I hadn't let A Softer World kick me in the gut in a long time.
http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1216
there's an entire story here that begins in a Moe's restaurant in upstate new york in june of 2014
so many subplots with so many significant events and so many associated feelings.
Showing posts with label found. Show all posts
Showing posts with label found. Show all posts
11 August 2015
10 April 2010
on [paternalistic misogynistic] censorship
*sigh* i'm reluctant to admit i'm a feminist because if i did it full-time it would be exhausting and terribly, terribly frustrating.
guess what! i have a vagina and it bleeds monthly! and i get cramps and migraines and they make me pretty miserable for a couple days. i purchase and use pads and i don't particularly like tampons but i use them anyway sometimes.
VAGINA!
so there.
p.s.: the clitoris trumps any part of the male anatomy. always.
guess what! i have a vagina and it bleeds monthly! and i get cramps and migraines and they make me pretty miserable for a couple days. i purchase and use pads and i don't particularly like tampons but i use them anyway sometimes.
VAGINA!
so there.
p.s.: the clitoris trumps any part of the male anatomy. always.
09 March 2010
found - good news/bad news for Beltway gays
and Virginia makes #3:
Va. colleges told to strike LGBT anti-discrimination policies
IT IS 2010! GET WITH IT! this makes me so angry I want to write in all-caps!
what, exactly, constitutes "insufficient authority" to decide that sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are NOT good reasons to discriminate against people? and how can treating all of your citizens as equal be "invalid policy"? more to the point, why is this so?
in happier news, just across the river, same-sex couples start getting married in D.C. today.
what an interesting juxtaposition.
Va. colleges told to strike LGBT anti-discrimination policies
IT IS 2010! GET WITH IT! this makes me so angry I want to write in all-caps!
what, exactly, constitutes "insufficient authority" to decide that sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are NOT good reasons to discriminate against people? and how can treating all of your citizens as equal be "invalid policy"? more to the point, why is this so?
in happier news, just across the river, same-sex couples start getting married in D.C. today.
what an interesting juxtaposition.
06 January 2010
found - Huffington Post on Amanda Simpson
Religious Right Goes Nots Over Transgender Appointee Amanda Simpson
....i'm speechless.
the response of these conservatives is...priceless. just read it yourself.
....i'm speechless.
the response of these conservatives is...priceless. just read it yourself.
02 October 2009
21 August 2009
found - Asperger's in relationships
The Missing Piece
by Richard Howlin in Psychotherapy Networker magazine
...there's some interesting stuff in this one.
by Richard Howlin in Psychotherapy Networker magazine
...there's some interesting stuff in this one.
11 April 2009
MSN article response
Why Women Are Leaving Men for Other Women
i found the article linked above through a listserv i subscribe to. so i read it, because hey, that's kind of an intriguing title. and there were a lot of things in it that bothered me. this, of course, led to clicking on the links at the bottom, which led to the original article on oprah's website, which led to more clicking....which leads to me sitting here at work going, why didn't i just do my homework.
granted: MSN just pulled out a couple of pages from the original article, and there's a lot more to it than what they republished. and there's good and bad in that, too. after reading the condensed version on MSN, i wanted to respond to specific things i disagreed with; now, maybe what i really want to do is bitch about Oprah and pop culture and mainstream media. but i don't think i'll manage that as well. so, setting aside Oprah and her empire founded on creating drama where there need be none, i'll stick to the MSN article (at least for now).
(my favorite thing about the iteration of this on MSN is that there's no forum for comments. but that could turn into its own rant, so i'd better wait.)
"But experts [ . . . ] agree that alternative relationships are on the rise."
...wtf? "alternative relationships"? what does that even mean?! i don't think i can even articulate why that pisses me off. maybe because it sounds so much like "alternative lifestyle" (which i've always thought had more to do with the punk scene than whoever i'm fucking).
"Of course, we shouldn't imagine that we're living in a world where all sexual choices are possible. Just look at the cast of The L Word and it's clear that only a certain kind of lesbian — slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way — is acceptable to mainstream culture."
this, at least, is definitely true. in the original article, they talk a lot about Jackie Warner, and with the pictures they chose to use of her, my first thought was, "she is NOT androgynous." (then i found pictures of her with short hair, and you could maybe make the argument.) but they were going on about how all these straight women send her love letters because she's this "perfect mix" of masculine and feminine qualities....i just got confused. or if you think about The L Word (which i have seen but never followed), you see Shane and she's the "butch" one, and she's really not butch-looking at all, she just fucks everyone, and that's what straight guys are supposed to do....this could very quickly becom a rant on the mainstream media and how they're trying--or pretending to try--to present gay people positively, but really they're just reinforcing (unrealistic?) stereotypes and offering no positive portrayal of the queer people who actually need support from the mainstream media in order to, oh, i don't know, NOT face harassment on a daily basis.
then there's the "science" of it. i'm beginning to think that the more we know, the less we understand. and maybe there are some areas of research that should just be left alone. sure, it'd be great to have "scientific support" for a genetic/biological basis for (homo)sexuality--but what happens if we do? there are aspects of my sexuality that i don't want reduced to chemicals.
and here's a great comment on the implications of the research that's currently being done:
"Fluidity represents a capacity to respond erotically in unexpected ways due to particular situations or relationships. It doesn't appear to be something a woman can control."
...so a man could control his erotic response? news to me.
finally, the last two sentences of the section republished on MSN:
"Most of all, they long for an emotional connection. And if that comes by way of a female instead of a male, the thrill may override whatever heterosexual orientation they had."
one more time, with feeling: WTF?! THIS is the thought you choose to leave your readers with?! yes, straight women are redefining themselves and leaving their husbands and destroying their 1950's-style perfect families because they're looking for a "thrill"? this is your justification for your entire article about the fluidity of female sexuality and this perceived phenomenon of increased acceptability of lesbian relationships for people who have not always identified as lesbian? at least they tried to get that idea of emotional connection in there, but it makes it sound almost like a fantasy, like all women are supposed to know that men can't connect emotionally, and we're able to make believe that other women can, if it seems like fun at the time.
bottom line, this article underscores the attempts by the mainstream media to "normalize" gayness and gay relationships, which ultimately fail because they miss the point entirely and minimize the real experience of the majority of gay people.
i found the article linked above through a listserv i subscribe to. so i read it, because hey, that's kind of an intriguing title. and there were a lot of things in it that bothered me. this, of course, led to clicking on the links at the bottom, which led to the original article on oprah's website, which led to more clicking....which leads to me sitting here at work going, why didn't i just do my homework.
granted: MSN just pulled out a couple of pages from the original article, and there's a lot more to it than what they republished. and there's good and bad in that, too. after reading the condensed version on MSN, i wanted to respond to specific things i disagreed with; now, maybe what i really want to do is bitch about Oprah and pop culture and mainstream media. but i don't think i'll manage that as well. so, setting aside Oprah and her empire founded on creating drama where there need be none, i'll stick to the MSN article (at least for now).
(my favorite thing about the iteration of this on MSN is that there's no forum for comments. but that could turn into its own rant, so i'd better wait.)
"But experts [ . . . ] agree that alternative relationships are on the rise."
...wtf? "alternative relationships"? what does that even mean?! i don't think i can even articulate why that pisses me off. maybe because it sounds so much like "alternative lifestyle" (which i've always thought had more to do with the punk scene than whoever i'm fucking).
"Of course, we shouldn't imagine that we're living in a world where all sexual choices are possible. Just look at the cast of The L Word and it's clear that only a certain kind of lesbian — slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way — is acceptable to mainstream culture."
this, at least, is definitely true. in the original article, they talk a lot about Jackie Warner, and with the pictures they chose to use of her, my first thought was, "she is NOT androgynous." (then i found pictures of her with short hair, and you could maybe make the argument.) but they were going on about how all these straight women send her love letters because she's this "perfect mix" of masculine and feminine qualities....i just got confused. or if you think about The L Word (which i have seen but never followed), you see Shane and she's the "butch" one, and she's really not butch-looking at all, she just fucks everyone, and that's what straight guys are supposed to do....this could very quickly becom a rant on the mainstream media and how they're trying--or pretending to try--to present gay people positively, but really they're just reinforcing (unrealistic?) stereotypes and offering no positive portrayal of the queer people who actually need support from the mainstream media in order to, oh, i don't know, NOT face harassment on a daily basis.
then there's the "science" of it. i'm beginning to think that the more we know, the less we understand. and maybe there are some areas of research that should just be left alone. sure, it'd be great to have "scientific support" for a genetic/biological basis for (homo)sexuality--but what happens if we do? there are aspects of my sexuality that i don't want reduced to chemicals.
and here's a great comment on the implications of the research that's currently being done:
"Fluidity represents a capacity to respond erotically in unexpected ways due to particular situations or relationships. It doesn't appear to be something a woman can control."
...so a man could control his erotic response? news to me.
finally, the last two sentences of the section republished on MSN:
"Most of all, they long for an emotional connection. And if that comes by way of a female instead of a male, the thrill may override whatever heterosexual orientation they had."
one more time, with feeling: WTF?! THIS is the thought you choose to leave your readers with?! yes, straight women are redefining themselves and leaving their husbands and destroying their 1950's-style perfect families because they're looking for a "thrill"? this is your justification for your entire article about the fluidity of female sexuality and this perceived phenomenon of increased acceptability of lesbian relationships for people who have not always identified as lesbian? at least they tried to get that idea of emotional connection in there, but it makes it sound almost like a fantasy, like all women are supposed to know that men can't connect emotionally, and we're able to make believe that other women can, if it seems like fun at the time.
bottom line, this article underscores the attempts by the mainstream media to "normalize" gayness and gay relationships, which ultimately fail because they miss the point entirely and minimize the real experience of the majority of gay people.
30 November 2008
The High Song
The high song is over. Silent is the lute now.
They are crowned for ever and discrowned now.
Whether they triumphed or suffered they are mute now,
or at the most they are only a sound now.
The high song is over. There is none to complain now.
No heart for healing, and none to break now:
they have gone, and they will not come again now.
They are sleeping at last, and they will not wake now.
The high song is over. And we shall not mourn now.
There was a thing to say, and it is said now.
It is as though all these had been unborn now,
it is as through the world itself were dead now.
The high song is over. Even the echoes fail now;
winners and losers--they are only a theme now,
their victory and defeat a half-forgotten tale now;
and even the angels are only a dream now.
There is no need for blame, no cause for praise now.
Nothing to hide, to change or to discover.
They were men and women. They have gone their ways now,
as men and women must. The high song is over.
--Humbert Wolfe, in Requiem, 1927.
this book has a story. but doesn't everything.
They are crowned for ever and discrowned now.
Whether they triumphed or suffered they are mute now,
or at the most they are only a sound now.
The high song is over. There is none to complain now.
No heart for healing, and none to break now:
they have gone, and they will not come again now.
They are sleeping at last, and they will not wake now.
The high song is over. And we shall not mourn now.
There was a thing to say, and it is said now.
It is as though all these had been unborn now,
it is as through the world itself were dead now.
The high song is over. Even the echoes fail now;
winners and losers--they are only a theme now,
their victory and defeat a half-forgotten tale now;
and even the angels are only a dream now.
There is no need for blame, no cause for praise now.
Nothing to hide, to change or to discover.
They were men and women. They have gone their ways now,
as men and women must. The high song is over.
--Humbert Wolfe, in Requiem, 1927.
this book has a story. but doesn't everything.
The Teacher, II
They murmur, the children, like bees in summer
in a hot garden, like bees in a cup,
and, like light through branches, now gay, now dimmer,
thought touches a face that is lifted up.
My bees, with the pollen under your feet,
when the thought we shared is no longer alive,
will aught that we dreamed of together be sweet,
will there be honey of ours in the hive?
It is dark in the hive. There is fear, there is shame,
there are tears, and ugliness unto death.
Sweet thieves of the sun, must it still be the same,
or will not the flowers you rifled bequeath
a glimpse of the vision you saw at my knees,
when the teacher was taught by the Keeper of Bees?
--Humbert Wolfe, in Requiem, 1927.
this book has a story. but doesn't everything.
in a hot garden, like bees in a cup,
and, like light through branches, now gay, now dimmer,
thought touches a face that is lifted up.
My bees, with the pollen under your feet,
when the thought we shared is no longer alive,
will aught that we dreamed of together be sweet,
will there be honey of ours in the hive?
It is dark in the hive. There is fear, there is shame,
there are tears, and ugliness unto death.
Sweet thieves of the sun, must it still be the same,
or will not the flowers you rifled bequeath
a glimpse of the vision you saw at my knees,
when the teacher was taught by the Keeper of Bees?
--Humbert Wolfe, in Requiem, 1927.
this book has a story. but doesn't everything.
18 November 2008
watch this
i've been notably absent from the internet lately, except for facebook. it's one of those periods when i feel like i should write something, but there isn't really anything i feel like putting out there.
except for this:
i know this has been all over the internet for a couple weeks already, but i couldn't resist the opportunity to put it in one more place, so that maybe one more person will see it.
this a tremendous act of allyship. i have difficulty describing the respect and the gratitude i have for Keith Olbermann, and the hope it gives me that a straight, middle-aged, white American male can discuss this issue with such passion in such a public way. maybe things are finally changing.
except for this:
i know this has been all over the internet for a couple weeks already, but i couldn't resist the opportunity to put it in one more place, so that maybe one more person will see it.
this a tremendous act of allyship. i have difficulty describing the respect and the gratitude i have for Keith Olbermann, and the hope it gives me that a straight, middle-aged, white American male can discuss this issue with such passion in such a public way. maybe things are finally changing.
24 October 2008
found- a softer world
this is old, but periodically becomes strikingly relevant again.
i think you are beautiful
i think you are beautiful
20 June 2008
02 February 2008
found - post secret
i kinda hope this is about me. if it is, please comment--i'm sorry i'm bad at keeping in touch.
25 September 2007
17 September 2007
random stuff on monday evening
this is just cool.
alright, now that that's done with. it's been almost a week and i haven't updated and that means i'm about to make up some stuff that i think might be worth reading.
ha . . . you thought i was kidding.
maybe you'd better just check out the link at the top.
magnetic poetry says:
"make green garden
an eternal fire"
this is what's hanging over my desk:
and this is what i've been downloading recently:
alright, now that that's done with. it's been almost a week and i haven't updated and that means i'm about to make up some stuff that i think might be worth reading.
ha . . . you thought i was kidding.
maybe you'd better just check out the link at the top.
magnetic poetry says:
"make green garden
an eternal fire"
this is what's hanging over my desk:
and this is what i've been downloading recently:
05 September 2007
17 August 2007
found - post secret
i was thinking how much i wanted to post something today, because it's been a while, but i didn't know what, because i wanted it to be meaningful. (i always do, but sometimes that's more important than others.) then i came across this:
postsecret.blogspot.com
postsecret.blogspot.com
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