I think we are walking a fine line now that we have the ability manipulate genetics and reproduction. A person can choose what genes they want to eliminate in their own DNA or with egg donation, what they want qualities and genetics they want for their child. When a couple needs a donor egg they are given a profile about the donors medical background but it also details if they are athletic, what college they went to (if they went to college), and other aspects of their personal life in order for the person or persons to decide what "kind" of child they want. Gender can also be selected. I am currently helping a couple have a child of their own by being their surrogate but it also present a lot of moral and ethically issue with it. If a couple can not have a child should they be able to have someone else carry it for them? Genetic test are done on the parents before hand in order to eliminate the possibility of serious genetic diseases. If we be able to "weed out" those genetic traits what else can we eliminate? If the goal is create a healthy child I think that it is a good thing but it also has the possibility to be taken to extremes and it can cause more harm then good. I guess with any technology there is the potential for good and bad. We just have to hope for more good. When Helva decided not to stay in the envelope on the Corvi planet I was a little surprised that she did not. Having the ability to move her body seemed to me to be something that she should want but the rest of the people on the ship were depending on her to get them home and the jelly fish type individuals seemed a little weird to me so I thought it was a good choice. But when she was given to option to be able to inhabit a human body I was totally shocked that she did not take it. To be able to be like all the humans she encounter, to be able to move freely and touch other beings I would think would have been a dream come true but when I started to really think about it I realized that ship is her body, the only body she has ever know and her eye sight, strength, and other abilities as a ship make her in a lot of ways better then a human body. I think that we sometimes feel that what we have is better then anything else. Maybe because it is what we have always known and believes that our way is the best way. I have never had the abilities to be as Helva is so how would I know that being in control of a ship is not the better way of life. Besides the fact that she can not touch anyone or anything she does have sensations it seems that it has a lot of good qualities that many might desire.

I wonder how important physical touch is for a person mentally and physically.  I guess being a very touchy person myself it is hard to imagine not being able to ever touch another person.  I hug just about everyone, my husband actually get irritated because it take me 20 minutes to leave any family function because I hug my whole family before I leave.  If I did not have the ability to touch others I could not kiss my kids goodnight, hold hands with my husband, and enjoy just sitting and petting my cats.  I don't think I would really be content if  I could not do those things.  From the time we are born it seems we are hardwired to need to be touched and touch others in return.  A crying baby is soothed being held and/or having her back rubbed.  We also reach out at an early age to grab for someones hand or hold their fingers.  When we are young and we fall or get hurt it is mom's kisses and hugs that make it all better.  As we get older and we are sad it is the hugs and comforting that can make the pain and sadness bearable.  Physical contact gives us a connection to others, a sense that we are not alone.  I am not sure that anything else can compare or replace that physical and emotion connection.  I know I would never want to try.

Is it possible that most if not all women are born to be mothers in some way. It seems that in all the books we have read and I am sure that it is true with many other women characters in other books as well. It seems that no matter what situation they are put in women tend to be the ones to save the child, or try to save her crew members, or teach a child to live and learn properly. Is it possible that women are hard wired to protect, teach, and care for others? Are men capable of the same acts of protecting the people they care about, helping those individuals weaker then themselves, and teaching those who need teaching. Is it not possible that compaction and the desire to help and protect others is a human trait and not just a female trait despite how it is often portrayed. I think often men are suppose to be the strong, unfeeling ones and the women are suppose to be the caring, loving ones but I think it is unfair to always place a women in the maternal roll and realize that men are able take on the caregiver roll as well. Women must carry and give birth to a child but that does not always mean that they are the most qualified to be the care giver in every situation.

After our discussion in class I started to think about how much we rely on machines and technology everyday. Almost every person uses some form of machinal transportation everyday. Most of us drive our cars and some take the bus but we don’t really walk or ride our bikes to many places anymore. It is faster to just get in the car. The GPS in my car (which I use all the time because I can not follow directions to save myself) tells me exactly were to go and knows where I am and how to get me back on track if I take a wrong turn. We know longer need to know how to read a map.
In comparison to the Primer, my daughter has a devise that helps her to read the words that are in the book she wants to read. I really enjoy reading with her but when I get busy she like to play with her leapfrog so she can read to herself, she doesn’t really need me (or another human being) to read it to her, the computer can do it.
Doctors are now relying on robots for some surgeries. The doctor directs what the robot is doing, but how long do you think it will be before the robot can do the surgery without human direction.
Even the phone which has been around for many years has been improved to the point that it is wireless (we can talk to anyone anywhere), it can play music, has a calendar that appointments and special events can be entered into, can access the internet, check email, and so on. I know if I lost my phone I would be in big trouble because half my life is stored on it. It is kind of scary actually.
I think most of us rely on modern convinces and technology more then realize. I think it would be interesting for someone to conduct an experiment to see how a person could function with these convinces taken away. I think it would be very difficult now that we have gotten use to doing things the easy way.

I think we are always looking at how we can make things better and easier. Having a vacuum that runs without someone pushing it or phone that dials the number of a person just by voice activation are a few things that have already been invented. I wish I had a robot maid like Rosie in the Jetson’s or a car that could drive itself so that I didn‘t have to. But is there a point in which we can go to far. For example, the average person (like Bud in The Diamond Age) being able to have a gun surgically placed on the body (I believe it was placed in his forehead) and having vision enhanced to include sites for better target shooting. This might be a good thing for police or soldiers to have but once something is invented, it can not always be controlled. It will eventually get out into the general public.
I was impressed with the little bugs that Bud had placed in his muscles so that he didn’t have to actually exercise, I would like to be able to look great without excising too, but it is kind of creepy to think that little bugs things would be crawling around in your body. I also thought that the mattress making machine was pretty cool. I think I would love to have a machine that could make me new sheets, blankets, towels, and especially make me the clothes that I wanted without ever having to go to the store, try them on, and them return them when I decided that I didn’t really like it as much as I thought I did. I hate shopping, if I could just make want I wanted this easily at home I would love it!!!

The entire first part (Part I) of Deerskin had a very disturbing feeling.  As I was reading it I had this weird, almost sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I am not sure if it was because it I knew what was going to happen (we were warned of the rape in class) or if it was the way it was written.  At first I thought it was kind of sweet how the Queen waited for Lissar's dad to come back with his prize so she could marry him.  It was like a fairy tale, the queen had so much faith in him.  She believed he would return successfully and so she waited for him.  After that story it got really weird though.  The king and queen, as well as all of the people in the kingdom forgot Lissar and paid little attention to her.  The king and queen were completely rapped up in each other and the people in the kingdom were also effected by this obsession.  It felt really creepy hearing it described. 
I hope we will eventually understand what happened to the queen.  She died of a disease unknown and would not let anyone see her as she was dying.  Why???  The king went crazy when she became sick and got even crazier when she died.  Was it the grief of losing the love of his life or was he always crazy.  I seems to me that either the queen or the king held some kind of "other" power I am just not sure which one.  It seems most likely the queen, who everyone thought was the most beautiful women in the world, was able to make everyone worship her some how.  Was it consciously or unconsciously?  Lessar's nursemaid also went crazy with the death of the queen.  What made her go crazy and lose her mind?  Did the king go nuts and rape his daughter because he was so far gone that he did not realise what he was doing?  This book has a very weird feel to it.  Kind of spooky (great for Halloween) and very unsettling.  In some ways it bring me back to Leck (Graceling) and his ability to control the minds of others.  I am looking forward to seeing how this story progresses and how Lissar moves on.

One of my very favorite authors is Laurell Hamilton. She currently is writing two series of books, one about Anita Blake who is a vampire hunter and necromancer and the other about Meredith Gentry who is a fairy princess (literally) and who lives for awhile in the human world to prevent her family, and her Aunt the Unseelie Queen, from finding her and most likely killing her. Since it has been awhile since I have read the first book in either series I decided to re-read Kiss the Shadows. I found that I saw this book and its characters differently then when I read it the first time. Meredith is hated and seen as weak because she is not immortal like all of her relatives, she is only half fey and as a result she is mortal. The fey see her as less and have no respect for her. Her aunt, the Queen of the Unseelie, is really an evil and twisted bitch who enjoys inflicting pain so Meredith decides to escape into the mortal world where the fey do not like to be because the metal messes with their magic. But now the Queens Guards are sent out to find Meredith and bring her back to fairy, not to kill her but to have a child. The fey are immortal but they have been slowly losing their magic and they are no longer having babies. So Meredith, who is considered good for nothing, weak, and of little importance is now good for something, hopefully having a child. If she can get pregnant she will be the new Queen. Being more aware this time around it seemed funny to me that what makes her important is her uterus. Of course if she fails to get pregnant she will be killed but she has been threatened her whole so I guess what is one more death threat.