What’s Your Muppet Personality?

Posted by: gretchen on February 28, 2007 | 13 Comments |

I don’t always put a lot of stock in these “5-question” personality quizzes, but this one was right on target. Probably because my answer to question #2 was “Bang on drums, pots and pans, whatever’s around”. :D

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Denial and Bumps in the Road

Posted by: kel1 on February 24, 2007 | 4 Comments |

“Adoption was never really considered, because I don’t want my sons internalizing the fact that I am willing to give up their brother or sister….I made a choice to end two pregnancies. I made a choice to continue to give my two sons the time and attention that they deserve. I made a choice to not burden our family financially. I made a choice to spend more time with my husband and to help our relationship, as not only parents, but as lifetime partners, flourish. I don’t regret my decisions and I’m not sorry.”

“My husband and I decided that we unable to care for another child since he works 70 hours a week and I am a full time student and work full time. I didn’t feel guilty about our decision only about not taking precautions so we didn’t have to make a choice….” (Emphases mine)

(Both quotes taken from www.imnotsorry.net)

Go ahead. Go back and read them again. See anything unusual about the logic here? I am not trying to belittle these women and their experiences. In fact, it makes me sad to read what they went through, and to read of the choices they made. I am, however, using their statements to bring some things to light about abortion and womanhood. Read more

Virginity Soap Needs Complimentary Shampoo

Posted by: gretchen on February 23, 2007 | 6 Comments |

Just when I think I have heard it all, reader Lori Olson White writes “Hey – I’ve been reading your blog and wonder if you might have something to say about the use of so-called ‘virginity soap’ here in the Middle East. Here’s a link to my post on the topic. sandgetsinmyeyes.blogspot.com Thanks!”

Something to say? Oh yeah. I’ve got something to say…find me the guy who invented this stuff. I have a gift for him. Read more

New Saxophone Player Design

Posted by: gretchen on February 22, 2007 | 27 Comments |

Saxophone Player Shirt

Before I start a new drawing, I try to look for images to help me determine the pose or the details of objects I want to use in the design. Typically, I try to Google action photos of real women. That’s an easy task when you can think of a famous name to search for, but in the case of the saxophone player, I have to admit I couldn’t think of any famous women saxophone players. Hmmm….shame on me and I was a music major in college.

Not wanting to be ignorant of this field, I decided to see what I could find to help me with this drawing. A quick Google search for “female saxophone player” gave me names like Jane Ira Bloom, Claire Daly, Karolina Strassmayer, Laura Dreyer, Mary Fettig, Vi Redd, Jessica Jones, Ingrid Laubrock, Barbara Thompson, Christine Jensen, Anat Cohen, Virginia Mayhew, Matana Roberts, Frøy Aagre, Bodil Niska, Candy Dulfer, Ivy Benson, Jessica Lurie, Kathy Stobart, Karolina Strassmeyer, Sandy Evans, Fiona Burnett, Tia Fuller, Sarah Manning, Tinika Postma, Kristen Strom, Shannon Kennedy and Mindi Abair. *whew* There sure are a lot of women playing the saxophone out there!

So here she is… (by popular request I might add) the Girls Can’t WHAT? saxophone player. She is available in both light and dark skin tones on a variety of gift items and apparel in the Girls Can’t WHAT? shop.

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GoGirls Music

Posted by: gretchen on February 21, 2007 | 1 Comment |

For my rocker friends out there, make sure you bookmark GoGirls Music. Formed in 1996 by Madalyn Sklar, GoGirls is on a mission to promote, support and empower indie women in music. GoGirls is involved events such as camps for girls, benefits, showcases and festivals.  The web site is a fabulous resource for women musicians, providing gig and record label info, tips for your band, event calendars and more. There are free giveaways every month as well.  If you are serious about your music career, sign up for the GoGirls newsletter and stay in touch.

Go Girls Music Logo

The Picture of Organized

Posted by: gretchen on February 20, 2007 | 7 Comments |

My Grandma passed away last Monday at the age of 90. Before that day, I thought I knew all there was to know about being organized. I have read every book on the subject of organization and I have bookmarked every web site and forum related to the subject. At the funeral last Friday, my two cousins and my aunt stepped up to say a few words about Grandma. I heard all the expected things…she was kind, never raised her voice, opened her home to everyone, etc. Every word of it was true. Yet each one of my relatives said something that I had never even associated with my grandma before. They said she was “organized”. I have to admit that it threw me for a loop. I mean, I grew up seeing my grandma practically every single day. My cousins always lived far away and only visited a few times each year. How could they say Grandma was “organized”? This morning, it hit me.

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The word “Can’t” - An inspiration to us all

Posted by: michelletwiste on February 20, 2007 | 1 Comment |

In my opinion, one of the most inspirational words in the English language is the word “Can’t”

How could this be inspirational?? The word “Can’t”…

… ticks off so many people
… hurts people’s feelings
… makes people ask why
… leaves room for improvement
… makes people think
… opens many doors
… makes average people shine
… makes many companies rich
… wakes people up

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Women of Strength

Posted by: gretchen on February 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment |

Women have strengths that amaze …

They carry children, they carry hardships, they carry burdens,
yet they hold faith, happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.

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Weekly Poll: Your Geekiest Moment

Posted by: gretchen on February 13, 2007 | 6 Comments |

If you scored reasonably high on the How Geeky Are You Quiz, then I am willing to bet you have some fabulous stories for this week’s survey: Your Geekiest Moment. You know you have one. As always, I will be brave and share mine, which ironically happened this morning at 6:25am.

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Car Care 4 Us Girls

Posted by: gretchen on February 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment |

Car Care 4 Us GirlsJust found out about “Car Care 4 Us Girls“. This is a step by step video tutorial on everything to help keep your car in shape. It is a very well-organized course that is loaded with information from maintenance to safety issues and designed especially for women. Check it out at www.carcare4usgirls.com.

Girls Can’t What? Version 2.0 Complete

Posted by: gretchen on February 12, 2007 | 1 Comment |

First let me say a word of thanks to those of you who have been with me through this past year as I have been piecing this site together. Today, I finished the final theme and layout for this site. For the technical folks among us, here are the challenges I faced in getting to this point and a little history, if you’re interested:

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Grammy Awards Won By Women

Posted by: gretchen on February 12, 2007 | 5 Comments |

Grammy LogoCongrats to the Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood for cleaning up at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. Lots of other women also deserve major kudos. Here’s a rundown of awards won by the ladies in categories where they competed against the men:

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MotoFemina - A Real Women’s Motorcycle Series

Posted by: gretchen on February 9, 2007 | 5 Comments |

Motofemina LogoMotoFemina is a reality video series that features three women from Santa Fe, New Mexico who are encountering motorcycle riding for the first time. The three women are drawn from all walks of life, but one thing unites them: their passion to break out of the ordinary and become motorcyclists.

MotoFemina the video series honors the mystique of motorcycling and the spirit of the open road. It also honors uncommon women as they quest after adventures that only motorcycling can bring. At the end of the journey, one woman is awarded a new BMW F 650 GS motorcycle and takes the lead of a new band of motorcyclists known as—MotoFemina.

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WordPress is Female-Friendly

Posted by: gretchen on February 8, 2007 | 18 Comments |

Being a complete geek, I read a lot of code and documentation for fun. Yes, I said for fun. Most of the time these docs are written by men and they are rather dry and use words like ‘he’, ‘his’ and ‘him’ on all the pages. Today, while reading through some WordPress docs, imagine my surprise as I read the following:

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Share Your Story

Posted by: gretchen on February 7, 2007 | 1 Comment |

Girls Can’t WHAT? is a web community that thrives on the inspiration and advice from women around the world. We invite you to share your story with us and build your own network around the interests and ideas that you hold with others. The guidelines for contributing to Girls Can’t WHAT? are simple. Please read through them before submitting your first post to this site.

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Weekly Poll: Is the word “Gal” offensive?

Posted by: gretchen on February 5, 2007 | 36 Comments |

My husband works in a politically correct Fortune 500 corporate environment (with a woman CEO I might add) so he often engages in conversations with others about the proper way to address other employees.   Recently, he was told by one of his bosses that the word  “gal” was offensive and he should try not to use it when referring to the women in his department.  He thought that was odd so he came home to ask me about it.

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New CSI Design Available

Posted by: gretchen on February 5, 2007 | 5 Comments |

CSI DesignA CSI is responsible for complex crime scene investigations, securing evidence for scientific evaluation and preparing detailed reports on the observations and activities at the scene. Who says girls can’t be a detective? See the latest design in the Girls Can’t WHAT? shop: Crime Scene Investigator.

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Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson

Posted by: gretchen on February 3, 2007 | 2 Comments |

Just love this one. Another great tune from Kelly Clarkson from the Princess Diaries 2 Soundtrack…

I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly
I’ll do what it takes till I touch the sky
And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

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Girl Power Superbowl Commercial

Posted by: gretchen on February 2, 2007 | 1 Comment |

With the Superbowl just around the corner, I thought I’d dredge up some of the great “Girl Power” commercials that have aired during past Superbowl games. I’ll start with this lovely one from (I think) last year’s Superbowl.  Be sure to watch it all the way to the very end.  ;)

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Featured Site of The Day!

Posted by: gretchen on February 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment |


Hey - I just got an email that says the “Girls Can’t WHAT? Shop” is the featured site of the day at Fun T-shirts. I would also appreciate it if you would show a little love and drop by to vote for my shop…just click on the button. Thanks!

Color Your Vision Board Pink

Posted by: gretchen on February 1, 2007 | 2 Comments |

Being a very visual person, I love imagery and dreaming about the future. In Color Me Pink, I touched on that subject a little, suggesting that if you want to achieve your wildest aspirations that you must first start to picture them in your head. Today, I read Christine Kane’s blog “How to Make A Vision Board” and it I think it is a perfect addition to this topic. Christine walks us through how to design and assemble a Vision Board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage) which will serve as inspiration and motivation to create a new reality. Fantastic idea, Christine. Thanks for sharing!

World’s Fastest Female Drummer Caitlin Kalafus

Posted by: gretchen on February 1, 2007 | 15 Comments |

Congratulations to 14-year-old Caitlin Kalafus who claimed the title of World’s Fastest Female Drummer last month in Anaheim, California at the NAMM Winter Session. Caitlin is the youngest person to ever hold a World’s Fastest Drumming World Record, setting female division records in the  ‘Battle of the Feet’ with 799 singles on the bass drum in sixty seconds.  What an amazing accomplishment!

See Caitlin hammering the skins at age 13:

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