I just spent 15 minutes trying to figure out something smart to say about this, but the pink camouflage is too distracting.

…Also the correlation between a weapon of death and women who have “the caring heart and tenderness of good wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters.” That’s distracting too.

It seems like every time I have lunch with my mom, we have the following conversation:

MOM: (after a thoughtful silence) So…
ME: (while eating) Mmhmm?
MOM: So, is he….the one?
ME: (still eating, somewhat muffled) what?
MOM: Have you discussed the “M” word?
ME: (after a pause, uncomfortably) Well, I guess…
MOM: (bursts into tears)

She’s not crying because she doesn’t like my significant other, quite to the contrary. She is crying because she realizes that marriage is another step towards adulthood and away from any pretenses that I am still a virgin.

I get uncomfortable during this conversation not because I am uncomfortable at the prospect of marriage but because I’m uncomfortable with the pomp and circumstance implied by the whole dress-cake-church-crying parents to-do. A big wedding is something that popular culture tells us that women have been dreaming about since they were little girls, but every time I think about having to put all that time, money and effort into one day, I get unpleasantly itchy.

The truth is, I am sort of engaged, but I haven’t told my mom yet. I don’t want my huge southern family losing their collective sh*t or making a big thing out of it, I also really don’t want to have the you-don’t-need-a-grossly-expensive-ring-to-be-engaged conversation, but mostly I don’t want to have to deal with my mother’s shock and total dismay when I tell her about the wedding plans we’ve made (and I use the terms “wedding” “plans” and “made” very loosely).

We are eloping. To Oregon. To get married at a doughnut shop. Read More »

I don’t know much about it yet, but I guess breastfeeding is good for your babies. So, breast milk and babies? A sensible combination.

But babies and Facebook? Not so much.

I don’t care how much Facebook is “expanding” its users. Facebook is really for college students and it should stay that way. Which is why I’m not too offended to find out that it has been removing pictures of females breastfeeding their kids.

The blog posted on USAToday said, “Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother who describes herself as a “lactivist,” tells The (Toronto) Star that such photos led Facebook to delete her account and a support group she had established for breastfeeding mothers.”

First of all, what is Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother/lactivist doing on Facebook in the first place? What is she possibly getting out of this? Finding out at which side of campus the next tailgate is gonna start? Checking up on her douchebag ex-boyfriend to see if he added any new skanks to his friend list?

Seriously, Karen. Seriously.

I think it’s great that mothers are reaching out to each other for support, but is it really necessary to post, what I think, are such personal and intimate photos on this particular site that is regularly monitored? Here is one of the pics that was removed from the site, and nipple or not - it may not be “obscene” as Facebook would say, but it’s still pretty needless on a college-based networking site. Read More »