Hibernating.

I have an appointment with CPS tomorrow. Berkeley is so vast, we...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:29:47 -0700

I have an appointment with CPS tomorrow. Berkeley is so vast, we have an acronym or abbreviation for everything: Gender & Women’s Studies is GWS, Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Student Fees is CACSF (pronounced kahhkssff, like you’re sick), etc. Sometimes the acronyms are better understood: “I’m a molecular & cell biology major.” “Oh, you mean MCB.” And sometimes not.

At the present, I can’t remember what CPS stands for. And really, I don’t know why I’m writing about it here instead of in a journal, especially with the history of this blog. It’s swung between a rambling diary and a political soapbox of sorts (but to my detriment); the personal is political, but believing it doesn’t make it easier. It just makes your skin harder. Or tries to.

All I know is, I’m going to walk into an office tomorrow and talk to a new stranger about why I’m there, why do I think I need help. And I’m not sure if I’ll know the truth, nor whether I’ll be able to say it. I never have, before.

I took this photo with my Lumix and ran it through Instagram. I think it looked better without the filter.

"Before we can “do something” for the poor, there are some things we need to stop doing to them."

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 02:46:21 -0700

“Before we can “do something” for the poor, there are some things we need to stop doing to them.”

- How the poor are made to pay for their poverty | Barbara Ehrenreich (via sociolab)

Missing.

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:35:27 -0700

batinsteadofboat:

Hey followers,

My best friend’s grandmother has gone missing. It’s been over 24 hours and my friends at home are very anxious. She has been missing since Wednesday afternoon in the San Gabriel Valley area, but she may have hopped on a bus and could be anywhere right now. PLEASE HELP!! Reblog to get the word out. Thank you so much.

Name: Denh Soi Lai
DOB: July 3, 1933
Age: 78
Height: 4’11” Weight: 90-100 lbs
Eyes: Light brown
Hair: Short White/grey; wavy on the tips
Ethnicity: Chinese
Language: Cantonese/Hakka (understands a little Vietnamese)

Key information:
-ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE possibly in stage 6 (memory loss).
-Slouched posture
-Missing a few of her top front teeth.
-Sometimes she’s out looking for cans.
-Childlike behavior
-No identification on her

"He [Rick Santorum] is a staunch opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape. Even in the case of..."

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:59:11 -0800

“He [Rick Santorum] is a staunch opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape. Even in the case of rape, telling CNN recently that a woman, in that case, should, and I quote, ‘make the best out of a bad situation, and accept the gift from God.’ Wow. I think women should say the same thing to Santorum, Andy, after from now until the end of his weaselly life, they see him in the street and kick him in the fucking balls. ‘Please accept this gift from God, Rick, this pointed-shoed gift to your plums. Why are you rolling around on the ground crying, Rick? Please make the best out of this bad situation. In fact, rejoice, because I believe another lady is coming over to gift you with another high-velocity nut shot. Praise be, Rick! God is graciously raining gifts into your groinal area, you fucking douche.’”

- John Oliver on Rick Santorum, The Bugle 183 (via sixpencesoulcake)

After lecturing to a sea of dull-eyed stares...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:50:36 -0800

Professor: What's wrong with you guys today? You all look terrible.
Classmate: It's gloomy today.
Professor: Gloomy? What are you, a flower?

January blues.

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:26:08 -0800

A post of mine about Hugo Schwyzer got reblogged by a number of feminist blogs. I intend to address the issues raised in those posts, but not right away because I have things outside of the Internet to do. (I’m posting this lest my lack of posting be taken as a sign of meek withdrawal from the Internet for being called deluded, mindless, sexist, or a puppet, among other things. Discomfited yes, scared off—no.)

My hiatus from Tumblr posting may be a while. I’m juggling full-time student status, various college transfer application deadlines, student government, my campus’ feminist club leadership, social duties (Chinese New Year), and a mean case of what I’m hoping are the temporary blues. I’m choosing to let this lay, in favor of more pressing issues in my life.

Pancakes.

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:07:33 -0800

Friend: like, every breakfast from here until diabetes is gonna be pancakes.
Friend: regular pancakes strawberry pancakes mexican hot chocolate pancakes lemon ricotta pancakes

Hugo Schwyzer: Moving Forward

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:50:48 -0800

Hugo Schwyzer: Moving Forward:

As a feminist who is a friend of Hugo Schwyzer’s, I’m very disheartened to see that there are self-identified feminists who would take such a reactionary stance against Hugo without looking at his words, actions, roles, and past in context. It’s a disappointing moment in history when we as a movement attempt to expel our best members based on quotes and accusations carefully culled to be as misleading and inflammatory as possible, simply because someone doesn’t fit the mold of being the perfect feminist with an always do-gooder past and the right demographic background.

In the past thirteen years, Hugo has gone above and beyond to make amends and create an accountability process for himself. I’ve seen the work he does to individually help others, and to be a safe space for students at my college. He uses his past experiences and current resources to help, not harm.

Isn’t one of the first few lessons of feminism realizing that what a feminist “looks like” can be wildly different from our expectations?

New Year’s Eve.

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:06:06 -0800

New Year’s Eve.

"Why don’t you tell me that ‘if the girl had been worth having, she’d have waited for you’? No, sir,..."

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:16:00 -0800

“Why don’t you tell me that ‘if the girl had been worth having, she’d have waited for you’? No, sir, the girl really worth having won’t wait for anybody.”

- from This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald. (via fabula)

I like this, even though I don’t really care what a girl’s sexual (or non-sexual) behavior is like, so long as it’s her choice to make.

On Hugo Schwyzer

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:10:00 -0800

golden-notebook:

unknowablewoman:

stfusexists:

dr—grumbles:

Out of all the men that have ever abused/raped me, many of them were addicted to one thing or another. It didn’t mean a damn thing when it came down to it. A lot of people in my life have been addicted to things and even more have had mental illnesses. However, none of those other people addicted to things have ever hurt me. I cannot separate the abusers in my life by looking at if a person is addicted to something or not. Addicted people have hurt me, addicted people have never touched me.

Hugo Schwyzer is an abusive person. He’s also an addict. The two do not, in my experience beget one another and they are not mutually exclusive. They shouldn’t be treated as either. He is two things. He is also a man that is rapidly becoming the center of feminist discourse, something I have a major problem with. I’m tired of men getting to say half-concocted, elementary level versions of ideas that women have been saying for decades upon decades to no avail, but they seem revolutionary when they come out of men’s mouths. I’m tired of men getting to tell me about the way my sex and gender are viewed and abused. I know. You don’t have to tell me. Let me tell you how it feels to have your lover try to murder you, because I don’t think you know Hugo.

Excellent and thought-provoking commentary, presented without additional comment.

Hugo is gross. I didn’t even know who he was until recently, and then everyone on my Twitter feed started lavishing him with praise. Ugh. STOP. IT.

Had no idea about any of this; I’ve found his writing very admirable but if this is true it is obviously masking a lot of sickness. Will have to read up on this.

As someone who has Hugo Schwyzer as a professor, adviser, collaborator, and friend, I agree that he has made more than a few inexcusable mistakes in his past. He’s always been open about his flaws and his past, particularly in the hopes that other people can learn something from them, whether it’s about infidelity, unethical sexual behavior, boundaries, addiction, or other. He’s 100% committed to living his feminism and being accountable now, but if you still want to judge him for his past crimes, that’s up to you. (You may also want to read his post about the event that a lot of people have decided to call him a murderer for.)

In my interactions with him and through my struggles, he’s been nothing but appropriate and supportive—but not overbearing, and definitely not one word of mansplaining. As a 20 year-old female student and feminist, I’m willing to give my support to and vouch for Hugo, and hopefully that adds credence to the good person he is now.

Everyone has six names.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:19:21 -0800

the-hurricane-k-reigns-here:ipomoeaandthestarstealers:trackster:

1. Your Real name: M————

2. Your detective name (Favorite color and favorite Animal): Black Chinchilla.

3. Your soap opera name (middle name and street you live on): (I don’t have a middle name. I’ll use my alter-ego name, I guess.) Emily Greenwood.

4. Your Star wars name (first three letters of last name, first two of middle name, first two of first, last three of last): Choemmohou.

5. Superhero name (color of your shirt, first item to your immediate left): Grey Book. I like this.

6. Goth name (Black and one of your pets): Black Joy. (Hahaha.)

(via Girls With Slingshots) Yeah.

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:17:25 -0800

(via Girls With Slingshots)

Yeah.

"Fashion is one of the very few forms of expression in which women have more freedom than men. And I..."

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:44:48 -0800

“Fashion is one of the very few forms of expression in which women have more freedom than men. And I don’t think it’s an accident that it’s typically seen as shallow, trivial, and vain. It is the height of irony that women are valued for our looks, encouraged to make ourselves beautiful and ornamental… and are then derided as shallow and vain for doing so. And it’s a subtle but definite form of sexism to take one of the few forms of expression where women have more freedom, and treat it as a form of expression that’s inherently superficial and trivial. Like it or not, fashion and style are primarily a women’s art form. And I think it gets treated as trivial because women get treated as trivial.”

- Fashion is a Feminist Issue: Greta Christina (via heyicanbetheanswer)

Missing by Eliza Doolittle. Because I’m missing, can you...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:41:34 -0700

Missing by Eliza Doolittle.

Because I’m missing, can you find me?
If anybody has a key to spare a little dream for me
I’ll let it be
That you find me, find me, find me, find me

motherjones: Columbus was kind of horrible. You know what isn’t...

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:12:26 -0700

motherjones:

Columbus was kind of horrible. You know what isn’t horrible? These two corgis playing tether-ball.

(Via)

Someone help me make this happen for my room.

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 17:16:39 -0700

Someone help me make this happen for my room.

Today started out shitty but ended up AMAZING.

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:58:51 -0700

This morning I had cobbled together a Tumblr post that I didn’t finish that went kind of like this:

I initially requested the weekend off because my family was going to Vegas and wanted me to watch the dogs (thanks, guys), but then my dad ended up not going, so I made other plans to just chill the fuck out and do some Labor Day shopping. Found out that I work all three days, including Labor Day. I work twelve hours next week, and sixteen the week after.

Sixteen hours isn’t that bad, but considering that I spend more than thirty hours a week on campus, shit gets exhausting.

AND ANOTHER THING, I hate living with people. Specifically, people who get into loud fights with each other and scream, “Fuck you, asshole!” and, “Shut up, bitch!” late at night in the hallway where the entrance to the bathroom is.

But then after work I met up with my super awesome colleague and neighbor and we smoked a bit and drank a bit and made vegan food and met her housemates who are better than my housemates had an awesome time and I knocked out for thirty minutes but I think I’m still tipsy and life is awesome, look I can type without typos whilst un-sober, everything’s just run-on and grammatically incorrect instead!

Smoking totally helps with cramps, I love it. Happy happy.

Also, earlier tonight I made a vegan version of this thing. I...

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:20:46 -0700

Also, earlier tonight I made a vegan version of this thing. I lost my zucchini somewhere, so I made up for it with extra tomatoes and potatoes. I also used Daiya soy mozzarella instead of actual cheese, to make it vegan. Hooray! This picture is what it looked like before I put it in the oven.

My boss made a cake. Isn’t it pretty?

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:17:15 -0700

My boss made a cake. Isn’t it pretty?