Guilty as charged
For not updating
Again I am.

That being said, here are some news on my ever-exciting life (read: completely boring).

- I participated in a conference (astronomy and culture), and now I have two academic papers to write. Those will be my first papers ever published, because the one I wrote for the last conference failed since my co-writer never bothered to write her part. Lesson learned: I am not a team worker. (Read: I don’t know how to make other team members to cooperate).

- My dear hamster Polina died on April 26th. She was more than two years old, and that’s an old age for a hamster. I’ve written more about it in my Tumblr, so please read if you’re interested. I got pretty emotional even though the writing doesn’t really reflect that.

My hamster Polina died (Tumbrl post)

- I suffer from insomnia. Well, it’s not really insomnia as much as it’s a weird sleeping pattern. I get really sleepy in the afternoon but when 2AM comes, I am wide awake and full of energy. I end up doing stuff till 7 AM without sleeping. Then I fall asleep and I sleep all day. Not healthy. For example, yesterday I went to bed at noon and I woke up at 1 AM. I also gained a lot of weight – I’ve never been heavier, and while I don’t give a fuck about my sexiness, it is a lot, people. And I don’t eat that much at all. It has to be connected to shitty sleeping pattern. I’m also anxious and depressed and it’s also spring, so I get my allergy from time to time, which means horrible migraines. My IQ also seems to drop by at least 20 percent. I couldn’t remember how to spell Ian McEwan the other day (and I’m not even sure I spelled it right now). All I can do is watch movies and theorize/analyze them. Which isn’t at all that bad if it’s productive (one of the conference papers was about the way astronomy is portrayed in disaster movies), but most of the time, it isn’t.

- I feel guilty for not updating my blog, or visiting other people’s blogs, or replying to emails. There’s so much I have to do, and I just… It doesn’t seem I have time. Well, if you sleep for whole day and walk around like a zombie you wouldn’t have time for anything either. I hate this, you know? I hate when I don’t have anything to do, because I’m a big procrastinator and I can’t function without a deadline over my head and the panic it creates. When they give me specific tasks to do, I do them, PLUS I find time for creative stuff and quality time with my husband. It seems like I manage to find time for everything, even if I have less free time. But if free time is mostly what I have… Forget it. I can’t manage to do anything. It sucks a big time.

So, what’s new with you guys? (Assuming there’s anyone left here because I don’t update often). As usual, I’d like to update more, and I actually have plenty of ideas for new posts. But, you see, time managing and all. Makes no sense, I know. But oh, it sucks.

I’ve never really thought about this before, but here it is. This is what gender equality means to me:

A no-brainer.

Parental rights for both genders.

Equal educational and work opportunities.

Watching movies with at least two women talking to each other about something other than a man.

Not assuming all men are rapists until proven otherwise.

Being able to carry your own luggage regardless of your gender.

Being able to cry regardless of your gender.

Having sex whenever you want, with whoever you want (as long as they agree).

Not being valued by your perceived attractivenes.

Not assuming there are only two genders.

Like I said, a no-brainer, really.

(In response to Kia.)

Today is Jefflion.net’s birthday! I registered the domain in 2007 (I can’t believe it was 4 years ago).

Just a reminder, “jefflion” is short for “Jeff Ament looks like a lion”, and we all know how important that fact is, right?

I found this a while ago (not sure about the source), and I thought I might use it for the new visitors who don’t know much about me… Or when I want to make a quick blog post.

Were you considered popular in high school? Why or why not?

No way! Quite the contrary, I was the most unpopular. I mean, literally: I was voted the most unpopular person in my class when I was 16.

I have no idea why, though. I guess being socially awkward has something to do with it.

Did you have an enemy or bully when you were young?

Yes. I’ve been bullied a lots of times. Not sure if this requires more elaborate answer. It sucks because I was sometimes bullied by the adults, too.

How often do you go over the speed limit?

I don’t drive. I don’t have a driver’s license.

What was your worst dating experience?
I guess it was with a guy who did it because he lost the bet and he had to ask me out. He didn’t even try to conceal this fact during our date.

How old are you in your dreams?

My age, I guess.

Do you dance like crazy, when no one is looking?

Oh, yes! Well, I think I’m a good dancer, I have rhythm and I’m not shy to show it. But I don’t like being watched, so I do it when nobody’s around.

Do you like to sing in the shower?

No, not really. But I used to do it when I was about 8 and obsessed with the Little Mermaid. Don’t ask.

What do sing in the shower, if you do sing?

Like I said, songs from Disney’s the Little Mermaid. I don’t do it anymore, though.

What do you do when (you think) no one is looking?

I talk to myself. I can get very expressive. I sometimes talk in English. Now, technically, I don’t really talk to myself, I am trying to come up with believable dialogue for my stories.

When you were younger, did you ever drink too much and get sick?

No, but I can get drunk quickly so I just stop drinking when I realize I’m drunk.

Many women today remove, or at least trim & style their pubic hair. It’s almost difficult to believe that not a long time ago (read: 70s and even 80s) pubic hair was seen as a normal, even a desirable thing, at least in western cultures. For centuries, pubic hair was seen as a major turn-on, because of otherwise hairless female body (and some men even described female pubic hair as an arrow pointing down the female most sensitive parts).

Things are so different today that is somewhat difficult to find anybody, male or female, who likes pubic hair on women in its full, untrimmed state. While there are millions of women who don’t remove pubic hair in any way, it’s sure seen as an imperative, and something any attractive woman do.

The reasons for removing pubic hair are quite simple: it’s a fashionable thing to do today and women are seen more attractive that way. Simple as that. It’s not much of a mystery; women always perform certain things to alter their bodies and make them appear more attractive, and today’s standards say it’s what makes women “hotter”.

Therefore, it’s interesting to see this simple motive is not what many women (or men) use when talking about removing female pubic hair. The motive that most of the people mention is hygiene. In short, hairs are dirty and smelly, and should be removed so the area is clean and fresh. Many women believe this, and the last thing women want is to be dirty.

But the truth is quite the opposite: pubic hair keeps your body clean. If body hair was dirty and unhygienic, we wouldn’t have it on sensitive places such as around our eyes and in our nostrils. Eyelashes, and eyebrows are there to protect our eyes from dirt and they help keeping sweat out of our eyes.

Pubic hair works the same, especially on women. Hair is what prevents the dirt and sweat and germs to find their way inside your vagina. A naked pubic area is a perfect place for all sorts of infections, especially since the skin is often irritated after shaving or waxing. Combine that with unhygienic underwear (the one that’s not made of cotton, and sadly, sexy & tight underwear is often not made of cotton), and you have a perfect scenario for a vaginal yeast infection.

So no, pubic hair is not dirty and unhygienic. One would say it’s a body’s natural barrier against dirt and gems.

Besides hygiene, there are other motives that people mention, such as: I want to receive oral sex (hair doesn’t prevent it, as Colin Farrell was happy to inform us), I want to wear bikinis and sexy underwear, etc. Some women say they do care about what men thing, and men of today tend to hate pubic hair on women, so they remove it. While all of these reasons are good, it’s all back to the basic one: it’s a fashionable thing to do today.

Still, many women insist on removing pubic hair because of “hygiene”. Many men, bless them, also claim it seems “cleaner” that way. But, why kid ourselves? Women remove their pubic hair because it’s a fashionable thing to do today, even if it’s not healthy in the strict sense of the words. It’s nothing new: women always do things that aren’t good for their health in order to appear more attractive, and this one is hardly alarming (with good personal hygiene, it’s relatively easy to avoid an infection).

But it’s interesting to note that the real reason here is often hidden: so many people insist hair removal is a good hygienic practice. Why? Is it because they feel fashion (and/or male attention) aren’t legitimate enough reasons? Or because today’s people insist on healthy lifestyle so much they have to proclaim even unhygienic practices healthy in order to go with them?