sigelphoenix

Okay, so I dropped the ball this past week on fulfilling my goals. Setbacks happen, and I need to move on.

For now, I'm starting small. Here's what the next, oh, ten hours of my day will be like (curse you, Daylight Saving Time!). This list includes both things that I need to do, and things I want (and therefore need, in my own way) to do.

Level Sae

This will not only be fun, but will hopefully get me back into the mindset of thinking, "Okay, how did Sae change after last week's adventure?" so I can get to thinking about the fics I want to write before the next game.

One post for NWSA community

Really, really need to do this.

Get calendar art to inking stage

From there, inking and coloring are relatively easy. They still take time, but it's not as hard to motivate myself to do them as it is to draw something on a blank piece of paper.

Dinner reservation at 7:30

FYI for anyone in the Seattle area, Dine Around Seattle is going on, so you can get a fancy full-course meal at certain Seattle restaurants for $30 per person.

This week's set of goals is, like, 90% about Warmakers.

I'm okay with that. 8D

These are subject to change as I decide what my creative projects are going to be, and also which ones I want to do them this week as opposed to next.

Upcoming deadlines
-Wednesday, March 12: NWSA planning mini-meeting
-Friday, March 14: calendar due date
-Sunday, March 16: next Warmakers adventure

Practical stuff
-gym x3

Writing
-[placeholder as I figure out exactly what fics I'm going to write]
-surprise addition of: RP with ratzeo (I ♥ my boy)

Drawing
-get calendar sketch to inking stage
-start drawing 4-koma instead of just thinking they'd be a cool idea

NWSA stuff
-at least one article write-up

( Here's where I make myself accountable )

I'm at the point where the idea of making goals for myself feels encouraging rather than draining. YES.

I've been moving toward this point for a while, but what really cinched it was this past weekend, during which I: met with my NWSA group for our first official planning session (which was also the first time I'd seen any of these fabulous women in many months), went downtown with kyonkun, met up with mahokiwi and laylah at ratzeo and zinjadu's apartment (also the first time seeing them in a while, though luckily not months), and played my first session of casaval's Harry Potter game.

The NWSA meeting was crucial for lighting a fire under my ass and getting me back to work. These are some of the most amazing, intelligent, powerful women I know, so being in a room with them, and feeling their energy and support, went a long way towards making me feel capable of taking on this conference. And, from there, taking on anti-oppression work in general. (I've started, for better or for worse, thinking about grad school again ...)

The rest of the weekend was more about making me happy enough to keep going with this productivity, rather than being productive in and of itself, but that is also important. :D

( And now, my goals )

ETA: ( Current progress )

Still decompressing. The Daily has an article on it in today's issue. Here's a rundown of how it went for me:

( The rally and aftermath )

Thus ends SARVA Week 2007. It was pretty crazy for me since I was much more involved this year, but it was totally worth it. The other events of the week were all fantastic (though more humorous than heavy, and so not really worth attempting to translate into a blog post).

I hope you're all wearing jeans today for our Denim Day remembrance/protest. I've been wearing my SARVA Week t-shirt all week, so my co-workers all know about it and a bunch of them are wearing jeans today. :D

Oh, and ha ha.

Seattle-area folks!

I've totally been lax on making announcements about this, but SARVA Week is going on right now! For those of you unfamiliar with the event, SARVA (Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Awareness) Week is an annual event organized by C.O.R.E. (the Committee Organizing Rape Education, of which I am a volunteer). Through events, posters, and other displays, SARVA Week seeks to raise awareness on campus about the issues of sexual assault and relationship (domestic) violence.

Every night of this week through Thursday, there will be an event on campus in the HUB that educates people about sexual violence. (There was one just tonight and it was fabulous.) All events are free and open to the public.

( SARVA Week events )

I plan to go to all of these events. Please come and show your support!

Yesterday I had what I would term "a good anti-oppression day."

( First, classes )

( And then, C.O.R.E. )

Today, I went downtown to get a flu shot. Not a happy or fun thing, I guess, but I'll be glad if I don't catch the flu. :P

While I was downtown, I also stopped by Golden Age to pick up a new set of dice. And yes, I needed a seventh set. XD;; My character for irishninja's game didn't have a set especially for her ... *blatantly justifying* Also, it was this gorgeous royal blue set that I've had my eye on for months. :D

Thanks to everyone who gave me well wishes this week. It seems to have worked. :o

Here's what I read today at work before going to do a C.O.R.E. presentation.

According to a court in Maryland, a woman cannot withdraw consent to sex once it has begun.

Because, apparently, once a man sticks his penis in you, you lose all say over what happens to your own body. I guess this isn't terribly surprising, though, since that's the common conservative position on abortion - if you consented to have sex, then you lose the ability to decide what happens to your body if you get pregnant. It doesn't matter if the pregnancy is inconvenient, painful, damaging to your body, or even life-threatening. And now, apparently, it doesn't matter if sex does the same thing. You said 'yes' at one point, after all.

Does anyone else have an image of a three year-old whining, "No take-backs!"?

But wait, there's more! The court graciously explained the basis for this ruling, which was a law that states that raping a woman "de-flowers" her and is thus a loss for the man who owns her.

Maryland court in less than 50 words: You're not allowed to control your body once a man penetrates you. But that's okay, because your only worth is being a pristine virgin for the man who actually controls you anyway.

More here, here, and here.

You know, contrary to popular belief, I don't hate men because I'm a feminist. But I do hold a scathing contempt for a large number of them, namely the ones who are too selfish, lazy, stupid, or cruel to own up to their privilege. Particularly the ones who purport to be intelligent or even enlightened, and have the tools for education staring them in the face. I include judges in this category.

( which brings me to C.O.R.E. )

As of tonight, I've done four presentations for C.O.R.E. The more practice I get, the more patterns I see, both in my own behavior and those of the students I present to (as of now, fraternities and sororities).

( What I've learned )

( What I do )

( And tonight's presentation ... )

So.

It didn't go that badly.

I did my first C.O.R.E. presentation tonight, and as anyone whom I talked to about it knows, I was pretty nervous. ( the lowdown )

Anyway. That was that. Not fantastic. But I can get better. And hell yes, you can be sure that I'll be doing this again.