Sneezes.

A short thought before I turn in. It had better be short since I'm already lying down under the covers with the lights out, and my eyelids are getting dangerously heavy.

Lately, when I sneeze and people say "Bless you," I have responded with "You too". Mostly, they just look confused, which is fun in and of itself, but then I usually explain that I don't need an excuse to bless them. It's just a nice reminder to be aware of what we say. Words become cliche so easily. I find it especially true in worship, where the most beautifully articulated statements about such alluring and mysterious topics as divinity and eternity, sacrifice and humanity, lose all meaning after they've been sung a few times. Old news, but a catchy tune. Sometimes it takes a new perspective to make a song meaningful again. I heard the song "Blessed be the name of the Lord" sung shortly after attending someone's funeral once, and ever since, I can't sing "You give and take away" without choking up. The other one that gets me is in "Jesus, all for Jesus", where it says "All of my ambitions, hopes, and plans/ I surrender these into your hands" because I like my plans. I don't always think I can give them up so readily while I reside in this flesh.

Why Girls Flip for Door-Holders

Women have spent the past couple hundred years fighting to be seen as equal to men. We can do the same jobs, go the same places, and act the same way with relatively little stigma attached to it. Sure, a girl who can burp the ABCs might seem a tad odd, but not nearly as much so as it would have in, say, 1906. So here's the thing. Why is it that girls flip for guys who hold doors open for them? We spend hours moaning that chivalry is dead and waiting for someone to ask us to dance despite our assurance that we want equal treatment. It's culturally acceptable for a girl to ask a guy out, but it's just a little odd, still. We don't want to have to do that, it's awkward. (Obviously, it must be awkward for the guy to ask out a girl, too, but still. That's a different kind of awkward.) It's like the roles are reversed, which doesn't make sense since, in theory, the roles are no different from one another.
I'll tell you my theory. Back when men opened doors for us, stood when a lady entered a room, and tipped their hats to them in the street, it was all automatic. It was expected, and to not comply would have been unthinkable. Rather than anything personal, it was just cultural. Even that knight in shining armor people are so keen on was probably out battling dragons and saving princesses as a matter of form.
When women's rights became a hot issue, a man holding the door for a woman indicated to an already slightly paranoid suffragist that he thought women were incapable of something so simple as opening a door for themselves. How can we ever be seen as equals when they think we're that incompetent? I'll open the door myself, thank you very much.
On the other hand, when a guy holds the door for me today in 2006, odds are, it's not because he is expected to or because he thinks I can't do it myself. We beat the last of both those mentalities out of them in the 60s while we were bra-burning feminazis. Today, a guy holding a door open for you probably indicates that they respect you, which is all we really wanted in the first place. The simple action means infinitely more now that they don't have to do it. So guys, hold the door for people. Girls, you can hold the door, too. Old ladies. Moms with their arms full of groceries and two-year-olds. Besides literally holding the door for folks, give them a hand in other, unexpected ways. Our culture could use a little more good-old-fashioned respect for others.

In other, less deep news, I think APUSH is starting to get to me. I've started to imagine people around me wearing powdered wigs. It's funny, but some people would look really good in them, while others would just look silly. Then there's the ones who would have worn the cop-out brown-hair-in-a-ponytail look in colonial times. It's funny how you can just picture it. Or maybe it's just me.

Yes, it's pretty definently just me.

Christmas List

At the expense of my countercultural, non-materialistic image, I'll be listing my wish list for Christmas here for the convenience of relatives and anyone who just wants to get me a present. If you're not planning to get me anything, feel free to read the list and analyze my character based on the kind of stuff I like. I'll keep adding to this list as I think of stuff. Auntie Dawn, I love you very much, but please don't spend more than $30 dollars on me this year. I wear a medium or a 7 or 8 in pretty much everything. The dancewear is all available and cheapish at discount dance.

Okay, here it go!

• This t-shirt
• Or this one
• Gaynor Minden pointe shoes (I'll look up the size later)
• Grishko "Performance Series" SCP6
• Natalie N8007 leotard
• D5104 Dance Department dance shorts or similar
• A fiberglass cello case, if you've got a few hundred dollars to spend
• Psychonauts, which is a computer game that's supposed to be really good.