Is it really Monday tomorrow?

* Congratulations to the South Plaquemines Hurricanes for winning the 1A state title! ALTL, ALTR and ALTR's BFF (who also teaches at South Plaquemines) were all in attendance at the game yesterday. See also Ashley Morris.

* This weekend I stumbled upon the perfect gift for women of many different ages at the Garden District Book Shop (located at The Rink at Prytania & Washington). Looking for a girly little gift to give your BFF? Or maybe that dirty-old-woman secretary in your office? Meet "Porn for Women":



See a preview of what's inside here. Full of pictures of hot guys doing all kinds of domestic duties i.e. cleaning out the litter box, I immediately knew I needed to get it for one of the secretaries in my office. The title combined with the ridiculousness of the content - not to mention, the fact that I'm pretty sure I've seen all of the men on those pages down on St. Ann Street - it's an absurdly easy gift for any woman on your shopping list with a twisted sense of humor. Moreover, I really knew I was in love with the book when I found out that Feministing isn't such a big fan of it.

I'm a feminist, dammit.

In it's next issue, Newsweek asks Is Now the Right Time for the ERA? In the 1970s and early 80s it was a HUGE FREAKING DEAL, but I have to agree with the article when it suggests that the ERA (renamed the Women's Equality Amandement) is largely symbolic now and will do little to change things. I have to wonder, does that make Phyllis Schlafly satisfied or upset, as she prides herself on defeating the passage of the ERA is 1972. But we do symbolic things all the time, and it still means something.

We're still out there working to better things for women everywhere. Women nowadays are in positions that our feminist predecessors could only dream of. It's not always the hardcore grassroots activism the likes of Gloria Steinem championed (who married Christian Bale's father in 2000, by the way), but we're still around doing things in another way. The 2004 March for Women's Lives saw record numbers flood the capitol. For the first time in history we have a female Speaker of the House. A woman has a viable chance to win the presidency (don't laugh). We still have the right to choose when it comes to reproductive rights. Locally, Women of the Storm formed to help our city and region recover from Hurricane Katrina.

I attended the Feminist Majority Foundation Southern Leadership Conference a couple weeks back. The group was small, given it was for the region encompassing 15 states, but great none the less. Networking, educating, giving men and women alike resources to go out in the world and work towards the greater good of women everywhere.

Of course there are still those out there who hate on the feminists. Feminist.org was recently nominated for several Blogger's Choice Awards and of course there has been a backlash of the get-back-in-the-kitchen-you-are-a-dumb-woman variety. We deal with that everyday. The typical question that ensues if I identify myself as a feminist "Oh. Are you a lesbian?" Does it matter? Little do those ignoramuses know that Feminism and Romance Go Hand and Hand (or other "romantic" activities). However, Schlafly would advise you men to remove yourselves from any relationship you may have with a feminist ASAP.

I'm a feminist, dammit.