wives" that directly contradict her other prominent beliefs. "Sister wives" is the term women living within polygynous relationships use to refer to each other. Polygamy, as it exists in our Utah culture, has a long and storied history of benefiting the male gender, supporting a patriarchal hierarchy that promotes and sustains rape culture, the very thing she despises with so much vehemency. Invoking a term used under such communal knowledge is bound to cause questions, which is exactly what she wants. But her use of this term offends even me, as she seems completely unopposed to trivializing a term that is thick with so much pain and humiliation for women. This is a culture that considers a teenager being raped by a much older, often senior, man to be marriage. Women have no choice in these kinds of polygamous marriages, and have few rights in the household, if any.

I must not be the only person that feels this way, disgusted by her use of terminology that directly contradicts her own beliefs, in what seems an intentional manner. I don't even know what else to say.

Too Many Puppies

See their demon eyes?

Sing to the tune of "Winnie the Pooh"

Rolling in poo,
Playing in poo,
Scruffy little puppies all covered in filth.
They're sleeping in poo,
Eating near poo,
And really really need to go.

Do you know what puppies smell like? Cthulhu's balls. No matter how adorable they are, they reek, they're messy, and no one wants to take care of them. This is the part of owning a puppy that many people forget when they see those fluffy little pups. They're horrible. However, this isn't their fault. Not the mother of the puppies either. Because an ignorant, careless dog owner never got his female dog fixed, she had a litter of nine puppies. Nine. NINE. And they're all in my house, so they didn't die in an animal shelter. This was her third litter of unwanted puppies, and the mother of the owner had had enough, and wanted her and the puppies gone. So we saved them, and now my house smells like puppy filth, no matter how much or often we clean.

For the sake of whatever God you do or do not believe in, please get your pets fixed, so I don't ever have to live with the smell of puppies again. Ever. Nine puppies!!

World of Unemployment: Part II

About three years ago exactly, I was laid off from my job of five years, during the worst of the recession here in Utah. Despite what seems to be a recovering economy, coupled with the massive expenditure of money in this state in the past three years on infrastructure and construction, especially in the Provo area, growth is still sluggish in many areas. There are two foreclosed houses in my neighborhood, and another three for sale--destroying any chance of selling our own in the near future. And what's worse, for the second time in three years, I have been laid off from my job in what is normally a predictable, cyclical industry.
This is probably the worst possible time for me to lose my job, not that there is a 'good' time for that to happen. I'm on the very cusp of finally graduating with my BS in English, down to a few weeks of final papers, assignments, readings, etc. I have day classes, which my employer had thankfully worked around, allowing me to come and go as necessary to attend class. Any possible new employer would likely take a look at my class schedule and balk at hiring someone we needs to leave constantly. Unemployment compensation will barely cover the bills, now that I have a mortgage and the impending end of my student loan deferment. My options are few; I either wait it out for a few weeks while I finish school, hoping that I start getting my unemployment, or find some kind of temporary employment situation that can work around my schedule, and might pay my bills. Another anxiety-intensifying aspect is the probability of jumping into the world that I have educating myself for, far sooner than I expected. I had planned on transitioning into a new line of work during the slow summer months, a more gradual and effective method for me. Being laid off again may force my hand, and I'll have to drop all my cards on the table now, without even an official degree on my wall and nothing to fall back on. The idea is a little frightening, to be honest. But, I'm an American; I'm expected to pick myself up and move on, and find gratifying, lifestyle-supporting work in one of the trickiest job markets in history. God Bless America.

P.S. The bright side, of course, is that I'll have much more time to blog--so there's that.

Culture Warlock Shall Return...

I'm appalled at the amount of time it took me to regain some interest in my blog, which was a simple but enjoyable outlet for my anxieties/frustrations/beliefs/opinions. On the heels of my impending graduation and entrance into the official world of the "educated," I shall be taking up whatever weakly flickering torch I have set aside here, and return with new (hopefully amusing/interesting/provocative) posts shortly. If anyone who knows me personally ever checks this, you're a far better person than me.

From Oil to Supernovae

With the BP oil disaster still in the headlines, and America's still nervous feelings about conventional nuclear power, the fact that we are possibly on the verge of creating fusion has inexplicably managed to stay out of the public news. This is mostly because the project, which started back in 1997, ran into problems along the way, which is regrettable, but normal for new, highly technical situations like this. Although it's five years behind schedule and far over budget, it was dedicated last year and has already fired a successful test run this year. This summer, they may create a tiny star in this massive lab experiment, which would dissipate in a tiny supernovae, creating more energy than was used to create it. That's nuclear fusion with a net energy gain, once thought impossible, even laughable. While the use of such a power source would still probably be decades away, it's what we should be striving for, not continuing to drilling into the seafloor so we can occasionally cause such calamities as is currently ruining the coast of Louisiana. Drill, baby, drill, right?