catch-up

i am finding myself with a suprising lack of things to say lately – even though there has been a lot going on over the past month – it’s a lack of articulation i think… a lot on the brain but it doesn’t come out right when i want it to.

to get an update on my life – read further.

spent friday in an all-day union exec meeting in which it came forcefully to my attention (again) that the majority of men really don’t like to give up their privelege in any way – nor do they understand why it is important to support women in running for leadership positions in our union local. at one point i left the room (discreetly) because i was so ticked at the response to a proposal that we run a woman from my worksite for a position the executive (many of these men want to run another man for the position – which wouldn’t be a big deal if our executive wasn’t already so outbalanced against the actual gender-proportions of our membership). our union local of 600 members is 65% women, but the executive of the union local is 80% men – something i believe is important to address through recruiting and training up women from our worksites – and not in a tokenistic way either (which means finding women who have leadership potential and solid politics to start with – no easy task in this homogenized society).

it feels like running smack into a wall intentionally – this fact that in the year 2004, i still have to make an argument about why it is essential to have the executive eventually reflect our worksite composition – which means less enforcement officers, more office workers and of course – more women and people of colour. worse is the fact that due to the paternalistic attitudes of the men who i share this executive function with, it seems my arguments fall on the deaf ears of those who won’t even try to understand how disempowering for me (and other women) is to allow this situation to continue.

as always, after every executive meeting – i considered quitting union activism… which is no way to change anything (but then, why do i really care to change anything? what is the underlying pathology behind my need for justice? why can’t i just be like normal people with a normal life dulled by the opiates of television and doritos, living on the edge by driving drunk?)

errr- after that i left work for the weekend, had a couple of drinks with a friend and then headed back to the coast. had a very relaxing weekend and worked on christmast presents for folks and the rug i am stitching. megan came over on saturday and i ran some errands in sechelt, we watched movies and ate pizza and drank beer, talked politics and made nice fires in the woodstove to keep warm.

as the days are getting dark and short, so the air is getting cold – there is fresh snow on the peaks that line the howe sound. i certainly didn’t buy enough wood for the winter to use it as the only heat source – but most evenings there isn’t time to build a fire long enough to heat the house before bed anyways. we’ll see what kind of hydroelectric bills i wind up with this winter – ehhh….