Brooklyn Community Acupuncture Fun

You must come to the Brooklyn Community Acupuncture fundraiser & silent auction on Saturday, December 6th from 4 pm - 7 pm

At Maria's clinic... 1212 SE Powell Blvd. in Portland

It's free & kids are welcome

There will be lots of  food and drink, live music by E Bene Placita & Woke Up Wrong & a super-cool silent auction with lots of local art work including these and other paintings by Eli Halpin, paintings by Ben Clark, dozens of massage gift certificates, astrological readings, a writing workshop with me, personal training sessions, Flamenco dance classes, and gift certificates to local restaurants... Yum! See you there. Get directions & more info here

hip mama singapore!

I will survive

We finally got to rent Young @ Heart, and watch the movie in its entirety. We'd tried to see it at the fabulous Academy Theater, but the baby geeked out in the daycare room half-way through and they called us to come and get him and off we went, left in suspense!

But all things happen for a reason, as the new agers say, and as transcendent as Young @ Heart is on the big screen, home was a comfier place to take it in AND, more importantly, one of the very best music videos in the whole movie is actually in the "deleted scenes"--so you HAVE TO get the DVD.

Or see it on the big screen and see the deleted music video here. (Deleted? Why? These ladies were robbed!)

Uninvited

Sometimes being a mama feels exactly like being in high school. You're thrown in with a group of people you have nothing in common with but a life-stage and the slightly elevated chance they'll be on psycho-pharms.

The other day I took Max to Urban Grind, this lovely kid-friendly cafe in my neighborhood. It has big play rooms and strong coffee.

There were at least a dozen other kids Max's age. He loved them! They all played with the big Legos and chased each other down the plastic slide.

I couldn't believe our luck. So many kids.

And then another mama asked, "Are you here for the meet-up?"

"No," I shrugged. "We're just randomly here."

"Oh," the woman smiled. "Well, we have this meet-up every week. Our kids are between one and eighteen months. You can check on line to see where we'll meet next. And..."

"And," another mom interrupted, brushing the crumbs off her Urban Outfitters sweat jacket. "We're actually closed to new members."

There was this collective silence among all the mamas in which I wondered if I'd misunderstood. I contemplated asking: Do you know who I am? But I just nodded. "Oh," I said. "Right. Oh well."

It was exactly how I always felt in high school. Invited and then uninvited to the cool kids' party. I dropped out of high school.

It was exactly how I always felt when I was a teen mom. Excluded. Alienated. But back then I always figured  it was because I was too young. I figured they thought I was a loser shit because I was 19 and they were 34. A clear case of discrimination.

But now they are still 34. And I am 38.

And I am learning. And learning again. That it isn't my age. I am just

fundamentally

alienated

from

parenting

culture.

What's your experience being fat?

A student of mine is working on a project about the experience of being a fat woman in America and looking for input... Please help! She's especially interested in hearing from fat women, but all are welcome.

There's no judgment here--we live in a society where fat is bad, we know that. Be honest, and have no fear! Post your answers here or email Shell. Answer one or a few of the questions--whichever inspire your imagination.

How do you feel when you hear a woman described as fat? Neutral? Sad? Sorry for them? Pissed at the skinny asshole who is describing?

What could the real experiences of a fat woman (funny, sad, delightful, sexual, honest accounts of discriminaton) provoke in readers accustomed to weight-loss memoirs?

In your opinion, is fat discrimination comparable to racism, sexism, homophobia? Why? Why not?

What immediately comes to mind when you think about clothes for fat women? 

What images do you see when you think about fat women as sexual?  How are these images the same or different than the sexuality America pushes

in glossy mags? 

Why do you think "fat" is scary to many people? 

temporary recession pricing for workshops

If you're thinking about signing up for the January online class or the Retreat at Mt. Shasta, I'm offering temporary recession pricing. Sign up now...

Lit Star Training

Spring Break Mt. Shasta Retreat

watching the returns

 OBAMA!  

But...

What the F is up with California? Did folks for real go to the polls and vote for Obama and against marriage? Yes they did. Way to put the downer on my election party, dude. But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Black voters only make up 6.2 percent of California's electorate, but they're already taking part of the blame for this one--exit polls show that 70 percent of black voters said no on the marriage question. Ouch. Pam Spaulding blogged, "The belief that "white equals gay" is a big part of the problem. As long as black LGBTs are invisible in their own communities and there is a dearth of color in the public face of LGBT leadership, the socially-conservative black community can remain in denial that I exist as a black lesbian."

But being for Obama doesn't make anyone all about equality. Oregon's electorate is largely white, and they prove themselves blue & homophobic every time.

Sigh.