Joy.

This is a (totally mindless?) post of joy about two of the internet things that make me laugh the most, regardless of how many times I look at them. One of these websites I discovered relatively recently; the other has been a part of my life since my early university years (which, by the way, were quite a while ago). I suppose I have a fairly obscure and particular sense of humour, but these two websites never fail to bring me great joy.

 Hyperbole and a Half

I discovered Hyperbole and a Half sometime during PDP, a time in which I was always angry at my teenage students for not knowing how to write words/sentences properly. Thus enters the Alot, a helpful way for dealing with teenagers' inability to spell. I have become particularly fond of "This is Why I'll Never Be An Adult", as I'm happily trying to avoid my own adulthood. I did, however, clean all of the things this weekend...

 and

 

Teen Girl Squad

I spent many an hour (yes, hour) during my first few years of university watching TGS. Some of those hours were in the middle of a power outage, using dwindling laptop battery power. At one point, I think I could recite all of the (then eight) episodes verbatim. Such a handy talent to possess. There is even a photo in my university yearbook of my apartment door with the TGS drawing seen above on it. Issue 4 was always my favourite.

There.

Mindless joy = shared.

--- chRistie

Gushing.

The photo above was taken three hundred and sixty-six days ago.

It is such an honest photo.

I was (am) so stoked about marrying (being married to) Graeme.

March 13th was also the day Rory Russell was born!

What a good day. :)

--- chRistie

I am a woman!

Today is International Women's Day*, which may be just another day on the calendar to many people (we often forget about days that aren't statutory holidays and/or days that don't involve some sort of costumed mascot). To me, however, International Women's Day is far more important than that. March 8th is a day on which I consciously take time to reflect on the many blessings I have, being an educated/middle class/North American woman... and recognize that there are millions of women in the world who are not so blessed.

Part of what I love about IWD (other than the obvious 'I am a woman' part, and it's addition to the almost always holiday-vacant month of March) is that it isn't affiliated with a particular faith, or a particular country--it is day for everyone everywhere.

I've been struggling in the past few days with my recent lack of blogging, and the subsequent "well that's because I didn't know what to blog about" thought. So, in light of IWD, I'm just going to re-post a few of my most recent and favourite articles... all of which are quite obviously related to women.

• Peggy Orenstein's thoughtful piece on the lack of female superheroes in the lives of young girls. She has a new book on it's way entitled Cinderella Ate My Daughter, which strikes me as a wittier, younger version of Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher.
• Arianna Huffington's heartfelt post about IWD, and how her mother helped her become such a remarkably successful woman. I absolutely love how she writes about her mother's hatred of multitasking... how it was so antithetical to truly experiencing life. If only, eh?
• A healthy reminder from one of my favourite non-profits that--despite the greatness of IWD--Oxfam is working for the rights of women every day of the year. It's important to remember that issues of women's rights aren't just about taking care of women, and making them feel all equal and warm and fuzzy, but about bettering society as a whole.
• And lastly, but definitely not least, The Guardian's Top 100 Women list, which I simply adore (especially the sub category of writing and academia). What a wonderful way to recognize the amazing contributions of women in all dimensions of our world! I particularly love that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made the politics list as I can only dream of kicking as much butt as she does when I'm in my seventies. Put her autobiography on the top of your 'to read' list, as it is a phenomenal story.

There is in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. - Washington Irving

--- chRistie

* If you're particularly keen on history, the IWD website gives a pretty solid explanation as to why IWD came about, and what has happened in the past one hundred years of its existence. There's also a fairly good overview/opinion piece at Feministing if you want an unofficial explanation.