I hate everyone right now.

I believe it is time for another installment of Things That Annoy The Crap Out Of Me: War on Women Edition!

But first - a couple of hot topics I've been meaning to blog about but forgot. The Egyptian revolution! Oh man, how exciting has this been? I've been sort of loosely following it, and I am pleased that Mubarak stepped down and all, and I'm very excited to see how things go from here. And now there are all these other things happening in other places, so it's a very interesting and exciting time.

Also, all that crap about "redefining rape?" Yeah, WHAT THE EFF IS THAT. If it's sex with an individual who does not want to have sex with you, IT IS RAPE. And it is NOT OKAY. And if you get pregnant, you should not be FORCED to have the baby. Grr. >_< Which actually leads right into my TTATCOOM rant! Yaaayyy segues.

So, as some of you may have heard, the House of Representatives just voted on whether or not to remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood, which is the largest provider of abortions, sure, but ALSO provides much-needed and often hard-to-obtain health services for countless women, men, and children. It is much more than abortions. It is birth control, which would eliminate the need for so many abortions, you geniuses; it is health care for poorer women and children, which they can't get any other way; they provide screenings for several serious diseases, sexual and not, for men and women; and they are often the only resource for teen mothers or single mothers. So obviously, it's a bigger deal than abortions. And now they're trying to cut the funding for it, which just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I understand that you don't want people to ever have sex ever, conservative Christian Republicans, but newsflash - THEY'RE GONNA. And when they do, they should have access to birth control, STD tests and medication, screening for reproductive diseases and cancers, and general health care for pregnant women and infants. Good to know you're trying to take that all away.

On a similar note, JUSTIN FREAKING BIEBER. Have you guys heard about this? He was interviewed for Rolling Stone and asked, for some ungodly reason, about abortion. And he said he didn't believe in it, which is all fine and dandy, whatever Justin Bieber, UNTIL they pressed him about it and asked "What about in cases of rape?" and HE REPLIED THUSLY: "Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason." ... SERIOUSLY, JUSTIN BIEBER? I mean, okay, if you're saying that you shouldn't abort the baby because the pregnancy resulting from the rape happened for a reason, that's slightly better, but STILL. It could have been worded better. BUT THEN. (Disclaimer: I don't know if this is actually true, but I saw it on the internet, so it probably is, right?) Apparently he tweeted, "To all of my fans who are getting mad over my views on abortion: if you were true beliebers (what he calls his fans, I know, right) you would agree with me." Yes. If you were truly FANS OF MY POP MUSIC, you would AGREE WITH EVERYTHING I SAY. This is how cults happen, people. He's got 7 million followers on Twitter, most of them teen girls who will soon be voting, and he's feeding them this crap. Awesome. Screw you, Justin Bieber.

Third, Lara Logan, the reporter who was sexually assaulted in Egypt last week, and the comments surrounding her attack. Specifically, the ones who are saying she SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED IT, or that she is SOMEHOW TO BLAME. Victim-blaming is never cool, okay? EVER. No one should EXPECT to get raped - people shouldn't have to assume that if they do something, they will get raped. It should not be like this in our world. And the people saying that it's because she's an attractive female who was in a Muslim/Arab area? NO. Just NO. So many things wrong here - first, not all Muslims or Arabs are rapists, you idiots; second, because she was in this area, she deserved to get raped? I don't think so; third, we don't even know who the attackers were - for all we know, it could have been a white Christian man; and fourth, SHE WAS RESCUED BY MUSLIM/ARAB WOMEN AND SOLDIERS. So eff that theory right there. I can't even believe that these things are being said. A woman is BRUTALLY ASSAULTED and people are making it about her looks, her being in the area, the attackers' presumed religion? I cannot even believe this.

What kind of world are we living in where these things have to be issues? It is TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN, PEOPLE. This is NOT the fifties. This is NOT the 1800s. Women are PEOPLE, and we have RIGHTS, and people shouldn't be able to just take them away like this. We're living in a country that doesn't want to allow abortion because SOME of our citizens believe in a God who thinks it's wrong (though they don't follow all of the rules that God laid down), but they don't want women to be able to access birth control or health services. We're living in a country that thinks it's the victim's fault if he or she gets raped or attacked, but allowing gay marriage would destroy our morals. We're living in a world where ONE IN SIX WOMEN has been sexually assaulted or raped, and somehow that's all right? Somehow, we're focusing on redefining the terms of terminating pregnancies caused by rape, instead of focusing on, I don't know, STOPPING RAPE FROM HAPPENING? We are more concerned with the "lives" of these parasitic, clump-of-cells fetuses, than we are with the ACTUAL LIVES AND SAFETY OF THE WOMEN CARRYING THEM.

What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong with the world?

I can't even think about this anymore.

How I Spent My New Year's Eve

Once upon a time, last night I went to a party! I don't usually go to New Year's Eve parties, being that I'm not a drinker or a partier in any way, but last night a bunch of people got together specifically because none of us wanted to drink, so it was okay. We were hanging out, playing games and just talking and having a good time. My friend Jamie was telling everyone that it was now 1990 instead of 2011, just 'cause he's weird like that and the 90s were awesome. ^_^ So we were playing Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare, your basic 90s movie party games, and one of my friends dared me to eat a spoonful of cinnamon.

Apparently this is a thing, the Cinnamon Challenge. I didn't know it was a trend. But I agreed to do it, thinking it would be a small spoonful - but no, it was a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. And though I was aware it would be hot, and thought I could handle that, I didn't take into account the fact that it's a super-fine powder. =/ You guys probably see where I'm going with this.

So I put the spoonful into my mouth, holding my breath for some reason. I realize I can't swallow it all at once, and I exhale, preparing to swallow it bit by bit. I just exhaled. I didn't choke, cough, anything like that - I just breathed out.

Aaaand a cloud of cinnamon goes *poof*ing out of my nose, which makes everyone else laugh, but BURNS. And I try to breathe back in, which causes a bunch of cinnamon to be inhaled into my lungs and the back of my throat, which makes me choke. Choking with a mouthful of cinnamon, by the way, is a terrible, horrible plan. Don't do it if you can avoid it. =/

So now people have noticed that I'm legit choking, and I'm freaking the eff out. I can't swallow, I can barely breathe, my nose and throat are burning, my eyes are streaming. I'm trying to wash the cinnamon out of my mouth because I can't actually swallow any water. Eventually, I do get enough out so I can swallow a little water, and I'm breathing, though I can barely talk. By the time it was over, everyone was laughing again because we were all so relieved that I didn't die. And apparently if you almost die in a game of Truth or Dare, you win and that gets you exempt from the rest of the game. So yay for me!

But seriously, it nearly killed me. There was a moment or two when I was actually honest-to-God afraid that I was going to die, right there at my sort-of friend's house with a bunch of people I didn't know and a couple of boys I thought were cute. What a way to ring in the new year, huh?

I blew my nose about thirty thousand times, and it was really gross for the first ten or so. It got steadily less gross all night, and by the time I woke up today, almost all of the cinnamon was out of my nose. :D But last night was freaking TORTURE. I had to drive my friends home, and I was burning and sniffling and choking the whole time. The first thing I did when I got home was chug a glass of water and take a Tylenol Extra Strength dude because my head was killing me, probably from the lack of oxygen and pressure from blowing my nose so much. I couldn't fall asleep for a long time because of the pressure in my head, behind my eyeball, and the clogged-ness of my nose. I was having trouble breathing because the left side of my nose was clogged, and then I finally cleared it but my nose was so chapped and my throat was so irritated that breathing hurt. And to top it all off, I felt like I was going to puke for the whole five hours after I did it to the time I fell asleep. It was awful.

Other than the whole nearly-dying thing, though, it was a terrific party and I had a great time. :D



Moral of the story: No matter how much someone offers to pay you, no matter who dares you, or who you're trying to impress, it is NOT WORTH IT to do the Cinnamon Challenge. Seriously, it is dangerous - I could have actually died. And it was unpleasant enough without dying, thank you. So don't let anyone you know do this, and please don't be the one suggesting it. It is not fun, nor is it funny to watch someone almost choke to death. So don't do it. :D