A couple of things that ticked me off today...

So, I was watching tv this morning, and a commercial came on for a baby Elmo that you can feed, burp, ease it to sleep, etc. Of course, a little girl was holding the baby Elmo, nurturing it like a real human baby. I wish we could get past this whole thing of driving home the socially acceptable roles for girls and boys. If a boy picked up that baby Elmo, and wanted to play with it, would that really be a bad thing? Or, should he instead pick up the toy gun or truck and play with it instead?

Also, my husband and I are opening up a savings account at a credit union. The credit union wants a copy of our marriage license. Now, we don't know if this is normal, but we have to show proof we are married. I'm guessing the reason for that is I didn't (and won't) take my husband's last name. Why should I? It's just an outdated tradition that has no legal foothold anywhere. I like my name just the way it is, and to be quite frank, it would be a hassle to change it. Some people say that it isn't showing my level of commitment to the marriage, so why doesn't my husband change his last name to mine? "Oh, that just isn't done!" WTF? Give me a break. Even my husband said I didn't marry you just so you would take my name.... You know, I get odd looks still after telling people that I'm not going to take his name, like I offended their beliefs or ideals.

Ah life....it is a strange journey, eh?

Yeah, it's been a while...

But, I've not totally gone away. Life sure can get in the way sometimes...

I was just thinking how truly hard it is to be an individual these days. I'm thinking this because we see so many people doing so many things to express their individuality, that we feel we are copying them, so we try and come up with other ways of expressing who we are. I often wonder what the world would be like if we were left to figure out things for ourselves, without outside influences (like advertisements, magazines, celebrity-watching websites). How different would we be?

I heard a great phrase on the way home from work today... "Be the calvary you want to see coming over the hill". Nice, huh?