Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson

The only problem is that I will have to slog through two more volumes to see how it ends. I don't think I can take it. I hate the 18C. I think there were parts that intrigued me, but there is also way too much extraneous detail. I couldn't help but compare it to other novels of the era, or literature from the era, including Forever Amber, Moll Flanders, and endless bits of verse from Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. What shocked me most was how much of the source material for the inter-chapter epigraphs I had read. I'm not sure what else to say except that I have the faint impulse to go wash my brain.

More birthday details:

Carly took me out to dinner Friday night. We had a wonderful dinner at a fabulous Italian trattoria. I ordered something not on the menu. We drank. The only detraction was the deconstructed tiramasu. It was two cookies stuck in a cocktail glass with a dollop of marscapone cheese, some chocolate sauce, alcohol, and cream. Weird.

Yesterday was brunch with my dad and my brother. Today is dad's birthday. He gave me a Borders gift card. I'm getting him a decorative map, when I find the right one.

I think I'm finished celebrating my bday, though there will undoubtedly be a few more cards and gifts trickling in. People gave me a lot of CDs, which is weird, as I didn't ask for any, but I am appreciating them all.

I also got an Avenging Unicorn Playset which involves a plastic, poseable, unicorn with interchangable horns, and three victims, which are designed to be gored by the avenging unicorn: a mime, a hippie, a guy in a business suit.

This gift was made extra funny by the fact that some guy mentioned in a conversation several days ago how much he likes unicorns, which struck me as strange. (I used to collect them, and have definitely noticed a unicorn resurgence over the past few years.) My brother tells me that unicorns are the new way that emo-guys try to broadcast their sensitivity. He says it's not uncommon to run into a hipster guy in macho rigging who has a unicorn tattoo.

"Does that mean they're virgins?" I asked.

He ignored my question and said, "Next thing you know there will be My Little Ponies all black with sparkly skulls on their rumps."

Betty Friedan, dies at 85

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/national/05friedan.html?hp&ex=1139202000&en=58a609285f256bcc&ei=5094&partner=homepage

I read The Feminine Mystique in high school, thinking (before I started) that it was a manual on how to seduce men by being mysterious. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Even as culturally dated as it was in the early 90s, it still got me pretty fired up. I subsequently read a lot of heavy feminist theory, and was totally worn out on the subject by the time I got to college. I still struggle with second wave feminism as perceptions of it have become incredibly warped over the years. Feminism has become something of a joke, even as we still live in a cultural that is maimed by discriminative attitudes and behaviors.

Third wave feminism is in many ways more scary because it has disconnected itself almost entirely from any legal fight and is more generally portrayed as women behaving like men. It took some of the cultural feminist fight of 2nd wave and jettisoned the legal battle. Feminism has failed in its battle to redefine social norms in ways that are more inclusive to women. The key isn't to have women acting like men (or vice versa) but to create a situation that is inclusive of different values and behaviors, in which people aren't discriminated against on the basis of biology or gendered behaviors. Gender inequality doesn't just impact women. Any system of inequality is just as harmful to the oppressors as it is to the oppressed.

Anyway, I'm sure I have more to say about this subject, but my mind keeps wandering to several decidedly unfeminist subjects.