Rambling [Wo]Man

Yeah, it’s been a while…I’ve been busy posting on the Wedding Blog. And even that’s been pretty infrequent until just recently. I guess I just don’t feel very interesting right now–the wedding is taking more of a driver’s seat, work is crappy, I’m having a hard time with my dad having a hard time about my mom, and there’s really nothing interesting happening.

I’ve also re-considered just shutting this whole thing down and creating a new blog where I feel freer to post about things that might reach a bigger audience. Technically, I could just re-purpose this blog–I don’t think I have anything here to REALLY be embarrassed about, and who would really take the time to go through the past, what…5 or 6 years just to find a few F-bombs and general emo-ness?

I guess what a lot of this comes down to is that I am feeling the Winter blahs and am, at some level, unsatisfied with my life. I  shouldn’t be, but maybe some of this is an extension of my #oneword2012–I feel kind of fragmented, and want to Focus my life into something more whole.

Nope, I don’t know where I was going with this…

An Interesting Resolution Concept: One Word

I’m not one for New year’s Resolutions because, frankly, they don’t succeed. I’d love to know if any of my readers have succeeded at one of their resolutions, ever. There is something being discussed on #sachat however that intrigues me: One Word Resolution. Some of the Tweeters I follow did this in 2011, and inspired many more to try it out in 2012. The idea behind this is that you select one word to sum up who you want to be or how you want to live for the year that you concentrate on every day.

As I look back at 2011 and ahead for 2012, I can see EXACTLY what word I need to  select for this project: FOCUS.

Image from "Learning Fundamentals"

In fact, this has been something I should have concentrated on for years, but I’m not going to worry about the past. With the new-ish job, Girl Scouts, wedding planning, housework, hobbies, Ellie and friends, I don’t have a lot of time available for screwing around aimlessly. Well, a ton of screwing around anyway. I know that when I follow a schedule and check things off my to-do list, I’m a happier person, and less prone to bouts of anxiety. When I get caught up in the cycle of anxiety, I shut down and don’t accomplish anything.

So, focus.

T Happenings

I ride the MBTA to and from work pretty much every work day, and have been for over 2 years. Most days are fairly standard. By standard, I mean “packed tighter than sardines with the backpack of some jackass who can’t be bothered to take it off jammed into my back and the armpit of another asshat pressed into my face because he couldn’t wait 10 more minutes for a new train.”

Today was a little different, and not just because I got a seat due to most people taking the holiday week off. At South Station, a guy about my age gets on, and I overhear him say, “Step into the car. Don’t be n00bs and don’t bother the real commuters” as about 20 high school aged kids follow him onto the train. I smiled, because this guy obviously had an idea of what was going on, unlike most teachers that think bringing their brats into the “big city” during morning rush hour is a grand idea. Then he told them to “Hold on. With 2 hands. That strap might not be your best option.” Of course I snickered as flashbacks of many a ride where some moron is holding on for dear life but still falls all over herself (and every other passenger within a 10-foot vicinity) as the train starts (and stops of course, because she can’t learn from her first mistake…).

Mr. Teacher happened to be standing in front of me and I smiled at him, making some quip about how even regular T riders had trouble with that. We chatted the next few stops about their excursion to MIT and commuting. When I got off at Park, both he and some of the kids wished me a good day. It was really refreshing to not only have an easy commute, but a pleasurable one at that. Thank you random teacher and high schoolers from Lakeville. Best of luck with your History Fair

Yet Another Girl Scout Post

I’m not sure how many of you head about the semi-recent (a month ago is semi-recent…I haven’t had the time/energy to write about this yet, sue me!!) situation with the Girl Scouts of Colorado, but here it is in a nutshell: a boy in Denver, who dresses & behaves like a girl, but is still referred to as “he” by his family/school/etc tried to join the Girl Scouts. The volunteer the family spoke to didn’t handle the situation very well, and when the story first broke, GS of Colorado issued this statement in response:

“Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them. In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach. She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we’re better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers.” 

Obviously, this made a ton of people on both sides of the transgender issue upset. Bobby, however, is not a Girl Scout. A few days after the above story was posted to the Girl Scout listserve I follow, there was a follow up about some posts made to the council’s facebook page:

We understand that some families are concerned that boys will be joining their daughters’ Girl Scout troops or that their daughters may be placed in uncomfortable situations. We are a girl-serving organization, and we do not grant membership to boys. We grant membership to a transgender child when she and her family have made the decision that she should live her life as a girl. These situations are rare, and when they occur, GSCO is committed to working with all girls and families to ensure that Girl Scouting provides a safe, nurturing environment, and that the sensibilities of all are respected. GSCO works on a case by case basis to resolve issues and make sure that every girl finds a safe place in Girl Scouts.
Yesterday at 12:36pm ·

Girl Scouts of Colorado Just to be clear, our position remains the same as it was before the media became involved. If a child lives life as a girl and her family brings her to Girl Scouts and says, “My daughter wants to be a Girl Scout,” we welcome her.
Thursday at 12:43pm

Girl Scouts of Colorado
Just to clarify, Bobby is not a member of Girl Scouts of Colorado. As the mother presented Bobby as her son who likes girl things, he does not meet our membership criteria. If they decide as a family for Bobby to live her life as a girl, we… would welcome her. We are standing by the same approach as we had before the media became involved. It does not appear that this mother is truly interested in Girl Scout membership for her child.
Yesterday at 2:26pm 

I’ll be completely honest; I’m okay with the result of this.  I AM happy that GSCO has taken the stand that Girl Scouts really is for ALL girls. I also accept their stance that Bobby is currently not living life as a girl, so should not be a member of the Girl Scouts. I can understand the concern of parents about allowing a biologically male child into their daughter’s troop. At 6 or 7, there’s not much trouble that can happen, but as they get to the teen years, the issues are abundant, and have the potential to get worse. Plus, there are many things that bio-females experience that a transgendered woman never will (and the opposite is true as well). I feel there is still a long way to go societally before this could truly be successful, and have to admit that I’d be hesitant to be the guinea pig troop leader, although I’d probably do it because SOMEBODY has to step up and how many would be willing to?

I wish Bobby the best as s/he navigates life, and really hope the family finds the right extra-curricular activity fit for them.

A Mini-Rant

Today, the GSEM Delegation for the Girl Scouts’ National Convention left for Huston. I feel like i should be with them, and it’s really upsetting that I’m not. Why am I upset about this? Well, I applied, received confirmation that they got my application, then heard nothing. One day in January, as I was going to participate in an event at my Practicum site, I got a call from one of the delegation coordinators, “Did you receive any emails from us? No? Oh, you must have fallen off the list…well, the final interview event is happening right now if you want to come over.”

Not only could I not go to the event, but it had started 2 hours earlier, so I’d have missed a bunch of it, and, honestly, I didn’t WANT to go. If they didn’t care enough to ensure everyone that applied was contacted, then why did I want to be a part of it? Not to mention I’d missed 2 or 3 other pieces of the interview process, so I wasn’t likely to be chosen anyway. I know that mistakes happen–shit, I make them often enough–but this one just really hurts.