Women's Rights of My Time

This has nothing to do with art, but sometimes you have to make your voice heard.
My boyfriend's parents watch The O'Reilly Factor (I am not a fan) and they were telling me about how he had mentioned on his show that birth control had no health benefits for women. He had mentioned though, Viagra and how it helps men with ED. In protest to this claim, I decided to send him an email and it reads as follows:

"Dear Mr O'Reilly,

Being a woman who is currently on birth control, I am quite annoyed that the benefits of contraceptives have not been addressed. I suffer from PCOS (or polycystic ovary syndrome) as well as endometriosis. The Mayo Clinic actually recommends for treatment of both conditions the use of hormonal birth control as a way to balance out hormones, reduce the risk of cancer, eliminate pain associated with these conditions, and help ovulation (both conditions can make it extremely difficult to become pregnant). To put all women in the category of immorality, or to assume that birth control has no health benefit to women, is wrong."

While I realize it is a little personal to air my health conditions in public, I do not believe in the government trying to control my ability to access this vital resource. Arizona, my home state, is currently trying to pass a law that requires women to prove to their employer that they need contraceptives for conditions and reasons unrelated to sex or abortion. Honestly my boss doesn't need to know about my sex life (or lack thereof. Again, it's none of their business either way) and I shouldn't have to justify my need for this medication. No woman should.
I want kids. I want to be a mother and have a family. My use of birth control does not mean that I am for abortion, nor does it mean I am against it. What it means is that I am making responsible decisions that will allow me to be a better mother when the time comes, or even give me the ability to be a mother.

(Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/endometriosis/DS00289/DSECTION=treatments%2Dand%2Ddrugs
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polycystic-ovary-syndrome/DS00423/DSECTION=treatments%2Dand%2Ddrugs
Article regarding Arizona's law:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/arizona-birth-control-bill-contraception-medical-reasons_n_1344557.html?ref=politics)

Anime Kaigi 2011

With Anime Kaigi fast approaching (okay it's in July, give me a break) and me doing Artist Alley stuff, I felt it was time I got some stock ready.

Along with prints and buttons that will be improved and finalized in designs as soon as I get my hands on Photoshop, I'm going to have an array of products. First on my list to complete is fleece hats. I thought of using felt but decided that while somewhat cheaper than fleece (or so I noticed at my local Joann's), it wasn't a good material to make durable, or even wearable hats. With that in mind I looked online to find Joann's is having an awesome sale on fleece- 50% off- and I headed over with Brit to stock up.

With two yards of green (for Gir), two yards of yellow along with 1/4 yard of red (for Pikachu), thread, needles, supplies for Brit, and a savings of $35, I now am on my way to making my wonderful hats. I do have to wait to get my sewing machine back from my sister but in the meantime Hala is graciously helping me out.

For those interested, I am using this pattern:

http://jrrr.net/clearkid/hatpattern.pdf

This pattern:

http://jrrr.net/clearkid/earflapband.pdf

And this tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KozbM7ZkYm8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I'll update with images on how it's going

Flagstaff

Just got back from Flagstaff. Every time I go I think I forget just how unique it is.

Doodles at Work

I currently work at a college textbook store. While I am thrilled to have a job, there's a lot of downtime. Even with tasks being passed out by the management, most of my time is spent leaning on the counter, bored and annoyed.



So today, to change it up, whenever there was a pen in my hand I doodled whatever came to mind.
























And finally the gumball machine that everyone can't believe is still there since it's generally ignored by customer and employee alike


What's interesting to note is my boss saw my doodles, knew I was doing them, and didn't care since I was still getting my work done