So what's been going on with me...
After I saw Brokeback Mountain and we went to dinner, I went home. And I got pulled over. It seems that despite the fact that it was after 10pm, I didn't seem to think it was necessacary to use headlights. Anyway, the cop had to chase me down. I saw him pull behind me (there was a car between us) with his lights on on Business Loop 70 but then the lights went off. Then I saw them again after I crossed Broadway on Providence and I pulled over. There wasn't one cop and car but two cops and two cars! Anyway, they let me go with a warning and I am a dumb girl.
I start back at the dairy farm on the 6th. I am going to work 6-12 Monday through Friday. We'll work something out as far as weekends. I am still going to work at Hy-Vee at night. I guess working my ass off for money beats sleeping all the time or doing nothing at all.
Last night, I went home after work and got into bed instead of showering because I knew Joe was going to call me. I thought it seemed a little cold and I checked my pilot light. It was out. No big deal, after all I am the gas fairy. I tried to light it and it didn't work. I didn't think I even saw the flame to the hot water heater, so I went into the kitchen and tried to light a burner on my stove. No luck there either. My gas was off! Joe convinced me to call the gas company and I did. They sent someone over (at 1am!) and infact, my gas had been turned off for some strange reason.The gas man was actually a gas woman who reminded me of my mother.
Attempt #2-
Okay, when I first started reading this book, I thought that everyone should read it. Everyone including-anthropologists, sociologists, vet med people, animal science people, animal rights people, vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters. I'd recommend animals reading it too if they could read and had opposable thumbs with which to hold the book. However, after the first interesting chapter, I suddenly didn't understand what the hell this guy was talking about. So I guess my recommendation is now read chapters 1 and 8 through 11. That's your reading assignment. But here are the cliff notes anyway.
Some definitions:
domesticity-social, economic and intellectual characteristics of communities that consider daily contact with domestic animals (but not pets) normal condition
postdomesticity-people live far from domestic animals producing depended upon goods but have close relationships with pets; humans have psychological feelings of guilt and disgust when thinking about industrial processes of which animals are turned into products and go market. These thoughts are rarely thought of.
elective vegetarianism-conscious choice (usual contrary to family tradition) to avoid some or all meats
Notes:
-domestic societies take for granted the killing of animals; there is little guilt
-in post domestic societies animal goods are hard to give up but the means to get them are revolting
-there was a change after World War II- increasing distance from farm, farm animals
-decrease in prominence of even milkman and butcher
-domestic societies-bestiality-wrong but acknowledged
-primarily a male vice
-postdomestic societies-fantasies of women with animals while bestiality involving men-highly frowned upon
-this has been attributed to shift in view of masturbation, pornography-more highly accepted
-also because children are not exposed to natural animal mating as they would be in a farm setting
-fantasies of blood/violence in a postdomestic society
-children not exposed to animal slaughter--->blood is exotic
-increase in economic position leads to increase in meat consumption
-expansion of meat consumption and elective vegetarianism both come from same postdomestic feature---the push to maximize productivity (of meat animals) and minimize consumer cost (of meat)
-'inhumane' raising practices (considered revolting because of animal husbandry disconnect) makes meat affordable and thus expands market
-descriptions of animal production methods are ignored because meat comes from the grocery store
-bloody reality is hidden or chosen to be ignored
-blood sports (pitting animals against each other or against humans) have always fascinated humans
-while mostly abolished, these scenes in nature still fascinate
-in a postdomestic society-hunting is seen as excessive, cruel but contradictory (those opposing hunting often still eat meat)
-belief that animals in wild have right to life
-guilt about domestic animals that have lost right (to life)
-decrease in contact with productive animals-leads to desire to humanize animals
-in early 20th century through 1950s-humanized farm animals were incorporated into romantic visions
-eventually humanized wild animals replaced domestic
-in '90s-animals being depicted were completely humanized (think about cartoons and the changes in them)
-humans went from being an animal to worshipping animals to hunting to domestication to post domestication
-donkey went from being worshipped (for fertility) to being connected with Satan to 'dumbass' of the barn yard
-originally-donkey pronounced to rhyme with monkey
-donkey's ears and tail-homologues of penis
-dunce cap-originated in France-cap with donkey ears and sigh saying 'ass'
-conical shape--phallic
-anything involving a donkey is probably shaming
-duldul-donkey/mule in Muslim religion, slang in Persian for penis (literally 'to dangle'), same association with origin of word dildo
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on January 28, 2011.]
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