Political Rant About Political Rants

Donald Trump is President-Elect and the world is going nuts trying to figure out who to blame it on.  The Russians?  The programmers of the voting machines? Hillary Clinton? The Republicans? The Democrats? Satan, even?

Here's the deal, folks.  We The People are to blame.  We The People bought into the thinking that those two were our only options.  We The People chose between the lesser of two evils.   We The People believed that a mother and grandmother wanted to kill babies because she's Pro-Choice.  We The People believed a man was a sexist and a racist because of things taken out of context.

I "wasted" my vote on a candidate I thought was better qualified than those two.  I'll probably do it again.  The men who designed our system wanted me to do it.  They wanted all of us to do it - not to vote for the lesser of two evils, not to vote against anyone, but to hire the best person for the job.

Also, we are not "screwed" because of who got elected.  The President of the United States does not hold that kind of power.  He has to work with the Legislative Branch - and no matter what their party lines might be, those folks are not going to back anything that's going to cost them their jobs.   Because it will.  This election was a mess, to put it mildly, but it opened a lot of eyes.

We The People are awake now. We The People will be watching those we've elected, as we should have been all along.  We The People - most of us, anyway - are not happy about how this turned out, for various reasons.  Strange as it may seem, this election may be a blessing in disguise.

Sometimes you have to shoot yourself in the foot before realizing you need to learn more about guns.

Another Barbie Rant

Just saw a news story about a woman who made a breast feeding Barbie.  Every now and then another story comes along about the Lammily doll - the normal Barbie is what that one usually gets called.  How pathetic do they think children are?  Dolls run on imagination and if your kid is so lacking in that area that they need all this stuff that's being sold, I'm afraid you have bigger problems.
You want your doll to breast-feed, pop open her shirt and have her hold a baby to her breast.  This is much easier with a elbow-articulated doll, by the way.  You want her to have a period, make her some little pads out of paper or bits of cloth.  There is no need for all these specialized dolls.

I give credit to the toy makers for more realistic proportions, even though I do not agree that Barbie's freakish figure psychologically damages children.

Lammily you can buy scar stickers for.  My Barbies have scars - mostly stray pen marks - and these aren't removable.  Who's realistic now, Lammily?  I've had Barbies lose limbs and explained it away with car accidents.  But some revolutionary out there is making amputee dolls.

I'll admit to having to coach my minions a bit, but I am not going to buy them something they can improvise for themselves.  If your child cannot figure out how to make a Zombie Fighter out of dolls, clothes, and accessories they already own...  I blame you.  Granted, it is more fun sometimes to have the specific character, but I'm referring to generalities.  A lot of these amazing, innovative dolls I'm hearing about are variations my doll-play even as a child. In the 1970s.

Protesting vs Rioting

Well, this election has brought us to a new low in American behavior.  I didn't vote for the man, I've never liked the man, but guess what?  He is the choice, apparently, of The People.  Some civilized folks are talking of petitions and abolishing the Electoral College, which I can get behind.  Work within the system to change it - that was the intent of our Founding Fathers.

However, these civilized folks seem to be a minority.  My social media is full of decidedly uncivilized stories.  "Not my President" says the same people who scorned folks for saying it four years go.  Those who did support the President-Elect are dancing around like four-year-olds singing "nanner nanner boo boo".

I"m not going to repeat my speech about checks and balances.  I'm not going to bother to tell you he can't kick down the Oval Office door like Bill Cosby's dad and repeal standing laws on a whim.  I'm just exhausted from saying it.  What I am going to do is define a couple words for the media.

A protest is peaceful.  A riot is not.  The moment a "protester" hurts another person physically or damages property, they become a "rioter".  The two words are not synonyms, and they certainly do not change definition because the reporter agrees or disagrees with their position.  If I go stand in public with a big sign, I am not a rioter just because you don't like what my sign says.  If I beat up people and break windows, I am not a protester just because you think I have a point.

Protesters do not physically attack folks that disagree with them.  Protesters do not bust things up and set things on fire.  Protesters might yell insults, they might jump to conclusions about you based on your appearance (Who doesn't?), but when they cross that line and do physical harm, they stop being protesters.  They become rioters.

About rioting...  what do these people hope to accomplish?  Has anyone even had their mind changed by getting beat up or having their house burned down?  Oh, they might seem to, but they don't.  They get mad.  KKK visits in the 1860s led to race riots in the 1960s.  And the Civil Rights Movement - which, since it was civilized, did bring change.

OK, I'm putting away my soap box now.

A Place Of My Own

The boy is twelve now, hardly in need of 24 hour supervision and able to do most of the chores that had been mine.  I started feeling rather useless, even though the family jumped up and down and insisted I was not!  There were also some minor personality issues. (I like sunshine and fresh air, they are vampires. I like to get 'er done, they procrastinate.)

Some folks seem to believe that I was kept in a deep dark dungeon and only let out to be a slave.  Looking at my history, there is a basis for this.  I have been known to stay in emotionally abusive relationships for far longer than needed, and even to defend the meanie.  But it is an insult to Josh and Chelle.  They treat me with more respect than most of the planet does.

I worried a lot about using my freeloading abilities to take more than I really needed, but several friends and family encouraged me to do it.  So I did.  I now have my own open window, sunshiny apartment with the help of those government programs for folks like me.  It's a nice little place and the only problem I've had is the smell of cigarette smoke.  Air fresheners are my friends.

I did have to leave Cleo behind, but she's happy at Josh and Chelle's.  Moving at the advanced age of seventeen might have been too much for her, anyway, and I do get to see her since I visit often.  I find myself talking to the Barbies.  I guess that's all right as long as they don't reply. 

Getting all my financial ducks in a row has been a little rough.  I'd saved the money for rent and deposits, big stuff like that, but the incidentals?  I had to buy a broom!  And a kitchen trash can!  Every time I turn around it, it seems like there's another small thing I need to buy.  Most of the big stuff is hand-me-downs - my family and friends are still offering me stuff.  

The conditions of my lease (IE limits on how long guests can stay) will protect me from being taken advantage of.  There's a reason Josh calls me The Big Sucker Lady...   So here I am, enjoying the sunshine and listening to Cat Stevens.  Maybe later I'll even open a window.  

Flags, Anthems, and Other Sacred Symbols

I've blogged before about flags.  To sum up, it is a symbol and symbols can mean very different things to those viewing them.  This time the symbol in the news is a song - The National Anthem - but the basic argument remains the same.

NFL players are choosing not to stand for the National Anthem.  As I understand it, they are protesting racism.  Some are simply showing solidarity with their team mates, for the freedom to choose not to stand.  I think they are wrong but I also know they have this thing called Freedom of Expression.  And I'm appalled by the hypocrites being appalled.

How many of these people yelling about this are, even as it happens, plopped in a recliner?  How many didn't bat an eye when Tom Brady hocked a giant loogie during a Moment of Silence for murdered children?  How many sit on the curb when the flag passes during a parade, usually carried by combat veterans?

Then there's the question of forced compliance.  That in itself is a violation of the US Constitution, which is based upon freedom.  We have the right to disrespect the Sacred Symbols of others - note the cartoonists being defended when they draw Mohammed.  These freedoms apply to everyone.

To me, these symbols are not about what we are - they are about what we should be, what we want to be, the ideals which we repeatedly fall short of.  But we keep trying and that is what I stand up for.  If I stand - and honestly, sometimes I don't.  There are a variety of reasons, but I have that right.  I'll thank you to respect it.  As I respect yours.

Little Plastic People - Part 3

Been looking at Barbie blogs.  There's a lot of them where folks have like whole communities of dolls and stage soap operas.  I really like the one called "How To Play With Barbies".  It's by a lady who has taken my philosophy of using the dolls as teaching tools way beyond what I do.  For example, in my Barbie World, if a kid wants to make Kira be married to Candy, I'm okay with it. Well, this lady has a doll of a lesbian celebrity - and  a doll of the real-life wife. She made the wife doll.  MADE it!  She used a doll of Mimi from The Drew Carey show to teach her daughter not to hate on fat people.  She seeks out dolls she can use for lessons.

I try not to have hard-and-fast rules about doll play.  I think it stifles creativity.  Right now, I'm making an album on my Facebook that's 2016 Barbie Scenarios and I have established for that a dollhouse family and some roles for others. But that probably won't be permanent, considering I'm eyeing the teen son for my next purge.  Also because, like I said, I try to avoid hard and fast rules.

My Barbie population now stands at 17 females, 10 males, and four animals.  I divide them into age groups by not just body molds, but faces as well.  A few of them are ambiguous - Mary could be a tall early teen or a late teen.  Sulu, Four, and Finnick are late teens or adults.  Skipper falls somewhere between the young teens and child.  Most of the adult females can also serve as late teens, but some of the faces firmly place them in one group or the other.

My minions have many stories of doll play at Jeanie's.  I've pontificated in the past about gender roles, so I'll spare you most of that.  Suffice to say that, to the best of my knowledge, none of my male minions has been gay.  There is a very real difference in how the boys play...  usually someone ends in with a head in the oven or toilet...

Meg Mysteries by Holly Beth Walker

The Meg books are a series of young female detective stories, along the lines of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.  I couldn't identify with the rich, almost grown Nancy.  Trixie and the Dana Sisters were better, but I absolutely LOVED Meg Duncan.  I'm now fifty years old and still own and read these books - my other teen detectives are long gone.  

The main character in these is younger than in the others, probably not technically a teen.  I think the books were written for the slightly younger set, as they're thinner and less complex.  I could read the entire series of six in a sitting, if I were so inclined.

Meg is an only child, who lives with her widowed father and a pair of elderly (or middle-aged, depending on the book) not-quite-servants.  The wife is the housekeeper and the husband caretaker of the property.  Meg's dad seems to be a workaholic.  She also has a Siamese cat, which might explain my own preference for the breed.  She has a backstory that includes an early childhood in Japan and a wealthy bachelor uncle.

Her sidekick is Kerry - who lives next door with her six siblings, many pets, and parents.  Much is made of her tomboy ways as compared to Meg's preference for painting and ballet.  Horses are a big part of Kerry's life, a wise choice on the author's part, given the audience.  It also solves the problem of having non-driver lead characters.

Anyway.  I'm not sure why I love these books so much.  I sometimes think I'd like to pick up where Holly Beth Walker left off.  Lots of people have never even heard of them, but they keep calling me back like Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden never did.