About BGSD

You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers. Let’s work our reciprocal symbiosis, baby.

What is this place?

As Tina Fey once said, “Bitches get stuff done!”

(And NBC.com/WordPress won’t let me embed the video, so FUCK IT… Here’s a link to it on Jezebel.)

So I’m going ahead and getting stuff done, or at least getting stuff ranted about. I’m letting this be about whatever I really want. Originally, the emphasis was going to be on feminism, but as life has changed, I have found my focus moving a little. Now that I’m a full time teacher in a very urban high school, feminism is still a passion of mine, but education is what’s on my mind even more. A lot of these posts will be regular thoughts and reflections on education and my teaching practice, as well as the social justice and concerns about education. However, what I reflect on is going to vary widely sometimes, from feminism in politics to pop culture to current events to literature to the vagaries of dating to the aggravation of finding that perfect pair of boots or the best lipstick (and then reconciling those things with feminism).

All this will be lightly peppered with other social justice issues and reflections, and sometimes just a bit of cooking or geeking out. We all need to kick back with a beer, both literally and figuratively, now and again. So stick around, I’ve got some beer in the fridge.

Why did you start this stupid thing?

I already have a personal Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal thingie going on. However, the majority of my friends really don’t want to read my teacher rantings or my feminist rantings, and I can respect that. Honestly, I’d rather talk to people I know face to face about this kind of thing, because interactive dialogs are ALWAYS better than internet dialogs. But since I still like to rant and vent, and I have delusions of someday contributing to the education and feminist dialogs/movements as a whole, I have subjected you, oh interwebs, to my opinions.

Wait, who the fuck are you?

I love a good martini.

Good question, my young grasshopper. I am Cuppy van der Cake–feminist, geek, lush, and foodie. I live in San Francisco, after spending most of my adult life in Boston.

I am a first year teacher in Oakland, CA. I student taught in the Boston Public Schools while completing a masters in secondary English education, and I expected that Oakland would be comparable. I was wrong, and I am finding myself overwhelmed and frustrated by a job that has previously been something that I love. This year will be a challenge and a learning experience.

I have a BA in comparative literature, a tattoo on my left foot, and a bicycle. I enjoy reading, board games, crafting, pillow forts, and baking desserts. I have too much geeky know-how, and a bad habit for thinking I can save the world. Impressive book collections, creative cooking, a fondness for sci-fi, and safe sex practices make me hot.

So how did you get started on feminism anyways?

Just the other day, I was thinking about that. I thought I really started to become a feminist in senior year of high school, and I was trying to figure out if it was because of my feminist AP English teacher, or backlash to the boy I was dating. Then it dawned on me that I was a feminist all the way back in elementary school, when I felt a gut reaction of distaste for how Miss Piggy was portrayed on the Muppets. I guess my latent feminism was there all along! (Awwww, how cute!)

Interestingly, that AP English teacher was a large contributor to what got me started on education, too. I had some amazing teacher in high school–despite being a really difficult student–and when I hit college and discovered my passion for learning, I realized that it had been started by my teachers. I love learning, I am deeply in love with literature, particularly as a socio-cultural object, and I am really excited about pushing my curricula to become more interdisciplinary and sociological as I go forward.

What do you fear, my lady?

A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

I really love you and want to have your babies.

I get that a lot, and I do appreciate the sentiment. However, that’s not a question, and this is a question page.