Sunday Shoutouts: May the Fourth be with You!

Apparently I got married and stopped doing Sunday Shoutouts every week. My last one was three weeks ago. :( I'm sorry! I've been distracted!

As all good nerds know, today is Star Wars Day. May the Force be with with you... May the Fourth be with you... Yeah, it's fun. Beau and I celebrated by buying a few items off ThinkGeek. A baby shirt that says "Size Matters Not" on it for some friends and their baby. A Death Star tea infuser for me. And while not a Star Wars product itself, we rounded out our order with an unofficial Harry Potter wizarding hat charm for my Pandora bracelet. 

My tea will be the strongest in the Empire!

But enough about all our nerdiness! Let's take a look at what I read last week.

#BringBackOurGirls refers to the schoolgirls in Nigeria who were kidnapped by religious terrorists several weeks ago. While I have read some good news coverage from traditional sources, two blog posts on the tragedy really humbled me and inspired me. Melissa Atkins Wardy, who writes my favorite feminist parenting blog, wrote the piece "Where Are Nigeria's Stolen Daughters?" She reminds us that this particularly horrific act is part of a larger culture that devalues girls and women. 

The other blog post is one that I found on twitter, and I'm not familiar with the overall blog. "Everyone is an Expert on Nigeria Now" points out that even in our (American/European) outrage at the lack of (American/European) news coverage, the way we discuss this massive kidnapping perpetuates our feelings of superiority. Reading this blog post was a needed reminder even to me to check my privilege and to remember that the United States is not the center of the universe. The writer points out the continuous news coverage in Nigeria and in other African countries, along with the local efforts to find the kidnapped girls. 

That was depressing. Let's talk about Star Wars again. I don't have the emotional or mental energy to focus all my attention on the horrors of the world. 

If you are anything like my husband and me, you are dreading the upcoming Star Wars movie. You know, the one that you plan to attend at midnight in costume. 

The principal cast was just announced. The six original stars are returning to reprise their roles. Seven new actors will join them. A principal cast of thirteen! Awesome! 

Guess how many are women.

Two. Carrie Fisher will be back as Princess Leia, and Daisy Ridley will play a new role.

This article explains why exactly the gender disparity is so disappointing and why we need more kickass women like Leia in our sci-fi/action movies. 

Finally, not that I really need to blog more on blogging, but I loved this post by Bonnie on criticism. It's definitely hard for me to accept criticism, even constructive criticism, so I admire Bonnie for recognizing the different forms of criticism and learning how to respond to them in a healthy way. 

What did you read this week? Did you write something extra-awesome that might be worthy of a shoutout? Share in the comments below!

P.S. Did you know that virginity is now a four-letter word? Yeah, I had no idea either. Read my post from yesterday on how Facebook and Bloglovin have both tried to censor me. 

Pop the Cherry: A Guest Post

Y'all! My first anonymous submission. I'm totally not the only nerdy goddess out there with strong opinions on sex, virginity, and everything else.

SteampunkTink is a Scholar and a Lady living in the heart of it all.  Nerd among men, she spends her time obsessing over Doctor Who, Marvel’s The Avengers, Star Wars (woman after my own heart!), Stargate, Star Trek, and pretty much all things Sci-Fi.  Before blogging, she attended a rather large University, where she learned that not all archeology professors look like Dr. Indiana Jones (say it ain’t so!), and not all business teachers act like Gordon Gekko.  Ms. SteampunkTink spends her free time crafting, knitting, quilting and practicing the domestic arts.  She proudly sports the Gryffindor scarlett and gold.

She can be reached for comment at SteampunkTink@gmail.com or tweet her at @SteampunkTink

Pop the cherry –

Yes, I typed it.  Pop the cherry.  I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of “first times” that have used this silly phrase.  Let me recount for you some of my popped cherries:

• I popped my theatre cherry when I saw a stage show live for the first time 
• I popped my laser tag cherry when I shot someone with a laser for the first time
• I popped “the cherry”…no, seriously
• I popped my Doctor Who cherry when it popped up as a suggestion in my Netflix queue
• I popped my Star Wars cherry at the age of 4 when I watched Episode 4 for the first time, and I haven’t looked back

The point I’m trying to make here is that the first time we do something is a pretty big deal.  Well, it’s a pretty big deal to everyone else.  Or at least that is what we’re told. 

Case in point--My first time watching Star Wars was very special.  It has lightsabers and stuff.  I was 4, so that was what I took away from the epic Sci-Fi masterpiece: lightsabers. My parents recount the looks of horror they received when telling friends of our cinematic experiences.  “She’s too young,” said many. “She’ll have nightmares,” said others.  I was too young at the time to understand things like

*Spoilers*

the death of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.  I saw what I could understand at the time. 

However it wasn’t until I was older that I truly understood the quality of the characters and the depth of the story.  I needed time, experience and maturity to process what I witnessed on the screen.   I was 8 when I really understood what happened. 

Our culture put so much emphasis on the “first time” of anything that we forget that every occurrence should be special, and every time we can learn something new.  For example, I learned that in Episode 4, Luke points the lightsaber straight at his face.  I mean, he looked into it like it was a flashlight.  It took me 5 times watching that movie to catch that little quirk. 

Silly as it may sound, there is something special about a first experience.  Each new adventure brings knowledge and growth, but that first time is just the beginning.  It doesn’t define who you are unless you let it. 

Cherries I have yet to pop:

• Rocky Horror Picture Show  - live
• Woodstock
• Homeownership
• Meeting George Lucas

I think I can live with that. 

*Belle's spoiler note: Normally I would hide the text or something, so you could legitimately avoid the spoilers, but honestly, if you haven't seen Star Wars yet, you're a failure at life.