Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas?

So, the mother of a friend of mine posted on her Facebook status the other day, "We can't say Merry Christmas now we have to say Happy Holidays. We can't call it a Christmas tree, it's now called a Holiday tree? Because it might offend someone. If you don't like our "Customs" and it offends you so much then LEAVE I will help you pack. They are called customs and we have our traditions" and then an added bit asking to repost if you agree. I did not repost, cuz I generally don't repost stuff, but I did comment:

"I always call it Christmas stuff... Cuz it is Christmas to me! If others are offended, that's their problem."

Which in turn, led someone else to comment:

"o.O? Seriously? Religious holiday forced down someone's throat with a 'culture' label? Huzzah to happy holidays because it doesn't ignore how multicultural we are and allow us to check out what other people are celebrating without just assuming everyone is celebrating christ-mas.. Hope everyone has a wonderful Yule!"

Which frustrated the crap out of me!!! So I commented back (my frustrations are explained):

"I think it's great that different people celebrate different holidays, that's what multiculturalism what it is, and that's awesome! But don't lump everything into one single "holiday celebration." I want to celebrate Christmas, just as the Jewish want to celebrate Hanukkah, and Muslims celebrate the Islamic new year and the day of Ashura. I am not offended by these religious celebrations.

I think that just lumping everything into "happy holidays" actually takes away from multiculturalism because then we're all becoming the same. There's no multi- anymore, it's all just "happy holidays." But if I say "Merry Christmas!" to someone, and they tell me that they're Jewish, then I will say, "Happy Hanukkah!" no problem! If they tell me they don't believe in the salvation of Christ and they believe in Allah and follow the teachings of Mohamed, then I wish them shalom.

I really could get into a big religious debate about all this, about what gods everyone worships and the gods they celebrate in their holidays and whatnot, but I don't think this is really the place for it...

Canada is a country built upon Christian forefathers, an thus we are considered a Christian nation. As such, Christmas Day is recognised as a national holiday. If people from other religions don't actually celebrate Christmas, that's fine, they are still able to enjoy the day of rest if they choose.

For those who immigrate here from other countries, welcome to Canada, we here celebrate Christmas on December 25th. You don't have to, but we will wish you a Merry Christmas nonetheless. You can accept it or not, but we will wish you wellness. Feel free to celebrate your own holiday, I think that's fantastic!

[Previous commenter], I don't mean to make it seem like I'm ranting specifically at you, or even ranting at all, I just get frustrated when people try to take Christ out of the originally reason for celebrating Christmas because they want to be politically correct and non-offensive to anyone."

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this that they'd like to share? I'm totally up to discuss different opinions, even welcoming religious debate, because I do believe that this would be an appropriate place to do that! =)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Ladies... ;)

They start young...

"Just As I Am" Nichole Nordeman

I wondered how to come to You
I did not dare believe it true
That You regard the orphaned ones
Beloved daughters, worthy sons

The broken and the barren too
I heard I could find some rest in You
What kind of love in injury's place
Would leave instead the stain of grace?

So I come in sorrow and I come in shame
I come to the cross with my pain

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come, I come

The pardon that I found from sin
Spilled out from where the nails went in
My heart will ever more proclaim
I had not lived until that day
(O Lamb of God, I come...)

And I know there is a crown for me
Beyond where mortal eyes can see (I fly away...)
And I don't nod to any man
But offer me just as I am

So I come rejoicing with hands held high
I come singing words of new life

Just as I am, without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee
O Lamb of God
O Lamb of God
O Lamb of God
I come

The Politics of Race and Gender (in Therapy)

I went to the library with Alisha today because she needed some books for a paper, basically asks the question, what would the history of psychology be like if women had more influence than men? One of the books she took out is called The Politics of Race and Gender in Therapy (an anthology edited by Lenora Fulani. On the bus heading back to my place, I was holding her books, and this one book was the one on top, so I started looking through it. There are some really interesting submissions, I would like to read them all myself just to read them! I want to share some of the entries, one being a poem, the other an article (I'll pick out some quotes). The article has what some people would call some foul language, and for that I do apologise to those who would be offended, but I will write it just as it is written in the book.

"I Am a Woman" by Jessie Fields
Eyes on me daily
Frankly staring

My heel-less height
Wild natural fair, unadorned ears
and unfeminine clothes
Shock the eyes accustomed to the sight
of styled hair, make-up, and earrings.

I stand before the eyes wide with the question:
"Are you a man or a woman?"

The sex code broken.
The dress code defied.
And no slot to put me in.

It is an unwritten rule
that all female children must have their ears pierced
That all women must
wear earrings.

If you don't believe this as a rule
Defy it as I do daily.

Stand with me
when someone calls me sir
Listen to me say
"I am a woman"
Watch them star past me,
and continue to call me sir.
Listen to them say
"Women can't be that tall"
"You don't look like a woman"

How does a woman look?

I am a woman
A woman looks
like the woman she is.
I look like myself, a woman.
I define myself.
I define the woman I am.
And how this woman looks
And what this woman does
And who this woman loves
And I will be
no less than all of me.
I am a woman.


"The Necessary Bitch" by Judy Simmons
Sometimes I act like a bitch for the same reasons that Sojourner Truth ripped off her bodice in public and asked, "Ain't I a woman too?" I mean, really, am I not somebody's child? Don't I bleed if you cut me? Haven't I dreamed of flying?

A woman is a bitch if she stands up for herself, speaks her mind, insists on her rights and space, isn't deferential to men and would rather make a scene than die or turn the other cheek. Except if she's over 65 and a grandmother: Then asserting herself is okay because she's already sacrificed herself for home, hubby, kids, church and community, so she deserves a little indulgence. Besides, she's no threat.

I saw Black women bent double for 12 hours a day, eight-foot sacks harnessed to their backs, picking cotton with cracked, bloody fingers. In 1955. One of them was my college-graduate mother, who wasn't paid enough as a Negro teacher in the segregated South to feed, clothe and shelter only the two of us.
I saw my dark-skinned, country roommate at Talladega College who kept her eyes on the floor and meekly submitted to bullying because that's what a black Black girl with nappy hair could expect and deserved. In 1960.
I saw the women of Laurel, Mississippi, whose work in a chicken factory gave them bloated, ulcerated arms, and who bled through to their outer garments because they'd be fired if they left the line to change their menstrual pad or tampon. In 1980.

[Talking about the word "bitch."] ...The word was profane and had the concept disgusting. It referred to a loose woman who had sex without benefit of marriage and was vain and worldly - a gaudy, painted harlot who probably sand "Gimme mah gin!" and wiggled her hips, tempting upright, God-fearing men to stray from the straight and narrow. Virtuous girls had to avoid even the appearance of evil by keeping their legs crossed, their eyes downcast, their mouths full of soap and their heads clouded with fear and guilt for having sinful thoughts.
Sinful thoughts included sexual ones, of course, but those were venial compared with an even worse heresy; thinking that you, a mere female, were as good as or even better than boys and men.

I think we're cheating ourselves by accepting the bitch label and trying to make it mean something positive. We're having enought trouble gaining self-esteem as it is, without using a very suspect word to label the kind of person we're struggling to become. Bitch is too easy and narrow a concept for what's really going on with me, with us women.

Many Black women are unwilling to identify with feminism, apparently feeling that a feminist is a privileged white, racist, anti-male woman. In fact, feminist means exactly what some of us are trying to make bitch mean: a woman who takes her power out of others' hands and into her own and decides who she wants to be, how she'll be responsible and what she'll make of life on her own terms.

Frequently those of us who do pick up on some of feminism's flashier aspects make the fundamental mistake of wanting the privilege without paying the price. Taking power and directing our lives isn't simply a matter of flexing our women's-lib mouth muscles and throwing jargonistic tantrums to get our own way.
Being a new-style bitch of a feminist isn't just a matter of waking up one morning and shouting "I gotta be me." I've been doing that for years, and all it makes me is a rebellious child who has spent her life reacting against people instead of moving toward her own identity and goals.

I want to stop being my own worst enemy and start being my best friend. I want to decide who I am, mostly, and what work I want to do, seriously. I want to spend half as much energy and ingenuity making myself economically and politically powerful as I've spent trying to show some man how worthwhile my love, loyalty and talents are to him (I'll be filthy rich in six months). I want women and men to respect their separate-but-equal struggles to be whole, balanced human beings. And when I'm standing up for myself and my beliefs to the best of my ability, I want to be recognised as a complex, loving, hurting, angry, courageous woman. Maybe a feminist. Definitely much more and much better than a bitch.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

"I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay"

What a great post! I got this because it was shared on FB by a friend, and so I thought I'd share with you all! It's a bit of a long read, but well written and well worth it!

I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay

I do have many of my own thoughts on this, but I am exhausted and have no energy to sit here and write, so I am hoping to get to it another day.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Apples of the Earth

"What the heck is that???" you may ask... Well my dear friends, for those of you who speak French, you will understand that I'm talking about potatoes! The French word for "potato" is "pomme-de-terre," literally, "apple of the earth."

Anyways, the other night I had cooked up some chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, and veggies:
Dinner Plate

The chicken was baked with sage, sea salt, and Indian masala, the veggies were sauteed in coconut oil, and the sweet potato was boiled then mashed with the zest and juice of one lime. The chicken was a bit overdone, it was a bit dry but otherwise delicious. The veggies, OH-EM-GEE I LOOOOOOOOOOVE veggies done in coconut oil!!!!! =D The sweet potato was, well, a bit strong on the lime, so I only had a couple bits of it.

So tonight, while trying to decide what to make for supper, I thought about how I could fix my sweet potatoes so they didn't go to waste. And I thought, "Hey! I have a few red potatoes in the fridge... Maybe if I cook them up and mash them and mix them into the sweet potatoes, it'll mellow it out a bit!" So that's exactly what I did! I also added a few garlic cloves, 1/2 a red onion, and a leftover chicken breast chopped up, sauteed in - of course - coconut oil (seriously, that stuff is AMAZINGLY delicious!!! =D). Once mashed, I added some butter, sea salt, and pepper, and mixed both potato dishes together.

So once everything was all cooked and mashed together, this is what it looked like:
Potatoes

And let me tell you, it is MUCH better!!! I can still taste the lime, but it's not overpowering. In fact, I'm about to go for some seconds... =)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Christ Is Coming Back!

I had a dream last night about the book of Revelation. You know, the last book of the Bible that describes what it will be like when Christ returns? Yeah, that one. But it doesn't really come across that way in my dream, but stick with me and I'll explain.

I dreamed that I was ready to die, but not wanting to do it myself. I was lying in bed (wasn't my actual bed, but in my dream it was) and outside of my window I could see two building-type things that were about to let out a whole bunch of poisonous gas. I lied in my bed, knowing that this was it, this was the end of the world, and I was willing to just die. I watched as the building things let out this grayish green gas, and I just lied there, waiting to die.

Then I'm not really sure what happened between this and the next part (funny how dreams work like that, eh?), but all of a sudden those buildings were gone, as was the gas. I was fine. And this dark blue gift bag tied to a Mylar balloon came floating through the wall to me. Inside the bag was a note from Jesus saying, "Life is worth living." And I was filled with such hope and determination! It was amazing!!!

I know it sounds odd, but in my dream, this was the beginning of the Revelation. No, it wasn't the Rapture such as in the Left Behind series, it was Christ showing His love and giving hope to His creation.

After this point, everyone I talked to (still dreaming) I told them about Christ coming back soon, and I needed to know if they knew Christ as their Saviour. If they didn't, (such as a friend of mine from work), I told them about sin and what Jesus did to save us from that, and would beg them to accept Jesus into their hearts, cuz He was coming very, very soon.

I also figured in my dream, I was wondering what would come next after Christ shows His love and gave hope, and I thought, "Oh it's the judgments coming next... Will I be able to survive them?" Of course, these judgments are found in Revelation 6-16 (the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls).

That was about it... I woke up crying, so full of gratitude for Jesus' love for us, for ME! I've been wondering about this dream all day, wondering if this is, in fact, sent from God, or if it was just like any other dream that I have. I have had visions in my dreams, and I can tell the difference between visions and dreams because my visions are so real , like they could actually happen in real life. This dream was like a regular dream, it couldn't happen in real life as I had dreamt it. But the fact that it was so emotional, both in the dream and after waking up, I wonder..... What do you guys think?

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Something New

I love pomegranate juice. Seriously, best juice ever!!! But I've never tried an actual pomegranate fruit. So this morning while grocery shopping with the mom, I broke down and bought one. I must admit, I was a little intimidated by it, simply because it was something new, and I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, and I didn't want to waste it.

So I got home, and in my actual timeline of how my night has gone, it took me FOREVER to get this thing done! But to be fair, I was doing laundry, baking a pumpkin pie and some caramel pumpkin spice mousse tarts AND cinnamon buns! But in between switching/folding laundry and having stuff in the oven, I worked on the pomegranate. Holy crap it has a lot of seeds!!! Which is good I suppose, they'll last longer than say, eating an apple...

I am actually eating them right now while the cinnamon bun dough rises, but I only have another few minutes til I gotta go roll it out...

I am trying to get to the dishes, there's lots to be done... But I just can't stop eating these... Mmmmmmmmm......

It's okay though, once the buns are in the pan, they need to rise for another hour, so I'll get to the dishes before coming back to the computer...

Also accomplished today, I (finally) bought some material to make my own reversible bucket hat! =D Cost me almost $50, but it was for two different patterns and the interfacing that goes in the brim, and I prolly have enough of everything to make two hats. So since I'll have two identical hats, FIRST ONE TO CLAIM THE EXTRA HAT GETS IT!!!!! =D I'll post a picture at the bottom of the materials. They're pretty cute, even my mom likes them lol =)

Okay, off to roll out the dough...

*ONE HOUR LATER*

Alright, so dishes are done, cinny buns only have a few minutes left in the oven, smoke detector only went off four five times... Sheesh! The butter at the bottom of the pan went over the sides and onto the element, so yeah, it got kinda smoky in here... But I threw my window open and set up my little fan to blow all the smoke out, so we're all good now =)

Anyways, here are some pictures of my day! =)

New Bed Sheets
New bed sheets for the futon, a couple new 50"x60" blankets ($3.99 each at Jysk!), and the fabric I got at Mitchell's Fabric.

Hat Fabric
A better view of the fabric I'll be using to make my hat. Remember, there'll be (at least) two hats made, first to claim one gets it! =)

Pie and Tarts
Pumpkin pie and caramel pumpkin spice mousse tarts, definitely delicious!!! =)

Pomegranate
Pomegranate, about half eaten lol

Dishes Done
Dishes done, yay!!! =D

Cinnamon Buns
Cinny buns ready to go into the oven, yum!

Anywho, that's it for me tonight, it is after 11pm and I gotta work in the morning. I will post recipes another night. Gnight y'all! =)

Friday, November 4, 2011