HAPPY Mothers Day MOM!
Love and Giant Prayers!
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Another Journey to Planet RantWoman: Peace Camp, Decisions, reflections.
RantWoman decided not to heed whatever warning Youtube is trying to convey; RantWoman wants to highlight the following video from http://peacecampherstory.blogspot.com particularly because it discusses a very intense and time consuming Quaker moment, one RantWoman was not present for. Is RantWoman just harboring unreasonable expectations about matters closer to home? Either way, savor this history.
Some reflection questions RantWoman posted to the Peace Camp Facebook group:
Hey Peace Camp Wimmins!
First THANK YOU to Hershe and Estelle and all the people who have pulled this event together! You are awesome. I actually am not sure I wish I could be there. For one thing I am fussy about carbon budget and air travel and I have plenty to keep me engaged in Seattle but I absolutely salute all your work and care of this history and all the messy things tangled with it in my mind.
I wonder whether anyone besides me is game for a little focussed reflection.
Here are some questions on my mind. MAYBE I will get something written by the weekend, probably not even though I wish... but either way....
What has stuck with you the most about the Seneca Women's Peace Encampment / Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice?
Did anyone notice, somewhere maybe in the 1990's when the Soviet Union fell apart, the SS 20 missiles were withdrawn from Eastern Europe, and the cruise and Pershing missles I think were also redeployed or replaced?
What is your most important focus of activism / public witness / (choose your term: RantWoman has been liking public ministry but that sounds too churchy for some RantWoman audiences) today?
What do you consider some of the most powerful manifestations of nonviolence since peace camp?
What kind of spiritual practices do you do today?
What if any faith community do you participate in?
I think it was Gloria Steinem who said "To be female and conscious anywhere on this planet is to be in a constant state of rage." Discuss.
The military services are opening up combat roles to women and same-gender marriage is now the law in a large percentage of US states. Do these evolutions change your thinking about the intersections of feminism and nonviolence?
What other questions do you wish someone would ask you?
I hope it's an AWESOME celebration.
(RantWoman)
Some reflection questions RantWoman posted to the Peace Camp Facebook group:
Hey Peace Camp Wimmins!
First THANK YOU to Hershe and Estelle and all the people who have pulled this event together! You are awesome. I actually am not sure I wish I could be there. For one thing I am fussy about carbon budget and air travel and I have plenty to keep me engaged in Seattle but I absolutely salute all your work and care of this history and all the messy things tangled with it in my mind.
I wonder whether anyone besides me is game for a little focussed reflection.
Here are some questions on my mind. MAYBE I will get something written by the weekend, probably not even though I wish... but either way....
What has stuck with you the most about the Seneca Women's Peace Encampment / Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice?
Did anyone notice, somewhere maybe in the 1990's when the Soviet Union fell apart, the SS 20 missiles were withdrawn from Eastern Europe, and the cruise and Pershing missles I think were also redeployed or replaced?
What is your most important focus of activism / public witness / (choose your term: RantWoman has been liking public ministry but that sounds too churchy for some RantWoman audiences) today?
What do you consider some of the most powerful manifestations of nonviolence since peace camp?
What kind of spiritual practices do you do today?
What if any faith community do you participate in?
I think it was Gloria Steinem who said "To be female and conscious anywhere on this planet is to be in a constant state of rage." Discuss.
The military services are opening up combat roles to women and same-gender marriage is now the law in a large percentage of US states. Do these evolutions change your thinking about the intersections of feminism and nonviolence?
What other questions do you wish someone would ask you?
I hope it's an AWESOME celebration.
(RantWoman)
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Vocabulary: gender communications SAMPLE
Dear Readers,
The following is only one of the many themes distracting RantWoman from thoughts of travelling off to Boston for this weekend's PeaceCampHerstory Celebration.
As if God were not already sending along far too many ways for RantWoman to be, um, Hard to Take, RantWoman offers a need for vocabulary lessons.
RantWoman admits to spending quite a bit of energy in recent years TRYING to generate vocabulary lessons, and vocabularly lessons that do not just involve dusty pamphlets RantWoman cannot read but maybe possibly involve shared conversations and resources in a variety of media and maybe possibly a sense of We are all ministers of God and RantWoman in fact having things to contribute to the conversation, not just take.
Hear that Library Committee? (RantWoman has not asked very directly so if not, it's OKAY for now.
Hear that Worship and Ministry Committee????
Hear that Care and Counsel Committee? If not RantWoman will be really glad to resend some email!!!! Okay RantWoman admits at one point, she was perfectly well aware of the vocabulary being applicable to herself and wanted to share a resource. Unfortunately the first website where she looked had been updated and RantWoman did not spend much time trying to look for the vocabulary in other places she knows to look.
Hear that Nominating Committee? Not so RantWoman has noticed exactly.
But today RantWoman will stick to a more limited domain, Gender communication Vocabulary Lessons
The meaning of the term mansplaining is amply and abundantly documented and RantWoman invites readers to use the search engine of their choice if they need more detail.
Gender Deafness Disorder: a condition affecting many men. Those afflicted are frequently unable to make sense of things said by women and magically cured when the exact same thought emerges from the mouth of a man.
Male Monologue Syndrome: this condition takes many forms. A classic can be described as a man exhibiting evidence of thinking "there is a woman in front of me. She certainly must want to hear me talk."
Quakers are the land of peace and enlightenment and stalwarts in the women's suffrage movement...and therefore magically cured of this, absolved of any need to contemplate unexamined male privilege...?
Um, NO! Not so much.
And is it more charitable to let people writhe in suspense and misery or just to...?
Uhhh, consider the following conversation snippet which may or may not resemble actual conversation anywhere around RantWoman.
I am not interested in your thought process Friend "...and let me tell you about my draft board story..," in context not a COMPLETE non-sequitur but RantWoman is TRYING to have a conversation with "I'm not interested in your thought processes Friend" about something else.
Oh good, and now Conflict is a Gift of God Friend also needs to tell his draft board story too..
Hold RantWoman and everyone in the vicinity of the RantWoman Inner Blowtorch in the Light.
The following is only one of the many themes distracting RantWoman from thoughts of travelling off to Boston for this weekend's PeaceCampHerstory Celebration.
As if God were not already sending along far too many ways for RantWoman to be, um, Hard to Take, RantWoman offers a need for vocabulary lessons.
RantWoman admits to spending quite a bit of energy in recent years TRYING to generate vocabulary lessons, and vocabularly lessons that do not just involve dusty pamphlets RantWoman cannot read but maybe possibly involve shared conversations and resources in a variety of media and maybe possibly a sense of We are all ministers of God and RantWoman in fact having things to contribute to the conversation, not just take.
Hear that Library Committee? (RantWoman has not asked very directly so if not, it's OKAY for now.
Hear that Worship and Ministry Committee????
Hear that Care and Counsel Committee? If not RantWoman will be really glad to resend some email!!!! Okay RantWoman admits at one point, she was perfectly well aware of the vocabulary being applicable to herself and wanted to share a resource. Unfortunately the first website where she looked had been updated and RantWoman did not spend much time trying to look for the vocabulary in other places she knows to look.
Hear that Nominating Committee? Not so RantWoman has noticed exactly.
But today RantWoman will stick to a more limited domain, Gender communication Vocabulary Lessons
The meaning of the term mansplaining is amply and abundantly documented and RantWoman invites readers to use the search engine of their choice if they need more detail.
Gender Deafness Disorder: a condition affecting many men. Those afflicted are frequently unable to make sense of things said by women and magically cured when the exact same thought emerges from the mouth of a man.
Male Monologue Syndrome: this condition takes many forms. A classic can be described as a man exhibiting evidence of thinking "there is a woman in front of me. She certainly must want to hear me talk."
Quakers are the land of peace and enlightenment and stalwarts in the women's suffrage movement...and therefore magically cured of this, absolved of any need to contemplate unexamined male privilege...?
Um, NO! Not so much.
And is it more charitable to let people writhe in suspense and misery or just to...?
Uhhh, consider the following conversation snippet which may or may not resemble actual conversation anywhere around RantWoman.
I am not interested in your thought process Friend "...and let me tell you about my draft board story..," in context not a COMPLETE non-sequitur but RantWoman is TRYING to have a conversation with "I'm not interested in your thought processes Friend" about something else.
Oh good, and now Conflict is a Gift of God Friend also needs to tell his draft board story too..
Hold RantWoman and everyone in the vicinity of the RantWoman Inner Blowtorch in the Light.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Talk A lot Magic 8 Ball
Gee RantWoman, you talk a lot in Meeting for Business.
Imagine a Magic 8 ball with a number of responses pre-installed:
1.. Well, ya know, RantWoman is not currently ON a committee where she MIGHT find both closer personal fellowship and an outlet for at east SOME of what exercises her in Meeting Life. So the ONLY place to hear RantWoman is Meeting for Business, and that is actually NOT the best place for RantWoman to hear others, ask questions...
2. RantWoman would be thrilled, Thrilled, THRILLED if at least some of her concerns SOMETIMES made it out of others' mouths.
3. Everyone is entitled to MY Opinion
4. Minutes of exercise. Minutes of exercise. RantWoman on and off has one Recording Clerk that really is all about minutes of exercise. That means that if one reads a sequence of minutes one can usually see how a position has evolved and solidified. RantWoman has a continuing concern that her Meeting's minutes are way too boiled down. RantWoman actually thinks she MIGHT have a better sense of people understanding key concepts and people's thinking evolving if the work of Meeting for Business reflected more minutes of exercise.
5. What exactly are people avoiding if all anyone can talk about is how much RantWoman talks in Meeting for Business????
You are supposed to be mindful...
Mindful? As in Read your mind?
Look, RantWoman cannot read minds. She cannot read faces. Rantwoman's natural state is darned obtuse in the first place. If you think RantWoman talks to much.... If RantWoman says something you do not understand, consider finding a way to ask for clarification.
That is not actually what RantWoman said. The first time the subject of RantWoman talking too much came up, RantWoman said something along the lines of "sometimes I do consecutive interpreting. Then it is my job to do half of all the talking in a conversation. So NO, I would not necessarily notice any imbalance in other situations.
RantWoman has in fact been paying attention to the talking too much concern. Hold that point in the Light.
Imagine a Magic 8 ball with a number of responses pre-installed:
1.. Well, ya know, RantWoman is not currently ON a committee where she MIGHT find both closer personal fellowship and an outlet for at east SOME of what exercises her in Meeting Life. So the ONLY place to hear RantWoman is Meeting for Business, and that is actually NOT the best place for RantWoman to hear others, ask questions...
2. RantWoman would be thrilled, Thrilled, THRILLED if at least some of her concerns SOMETIMES made it out of others' mouths.
3. Everyone is entitled to MY Opinion
4. Minutes of exercise. Minutes of exercise. RantWoman on and off has one Recording Clerk that really is all about minutes of exercise. That means that if one reads a sequence of minutes one can usually see how a position has evolved and solidified. RantWoman has a continuing concern that her Meeting's minutes are way too boiled down. RantWoman actually thinks she MIGHT have a better sense of people understanding key concepts and people's thinking evolving if the work of Meeting for Business reflected more minutes of exercise.
5. What exactly are people avoiding if all anyone can talk about is how much RantWoman talks in Meeting for Business????
You are supposed to be mindful...
Mindful? As in Read your mind?
Look, RantWoman cannot read minds. She cannot read faces. Rantwoman's natural state is darned obtuse in the first place. If you think RantWoman talks to much.... If RantWoman says something you do not understand, consider finding a way to ask for clarification.
That is not actually what RantWoman said. The first time the subject of RantWoman talking too much came up, RantWoman said something along the lines of "sometimes I do consecutive interpreting. Then it is my job to do half of all the talking in a conversation. So NO, I would not necessarily notice any imbalance in other situations.
RantWoman has in fact been paying attention to the talking too much concern. Hold that point in the Light.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Not SPICE? STEP PETS PEST: Let's Talk About Quakers | Lucy Moon
...getting headspace...
The testimonies, according to Lucy Simplicity Truth Equality Peace
The testimonies, according to Lucy Simplicity Truth Equality Peace
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Helen Chaya: I am not thinking of war today.
A really enjoyable album RantWoman discovered while on a path elsewhere.
The website
http://helenchaya.bandcamp.com/
The Album
http://helenchaya.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-not-thinking-of-war-today
ENJOY!
Definitely buy the album if you can.
And enjoy in its own right, independent of the whole hrd of elephants along on the rest of today's journey to Planet RantWoman.
The website
http://helenchaya.bandcamp.com/
The Album
http://helenchaya.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-not-thinking-of-war-today
ENJOY!
Definitely buy the album if you can.
And enjoy in its own right, independent of the whole hrd of elephants along on the rest of today's journey to Planet RantWoman.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Blogging Against Disableism: Shipwreck? Soundtrack Ray Stevens - I Need Your Help Barry Manilow
Jesus Christ on a Pizza Crust!
(Yes, RantWoman knows that utterance is blasphemous by definition. COPE.)
It's Blogging Against Disableism Day.
http://blobolobolob.blogspot.com/
RantWoman invites readers who might be terrified of more RantWoman fountain to stop here and pick another blog post from this link, read it and chat up RantWoman about it. because there is no way RantWoman is going to get read anything near as much as she might like.
RantWoman sat down to try to write one teeny tiny blog post about SOMETHING from Bad Friend Monthly Meeting of the Society of Irreligious Fiends, a Monthly Meeting that may or may not bear ANY resemblance to any Meeting In RantWoman's vicinity. RantWoman was HOPING to highlight some some ploddings of progress and, well....
RantWoman started to write one teeny tiny blog post and it was as if the Titanic plowed into that iceberg. Well, maybe shipwreck is not the right metaphor but whatever it is, it may take RantWoman longer than 1 day to write. and RantWoman is clear that NOW is as good a time as any to do some more of it. There are a WHOLE bunch of problem that just are not going magically to solve themselves especially if one gets stuck being "charitable," forgets the bit about "love your neighbor as yourself" meaning one has to love and take care of oneself.... But back to "it."
"It" comes with
--RantWoman thanking someone for being really public about a current family challenge--even though RantWoman also becomes crabby thinking about the RantFamily dealing REALLY badly with a not exactly parallel challenge when the RantChildren were teenagers. Topical data: RantBrother being the biggest pothead in the string bass section of orchestra was only part of a one-time RantWoman comment about "If anyone had been willing to talk, there would have been plenty to listen to."
RantWoman's counterpart in that conversation missed a point RantWoman was trying to get to about ears in a community but RantWoman remembers being really gratified at an event to hear that others were thinking along lines similar to RantWoman's.
But today, the comment clattered back to the top of RantWoman's emotional compost heap. RantWoman offered someone a concert flyer. The offer was declined on behalf of someone else whose father, like RantDad, also fit the description "a brilliant music teacher (for most of his career) to everyone except his own children." Also somehow topical "every music teacher in the state knew RantDad because..."
--RantWoman convening a committee she chairs outside of Meeting, all full of accessiblity concerns and churning of the communities working on them.
--RantWoman revisiting the query "What is Meeting missing out on if RantWoman does not live in Integrity about her situation?"
Example 1: RantWoman thought it reasonable to ask to speak to all of the Oops Well committee about things to do with disability. RantWoman's first request was met with "That's not going to happen." HUHHHHHH! RantWoman was too stunned even to explode properly. Eventually the Friend Whose Title RantWoman Pointedly Omits got the message about meeting with all of said committe BUT when the Meeting occurred, rather than say much at ALL about RantWoman's accessibility needs, the first thing RantWoman was called to do was to report on a meeting others had not been present at.
But, in addition to NOT knowing better than RantWoman did what her needs were at the moment, RantWoman collected datathat more than one member of the Oops well committeeactually had not thought about important aspects of another topic on RantWoman's mind.
Example 2: EVERY WORKING AGE ADULT in RantWoman's Meeting ought to expect that someone somehow somewhere along in their career will make a reasonable accommodations request, a request that no amount of "you don't need to interact with that person or that email" chatter will erase. For instance "please email RantWoman minutes and agendas far enough ahead of meeting times that RantWoman has SOME prayer of interacting with the documents before she gets on a bus to come to a meeting."
RantWoman at the time she made this request THOUGHT optimistically that it was a reasonable request. But the person who RantWoman made this request of was CHRONICALLY incapable of responding to this request. This problem rattled into RantWoman's head recently because Requested Friend reported at a social event that he had been learning how to make documents "accessible." RantWoman knows there is a good bit of technospeak involved in the term "accessible documents." RantWoman laments that it did not occur to her just to say "well, the first element of accessibility would be getting the requested electronic copy into RantWoman's hands in a timely way." RantWoman apologizes for depriving her community of this simplifying information but also notes that it took MULTIPLE years before her Meeting reliable showed signs of getting the point.
RantWoman is THRILLED that LOTS of things are getting emailed to her in a reasonable way. RantWoman gets close to being thrilled that at least some of the time, when not everything makes it into the first bulk email, people also understand that they should email any supplemental materials to the whole list because RantWoman applies her "Am I the only one with this problem test and realized that others might also appreciate...
And RantWoman has decided or thinks she has decided just to forgive the Friend who one time wanted to help RantWoman read something on his laptop without accessibility software. Apparently RantWoman is wavering because RantWoman needed to tell same Friend something sarcastic about recently interacting with a young developer wanting RantWoman to find some teeny tiny box in the corner of a screen and RantWoman was too polite to say to nice young developer what she said to Friend "which part of legally blind do you not understand?" Further HINT: you can enlarge text till the cows come home, but if you do not also enlarge menus, cursors... and the user is not super adept at keyboard shortcuts and...
Finally, it's spring. Whatever pollens that fry RantWoman's nostrils this time of year are out in abundance. The timing of the pollen, some respiratory elements of both RantWoman's first detached retina, and RantDad's detached retina have made RantWoman wonder whether the pollen is to blame. Sure, blame the pollen. RantDad's detached retina happened at a symphony rehearsal while he was playing his bassoon. RantDad did not play the upcoming concert because he was in Denver for surgery.
But the RantChildren and our supervising adult hosted a teenage french horn player in town to play that concert. RantWoman does not remember exactly why Teenage French Horn Player needed to play this song, but RantWoman thinks is an awesome soundtrack and is seasoning a leading to rewrite it in Quakerese for this occasion.
(Yes, RantWoman knows that utterance is blasphemous by definition. COPE.)
It's Blogging Against Disableism Day.
http://blobolobolob.blogspot.com/
RantWoman invites readers who might be terrified of more RantWoman fountain to stop here and pick another blog post from this link, read it and chat up RantWoman about it. because there is no way RantWoman is going to get read anything near as much as she might like.
RantWoman sat down to try to write one teeny tiny blog post about SOMETHING from Bad Friend Monthly Meeting of the Society of Irreligious Fiends, a Monthly Meeting that may or may not bear ANY resemblance to any Meeting In RantWoman's vicinity. RantWoman was HOPING to highlight some some ploddings of progress and, well....
RantWoman started to write one teeny tiny blog post and it was as if the Titanic plowed into that iceberg. Well, maybe shipwreck is not the right metaphor but whatever it is, it may take RantWoman longer than 1 day to write. and RantWoman is clear that NOW is as good a time as any to do some more of it. There are a WHOLE bunch of problem that just are not going magically to solve themselves especially if one gets stuck being "charitable," forgets the bit about "love your neighbor as yourself" meaning one has to love and take care of oneself.... But back to "it."
"It" comes with
--RantWoman thanking someone for being really public about a current family challenge--even though RantWoman also becomes crabby thinking about the RantFamily dealing REALLY badly with a not exactly parallel challenge when the RantChildren were teenagers. Topical data: RantBrother being the biggest pothead in the string bass section of orchestra was only part of a one-time RantWoman comment about "If anyone had been willing to talk, there would have been plenty to listen to."
RantWoman's counterpart in that conversation missed a point RantWoman was trying to get to about ears in a community but RantWoman remembers being really gratified at an event to hear that others were thinking along lines similar to RantWoman's.
But today, the comment clattered back to the top of RantWoman's emotional compost heap. RantWoman offered someone a concert flyer. The offer was declined on behalf of someone else whose father, like RantDad, also fit the description "a brilliant music teacher (for most of his career) to everyone except his own children." Also somehow topical "every music teacher in the state knew RantDad because..."
--RantWoman convening a committee she chairs outside of Meeting, all full of accessiblity concerns and churning of the communities working on them.
--RantWoman revisiting the query "What is Meeting missing out on if RantWoman does not live in Integrity about her situation?"
Example 1: RantWoman thought it reasonable to ask to speak to all of the Oops Well committee about things to do with disability. RantWoman's first request was met with "That's not going to happen." HUHHHHHH! RantWoman was too stunned even to explode properly. Eventually the Friend Whose Title RantWoman Pointedly Omits got the message about meeting with all of said committe BUT when the Meeting occurred, rather than say much at ALL about RantWoman's accessibility needs, the first thing RantWoman was called to do was to report on a meeting others had not been present at.
But, in addition to NOT knowing better than RantWoman did what her needs were at the moment, RantWoman collected datathat more than one member of the Oops well committeeactually had not thought about important aspects of another topic on RantWoman's mind.
Example 2: EVERY WORKING AGE ADULT in RantWoman's Meeting ought to expect that someone somehow somewhere along in their career will make a reasonable accommodations request, a request that no amount of "you don't need to interact with that person or that email" chatter will erase. For instance "please email RantWoman minutes and agendas far enough ahead of meeting times that RantWoman has SOME prayer of interacting with the documents before she gets on a bus to come to a meeting."
RantWoman at the time she made this request THOUGHT optimistically that it was a reasonable request. But the person who RantWoman made this request of was CHRONICALLY incapable of responding to this request. This problem rattled into RantWoman's head recently because Requested Friend reported at a social event that he had been learning how to make documents "accessible." RantWoman knows there is a good bit of technospeak involved in the term "accessible documents." RantWoman laments that it did not occur to her just to say "well, the first element of accessibility would be getting the requested electronic copy into RantWoman's hands in a timely way." RantWoman apologizes for depriving her community of this simplifying information but also notes that it took MULTIPLE years before her Meeting reliable showed signs of getting the point.
RantWoman is THRILLED that LOTS of things are getting emailed to her in a reasonable way. RantWoman gets close to being thrilled that at least some of the time, when not everything makes it into the first bulk email, people also understand that they should email any supplemental materials to the whole list because RantWoman applies her "Am I the only one with this problem test and realized that others might also appreciate...
And RantWoman has decided or thinks she has decided just to forgive the Friend who one time wanted to help RantWoman read something on his laptop without accessibility software. Apparently RantWoman is wavering because RantWoman needed to tell same Friend something sarcastic about recently interacting with a young developer wanting RantWoman to find some teeny tiny box in the corner of a screen and RantWoman was too polite to say to nice young developer what she said to Friend "which part of legally blind do you not understand?" Further HINT: you can enlarge text till the cows come home, but if you do not also enlarge menus, cursors... and the user is not super adept at keyboard shortcuts and...
Finally, it's spring. Whatever pollens that fry RantWoman's nostrils this time of year are out in abundance. The timing of the pollen, some respiratory elements of both RantWoman's first detached retina, and RantDad's detached retina have made RantWoman wonder whether the pollen is to blame. Sure, blame the pollen. RantDad's detached retina happened at a symphony rehearsal while he was playing his bassoon. RantDad did not play the upcoming concert because he was in Denver for surgery.
But the RantChildren and our supervising adult hosted a teenage french horn player in town to play that concert. RantWoman does not remember exactly why Teenage French Horn Player needed to play this song, but RantWoman thinks is an awesome soundtrack and is seasoning a leading to rewrite it in Quakerese for this occasion.
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