Eating Bees

Sanya Weathers, the author of the Eating Bees Blog, tends to be the writer I look to for cutting edge social commentary. And, if she doesn't comment, her respondents do.


http://eatingbees.brokentoys.org/2008/07/29/way-to-confuse-the-issue/

Running with Scissors

I finished reading Running with Scissors yesterday. It was a short read, just 4 1/2 hours.

With this book, I have decided that I now know why I'm not so fond of post modern writers, and why memoir sometimes chafes my intellect.

Its key feature seems to be reflection without discovery.

My friend Pat reminded me that the narrator is a teenager: And after thoughtful consideration my response is, yes, but the writer is an adult. The book is one cognitive dissonance after another, but the only resolution is the fact that we can get used to anything, and once we're used to it, it's normalized and we are forever separated from those whose normalities are different.

I once tutored a student from Russia whose idea of literature was very specific. The difference between high literature and popular writing is the depth and breadth of the wisdom gained from the reading. She was offended when her English instructor asked her to read works that she did not consider worthy of the time, effort, or money required of her. I believe she said something to the effect of Garbage in--Garbage out.

I do not believe Running with Scissors is garbage. I merely believe that my reading it did not help me achieve enlightenment.

In the rear

A few days ago, the news said oil had dropped to $126 a barrel, and I thought, Wooot! now gas will return to it's pre-$4 a gallon price.

Everywhere but Idaho.

Maybe the price of gas can't drop any further here because gas tax went up and I didn't get the memo.

Maybe the price can't drop because gas stations across the state are so far in the hole that maintaining the price is the only way to get back into the black.

Maybe it's because .....I don't believe there are anymore rational excuses.

Defending the Realm

I took a class, once, a graduate level Gender Communication class. I learned that men and women communicate differently. Women do the explaining, the communicating, the keeping-everyone-together work. They keep things civil with humor and caretaking. Men set the rules, follow the rules, evaluate the rules, and tweak the rules. It seems that men choose when to lead and when to be led.

Nowhere is this gendered behavior more obvious than in an RvR BG with a male and a female BG leader.

Since women are stellar mutli-taskers, it seems to fall to them to do the listening in Ventrilo and the typing in BG Chat (Battle Group Chat, for you DAoC newbs). Women keep those without Ventrilo informed of the decisions made in Ventrilo (a program that lets users talk verbally online).

Since men seem to prefer structure (aka rules), they don't always appreciate it when those they lead have a creative moment that accidentally throws an axe into the proverbial siege engine. And, they have no problem scolding the miscreant who "broke" the rules and failed to do as he or she was told.

All in all, there is a life lesson to be learned here. Maybe the lesson is: Groups function best when everyone knows where to be and what to do. Maybe the lesson is: At their core, people are bound by gendered rules of conduct. Or, maybe the rule is simply: Failure makes people cranky.

Just getting started.

This is a work in progress. I've never started a blog in a place like this, so I'm virginal. Be nice to me while I figure this all out.