"Men write the history books," she added neutrally. "So naturally their take on it was that Morgan was this wicked terrible evil witch who destroyed Arthur because she could. But that's not true at all." Quote from "Derik's Bane" by Mary Janice Davidson.

I've thought about how women are portrayed in history, a history written by men from their point of view. Especially when it comes to anything from the Bible. Women don't even start out as something human in that book. To me it reads like science fiction in spots. We have discovered so many things that (to me at least) have proven the theory of evolution. Women were not created from a rib taken from a man. From there you should read everything else with the knowledge that the point of view is skewed.

Were the men who wrote about our history and our heritage anti-women (misogynistic even)? Some may have been. Most were just going with the common idea that women were not important. So, as women, we won't ever know about the women we could have admired in our past. Even those who do make it into recorded history are not given the same respect men were. They are judged in a different light. Rather than being seen as strong, they are wicked. Rather than being seen as sensual they are slutty. It goes on.

From L. Ron Hubbard:

"A society in which women are taught anything but the management of a family, the care of men, and the creation of the future generation is a society which is on its way out."

"The historian can peg the point where a society begins its sharpest decline at the instant when women begin to take part, on an equal footing with men, in political and business affairs, since this means that the men are decadent and the women are no longer women. This is not a sermon on the role or position of women; it is a statement of bald and basic fact."

The opinion formed about women carries on even into modern times, usually based on the older opinions passed down to each generation from historical texts, the Bible being one.

Think of an event or a woman in history and rewrite her story. Research some history to get the details and then consider how her story could be seen differently if it wasn't judged by old/ male standards.

Do you remember this doll? I spotted this poor girl in a GoodWill thrift store this week. She was not in great shape, some hair had caught on something and pulled loose from her updo. Her dress was torn and she was a little dirty. Not things I couldn’t fix but as nice as it was to revisit my girlhood, I did not want to take her home. I had one very much like her, about 30 years ago. My girl wore purple instead of yellow. Next time I go to this store I will be tempted to check around the shelves and see if she is still hanging around.

But, do you know what the doll is called? That’s the big trivia question. I did not. I had to look for it online. Thank you to Dollkind.com. She has written a whole post about… Bradley Dolls. There are a lot of variety to them. Far more than the type above (which was the only type I had seen among my friends and in the stores at the time). You could have ordered a Bradley doll from the catalogue, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I’m not going to repost the history and information from Dollkind, I strongly suggest you check there and read if you are interested. One thing I did like to find out – people were making clothes for these dolls themselves. I used to like sewing, still do but don’t get much done. I’m surprised I didn’t get into sewing fancy dresses for my Bradley doll. I still design lovely gowns in my own mind, they just don’t make it beyond that point.

I found two groups on Flickr for the Bradley dolls. One for Bradley dolls in general and the other for Bradley sitting dolls.

I clicked on Grumblelina in a feed on another Twitter account. I thought it was a clever take off on Thumbelina. I could only read part of the profile at that point so I had more of a laugh when I got to her profile and read the whole thing. It probably seemed funnier because of that. But, I like the clever tacked on ending.

What's in your Twitter profile? Could you write something with a surprise ending? A Twitter profile with a short twist of sarcasm?

My favourite Twitter bio/ profile so far... was DPopTart. I also posted about writing your own Twitter profile.

We took Zack (my favourite nephew) out to dinner. His fortune said:

"An optimist is always able to see the bright side of other people's troubles."

Pretty clever for something that came out of a fortune cookie.

How do you read this fortune cookie saying? It can be seen as optimists enjoy other people's troubles. Or, it could be seen as optimists can find something good in anything. Are there other ways you can read something else into it?

In writing we try to make our meaning clear. But, at times something we intended to be clear can have other meanings read into it. Take a look at some sentences you have written. Can you find any that could have muddled or different meanings?

I read about Derek K. Miller's living wake in his blog. Derek died May 3rd. Jade Walker posted a link to his blog and that's how I began reading and eventually came to the post about his living wake. It's a good idea. I've always thought a funeral was kind of sad because the person everyone was there to think of, give tribute to, is not able to attend.

I found another post about a living wake on Care Pages, a wife held a living wake for her husband who had terminal cancer. Of course, a living wake would only work for someone with cancer or some other disease which gave them a limited time to live. I wouldn't want to know when I am going to die, if it were sudden, but having the time to plan and say good bye would be comforting if you knew your time was short.

A living wake is not a life celebration, where people attend after the death to remember the deceased. However, part of the living wake would be to remember the life you have lived, the people you met along the way and your accomplishments, happy moments, etc. Knowing this was the last time for so many things I'd want to take time to plan the living wake and make sure I wouldn't regret anything I wish I had done at the time, later.

I didn't find information about planning a living wake so I am thinking of ideas myself and putting them here for anyone who finds this useful.

• Every holiday, family birthday and occasion can be packed into the living wake. Have a birthday cake,  decorate the Christmas tree, hand out Valentine chocolates, wear New Year hats, cook a turkey and so on. Set out photos of family trips and milestones.
• Invite as many people as you can find. Host the wake outside if you can or find a place easy for people to get to and drop in. Don't make it a long event, but something where people can drop in, sign a guest book and visit awhile. Chances are the person the wake is for won't be a fall of fire and will need to keep it short or take a few breaks to regather energy.
• Make sure you have something people can take away with them, a signed photo, a poem, something to remember the occasion and the friend/ relative. Also, have them all sign a guest book so anyone who does not get to visit can still leave a note, maybe even a last gift if they happen to bring something.
• Serve food which can be nibbled on. A mix of hot and cold like salads would give people something to do with their hands when they don't quite know what to say or do.
• Set up a display with photos over the years: baby to child, to teenager to adult... have a laugh at old fashions and hair styles and a favourite raggedy old sweater which everyone will remember the family/ friend wearing far too often and far too long.
• If people will understand the humour, have a roast where the friend/ family member gives some parting shots to everyone who attends (or anyone they have something they want to say).
• Use digital photos and video to record the event and play the video, show the photos so people can see them as the wake goes along. Let people share them by emailing the best/ favourite photos to each other before they go home. They could be put on an account on Flickr or Facebook to be distributed quickly.
• Let people stand up and speak if they have something they would like to say, maybe something they have planned or thought of while wandering around the room. Some last words of their own. The plan is for everyone to say goodbye while they can still be heard after all.
• If there are belongings which will be distributed in a will later why not give them now, when the  stories can be told about the belonging rather than people trying to remember how it all went later. You could even type out notes to go along with each thing and include the story behind it, the reason it's being given to that person in particular and any other details about how it works and how it was used.
• Think about favourite music, books, films, any favourite things which you could have at the living wake in person or represented on a bulletin board or some other type of display.
• Write a short biography with personal notes and commentary added in. This would be a good way for everyone to remember happy times, old jokes and old stories.

What other ideas can you think of?