iamsexual

I have to be careful here, because there’s a chance my sister will read this post.  So here, I warn her, read on if you are brave

I had a dream last night, it was upsetting.  My mother was massaging my forehead and told me she wanted me to try to… come.  A friend of hers had tried it on her and it was wonderful.  We were in the room I grew up in, I was laying on my bed.  Obviously I felt shocked and appalled at the notion of showing ANY sexual expression in front of my mother, so I dragged myself out from my dream state and woke myself up, shaking.

I don’t know why I would dream about my own mother sexually abusing me like that.  It never happened in real life.  The only thing I remember about my mum and sex, was that we didn’t talk about it.  Except for her to tell me it’s horrors and encourage my avoidance of it.

Perhaps that’s a form of abuse in itself.  Denying your children a sexuality.  I’m not here to pin blame on my mother – I’m over all that.  But it’s an interesting question when you work with children.  What exactly are you doing to them when you deny that children are sexual beings?  When you monitor every avenue of their lives to ensure they are NOT sexual.  When you control their being through denying their sexuality.

For my mother, controlling my sexuality was her way of protecting me.  I understand that.  And perhaps, it was something I needed to be protected from (at least as an adolescent).  But it was also her way of controlling my beliefs and faith in God (which did diminish under my hatred for Christianity and Catholicism once I discovered death and sex were not what I was always told they were).  It was her way of controlling my relationships with others and keeping hold on my relationship with her (which did collapse when I discovered my sexuality).  It was her way of controlling my decisions and my lifestyle (which as an adult have become driven by my sexuality).  Unfortunately for her… it backfired.

I resisted the idea that I was not allowed a sexuality.

Being a teacher has been a challenge for me; because as a teacher, we are denied our sexuality.  It is like going back to live with my mother, a woman who would not say the words sex, tampon, orgasm, making love, penis or vagina.  A woman who attended my grade 5 sex ed class to ensure the lady from Family Planning didn’t tell us it was OK to masturbate.  Being back at school, as a teacher, a model citizen; being expected to live by some code which denies our very humanity; was not an option for me long term.  I suffocated there.  There were other reasons for this as well, but sexuality was a huge issue for me.  All around me, teachers who were also supposedly DENIED their sexuality (just for being teachers) were talking of romance, relationships, marriage, pregnancy and children.  There were engagement parties and baby showers; changes of names from Miss Smith to Mrs Brown.  The staff room was bubbling over with sexuality.

But I was not allowed to be sexual – even in the staffroom.  Not only was a teacher, not only had I been denied my sexuality as a child AND as a teenager; but I was a lesbian teacher.  I was denied my sexuality by society as well.

So I came out… to some teachers, then to my students.  Unfortunately I waited too long.  But my final 8 or 9 months at the school felt easier; for, as a lesbian, I was granted a sexual identity that most teachers were not allowed.  I was the person the children came to to ask questions – students of all sexual orientations.  Not because I was a lesbian, but because I was one of the only teachers that acknowledged my sexuality.  And because I was the only person in the school that had to face the social consequences involved.  Other teachers could announce their pregnancy, but within marriage, that is a sacred sexuality, and one the children could not identify with.  For some reason, gays and lesbians are viewed as innately more sexual than heterosexuals.  It isn’t true, but I understand why.  It is because their sexuality becomes a part of their identity and they spend time to learn about it and talk about it with their peers.  Heterosexuals are often left assuming they know everything there is to know, they deny how important sexuality is in their lives, because they don’t have to question or think about it.

The students admired my personal and sexual freedom to acknowledge myself, although some were frightened by the power of it.  They look for sexual role models in the media, because in their worlds of home and school, there are none.  While parents and teachers are not allowed to be sexual, while they are denied their sexuality, they will be unable to help our youngsters in their search for sexual truth and understanding.  And they will continue to abuse themselves and allow themselves to be abused sexually through drugs, alcohol and risky sexual behaviour.

It’s a shame there is such a taboo.  I can only explain it historically by remembering that teaching was once the property of the clergy, brothers, nuns and alike.  But even a long time ago, married women were unallowed to teach – because they knew sex.  And that was dangerous knowledge.

I don’t like being denied my sexuality; by my mother or by my government or by my workplace.  And so, I don’t allow it anymore.

If I don’t like it, I bet there’s a generation of young people who look at all of us who are older than them, and think we know nothing about sexuality – and they wouldn’t be far from the truth.  If we are willing to deny a whole part of ourselves – we are living in the dark ages.  Perhaps we have a lot to learn from our (commonly hated and abused) immigrants from India and the Eastern world.  There are many Eastern faiths that acknowledge the sexual self as a major part of our mission in life.  An act of worship, a way of communing with the divine.

We cannot reach enlightenment without our sexuality.

Consider this, and your world may change.

imap

Google maps is cool. I recently had a friend tell me he had training at a teacher staff development day on how to use google maps in schools. There’s all kinds of ace things you can do such as mapping the route the hobbits went on in New Zealand … I mean… Hobbiton… and the infiltration of armies into different countries, the route the children’s crusade took and where they all died in the icy cold (I know I’m making this all sound blasé… but it was very sad stuff) and you can pinpoint various places that you have lived. The best part is that at each different flag, you can leave a story.

I have made a map of places I have lived. It gives the exact location within each house I was in (while not giving the address directly-but it’s not hard to work out) and told some stories about why I moved in and who I shared with and any outstanding memories. Sometimes I just describe what it was like to live there day to day. It’s good for a lot of reasons – one is that you often forget the stories, and another is that often organisations and goverment departments sometimes want to know you last 5 addresses and this is a great way to keep them filed away and easy to access. You can choose to publish your maps online or only make them accessible for those who have your URL. I have not published mine due the privacy needed to protect such information so someone can’t steal my identity – but you know… they probably could if they really wanted to anyway right…

As always, I post my exciting finds with an element of caution. Don’t let children use this feature unsupervised.

Great ideas for classrooms – planing holidays (within a budget), planning music concert tours, tracing the steps out of history books – such as Captain Cook, discovering Australia or showing them where they are going on a school camp or where their sister school is.

There’s an awful lot of options. Your imagination is your own limit – but like I said, use caution, and supervise.

Calgoo Connect – Calendar Sync Software

Calgoo Connect – Calendar Sync Software.

I was wondering how to back up my iPhone calendar.  This program will hopefully help me to sync it with my Windows Live Mail calendar.  yay!

ipaypal

The unthinkable has happened. My paypal account got hacked into and all my money taken from my bank account.  I’ve always been so trusting of online security.  I’ve been smart about spam – ei. NO I didn’t “confirm my details” via any bogus email!  AgghhH!  I don’t understand.  No more trusting now!

On the good side, paypal noticed pretty much straight away and blocked my account – which was lucky because the tried to take a few more large payments out.

Everyone knows I would not be spending nearly $1000 dollars on fishing equipment. I hate fishing!

Anyway, still haven’t got my money back (1 week later). My bank put in a claim and it’s “under investigation” which just means it will take another forever til it gets back to me.

I say Bah! No Christmas presents this year!

iTwilight_5 (SPOILER ALERT)

4) In the Twilight Saga the vegetarian vampires appear to be Protestant, the Volturi seem to be Catholic, and the others are portrayed as mostly secular. What does that mean?

Let’s start at the beginning of tradition – the Catholic Church or in vampire terms – the Volturi. We all know the Voluri aren’t Catholic right… I’m not saying they are. What I’m saying is that they are represented in much the same way as the Vatican. All very mysterious and locked away. Creating rigid rules and enforcing with their all encompassing power. Feared and respected by all under their power. Obeyed out of fear of eternal punishment, damnation or metaphorical death. Locked away in some obscure city in age old Italy. It’s an interesting thought – that’s all. As far as obedient Catholics are concerned, the Vatican makes the rules and the people follow them – for their own good. Vampires see the Volturi in much the same way. They know it makes sense to follow the rules. Not just for their personal benefit but for all vampires. It’s the ‘right’ thing. Same with Catholics.

Carlisle Cullen – born human of a minister father intent upon ridding the world of evil (vampires, witches, probably innocent women and homosexuals as well), a man who still believes in souls and life after death and all that. Edward, also clearly Protestant, fears he has been sentenced to Hell simply for being ‘vampire’ (much like a right wing, traditional, Protestant/Catholic gay or lesbian might fear). A cross hangs in the Cullen house, an antique symbol of Carlisle’s history as well as perhaps a more subtle reminder of why they all have chosen their lifestyle of sacrifice (that of vampire ‘vegetarianism’).   Then there’s the whole Protestant work ethic thing – be normal – go to school, go to college, get into a good university, get a good job (over and over again), never stop learning, help people, and earn a whole heap of money for the glory of God.

Victoria, James and many other vampires talked about in Jasper’s stories and stories of war and rules and all things frightening and regretful by the Cullens are painted as ‘savages’, without a guiding morality. The average vampire goes about alone or in a small clan – hunting, getting into fights and sometimes doing shifty things like having sex with humans to breed and army of ‘halvies’. Their lives are rules by desire, need, and a thirst for violence and power. This is not the picture of morality or religious dogmatism. These ‘savages’ are alone in the world, likely to turn on a friend at any moment. Interestingly – the ‘savages’ (except those ‘humanised’ at Renesmee’s defence party) are mostly considered the BAD guys. They are the ones to fear and flee from. They are least trusted (even at Renesmee’s gathering). The Volturi are considered a necessary evil by many of the characters. They believe someone has to lay down the law for their own good – and while there are revolutionaries or anarchists among them, they are mostly respected and unchallenged. They are certainly believed to be powerful but also able to be reasoned with under certain circumstances. While dangerous – they have their name to protect.

Many Catholics will offended at this comparison, but in secular society, the Catholic Church is seen as having unwieldy power over politics and human rights – such in the current discussions over climate change and gay marriage. It is obvious that the Protestant Cullens are held in very high regard by all vampires whether fans or enemies. We are in fact left wondering at the end of Breaking Dawn whether or not the Cullens will eventually take power from the Volturi from a sudden groundswell of support. This is where I cannot deny the power of Stephanie Meyer’s faith. I can almost discount the more commonly discussed values of abstinence and morality, but here I am humbled. She has written a story of powerful Protestant support. Perhaps, Mormonism is or is not within the boundaries of Protestantism, I do not know enough about it; but most certainly, the Cullens are raised on a pedestal precisely because of their ‘religious’ status and moral practices.

I, a self-professed anti(ex)-Christian, cannot deny that I would give up my own soul to be a member of the Cullen family. There is a purity there, a spiritual high ground, a moral compass that is undeniably worthy. Such values, I only hope will one day be taught in a secular world. And I finish here – at risk of proclaiming my new religion that of Cullenism (which I do view as valid: because all religions track their origins to powerful cultural stories – such as the Bible or the Koran), although I do not. Stephanie Meyer have just injected our society with a tiny bit of morality – a guide to life. Storytelling is powerful – no matter how ‘badly’ it may be done. The Bible is certainly no ‘Romeo and Juliet’ but it has influenced millions. Do not underestimate the Twilight Saga as a book of social change – either representing our world, or forming it – it has its merits.

iTwilight_4 (SPOILER ALERT)

3) In the Twilight Saga is the change in the entire mythical canon of ‘vampire’ a representation of the change in society in general?

So in following on from my previous post in which I proved that vampires can now by both GOOD and BAD depending on their individual characteristics (thanks to the Twilight Saga) – this change in vampiric ‘canon’ has something to say about us as humans. Here is where I introduce you to the Other. The Other is a simple yet deeply philosophical (and often political) concept. In its basic form – it is anything that is not the Same. So basically – we are human. Anything that is not human – is Other. Pretty simple. Ok, so then it gets a bit more complicated. Anything that is not exactly like me is Other. For each of us that will mean something different. Unfortunately for most of us, the people who have been defining what is Same and what is Other for centuries have been what we call WASPs – White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, Middle Class MEN. Get the picture? It’s HIStory – the story of HIM – the WASP male. Vampires are clearly Other. They aren’t like us. They aren’t human. They can do stuff we can’t, they’re hard to kill, they don’t age, they go weird in sunlight, they eat blood (typically ours) – overall, they’re pretty much considered an ABOMINATION. That, my friends, is a word I hate. It was used on my once – to describe my person. I was an abomination because as a woman, I was in love with a woman. I was once Same, now suddenly Other. Anything Other, is usually considered an abomination by anyone Same. On this occasion it was a White, Anglo-Saxon, Catholic, Middle Class, Heterosexual Woman – my mother. To become other, I only have to renounce one of those labels. For me it was ‘Heterosexual’ for someone else, it might be ‘Middle Class’, for someone else, it might be ‘White’, not to mentioned what is entirely silenced – such as ‘Able-Bodied’, ‘Intelligent’, ‘Educated’, ‘Monogomous’, ‘HUMAN’. So if vampires are so Other – that explains why humans have for centuries positioned them as our enemies. They are evil, different and out to kill us – we don’t understand them and don’t really want to. Let’s put stakes through their heart and burn them to death etc etc. All well and good when we’re still talking about vampires. But historically, this isn’t the case. Anyone who is Other is subject to all kinds of cruel treatment. Witches (which were just women who didn’t subscribe to the social order by getting married or knew how to harness the power of herbs), women, blacks and/or native inhabitants of nearly all continents, homosexuals, punks/emos/Goths, hippies, homeless folk, old folk, children, peasants – you name it. Society has a lot to answer for. There is a research style called ‘ethnography’. There are a few different goals of ‘ethnography’. One is to ‘make the familiar strange’ – this is cool, by the way… another is to ‘make the strange familiar’. This is what Stephanie Meyer has thoroughly achieved. Her work of fiction may be about ‘mythical’ creatures (sorry to blow it for all you out there hoping to meet your very own vampire Edward), but it is a detailed ethnography of vampire and werewolf. She makes these ‘strange’ creatures suddenly ‘familiar’, normal, understandable, she creates us our very own imaginary friends. She also makes humans look ‘strange’, materialistic, oblivious, mortal, weak, simple (where we usually see ourselves so deeply complex). She turns much of our beliefs about ourselves on their heads. In essence – this is the main purpose of fantasy and of vampire stories. Not to think about vampires, but to give us something to compare US to – so we can think about ourselves as HUMAN and what means. Human’s typically are great at identifying Same vs Other. Race is an obvious one. The whole notion behind ‘Othering’ someone from another race is saying – I am me. You are not like me. You are different. I cannot understand you. I am cautious around you or afraid of what I do not know or understand about your race or culture. I think we’ve come a long way as humans but not far enough. Beneath the surface, we are the Same. We may come in different shapes, sizes and colours with accents, eccentricities and behaviours that differ, but at our core (at least in comparison to vampires) we are human after all. There are others – level of mental and physical ability (often called disability), sexual orientation (gay or straight or neither or both), gender identity (and ‘fitting into’ your predetermined sex or not), ways of learning (visual, aural, kinesthetic etc), religions and rituals (Satanism, paganism, Christianity, Islam etc), gifts and interests. The list is endless. Some get more flack than others because some are more Same or more ‘acceptable’ by most. What we see in the Twilight Saga is a group of vampires who are ‘humanised’ or made familiar (Same), not only that, but we see a convergence – led by Bella’s blindness to difference and Other – of three distinct categories of beings – the werewolves, the vampires and the humans (Renesmee’s birth is the ultimate symbol of this). They ALL become friends because they find grounds on which to be Same. They are able then to Other some other group – such as Victoria and her newborns, or the Volturi. The very fact that the Cullens don’t eat humans means they identify with them to some extent. They acknowledge the Human’s right to exist in peace. This is similar to the treaty between the werewolves and the Cullens which only really becomes true when they learn more about each other and learn they are not different after all. What a powerful metaphor for our society. We of course still have our overwhelming moments of Othering – such as the war in Iraq or the never ceasing battle between the Jewish and Palestinian forces. Hitler was the best ‘Otherer’ of all time. Yet here we stand – perhaps as a direct protest to the Nazi’s attempt at conquest over Other in a situation where we view each more as Same – as human. We have humanized ourselves and each other in the process. Women vote, so do blacks and indigenous people in most parts of the world, homosexuals can marry (or at least have equal rights) in many countries and mentally disabled and physically disabled people are offered legitimate work and safety in their workplaces and community. Bella is a hero(ine) in our modern world. She sees no Other. She is not one to judge a person on their difference. She welcomes the commonality, and celebrates the unique gifts of both vampires and werewolves. Eventually she even learns to rejoice in her own ‘imperfect’ and ‘mortal’ humanity. Jacob uses his power as pack leader to choose ‘Otherly love’ over a tradition of mistrust. Carlisle used his vampire gifts to SAVE humans, not kill them – what a profound act of respect. Edward uses his gifts to bring some justice to the world by tracking rapists and putting them in jail. If there were more Bellas, Jacobs, Carlisles and Edwards in the world, perhaps we humans would not find ourselves in the pickles we sometimes do.

iTwilight_3 (SPOILER ALERT)

2) In the Twilight Saga are human eating vampires solidifying the canon of EVIL or undoing it?

So in my last blog, I talked a bit about the Volturi and their habit of choosing tourists in order to protect themselves.  I have also briefly mentioned James and Victoria…

Let’s think about this a bit more carefully.  We have a whole range of human eating vampires portrayed in the books – there are of course, the Volturi.  There are the first group of vampires we are introduced to at the baseball game – who then turn out to become arch enemies of the Cullens and Co.  There are also a hoard of vampires the Cullens call upon to speak for Renesmee when the Volturi come to town.  Ahhh… and then there’s the many tales and fables we are told during the series about these and other vampires and of course Victoria’s fun little clan of ‘newborns’.

We have a lot to compare with.  I could address this matter simply and say – each vampire is taken by their own merit – Edward and Rosalie themselves have killed humans – but only the BAD ones (and this supposedly excuses their killing behaviour) and of course there’s poor old Jasper who has a whole history of killing behind him.  But he’s ok because he TRIES… right?!  Well, this is not different to how we judge any characters in a book.  Among humans there is always the good vs. evil and in science fiction sometimes there is a character from the ‘bad guy’ camp that joins forces with the good guys – or vice versa.  Most people are pretty willing to overlook Darth Vadar’s history as a JEDI and classify him as bad even when traditionally his NATURE should have been good.  We take our characters at face value and weigh them up against a vast list of criteria, right?

Carlisle, as we know him, despite his human occupation (that of hunting vampires), is slow to judge any vampire  – this may be because he perceives his self-controlling ability as far above that possible for any other vampire or simply because he respects ‘vampire’ nature and understand the difficulty they experience in the face of uncontrollable DESIRE.  So far from seeing an Old Testamenty Godlike JUDGE, we see a man of compassion – more like that of Jesus perhaps?  If Carlisle is a Jesus-like figure in the books – and he is willing to reserve judgment – perhaps we should also?  Is this the message Stephanie Meyer is sending us inadvertently perhaps?

Ok, so let’s take the notion of newborns for instance –clearly they are EVIL right!?  Well, actually, not necessarily.  I mean, Bella isn’t evil when she changes right?  She is perfectly able to control herself – despite her nature.  Newborns are just doing what comes naturally to them because they don’t know any better – it’s not their fault.  This is made pretty clear by the way Victoria DELIBERATLY doesn’t intervene when her army goes wild.  She trains them to kill and to them it feels good and right – so WHY NOT?  If this same army had been raised by Carlisle – which it wouldn’t have been, duh… they would have been trained to have a conscious.  They would be taught to fight their nature – because killing is BAD right (this is a whole other dilemma because as I speak, humans are breeding animals just to kill them for food)!?  Anyway, in terms of vampire canon, Carlisle would break down the tradition of EVIL, whereas Victoria build it up to enormous proportions.  So it’s not the newborns that are evil – Victoria is.

So what’s with James in the meadow?  When he first meets Bella, she’s delectable.  But he reserves his passions out of respect and interest for the Cullens’ way of life – which he does not choose for himself in the end.  Like any man who desires a woman sexually, they tend to leave them alone when they are spoken for… the DESIRE isn’t evil.  What was bad was when he attacked her just because he was ‘lucky enough’ to find her alone that day.  In human terms, this is akin to rape.  Giving in to your desire because it is now convenient, when before, it wasn’t?!  He doesn’t care what she thinks or feels, nor is he morally obliged to Edward or Carlisle.  He just gives in with the full knowledge he is betraying a specific vampire order (the Cullens have asked them not to feed in their ‘area’) – or maybe he’s just following another… from Victoria.  Either way, he is a BAD vampire.  Well, at least, that’s how it looks to us.

Then there’s the complicated group scenario – Renesmee’s defence party (as I like to call it).  Here is group of mostly human eating vampires who are portrayed as GOOD.  There’s a couple of eccentric oddballs in there – like at all family reunions, but by and large, they all stick to the rules by hunting outside the Cullen ‘zone’, and we get to understand a bit about their personalities.  Some are loyal friends.  Others just hate the Volturi – in a kind of Anarchist, Socialist way (by no means bad in itself) and others are there out of sense of moral obligation.  Us human’s should be so lucky to have such a large group jump to our defense when we get send to court for some unforgivable trespass towards society.  They rule of not creating “baby” vampires (I can’t recall the term used) is surely a moral one in itself.  And here they all stand, together, against an all powerful army to profess the innocence of the widely esteemed (and partially outcast) Cullens.  They all attest to the morality of this family and in this act, we see powerful into their own sense of justice and morality.  Surely these human eating vampires can’t be labeled BAD!

So in conclusion on this question – Stephanie Meyer’s vampires aren’t innately EVIL.  They DO challenge the vampiric canon.  The simplest notion of vampire vegetarianism in itself is asking us to compare our innate animal eating nature with that of the innate human eating nature of the vampire.  Are all animal eating humans EVIL?  I say no – although, I am proud to identify with the Cullen’s code (although perhaps only to the level of a ‘Jasper’) to abstain from my desire and human nature to eat meat.  While her vampires haven’t necessarily changed form – they have changed tremendously in our vision of moral and evil.  There are HUGE  social implications to this will I will explore in another post.

iTwilight_2 (SPOILER ALERT)

1) In the Twilight Saga are ‘vegetarian’ vampires a symbol of social change about having sex with a woman during her period or are they reinforcing that?

This is a tricky question to begin with… Stephanie Meyer’s vampires drink blood.  There is no denying this.  They also have sex and are also desirous – in true form of the vampire canon.  This strange ‘vegetarianism’ is problematic in many ways.  First – it enables vampires to be GOOD and not EVIL.  This sense of GOODness still stands although they DESIRE human blood.  The goodness comes from NOT partaking in it.  Is the DESIRE for human blood the metaphor for penetration or is it the ACT itself that resembles human sex during the period?  If we look at the ACT of drinking human blood itself as being the symbol, than clearly, Stephanie Meyer’s vampires are certainly not encouraging sex during menstruation – but the acknowledgement of the DESIRE is in itself interesting.  I have come across men and women alike who desire sex during menstruation and have trouble finding sexual partners willing to allow them to partake in this most sacred of sexual ceremonies.  I call it sacred because it is rare, forbidden and spiritual in nature (as we discovered from Bubba Free John’s description of its origin).  Desire to drink of the blood is not in itself condemned through the Twilight Saga by Bella – although the werewolves may feel differently.  Is this due the ‘ancient-ness’ with which this Native American community is portrayed and the ‘modern-ness’ with which Bella is portrayed?  There is a clear clash of values here.  And over time, we see Jacob (and others) won over to the belief that the DESIRE is not wrong and the Cullens can in fact still be GOOD people provided they don’t drink human blood.  This is problematic in itself as a white empirialist issue.

This is where the discussion starts to get complicated.  The Volturi do drink human blood and only monitor their habit in order to protect themselves – by killing tourists rather than locals.  They are portrayed (and felt by Bella and many vampires) as EVIL.  However, when Bella and Renesmee drink blood from the blood bank – it isn’t considered wrong – just disgusting (by Jake – and probably most of the reading audience).  So, KILLING is bad, but DRINKING human blood isn’t really, nor is DESIRING it.  Ok – so what can we gain from that?  It’s ok to go down on a woman while she has her period but not have penetrative sex – but it’s ok to want to!?  Hmm… I don’t think that’s it somehow.

From another angle, it is perfectly acceptable (in Bella’s eyes – and probably those of the werewolves as well) that the Cullens drink the blood of animals in order to survive.  Does this mean having penetrative sex with a bear or lion during its period is ok?  I think not.

So we find ourselves at a dead end – an unanswerable question.  But it is interesting to discuss because the Dracula that came into being over 100 years ago – was most certainly seductive, and also EVIL because of his act of drinking the blood of women – penetrating them during their menstrual period.  And our Edward – or Carlisle for the matter (not to mention the rest) are most certainly not considered EVIL although innately still very much vampire – still very much seductive (in fact they have seduced innumerable women in the real world by jumping off the pages into their imaginations) and still very much DESIRING their blood.

Edward’s mainstream popularity isn’t only due to his sexiness – but due to this innate desire – which he controls – but which women secretly hope, one day, he won’t.

(For those a little slow to catch on… when Bella craves and begs Edward to BITE – to drink of her blood – to bring her eternally by his side in the most sacred of commitments – she is saying – I bleed, I desire you and I not only want to you to desire to take me here and now, blood and all, but I want you to DO IT!)

So maybe the question  isn’t so much; ‘are ‘vegetarian’ vampires a symbol of social change about having sex with a woman during her period?’ but more:

Do women want men to get over their self-control and just go ahead and SUCK THEIR BLOOD?

Men might enjoy the passion and so called ‘spiritual power’ women posses during their menstrual period – but it takes a true Edward to not get eaten alive

iTwilight_1

So my boss gives me this article written by her spiritual teacher – Bubba Free John (now Adi Da) … and I’m like – uh… thanks…But I read it and it was interesting in one particular way, although overall, a bit strange.So the article draws on this stuff about the notion of the vampiric act of feeding being a metaphor for sex (penetration) during the menstrual period.  The whole EVIL vampire comes from the ancient belief that sex during a woman’s period is a BAD idea.  Ok… so far I’ve got it.  The interesting part is where he talks about the origins of this belief being that a woman is too spiritually powerful during a period that a man loses his spiritual strength because he can’t balance her during this time.  Ok… got that.Now… what about Twilight?Here we have a family of vampires that don’t eat humans – typically don’t go around seducing women (well, maybe occasionally) and are pretty much your epitome of handsome, rich, sexy, well-behaved American, idolised citizens.  In contrast we have – James, Victoria, the Volturi etc etc who are in fact human eating vampires and thus painted as EVIL!

This raises some questions about Bubba Free John’s theories of vampires and periods.

1) In the Twilight Saga are ‘vegetarian’ vampires a symbol of social change about having sex with a woman during her period or are they reinforcing that?

2) In the Twilight Saga are human eating vampires solidifying the canon of EVIL or undoing it?

3) In the Twilight Saga is the change in the entire mythical canon of ‘vampire’ a representation of the change in society in general?

4) In the Twilight Saga the vegetarian vampires appear to be Protestant, the Volturi seem to be Catholic, and the others are portrayed as mostly secular.  What does that mean?

So there’s a lot of things to think about here.  Let’s take them one at a time – and I may not be able to satisfactorily answer them as they may form an excellent thesis… I’ll write a separate blog on each…

iorganise

So if you haven’t noticed, keeping track of those millions of networking sites you’ve joined is becoming increasing difficult.

But have you heard of life-streaming?  It’s where you find a crazy website (I use GizaPage.com) and set it up once, then it’s one site – all your personal profiles together.  Easy for you to access and and keep them up to date.

You can even publish your GizaPage on Google so everyone can see your stuff.  But at least this one has several levels of security and privacy levels which can be tweaked for each profile.

Not bad.  One we should be teaching the kids.  It might teach them how to organise their computer files better – maybe even their homework – or their bedroom!!  Nothing like keeping everything in the one place!!