by Baroness Buttercup

These Are The People In Your Neighborhood

When California made major changes to its sex education curriculum earlier this year, people flipped out. Some — left-leaners, hippies and those with little rainbows next to their handles on the Twitter — did happy cartwheels and handsprings and generally bounced around like a bunch of wannabe Katelyn Ohashis.  Others — far-righters, conservatives and those who answer direct questions with Bible quotes — did angry summersaults, banging their heads on the floor as they ranted and raged.

With school back in session now, I’m wondering how long it will be until I start seeing posts by angry parents, frustrated and disgusted by what their precious spawn are being taught in school and threatening to move out of The Golden State in response. The issue? One of the primary ones is “the suggested use of gender-neutral and LGBTQ-inclusive language.” The curriculum covers grades K through 12 and many parents think kids in the lower grades are too young to start learning such stuff. The argument I saw most often on Facebook? “Just let kids be kids.” Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Chin Hairs, Hot Flashes & You

I spend quite a bit of time on the Twitter these days. I’m not one to follow a bunch of celebrities — although, Melissa Etheridge did like my Bring Me Some Water post when I tweeted it, which kind of had me swooning for a couple of days. But aside from a select few famous people I truly admire, my feed is nearly void of celeb tweets.

Melissa Like

Instead, I’ve surrounded myself with other #bloggers, people from the #writingcommunity and those interested in, or dealing with, #mentalhealth issues. In addition to being incredibly warm, welcoming and supportive, I find that a good number of people in these groups are also fairly young. This shouldn’t, and doesn’t, surprise me. After all, social media tends to be a young person’s game, so it stands to reason the people I’m interacting with would be on the youthful side. Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Walk This Way, Don’t Talk That Way

The city in which I live boasts two parks with lovely, well-populated walking trails that afford perambulators the opportunity to complete their regular constitutionals without fear of being run over by careless drivers, attacked by unleashed dogs or accosted by ill-intentioned perpetrators. The city in which I live has also decided that said parks require some major improvements and, in their infinite wisdom, scheduled the renovations of both parks at precisely the same time. Meaning that both have been fenced off and closed to the public until further notice.

Since the city planners apparently have no regard for my health or safety, I’ve been forced out onto the mean streets to get my daily exercise. Fortunately, it’s not a place known for great crime waves, and in the early morning hours, I figure I’m out at low-tide anyway. So, keeping an eye out for drivers to whom I’m invisible and dogs who might decide to play a game of Chase The Walker (running is seriously not a part of my repertoire at this point … I would lose. Badly.), I’ve begun exploring the city.

Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Downward Facing Blog

I recently came to the conclusion that I need to get my shit together health-wise. I was never what you’d call a fitness buff — I ran for a while, I boxed for a while, I biked for a while, but I never stuck with anything. However, I always maintained a healthy weight for my height.

Then this menopause thing happened. You know how when the auto plant or the steel mill shuts down and the surrounding area goes to hell in a handbasket? That’s pretty much what happened to my body when my ovary popped its last egg and went out of business. And that’s ovary — singular. I only have the one. A few years ago, the other one got a little too big for its britches. Literally. Rather than being the standard walnut-size, mine had reached baseball proportions, so it had to go! Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

I Tripped Down Memory Lane Today

A recent Tweet by BasicButch asking people to name their favorite queer character from a book, tv show or film has taken me on a bit of a journey into the past today.

In my mind, I began to scroll through the cast of characters from every lesbian movie I’d ever seen. I love so many of them! Who was my favorite? It could have been either Rachel or Luce from Imagine Me and You. They’re just so adorable! Then there’s Peyton and Elena from Elena Undone. That kiss, though … amirite??? Of course, Maggie and Kim are better than chocolate in Better Than Chocolate. I couldn’t take my eyes of Cory and Violet in Bound and who didn’t love Annabelle and Simone in Loving Annabelle? Don’t even get me started on Lucy Diamond in D.E.B.S., that woman was mad hot and badass! Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Time To Get Off The Sidelines and Into The Game

Actions speak louder than words.

When I was young, I would often hear that in response to me saying I’d clean my room, do the dishes or put away my laundry as opposed to actually getting my lazy ass up and doing the thing. That is, my parents knew better than to trust what I said about certain things and wanted to see some proof, in the form of action, that I wasn’t just saying what they wanted to hear to get them to leave me alone.

This isn’t to say that everyone lies like a ‘tween who’d rather watch cartoons than do chores on a Saturday morning. But you can tell a lot about where a person’s truths and sincerities lie based on what they do rather than what they say. Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Bring Me Some Water

I don’t know if you’ve noticed among people on Twitter (hell, I don’t even know if you’re on Twitter and in a position to notice), but there are those who use their little profile space to get very specific about their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Rarely do you see something that just says plain, old lesbian.  Well, unless she’s got a rather non-descript appearance and is wandering through her twilight years, I guess …

What I mean, though, is that you don’t see many people who just identify as a lesbian or a gay man. You know, there was a time when being a single sexual-orientation had quite the cachet. We protested the injustices, we took to the streets, we paved the way toward tolerance and acceptance. And when I say “we,” of course, I mean a bunch of other people with cultural awareness and a sense of right and wrong that extended beyond their own wants and needs. Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Just Do Something!!

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of something to write about, and my mind keeps circling back to a topic I’ve been trying to avoid. I know I’m not going to be able to move on until I purge myself of the thoughts spinning around in my head. So at the risk of putting off some readers, I need to talk about guns.

I don’t know if I have the right answer or idea. But, I know that what we’re doing now, which is absolutely nothing, sure as fuck isn’t working. And when I say “we,” I mean the leaders of our country, because they’re the ones we’re looking to to put something in place to end this insanity. They’re also the ones who continue to come up with excuses or silence on the matter. And until they care more about the lives of their constituents than they do about their standing with the NRA, excuses and silence is what we’ll continue to get. Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Riddle me this, Batman … Why is it that when people can no longer see the tiny print in the newspaper or make out the dishes on offer on a menu, they’ll take a trip to the optometrist to get their eyes checked. Or, at least, pop down to the local drug store and pick up a pair of readers. However, when their ears start to show the same signs of wear and tear, they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that they might need a little outside assistance in the hearing department. Or, is this something unique to my parents?

About five, maybe six, maybe more, years ago I moved into my parent’s house to help them out, as they’re getting older and, apparently, I’m not. In exchange, I pay no rent and am free to write to my heart’s content. I know. It’s a pretty sweet deal. Continue reading →

by Baroness Buttercup

The Happiest Place on Earth?

anger-18658_1920I know I’m arriving to the party late on this one. It’s a Facebook post that’s supposedly real and I’m going to go with that assumption. Although, the internet and social media being what they are, you can take it with a grain of salt or two if you choose. The post in question is dated September 22 (no year). So with today being August 1, 2019, (and excluding the possibility of time travel) that makes it at least a year old. It could be even older. I have no idea. Perhaps it’s been floating around for years and you’ll all be shaking your heads and going, “Seriously Baroness? This is the first time you’ve seen this?”

Anyway, it’s a rant from a woman whose trip to Disneyworld was ruined, absolutely RUINED (she made liberal use of all caps, so I thought I should follow along), by the presence of Millenials and childless couples — or, more specifically, childless women. But, I’ll let you read it for yourselves. Continue reading →