Quiverfull Makes Me Quiver, And Not In A Good Way

Alright, have we heard about this movement? This was just brought to my attention today and I have to say I'm oddly fascinated and terrified at the same time.

Quiverfull essentially means that when two people (man and woman) are married then no birth control (Pill, condom, rhythm method, NOTHING) may be used. Have as many children as you have, each is a blessing, each is from God, etc., etc.

And it seems that this is catching on, in some areas of the world. Most notably in the US and now in Canada.

Hey, if you want to have tons of babies, by all means, go and procreate. It's really no skin off my nose.

However, please don't tell me that if you have 12 children you'll be able to spend as much quality time together. Or that you'll all be happy all the time. Let's be real. When you have a gaggle of babies (just as if you would only have one or none) nothing is perfect. I think this is the part that drives me the most insane. That everything is wonderful, everything is perfect, nothing is ever difficult and sleep is readily available.

For me, I find the most interesting conversation to be about this idea that more and more women are choosing (and in some cases I would use the word 'choose' loosely) this type of family planning.

The idea of a woman essentially being a vessel is a hard idea for me to accept, even if this is what they want. Call me a snob- but I am completely obsessed to know what the personal identity of those women are. Apart from the labels of 'mother' and 'wife', I wonder what they would classify themselves. I would love to pick apart their brain, although I imagine myself say "No, but really, what is your personal identity- without the kids. Because eventually the kids will leave and I want to know what you do for yourself. So tell me."

Then I stumbled over an article that spoke about Andrea Yates. If you don't remember her I'll jog your memory. She was the mother who drowned all five of her young children in the bathtub when her husband was at work. After she was arrested and found that post-partum depression played a large role even more evidence rolled in. According to reports, a couple of days previous to the horrifying deaths of the five Yates children, Andrea started to get pamphlets and visits from her Quiverfull-devoted church. And these visits were not the "how's it going" variety. It seems that people had heard about Andrea's desire to stop having babies and unhappiness with her role as mama.

Hm. Hopefully the lack of support was kept in mind when she was punished (which was deserved).

And then there's the fascination that media has, and in turn a large population of us. Television shows and specials are being massed produced (Duggars anyone?). And the ratings are fantastic. Which is good for them, feeding a brood of 13 children gets expensive. However I had seen some families be very resourceful with saving money (Tater Tots, making clothes, diapers and using all that free manual labour).

I may sound self-righteous about this, but I think my concerns are valid. Couple this with the fact that roles in the families are straight out of Leave It To Beaver (girls are in charge of cooking and sewing, boys in charge of outside maintenance), we should all be talking about this change in family makeup.

But again, I will stress that my mantra "My uterus, my decision, so keep your theology off my biology" swings both ways. So while I have warranted concerns, if the Duggars want to usher in baby number 20 after number 19 is born in January- by all means go for it. *Jessie shudders for Mrs. Duggar's vagina*

I Don't Even Like His Flicks

I'm not a huge Matt Damon fan (although I do believe that I wore out a copy of "Good Will Hunting" on VHS when I was in high school), but I have to say that since this video has been making the rounds, I'm changing my mind about him.

Apparently, Matt Damon is the most bankable star, meaning that his return at the box office when compared to what he makes is the best.

Now I can see why. You may have already seen this short clip of Matty talking about his concern about Sarah Palin, but you should watch again.

I'm not too hot on celebs who spout off about politics, but I am really feeling this one (coincidentally we kind of agree).

His dreamy.

Spelling Bee Fainter

Still My Fave Fairy Tale (Rachel Would Really Like It!)

My dad sent this story to me a while ago and I believe he was being a bit of a shit disturber when he did. But it's so lovely.

As well, I think that my little friend, Rachel, would actually love this story. I say this because the tiny senior kindergarten-er has a bizarre fascination with killing off the characters in her stories that she tells to anyone who will listen.

Note to her parents, tell her this story tonight (and makes sure she's wearing her favourite green t-shirt).

The fairy tale they should have read us when we were little girls...

Once upon a time in a land far away a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess' lap and said "Elegant lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper young prince that I am.

And then my sweet, we can marry and set up housekeeping in your castle with my mother. Where you can prepare meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."

That night, as the princess dined sumptuously on lightly sauteed frog legs seasoned in white wine and onion cream sauce, she chuckled and thought to herself...

I don't fucking think so.

Changes At VT

You may have noticed that I'm trying some stuff out here with the blog now that we've passed the two year period (and I have some time on my hands).

New templates and widgets may be popping up- and I would like to draw your attention towards the "Blog List" which is one of my favourites at the moment.

They're my favourite blogs out there (so far with many more to come) and they update as their authors do. I'm really loving "Feministing" right now. Its stuff on feminism and Sarah Palin are amazing and quite necessary as people seem to want to paste this label onto the govenor of Alaska. Quite frightening when you think about it- definitely check it out! It's mildly terrifying what people (and when I say people I mean 'men') are trying to create Palin to be. The video about Palin's inactivity surrounding Alaska's sky rocketing domestic violence rates (the clip talks about it being a real epidemic in the northern state) is pretty shocking. Her actions don't really read as 'feminist' even to the most loose definition.

Anyway- check it out along with the others (Five Blondes is a very good read as well!) and send me your faves.

Oh, and participate democratically on my blog! Ch-ch-check out the polls and get ready for Oct. 14th and stretch your voting muscles.

A Unique Experience?

Yes, last Sunday I entered my very first spa.

Not exactly something I saw myself doing- but kind of interesting.

Annie, Maggie, Gramma and I drove over the spa on Windermere.

It was very different stepping right in, and we started with colour selection for our PEDICURE. For me the selection was very easy. My favourite colour, the colour of my car and the colour of my political party was the first one I picked: orange.

For my family, it seemed more like a crisis. Choosing colours is not an easy thing for my sisters (or my gramma!) to do quickly. It was odd considering that most of the colours were just different shades of pink and red.

Before we knew it our spa people (what do you call someone who gives you a pedicure?) came up behind us. Each of them called out our name, and it was mildly reminisct of my childhood playground.

We were brought into the back and there were four seats that were very cushion-y. Strange...they were on a platform and this presented my first issue. How the hell do I get up there? First I had to take of my nasty flip flops...and I guess you'll first have to know about my philosophy about flip flops. I buy one pair a year (for about $20...the Airwalks are my favourite). And by the end of the summer (around this time) they are very odd looking and a bit rank. And considering that the ones I wore on this Sunday were the same ones I tromped around Australia with they are a bit weird looking. They have traveled over 30,000 kilometers, and they look it.

Anywho- I took those off (and praying that Yoanne didn't pick them up) and then had to figure out how to get up on the stair and in the comfy chair. After a little help, I got up there.

When we were all up, I had to test the water...and I did it with my hand. Big mistake. I guess you have to do this with your foot. Whatever. At least I didn't think the water was laced with Mr. Clean, as Annie thought.

So the pedicure started...and I'm realizing that someone is touching my FEET. It was bizarre.

And I had a lot of questions. Because as she started she opened up a sterile package of big metal tools. And those big metal tools were going straight for my size eleven wides...

My questions were along the lines of:

What is that?
What are you doing?
What's that for?
What am I smelling?

And my family was not kind.

Besides that, I had no idea what to do in the long silences. I would look over, and all three of them would be quiet or have eyes closed. How do you sleep when someone is messing with your feet? Anxiety begins for Jessie...

Meanwhile, my fear of kicking the poor woman because of my ticklish feet did not happen. Thank god. But when I did look over at Annie, she did have the jimmy legs...moving all over. Luckily, Marta (her pedicure-person) had a firm grip on her oddly shaped mini-feet (seriously, her toes are waaay stumpy).

About mid way through, Yoanne took a bag and put it on my foot. It was hot. I asked about 3 questions rapid fire. Turns out this was the wax I had heard about. Earlier that day Maggie and Annie had mentioned something about melted wax. And I was a touch concerned.

Me: They do what?!

I would love to know who thought of this little treatment with hot wax. How does that get discovered? Was it an accident? Who was the guinea pig for that? Someone still needs to explain the logic.

Well, this is what they do- they slip your foot into a bag filled with melted wax. An odd sensation really.

But when all was said and done, my feet were the cleanest they have been since grade 3.

And I think I actually might have liked it-just a little.

If anything, my toes are ready to vote NDP (that is if we get a candidate in this riding...).

Pretty Song

You must listen to this song, "Today" by Joshua Radin. So nice.

In Reference To The Last Post...

The answer is an emphatic no.

Jessie Orange-less In London North Centre

Ok, so I'm not feeling very well and wanted to cheer myself up...and naturally I would find out about our impending federal election (yea!).

Imagine my surprise when I found out that I have NO candidate for NDP in my riding.

What the hell?!

This is ridiculous. I am livid. What is going on? Are you kidding me? Seriously? No NDP candidate in London North Centre? Out of about 120,000 people we have absolutely zero possibilities?

I can't even process this. What the heck am I supposed to do on October 14th? What? What?! Someone please tell me. And don't even suggest going blue or red.

I went through a bizarre pedicure to get my neglected toes coloured like an NDP (more on that later...and there is much more) and I have no candidate.

I could spoil my ballot...

So here I am hopped up on Benedryl and sneezing my head off and trying to understand why we have no one.

This is bullshit.

Getting Barack'd Rolled

Maybe This Will Work For Maggie's Class?

Teacher rewards pupils with signed photos

A handsome teacher in China is offering pupils autographed photos of himself to encourage them to work harder.

Ji Feng, also vice principal of Zhiyuan Foreign Language Elementary School, is so popular among students that a lot of them were asking him for pictures.

"I came up with the idea of giving them my signed pictures as a reward," he told the Nanjing Morning Post.

Students who put in exemplary work can now pose for a picture with Ji who then signs the printed photograph.

Ji added: "It absolutely is not narcissism, but a way of encouragement. And only the students who perform the best can get such a reward."

Ji said three students had so far submitted work good enough for signed pictures - but he hoped to give out many more.