Solidarity, people.

We are not powerless.

It's easy to despair, to think 'there's nothing I can do about it.' But we are not powerless, we are not helpess, and we are not alone.

This is the stuff they don't teach you in history class, how an army was defeated by poor, working-class familes, fighting with rubbish and old mattresses. How an army was brought to it's knees by schoolchildren. with marbles. This is the history they don't teach you in school.

Mission Accomplished

(i feel i should be standing in front of a giant banner depicting that headline.)

House of Frasier, 40 quid.

Good god, i never thought i'd pay 40 pounds for a bra and knickers!!!

I am now properly prepared to receive His Swashbucklingness The Pirate when he returns from Exploits Extraordinary. Too bad that won't be for another 2 months at least. *sighs mournfully*

Unnerswears

Why can't I buy sexy lingerie that's tasteful and isn't made for a 6-year-old? Why is this so difficult? Everything is all either neon pink plastic hollywood trashy crap that i wouldn't let my daughter wear even if she was a hooker, and the rest had fucking Disney characters on it! (well, not Disney characters engaged in the act of fornication, but you know what i mean.)

Why is it all either this:

























or this: (someone needs to explain to me how a grown woman dressing up in pastel-flowered cartoon character underwear is sexy. that Whinnie the Pooh bra just takes paedophilia to a whole new level as far as i'm concerned. making grown women look like pre-pubescent children is just creepy. like shaving your crotch.)










Why is there nothing in between!?!?!?!? mumph.

Becoming an Ex-Pat

For those of you who've been reading my blog from the beginning or nearly-so (Herebe, Sal, etc.), you know the story line of my life has unfolded roughly like this:
Chick is lonely
Chick whinges a lot
Chick wants to return to England.
Chick returns to England.
Chick finds man and falls in love.
Chick is in England and no longer lonely.
Fin.

So what does that leave? There needs be a new adventure, a new saga, that you, my readers, may follow with eagerness and anticipation. It should be dramatic, frustrating, heart-felt, and personal. It should be...

The Pangs of Becoming a British Citizen!

And believe me, there are pangs. This will be a long (5 years or more) and arduous (have you seen the Home Office website?) labor of love. And it begins now. Stay tuned.

Passing

I'm feeling terribly English just now. Today was a remarkable day.

1. I used my HSBC bank card for the first time. My very own British bank account. I'm earning and spending my money in pounds. Whee!

2. Some local yokel actually thought I was English. My accent, it seems, is coming along. He asked me where in England I was from, probably because I've picked up a smattering of inflections from people all over the island. I must sound like a right mutt. But at least I don't sound American!

Move

The move is complete. Thanks for all your patience. I'm lovin' my new digs!


I'm on the 7th floor, which is great because there's no one who can see in my windows. I don't have to close the drapes ever! Whoo-hoo!

Here is my mamoth window sill. 2 feet deep and runs the span of the room. Space for loads of plants. Double 'Whoo-hoo'!






*blogging starkers*



Here we have my cozy sleeping corning. Note the green wall. Yep, that shit was pink a couple days ago. NO LONGER. Fuck my contract, I don't DO pink walls. Period.




















You can see here my bookshelf in the corner, covered with all sorts of crap. If you're the observant type, you will figure out that I put the captions in with the intention of sending this to The Pirate, who is at present off on a great adventure, sailing the Seven Seas, drinking rum, buggering cabin boys, and gathering booty like a dragon with a metal detector. Damn I miss his booty. *snort*

'God's Rottweiller' In The Doghouse

(over the wrong issue)

There's been loads and loads of press coverage lately about Ratzinger, er, Pope Benedict the whatever. Ugh, I can't even bring myself to say it. He'll always be Ratzinger to me.

Mostly he's been taking flak for insulting pretty much everyone on earth, espeically the muslims. Well, to be fair his insult of the Jews was actually a lot worse to my mind (stood in the middle of Auschwitz and told them that the real victim of the Holocaust was Christianity), but he's been getting press for pissing off the Muslims because the Muslims are reacting more. It's the cartoon fiasco all over again. Someone does something thoughtless and insensitive, the world Muslim community responds by:
a) rioting
b) calling for blood
c) burning churches
d) all of the above
If you guessed "d", you're a winner! Give yourself a gold star, genius.

Now, I have a hard time getting too riled up over this because the way I see it, people on both sides are being selfish fuckwits. I really have no sympathy for either of them, the Pope or the Muslims. One's an asshole (again), the others are over-reacting. Again. Lose-lose situation. Moving on.

The one that's really got me is the whole Intelligent Design thing. Ratzinger is about to bring the Catholic church into it. The Church has never mandated a literal interpretation of the Old Testament. Not for a few centuries, anyway. Because of this, it doesn't have big problem with the idea of evolution. Pope JPII was fairly progressive in terms of scientific achievement. He recognized the accomplishments of Darwin, didn't have issue with evolution or natural selection. Heck, he even apologized to Galileo and his descendants for the Churche's big fuck-up over the whole solar system thang.

Ratzinger is about to undo all that. (Well, maybe not the solar system thing, but given enough time, who knows?) If the Church reverses its position on evolution and goes over to the side of the narrow-minded fundamentalist idiots known in America as the Religious Right (known in my mind as the Religious Wrong), it will be a major doctrinal shift that will have ramifications for Catholic education all over the world. Catholic schools will no longer be able to teach evolutionary biology. And what of all the Catholic universities? Highly respected institutions like Loyola University and Notre Dame will have serious propblems on their hands. Will they eject their biology departments, or risk excommunication? (I got $1000 says the Jesuits over at Loyola take excommunication before they sacrifice the qualitiy of their education. Any takers?)

In an age where technology is developing at an exponential pace, education is more critical than ever. It is no longer enough to know the three Rs to survive in society. One must be scientifically and technolgically literate as well. The difference between the Knows and the Know Nots is rapidly becoming as significant as the difference between the Haves and the Have Nots. It is into this 21st century setting that the Pope is seriously handicapping all his followers, attempting to force them back into an age of blindness and ignorance. In his role as shepherd, Ratzinger is not leading with the hand of compassion and understanding. In his narrow judgment and condemnation of human behavior, he is not doing his flock any favors.