Wild, Wild Women of the World - Who Was She?

(taken from "Uppity Women of Medieval Times" by Vicki Leon)

"Her rap sheet was a mile long and her personal habits left a lot to be desired, and her aliases included "Moll Cutpurse" and the "Roaring Girle". Who was she?"

Born in 1589, Molly Frith got her nickname from robbing people by cutting their purse strings. She was a hard drinking gal who used pipe tobacco and wore men's clothing. An ever enterprising lady, she built up a network of thieves and then set up as pawn broker to handle the stolen goods. In an effort to branch out she also tried her hand at acting becoming the first woman to appear on the Elizabethan stage. In 1611 a play called "The Roaring Girle or Moll Cutpurse opened in London but it was also the same year that she got arrested for wearing men's clothing. In fact she landed in jail several times not only for her attire but also for her life of crime. Each time she was able to bribe her way out. You would think that her life would have been quite short what with her escapades but she lived to be 75!
So what do you think? Was she a role model for the self-made woman or was she someone you would not want your daughter to emulate? What say you?

Am I Wrong?

It is one of the paradoxes of life that those who are so quick to jump on others for intolerance are usually the most intolerant.

I am saddened that comments that I left on someone's Facebook wall has prompted that person to block me. My comments were not meant to cause offence, but simply to open this person's eyes to other views. When I pointed out that what this person was accusing others of were actually only exhibited by her - perhaps I stepped over the line. I feel bad because I did not want to alienate her but to just hold up a mirror. Now I cannot leave any comments on her wall, yet I can still send her a direct message. Should I contact her to apologize or should I respect her decision to not talk and just leave her alone? What say you?

Bitter or Better?

I just finished reading "Falling Leaves" by Adeline Yen Mah and was completely blown away - please read the book if you ever get the chance. The story of the book is briefly discussed in my other blog http//thehavenofrest.blogspot.com - it is the true story of child abuse and eventual triumph, an autobiography of an unwanted Chinese daughter. The book reminds me of "Angela's Ashes" which is another true autobiography of child abuse and eventual triumph. These kinds of stories just hold so much fascination to me because I want to know how some people can be born into horrendous conditions beyone their control, enduring abuse and torment and yet grow into loving people who are without bitterness - yet others who go through the same circumstances emerge as hard, mean, bitter individuals. How can this happen? Same circumstances, yet mere children have such different ways of looking at it. Do you know of cases like those talked about in these books? Have you experienced it yourself? Have you been able to overcome bitterness to become better?

We don't need God

Stephen Hawking has a new book coming out this week called "The Grand Design". In it he says that it is entirely possible that the universe "can and will create itself from nothing". In other words, what he is saying that we don't need God in the creation of the universe. You can imagine the uproar this has caused. What say you?