Also...

Thanks to mactavish for this...

There's nothing suspicious about the death of a man found decapitated by a chainsaw. Nothing at all.

WTF? I mean, are they taking crazy drugs? Is it even possible to accidentally decapitate yourself with a chainsaw?

One last thing: PolyCamp

Registrations are picking up, and I'm getting more and more excited! Who knows what this year will bring.

Y'all should remember to register if you're planning on going.

http://www.polycamp.ca/Register.html

Thinking our way to endangerment: spawning results

The replacement rate in a fully developed country to avoid a declining population: 2.1
United States fertility rate: 2.1
United Kingdom fertility rate: 1.66
Canadian fertility rate: 1.57
My friends' list fertility rate: 0.95

Food for thought.

We talk about not wanting children unless we're sure we can do right by them. We talk about not wanting to sacrifice our lives, our happiness, our identities to have children. We talk a lot, about a lot of things.

Well, this is the other side of that story.

Sure, our countries can replace the missing fertility rate with immigrants. Sure, a certain amount of that introduces a certain multiculturalism, which is part of what makes Canada a wonderful place to live. But at what point does the fertility rate drop so low that we lose the integrity of our culture because half our citizens are immigrants? It's not a matter of it being bad, but simply... 75% Canadian + 25% a mixture of naturalized other cultures (and that's the mixture we'd need for a replacement rate of 2.1, based on the above statistic) is still distinctly Canadian, largely because those other cultures are a potpourri. But at some point, if that Canadian statistic drops low enough, we lose continuity, don't we? How low would it have to be for that to happen?

As for progressive people like us... I find it frightening how low our fertility rate is. I'm vain enough to believe that my friends are better. That you may be passing on higher quality genetic stock, and that even if you adopt, you are likely to be passing on values which I think deserve to be perpetuated. I value our subcultures, and I want to see them grow and thrive, not wither and die.

In a forward thinking sense, I don't think this is sustainable, either. If this is what happens to fully developed nations, and our idealistic goal is for everyone on the planet to be able to enjoy some sort of comparable quality of life, then can we expect the fertility rates in those other countries to drop as well? If the whole world has a fertility rate lower than the replacement rate, that IS a serious problem.

So now I guess I need to dig deeper.

Why don't you want children? Or, why only one or two? Or, if you want many children, what are your reasons?

I didn't answer my own poll, but I'll answer now. I think I want children. I wasn't sure but these days I'm increasingly certain that I do. I'm scared that I'm too unstable to handle it, that I'll be a bad mother. But I want children nonetheless. I used to think that two children with three parents would be the perfect number. Now, though, looking at these numbers, I kind of wonder if I could handle more. I think, I guess, it depends on who I'm with, what they want, how we feel after the first or second child, etc.

I've been thinking a little about what the government can do to encourage brilliant people to have children. Usually they just offer baby bonuses, which are lame, and most likely to encourage the wrong people to have children they can't care for. The people I admire and respect, however, are most likely to avoid having children, or have fewer, because it's a hassle. Because it prevents them from living the vital active lives they adore. Which makes me suspect that a system that provides high quality care for children from an early age could make a huge difference. If I knew that I could have maternity leave as long as my babies need to nurse, that my husband could have paternity leave for a good long time, and that by the time my maternity leave ran out, my kid would be old enough for preschool, then suddenly, the burden of having children is much less. Another thing to consider is schools that run year round and/or run during business hours, so that after-school care is not a concern.

I don't know what the answers are. I'm aware there are issues (cost, ideal care for the children being with parents and not at school/preschool, etc.) with what I'm describing. But I think all of this is worth some thought.

An addendum to the fertility post of yesterday

Just to be clear... I care far more about people I identify as "my kind of people" raising children, than having children. I'm all for choosing to adopt instead of having your own children. I still might decide that I don't want to pass my own genetics onward, or that I don't want to go off my medications long enough to have my own children. In that event I would definitely adopt if I had a partner friendly to the concept of children.

I know that people with our cultural values come from all sorts of upbringings. But I also think that we have something valuable to share with children.

Preventing chub rub

Since phoenix_keika asked, I give you my compilation of chub rub preventatives that work for some people, in no particular order:
Monistat chaffing gel and powder
Gold bond medicated powder
Body Glide
Corn starch
Baby Powder
Bike shorts
Cotton or natural fiber boxers
Lush brand silky underwear
Band-aid Active-Flex Blister Block Stick
Stick deodorant
Drapolene cream
Luvees
Spanx
Avenue seamless bike short
Junonia cotton bike short
Junonia QuikWik Satin Seamless Fitted Boxer
Junonia Quikwik UnCotton Under Bike Short
Nylons
Body Shop nut body oil
Pettipants

Craigslist is fucked up

Toronto's craigslist page is fucked up. Like, all of the categories etc. are in German, but the postings are still in English.

http://toronto.craigslist.org is forwarding to http://toronto.de.craigslist.ca/

The same thing happens when I navigate from the main craigslist site. But it is only happening to Canadian cities, not to any of the other cities I clicked on.

Weird!

Edited to add:
I have no idea how it happened that my computer was automatically linking to German. Once I clicked on the 'English' option in the right-hand upper-corner (and, I should note, German is not one of the listed options up there), it went back to being in English. Still weird, but more related to odd cookies than to the site itself.

(no subject)

Dear self: Walk away. Just walk away. It is SO not worth it.