Feminist = Fine

First, she took Britain by storm. Next up, the United States.  Caitlin Moran’s mission: to blow up the nasty image feminism has acquired and to reclaim the word (and the ideology) for the people. Sort of a backlash to the backlash. And, she's a hoot (which helps).

According to Sarah Lyall of The New York Times, Moran’s book, How to Be a Woman, is “part memoir, part philosophical rant, part manifesto written with the lightest touch. . . The book aims to make women proud of being feminists.”

Moran says, “The word ‘feminism’ has for some reason gone off the rails to connote, incorrectly, preachy humorlessness and grim separatism.  When I talk to girls, they go, ‘I’m not a feminist.’  And I say, ‘What?  You don’t want to vote?  Do you want to be owned by your husband?  Do you want your money from your job to go into his bank account?  If you were raped, do you still want that to be a crime?  Congratulations:  you are a feminist.”

Check out Caitlin Moran’s website and see for yourself:  http://www.how-tobeawoman.com/

Texts from Jane Eyre

If you know anything about me, you know I'm crazy (well, not quite Bertha-in-the-attic-crazy, but Cocoa Puff-crazy) about Jane Eyre. What if Jane, and Rochester and St. John, were alive and well today? Well, they'd be texting, wouldn't they?

Kudos to my fellow English department professor, Heidi Lavine for unearthing this gem from the website "Hairpin" -- a rendition of what texts between Jane and Rochester and St. John would look like. Check it out. It is hilarious! (I, personally, liked the line, "But I taught you Hindi and everything. That's basically the same as getting engaged for missionaries.") What's your favorite line?

Texts from Jane Eyre

The Turkey and the Blackbird

Notice the turkey. It was in our yard, recently, gobbling up the bird seed.  A real turkey?  Yup.  A wild turkey?  Apparently so. Eating the bird seed meant for the delicate flutter of cardinals, bluebirds and chickadees? You got it.

After we got over our initial astonishment at seeing a real turkey in our backyard, my husband opened the window and shooed it away.  It ran, head a’bobbin’ for the marshy meadow beyond.  A few days later, though, we noticed it again, filling up on the songbirds’ chow.  But before we could do anything, the dominant bird of our feeder, a hellacious redwing blackbird we call “The Maitre d” (because he decides when the feeder is open and which birds will or will not get a perch that morning), took care of business himself.  Although as small as David was to Goliath, our gutsy guy puffed himself up and attacked the turkey’s feet, squawking and pecking fiercely.  The turkey, as you see in the photo, ran for dear life . . . and has been kept away to this day.   

We were more than impressed with our glossy-winged sentry.  According to birdish sources, this behavior is not at all unusual for redwing blackbirds.  They’ve been deemed among the bravest of birds, defending their territories and the nests of their females from animals and much larger birds.  Not only do they call and flap at danger, but they don’t mind outright attacking, as we witnessed with the unfortunately turkey.  These confident birds, it is said, are real swashbucklers – doing everything they can to get noticed by their ladies, and doing everything, afterward, to protect those ladies, and their families, in kind.

Our bird drama amused us for days.  It’s amazing what you can see by simply looking.  A romantic tale of ladies and gentlemen . . . and a big-bellied thief chased back to the shadows.  All for the price of a little birdseed.



Abracadabra

You know you're being fooled, yet you watch like a hawk.  You will figure it out, this magic trick, if it's the last thing you do.  But, over and over again, the assistant gets sawed in half, the rabbit is pulled out of the hat, and Uncle Charlie pulls the quarter from behind your ear.

Have you ever wondered about magician's secrets?  The brain, it seems, continues seeing the reality of the situation it has already assessed.  Reality and our perception of it are not always aligned, in fact are "off" by fragments of time.  According to a recent New York Times article, our perceptions lag behind reality by a split second and it is that delay that magicians utilize for their trickery. 

Scientists are researching this phenomenon to study human behavior in order to better understand the connection between reality and perception.  To read more about these fascinating ideas, click here:  The Science of Illusion

Have a magical day!

Summer

Sun lovers take note:  Summer officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20, 2012, at 7:09 P.M. (EDT).  That's tomorrow.  The Summer Solstice.  The longest day of the year. 

I plan to enjoy the extra rays of sunshine starting with early morning golf and ending with sunset drinks on the patio (with dashes outside during the work day to soak up a little more of the golden goodness).

What about you?  Will you turn your face upward as your garden?  Bask in a hammock?  Bake on a beach chair?  Will you walk a little more slowly to your car and let the sun's warmth relax your shoulders, warm you to the marrow?  Will you sit on a porch and watch the kids play way beyond bedtime? 

Whatever you do, enjoy the extra light and the little emotional charge we all get knowing that summer has finally arrived. 

And if you're having trouble getting into the mood, watch this video of The Beatles singing their fabulous song, Here Comes the Sun

Summer Viewing

I'm not much of a T.V. watcher and am always late in getting into the latest television thing (maybe not such a bad trait).  But, I am later than late in discovering  –  and subsequently becoming addicted to  –  the wonderful television drama, Downton Abbey.  The British-American television series shown in the United States on PBS is set on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in the North Riding of Yorkshire area of England.  The show is a wonderful blend of drama and trauma highlighting the early 1900s.  Award-winning writer Julian Fellowes co-created the immensely popular series with Gareth Neame.   Season I and II are available for viewing on Netflix, etc.  Since summer is traditionally slow for movies and the like, if you're looking for a great series to immerse yourself into, this, in my opinon, is the one.  

Inspiration

Today, I am lucky to be the featured guest blogger on famed Smoky Zeidel's "Inspiration Series."  Click below for my musings about one way I get inspired as a writer . . . by being with and experiencing the wonderful works of other writers.  Then, explore the rest of Smoky's blog!

Click here to read my guest post and to explore Smoky's amazing blog:  Inspiration