(Kinda) New Digs

Come visit the rabble rousing...

www.girlnamedboo.com

Feminist Quote of the Day

"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman."
~Anaïs Nin

Hot. Seriously Hot.

Yo betches. I know it's been a while, and that's just how I roll. But there are some updates and thangs you should know about!

I'm contributing to a review site called Hot Ink. You should come give us a visit, and stay a while.

Also, this blog will continue to be my personal betching site, but if you have a mind for more intellectual conversations about everything WOMAN, then you can check out my shiny new website, girlnamedboo.com. I have recruited some amazing women, ages 16 to 55, to contribute to the conversations. Please, give a look, but be nice because it is not officially launched. It is what we call soft launched, like Uncle Joe's erection after a night of heavy whiskey love.

That's all for now! Ta ta, everyones.

Love,

Boo

Name the Only American Minority Group that Actually Constitutes the Majority of the Population!

GIRLS.


LOVE me some Beyonce, but YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES ALLLLL over this. NineteenPercent: be my besty.



h/t Mary!

Operation: Combating Bitterness part deux

Operation: Combating Bitterness

Today's exercise for combating bitterness is: making up new insults. Just off the top of my head:

slut trumpet
bone slapper
poo poo platter
shit munch
ass flap
carnie licker
scrum pickle

Childish? Yes. Time wasting? Absolutely. Giggle inducing? Eh. But at least it helps get my mind off things.

Iron Heart

What is it that makes it possible for people to open their heart, again and again, in spite of experiencing heartbreak and pain? When we are small, we learn that hot things will burn, and for the most part, we avoid hot things that can burn us. Why is it that we can remember physical pain--pain that resides primarily in the body--and not remember emotional pain?

I have tried so hard to not let myself shut down; over and over, I have allowed people into my life that ultimately prove they don't have my best interests at heart. And no matter how much you keep those people at a distance, they always end up hurting you.

My heart is screaming out today. I'm just a complete wreck, and I promised myself, over and over, that I wouldn't let myself go here ever again.

BUT HERE I AM.

Fuck.

As I said before: UM.

Well, that's...interesting.

My New Favorite Thing

Three beautiful words:
Top. Butt. Cleavage.

A Hatbox

A hatbox can be perfect

A study in design, form

and, lastly, function

Just a 3/4 thought

Just 3/4 in to a bottle of wine

I'm fine

I'm fine

And I'll know more about it

in the morning

Just 3/4 in to a life of time

I'm fine

I'm fine

And I'll know more about it

in the mourning

The Blogging Conundrum

When I first started this blog, it was totally anonymous. No one knew who Girl Named Boo was. I slowly began introducing my "real life" friends to the blog, and even when I knew my real life people were reading, I still felt a sense of anonymity.

But now, I've basically come out of the blog closet. Boo has always been my nickname (since I was a little baby Boo), but I find random Boo occurrences now.

For instance:

Walking to get a quick lunch last week, someone driving by me in a car yelled out "Hey Boo!" I was so shocked I almost fell on the ice that covers our city sidewalks. Still don't know who that was, but it was totally strange.

For another instance:

On my "real name" facebook page, I get a lot of "Boo," rather than Kara. That, I like. It feels natural to me.

For more instance:

What is really weird to me, though, is when one of my friends passes on a message from someone I've never met, saying, "So and so saw blahblahblah on your blog/twitter/fb, and says somethingsomething."

Conclusion: I would be a terrible celebrity.

Happy Friday: This Party Just Took a Turn for the Douche

Self-Protection Mode: People Pleaser/Hand Biter

I've come to discover two things about how I interact with people; two extremes that I sometimes find myself operating from. They both come from the same source, the same motivation—self-protection—but come out in very different forms.

People Pleaser

One side of this dichotomy is the people pleaser. People Pleaser came to life when I was a child, coping with what it meant for my parents to be divorced. I wanted their love and was terrified that because, in my child's mind, they didn't love each other anymore, then they could possibly stop loving me, too. Thus, as I moved between the worlds of "Mom" and "Dad" as separate entities, my People Pleaser emerged. People Pleaser tells each parent what they want to hear in order to maintain that parent's love. This, of course, bled into other relationships in my life, and for much of my childhood and early teen years, I was a consummate People Pleaser.

Hand Biter

But alas, one side of the coin cannot exist without the other, and thus, as I hit puberty and started to understand the strength of saying no, pushing back, and other forms of rebellion, Hand Biter took a stand. Hand Biter is another self-protector, and in my case, formed out of the frustration of being a People Pleaser and still being hurt by those that I loved. Hand Biter has a sharp tongue, and strikes before she can be struck. Hand Biter has the perfect biting thing to say, and says it without thought to anything but protecting onesself. Hand Biter is the exact opposite of People Pleaser.

As an adult, People Pleaser and Hand Biter are still with me. They have grown and developed as I have, and they are as much a part of me as my hand or my fingerprint. They have their own scars, and they make appearances when I am feeling vulnerable or distrustful. I have come to understand that, even through understanding these sides of myself, it doesn't mean these pieces of me will ever go away. Nor, I think, would I want them to. They represent the Amazon Woman parts of me: The self-preserving part of me. The part of me that will survive in the face of whatever happens, and I welcome that strength. But I am trying to learn how to call on these protectors only when I need them.

Cohabitation.

It doesn't have to be like this:

TMI Time: Tampons.

Reddit makes me laugh. A lot. I mean, nowhere else can you get all of the fuckery of the internet in one easy, badly designed place. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some sub-reddits. My favorite right now is the 2Xchromosomes subreddit, where I found this important article. Basically, it says that O.B. tampons are being taken off the shelves for a "manufacturers update" and won't be back until 2011. Now, this may dismay some women, and I am one of them, because that is pretty much my go-to tampon. The biggest reason: No applicator.

I was surprised when I read down the list of reddit comments and saw that, in most other countries, tampons without applicators are the standard. And in fact, the attitude is mainly that applicator tampons are for girls who have just started menstruating. But not in America. And why is that? Why are American women basically forced to use tampons with applicators?

I think, in large part, that it is the American culture surrounding feminine hygiene, body parts, menstruation, and all other things wholly belonging to women as being "icky". GOD FORBID you touch your own vagina. I'm pretty sure that menstruating is one of THE most natural things IN THE WORLD, just like sperm.

This isn't restricted to female bodily functions, either. Men are also taught that, other than sexual situations, to not be comfortable with one's own body.

Newsflash: It is YOUR body. And there is nothing "gross" or "icky" about the natural, healthy things that is does.

Ladies: Using tampons without applicators is not only HEALTHIER for your vag, it is also much more environmentally friendly. So, give her a whirl. Touch your girl.

Boo's Top Five: Fabulous Female TV Characters

5. Laurie Keller, Cougartown
At first glance, Laurie is everything that I despise about TV females: insipid, focused on looks, bimbo-ish. But she has LAYERS, man. She has fears and issues that I think a lot of women can probably relate to, even if every other word out of her mouth is "Like." (Also, Busy Philipps: Makes me laugh, was in Freaks and Geeks, seems super down to Earth, and, LIKE, a real person, so, she wins.)




4. Kate Beckett, Castle
My favorite moments watching Kate Beckett are when she goes into the interrogation room. That woman is a hard ass! And, not only is she a hard ass, but she traverses a line of hard ass whereas other women in the same position would be seen as bitches. As a female character, she is fabulously feminine will still maintaining the hard ass persona. So, congrats on creating a fabulous character, Marlowe.






3. Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Bones
She is on, LIKE, every top ten list for female characters, and there is good reason: She is probably one of the most unique female characters on television. She doesn't get jokes because she is so literal and scientific about everything, and when she finally gets them, she makes a bad one in return, and laughs uproariously. Priceless. Also, you can't go wrong putting the (warning: heresy approaching) more interesting (read: less over exposed) Deschanel in that role.





2. Olivia Dunham, Fringe
Oh my goodness, where do I start? Olivia, Olivia, Olivia. A tortured soul that wraps herself in the protective shell of law enforcement. Nothing shakes Olivia—I mean, seriously, NOTHING. I guess that is what happens when you are used as a subject in a variety of traumatic experiments when you were wee. And even when she is shaken, or injured, or just fucked up in general over something, she can still seal the deal (meaning, protect herself with her gun by shooting someone's ass). Additionally, Anna Torv could easily be one of the best actresses on television, period. Easily.


1. Coach Shannon Beiste, Glee
Finally, my number one choice of best female TV character is Coach Beiste on Glee. I know, Sue Sylvester seems like such a good, and obvious choice, and I LOVE Sue, but not in the way that I love Beiste. At 6'3" and the coach of the boys football team (and yes, I realize that there are few, if any, high school girls foottball teams, but I used the italics to make a point, see?), she is a woman that you do not fuck with. On the outside, she is masculine as hell, and she puts on a strong front to maintain that power. But, on the inside, she just wants to be a beautiful, petite ballerina that gets some ass. I mean, come on, has there been a character like Shannon Beiste on television? Ever? I. Love. Her. And I love Dot-Marie Jones, especially the more I read about her. World champion arm wrestler by 19, Olympic athlete, one of the only women warriors on the short-lived Knights and Warriors, and was offered a role in professional wrestling but turned it down because it was "too fakey." FUCK YES.

Strong women rock.

One for the Ladies: Amber Heard is the Hottest Lesbian in Tinseltown

Amber Heard has been out for a while, but I guess we are all just now finding out. Why is this "newsworthy"? Because apparently it's big news when a beautiful woman who doesn't sport a mullet is a lesbian.

Unreal. I'm shaking my head right now.

Big congrats to Amber, who obviously has a better grasp on who she is as a person than most young women in Hollywood.

TSA Scanners, Privacy Infringement, and Physical Abuse

Breast twisting?? Handcuffs?? Ripping apart a plane ticket?? Treating American citizens WORSE than suspected terrorists???? Listen to this radio broadcast from FreeTalkLive.com. This young woman's experience is almost unbelievable. What is HAPPENING to our civil liberties in this country??

TSA agents singled Meg McLain out for special treatment. They yelled at her, cuffed her to a chair, ripped up her ticket and cal from George Donnelly on Vimeo.

UPDATE: The TSA has posted these two security camera videos to refute this woman's story. I think the footage is inconclusive, but I guess watch for yourselves and see. (In the first video, the woman enters the frame at 1:13. In the second video, she enters at 0:03.)

Monster Named Boo

Today I am the monster. I guess I know what triggered it, and so far, it hasn't been pretty. I would like to think that everyone human being goes through this—we all experience the monster rising from the depths, bringing up all that shit that we just want to stay buried. You know, calm waters. But that can be dangerous. Burying can induce a serious case of "release the Kraken" blues.

But maybe some of us don't have this, the beast within. The beast that stays dormant, waiting for the most unlikely and inconsequential of things to awaken it. Those people, with no inner monster, are rare I'm sure.

Maybe some of us have the beast within, but refuse to let it surface, forcing it into suspended animation. If you are one of those, and can maintain a normal and healthy life, then more power to you. Because that ain't me.

My beast is pretty ghastly. It scares—no, terrifies me—into regretful actions, usually of the self-destructive nature. My darkness is pretty dark.

We often only show our beasts to those closest to us, and that is usually the worst part. Watching this dreadful scene unfold, the very people that you hold dearest being the first victims, knowing how awful it all is, and not being able to do a damn thing about it. Like a slow motion car wreck.

Well, I want to tame my beast. I can't rid myself of it, and I don't know that I'd want to if I could. But I want to channel it. Often, I think that is the best we can hope for.

Channel the beast.