The Perils of Porn--Man's Missing Moral Compass

Okay, so I know that some of you have already clicked out of my blog. "Agh. Here we go. Another feminist..." and so forth and so on. But WAIT! I really need to vent.

I realize that this is a really tough topic and one that people, especially people in our community, don't talk about often. But this is a topic that has been eating away at me for years, and I feel like I could SCREAM because I've held in my feelings for this long.

I don't even know where to start. I guess I just need to vent. So hang on, deal with my anger on the topic, or leave.

Why is porn so wrong? Why is it wrong to feel good? If I'm looking at something that I enjoy and that turns me on, how in the WORLD can it be bad?

I'll tell you.

I think porn is, first and foremost, cheating. Don't call me old fashioned, either. I'm not. I don't cook and I rarely clean. I am a very modern woman, so that's not it. It is cheating, and it always has been.

It deprives man of the gift of intimacy that we've been given from God. Sex is boring without love and intimacy. Try it, if you've not already, and I'm sure you'll find the same thing, eventually.

Porn hurts. It hurts the ones that we love the most. How can a woman possibly feel beautiful when she's held to such high standards? It's really hard to feel beautiful when you've got that kind of competition. Have you ever SEEN these women? Oh. My. Goodness. Let's just say that I'll never be that "beautiful." You have to be one super strong woman to be able to handle your spouse having a huge porn problem. Most of us are not super strong.

Porn promotes violence.

In the President's Report on Pornography (1988), Attorney General Edwin Meese concluded that there is a causal relationship between hard core pornography and serial homicide. The personal testimonies of the convicted murderers Gary Bishop and Ted Bundy have also confirmed this association.

What happened to men? I mean real men... Do they exist? If so, somebody PLEASE tell me where they are.

There has to be a man out there that feels like I do. If not, I will grow up to be a single old woman with 500 cats (this is what Emily says, anyway). I don't care. Really. I will be HAPPY to be the weird old woman that the whole town talks about.

Phew. I'm stepping down now.

Thanks for helping out with my soap box. Feel free to add some fuel.

Here are some sites to check out if you're as pissed off as I am:
http://www.contentwatch.com/learn_center/article.php/101

http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0332_Ted_Bundy.html

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/7/82004d.asp

http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/mcelroy_17_4.html

You'll have to excuse the non-fun links above--you know how I feel about links...
and if you don't, please feel free to contact me via my gmail.

My Crazy, Upside-down Life

Life's been a little crazy here lately. I mean REALLY STINKING CRAZY. I would share all of the gruesome details with you, but you should be spared. Trust me on this one.

In a nutshell, life has been falling to pieces in the past month. I don't even know how I'm functioning, really, but somehow, I still get up for work, eat, and sleep, occasionally.

At the moment, I'm trying to stuff some grilled chicken and rice (at least I'm trying to eat healthy during my quarter-life crisis, right?) in my face for lunch while blogging, talking to a real a-hole investor, answering questions that are screamed at me from across the hall, and trying to ignore my Nextel. This scene reflects the shape my mind is in right now.

I won't go on and on. It doesn't do any good to complain, really, even if I type out my complaints. So I've decided to share some photos with you since I accidentally brought my camera with me to work. Pictures are relaxing.

Curly on the Stone Fireplace

Beautiful Sky fromMy Back Yard

Sunset From My Back Porch

Asher Spotted at McDonalds!

This is going to be a really short post because I have a jillion-and-a-half (is that really supposed to be hyphenated?) things that are hanging over my head and I think they may fall on me at any given moment. But I simply MUST share with you my experience.

First of all, I'm feeling a way that I've never felt before. With Steph being all prego, I get really emotional. I don't know if it's that sister connection or what, but it's getting a little crazy. I am ALWAYS, ALWAYS worried. Every time that Steph calls me at work and I'm not there my mind starts playing games with me. I almost get frantic! There's a flipside to the coin, however. I bought Asher Paul a pair of overalls, a shirt, and some kicks from Old Navy a few weeks back and get this: I cried in Old Navy when I found the right outfit! I know people must have been thinking I was for DEFINITE a weirdo girl. It's just a pair of overalls, for Pete's sake! I dunno. Weird things are happening.

That leads me to my most recent waiting-on-baby story. This morning I was sitting in the drive-thru at McDonald's (what IS wrong with me? Wal-Mart and McDonald's are like cousins or something) and This little boy with thick, blonde hair was holding his Papa's hand. They were both grinning from ear to ear. Of course when they look over at me I had to start crying. I'm out of control! Anyway, they were holding hands and talking. When I saw this, I had some sort of flash-forward experience. I could see Asher and my dad going to McDonald's. And then I could see me in my thirties taking 10 year old Asher out for the day. It was such a neat moment.

Anyway, that's all. Just wanted to share. Can you tell I'm excited? It seems like it's taking FOREVER for me to have a nephew.

I'm sure that's not the last gushy Aunt Scooter and baby Asher story that I'll tell.

Have a FABULOUS TUESDAY!

My Homework

Everyone else was having so much fun doing their homework that, for once, I decided to do mine. So here it is--the 10 songs that influenced me the most and a few explanations to boot.
P.S. --Don't expect links. We all know I don't/can't do links well. Which reminds me...
Every body went and changed their addresses! Do you all know how HARD IT WAS FOR MARY TO TEACH ME TO DO LINKS?

10. Miranda Lambert, "New Strings"
I'm not sure if you've heard this song or not, I'm going to go with no if you aren't a country listener. This song is really good. It's one of my favorites for now, anyway. I'm bound to change my mind tomorrow.

9. Garth Brooks, "Longneck Bottle"
I love this song, still, after all these years of playing it over and over and over. I love it because it reminds me of swing dancing with Doobie, my best friend from high school. Good times.

8. Bob Dylan, "Lay, Lady, Lay"
And I love this one just because I'm facinated by him. His voice, his style, his life, everything about Bob Dylan. Oh, and it is just plain sexy sounding.

7. Jennifer Knapp, "A Little More"
Again, I have a great memory to associate with this song. I sang this song with Brian playing guitar and singing backup when I was a senior in high school. It was really the first time that I'd let myself go when I sang. That's when I discovered how good it is when you sing from the inside. Brian and I really got into this song and I think of our duet every time I hear it. When we got finished, I think we both felt like, "Whoa." And chillbumps and all that.

6. Patty Griffin, "Living With Ghosts"
She's always amazing--I don't think she can MAKE anything that's bad. But this entire album was with me through some really crappy times. The worst, in fact. She's just so unleashed in this album. But this song in particular got me riled up and that, in turn, kept me alive.

5. Bob Dylan, "Blowin In the Wind"
I'm trying really hard not to be redundant. I'm not boring, I just really like Bob Dylan. This song makes me want to love. I can't explain it. Bob Dylan has just got it.

4. Brooks & Dunn, "Red Dirt Road"
This song reminds me of the crazy stunts that I've pulled. It makes me happy. It's the story of life, the good and bad, and how you can't really separate the two.

3. Patty Griffin, "Rowing Song"
Once again, this song pulled me through some tough times. That's what good music does. "I'm alone and Alive," I still sing this to myself. If you've not heard this song, please, please go to www.pattygriffin.com. You must.

2. Thomas Dorsey, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"
This guy wrote this song for his wife who died while giving birth to their child. There are no words that I can use to describe the way I feel when I sing or hear this song.

1. Chopin, "The Raindrop Song"
I really should know the real name to this song, but it's burned into my brain forever as the Raindrop Song. That's what my Mom calls it. My mom would play this song for us and Steph and I would lie on the floor with our blankets until we fell asleep. This is, by far, my #1 song.
Baby Asher Paul will know this song well, I think.

HELLO OUT THERE!

Wow. So it's really been a while since I've had a good chat with all you blogger-friends. I'm such a horrible blogger-friend! Life has been really chaotic lately, so I'll just blame my lack of communication on life. Sounds good. I got a chance to see Elizabeth the other day. Seeing her (gosh, she's so pretty:) made me realize that I can't give up blogging. I tried. I JUST CAN'T DO IT. Blogging is too good to be true. I love the fact that I can say whatever I want on peu a peu. I love that blogging connects me to you, even when you are miles and miles away.

So lately, this job thing has been controlling my every move. I am a puppet. I've been bound by necessity for months now and it's high time that I take a break. The more I work, the more isolated I am. That seems so ironic to me because I have a job that is very social. But it's the surface-social thing, you know? It's not deep, there are no real connections. Well, a few, but not really that many.

I hope that you are all well, and I can't WAIT to catch back up with you.

I wish you a fabulous Friday!

Unoriginal, Again?

I thought Madame Rubies' post was quite fun. I loved seeing her post instead of reading it (not that I don't like to read her blog, but pictures are ALWAYS fun), so I thought I'd be a copy cat. Or maybe we should call it being a Dylan. So, Heather (who's new hair cut is so cute that I'm jealous) is a Dylan, and that makes me a double Dylan. Anyway, my Photo Survey:

1. Somewhere you want to travel someday:






















2. Somewhere you want to live someday:





















3. Where you live now:















4. Item/celebrity/trend/tv show/movie from the year you were born (like toys, books, musicians, hair styles, etc.:















5. One of your favorite tv shows:
















6. One of your favorite childhood books/stories:

How can I possibly choose between these?












7. Favorite Fast Food Place:














8. Favorite Singer/Band:

(my favorite is this guy's son!)





9. Something that you could find in a forest:
















10. Your favorite season:

















11. Favorite Disney Movie:














12. Favorite non-Animated Disney movie:

















13. Picture of Something that's your favorite color:









14. Celebrity with the same first name as you:












15. Celebrity you look like:













16. Favorite Movie :

My Wednesday Replay!

David H. and I went camping with some of our best friends last weekend. Trey and Maria are so much fun and I love that we can COMPLETELY be ourselves when we are all together. It’s amazing how enduring our friendship has been since we’re an unlikely bunch. Trey and I are more alike than Maria and I are, and Maria and David are more like than Trey and David. Got all that? Phew. Here are just some of the differences between us: Maria is a pretty outspoken person and also has very conservative views and values. Every outfit that Trey owns he also has a hat to match (maybe not every SINGLE outfit, but pretty close to it). If you know David, he DOES NOT match his clothes. It's not that he can't, he just doesn't. Anyway, Trey is an amazing people person and he is the happiest person I’ve ever met. David and I on the other hand, like to be secluded—we really love alone time. We're happy and all, it's just that Trey LOVES people and he LOVES to be around them all the time. As for our beliefs? David and I are a bit uninterested in politics because it gives us a big headache. Yes, it gives US a headache. Politics gives us a joint headache, so we just do our best to avoid the subject all together these days. But in theory, we’re liberals. We’re not extreme, but we’re liberal nonetheless. And generally, outspoken conservative people don’t get along with people like us. But Trey and Maria do. How perfect! Religious beliefs are the one solid thing that we all share. I really don't have enough time or energy to get into our religious beliefs. It could take years.

Anyway, we spent an entire weekend with them at a Tennessee State Park and we LOVED every minute of it. We went to Amish Country and we gawked at the Amlets. The unofficial definition of an Amlet is: “an Amish child; rude travelers with no sense of social etiquette sometimes refer to Amish children as these.” (Hawkins and Arnold Dictionary, 2006)
Above: David Crockett State Park


We went out to eat on Saturday evening (much to our dismay, since each one of us was looking forward to eating smoked hot dogs on this night) and had a great time making a scene. Every single person in that restaurant was staring us down when we walked in. I started to wonder, “Do I stink? Do I look bad? What IS everybody staring at?” We could not figure it out. So we decided to give them something to stare about. We laughed too loud and threw in the occasional snort, David made sure all of the people could see his tattoos (he did this because we were thinking that maybe since these country people had never seen us, they might be scared of us or something), and then we performed our grand finale. We all pushed our chairs back on cue. Wooden chairs on a concrete floor—a horrible sound. They stared, and I was glad that I wasn’t alone with all of these people looking at me like I was a Cyclops! People from all angles were cutting their eyes. It was great. On the way out, David couldn’t resist trying to get on my shoulders for a ride.

Ah. What a great weekend. I wish I had some pictures to post of the four of us, but I can never remember my camera when I need it.

Hope your Middle-O'-The-Week-Day is spectacular.