I wish I could be more eloquent in my appreciation but I’m exhausted, sore and feeling a bit brain dead from a full day yesterday in the trenches of Himalayan blackberry war. Suffice to say I loved every word of this. Thank you.
Stereotypers are lazy ignorants as opposed to those of us who are simply lazy in our spare time. We could use our spare time to become less ignorant, but naw.
There's a group of mostly white, mostly straight, American men who sit around my dining room table every two or three weeks to play games together. One bakes cookies or cakes to share with the group most weeks. Sometimes they organize a pot luck dinner or pool money together for pizzas. Sometimes they all pack their own dinner. I roam around the house and garden doing my own thing during the game nights. One of the men came to me asking if I had any salad dressing he could have because he brought his dinner but forgot his salad dressing at home. I told him I would make him some, since I don't have bottled dressing. He watched me mix a simple vinaigrette with herbs in a jar for him like I had done magic, and asked me to write down what I did because he wasn't aware that you could just make salad dressing. He said thank you about 15 times. Two weeks ago they brought their sticker and patch collections to trade and I made myself something to eat in the kitchen while they sat at the table in the next room trading stories and kindnesses. Half of the men at the table are married and I'm acquainted with their wives, but this is a game night for the boys. I love to have them at the house every few weeks to hear them have a good time, be nice to each other, and restore my faith in the way men behave together when there are so many prominent men in the news behaving badly.
I have only in my post-collegiate life resided with human males. This suits me quite well as I find them quite joyful and occasionally useful and rather more tolerant of my idiosyncrasies than most human females (although I have beloved female friends, I doubt living with me would lead to much joy).
I worry how to explain to my sons that some women will view them as a threat simply because maleness equals violence and pain in those women’s experience, and that they should not resent this or take it personally.
Your writing always grapples with the difficult and painful in a beautiful way.
I wish I could be more eloquent in my appreciation but I’m exhausted, sore and feeling a bit brain dead from a full day yesterday in the trenches of Himalayan blackberry war. Suffice to say I loved every word of this. Thank you.
Thank you Fiona. Those blackberries have a way of whooping one's ass... much appreciation for your efforts.
Stereotypers are lazy ignorants as opposed to those of us who are simply lazy in our spare time. We could use our spare time to become less ignorant, but naw.
There's a group of mostly white, mostly straight, American men who sit around my dining room table every two or three weeks to play games together. One bakes cookies or cakes to share with the group most weeks. Sometimes they organize a pot luck dinner or pool money together for pizzas. Sometimes they all pack their own dinner. I roam around the house and garden doing my own thing during the game nights. One of the men came to me asking if I had any salad dressing he could have because he brought his dinner but forgot his salad dressing at home. I told him I would make him some, since I don't have bottled dressing. He watched me mix a simple vinaigrette with herbs in a jar for him like I had done magic, and asked me to write down what I did because he wasn't aware that you could just make salad dressing. He said thank you about 15 times. Two weeks ago they brought their sticker and patch collections to trade and I made myself something to eat in the kitchen while they sat at the table in the next room trading stories and kindnesses. Half of the men at the table are married and I'm acquainted with their wives, but this is a game night for the boys. I love to have them at the house every few weeks to hear them have a good time, be nice to each other, and restore my faith in the way men behave together when there are so many prominent men in the news behaving badly.
I have only in my post-collegiate life resided with human males. This suits me quite well as I find them quite joyful and occasionally useful and rather more tolerant of my idiosyncrasies than most human females (although I have beloved female friends, I doubt living with me would lead to much joy).
I worry how to explain to my sons that some women will view them as a threat simply because maleness equals violence and pain in those women’s experience, and that they should not resent this or take it personally.
Your writing always grapples with the difficult and painful in a beautiful way.