Excuse Me, But I Have Digressed

As aptly pointed out by my husband, my blog has quickly turned into a feminist manifesto.  While he may be overstating it just a bit, I have moved away from where I said I would go (with this blog, that is).  In my defense, the headlines have made slipping into Women's Law Caucus* mode super duper easy and basically instinctual.

I will move on from the manifesto, but not before I share this jaw-dropper straight from my much-beloved City of Brotherly Love (definitely not sisterly love as evidenced by the below article & photo).  A big thanks to my friend, Rich Bobbe for sending this my way.  I truly hope to discuss this with you in-person over a beverage at a not so distant point in the future - not sure if I'll go import or domestic . . .

http://articles.philly.com/2012-02-23/news/31091522_1_domestic-violence-sign-survivor-of-domestic-abuse

*The Women's Law Caucus (a.k.a. "Ladies Law Caucus") was a women's organization I led (with the help of some other fabulous gals) at Temple Law School.  As a huge added bonus, we had our own office complete with phone, couch, and closing door.  Huge in the law school world.   Many were jealous, of course.

The Cherry On Top

I had to share this as a follow up to my last blog post.  Just in case anyone ever wondered what the domestic/dating violence cycle looked like . . .

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/chris-brown-rihanna-reunite-birthday-cake-turn-music-145735266--abc-new


Yep, that's it.  The cherry on top, indeed!

The Week in Review - There Was No Love For The Ladies

The week post vacation is always a tough one.  Back to the cold weather and dingy landscape.  Everyone is tired and edgy. Every moment of my day was consumed with the uninspiring work of unpacking, doing huge amounts of laundry, and sorting through the mess that piled up in one's absence.  There's not much time for anything else - except this week I was completely distracted by the insane headlines, clips, and blips circulating through the newspapers, online, and in my own inbox.  One thing rang through - women were having a really crappy week. 


A couple of things stuck out as just really bad for women.  Here are my top three in the the past week's parade of horribles.


1.  Chris Brown and The Please Beat Me Tweets
So, Chris "Still on Probation for Felony Assault" Brown, preformed at the Grammy's, and even won a Grammy last Sunday.  Bully for him.  Some people were bothered by the fact that Brown was invited to perform at the Grammy's in light of his conviction for the (fairly severe) domestic assault of then girlfriend, Rihanna.  That's all debatable.


Here's what I'm really bothered by - THE TWEETERS.  While Brown was performing, masses of women tweeted about how they would happily accept a beating from Brown, etc.  Of course, I assume some of these tweets to be tongue and cheek, but not all of them.  The theme went like this, "Chris Brown is so hot, I would let him beat me LOL."  Whether joking or not, it just goes to show that so many people still just don't get it - domestic violence, that is.  I presume these are the same women who suggest that women "choose" to be prostitutes and strippers.  Right.  These people make my head hurt.    
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-02-14/living/living_chris-brown-response-tweets_1_tweets-domestic-violence-joke?_s=PM:LIVING


2.  Don't Stand Too Close To Me Or You Might Get Raped
So, thanks to my friend Heather, this doozie found its way to my inbox.  In the below clip, Fox News Pundit, Liz Trotta, who makes Phyllis Schlafly look like a feminist, suggests that women in the military should expect to be raped.  Additionally, the 64% increase in sexual assault in the military is a result of "close contact".  You put men and women together in the military, and BAM - you get rape.  She goes on to mock sexual abuse programs made available to those victims.  Lots of incendiary comments.  Now, granted, Trotta has a demonstrated track record of crazy, but this was a bit much.  In a long line of "she asked for it" logic, this was over the top.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/fox-news-liz-trotta-rape_n_1274018.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false


3.  Women's Reproduction Rights - Where The Hell Are The Women?!  

Religious leaders came forward to explain why Obama's contraception policy disregarded their religious freedom.  They called it a hearing about religious freedom, I called it a hearing about reproductive rights.  No matter what you called it - where were the women?!  There are no female religious leaders or any women qualified to speak from a religious perspective??  Oh come on!  At least make it look balanced.  Ridiculous and unfortunately, the reality.  

    

By the time Thursday rolled around, I felt like my brain had been through the ringer (along with the gazillion loads of laundry I had done).  On the positive side, the weather was mild and sunny.  I took the dog for a long walk and grabbed the mail - and there it was . . . the icing on the cake . . . The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.  Insult to injury.

The magazine didn't make it past the trash cans in the driveway.  It never does.  This week's insults to the women of the world, however, will live on.  Valentine's Day week showed no love for the ladies.  Here's to a more promising week. 

   

Anyone have any other horribles to add to the list?

Middle Mainers in Middle Florida: Disney Must Be Magical Because I Didn't Hate It

After the holidays pass and we have enjoyed the novelty of snow, hot cocoa, and fires, things get a bit dicey.  The snow turns dirty and hard, we are stuck inside more often, which leads to heightened brotherly fighting, and my attitude sours very quickly.  Every year, about this time, we escape the frozen tundra of Maine and head due south to Florida.  It is a necessity to survive the remainder of the winter season, which can extend well into April.  And then we have Mud Season, not Spring.*  

Usually we soak up some sun down along the Gulf Coast. Lovely.  

This year presented us with a quandary.  We had the opportunity to split our trip - half on the Gulf Coast, and half in (gasp) . . . Disney.  We have sworn off Disney for years.  To say we are not amusement park people is a huge understatement.  Our skin crawls after two hours within the gates of Story Land (for those not familiar, Story Land is a small, regional amusement park, and it is about 1/8 the size of the Magic Kingdom).  We know our limitations, and we certainly couldn't handle Disney.  Right??  Furthermore, EJ would be in conference during at least part of the Disney trip, and I was infinitely certain that I could not do Disney with my two children ALONE.  


After much back and forth, we decided to throw our kids a HUGE bone, and bite the Disney bullet.  Off we went for 5 magical days in Disney - I kept my bad attitude bottled up, but knew it could be uncorked at any given moment. 


Something magical happened.  It didn't suck.  I expected a parade of horribles, but no such parade occurred.  Granted, I rolled my eyes on several occasions, frequently remarked on the price gouging, and was overwhelmed by the amount of Disney licensed apparel worn by men, women, and children alike.  


There were a couple of things that surprised me most.  Here goes:


1.  I expected Disney to be virtually alcohol-free as it is the most kid-friendly place on earth.  FALSE!  Between Downtown Disney and Epcot, I couldn't count all of the open containers.  Our Disney Resort hotel featured cabana bars within splash range of every pool.  Who knew!  After a couple of tropical mojitos, I really felt the magic.

2.  I expected to pay way too much for crappy food.  The food was exceptionally over-priced, however, it was good.  We had many legitimately good meals in Disney - seriously.  Our hotel housed a five star restaurant, we had great Cuban food in Downtown Disney, and the spread at the German Biergarten in Epcot wasn't too shabby.  I will even admit to whole-heatedly enjoying way too many Mickey-shaped waffles at our character breakfast.  I was only slightly embarrassed by the fact that my children had none, as I carried a plate stacked with Mickey heads.  


3.  I expected everything to be perfect in an erie Pleasantville kind of way.

  
For the most part it was.  Walt Disney certainly was a visionary, but his vision (and those who continue to carry it out) stopped short with the Disney World uniforms.  I firmly believe that every uniform to which I bore witness was a fashion travesty.  From the puffy knickers paired with knee-high white socks (think Bonnie Doon socks worn with school uniform skirts), to the heavily pleated pants worn by just about everyone (as we know, pleats do no justice to any body), to the neon pants with dino print and claw-shaped pockets worn by the workers in Animal Kingdom. 

Yes, indeed.  Disney had its imperfections (you've looking at one) and that made me feel just a bit more at ease with the whole magical world of Disney.  


I was even sad to leave my picture-perfect Disney resort, pools with nearby, well-stocked cabanas, and 5-days of non-stop family fun.  It was (slightly) magical.   


*As a side note, this winter has been very mild, and I can even see patches of (brown) grass outside.  That is very unusual for these parts, and I do not want my above winter negativity to bring a jinx on me and all of Maine.    

    

Valentine's Day Love - Ferguson Brother Style

By 8 a.m., it had already become one of those (hideous) days, and it was Valentine's Day to boot.  In our defense, we are only one day post-Florida vacation.  Re-entry into Middle Maine mid-winter from a warm, sunny destination can be impossible, at best.  Mix into that intense sleep deprivation, and the situation was ripe for disaster.

Child #1 couldn't wake-up, refused to eat breakfast, and was just generally uncooperative.  Child #2 was uber-bratty, and had a major melt-down because I put him in his red-soled sneakers, not blue.  We were late, very late.*

As we blazed out of the driveway on this most love-filled day of all days, Child #1 said to the other, "I hate having you as a brother."  I shook my head in disgust and turned up Kids' Place Live to drown out their voices.  Then child #2 piped up and retorted with this: "Well, I hate having you as my sister!"  I was floored by his nastiness, but also secretly impressed with his wit and ability to deliver a real zinger.  In this battle of tit-for-tat, child #2 had clearly won. 

Who delivered this short, sharp, and effective one liner?  None other than three and a half year old phenom, Owen J. Ferguson.  

He is very physical, crude-talking, free-spirited, hilarious, and inherently lovable.  Those who know him well, affectionately refer to him as "Belushi."  All he's missing is the COLLEGE sweatshirt.

  

And the recipient of the zinger . . . Sammy J. Ferguson.  The sensitive, super-observative, often prodding, older brother (sometimes hipster).

Now don't get me wrong, Sam can trash-talk better than most of his contemporaries, but today he was out-witted in the daily brotherly back and forth.  

A rocky but laughable start to our Valentine's Day.  Appropriate. 

In the end, it all ended in a heap of love in Belushi's bed.  

SISTERS FOREVER!

*DISCLAIMER - I am always late, but these kids are taking late to a new level, and my eldest regularly gets Tardy Slips - super embarrassing, especially for my very punctual husband.  I am almost certain that he was the perennial recipient of the perfect attendance award.