My Chemical Romance

Wedding season is in full swing, and the line between creativity and cruelty has become a huge blur.

Princeton's MRS Degree

Oh, dear.  Then again, what do I know?  I'm a childless unmarried monster.

Love and Loss in 16th-Century Korea

The excavation of a Korean tomb from 1586 yields a remarkable (and remarkably moving) find.

A Dad's Advice on Marriage

Read this letter!  The P.S. is absolutely delightful.

Et Tu, Ricochet?

*Sigh.*

Et Tu, "Weekly Standard"?

As a childless unmarried monster, I was not amused by this.   

Neither "economics" nor "culture" are the driving reasons behind my (apparently offensive and civilization-imperilling) personal lack of mini-Minervas. You know, some people don't have kids because - for just two examples - health issues are in play or they hold the quaint old-fashioned conviction that they want to get married first.  It's not, in that unfortunate wording in the piece, that we simply don't "bother to have children at all."  That kind of makes us childless monsters sound like self-absorbed dirtbags, and I jolly well do not appreciate that.

This whole thing might depress some people, but it frankly just ticks me off.  Hey, people, how about you walk a mile in my shoes  awesome high heels before you presume to judge me?   It's another round of modern socio-politics' favorite song: "You Played Nicely and Tried to Be Responsible?  You're A SUCKER."  The coda here: "Oh, and You're Evil Now Too."  Thanks, people, thanks a lot.  That really helps.  Pfffft.  Meanwhile, Feminist Ryan Gosling continues to amuse:

Call Me Maybe.

China's "Leftover Women"

Well, I had said before that China's social engineering was going to blow up in its own face, so who's surprised that it is?  I've posted before about the "Sheng Nu," and the New York Times has a new piece about the phenomenon: "China's Leftover Women."  Wow, if that isn't a shot in the self-esteem, girls, I don't know what is.  Whoohoo, Childless Unmarried Monsters R Us!  Pfffffft.  Bonus: Did you know that according to China's Women's Federation, our expiration date is age 27?  Not, of course, that I ever give any credence to any of the social agitprop that comes out of there.

Disgustingly Cute: Candid Amazement

Congratulations and good luck, you crazy kids!

Friday Fun Video: Acappella Wedding Music

The 10-member acappella group known as Gentleman's Rule is based in Chicago, and these guys are fantastic.  Take a listen for yourself (it gets good at the 1-minute mark):

All the Single Ladies: China's "Sheng Nu"

Well, given China's gender imbalance, this was inevitable.  As for sheng nu, the term is being translated as "leftover ladies."  Hey girls, we can all be childless unmarried monsters together!

Thoughts on North Carolina: "How to win a culture war and lose a generation"

Here is a pretty darn sensible blog post about the recent uproar about North Carolina's voting to amend its state constitution.  Here's a piece of it:

Despite the fact that the North Carolina law already holds that marriage in the eyes of state is only between a man and a woman, an amendment was put on the ballot to permanently ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution. The initiative doesn’t appear to change anything on a practical level, (though some are saying it may have unintended negative consequences on heterosexual relationships), but seems to serve primarily as an ideological statement. 

... an expensive, destructive, and impractical ideological statement.  

... it should be clear that amendments like these needlessly offend gays and lesbians, damage the reputation of Christians, and further alienate young adults—both Christians and non-Christian—from the Church.  

So my question for those evangelicals leading the charge in the culture wars is this: Is it worth it? 

Besides, I don't like the idea of tampering with constitutions, period.  Also a side effect of culture wars: everybody comes out looking and feeling worse, and everybody comes out more radicalized in one direction or the other - and this makes everything even worse than they were in the beginning.

Rant: Childless Unmarried Monster, Part Deux

Oh, yeah, "unmarried."  So now I might not only be a childless unmarried monster, but I might be that because I simply suck at planning!   That's even worse than being a childless unmarried monster because I'm a selfish careerist b*tch.  Thanks a lot, Jezebel:

Still, there is a difference between choosing to be childless and just waking up realizing it's happening to you. Some women know, for sure: I don't want children. Other women work, love, live, only to discover that they've crossed an unmarked border into new territory, where everything looks exactly the same, only now you're that woman who never had kids.

That's just great! Negligent barrenness.  My unused uterus isn't bearing anything aside from witness against me now.  Let me post this too while I'm at it:

Focus, Please

This election season will be -- indeed IS -- full of distractions and red herrings.  FOCUS, PLEASE.  It's the economy, stupid!  

Nerd Fun: Mangling "Moby Dick"

Do click to enlarge. 

Stand By Your Man? The Wives of Arab Tyrants and Dictators

Here's something you may not have thought about.  There's a bit about Assad's wife that is simply stomach-churning.

Rant: I Might Be A Childless, Unmarried Monster

I suppose we can chalk this up to "people just being people," but it can really rub me the wrong way how some people (and I mean both men and women) feel perfectly free to opine away to me about (a) my marital status (or lack thereof) and/or (b) my uterus. Yes, you read that right. 

Awesome: Dad Can Definitely Dance!

Check out this father-daughter dance at a recent wedding in Houston:

Spinsters R Us?

I can't help thinking of a line from A Midsummer Night's Dream: "To live a barren sister all your life ... !"  Apparently I'm not alone in being a confirmed spinster bachelorette.

LOL: Trophy Wife Versus Tiger Wife

Via Ninme comes this bit of hilarity from Vanity Fair. 

Nerd Analysis: A Sociology Professor Considers the Gay Marriage Debate

Thoughts by a professor of sociology at the University of Kent.  The professor happens to support gay marriage, but that ends up being beside the point.  Here is a bit of it:

From a sociological perspective, the ascendancy of the campaign for gay marriage provides a fascinating story about the dynamics of the cultural conflicts that prevail in Western society. During the past decade the issue of gay marriage has been transformed into a cultural weapon that explicitly challenges prevailing norms through condemning those who oppose it. This is not so much a call for legal change as a cause: one that endows its supporters with moral superiority and demotes its opponents with the status of moral inferiority. 

... What we have here is the casual affirmation of a double standard: tolerance towards supporters of gay marriage and intolerance directed towards its opponents.