Thursday, May 28, 2009

Open Letter to Proponents of Bill 44

Dear Sir/Madam,

I read with interest of your plan to keep your children ignorant of subjects taught in school that you disapprove of. I assume this includes things like evolution, sex education, the Holocaust, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials and other things that you would prefer to ignore.

I, sir/madam, heartily endorse your plan.

I am a parent/guardian, employed, neatly groomed and well-educated lady who is also a woman of faith. You see, I do believe in God. Just not Her fanclub. Sorry.

I endorse your plan because it means that your children will grow up ignorant of some basic scientific facts. Your children will also grow up not knowing any social configuration except for the heterosexual, binary-gendered. religion-rooted view of society. Or, for that matter, how procreation works. But hey, you're here - I'm sure your encore performance of that highly informative 5 minute chat your parent had with you before your wedding will be also be passed onto your child just before his/her wedding. I really admire people who can explain things like that in a hurry, and without visual aids either! Thoroughly brilliant! You have my admiration for your communication skills as well as keeping such family traditions alive.

Be sure to instruct your kids about abstinence being the only way before marriage. After all, you followed it to the letter, right? Since you're preventing your kids from learning about biological elements like hormones and the reproductive system, as well as methods of birth control in sex education classes, abstinence is really the only thing you can tell them to do. Good for you! Never hurts to have clarity about things.

By the way, I have no problems if you wish to teach your children that the Sun rotates around the earth too. Or that evolution is a lie but the Flintstones is based on fact rather than a children's cartoon. Please, go ahead. Would you like me to find a dinosaur saddle for you on eBay? See? I'm a nice person - I'd do that just for you.

You opting to hobble the teachers' efforts to educate the next generation of Albertans merely adds to the Herculean task that they already face in trying to teach our children. Opting your kids out of classes because you don't believe in them constricts them to just your dogma. I see that as akin to saying No to opposable thumbs when the Evolution cart came along. Oh wait, you don't believe in evolution. Sorry, my bad.

Don't think of it as me opposing you. Please see it as me balancing out your dead weight.

For my part, I'm going to keep teaching my kids (and anyone else who wants to learn) about fact-based science. That there is a natural progression that can be traced through time that led us to where we are. Yes, there are holes in the theory, fossils we haven't dug up yet. But you know what? I'd rather teach my kids that there are mysteries in the universe. That there are missing pieces which, if one looked hard enough, will eventually prove that one's understanding is correct. Or prove that it's wrong, which is also a valuable lesson.

My kids won't let their ignorance keep them in their search for truth. Your kids won't let their ignorance stop them. See? We have a common point already! Isn't that great?

There are a lot of things that we don't know about the universe. Whether the Higgs boson exists, for example. What the proof to Goldbach's Conjecture is. Why life exists on this planet. Or why sticking your head in the sand is a bad thing not just for you but for your country when it comes to education.

I'm sure your religious book tells you all you want to know. See, this is where I get really jealous - scientists like me have to figure out the mysteries of the universe from scratch, by dint of hard work. You? You take the shortcut by having all those answers given to you in a convenient book. Wow. All that written ages ago in the Iron Age when indoor plumbing wasn't even around yet. I'm kicking myself for all those years of hard work in school and university. I mean, your holy book's Truthiness is self-evident - I could have saved myself so much trouble if I simply stopped all this headache-inducing thinking and just cited directly from that book.

Call me stubborn but I want to know more. I would like to have independent proof, not just hearsay. Yes, I'm teaching that to my kids too. My children will be ignorant of the things they know they don't know. Your children will be ignorant of the things they don't even know they don't know. But that's okay, because they have your holy book to quote from.

The proof will be in the pudding when they grow up. If I'm not mistaken, one of your holy books say something about you inheriting the earth. I thoroughly support that - please, do take the planet. It's okay, there's no strings attached.

By the way, you don't mind if my kids colonized the rest of the galaxy, right?

Sincerely,
Handmaiden of Science

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Bigotry

The appeal for overturning Proposition 8 in California failed today. Prop. 8 changes the Californian state constitution to explicitly ban same-sex marriages. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time that there has been an amendment to a state constitution to take away basic human rights.

I have no personal stake in Prop. 8 as I am neither an American citizen nor a California resident nor a lesbian. So why am I blogging about this?

Because this is wrong. It's hard enough to find happiness in this world, let alone a chance to share one's life with someone who loves you. Same sex marriages are private affairs, just like traditional marriages. To refuse a couple of the recognition and benefits of a matrimonial union that doesn't impact anyone else any more than traditional marriage is discriminatory.

Simply put, it's bigotry. You can paint it any way you want - it's Not The Way Things Are Done, or My God Said No, or any number of excuses. It's none of anyone's business who marries who unless if they are personally involved as friends or family.

Do you want to bet that most of the Californians who voted for Prop. 8 have never even met someone who's gay or lesbian? If so, then why are they taking away a shot at happiness that this minority needs?

Closer to home, I ran into a nasty case of bigotry and intolerance in my extended family tonight. I'm furious and sad at the same time. I'm fighting really hard not to hate those involved...and I think I'm succeeding. However, that doesn't fix the problem that they're bigots, so I've had to take clear and definitive action to preclude further flashpoints. Thank goodness I'm an adherent of Petrosian - sometimes being a good planner and strategist helps even at the cost of insomnia and depression.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Deeper water

In less than a month, a full year would have passed since my surgery, over two years since I took my first public steps that eventually led me to where I am today. I can't say that it's been easy; far from it. Recovery has been hellish and truth be told, I'm still recovering...and for some issues, recovery may never happen.

However, as I'm looking at my reflection in the mirror while being bathed by the soft glow of my MacBook, I'm also very glad that I did make those decisions. My life isn't anything like what it was a mere...4 years ago. Things have changed so radically. I've changed so radically.

For most folks going through the same type of surgery have long since discarded the cocoon of their change and flown off into the sunshine of their new selves.

Me, I'm still stuck due to a pretty major event that is still haunting me. But...I'm not doing so badly after all. It took me ages to recover my strength and I'm certainly not anywhere near normal even now. I'm learning ballet though. I have an active social life, new friends and new experiences to boot. More than that, I no longer have any aversion to mirrors.

Y'know, things aren't too bad. :)

I feel like I'm finally getting over some small part of the darkness that has held me back. To switch metaphors, I'm finally moving out into deeper water, where a new world beckons. How do I know that? Well, to pick an absurd example of what is changing in my life, let's talk about shoes. I'm shopping for shoes. In the distant past, I'd just go find something affordable and comfortable. In the recent past, I'd go and find something acceptably stylish, affordable and comfortable, usually with the expert advice of my sister.

Right now, I'm confronted with a million shoes in the other browser window, in all shapes, sizes and colours, most of which are waaaaaaay out of my budget. In short, these days? I'm shopping for something elegantly simple yet stylish, comfortable...and doesn't require me to sell more than just one kid to afford it. :) Plus, I now have a pack of friends who know shoes like the back of their hand.

Oy. I've always hated shoe shopping.But now, suddenly I find that hitherto unused brand names like "Manolo Blahnik", "Jimmy Choo" and "Christian Louboutin" rolling off my tongue and their absurdly high prices doesn't make me run away in horror, clutching my piggy bank and reassuring it that the Bad Fashion Houses won't crack them open.

Here, piggy piggy...ignore the mallet I've got behind me, please. :)

Seriously though, I haven't gone completely off the deep end - I haven't spent a cent nor will I do so anytime soon. However, I can't ignore the fact that my formal and smart casual spring wardrobes do not have appropriately matching shoes to complete them.

Someday, when I have enough money...

But for now, I'll stick to what I have and hope that exclamations of "Look behind you! Something interesting!" will distract the shallow, consumeristic upper management gits that I have to interact with in my professional life.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The View from Up Here

I attended my first ballet class tonight. I'm sore, tired and grinning ear to ear. I'm not so delusional as to claim that I'm coordinated when it comes to dance but you know what? It doesn't matter - the class was a lot of fun!

It's been a long time since I did something simply for the sheer joy of doing it. I'm quite bad at ballet but then again, so is at least half the class. There's a very steep learning curve...and gravity is a harsh mistress for some of those particularly unstable moves.

We went out for dinner tonight and I jokingly suggested to the kids that they should take ballet too. The look on one of the boys was precious, a cross between biting into something sour and tasting Marmite. Upon further good-natured interrogation, it came to light that the kids see ballet as something that only girls do. They may be correct there - there's probably about 19 women in my class and exactly one man, who was also grinning ear to ear for the entire class for some inexplicable reason of his own.

The instructor had a Syllabus written on her Notebook, which she referred to regularly as she took the class through a dizzying number of moves with Undue Haste. I can't say I'm impressed with her pace, nor were some of the other students if the queue for feedback was any indication. I did manage to talk to the instructor and politely give voice to my concerns. Hopefully next week will be different. I'd rather learn fewer moves well than flub up many moves fast.

My flat feet haven't bothered me in a long time...until tonight. The soles and ankles started burning halfway through the class from the exertion and repeated impacts. I suspect a lot of it has to do with me not doing the exercises correctly and I'm hoping this will get better as I progress.

Contrary to popular belief, no, we didn't spend most of the class en pointe. None of us, except for the instructor, can dance en pointe. I was having a hard enough time not falling over. En pointe will take years and years of practice, if I'm even able to do so now at my advanced age. There's a reason why you don't usually see old ballet dancers in performances. We're just a little too decrepit and calcified to handle the rigors of advanced ballet.

In the meantime, it's practice practice practice! I'm glad that my Condition is cured - I'm going to need to practice in front of a mirror regularly now. And find a chair to act as a barre that's sturdy enough to hold me up when I inevitably lose my balance. Yes, I know that's not what I'm supposed to use the barre for...and I'm wincing as I'm typing this because I'm caught between reinforcing a bad habit vs. getting to know my carpet really well from close up everytime I prove that gravity is still working.

Tough, but fun. Gods, I'm loving this!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Zzzzz...

Zzzzz...snerk...zzzzz...zzzzz...zzzzz...