I Can Be Dis Kat . . . . Who Can Uz Be?

Your Score: Ceiling Cat

45% Affectionate, 31% Excitable, 33% Hungry

You are a master of stealth. They never see you coming. But you always see them coming. HEY-O!



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Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for . . .

• my sons
• my honey
• my corporation that is growing and thriving even though it is not self sustaining yet
• the fact that I am writing again
• my students
• my advisory board
• my life that challenges me and makes me tired, but makes me feel more alive than I have in a long time
• my parents who are finally proud of me again
• the Chicago Writers Association
• my motorcycle

For my Honey

Which Reminds Me . . .

Obviously JK Rowling has enough money.

The whole stunt at Carnegie Hall that she pulled by announcing that Dumbledore is gay! He may or may not be, and frankly I don't care.

However, I am assuming there were children at her reading. The account I read, made the announcement seem non-provoked, just an answer to a question about whether Dumbledore will find his true love. When my seventh grade son heard the news he was outraged.

A back story like that is fine for an author to have and it probably gives the character some depth and mysteriousness of motivation that works very well, but since the fact had no place in the novels, it has no place in official, author led discussion outside of the novels either.

Rowling has forgotten what her readers are going through. The Potter series appeals to readers of all levels. Students who won't read any book will at least give the Potter books a try. She has now taken a book that students have sought out to read as "cool" on at least some level and has given that student another excuse not to read. Imagine our not so hypothetical student taking this book out to read in front of their equally alliterate friends to hear, "Why are you reading that? Dumbledore is gay!" and down the book will go.

You've made your money, JK. And you are probably looking for new things to talk about because you have been discussing these books for years, and you surely have an active and creative mind, but this tidbit was a really bad choice to reveal. And as far as I can see, revealing some back story to a character's profile that did not even make it into the book does nothing for toterance. It just causes another sensation and fans the flames of ignorance.

Oh, well.

Wild Girl Howling at the Halloween Moon

It is Halloween again soon. Yay! One of my favorite holidays. Getting rather pissed though.

Maybe Halloween wasn't the greatest holiday when I was a kid. I sure thought it was. You went to school in your costume. You came home and trick or treated from the moment your mother would let you out until way after dark. (If you were lucky and the weather wasn't so horrible you couldn't go out at all, or so cold you had to wear your coat over you costume. (How lame can you be, Mom!)

I just received my kid's school newsletter. Luckily, they will still be having a Halloween parade and party. I know quite a few communities have canceled theirs, so I'm glad that still stands. But this year the newsletter came with express requests for no scary masks or costumes. I guess you might need some background to understand how I feel about that request.

My son is in fourth grade. For most of his life he has been afraid to wear a mask or even go down the Halloween aisle with masks. This year (in September, no less) he demanded that I take him to the party store so that he could purchase his costume: a scary, bloody, rotting zombie. I was so proud because he asked for what he wanted and has taken such big steps toward overcoming his fears.

So here I sit, knowing how the karma train runs for me. If I tell the boy that he can't wear his costume, or he can only wear the clothes (which still have rotting flesh visible) 7 other boys will have the same costume and will wear it without any consequences. If I count on that and tell him to wear the costume and damn the Man, he will call me from the principal's office.

My son is still afraid of clowns. Can I demand that all students planning to come to school dressed as clowns be asked to refrain? I know a lot of people are freaked out by clowns so I would be doing everyone a favor, right?

Or I could just learn to deal with myself and let others be and do what they want?

Hmm.

It makes a person almost want to take the school up on their offer to send him to their "awesome library" to read a book or play on the computer during the Halloween festivities. Except then they would mistake me for someone else.

Just getting tired of all the watering down and catering to the timid and the vanilla among us. It strips life of its flavor.

How did I ever survive my childhood?

Sometimes I feel like I have done wrong

Sometimes I feel like I have done my children a dis-service by raising them to believe that people are to respect each other, have empathy for each other, and behave properly toward each other. Because then they go to school.

There they meet the real world. They discover that people will hurt you for no reason. They would rather shove you out of the way than wait their turn when the goal is desirable. They will speak out of turn and put you down to make themselves feel better.

None of this is news.

My home is a safe haven. On the bus the kid that sits next to my nine-year-old calls him a "Mother Fucker" and another little girl tells him "suck my dick." We don't know who these children are so we can't complain. When I complain to the bus driver, my son tells me that he announces to all the children on the bus the next day that they should not mention what happens on the bus because it gets him in trouble. I tell my son the man is a bully and kids should never trust adults that tell them to keep secrets from their parents. He begs me not to complain again.

I have a dream that if I raise young men that know how to treat other people, I will contribute some decency to the world. I just don't know how to protect them from the fact that the world does not live up to the goals that we aim for. How do I give them armor, but make sure they remain open and peaceable?

What is Going On Around Here?

I scratched my cornea with my contact the other day. I am the kind of person who believes that I am a weakling and a whiner, so I would not give in to the high amount of discomfort that I felt when inserting my left contact on Thursday morning. As I toughed my way through the day, adjusting and readjusting my contact, I did a real number on myself.

The doctor was able to see it with the dye and the funky light. He described it as a small but deep cut on the center of my cornea. (The attached graphic is not picture of my eye, but I think it is pretty dramatic so I'm using it.)

I had been a "big, brave, dog" until then but I absolutely melted down upon hearing the news. As I sat crying into my Honey's shoulder, my main concern was not the damage to my eye. (Well, not directly.) It was with the possibility that I might never be able to wear my contacts again.

You see this year I have become extremely vain. My glasses easily add ten years to my face, and I can't handle that. So my contacts are a Godsend and a real boost to my self confidence.

No one ever said that knowing I was forty would affect me so much. I always thought age was just a number, but I am constantly having to fight stereotypes of what is proper for a woman my age. What is that all about and when did that start? And why can't I make it stop?

I look great most of the time, especially when I have my contacts in. My Honey is 10 years younger than I am. I am progressive, adventurous, and fun. So how did I end up worried about being so old?