Week 6: posted on Shawn's blog

Shawn,I understand where you’re coming from. One of the things I look forward to the most about getting marry is car maintain and any other “manly duties” that deals with tools getting off my plate. I tried putting up curtains the other day and instead managed to drill a bunch of holes in the wall, and still no curtains are up. I have a few picture frames I need to put up, but since it involves a hammer, I am completely dreading it. Granted, anyone can do this chores, it doesn’t take a man, and thus far I’ve been doing them myself. But as soon as I get the opportunity to push these tasks on the next guy, I will do so without caring.

Week 6

In my neighborhood it seems as though everyone that lives there has a dog. I am a huge animal/dog lover, so I acknowledge other pet devotees. My dog Chuck is a Chihuahua and Zoey is a Chihuahua Mix, so together they do not weight more than 25 pounds. Anyway, I was walking Chuck and Zoey when I walked past my neighbor walking his dog (an adorable Dachshund) when it occurred to me that this was the first man I’ve seen walking a small dog in my neighborhood. Where I live, you can go outside any time of the day and there will be someone out there walking their dog. So ever since, I’ve paid extra attention to the types of dogs the males and females are walking and sure enough, the man with the Dachshund has been the only man I’ve seen (so far) walking a small dog. What’s up with that? “Real man” can't have small dogs? Or if my neighbors do have both sexes living in the same household, do the husbands, boyfriends, or sons just refuse to walk the dog because it doesn’t meet a certain weight requirement?

Week 5 post on Shawn's blog

A few weeks ago I took my first trip to Home Depot. I recently moved and I went to Home Depot to buy paint. The experience was overwhelming, to say the least. What I thought was going to be a half-hour trip turned out to be a half-of-day excursion. There are so many colors and when you think you’ve found the one you like, another one pops out that look close to the first 50 you like, but better. I wonder if I had been a man, would I have just brought the first brown I picked and called it a day?
Thank God my brother gave me some advice before I went, because I would had been dumbfounded when the clerk asked, “glossy? semi-glossy? stain? primer? no primer? interior? exterior?

Week 5 post on Michele's blog

I've always found it ironic that men and women have different titles for the same job. For example, when a woman is hired to be someone “right hand” she’s a secretary, but when a man is hired, he is given the title of confidential aide or a more notable title. A woman is the assistant to the Director and a man is the Assistant Director and the assistant to the Director (the woman) probably does twice the work.

Week 5

I’ve never been the domestic type, nor have I ever had the desire to be. I work many hours in addition to attending school, so the last thing on my mind after a long day is cooking. This is what I tell people to justify the fact that I do not cook. The truth is, I don’t have the yearning to even learn. Absolutely… positively… no desire!! Still, people make me feel as if I am less than a woman because I do not cook. In addition to being a woman, I am Latina, so my family puts an extra emphasis on my lack of “womanly” duties. Granted, it’s the older generation that usually makes comments, but I just wish remarks were not made at all. There are some many things I am passionate about in my life, but just because they are important to me doesn’t necessary mean everyone is going to agree. So what if cooking isn’t one of my passions, that doesn’t make me a freak. I can't believe that in the year 2010 this is even an issue. I wonder if society (or at least my family) will ever realize that it’s okay to have other interests in life as a woman that do not include cooking.

Week 4 comment on Prof. M blog

I think some people might be mistakenly considered a bigot or intolerant if they do not agree with Gay Adoption. I don’t believe that’s the case at all. I respect Governor Huckabee views and opinion. Rosie O’Donnell insinuated that just because Gov. Huckabee grew up in a poor family and is a religious man, his views on gay adoption are not very pious. Gov. Huckabee believes the biblical norms are the “norm” we should live by. There is no hatred or prejudices in his views of gay adoption; he just personally does not think it’s the ideal. They are his personal religious beliefs and I truly respect him.

A few years ago I saw the Rosie O’Donnell’s documentary "All Aboard!," broadcasted on HBO and it was extremely moving. The couples of the cruise ship had nothing but unconditional love for their adoptive children. In this documentary a New Jersey gay couple got married at sea, surrounded by their five adopted children, ages 11, 9, 7, 7 and 4. This scene brought me to tears because the children look overcome with joy and the couple were obviously so in love. It was beautiful. A lot of these couple adopted child of minority groups or child with disabilities, which are usually the hardest groups to place with families. I believe it doesn’t matter if a couple is gay or straight, as long as they provide a safe and loving home for their children.

Week 4 comment on Shawn's blog

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve seen pictures of young girls were their parents encouraged their young daughter to posture provocatively. Some parent thinks it’s cute when their daughters act like little divas. I’m sure technology has a lot to do with the advance progression for this generation, and for this reason parents need to stop allowing their child to imitate what they see on TV. My neighbor has a 9 year old daughter and it bothers me when her daughter is present during our adult conversation. While I’m talking with the mother, this little girls is constantly interrupting and adding her two cents on the subject. I can’t believe her mother allows this to happen. I personally know a lot of mothers who try to be their daughter's friend and therefore the disciple goes out the door.