Long Weekend *(Kind of)

Well, hello there!

I hope everyone has had a great long weekend/Thanksgiving weekend/normal weekend for non-US individuals 

For me, it really was a long weekend, in the sense of using the word "long" to describe a week that seems to never end.

So, to start with, I actually had to work Thursday night. I went in to Target at 5:45 pm since we opened at 6:00 that night for our "Black Friday" doorbuster sales or whatever. All I know is that it was late and I was tired and I saw someone buy like 20 bears that were each 3 feet tall for some unknown reason.

I also had to work Friday and yesterday and will be going in to work this evening as well.

So, it's been a long weekend/week, ya feel? (I actually don't remember what the last day I had off was, but my calendar says it was the 20th of November so I guess that was it)

Anyway, I think that's just a thing for people working in retail. It's awful, but someone has to do it, right?

On the bright side, I've been up to some fun stuff this weekend (when I'm not at work, that is)

On Thursday, I helped my mom make the Thanksgiving dinner. Since I'm vegan there were a few things that had to be done in 2 different ways so that I could have this item but everyone else wouldn't have to eat the no-meat-no-egg-no-dairy version. Because of this, I made my own sweet potatoes (actually just because I don't like the regular kind my mom makes, I could technically have eaten the regular ones but I'm just not that into sweet potato casserole), my own stuffing, my own mashed potatoes, and my own carrots. I mean, I didn't do any of these things completely by myself. My mom did the final bake/roast of the sweet potatoes (though I did all the other stuff that got them into the container they were in for this part), my mom pre-cut the bread for stuffing and roasted the vegetables that went in it, my mom boiled all the potatoes for mashed potatoes, and she did the carrot slicing. But I still did a bit of work.

Apparently it's easier to make a Thanksgiving dinner with help than by herself.

So we cooked and then later we ate and then after that I went to work.

And, what's even cooler than that I got to help is that my vegan mashed potatoes were so good that people didn't notice they were the vegan ones until I said something (I mean, they were eating all of my potatoes, guys, I can't eat theirs but they can eat mine so it's not fair if they eat all of mine and leave no potatoes for me, right??) that in the future, we only have to do one batch of mashed potatoes for big family meals! This will save a ton of time and also make the entire meal healthier for the family and friendlier for me. It's really a win-win-win, ya know?

So, yeah. That was Thursday. I intended to make a post on Thursday, but got all caught up in the Thanksgiving stuff and watching the parade and the dog show, so I didn't.

On Friday, I had work at a weird time (12:45-5:15) so I didn't get to do much since there aren't many hours before 12:45 and it's the time of year where it gets dark at like 4:30 or whatever, so I really just hung out a bit. Nothing too exciting.

But yesterday, Saturday, was a BIG. DAY.

Every year since like 2008, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mom and sister and I go to cut down our Christmas tree, then bring it home and decorate it! So, on Saturday morning, my sister came over and put her laundry in our washing machine (hers broke on Friday night) and then we set out.

First, we had to stop by Target to pick up some things from Wondershop (the Christmas section). We needed outdoor lights because there's a new thing where if there aren't lights on the outside of the house, Santa can't find my niece to bring her her presents. We don't know how this started, but we can't be the reason why Santa doesn't come this year, so we got some big, colorful, round lights to put around the big window and front door and down the front porch railings.

We also picked up a couple of other things because we're having our second tree in the living room this year for my niece (she lives in a different state and couldn't be here for the big tree, so she's getting her own special tree in the living room that she gets to decorate all for herself and it's gonna be awesome).

Then we drove like an hour and a half to a Christmas tree farm to get our Christmas tree.

Normally, it's only like 45 minutes to an hour, but the farms we usually alternate between [Christmas tree farms close every couple of years to let the trees grow, so you have to have a backup] were both closed. We [I] ended up selecting a farm that was a bit farther away than usual because this farm also had alpacas.

It was mildly disappointing. They had lots of different kinds of trees to choose from, which was exciting to me (I thought a Virginia Pine or an Easter Red Cedar might be nice, rather than our usual Eastern White Pine) but my sister didn't like the other types of trees. The Eastern White Pines they had were a little smaller than we usually go for, or else way bigger than we are allowed to get because of the size of the room the tree lives in. And the alpacas were nowhere to be seen! I thought that they'd at least be visible from the tree part of the farm, but no dice. I did get a nice pair of alpaca socks though [so, a lot of vegans don't believe in using anything made from any part of any animals, but I'm a little more lenient when it comes to wearables; I'm not into leather or anything, but if the animal doesn't have to die to make the wearable item, I'm okay with it--alpacas and sheep and other fleecy animals can be shorn without being harmed and need to be shorn yearly in the spring anyway, so we may as well find a nice use for their fleeces--that being said, it's best to be careful about where you get your fleecy stuff from--make sure the people who shear the animals do so humanely and nicely without hurting them].

ANYWAY, we found a suitable tree, and then bought it and brought it home to decorate. The tree we got was an Eastern White Pine, our usual, and about 6 feet tall. It was very easy to cut down because it was younger than the ones we usually get, it seemed. Once we got it home, I barely had time to go to the bathroom before the tree was up on the stand, waiting to be decorated! My sister handled the lights while my mom helped find the last couple of bins with Christmas decorations (somehow after 4 years, it's still always a struggle to get all of it out of the basement). 

While we were pulling our ornaments out, we found that a lot of the cardboard boxes we've kept them in for decades had gotten a bit yucky from the basement flooding earlier this year, so we had to eliminate these boxes [we had to throw them away because they were moldy and I don't think you can recycle moldy boxes] as we got the ornaments out. We got all our ornaments onto the tree, put the second tree up in the living room, and then it was time for me to get ready for work.

But, we got everything set up, so, now it's just a matter of waiting 3 weeks for our first Christmas! 

[my niece and sister are coming over the weekend before Christmas this year, because they were here for Christmas last year, so they're going to be with the other side of the family for the day of and with us the weekend before--it's gonna be two Christmases this year, whoo-hoo!!]

Anyway, that's how my weekend has been so far.

Today has been pretty chill. I just woke up and played some games on my phone and read a few chapters in I Am Malala and then went for a run, which ended up being a much longer run than I anticipated. It turns out that I run a lot longer and farther once I stop thinking about how long and far I've run, so instead of counting my miles or my time, I just listened to Hamilton and ran until the end of "Non-Stop," because by then it turned out to be noon and I was getting very hungry.

And then I ate lunch and now I'm doing this, but it's also time to sign off so I can make the meal that I'll be eating at work tonight, since my shift is long enough for a meal break. So that's all for now!

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

Happy Monday!!!

Happy Monday, Everyone!!

I mean, I know people usually don't like Mondays, but how can anyone be down this week? It's Thanksgiving week! Which means people with regular jobs have off on Thursday and probably Friday, too. Which means it's a short work-week!

I mean, for most people.

I actually have to work every day this week, including Thanksgiving (Which I'm pretty upset about, but I already posted a really long rant-ey post about that so I'm just going to let you check that out on your own by clicking here). 

But I'm not gonna let that get me down! It's gonna be a great week!

To start with, I just started reading I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and I'm pretty excited to read about the youngest Nobel Laureate in history. I'm only about 40 pages in, with a goal of getting to at least page 90 today, but so far it's been really interesting. She does a great job of explaining the culture that she was raised in so that the reader isn't just thrown into this world that may be completely different from the one they live in [like, I knew a little bit about Pakistani culture, but I would have been completely shocked if she hadn't explained the culture of the Swat Valley where she grew up, because it's so completely different from what I've experienced in my life].

I'm looking forward to learning more about the culture she grew up in and her activism to promote education for girls, because that's a cause I care a lot about. So I'm probably going to read this book much faster than I would normally read, but that's only if I can actually get myself to sit down for a while to do so. 

Anyway, other than reading, my day is supposed to include a long run, which I have postponed due to the fact that it was below freezing outside when I got up and I'm not about to try and run in below freezing if I don't absolutely have to. So I'm probably going to head out for my run at about 11, to give the sun a chance to get high enough in the sky to actually produce some warmth and hopefully it will be like in the 40s by then (It's 36 now at 9:45, so it's looking solid).

I also did one of my training modules for my instructor position at Mathnasium, and that was a good time. I am really appreciating the way that we instruct at Mathnasium because it makes more sense than how I was taught in school growing up and if I had been taught the way that I'm learning to teach others now, I would have been much better off throughout my education.

And, finally, I am scheduled to instruct this afternoon/evening, and I'm excited because the students I work with are all pretty cool and helping them is always a fun time for me.

So, ta-ta for now, I'm going to log off the computer and get to my reading for the next hour and 15 minutes.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

Tiny Homes, Mighty Living

Okay, so normally, I do #OutInTheSunday, but today I've been thinking a lot about tiny houses.

Also, I just spent like an hour sorting through the giant bin of my Build-A-Bears from my childhood. I have 13 sitting out on my bed right now, and I think that's only like half of the number I have total. I had a major BABW thing, you guys.

Anyway. I've been thinking a lot about tiny homes lately.

Like, they're so cute and smart.

One can build a tiny house on a very small budget (ranges from less than $10,000 to about $50,000 for upscale tiny houses) especially if they are frugal about getting their supplies and build it on their own for the most part. 

I mean, you do have to get the land to put it on, but a small plot of residential land can be pretty inexpensive in the grand scheme of things.

For example, based on my credit score right now, I would easily qualify for a loan that would be enough to buy a small plot of land and then build a tiny house for myself.

And, like, building my own tiny house would be so cool, because I could plan everything to be suited to how I want to live.

Obviously, I probably won't be building my own tiny home too soon, since I'm still trying to figure a lot of stuff out. 

But I want to talk about what my ideal tiny house would have.

So, as is common in tiny houses, it would have a loft bedroom for me to stay in. I would probably want to create a loft in which I can fit a full or queen size mattress, no need for a bed frame, and build some clothing storage into the walls of this loft, probably more like shelving than drawers. I would obviously want to install a sunroof/moonroof so I could stargaze from my bed and be woken up every day by the sun. I would definitely require that there be some sort of rail so that in case I roll over too much in my sleep I don't fall to the level below, but that's probably a pretty reasonable thing, right?

I also have this weird vision of a rope ladder going up to the master loft, but I'm not sure how practical that is if I need the toilet in the middle of the night.

I might also install a small second loft as a guest bedroom/reading room. This one would have shelves as well, but might have a futon instead of an actual bed, or just a smaller mattress. And there would definitely be books. And a guard rail. And another sunroof for optimal reading light when there are no guests staying there.

The tiny house would be powered by solar panels, because solar is an excellent renewable power source.

Also, it would be like super ideal to have a collapsible roof. Like, when the tiny house is stationary in a place, the roof can be peaked, but if I decided to move, I would want to be able to collapse it to be more travel-friendly. I'm not really sure if this is possible, but wouldn't it be SUPER neat?? If collapsible roofs are not available when I'm building, I'd probably install something like mildly slanty. It would have a super low slop, but enough to allow rain and the like to actually run off of it [I have this huge aversion to the concept of flat roofs because my primary and secondary schools had flat roofs and there were always problems with these roofs leaking; on the flipside, I also have a major aversion to like the standard A-line roof because like, it doesn't make sense to have the tallest part be the middle of the roof, especially when I'll likely have my bed against the outer wall--I just want a roof that I won't whack my head on when I wake up.]

I'm not sure how I would get water into the house. That would be something I would need help with (also probably the electricity thing, but I'd be a little less useless with that--I learned a little bit about electricity in my high school shop class).

I would probably install either a low-flow toilet or a composting toilet and I would get a shower/bathtub combo (I've always wanted a bathtub that covers my knees and boobs at the same time, you know?)

The kitchen would be pretty minimalist. Just a small range and oven and double sink. Probably a microwave and a toaster that would be kept in a cabinet when not in use. No dishwasher, because that would take up a lot of space that would be better used for cabinets/storage. So I would have under the counter cabinets and above the counter cabinets, under the counter to store dishes (pots/pans, plates/bowls, cups, and storage containers) and I would probably have a small refrigerator/freezer, like the kind you get for a college dorm. Ideally, the kitchen would be pretty small, just under the guest loft, and it would have a window over the sink so I could like watch birds while I wash dishes or something like that.

I would put my dining area just outside the kitchen. I have this dream of a pedestal table with built-in bookshelves in the pedestal stand part, for extra storage and because I'm low-key obsessed with books//reading.

Hypothetically, I would have the dining and living area be the same area, with a booth-style dining situation. My fancy pedestal table would be there and the booth would be like built into the wall, with a storage situation underneath like piano benches are. The storage would have my fancy place settings and napkins and tablecloths and blankets since the booth seat would double as a couch for watching movies.

I would set up an entertainment center with my tv and dvd player and I would have to have a way to connect my tv directly to netflix because HDMI cables are a mild to moderate inconvenience to deal with. 

I'm actually not sure how feasible a combination dining/living area would be, so in the case that I can't have that, I would put my pedestal table in the corner by the front door, with some chairs, and have the living room area outside the kitchen for optimal popcorn snacking during movie nights.

Rather than having a whole laundry set up, I would probably just have a larger sink in the bathroom to hand-wash my clothes in, and I would have a clothesline outside in the summer, or across the house in the cooler weather, that would be strung from one loft to the other. Like half of my clothes are supposed to be hand-washed anyway, so why bother with a washing machine? 

I would also probably install a small hallway-like bit between the two bed lofts which could be used as a reading nook. I'm not sure if that would work out or not, but if it would, that'd be super cool.

Anyway, I think that's it. If I missed anything, I'll definitely update.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

Late #FoodForThoughtFriday and Happy #SelfCareSaturday !!

Happy Saturday!!

Since I missed yesterday's post because I had a weird shift at work, I'm going to start with yesterday's #FoodForThoughtFriday post:

Food for Thought Friday: Black Friday and Thanksgiving day shopping 

For anyone who does not live in the United States, every fourth Thursday of November, we have this holiday called Thanksgiving which is based in some pretty sketchy historical details. [TL;DR: The very first Thanksgiving dinner may have been a group of Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a happy feast, but after that, Puritans attempting to escape religious persecution in England came to Massachusetts and took the land that belonged to the Wampanoag nation and also killed them with smallpox]

I don't know why it's the fourth Thursday of November, but I thought it was the last Thursday until one year, November had 5 Thursdays and it wasn't the last one.

Anyway. Over the years, people have largely grown disillusioned with the "Pilgrim and Indian" notion of Thanksgiving, because, you know, it's awful. [Like Columbus Day. Also awful.] And Thanksgiving has kind of grown into something less about History and more about spending time with friends and/or family and being thankful for what we have. Which is great. It's a great way to be more mindful in your life, and something that we should definitely do more of [thus the birth of the #ThankfulThursday hashtag in recent years]. 

But also in recent years, this whole concept of "Black Friday" has started to overshadow Thanksgiving. Which is not so good.

In a nutshell: Black Friday, or the Friday after Thanksgiving (so the fourth Friday in November) is the "official" start of the holiday shopping season [not sure how that works because I definitely do not wait until a month before Christmas, the winter holiday I happen to celebrate, to start shopping]. It is a day when humans venture out into the world of retail shops to buy everything they want to give their loved ones for the winter holidays. There's even a website about Black Friday because it's so big now. The "black" in black Friday refers to the fact that the stores supposedly record losses in red, and gains in black ink or something silly like that.

And on Black Friday, stores offer super deals for things that people want to buy for the holidays, like, toys and electronics and stuff. And usually stores that participate also open early to let crazy shoppers who want to get out of bed at 3:00 in gosh-darn morning in for these deals and extra-super-special deals called "doorbusters" [because these people are busting down the doors--oh, you're closed, Target? NOT FOR ME, SON]

Anyway, over the past few years (lookin' at you, 2013, you started this) large retailers have been stepping it up a notch (or fifteen) by opening EVEN EARLIER than Friday, like, Thursday night, or sometimes Wednesday. And, of course, this is a problem when Thursday is supposed to be a holiday about spending time with friends and family and eating large quantities of turkey or not-turkey and stuffing and other such holiday fare.

So, long story short, super-stores like Walmart and Target and all those big-name retailers we love (or love to hate) have been opening on Thanksgiving.

Which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that when they open on Thursday, the poor souls who work in retail [read: me and others like me, trying to make ends meet post-graduation, single parents trying to make their ends meet to take care of their precious babies, and sometimes non-single parents who just, like, work at Target because they get paid better than minimum wage and get benefits if they're full time, and sometimes non-parents for those same reasons and all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons] get pulled away from their families on Thanksgiving day just before 6 pm to go cater to the crazy shoppers who leave their families by choice to make sure they get the *it* toy or the giant plasma screen TV or whatever it is that they NEED, but don't want to buy at full-price.

Of course, not all retailers do this (bless you, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Marshalls, Costco, etc.) but a lot of them do. And it's pretty screwed up. 

Because not only do these shoppers drag retail workers out of their homes and away from their family and friends to come in so you can buy whatever for 50% off or whatever, they're rude about it. They are, by and large, not going to be apologizing for the fact that they're coming in, and will possibly even get angry at the retail workers for not having something they want because, like, OBVIOUSLY, it's the cashier's fault that we only stock x number of this thing and you were the (x+1)th person to come looking for it or that the thing didn't ring up what you thought it would because the system is missing some discount that you saw a sign for, but we didn't because we're not out on the floor checking sale signs.

Now, I've never been a shopper on Black Friday (or pre-Black Friday) because I'm not about to go shopping with thousands of other people who could potentially, I don't know, trample me, stab me, pepper spray me, shoot me, or hit me with their car. This is a dangerous thing to do, guys. And of course, if it's dangerous for the shoppers, it's also dangerous for the workers, who we should care about (and I'm not just saying this because I work in retail now--seriously, my fellow Target Team Members are some of the sweetest people I've met and deserve all the good things).

So, like, if you can practice the self-restraint to NOT go shopping on Thanksgiving day and let retailers know that this isn't something the American people want or need, then please do. And if you can't, then at least be nice to the people who you interact with in the store, because you don't know them, and whatever is making you upset while shopping is probably not their fault. Feel free to come out on Black Friday, though. Just don't get violent while you're shopping. Like, it's not the end of the world if you don't get your precious little Jimmy or Janie or whatever your child is called that "Hatchimal" [the big toy of 2016, think how popular furbies were when they came out, or tickle-me-elmo when he came out] for 25% off. We really only have a few of them at a time [the shelves in my Target appear to only hold 8 Hatchimals at once, 2 rows of 4]. And there will be more at a later date, I'm sure.

#BoycottThanksgivingDayShopping #PracticeKindnessonBlackFriday 

Okay, moving on to #SelfCareSaturday

Today's #SelfCareSaturday Plans include:

Working at Mathnasium for a few hours.

Reading.

Doing my training modules for Mathnasium.

Possibly going to a grocery store with my mom to get stuff for Thanksgiving.

Possibly pulling some stuff down out of the attic.

Possibly getting some of my stuff out of the other bedroom in the house so that my sister and niece can stay there next month when/if they come down for Christmas.

Maybe going for a walk since it's gonna be b-e-a-utiful outside this afternoon.

Bullet Journaling for Organized Living

So, by now, you've probably heard of a "Bullet Journal," the latest craze in keeping your life organized

And if you haven't, where have you been?

Anyway, a Bullet Journal is a way to keep your life super organized. It's kind of like a day planner, a journal, and a calendar all in one thing that you can carry around with you.

I started my first bullet journal in late May/early June and I'm still working at getting to a point where I actually use them effectively.

My first bullet journal was a Leuchtturm 1917 "Pocket" size journal with an orange hard cover and grid paper. This was really great for carrying around because it literally fit in my pocket (though I usually kept it in my purse). And I used it pretty well for a little while, then didn't, then got tired of trying to fit everything in something so small. As I approached the end of the journal, I decided to switch to a different one and use the remaining pages for other things, such as my holiday shopping list and various other things.

After that one, I was looking for something bigger with the dot grid type of page, but my budget did me in and I ended up using an old sketchbook that had 100% blank pages and was kind of large, as sketch books often are. This was working pretty well for me for a couple of weeks, and I was doing much better of keeping up with it, but then it became super inconvenient to bring it places and it ended up being left at home a lot and so I'm a little behind in bullet journaling right now. I do, however, plan to use this notebook through the end of 2016, with the pages that are left at the end of December being used for various other purposes (so far, I've started a New Year's Resolutions page and I'll probably use some of the pages for their intended purpose--i.e. sketching).

My next bullet journal, which I will start in January, is a Moleskine hard-cover notebook. It has lined pages and is a nice size in between the sizes of the two I've already tried. I also have a bit of time between now and when I'm planning to actually start using it to get a nice layout set up inside. It's still not my ideal notebook (I've been eyeing the Leuchtturm 1917 medium (A5 paper) hardcover with the dot grid pages, preferably in red [just in case anyone was wondering what they could get me for any holiday and is so inclined]), but it's definitely a step in the right direction. It has 240 pages, which is *hypothetically* enough for Jan-August assuming that months average about 30 days, but I'm aiming to use it for January-June, the first 6 months of the year, in order to give me space for the index at the front and the "future log" that is common to bullet journals, as well as my monthly and weekly overview pages.

I'm still on the hunt for my ideal layout, as well as the right pen(s) because I like to have nice pens because then I feel more obligated to write nicely so as to not waste the beautiful pen--plus, I really love to color code my bullet journal items.

How do you like to stay organized?
What is your best piece of advice for bullet journaling?
Let me know! I'd love to see some nifty ideas!

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

#SelfCareWeekend and deactivating facebook (again)

In the interest of self-care, I didn't do much online this weekend.

I'm coming back around to that point of view that facebook is more of a problem than a solution. Mostly election-related stuff.

It was just about two years ago now that I completely turned off my facebook for my own mental health in the wake of a very traumatic situation for me and many of those who I care a lot about.

And now here I am, thinking of turning it off again.

Because it's mostly negative energy most of the time.

Because it's more trouble than it's worth.

Because I just don't have time to deal with that.

But at the same time as it's all of those things, I have a lot of friends with whom I don't get to communicate much without it. Friends in other countries, and now friends from college, since we've all moved back to our homeplaces. It's nice to be able to log in and see what they're all up to, but at the same time I feel like it causes me to be less present in those relationships. If I can see what they're doing without actually calling or texting or emailing them (or writing them a letter), then I often do because my communication skills are not the tops.

So, shouldn't I just drop the facebook account and put forth actual effort in the relationships that are important to me, rather than watching my loved ones' lives go by from a distance, through a screen?

I think that would be much better in promoting self-care as well as meaningful relationships.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming with #FoodForThoughtFriday

#FoodForThoughtFriday
#FreetheTitties

Today's topic is the bra, the medieval torture device for breasts, and a tool in centuries of oppression of women.

Now, the bra as we know it today wasn't invented until the early 20th century (Google gives the exact date as November 3, 1914--102 years and 8 days ago today), but binding and constricting the female breast has been around much longer. The reasons for doing so have been varied, but it's overwhelmingly an oppressive measure taken against the female breast (otherwise those who have male breasts would also be wearing bras, right?) and there are now tons of studies that say wearing bras is actually bad for your breast health (these are just five results related to the search "bras are bad" in no particular order).

I'm not here to say the things that have already been said by so many people; I'm here to break down why we still wear bras/consider it taboo not to wear a bra and to offer arguments on why we should #freethetitties.

So, the reasons that we still wear bras:

     1. Bras make breasts "look better." I mean, if you're a heterosexual male, the shape that a bra gives a female breast is pretty nice. Although this is highly contradictory to the second reason we wear bras.

     2. Breasts without bras are "distracting" to men. Which implies that without the bra, a woman's breast will draw a [heterosexual] man's attention more than with. Which kind of implies that they want to see the one without the bra. [of course, all of this hinges on the terrible social construct of "boys will be boys," which implies that "girls should modify their behavior to ensure boys aren't bad," a social construct that is harmful to everyone because it implies that men can't control their animalistic urges and frequently takes young girls out of school to change into clothing that is less distracting to their classmates, but that's a story for another Friday]

     3. Female nipples are offensive! Like, seriously? They look just like male nipples, but are surrounded with more breast tissue. Plus, female nipples produce life-sustaining milk for infants, male nipples don't [usually].

     4. Over time, wearing a bra has gone from something that was invented as a liberation from the super-restrictive corset to something that smushes the female breast into submission against the will of gravity and nature.

And the reasons why we shouldn't are numerous.

     To start with, it really is bad for your breasts. The muscle tissue in breasts can't get stronger if it doesn't have to work. Wearing a bra prevents your breasts muscles from working to get stronger. I mean, there are times when it's reasonable to wear a bra, such as when doing physical activities like running (because the amount of bouncing that can and will occur while exercising is painful), but other than that, let them breathe.

     It's also usually more comfortable to not. Like, 99% of humans who wear bras will tell you that getting home and being able to take it off is the best part of their day, or at least in the top 10 best parts of their day.

     Bras are expensive. Like, it costs $20-$50 to get a decent bra, and that's just if you're in the smaller (but not too small!) sizes. If you require "specialty" sizes, such as a band size smaller than 32 or larger than 40 (VS, I'm looking at you), maybe 42 or 44, or a cup size that is smaller than A (i.e. AA, AAA) or larger than D (VS again), or maybe DD or DDD or H, you have to go to a more expensive store, where they will measure you and fit you with a custom bra that probably costs upwards of $75. I don't know exact costs of these bras, since I fit in the non-specialty bra size category, but I know plenty of people who require "specialty" bras. And you could be using that money for more important things, like food.

     Bras usually don't fit a human the way they're intended. Because most humans don't have perfectly even breasts that are both the same size (I mean, I know there's nearly a full cup-size difference between my left and right which always makes my results come up weird when I get professionally measured) or sometimes breasts are kinda lopsided or crooked-like, most people can't get a bra that actually fits the way they need for it to look AND feel good. And, like, we should embrace the uniqueness of everyone's breasts, not try to fit them all in the mold of what is judged to look good by society.

    Bras are awkward to wash. Like, hypothetically, you're supposed to hand wash them or put them on a delicate cycle. Not doing so can cause them to have a shorter life, meaning you need to buy them more often, which means you're wasting MORE money on them. It's probably a conspiracy by Big Bras to keep you in a never-ending cycle of wasting dozens of dollars on bras.

In short, bras are basically just another form of oppression of women. Fight the patriarchy by not wearing them. Donate them to charity for women who can't afford to spend so much on bras, but still feel societal pressure to wear them even in the face of homelessness.

Or wear them anyway. Like, I can't tell you what to do.

But, most definitely, please do NOT burn them. That's like a weird thing that can put chemicals into the environment.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

The Electoral College

So, we all know that the electoral college didn't work the way it's supposed to this election. Or the 2000 election.

And of course, that means that there are going to be tons of calls to eliminate it.

But regardless of these calls, it's too late for this election.
Donald Trump is our next president barring the unlikely circumstance of over 3 dozen "faithless electors" or our justice system convicting him of the rape of a minor that he stands trial for starting on December 16th and becoming ineligible for the presidency.

So, today, I'm going to break down some of the pros and cons of the electoral college as it is right now and those of disbanding or drastically changing it.

Updated to add a link to this petition to those electors in red states that aren't bound by the popular votes to change history on December 19th. As unlikely as it is that this will happen, at least this will show the world that it isn't okay to toy with democracy.

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The electoral college as it is:

Pros: Allows for a smaller group of educated individuals to choose the candidate that they feel is best suited to act as the president of the United States in the case that said person does not receive the majority vote.

Cons: Occasionally ends up granting the presidency to the candidate with less of the popular vote; makes people believe that they must choose between one of the two major party candidates even if their views align better with that of a third party candidate; really isn't a democratic system.

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Disbanding the electoral college:

Pros: No more winning the popular vote, but losing the election. Allow those whose views align with third-party candidates to freely express that by voting for those candidates, thus hopefully reducing the disastrous two-party system that has plagued this nation since the late 1700s/early 1800s. Force America to wait until all votes are counted before declaring a winner (because it's now two days after election day and all votes still haven't been counted, which is beyond frustrating and I'm not even in one of the states whose votes haven't been counted).

Cons: Could result in a huge majority of uneducated individuals controlling our nation. 

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Doing a major overhaul of the electoral college:

Pros: Give Americans a chance to update the electoral college for the times. Not put too much power in the hands of the individual. 

Cons: Still having the chance of a majority popular vote not gaining the presidency.

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I, personally, am in favor of doing an overhaul of the electoral college, rather than disbanding it entirely. Call me crazy, but there's a reason that the founding fathers were afraid of direct democracy. If you are in favor of disbanding it, there's a petition you can sign here. It's your right to want to get rid of it, but before you sign, give me a few minutes of your time to try and explain how we can fix it.

First, it doesn't make sense that the entirety of each states' electoral votes goes to one candidate. There are only two states that can split their electoral vote, and they rarely do. Maine split theirs for the first time ever this election, granting 3 to Clinton and 1 to Trump and Nebraska has only split theirs once in history: that was in 2008, when they granted their third vote to Obama. The first thing to do would be to ensure that every state has not only the ability, but the obligation to split their vote according to popular vote. I would propose doing so in the following way:

Each state's popular vote winner would get the two associated with their senate seats. The remaining 1 to 53 (least populous states have 1, most populous/California has 53) would be divided according to congressional districts. The winner of each district would get that district's electoral vote.

For example, let's look at Virginia, my state. This election, our first 2 electoral votes would have gone to Clinton, and the remaining 11 would have been divided 7 to Trump, 4 to Clinton (this is based on the results for each district's chosen Representative assuming districts that selected a GOP candidate would have gone red and those that selected a Dem candidate would have gone blue; I couldn't find the presidential results sorted by district--no third party candidates won any district).

By doing this, voters who prefer a third party candidate would not be told that they're wasting their votes and, over time, we could gradually get away from the two-party model we've been stuck with for so long.

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Second, we need to eliminate the entire concept of having electors be bound by their states' votes. This is a big deterrent for third-party leaning voters. By binding electors, these states prevent the electoral college from doing its job. Because 29 states' electors are bound by the popular vote, these 29 states' electors don't have a chance to express their concern for the nation if they feel the best candidate was not chosen. There's also a problem with referring to those who use the right to select a different candidate than their state's choice "faithless electors." I get that the term comes from a lack of faith in the choice of their electorate, but it's really discouraging to those who are seriously concerned about it. The electors for each district would still be from the winning party and in most cases would choose their party's candidate, but they would not be stigmatized for choosing a different candidate. 

This would ensure that the majority couldn't pick candidates who want to reverse decades of progress without having the electoral college there to check that.

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Third, the electoral college wouldn't wait over a month to actually cast their ballots. The process would need to be streamlined so that there's not a gap between popular vote and electoral vote. There's no longer any need to wait so long for the college; technology has made it so that we usually know within 12 hours of the polls closing what candidate has won each state. The electoral college could meet the Tuesday after the popular election and it would be done.

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Fourth, we as a nation should not accept the predicted results of the election as final. The electors should have a chance to cast their votes before Americans as a whole say "wellp, that's it, this is the next president, like it or not." This puts unnecessary pressure on the electors to go with the vote. Recall that, in the majority of cases, they should go with the vote anyway.

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Fifth, the electoral college's final decision should be subject to review by Congress, regardless of if there is a tie or not. This just provides an extra check in the "checks and balances" equation.

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Sixth, the electoral college magic number should not be 270. This encourages bipartisanship and discourages those who prefer candidates not from the two main parties. The electoral college's results should be looked at in full, with the candidate receiving the most electoral votes gaining the presidency, not whoever gets 270 first.

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I'm not saying that this is the only way it can be fixed; I'm just offering an alternative to what we currently have and to completely disbanding it. If you still want to sign that petition, here's the link again. But it's clear that we can't just keep it as is any longer.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

Dear America,

Dear America,

You have spoken.

You cast your votes and 47% of you selected Donald Trump.
But wait, what's that? 48% of you selected Hillary Clinton.

So, I was going to write this post about the Electoral College and Faithless Electors and how a bunch of states that went red don't bind their electors, which means that hypothetically, if as many as 38 or as few as 9 electors in these states decide to cast their votes for Clinton rather than Trump, there's still hope. But that's not only highly unlikely; it would probably cause more problems (yes, Clinton could get into the White House, but then the whole conspiracy about it being rigged would increase exponentially which is not something we need right now).

So, instead, I'm going to offer a different message. One that may offer hope to some, but will hopefully offer encouragement to those who are stuck in this country.

And I'm going to start with this simple message:

Donald Trump will not be able to do 90% of the things he has promised to do in his campaign.

Let me say that again: Donald Trump will not be able to do 90% of the things he has promised in his campaign.

Because of our constitution, he will not be able to:

1. Ban Muslims from the United States. This would be unconstitutional; a violation of both the first and the fourteenth amendments. If you are Muslim and at any point feel that your right to practice your religion is being violated, then you have the right to report this to any authority figure that will listen.
2. Build a wall on the Mexican border, which Mexico will be paying for. I don't have any constitutional reasons why he can't do this. I just know, somewhere in my soul, that this ridiculous idea would cause way too much debt (which he promised to reduce, though his plan will most likely actually cause a major increase in the debt)
3. Make discrimination against LGBTQ+ identified individuals legal. Make discrimination against African-Americans, Latinx individuals, or any other individual who falls in any minority group legal. He literally cannot do that. Even though the Equal Rights Amendment still (a whopping 44 years after it was originally introduced) hasn't been passed and added into the Constitution, the 14th Amendment grants equal protection to all citizens.

And those are just the things that he can't do because of how our government is set up. There are so many things he will most likely not be able to do because of (1) impracticality (2) the complicated system of checks and balances that our government is built upon (3) the fact that we are a representative democracy, which means that you have the power to practice continuous democracy from now until we get someone who is not totally insane into the White House.

So, yeah. It sucks. But remember who built our country? Who fought against the tyranny of a small island nation thousands of miles away? It wasn't the big guys (okay, well, some of it was the big guys, but it was also the bastard orphan from the caribbean, a tailor's apprentice, an abolitionist among slaveholders). America was not founded on an aristocracy, and we can take it back.

Make the most of the worst.

Use your voice. 

And for crying out loud, next time VOTE. We have mid-terms in 2 years, on 6 November, 2016. So when they come around, register to vote, then actually DO THE THING. Because apparently you didn't do it this time. [based on the statistics on millennial turn-out for this election--45% less than in 2012--what were you guys doing?] It literally takes such a small portion of your day. I was at my polling place for less than half an hour. It didn't infringe on my day (other than that I woke up early to do it; but I went back to bed after) YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO WEAR REAL PANTS. YOU CAN VOTE IN YOUR SWEATS.

So, thank you to those that voted. And to those that didn't, what?

But most importantly, now is the time to get off your butt and go fix it.

Fight.

Fight for your brothers, sisters, friends, and everyone with a different skin color. Fight for those who practice their faith in a way that is visible and easy to target. Fight for those who love who they love regardless of societal expectations. 

Fight for minorities of all shapes and sizes.

Somehow, some way, fear conquered love in this election.
We need to get our country back; we need to help love come back and conquer hate and fear.

So, wipe your tears, put on your big-kid pants, and get ready to fight like hell for four years to maintain the progress that we've made in the past 25. We will get through this.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

#GetOutTheVote

Happy Tuesday!

In case you weren't aware, today is election day in the U.S.

I hope everyone's planning on voting or already has voted!

Some part of me decided that I should wake up at like 5:30 am to go to my polling place right when it had just opened, so I was there before the sun had come out for the day. I cast my votes, then went home and went back to bed.

The election is officially out of my hands and in those of the people who still need to vote.

So, if you're reading this and you haven't already voted, please go vote. It's not hard, you can find your polling place with a simple google search. All you have to do is put your address in the box and it tells you where to vote.

Of course, you should probably also know what you're voting for, so if you don't know what offices and measures are going to be on your ballot, then check it out with another simple google search. 

Today was my fifth time voting in an election, and the first time I've voted in this district. I voted in my first election when I was 17 years old, actually, because I was registered for the general election, I was allowed to vote in the primary even though I wasn't 18 yet. Since Obama was incumbent in the 2012 primary, I voted in the Republican primary (in VA you don't have to be registered under a party to vote in that party's primary--you just tell them which ballot you want). I then voted in the 2012 presidential election (for Obama) and I also voted for marriage equality (I was voting in Maryland and that was one of the ballot measures that election). In 2014, I [absentee] voted Tim Kaine for VA Senator. In the primary this March, I [absentee] cast my vote for Bernie Sanders. And today, I cast my most well-prepared-for ballot, having done research on both of the ballot measures as well as the 5 separate offices I was voting on. 

Because voting isn't just about the presidential candidates.

So yes, vote for the presidential candidate you think is best suited for the job, but also look at what else is on your ballot.

I voted for the next mayor of Richmond City.
I voted for a Congressman.

I voted for a new City Council Representative for my District.

I voted for a new Richmond City Board of Education Representative for my District.

And I voted on two VA Constitutional Amendments: one regarding "right to work" in Virginia and one that, if passed, will allow localities to grant tax relief to those whose spouses lost their lives serving as police officers or fire fighters.

So, go. Vote. Do your patriotic duty.

If you don't, you don't get to complain about what happens.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

#OutInTheSunday and #SundayRunDay

Happy Sunday!

Today I'm getting out in the sun double (or more) my usual amount.

I started off the morning early, by waking up at 1:47 to use the toilet, then deciding to stay up to watch the clock go from 1:59 to 1:00 (something that I've always kind of wanted to do, but never wanted to stay up to do, so this was a super convenient coincidence--I can mark that one off my bucket list!)

But I didn't get up after that; I went back to sleep and slept until like 7:30 (which is the new 8:30) because I was behind on my sleep and this was the perfect opportunity to catch up a little bit.

Then I got up and went for a short run, because it was cold outside and the cold air always hurts my throat and lungs when I'm running (and thus breathing more) so I was only out for 20 minutes, but better 20 minutes than no minutes, right?

AND today I'm going apple picking! So that's gonna be a lot of fun and a great way to spend some quality time outside in the sun and with my mom and sister. I'm excited about it. I've been really digging apples lately, so this will be a nice way to get lots of exciting kinds of apples. But I'm definitely going to need to find some fun ways to use them other than just eating them because one can only eat but so many apples plain.

Anyway, those are my plans for the day! I hope everyone is looking forward to a great fall Sunday!

xx,

Sienna
The Fierce Feminist

#SelfCareSaturday Math, Chili, and Cat Cuddles!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I hope everyone's had a lovely day so far and is looking forward to a wonderful evening as well.

Today's #SelfCareSaturday is about making some delicious and warm autumny comfort food (which is what's happening in my house right now) and cat cuddles and snuggling up with a good book.

So, I actually had work this morning because today was the annual "Trimathlon" for some of the Mathnasium centers in the area, and I was working as event staff for one of the centers, but we finished earlier than anticipated, which was nice, and it meant I got to go home early, which was even nicer!

When I arrived at home, my mom was working on putting the ingredients for the chili that I wanted to make with our acorn squash together (I found a cool recipe in a vegan cookbook and was like "this would be a great idea since we already have an acorn squash" so I told my mom about it and she was like "okay, yeah"). However, the recipe technically calls for 8 hours on low in a slow cooker, which caused some logistical issues since it was nearly 4 when I got home, which would have meant a midnight dinner (not so nice) but we're modifying it a little bit by cooking it on the high setting which should cut the time at least in half, and if that's not enough, we'll move it over to the stove for a little while to get it done in time for supper. 

There was also the small matter of the recipe calling for cubed acorn squash but not mentioning if it should be pre-roasted or not. We went with not. That was a silly idea, because it meant we had to peel the acorn squash (because while the skin is full of fiber, it's not really the yummiest part). So we're thinking that next time we want to make this one, we'll probably roast it and then dice it and do it as a stove-top dish, rather than a slow cooker thing because it'll be quicker and easier. But I'm super excited because the whole house smells like this delicious acorn squash chili and I can't wait.

In the meantime, however, I'm getting some cat cuddles with my precious lovebug Lucy and catching up on my reading of Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton (I didn't get a chance to read yesterday because I was busy doing my prep for an evening training session/class for my new job.

My precious Lovebug Lucy 

So, all in all, a pretty good day, since the event this morning was a lot of fun and I have the pleasure of the entire house smelling like acorn squash chili and also cat cuddles and reading--what more could someone want on a Self-Care Saturday.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

#FoodforThoughtFriday: Lawn "Care"

Happy Friday!

It's been a busy week.

Today's topic is Lawn "Care," since it's that time of year again! You know, the leaves are falling and people are spending hours outside picking them up only for more to fall on their lawns.

But I'm here to tell you that you don't need to waste your Saturdays raking leaves. Leave the leaves. They're good for your lawn.

Trust me, leaves were falling off of trees and covering the forest floor long before humans came around, got rid of forests, and started planting grass under the trees and then removing the leaves. And you know what? Those fallen leaves didn't kill the forests. In fact, those fallen leaves promoted the health of the plants on the forest floor.

When leaves fall from trees, it's because the leaves are dead and the tree is getting ready to sleep through the winter. The dead leaves fall to the ground, covering your ~beautiful~ lawn, so you think "well, I better get rid of those so my lawn can be beautiful a little while longer." But then your beautiful lawn gets all cold and unhappy over the winter, which isn't good for it. 

So in the spring, you have to do fertilizer and stuff to make it beautiful again.

Which is bad for the environment.

BUT if you just accept the fact that leaves fall off the trees and cover your lawn and make it not as beautiful a few weeks earlier and don't spend a bunch of time removing leaves only to have more fall on your lawn (like you're literally doing manual labor that will be completely worthless by the following Saturday), those dead leaves can help your lawn be happier and healthier in the coming spring.

How, you may ask, do they make it healthy and happy?

Well, friends, let me tell you.

Those leaves are like a blanket for your lawn during the colder months. Since they're covering the lawn, the grass' roots aren't getting as cold as they would in winter without the leaves. You like having a blanket in the winter, right? So why wouldn't you allow your grass the same pleasure?

And then, as the winter progresses and the dead leaves begin to decompose, they add nutrients back into the soil, which nourish your grass so that when spring comes again, you have beautiful healthy grass that's been nourished by the death of your trees' leaves.

You can even help that process along by going over your yard with a lawnmower when about half of the leaves have fallen from your trees. This will make the bottom layer made of the first half of your leaves which you've ground up with your lawnmower decompose easier, while allowing the second layer made up of the leaves to act as the blanket, keeping your grass warm through the winter.

The same thing works with grass clippings throughout the warmer seasons. If you leave the clippings, they will decompose, putting nutrients back into the ground and making your grass healthier and happier and thus more beautiful.

So save yourself the manual labor and leave your leaves (and grass clippings) to nourish your lawn!

ALSO, leaving your dead leaves on the ground creates homes for cute little animals to live in, like box turtles and chipmunks, and gives butterfly pupae a place to grow through the winter, which means your lawn will sprout beautiful butterflies in the spring (well, the caterpillars that don't get eaten by birds will become beautiful butterflies--they can't all be so lucky).

More information that has sciencey words available here:

One source.

Two sources.

Three sources.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist