To My Feminist Friends (A Rant)

I have a couple friends who are feminists, and this post is to/about them.

Hey guys. It's cool that you're young women who stand up for your female rights. It's cool that you're willing to show everyone how powerful you are and how everyone is created equal and you're just expressing yourselves. I'm cool with that.

There's a couple things I'm not cool with, however.

For one, in English class (we're reading The Scarlet Letter for those who don't know), you don't have to disagree with every male character's standpoint. Let's get this straight. It's set in Puritan times, where almost everyone is super-religious and men and women had different roles in everyday life. Keep that in mind when you read the book. It bothers me that whenever you see something even remotely sexist, you blow it up into a big deal about how wrong it is. Like when Hester's husband is saying something like "You belong to me, yaddah yaddah yaddah". You got all flustered because in your eyes, he was saying that he owned her or whatever. Slow down, crazies. He probably meant something along the lines of "We belong together" or something lovey-dovey like that. Even if it was a connotation of ownership, that was just the time period. Who are we to judge people for what went on back then? We weren't there, so what information do we have to go off of? Words in a book? That was the CULTURE people were used to. They didn't know any other way of life, so that was acceptable for them. Of course it's not acceptable now, a lot of things in other cultures that are around today aren't acceptable to us, but what gives us the right to judge them for it? All I'm asking is that you keep your minds open to new, foreign ideas, and freak out when something comes up that you disagree with.

Also, I'm all for equal opportunities for both sexes. Discrimination is one of the main things I despise. But can we set some reasonable goals here? If you apply for a job or something, the person who's hiring is going to want someone who is able to do the job efficiently. Especially with applying for leadership roles, like as a construction manager, they're gonna want someone who can effectively get people to work and give orders and such. So when you get turned down for a job like that, don't be angry at them for discrimination if they picked a man for the job instead. Be realistic. Are you able to handle the job? Do people see you as being able? If not, you need to work on yourself before criticizing people. They probably just thought the guy would be a better fit for the job. Can you blame them for wanting to get work done quickly and efficiently? No, because that's what we all strive for. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying men are better at everything, because they're obviously not (take childbirth for example. They'd suck at that). What I am trying to say, though, is that certain genders are more suitable for some specific roles. It's okay for women to be construction workers and men to be fashion designers (this will bring me into a different topic about my dad and homophobia, we'll save it for another time). It's acceptable. I know, sometimes people simply discriminate against women, but that's life. Life isn't fair. Deal with it, and I'm sorry for saying this, but stop being self-righteous bitches 90% of the time. We're humans; we agree and disagree, we all have differences, we all have flaws, and that's just the way it is. GET OVER YOURSELVES.

Also, if you're angered by this post and want to argue with me, by all means, hit me up on Facebook or Twitter or email (parczany@sbcglobal). Hey, while we're at it, maybe we'll settle some of our differences.

~Das Ende~

Why I Like to Watch Television Alone

I don't get it. It happens every fucking day, and I still don't understand it.

Let me begin by saying that we have three televisions in our house. There are four of us in the family. Why the fuck is it that everyone wants to gravitate towards the television that I am watching at the moment and not either of the other two that aren't in use? I honestly don't know.

Watching TV with someone could be tolerable, hell, it could even be fun. But it isn't. You know why?

I'll tell you why.

1. I'll be watching something, and one of my family members will plop right down and not but two minutes later, they'll start criticizing the show I'm watching. First off, I didn't ask you to watch TV with me, you didn't ask if it was okay to watch TV with me. But then you start going off about how the show or someone on it is stupid. If you honestly don't like it, nobody's making you stay. Get up and leave.

2. I really don't like being on the receiving end of 20 Questions when a family member decides to tune in 5 minutes into the movie. I was watching the movie "Misery" last night, y'know, the one where Kathy Bates goes at the guy's legs with a sledgehammer? That one. Well anyway, my brother decided to watch with me (I had seen the movie before) and since he's not patient enough to watch the damn movie to get the answers, he starts rapid-firing dumbass questions at me like, "Who is that?", "What happened to him?", "What is she doing?" and I was getting fed up with the interrogation. IF YOU JUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE DAMN MOVIE, YOU'LL FIGURE IT OUT, IT'S NOT THAT HARD.

3. I did not ask for a commentary. I am trying to watch the program, and you just keep talking and talking about small aspects of the movie that aren't altogether that important to the plot. Just watch the movie/show and keep your thoughts to yourself. ZIP YO' DAMN LIP.

4. Whenever someone decides they want to watch TV with me, they always choose a seat that's really uncomfortable for me. See, there are two couches in the area that I watch TV, and for some reason everyone finds the need to sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME. I like to spread out and lay down on the couch, and if I sit up for just a few minutes, someone will stroll on by and sit in a seat directly next to me, even if there's stuff like my laptop or drawings on it. There are TWO couches. Pick the one that's NOT occupied.

Even when I'm away from the television for an extended period of time, I still get pissed off because people move my stuff that I'm busy with (like if I'm halfway through sewing a hat and I take a break) and/or they put their own stuff in my space. Also, they monopolize the TV and I have to wait like 30 minutes for them to get bored and leave. But then someone else will join in and ask me to turn just as I get the TV to myself.

And there's no real way to resolve these problems because my dad won't let me get a TV for my room.

You may be wondering why I spend so much time watching TV. It's because it's almost the end of summer, and school is about to start, so nothing interesting is happening and I have nothing better to do.

Bwahhhhh.

Most Things in Life Aren't Free (Especially Hats)

I have come to believe that some people are under the impression that I'm going to give them a hat for free.

For those of you who don't know already, I make and sell hand-sewn fleece hats. Since I hand-sew these, they take quite a long time to make. Believe me, if our sewing machine hadn't tried to eat my hand, I would be using that instead. It would be much more efficient, but the last time I tried using it, I accidentally screwed up the thread in the machine and I really don't feel like trying to fix it.

Anywho, I put great effort into crafting these hats, and it pisses me off when I post a picture of one, then get tons of  replies/messages/comments from people asking if they can have one or requesting a custom-made one, without any mention of payment or price point.

Let me lay it out for you people: I'M NOT GIVING AWAY MY HATS FOR FREE.

Yes, I have given people free hats before. But that's only because a) they're one of my close friends or b) it was their birthday. If we don't have some sort of weekly conversation, don't know everything about each other, or we haven't done something together (movies, hanging out, etc.), chances are I won't just give you a hat.

Fleece hats are neither easy nor quick to make. I don't just pump these things out like a rabbit pumps out babies. Free fleece doesn't magically appear in my storage bin. I can't just project a design idea onto a hat and make it work perfectly. And I certainly don't have a replicator from Star Trek. I don't even have a working sewing machine.

I wish it worked this way, but it doesn't. D:

The only reasons I'd give anyone a free hat nowadays is if we had some sort of trade, you did something extraordinary that I felt deserved a hat, or if it's your birthday and I talk to you on a regular basis.

If you're wondering about a price estimate for the hats, I'd say that generally they're about $15. We can work out some sort of agreement if you can't pay that amount or more, or some other circumstance.

So yeah, that's my angst for today.

Anyway, there's a good chance I'm going to a Comic Con in Chicago soon, but I'm not entirely sure. If I do go, I might walk around and try to sell some geek hats.

Also, I'm going to Wisconsin for the weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll have wifi at the campsite, so don't take offense if I don't reply to anything for a couple of days.