This site is full of jerks. Sexist, sadist, scoundrelous jerks whose antics I just can't tolerate anymore.

Read this poor girl's journal for just one glimpse of what a bunch of assholes some of you are. This ingenue has just graduated high school, has a promising career in music ahead of her, and is taking some time out of her hectic life everyday to share it with us. And of course, a bunch of dirty men, whose brains are little more than outgrowths of their testicles, start harassing her with rape threats and random crap postings. The only reason I can fathom that she's being abused in this way is because she's a woman.

This objectification and degradation of women disgusts me, and it's unbelievable how deeply it permeates the Slashdot psyche. The stench of chauvinism rises from every story, every thread, and almost every comment. In any article about geek movies, such as "Spider-Man" or "Star Wars", more comments are spent on daydreaming of the female lead's nipples than on discussing the quality of the movie itself. Every "geek dating guide" I've seen portrays women in a submissive, house-wench light you'd think was straight out of the 1890s. What few comments I've posted have all been greeted with negative moderations, impolite and insulting replies, and accusations I can't believe anybody would make. Geek culture prides itself on equity, intelligence, and modernity, yet they seem to have the same perception of females as a redneck living in an Alabama trailer park.

This needs to change. Before you post yet another comment slavering over Kirsten Dunst in a wet T-shirt, before you harass some poor girl's journal, before you drive away all the women from this site and turn it into a disgusting sausage fest, please remember that we women are people too, with the same range of emotions, the same intellect, the same humanity that you have. And for the handful of sweet, lovable guys already out there, thank you.

Interesting, this. I'm almost afraid to type into this box, because I could ramble on for hours about all the things going on in my life. My boyfriend says I have "diarrhea of the mouth", whatever that means ;-) Anyway, I haven't been posting to /. lately because I signed out of my AOL account and have been searching for a new, better ISP at the behest of Gary. Well, since you're reading this it should be apparent I've found one. While getting my computer set up for this new ISP was a not altogether pleasant learning experience, the nice thing is that I can now use the Internet in my Linux setup now :-) Gary coached me through setting up kppp yesterday, so it dials up now and I can read Slashdot from inside Mozilla like a real geek should. Now all I need to do is learn how to use the command line...

Out in the real world, I've taken to studying music. I got a cheap old guitar at a flea market last week, and am taking some voice classes at the local community college. I can bang out a rough rendition of "Wish You Were Here" now, but not much else :-) Anybody know of any good music resources on the Web that could help me learn some theory? I've been through all the used bookstores and all I've found are dry old college textbooks. It doesn't seem just to treat a source of so much beauty and splendor as a lifeless scholarly pursuit. Oh well, the Beatles never knew any theory, maybe I can get along without it ;-)

Uh oh, looks like I've gotta go. I'm going to go get some Thai food with some girlfriends and then maybe see a movie. How does "Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" sound?