The Cancer Card

Photo credit: rawnsr1 from morguefile.com

I was going to try and post to this site every day or two but since I've already screwed that up, I'm going to have to play the cancer card. Okay, I'll admit that the cancer's been gone since I had a lumpectomy back in April but the fatigue from radiation doesn't seem to be going away even though it's been two months since I finished that as well.

I feel like kind of an asshole for even complaining since I had ductal carcinoma in situ (dcis) or as I refer to it, cancer lite. That means it hadn't spread outside the milk ducts so I got to skip the chemotherapy and hair loss and hey, it wasn't like I was going to die from it or anything. The only problem is that when I say fatigue I don't think most people have any idea what I'm talking about.

My mom came to visit for my birthday last Thursday and flew back to Kentucky today and just trying to clean up the house a little and show her a good time totally kicked my ass. I mean, I turned 43 not 83 and I'm getting sick and tired of this shit. Plus, when I get really exhausted I have a fun little side effect, foot cramps. And there's nothing I enjoy less than writhing in the floor while my foot folds up like a sandwich.

Anyway, I do realize that the cancer card has a finite number of punches so I'll try to keep the pity parties to minimum. I start back to work tomorrow and since I mostly sit in front of a computer screen all day I should be able to rest up enough to think of something new to rant about. I know my reader is anxiously awaiting my next post.

Women's Equality Day

It’s hard to believe that my grandmother was almost 18 years old before women finally got the vote nationwide on August 26th 1920. I’m sure she wasn’t that thrilled about it though. She was one of those old school Southern Baptists who believed women should be silent in church and be a helper to their man. I guess that’s one of the things that turned me away from being a Baptist. Any church that says I can’t preach just because I don’t have a set of balls can kiss my ass.

My earliest memory of the women’s lib movement was seeing it on TV in the early seventies. I was around 4 or 5 and spouted off something I’d heard on some show about how women can do anything men can do to my dad and brother. They both looked at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. I still stand by that statement but I'd like to clarify a little. I realize that there are jobs such as fireman that are always going to be predominantly male because men have more upper body strength but I've met individual women who I'd bet money on in an arm wrestling match with any man around. Those women should have the right to hold any job they damn well please.

But I have to admit, even though there are still some assholes around, for the most part women are close to equality in this country today. I just hope in another 89 years people will be able to look back and say it's hard to believe that my grandfathers were almost 18 years old before gays finally got the right to marry nationwide.

God Hates Facts

The creationism museum is one of those things that makes me embarassed to be from Kentucky. Science may not have been my strongest subject in school but even I know that The Flinstones was just a cartoon. I've actually read the Bible all the way through and I don't recall seeing any mention of dinosaurs. Of course, I didn't see any mention of blacks being inferior either but that's what white southerners said for hundreds of years.

Okay, I'll grant you that there are a few verses saying that homosexuality is an abomination but so are eating shellfish and touching pigskin and I don't see all these people who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible protesting outside Red Lobster or their local football game. The sad fact is that if they didn't consider a day 24 hours then the order that things are created in Genesis can pretty much coincide with evolution.

And how can you have a literal interpretation of the Bible in the first place? It's been through numerous translations over the centuries and it was man who originally wrote it down. You know it had to have been like that Monty Python movie where the guy hears, blessed are the cheesemakers.

If I didn't hold on to the belief that there's got to be something after we die, I could probably call myself a full out atheist instead of just an agnostic. All cultures have some kind of religion but after you get past do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it seems like it's mostly bullshit people came up with. I've always said that religion is kind of like sports, once you organize it, you pretty much ruin it.

So if you want to take your kids to see the cool animatronic dinosaurs that's fine. Just make sure that they understand it's an amusement park like Santa Claus Land in Indiana. The creationism museum has absolutely nothing to do with science.

The L-Word

Well, this is it. I'm finally coming out. I grew up in rural Kentucky and I've spent my whole life apologizing for myself but after six years of living in the small blue oasis of Tucson surrounded by a sea of red I'm ready to acknowledge who I really am. I'm not middle of the road and I'm not conservative on some issues and liberal on others. No, my name is Mary Beth and I'm a liberal and damn proud of it.

I'm a pro-choice, anti-drug war, pro-environment, anti-death penalty, agnostic, bleeding-heart liberal. About the only issue I might be considered even vaguely conservative on is gun control and that's only because I think hunting is a more humane way to obtain meat than factory farming. Somehow I don't think that's going to get me a link from the NRA.

After watching all the frothing at the mouth wing nuts at the town hall meetings, I've decided to add a sane voice to the millions of people ranting and raving in the blogosphere. Hopefully, I'll pick up a few readers along the way so this will feel a little more like intercourse and a little less like masturbation. I'll be posting my thoughts for the day so feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree. If there's anyone out there, thanks for listening. And y'all come back now, you hear.