I'm going to get kicked out of beer league softball for this...

Hi 'Topes,

I would like to respectfully request a moratorium on all things "Girls are bad at sports", because at the very least it's really, really irritating and at the very worst, well I don't know if I can write about that that very well in an email. This attitude was particularly prevalent yesterday. All of the "Oh, I'm not hitting well, so I'm a girl" or "Those two girls just got you out, you are so bad at softball, because there's no way that they could possess any sort of skill" was out of control. Out of control. We Isotope gals get it, OK?* We've all been pushed to the bottom of the line-up, and even when there are the same amount of girls and guys at the games - we ladies are the only ones who are expected to sit on the bench, and when we are out on the field, we are relegated to positions that are typically seen as less essential than others. In any sport we all play together, this type of thing happens without too much complaint from us. However, hearing you all verbalize your contempt for the ladies is completely and totally unnecessary, and it would be nice if it could just ... stop.

I understand that a lot of this banter is just 'bros being bros' and something you all just do. I also recognize that I'm being a gigantic boner killer here.** I was really pissed about this yesterday. I tried to give myself some time to chill out...but I'm still finding myself pretty angry about it. Along with that, I'm incredibly disappointed. These types of attitudes are very pervasive. You are all smart, talented young men who will someday be in charge of labs (with women!), you'll be teachers (of women!), and some of you might even be lucky enough to have daughters (who will turn into young women before you know it!). They will all be smart, and they'll recognize your attitudes, whether you mean for them to or not. I'm not sure there's much of a difference between the idea that girls = bad at sports vs. girls = bad at science and math. It might not be obvious, but it will be there under the surface, and it's a terrible thing for a young woman to realize, whether it's from her professor, from her friends, or from her father. It breaks my heart a bit that the little girl across the field from us yesterday may have heard you guys talking about the women in her life in such a derogatory manner. It makes me angry that her brother may have heard it too, potentially reinforcing the gender stereotypes that run rampant in our society. You guys may not have bothered to notice that there were even kids over there, but your words and your actions? They matter. A lot. And with that, it looks like I just got into the worst of it without quite meaning to.

This email won't be popular. I know that. I know you'll all make fun of me for having brought it up at all. You'll say I'm over- reacting, or being crazy, or that I have PMS or something, etc. If you've even made it this far, I bet you'll somehow attempt to dismiss my point of view. I expect nothing but that, which also makes me sad and disappointed. Hell, you might not even want me to be on your teams anymore. I send this acknowledging all of that, but I'm going to do it anyway. I love playing sports with you all - it's fun and a distraction from all of the actual important shit I have to deal with on a daily basis. I send this with the sincere hope that maybe, just for a second, you'll think about a certain population of us that have to deal with a lot of very discriminatory annoying bullshit ALL THE TIME just for being women...and would rather not have it intrude upon our leisure time. So, please, just STFU? Maybe? At least for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoons?

Thanks.


Your resident feminist,

Sarah

Creepers Don't Like Hearing That They Are Creepy...

This is a public service announcement. This is not to say that creepers shouldn't be called out on their creepy bullshit. There will be some backlash. It will most likely be creepy.

You're welcome.

'Barack Obama Is A Racist!'

Those words flew out of my mouth this weekend at a small gathering of neighbors, words filled with fake delight and laced with all the sarcasm I could muster. Of course, my host did not know me well enough and thought I was agreeing with him. Then I laughed and laughed because of my cleverness. You see, I know these gentlemen are not Obama supporters, and in fact are far from it. The first time I was in their house, I recoiled from a greeting card they had displayed with Barack Obama on the front with one of his teeth blackened out. Later in the night, we talked a little bit of politics, and I'm fairly certain my brain almost exploded when one of them declared, 'I think Sarah Palin is really smart'.

I'm an avid reader of news, but on Saturday, I had seen little of it. I woke up feeling not so nice from karoake the night before, but went out for a fantastic brunch with a friend, did some shopping and cleaning, then somehow ended up in my backyard with my neighbors, drinking, eating, and all of the good stuff that makes me so happy to have found such a wonderful place to live in the middle of a city that has a mildly bad reputation. As with what often happens at my neighborhood parties, we all ended up taking tours of each others apartments. These men fell in love with my cats, and I fell in love with their chartreuse couch. At some point, my Sarah Palin admiring neighbor recounted a news story about which how Barack Obama filled out the census. "He only checked African American... not anything else."

"Oh, well then, Barack Obama is a racist!" I said, with a laugh. "Yes!" neighbor replied. My face must have done something to betray what I was actually feeling (as it often does), because then we weren't allowed to talk about politics anymore. Not that I could have, because of my laughing at figuring out the conservative response to Obama's census before it was even said out loud or before I read about it on the internet. The next day, I felt vindicated when I went on the internet to check it out myself. I can't even bring myself to link to the articles I found because of the ridiculous and vile comments that have been left on them since then.

I feel the need to write this response now that I've had some time to think about it, and I wish I could have articulated it better at the time.

Barack Obama is not racist. He doesn't hate white people, as much as some may claim he does. When he checked off 'African American' on the census, he did so because that's how our society views him. If he weren't famous, if we didn't know anything about his parents, his upbringing and merely saw him on the street, we'd guess that he was a black man. That is how we'd define him. If we saw Obama at the grocery store, we wouldn't assume that his mother was white, or that he was raised almost exclusively by his white grandparents. We are not good at distinguishing the intricacies of someones background. So I don't fault Obama for choosing 'just' African American on his census form. I fault the rest of us, living in our American melting pot, our great country where any dream is supposedly possible, where we judge someone on their appearance, then attempt to dismiss or degrade them when they choose to fit into the the very image we ourselves project onto them. I judge us. Hard.

My Favorite Cookbook....

Cooking for yourself when you live by yourself can be a challenge. There is no one to impress and it can be difficult to convince yourself to make something delicious. I don't consider myself very proficient in the kitchen and the problem is compounded by the fact when I actually decide to make something yummy most recipes serve four, eight, or sixteen people. There's no way I can ever eat that many leftovers and reducing a recipe can leave me with a dilemma or two - I'm pretty good at math but figuring out how to deal with adding 1/8th of an egg to a dish is mighty baffling.

This summer I was at a book festival and I found a fantastic cookbook that makes recipes for ONE person. I had never heard of such a thing. I bought that book, and have been sad ever since that I missed the author's presentation of her recipes for the general public. Had I known what I know now, I would have stalked that lady, made her sign my book, and probably creepily given her a hug. The recipes are great, but my favorite part of the book is the introduction, where she discusses the joy in cooking and eating by yourself. It doesn't matter if it works out! You can add or remove any ingredients that you want, whether you just don't have them or you just don't like them! Also, drink a glass of wine while you are cooking!

I doubt if I can post any recipes without getting sued for a copyright infringement, but there is a stir fry recipe that was so good I got myself a wok and stir fry has turned into my go-to for a quick and easy dinner. It's even curbed my cravings for ordering Chinese food - I've only done that once or twice since September. I made steak au poivre with a side of steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes a few weeks ago and sat there staring at it thinking, "Who made this? And WHY IS IT SO DELICIOUS? Also, who knew that you could throw some pepper on a steak, cook it in some wine and be allowed to give it a fancy French name?" She also makes the point throughout the book that buying locally grown fresh vegetables and ethically raised meat is better for everybody involved. That is something I'm growing to appreciate the more I learn about it. This cookbook has definitely changed the way I look at cooking for myself and has made me more creative in the kitchen. It is called Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own by Toni Lydecker. I'm not the only one around here who approves:

"You'd better be share that with me, lady, or I'll eat a plastic bag in protest."

Things Ion Does for Breakfast

Ever since I've had Ion, he's been a big cat. When I adopted him as a six month old kitten, he weighed almost 8 pounds. He has a big bone structure, for sure, but there is no denying he's a bit overweight:

Jabba the Cat?

I have had several veterinarians advise me to put him on diets over the years, and I've done that (on and off) with some success. We are currently in a 'cats are on a diet' phase, which is good for them in the long term, but it is really pissing them off in the short term. Every morning, about an hour before I want to get up, I get pressure for breakfast time. I do my best to ignore the pleas, but I'm a very light sleeper. Toby's approach is to lay directly on my face, purr loudly, dig his claws into my neck, and drool. Ion, however, has employed slightly more creative techniques to annoy me awake. He...

... moves food bowls into direct path of my morning shower...

...removes lady products from the bathroom. chews on them....


...attempts to rip mirror off the wall...


...destroys my blinds. lounges about admiring handiwork...

He's clever, right?

Here I go!

I love reading blogs, from legit money-making operations to personal accounts of day to day life. I've thought about writing my own for awhile now. Yesterday, I discovered through an internet rabbit hole of a google account that I started this blog sometime in October of 2007. GeekALicious at crazycatladygeek.blogspot.com, with a bright pink background, nothing posted, and absolutely no recollection of ever having created it. Oh, how I laughed at myself! I hate, HATE, the term Crazy Cat Lady. I'm not too fond of the Geek thing, either. I'm ok with pink, but it's not my favorite color. So I don't know what I was thinking and have convinced myself I was tipsy and sarcastic when I did it. Maybe? Who knows. According to my calendar, it was during graduate school, which was a confusing time anyway.

I reconsidered starting a blog when this happened on my facebook page the other day:

Perhaps I have things to talk about that might be better suited for a blog format than a facebook status update? Perhaps. At least I already know how to turn off the comments here.

What stopped me from having a blog before was that I thought it should be about something specific. I think what I'm actually going to do here is post about things I really like... or really dislike. There will probably be stuff about my cats, as I am a lady who had a couple of them (my craziness level has yet to professionally assessed). Also I have a PhD in chemistry, so I can't rule out some geekiness, either. There will probably be stuff about my favorite places on the internet. There will absolutely be posts about food. I love food. Oh, and TV. I like TV. I find the political process very interesting as well, so I warn that there will probably something about that here too. I guess we'll see what happens, eh?

I might as well formally introduce the kitties:

Toby & Ion: Brothers or Boyfriends?!

Thanks for reading :)