A few more comments about the snow...

My snow experience this week has been quite grand, but I must admit there are a few things about Seattle and snow that I find to be quite ridiculous. I grew up in a town in New Mexico where we got a good amount of snow every winter. My first experience of driving with my permit was in the snow in a parking lot where my dad made me skid and swerve on the ice, so I would know how the car reacts on ice and how I should react to the car, etc. Well, today I had to run some errands and I was reminded of one reason I don't care for snow in a city where it rarely snows. As I was driving down a slightly, but not too icy street the three SUV's in front of me were insistent on going 10 mph. Now let me clarify, these were SUV's with 4 wheel drive, going 10 mph. Had it been a two wheel drive car, or a motorcycle, or a bicycle, I would've understood, but SUV's, come on people. If you're going to buy an SUV with 4 wheel drive, please learn how to use it just in case it ever snows in your near vicinity. My second observation about snow and Seattle is that on the UW campus there were still a fair amount of women who decided it was still necessary to wear high heels when there were 2 inches of ice on the ground. I found this amusing, but quite odd. I would think it would be difficult and uncomfortable to walk around in heels on the ice, but to each their own I suppose.
I have a few more pictures from the snow that I took today, and one of them is of the holly tree we have in our front yard now. I have never seen a holly tree before, so it's a bit of a novelty. One shows the road conditions...lots of ice. And the other is a sidewalk shot of our street.

I love snow!

Here are some of those pictures of the snow that I said I would post. Hhhmmm...I love snow. The stuff from last night melted, but we got more this afternoon and evening, so I pulled out the trusty tri-pod and lugged it around my neighborhood to snap some photos. I love snow.

Unexpected Surprize

Today I received a fantabulous surprise. It snowed! Now for those who may not live in the Seattle area, this may not seem like a very big deal. But for those of us who live in the rainy city, snow very rarely sticks enough to actually be considered snow, and even when it does, it's usually February, not November. And so there is reason to be excited about even one inch of snow (which is about how much we probably got)since we so rarely see it in the city. So today was monumental! I was so very excited that I stood out in the snow for about ten minutes, just watching it fall. It was great. I'll probably wake up only to walk through a slushy mess on my way to school, but at least I got snow tonight. Pictures will come tomorrow if, infact, the snow hasn't melted or been washed away by 9:00am or so. I love snow.

This is inspiring.

As much as I'm not a huge fan of country music, this video and song is great! The Dixie Chicks wrote this in response the the strong reactions to their statement "Just so you know, we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." But I think the message can be interpreted for many different situations where women are told to keep quiet for one reason or another. If you want to read the lyrics, you can find them here.

The ever-so-faithful dictionary.

dictionary-definition
Originally uploaded by Mind the Gap Cardiff Feminists.

People often assume that a feminist is a radical liberal woman who burns bras (no need to update that 30 year old stereotype), has dabbled in lesbianism, promotes abortions by having them, and who hates men because they are the root of all evil. This is not the case for the majority of feminists. There are some radicals, but the majority of feminists recognize that women still are not treated equally within our larger society and that something should be done to fix that. Feminism is not just for women, nor do all feminists hate men. Feminism is a state of mind that often leads to action. This is a state of mind that can be held by anyone. Sometimes the dictionary can bring us back to what's essential.

So little time...so little brain power.

Yet again I will rant about my brain being sucked dry. Only this time school is the culprit, not the torturous endeavor of moving. And instead of my brain just being sucked out by a shop vac, it is then refilled with large words that I don't understand and that relate in no way to my daily life. This is the process of philosophisizing (I think I just created a word...maybe I am cut out to be an academic after all). And so I turn to a little recreational writing to fight off the uninterpretable words and remember that I live a life that is comprised of real people, real experiences, and my own thoughts.
Life has been moving at a very fast pace and I'm having a hard time keeping up. There are many things that have been reminding me that time flies, and that my sorry ass is way too slow. We went to visit Nate and Julie, my brother and sister in-law, and our niece, Ally, this weekend and she's huge. She is two and a half and so talkative and independent. She's growing so fast, and it reminds me that time is running rampant. Then I think of my other niece, Kya, who is two and a half also. I think of how I haven't seen her in almost a year, and how many precious stages I've missed in her life. Time, once again, kicking my ass. Then I think of how my oldest brother is dying of AIDS and how he's been fighting it for at least 8 years. He has almost died many times, yet this time he has chosen not to fight, but to live the last of his life, then end it, on his own terms. Yet again time seems to be getting the best of me since I can't seem to find the time to process that he's dying or to be there for him as he goes through this terribly rough time. How do I catch up? How do I catch the things in my life that seem to fly by me like a hurricane? How do I keep up with the rapid growth of nieces that I see so infrequently? How can I be present with my dying brother as he navigates issues and choices that few will ever face? How do I navigate the whirlpool of time? These are questions that I ponder.
And yet, even these questions must be postponed to a later contemplation time, since I have an exam to study for. There just doesn't seem to be enough time for all the things that are important to me.

65 years old...

...and she still looks amazing in star spangled hotpants! Wonder Woman has been fighting injustice for 65 years and the Seattle Times has a tribute to her in today's paper. I am a big fan of Wonder Woman. She was one of the first heroines in comic book history, which is an accomplishment all in itself. She has survived 65 years of circulation, and although she has been "made-over" many times, her legacy of equality and justice have lived on.
In her honor, I have posted some of my favorite pictures of her. Long live the Amazonian, truth-lasso wielding, bullet-proof bracelet wearing, kick-ass Wonder Woman!

A tribute to Wonder Woman

Because she kicks ass like no one else!

Oh glorious sunshine!

Today the sun finally came out. It has been a dark week and a half. Not to mention, stormy, rainy, windy, and really wet! We moved last weekend to a new house that we are renting. It should be fantabulously fun to have a new place (especially cause we can get a puppy!!), but moving is like having you're brain sucked out of your head with a shop vac. We've dedicated the last week to moving. We have done little else. In fact, I spent 8 hours yesterday catching up on homework cause I haven't done any in a week. All this to say that I'm really glad the sun came out today. I needed it. It made me a little happier and eased the insanity of the last week. We only have tonight to finish cleaning our old apartment, then we're done. Hooray!