The Bluestocking: where conversation should supersede cards

[MyrtleLion]

The Blue Stockings Society was founded by women emphasising education and mutual cooperation. Men could attend as invited guests, but in this Women's Pub, they are only welcome to peer enviously through the windows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Stockings_Society

All women welcome!

All tastes catered for.

All food containing calories will not increase waistlines.

All drink containing alcohol will not intoxicate beyond the mildy merry and slightly inhibited stage. Guaranteed no hangovers.

Don't mind the gerbils, hamster, capybaras, quokkas and other assorted rodents. They're all female, all staff and very accommodating...

In other news, the new MN adverts are trying to sell me commercial size wine fridges.

'A thing's a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide
And the Id goes marching on'
sung to the tune of John Brown's Body😄

by Melanie Safka, she of 'I've got a brand new pair of roller skates..' fame.

You certainly can't cut with them, @Boiledbeetle.

@MarieDeGournay - is that Melanie Safka song sung to the tune of 'I've got a brand new combine harvester'?

Other way round.

Though I have just learned that the spoof was written by Brendan O'Shaughnessy and was a hit for Brendan Grace in Ireland in 1975 before being a hit for The Wurzels in the UK in 1976. Melanie Safka's song was released in 1971.

I've just read 'that other thread' in its entirety. Clever as always, often hilarious. And the predictable disappearing OP who stayed just long enough to scold, and not long enough to have their preconceptions challenged. And their knowledge of dinosauruseseses boosted.

I did the dragon-name quiz, and got a bit worried half way through - surely they don't need to know all this just to give me a dragon name??

It turns out the names are not bespoke, they seem to be from a pot of existing dragon names, so I got 'Spyro' which isn't even dragon-ish😡
Now I want my self-revelation back. The Internet now knows that I'd kill for Love rather than Peace and I'm worried that everybody knows that now and Bad Actors may use it against me somehow...

Wow! I have learned something today. Thank you, @Chersfrozenface.

That other thread is classic woke-scold-plopping. Thankfully it quickly segued into dinosaurs and dragons.

I tried it. Trust me it's rubbish, asks silly multiple choice questions which don't include appropriate choices like 'Ankh-Morpork' and 'Commander Vimes'.

The tras rallied a little in the wee hours. Possibly the US coming on shift? I got Spyro too. It's a titular dragon character from a video game.

Cher has already answered that, Woley, thanks Cher.

Was it really a hit for Brendan Grace first? I missed that by not living in Ireland at the time.

Brendan Grace was a comedian of the 'harmless' variety who later played the obnoxious Fr Fintan Stack in Father Ted with a totally unexpected level of venom, I think he really enjoyed being nasty for a change!- his famous line was
'I've had my fun, and that's all that matters'

"The ghastly ticking"

Ooooof. Completely understand why you might be scared of beetles, Boily!

I used to really really like Melanie Safka. Saw a YouTube video of her recently (in her 70s?) doing a concert of all her old hits.

Voice really hasn't made it I'm afraid.

I tried it too.

Dragon names were absolutely ridiculously stupid and you could only have one everyone else got, so I went back and changed all my answers and got a different name (still stupid) - 1st DROGON then SPIKE.

I wouldn't worry about the information getting out anywhere. The main thing is that people may know that we actually tried to find out what our dragon name is! Speaks volumes 😳

Her cover of Ruby Tuesday was spectacular. It changes the song completely because it is a woman singing about a woman who, when asked why she needs to be so free, answers 'It's the only way to be'.. and then the line 'at what a cost..' 'lose your dreams and you will lose your mind' .

Melanie's voice is a combination of vulnerability and despair and tenderness and anger - an amazing performance.

She died last year. RIP Marianne Faithfull too, on 30th January - aged, incredibly given her life, 78!

edited to add 'tenderness'

Completely agree with you about Melanie's cover of Ruby Tuesday.

I obviously haven't kept up with any of the news because I didn't realise that she had died, and I didn't realise that Marianne Faithfull died either. Both fantastic women. Artists to the core.

I'm possibly going to outrage some people with this but - the way she uses her voice -a little bit Meredith Monk?.

It also sounds like keening.
I'd put it on my list of funeral music, but I'm so unlike Ruby Tuesday that anybody who knew me would think
'Yeah, right, that soooo doesn't describe her!🙄'

Blimey! Melanie is dead?😫

I wish I knew which thread it was, or at least which board. It's confusing when the title isn't shared and then people go on about dragons, lovely dragons, and I can't join in. Maybe type the title? No need to link it...

And I'm fed up with my iPad typing . instead of a space - you will not know how long it took to type a space and that fullstop. Bloody automatic fullstop mullarkey.

I finished In the Beginning by Simon Edge today. It's a satire about Maya Forstater's case. He also wrote The End of the World is Flat, a satire about the gender wars.

I'm a bit grumpy today.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5267994-is-mumsnet-a-safe-space-for-me

Just read this about women's silence from Glosswitch. Fucking amazing insight as always.

https://open.substack.com/pub/glosswitch/p/the-invisible-work-of-saying-nothing

Oh dear lovely MyrtleLion, quite understand you being grumpy. I hope discovering that thread cheers you up. It is stuffed full of TRA (mostly incomprehensible) trolling, then dozens of reasonable, reasoned, thoughtful and often hilarious responses that do not raise any kind of a titter from the other side, or even a reply. The OP writes the thread and then disappears after about 12 minutes never to reappear again. There's quite a bit of snark from later TRAs inviting people to look at Google or check a dictionary. The sex realists among us offer tales of dragons and dinosaurs to relieve the tedium. The tedium continues, but the pushback is magnificent.

I am afraid that all TRAs have had a sense of humour-ectomy. Not the case with any of us of course! it is funny how self-righteous and yet befuddled they are, as if their stating some absolute nonsense as if it-were-fact-and-everybody-should-accept-it-as-fact was going to go down well on mumsnet on the feminist forum! Ha!

Someone send the hot chocolate bowser in my direction please. Two different training sessions today, neither of which actually taught me anything I didn't already know.

Sorry you're having a grumpy day, Myrtle. It's nearly 6pm, hopefully there'll be something nice for tea/dinner, and something mindlessly fun on the telly later

How could anybody tell that a thread about FWR being or not being a safe space could morph so swiftly into a detailed discussion of dragons? And dinosaurs. And the occasional scolding about being transphobic - I believe that got less occasional when the US scolders woke up, but I haven't been back to check.
But that's what happens on FWR
Enjoy the dragonlore. Don't get lured into doing the 'What is your dragon-name?' quiz, it asks waaaay to many questions and then doesn't invent a name for you, it gives you some stupid one from a video game🙄

We need an 'aww poor you' emoji, please MNHQ. Or perhaps we can designate
as aww poor you? Not as dramatic as

but just as heartfelt

I saw the beginning of the thread last night and stopped reading after the straight man pretending he's a lesbian OP left in a huff but was happy to report back to his their bros handmaidens other TRAs that MN is Terf Central. If I'd known it would turn into a dragon and dinosaur feast of feminist snark, I would have stayed (and probably joined in).

It's a fast day today. I still eat, it's just less than other days. Evening meal will be live yoghurt with berries, seeds and nuts, which is my lunch most days.

And I have discovered that Harlem is BACK on Amazon Prime with a new series!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

If you haven't seen it, please do watch. Four black women who are killing it while also having relationship problems. It is my jam, even though I'm not black.

Like you Myrtle I saw the start of it last night and thought sleep was a better option.

And I used Monday's fun and games to launch me back into consuming fewer carbs, so I may return to 5:2 eating next week - did it for ages but craft club and Wednesday morning tea meeting wrecked my old schedule - just need to adjust. I can't have lost more than a few ounces but already my knees are less ouchy.

Off fairly soon to a historical lecture I've already heard twice, partly because it's quite entertaining and my annual membership pays my entry, but also because two of my pals are going to be there and we need a little intellectual discussion and critique of another upcoming talk, not organised by either of the societies we are members of. Thank goodness. I'd say we dodged a bullet but - some metaphors are a bit too close for comfort.