Where are all of the gay princesses?

I have had this article for a while about the fact that Disney movies elevate love to great heights, it can change laws, wake people from sleeping, and stop wars, but it has to be heterosexual love. All of the Disney stories and many other movies show the princess or others falling in love, but it is always in a opposite-sex relationship. The article discusses two different studies that show the power and influence that these repeated images have on children, how they are subtly and sometimes not so subtly taught that only heterosexuals can love. I had forgotten that I had bookmarked this article and when I found it again, yesterday, I started to think about a post about this exact topic. Then I started to think about all of the other issues with the Disney Princesses, they are all white or white looking, they are helpless, they need men to save them, in Snow White's case she did the dishes and cleaned up after seven men while they went to work, the Little Mermaid gave up her life and identity for a man, there are so many issues with the Princesses and then of course how does this affect the children especially the little girls who watch these movies over and over again. It cannot have a positive influence on their self-esteem and their views of love and what is expected of women in our society. But then I started to think, but what are the alternatives? Many of these stories are based upon fairy tales that are 200-300 years old and so as our society has advanced, it may not have gone far, but still there are some changes, our fairy tales have not changed. In fact the only princess I can think of that would be a positive role model for little girls is Princess Fiona from Shrek and really only in the first movie. It seems to be that after the first Shrek movie, Fiona becomes more of a domestic housewife and we lose the asskicking strong female that is presented in the first movie.

This also leaves us with no positive role models of non-heterosexual life and parenting. I really was going to write about how we need more stories about gay families, which may lead to more movies about gay families and this will lead to young children growing up understanding that gay families are like any other family and love their children. This also teaches children that if they grow up to be gay, it is Ok and they can still hope, dream and have a family when they are adults. But I thought I better look for books with gay families before I started to spout off. I knew there were books for gay teenagers, but were there any books that would appeal to the preschool crowd that I work with? Well, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that are many really good books out there that highlight gay families. I even learned that Barnes & Noble online has a whole section that is titled:Children of gay parents->Children's fiction, so you can find books for or about children of gay parents. I also found two other resources about books that highlight gay families or gay individuals here and here. So instead of being annoyed and depressed that there are no really good books out there to teach children about gay families, I found several resources. I know there is so much more that needs to be done so that children can begin to realize that heterosexual love is not the only type of love.

But thinking about these books and the fact that I want to get some of them to add to my children's book collection that I am constantly working on, I began to wonder if I could actually read any of these books in my classroom. If I brought them in, would the parent's freak out? Hell, would the administration freak out? Would I be asked to not read those types of books in school? There are a few teachers who may not agree with me on reading these books, but since they are not my supervisor, I do not worry about them. As much as I like to push my boundaries and even be a bit of a rebel at times, I need my job and if reading books that feature gay families threatens my job, I have to decide whether it is worth it. I am not saying I wouldn't read books with gay families, but I need to find ways of incorporating all types of families in my classroom including gay families.

YouTube Fridays

Because when all else fails and I can't think of anything to post on YouTube Fridays, I can always post Eddie Izzard.



Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Alan Rickman and the legendary Vic Reeves perform the famous 'four yorkshire men' sketch from Monty Python.

In Memory- Michael Jackson

It is amazing to think that two pop icons have died today, Farrah Fawcet and Michael Jackson. I am too young to remember Fawcett, but I grew up with and on Michael Jackson. I think Thriller was the first cassette (remember those things) that I have had or that I listened to a lot. Although, he had some issues he was an amazing artist and influenced a generation of musicians. I could not get the Thriller video, so I had to use this one which is the Thriller video using Legos.

Reza Aslan and Iran

Iran is in the news constantly these days as we all know and yet I feel like there are gaps in the understanding of Iranian politics and what this revolution really is about. It is no longer about an election it is about much more than that. I have now seen two different interviews with Reza Aslan, a commentator for The Daily Beast, which really helps me to understand what is going on in Iran and some of the realities of the lack of influence the U.S can and does have in Iran. I know several Republicans including McCain have called for more action from President Obama and yet that seems counterproductive in a country and region where there is so much hostility toward us. These interviews are also with two of my favorite interviewers and news people, Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow. I am choosing to show both interviews in case you have not seen one or both of them. Also, I think that each interviews adds to and expands Aslan's thoughts and ideas on Iran.

First, Rachel Maddow's piece about Iran including the interview with Aslan.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now for the slightly longer interview with Aslan from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Reza Aslan
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Baking with Boxer- white sandwich bread

Todays item is white sandwich bread that I made yesterday. I know what you are thinking, white sandwich bread, like that white bread crap that you can get at the grocery store that has no nutritional value, well yes and no. It is white bread, but there are no preservatives and chemicals and other crap in it. Also, I intend to use a mix of white whole wheat flour and all purpose flour next time, this time I just wanted to make it following the recipe and see how it turned out. I turned out with really good texture and a slight bit of sourness at times. As to the sourness, I think I may have over rose the dough. Those of you who saw my facebook page yesterday saw that the dough was rising incredibly fast, it must really like the heat and humidity, well that might have been the problem. I might have over fermented the yeast and thus had some lactic acid in the dough, but I am not sure. I even try to slow down the second rise since GG and I were going out for a bit to get a new car. (We got the new Honda hybrid, Insight.) Well, even in the fridge it still tripled in volume, now I know and I will be more careful next time. I am not going to give the recipe this time as it is kind of a long recipe and I want to encourage you to buy, get from the library, or steal from a friend a copy of the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It is a great book and many of the bread recipes I have started to use are from this book. So, I will just leave you with a picture of the finished product. It may not look pretty, but it is good. Oh and the ridges on the top of the bread are not supposed to be there, I had the oven racks too close together and as the bread rose in the oven while it was cooking it pressed against one of the racks.

Doggy Park etiquette

I have started to take Bodhi to the doggy park almost everyday. It gives him the opportunity to play and run off leash, to burn up some of the energy that puppies (and kids) seem to have in abundance and it allows him to socialize and get used to being around a lot of different dogs that are older and younger than him and bigger and smaller than him. He really loves going to the dog park and gets really excited to go in the car. There are even some regular dogs that we tend to see there more often, there is Odin the younger beagle, Max the older Beagle, and Bailey the fully intact, really pretty grey and white speckled dog (I am not sure what kind of dog he is). He also gets to play with any number of other random dogs that we see there that do not seem to be regulars, but whoever it is Bodhi chases them and they chase him and he loves it. And I love taking him, except... I get frustrated some times with the owners. There are these owners who show up at the dog park and stay for like 15 minutes and then tell their dog, "I hope you got all of your energy out because mommy/daddy needs to do chores around the house." "Or daddy/mommy needs to leave you at home for a long time today so I hope you are done playing for the day." Now I am no dog behaviorist or dog trainer, but letting a dog play for 15 minutes does not seem sufficient to me especially when the dog is still running and chasing other dogs and is not panting or seem to be tired in the least. It seems that 15 minutes is just when the dog is starting to get warmed up. It also seems to always be the owners with the bigger dogs, the Rottweilers, Huskies, or Labs that think 15 minutes is sufficient. Also, cleaning up after your dog is not optional, if they shit you need to clean it up. Now I understand if you are new to the park and do not realize that you may need to supply your own bags. There are supposed to be bags there for doo doo clean-up, but they run out sometimes and so having a back up set of bags with you is a good idea. But especially when there are bags at the doggy park, there is no excuse for why you cannot clean up after you dog. No one wants to step in your dog's shit that you didn't want to clean-up. That is part of going to a dog park, taking responsibility for your dog.

Today, Bodhi and I went to the park, but I didn't want to stay too long, it is really hot here and I did not want Bodhi to over heat. Also, he is afraid of the water fountain and wouldn't drink from it and I forgot to get a bowl to take with us for him to drink out of. (He also does not like hoses or really any water device other than his bowl of water.) So I intended to stay for about 30 minutes. There was no one else there for about 20 minutes and so Bodhi ran and frolicked in the grass and had fun by himself although he definitely prefers there to be other dogs there for him to play with. So then a van pulled up and this guy and his husky came into the park. The man seemed annoyed that there was anyone else at the park and was annoyed at Bodhi for coming over and saying hi to him and his dog. I kept telling Bodhi, "no" as he can be a bit exuberant when he ways hi to people and other dogs. But really he was fun and was just happy that there was another dog to play with. The Husky did not seem too interested in playing, but that didn't stop Bodhi and they kind of played chase for a bit. Then the Husky had to go to the bathroom. The man just ignored this fact. The dog shit in one spot than another and than another, he just kept moving and shitting. Finally, it was time for me and Bodhi to go home and as I went to get Bodhi, I heard the man say, "Finish up it is time to go home." He then took his dog back to the car and left. I was so annoyed, how dare you treat the dog park which is for everyone like your backyard. You bring your dog, he does nothing, but shit and then you leave and not clean it up. what an asshole. So if you take you dog to the doggie park and if you have a dog it is great fun for both human and dog, then please clean up after your dog and realize that 15 minutes may seem sufficient to you, but really your dog may need like 30 to 60 minutes of real playtime to be a calm and happy dog.

Baking with Boxer

I am hoping to make this a regular feature on this blog. I like to bake and I have been doing it a lot more lately, so I figured I would share with y'all the fruits of my labor. Well, at least pictures and recipes and the ideas of the fruits of my labor, to get the actual fruits you have to be here.

This post will be written as I work on this recipe. I am experimenting today as I try to make a bread that is sprinkled with chocolate. I have a chocolate bread recipe and I really like it, but there was this Swiss bakery in NC which made a sweet, white bread that had chocolate in it. It was awesome on its own, but with some peanut butter it was even better. I am attempting to recreate this bread. As I was thinking about this, I remembered a blog post from the now not active blog Harp and Sword. I went there and found the chocolate bread recipe except it was written to be made in a bread machine, I do not have a bread machine, so I am attempting to adjust on the fly and make this recipe.

Ingredients straight from Harp and Sword:
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate (about 12 squares of a Trader Joe's Pound Plus® 70% cocoa mass Bittersweet Chocolate) (I could not find this so I got the 72% dark chocolate from Trader Joe's- BR)

How I made the bread:
Mix the sugar, buttermilk and yeast together and let the yeast bloom for at least 10-15 minutes. Place the bread flour and salt in the Kitchen Aid. Turn the mixer on low for approximately 30 seconds to mix up the flour and salt so that the salt does not come in direct contact with the yeast and kill it. Add the eggs, butter and yeast mixture to the flour and salt. Mix on low for a minute or so to get the flour moist, turn the mixer up to #4 and mix for seven minutes. At this point, the dough was still too sticky for me so I added another 1/4 cup of bread flour and let the mixer go for another 2 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl to rise for at least 1.5 hours. Cut up the chocolate into chunks. Knead the chocolate into the bread dough a little bit at a time till all of the chocolate is mixed in with the dough. Let the bread rise again, for another hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees at least 45 minutes before you plan on baking the bread. I did this with my pizza stone in the oven already. I then placed the bread onto a silpat covered jelly roll sheet pan, but you could spray the sheet pan with oil to keep the bread from sticking to the pan. Place the bread into the oven. I also boiled some water and put it into a small cast iron pan and put that into the oven as well right below the sheet pan with the bread. I do this to help add some moisture to the oven and so that the bread will have a nicer crust, or so I have read. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool completely on a cooling rack and eat.