Potholders

Monday, November 15, 2021

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... is for miscellany. I have a bunch of pictures in my Miscellaneous folder, but none of them warrant a post of their own. Today I'm cleaning it out, hopefully putting together a post with some of the things I found in it, and maybe providing an update or something mildly interesting.


You may remember when I posted a picture of this car I see every day on my walk in Elkton (or maybe not, as it was way back in June).  The car has still not moved, but there is now a passenger.


Skelly's pal, cheerful Rover, has joined him on his trip to nowhere. I've never seen anybody outside when I was walking past or I might ask them about the car, but I'll just keep taking pictures as additional passengers climb in.

On a completely different subject, I was asked to fill out a library survey about accessibility and if I felt welcome using the library. Several of the questions pointed out to me that I might need to do some reading about gender and sexual orientation.



I've never thought much about what gender and orientation could mean, and how many variations could exist. I like that "Questioning" is a choice for gender and "Two Spirit" is completely new to me. I only did a little bit of reading, but it refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity. There are plenty of arguments about whether this should only be used by Native Americans or even if it should be used at all. It was created in English and translated into Ojibwe, and was "meant to serve as a pan-Indian unifier, to be used for general audiences instead of the traditional terms in Indigenous languages for what are diverse, culturally-specific ceremonial and social roles that can vary widely." I've come to think of gender and orientation as sort of a spectrum, and think that much of the terminology can be used to include or exclude. Whatever you think about all this, it still seemed fairly progressive for a library survey. 


Changing the subject completely again - Really, Hallmark?! Was this necessary? I am not always up on popular culture, so I may be missing something, but I don't think a sparkly rainbow poop ornament will be on my Christmas tree. Of course, it was the last one, so maybe I should have grabbed it. 


This is exactly what I intend to do on this Monday. Here's hoping you can, too. 

14 comments:

  1. I think we saw one of Skelly's friends in a car at Costco on Friday!

    "Two-spirit" was new to me, too, so thanks for doing that research.

    And Bonny, that's not rainbow poop -- it's clearly labeled a rainbow swirl! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. now that car is completely decorated and perfect in every single way!. Our library is getting remodeled - they have a spiral stair case that I am terrified of walking (I go up but refuse to go down) so I use the elevator 1/2 the time. They are getting rid of the spiral stair case - thank goodness. It looks and feels like a falling hazard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm all set with a rainbow poop ornament, too, but Jackie would probably love it! Leave it to libraries to lead the charge on progressive questionnaires.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I always love the "random" sorts of posts . . . and yours is a winner, Bonny! I love the Skelly-driver. It's just perfect, and would make me laugh out loud every time I saw it. (Maybe they'll just pop a Santa hat on it for the holidays???) I love seeing the library survey . . . and also the whole concept of gender and sexual orientation being a spectrum kind of thing. The sparkly-poop ornament, though? Um. . . no thanks. And I'm going to look for a bow tie for my chicken hat this morning! XO

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ha-ha-ha. Your random posts are always fun Bonny and this one is no exception. Skelly driver would make me chuckle every time I walked by. I like Kym's idea of a Santa Hat for the upcoming holiday. Two Spirit is a new term to me - never heard it before. I like that your library is progressive (is it the Elkton one? or the Flemington one?). Honestly though I wish places would do away with gender questions and race questions, etc. I usually refuse to answer (same with age and income - I never answer those). No poop ornament for us and the chicken hat is the BEST!! Have a good Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love every bit of this post, Bonny! Bravo to the library for always reminding us that opening our minds is as important as opening their books!

    And I will take a hard pass on the rainbow poop... what on earth! lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think someone is having lots of fun with that car, Bonny. It must be a secret pleasure for someone. I admit to total confusion about gender identities, why they have become an obsession for many, and why they are a public conversation. Haven't individuals always had unique desires? I am not against it, I just don't understand it at all. Don't hate on me for being honest, please. I would love to know the origin of that photo with the chicken hat. Happy Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It looks like the motto "Keeping Austin Weird" has migrated around the country! The day I had my shingles shot at Kroger, I had to sit and wait afterward for 20 minutes. So I people watched for the first time in 20 months. When I came home, I told dh that I fully expected that there would be a clown car sitting out front. There is just a different aesthetic about everything out there since we have been isolating for so long.

    Our library did a survey a few weeks ago. The questions were (to me) vague and maybe a hint of political. Like "I want to live in a community that is open to new ideas"...etc. I gave up and didn't answer it. Now I'm wondering if they were using couched language to get at the gender identification issues?

    BTW....I think that's supposed to be Unicorn poop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm getting my covid booster shot later today, and I kind of hope there will be some interesting people watching during the waiting period. I have expected to see the clown car on several occasions!

      The library was clear that the purpose of this survey was to try and find out if people feel comfortable, welcome, and included at the library and ways that they could improve inclusion. I did have to go back and reread the introduction as questions about gender and orientation struck me as a bit odd coming from the library.

      Ah, unicorn poop makes much more sense!

      Delete
  9. It looks like someone is having fun with that car! I wonder what will appear as it gets closer to Christmas? That poop ornament will not be on my tree!
    Good for your library for trying to be a safe place where everyone can feel comfortable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked Kym's idea of a Santa hat for the occupants of the car, so I might leave a couple on the windshield. I really did wonder what Hallmark was thinking when I saw that ornament!

      Delete
  10. Here is to bowties on chicken hats on Monday or any other day. Hallmark must have been reaching the bottom of the ornament barrel. No thanks to rainbow poop but then again I can see how a six grade boy might think it hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  11. They may 'label' it a Rainbow Swirl, but every middle school kid especially boys will call it something else and probably want to buy it for??? someone. Not sure who they would want to give it to, but they would.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This does seem especially tailored to appeal to middle school boys!

      Delete

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)