Obstreperitis & patriarchy blaming
Poor dear Aunt Twisty of I Blame the Patriarchy has had some serious problems of late. Not only did her freaking brain pop on September 13, her patriarchy-blaming vim has been seriously diminished. I gotta say I'm not surprised to learn that her obstreperal lobe has gone into acute failure & she's got nothing at all coming out her wazzoo at the moment. Will she ever blame the patriarchy again? Is she OK? What will happen if and when she comes back from St. Louis? How are the dogs?
See, here's why I'm so disturbed: Twisty is a goddamn canary in this fucking coal mine we're all trapped in. If her brain has popped already, just exactly how long do the rest of us have?
You may have noticed, if you are one of my eleven or so regular readers, that my posts lately have been infrequent and that I from time to time offer truly lame excuses about my absences, both here on the blog and to those of you who've so kindly emailed me about it: no computer at home, no time for blogging, I'm freaking out over all the bad news, too much work, I'm working on a goddamn site redesign (how fucking lame is that?), or I'm having carpal fucking tunnel problems for godssakes -- yeah, they're all true enough, but who ever said blogging would be easy?
The truth is I'm having some obstreperal lobe problems of my own. Inflammatory-type problems. Chronic ones. I think my fears that my own brain is about to pop are perfectly reasonable.
As a spinster aunt myself, I know all too well that there is a strong connection between chronic inflammation of the obstreperal lobe and the habits and responsibilities of the typical spinster aunt. Think about it: we don't have to suck up to the patriarchy every minute just to survive, and/or we're on our own a lot & have plenty of quiet time to think clearly. And thinking clearly nowadays is a hazard.
This obstreperal inflammation (commonly called obstreperitis, if you want to know), is frequently dismissed as mere crankiness, or it is thought (mistakenly, it turns out) to be causally related to certain sexual tendencies. I think you know which ones I mean. But at any rate -- as with any chronic inflammatory problems, it matters whether the inflammation is caused by infection or repeated insult (i.e., injury). I'm hoping that my problems, and Twisty's, are the result of the latter, in which case a temporary withdrawal from the irritation will bring some relief.
PS: In an effort to cheer Twisty up, I guess, and to raise money for Blame Aid 2005 ["All proceeds from this event will go to the Cooperativa de Las Muchachas Para Culpar el Patriarcado (Young Girls' Patriarchy-Blaming Cooperative)..."], Chris Clarke of Creek Running North, bless his heart, wrote The Corrido of Twisty Faster's Brain, which Twisty quite hilariously called "the world's first and finest patrinarco-corrido." I can't stop laughing at that for some reason.
4 comments:
y'know, i keep trying to withdraw from the irritation, but every time some grade-A irritant finds my hidey hole and drags me out, kicking and screaming. i'm sad to report that my obstreperal lobe is currently somewhere around the size of the hindenburg.
i've heard that taking one regime change early in the morning can help relieve the pressure, but i'm still trying to figure out where the cure can be obtained ...
Your obstreperal lobe has always been highly, um, sensitive to external conditions. But you're right; it's harder & harder to hide from it all.
Excellant point re. coal mine. Couldn't agree more. Feel like people are sliding into apathy. Am now freshly determined not to do so myself.
Keep blogging, alphabitch. Nice to see you back!
i think my o-lobe is back to normal (which is a little bit swollen compared to, say, your average amway sales associate's o-lobe.)
i didn't use any ice. maybe a few ibuprofen tabs. no animals were harmed.
the break came a month ago or so. i was with a pal who i love dearly, and i was so sad to see her in the state she's in. she blew out her o-lobe some time ago. she's miserable and cranky and lethargic. it sucks.
and i thought, "i'm almost there myself. i can't let that happen." since then i've thrown myself into the day-to-day stuff, and i'm getting out of bed early again and doing a thing or two before the sun sets.
i don't know -- maybe the conservafucks win when their opponents retreat into their shells. but i figure i'll live to fight another day this way. with an intact o-lobe and continued anti-patriarchal vim.
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