Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentine's Backlash

Have you noticed an absolute backlash against Valentine's Day over the past few years? People all of a sudden hate this day. Single people hate it because they don't have a Valentine and are constantly reminded of this during the weeks leading up to the biggest date night of the year. Every commercial on the tv or radio is about girls getting cars and pajamas and rings and chocolates from her man. Single women are pissed because they know they're not getting a car or a ring. Single men are pissed because they don't get to buy a car or a ring or even chocolate for a girl, which of course means they won't be having sex tonight.


People lucky (or unlucky depending on your point of view) enough to have a significant other hate the holiday because there's pressure on them too. Pressure to find the right car or ring. Pressure to perform in the bedroom. Pressure to look pretty and smile and say a bunch of mushy ooey gooey things you said when you first met only because you REALLY wanted to see the other person naked.

So everyone bitches and grouses about how this was a holiday co-invented by Hallmark and Zales while forgetting what the holiday is really about. It's about spending time in the company of someone you love and remembering why you love them in the first place. If you're currently without a "lover," today's a great day to either tell someone you'd like to get the chance to love them, or go get sloppy drunk with some single friends and have a good time.

I'm sure St. Valentine would be happy to know that people are cursing his name and saying his holiday is a sham. Have some respect for the dead people!

I thought I'd include a few personal Valentine's Day stories to end this blog.

Rachel and I are spending Valentine's Day this year by going to an OSU basketball game with Jonah after work. My grandparents will be there and they would like to see Jonah one more time before we fly to Wisconsin to get him baptized on Sunday. Then we'll probably come home, make some dinner and watch a few episodes of Friends in bed. The end. Nothing fancy, no overblown gifts to try and "out-love" one another. We'll probably go out to dinner tomorrow night in Portland since we're going that way to get on a plane Saturday anyways. And of course, I'll tell her I love her just as I do every other day.

My worst Valentine's Day ever was the year in college when I got a call from the house mom of the Chi Omega sorority. She told me she was trying to organize an event for the single girls of the house, knew I was friends with some of them, and wondered if I'd be interested in going out to dinner with some of them. I thought it sounded like a better idea than sitting online and chatting with some bitter girl in Florida who was home alone so I said I was in. So I show up at the restaurant to find 16 single sorority girls and zero guys. So we sit down to eat and I see all these couples giving me sideways glances. All of a sudden, my friend Sue just starts cracking up. She leans across the table and says "that couple behind you has been staring at you the whole time we've been here. The guy just told his girlfriend that "you have to be gay."

Ok, maybe I can see why some people wouldn't like Valentine's Day so much.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

What college students are up to these days

Apparently there's something on campus called "V-Week" right now. I'm not sure what it's all about, but it has something to do with Valentine's Day, violence against women, and vaginas. This article appeared in The Daily Barometer, OSU's newspaper (I've put my own comments in bold):


As part of the 2008 V-Week festivities the Women's Center held a unique informational event called "Vagigami."

Males and females alike giggled as the folded papers assumed familiar anatomical shapes, and participants were encouraged to see the beauty in their craftsmanship and in vaginas altogether.

I'm terrible at art, and I can't imagine I'd be particularly good a crafting a vagina out of paper. Furthermore, even if I could create a very realistic paper ladytown, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't suddenly think "ah yes, the vagina is beautiful and should be recognized as such.

"This activity was designed to bring light to the subject of domestic violence and to help people realize that every vagina is unique," said Emily Steadman, a senior majoring in public health and a member of Peer Health Advocates.

Well now we have proof: Vaginas are just like snowflakes!

V-Week 2008 is underway through Feb. 15. It originates from The Vagina Monologues and strives to reduce the incidence of violence against women and to raise awareness about related causes.

This year's V-Week, which features a variety of activities and speakers, culminates with the OSU's ninth annual production of The Vagina Monologues on Valentine's Day and again on Friday.

Stacey Edwards, Health Educator and Peer Health Advocate Coordinator, hopes that people will realize the true purpose of V-Week and understand that the event is not just for women.

"We want to spark discussion and we want to attract men as allies in our cause," Edwards said. "It's called V-Week, but that doesn't necessarily mean vagina - it could mean a variety of different things: Valentine's Day, vagina, victorious, [ending the] violence."

Because apparently men are inherently for domestic violence and cruetly towards vaginas. We must be recruited to believe women have rights!

Organizers of the Vagigami event hope that by approaching the topic in a humorous fashion it might allow more dialogue and ultimately encourage women to be more comfortable with talking about their vaginas.

The only person a woman should be comfortable talking about her vagina with is her significant other and her doctor. Nobody else wants to hear about it. Except for that creepy guy who pokes you on Facebook. You know who I'm talking about.

"Women's sexuality shouldn't be such a hidden thing; it should addressed out in the open," Edwards said.

"We hope to facilitate that with events like Vagigami and tomorrow's Vag Bag event."

Ummm Vag Bag? What the hell is that? How do you not explain this? What is the male equivalent of a Vag Bag, a Cock Pocket?

Wednesday's events include two documentary film screenings at the MU, followed by an answer session with an expert panel after the viewing.

Not one, but two documentaries on vaginas? Wow. I want to know what qualifies someone as an "expert" in this field too.

Edwards encourages students to check out some of this week's events and unite in the cause to end violence against women.

How sad is it that we have to unite against the beating of women? It's really a bummer. However, making paper vaginas and talking about the uniqueness of one's vagina isn't really going to get the point across I don't think. I mean, think about the type of people who beat women......are any of them going to stop and think "you know, I shouldn't beat her...she's unique! She has her own sexuality and that needs to be expressed! What a fool I've been!"

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Comcast or DirecTV?

So I'm pretty sure I'm making the switch from Comcast to Directv. Through Qwest, I can get phone, internet and Directv service for the same price I'm paying for internet and cable with Comcast. I'm a little leery about making the switch because I have to buy some equipment up front (Modem, DVR) and also sign a two-year service agreement, so I wanted some advice...


Anyone out there have Directv and can recommend it? Anyone had both at some point and can offer their opinion on both?