Faith and the Feminist Movement

This is basically a re-blog because I'm lazy. So I'll keep my bit short and sweet. 

I completely agree with this article and I have some serious respect for its author, who does not denounce faith and spirituality, but focuses instead on the problem of the "male-centric" world.  Educate yourselves! I'm not one for labels, but if I identify as a  "Christian feminist"  (and I do), please know that is not an oxymoron. This secular author deals with the topic of faith and feminism in a way that is so liberating! I only wish more people thought this way.  

Here's the full link to the article:   

http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/05/feminism-and-faith/?utm_content=bufferc8bc1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I&M Canal Adventures

What has four wheels, two sets of legs, one umbrella, and is soaking wet?  Lexi and I on our 18 mile bike ride today!

What started out as a sticky and humid but otherwise ordinary summer day turned into a crazy adventure when Lexi and I decided to ride our bikes along the I&M Canal Trail.  We packed snacks, water, and sunscreen.  Thankfully, I brought along an umbrella just in case we weren't back home by noon, which was when the forecast showed scattered showers and thunderstorms.  And it's a good thing I did bring that along, because we eventually ended up in stranded in Channahon during a storm!  

After biking for nearly two hours, we stopped to catch our breath and eat some food at the lock bridge at a park in Channahon.  I was falling pretty far behind Lexi because the front tire of my bike was losing air.  So we stopped and while I inspected the flat tire, Lexi found a nice quiet place to eat by the water.  It wasn't long before the wind started to pick up and it began to drizzle.  Now, I'm not the kind of girl who is afraid to get her hair wet - especially after sweating through a long bike ride.  We both welcomed the refreshing rain.  But after about twenty minutes, the light rain turned into a downpour.  I had my umbrella out, but that wasn't enough for the two of us.  So we screamed and laughed and ran for cover.  We hid in this lovely little natural shelter created by a group of trees stooping over the river bank.  I'm pretty sure fairies live there.  

Anyway, after hiding in this wooded place for a bit, I told Lexi I wished she were a man because this was probably the single most romantic moment of my life right here.  Just picture it:  I'm sitting there, soaking wet, hiding in a magical tree haven, waiting for the rain to stop.  This is like Disney princess material.  All I needed was a dude to sit with me, keep me warm, and do all the cliche things couples do in the rain (whatever that is, haha).  

Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately? - the romantic mood was lost almost immediately after I expressed my desire for Lexi to be a man.  I think tornado sirens generally tend to change any mood, whether romantic or otherwise.  But once that siren went off, we started to freak out.  

At this point, Lexi made the mature decision to call for help.  She called Joel, a friend of hers who lives in Channahon, and thankfully he came to our rescue.  Joel is notorious for his very... um, anti-feminist views of women.  I mean, he's a pastor after all.   We can't fault him too much for that, I suppose.  But anyway, he jokingly said it's a shame that we couldn't go out on a bike ride without calling a man to "save" us.  Har har har.  Touche, Joel.  Next time we're stranded, I'll be sure to call my mother. -__-

While waiting for him, we hid our bikes in the brush and ran to the outhouse to stay dry.  When Joel finally came, he brought a massive tarp for us to hide under, which was kinda cute and funny and ridiculous because we were already drenched... but it was a nice gesture.  

Joel is a youth pastor, and he let us hid our bikes in the shed of a nearby church where he used to work.  But we had to come back with Lexi's car to pick up the bikes after the storm passed.  You better believe we fit two adult sized bikes into her tiny little Toyota Camry.  HECK YEAH. <<<< GIRL POWER >>>>

After that, we hung out at the Joliet library for a bit.  That's the proper way to wind down after a long bike ride - with a great friend by your side and a great book in your hand. :)

What is the moral of this story, you ask?  There are several:

- Always check the weather forecast before a bike ride (this includes checking the forecast for your hometown and any other towns you plan to ride through)

- If you have friends, you should probably own a large umbrella.  If you don't have friends, then small umbrellas aren't an issue. Lucky you.

- Don't call men for help... they will rub it in your face for all of time.

- You can fit at least two bikes in a little car.

- Being soaking wet is only fun if you're with your best friend and food.

Summer Reading List 2014

"And summer's lease hath all too short a date..."

SUMMER HATH ARRIVED.

What's my favourite part of summer?  Reading whatever I want to read, whenever I want to read it, and without any deadlines!! Wheeeee!!

I present the 2014 edition of Kristin's Summer Reading List:

(these are in no particular order)

Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow 

Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich 

On the Road - Jack Kerouac 

Arrow of God - Chinua Achebe 

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison 

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris 

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man - James Waldon Johnson

Music Pick for Finals Week

Hozier - From Eden

I always have the impulse to start writing a novel during week 10.  Maybe that's because I've spent the majority of the term writing literary analyses and crying my eyes out over the insane amount of reading I have to do... I digress.  I really need to write something creative to balance out all of the madness that has been happening lately.  But I can't start that until I've written the last of my final essays (about 20 pages to go!!).

Anyway, here's some new music for the week.  Hozier is an Irish musician with a really chill, folksy-gospel-blues-soul vibe to his music.  He uses lots of religious metaphors, something I always find fascinating in any genre.  Take Me To Church is one of my current favourites from his EP.  He uses the female pronoun "she/her" to represent a kind of saviour, which is a really interesting critique of the romantic.  Here's a quote from a recent interview: 

“I found the experience of falling in love or being in love was a death, a death of everything. You kind of watch yourself die in a wonderful way, and you experience for the briefest moment – if you see yourself for a moment through their eyes – everything you believed about yourself gone. In a death-and-rebirth sense.”

Hot dang.  Death and rebirth.  So deep.  His lyrics are pretty dark, but I really dig the sound.  Listen!  In the meantime, I've got some serious academic writing to do.  I'll be back when the storm blows over...

Hozier - Angel of Small Death