okay, sorry, i didn't realize you had to be logged in to read that article, since i knew to look for it...if you care, it's at beinggirl.com, you can log in as a guest, and there's a link in the thrid column (from rags to britches). sorry, that was dumb...

this has really bothered me since i read it this morning. it is "a history of menstrual products" as told to teen girls on the site owned by the makers of always and tampax.

the tone of the article annoys me because it's written in valleyspeak, but that's not what really bothers me about it. it's the propoganda. particularly the part where they talk about how women used to use rags to catch their flow, and they are incredulous that the women would have to WASH AND REUSE the rag, then they refer the used rags as "nasty". way to make young teenagers feel great about what is coming out of their own bodies. it also bothered me that they make the innovative practices of other cultures, and even good alternatives available here, like sea sponges, out to be absolutely strange and ridiculous. of course, that is because they want to selll bleached tampons and pads to girls that are raised to believe their periods are gross.

the end is particularly ironic. And for those who are interested, after my little rant:

here are some alternatives!

there's a feeling in the air
like a friday afternoon
and you can go there if you want
though it always fades too soon
so go on, let it be
if there's a feeling coming over me
seems like it's always understood
this time of year
well i know there's a reason to change
i know there's a time for us
think about the good times
live with all the bad
'cause there's a feeling in the air
I'm feeling right this time of year

i thought of this song just a little while ago, when i walked outside with the laundry on my way to the laundry room, and it's snowing just a little, and i've had guitars in my head today anyway. it's a good afternoon to play moody acoustic guitar. (i never learned, but today i want to know how.)

Which Chicago Character Are You?
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i got out of my last class after 10 minutes because the ceiling started pouring water from several spaces where lights were installed. needless to say, there was much screeching and turning off of lights, followed by a quick mass exodus. it was kind of funny though, and i got home an hour early. :)

((13:48:34) Al0929: you jerk
(13:48:35) sarahmchinchilla: ALLYMABOOB
13:51:28) Al0929: go back to your hooligan world , you hooligan
(13:51:36) sarahmchinchilla: okay boobface

ally and i love each other very much. see? ;)

i am in love with that class. the honors class, on images of women in the media. i can tell already. i'm feeling like giving speeches. i talked in class even though my voice is gooky from being sick. this is My Thing!

but in ghetto-good news:

i got a package from allllly yesterday! with something really great in it! i will not say what it is until I take a picture of it though. which will be soon, although since the picture involves me i may wait a day or two in hopes that my face will stop being swollen and icky from my cold. but then, oh boy, will you be impressed!

thank you allybean! *smoochies*

today i start the honors class on images of women in the media. since it's an honors class, you have to have a certain GPA to get into it. i am sort of looking forward to being in a class made up entirely of people who get good grades and actually participate in class and everything - then i will be among people like me and i won't stick out for using "big" words or getting an A on an assignment. :P

meanwhile, i really want to be knocked out for a couple days. i'm so tired of being sick, and i think this cold or whatever it is crawled from the depths of hell to latch onto me. it won't let go, and it's really nasty! and i have to go walk around in the icy air today to get to classes. ugh.

classes starting tomorrow:

the language of children's literature
seminar on american public address and criticism
research methods in communication studies
the female experience: the psychology of women

and starting wednesday:

mediated women: images of women in the media
Speakeasy peer educator training

research methods class aside, i am looking forward to many of these. :)

My family gave us the LOTR boxed set dealie for Christmas, which comes with a free ticket to The Two Towers, so guess what we get to see again today? :)

I am so excited :)

the way you set the table
the way you lean to tell me something soft
the way i can't see into you
the way you tell me i talk too much
about myself
it's true
that i talk too much about myself
but right now, right now
i wanna talk about you
(carmen, paula cole)

whoop whoop

you can now preorder Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, which means that it will actually be written one of these days! Yay!

ryan found origami paper for me today, at an art store in Groton.

:) So tomorrow, I will begin my origami project that has been on my mind for days. This is exciting. I just have to find origami instructions now. :)

At the mall, I got two t-shirts and a new purse. I really needed a new purse, and it is fleecy and BRIGHT RED and it makes me happy. The best part is that is has a zipper. I have wanted a zipper purse for a long time. :)

And today I picked up my new contacts, which I am happy about. Glasses next week, and yes, there will be pictures!

carmen makes me think of our kitchen floor on margaret street
and nightime and donika with her guitar
and the screen door and the fireflies outside
and laundry baskets on our heads

:)

(and something else, but it's a feeling more than anything else, made up of some of that and some other things too)

live-horse
paula cole - feelin' love
paula cole - carmen
shawn colvin - you and the mona lisa
alana davis - turtle
alana davis - 32 flavors
jason mraz - sleep all day

she rode a horse into my head
she rode a horse into my head
she won't discipline the children
and now they're runnin' wild on the beach
and i don't care
no, i don't care
Live - Horse
(doni, thanks to you, and getting lists of the songs on tapes you made me from raina, i am having a remembering-songs-i-had-forgotten-for-a bit festival :))

i'm taking the bus to providence today
and i will loook for origami paper and Storypeople notecards.

It is viciously cold here today, so the walking to the bus stop and from the bus stop to the mall strikes fear in my heart...but I will bundle up. :)

And Ally, why don't you come out in your pony car and meet me there? ;)

Shakira - Inevitable (Live English version) - (highly recommended)

(22:28:51) Al0929: i got you a present
(22:28:54) Al0929: i couldn't resist
(22:28:56) Al0929: it was gorgeous
(22:29:10) Al0929: i have to find a big fat thing to send it to you so you can love it and cherish it forever, my ghetto hunk of love

Urges of the Moment:

i want to do origami again. i need to find me some origami paper, and some origami instructions.

i want to make a mobile with teeny tiny origami.

i want to make beeswax candles.

i want to play in the art studio when it opens again.

and i also want to start writing essays again, maybe starting right now.

we stayed up much too late talking, and when i finally conked out I dreamed about being tired (in the dream, I had to leave this big hotel and drive for a while, but my eyes wouldn't stay open! i also wanted a blueberry muffin and some coffee...and boy, do i crave that now!)

my eye stuff ended up costing a whopping $374, because apparently our insurance compnay only cares about my eye exam, not the contacts or the new frames and lenses. This is a painful amount of money but I am still very happy that I will have new eye stuff soon - I think I really like the glasses, and that I will wear them some days by choice even! :) (And there will be pictures! oh yes ;))

My vision was 15/20 with my old contacts in. I've heard that if you've been nearsighted all your life, your eyes can start to reverse into far-sightedness as you age. 15/20 is better than I've seen in a while, and this is the first time in my life my prescription remained strong enough for 2 years...hmmm.

eye doctor visit tomorrow!
meaning new contacts and NEW GLASSES coming soon to a sarah near you!

i am excited. good night now :)

the sun shone today
and i listened to music
and we got good news (I got residency with my school and therefore, the in-state tuition rate)
and i got somewhere with a lot of things
and i started re-reading harry potter and the goblet of fire, after finishing another book, and also "Coraline", which we got for Christmas
and
i am happy

i send everyone some sunshine.
:)

daniel bedingfold - gotta get through this (radio edit)
tori - amber waves
justin timberlake - cry me a river

don't it make you sad about it

Who is your Ideal Lord of the Rings (male) Mate?
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heh heh :)...for those of you who saw the Two Towers...I nearly passed out when he jumped up onto the horse in that battle scene. You know what I'm talking about, right? :)

to ally,

i'd just like to say :you go, girl.

i love you!
ghetto sarahpants

yesterday i finished the painting project i have been working on for a long time. now we just need to mount it and it will be very cool.

It was inspired by something Janice said to me in Montreal, about how she loved avacado green and squares, and if she had a painting that had both that would make her very happy. My painting is not avacado green (except for one panel) but it is squares - 9 panels with 9 squares each in square formation, in stepping down shades of red, then orangey-yellow, then green. I really like it. :)

it's funny
how many moods the ocean has.
and how potent they are, how
i am moved to feel something
every single time i am near it.

so i went by -
cause i had the time,
and told the northern lights
to keep shining
they told me to tell you -
they're waving
(tori - amber waves)

happy new year,

i drove by myself for the first time today!

and, here's to fresh starts.

now i have to go do my first dishes of the new year. :)