Today was the first day in, well, forever, that it was warm enough for shorts. I also had friends visiting for the day (yay!) and a full day of caching and nature watching planned, so I decided it was "time" to shave the winter coat.
As a feminist hippie, I'm just fine with not shaving. But as someone who is too sensitive for their own good (on many fronts), I've learned that the obnoxious comments about my hairy pits is just more than I want to deal with. So, as a nifty compromise, I don't bother with shaving from September until spring. It's my personal "win-win," because I am just that easy to please.
Now none of this matters at all in the grand scheme of life, so I continue to be amazed by people's reactions to the way other people, and women people in particular, choose to conduct their personal grooming. One year I tried to go the summer without shaving, but the looks and the comments I received were just unbelievable, and ranged from staring to the occasional sneered "Must be a dyke." Seriously? Are we still stuck there?
The other male-female dynamic that I find interesting is that people (friends) always want to know how my partner feels about the hairy (pits in particular). It's like "Well, YOU may be ok with not shaving, but what does your man have to say about it?" as though my feelings on the matter aren't enough to justify my decisions. This always makes me chuckle, because I can say with 100% certainty that if I were involved with someone who flat-out could not handle some hair, he could flat-out take a hike. I can also say that while I have been involved with more than one macho type, NONE of them have ever bailed over the hair (which just goes to show that guys will say what they think their idiot friends want to hear, but they tend to be smart enough to know which side their bread is buttered on).
Naturally, my hippie husband couldn't care less about the state of my body hair - though he is plugged in enough to notice. When I was changing my shirt this evening he said, "Hey, what did you do with my wife?"
Happy spring to one and all!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Is it Spring, yet?
I think we have finally turned the corner - though it's been wet wet wet, it's at least getting warmer here. The peepers are out, it stays light past 7, and I feel a little less like killing myself.
Dan landed a pretty good job and started back to work this week, so he's been a lot more relaxed - and for that I am thankful. Dan, unlike me, is just a mellow, happy guy, and seeing him stressed made me sad for him. But even unhappy, Dan is simply the most wonderful guy. No matter what else is going on, our relationship is great. Thank god.
I haven't been blogging much - no shit - and I don't know if it's because I don't have the time I used to, or if it's because I feel like my readers must think I am just a giant ball of misery. It's funny - in spite of my struggles (whatever they are at the moment), I have always considered myself fairly happy. What!? Happy? Surely I must be kidding. But it's true. I laugh a lot, and for most of my life I have been known as "the life of the party" even though I have never "partied" in traditional terms. I'm kind, generous, and, believe it or not, optimistic. And maybe that's my problem - I am so optimistic, and by extension, naive, that every time something shitty happens, I always feel blindsided or disappointed. Does that make sense?
I think that's why this whole move and job has been such a hard transition for me - I really and truly believed that this was finally my time. A good job. A new place. Fewer money worries. A sense of pride and accomplishment. All of my study, hard work, and desire to make a difference being rewarded with some sense of peace. Ha.
I am working hard to move past the disappointment I feel and concentrate on the good things, and I am sure that the coming season will go a long way toward that goal. Ten minutes in the ocean is usually all I need to erase a day full of "meh." I am looking forward to kayaking with Dan on the beautiful salt-water river we live on, and I am hoping to get out on the trails for real this year so that I can drop at least a few of these depressed winter pounds. I can't wait for the sun to turn my skin from coffee to chocolate and my hair from black to golden brown. And I hope that this summer, people actually come visit us - there's a bed waiting for you on the sun porch.
Dan landed a pretty good job and started back to work this week, so he's been a lot more relaxed - and for that I am thankful. Dan, unlike me, is just a mellow, happy guy, and seeing him stressed made me sad for him. But even unhappy, Dan is simply the most wonderful guy. No matter what else is going on, our relationship is great. Thank god.
I haven't been blogging much - no shit - and I don't know if it's because I don't have the time I used to, or if it's because I feel like my readers must think I am just a giant ball of misery. It's funny - in spite of my struggles (whatever they are at the moment), I have always considered myself fairly happy. What!? Happy? Surely I must be kidding. But it's true. I laugh a lot, and for most of my life I have been known as "the life of the party" even though I have never "partied" in traditional terms. I'm kind, generous, and, believe it or not, optimistic. And maybe that's my problem - I am so optimistic, and by extension, naive, that every time something shitty happens, I always feel blindsided or disappointed. Does that make sense?
I think that's why this whole move and job has been such a hard transition for me - I really and truly believed that this was finally my time. A good job. A new place. Fewer money worries. A sense of pride and accomplishment. All of my study, hard work, and desire to make a difference being rewarded with some sense of peace. Ha.
I am working hard to move past the disappointment I feel and concentrate on the good things, and I am sure that the coming season will go a long way toward that goal. Ten minutes in the ocean is usually all I need to erase a day full of "meh." I am looking forward to kayaking with Dan on the beautiful salt-water river we live on, and I am hoping to get out on the trails for real this year so that I can drop at least a few of these depressed winter pounds. I can't wait for the sun to turn my skin from coffee to chocolate and my hair from black to golden brown. And I hope that this summer, people actually come visit us - there's a bed waiting for you on the sun porch.
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