Put a Ring on It

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042402122.html

This is an issue near and dear to my heart, and it's nice to see that the secular world is paying attention to it, too.

Sort of along the same lines of the article, I have noticed lately that if you are dating (which means you are in a serious relationship, in my book) or engaged, there are few social groups reserved for you. It is the small things such as when I am in the doctor's office filling out a form that requires me to check "single/separated" or "married"; well I am definitely not the latter, but I am definitely not the former either. What about "in a relationship"? Or, the more politically correct but much less charming "in a monogamous relationship"? I can also see it in the larger things, such as when the churches I attend offer "singles" Bible studies, and they offer "married couples" Bible studies...but nothing for those of us in between. Tyson and I share a much closer relationship than many married couples I know, and I would love to be able to attend a Bible study with him. Not to mention that if those types of bonds are strengthened now, in the dating/pre-marriage stage, there is a great foundation already lain for marriage.

Now, since I have been thinking about this for a while, I have determined that it is simply the high risk of these types of social groups being broken up that prevents their creation in the first place. People that are dating and even engaged have a much greater propensity to be broken up than those that have already made that commitment or have never made it in the first place. If a couple breaks up, that would greatly change the dynamic of the group, and could leave the others feeling awkward or forced to choose sides. These groups also would have a high rate of change, as people would constantly be added and removed from the group-whether because of a broken-off relationship or because they get married and join a new group.

At any rate, it would be nice to have some sort of group to cater to this stage in life, particularly in the church. Right now it feels like a tottering sort of balance-definitely not single but not quite married yet, either.

the advent of the Sims 3

The Sims 3 is here! .

Design-Build 2009

Above you can see what I worked on all this past semester.  Started January 12, and completed on May 2, is the "sleeping cabin" my class created in South Sioux City, NE.  (I just figured out how to hyperlink text, so I am pretty stoked. :))  In a mere 17 weeks, the 16 of us were given the project and client, created a design concept, argued repeatedly about the design concept (weeks 2-4...), finally agreed on a single design, presented the design and budget to the parks and rec board of South Sioux, and, finally, constructed the whole darn thing.  

I personally joined the class not knowing a soul, as I was the lone interior designer working on the project, along with 12 architects and 3 landscape architects.  There were also 3 graduate students mixed in amongst the rest of us undergrads.  Also included was our professor, Bruce, who had the charisma and patience, as well as 12 years design-build studio experience behind him, to put up with us.  I know there were times that I never thought this thing would actually be finished.  Most notable of these times is probably when I went with 3 others to pour the 12 concrete foundation piers.  Not only was it a wicked cold and windy day, but I just kept looking from our pitiful mess of a site to the cabin they had built last year (a similar project was done by the design-build studio last spring) and all I could think was, "We have to go from this to that in 6 weeks?!?".  I could not get my mind wrapped around that fact.  I still could not wrap my mind around that fact a week and a half later when the deck crew called to say that the foundations had been poured in backwards on the site, and they had to repour 4 of them before they could install the deck.  Needless to say, we did get it built in time for our final review, and it truly turned out to be a beautiful project.  

 

Check out more photos at  http://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/491315/1/design%20build%20pics?h=bf4961 

design is...

http://designwashere.com/50-excellent-posters-about-design/

the independant fertilized ovum...or not

So in reading my new book, "Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World", (which I believe every girl should read.  There, that is my shameless plug for the day), I came to this passage that the author (Carolyn McCulley) is using to display arguments used that are pro-abortion:

"The fetus is the direct cause of pregnancy, and if it makes a woman pregnant without her consent, it severely violates her bodily integrity and liberty...Even in a medically normal pregnancy, the fetus massively intrudes on a woman's body and expropriates her liberty.  If a woman does not consent to this transformation and use of her body, the fetus's imposition constitutes injuries sufficient to justify the use of deadly force to stop it...This book expands the concept of wrongful pregnancy to include what the fertilized ovum does to a woman when it makes her pregnant without her consent.  It is the only entity that can make a woman pregnant..." (Taken from a 1996 book written by Eileen McDonagh)

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.  This argument is absolutely riddled with holes and some sort of vast misunderstanding.  A "fertilized ovum" does not have an independently functioning mind yet!  After a few weeks or months, depending on what part we are talking of, it has much of it's bodily functions and parts that are essential to live...but a mind with it's own will as this paragraph personifies it?  That won't come for a couple of years!  

As for the last statement, "it is the only entity that can make a woman pregnant" it is not as though there are fertilized ovums floating around just waiting to plant themselves in unsuspecting women!  If you are a woman in this day and age engaging in sexual intercouse, you had better darn well know that doing so may cause you to become pregnant (whether you are on birth control or not!).  And when most pregnancies, whether "planned" or not, occur, it is usually through WILLFUL participation on the part of the female.  It is not a problem with men any more than it is a problem with fertilized ovums.  There are no more men hiding in the bushes waiting to rape women than there are fertilized ovums floating around just waiting for the next uterus to pass by.  Though a pregnancy can happen through the cause of rape, which I am not discounting as a truly sad and traumatizing experience, the percentage of pregnancies that occur that way are extremely low.  

Whether a woman does or does not desire to be pregnant, how are you supposed to get a woman's consent?  A man is not going to say to her, "Oh honey, we are about to have sex, so if you get pregnant is that ok?"  Or, even better, the ovum, before becoming fertilized, is not going to say, "Hey potential mommy, this sperm is looking pretty good over here and I think we might hook up and get you pregnant. Sound good to you?"  The issue of "consent" seems irrelevant here.  It is not as though a woman is signing a binding legal contract.  To be pregnant can be something that is desired, yes, but as for consent?  I am not quite sure how that comes into play here.

While I am an anomoly in the fact that I am a Christian yet I think that abortion should be legal (though I disagree with the morality of it), I will leave that for another post.  Suffice to say that this viewpoint seems to come from some sort of fantasy world, and riled me up enough to have to create a post about it.

use of "narrowed" + spring break=a post where one topic is totally unrelated to the other

Current weather: 68 degrees and sunny...woohoo!

There is a link on the Iowa State homepage stating "Human sciences dean search narrowed to one".  Um...doesn't that just mean that they have picked a dean?  Maybe in this context you can "narrow" the selection down to 2 or 3, but once you get to one, that's it...you're done.

 Above: Shannon and Tyson's spring break adventure!  4 states, 6 cities, 9 days. Rock on.

So originally I had the sentence above connected to this paragraph, but I think it sounds and looks much better on its own.  Like a tagline to a movie or something.  Anyway...definitely gearing up for that...it's hard to believe that we are leaving a week from tomorrow!  I can't believe it is already spring break time...but I am definitely ready for it.  It still seems like we just started the semester though, I can't believe we are already into March.  Spring semester always flies by way faster than the fall which is fine by me, I am ready for summer!  Even though it is going to be a lot of driving, I am still excited for break.  Sitting in a car rocking out to music (well, maybe...Tyson's radio doesn't work all that well...) sounds a ton better than sitting in class all day and/or staying up all or most of the night to do homework.

Spring break countdown: 8 days

oh the things i think about

"Beautiful"=full of beauty

"Wonderful"=full of wonder

"Awful"=full of awe...?

By this logic, that also means that "awesome"=some awe. 

Somebody screwed up on this part of the English language ;)