i'm a thinkin' and a rockin' and a random...

i should preface this post with sincere apologies and heartfelt gratitude first of all to puglet who nominated me back in april (yikes!) for a thinking bloggers award :

Tag you're it! The participation rules are simple: 1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. 2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote."

...and to lien who nominated me back in july (yikes squared!) for a rockin' blogger award:

Rockin' Bloggers and Five Random Thoughts About Feminism


i have a very hard time accepting compliments of any kind - an infuriating quirk of mine - so, i apologize. not excusing my behavior, just explaining it. mea culpa! here, i will attempt to make amends:

the 5 blogs who make me think and who i consider rockin' (and who haven't already received these awards to my knowledge):

bloggo chicago - who makes me think about what could have happened if i'd continued playing hockey and that i should keep better tabs on my friends (especially the furry four legged kind) and ensure that they're doing better than ok, physically and emotionally.

Chicago Chick - who makes me think about the trials and tribulations of a chicago working mom. and pretty much scares me off of full-time, out of the home employment... kidding!!!

imPerceptibility - who makes me think about what life is like after kids turn 5. it looks as if it's easier to find the silver lining and time to spend with your mate - flirting unapologetically.

kitchen fire - who makes me think more about raising a mixed race child and that maybe if we'd found ourselves in california that we'd be neighbors. her passionate posts leave me pensive... good thing she's a teacher.

my funny funny family aka the nutmeg news - who makes me think about basically everything... which speaks to/of her journalist leanings.


and my five random thoughts on feminism:

1) i don't consider myself a feminist. i just don't see where i fit in. i'd like to fit in, but i just don't think i fit in.

2) a friend of mine in high school who considered herself a feminist gave me a short list of reading materials to into me into feminist writing. the only one i read was the awakening by kate chopin. that last scene in unforgettable.

3) in college, i read the beauty myth by naomi wolf and the feminine mystique by betty friedan. i don't remember feeling very empowered by either book which makes me think i should re-read them.

4) i'm currently reading the yellow wallpaper by charlotte perkins gilman and feminism is not the story of my life by elizabeth fox-genovese.

5) i worry that i'm not much of a feminist role model for my daughter.


last but not least, i've been tagged by sarah over at deliberately random thoughts for the eight random things about me meme.

Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.


1) i made a new dress for the paloma's BFF. it's from a late 50's pattern and modern fabric/trim. my grandmother taught me how to sew originally. she could make a dress for anyone without a pattern. then, i took sewing classes in high school and then, refined all of that when i went to art school and studied fashion design. during my first year, i won a very prestigious award at a contest judged by a very famous american designer who's spring collection the following year included a dress that looked strikingly similar to the one that won the award. i know sewing seems "too domestic" and "housewifey" but it managed to help my grandmother raise 13 children and planted the seed for what i realize now is a misunderstood and underappreciated art form.

2) i was (am?) a fan of olivia newton john. i have Xanadu on DVD and in a high school talent show, i sang "The Promise" - a song from her Physical album. originally, i auditioned for the talent show to get over my fear of doing something like that. i never expected to get the solo. i almost said "no". looking back and watching the youtube video, i really wish i'd said "no".

3) i can sing christmas carols in polish (as in Poland, not furniture). i was part of my neighborhood church choir as a kid. the choir and the congregation was mostly polish. so, alongside "silent night" and the other traditional carols, we sang "cicha noc", "lulajze, jezuniu", "dzisiaj w betlejem"and "gdy sie chrystus rodzi". i was an alto most of the time.

4) when i do get to take a shower, i blow dry and iron my hair to get it stick straight. i put a hat on or wear a headband if i can't get to it. i feel like a fraud.

5) when i was little, i couldn't really afford glasses and the optician who looked at my eyes found a pair of used glasses to give me for free. for some reason however, the glasses were tilted very far forward - we're talking at a 45 degree angle. i'm really not sure why he did that. we never went back to him despite his kindness. (i finally got new glasses btw. no more cyclops for me. yay!)

6) i share a former flame with another blogger who i've never met IRL. instead of comparing notes, we tease each other about it via facebook. i just found out that his band, an iconic chicago punk band, is coming out with a dvd in a few days. the whole situation is comical.

7) i used to breakdance as a kid with a handful of other kids and we used to carry around a couple of ratty, old, duct taped, balikbayan boxes around the 'hood. they called me "penny" - and not because i could do the move - 'cause i couldn't.

8) i've never broken a bone. sometimes i think because i was born with cystic hygroma and we had such a tough time of it all, i've been spared the whole breaking a bone thing (knock wood). once when i was bitten by a dog, my mom took me to my pediatrician right away. she was frazzled and worried. the ped did his usual wellness check up routine and finally, looked at the bite. he sighed, took off his glasses and said, "how's the dog doing?" he said that i'd been injected with pretty much everything known to man to keep me alive that he was shocked the dog wasn't dead.

i tag the thin man, puglet, flahute, ms bees knees, bertville, toronto gyopo, uncle hambone and samok daddy.