If you didn't get picked up bodily and taken to Heaven in the Rapture today...

Do I have to give back your stuff?

The American Cancer Society's Walk & Roll 2011 is taking place in Chicago this weekend, and I'm participating. I still haven't decided if I'm going to walk or roll (on my bike) but either way, I'll be there.

If you're interested in sponsoring me, there's still time. Just go to http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/WalkampRoll/CFPFY11ILWalknRoll?px=20535954&pg=personal&fr_id=34383

Give as much or as little as you'd like. Every little bit helps! And if you're going to be there, let me know!

For an number of reasons (an effort to get myself into better shape before I turn into a lump of goo, my company's push for both physical fitness and public awareness, and others too numerous and possibly embarrassing to name) I've decided to take place in the Walk & Roll 2011 event sponsored by the American Cancer Society. More information can be gotten at http://community.acsevents.org/site/TR/WalkampRoll/CFPFY11ILWalknRoll?fr_id=34383&pg=entry

It's a 5 mile walk/10 mile skate/15 mile ride to raise money for the ACS, and it's held on May 15th. I'm either going to be walking or riding my bike for the event, since there's no way that I could skate 10 miles. Either way, if you're interested in sponsoring me, I'd be happy to take donations for my ride. You can support me by going to http://main.acsevents.org/goto/emiddleton. Any amount would help and be gratefully received.

If you're going to be participating as well, let me know, and we can make plans to meet up that day. I look forward to seeing people there!

If anyone is interested, I have Dreamwidth invites. Contact me at Dreamwidth at greenmansgrove dot org if you're interested.

February is Black History Month in the US. I have no problem with that, and am fully behind it. But what does it say that today is the 100th anniversary of International Women's DAY?

edit: It has been pointed out to me that March is Women's History Month in the US, as February is Black History Month. Maybe I've been ignorant of that fact. Or perhaps I've never heard of it. At the very least, it's never sunk in.

I still think that this is an appropriate video, and I think that there needs to be more awareness of women's issues.

If you saw me over the weekend at Capricon, please go get yourself checked out by a doctor. I have been diagnosed with this year's version of the martian death flu, and been prescribed a course of TamiFlu. Very high temps (103+), aches, and coughing so far.

Back from Musecon 0. It's a startup con in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, focusing on creating things. Scientific, musical, hands-on play and experimentation. Heard some fun music, made some things, had a very good time.

( Read more... )
I had a really good time, and I'm looking forward to going back next year.

I am male. Can't really deny it, and don't really want to when it comes down to it. I have all the primary and secondary physical characteristics that indicate that I am a male of my species.

But sometimes I wish that I weren't a man. Or at least, that I could distance myself from some individuals that happen to share my physical gender. Because I don't want to be associated with them in any way.

The person that is linked to in this article is one of those people:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/05/you_can_tell_where_this_is_goi.php
(This is a link to another post about this person. I don't even want to link directly to the original writer's blog.)
He is a sociopath, as well as a misogynist. And it confuses the hell out of me that he claims as part of his bio that he is an anti-feminist, NOT a misogynist.

He seems to believe that affirmative action is not only a threat to him, but one that justifies rape as a means of maintaining the status quo (or as he thinks of it, "equality"). He sees affirmative action as a physical threat apparently, and this justifies rape in his mind. And rape, in his mind, is the equivilent of taking money from someone.

I started writing out all the things that I disagree about in his writing. And I then I realized that I didn't want to write that long. I can't find anything that I do agree with. I could make assumptions and suppositions all day about why he believes what he does. But it doesn't matter why. It matters that he believes it.

Men like this make me wish that there were some way to disassociate myself from them entirely. Some way to make it very obvious to all and sundry that not only do I not agree with shit like that, but that I don't support his headfuckedness in any way, shape, or form. The fact that we share a gender is way more commonality than I want with anyone like him. Or with anyone who can seriously believe the kind of ideology that he is spouting.

It makes me sad to feel like I want or need to disassociate myself from something that I am, because someone else is a sociopathic fuckwit. But I know that I can't make them wear a button that designates them as such. So it seems to be more feasible to me to wear a button that says that I'm NOT a sociopathic fuckwit, in the hopes that I can be seen for myself, rather than being lumped in with a vocal few.