Occasionally Snarky and Meta

Another Harry Potter related post, although applies to all mediums and fictional universes in which one finds themselves invested.

Twelve years ago, I went through a terrible loss. I was mostly just shocked; I didn't really process it until the next morning, when I cried into my pillow. Mostly I was numb. Then sad. Then angry.

Linda (lindalupos), one of my best friends, signed onto MSN Messenger. It was like finding someone you love in the crowd following something terrible. I IMed her immediately, and all I said was "Linda..."

In response, Linda said, "I hate her."

"Her" was JK Rowling. She'd killed off our favorite character. After giving him a... very WTF-filled story arc in Deathly Hallows.

( Read more... )

Viewing this on  your flist (i.e. just clicking the cuts) might work better.


( See What This Exhausted Man Does Next )


( Indiana Man Breaks Ground )

( Woman Expresses Herself With Controversial Gesture )


( How Clickbait Articles Trick You Into Wasting Your Time )

So a friend of mine on FB posted a link to your video, which is about the importance of girls being modest and how guys want a girl who is modest, not sexy. (And no, this is not satire.)

Now, I think that there's an aspect of this that is relatively well meaning. Women should not feel or be forced to sexualize themselves, and there's far too much of that. And some people choose to dress modestly, for religious reasons or otherwise, and that's fine. When it's a choice.

But to imply that a woman MUST be modest for you? That is when it is no longer a choice, but a demand. "You understand why I need your modesty." There's the word "need." Not, "I love you as you are, even if you don't wear short skirts." It's, "I need you to dress a certain way." It's when you say, "girls with integrity are hard to find these days." Integrity is about being yourself. Integrity is about not giving a shit what men say we should wear, and that goes a billion different ways.

My other issue with the modesty argument is... why do you need it so badly? What is wrong with you that you can't look at me if I'm not being "modest?" Isn't the Christian thing to do keep your eyes on my face? Does the Bible not say, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ass?" Maybe, just maybe, the problem isn't women being immodest, but certain thoughts being "immodest."

Do I think there's another sad extreme to this? Absolutely. But they're both extremes, and neither are okay.

Damn straight I feel comfortable with who I am. You don't get a say in why that is.

Alleged Sandusky victim bullied out of school

(Warning: Possible triggers.)

This is partly why victims of those sorts of crimes never report it. Because there's always assholes who decide to blame the victim.

I think some of the problem is that this involves a sport most people in America are obsessed with,  and some of it is that these people - Sandusky and Paterno - had been seen as essentially Gods for the work they did. The latter, I can definitely understand. And even with football, I try and respect that in some communities, that's basically the thing that brings the community together. Even my community is pretty obsessed with sports, although I'd say only a little more so than most places in the US. So... I get why people are so worked up over it. They get emotional over sports.

Plus, it wasn't just the sports. They were seen as Gods within their communities for charity work and being generally inspirational.

But here's the thing - Paterno should have told the cops once his school didn't. Would it have been a hard decision? Yes, but he would have come out a better person. And Sandusky... there is no justifying his actions. His seemingly good deeds were just a way for him to fool people and hurt kids, and being a football coach does not mean you're incapable of doing wrong.

The whole thing makes me sick, and I don't really want to talk about it, but I think it needs to be said how moronic it is that people are blaming the victims instead of the ones responsible.

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Quick note: The "worst" section has minor spoilers for the first Twilight book and a major spoiler for Son of a Witch, the sequel to Wicked.

( The Best and Worst )

Apparently Chris Brown got a plea deal. And people are backing him up because come on, how could Rhianna not have deserved it? Women can be mean too!

My answer? Yes, women can be mean too. There are very horribly abusive women out there. People are people, and people can be twisted and vile, no matter whether they're male or female.

That said... look at  the photos of Rhianna. Or don't, they're not pretty, but if you saw them, think back to them.

Except in the case of righteous self-defense, you do not hurt someone you love that badly. You do not cause them hospitalization. Period. And Chris Brown has said that he was not threatened at all - he simply lost his cool and beat her up.

I've known people who went through, or were going through as I knew them, physical abuse. It's horrible. It's inexcusable. These sorry excuses for men should have been locked up. 

Instead, there they were, beating these women they vowed to love and protect in sickness and in health as long as they both shall lived because dinner wasn't on the table at exactly 6:00. It happens more than we think.

There's also verbal abuse, which happens more often (and often leads to physical abuse - ask someone I know who was thrown across the room by a guy who was, before, "just a bit clingy sometimes") - but that's another matter.

It is never okay, and it sickens me that yet another abuser is getting away with it.

P.S. Used icon because that is an example of a good, healthy relationship.

Earlier, I had a post on board etiquette... have taken it down because I felt there needed to be changes. So I've made them. ;)

I do want to note that I don't actually have a messageboard for books, but I go to many. And I wanted to play on the title "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter." ;)  I also want to note that these do not just apply to book forums, but all forums - I simply go to book forums more so than other forums, so I had a bit more to say specifically on that.

So:



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So my Dad's appendicitis surgery that was supposed to be at 6:30? Heh.

At 6:25, two Nurses came in to move him. They didn't even look at him, speak to us, or anything.

They took him to the other room, muttered the number vaguely, and... that was it.

Mom and I waited. And waited.

Mom went to the room he was suppoesd to be in. No Dad, just some random guy. Eventually, we got the right room...

And were told - this was at seven o'clock - that it might be "a few more hours before surgery."

Yeah, I'm irritated. Though it's not the surgeon's fault; I'm more irritated with how some of the staff treated us and Dad.

And I feel sorry for him.

Sigh.