Ah, Spring in England...

It is awfully pretty!
We will return to it shortly but for now it's Hail Hellas!
Will send pictures!

The Biggest Stunt of Them All

Ruth Benedikt, a famous anthropologist once said, when asked why she got her PhD so late in her life, “I don’t have the strength of character not to have a career.”

After years of forging my character and coming to terms with the fact that this is as good as it gets, her words still ring in my ears.

She is right. It takes a hell of a lot of emotional strength and stamina to remain on the side-lines, cheering on, smiling at this farce and continuing day after day doing the most suicidal job in the world: Stay-at-home mom, no income, no benefits, no social security, and often no life to call her own.

According to the measuring sticks of this world, I am a true hero: Fighting for a better world because I believe in it even though the stakes are high and the outcome unsure.

But that title has been already awarded to someone else, medal and all. I, and the other Stunt Mommies, will remain in the shadows of our own courage.

It is a good place to be. Knowing that, is all that counts, even if at some point, it will land us all in the poor house, a grubby family album clutched between shaky hands.

I can crochet my own medal, thank you.

More of the Same

So, apparently within the US government’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Initiative, which is supposed to promote peace in that region, certain issues will have to be sacrificed. Certain issues are, of course, human rights...more precisely women’s rights.

In order to cut down on drug trade and armed resistance, the US, and other governments, may henceforth suck up to their emotionally challenged political counterparts in those countries to safeguard their overarching interests.

Pathetic, once again.

No Leak, Girl!

Brussels - a weekend away with my very pregnant friend.  What fun it was!  We have known each other for years.  And while she is a connoisseur of non-alcoholic brews now, she used to be able to ‘drink any sailor under the table,’ if you know what I mean. 
Currently she sticks mainly to copious amounts of water. At eight months, that can keep you busy looking for toilets wherever you go. There simply is no more room for extra storage.
So there she was waddling across a church square trying to make it back to the hotel in time... Ironically, if she were a guy, there would have been an end to the waddling.  Men are not asked to hold it (pregnant or not), not in Brussels, not in most places. 
In fact, just there, as we were walking along the side of the church, we spotted a pissoir attached to the church exterior.  Three open stalls with a little awning and electrical light dangling from above. 
Even my friend cringed and she usually keeps her muted criticism of patriarchy to the fact that Japan’s Emperor is considering taking a concubine to produce a male heir.

Pretty, Pretty Please Mr. Karzai!

Please, please Mr. Karzai, try to understand us. We want to be friends with you and get along okay with all those mean mean brothers of yours.

Unfortunately, raping women and locking them up doesn’t go over well with our constituents. Our fault, I know. The world is just so much more complicated ever since countries like ours decided to treat women more like human beings instead of cattle. But, you know, they really are kind of human, because they can actually say “NO!”

It is complicated and you surely have loads of interests to consider that are more urgent than the rights of those unfortunate few who agree to a forced marriage.

Hmm...well, anyway, some people we know are really upset about reintroducing rape in marriage, and we are having a hard time keeping them quiet. I know, it usually blows over in a couple of weeks, but it would be really kind of you if...

Please!

Calling Praveen

I spent another forgettable afternoon (1 hour and 41 minutes of it, that is) on the phone with Praveen. I wonder how Apple gets around child labor restrictions, because surely Praveen, who answered my exasperated call, was only in his teens and very bubbly. Or maybe it was that he SOUNDED so young.

After years of ranting and raving against computers (and especially Apple) and then buckling down and buying yet another one, I have resigned myself to rainy afternoons of conversing over “Finder Windows,” the “Dock,” and the many, many “Applications” this magnificent specimen has to offer. Ah yes. There is so much to learn.

As I was trying to sound like I had brushed up on my Apple lingo since my last call and doing my best at pointing out where I had gotten stuck this time, I realized that what was puzzling me more than the problem I was calling about, was the obvious generation gap.

While dear Praveen was putzing about, troubleshooting, opening this and that, pulling down menus here and there and softly talking me through the many possible ways of getting around the problem I was dealing with, it suddenly dawned on me, that sooner or later, I would not have to worry about all this anymore. And that in due time HE will be the one calling in and pretending that he knows what he is talking about.

It’s only a matter of time.