en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3071659 Comments by nominatissima http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/11/people-of-color-speak-about-diversity.html#IDComment218325351 I live in Victoria. The main reasons that are being whispered about Occupy Victoria being closed is that city officials are worried about how it will impact Christmas/holiday tourism. That speaks multitudes about their priorities being out of order. Mon, 7 Nov 2011 21:56:39 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/11/people-of-color-speak-about-diversity.html#IDComment218325351 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/safety-for-rich.html#IDComment187183069 Gott en Himmel! I carried mace myself in Montana, after my uncle was murdered and I was worried his murderer (Who hated my family) would find out I was living there and come after me. I borrowed it from a friend, but I also would have had the option of buying it (in the form of bear spray) without any of these steps. I'm so sorry they're making it so difficult. It's amazing people have the gall to victim blame when defending ourselves is needlessly difficult. Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:01:15 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/safety-for-rich.html#IDComment187183069 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/should-sesame-street-let-bert-and-ernie.html#IDComment182222013 When I was a little kid, I always assumed that Bert and Ernie were siblings, with Bert being the older brother and Ernie being the younger one. But it someone told me "No, they're married just like your mom and dad" I wouldn't have had any trouble understanding that. Kids are wonderful like that. Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:09:19 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/should-sesame-street-let-bert-and-ernie.html#IDComment182222013 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/what-is-stimming.html#IDComment182218165 She's right on the money. Stimming is a relief mechanism for when you get overwhelmed. I also do it sometimes when I become fascinated with an object, and want to experience it wholly, such as a comfortable chair, or a floor with a nice texture, or a piece of fabric. That's stimming as well. Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:51:56 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/what-is-stimming.html#IDComment182218165 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/lonerism-misunderstood-condition.html#IDComment181333995 Believe me, as an aspie, I know where you are coming from. :-) Solitude is highly underrated, and it is treasured by those of us who need time alone after a day of sensory and emotional overload from interacting with the world. Mon, 8 Aug 2011 20:36:33 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/08/lonerism-misunderstood-condition.html#IDComment181333995 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/how-genocide-portrayal-is-still-racist.html#IDComment178372904 Another genocide that gets little mention in Canada and the U.S is the massacre and systemic rape of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 90s. We never discussed it in school, even when it was happening right then and there. As an adult, I wrote a short story related to it, dedicated to a friend who survived, and none of my peers in the workshop knew about it; they said they'd assumed I'd been talking about Iraq because the main characters were stated to be Muslims. The argument I usually use when talking about the importance of talking about genocide is that it still has implications today. How are we to understand modern events without knowing about the tragedies which triggered them? Remind people where and when this started, and it will not only shake them out of their amnesia, but it will give them a better understanding of how these events are working out now. It's not just a history, it's a continuing reality. Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:42:00 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/how-genocide-portrayal-is-still-racist.html#IDComment178372904 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/peta-and-racial-appropriation.html#IDComment178121539 Between this and Morrissey comparing the Norway massacre to fast food, today must have been declared "open season" by animal rights fauxgressives. Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:17:55 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/peta-and-racial-appropriation.html#IDComment178121539 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/my-first-vibrator.html#IDComment175698254 The Hitachi was my first too! It was an eighteenth birthday present to myself. :D Lordy, I don't know how I would have survived college without it, that thing is magic. Right now, I'm saving up to get some LELO ones as well. My girlfriend and I are going to have a lot of fun with them. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:12:14 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/my-first-vibrator.html#IDComment175698254 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/marriage-eh.html#IDComment168764900 I'm planning my wedding to my transgender girlfriend right now! And I'm having the same musings about these issues. I'm getting married because I'm madly in love, and because I believe in showing how queer Jews belong under the chuppah just as much as our non-queer counterparts, but... I also have this niggling fear in the back of my mind of being denied access to the hospital room while my beloved recovers from her surgeries because we're not married. I shouldn't have that damn fear at all, really, she should be entitled to see whomever she damn wants to see, "family" or not, after surgery. But I can't deny that that fear is playing a part in my desire to get married, because I want to be there for her and hold her hand. When I read the text of the Ketubah (marriage contract) we're picked though, I get tears in my eyes and admit there's so much more I can't explain with words about why we are getting married. Fri, 1 Jul 2011 18:41:06 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/07/marriage-eh.html#IDComment168764900 http://www.womenseyeonmedia.com/2011/06/my-big-fat-gypsy-wedding.html#IDComment168393970 I have to admit, I've been watching it purely out of boredom and because my own wedding plans are in motion now, so I am developing a taste for wedding-related TV. One of the things which bothered me the most was making a big deal about how young they marry, without explaining that travellers and romani in the UK have a tragically short life expectancy, owing to poor access to healthcare and other factors, which probably contribute to wanting to marry younger than most others in the UK. Context, TLC! Not sensationalism! Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:36:07 +0000 http://www.womenseyeonmedia.com/2011/06/my-big-fat-gypsy-wedding.html#IDComment168393970 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/what-are-you-reading.html#IDComment162706477 Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. It's a sequel to The Sparrow, dealing with the journey of a Jesuit Mission to a planet close to Alpha Centauri after signs of intelligent life are detected. In The Sparrow, everything that could go wrong on a mission like that did indeed, and in Children of God, it's up to a survivor from the previous mission to go back to the planet to confront his demons and see if there are any wounds to be healed outside of the obvious physical ones. I don't like MDR's reason for writing these books (My gathering from author interviews is that she's essentially trying to wash Columbus of any personal responsibility for the fate of the voyage of 1492 by saying that anything can go wrong on these "first contact" trips, when I seriously doubt he had a benevolent bone in his body) but they are excellent books, and are great for examining ideas surrounding cultural norms, presumed universal truths, and encounters with the unknown. Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:54:17 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/what-are-you-reading.html#IDComment162706477 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/its-friday-and-question-is.html#IDComment158983548 I'll join Filthygrandeur in on the Batman TAS love: I have the whole series on netflix now. But my greatest love will always be Gargoyles, no matter how old I get. Fri, 3 Jun 2011 23:13:44 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/its-friday-and-question-is.html#IDComment158983548 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/so-why-im-waiting-till-im-2627-to-have.html#IDComment158980581 This means a lot to me, Dan. My trans girlfriend and I are waiting to have children, until I'm 27-30, with the help of a sperm donor. Ditto on the law school thing too for me (UVic UVic UVic!) and as a queer autistic woman and a trans autistic woman, we're worried as all hell about people giving us shit for wanting to be parents. If you get a parenting blog, I'll read it. 90% of the parenting blogs bore me silly and are irrelevant to me and Jaime, but I get the feeling you would write some amazing stuff. Fri, 3 Jun 2011 22:58:47 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/so-why-im-waiting-till-im-2627-to-have.html#IDComment158980581 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/rest-in-peace-dr-jack-kevorkian.html#IDComment158918520 This here is exactly how I feel. I also not only fear the power of families in making decisions for the disabled, but I also fear the possibility of disabled individuals being told, "You can go to an institution so your family doesn't have to deal with you, or you can have physician assisted suicide." Considering how many of my friends and allies would already rather die or go to jail than be placed in an institution and lose their freedom, independence and dignity, I do not like the idea of disablism and the normalization of PAS presenting disabled individuals with a Sophie's Choice, rather than real choice to live a free, independent life. Here in Montana, interestingly, most people who wish to die on their own terms don't use a doctor, when they have the legal option to go to their physician and ask for enough pills to commit suicide. They instead often end their own lives using a particularly treasured firearm. I guess that speaks volumes about how rules regulating the end of your own life will have to vary state-by-state when the time comes. Fri, 3 Jun 2011 18:07:36 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/06/rest-in-peace-dr-jack-kevorkian.html#IDComment158918520 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/05/its-friday-and-question-is_20.html#IDComment154433113 This is actually something that I read about once, in a Beverly Cleary book. Henry Huggins' dog, Ribsy, was so territorial about the garbage that they stopped picking up the trash at his house, resulting in a giant mountain of garbage in their front lawn. It was finally figured out that Ribsy was being specifically territorial about the garbage that Henry was taking out, so he was forever relieved of garbage duty, since Ribsy thought it was "Henry's" Garbage and therefore worthy of protection. Fri, 20 May 2011 19:13:44 +0000 http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/05/its-friday-and-question-is_20.html#IDComment154433113