questionable meme

Thanks to Doc for this lovely meme, and I'm going to attempt to more fully participate in this one. See the end of the post for the rules.

1. Is it REALLY a sport, or is it just the girl on girl action you like?
Getting the girl on girl part out of the way first, I've never really been more or less turned on by homosexual activity from either gender than the same activity with non gay people. I am amused that so many guys can imagine lesbian sex as somehow more hot than gay male sex or as if lesbians are just hanging out, making out on the street corners and in restaurant booths, just waiting for straight guys to come and add to the action. But that's just me.

Now, the roller derby question, which maybe should get it's own post. I never expected to give a square shit about derby in the beginning. Honestly, I kind of hoped, when Momma went to that first practice, to check it out, that she would not be back, and whatever this derby thing was would not add to the time we didn't see her. I couldn't have ever guessed that the thing I thought so poorly of would be such a great thing for us. Momma, the boys, and even I have met and become friends with a bunch of great people. It's almost like we found a church that fits.

And yes, it is a sport. There is some amount of spectacle inherent, I think, in any sport that is begun basically by and for women. Spectacle is a part of derby, but the sport is real. I can't impress upon people enough that you really should google roller derby and your city/town/state. Find a league and attend a bout, scream "HELP YOUR JAMMER", buy a tshirt.

2. Did you imagine the reversal of traditional roles prior to having children, or did it just evolve that way?
The role reversal came about because Momma was presented with an opportunity. She had a better job than I did, and she was offered a promotion and a raise. We both worked in restaurants, as we had for many years, and since becoming parents, we had set up our schedules so that one of us worked days while the other worked nights. Momma needed broader availability and would work more hours, and it just made sense that I quit working to give her this chance.

We've always believed that the old fashioned idea of one bread winning parent and one bread baking parent was a sound model, but we also never bothered with traditional gender roles. Being older and more experienced as a cook, I sort of assumed I would be in the front in terms of promotions, but it turned out different. Presented with the chance, we took it.

3. Did everyone tell you that you were "too young" to get married and have kids? (God, you're still too young!)
We didn't really get married and have kids so much as get married when we realized we were going to have a kid to appease the Baptists on one side and the Methodists on the other, knowing they could and would do the math, though it was the Baptists on my side that we were able to tell of the pregnancy before the wedding plans.

The civic part of marriage is such that it makes sense for a couple to marry in order to have children or to marry should they find themselves in a family way. It also speaks of our knowledge of sex that we weren't protecting ourselves better at a time when we were not planning on having children, and this presents a good chance to remind everyone, pulling out is not birth control. So in answer to the actual question, no, because they never really got the chance.

4. Is anyone surprised that you two are still doing well and raising great kids?
People kind of seem surprised, maybe, but I'd say it's more to do with just who we are. We don't really look like a typical family, but I think that people that get past superficial ideas about who we ought to be tend to understand that we're normal people mostly.

5. Who's your favorite author?
This might be the hardest question to answer. I really love Mark Helprin, writing that is both beautiful and captivating. I also love writers that show us a peek into a different time, like Thomas Hardy or Mark Twain. I enjoy reading Julia Child's cookbooks, often not for the recipes. Another food writer I enjoy is Elizabeth David, a few recipes but lots of writing about food. I'd be wrong not to somehow fit Douglas Adams in here. Of all the science fiction I've ever read, his has opened up my thinking even beyond terms of sci fi. That doesn't really narrow down to a favorite, and that also doesn't even come close to all the writers I enjoy. I guess I just can't come up with one favorite.

The Rules of the Meme:
1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like [the food you hate most in all the world]. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your [blog] with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

Now get to it, and make sure I can find your blog, because I'm not knocking myself out if you can't give me a link.