Quote of the Week: "As the New View Campaign points out: just as the fight to rid Africa of female genital mutilation is gaining real momentum, the West appears to be picking up the very knives they are putting down. And yes, there are numerous differences between FGM and labiaplasty. But there is also the eerie similarity that both are born of cultural standards imposed upon the women of a society. While our surgeries may be done entirely by choice, one wonders at what point the disconnect occurs between denouncing the use of a scalpel by others and then picking it up ourselves." - from BUST magazine's "The Vagina Dialogues" by Johanna Gohmann

5 things that happened this week:

1. I watched that new 10 Things I Hate About You show on ABC Family. Surprisingly, I didn't think it was horrendous. When I heard this show was coming out, I was outraged. Why take a classic movie and 10 years later reinvent for the small screen? There's no need for that! But this show has some cool new developments going for it and a pretty stellar cast. It's just not a remake of the movie; there's actually something fresh about it. I thought it was kind of cute! Would I purposely set aside time on Tuesday nights to tune in? Probably not. But if I'm doing my nails again and need something to watch while I do that, then sure! 

2. I was thinking about goats the other day. Why do they eat whatever is in front of them? They're like babies. Oo, a shirt! Let me at it! Yum! What other animal just walks up to you and starts eating your pants? None that I know of. So how does this happen? Why are goats like this? Anyone?

3. Also, how did dialects come to be? I mean, the English come to America and gradually lose their English accents. How? If everyone is speaking with a British accent, then wouldn't everyone continue speaking with a British accent? Or were they like, "Let's try pronouncing our words differently from the British because we don't want to be like them anymore!" And then every time a new band of Americans pushed further westward, they were like, "Let's try pronouncing our words differently because we're in a new part of our country!" Does anyone else wonder this? Anyone? Has someone written a book about it that I could read?

4. I went to a media party Monday night, which I thought would be a good networking opportunity for me. Plus, there was the enticement of Guitar Hero. Well, the party was held at a bar in Manhattan (bar and GRILL, sorry) and they herded us into a small area at the back of the bar and grill where loud music was playing. I was one of the first people there (need to stop doing that) so I awkwardly attached myself to a group of people who were talking about something or other and then that broke the group up (go me) and I ended up talking about random things with a freelance writer. Then more people came in and I found someone else who I knew and we sort of got stuck in a corner by the mob of people in this tiny space and ended up talking with two Hungarian ladies who are trying to get people to visit Hungary on their vacations (I struck up that conversation, thank you very much). That conversation got cut short because I was called up to play Guitar Hero, which kind of sucked. It was the Aerosmith game, they put it on "easy", and the girl I was playing with (even though we were supposed to be playing against each other) had never played before, so was kind of sucking it up, but I wasn't paying attention to her and we started going in the red and then we lost. :( However, after a while of standing around awkwardly by myself, I started to head out and was stopped by a group of people who told me that I was really good at Guitar Hero and so I talked with them for a bit. And then I had to get out. It was hot and I was starting to sweat. My voice hurt from having to yell over the roar of the crowd, the loud music, and the blaring Aerosmith songs from Guitar Hero. Parties really aren't my thing. Especially when it seems like everyone knows everyone else and how do you break into people's conversations without looking like a weirdo? *sigh* I need someone to do this for me.

5. Last night Mike and I ran a book club for a couple middle schoolers. We read the book Tangerine, which was pretty good, if not a little dark and deep. Thank goodness for back-of-the-book reading questions! The kids who were there did a really good job of discussing. They all had good insights, which I found really impressive because some of them were starting 6th grade in the fall and one of them was starting 7th grade. I think these kids will do well in English classes.