Girl Up - Laura Bates

I read a book review and if I like the sound of it, I put it on my to read list.  Sometimes it takes a while before I actually get my hands on the book so I have forgotten what it is about by the time I get it.  This was one of those books, but a quick glance at the blurb on the back cover told me all I needed to know.  How could I not be intrigued by a book that in it's own words contains "feminist limericks, colour-by-numbers genitalia and dancing vaginas"?

I liked this book.  It was an easy and informative read and made me think about things like everyday sexism (the author's other project) and the double standards that exist for women and men.  Since reading it, a couple of times my antenna has gone up as I picked up on a throwaway comment or an excuse given for a blatantly offensive aside.  I find I am noticing other things too, like the un-natural, could only exist in the land of photoshop body shapes pictured in magazines.  It would be laughable if it wasn't so prevalent. 

My challenge to myself is the next time I hear someone make a sexist remark I'm going to Girl Up and call them out on it.  The revolution starts here!

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

After my trip down memory lane with David Gray, I decided to do a bit more digging though my old cds and came across pure gold.  Violent Femmes and their self titled album brings back such a flood of memories.  It's not just the sing along, know all the words factor, it's the remembering of rushing onto the dance floor in Fibber Magee's when it came on, the getting ready for nights out in Sydney with Blister in the Sun and Add it up as our drink and screech along to soundtrack (our poor neighbours were completely justified in hating us).

Finding myself in a childless car recently, this was the perfect companion for a nondescript trip.  I arrived at my destination hoarse and happy, basking in the warm glow of musical nostalgia.   

Play Date Stress Disorder

So the play date seemed like a good idea when you arranged it but then you have a crazy busy day at work and you forget to get milk on the way to school and it's raining and when you get home the kids decide that running around the house screeching at the top of their voices is a good way to unwind.  Then the parent picking up is running late and the kid is playing up and doesn't want to leave and the dinner that you are in the middle of trying to cook starts to burn and still they haven't left and no homework has been done and you are trying to be nice and polite but inside you are really thinking...

JUST LEAVE ALREADY!!!!!!!!!

 

 

White Ladder - David Gray

Last week I experienced the magic of putting on a cd that I hadn't listened to in years.  I realise from the get go that this will instantly age me.  Who "puts on a cd" these days when you can just click on Spotify and have a world of music at your finger tips.  Well my car is old and not Spotify compatible and I was driving through a forest with terrible radio signal so it was a cd or silence.  Most of my car journeys are 10 minutes max so in preparation for my hour long trip I had dug through some old cd cases for a bit of variety. 

What I got was a time machine back to the turn of the century (how I love being able to say things like this, makes me sound positively Victorian).  The year was 2000 and the cd was White Ladder by David Gray.  Is there a person in Ireland in the 35-45 year old age bracket who doesn't possess a copy of this cd?  I spent my trip singing along at the top of my voice to lyrics I had no idea I still remembered.  If you've got this cd, dust it off and sing it with me....Babylon!