Government, Society, and the Art of Sucking

I hate my government so much that as I near the age of 37 I find it difficult to say I love my country. *insert gasp here* I know, I know..... I'm not a traitor and I long to be a patriot which is why I haven't moved to another country (although there has been some discussions about this). But there is not much to be patriotic about in regards to America's current standing. Each year the national debt increases. The Constitution is becoming a thing of folklore. We are still at war and we still have soldier's on foreign soil who are still getting killed. Yeah I'm a treehugger but I support this war - 10 years ago. Now.... not so much. I support our soldiers but not what we are doing over there. Travel back here - to our own soil. Katrina. Katrina was an utter disaster and a natural disaster. I mean seriously - the hurricane never even came close to New Orleans yet hundreds died and thousands were relocated. The government knew the levees had been breached on Monday but the evacuation was called off on Monday night. Why? Because the government never informed anyone in the evacuation department about the breach. This is all true and more. Look it up. It'll disturb you. A man (Ivor van Heerden) was fired because he spoke out a year before Katrina happened warning them of the very issue that caused the devastation in New Orleans. So here we are in 2012 - the great election year. I have a question: what the hell does the government care who marries who? Seriously?!? Why is gay marriage an issue in the debate? I say bring it on! I love the gays - they're a lot better than some of these white trash meth heads I've had the irritation of meeting in the past. What the hell is a gay couple going to do to you? And why is abortion still a debate issue? Fine it's a woman's choice and yes it's a baby at conception. You can't deny either of those points. You might want to argue them, but they can't be denied because it's a woman's body and that's kind of the whole point of sex. I mean sure it's fun but pregnancy is what happens. Can we really not take care of ourselves so we need to have someone else do it for us? Is our government the best "person" to babysit us? And after today's Time magazine release, how long will it be before the government gets involved in attachment parenting? I say this because our government appears to be greatly led by society and vice versa. Some of the comments that are being made are disturbing and disgusting. What do you care if that woman is breastfeeding her 3 year old son? That's her life! Oh wait! That's right! Because American society thinks breastfeeding is gross. It's somewhat acceptable if you breastfeed for 6 weeks, maybe 6 months, and it's a tad more acceptable now than it was 8 years ago to breastfeed until the child is a year old. But *mockingly* why in the hell would you want to breastfeed for any longer than that?!? I'll tell you why: because it's my choice! Because it's good for my kids, because it's good for me, because my kids sleep better, because I love my kids, because I want to, because it's easy and I'm lazy. Because the science is there to support my decision. And that all goes to co-sleeping and babywearing, too. America is the only country that society goes against science. Science in America will always loose when it is up against society. So suck it, America because my baby's gonna!

My Fatness

For any of you who know me personally also know that I am fat. Yes, yes I am. I guess I always have been to some extent, although popping out 3 kids didn't help any. But that is merely an excuse. I could also blame my rich Hungarian and Croatian genes or the fact that I like beer - yummy, delicious, dark ales. Oh and let's not forget my near fetish with bacon and glorious raspberry truffle cupcakes - served together of course with a venti cup of chicory coffee. And although I hate the fact that most plus size clothes look like something a fat Iowa farm wife would wear (trust me, I know for a fact as I hail from Iowa), I am generally okay with myself. I am happily married and we have a great sex life. I am an active outdoorsman and absolutely love camping, hiking, canoeing, swimming, kayaking, leisure nature walks, and generally anything outdoors. I love to cook and have a big man husband who loves to eat my food with me and, incidentally, hates being referred to as fat because fat does not make the person. Which brings me to my point: society makes me feel bad about my body size not my fat. My fat is just that. It doesn't make me feel anything in particular at all. We can't all be a size zero and look like little boys. Some of us are meant to have curves! We are meant to have hips and breasts. We are meant to have supple thighs and be soft to touch. And men, it was not very long ago when a large man was a sign of his wealth, health, and happiness. So my fat and not so fat friends, be free! Break free of the societal standards of what beauty and happiness is and for all you ubber skinny people out there - seriously, go have some bread.

I'm not a terrorist

Dreams of water rushing through blown up concrete, Wal-Marts burning to the ground, and a life mimicking Ecotopia (a great read written by Ernest "Chick" Callenbach) do not make me a terrorist because I don't act. I would, if I could but I am not an extremist even though some might say I am. I merely yearn for a more ecological and sustainable society. I'm not a crunchy momma. I'm a realistic one who tries to be aware of my carbon footprint, but the sad reality of that is - my lifestyle change must be extreme to coincide with my passion. I want, no, I long for the day when I can drop the grid and live sustainably - growing, catching, killing my own food and building everything I need. Then I look at my kids and think what new kind of crazy torture would that be for them. *sigh* And so I continue on with the way of the lemmings.... oh, but Callenbach had it. Man, that dude nailed it. He knew. He knew 37 years ago when he published Ecotopia that we (we being this glorious American society that we all live in) were destroying our only true mother. America is so far behind many other countries in environmental issues. I'm not saying we should all love PETA and hug dolphins. But Callenbach talked about electric cars and living with what we need back then. Society, and I am guilty too, quickly confuses need with want. We need a renewable energy source. We need science. We need life. LIFE. All life, not just some - you know pick and choose. Nah. "Sorry we needed to build that dam there Mr. Salmon. I know you're screwed now because you can't swim back up river to lay your eggs and in a few generations you'll be nearly extinct. But I needed this hydropower because I can get a dam built but no one can get sustainable energy approval this fast." I'm not suggesting that we all give up and move to a fantasy land that doesn't exist. But Callenbach wasn't high (well, he might have been), he was a visionary. He saw that this world, this country, could be better. He knew a stable-state ecosystem was possible and I think it still is. I think there is too much greed and too many politicians. I think those two things hold us Americans back and refuse to allow us to be great. And we let them. We sit back and want change. We want to do something. We want to make a difference. We lack motivation and we have nothing to drive us. Callenbach said it best: "I mean we don't try to be perfect, we just try to be okay on the average- which means adding up a bunch of ups and downs. But it means giving up any notion of progress. You just want to get to that stable point and stay there..."

So if California, Oregon, and Washington ever secede from the rest of America to form an idealistic ecological super simple life, I'm gone. 

Which is probably where "Chick" is right now. Enjoy the free love and the tree people. Sorry we couldn't ever make the right steps toward Ecotopia. Died April 16, 2012.

Bats

I have had this blog up and running (sort of) for about 2 years then it seemed like everyone I knew had a blog. So I went back to the drawing board and considered writing a book instead of blogging. Then I realized an important aspect of book writing: you can't be random! Your thoughts and comments must all relate and flow and although I could do that, it's not really who I am. I am random. I'm not just saying that like many other people in the world do to gain some sort of hipster coolness. I really am. I try not to be and yet.... oh, look a bat. I love bats. Do you know why I love bats? Probably not. It's because bats only come out at night and they generally freak people out and they eat bugs!! Yes! So fly my tiny winged friends! Fly! Just so long as you linger in my yard long enough to eat the bugs.