It's time for ranting!

You saw it here first, it's time for ranting and link-spamming.

I love Cracked, I don't know if you've noticed.  Really love.  Just every once in a while they put on their serious face (or as serious as they get anyway,) and tackle some serious pertinent issues.  Or as pertinent as sexism in video games, anyway, which I find, being a female who plays video games, really pertinent.

It's funny, because sometimes I feel like it's so ingrained I don't even notice it anymore.  Then I watch a movie or play a game or read a book where there's a token female character who just really really needs a man to be fufilled or to save her dumb ass or what have you.  In Mario games, it's Peach who is always getting kidnapped because she can't figure out how to protect herself, oh, it doesn't matter because Mario will come save her.  And she's a princess.  And she keeps her damn self in the kitchen, where she belongs.

Because even princesses need to be able to bake cakes.  For the plumber that keeps saving you from the giant turtle you never see coming somehow.

I want to play the new Tomb Raider game, because she seems more like a real person, but...I keep seeing screenshots of her crying.  Like, a lot.
I don't know if I can handle that.

Want to read the saddest comment tree ever?

Sometimes, I feel like I've been culturally brainwashed so hard that I haven't even noticed.  I hate to think what women in less "progressive" countries feel (yeah, I'm looking at you, country that still heavily practices racial segregation.)

There's lots of interesting articles and blogs on the subject.  It's hard, because once you notice something is wrong, it's hard to stop noticing.  There's even a blog devoted to women who are harassed by online gamers.  If you've ever wondered, this is why I refuse to play multiplayer online with people I don't know.  This is why I usually pretend to be male, or say as little as possible, when I'm on an open forum.  There's a reason there are no girls on the internet.

People don't want to play games or watch movies with strong female leads.  That's what the industry says, to a woman trying to become a screenwriter.  They just don't.

Well, I do.  I would love that.

If you have to make them eye candy because you're kinda a bigot, okay.  But pleeeeease stop with the damsel in distress.  Stop with the "girls are only healer class."  Stop with the ridiculous "armor" that covers nothing, or the fixation on the approval of men.  I wanna be a real person too.


Hey, have you ever checked out toy aisles?  They're a great way to see that gender disconnect.
Is it pink, has dolls, kitchen playsets, and frilly dresses?  It's the girl aisle!  Is it dark green or red or blue and has action figures, Tonka trucks and those really cool animatronic toys?  It's the boy aisle!

Conform to your gender stereotypes, conform!  Girls like pink!  Boys like [any other color]!  Girls like playing house!  Boys like playing cops and robbers!  Girls don't like to get dirty!  Boys like gross things!  Girls are sugar and spice and everything nice [and make sure to send yours back if it doesn't conform to factory specifications!]

Girls can't do math.

Girls can't do science.

Girls can't be CEOs because the boys won't listen.

Girls can't be journalists...but they can read you the news!  Yay, good job, girl!

Girls can't be action heroes...unless they're Sarah Connor...whoops, that was cancelled!

Girls can't have cool superpowers...I love this one.  I find X-Men to be fairly good overall in the character department, but even they're questionable if I think too hard (girls shouldn't think, that's where I went wrong.)  Storm?  You mean the capricious wind-witch whose emoshuns cause terrible and utter destruction?  How about Rogue, who kills (men) with her touch, or steals powers from mutants?  Jubilee, she's cool, she...throws sparkly fireworks at people.  But they don't set anything on fire or anything, they're just...flashy and make noise.  Jean Grey is the damsel.  When she's not the damsel she's busy destroying everything as the Phoenix.  She just won't stay dead!  The Dazzler is manipulative and has powers a lot like Jubilee.  Hell, Mystique's powers are uniquely suited to being an evil, manipulative bitch.  But hey, at least she doesn't constantly need saving.
Kitty Pryde's power is...running away (through the wall!)  Jeezus.  At least there are other...more minor...characters which aren't so bad.

Sue Storm has the best power a woman can have:  being invisible.  The best part is, she even tends to forget she's invisible.  Maybe if she'd learn to shut her mouth and stop talking to herself while invisible, she wouldn't get kidnapped so often.  (That was a really great article, though, Cracked.)

Wow.  That last one was really bad.  I'mma stop now, I guess I'm done being offended for the moment.

Hooligan!

Hey, I have a secret.

Well, I guess it's not really a secret.

You wanna know?




I just really really really love the phrase, "fraught with peril."


There's just, no greater phrase than "fraught with peril."


Which is funny, because, let's face it, fraught is a weird word no one says anymore, and really, you probably don't want to be in a situation fraught with peril because no one likes to be in peril unless you're a crazy adrenaline junkie out to accidentally remove yourself from the gene pool.  Actually no one says peril anymore, either.  Or perilous.  Also, a perilous situation doesn't garner as much love from me as fraught with peril, even though it's practically the same thing.


My roommate once made fun of me because I accidentally, in all seriousness, complained at her that all my freezer food was gone and her crap would still be there three weeks hence.

Yeah, I'm cool.


Bustin' out the old fogey words.



Hooligan.

Updates

Well, I say updates but there isn't much to speak of.
But I do have some drawings!
It's been a long time, skillz are kinda rusty.  I'm not really used to artz anymore, oh noes. =(

My sister got a fluffball that she named after someone of opposite gender.

And Loki is extremely put out that there are two new dogs.  Poor Loki.

Other dog is a chihuahua and they are no fun to draw.

Blogger, I hate your picture nonsense.

Patriotic Days

Just a quick update, wanted to show off my patriotic nails before 4th of July.

Someday, SOMEDAY, Blogger, I will learn why you ramdomly flip photos.

 

Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl, Spoiled Your Fly's Down (blue), and Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Red Velvet which happened to be a little thick for the striping but oh well.

Also, a little while ago a bulldog came in with these.  In his bladder.

So spiky. :(

The one that looks a little smoother?  That one was about halfway down his urethra.  It's only smoother because two different doctors were smashing at it with a catheter hoping to get his urethra unblocked.


Poooor dog! :(


Also, ...what?  Was this necessary, people?

Really?

Happy Independence Day, everybody!  (I actually get the day off for once!)

An Odd Statement

Last night, a potential client called to talk to me about how her puppy had gotten sick (it was parvovirus) and how she had just gotten this dog like three months ago (parvo...) and it was vomiting and had diarrhea (it's parvo) and how it couldn't be parvovirus because her other dogs were vaccinated (it's parvo.) even though she Dr. Google'd it and it sure sounded like parvo (because it is parvo.) and she hadn't gotten the puppy vaccinated (parvo!  also, not "not vaccinated yet," just ..."not vaccinated."  Like, with no intention of ever doing so.)

Where was I?

Oh yeah.

She wasn't sure how this puppy got sick cause it seemed like "a legit puppy."

Wait, what?

Was this dog illegitimate, as in, a bastard?  I mean, aren't all dogs?  They don't exactly have marriage certificates, wait, I take that back because some people are weird and actually have their pets get married.

Or, did she think it was a puppy and it seems to have now turned into something else?  (Besides a vomiting, diarrhea-spewing, miserable demon of illness.)  Did she think it was a puppy and on closer inspection realized it was a carefully groomed ferret?  (Which still amuses me...maybe a steroided, groomed ferret looks like a puppy but only from about 40 feet away.)

On a separate note, I seem to have become allergic to grass pollen (with a 75% certainty,) this guy is still at the zoo:

He's almost as old as I am!  Maybe IS as old!

Because we don't want illegals trimming our hedges, damnit!

Cheating!

 And,

Poor, sad Loki. =(

More Nails and Otherwise My Life is Boring

So I got my nail art crap in the mail a couple days ago and I have no life so I decided to take a break from playing video games to play with nail polish.  Jeez I need a non-stupid hobby.  Maybe like go outside or something.  I really should go back for a Masters.


Yeeeeaah, anyway!

As promised, played with the orange gradient a couple days later:

...Blogger, I hate you.

Added Pure Ice Excuse me and CoverGirl Electric Blue in a fade gradient, and my coworker had a pawprint hole puncher so yay.


Sally Hansen Calypso Blue, Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl, Pure Ice Excuse Me, and NYC Times Square because I have a thing for blue and orange/yellow.

Blogger, wtf!?  This picture was also landscape!

Can you tell I got dotting tools?

I laugh, because I can't even center a flower using my left hand, oh no!

 You know what, Blogger, I give up.  Just do whatever the hell you want to my pictures, that's okay.







Clearly I should have stuck to WordPress.


Also, in other boring news, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood had a weird glitch on me where instead of assassinating a guard on a horse, I took wing and flew off into the skyyyyyy to be freeeeee!

Now that I finished that one and am playing Revelations again I'm like why, Revelations, why you so sad?  You took all the nice things out of Brotherhood and gave me random crap instead? Not only that, but you randomly changed half the buttons but still didn't change the "loot and pick up weapon/body are the same button!"  And you made the HUD less pretty.  And, satellite-style map is both unpretty and largely illegible.  AUGH, I forgot that it's disappointing!  Hopefully when I get to the latest one I won't be so sad (don't spoil me!) Also jeez, Ezio, you're too old for this shit.  Retire or something, damn.

Texas DMV

So, if you've never been to Texas, the DMV really likes to put up those electronic highway signs that I can't help but think are more of a distraction than informative.  One I pass by on the way home from work says, "1332 people killed on Texas roads this year.  Don't text and drive."

Well, it really says, "1332 people killed...on Texas roads this year...Don't text and drive."  Because God forbid they figure out a way to say that that doesn't require the screen to refresh twice.

Anyway, I may be a terrible person, but I'm thinking, only 1332?  That seems really low...go Texas?

Today, I looked up some information; 13,498,071.  That is how many registered drivers we have in Texas.  Consider also that, as a border state, we probably have a couple million unregistered drivers, too.

So, uh, 0.00986%?  Jeez, Texas, call me when you hit one percent, half a percent, even.  I have more pressing things to worry about.

Perhaps I'm being too pragmatic?  Naaaah.