web-goddess

(Because yeah, I got honked at again today. And whistled at. And it pissed me off.)

• The lone driver is rarely a harasser. I never get a honk from a guy in a car by himself. There’s always at least one more guy, which leads me to believe it’s a “macho-showing-off-for-your-friends” kinda thing.
• Along with that – and I’m going to be really classist here – most harassers seem to be low-income grunts with bad jobs. There always seem to be about four of them packed into a dump truck or moving van. Maybe part of their rationale is that I’m obviously not a laborer.
• Nice guys will sometimes try to rationalize harassers’ behavior by pointing out that they’re “just trying to pay me a compliment.” Because I’m so beautiful that men are instantly compelled to let me know. This theory is crap. I stand on the same street every single morning and I only get harassed when I’m wearing a skirt. How honk-worthy am I seems to have less to do with my objective aesthetic beauty and more to do with how much skin is showing.
• There’s also another frequently-espoused theory that by honking at you men are trying to get your attention because they think you’re nice and they’re so adorably inept that they can’t think of any other way to approach you. Unfortunately this is also crap, as evidenced by the fact that the guys who honked at me this morning waited until they were just past me to toot. They didn’t care about my reaction; in fact, they probably knew I’d be pissed off. They did it to let me know that they’d seen me as a sexual object. Assclowns.

Sorry to rant (and to tar a lot of nice guys with the same brush). I’m just fuming. This is the first day I’ve worn a skirt all week, specifically for this reason. Do you men understand that? Can you imagine how it must feel to have to change your behaviour to avoid harassment? It’s the height of spring here, warm and sunny, and I have to wear drab, body-concealing clothes in order to wait for my carpool in peace. ARRRGGGGHHH.

Yet Another Gym Malady.
Tonight I was happily doing my lifting routine when the weirdest thing happened. I’d just done my “Front Raise”, which is this exercise my trainer gave me where I get in a push-up position (except on my elbows) and hold myself there for 20 seconds. It’s good for your abs, I guess. Anyway, I’d just finished that when suddenly both of my feet cramped up at once. I’ve had the occasional painful foot cramp, but never two at the same time! I could barely walk. It was all I could do to grab my things and hobble home, where I paced and stretched and winced and swore until they finally relaxed. They still hurt. I guess this is the final glaring sign that I need some new gym shoes, huh?

Ebert’s obituary for Elia Kazan is worth a read. I’m going to have to try to find Kazan’s autobiography at the library sometime.

I feel like I’m in a blog-reading rut. Does anybody have any great new suggestions for sites I should be reading? Here’s what I like: frequently updated sites with lots of links and a good mix of commentary from smart, interesting people. (Example: virulent memes, an excellent Aussie blog I’ll be bookmarking.) I can only stomach pure diary/journal sites when I know the person, so don’t bother with those. So… where should I go today?

Gruesome Flash Fun: Could you perform open heart surgery? The results of my first attempt as an intern were not good: “Your ineptitude has ended the patient’s life.” Ouch!

Woohoo! Survivor: Pearl Islands has finally premiered and the Snook and I loved it. We’re big Rupert fans. I cheered when he stole the stupid team’s shoes.