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Hunters Have Fun Until Burning Crusade!

All you hunters better get your game on now. Burning Crusade sounds like the big nerf. Check out the changes Blizzard’s announced for your class. “Hunters now get 1 AP per Agility rather than 2.” Ouch. So everyone (including me) who’s been speccing the highest +agi gear they can find is in for a big letdown. They say they’re going to offset it with increases to damage for ranged weapons, but the fact that they have to make so many other changes to offset this loss lets you know it’s a big one. What am I going to do? Get while the getting’s good. I’m racing full out to level as fast as my rest +XP will pace me. Read more

Lancet says girls are expendable

In speaking about the new HPV vaccine:

“The Lancet editorial says that ideally boys should also be immunised against the virus. But it says that, until more data on use of the vaccine in boys is available, EU states “should lead by making the vaccinations mandatory for all girls aged 11 to 12 years”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5411038.stm

So the boys can wait. Boys carry the disease and spread it to girls via heterosexual sex but it’s too risky to give to boys at this time? Thanks. Not sure how common it is for girls to pass HPV to girls but best immunize them all. Unless – – wait – – do they suppose unimmunized girls might pass it to boys? Hmmmmmm.

Also left out of the article is the fact that infected boys can pass HPV to other boys via gay sex — but I guess no one cares if gay men get HPV. Maybe they won’t die of cervical cancer, but if it’s that great a vaccine shouldn’t it be offered to everyone? Hmmmmm.

Thinking about next year: Breast of Canada calendars

Sue Richards of The Calendar Girl Blog, My Menopause Blog, and The Breast of Canada Calendar is an amazing woman. I met her at BlogHer 2006 in San Jose but I’ve known of her for years. I have (somewhere in my house) the very first Breast of Canada calendar and framed on my bedroom wall, is the photo for November 2002 of a woman with a baby on her shoulders. I love her asymmetrical breasts, as though one is full of milk and the other just emptied.

What I love about the calendars is that at last women’s breasts are positioned in a way that is realistic, non-sexualized, and beautiful. I love the diversity: skin tones, sizes, colours, ages, shapes, settings. This is how women’s bodies look and they are beautiful.

Here are three great reasons to own a calendar, from www.breastofcanada.com:

One. The Breast of Canada calendar is educational. Being proactive and self educated about your health is an important step to take. The 2007 calendar helps you take that step.

Two. The Breast of Canada calendar is about health. Maintaining and improving your health and cultivating a positive body image stimulates a higher quality of life.

Three. The Breast of Canada calendar raises profile and funds. Net proceeds for the 2007 edition will be directed to the Canadian Breast Cancer Network.

Windows x64 is teh suckage

I hate Windows x64. I wanted to try out something new, I had marvellous intentions. My computer had been stolen (along with every other thing in the house that had a cord) and I had the opportunity to get a legit copy of Windows via the insurance. This was August 2005. I was getting a spiffy new AMD 64-bit processor and of course wanted to get full use out of it so of course I wanted the 64-bit Windows. Of course!!

I read a bit beforehand and saw that some people were experiencing driver issues (as in not having any) but I had a friend with x64 and he assured me he had no issues. I was getting brand new everything so was certain I’d have no issues either because surely my peripherals would be supported. Uggh.

No printer, no scanner, and many of my favourite apps didn’t run in x64. I had to do searches for new tools Read more

Gelatin in Becel??

Since when is there gelatin in becel margarine? The kids like margarine on a bagel now and then – or on corn on the cob. A container lasts us a really long time so I don’t mind spending a bit more to get something with ingredients I can pronounce. I read labels today at the grocery store to try and remember why I got Becel last time and was blown away to see the ingredients have changed to now include gelatin. Gross. Horns and hooves is what that means…absolutely gross. I don’t think it should be that hard to find an all vegetable based spread but I read labels for several minutes before I found one that had no animal products in it. Even Canola Harvest which I’m sure used to be vegan now contains whey. I found some brand I’d never heard of with all veg ingredients and it claims to be dairy free. It’s also calorie-reduced which my kids don’t really need but maybe I’ll be tempted to put some on some popcorn and share with them.

Spread ’em

There may be too much information here but just know that you’ve been warned…

I’ve been having irregular, unexplained pain in and around the area of my ovaries and uterus – completely incapacitating pain to the point of tears – for the past ten months or so. It used to only last a few hours so I’ve managed it with ibuprofen and ice and sleep. I talked to my nurse practitioner (NP) and we were both willing to call it dysmenorrhea – painful periods – and I was just going to eat better, sleep better, and get more exercise and it would go away. This month it came two days after my period ended so I can’t call it dysmenorrhea anymore.

I went for a pelvic exam last week and the nurse practitioner really blew it. It didn’t start well from the time I got to the clinic, where I’ve been going for six or seven years; I wasn’t on the day’s schedule. Then they couldn’t find my chart. Then they couldn’t find the NP. Finally I was called and while the registered nurse was bringing me back to the exam rooms and starting to steer me into the first empty one the NP says, “No – we need #4 [room] – we need to do a [in a Very LouD WhisPER] PAP SMEAR And EverYThING.” Good grief. Why announce this in this way? Surely the NP does them all the time, the reg. nurse has certainly seen them, I’ve had babies, the staff in the office all know they happen there regularly – what’s the big deal? It’s not like the NP was keeping it confidential to protect my privacy – a loud whisper attracts a lot of looks – everyone in the office this time as a matter of fact. I just thought, ‘whatever’ and proceeded to say no thank you to a weigh-in and also declined the yucky gown since I’d worn a skirt just for the occasion. I remember reading this waaaay long ago, probably in Our Bodies, Our Selves and think keeping on her own clothes is the least a woman needs when she’s going to be in such a powerless situation.

So it wasn’t long before I was opening wide for the exam (no stirrups at least) and the NP is getting ready for the pap. I am covered from waist to thighs with a white sheet and have a pretty good view of what’s going on – including the look of disgust on the NP’s face. If ever a woman has been sensitive or insecure of her sexuality, or the ‘normalcy’ of her genitals, or the skid marks from childbirth three times over, a look of disgust on the face of the NP is not what she needs. I asked what the face was for and the response was “Some women have more mucous than others.” Then I see the swab come out of me (indeed covered with what I recognize as egg whitey highly fertile mucous – not yeasty or anything) and the NP drops it in the waste basket with a shudder.

Honestly, a NP shouldn’t be doing pelvic exams if they can’t do it neutrally. Wanna know how sexual/desirable I feel these days? Besides the worry of what’s wrong with me, which is tied to the whole aging fear, which is tied to the ‘what do I want to do when I grow up’ anxiety now I’m having flashbacks to how ‘gross’ I am.

The rest of the exam was uneventful except that there were some areas of concern from the visible exam. The NP told me this after I sat waiting for 30 minutes in the exam room – I’d been forgotten. Luckily I had Feminism in Twentieth-Century Science, Technology, and Medicine to study for school while I was waiting. How completely ironic. Another nurse found me and asked why I was there, then went to find the NP again. It’s a busy place and I don’t begrudge anyone this but the combination of circumstances of the afternoon left me feeling kind of worthless.

I’ll definitely be talking to the NP for the sake of the women who might follow me, and I’ll request a different NP for next time. And maybe I’ve happened upon a project for my research class – improving conditions for pelvic exams.

WoW quests: low level druid in need of Cenarion Moondust

Round about level 10 my druid got the first quest in the series that ends with learning bear form. I went through the different stages of the quest pretty quickly – learned a teleport, got a few levels, but then it got complicated when I received Cenarian Moondust from the dude (Mathrengyl Bearwalker) at the top of the druid tower in Darnassus. I headed out to talk to the Moonkin spirit Lunaclaw and found the cave in Auberdine directly east. When the quest says “directly east” it usually means “really close”. I met up with another druid doing the same quest so we grouped and had no problem getting into the cave. I had my Moondust sitting in my action bar so I could apply it to the rock with ease. Applying it to the rock made the spirit appear, we both interacted with him (so I thought) and then the other druid departed to return the quest and I hung around to finish another quest in the same area. Read more

Test Drive Unlimited – missed the ultimate challenge

This is indeed a cool game where you get to drive around the island of Hawaii (mapped accurately), online with other drivers. Racing on bikes or in cars, building garages and funkying up your avatar are all parts of the game. Read more

Stupid. Custody. Orders.

Their father picked them up this morning for his every-other-weekend and started to pull away from the curb. He paused a few feet up the street and my daughter (12) opened her window and said the youngest (5) forgot to hug me. I could hear him in the back seat saying “Mama – I didn’t get to hug you – – ” And then his dad drove away.

Totally, totally fucked up way to live. I feel it in my stomach, my arms, my eyes, my throat.

The F-word again: what’s the diff between ‘egalitarianism’ and ‘feminism’?

An egalitarian believes in equality for all people: equal opportunity, equal access to resources, regardless of their gender, age, skin colour, language, culture, sexual orientation, religion, ability, etc.

A feminist shares this belief but takes it further and says that women’s oppression must be acknowledged and eliminated before an egalitarian society can exist. We cannot discuss ‘equality’ without discussing women’s lack of equality. Thus, a feminist is a specific type of egalitarian (thought ‘feminist’ can be broken down further, into different ‘types’ of feminists), and feminism is a branch of egalitarianism. Of course there will be overlap: many feminists will also be LGBTQ activists, many LGBTQ activists will also be animal rights activists, many animal rights activists will also be feminists and so on go the circles.