A very deep Thank You to WOC PhD for honoring me with a blog award.
I shall post my award proudly.
Ya’ll already knew I kicked ass, right?
Older, Maybe Wiser
Here are two Christmas pictures taken in Russia. One was last year and the other was this year. Other than the fact I am in the 2008 pictures, do you see any differences other than the gifts we’re holding?
I guess we’re slowly aging. That’s good news.
I just hope we’re wiser.
The Best YouTube Video
EVER.
This is what my wedding reception looked like.
Dance
Probably the first and only time I teared up over something on YouTube.
Mark as FAVORITE.
Quiero bailar contigo. Ahora.
An Open Letter to the Feminist Blogosphere
Dear Feminist Bloggers,
I have to confess, when the Weblog Awards come around, I am usually overwhelmed with the number of how many blogs I DON’T read even though, during the other 364 days of the year, I usually feel like I spend too much time reading other blogs and not working on my own.
Well, this year is no exception. Plenty of great writing and creating going on among the nominees.
I read The Bilerico Project, which is up for Best LBGT Blog. There’s not just one thing that I admire about this place, it’s just a great group of folks; incisive, provocative, smart. Serve me up some Bilerico anytime.
I’m a pretty big fan of Bitch, PhD which is under Best Very Large Blog. Bitch, PhD is a terrific corner of the internet. Bold, fierce, kind of like watching a rocket first thing in the morning. That’s how I feel about this site.
Under Best Hidden Gem, I am hands down for Zuky. Kai Chang is a great supporter of many women of color bloggers and he is ALL about quality writing, quality editing, quality everything. In my mind, Zuky is the blog I give a tender hug every time I read it. It ranges from sobering to free flowing music to jack in the box howling laughter.
Black Women, Blow the Trumpet is up under Best Small Blog and I gotta hand it to BWBTT, it deserves every vote. I began reading a few short months ago and am impressed with the overall energy of the writing. Not to mention, BWBTT is a community builder kind of blog. I often spot her leaving encouraging comments around the internets.
Not that Dooce needs any more press, but under Best Diarist, Dooce took my vote purely because I’ve read her off and on and watched her make her jump into internet fame and make a bucket of money along the way. She’s probably the only mainstream-ish blog I read. What I appreciate most is that she makes me honestly laugh out loud and not LOL kind of fake way, but in a LAUGH OUT LOUD kind of way.
Feministe has a nice round-up of pointing out the “feminist” blogs and offers a guide as to whom may want to throw your weight behind and, of course, it always begs the questions, “What makes a blog feminist?” Out of the blogs out there, what criteria makes a blog feminist? What separates a “feminist” blog from a gender-centered “liberal” blog? What criteria do you have for what makes a writer a “feminist?”
Then, I got thinking about the larger blogosphere and the power of the internet. Is the feminist blogosphere any different than other blogosphere? Do we have any joined purpose or any points of unity?
As soon as I asked myself that, horrid memories of past blog wars and division came to memory. For sanity’s and this post’s sake, I shirked them off quickly and got back to the questions filling my brain:
Is there any organization among feminist blogs, other than category, which typically function more for division and ease of surfing? Do we, feminist bloggers, agree on ANYTHING? Or are we in existence the same way, say, culinary blog are – informative for their audiences, community building for those seeking alliances, challenging those who want to learn? Those are all fine purposes, but, I can’t help but feel more responsibility than that. Am I alone? As a feminist BLOGOSPHERE, do we hold any form of higher purpose for women’s lives? Or do we get wrapped up in our individually wrapped fem-brands and remain set in our preferred ways of blogging? As a collective, can and should the feminist blogosphere strive to serve a unified deeper purpose than others? Is that even possible?
Is this a balanced comparison?
Feminisms = Improving Women’s Lives
AS
Feminist Blogosphere = Improving Women’s Lives
Is the feminist blogosphere a functioning arm of feminism? I’d say YES. How many educators are using the feminist blogosphere in the classroom, community discussions, printing off unknown feminist poets, forwarding the pseudonym-ed writers for the purpose of learning and activism? Countless.
How many lives are improved because of the feminist blogosphere? My life has certainly been enriched by hundreds of writers and philosophers ranging in topic from feminist jurisprudence to feminist disability rights to recipes for financially restricted women and their families. I’ve found a community of writers offline because of the feminist blogosphere.
How many lives OUTSIDE the feminist blogosphere, outside internet circles, are improved by our writing and work? We could insert the “seed” argument here. (“You never know how many seeds you have planted and how they’ve grown to influence someone’s actions and how that action spurred another and…” AKA – the silent and rarely witnessed domino effect.) And I’m not proposing that we start a cyber crusade, bathed in US colonialism, of “helping” those we deem marginalized. I’m simply asking a question: Is the feminist blogosphere improving, or striving to improve, ALL women’s lives?
How easy it is to forget the priviliege of writing, reading, and keeping a blog. It comes with time, access, and security. How might the feminist blogosphere be informed if we could find a way to make media available to the women of Gaza right now? Or if we could read about the best diarist of incarcerated feminists? Would those win any awards? Maybe “Most Courageous,” or how about “Largest Risk Takers?” or “Most Needed?” I’d love to see the feminist blogosphere identify not just the worthy blogs that deserve recognition, but actually work together on just one thing. We’re bloggers. We create a form of media. Where is our collective media justice? Is that too tall of an order?
The feminist blogosphere remains immeasurable in its richness and it is a privilege to be a part of a community of bloggers who are informed by feminism and write for therapeutic, educational, and activist reasons. However, I contend that we, as a messy, loveable, crazy community, can always do better. And should.
I remain, blogfully yours,
Lisa
Self-Disclosure Day
For those familiar with email and all things internet, you know that once in a while, a little list floats around that asks you to tell everyone some facts about yourself. Since today I had a lot to accomplish and was looking for a way to procrastinate, I decided to participate in the 25 Facts About You, which has been circulating on Facebook. I have asked Nick for about 8 years to do one of these and the likelihood of him doing one is about the same chance of my coming home one day and seeing him knitting me a scarf.
Some things just aren’t going to happen. Ever.
TWENTY FIVE FACTS ABOUT ME
25. I’m seriously afraid of what people think when I spend time on things like this.
24. Being a writer is the most difficult, painful, vulnerable, exhilarating gift imaginable. After love, of course.
23. My family is the root of all things.
22. I think people romanticize the green on the other side, the past, and the USA.
21. Living and traveling to other countries is the only way for me. I despise tourism.
20. I think most people, even on their best days, short-change themselves. Nelson Mandela said it best. We’re most afraid of our brilliant potential.
19. I drive quite aggressively and am working on taming my frustration with Ohio drivers.
18. Some of my biggest fears are drowning, living in complacency, and losing touch with God.
17. Laughter is my thing. I believe in it, use it, always want more of it. It’s magical.
16. I cannot explain in words how much I am against WalMart, Best Buy, and Nestle.
15. Nick is my gravity. Our story is one of my writing projects, but I’m not yet ready to share it with the world.
14. I spent 4 months of 2002 working on growing my patience when engaged in small talk with strangers.
13. I believe every person should live at least one year in a “developing” country. I think people will find that their hearts need more work than the nations do.
12. I own several hundred books. I’ve read 1 or 2 from cover to cover.
11. In the closet: competitive, perfectionist, linguist, freakishly astute memory
10. I take a deep breath when people misuse the word “literally” when they mean “really” or “actually.” Example, on ESPN, the sports commentator said, “Yes, and they literally killed the other team on the scoreboard.” NO! No one was killed! Do people not know what “literally” means?!
9. I love purple, scarlet, sage, light green, and turquoise.
8. When I hear Last Dance by Donna Summer, I feel like I have enough joy to share with the world.
7. Strawberries and vanilla any day of the week over chocolate.
6. I quit pretending that my birthday isn’t a big deal to me. I celebrate the entire month of February. (No lie.)
5. I’ve had two surgeries in 9 years to remove ovarian tumors. Benign.
4. A few years ago, I spent $200 on ebay for the original My So-Called Life DVD set and never batted an eyelash. Jordan Catalano is, like, the highschool mythical god every female had in her teen life.
3. Oxygen is to swimmers as New York City is to Lisa.
2. I dream and think a lot about the things I love most: relationships, fresh bread, Seattle, dancing, singing, family reunions, 4th of July, the water, Strawberry Kiwi Propel, running, boxing, tennis, sports clothes, independent book stores, flying, being clean, touch football, simplicity, faith, retreats, cleaning my windshield, Greenwich Village, Gloria Anzaldua, and painting. I adore kissing.
1. My life goal is to be a Renaissance woman.
Welcome to My Ecdysis
Hi There,
Welcome to a new year which we have numbered 2009.
You will see a few changes on my blog and will continue to see changes as they reflect the ongoing evolution of my life. I can’t tell if I envy or distrust sites that don’t change. It must be nice to have steady beats and strong lines. But sometimes I see more strength in flexibility; the lines that bend but never break.
My site is about documenting the events of my life as I see them through my eyes. I hold a preference for art, feminism, language, justice, community, spirituality, and strength. These are my values. Writing about feminism, kyriarchy, and race are the main thrusts of my writing.
If you are new here, welcome. If you are an old friend, welcome again.
2009 is a year of commitment for me. As I grow in knowledge of the kind of womyn I wish to be, the vision of my writing changes with my ecdysis.
Thanks for reading and witnessing my births.
Lisa
2009 is MY Time
For about six or seven years, I began making themes, not resolutions, for the new year. Themes must be well-researched, meaningful, and personal. Each year, I choose a theme that encompasses my overall goal or wishes for the upcoming new year. Here are a few to illustrate my point:
2000: Boom
Self-explanatory. Beginning a new millenium is a gi-normous deal and, back then, was as single as a dollar bill and intended to live out my college days in quite the explosive manner at Dana’s (a dive bar on Montgomery Road in Cincinnati). Oh, how I did.
2001: Onward and Upward
Ahh yes, the XU graduating year. I was off to live in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps near Seattle and fleeing the midwest in search of my vocation and identity. I didn’t realize that those are often life long journeys, but aimed my sights high and headed west.
la…la…la…
2007: Spectacular
All decisions had to have the high probability of this result.
2008: Faithfulness
Ye be not confused with fidelity! Faithfulness was about a vow to keep true to myself and to stay close to what I knew to be true: 1) All cars are made to be broken 2) God exists 3) You can’t win the lottery unless you play
2009: Make 2009 Your Time
A few weeks ago, my left arm handcuffed to the couch (kidding, I was in surgery recovery period), I watched an absurd amount of television and movies. As my eyes began to glaze over and dry out yet again from the winter air, I perked to attention as I heard a commercial speak into my living room, “Don’t you think it’s your time? Make 2009 your time and quit smoking…”
My ear canals closed after the word “time” and I quickly dismissed the fact that it was a commercial to help people stop smoking and answered the first question, “Don’t you think it’s your time?”
YES! It IS my time!
Make 2009 your time.
I don’t smoke and that’s irrelevant. The larger point is that 2009 is going to be MY time. The time of unprecedented goals and unimagined success. It’s all going to start this year, my friends.
I shared my new theme with Nick who is always up for hearing my new philosophies. “That’s great, babe!” Which is the exact same response when I cook a new recipe, bring home a new box of Texas toast, paint a new abstract painting, share with him a freshly polished poem, clean off the coffee table, announce I’m finally ready to go somewhere, load the address into Moses (our GPS), remind him my birthday is coming up (2.27), inform him that I scored outrageously high on an informal internet IQ test, got a new job interview, or stapled a new calendar to our bulletin board in our office. Whatever I do, to Nick, it’s “great!”
So, if you watch you televisions closely and hear an anti-smoking commercial, try and find the one where you hear someone tell you to, “make 2009 your time.”
You’ll see. It’s empowering.
“It’s great!”
Best Feminist Picks of 2008
If you believe in celebrating human made measurements of time, then New Year’s Eve is one of the most exciting days of the year. Beside the usual parties and rallies in the street, it’s a time of reflection, when many take the opporutunity to do life inventory and take vows to better themselves, their lives, and environment.
One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is to put an arbitrary measurement on feminist news; events or people that changed me or the feminist movements for the better. We all know it’s not difficult to find the bad, so, I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the brightest beams of light, the things that made a feminist smile wider this calendar year. There were many great moments in a feminist reviewed year, but here are my top three best feminist moments of 2008:
3. Beginning the Obama Era
There’s no question that this campaign year was historical. Most of mainstream media focused on the fact that Barack Obama is the first president-elect of color. And while that certainly brings a rush of excitement to my cheeks, there are underlying hopes I hold for the next president that surge past the color of his skin or multicultural background. I’m more fascinated by his intellect and the possibility of having a president who reads and LISTENS to both sides. Who knows what might happen to the Global Gag Rule or the Hyde Amendment now that we may have a leader who may understands that the not all issues are black and white, and need to be analyzed with a compassionate ear toward ALL women.
I’m not conflating Barack Obama with a miracle worker. I believe that leaders of our communities – local and national – prove wise when their ears are open to all sides. So far, Obama has shown a glimmering promise to be an advocate for the people; someone who believes in comprehensive sex education and sees that spending 1.5 billion dollars on abstinence-only programs may not be the best plan
for preventing unplanned pregnancies and reducing abortion rates by first educating our youth. The future looks slightly better with Obama in the Oval Office. Here’s hoping.
2. VIVA LA Independent Media
There’s nothing that spells awesome more than feminist driven independent media. If you want to take a look at 2008 and search for evidence of feminism going strong, look no further than this very foundation of B-Word that surpassed their goals and succeeded in their fund raising. Same can be said for In Other Words, a feminist bookstore in Oregon, which recently raised enough money to keep their doors open.
While their futures remain uncertain, one message is abundantly clear: when organized and in need, feminist media can not only survive, but THRIVE during economically difficult times. It begs the question: how and why is that? How in these times do these organizations push through and successfully fund raise?
Perhaps for US media consumers, times of financial crisis bring rare opportunities to recognize the valuable from the dispensable, the educational from the unnecessary. When push comes to shove, most feminist consumers of media identify independent media as a necessary and vital arm of the feminist movements. Without Bitch, ColorLines, Make/Shift and other independent publications, the stories of women are shoved further into dark corners. Emerging journalists, poets, and writers would have fewer opportunities to express and document the world from their fresh eyes without these outlets. Without In Other Words, Women and Children First, or feminist bookstores, the spaces for activists, musicians, community groups, and writers shrink even more. The tales of growth and sustainability of these independent publications and book stores give testimony that despite hard times, feminists support avenues of independent communication and want to hear the voices outside of mainstream media.
1. Melissa Harris-Lacewell
It’s hard for me to pick just one, but if I’m hard-pressed, here’s my opinion: the best moment for US feminists came from the undeniable Melissa Harris-Lacewell. If you’re wondering who exactly this woman is, well, let me refresh your memory. Almost a year ago, in January of 2008, the year started off with a feminist bang in a debate heard around the world. Gloria Steinem, a pioneer of second-wave feminism and “icon” in mainstream feminism, dipped her toes in a political pool to go swimming with Melissa Harris-Lacewell, an Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, a powerhouse of legal and political vernacular. This debate was aired shortly after Steinem wrote an article in the New York Times entitled, “Women Are Never Front-Runners,” in which she wrote about the limitations and division of Hillary Clinton’s gender and the unifying effect of Obama’s race. Steinem endorsed Hillary Clinton in her Op-Ed and called for unity:
The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be
uprooted together. That’s why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be
careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility
that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to
win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed
when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that.
Harris-Lacewell – prepared, articulate, and calm – carefully and thoroughly challenged and ripped Steinem’s arguments about race and gender and dismounted the feminist icon’s with quotes such as this:
What I do agree with is that we ought to be in coalition. But I think
we’ve got to be in coalition on fair grounds. Part of what, again, has
been sort of an anxiety for African American women feminists like
myself is that we’re often asked to join up with white women’s
feminism, but only on their own terms, as long as we sort of remain
silent about the ways in which our gender, our class, our sexual
identity doesn’t intersect, as long as we can be quiet about those
things and join onto a single agenda. So, yes, I absolutely agree, we
must be in coalition, but it must be a fair coalition of equals.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell spoke more fervently and convincingly about the twisted agenda of mainstream feminism as any other feminist of 2008 (as I read or came across) in the US and brought to the table a voice so clear that it rocked the boat of feminists everywhere as they debated between Clinton and Obama. For that, and for the multitude of work she has done as a writer, professor, and advocate, Melissa Harris-Lacewell was the *best* moment and feminist for me in 2008.
Who or what moment made 2008 a great feminist year for you?
On the Road Again
To say our eating habits have been questionable for the past week would be the understatement of 2008. Since Christmas Eve, we have been snacking, nibbling, eating, and tasting everything that comes in front of us. Nick and I are now in Virginia, visiting my folks after a another trademark hurricane Christmas season. The travels are adding a few inches to our bellies. But, that’s what the holidays are for – a little indulgence.
Christmas Eve mass was spent at our parish where we got 2nd pew seats because Nick was Eucharistic minister and one of God’s top ten. As wife, I get a special view, too. We ignored the warnings to avoid the 4pm mass, which was rumored to be a madhouse with all the children attending, and I should have brought peanuts to feed the wild things. It was a gorgeous mass, but, woah…it was crazy.
From there, we went to Massillon, my old stomping grounds, and opened up gifts with my sister, brother, and their kids. We had a meal large enough for the US Army and barely put a dent in it. Nick and I camped out on their couches and were awakened at approximately 6am to a 3 year old loudly whispering, “Is Santa going to come through the chimney or the door?”
We stayed to watch the kids tear into their presents which included the largest toy dinosaur I’ve ever seen. A little around 8am, we took off for Russia. As every year, we attended the Cordonnier side and then the Borchers and made off with great gifts including a beautiful print out of a Cordonnier family tree, iTunes gift cards, a printer, food processor, a new camera lens, and hefty gift certificates. Nick received, twice, his request for a DVD copy of A League of Their Own. HOORAY!
The Borchers family had an unusual debacle of cinematic proportions when we went to see Valkyrie, the newest Tom Cruise movie. We ended up splitting up, uneven orders of popcorn, and a disastrous miscommunication about seating. The results were Kelly declaring it one of the worst moments EVER and Nick straining his neck for a full minute to see if anyone was going to pass him a bucket of popcorn. Keith reappears from the bathroom just as the movie begins while Jay and I just decide to keep quiet and watch the previews. It’s one of those situations that doesn’t sound like a big deal but just is when you’re experiencing it. Lesson: always communicate before going into a family movie experience as to who is sitting where, how much popcorn should be ordered, who needs to go to the bathroom, and never ask questions if you get separated.
We all headed to Columbus to sadly watch the OSU Buckeyes get a spanking from West Virginia’s bball team and then headed to Champ’s for dinner. Kelly’s husband, Tim, was nearly drowning in excitement to watch the UFC fights that night and so we headed off to his place for good night of Bud Light and UFC blood. Happy Holidays!
Nick and I took off Sunday morning for Virginia, where we are now, to spend time with my parents who couldn’t make it up to Ohio for the holidays. It’s amazing outside – a near 65 degrees – and Nick and I took a hike this morning for fresh air. It feels like the middle of April.
We’ll be here until the new year to help celebrate a few things: our nephew Jesse turns the big TWO today. Tomorrow, my folks celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary, and, of course, we’ll toast 2009 in together as well.
Cheers to the holidays and safe travels!