For anyone, like me, who just needs to laugh today...

 

Our newest creation. 

What have you been doing today?

Hi again!
Today has been a day for me where I have been forced to evaluate myself as a person.
As a friend, I think that I am good because I always try to hang out with everyone, and I am always there to listen to whomever needs it.
As a girlfriend, I hope I am doing well. It seems like it so far, but I know I have a tendency to become selfish, and I don't want that to happen this time. I REALLY don't want anything bad to happen this time...
As an employee I remain unsure. Granted, the people that I deal with at work on a day to day basis are not the world's smartest people...my job makes me feel like I am not meeting my potential in life (thank goodness because I do not want to stay in retail haha) yet, sometimes it feels so rewarding.
And as a student, I am lacking because I am not in college for myself; I am in college for those around me so that they don't have to be afraid of me failing.
Alas, I have come to the welcome realization that if we do not make ourselves happy, and if we are not ultimately proud of ourselves, then we are nowhere. And it is important to keep only the people who support you when you're at your worst around in your life.
Hopefully this helps someone else besides myself.
Court

Musical Musings

Doing some meditation on music lately ... in highschool, I came out, so I started redefining my life, finding things that were relevant to me. My music tastes changed; I was so bored with what was on the radio but didn't know where or how to look for something that would speak to me. First site I stumbled upon was AfterEllen.com, which introduced me to so many artists: Tegan and Sara, Sleater Kinney, LP, Le Tigre, Scream Club, Chris Pureka ... so many others. Every week, I'd scower the web for new perspectives, new beats, shit that meant something. I got rid of so much "music" that was engineered, regurgitated, said the same thing as twelve million other songs, just with a different voice of someone who sounded similar to someone else. 

What I hated about female mainstream (especially pop) music, was that it all said the same thing; woman in question was at the mercy of a man who didn't love her. All sung at the same unnatural, super tweaked, breathy pitch. I didn't like it; it wasn't me, that's not what I wanted in my music. All the dude music didn't seem to pertain to me, either. It was nicer to listen to, and had a broader range of vocals, but the more I thought about it, I wondered why more women couldn't sing like this, write like this and be respected. Surely not every woman in the world has love and men primarily and squarely on her mind. That cant be her whole worth. 

During highschool, I wiped about 70% of my music library from my computer. Re-played radio trash was gone, stuff I liked but for the wrong reasons was gone, stuff with great beats but terrible lyrics was gone, though with some foot-dragging. As I started getting more into Riot Grrrl and Indie, I realized that women rocked just as hard as men, and their lyrics were just as kick-ass. Now, presently, an article from TigerBeatdown brought this whole amazing revamp of my life back to the surface. Not surprisingly, I'm not alone in my musical woes:

Being a feminist who is into music and cares about feminism and women in music is a giant pain in the ass, because music is the greatest haven of all time for ITSJUSTMYOPINION-ism. Because, you see? Music is art. Which means if you try to criticize someone’s personal taste, especially if you are suggesting that they don’t like woman-made music because THEY HATE WOMEN, you will get nowhere. There is almost no argument you can make that will have any effect whatsoever, because it’s just my opinion, man. And people believe, they believe with all their hearts, that they are entitled to their opinions when it comes to art, even if those opinions are stupid.

My personal favorite is “I just don’t like women’s voices.” Have you ever heard, in the history of time, anyone declare that they just don’t like men’s voices? No? That’s because there are so many different kinds of men’s voices, guys! Duh!  Guys screaming, and guys shouting, tenors and baritones and bass, guys yodeling, guys crooning, guys singing slightly-out-of-tune, guys rapping, guys singing in that weird Pearl Jam voice and I know you know what I’m talking about. But women? Women’s voices. I don’t like them. They are high and whiny. I put them in the box of things I automatically don’t like.

More here 

Sometimes it's so easy to get annoyed by the little stuff, isn't it? People like me, who are low self monitors, like to let the world know when we're having a bad day. Sometimes our day sucks but we allow ourselves to get sucked up into it, thereby allowing it to perpetuate itself.

I wasn't necessarily having a bad day, but new medication and its side effects weren't really making me feel great. Just remember the good things that make all those big things not seem so big after all, and let the grumpiness slip away.

SushiYum

Wouldn't mind having this for lunch.

A Saturday Afternoon

 This was our dinky little table at our first craft fair, which was in a sunny part of downtown Reno during the WineWalk. The idea was grand, the turnout of artists was not. Either way, I finished two knitting projects and got some sun on my shoulders, and plenty of looks from those walking by--- if only glazed partial curiosity from whatever terrible brand of sauce that they were drinking. We hope for bigger and better events and turnouts in the future, but in this town, you have to remain cynical.

Just to start things off...

Well hi there! Just wanted to start off this co-op blog experience with a small "here's what to expect." Char and I have decided to collaborate on this blog, and to put a new twist on things. She will be updating with all of the super rad crafting information, and I'm sure, her own ideals and adgenda. I will be stretching my wings and posting my thoughts on "radical" behaviors that I hear about, and doing the whole feminist theory thing...please bear with us as we create something fantastic.
As always, more to come.
Courtney

First "Craft Fair" Today

By us, $12

It was fun. Terribly unorganized, even for our trashy little town, but Courtney and I had fun knitting in the square watching middle-age 40-somethings gawk at us and wonder what we were doing as they waddled past for the Wine Walk. Oh well ;) Pictures soon.

Char

So...

Made by Plastique, for sale on SuperMarket HQ, $20.

We had to start over ... seems that if one waits too long to update blogs *ahem, September* one forgets passwords ... and log in emails. So we're starting over, and I'll have blogging cohorts this time, so we just might be able to make this a success. We're hopeful ;]

Char