I'm just so annoyed.

Facebook is terrible these days. People are SO combative and mean. But I guess I'm a snowflake for saying that?

I actually got into an argument with someone last night and to everything I said, he would post some stupid meme in response. Finally I said, "I can see this is going nowhere." And he said I obviously "got confused and had to give up." I mean... how do you argue with someone like that??? Got confused by what I was supposed to say to a meme??

So many of the statements I've seen are just so asinine and unrelated to the topics at hand. 

Then there's this post that I've seen going around from women who disagreed with the women's march on Saturday. It's fine if you don't agree with it - but why are you so threatened by it?

Today I wrote my responses next to the statements it made. Not every statement because some didn't warrant a response. Here are my responses if you want to see them.

I'm just so annoyed.

Sorry it's small (just click on it to make it bigger).

Laying low

Has Trump been laying low this week? I don't feel like I've been outraged on a daily basis and I'm not sure how to feel about that. It's like when a toddler is quiet for too long. Something's up.

Or have I just gotten so used to his antics that I'm becoming numb to them?

Or maybe he just set the bar really high for crazy and now when he does something moderately crazy, we just can't get worked up about it.

Either way, we have to be on guard until November. 

Us in November if we're not careful

Pumpkin spice and everything nice

This morning when I stopped at the local farm stop (indoor, year-round farmers market), I saw something that made me smile. There, tucked between the zucchinis, watermelon, and onions was a sure sign of fall; a reminder that it's just around the corner.

I smiled as soon as I saw them. I thought about all my fall-loving friends and decided I should post the picture on Facebook to get them as pumped as I am. Then immediately I felt self conscious - why? Because getting excited about fall is such a "basic white girl" thing.

The last few years there have been a ton of memes and jokes about white girls loving fall. Here's an example of some that get heavily circulated every fall:

The trend of teasing white women about loving fall doesn't offend me - in fact, many of these make me laugh! But I find myself more confused than anything. Some questions I have:

• Why just white girls? Don't other races like crisp weather, colorful leaves, caramel apples, and cozy sweaters?
• Does it have something to do with white privilege?
• Does it have something to do with wealth?
• Is it because we use too much pumpkin spice? 
• What is "white" about liking apple cider, the smell of smoke coming from a distant chimney, sleeping in a cozy, cool bedroom, carving pumpkins, eating pumpkin bread, making pumpkin pie, etc...? Many of those seem more American to me than white. 
• Is it because other countries don't celebrate Halloween (to the extent that we do) or Thanksgiving?

I truly don't know. 

Like I said, I'm not offended by it. There are far worse racial stereotypes out there and being made fun of for loving fall is about as inoffensive as they come. No one gets shot for loving fall, or falsely accused of committing a crime for eating too much pumpkin spice. No one discriminates against someone for wearing a cable knit sweater with leggings. Parents don't worry about sending their children out in Uggs and scarves.

Just know that every time I post about loving fall (which I will - A LOT), I realize I'm a stereotype. I'm just not sure why.

Immature behavior

Sometimes I just can't wrap my head around the fact that Trump is actually the Republican candidate. How did this happen?? There are a lot of theories around that question and most of the answers I've heard are unsettling.

Just a reminder that THIS is the man who could be the US president:

Immature and shocking behavior unbefitting a presidential candidate. Or any adult.

I was recently talking to a friend who is much younger than I. She's 24, to be precise. She told me that one of the most interesting things she's learning as she grows up is how immature some adults can be. She always thought that all adults at some point became mature or at least pretended to be mature and well behaved. But now she is realizing that some people never mature and she's finding it unsettling.

I remember making that same realization when I was her age and being just as unsettled. There's something comforting in the thought that older people are using their wisdom and experience to help, to lead, to teach. Yet others never learn, but remain in the emotional state of a petulant child. But they can rise to such a high level of leadership? Unsettling, for sure.

When a political article looks real but turns out to be satire

I'm MAD!!! Oh... wait. Ok, cool.

News overload

I'm getting exhausted with the daily debates over what Trump meant or didn't mean.

"He was JOKING when he said people could/should kill Hilary."

Um... ok......

It's draining.

Slap fighting

There's little more depressing than reading the comment section on political posts. Friends turn against each other, strangers attack each other, and readers lose hope in humanity. And in the end, the comments simply look like this:

(Sigh.)