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“Tale of Love and Illness Ends in Death” or “Long Marriage Ends in Ableist Murder”?

“Tale of Love and Illness Ends in Death” or “Long Marriage Ends in Ableist Murder”? published on No Comments on “Tale of Love and Illness Ends in Death” or “Long Marriage Ends in Ableist Murder”?

"Tale of Love and Illness Ends in Death:" Oh, it sounds so tragic, the way the New York Times frames that headline, right? It must be the tale of a long-enduring affection severed by the death of one of the participants, leaving those still alive to mourn and soldier on, right?

Wrong.

Charles Snelling, 81, murdered his wife, Adrienne, 81, who had Alzheimer's, and then he committed suicide. That's what happened.

The NYT article goes on and on about how much Charles supposedly loved Adrienne, but the fact remains that he killed a disabled, mentally ill woman, arrogating responsibility for her life and death to himself. If a husband thinks it's his prerogative to end the life of a disabled member of his family "out of love," we as a culture have just sadly demonstrated, yet again, how little we value the lives and autonomy of people with disabilities and/or mental illness.

Working on Flower…

Working on Flower… published on No Comments on Working on Flower…

Flower, my Soom Faery Sprite of Slumber, came on Monday. I’m just now getting around to putting him together. He’s all strung and everything, but his eyes need to be put in, ears glued on, arms wired and wings magnetized. So far I have put his eyes in, glued on his ears, wired his arms and put the magnets in the sockets in his back. Tomorrow I will glue the magnets into the sockets in his wings.

Flower represents my first male Soom Faery, as well as the first Soom Faery I’ve gotten with a faceup and blushing. I’m not too thrilled with the silly blushing all over his delicate white body, but I love the purple, sparkly, shimmery blushing on his ears and his wings. Both his ears and wings remind me of flower petals…hence his name.

I love Flower’s gentle little face. He reminds me of Soom Sabik, a [very large] doll that I used to have. [I mostly got him because he looks like a small, portable, less expensive Sabik…with bonus shimmery ears and wings!] I do, however, think that his narrow, finely drawn head would fit better on a less muscular body. In fact, as with most of Soom’s sculpts, Flower’s headsculpt is versatile enough to be used for a doll of any sex.

Some owners of CW Soom faeries have reported that the CW resin starts to turn “beauty green” after exposure to even mild, indoor, artificial light! Sadly, I think that will happen with Flower. His head especially already has green undertones, even more noticeable than his body. However, now that I think about it, green skin — or skin with a green tinge — is perfect for a flower fairy, so I’m not too perturbed. Greenness will not detract from Flower’s beauty!

A picture of Flower without his wig follows, then a picture of Flower in his default wig, then a picture of Flower in Lucian’s wig [tee hee!]. I’m not sure what to do about hair for Flower. Unlike Ginevra, he definitely needs hair: a long, flowing abundance. His default wig, a poor quality, plasticky, light purple one, seems to be slightly too small, but maybe I can hot glue it into an acceptable position. I really want him to have purple hair! Alternatively, he does not look that bad in Lucian’s slightly larger blond wig, but he certainly does not appear as otherworldly.
Continue reading Working on Flower…

New books to read!!!

New books to read!!! published on No Comments on New books to read!!!

Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality by Margot Vice Weiss. See previous entry for details.

The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History by Christopher Klyza and Stephen Trombulak. I suppose this will overlap heavily with one of my favorite books about Vermont, Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape by Jan Albers, but I don't mind.

I am currently reading The View from Vermont: Tourism and the Making of an American Rural Landscape by Blake Harrison. It is about the history of tourism in the Green Mountain State starting in the mid-19th century and how the competing forces of urbanization, tourism and industrialization have shaped the landscape. It's fascinating!

Victim blaming in the Robert Bales serial killing case

Victim blaming in the Robert Bales serial killing case published on 1 Comment on Victim blaming in the Robert Bales serial killing case

So Sergeant Robert Bale killed 16 Afghan civilians when he was on tour in Afghanistan. And apparently his associates can’t believe it. They’re so sad for him.

In a New York Times article, At Home, Asking How “Our Bobby” Became War Crime Suspect, they’re truly shocked — I mean SHOCKED!!

Michelle Caddell, 48, who knew Sergeant Bales when he was growing up, watched a video clip of the news over and over and over again, mesmerized by disbelief. “I wanted to see, maybe, a different face,” she said, fighting back tears. “Because that’s not our Bobby. Something horrible, horrible had to happen to him.”

The article delves into Bale’s past, decribing his promising beginnings, glossing over a civilian assault, addressing Bale’s family’s financial problems and wondering about post-combat PTSD. Portraying Bale as a sad victim of external pressures, the article pities him. Poor white, cis, hetero guy! Look at what was done to him!

The narratives of shock and disbelief prevent the article from showing Bale as someone who committed  a horrible crime. They prevent his white, cis, hetero, military male privilege from being interrogated and criticized. They stir up the old fallacies driven into our heads by this rape culture of ours: “He’s such a nice guy; he couldn’t do something like that. Maybe the so-called victims somehow deserved it.”

Our culture needs to get over the “nice [straight, white] guy” myth. It’s getting in the way of important discussions about and changes that need to occur regarding the ills of hegemonic US masculinity, the mental health of military personnel, just what the hell we’re doing over there in Afghanistan anyway and how justice will be served for the 16 people that Bales murdered!

Violence Against Women Act meets opposition in the Senate.

Violence Against Women Act meets opposition in the Senate. published on 1 Comment on Violence Against Women Act meets opposition in the Senate.

The New York Times says that, among other reasons, Republicans do not want to support this anti-domestic violence legislation because "…it also dilutes the focus on domestic violence by expanding protections to new groups, like same-sex couples, they say."

What is the implication here…that there are no same-sex couples with women in them? That queer couples don't experience domestic violence? Both of these are patently false assumptions. I don't understand why more domestic violence prevention would be a BAD thing.

Clearly the Republicans just don't like people who aren't straight, cis, white, able-bodied, rich men. More than that, they actively want to kill them. It's a frightening world we live in.

Johnny Depp as Tonto in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie

Johnny Depp as Tonto in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie published on No Comments on Johnny Depp as Tonto in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie

Native Appropriations says it better than I can. Johnny Depp as Tonto in the 2013 Lone Ranger film gets his look straight from a non-Native artist, Kirby Sattler, who basically admits to going for stereotypes and stuff he pulled out of his ass because he was a lazy person full of unexamined prejudice. [Sattler: "…I attempt to give the paintings an authentic appearance, provoke interest, satisfy my audience’s sensibilities of the subject without the constraints of having to adhere to historical accuracy." Shorter Sattler: "Stereotypes are easier than research. They look better too!"] Yet another opportunity to cast a Native actor or create an interesting, nuanced portrayal of a Native character goes down the toilet in a swirl of racism.

Polyglot animals!

Polyglot animals! published on No Comments on Polyglot animals!

Derek Abbott's Animal Noise Page tells you what the standard onomatopoeia is for animals in different languages. Interesting how a cuckoo basically says "cuckoo" in all languages shown! Snakes also pretty much all say "ssss."

There's also a fascinating section on animal commands, so you can find out how to say "giddyap," "whoa," "here kitty kitty" and "scat" in different languages.

EDIT: For more fun and to hear people actually saying the onomatapoeia [not just for animals], go to bzzzpeek. It's fascinating!

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