One Lovely Blog Award

via: google images, if you know the creator please tell me so that I may give credit

~ I think bats are cute - I know they're similar looking to the rodent family but they just look so precious with their little eyes, huge folding wings , swift mode of travel and soft bodies...

~ I LOVE baking -I make a wicked brownie.

~ I've always wanted to adopt - Since I learned what it was as a child I thought to myself: this world is full of children in need of love, I have love, I should give it.

~ I don't like pink - I know, my blog template might make you think otherwise but I actually have had quite enough pink to last a life time. It was my favourite colour from ages 11 - 16 and almost everything I bought back then would be pink so I think I over did it and got sick of it.  Sadly I really liked this template structure and it wasn't available in any other colour. I don't hate the colour though so it doesn't put me off either :)

~ I never wanted to be a teacher - I love it with every cell in me now but when I was growing up I thought a person would have to be cracked to willingly pursue such a profession with it's varying needs and commitments. Funny how life turns out aint it?

~ I didn't learn to do my nails myself until I was in collage - with low vision it's no easy task colouring within the lines in anyway.

~ Due to being low visioned I don't see faces well from a distance, as a results lots of people think I'm stuck up or ignoring them because I don't say hi when I end up standing/sitting/walking past them in the street. Which is unfortunate, cause I'm still none the wiser and end up walking along with a happy face. So if you see me? Say hi okay? I wont see you but it doesn't mean I love you any less. Sorry in advance!



Thank you to everyone that nominated me for this award, I know that Helen did and if I remember correctly Charlotte did too. This award requires you post seven little known facts about yourself and tag a blogger under 100 followers to do the same. I think I'm forgetting someone else who did as well, please forgive the school fried brain but I really do appreciate it, seeing my name on a list of nominees made my heart warm and maybe my eyes moist I'll never tell ;)

 Another final paper out of the way this week and now it's time to prep for the written exam this week! Thank you for still visiting though my posting schedule scares. This post was already in draft and I felt bad for not posting it so it's taking the place of Sunday Sunshine today as I didn't have time to round up this week. I'm getting my brain back though so things may go back to normal but who am I kidding? I don't even know! What I do know however is that blogging keeps me sane these days, so when I get the inspiration, I'm gonna work that thing!

I'm tagging: A little bit closer || Grenada Soul Adventurer || Chatoyant Heart || You who's name i forgot because my brain is fried.

Happy Sunday!

7 Awesome Gifts for the Literature Lover under $20!

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It's Black Friday and Cyber Monday is just around the corner and as I continue to prepare for my exams, I couldn't help but check out what the internet has to offer the likes of my broke student self. Wouldn't you know, I ended up at Modcloth again, swooning over their products that any literature lover or reader would have a an uncontrollable crush on? Can you believe each product on this list is under $20 dollars right now?! Needless to say they are all on mywishlist this season!

Though lets face it, I would be over the moon to just that have number one and  if I were really really lucky, that number 3, in my life! I decided I had to share them with you before each and everyone one was sold out.

Peace. Love. Literature fo' Life.

A glance at Sailor Moon through the lens of Feminist Literary theory

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I'm no expert on feminist theory, far from it. I have been consulting it a bit in preparations for and during my studies and while it is the one theory of literature I will rarely opt for writing about for reasons undisclosed, I really got to thinking about it while I considered why it is I enjoy the sailor moon series and genre so very much.

When I was a child Sailor Moon did so much for me. It was grand looking up at a screen and seeing a super hero fighting crime that looked like I did. By looked like I did I do not mean hair or breasts specifically but inherently female. Usagi is introduced as a very young girl, she doesn't like school nor is she very good at it, she longs for love and friendship, pretty and yummy things. She is care free, Usagi is flawed, in the process of growth and  is unapologetic about it.

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When the sailor senshi transform, it could not be more 'girlie', they swish into a ball of pretty pink light that accentuates their curves, shows of big oversized bows, elegant tiaras and lipstick and nail polish. Does that stop them from kicking some major scum bag tush? Not in the least.

Feminist literary theory seeks to explore the norms and culture of society in relation to their expectations of women, that is of course putting it very shortly, if you really want to know more here is a site you can check out.

I am not trying to create an argument for crime fighting girls in mini skirts here, be not confused. I'm am just trying to put into perspective the things that stood out to me and reached me through this show then and now.

When I was seven years old and cramped out in front of my television set watching these young girls twirl into protectors of the universe it did not matter to me that they were in mini skirts as much as it did that they  were both pretty and strong. They were allowed to be pretty and strong. As a woman you are allowed to be both pretty and strong. This is a message nobody was saying! In fact, quite the opposite.


The sailor senshi were cooks who were also tom boys, they were aggressive women who liked martial arts but also longed for love and acceptance. They were superstars that had low self esteem, they were future princesses of planets that could not yet figure out how to get passing grades on tests and women who had been taught to hate themselves for the way they stood out because society told them that their strengths made them unique, different and by extension...made them wrong. Then they took that message and defied it. 

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There was a sailor senshi for all of us at some point, so many character strengths and flaws were spread out amongst them I can not say that I identified with just one...In fact through many episodes the way I felt rickshawed between the lot of them. I would tell you then and can still tell you now that Sailor Mars - Rei Hino is my favourite secret senshi and the one I relate to most.

So you best believe I will be watching the less censored remake with eyes and ears well peeked. I am not saying of course that sailor moon is completely free of gender stereotyping notions, often little is. I am saying that for me, an introduction to sailor moon reinforced the belief I have always had in my heart: That just because a woman likes pink, flowers other things considered soft and squishy, does not make her inherently weak, it does not make her less able to use her abilities, her thoughts and yes even her emotions to do good and to protect the things that are important to her.

I remember reading a sailor moon quote that said 'women must be strong to protect the men they love' and it rang so true to me. I know that many may read this as an insult, why must she be strong to protect a man they may say. I say, that once you love someone, regardless of their gender you are bound to want to protect them.

Too long it has been perpetuated that when a woman and a man are in love she sits back and receives that protects gleefully. Love, as I believe it, exchanges those powerful feelings. If he protects you, your heart will certainly move to protect him. Sailor Moon thought me that is was not just normal to have those feelings as a woman but that it was quite possible to achieve this level of protection you hope to provide to the ones we love and that such protection can present itself in unique ways just as important as the strengths of anyone else, even if your strengths come in pink ;)

That's why sailor moon, as 'dizzy' as our dear sweet Usagi was brought across, will always have a very special place in my heart.  A female crime fighter kicking serious butt and making it look cool? I'll take it.

I am thankful for Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi solidifying my personal truth, that you can be a fighter and a dreamer at the same time.


Oh and by the way happy thanksgiving America.

Peace. Love. Protect.