Women Have Been Strong A Long Time

Thank You Angry Man. You Have Proven My Point.

Yesterday, I wrote a quick blog post about an insulting meme that is circulating after the Women's March on Washington. I also copied the post to my personal Facebook page.

I wrote:

How to silence a woman

Call her a slut.

It didn't work, they still marched.

Call her stupid/immoral.

It didn't work, they still marched.

Now they are calling her fat.

Congratulations to all the women who marched ... the trifecta of keeping a woman silenced didn't silence you.

And then this morning I woke up to this:

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!

(The anonymous poster left his website address here which I have removed)

I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don't know how to cook or clean, don't want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

Well OK, Mr Anonymous poster, I guess that means we won't be dating anytime soon. What made you think I was even interested in dating you?

I laughed it off.

But then, I saw these that were also sent to me:

Seriously?

I write a blog post calling out men (and unfortunately some women as well) for trying to shut down a woman when she voices her opinion or marches for her rights.  The three tactics commonly used are to call a woman a slut, stupid/unstable and fat.

And the response I got was calling me a slut, stupid and fat.

Unbelievable.

I know not to let any of this get to me and to not take it personally. After all, Mr Anonymous doesn't even have the courage of his convictions to sign his name. I just find it mildly amusing, more than a little maddening and incredibly insane that men (and some women) think it's OK to talk to anyone this way.

This is not normal nor acceptable.

As for that last comment pictured above... I have no words. Only fear and sadness.

How To Silence A Woman After The Women's March on Washington

How to silence a woman

Call her a slut.

It didn't work, they still marched.

Call her stupid/immoral.

It didn't work, they still marched.

Now they are calling her fat.

Congratulations to all the women who marched ... the trifecta of keeping a woman silenced didn't silence you.

Three Easy Steps For The Perfect Afternoon Nap

1. A cold and/or rainy afternoon
2. Fleece blanket
3. A puppy to snuggle with

I've never been a big napper. But lately for some reason I'm taking a nap just about every afternoon.

Not a long nap. Usually just a half hour. But I sleep better in that half hour than I do all night long!

Before I leave work I'll text Kid 5 to tell him I am on my way and be sure the puppy is wore out and ready for a nap. I get home, kick off my shoes, break my own rule of no dogs on the bed and we snuggle up under the blanket.

Best. Sleep. Ever.

Writing Rules: The Stupid Ones Anyway

January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you'd never heard?

 Writing rules that are stupid yet I still somehow seem to feel the need to follow:

1. Real writers have million dollar advances, are interviewed by Oprah and are driven around in chauffeured limos to sold out book readings.
2. Real writers have a writing room/writing cottage on the beach (or in the mountains) where they have floor to ceiling shelves full of classic literature. They retreat alone to these writing cottages on the beach (mountains) for months at a time to write and only stop occasionally to eat when the local town's food delivery service arrives.
3. Real writers write every day no matter what.
4. Real writers don't waste time Netflix binging.
5. Real writers don't question whether they are a real writer.

Those are my rules for being a writer.

I am well aware that they are all made up and self imposed rules that are impossible for 99.99% of writers to follow or ever achieve.

But, they are still what I am working toward. 

Except for number 4 because Orange Is The New Black should be coming back to Netflix very soon and I'm not missing that for anything or anyone.

Except Oprah. When Oprah calls I will hop on a plane faster than she can say book club!

This post is a part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a monthly meeting of writers who over think, under write and just want people to like them

Christmas Break

My last written post of 2016 was my Five-Year Writing Plan. I laid out my intentions for all the world to hold me accountable.

Then I took the month off from writing and reading.

And I don't feel bad about that at all.

First I took some time away to go to Kid 3's Army boot camp graduation. Hooah Army! For those
keeping track, that's one kid in the Navy and one kid in the Army.

Immediately upon returning home Christmas festivities, parties and baking began. I didn't make near the amount of cookies and fudge as I have in years past. And since I never really enjoyed cookie baking all that much anyway, I'm very grateful the kids are old enough now that if they want cookies they can make them themselves with minimal supervision.

I was sick as a dog on Christmas Eve with strep throat and a respiratory infection. But, again, very grateful my doctors office was open for a few hours that morning. And even more grateful that the antibiotics kicked in and I felt better Christmas Day.

The Navy kid didn't get leave until December 27 but it was a very chaotic homecoming that night. All the kids together again for the first time in 9 months and the puppy and kitten running around like crazy in the midst of the chaos.

Oh, the puppy! Yes, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to a puppy for Kid 5.

We think she looks a bit like a Jack Russell Terrier, but really she's just a mutt. But a very sweet little mutt. She's 12 weeks now and so far knows the commands sit, paw and down. We are working on stay. And still working on house training. I'd really really like her to pick up the house training a little faster, but like I keep reminding the kids, she is still just a baby.

But, now it's January and back to work. I am working a lot of extra hours in the fitness center this month. January is a crazy busy time in the gym so I'm able to pick up just about as many hours as I want.

And, now back to writing.

I have two writing assignments due very soon. I should have worked on them during the Christmas break. But my kids were home and we have a new puppy. So the work could wait.

Tonight is the first night back to a regular schedule since the holidays. I'm in my usual spot in Starbucks while Kid 4 is at dance, waiting for Kid 6's dance class to start. I had intended to begin work on one of the assignments, but, I think tomorrow is a better day to start.

This is us!
Kids 1 - 6, Stryder the kitten, Echo the puppy and Casey
the wonder dog that we regularly dog sit. Kid 1 looks
like he has his eyes closed but really he is
just trying to get the cat to stay still for the picture!