Queer Baby Makin'

Whenever I get the chance, I like to support my fellow bloggers and I have the chance to do that right now. Susan Goldberg, one of our Susan commenters here at Up Popped A Fox, just launched a new anthology called "And Baby Makes More: Known Donors, Queer Parents and Our Unexpected Families". Here's a little blurb from Insomniac Press: "A quirky, funny, and occasionally heartbreaking collection of personal essays, this book offers an intimate look at the relative risks and unexpected rewards of queer, do-it-yourself baby-making, and the ways in which families are re-made in the process."

I have not read the book since it won't be released here in the states until Spring but what's not to love about Queer and Quirky? So, check out the info at Insomniac Press here and spread the word!

The Pudding is Political

My daughter wants Jell-o pudding cups. She has seen them tucked inside the lunch boxes of friends' at school and they seem exotic and she imagines that they must taste like chocolate fireworks, a flavor parade. I've told her that they don't taste that good. I've told her that they are chock full of chemicals. I've told her that they create waste and that all that plastic ends up in landfills or in the sea where it kills dolphins and, if the dolphins die, there will be no more sunlight or rainbows or ice cream. Okay...that last part I haven't told her...yet. I have assured her that I can make pudding for her to take in her lunch but she just shakes her head, bats her eyes and murmurs, "Jell-o pudding cups". Stupid Jell-o pudding cups have enchanted her. So, Luisa went to the co-op and bought some organic chocolate pudding mix. I know I could make it from scratch scratch but let's not go crazy - I'm no June Cleaver. Today was the day to make the pudding and Zeca was excited to help me (she wants to watch me make everything these days because she says, "I'm afraid I won't know how to make anything when I'm adult!"). We got out the pan and she poured in the chocolate pudding mix before adding the milk. Through it all, however, she continued to pine for the beloved Jell-o pudding cups and I continued to extoll the virtues of pudding made on the stovetop. It uses real milk! We can put it in small reusable containers! It will be just like Jell-o pudding cups but we'll make them ourselves! She ignored me. She was unconvinced. So, we stirred and we mixed and it thickened and bubbled and then we were finally able to pour it into the cute little containers. She perked up a bit seeing them lined up and ready for lunchboxes. She then asked if she could have one and I said, "Sure Beav and I'll join ya". All true but the Beav part. We sat down at the table and I reminded her that it was still hot and then she proceeded to burn her tongue...and cry. She didn't say it but I know she was thinking, "No one ever burns their tongue on a Jell-o pudding cup!" I yummed my way through my pudding and, when she finally got down to the business of eating hers, she said, "Oh my god, mom! This is amazing!" I shouted with zeal, "I know!" When we finished, she put the lids on the little lunch containers and said, "Now, I'll have pudding for my lunches!" She seems temporarily content and my only hope is that the other kids don't mock her homemade pudding cups. If they do, I'm gonna tell her to tell them that every time they eat one of those evil pre-packaged puddings, they kill a dolphin. Sure, she won't be popular but she'll at least feel the might of the righteous.

Wizards

When I am overwhelmed by responsibility and my brain is having a worry party with a few thousand guests and I have very little time, you know what I like to do? I like to find something completely mindless that sucks up the restof my time. Really...how could I possibly satisfied with blogging, Facebook, Twitter and all of my e-mail pen-pals, not to mention all my real life stuff? It's time that I come out again, this time as a big Wizard 101 playing nerd. I am a public servant by day, a parent all the time, but when the children are sleeping...I am this:

That's right...I'm a fancy African-American male wizard named Scot Skullfist. How did this come to pass? Well, Miguel created the character and chose the skin color, eye color, hair color (blue - a lovely choice) and I play with his character. Wizard 101 is played online, so, there are many other wizards (and the people behind them) playing in real time. So, you meet people and chat with them while you battle such things as Lost Souls and Fire Elves and other strange creatures. Not surprising, people talk to Scot like a dude. The other guys try to impress him with their power. It's weird because I know everyone thinks that the man behind the man is a man. Wait. Did that make any sense? Anyway, it's funny that 75% of the time Scot is actually a grown woman. I do have my own character (Victoria Darkwhisper, if you must know) and the other wizards treated Victoria differently than they treat Scot. They were more protective and they didn't chit chat in the same way. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is a subtle difference which makes sense because it's so pervasive in our culture. What I didn't expect is that I feel different when I'm Scot. I can brag right along with the guys and it's kinda fun. It's interesting and something I'll think a bit more about.

Oh Wizard 101 - I hate myself for lovin' you

So, have any of you done role-playing games before? And I'm not talking about the games you might play in your bedroom.