I’m working on cleaning up my mother’s computer and I’ve been using a few different programs to help. I thought I would post them here so I (or others) can find them later.
Hijack This (if you don’t know what you’re doing, you might want to avoid this one or get some help)
I also used PC Decrapifier, but rather than downloading (and paying) for it, I looked at what it removes, and removed it by hand.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: alliances, choices, environmentalism, Food, graphs, health, privelege, responsibility, social justice, values
For me, deciding on what food to eat is essentially a matter of deciding 2 things:
1. Is it healing?
2. Is it socially & environmentally responsible?
The answer to these questions can be challenging — how bad does it need to be for me to consider it harmful or reckless? When is it merely questionable? But generally I can chart both of these answers on this graph and when I begin wondering if something is too bad for me, others, or the environment, that signals I’m not comfortable with it.
In a perfect world I would only eat food near the number 1: food that improves my health and the world around me. But this isn’t a perfect world and I don’t eat in that part of the graph all the time. I have a major sugar addiction, for one. A limited budget. A family history full of foods that trigger emotional responses, like nostalgia and pride. I’m sometimes at the mercy of other people’s hospitality. Right now I’m staying at my parents’ house and they don’t eat like me. They also don’t have access to the same stores I have at home. And food — especially organic produce — is limited in their town, in the winter.
So I’ve been wondering where my lines are, and which circumstances I am willing to eat in different parts of the graph. I’m nearly always willing to eat foods that are harmful to me, but environmentally/socially responsible. Vegan donut, made locally? Ummm, yes please.
Where on the graph do I eat during holidays? When someone else is preparing the food? When I’m stressed (emotional eating)? When I’m poorer than usual? When I’m celebrating? When something looks like it will taste really, really good? When I’m already imposing on someone? And why do I pick the circumstances I’m picking? What does that say about me and my values? My privileges? My alliances?
In the coming days I’m planning to reflect on this more. I’ll share what I come up with. I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts or stories in the meantime.
Today is just a link to Cooking by Kittee, that I think people will find helpful. Kittee teaches you how to organize your produce so that it stays fresh longer. And who doesn’t want crisper vegetables and fruit that stay fresh longer? Or maybe you like paying for your produce and then throwing them out a week later?
That’s what I thought.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: alliance building, anti-racism, inter-faith dialogue, politics, queer
I wrote this just after Proposition 8 passed. Since then we’ve seen changes in our (queer) community. I’ve had many conversations that tell me there’s some anti-racist work moving along, some movement towards dialogue with religious groups that aren’t usually allied with queer groups. But obviously there’s still work to be done. So here’s a repost.
I know some of you are just trying to keep your heads above water right now. If this election has brought out your depression or you’re still closeted and you haven’t been saying anything about all this prop 8 business, then I want you to run to your nearest bookseller and buy Kate Bornstein’s Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws. Or, if you don’t have money, call a friend. Moisturize. Skip the rest of this post and concentrate on being okay.
If you’re already involved and keeping it focused on love and action…Keep Protesting! Keep Working! Stay Hydrated! Make space for yourself to feel what you’re feeling! Some of you have been working extra hard and really working for queer liberation. Your hearts and actions are in the right places. Great. Take this space to tell us some other ways we can get involved!
But so long as we’re protesting, let’s do it the best way we can, with the most love and efficacy, with the strongest alliances. Let’s look back and be proud of our accomplishments and our discourse. I believe in us. I think we can.
So listen up, queer community! We have been airing our dirty laundry since the fourth and we need to address this shit ASAP. And I’m not the only one who think so, so let’s take stock and do this right:
The first big concern I have is the racism and entitlement that allows (white) queer folks to name Black/African-American people as the problem, rather than as a part of our community, as our allies, or as our potential allies. This was not the group that poured money into passing Prop 8. Not to mention that queer people have a lot of different skin tones. I’m not the first to point these things out, but it bares repeating considering the racism showing up in queer white blogs right now. Let’s take this Prop 8 business as a reminder of what it feels like to be in the target group or to have people wield their privilege against us.
Let’s reread the exit polls. The people who voted to keep our rights intact are the people the queer community has done the best job of reaching out to. It looks to me like we’re good at talking to secular, urban, college educated, young, white people. That means that as a community we’re not reaching out to large groups of people. Some of those people are already in our community and we’re not doing a good job of including them. And we could both benefit from some alliance building. (What would it look like if the queer community were really anti-racist? What would it look like if we were befriending the elderly?)
The next issue I have is the attack on Mormons (specifically). They are not the only religious institution that gets political on this issue or any other. Are we using the LDS Church as an example because its easy to take shots at them? Because they aren’t like (most of) us? That is not to say the institution shouldn’t be held accountable–or better yet, educated– in some way. But targeting LDS instead of Catholicism or Evangelicalism? I think we should take stock and think about whether we’re targeting them because they “aren’t like us.”
And while we’re at it, I think we should stop with the language of retribution. Is that why we want to take away their tax breaks? To get even? This is not to say that religious organizations should receive tax breaks. I don’t think they should. Any of them. But passing prop 8 is not why. It is an example within a much wider problem. A good example, perhaps. But are we also willing to go after the progressive places of worship that supported Obama? Let’s also keep in mind that not all Mormons are homophobic or even political. I have LDS friends who have not been hostile and/or judgmental. Yes, of course the church and many of its members have not been our allies. But can’t we respond to people with love? What is so wrong with that? We know that spewing hate and lies hurts people. Why perpetuate it with the “they’ll get what’s coming to them” attitude?
Next, I’m annoyed with the comparison to animal rights (Prop 2). Californians don’t care more about animals than they do about queer people. Animals just received the right to turn around or spread their wings. Queer folks have not been locked in cages; chickens are not being given the right to marry. This is a case of apples and oranges. I’m sad that queer folks feel the need to fight over scraps. Let’s work on the system itself.
I’m sad too that we’re focusing so much of our national attention on California, and I suspect it is because this is the place we expected to do well, to hang onto our rights. I suspect it is also a way to maintain a focus on marriage. Let’s remember the other states that passed discrimination. Let’s remember the many different ways that LGBTQ people have been unequal in this country. Let’s remember the other groups that share our fates. Arkansas banned adoption for all unmarried people. Why is so much focus on California rather than Arkansas, where unmarried straight people and many, many children also stand to lose? I don’t think we should stop working in California, but I think it is worth reflecting on the reasons we’re focusing our national efforts here.
Okay folks…I expect a lot from my community. And I wouldn’t be calling this shit out if I weren’t also committed to action.
Let’s do this right.
A few disclaimers before I continue:
I know some of you are just trying to keep your heads above water right now. If this election has brought out your depression or you’re still closeted and you haven’t been saying anything about all this prop 8 business, then I want you to run to your nearest bookseller and buy Kate Bornstein’s Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws. Or, if you don’t have money, call a friend. Moisturize. Skip the rest of this post and concentrate on being okay.
If you’re already involved and keeping it focused on love and action…Keep Protesting! Keep Working! Stay Hydrated! Make space for yourself to feel what you’re feeling! Some of you have been working extra hard and really focusing on equality. Your hearts and actions are in the right places. Great. Take this space to tell us some other ways we can get involved!
But so long as we’re protesting, let’s do it the best way we can, with the most love and efficacy, with the strongest alliances. Let’s look back and be proud of our accomplishments and our discourse. I believe in us. I think we can.
So listen up, queer community! We have been airing our dirty laundry since the fourth and we need to address this shit ASAP. And I’m not the only one who think so, so let’s take stock and do this right:
The first big concern I have is the racism and entitlement that allows (white) queer folks to name Black/African American people as the problem, rather than as a part of our community, as our allies, or as our potential allies. This was not the group that poured money into passing Prop 8. Not to mention that queer people have a lot of different skin tones. I’m not the first to point these things out, but it bares repeating considering the racism showing up in queer white blogs right now. Let’s take this Prop 8 business as a reminder of what it feels like to be in the target group or to have people wield their privilege against us.
Let’s reread the exit polls. The people who voted to keep our rights intact are the people the queer community has done the best job of reaching out to. It looks to me like we’re good at talking to secular, urban, college educated, young, white people. That means that as a community we’re not reaching out to large groups of people. Some of those people are already in our community and we’re not doing a good job of including them. And we could both benefit from some alliance building. (What would it look like if the queer community were really anti-racist? What would it look like if we were befriending the elderly?)
The next issue I have is the attack on Mormons (specifically). They are not the only religious institution that gets political on this issue or any other. Are we using the LDS Church as an example because its easy to take shots at them? Because they aren’t like (most of) us? That is not to say the institution shouldn’t be held accountable–or better yet, educated– in some way. But targeting LDS instead of Catholicism or Evangelicalism? I think we should take stock and think about whether we’re targeting them because they “aren’t like us.”
And while we’re at it, I think we should stop with the language of retribution. Is that why we want to take away their tax breaks? To get even? This is not to say that religious organizations should receive tax breaks. I don’t think they should. Any of them. But passing prop 8 is not why. It is an example within a much wider problem. A good example, perhaps. But are we also willing to go after the progressive places of worship that supported Obama? Let’s also keep in mind that not all Mormons are homophobic or even political. I have LDS friends who have not been hostile and/or judgmental. Yes, of course the church and many of its members have not been our allies. But can’t we respond to people with love? What is so wrong with that? We know that spewing hate and lies hurts people. Why perpetuate it with the “they’ll get what’s coming to them” attitude?
Next, I’m annoyed with the comparison to Prop 2 (animal rights). Californians don’t care more about animals than they do about queer people. Animals just received the right to turn around or spread their wings. Queer folks have not been locked in cages; chickens are not being given the right to marry. This is a case of apples and oranges. I’m sad that queer folks feel the need to fight over scraps. Let’s work on the system itself.
I’m sad too that we’re focusing so much of our national attention on California, and I suspect it is because this is the place we expected to do well, to hang onto our rights. I suspect it is also a way to maintain a focus on marriage. Let’s remember the other states that passed discrimination. Let’s remember the many different ways that LGBTQ people have been unequal in this country. Let’s remember the other groups that share our fates. Arkansas banned adoption for all unmarried people. Why is so much focus on California rather than Arkansas, where unmarried straight people and many, many children also stand to lose? I don’t think we should stop working in California, but I think it is worth reflecting on the reasons we’re focusing our national efforts here.
Okay folks…I expect a lot from my community. And I wouldn’t be calling this shit out if I weren’t also committed to action.
Let’s do this right.
Originally posted on June 19, 2007, as a Facebook note.
I recently learned from my cousins & aunt that confetti, spaghetti, and graffiti are plural and that the singular forms are confetto, spaghetto, and graffito.They aren’t just secretive about their singularity, they’re deceitful too by continuing to take singular verbs.
Other exciting singulars, not all of which made the bridge from Italian to English…yet:
- broccolo (broccoli)
- biscotto (biscotti)
- panino (panini)
- salam (salami)
- illuminatus (illuminati)
I call on those of you who have strong opinions on grammar (whether descriptive or prescriptive) to do whatever it is you need to do. I don’t think I’m the only one who would enjoy eating asking for just one piece of broccolo or throwing a confetto.
Filed under: Food | Tags: baked goods, breakfast, gluten free, junk food, recipe, soy free, vegan, whole food
Scones
1 1/2 cups white flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (Sub 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, or use a gluten-free blend similar to Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose. The increased protein of this blend is also helpful in digesting the sugars.)
5 tbsp sugar (At least use evaporated cane juice/sucanat. Preferably use 5 tbsp date sugar, which is a whole food but not diabetic friendly, or 5 tbsp xylitol, which is diabetic friendly. Alternately, this can be left out entirely because the toppings are so sweet.)
1 tbsp baking powder (non-aluminum!)
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp margarine, cut into pieces (at least make sure it is Soy Free Earth Balance. Preferably use 6 tbsp coconut oil/butter +3/8 tsp more salt)
1/3 cup soy milk (1/3 cup almond, rice or cashew milk)
5 tbsp ground flax seeds
6 tbsp water
PRE-HEAT the oven to 400 degrees.
COMBINE combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, salt, and flax seed in a large bowl. Cut in the margarine.
STIR soy milk and water into dry ingredients until dough forms.
KNEAD a few times on a floured surface, then roll out into a circle about 2 inches thick. Slice like a pizza or a pie into 8 triangles.
PLACE the triangles on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
BAKE 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.
SERVE with clotted cream, jam, and tea.
Clotted Cream
1/4 cup Earth Balance, cold (at least 1/4 cup Soy Free Earth Balance. Preferably 6 tbsp coconut oil/butter +1/4 tsp salt)
1/4 cup Tofutti Cream Cheese, cold (at least non-hydrogenated Tofutti. Preferably 1/4 cup raw vegan cream cheese)
1 T soy milk (cashew, almond, or other neutral tasting non-dairy milk)
2 tsp. powdered sugar (The powdered sugar adds sweetness and a thickening starch: I might use 1 1/2 tsp agave, leave out the non-dairy milk, and assume I don’t need the thickener because I’ve used less liquid to begin with)
BLEND and chill.
Favourite Comment from a past posting:
Dharma Kelleher said…Sounds appetizing but the name “clotted cream” has to go. Seriously! Sounds like a really itchy yeast infection.
Filed under: gender | Tags: embodiment, feminism, gender, hair, PCOS, queer
This was originally posted on 4/21/2008 at my Queer & A blog. I edited it from there because there are some ideas I want to develop more in-depth that felt a little lonely and out of context here… and because I compulsively, continually edit.
Part One: Feminist Hair
I’ve never been a big proponent of shaving. I stopped shaving my legs and armpits in high school. I even dyed my leg hair blue a few times. I was proud of presenting my body the way I wanted despite cultural norms. As I saw it, the lie “women aren’t supposed to be hairy; hairy women are disgusting” was just another example of what our culture tells women to keep us ashamed, preoccupied, misinformed, and spending money to “improve” ourselves.
I hated the lie that it was more “hygienic” (for women only, apparently), when in reality hair removal is less hygienic.
I also heard rumors that shaving evolved (in US society) when skirts got shorter and men were surprised to find that women had body hair, even though girls did not. Whether true or not, the link to pedophilia was made in my mind, and I was horrified.
I saw the social pressure to shave as a way women were not just complicit — indeed they were enforcing –their own oppression, but also invisibilizing it by creating a normative, hairless body.
Part Two: Queer Hair.
Doing your hair is an easy way to “do” gender. I know that many queer femmes, trans women, and drag queens enjoy the process of doing femininity, including hair removal. On the other side, many trans men, drag kings, and female bodied genderqueer folks enjoy cultivating facial hair and wish their leg hair were darker.
So I find myself having compassion for a lot of people who like to shave as a way to do gender. Including straight, cissexual women (who aren’t performing in drag).
Part Three: Hormonal Hair.
I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and a “side effect” is that I have more facial hair than most females. I have several friends with this same “hormonal imbalance” who also have “surplus” facial hair. In fact, about 10% of women are diagnosed with it. I don’t see a lot of women with beards and mustaches though; I assume most of the women with PCOS remove their facial hair to keep a spirit of invisibility, so they aren’t perceived as transgressing gender.
Or sex.
Or the lines between who is supposed to be a “bearded lady” or “circus freak.”
Part Four: Questionable Hair.
Do you “do” your gender by doing your hair?
Is it effective? Is it worth it?
Is it complicit or transgressive?
Both/And? Neither?
Whose hairlessness is beautiful?
Whose hairiness?
Is your hair beautiful?
Your hairiness?
Your hairlessness?
This was originally posted on 4/21/2008 at my Queer & A blog. I edited it from there because there are some ideas I want to develop more in-depth that felt a little lonely and out of context here… and because I compulsively, continually edit.
Part One: Feminist Hair
I’ve never been a big proponent of shaving. I stopped shaving my legs and armpits in high school. I even dyed my leg hair blue a few times. I was proud of presenting my body the way I wanted despite cultural norms. As I saw it, the lie “women aren’t supposed to be hairy; hairy women are disgusting” was just another example of how our culture tells women to keep us ashamed, preoccupied, misinformed, and spending money to “improve” ourselves.
I hated the lie that it was more “hygienic” (for women only, apparently), when in reality hair removal is less hygienic.
I also heard rumors that shaving evolved (in US society) when skirts got shorter and men were surprised to find that women had body hair, even though girls did not. Whether true or not, the link to pedophilia was made in my mind, and I was horrified.
I saw the social pressure to shave as a way women were not just complicit — indeed they were enforcing –their own oppression, but also invisibilizing it by creating a normative, hairless body.
Part Two: Queer Hair.
Doing your hair is an easy way to “do” gender. I know that many queer femmes, trans women, and drag queens enjoy the process of doing femininity, including hair removal. On the other side, many trans men, drag kings, and female bodied genderqueer folks enjoy cultivating facial hair and wish their leg hair were darker.
So I find myself having compassion for a lot of people who like to shave as a way to do gender. Including straight, cissexual women (who aren’t performing in drag).
Part Three: Hormonal Hair.
I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and a “side effect” is that I have more facial hair than most females. I have several friends with this same “hormonal imbalance” who also have “surplus” facial hair. In fact, about 10% of women are diagnosed with it. I don’t see a lot of women with beards and mustaches though; I assume most of the women with PCOS remove their facial hair to keep a spirit of invisibility, so they aren’t perceived as transgressing gender.
Or sex.
Or the lines between who is supposed to be a “bearded lady” or “circus freak.”
Part Four: Questionable Hair.
Do you “do” your gender by doing your hair?
Is it effective? Is it worth it?
Is it complicit or transgressive?
Both/And? Neither?
Whose hairlessness is beautiful?
Whose hairiness?
Is your hair beautiful?
Your hairiness?
Your hairlessness?
I originally wrote this as part of a Facebook note on February 12, 2008. I re-posted my favorite comment as well.
I’ve started working as an Outreach Troop Leader for the Girl Scouts. That means I’m the Girl Scout leader for 5 different troops in an area where it is hard to find volunteer leaders.
I was at my first school yesterday. One of the second grade girls asked me why my eyes look like cats eyes…
me, “What do you mean by ‘cat eyes?'”
her, “They’re green!”
me, “you’ve never seen green eyes before?”
her, “no”
I don’t think she’s met many white people. I’m excited to be one of the first, because it means I have cat eyes.
Eric RG: White people must have incredible night vision!
Filed under: gender, spirituality | Tags: embodiment, moon, mythology, science, spirituality, women
This was originally posted on my facebook page, on 9/18, 2009. Several people asked if they could share it with others so I thought it would be a good first “re-post.”
NASA has sent a rocket to collide into the moon on October 9. The impact will create a crater about/up to 5 miles wide. Within minutes, debris will fly about 6 miles high from the moon’s surface. Wtihin an hour, as high as 60 miles. The explosion should be visible here on Earth, if you have a moderate (10-12 inches) telescope.
The purpose of all of this is to have a look at what may (or may not) be water, which is a sign that there may (or may not) be a past or future for life on the moon. This future may (or may not) include a potential lunar colony.
All of that sounds kind of fun in a Hollywood Blockbuster kind of a way. We’re blowing up the moon! We found water! We’re moving a colony there! There would be massive explosions and awesome displays of CGI goodness. There would be a minor love story and some humorous lines we’d hear over and over in the previews. It would sell and we would feel a numbed adrenaline rush while we drank our sodas and ate our popcorn. And that would be that.
But it isn’t Hollywood, it’s real life. And I’m troubled. Not “grimaced when I heard it” troubled — I’m talking “Crying randomly in public since I heard” kind of troubled.
And I notice that I’m not the only one.
I’m a nanny. This morning I mentioned it to the mother I work for. She didn’t seem to notice what I was saying. She seemed very casual, nonplussed. But an hour or two later she called me and said, “I can’t study. All I can think about is the moon. I’m crying in a coffee shop and I don’t know who to call. I don’t know who will understand that I can feel the grief in my body.” She went on: “I’m used to bombing and drilling the Earth, to wars and garbage piles and mines, but I guess I thought the moon was untouchable.”
We talked for a while, I asked her what she thought made her so upset. “It’s just so archetypal. NASA is raping the moon.”
Many females have been taught to associate with the moon. Whether or not the connection is real — and this isn’t the place I want to debate it — there has been a strong tradition most of the world over associating female power, menstrual cycles, and the cycles of the moon. Our myths,our history, even our slang teach us that we’re connected.
I bring this up not to set up an argument claiming that NASA is deliberately sending a message that females are unimportant, that their symbols (or source of their power) should be destroyed, or that women (symbolized by the moon) can/should have violence enacted against them at any time in the name of “life” or “exploration” or “conquest” or “science.”
I don’t think it is deliberate.
But intention isn’t everything; that message is still out there. I’m feeling it in my body. My employer – surprisingly, to me – also feels it in hers. People who bleed, have bled, want to bleed, know someone who bleeds…we are primed for this message.
I don’t mean women who believe with all of their hearts that the moon is sacred and powerful — I also mean monotheistic women. Secular and atheistic women.
But for those of us who believe that the moon is sacred, this is horrific on another level, too. It is an act desecration that I don’t know how to describe. There’s a heaviness to my spirit.
At the same time I know I should feel lucky. No humans or other animals will be killed in this process. I know that Indigenous Peoples of every gender along with queers and women the world over have had their kin destroyed along with their Holy Lands and symbols. I know that sometimes the land and the people are one and they die together. I am thankful that I have the luxury of survival and continued spiritual practice even when 5 miles of the moon’s surface is blown apart. I’m thankful that NASA isn’t instituting a new era of witch burnings. Claiming to feel this destruction in my body and spirit won’t kill me or put me in prison. I recognize this as a luxury even while I resent naming it one.
As I write it occurs to me that I’m troubled for yet another reason. I’m troubled because I’m expecting to receive some negative comments. I’m expecting to hear, from my friends,
“Don’t be silly” and
“You don’t really believe this, do you?” and
“But the moon isn’t alive” and
“Don’t you care about science?” and
and
and
and I’ve seen that some of you who have posted about this have received similar comments. I don’t know all of your friends and I can’t tell if there’s context or sarcasm or diffusive jesting so I’m trying to refrain from judging. But I resent that having reverence for a celestial body — whether spiritual reverence, or simple awe — can be met with distain or demeaning comments. I resent that destruction is routinely defended, without examination. And of course I resent that sacred space and spiritual beliefs that are held by groups of women — or by Indigenous people groups — are ignored and believed to be “silly,” “counterproductive,” or “stupid.”
To those of you who made it to the end of this with some compassion or shared anger — and I hope that is many of you — I want to say thank you. I invite you to use this space to share your stories/experienes/rituals/prayers for dealing with all of this.
Also, I’m moderating this space. If you’re unsure about whether or not something is offensive I really encourage you to send me a private message rather than posting as a comment to this note. Go ahead and email me at Cinna Zimt Anie (at) gmail (dot) com.
More info:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/17/MNJ41887O2.DTL
CinnaZimtAnie 