|
Rhiannon. Revolts. It's that simple.
1/30/2004
Chapter the Sixth: In Which I Am Le Tired. And can't take a nap...firing ze missiles, on the other hand... I woke up this morning under the impression that I had class at 9 AM. Smart!Rhi didn't recall that she and the lovely Jess are now in the 10 AM discussion group. So here I am, awake at 8:35 in the shower, realizing that I'm stupid and thinking 'I should really go back to bed'. I didn't, obviously, though I still feel like I've been run over by a steamroller. So fucking tired, my god. A quick comment about the shower: Last night at dinner, Julie (not my girlfriend, but Housemate!Julie) noted that we have 'the Mercedes-Benz of showers' now. (They replaced our showers over the break...or at least they started. Finished, on the other hand...let's just say I'm glad my floor's were done first.) Then she mentioned something about a 'shaving bar'. Now, there are these bars about...oh, a foot from the floor of the shower. They're metal and ridged to add friction. Look like the kind that are in handicapped accessible bathroom stalls, save the ridges. I said 'Is THAT what those are for?' and the people at the table all gave me these looks like I was some kind of backwoods hick. 'I thought it was for if you fell down in the shower and needed to get back up,' I said, which was exactly what I'd thought. They all were amused by this...and these are relatively feministy women. Housemate!Julie is not femme at all! Most of them aren't particularly femme either! I should point out that I don't shave my legs. I do this for two reasons: -It pisses off my mother -Because I'm lazy and there's a lot of surface area to cover I'm 5'10", so yeah...there's far too much leg to do a good job, and even with my contacts in, there's no way I could REACH all of my leg without taking about an hour in the bathroom. Even in the tub. So, generally, that just proves that I'm still quite dazed and confused, and probably a hick. Regardless, I think it's funny that they spent the extra money for us to have these shaving bars or whatever. Even if I did shave my legs, I'd have gotten along fine without one for a while. Sometimes I just don't understand. Oh, and even though I don't respond in comments, I do read all of them. PLEASE leave some. It makes my day. 1/28/2004
Chapter the Fifth: In Which Everything Goes to Shit. Hold your horses, kids...I'm just getting into the swing of the semester, so give me a day or two (and keep hounding me! Comments are great!) and I'll write some more, maybe when I'm at work. Feel free to IM me also. Abunch of you wanted to know Why Kerry? As I said to hedy a couple weeks ago: "I support Kerry because I feel that he has acted in the most presidential manner during this campaign; his stance on most issues is similar to my own (save gay marriage); and he's willing to compromise. I am of the belief that nothing will be accomplished in our government, and frankly, no Democrat will be elected, without working across party lines. Dean has not seemed to be willing to do so...I can see absolutely no Republicans or centrists voting for Dean. He's burning bridges left and right, and I don't think that's the way to play the game." Sell-out? Perhaps. I'm probably a bad person because my total political state of mind right now is 'damage control', but I know that no one who's elected will be perfect, no matter what. Dean makes me go squick, Kuninich...'we'll never elect a president named Dennis' (Dave Barry), and Clark I don't know about. It snowed here last night into today. Now, because of the lovely PC and earth conscious factor here at Smith, we don't get salt on our paths. Instead, we get this molasses derived stuff that REEKS to high heaven. Now I understand why not salt...but sand or something would be better...because this is awful stuff. It's indescribable and sticks to the bottom of your shoes and is everywhere (including the porch of our house). There needs to be a better alternative. Tomorrow we receive the official report on what houses are closing their dining rooms. This is a big deal because in house dining is one of the major Smith perks. [sighs] I'm concerned about the dining situation, but I'm much more concerned about the job cuts for the kitchen staff. In this economy, I doubt they'll be able to get jobs easily, and they should keep their jobs anyhow, because the amount of money saved by Smith a year is not worth the cuts (a few hundred thousand dollars...piddling when the endowment is something like $850 million). I understand that our investments didn't do well this past year, but cut back on something else--Campus Center staffing or something! Good lord. I'm really fearing both the job cuts and the student backlash. A lot of people here don't understand that there's a proper way to protest, and they simply sit around and bitch or threaten to egg the president's house. First of all, the president doesn't have the final say--I'm SO SICK of people saying that 'it's Carol Christ's fault that our budget is cut'. It's the Board of Trustees! Second of all, you protest to get things done, not hinder it. Let's fucking SHOW them that we're not all spoiled little rich brats and that we care about not only our food but the college's employees, many of which we see every day and get to know! Want to not be bourgeois? SHOW IT. Now I'm pissed. Bloody hell. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'll let you know. And I didn't even mean to write this much. So it goes, eh? 1/26/2004
Chapter the Fourth: Of Culture Shock and the Like. Finally, the promised post. Go me! Even though I'm beaten down from a four hour lecture, I'm bringing the word to the people. Yeah. Inflated head. If you've read my bio (if not, go to my domain and take a look), you know that I'm from Wauwatosa, WI, a suburb of Milwaukee. I lived in that area for about 17.5 years, and I desperately wanted to leave...see my LiveJournal from the spring of 2002. Thus, I decided to point my boots out to the east, for multiple reasons, but primarily because I felt called to go to a school where I'd be a name instead of a number and was still nationally renowned. Lofty goals, yeah, seeing as I didn't have the world's most stellar high school record, but I tried. High school is another bone of contention, but I shouldn't go into it here. If you'd like to know some more, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll write an e-mail to you or the like. Obviously, I'm disappointed with most of the world, but then again, who isn't? Anyway, every time I come back out here, it feels both like coming home and stepping into alien territory. It's the subtle things that get to me. I remember reading somewhere that all outside scenes for ER are shot in Chicago and not in LA because of the difference in light. There's the same thing here, though California light is drastically unlike Midwestern light, and Eastern light is a bit more similar. It seems clearer here, even on gray days like the one that's coming. Northampton tends to hit one with this impression of being OLD. Most of the towns around here were in existence before the United States was. My concept of old was always something from the mid-19th century, and now that concept is shattered. The OLDNESS is imposing, actually. It seems to radiate from the new neo-Boho stores on Main Street, though I don't know about the rest of town, seeing as I don't get out much into the rest of Northampton (I have, however, seen a decent part of the rest of the Valley). The parts of the Valley I've seen, the Wal-Marts, hell, even the bison farm, still scream 'I'm Older Than You Can Imagine, Bitch.' It could be the mountains. Yeah, they're mountains to me, damn it...I still feel we're the edge of the Berkies. Smith itself is imposing for a few days until you get used to it and stop thinking about it. It's not overlarge, which is good. However, it has a sense of history that one also gets used to and points out as bits of interest to friends and family (Barbara Pierce [that's Dubya's mum] lived on the fourth floor of my house, Sylvia Plath was miserable for a while in the house next door). The attitude of people on the East Coast is also strikingly different. In Wisconsin, I can always strike up a conversation with a cashier, and I always get a 'have a nice day' long before I can get it out of my mouth. (I tend to say it because I've been behind a desk and I've also heard about the horrors of retail.) Maybe it's just stuck-up Northampton, but I don't think so...I've seen it at the mall in Hadley and in Holyoke too. People in the Midwest just tend to talk more to strangers and people here are much more jaded, perhaps...or it's probably the Puritan concept of one's business being one's own. The liberal factor...well, that's just the Valley. Leave it, and things go straight to hell until you hit Boston, or so I'm told. Yet, somehow, I gather that we have Dems in Wisconsin who would be Republicans here (much as it pains me to say this, in comparison to Tommy Thompson, Romney is NOT THAT BAD, all things considered). I feel more conservative at Smith itself than anywhere else in the nation, mostly because I'm planning to vote for Kerry in the primary instead of Dean (again, want to know more, leave a comment) and because I feel that there needs to be a certain amount of compromise on the parts of both parties to accomplish things in the government, which is a sad but true fact. I've picked up the word wicked, my accent has changed just a bit (I'm from Wis-COHN-son now, not Wis-KAHN-sin, and it's a bit depressing), and I've always felt as if I never belonged in the Midwest. Yet my sensibilities are Midwestern and my ideologies are Eastern, and I'm confused as hell. And I hate the word 'grinder'. It's a fucking SUB. I'm sure I have more to say on this topic, and I apologize for my thoughts being unorganized. Visit the links on my BlogRoll for more coherency. I hope to have another missive at some time tomorrow. Chapter the Third: In Which Draco Malfoy Gets What's Coming To Him. Ahem. I wish. Little punk. Hermione should stick the wand up his ass and around the corner. Anyway, this layout needs tweaking (had a bitch of a time with my FTP tonight...I've had more web woes in the last 24 hours...). I'll deal with it tomorrow. Soeaking of asses: tonight Jess and I went to the Porn Club at [house in the Elm area] with my girlfriend, Julie, who lives there. Generally, the entire PC agreed that Bend Over Boyfriend was the hottest, but was divided on the lesbian porn (I loathed it--shitty production values!). Our consensus on Bend Over was that the people seemed the most into it and the most realistic while maintaining a certain quality. Smithies consume a substantial amount of porn. I was told that one of the houses has a subscription both to Playboy and Playgirl. Erotica is quite openly discussed (there's a decent fanfic subcommunity if you know how to find it); in fact, the Peer Sexuality Educators held an event where they invited people to read erotica and handed out condoms and dental dams. I read a rather amusing story, incidentally. Yet, sex is OK as long as it's impersonal. Some house communities have a hard time with people walking around in their underwear. Sexual exploits are OK to discuss in vague terms or if they don't involve anyone one knows, but no one wants to see it. I'd say Smithies are at once both prudish and open at the same time. I think it comes from living in such tight-knit groups. For those of you who don't understand the Smith living situation, we live in house like dorms, each containing no more than a hundred people, with dining that's a bit more condensed, but not entirely. It's what we pay the big bucks for. Suffice it to say that the way we live here is different than most places I can think of, including sororities. Frankly, I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it has its idiosyncracies and disadvantages (oooh, the Real World issue again!). Sadly, I have a 9 AM tomorrow, so I should really be getting to sleep. The culture shock post will come tomorrow if I remember, and if Alex Keller doesn't keep us in her class for the whole near four hours on the first day of the semester. 1/25/2004
Chapter the Second: In Which The Semester Rears Its Ugly Head. Hi all. I decided to skip out on the cgiComments. The CGI was installed and yet it still refused to work. I think this is because my host is a bum. I need to switch to the one (the host) Sheana is using, but I'm in the middle of my contract because I was floundering last semester when they shut me down (turned out that part of that was server problems on THEIR part...) because I run three fanlistings. Anyway, you may now comment with CommentThis!. This blog's purpose, at least until I get Movable Type to work--which may be never--is to document and comment on life at a 'women's college' (actually, it's a college for the female bodied) in the 21st century. This is, hopefully, not going to be about the other nuances of my life. You can find those in my LiveJournal. I'm finding there's probably going to be some interest about this in the Third Wave feminist community (oh shit, I used a LABEL). Or at least, Kerri said she'd read it. Go me! The inspiration for this blog, in fact, was this e-mail that I sent her (please comment about this, I like feedback), which she posted in her blog...and that I found I had much more to say about the subject. I'm Paige, as you probably know, seeing as you're sitting here at a subset of my domain, rhiannonrevolts.com. You can read my bio there to get a better idea of who I am. Right now, I'm a sophomore at Smith College in Northampton, MA, stuck in the United States of America, and I am listening to Stevie Nicks. These facts can all be taken as pretty much a given when you're reading my posts...aight, the Stevie might be Fleetwood Mac or Bruce Springsteen, but generally, you get the idea. What you'll see here is a good amount of sarcasm and vitrol, naturally, seeing as many people tend to blog when they get pissed. You should know that I'm not always the most liberal person in the world, and sometimes my views on different subjects contradict themselves without any solid logic. I'm trying to work through who I am and what I think. Please respect that. You should also know that I really do love my school and most of my housemates, and I feel that being here is a vital experience and a Good Thing For Women. But why, Paige? Why is it a good thing for women? Doesn't being segregated by sex not teach them about the Real World? I'll answer that right now: It teaches many women not to take any shit. It allows people who wouldn't usually speak up to learn to do so without feeling as intimidated. It also creates a very strong feeling of community in a world where this is so rarely found. It's also a DAMN FINE SCHOOL. That's why I go to Smith. It's not the Real World (this is a common topic of conversation at Smith, and one I'll address from time to time), but really, come ON. What college is like the Real World? By learning to compromise only what we have to as we go on, we gain a much better sense of self. Oh yeah, and the alumnae network is out of this world. I know someone who interviewed Gloria Steinem for the school paper. Incidentally, I'm not a fan of the Michigan Womyn's (god, I loathe that spelling) Festival. This may seem hypocritical as hell, but Smith does let male bodied persons take classes here. They're allowed to walk on Smith property. Trans issues become a major grey area for me and one that my opinion is always fluctuating on. In an ideal situation, schools like Smith would be schools for all those discriminated against in general, whether due to race, orientation, gender, etc. We could band together! Throw over the man! Since that's not possible, I think Smith is a concept doing the best possible within societal norms. I'm ready to resist going co-ed in general, however. TANGENT: I hate the spelling 'womyn'. It's just...stupid! It looks DUMB! The word 'woman' is merely a lingustic issue...we should be working towards one common and equal term for human being of any gender, not segmenting more. Next up in this blog...an introduction to my culture shock here at Smith. Feel free to leave comments if you're going to be civil. Incidentally, I'm going to mock up a new layout for this tonight. More later. |
|
