My Factory of Extravagant Marvels

How awful is it that the Catholic church equates women's equality rights to pedophilia? Compare Articles 5 and 6 of the new Vatican rules. To put it in plain words, they are saying that women who are ordained Catholic priests (and those who help them do so) deserve the same type of punishment as the sick priests who engage in sexual relations with kids! I am ashamed of having belonged to this denomination for the first years of my life, albeit without my own consent. Unfortunately, many people in my family are still faithful to this disgusting institution which just uses its followers for political manipulations. I am deeply sad that so many of my Brazilian compatriots are not only catholics , but active catholics, who look for moral counseling from such idiots as the ones who implement these misogynistic policies. This is an offense to all women who diligently go to church, donate their time to the institution, and follow the doctrine. Especially because the great majority...

We left right after work on Friday June 25th. Gabriela and Paulo picked up Jon and I at home and then we left towards Black Mountain, by Lake George. The car trip, once we managed to get to the highway, was about 3 hours long. Black Mountain is located by Pike Brook Road, just off route 22 in the state of New York. Our first hike comprised a stop by Lapland Pond for a quick swim in the muddy waters, and a walk by wetlands and two other ponds before we reached the peak of  Black mountain. Paulo and Gabriela are more experienced hikers and could keep up a very decent pace. Jon, although also experienced in outdoorsy life, had injured his ankle playing basketball and had to pay attention to each step. That was good, because I was carrying a lot of wait for what I am used to and I can't say that I spent that many hours of my life hiking, being a city girl that I am. I love it though and want to keep on doing this. I like city life but there is definitely no comparison with ...

This past weekend promised lots of adventures. Jon went down to St. Albans, VT, by bike on Friday and my plan was to join him on Saturday, bringing my bike on the good old Greyhound to ride back to Montreal. We were going to visit the Hartmans and pick up our new sexy camera. Everything was going well, I got help from Aaron, Jen and Jack to prepare everything and was able to leave on time. Jack even gave me a ride to the bus station. The sun was shining and there was no rain in the forecast for the whole weekend... I was feeling lucky! The bus was not very full, I noticed. It should not take too long once we got to the border. Or so I thought. Once we got to the Vermont border, I was informed by the border patrol officer that my passport was expired. By 38 days, to be precise. And I had just not noticed. Now, do you want to know the best part of the story? The border patrol officers who let me in the USA two weeks before that - when my passport was expired by 26 days...

Metzger always gives great interview, and he's got one of his most interesting subjects yet at this week's Dangerous Minds interview. Dr. Nell Irvin Painter is on, talking about her new book The History of White People . She talks about the different things that race and whiteness has meant over the centuries and in places around the world, imparts some fascinating information about Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Jefferson that I'll bet you never would have guessed, and explains why she thinks Newark, New Jersey is a fantastically enlightened place. Watch it.

This week, Quebec passed Bill 94, which mandates that any government employee dispensing public services, or any citizen attempting to receive those services, must have his or her face uncovered. This bill, though written in general language, was targeted specifically at Muslim women who wear the niqab, a veil that covers the entire face with only a small hole to see out of. Ask 10 different people what the justification for passing the bill is and you are likely to get at least 5 different answers, but there are two basic categories that the justifications fall into. - If a person's face is covered, her identity can't be verified, and this is a security risk. - The niqab is a form of male, paternalistic oppression, and we shouldn't allow it in our society any more than we allow men to beat their wives. The first argument is rather easy to dismiss. If that were truly the concern, minor tweaks to existing policy are all that would be required. Police officers, for example...

It's a dream coming true! This fall, Jon and I are moving to Europe for at least two years. I got accepted to a Marter's program in Theatre with a scholarship from the European Commission. The program is called Master Conjoint Erasmus Mundus en Étude du Spectacle Vivant. I presented a proposal to study the history of women's roles and contributions to performing arts in Brazil, culminating with a piece based on the findings of my research. I am very excited to study more in depth the partitipation of women in the performing arts in my home country. The idea came from an experience I recently had, teaching theatre to kids there. I am very curious to bring to light works by women and about women that portray us in a less stereotipical way. I feel an urgent need to contribute to changing the mainstream focus on sexual objectification of women's bodies that is present in Brazil today. Brazil has a rich folklore. I hope to get inspired by characters and stories from ...