A Feminist Mary

While at the library today, I had a pretty cool little thought about Mary (mom of Jesus, not Magdalene). In Milagros de Nuestra Señora, when we strip every story down to the basics, they always have  a woman (Mary) save a man (a sinner). Considering that this was written in medieval Spain, that's a pretty big deal. It has that feminist "anything you can do, I can do better" feel to it. Mary confronts Satan over the souls of these men and always wins. As my boyfriend pointed out, Mary in the Bible is exactly what feminists are fighting against: being type-casted as a mother, homemaker, virgin, quiet, obedient to the male rulers in her life, etc. In Milagros, she is a feminist hero. Damsel in distress? No, we have idiotic men being saved by Mary. Yes, she still is very feminine but not in the derogatory way of being weak and without a backbone. In a polite medieval way, she is kicking a$$ and taking names for those who love her. She doesn't need any help from a man at all. That's not to say that I don't respect Mary for being humble, chaste, and a mother. I just think it's nice to see her in a more powerful role. Instead of suggesting Jesus helps (wedding at Cana), she takes charge herself. Man, thinking about all of this woman-power makes you want to burn a bra.

Idle Hands

At this juncture in my life, I am taking a Summer course while my boyfriend has the Summer off. Like any relationship, we have had our ups and downs. However, it seems that having one of us working while the other is on vacation is a definite down. He feels like I will bite off his head if he interrupts me while I'm working (which is fairly accurate) and I feel like I don't have a chance to do my work because I need all of my attention on my task at hand. So we had a long discussion today. Lesson: we grew up in very different families and we work in two totally different ways. We are learning how the other person functions and are trying to adjust to that. I have to be very verbal about when it is ok and not ok to interrupt me and he has to be more verbal about what his plans are so that I can figure out my day to mesh with his. In the end, it's all about communication. Slowly but surely we are getting into each other's mind and we are seeing a new world. Let me tell you something: those shades of gray are really tough to distinguish.

Wow, this is probably the worst writing I've done in a while. I blame the time of day and the stress I'm feeling. I'll admit that I half-assed this. Oh well. Next time I won't have six pages of translations to work through. Oh my gosh, I ended a sentence in a preposition. I ought to get to bed. My writing is only getting worse as the hours pass by me.

I speak for the trees!

While walking from my car to class this morning (since I'm too cheap to get a parking permit), I noticed that some university employees were cutting down a tree. I am assuming and hoping that it was diseased or dead already. While thinking about the poor tree, I remembered a little story from my days at nerd school.

Before I arrived at this particular school, there was a beautiful, large tree next to the dormitory. It provided shade for the book nerds and something to climb for the athletic nerds. However, to the shock of all the residents, it was cut down one day. It had been declared dead and a risk to the building if it should fall the wrong way. All that was left was a stump. The nerds would not stand for this! In Dr. Seuss fashion, a Lorax was carved into the tree and the words "I speak for the trees" were etched next to it. You see, once the tree was chopped down, it was realized that it had actually been completely healthy. After a while the school took away the stump and planted a new tree upon the request of the students.

So here's your lesson for the day. Measure twice and cut once . . . or never!

Not enough time to think of a cute title

I need to get something off my chest. I am Roman Catholic. Yes, the church along with other religions and Christian denominations can be really screwy. Yes, it is difficult to explain why I am so adamant that non-Catholics should not receive communion at a Catholic church. No, not everything we do comes from the Bible. Yes, our services are not as laid back as other denominations and it has a very certain order to it. No, I don't agree with all of the teachings of the Catholic church. Yes, I'm still Catholic (see the Nicene Creed). Now can we all just chill out? I like to discuss my beliefs and the beliefs of other people. It fascinates me how many beautiful religions we have. I don't appreciate feeling like I need to defend every detail about my faith or everything that people of my faith have done. Have major leaders in the Catholic church messed up? Oh heck yes! People are imperfect. End of story. No matter what religion, nationality, sex, gender, or age, we all err. Now, can we get back to finding out how to feed to hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and spread love? 'Cause that's what really matters.

/rant

Death and Memories

I received an e-mail today that I see all too often: "[My University] Mourns the Death of a Student". Reading that line filled my head with memories. As an undergrad in my second year, a new friend died suddenly in a car crash while driving back to school after a weekend at home. Nobody found out why she crashed into that tree that day. I was called by the school newspaper because she was a freshman and I was her Resident Assistant. They wanted to know what she was like. What could I say? I stumbled over some words about her beauty that shone through her smile and her love of reading and horses. What I wanted to say is that she was someone that, after meeting once, I had wanted to become close friends with. We had so much in common! We were both bubbly people that wanted to open our hearts to everyone. I thought that we were going to be close friends. I was wrong. I couldn't go to the funeral; I felt stupid for mourning someone I barely knew.

Death has never been too far away. Just a month after graduation, a close friend died. She had had heart surgery as a child and one night her heart just stopped. When I heard the news, my legs fell from underneath me. There was no way that a 21 year-old dancing, singing, loving girl could die.  That night, my friends became family. We had no one to help us through it except each other. Our families were scattered around the country so we turned to each other. It's been over a year since she started a dance party in heaven and I still miss her so much.

My sister was able to go to visit our first home, Virginia, a week or two ago. While there she visited the grave of our sister, Michelle. That's the last memory I have of Virginia, visiting that cemetery. I was four years old, almost five. I felt bad for leaving her all by herself. We had no other family there. Who would visit her? I think I'm the only sibling who has not gone back yet. I want to go see the house we lived in and visit Michelle. I want to place a stone on her place marker to let her know and anyone who sees her that she has not been forgotten. She will always be loved.