Poem

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table, or a charming Inn in the woods, when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year...

Public Perceptions of Breastfeeding

This is not my article originally but Radical Midwife brought it to my attention and a quick search of Google shows that LOTS of people are reposting it!

Society is so sexualized that they have forgotten what God created our breasts for in the first place. They throw hissy fits over breastfeeding in public and expect us to feed our babies in dirty, stinky bathrooms. So I ask you to judge for yourself, which breasts are truly offensive here? And I understand some of you won't think ANY of them are offensive. But I am making a point by showing how ridiculous it is that society looks upon scantily clad women in sexy ads as ok, even GREAT, but providing important nourishment and nutrients to your child in public by breastfeeding is offensive, distasteful, disgusting, whatever. Give me your feedback. :)


Wait... well, this is a bad example. Let's try again...

Hmmm... just a minute. Surely i can find better ones than these...

Eh... still not racy enough. I'll check one more time.

That's better. LOOK AT THAT! I see about an inch of boob! Totally disgusting.

Ugh! Look at that indecency!! She must be from some third-world country to be exposed like that!!

Now that's just... There's no words to describe how inappropriate that is. Something needs to be done!!



Now this takes the cake!! How dare they actually put such a disgusting image on the cover of a magazine where teenage boys might see it. This simply must be disposed of ASAP via a shredder, before teenage boys learn what boobs are really for!!


This just makes me want to vomit!

...but why stop at breastfeeding women? There are boobs everywhere. Beware! If you thought the above photos were offensive, you WILL DEFINITELY be offended by the photos below.



Not this one though. This was in plain view on newsstands and in mailboxes in 19 countries worldwide!

Not this one either. This one actually won an award!

Oh, and i guess this ones fine too, since everyone knows you can't sell jeans without someone being topless.

or beer, for that matter!

or sunglasses...

or movie tickets...

or CDs...

...you know what? Maybe I'm crazy, but i think that someone mixed up some photos here. The first batch are offensive, but the second batch are just fine and dandy???

People who live in glass bras:


shouldn't throw stones:

Which message is healthier?

Breastfeeding which is medically approved to give HUMANS the best start in life. . . or


Images that promote STDs, unattainable beauty standards, sexual promiscuity, plastic surgery, and just plain TRUE indecency?

Which would you rather your daughter live up to?

Ifyou think women have the right to breastfeed their children no matter where they are, please re-post this. The least you can do is help some children get the best nutrition they can get. Breastfed babies have lower instances of obesity, asthma, allergies, certain childhood diseases, learning disabilities, and other health problems. For each woman who feels like she shouldn't be breastfeeding right where she is, there is an innocent baby who is losing out. Don't be responsible for any child's health problems. support breastfed babies and their right to eat in public like the rest of us.

Respect is not demanded but it is commanded

The title actually has nothing to do with anything. Have some pictures to cheer yourself up.

The Rules:
1) Answer each of the questions below and search for the answer using the Flickr Search engine.
2) Choose a photo from the first three pages for each question.
3) Copy the URL of your favorite photo into this site (you'll want to set it up to have four columns and three rows to get a result like mine).
4) Printscreen, crop, save mosaic to some form of photo hosting thing and share with the world!

1. First Name (Emma)
2. Favorite Food (mint)
3. Hometown (Adelaide)
4. Favorite Color (orange)
5. Celebrity Crush (David Tenant)
6. Favorite Drink (creamy cocktail)
7. Dream Vacation (Paris)
8. Favorite Dessert (berry pie)
9. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up (midwife and mother)
10. What I Love Most In The World (love)
11. One Word That Describes Me (creative)
12. My LiveJournal Name

1. Emma Watson, 2. chocolate mint cupcake, 3. A Day Out, 4. orange for orange day!, 5. Thoroughly Good People, 6. Creamy chocolate cocktail, 7. Last day in Paris, 8. 3 Berry Pie, 9. It's a GIRL!!!, 10. he loves me/he loves me not., 11. "Creative Hands" - Mindy, 12. for badylugz (which hasn't shown up but click the link to see!)

What would be hardest to give up?

It's going around the enviro-green blogs at the moment to ponder what the most difficult thing to change would be. "On the path to sustainability, What Is The Most Difficult Thing To Change" has a heap of comments outlining what readers think would be the hardest to lose. So here is my list of 5 things that I'd find hardest to give up:

1. Coffee. Environmentally I try to get green(er) or organic, and free trade coffee. But when I'm out and about and want something, I'm not so able to find this and not so disciplined as to say no to my want.
2. Toilet paper, paper towel, tissues and plastic bags for little bins - but that's from a hygeine point of view. It's a perception perhaps that these things make my life cleaner, and I'm trying to change my approach but it's really hard to see myself using reusable toilet wipes. Paper towel is a bit easier to get away from, but the plastic bin liners are also part of my culture and they save me time in maintaining bins.
   
   Heh - I didn't say I was virtuous here. Just honest.
   
   
3. Eating non-locally produced food. Eating locally-grown produce is relatively easy. I refuse to eat imported fruit and veg, but I'd like to eat more locally-made foods to. It'd help if there were labels about this on items. Or alternately, a clear line of "it is better to eat locally-grown food than eat imported or shipped organically-grown food" to help me decide.
4. Colouring my hair. I love doing it for the pick-me-up I get but it's not fab for the environment or for sustainability.
5. Electricity, internets etc - I spend a lot of time on it. Our bills are low and not changed in winter too much but still, it's something of a concern.
   

Hippo birdy two ewes

I'm older today! 29 now! Yay! Nearly at the end of my 20s. Not sure how I feel about that. Today's horrorscope tells me:

It’s not a good day to postpone tasks or chores until tomorrow, no matter how straight-forward things may seem. Right now the signs are looking good for getting ahead of yourself in terms of work or school, so take advantage, because tomorrow’s planets warn of an unforeseen increase in your workload!

which means I should get organised to get out of the house to go and renew my license (wow that means I've had it for 10 years now!) and do a few other things. And do more of my assignment instead of playing online Uno...

Other dot points in my life:

• Doctors don't have a clue, and what they say is usually crap. I have little respect for most obstetricians to give honest, balanced advice but am rather spoilt by having a lovely GP who does call it like it is. The fact that a physician then doesn't do the same thing as my GP shouldn't surprise me but it did. Physicians make money by convincing people that they are broken, incapable, at risk and on a long slow path to barely being able to function (MUCH LIKE MANY OBS!!!!!) and I need to talk to more people who know I'm amazing, driven and focused, as well as progressing amazingly well and if not, then I'm able to adapt.
• House hunting blows goats. Especially when you find the perfect house, and the perfect landlord, who thinks you're perfect... only to say absolutely not to having a cat. And so I have to call up and beg for a reconsideration. When we're getting, but in the meantime my stomach is in knots waiting.
• Baby show was horrendous and amazing and fabulous all in one today. There were LOTS of formula companies there that made me VERY VERY angry. The only helium balloons were from K@ricare for eg and that made me want to break things. I made a point of going to the cloth nappy places, and to the sling places, and to the breast feeding association and so forth, rather than the standard crap. I did look at prams but that was more for fun with my sister. I miss being around women and midwives something fierce - October can't come soon enough!

Cutest toddler ever:

Very cute puppy:

New hair:

And so on and so on - more are on Flickr