First fact about me: I do not like white chocolate. And it's apparently not even chocolate.

I subscribe to this blog called GOOD, and each month, they start a new challenge for readers to participate in (if they so choose). The month-long challenge is a general way to improve as a person (like "perform acts of service" or "live healthier"), but GOOD then gives a daily challenge that's more specific and fits under the umbrella of the larger challenge (like "Buy a meal for a homeless person" or "Snack on fruit rather than the crappy stuff you usually go for").

The GOOD challenge for November is to document your life, and this works out as a perfect motivation for me to start working on the good ol' blog again and hop on the personal history train that has been toot-tooting its way into my world for a while now.

I'm calling November "MeWriMo," which is a shameless ripoff of "NaNoWriMo," the abbreviation for "National Novel Writing Month." NaNoWriMo also takes place in November, every year. I thought about participating this time around, but I decided to do some non-fiction, personal-type writing rather than do the fiction thing. You can call that "Memoir Writing Month," or "MeWriMo." And it's all me, baby.

So anyway, I'm following along with the daily documenting challenges from GOOD.

Day 1: Document Street Style

tuesday

(earrings from DownEast Outfitters, cardigan from Old Navy, Trouve tee-shirt from Goodwill, watch from a shop in Provo, Levi-Strauss jeans from DownEast Outfitters, Cole Haan loafers from Goodwill, jacket from Macy's, bag and gloves from Target)

wednesday

(necklaces from yard sale and Buffalo Exchange, Gap sweater from Goodwill, skirt from Buffalo Exchange, Naturalizers shoes from Value Village)

thursday

(headband from Target, vintage Nordstrom top from Value Village, BDG jeans from Buffalo Exchange, Naturalizers shoes from Value Village)

I'm gonna keep documenting my outfits this month, even though it was only the challenge for the first day, for a few reasons. The first one is that this blog got its start with outfit pictures and so forth, and I'd like to have that as a continued part of what I'm recording here. I've also started working with clothes for a living and have spent some good brain time thinking about my personal style, so I've got some new things to say. Anyway, anticipate that.

Day 2: Document a Pet

Walter!

Walter has been our cat since August 25th. Craig and I had this deal going where we decided that once we had moved to Seattle and we both had jobs, we would get a kitty cat of our very own. (Craig and I both grew up having family cats, and by sad coincidence, both of our beloved, elderly family cats passed away over the summer, so we went through our grief and realized all-the-more how much goodness a terrific pet can add to your life.) On the very day I got hired at my current job, we got our bums down to the local Humane Society and took a look around. There were many friendly cats who were eager to play and cuddle, and we almost overlooked Walter entirely. He was very mellow in a cage on the bottom row. We only noticed him because, at whatever angle it was at the time, Walter looked like a mini-cougar. It was pretty distinctive. We played with him for a while, and even though he didn't seem super-interested in us, it seemed like a good fit. With a few signatures and interview questions behind us, we were taking him home an hour later. It took about three weeks before he would even leave the bedroom of our apartment, but now, he roams with ease. This cat is ridiculously set on cuddling with us. Anytime Craig or I are sitting still for more than 90 seconds, he takes advantage of the opportunity and hops onto whichever lap is most convenient. He also sleeps in bed with us and has gotten really great at not bothering our sleep in any way. On the downside (every relationship has a downside), he has a bit of a problem with cat snot. He expels it regularly, in quantities that are seriously astounding.

I'm not gonna say that I understand parenthood now that I have a cat, but I will say that I kind of understand parenthood now that I have a cat. I love this animal a lot, so much so that I attend to his bodily functions and want to have conversations with other people about those bodily functions. What could be more mom-like than that?

Day 3: Document Happiness

How's this?

It's better than this.

The crazy thing is that those last two pictures, where I'm looking horrendous and showing off my crackers, were taken because I said to Craig, "You know, I think I'm feeling a lot better now. Go ahead and take some pictures so we get this all documented before leaving the hospital." Which means that at this point, I was feeling better. My appearance before this moment must have been just heartbreaking.

I had vaginal surgery back in July (wrote about it briefly right here). Was it happiness? No, not in and of itself. I was very sore for a while there, and coming out of the anesthesia was a terrifying experience. But it was a big step, an important step, one that (fingers crossed) will help me become a mom someday. That brings some happiness to the equation. I also got to have my husband and my mom take care of me for an entire week, which was just marvelous. We moved to Washington two weeks after the surgery, so we had to stuff a lot of Provo happiness into the post-surgery days, and I think we succeeded.

Thoughts: "The Head of the Woman is the Man" and 1st Corinthians 11

Since church yesterday, something has been on my mind. I'm struggling to describe exactly how it's been on my mind, because it hasn't been infuriating me or inspiring me or depressing me or anything so straightforward as that. The closest description I can think of is this: it has been bothering me. My family cat, Simba (who died a few months ago), used to have this habit of kneading a surface with her front two paws before settling in to take a nap on it. She would sometimes knead the surface for several minutes. That action reminds me a little of what this thing has been doing, kneading my brain/heart over and over because it can't find a suitable place to settle in.

Here's what the thing is: our Sunday School lesson covered, among other scriptures, the eleventh chapter of 1st Corinthians. The verse we focused on was verse three, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." The instructor drew a diagram on the whiteboard in order to illustrate things more clearly, where the word "God" was at the top, followed by a down arrow to the word "Christ," followed by a down arrow to the word "Man," followed by a down arrow to the word "Woman." I'm not sure how to show that in a vertical format (the way she drew it), but here's what it would have looked like in horizontal form:

God --------> Christ ------------> Man -----------> Woman

Once she drew the diagram and started moving on with what this meant for us today, etc., my husband leaned over to me and said something along the lines of, "It will be interesting to see how she handles this. I hope the comments don't get too awkward and weird." I appreciate that he said this, because he was acknowledging that the verse we were covering, the discussion we were starting, and the diagram on the whiteboard were problematic. But, to me, the verse itself and the very sensible diagram it inspired ... they were already awkward. Things were already weird. In fact, things were already painful and, in my opinion, very harmful. I was already being reminded of what led to the time in my life when I very seriously thought that being female put me at a disadvantage for earning God's love, gave me a late start in the race for exaltation, and meant that I was less important than my husband, my brothers, and all the other men in my life.

How do we interpret 1st Corinthians 11:3? How do we interpret a verse that says Man is higher up on the chain of whatever than Woman is? How do we interpret Woman being one extra step removed from God and from Christ -- because she is female? How does this make any sort of spiritual sense?

Here are some other passages to note from 1st Corinthians 11.

vv. 8-9: "For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man." (I'm thinking this refers to the creation story of Adam and Eve, from which Paul is extrapolating the proscribed relationship between men and women. That's my first thought.)

vv. 11-12: "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God." (This seems to oppose the earlier statements about men being prioritized over women. Is that what's going on? Is Paul saying that, ultimately, we all need each other and we can realize equality through Christ? I'd like to interpret it that way, but it just doesn't fit with the other verses, so I'm at a loss.)

Chapter 11 has a lot of talk about "heads" -- God being the head of Christ, Christ being the head of Man, Man being the head of Woman, who should and should not cover their heads while praying, etc. I'm really confused about what "head" means in these passages. I'm confused about a lot of it. None of the interpretations I've turned over in my mind have really fit. In a breath: I don't know what to make of this.

I can't reject this teaching without understanding it more fully (getting a handle on the context in which it was written would be a good starting point), so I won't throw it out just yet, but I also won't embrace it or act like I'm sure there's some good explanation for it. I'm not going to play that game. My strongest inclination is to overlook verse three in favor of the gender equality that I know is divine, righteous, and needful.

(Speaking of overlooking a particular scripture or teaching, I'll point out that just a few chapters over, in 1st Corinthians 14:34-35, we read this: "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law." I'm saddened to read this, but I am thrilled that we don't give this counsel the time of day in today's Mormon church meetings. We overlook it. We ignore it completely. If anyone brings up the idea, we respond that this verse was a reflection of the time in which it was written, not meant for modern churches. Point being, if a smaller doctrinal point does not square with the reality of the gospel or the reality of what we believe to be true, it's okay to say, "Ehh, forget that." Pluck out the thing that offends, right?)

This post is obviously in ramble format. I'm not writing an essay or manifesto here. But this thing, as I said in the first place, has been on my mind, and I felt like getting it out in words might help. I think it has. To add a touch of elegance to the post, though, I'll quote Galatians 3:28 and follow it up with a quote from Eugene England.

Galatians 3:28 - "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Note that this teaching, too, was preached by Paul.)

"... it seems to me we must not accept any interpretation of scripture, or any statement by a church leader or teaching in a church meeting or church school class, that denies or diminishes the clear, central doctrine that all are alike unto God, black and white, male and female ... Racism and sexism are clear and destructive evils, inconsistent with our preparation for Christ's coming and, most seriously, effective denials of the impartial love of our Heavenly Parents and of the power of the Atonement of their son. People who feel that they -- or anyone else -- because of their skin color or sex do not have the same standing or privileges before God cannot exercise faith in him unto salvation. It is time to stop such beliefs. I suggest that we each find a way, first to expunge them from ourselves, but also to refuse to allow them to continue to be taught unchallenged."

- Eugene England, Sunstone, April 1990, pgs. 24-5

Events: I Got A Job

August 25: I got a job. Earlier, I listed the name of the place I'm working, but in the interest of being a respectful employee who doesn't break the company's policies/procedures, I've removed the name and will simply direct you to this website. I will be a buyer, meaning that I appraise the secondhand clothing (and shoes and jewelry and bags and scarves, etc.) that's brought in to the store and then purchase it for resell. I'll also be doing regular retail job type things -- helping customers, ringing up transactions, cleaning, dressing mannequins, cleaning, etc. I am REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS JOB. It's exactly what I hoped for when we moved to the Seattle area, in that it allows me to work with people, in a fun environment, getting to know a little more about apparel and style. This is a completely new professional direction for me, and I couldn't be happier.

New goal: be mega-awesome at this job.

Images: "My Closet in Sketches"

My Closet in Sketches is one of my favorite style blogs, made up of awesome watercolor paintings of the blogger's daily outfits. Like this one:

The blogger (I don't know her name, drat) also has some fun summery photos to look at. My favorite:

I would enjoy an empty porch of my own to use for reading. Pants optional.

Quirks: Side-Eye-Respect for the Zodiac

In middle school, I got mildly interested in astrology, horoscopes, and the like. I checked out a few books from the county library, but it never got much beyond that.

Still, I'm not too high-brow to write off mysticism, magic, and meaning in the stars. Far be it from me to either swear by the zodiac's predictions or write them off as nonsense; all I know is I like playing around with said predictions every now and then. Here's a little something I found online, billed as a way to measure romantic compatibility based on astrological signs. Craig's an Aries and I'm a Pisces; the website's predictions are featured below. It's accurate about a few things, but suffice it to say that this feminist doesn't want to "act as helpless as [I] sometimes feel" or play the "damsel in distress" role, nor is my egalitarian husband super-eager to rescue me or solve all my problems (once, while we were grocery shopping as newlyweds, he told me one of the things he loves most about me is that I'm independent and he's confident I can take care of myself -- awww).

***


Aries Man and Pisces Woman Compatibility

Believe it or not this is one of the most romantic combinations in the zodiac.  These two play Tarzan and Jane beautifully together.  The Pisces woman gives the Aries man the chance to be a hero every day while she gets to be the damsel in distress.  The natural inclination of each to play these complementary roles makes this an enduring combination.

How to Attract a Pisces Woman as an Aries Man:  The Aries man can be a he man without apology.  Open the door, unload the groceries, maintain her car, and even carry her over the doorstep.  Your rugged masculine energy is nothing but a plus.  To win her heart, pull out all the romantic stops: arrive at the door with flowers on the first date (hand-picked if possible and tied loosely with a ribbon).  Draw out the mating process as long as possible. Enjoy the exquisite feeling of yearning and indulge your imagination.

How to Attract an Aries Man as a Pisces Woman:  This is one relationship that proves the adage “if you want him to be more of a man, be more of a woman.”  To start with, act as helpless as you often feel.  He wants to open the door, carry the groceries, fix your car, and even carry you over the threshold.  It’s even possible that he would love to rescue you.  Maybe you can think of some small difficulties to get into that he knows how to fix.

Degree of Romance:  The degree of romance in this combination is off the charts. Each of these two is the born romantic and will revel in the opportunity to play along with someone who seems to be following the same script.  Pisces needs the strong Aries presence which leads quickly to flowers and dinner by candlelight

Degree of Passion:  The Aries man is a fiery lover and Pisces is the born shape shifter.  She will take on any role that is assigned to her.  So if he wants passion, she’ll give it.

Degree of Friendship:  This relationship tends to polarize the energies of the two participants rather than bring them together as friends.  Mutual admiration is a better way to describe this energy, but that’s just as solid a glue.

Degree of Marriage:  This is a good possibility for marriage, particularly a first marriage where gender differences can be more of a plus.  It is likely to be a lifelong romance.  Each party will remember the other one on the day they met, which keeps the love alive.  She is a domestic goddess and he is a stalwart provider.

Progression of Relationship:  Pisces is very willing to let Aries take the lead, and Aries is very comfortable with that.  He will set the pace, probably squeezing out every ounce of romance before consummating the relationship.

Sex:  Sex between these two is a fantasy garden, a perfect and blissful blending of heart and mind, body and soul.  It is a very strong point in the partnership that is likely to be maintained throughout the relationship.

When It’s Over:  It will be very sad for both parties if this relationship ends.  There will be many tears, genuine distress and anguish on both sides.  They may reunite several times before making the final break.  Pisces brings out the gentle side of Aries.  He is likely to be solicitous of her well-being, even as they are parting.

Our Rating:  9/10