You've got me all wrong

If you've been reading this blog for a while, I wonder if you have the wrong idea about me. I was scrolling through my posts this morning and just like Boring Black Chick said, there is an awful lot of talk about race--gender, too. You might think I'm the type of person that is hyper-sensitive about race and gender issues, that I talk about these topics a lot in my real life, that I see racism and sexism everywhere. The truth is, I don't. So, why are they such a big part of what I write about from day to day?

I am most motivated to write about things for which I have strong feelings. I am passionate about issues of race and gender. I am also passionate about books, music, knitting, travel, politics, media, democracy, pop culture, ghost stories, social justice, battling consumerism and other issues--important and silly. It occurs to me that I should explore some of those interests here.

I also think the issues I blog about are a symptom of the isolation I sometimes feel. When I left Chicago behind three years ago, I also left some of my closest girlfriends. I still talk to them, of course, but I don't get to see them nearly enough. I'm exiled in Guyville--my husband, my stepson and his friends, hell, even the dog and one cat...all boys. So, the triumphs and complaints that surround being a woman, which used to be hashed out over Saturday coffee and beignets at the Grand Lux Cafe, are now aired on my blog. I spoke with my good friend P. last night and she said reading my blog was like having a long distance conversation with me. Writing about feminism and women's issues, I guess, is my way of connecting with my real and virtual female friends.

Also lost during my family's relocation was a relationship with a community of color. We now live in a town with a very small black population. The Hispanic and Asian communities are even smaller. I treasure the couples that we have befriended here. We have much in common, and they are valuable and supportive friends, no matter that we are of different races. But I do sometimes miss discussing race from a shared cultural perspective. I know that some things that I write about on my blog, friends here may not understand. That's okay. I have found a wonderful community in the blogosphere that provides me with remarkably astute conversations about race.

I suppose blogging about race and gender allows me to explore two topics that mean a lot to me, but that I rarely have an opportunity to discuss in "real" life. Thank you for indulging me. But please keep in mind, there is more to me than what you read.