sooooo...... I don't really know what to talk about today.... I said I'd write about band this time, but I feel like if I start talking about that, I'll never be able to stop..... so I guess I'll talk about whatever pops into my head.
Well, first off, I'd like to say that I am super excited because I got a message today saying that Psych season 6 is out on dvd finally.... although we still have to wait until February for season 7 to start = ( That makes me sad. I want to just find out what happens already!!!
So yesterday before the start of keyboard class (gah, I hate that class so much, I don't like the beginning of a process of learning an instrument; it's so gosh darn boring), I sit down and start talking to Dan, because we have to wait outside of the classroom, since there's another class first. (I didn't know that until that day because I had never been early and have barely been on time for class every week). Anyway, so Robert, Elizabeth, and Austin come back from down the hall, and Austin gets slightly irritated because I showed up on time for once and wound up taking his seat (I hadn't noticed his backpack near the chair.) So I apologize and offer to give his seat back, and he said no, he was going to be chivalrous and let the girl keep the chair. I told him I wanted to give the seat back, but he still wouldn't let me be courteous back.
Long story short, this got me thinking about how chivalry seems kinda sexist to me. I mean, it's great and all when guys are nice and will open doors for you and stuff, but I think that should just be something everyone does. Girls have the capacity and capability to do just as much to help people and be nice as guys do, and we're often better at it. However, it's usually expected that guys are the ones who are expected to go out of their way to be kind to women, and the guys won't shut up and let girls help them when it's offered.
I just read this online, “Chivalry has been one of the victims of the fight for women’s equality,” Mr. Forni said. “It became the assumption in society that women did not want to be treated in a chivalrous way, because it meant they were singled out, thus enforcing the stereotype that women were weaker and in need of the strong presence of a man to protect them.” I don't think it's quite like that, but that's kinda close to what my point is. People should always try to treat each other better regardless of gender. I think kindness and courtesy need to just be gender neutral things.
That also gets me started with thinking about with competitiveness between genders. One example is in scouts. Whenever I go to council events where the venturers can compete against the rest of the boy scouts, our success usually gets singled out in some way. This weekend, I got 10th overall. That means only 9 boy scouts topped my score, and the other 130 or so didn't do as well (granted, a lot of them were on the younger side of the scale). When the results were announced at the end of the day at 'fire bowl', Mr. B made sure to point it out to the boys that they lost to a girl and basically told them they all needed to step it up. Now that can be taken two ways. On one hand, I feel proud whenever I know that I beat most of the guys at stuff, and it's flattering when the adults take note of it. But on the other hand, I start thinking, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Are they saying that girls aren't supposed to be just as good at everything as the boys are, and it means the boys must really suck when a girl starts whooping them? Cause that doesn't seem right. I just want to be their equal, and be treated as such. (maybe that's why I always strive to beat them (other than my insanely competitive nature anyway), because I feel like I need to do well enough before they finally accept that I'm not weaker or less of a scout than they are....)
Plus there's always those times when they say, not bad, for a girl. Why is it a whole different standard?
Gah, I don't know, it just bugs me. Maybe all of my problems would be solved if I had just been born a guy. Then I wouldn't have to worry about all of the double standards in percussion, and scouts, and choir (I'm a super low contralto, with a full tenor range, but it's never accepted for a girl to sing as a tenor in "professional" ensembles. I wanted to be in university choir and sing tenor, but as soon as Stephanie and I went into auditions, they were quick to let us know that "girls can't be tenors" *fumes profusely and pouts in a corner* It's not my fault I'm a really boyish girl...)
(now I do recognize that some guys have to put up with this too, like the countertenors (guys who sing like altos), and the guys who play flute, but it still seems like they don't have so many standards weighed against them.)
........ well, it's late, and I have to study for a midterm still. so. I will end my mindless ranting for the night.
Wiederschreiben!
-Laurel
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
scouting and schtuff
So... I've never really kept a journal or written a blog before, so this will mostly just be stream of consciousness. Occasionally I might have some deep or insightful things to say, but usually I'll probably be talking about scouts, music/band, my random fun times with friends, and occasionally my BF, Zachary. And if I'm feeling really random, I might start speaking alles auf Deutsch. Es ist mir egal, ob ihr verstehen könnt oder nicht. (I don't care if you all can understand it or not (not that there will be many people reading this anyway... but whatevs...))
I'm guessing I should probably say a little bit about who I am.... I am mostly two things. I'm a music geek and a scout. (I'm also a gamer, but not a good one, and that isn't really anything that'll come up much except on side notes, cause playing games is really fun, but recounting and reading what happens in the games is kinda boring (*cough cough hack Zach's blog cough hack cough*)) (geek, nerd, and math addict also come to mind, but again, irrelevent...)
For those of you who don't understand it works, no, I'm not a girl scout. Boy Scouts of America has two co-ed programs, Venturing and Sea Scouts. I'm a Venturer. We compete with the boys and go on high adventure treks. This summer, we went on a sea kayaking trek in the Apostle Islands. We also got to go to camp for a week at Camp Tesomas (which I'm convinced is the best camp in the world, and I plan on working there next summer (if I don't get the job, it's ok, I'll work and attend NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training), this big scout thing). I've been doing outdoorsy activities with my family ever since I can remember. We travel a lot to go camping and hiking, or sometimes canoeing or making use of whatever other activities the area offers. We've been out east a lot, and we've visited Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine, among other places. One of my favorite spots was Acadia National Park in Maine. I'm also a pretty big fan of Wisconsin (not to mention their baseball team... Go Brew Crew!!!) and the U.P. The Lake Superior region is gorgeous.
As far as scouting specifically, back when my brother was in.... either 4th or 5th grade... I don't remember if he started as a Webelo 1 or 2... my brother got invited to a cub scout meeting by one of his friends. Nathan agreed to go, and my mom and I went with him every week. (I was in 6th/7th grade then) I participated a little when I could and I learned stuff with them (when I wasn't playing Pokemon with the den chief's kid anyway). I helped out with one of the Cub Scout day camps too, helping my mom run games and stuff. When he graduated from Webelos and joined Troop 224, my mom became a leader there. Since I was 12, and my dad works night shifts, I of course had no choice but to come with my mom and bro on the campouts on the weekends (not that I would have chosen anything else, it was more of just an excuse so I'd be allowed to go). I don't remember too much of our first year in the troop, but one of our first campouts was the cousel event the Highland Games (in either 2006 or 7, somethin like that). I wasn't allowed to compete with the boys, but Mr. Broman (one of the head members of the Blackhawk area counsel (though I didn't know him at the time)) invited me to come over and help him run his event, the caber toss. I thought it was great fun and kept playing with it in between troops and crews coming to take their hand at it.... after part of the day, Mr. B asked me about my experience with scouts and asked if I had heard about venturing and sea scouts. He told me about the sea scouting group that he ran and tried to recruit me, but I was a little too young. With my new-found knowledge, I went back to the troop and told the adults about it. The following year, we started a crew (yeah, I was still 13 and technically too young, but no-one really cared) and a few of the other scout leader's daughters/ scouts' sisters and I joined. We went to events like the Klondike Derby and the summer regatta, and it was great fun. We frequently kicked butt and beat the guys in our better events. Eventually, most of the crew died out, and I was kind of on my own again, but that was ok. I still went to everything and kept up with the boys (not that that's a difficulty), was on a teams with them for certain stuff.
Long story short, my 6 years in scouts so far have been infinitely amazing. I've met some of my best friends through scouts (including Ronnie Tufly, Gino Hartman, Caleb Holifield, Kyle Colson, Kellen Price, (Ben Marohl, Brian Dübner, and Collin Olsen from Tesomas staff) Steven and Sarah Brimeyer, Misty Savitzky, Andrew Geyer, Brian Hewson, Mark and Andrew Vermies, Laine Derkson, the D'Angelo brothers, and Jordan Devlieger) (I think that was a lot of shout outs there....) (there are so many others, but I am far too lazy to write down every single one, plus I don't remember all of the names of the people in the counsel.....) (anyway, if you're not listed here and you take insult to it, feel free to say so.)
I've found a great home and a community among the people there, and a great outlet for a fun time (not to mention to give me a safe place to participate in one of my favorite things, shooting sports, and to allow me to enjoy playing with fires, but not to the point of letting me turn into a total pyromaniac).
This weekend my crew, Crew 224, and our troop attended the BAC's Mountainman Rendezvous at Lowden Scout Camp. It was wet. and kinda cold. and very muddy. Having the wet gear to take home was kind of a pain, but it was sooooo worth it. I got to hang out with my friends Kellen, Schuby, and Alex, who happen to be the best friends of my new best friend at college, whose roomate happens to be dating one of my troops former/aged out scouts. (small world, huh?) (Also, on a side note, I placed 10th overall by the end of the day! I could use a lot of improvement, but I'm not gonna complain.)
Anyway, so these guys are awesome. (also, I've never really thought about it, but I'm talking to my friend from German, Aubrey, right now, and she wonders, does my BF ever get jealous or concerned that I spend so much time around all those other guys? I don't know... I'll have to ask him about that...)
I also just have to say how proud I am of Misty (our newest crew member). This was her first counsel event, and she did really well!!! She's looking like she's gonna be another sharpshooter, she's learning her knots way better than the boys, and she can climb across a bouldering wall like it's nothing!!!
I think I'm done talking about scouts for now... actually I think I'm just done talking for now... I have quite a bit of homework in front of me.... Next time I'll probably write about music stuff... or something..... anyway, Wiederschreiben!
I'm guessing I should probably say a little bit about who I am.... I am mostly two things. I'm a music geek and a scout. (I'm also a gamer, but not a good one, and that isn't really anything that'll come up much except on side notes, cause playing games is really fun, but recounting and reading what happens in the games is kinda boring (*cough cough hack Zach's blog cough hack cough*)) (geek, nerd, and math addict also come to mind, but again, irrelevent...)
For those of you who don't understand it works, no, I'm not a girl scout. Boy Scouts of America has two co-ed programs, Venturing and Sea Scouts. I'm a Venturer. We compete with the boys and go on high adventure treks. This summer, we went on a sea kayaking trek in the Apostle Islands. We also got to go to camp for a week at Camp Tesomas (which I'm convinced is the best camp in the world, and I plan on working there next summer (if I don't get the job, it's ok, I'll work and attend NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training), this big scout thing). I've been doing outdoorsy activities with my family ever since I can remember. We travel a lot to go camping and hiking, or sometimes canoeing or making use of whatever other activities the area offers. We've been out east a lot, and we've visited Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine, among other places. One of my favorite spots was Acadia National Park in Maine. I'm also a pretty big fan of Wisconsin (not to mention their baseball team... Go Brew Crew!!!) and the U.P. The Lake Superior region is gorgeous.
As far as scouting specifically, back when my brother was in.... either 4th or 5th grade... I don't remember if he started as a Webelo 1 or 2... my brother got invited to a cub scout meeting by one of his friends. Nathan agreed to go, and my mom and I went with him every week. (I was in 6th/7th grade then) I participated a little when I could and I learned stuff with them (when I wasn't playing Pokemon with the den chief's kid anyway). I helped out with one of the Cub Scout day camps too, helping my mom run games and stuff. When he graduated from Webelos and joined Troop 224, my mom became a leader there. Since I was 12, and my dad works night shifts, I of course had no choice but to come with my mom and bro on the campouts on the weekends (not that I would have chosen anything else, it was more of just an excuse so I'd be allowed to go). I don't remember too much of our first year in the troop, but one of our first campouts was the cousel event the Highland Games (in either 2006 or 7, somethin like that). I wasn't allowed to compete with the boys, but Mr. Broman (one of the head members of the Blackhawk area counsel (though I didn't know him at the time)) invited me to come over and help him run his event, the caber toss. I thought it was great fun and kept playing with it in between troops and crews coming to take their hand at it.... after part of the day, Mr. B asked me about my experience with scouts and asked if I had heard about venturing and sea scouts. He told me about the sea scouting group that he ran and tried to recruit me, but I was a little too young. With my new-found knowledge, I went back to the troop and told the adults about it. The following year, we started a crew (yeah, I was still 13 and technically too young, but no-one really cared) and a few of the other scout leader's daughters/ scouts' sisters and I joined. We went to events like the Klondike Derby and the summer regatta, and it was great fun. We frequently kicked butt and beat the guys in our better events. Eventually, most of the crew died out, and I was kind of on my own again, but that was ok. I still went to everything and kept up with the boys (not that that's a difficulty), was on a teams with them for certain stuff.
Long story short, my 6 years in scouts so far have been infinitely amazing. I've met some of my best friends through scouts (including Ronnie Tufly, Gino Hartman, Caleb Holifield, Kyle Colson, Kellen Price, (Ben Marohl, Brian Dübner, and Collin Olsen from Tesomas staff) Steven and Sarah Brimeyer, Misty Savitzky, Andrew Geyer, Brian Hewson, Mark and Andrew Vermies, Laine Derkson, the D'Angelo brothers, and Jordan Devlieger) (I think that was a lot of shout outs there....) (there are so many others, but I am far too lazy to write down every single one, plus I don't remember all of the names of the people in the counsel.....) (anyway, if you're not listed here and you take insult to it, feel free to say so.)
I've found a great home and a community among the people there, and a great outlet for a fun time (not to mention to give me a safe place to participate in one of my favorite things, shooting sports, and to allow me to enjoy playing with fires, but not to the point of letting me turn into a total pyromaniac).
This weekend my crew, Crew 224, and our troop attended the BAC's Mountainman Rendezvous at Lowden Scout Camp. It was wet. and kinda cold. and very muddy. Having the wet gear to take home was kind of a pain, but it was sooooo worth it. I got to hang out with my friends Kellen, Schuby, and Alex, who happen to be the best friends of my new best friend at college, whose roomate happens to be dating one of my troops former/aged out scouts. (small world, huh?) (Also, on a side note, I placed 10th overall by the end of the day! I could use a lot of improvement, but I'm not gonna complain.)
I also just have to say how proud I am of Misty (our newest crew member). This was her first counsel event, and she did really well!!! She's looking like she's gonna be another sharpshooter, she's learning her knots way better than the boys, and she can climb across a bouldering wall like it's nothing!!!
I think I'm done talking about scouts for now... actually I think I'm just done talking for now... I have quite a bit of homework in front of me.... Next time I'll probably write about music stuff... or something..... anyway, Wiederschreiben!
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