the Haley's comet: Spring

I like Kirsten Dunst

11:24 AM

And not just because she's the voice of Young Anastasia.

If you pay attention to pop culture news at all, she's been getting a lot of heat for some comments she made in a Harper's Bazaar interview a couple days ago.

If you're lazy, here it is.

Now, I don't get political very often. And I have no problem when the opinion of others differ from my own, and I can respect a desire for change or progressive ideas. But I do take issue when my opinion and the opinion of millions of other women is bashed. Or when our right to have that opinion is downplayed or we are disrespected or looked down on for having that opinion.

At the risk of being crucified, I get what Kirsten Dunst was saying in the Harper's interview and I agree... simply add the words "For me." Again, this is AN OPINION: I need a man to be a man and a woman to be a women for MY relationships to work. I know and respect that that may not be true for everyone, but that is how my life and my heart works.

I am an expressly feminine woman. I like to wear dresses and skirts so much more than pants and jeans. I will have long hair until I die. I like flowery and soft and pink and sparkly things. I love newborn babies and tiny cute animals. Diamonds probably are my best friend. I enjoy chick flicks way more than action movies... and I have every right to want that as much as other women want whatever it is that works for them, that's the point to women being treated equally.

My mom was a stay at home mom by choice, and someday I hope to do lead a similar life. I look forward to being a soccer mom and cooking and creating a beautiful home and taking care of the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of my future family.

I know not everyone feels that way, but FOR ME it's what I WANT and no one has any right to say that what I do with my future isn't valuable or right. It's my life, why should you care what I do? Is it hurting you or taking away your rights if I choose to stay at home? Is it hurting my future children if I make the choice to be a more daily part of their rearing? We are so profoundly blessed as women in this time and culture to have so many options and we should celebrate that, not jump on women who prefer the "old fashioned" stay at home track. That has tremendous value, too!

In the mid 70s when John Lennon chose to be a stay-at-home dad in the midst of such an amazing musical career, he was praised and lauded for walking away from it all and putting the welfare of his child before anything else. So why would we attack women, who we CLEARLY understand can be incredibly successful in their careers and have the same workplace capacities and abilities as men, who choose to give that up and be an integral part of the most tender responsibility of raising their children?

I think when we start attacking one another and wanting some of us to give up our desires because you fear it may "hurt your cause," it hurts all of us. We must find a way to value women for who and what they are, not simply what contributions they make based on some arbitrary scale that changes over time.

Kirsten Dunst may not have expressed herself in a way that some of you liked, but don't take it so personally, she's not leading a charge to send women back to the kitchen. In my opinion, she was really just stating what works for her (and me!) and I can respect that.

Gender equality should not mean I have to pretend to be just like a man. I'm not, I don't want to be, and I won't be. You can't make me!

favorites

All I ever want

5:07 PM

funtimes

Choose [My] Own Adventure

5:26 PM

music

Songs That Made Me Cry on the Spot

4:07 PM

There have been three songs that have made my cry on the spot the first time I heard them.

I might be crazy.

"Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks

One summer morning between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college, I was driving from my parents house to my catering job when I heard this song for the first time. It wasn't like I was going through some weird or hard breakup, I wasn't dating (or even interested in) anyone – my life was super cake. But I heard this song and started weeping. I almost had to pull over it was so bad, but I was also almost late for work.

When I told my coworker about it later that morning, I'm pretty sure she just laughed at me. I still feel a little weird about this song.

"Perfect" by P!nk

I was also driving, but this time it was back to my apartment in Provo from my internship at Qualtrics. It hadn't been a particularly good or bad day, mostly just a day, but things in my life were fine. At that point I knew I was moving to Washington D.C. for my summer internship and I was beyond excited for it. For whatever reason, hearing P!nk borderline plead with me not to worry about being perfect (because, let's be real, that's basically what she's doing in the song. It really is pleading more than singing) got me all misty eyed.

I remember thinking, "WTHeck P!nk?!? I thought you were supposed to be all man-hater and party-holic?! Basically the older, more foul-mouthed, not-so glittery and not-so slutty version of Ke$ha. What is this making me cry junk?!?!"

"Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato

Also not a hard time in my life. I was living in D.C. the summer before my last year of college. Janet showed me this music video one day after work at our crappy internships. (Added bonus - the video was filmed on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Shout out, Utah!)

Maybe it was the soft piano riff, combined with the fact that things with my long-distance BF back in Provo felt weird and, uh, long distance-y, but something about this song got me good, and I lost it pretty hard.

You know this song is totally still on my "sad songs/breakup" iTunes playlist.

"Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic

This song came out while I was living in Sacramento and hating everything.

All I could think while I was listening to this song was, "Wahhhhhhhhh! I am a fighter!! I can do this!! I hate my life but I can do this!!"

So when the referee rings the bell, when both your eyes start to swell, until the crowd goes home, what we gonna do, y'all.

It was borderline ridiculous.

Good times, folks. Feel free to judge appropriately and share any of your insta-cry songs.

gratitude

A Letter to My Elementary School

4:00 PM

Last week, my mom asked each of the kids in our family to write a letter for the staff and teachers at my old elementary school. My youngest brother is graduating from the 6th grade this year, and after 16 consecutive years, there will no longer be a Christensen child attending Del Rio Elementary.

Here is my letter.

To the wonderful staff and teachers at Del Rio Elementary:

It’s been a long long time since I was in elementary school, and I’ve met lots of people since then, but I still think that some of the best educational experiences I’ve ever had were at Del Rio.

I met two of my dearest friends at Del Rio and we all have very fond memories of elementary school.

We used to love map game, the ball wall, horse racing, kickball, tetherball, four square, and line tag. One of the best days ever was when we had a school soccer tournament against Centennial Elementary in 5^th grade. We totally won.

I remember in January of 1998 when it snowed like crazy and school was canceled for a few days. Even once school resumed again, there were still piles of snow out in the field and we’d play in it at recess.

I remember going from 3^rd grade to 4^th grade and worrying that waiting that extra few minutes for lunch or having an extra hour of school every day would be really really hard. It wasn't that hard.

I remember Incentive Parties and going to Rollerama or John’s Incredible Pizza or to see a movie if you had good behavior that quarter.

I remember loving and praying for fog delay days.

I remember Spirit Week and always needing to find a friend to dress up with me for Twin Day.

I remember taking field trips to Fort Tejon and Pioneer Village and Camp KEEP and the La Purisima Mission.

I remember collecting mulberry leaves from the tree at the very back edge of the field to feed to our classroom silkworms.

I remember Pause and Read and AR. When I was in 6^th grade, my AR goal was 80 points and I thought my head was going to explode.

I remember Little Caesars Pizza Day was the only day I ever wanted hot lunch. I think it was usually on a Thursday. And if you were chosen for lunch duty that day, your life was awesome.

Once I even got a Red Slip and thought my life was over. That was a hard day.

I remember building my state float in 4^th grade and building an emu out of paper mache in 5^th grade. I remember learning about Greek and Roman history in 6^th grade. I remember learning my times tables in 2^nd grade and learning about the pilgrims and Indians in 3^rd grade.

I remember loving when the older kids would come practice their oral language pieces for us in 3^rd grade, and then becoming one of those kids. When we won the county competition in 6^th grade with our Oral Language “Dream Team,” I thought I was on top of the world. A couple years ago, I got to be a timer for the District Oral Language Competition and had to laugh at how full circle my life had come.

I have lots of other memories from Del Rio, but those are some of my favorites. It’s hard to believe I’ve been away for so long, but at the risk of sounding cheesy, I will always cherish the time and friends and experiences I had there.