RedHead Confetti

Late Friday night, at the absolute worst time-- or very close to it, Mitt Romney announced his choice of Veep: Paul Ryan, a Republican Representative from Wisconsin. I wasn't sure I was going to write about it, but the more I thought about this thing, the more that one thought was spinning around in my head. A thought I share with you now: If the USCCB says your little budget plan is an immoral and anti-Catholic plan--- well this is a group known for protesting any woman, any where for using birth control -- and claiming said women are infringing on these precious little Bishop's feelings; a group that has supported the rapist, over the child being raped-- even though there's an adorable paper that demands they tell each other about the rape, and maybe, eventually get around to telling the cops [after the offender has moved to Rome, or something, though, can't let him be *gasp* arrested for his indiscretions!]; a group that is firmly on the side of Vatican City aga...

Trigger warning: This one's very personal. I talk about my mental state and the hurt I felt today. I discuss depression a little, and go back into the pain I feel over being disowned. It's not a constant pain, in fact it's a pretty rare occurrence; but if my talking about it, or my breaking down over it is too hard, please skip this one.   Last few days I've been not all there. I have that weird fuzzy feeling that I get before I have a depressive episode. I've been dealing with rising anxiety, although there's no good reason for it. It's a normal state of my brain when the episode is coming. What's missing, though is the deepening sadness, the fog of sorrow, the eerie loneliness. I haven't felt sad at all! I've been really excited, actually. It's a state I'm not accustomed to, because I tend to be pretty calm. While the kids have been settling into their new schedule, I've been preparing myself for this year's NaNoWriMo . I d...

The Sikh Khanda Sunday morning a christianist, a white supremacist with bad taste in band names, shot up a car park and then walked into a Wisconsin Sikh gurdwara , or temple. He killed six people, and wounded four more before he was killed by the responding police. His name was Wade Michael Page, and he was a terrorist. **Update: The FBI has released a statement that says Page shot himself in the temple, rather than being shot by police responders. I'm sorry for posting the information incorrectly; I will always attempt to update with corrections.** I have tried to sit down and write about this since it happened. It's Wednesday now, and I still can't wrap my head around the whole thing. I imagine that the victims and their families are going through that, but a million times worse. Who in their right mind would want to harm a Sikh ?! It's like wanting to murder Amish people, or kidnap and pimp out Vestal virgins! I mean, really! Sikhism is an egalitarian rel...

Well, summer's over at our house. The kiddos start back to school today. I know there are, technically 13 first days of school for American kids, K-12th grade. But every single one of them is different. Today I'm just musing on this first, and will return to the haphazardly posted blog talking about religion and politics and feminism that you're more used to. My oldest is in high school, and he was pretty excited when he walked out the door at 6:30 this morning. We'll see how excited he stays, having to get up and out the door while everyone else is sleeping! His first hour starts at 7:10! I didn't have to be to school until 8 or 8:30 in high school, but then he does get out about 2-ish, so that's a nice exchange if you ask me. His high school has this thing they call Freshman Academy-- it's district-wide, and it's a way to segregate the Freshmen from harassment and the sometimes overwhelming nature of high school, and still get them into the actual ...

Trigger Warning: I'm going to rant a bit about the right to privacy today. I get a little profane, and I mock the shit out of evangelical/fundamental Christianity. If this bothers you, skip this one. It also meanders a bit and touches on equal protection under the law-- something that often goes hand in hand with the right to privacy. "Although not explicity [sic] stated in the text of the Constitution, in 1890 then to be Justice Louis Brandeis extolled ' a right to be left alone. ' This right has developed into a liberty of personal autonomy protected by the 14th amendment. The 1st , 4th , and 5th Amendments also provide some protection of privacy, although in all cases the right is narrowly defined. The Constitutional right of privacy has developed alongside a statutory right of privacy which limits access to personal information." Cornell University Law School 's page on Privacy. (Emphasis added) And in case you're not familiar with the Con...

In Remembrance... Friday morning, I woke up, expecting it to be a normal Friday. Instead I was confronted with news splashed across cyberspace and in real-time about a shooting in Colorado. I was full of sorrow for the victims, and their families. Those who were lost, and those who were wounded have my deepest, most heart-felt thoughts and sadness. I know I can't undo it. I know I can't bring anyone back, or heal anyone's hurt. I know this, and yet I wish so badly that I could. I know I'm not the only person who feels that way. Because I can't, let me just hold my little light in the blog-osphere, and add my wishes for a quick recovery for those who were injured. My small condolences don't mean much to those who are in the middle of this mess-- but I am human, and I care, and I can't help but add them. Photo credit to http://www.flickriver.com/photos/pinksherbet/2846430785/

Trigger Warning: This is part two. Part one was yesterday. Just like yesterday, for the sake of simplicity I lump all stories of the paranormal/natural together as a ghost story. This includes faeries, demons, ghosts and everything else. It's just easier that way for me. I wrote about lizard-men, shadow people and black-eyed kids. These are weird things that don't have an explanation that I know of, that explains them in their entirety. If you can't handle scary stories, then skip this one, too. These are more creepy things, but I don't want to set off anyone's anxiety. I do try to be rational. I read these stories with a 50 pound bag of salt; rarely do I take them at face value. I know there are things that I don't know, and don't understand-- but I also know that sleep paralysis is not caused by a hag sitting on you, and that you're not being sexually molested by an incubus if you have a sexy dream at night. That doesn't chang...