Sunday, September 07, 2008
A Day at the Park
We went to the park today and had a blast! It's hard to believe that tomorrow he'll be 17 months old already!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Here we are!
My good buddy Leah (Hi, Leah!) has been hassling me about being the non-blogging-est blogger ever. So here are some photographic updates so you can see what Griffin is up to these days. It's been a hot summer, so we're swimming almost every day when I get home from work. He just had his first day of daycare today, he'll be going three days a week. That way he'll get some socialization, Baba will get some time for writing and cleaning, and I'll get some "free" evenings when she helps out on the days that he has daycare, instead of me taking over when I get home every day so she can breathe.
Griffin has yet to say his first word, although he does sign "more" and waves. He's just so into thinking about stuff and studying things that I guess he's just keeping it all in his head for now. We'll see if daycare has an effect on that, but so far he's definitely the kind of kid that likes to check things out and see how they work or figure out how they're supposed to be. (Case in point, if we don't shut the baby gate when we go into the kitchen, he'll try to close it for us!)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Yep, he's a year old!
So we decided to throw caution to the wind and get him a Kid Tough digital camera for his birthday. We all love it! Here's a shot of me showing him how it works:
And here's the first "successful" photo he took of himself:
And here are some recent photos taken with a "big kid" camera:
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Our Amazing Little Boy
Griffin loves to figure things out!
It's been way too long since I've posted anything about our amazing boy and what he's doing these days. It's ridiculous how fast the time goes! I know, I know, everyone says that. But it's true! He's nearly a year old, and already he can do so much. He amazes us regularly with the things he figures out!
For example, he loves my digital camera. He knows how to take the lens cap off and put it back on, and (get this!) he knows how to press the sides of the little dish-shaped button to get the pictures to change on the LCD screen. OK, so he doesn't get it every time, but he does as well as some adults I know! The point is that he figured out how to do it, just by watching me switch the pictures for him.
Not amazing enough? OK, how about this... Mombi's computer is fairly close to his play area, and there's a bit of a gap between the sections of the mesh playyard fence. The other day, she noticed that one of the cables on her computer was jiggling. She looked down, and saw that he had hooked a piece of play-mat foam (one of his favorite toys, go figure) around the cable. She marveled and wondered how he'd managed to get it caught on a cable, and un-hooked it for him and put it back in his play area. A couple minutes later (you guessed it!) the cable started jiggling again. The little bugger was doing it on purpose, trying to get something that we'd made sure was out of reach!
Need a bit more proof that we're raising an amazing kid? Well try this one... I have a graphics tablet that I use instead of a mouse. It's basically a hard mousepad that I "write" on with a stylus. (Do a search for Wacom if you can't visualize it.) Anyway, I also have a program on my computer called "Keyboard Pounder" which basically makes my keyboard and mouse (stylus) baby-proof. He can bang on them all he wants, and instead of messing with my computer, it just makes fish show up on the screen while some fairly horrible Midi classical music plays. Anyway, he sits on my lap, takes the stylus pen from me, and taps it and drags it around on the tablet to make fish show up. While looking at the monitor screen! I know, studies say we shouldn't be over-exposing him to computers and TV at his age, and truly he doesn't spend that much time watching screens (although you wouldn't think it by the way he gravitates toward them). I don't think it's doing much harm, though, and he certainly is ahead of the curve so far for computer skills!
Beyond blowing our minds daily in general, he's still a total treat to hang out with, he's nearly always in a great mood, and he has yet to get truly sick. He had a mild fever for a few days while he was teething (did I mention his 12 teeth?) but other than that he's been healthy since he came home from the hospital. He's funny, he makes great faces (he has mombi's overactive eyebrows) and he's so proud of himself every time he walks someplace by himself without a crash landing. He's even starting to get some hair! We're still waiting to identify a definite word, but it's only a matter of time.
Stay tuned for easter and birthday photos, coming soon! And if you haven't yet done so (thanks, Aradia and Ava!) please consider sponsoring Griffin in his first charity campaign. He's going to be participating in an Arthritis walk to support finding a cure for his ten-year-old cousin. See the post below for all the details!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Griffin needs your help!
Hi, This is Griffin!
My cousin Valerie is ten years old, and she's been on medication for arthritis almost every day since she was about my age. I think that's just crazy! I've just learned to walk, and I'm just in time to support her by participating in this year's Arthritis Walk. I was only a few days old during last year's walk, so my moms didn't get to walk last year, either. I'm trying to make up for it all by myself by raising $100 for each of us!
I don't really understand the details of Valerie's illness, so here's what her mom told me about it: Valerie’s story and her struggle with Arthritis is not unlike others. I would like to tell you her story so you can see why it is so important that we keep funding the Arthritis Foundation so they can find cures and provide support for people with arthritis. Valerie’s story begins shortly after she learned to walk. We noticed her walking with her knees straight, and she wouldn’t bend them when she got up and down from playing. Just after her first birthday, after a few different doctors and x-rays, she was finally diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. We have had many years of ups and downs. Valerie has to get a shot every week and was at one time taking six pills a day. She recently had to start taking another pill that is supposed to provide some relief from her other medicines that are making her sick to her stomach. She thought she was successful in beating the disease a couple of times only to relapse and have to start her medication all over again. Recently we tried to let her take her medicine orally instead of injecting it, but that small change made her knees swell so much she could hardly walk. Each time she comes off her medicine and relapses it is more challenging to get the arthritis under control again. We have had to get the fluid drained from one of her knees three times because medicine alone could not bring down her swelling. Her last relapse affected her range of motion in one of her knees and, we have to try to correct that. Valerie is on her fourth try with the medicine with only a combined period of about five months out of nine years not on medication. She will have to wait at least three years before we can try to be off medication again and see if we have beaten it this time. Without the research that the Arthritis Foundation does trying to find new medicines and a cure for Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, Valerie could go through this cycle over and over her entire life.
Now you see why I want to help! I'm going to walk as far as I can (and maybe ride in my fancy backpack for a while) and make sure Valerie will always be able to run with me when I get old enough! If you can help me make my cousin healthy by donating a few dollars, or even more, that's great. I'll make sure to chase Valerie extra hard when she gets well to show my appreciation!
Your buddy Griffin
Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Arthritis Foundation.
My whole family thanks you!
My cousin Valerie is ten years old, and she's been on medication for arthritis almost every day since she was about my age. I think that's just crazy! I've just learned to walk, and I'm just in time to support her by participating in this year's Arthritis Walk. I was only a few days old during last year's walk, so my moms didn't get to walk last year, either. I'm trying to make up for it all by myself by raising $100 for each of us!
I don't really understand the details of Valerie's illness, so here's what her mom told me about it: Valerie’s story and her struggle with Arthritis is not unlike others. I would like to tell you her story so you can see why it is so important that we keep funding the Arthritis Foundation so they can find cures and provide support for people with arthritis. Valerie’s story begins shortly after she learned to walk. We noticed her walking with her knees straight, and she wouldn’t bend them when she got up and down from playing. Just after her first birthday, after a few different doctors and x-rays, she was finally diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. We have had many years of ups and downs. Valerie has to get a shot every week and was at one time taking six pills a day. She recently had to start taking another pill that is supposed to provide some relief from her other medicines that are making her sick to her stomach. She thought she was successful in beating the disease a couple of times only to relapse and have to start her medication all over again. Recently we tried to let her take her medicine orally instead of injecting it, but that small change made her knees swell so much she could hardly walk. Each time she comes off her medicine and relapses it is more challenging to get the arthritis under control again. We have had to get the fluid drained from one of her knees three times because medicine alone could not bring down her swelling. Her last relapse affected her range of motion in one of her knees and, we have to try to correct that. Valerie is on her fourth try with the medicine with only a combined period of about five months out of nine years not on medication. She will have to wait at least three years before we can try to be off medication again and see if we have beaten it this time. Without the research that the Arthritis Foundation does trying to find new medicines and a cure for Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, Valerie could go through this cycle over and over her entire life.
Now you see why I want to help! I'm going to walk as far as I can (and maybe ride in my fancy backpack for a while) and make sure Valerie will always be able to run with me when I get old enough! If you can help me make my cousin healthy by donating a few dollars, or even more, that's great. I'll make sure to chase Valerie extra hard when she gets well to show my appreciation!
Your buddy Griffin
Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Arthritis Foundation.
My whole family thanks you!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
“Gay” vs. “Ghey”
The Question of “Gay” vs. “Ghey”
Introduction
My postings up to this point have been about Griffin and our experience of his conception, birth and his almost 10 months of growing up. Though we have had both positive and negative responses to our family we have chosen to express the positive.
So I have debated writing articles on this blog that shed light on the negative experiences we have had; such as:
Should I make another blog?
Or just not bring it up to our readers?
Should I make a web site then link it to our blog?
Then I remembered that we are going to guide our son through both the positive and negative experiences in our lives.
In contrast my family had always swept anything negative under the rug, as if it never happened, and I have learned that you might not see what’s under the rug, but you sure as hell have a hard time running a vacuum over the mass below the carpet.
So the first controversial article I’ll post here.
I am going to write this article directly to you, dear readers, raising questions and hope to have feed back from our heterosexual, GLBT, asexual and reserves-the-right-to-refuse-to-take-on-a-label ( J ) readers a.k.a. all of you lovely folks.
This started as a single question I was going to ask you, but as I began to write it blossomed into something much longer.
An important note before I continue. The term “gay” has its own controversy within the GLBT community; Wikipedia has a well defined history of the term “gay”. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay] For this article I will not delve into that controversy, it would only complicate matters, but that doesn’t mean I am not aware of the controversy; so I use the term “gay” to define GLBT Community in whole as that is how a majority of society outside generalize the GLBT community.
Definition
I want to use the quote below from the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage] as a pseudo definition of ‘ghey’ because the wiktionary article [3] doesn’t explain the details of the pejorative non-sexualized usage enough for me (though it does contain some quotes that explain very well the ignorance of using it).
Quote:
When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that was so gay"), the word gay is pejorative. While retaining its other meanings, it has also acquired "a widespread current usage" amongst young people, as a general term of disparagement. This pejorative usage has its origins in the late 1970s, when homosexuality was more widely seen as negative by a majority of people. Beginning in the 1980s and especially in the late 1990s, the usage as a generic insult became common among young people, who may or may not link the term to homosexuality, especially when directed at inanimate objects. This practice is frowned upon in some communities that seek to ensure respect for people of all sexual orientations, and is considered by some to be on par with ethnic slurs. Many defenders of the word's pejorative usage choose to spell it "ghey" to avoid any sexual connotations. Critics object to this change of spelling, often comparing it to the use of words like "knigger" or "nigga" for nigger to evade accusations of racism.
Personal History
Most of my free time is spent playing a MMORPG [4] (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) which I enjoy very much, not only because of the strategy, scenery and objectives that can be experienced but for the social interactions that are developed with other players from around the world.
The other players range from ages 8 to 80 so one gets a really diverse social experience.
What?!
Social experience from a game?!?
Mombi, have you gone nuts?!?
Yes, I know, I get that all of the time. Consider, however, that even if you don’t have personal experience within such an environment, it really is taking you out of the real world for a brief time and thrusting you into a whole new arena…but unlike your favorite movie or novel you are not alone in this journey; you’ve got others there with you.
The battle of Gay vs Ghey
In my experiences with players of the game I have had a pet peeve that has grown beyond the usual irk: the term “ghey”.
At first I thought that the young adults (and some mature adults) that used the term were actually using it, consciously, as a derogatory term against GLBT Community.
This I learned wasn’t always the case.
What Mombi are you crazy?!?
Seriously, the people that I’ve talked to both within my guild (group of players that play regularly together) and without do not always mean to offend the GLBT Community. (Note: HUUUUGE thanks to the officers of said guild who have considered the term “ghey” as offensive to GLBT Community and haven’t accepted the term simply as a way to describe something negative “these days.” They have made it an offense that could possibly get one kicked out of the group if the behavior continues.)
They meant “ghey” as in stupid, lame, boring, bummer, or to defame a person or event. Not “gay” to call the GLBT Community stupid, lame, boring, bummers or to deface them or what they do.
To quote Momai it is like the difference between a simile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile) and a metaphor (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor ) they’re just saying that one is okay and the other isn’t.
The very sad thing is the term has become so inundated into the lexicon of youth today that they do not realize what they are saying. I’m going to use a few examples which I found very interesting.
I had resolved myself to keep silent when I heard others use the term, just feeling it was something irksome that I had to get over because what would it change?
What can one woman do to change such a thing?
Then it hit me, it only takes one person to voice out to realize that there are others who voice out, and even tough people think this is not an issue its something to “get over”.
So (damn it!) I was not going to simply get over it and learn to live with it.
So begins the battle, which I will not wage aggressively against the people I know by yelling at them. Rather, I simply say that offends me and when they ask me why I answer:
Why do you think “ghey” is different from “gay”?
This is from the Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com) which is sort of like a Wiki for users to write what they think the term means to them and by others.
And by the way there are more than 39 definitions of the term, quite a few more than the other words I’ve found on the site; I’m just going to list 4 examples:
Bud E Love says that “Ghey” means usurping the traditional term “GAY” to take the homosexual meaning out and leaving in the lame.”
DigitalLion feels that “ghey” means the same as “gay”. This term began as a way to get around videogame servers and other profanity filters. “gay” is blocked, but “ghey” is just fine.
Prisilla R. says that “ghey” is used to describe someone who is extremely lame or boring. Not to be confused with “gay” which describes a homosexual. Prisilla continues her opinion by offering an example. A conversation between friends Brett and Gary. “Brett: hey lets go pick up some chicks. Gary: Nah dude… I’d rather stay home and check my myspace. Brett: Stop being a ghey and let’s go!”
“Ghey” is “Ghey” feels that “Ghey” is a way to take the guilt out of offending [the] GLBT Community by calling something unfavorable “gay”. Since verbally, the new spelling is virtually unnoticeable, this rationale is rendered a waste of time, but as mentioned, it serves its purpose in the mind of the homophobe-in-denial.
I could go on and on but I won’t, those are the examples that I picked out to give my interpretations.
Bud E Love is apathetic and ignorant.
DigialLion gets straight to the point but a defeatist.
Prisilla R is just blasé and has no idea she just contradicted herself with her example.
Ghey is Gey is idealistic and hits the nail right on the head.
I myself went from defeatist to idealistic in the course of two years playing the mmorpg.
Most still do not understand why I am offended, if they are really interested in knowing I explain further by a few examples, and they are harsh.
WARNING: I detest having to say certain words; I use them ONLY to make a point against discrimination.
“What if I came along after losing a battle against another player, and I started to rant about how knigger he was, and that the game company was a knigger for allowing the game continent in the first place and that the whole team should shut up because that was being such a knigger?”
It makes me sick to say those things, and usually is a slap in the face to the player that I voice the question. They immediately find what I said offensive (because it was) and I ether get an “oh” or a “but that’s not what I mean when I say “ghey”, it just means stupid.”
I don’t go any further than that hoping that they will at least think about it next time they use the term “ghey” or hears it being used.
Here is where I realized that this has gone beyond a simple change of language.
These young adults, will soon be adults and have no comprehension that “ghey” is derogatory because all of their lives they have used the term and really, really do not feel that they are being offensive.
To me that is repugnant that it has been allowed to go so far.
Schools allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Chats allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Games allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
BBC allows it (good grief, see below for a quote)
“The word 'gay' ... need not be offensive... or homophobic... The governors said, however, that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage. [...] The committee... was "familiar with hearing this word in this context." The governors believed that in describing a ring tone as 'gay', the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish', rather than 'homosexual'. [...] The panel acknowledged however that this use... in a derogatory sense... could cause offence in some listeners, and counselled caution on its use. ”
—BBC Board of Governors
So it all comes back to this: “gay” vs “ghey”
Or to put it in new terms: Homos vs stupid.
Many who condone homosexuality find the use of term to be offensive, but remain silent because it is “just something kids say now-a-days.”
Ouch.
In closing
Thank you for listening to my rant, I hope it was food for thought about next time you hear a young relative using the term, or experience the same thing on a chat or in a blog, or are a concerned parent.
I do not know how to continue, or where to go from here to even start to seriously begin to curb the use of the new ‘word’.
Okay I will go as far as to ask how to start getting this word banned?
How did words like coon, spic, white trash, yellow or kike get banned from the politically correct lexicon?
I am not delusional.
I know that in familial, social and ethic circles these terms are still used, and the term “ghey” will still be used even if it is banned as offensive by those who are morally and politically correct.
I know one thing:
I do not want my son to grow up with the word “ghey” as part of his every day lexicon.
I do not want him to grow up confused over the definitions of what “gay” vs “ghey” is.
I do not want to explain to him that no one means to offend his mommies or himself when they use “ghey” as a negative.
I do not want him to be afraid to tell his friends about his Mama and Baba because he knows they would be called “ghey” (less of a person)… not meaning “gay” (homosexual).
I do not want him to accept “ghey” as a casual negative term.
And most of all I do not want him to have to take the brunt of this battle of “gay” vs “ghey”; he is going to have enough adversity to overcome.
This should be our stand, not his.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage
3 http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghey
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor
Introduction
My postings up to this point have been about Griffin and our experience of his conception, birth and his almost 10 months of growing up. Though we have had both positive and negative responses to our family we have chosen to express the positive.
So I have debated writing articles on this blog that shed light on the negative experiences we have had; such as:
Should I make another blog?
Or just not bring it up to our readers?
Should I make a web site then link it to our blog?
Then I remembered that we are going to guide our son through both the positive and negative experiences in our lives.
In contrast my family had always swept anything negative under the rug, as if it never happened, and I have learned that you might not see what’s under the rug, but you sure as hell have a hard time running a vacuum over the mass below the carpet.
So the first controversial article I’ll post here.
I am going to write this article directly to you, dear readers, raising questions and hope to have feed back from our heterosexual, GLBT, asexual and reserves-the-right-to-refuse-to-take-on-a-label ( J ) readers a.k.a. all of you lovely folks.
This started as a single question I was going to ask you, but as I began to write it blossomed into something much longer.
An important note before I continue. The term “gay” has its own controversy within the GLBT community; Wikipedia has a well defined history of the term “gay”. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay] For this article I will not delve into that controversy, it would only complicate matters, but that doesn’t mean I am not aware of the controversy; so I use the term “gay” to define GLBT Community in whole as that is how a majority of society outside generalize the GLBT community.
Definition
I want to use the quote below from the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage] as a pseudo definition of ‘ghey’ because the wiktionary article [3] doesn’t explain the details of the pejorative non-sexualized usage enough for me (though it does contain some quotes that explain very well the ignorance of using it).
Quote:
When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that was so gay"), the word gay is pejorative. While retaining its other meanings, it has also acquired "a widespread current usage" amongst young people, as a general term of disparagement. This pejorative usage has its origins in the late 1970s, when homosexuality was more widely seen as negative by a majority of people. Beginning in the 1980s and especially in the late 1990s, the usage as a generic insult became common among young people, who may or may not link the term to homosexuality, especially when directed at inanimate objects. This practice is frowned upon in some communities that seek to ensure respect for people of all sexual orientations, and is considered by some to be on par with ethnic slurs. Many defenders of the word's pejorative usage choose to spell it "ghey" to avoid any sexual connotations. Critics object to this change of spelling, often comparing it to the use of words like "knigger" or "nigga" for nigger to evade accusations of racism.
Personal History
Most of my free time is spent playing a MMORPG [4] (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) which I enjoy very much, not only because of the strategy, scenery and objectives that can be experienced but for the social interactions that are developed with other players from around the world.
The other players range from ages 8 to 80 so one gets a really diverse social experience.
What?!
Social experience from a game?!?
Mombi, have you gone nuts?!?
Yes, I know, I get that all of the time. Consider, however, that even if you don’t have personal experience within such an environment, it really is taking you out of the real world for a brief time and thrusting you into a whole new arena…but unlike your favorite movie or novel you are not alone in this journey; you’ve got others there with you.
The battle of Gay vs Ghey
In my experiences with players of the game I have had a pet peeve that has grown beyond the usual irk: the term “ghey”.
At first I thought that the young adults (and some mature adults) that used the term were actually using it, consciously, as a derogatory term against GLBT Community.
This I learned wasn’t always the case.
What Mombi are you crazy?!?
Seriously, the people that I’ve talked to both within my guild (group of players that play regularly together) and without do not always mean to offend the GLBT Community. (Note: HUUUUGE thanks to the officers of said guild who have considered the term “ghey” as offensive to GLBT Community and haven’t accepted the term simply as a way to describe something negative “these days.” They have made it an offense that could possibly get one kicked out of the group if the behavior continues.)
They meant “ghey” as in stupid, lame, boring, bummer, or to defame a person or event. Not “gay” to call the GLBT Community stupid, lame, boring, bummers or to deface them or what they do.
To quote Momai it is like the difference between a simile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile) and a metaphor (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor ) they’re just saying that one is okay and the other isn’t.
The very sad thing is the term has become so inundated into the lexicon of youth today that they do not realize what they are saying. I’m going to use a few examples which I found very interesting.
I had resolved myself to keep silent when I heard others use the term, just feeling it was something irksome that I had to get over because what would it change?
What can one woman do to change such a thing?
Then it hit me, it only takes one person to voice out to realize that there are others who voice out, and even tough people think this is not an issue its something to “get over”.
So (damn it!) I was not going to simply get over it and learn to live with it.
So begins the battle, which I will not wage aggressively against the people I know by yelling at them. Rather, I simply say that offends me and when they ask me why I answer:
Why do you think “ghey” is different from “gay”?
This is from the Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com) which is sort of like a Wiki for users to write what they think the term means to them and by others.
And by the way there are more than 39 definitions of the term, quite a few more than the other words I’ve found on the site; I’m just going to list 4 examples:
Bud E Love says that “Ghey” means usurping the traditional term “GAY” to take the homosexual meaning out and leaving in the lame.”
DigitalLion feels that “ghey” means the same as “gay”. This term began as a way to get around videogame servers and other profanity filters. “gay” is blocked, but “ghey” is just fine.
Prisilla R. says that “ghey” is used to describe someone who is extremely lame or boring. Not to be confused with “gay” which describes a homosexual. Prisilla continues her opinion by offering an example. A conversation between friends Brett and Gary. “Brett: hey lets go pick up some chicks. Gary: Nah dude… I’d rather stay home and check my myspace. Brett: Stop being a ghey and let’s go!”
“Ghey” is “Ghey” feels that “Ghey” is a way to take the guilt out of offending [the] GLBT Community by calling something unfavorable “gay”. Since verbally, the new spelling is virtually unnoticeable, this rationale is rendered a waste of time, but as mentioned, it serves its purpose in the mind of the homophobe-in-denial.
I could go on and on but I won’t, those are the examples that I picked out to give my interpretations.
Bud E Love is apathetic and ignorant.
DigialLion gets straight to the point but a defeatist.
Prisilla R is just blasé and has no idea she just contradicted herself with her example.
Ghey is Gey is idealistic and hits the nail right on the head.
I myself went from defeatist to idealistic in the course of two years playing the mmorpg.
Most still do not understand why I am offended, if they are really interested in knowing I explain further by a few examples, and they are harsh.
WARNING: I detest having to say certain words; I use them ONLY to make a point against discrimination.
“What if I came along after losing a battle against another player, and I started to rant about how knigger he was, and that the game company was a knigger for allowing the game continent in the first place and that the whole team should shut up because that was being such a knigger?”
It makes me sick to say those things, and usually is a slap in the face to the player that I voice the question. They immediately find what I said offensive (because it was) and I ether get an “oh” or a “but that’s not what I mean when I say “ghey”, it just means stupid.”
I don’t go any further than that hoping that they will at least think about it next time they use the term “ghey” or hears it being used.
Here is where I realized that this has gone beyond a simple change of language.
These young adults, will soon be adults and have no comprehension that “ghey” is derogatory because all of their lives they have used the term and really, really do not feel that they are being offensive.
To me that is repugnant that it has been allowed to go so far.
Schools allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Chats allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Games allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
BBC allows it (good grief, see below for a quote)
“The word 'gay' ... need not be offensive... or homophobic... The governors said, however, that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage. [...] The committee... was "familiar with hearing this word in this context." The governors believed that in describing a ring tone as 'gay', the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish', rather than 'homosexual'. [...] The panel acknowledged however that this use... in a derogatory sense... could cause offence in some listeners, and counselled caution on its use. ”
—BBC Board of Governors
So it all comes back to this: “gay” vs “ghey”
Or to put it in new terms: Homos vs stupid.
Many who condone homosexuality find the use of term to be offensive, but remain silent because it is “just something kids say now-a-days.”
Ouch.
In closing
Thank you for listening to my rant, I hope it was food for thought about next time you hear a young relative using the term, or experience the same thing on a chat or in a blog, or are a concerned parent.
I do not know how to continue, or where to go from here to even start to seriously begin to curb the use of the new ‘word’.
Okay I will go as far as to ask how to start getting this word banned?
How did words like coon, spic, white trash, yellow or kike get banned from the politically correct lexicon?
I am not delusional.
I know that in familial, social and ethic circles these terms are still used, and the term “ghey” will still be used even if it is banned as offensive by those who are morally and politically correct.
I know one thing:
I do not want my son to grow up with the word “ghey” as part of his every day lexicon.
I do not want him to grow up confused over the definitions of what “gay” vs “ghey” is.
I do not want to explain to him that no one means to offend his mommies or himself when they use “ghey” as a negative.
I do not want him to be afraid to tell his friends about his Mama and Baba because he knows they would be called “ghey” (less of a person)… not meaning “gay” (homosexual).
I do not want him to accept “ghey” as a casual negative term.
And most of all I do not want him to have to take the brunt of this battle of “gay” vs “ghey”; he is going to have enough adversity to overcome.
This should be our stand, not his.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage
3 http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghey
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The bears, a must have for sleeping.
So we have found Griffin's security objects, we've had them for awhile and for some reason (no idea why) we haven't shared them with you.
My mother send him a little blue bear made out of a soft blanket, it looks like a little stuffed bear holding a blanket with a satin lining. It's cute.
Well Griffin can't sleep without it.
Griffin's perfect sleep.
Step 1
Have bottle while geting a change
Step 2
After bottle, recieve a passifer...if no passifer given within a few seconds of bottle....fuss.
Step 3
3 Books (must be chosen from a selection or he won't sit through a reading)
Step 4
Into crib, smile because he knows what's comming next.
Step 5
Eather bear!!
We named said bear after the version of cloriform because he just cuddles the bear, smiles and then when he's ready he just lifts it over his eyes and he's out.
Seriously...out like a light.
And sleeps all through the night (yes...we are very very lucky).
So, one day we forgot Eather bear while visiting Nana....uh oh.
No sleep.
So we had his Aunt head out to the store to pick up an exact copy of Eather bear.
He was worried at first, it didn't smell like eather bear...wasn't as worn out as eather bear...but it felt close enough..so he was soon alseep.
Thus, dubbed by the Aunt who rescued Griffin from a night of fitfull sleep (subsiquently all of us too) Benzo Bear. Benzo being short from Benzodiasopam a family of drugs to help passify folks (did I mention said aunt getting her masters in psychology).
Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of the twins Eather and Benzo bear.
Benzo stays at Nana's on a perminant basis.
My mother send him a little blue bear made out of a soft blanket, it looks like a little stuffed bear holding a blanket with a satin lining. It's cute.
Well Griffin can't sleep without it.
Griffin's perfect sleep.
Step 1
Have bottle while geting a change
Step 2
After bottle, recieve a passifer...if no passifer given within a few seconds of bottle....fuss.
Step 3
3 Books (must be chosen from a selection or he won't sit through a reading)
Step 4
Into crib, smile because he knows what's comming next.
Step 5
Eather bear!!
We named said bear after the version of cloriform because he just cuddles the bear, smiles and then when he's ready he just lifts it over his eyes and he's out.
Seriously...out like a light.
And sleeps all through the night (yes...we are very very lucky).
So, one day we forgot Eather bear while visiting Nana....uh oh.
No sleep.
So we had his Aunt head out to the store to pick up an exact copy of Eather bear.
He was worried at first, it didn't smell like eather bear...wasn't as worn out as eather bear...but it felt close enough..so he was soon alseep.
Thus, dubbed by the Aunt who rescued Griffin from a night of fitfull sleep (subsiquently all of us too) Benzo Bear. Benzo being short from Benzodiasopam a family of drugs to help passify folks (did I mention said aunt getting her masters in psychology).
Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of the twins Eather and Benzo bear.
Benzo stays at Nana's on a perminant basis.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Slices of Life
Here are a few random videos from the past month. Warning: the first one is about five minutes long. I couldn't decide where to cut it off.
Coughing is Funny!
Coughing is Funny!
Swinging with Nana
That's a Lens Cap!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
First Words
Well groovy news.
I've graduated from pthf pthf to Baba.
Today Griffin looked at Momai and said Moma....turned around and looked at me and said Baba.
I, of course, was shocked and shot up out of the chair like a mad woman and scooped him up and gave him a baba hug and kisses. Which he thought was odd but very funny.
I was crying and grinning like a fool but very happy.
I've graduated from pthf pthf to Baba.
Today Griffin looked at Momai and said Moma....turned around and looked at me and said Baba.
I, of course, was shocked and shot up out of the chair like a mad woman and scooped him up and gave him a baba hug and kisses. Which he thought was odd but very funny.
I was crying and grinning like a fool but very happy.
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