A simple guidemap to wedded bliss

A friend of mine posted this article on Facebook about "Why You're Not Married" by Tracy McMillan.  Sorry if you are reading that and you are married, but it is the title of the piece.  It is written to women who want to get married;  apparently women who want to get married for the sake of getting married.  So, why can't these ladies find themselves a man?  Why can't they "seal the deal"?  Simple, they are shallow, selfish, slutty, lying bitches.  And they are not good enough.  No really, that is what she says.  Seriously.  Read the article.  I read it about four times to see if I could glean something good out of it.

Now, I am not an idiot.  I know that being in a relationship requires you to make sacrifices and compromises, but McMillan actually suggests that women should be more like Kim Kardashian.  If you are a woman, and you want to be like Kim Kardashian (warning: I don't really know who that is) then by all means do so.  It is your life, right?  But to suggest that you "smile" and "wiggle" to avoid scaring men is repulsive.  Just keep your opinion to yourself, smile and be a good doting wife.  How else is a reader supposed to take that?

Beyond that I think that McMillan is painting with pretty broad strokes.  I am sure that there are shallow, selfish, slutty, lying women who want to get married, but are having a hard time.  I am sure that there are shallow, selfish, slutty, lying women who are happily married.  To suggest that in all cases the reason that a woman can't find a man that she wants to marry is because of six simple (and offensive) reasons is really undercutting how complex human relationships are.  Off the top of my head, I can think of many other reasons why two people don't get married.  Here are a few: finances, career, distance, different goals, children, fear, lack of interest, family pressure, peer pressure, illness and, yes, religious differences.  I am not going to expand on those and I would like to note that the list is not exhaustive, but I think you get the point.  Simply saying that X or Y is why someone is not married is a bullshit oversimplification, especially when applied to such a diverse demographic as unwed women (who want to get married).

Anyhow, maybe I am way off base here, and I am a man, so I feel weird writing about women's issues regardless, but this one really got under my skin.  Now that I got that out, would someone please be so kind as to write an article titled "Why You're Not Married to Newt Gingrich"?  I would love to read that.

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens has passed away.  His light has gone out of the universe.  He has, however, left us with a mountain of writings and wonderful debates.  He entertained, he challenged and he pissed people off.  I never met the man, but I would have liked to.  I will miss him.

Whoops!

I love the blog Bad Astronomy.  Phil Plait serves up awesome space pictures and videos, as well as pointing out and explaining things scientific that the media either ignores or gets wrong.  Whenever some big science story is breaking, Bad Astronomy is usually my first stop.  Today for example I went there to see if he had chimed in yet on the latest news about the unfortunately nicknamed Higgs Boson (the "god particle").   Sadly, he has not, although, I think that is probably because there has not been enough news yet. 

Anyhow, once I saw that there was nothing new on the Boson there, decided to peruse the other entries.  I came across one about holiday giving.  I was not happy to see this link on the Bad Astronomy page.  Don't get me wrong, I am happy that I know.  I am just upset because I usually drop a few bucks in the Salvation Army's buckets each year while I am shopping.  I hate to think that I have been supporting a charity for most of my life that openly discriminates against gays.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, and perhaps I had been a bit naive.  At any rate, I will not be dropping any cash into any red buckets this holiday season unless it is part of a drinking game. 

P.S.  Bad Astronomy also has a list of charities that skeptics and atheists would find much more appealing.

Atheism != religion

Just saw this comic over at SMBC.  If you follow the strip daily, you probably have already seen it.  If not, enjoy.  Also, if you don't follow SMBC, you should begin immediately.

Hooray for winter!

Huzzah!  Snowboarding season is upon us again!  Thank gravity, geology, and the various states of water!

War were declared

 It is official.  John Stewart has declared war on Christmas.  God help us all.  Yuk yuk yuk.  Joking aside, I really like Christmas.  It has never been a religious holiday in my family, but that hasn't stopped us from enjoying it.  Plus, we never have to go to any midnight masses, which is good, because I doubt that many of us would be good to drive by midnight.  Sometimes people tell me to remember the reason for the season.  I just roll my eyes.  I learned that in high school astronomy.  I don't let it bother me.  Some people, however, get all wound up when elected officials don't call a tree a religious symbol.  Keep in mind this tree is on government property and often paid for with tax payer money.  Not to mention the bombardment of Christmas that people receive just by walking out their front door.  Get over it.  Christmas isn't going anywhere anytime soon.  I for one am happy about that, as I said, I like Christmas.  I do wish it was out of government buildings though.  That, or make space for all religions and a nice big friendly atheist billboard.  How's that for compromise?


                     

99% to the 53%

I just read this over at Daily Kos.  If you haven't read it, I think you should.  It sums up the whole point I think Occupy is trying to make quite succinctly.

I must be out of the loop or something.

I am sorry, I have lived outside of the U.S. now for about 5 years.  As such, I have missed out on a few things.  I have family members with children that I barely know (the children, not the family members. Although, the children are also family members).  I am also a bit out of touch with pop culture.  I understand there is a funny show called the Big Bang Theory that sounds great.  Never seen it.  I am consistently about a year behind on popular music, and I rarely watch new movies.  But the thing that pisses me off, the question that really gets me worried about the future is:  Who the hell are the Kardashians, and why does anyone care about them?  Seriously, I have no idea.  Kim.  Who's that?  Khloe? There are two of them?  More?  I am sure I could find out more if I looked into it harder, but I am about 90% sure my brain would fall out if I did. 

Sorry.  Just had to get that out.