%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  A blog for all things personal, informational, educational, and fun. |
|
Here at my personal blog Thoughts & Things, I share a wide variety of, you guessed it, thoughts and things. Anything that sparks my interest is up for discussion. For those who are uncertain of what that might cover, I'll generally talk about reading, writing, books, movies, music, games, history, current events, and feminism. I talk about my personal emotional and health struggles from time to time. I'm also a big fan of lists. This is the place here at WDC where you can get to know me best, as I talk about the things that interest me, impact me, and amuse me. |
I previously wrote about "The Best Parts of Working in a Bookstore"  , and I thought it might be nice to share some of the downsides I experienced when working in a bookstore. As I did not work with customers, some of the downsides might be different from what you might typically think of as the negatives of working in a bookstore.Regardless of whether or not I worked with customers, they were still the worst part. Coffee cups would be left on shelves with the books, and people would put things back in the wrong place (which is extremely difficult to keep track of in a bookstore I might add). The worst was when I found the broken off end of a deodorant stick squished in between two books on a shelf. Everything is so heavy. Carrying stuff to the shelves isn't too bad, because it's all on carts. The problem is the shelving itself. Books weigh quite a bit, some more than others. When you have to shift entire rows of books to make room for more, it can be either very tedious, very heavy, or both. The cooking, fashion, and graphic novel sections are especially painful. You can't read everything! It's so easy to get lost in the books. Sometimes you just want to sit down surrounded by piles of them and start reading; unfortunately, this can get you fired. While you can borrow or buy the books, there's nothing like the now, which is sadly just not an option while you're working. I honestly think that might be it. It's pretty amazing when the benefits of a job far outweigh the negatives it might present. I would definitely recommend applying to your local bookstore if you're considering it. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty-Five. Three days of leave taken total.) |
| I no longer work at a bookstore, but a couple years ago I was employed as the night staff at one of the locations of a major bookstore chain in my city. Of course, I worked when the library was closed, so I didn't work when customers were present. My entire job revolved around the actual books, and it was a pretty magical experience. My primary task at work was to shelve the books. We would receive the pallets of the books and other non-book material in the back room. We would sort them out thoroughly. The odds and ends would be put onto large carts, which we would take out and arrange for display. The books would be sorted onto book carts, with each cart representing a different section of the bookstore, to make the shelving as quick and easy as possible. Shelving the books was the best task, although sorting the books was a close second. As a lover of books, it brought me a great deal of joy to simply physically work with books. There were a lot of pluses to this job and these tasks, which is worth sharing with the world. I got to see all of the books before they were shelved. This meant that I knew what was old, what was new, what hadn't even been released yet. I knew all of the popular authors, along with piles of obscure works. I got to see works that looked brilliant, and works that looked oddly laughable. I was actually exposed to what would become some of my favourite books by just shelving them. I got to know exactly where everything was located in the store. I would come in during the day, and if I knew what I wanted, I could go straight for it. I was incredibly familiar with every aspect of the shelving and display systems, and that made it a breeze to find anything I was looking for. I got a discount, and we had a borrowing system! I got all of the books in stock for 30% of the marketed price, which is a pretty solid deal that made my mass book shopping habit a lot more affordable. We also had a system where we could borrow books for a couple of weeks, as long as it was only one at a time, and we returned it in the condition that we borrowed it in. There's something really special about having a job that revolves around your favourite thing. Shelving books is something I do at home because it brings me joy, so there is that special sort of novelty that comes with getting paid to do it. Of course there are downsides, but I'll leave those gems for next time. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty-Four. One day of leave taken total.) |
| For anyone who has read much in the way of romance (or in any genre consistently), you start to really develop tropes that you are fond of, as well as tropes that you absolutely loathe. I talk a lot about things that I like in my blog, but sometimes you just need to share the things that drive you bonkers. Love Triangle I actually have a hard time even putting to words why this one bothers me so much, but I find it incredibly annoying. I think part of it is that this trope often comes with a Mary Sue character that has men falling at her heels here and there, even though she's sooo plain looking.  Another part of it is just how not romance a lot of it is. While there are certain situations that lend themselves to romance, choosing between two people you care about is really not one of them. A Conversation Could Have Solved This Entire Problem This one is especially frustrating as a person in a healthy relationship. I can't imagine not telling my partner when something is wrong, let alone potentially letting it damage our relationship. Even when we were newly together, I was still open and honest with him, as he was with me. There's nothing more frustrating than an entire novel's conflict revolving around something that should have been a conversation way earlier in the story. The "Other" Woman/Man I'm not thinking of a love triangle situation, where one character is choosing between two people. I am thinking of the type of situation where someone's ex or friend or something comes into play, but the main character is not interested at all, but the partner makes a huge deal of it. There's something about jealousy that really feels toxic in a relationship, especially when a lot of the conflict in the novel revolves around said jealousy. I also find that a lot of novels that have a strong focus on jealousy tend to not have characters that really learn and grow from this. It's hard for me to feel swept away by the romance of it all, when the characters are in a toxic, jealous relationship that I really just want no part of. It is different when they can try to focus on healing that aspect of the relationship for real, not just the situation at hand. The Characters Make No Sense I think a lot of things fall into this category. I also think it could apply to other genres, but because romance is such a character driven genre, it is much more noticeable. Characters that don't understand a situation that should be straightforward. Characters that are incredibly difficult to relate to. Mary Sue type characters that are so plain, but everyone is wildly attracted to them, or they're so smart, but they keep doing really unintelligent things, and so on. Mostly I am thinking of characters where the writer says one thing, and the character does another, but I'm also thinking of characters that are just poorly written or very difficult to relate to. The Characters Are Mean I am not talking about when disliking each other turns to lust, and I'm not talking about when characters get into a fight as part of the conflict. I am talking about when characters just drag each other through the dirt for no good reason. Why does anyone love anyone in this situation? How is this not intensely toxic? I have read romance novels where I felt like I was looking into an abusive relationship, which is just.... not romantic. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty-Three. One day of leave taken total.) |
| I previously talked about this in my blog post "Moles" , but I got titches in my arm, for the first time in my life, after having a couple moles removed. I must say, it's awfully strange, and not at all how I imagined. First off, the stitches themselves don't really hurt all that much. Not that there's a lot of them, but regardless, the pain from that is minimal. That said, my arm is killing me. If not the stitched wounds, then what, you might ask? The bandages. Medical adhesive irritates the crap out of my skin, and having to wear these bandages all week has been pure hell for me. Today has been incredibly hot as well, which makes the bandages feel that much more irritating, since they're at the crease of my elbow where there's a bit of sweat. (As a side note, is it just me, or do the inner portion of elbows get crazy sweaty? I always wondered if other people had that problem.) Secondly, I feel like this is actually a writing lesson for me. If I ever had to describe stitches, I think I might previously have failed at that. Now that I've had them, I feel like I could describe them more accurately. The thread itself seems like a thinner version of fishing line, except it's blue. The ends poke up from my skin a fair bit more than I would have expected. As previously stated, the stitches themselves aren't particularly painful, but the bandages are irritating, and I was told I couldn't remove the bandages except to change them until the stitches had been removed. I think it's also worth noting that the stitches are non-dissolving, so I do have to go into the office to have them removed. Having the stitches put in wasn't painful, just a slight pulling sensation, as the area was numbed first (each mole separately, even though they are only about an inch apart), but I do wonder if they're going to numb it for the stitches to be removed, or if that is quick and painless. Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to lament, as well as to share my first (though minor) stitches experience. I figured if I didn't know all about it, then maybe someone else didn't either, and knowledge should always be shared. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty-Two. One day of leave taken total.) |
| One of the best things that an avid reader can do if owning the books they read brings them pleasure is to raid secondhand shops for good finds. It can be a great way to find older editions that are no longer in print, books that are out of print altogether, or books that are classics. It can also be a more affordable option for those who don't want to put a lot of money into books that are currently trending, but want to see what all the fuss is about (Fifty Shades of Grey, anyone?). When it comes to lesser known books, it can be pretty important to give the money straight to the writer (I think we can all agree there), but it just ends up being more cost effective to buy secondhand when you know the author doesn't need your money (and this can range from deceased authors to extremely popular authors--for example Charles Dickens or Stephen King). Anyway, I made a trip into the GoodWill near my house today, and ended up coming away with a pretty good haul. I wanted to share this publicly, because what book lover doesn't need to brag about their finds on occasion? My sister is in the middle of her pregnancy right now, so I've been slowly stocking up on children's books to gift en masse at the baby shower. Today I found a hardcover copy of The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie the Pooh. Not only is Pooh friendly for all children, but it's something my sister loved as a child. I grabbed The Rupert Annual, as it was something my grandmother often gifted to my sister and I when we were little. I also managed to find seven Beatrix Potter books, an absolute childhood essential, including: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tailor of Gloucester, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, and The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher. I also picked up a gift for my significant other, as he will be coming to visit soon. He is a big fan of Kevin Smith's films, and I actually managed to find a like-new copy of Kevin Smith's book Tough Sh*t: Life Advice From a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good. I feel pretty confident that he's going to appreciate it, and I think it might actually be the first book (other than a graphic novel) that I've gifted to him. And of course, I bought up a bunch of picks for myself. I found a like-new copy of Lee Maracle's I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism, which I have been wanting to read for a little while. I was able to grab a couple 19th century classics, Poor Folk and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I grabbed The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck, which I've known I should have read already for awhile, but really only recently decided to actually read. I've only read a couple from Neil Gaiman, but Stardust looks like a good one to go to next, and seems like it will be better than the movie. I grabbed Canadian Women: A History, which appears to be a textbook, but seems to be interesting regardless. I got Woody Holton's biography of Abigail Adams, who I've become incredibly fascinated with recently based upon a few of her quotes that I've really enjoyed, particularly in regards to women's rights in the late eighteenth century. And finally, I grabbed a copy of Haunted Inns of Britain and Ireland, as haunting books have always interested me because of how they relate to history. That's all I got today. I know. Hardly anything! Of course, had I bought these new, I never would have been able to afford all of these, and this cataloging of my finds likely would not have extended past the children's books. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty-One. One day of leave taken total.) |
| Anyone who has been following my blog for awhile (assuming such a person exists), has probably realised by now that my favourite video game is Morrowind. That said, I am a big fan of The Elder Scrolls series, which offer up everything I like about fantasy RPGs. I thought I would offer up a comparison of the three most recent games in the series. I have excluded the first two, Arena and Daggerfall, because they are so drastically different from the subsequent games in the series that they are difficult to compare. I am also less fond of them because of the massive difference in gameplay, as the games truly just feel their age to me. That said, anyone interested in the series should still consider giving them a try. They are available legally and free via the Bethesda website, and the stories they offer are still really interesting. Morrowind As I already mentioned, Morrowind is my favourite of the series, and my favourite game in general. The main story of the game has some incredible twists and turns that mix together the world's religion, politics, culture, and more. The faction quests can lead you down some interesting paths, including inter-faction disputes, becoming an in-game Robin Hood, and solving some of the world's most secret mysteries. The side quests bring you into contact with no less than three naked barbarians, numerous vampire factions, mysterious ruins, slaves to free, and endless other opportunities. The expansion packs offer huge amounts that are almost additional games in their own rights. Everything you do in this game has the chance to be rewarding in some way. Gaining friends, money, skills, equipment, or progress of some sort. The main quest itself is incredibly rewarding, leaving you with incredible reputation, abilities, skills, and equipment by the time you have completed it. The landscape of Morrowind itself is incredibly diverse. You start the game in a very swampy sort of area, but you can move on to woodlands, prairies, deserts, barren rocks, cliffs, an coasts. Even the cityscapes vary dependent upon which group of people own the land there. The races of people inhabiting the world have different appearances and cultures behind them. The creatures that you might battle are endless, with huge variety among them, despite very few of them existing in real life. Despite the graphics being very dated at this point, the artistic flair leaves the game still looking impressive today. The character building at the beginning of the game feels immersive, despite the game not opening on action, and it gives a lot of opportunity to play the game in different ways. Some of the gameplay is a little finicky or awkward, and it does have definite glitches, but ultimately it's still well worth the time to play. Oblivion Oblivion has some pretty fantastic improvements from Morrowind, as well as some glaring drawbacks. The game opens on action, but still gives some really great character creation options during this process. The characters actually speak aloud rather than you having to read a block of text. This also gives the opportunity for some cool guest voice actors, Sir Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean. The graphics are a definite step up, giving the game a whole new feel. The faction quests are a lot more intricate for the most part, and really give you significantly more to work with than Morrowind did. Oblivion brings in the first instance of fast travel, which is a mixed bag. In Morrowind, there was no option to click a place and travel there, but you could use actual transportation methods in the game that made everything feel much more real. While it is nice to be able to click a button to travel to a new place, I only wish that you couldn't instantly travel to any new place, which takes away from the on foot travel that exposes you to so much more. That said, it feels like there isn't really much more to see. Oblivion has very little variety in landscape or cityscape. Cities look very similar. Almost all of the province of Cyrodil is woodland or rolling hills, with very little else to break this up (snowy mountains to the far north, swampy wetlands to the far south). While one of the expansion packs is large and immersive, the other is basically just a bonus quest with cool rewards. The main quest is honestly the big let down for me in Oblivion. While in theory it should be cool (political assassinations, cults, demons unleashing their powers onto the world, a magical bloodline keeping everyone safe), it actually ends up being a bit underwhelming. I feel like the story makes for almost a better movie than a game. It's mostly that despite all of the hard work you put into it, you end up with a fraction of the abilities, skills, equipment, etc that the other games offer up throughout the main quest. Ultimately you are not even the hero of your own story, and in subsequent games, it is not the player who makes the history books (like in Morrowind or Skyrim), but the emperor's son. It's still a lot of fun to play, and I adore it, but it was a definite step down from Morrowind for me. Skyrim I actually rank Skyrim between Morrowind and Oblivion. SKyrim obviously has the edge on game graphics, given that it is so much newer. It adds similar artistic elements as Morrowind that make it more of a visual stand out. The political climate in the game is intricate and interesting, with a lot of new stuff brought to the table since it is set two hundred years later. Dragons return to the land, which brings a drastically new opponent to the table. The faction stories advance once again, so that each faction has such a distinctive story that they could be games in their own right. The main story brings back the honour and glory of Morrowind, where it feels incredibly rewarding to participate in and complete. I do feel like the dragon aspect does give it more of that "typical fantasy" vibe that the previous games didn't have as much, which isn't preferable, but they do manage to make it work. While it does offer actual methods of transportation within the game, as well as fast travel immediately available to previously accessed locations, it avoids the pitfalls that the Oblivion system has. The expansion packs are grand quest lines that bring forward such fresh material, that it adds a great deal more to the game. One of the expansions even returns to Solstheim, an island lying between Morrowind and Skyrim, where Morrowind's Bloodmoon expansion is set. While the game still has its glitches (this is the part where we give a polite nod of the head to Bethesda), it still has the most palatable game mechanics in the series. Skyrim is probably the easiest of the series to pick up and start playing, without feeling too easy for those familiar with the series. The character creation aspect is my biggest complaint in the game. While the visual portion of creating the game is an absolute stand out, creating the character isn't the same as it used to be, and I don't think it changed for the better. I feel like Skyrim made it easier to fall into the same gameplay style, and continue playing the game the same way over and over, making it not always the best to replay--not to say I haven't replayed it, or would recommend against it. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twenty. One day of leave taken total.) |
| "You're too young to be that sick" is only one of the many ridiculous things people say to me when they hear how unwell I am. Really? Too young? I didn't know. This changes everything. I guess I'm not sick after all. Oh wait. That's not how it works.I wish I was too young to be as sick as I am, but unfortunately my illnesses did not stop to consider my age. I know that most people don't mean harm when they say things like this, but just because you didn't mean it that way doesn't mean it wasn't received that way. I know that most people are simply surprised, as they don't know many people who have chronic illnesses, particularly people who have chronic illnesses when they're only in their teens or twenties. That said, to me it feels like disbelief. They don't believe that I am really sick. Maybe they think I am exaggerating or lying. Maybe they think I want to be sick. It really just isn't like that though. You can get sick at any age. To be fair though, "You're too young to be that sick" is a step up from "Just wait until you're older!" At least the former is usually meant with good intentions. It's usually from someone who is simply shocked that illness can strike at any age. The latter is one that I have yet to think up an excuse for. The latter is what people say when they think you're being whiny. The latter is what people say when they think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. The latter is what people who don't have any understanding of chronic illness at all say. I hear a lot of really toxic things as a person who is ill. Most of them have to do with my age, as if people can't imagine being sick before they're sixty. I understand not wanting to imagine that illness could strike anyone at any time. Some of them somehow seem to come from medical professionals. My doctor's medical assistant asked if I was not getting bored being on sick leave for so long. Sometimes, I suppose. It isn't that I don't want to be working. Mostly though, I'm not bored. I spend so much time napping or sleeping or wanting to be asleep, that most of my time spent not doing those things is time I spend trying to enjoy my hobbies. When I worked, all I had the energy for was work and sleep. I know that it can be hard to imagine being sick when you're healthy. I know that I never used to think about it. Back when I was healthy. I just wish that people would take more time to consider what they say to someone before they say it. I wish that people would consider the possibility that I am actually unwell, and that maybe "sorry to hear that" is the only thing they needed to say in that moment. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Nineteen. One day of leave taken total.) |
| As a longstanding fan of the Sims games, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on each game within the series. I haven't included any of the Sim games that are not explicitly The Sims, as I figure that would be way too time consuming. Besides, The Sims are the best of those games by far anyhow. I won't rank them, I will simply go through them in order. The Sims I first played The Sims when it was fairly new. I actually first saw an ad for it on the case of one of my SimCity games. While the game definitely feels very dated now, at the time it felt pretty amazing. I have a lot of fond childhood memories of playing it on my mum's computer. That said, the game had a very narrow scope, and did typically lose a lot of its appeal without any expansions. Honestly though, I would still play the game today if I could find my copy of the Makin' Magic expansion, which was damn awesome. The Sims 2 I got the holiday edition of The Sims 2 for Christmas not long after it came out, and I remember how much of an upgrade it felt like after the first one. They went leaps and bounds from what was presented in the first game. I can remember that my computer at the time struggled to play it. This one kept my attention significantly longer than the first one, as I felt much more comfortable replaying it without any expansions even after the third game was released. The Sims 3 This one didn't necessarily advance from the second by miles, rather it changed what you could do with it. I think the third game might actually be the best of the four. The customization options are fantastic, so there are a lot of different ways to play the game. It also has some really incredible expansions that add a lot to the base game, even though the game is still a blast to play vanilla. The Sims 4 The fourth game in the series almost seemed to back track from the third game. It took several updates to really bring a lot to the table with The Sims 4, but they got there eventually. I wouldn't necessarily have recommended the game in its initial stages, but now it's definitely at least as good as the second game, probably better. It also brings some really fascinating stuff to the table in the expansions. I do really like this one a lot, and the new stuff it presents is a lot of fun, but I feel like they just stepped back a bit too much, and took away a lot of what I enjoyed most about the previous games. For those who may be wondering, I rank the games 3 > 4 > 2 > 1. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Eighteen. One day of leave taken total.) |
| Hello everyone. I have a confession to make. No, I'm not a mole sent here by the FBI (or am I?). I have moles. Lots of them. I think I probably built this up to be way more interesting than it is at all. Sorry. The reason I bring this up today is actually a pretty specific one, and it is relevant to my day's events, so it's overpowering anything else in my mind that I would necessarily want to blog about. So here I am. Telling you about my moles. I have many moles all over my body, including a couple small beauty marks on my face, but I actually want to talk about two specific moles. My right bicep has two moles about an inch apart from each other. They've always been on the large side, so I constantly get the lecture every physical about making sure I monitor the moles for any changes. Well after spending over twenty years with these moles on my arm, I finally noticed some changes. The larger one seemed to have gotten a little bit larger. It also seems to have developed a couple of darker and lighter spots within it, so I thought it would be worth asking about. It doesn't really look like anything, and the doctor agrees, so don't panic on my behalf. The other mole concerned me a little more. It is smaller in diameter, but it's definitely more raised than the broader mole. It's also much darker in colour. Recently it seems to have become more raised, and where it was previously an even circle, it now has some changes to the border. It is a bit more crooked, and the edges have a pinkness to them in contrast with the very dark colour the rest of the mole has. It has also started getting caught on things because of how raised it is, so I've found it has started to bleed on occasion. I definitely wanted this one looked at. So I brought it up to my doctor. Yes, one of the very same doctors who has spent years telling me to keep an eye on it. She agreed it was worth a closer look, so she sent me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist thought both seemed fine, but wanted to remove them as a precaution. He would have removed the pair on the spot, but they were too large to safely freeze off. This brings me to today's events. I finally had my appointment with the surgeon that the dermatologist referred me to. He removed the small, dark one fully on the spot, which is being sent for biopsy. The larger one concerned him less, so he only removed part of it, which is also being sent for biopsy. He suspects that the biopsies will return with normal results, but he plans to remove the remainder of the second mole if necessary, otherwise I get to keep it. Now I'm left with an aching arm, and short of a mole and a half. I have a skin reaction to the bandages, which frankly is more physically irritating than the incisions (although the stitches feel uncomfortable). I also appear to have bled through a bandage already, which is unfortunate, as I was told to wait a few days before changing the bandages. I am eager to have the stitches out, bandages off, and the wounds healed up, and it has barely been twelve hours. I am also pretty anxious. I feel like it isn't going to look like my arm anymore, and the idea that I am missing marks that have been on my skin for longer than I can remember is an odd one. All I can do right now is hope it heals up nicely, and think up a cool story to go with the scars. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Seventeen.) |
| Most people who have an awareness of what went on during the second wave of feminism in North America are familiar with National Organization for Women (NOW) or the Women's Liberation Front (WLF), along with other groups that still exist today. As with any part of history, the things that don't stand strong today are forgotten among the general public. I would like to share with you three different feminist groups from the second wave of feminism that you might not be familiar with. They all tackled long standing issues in unique ways, to varying degrees of efficacy. Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (aka WITCH) WITCH is perhaps the most outlandish of the groups on this list, but it's certainly the most fun. The Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy From Hell has a wordy name with a killer acronym, and it's actually completely relevant to what they did. Members of WITCH were known for dressing up as witches for protests and casting "hexes" on people as part of their chants. Formed in 1968, WITCH's members were former members of New York Radical Women. They believed that feminism should not just be about fighting the patriarchy, but also about fighting capitalism, supporting anti-war causes, supporting the civil rights movement, and other left-wing social issues. They kept with their WITCH theme throughout their various causes, but often changed the what the acronym meant depending on the cause at the moment. Examples include: Women Incensed at Telephone Company Harassment, Women Infuriated at Taking Care of Hoodlums, Women Indentured to Traveler's Corporate Hell, Women Inspired to Tell their Collective History, Women Interested in Toppling Consumer Holidays, and so on. Lavender Menace The Lavender Menace was more of an informal group, who supported the rights of gay and bisexual women. It was mostly made of of women from NOW and from the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). The term "lavender menace" was first used by Betty Friedan (author of the Feminine Mystique) to describe the danger that lesbians posed to the mainstream feminist movement of the day, as she believed that if people perceived feminists as man hating lesbians that it would undermine the whole movement. Although "lavender menace" originated as a negative term for lesbians, particularly in relation to the feminist movement, lesbian feminists reclaimed the term as something positive. The group staged action at the Second Congress to Unite Women, where they shut off the lights and microphone in the midst of it, and turned the lights back on with dozens of the Lavender Menace lining the sides of the room, wearing Lavender Menace t-shirts, and holding signs like "Women's liberation IS a lesbian conspiracy." They even had someone in the audience declare she was tired of living in the closet, and rip off her regular top to reveal a Lavender Menace shirt beneath. There had been no openly lesbian speakers planned for the day, but the protest went off without a hitch. Jane Collective The Jane Collective operated from 1969 to 1973 in Chicago, providing abortion services to Chicago women prior to Roe v Wade. This cause is very important to my heart, so learning about this was pretty special for me. They were affiliated with the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, but operated in the underground due to their illegal activities. Because abortion was illegal at the time, although still very needed by many women, the American feminist movement in general often advocated strongly in favour of the legalisation of abortion. Since many women would access illegal abortions rather than no abortions, women would run into serious safety issues that could cost them their reproductive capabilities or even their lives. The Jane Collective took matters into their own hands, and conferred with a doctor to become skilled in providing abortions as safely as possible. No patients were ever arrested, although seven of the Janes were; however, Roe v Wade passed not long after, so they never went to court. Initially they served many women from out of state, but as abortion became legal in further away places, the wealthy clientele who traveled from afar chose to access abortions locally, and the Janes provided more abortions for the local poor women. They charged $100, and if a woman couldn't afford this, the Collective would offer her a no interest loan to cover the costs. Throughout the four years of their activity the Jane Collective provided approximately 11,000 abortions in Chicago. (I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Sixteen.) |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
I hate sad endings. They make the best stories though. I guess I'll make reading William Shakespeare my New Year Resolution for next year or something I'd write for Dear Me 2018.