Occupy THIS.

It is February, and everywhere, in every window, tree, nook, cranny, commercial, movie trailer, whathaveyou are HEARTS. Omigod, you must buy this bouquet/necklace/cell phone/teddy bear/dinner/expensive useless bit of crap for your Valentine. If you don't, YOU ARE A LOSER, AND WILL PROBABLY DIE ALONE.

I take exception to a holiday that specifically requires a set of variables in order to celebrate it. I wouldn't dislike February 14th if it was simply about celebrating love, in all its many and varied forms. Love deserves the holiday, it deserves to be celebrated every day, and I would plaster my house with pink hearts if that's what Valentine's Day was actually about.

But, instead, the day has become a crass commercial excuse to try to guilt attached people into buying their SO's something they don't really need, and a way to make those of us who are unattached feel angry and excluded. When I see ads for Valentine's specials, I see red of a very different sort. Example: the year before I left Chicago, I looked into treating myself to a night at a nice hotel with a special package for Valentine's Day: a massage and meal was included. I didn't do it because the whole thing was priced FOR TWO. Like it was unbelievable that I would want to do something nice for just myself on Valentine's Day, and someone like me didn't deserve a special package. And, that's typical: everywhere are restaurants with special meal deals FOR TWO, travel agents with travel packages FOR TWO. All stamped with hearts and declaring that "Your Valentine needs what we're selling!"

I've written before about the disenfranchisement of single people, especially those over 30, but my anger at Valentine's Day is not limited to that; I think it's stupid for couples too. We need to retake this holiday and use it to celebrate love: beautiful love in all its forms, not just between people in relationships.

Occupy Valentine's Day.

Stop Censorship . . .

Go here. Tell Congress. Fight censorship. Stop SOPA.

Personhood . . .

There is a truly terrifying movement happening in this country right now, particularly frightening if you're a woman of child-bearing years. The Personhood Movement.

Haven't heard of it? You need to pay attention. I've blogged before about the right's measures to defund Planned Parenthood, thus denying thousands of low-income women health care on the off chance that they just might be seeking an abortion. Several states across the country have already jumped on that bandwagon, conservative members of Congress all but frothing at the mouth over the idea that any sort of federal funding could go towards murdering a precious bundle of zygotes. We already know how these upstanding representatives feel about victims of rape, so we shouldn't be surprised by any of that, right?

Well, now they're going even further. Personhood advocates are making a major push in states like Mississippi to define personhood as beginning at the moment of conception. No exceptions. Let me give you a minute to think about the implications of that.

That means:

-a girl who is raped by her father at the age of twelve must carry her baby to term.

-a woman who is raped in any case must carry her baby to term.

-all women everywhere MUST CARRY THEIR BABIES TO TERM.

Can you imagine that twelve-year-old child forced to spend the next nine months carrying the seed of her own father's evil? What would she think each time she spies her growing belly? Endures the scorn of her classmates? Suffers pain and discomfort? All through no fault of her own, she is physically and emotionally scarred for life. But, these Personhood asshats don't give a damn about her, because apparently the idea of Personhood with a capital P doesn't apply to her. They would turn her body into a vessel against her will.

And, they're not going to stop at denying choice from victims of rape and incest. Oh no. They hate birth control too. Think about it: most forms of hormonal birth control (used by the majority of women who take any form of birth control) have the ability to not only prevent fertilization of eggs, but also prevent implantation. That's right: if by some chance some guy's little swimmers make it through and an egg is fertilized, the pill or patch or what-have-you prevents that egg from implanting. So, by the Personhood standpoint, this should also be illegal. No birth control. No choice. Women are not people, but tools for making babies.

One of the most terrifying aspects of this is a provision that would allow hospitals to refuse to perform abortions IN ANY CASE. If a woman comes into the ER bleeding heavily, her body miscarrying, and she requires an abortion to save her life, the hospital would have the legal right to turn her away. NO MATTER WHAT. A bleeding woman, dying, and they could legally refuse to treat her. Because, once again, that woman is not a person. Her baby is worth more than she is, according to these people.

Obviously, I am vehemently pro-choice. If you're not, I take the same stance that I take on differing religions or political views from mine: fine. This is America, and you're free to believe whatever you want. It's when people start trying to force everyone to believe what they believe that I have a problem with that. I believe my body is mine, in the same way that a man's body completely and utterly belongs to him. I believe no one has the right to take away my choices where my own body is concerned. I believe that I will have a child when I am mentally and financially able to support one, and able to be a better mommy than I could be at present.

I am simply terrified by the thought that my daughters might one day not have the choice to believe what I believe.

When in the Course of Human Events . . .

Today we celebrate the day we became a new nation. Through the bold actions of the men who affixed their names to this document, and the lives of thousands of others, young and old, we won the right to call ourselves Americans.

Thirteen Reasons . . .

When you ask somebody, "How are you?", how often do you actually listen to the answer? Nine times out of ten, they probably just reply with a simple "Fine," and the conversation moves on. The truth is, neither of you are really interested in the question; it's like a handshake. Quickly forgotten. But, what if you asked somebody that question, and they looked at you with quiet desperation when they replied? Would you notice? If you noticed, would you do something about it? Would you care?

I read Jay Asher's YA novel "Thirteen Reasons Why" this weekend, and, needless to say, it had a profound effect on me. As someone who has been suicidal, at times it hit a little too close to home.

I'll never forget the feeling of isolation, the desperate longing and complete inability to connect with anyone around me. I spent a long time pretending to be normal, all the while hoping that someone would notice that I wasn't. Hoping someone would care that I wasn't "fine" before it was too late to do anything about it. Luckily, someone did notice, but it was because I realized I really didn't want to leave, and I finally had the courage to ask for help. Not everyone in that situation can free their voice enough to do that; sometimes death seems easier.

For Hannah Baker in Asher's novel, death is the answer to an equation that started years ago, and is made up primarily of the actions of twelve people in her life. She decides to tell these people what they did to bring her to the edge: "You must listen to these tapes," she tells the people on them, "or they'll be released, and everyone will find out what you did." She sets the rules, even giving these twelve people a map to follow to each of the locations where a bit more of her soul died, so that each can experience it for themselves. The damning incidents vary widely from simple pettiness to real evil, and the total sum is devastating. For each of the listeners featured on the tapes, hearing what happened to a girl they thought they knew, done to her by people they see everyday, changes their lives forever. Some laugh it off: "I don't belong on those tapes," one says, with a shrug. Others lash out at those featured, never able to look at their friends the same way again. One boy has his window broken over and over again as the tapes make their rounds, because of his actions.

For Hannah, she felt her life was out of her control, made unbearable by a reputation unearned, by the heinous acts of others, by the simple inability to communicate her pain to anyone around her.  Finally, she finds the ultimate control in the way she ends it; her meticulous recording and distribution of these tapes.

Asher never makes a real judgement call on Hannah's act, though his narrator goes through the gamut of emotions, being angry at her, feeling she's selfish, blaming himself for not helping her when he could have, blaming her for not confiding in him. Though the tapes promise they will help him understand why she chose to end her life, in the end he is confused and sad anyway. That is suicide: it is selfish and maddening and sad and frustrating, and it changes those let behind forever. It is finality without closure.

I know I will never be able to read this book again. It will sit on my shelves, and unlike other novels I have, I will not pick it up in a year or two and decide to give it another go-around. But, this book will stay with me, and I will recommend it to every parent of a teenager that I know. The signs were there in Hannah, but no one saw them. She tried to reach out, but no one heard. I was one of the lucky ones, and I'm still here, but for every one of me, there are a dozen Hannah Baker's out there that no one sees, who end their lives in despair and leave no casettes behind to tell the world why they did it.

Next time you ask someone how they are, look in their eyes. And, if you know they're lying when they answer, ask them why. I promise you, they want you to ask. They just don't know how to say it.

Taste vs Censorship . . .

Oooo, my cookies are officially frosted.

You know it would be unusual for me to go a week without getting ticked off about something and posting about it, so here's my new rant: the "Darkness" of YA novels.

Megan Cox Gurden recently wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal discussing, in a very confrontrational way, her feelings on the current state of YA literature. For the uninitiated, YA refers to the "Young Adult" genre, generally covering readers from ages 12-17. I read YA novels quite a bit myself, and it's ironic that I tend to gravitate to them for the opposite reasons to the criticisms Gurden levels at the genre's writers: she feels YA writers get a free pass from publishers to push too much darkness down the throats of young readers. I read YA because I get horribly depressed reading Stieg Larrsen or Ian McEwan, and YA novels don't seem interested in making their characters miserable simply for more "realism".

Gurden devotes quite a bit of her piece to saying that YA authors these days inject their books with too much that she deems inappropriate: self-mutilation, swear words, blood, rape, incest, abuse, suicide, even sex. She heaps blame onto the authors for being less like the idyllic '70's, when a teen could pick up "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" (which I read when I was eight), and more like, well, real life. Does she honestly think that there was less rape, abuse, self-mutilation, or sex amoung teens in the '70's? Maybe there was; I don't have the figures. I sure know no one was writing about it for young adults back then. But, what's most troubling is the argument she tries to make that reading such things will make teens more apt to do them. It is the perennial argument that has been leveled at tv and video games for years too, and I guarantee you will find more violence in a game of Grand Theft Auto than in the pages of award-winning YA novels.

Gurden doesn't let publishers off the hook either, claiming that they publish such material not for its merit, but because to not publish it would smack of censorship. Having read a LOT of books in my time, quite a few of them YA novels, they are often better-written than a lot of the contemporary fiction out there. The characters are complex. The stories are driven and gripping. They do not pander or dumb down to an audience whose intelligence they respect and take for granted. And they are not being "given a pass" simply because a publisher is afraid of banning them.

Parents are ultimately responsible for censoring what their child ingests if they think that's required. If a parent feels they can't allow their thirteen-year-old to read about Katniss Everdeen being forced to compete to the death by a corrupt dystopian government, then they should take the book out of their child's hands and explain why they're doing it. If a parent thinks it could be dangerous to let their twelve-year-old read about the reasons why a young girl committed suicide, or why she chooses to cut herself, then they should talk to their child about it. But Gurden makes a serious error by claiming that it is the fault of authors and publishers trying to corrupt our innocent youth.

Do you remember being a teenager, Ms. Gurden? Sneaking into R-rated movies, making out in parked cars? Kids today are sophisticated and smarter than I'll admit to being at that age, and they don't need to read about getting their period. They watch R-rated movies on their tv's everyday. But, this doesn't make them hoodlums.

There's an inherent lack of respect for the age-group these novels are aimed at in this op-ed, an assumption that kids reading these books are going to rape and cut and become depraved because they cannot help themselves. These are Young Adults, Ms. Gurden. Maybe you ought to grow up, and treat them that way.

Barbie-World . . .

Newcomers to this blog may have missed my rants about Barbie or the ridiculous size-ist nature of the media. I'm not shy when it comes to railing against the way we, as women, are manipulated from an early age to strive to become what some nameless, faceless entity wants us to be, whether it be by playing with impossibly-proportioned dolls or being bombarded with size 0 images everywhere.

Today's rant is brought to you by the letters C, O, S, M, and O.

Tricia Romano, a columnist for the Daily Beast as well as the New York Times and other august publications, posted yesterday about the new launch of two "women's sites" from Jane Pratt (who used to helm one of my faves, the now defunct Jane magazine), and Zooey Deschanel. Pratt became famous for Sassy and later Jane, both hailed as departures from the norm for women's publications. When she announced she was launching a new site, there was a lot of anticipation. Now, xoJane.com is out.

And, it is a big let-down.

Pratt has been at this awhile, and I was hoping for an online mag geared towards her age-set: adult women who might want to read aspirational stories about powerful female figures, might want a little politics and culture thrown in with their makeup tips. Instead, xojane.com reads like Cosmo without the pink. Topics on page 1 of the site include:

"Elegant Solutions to Blowing Your Nose"

"My Boyfriend is Not Phased by Sexy Food Texts"

"My Rapist Friended Me on Facebook"

"Is Accessing Someone's Shared Music Library Creepy?"

Really? Are these burning things we need to know about? Will this inspire future generations? Deschanel's HelloGiggles.com seems just as bad, though it wraps up the vacuousness in hipster wrapping paper, a la Deschanel's famous "Crazy Pixie Dream Girl" pastiche. Romano, in her piece on the Daily Beast, suggests that women's sites need to grow up and stop dotting the i's with little hearts. I will go even further, and say that women themselves need to grow up, and stop buying into this trash.

The truth is, we propogate this nonsense by making a magazine like Cosmo the #1 selling women's magazine every month. A sample of Cosmo's headlines today?

"How Far Would You Go for Great-looking Legs?"

"If Your Guy Does This, Divorce Could Be in Your Future!"

"Biggest Engagement Rings Ever!"

"The Sex Trick You've Gotta Try on Him After Work Today!"

Every time we purchase this bubble-headed idiocy, we are telling the industry: "Yes! Pander to our frilly-pink-wearing stupidity! We do not worry about issues! If we want to read about world events, we'll buy a big men's magazine! Give us more features on nail polish!"

Women, are we really more interested in new sex positions to blow his mind? Or, do we care about the next possible female candidates for President? Do we need yet another story about the hot haircolor of the moment? Or, can we handle reading about genital mutilations in the third-world? Women, we are better than these magazines. Stop feeding the monster, and it will stop cranking out this pink, heart-dotted bullshit.

You will certainly never find an issue of Cosmo in my house.

Assault . . .

If you saw this girl on the street, what would you think? If you're a dude reading this, you'd probably walk into a light pole. If you're a chick, you might think "bitch." Or feel really fat.

But, would you think she deserves to be raped? I certainly hope not. What if you found out she was dressed like this when she was raped? Would a tiny part of you think, "Well, sure." Now, what if she found out she was pregnant? Would you support forcing her to keep the baby of her rapist? If the rapist was her father? If having the baby would kill her?

These questions would seem like easy ones to answer, at least, they would be for me. I would think they'd be easy for anyone to answer, but as I'm finding out, I'd be dead wrong. There is an assault on women going on right now, and we are being raped of our rights in more and more legislatures across the country . . . and most of us aren't paying any attention at all.

Take some comments made earlier this month in the Kansas state legislature. Rep DeGraaf was debating banning insurance companies from covering abortions (he was firmly in support of the ban), and when a female Rep wanted the bill to allow abortion in the case of rape or incest, DeGraaf suggested that such a measure was unnecessary. That women should plan ahead for being raped, and compared it to his carrying a life insurance policy, or having a spare tire for his car. As though rape is as inevitable as death, or women should expect rape like they would expect to one day get a flat tire.

Idaho recently passed anti-abortion legislation, stating that "the hand of the Almighty" was behind rape and incest, and that women who conceive under such violent circumstances should look on it as a chance to "see His mysterious ways at work".

An Indiana state Rep claimed that women will lie to get an abortion if we allow them for victims of rape or incest.

And, of course, the House recently voted to defund Planned Parenthood, with Rep John Kyl erroneously declaring that 90% of their services go for providing abortions, and that federally funding Planned Parenthood would be federally funding abortion. Later, it was shown, according to actual, you know, facts, that only 4% of Planned Parenthood's services go towards providing abortions. Rep Kyl's people quickly said that his statements were not meant to be factual. Imagine someone in our government bothering with actual facts.

Add to all this the recent stories about the controversy in France over the IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged rape of a hotel maid. Instead of outrage over the act, the French media swung the other way, defending Strauss-Kahn and demonizing the victim. And, an Australian school recently sent a letter home to parents warning that the way their girls dress encourages pedophiles.

Women reading this: Are we heading for the days when rape will again be considered our fault? When we will have to pay the price for someone else's crimes with our bodies and our minds? Or, did we ever really get past those days? Maybe you think you'll never have to worry about these questions personally, and I hope you don't. But, I can almost guarantee that you you know someone who will be affected by these questions, and we should all care about the answers.

Men reading this: Do you look at the picture above and still think she deserves it? Even a little bit? If you do, it seems like you agree with quite a few lawmakers. If you don't, for God's sake, do something about it.

Next Comes the Lunch-Money . . .

via here

I want to state three things up-front:

1) I hate bullies. I had to deal with plenty of them growing up, being a weird kid who read Asimov and Heinlein at lunch and was closer to teachers than fellow students. Bullying is a very touchy subject for me, wherever it appears.

2) I love Neil Gaiman. He has written what is probably my favorite book in the world (Stardust) and is the writer of another book in my list of Top Five (Neverwhere).

3) I am a liberal Democrat. Unashamed of that, though I do sometimes hang my head when Democrats do stupid things.

So, this is not an un-biased rant. You would have to be pretty new to this blog to expect one of those.

Neil Gaiman recently blogged about a bout of school-yard name-calling that took place on the floor of the Minnesota House this week. Apparently the Minnesota GOP is still sore about this incident, where Gaiman was paid what some saw as an exhorbitant amount to speak for the Minnesota Library System last year. Minnesota Republican Matt Dean, during an argument where the legislature was considering cutting funding for the arts, said Gaiman, who he apparently hates, was a pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota.

Gaiman, who has a worldwide fanbase and readership that no doubt makes Matt Dean's fan club look like som,ebody three years late to the prom, decided not to stay silent. When someone you don't even know decides to call you a ridiculous name, calls you a thief, and does it all in the name of supporting a measure that would cut funding for public radio, the Minnesota Zoo, and the arts, it probably warrants a tweet. Or two. Or five. And possibly crashing that Republican's website (though Gaiman apologized for that).

Gaiman also sets the story straight: he was, in fact, paid under $34,000 for the contentious speaking engagement, which is a perfectly reasonable market rate for public speakers. This is a guy who's won 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards, 2 British SF Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award, 3 Geffens, 1 International Horror Guild Award and 1 Mythopoeic. For a little perspective on this, Sarah Palin, who's major claim to fame was not finishing her term as Governor of Alaska and not becoming the Vice-President, commands $100,000 or more per speaking engagement. Gaiman also donated the entire fee to charity. I'm pretty sure Palin doesn't do this.

What's most distressing about this incident, though, is that it highlights what seems to be a growing issue within American politics: an absolutely stupifying bent towards childish school-yard name-calling. We are electing people who are going on to make unfounded statements so baffling in their sheer ass-facedness that we cannot even understand how some of these people get their pants on straight without help. We get outraged, the politician in question quickly retreads to say that the comments were taken "out of context" or "that was a staffer, not me", and then a month or so later, they do it all over again. I sometimes wonder if we really are too stupid to govern ourselves, as the Founding Fathers originally feared when framing the government of a new nation. It reminded me of this ridiculous story from earlier this year about a Michigan Republican's obsessive hatred of a college student, merely because the boy was gay and part of student government. Or, practically anything Michelle Bachman has said.

People, let's collectively, as a nation, grow the fuck up. Bullies do what they do because they get away with it. Idiots serve in government because we elect them. Let's not give any more of these asshats our support, because next they come for the lunch money.

We Remember . . .

via here

Today is Yom HaShoah. Today we remember the deaths of 6 million people, and the spirit that could not be killed.

“… in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquillity will return again.”

                                                                                                      – Anne Frank

Look Away . . .

I woke this morning to the news that the South had seen its worst night of storms yet, and the death toll had risen to 200. I have always considered myself an honorary Southern gal (I went to college in New Orleans and have played a Southerner for years in Civil War reenactments), and this tears at my heart. The devastation is huge, with entire towns destroyed in hours, sometimes in minutes. Tornadoes, baseball-sized hail and floods have swept through Tornado Alley from Missouri to Texas, leaving people without power for days, picking up homes and depositing them miles away, in pieces. Alabama was declared an emergency this morning, and other states are sure to follow.

People will need all the help they can get. Please consider giving to the American Red Cross this morning.

Let's hope Mother Nature is done with her bad mood for a little while.

Make it Chocolate. . .

It's time for my annual post on the joys (and realities) of owning a rabbit. Easter sees a huge bump in rabbit-buying by well-meaning but ignorant parents. The weeks just after Easter see a huge bump in the number of rabbits abandoned at shelters. You do the math.

Rabbits are wonderful animals to have around the house: they are highly intelligent, relatively neat (yes, they can easily be litter-trained), and very quiet. They don't bark at strangers, yowl for food, or need to be walked. They can be sweet daily companions: they love pats from their human, lick the ones they adore, and anyone who's ever seen a rabbit do a binky knows what rabbit joy looks lie.

But, rabbits are advanced pet-ownership.

Some quick facts:

-Rabbits' teeth are always growing. Always. They must chew on things to keep them filed down, and they will not just chew toys you provide for them. Rabbits will chew anything with an interesting texture, including: wires, books, plastic bags, shoes, the legs of tables and chairs, cardboard boxes, mail left lying about, even clothing. If you leave it near the ground where a rabbit can get it, expect it to be chewed. Every wire in my house is taped to the wall, out of harm's way. A house with a rabbit must be bunny-proofed.

-Rabbits need fresh greens and timothy hay to keep their bodies happy and healthy. A steady diet of pellets is fattening and not good for them. Fresh greens can get expensive, but they are the best, healthiest way to feed them.

-Rabbits have complex and often delicate digestion systems, and when they begin to go wrong they go wrong very fast. If a rabbit stops pooping, even for a few hours, and seems listless or lies hunched up in a corner, get them to the vet immediately. A rabbit with GI stasis, a common rabbit ailment where the intestinal tract stops, can die within hours. Exotic vets are not cheap, and a rabbit owner can look forward to spending thousands of dollars on their rabbit during its lifetime.

-Rabbits do not live happily in hutches or cages. They are quick-thinking and inquisitive and need a lot of stimulation, and unhappy, bored bunnies are destructive and moody. The happiest rabbits have the run of the house, like a cat or dog.

-A rabbit will live eight to ten years. Some live even longer. That means that buying a rabbit for yourself or your children is making a commitment for a decade of care, feeding, and love. This is not something that will be amusing for a year or two, and then disposable.

Please, please, please: if you are looking at that cute little bunny in the pet-store window, on sale in time for Easter Sunday, and your child is begging you to buy it, think twice. A real living, breathing rabbit is a creature with complex needs and feelings. Not a toy. Not something to be discarded when the novelty wears off. More rabbits die in shelters every year around this time, and many are simply abandoned outdoors on the erroneous belief that they will be fine in the park or on the streets. You would never buy a dog on a whim, so don't think a rabbit is an impulse-buy. Unless you're ready for the committment, pass that pet-store window and take your child to get a stuffed rabbit, or a chocolate one instead.

If you are ready to be become a rabbit-parent, consider getting your new companion at a shelter:

House Rabbit Society has links to shelters all over the country, and a lot of very good information on raising a happy rabbit. For those in the Chicago-area, think about adopting your bunny from Red Door Shelter.

I will never regret my decision to become a rabbit-mom twelve years ago. Alfalfa, Sebastian, and Viola have so enriched my life, and I hope many of you can find that kind of joy. But, only if you know what you're getting into.

Baptism by Fire . . .

Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of the worst fires in American history: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. 146 people, mostly immigrant women and many of them just teenagers, died when the eighth floor of their factory caught fire at 4:30 on March 25, 1911. When the girls tried to escape, they found the only door was locked. When the fire trucks arrived twenty minutes later, the ladders only reached to the sixth floor of the ten-floor building, and the safety nets broke. Many died jumping from the upper floors:

I had counted ten. Then my dulled senses began to work automatically. I noticed things that it had not occurred to me before to notice. Little details that the first shock had blinded me to. I looked up to see whether those above watched those who fell. I noticed that they did; they watched them every inch of the way down and probably heard the roaring thuds that we heard.

. . .One girl climbed onto the window sash. Those behind her tried to hold her back. Then she dropped into space. I didn't notice whether those above watched her drop because I had turned away. Then came that first thud. I looked up, another girl was climbing onto the window sill; others were crowding behind her. She dropped. I watched her fall, and again the dreadful sound. Two windows away two girls were climbing onto the sill; they were fighting each other and crowding for air. Behind them I saw many screaming heads. They fell almost together, but I heard two distinct thuds. Then the flames burst out through the windows on the floor below them, and curled up into their faces.

The last girl out of the building, Katie Weiner, tried to cram herself into the over-crowded elevator shuttling terrified workers down, but was pushed back. She jumped into the shaft and slid down the cable, landing on the heads of other girls. She testified at the trial of owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, along with other survivors (155 witnesses in all), but the men were ultimately found not guilty of manslaughter because it could not be proven that they knew about the locked door, or that it had been locked intentionally to keep the girls in and at their sewing tables.

The Triangle Fire could be seen as little more than a terrible, tragic footnote in history, one of those "gosh, our grandparents and great-grandparents had it tough!" stories where we wipe our foreheads and thank our lucky stars that things are so much better now. But, recent events in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states prove that these 146 people gave up their lives for a cause we still need to be fighting today. Their deaths started the drive towards unions, improved working conditions, and helped institute the first workplace safety laws. Now, some lawmakers are trying to take away the rights of labor unions to fight for their workers. When a union no longer has the power to demand better treatment for its workers and see results, how long will it be before we see another locked door? Will it take another Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire to wake people up? Lawmakers like Governor Walker of Wisconsin claim that taking away the unions' collective-bargaining rights is about money, that tax-payers pay when unions demand more money, and the state needs to combat the deficit.
I'm sure the owners of the Triangle Factory were thinking about money too. This is what happens when the bottom line becomes more important than the people. Let's remember the 146 people who died at the Triangle Factory, and let's make sure they didn't die in vain.

Actions Speak Louder. . .

Tomorrow, I wil be taking part in the Bloggers Day of Silence: together with over 200 other bloggers, I will not be posting on Friday in honour of what Japan has suffered and is suffering. The ladies at Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours have joined with ShelterBox to create a fundraising site called For Japan With Love. Please head over and give what you can, and share this with others! Together, we can make a difference, even with our silence!

Nagusamemasu . . .

Yes, that is a boat on top of a building.

For days now, the internet has been alive with images and videos of the terrible devastation in Japan. On Friday, in case you somehow missed it, Japan experienced an earthquake that was an 8.9 on the richter scale, and then was swamped by a powerful tsunami. There are thousands dead, most from the tsunami; there are so many bodies that the cremation facilities throughout the country (cremation being the general norm) cannot cope with the sheer numbers. Every relief organization is out there trying to help, but it is coming slowly, and many are still without the basic necessities like clean drinking water, food, and a place to sleep.

It feels like there isn't much we can do from so far away, but there is:

American Red Cross: Though the Japanese Red cross is out there, this disaster is on a scale larger than they can manage. Giving to the Disaster Relief Fund will help them out there.

GlobalGiving: Another organization that has established a fund to help relief efforts.

International Medical Corps: Already mobilzed and helping in the worst-hit areas.

Save the Children: Supports children and families that have been effected by this disaster.

There are dozens of other reputable organizations out there trying to help as well. Please consider giving to one of them. Imagine if this was your block:

We need to do all we can.

Nagusamemasu: To give (solace).

'Tis the Season . . .

It's the holidays, so it's time to think about those less fortunate. The spirit of Christmas has always been, for me, the spirirt of giving, and not just ugly sweaters and ties. So, here's my annual round-up of my favorite charities, and I hope you'll consider donating to these worthy causes and changing a few lives this holiday.

First up: Heifer International.

This charity is dedicated to helping people in underprivileged countries with livestock. You can donate a chicken, a cow, a goat, and any of these things can make it possible for that individual or family to eat, to have milk, to be able to sell that milk or eggs to support themselves. It costs so little to change someone's life; just $20 donates a flock of chickens. A cow is $500, but think how far that money goes.

Next up: American Cancer Society

I don't have to tell you all the good this charity does: not only does your donation help fund research to seek better treatments and possibly even one day a cure for this disease, but you can also help support programs that educate and counsel people recently diagnosed. You can also volunteer at events that raise awareness, and even give gifts in memory of those who have lost their battle with the disease. They are doing good work everyday for those with cancer, and they are near and dear to my heart.

Finally: ASPCA

Okay, if the picture above doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what would;) The ASPCA is on the front lines saving animals from abusive situations, getting them medical treatment, helping strays, and in general making life better for our four-legged friends. Your donation could feed a homeless animal for a month, or get a stray cat or dog neutered and off the streets. You could be supporting a horse rescued from the slaughterhouse, or a rabbit that would have been euthenized when its owner refused to care for it. Their motto says it all: We are their voice. They cannot speak, so we need to speak up for them.

Lastly, a little bit of a personal plea. I hate asking for money; it's very hard for me, for obvious reasons. But, in spite of all I've tried to do to save money for the move, my rabbit recently got sick and his vet visits ended up costing me nearly $1000. I was happy I had the money to spend, but it means I'm very, very short. At this point, I can pay for the movers or my apartment, and I can't afford anything else. If you are reading this and you are so inclined, I'd greatly appreciate any small donation. Even $5 helps. The button on the top left connects to my "California or Bust" fund. I'd much rather you give money to the charities above before giving to me, but if you have anything left, I'd be endlessly grateful.

Happy Holidays, dear readers!

Watch This . . .

Watch this video, and a child in need gets life-saving insulin.

That's all you have to do. Just watch. Every view = a donation.

I have a lot of people I know and love who are personally affected by this disease, and more people are diagnosed everday.

Watch. Share.

The Seelie Players

Photo by Thomas Song

The Seelie Players are here!

Seelie Players is the brainchild of one of my dearest friends and fellow Fantickals, Tegan Elliot. She had an idea a few years ago that, due to the fact that people were always trying to hire us at Faire, it might be a fabulous notion to give them a way to do that. We all love what we do, and the thought of doing it for a living is pretty awesome, so I'm proud to be a part of this new venture.

The website and YouTube channel are live; subscribe to the videos to see lots of behind-the-scenes stuff and promos on the appearances we do. Friend us on Facebook too!

Check out the Seelie Players, and book us for your next event;)

A Duty and a Right . . .

“The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
-Lyndon B. Johnson

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
-John Quincy Adams

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
-Abraham Lincoln

"Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote."
-William E. Simon

Blog Action Day 2010: Water

via We Heart It

This year, I'm joining thousands of bloggers from over 125 countries in Blog Action Day 2010, trying to highlight a growing crisis in the world: access to clean water.

Some statistics:

-African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.

-Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.

-Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.

-In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.

But, there are some things we can do to try to start fixing this problem, and every single person counts:

-The average person uses 465 liters of water each day. Learn how you can cut down the amount of water you use.

-Help build a well in a country where clean water is desperately needed. Organizations like Water.org and charity:water are building wells in Africa, India, and other countries in water crisis. Even the smallest donation can help them.

-Today, 40% of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. Learn how to keep pollution out of clean water.

-People in the US drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled. Drop the bottle and grab a glass!

We can make a difference. Join me in the effort to get clean, safe water for everyone.

Learn more at Change.org