uh, fuck you!

"California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - making last minute cuts to the budget - eliminated all of the state funding for domestic violence shelters. That's right, all of it.

Although the state Legislature submitted a budget with a 20 percent reduction to the $20.4 million the state provides to agencies that offer domestic violence services, Schwarzenegger slashed the funding by 100 percent Tuesday.

For Catalyst, which relies on state funding for nearly 35 percent of its operating budget, the affect will be "devastating," Executive Director Anastacia Snyder said.

"We're still in shock," Snyder said Wednesday afternoon. "We were bracing for the 20 percent cut, but did not believe the governor could, with a clear conscience, cut 100 percent of funding for services that keep women and children safe and alive."

the big picture

WWW.BOSTON.COM/BIGPICTURE
WWW.BOSTON.COM/BIGPICTURE
WWW.BOSTON.COM/BIGPICTURE
WWW.BOSTON.COM/BIGPICTURE

Study: Smart Women Have Better Sex

"women with a higher emotional intelligence had twice as many orgasms as women who exhibited little emotional intelligence."
"Emotional intelligence seems to have a direct impact on women's sexual functioning by influencing her ability to communicate her sexual expectations and desires to her partner." Greater intelligence may also lead to more elaborate fantasies that help get the job done (whether alone or with a partner)."
http://carnalnation.com/content/6254/4/study-smart-women-have-better-sex

how's that for motivation to improve your intelligence

this is what we in the business call a 'rant'

oh god I have been reading various teenager's blogs for the past half hour... can't even articulate how ridiculous some things seem to me. just. can't. don't even.

I feel like I live a really different life to a lot of the people my age and have really different values. but I also feel like I've found things that I am passionate about, things that make me think, that make me angry, that make me want to create change. I know the kind of person I want to be and I feel like I have a really strong sense of self and identity.

I wish I could help people see things how I see them because I feel like they could be so much happier and more secure. I wish I could help some of my friends realise how perfectly normal and fantastic their bodies are, that the mere idea of them losing weight is ABSURD, that they are not defined by how they look - and that anybody who attempts to define them as such is not worth their time.
I really, really, really wish I could teach some people what I know about sex - if you have unprotected sex, you really need to get tested for STD's. you absolutely need to look after yourself, the risk is real. if you have an STD and you have unprotected sex, it is your responsibility to inform that person - no matter how embarassing that may be for you. you must own your behaviour.
I wish people could see how important it is to use a condom. it's so simple! if you're embarassed, if you're worried that the other person will laugh at you/judge you, ask yourself, why are you having sex with them? any person who would laugh at that, or would refuse to use a condom, is childish and immature. if you cannot communicate to them your desire to use a condom, you should not be having sex with them.
it seems like so many people are putting the other persons desires and opinions before their own. you need to put your health, your wants, your needs, your requests first. if you want to use a condom, that is more important than their opinion that condoms are unecessary (or whatever excuse they use).

I wish I could get people to change how they communicate in their relationships; you always, always need to tell the other person what you are thinking and feeling. they cannot help you, they cannot change their behaviour, they cannot do anything if they do not know what is going on with you. your feelings are VALID, inherently valid, and if your partner is any kind of decent, loving person, they will not laugh at you and they will not judge you. a person who would laugh at your worries or judge your problems is, again, not worth your time.

above all, I wish the fucking education system would give us COMPREHENSIVE sex education, from years seven to twelve. at the moment? i'm pretty sure we don't get any sex education past year 8. what the fuck, who was even having sex in year 8? who is going to remember anything they were taught in year 8, when they go to have sex for the first time in year 10? ugh our sex education was pathetic.

I would love to teach sex education, it is so so so important and I genuinely believe that so many things can be prevented with basic education.

I'm not a huge fan of tattoo's, so many of them just seem ridiculous to me

• ie text tattoo's where you can't even read what the writing says because it's all ridiculously swirly and elaborate
• tattoo's concerning current popular culture ie transformers and hello kitty, OH HEY I'M A CONSUMER AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT IT
• tattoo's of cupcakes? what?
• and diamonds - I don't understand the diamonds thing! what do diamonds represent? is it the whole ~diamonds are forever~ thing? I don't understand! where did this come from?
• I don't understand the concept of getting a pin up girl tattooed on you either - what is that supposed to mean for you as an individual? do you really want to see her every single day for the rest of your life? seriously if I had to see some ficticious bikini babe every day of my life I would slowly resent her for being so damn useless and unecessary. what is a pin up girl going to do for your life? why is that important to you? I am more than willing to be proved wrong here.
  

ANYWAY. here are some tattoo's I do like:



- catcher in the rye






- alice in wonderland (this is a tatto I saved for liam)
- calvin and hobbes (also a tattoo I saved for liam, I don't necessarily like this one much)
- from the film 'my friend totoro'
- alice in wonderland


and my MOST favourite tattoo of all time! it's a reference to extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer but it's hard to understand without having read the book.

also

I came up with my ideal job the other night. it's not necessarily a practical one and I doubt very much that it will ever go ahead, but it's comforting to have a dream job in mind. I don't think it's important for me to say what it is; just that I have a better idea of what I want to do.

I think i'm getting closer to figuring it out now. I am almost certain about what I'm going to do at uni next year - social sciences majoring in gender studies. I'm just trying to think about the kind of jobs that I could get from that degree, and what kind of work I want to get into. social work is absolutely out of the question, there is no way I could do it. one of my teachers basically summed it up the other day when she said I could never do social work because "it would break your heart". pretty much.

I've been looking at lots of neat little jobs like campaign manager, educational officer, cultural development officer, but it's hard to know what those jobs would be like in reality. and if I would need knowledge/degrees in areas other than gender. at least I know the degree I want to do for now!

there is a light and it never goes out

I hate the hsc so fucking much. the only thing that gets me through the ridiculous stress and pressure I put myself under is the idea of burning my books at the end of all this, and the sheer freedom I will have afterwards. I don't remember what it's like not to feel guilty about being behind on school work/putting off school work/not doing enough work etc. I don't remember what it's like to come home from school and literally have no work to do. I am so over it. usually I'd be pretty excited for the holidays, except for the fact that I have to work my face off to get my major works done in that time.
I'm keen to do work on my PIP since I chose probably the best topic ever, but extension english 2 can get the fuck out. ANYWAY WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT THIS, IT DEPRESSES ME. ONTO NICE THINGS:















I love calm photos