by Elizabeth A. Allen
I came across a text ad on Amazon.com that said:
Transgender Voice Surgery — Travel to Korea for Cutting Edge Voice Feminization Surgery. Call us. <Web site>
"Cutting Edge?" Yikes!
They could have said "new and improved" or "technologically advanced" or "the latest techniques," but no…they had to use slice-and-dice imagery. How gruesome and unattractive. I don't think the creators of this ad took a moment to think about the implications of their phrasing. Blech.
Holy poop, there are practically no up-to-date, non-self-published books about having a trans partner.
I am deeply disappointed.
Ellery talks to her sister Avery about her cult movie experience.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.5: “Mad Mazzy 1”
I just watched the episode, and it was the worst ep of Fringe I've ever seen. We've had eps without one of the three main characters before, but never eps as crappy as this.
This show succeeds on the strength of its triangle created by the three strong main characters, Olivia, Walter and Peter. They all love each other, and their love bridges universes and reaches through time and apparently makes anything possible. They play off each other in an entertaining manner and draw the audience's sympathy and interest. Removing one character temporarily from the triad show the importance of the triad all the more vividly [witness the Peterless eps at the beginning of this season], while removing two of them at the same time, the way Letters of Transit did, removes the show's dynamism and hook. I don't care how awesome John Noble is as an actor [though he is awesome]; Walter alone, as he was for all of about 5 seconds of this ep [until Peter showed up at the very end] cannot carry an ep of Fringe himself.
Having established that this ep was particularly stupid for removing Olivia and Peter for most of it, I would also like to say that it failed spectacularly by eliminating Olivia completely from this ep. [Somehow Anna Torv got top billing in this one, though she did nothing.] What the hell, Fringe?! Olivia is the mainest of main characters. She is the protagonist, the one we've grown attached to and invested in. The unspoken rule of narrative is that every single chapter has to involve your protagonist [prologues and epilogues excused]. This was neither a prologue nor an epilogue, and thus it constituted a completely Olivialess irrelevant tangent. I don't care how interesting an ep of Fringe is. If it doesn't have Olivia in it, it doesn't count. This glaring structural flaw of Letters of Transit left me feeling narratively cheated.
Also the characterization of the Observers as Nazi-like dictators with a lust for power and control contradicts everything we know about these passive, morally ambivalent, wise, yet also emotionally kind of clueless characters. If that's the direction the fifth season is going in, I have better things to watch. I was really hoping for a wrapup to all the plot threads about the shapeshifters and the machine and Peter's reappearance and why he's so important and the holes in the universes and Olivia's "recovering" memories and Walternate's capture of Olivia and how the hell David Robert Jones came back and where the Observers came from, etc., etc., etc., NOT the Fringe team struggling against some cheaply imagined dystopia.
Hooray! I just found out today that one of my favorite TV shows, Fringe, will be renewed for a 5th season. This will be its final season, a truncated one with only 13 eps, but I think that will give the series plenty of time to address its many plot threads and arrive at a satisfying conclusion.
I ordered $150.00 worth of books today from Amazon. I don't think I've ever bought so many books for pleasure at one time [purchasing college textbooks does not count]! Spoils include Mindfulness and Hypnosis by Michael Yapko, Beyond Binary [genderqueer sci fi!] by Brit Mandelo, Engines of Desire [dark fantasy and horror collection] by Livia Llewelyn and Laird Barron, Trans/Love by Morty Diamond, plus some stuff that I am not mentioning. I'm very exciting for all these cool queer and trans books to arrive on my doorstep. God knows I'd never be able to get them from any library in this state…
Sometimes I really dislike living in Vermont.
This is the book that I want: Mindfulness and Hypnosis: The Power of Suggestion to Transform Experience by Michael Yapko.
Before I drop some money on it, I'd like to read it to see if it's pertinent to my interests.
NO LIBRARY IN THE STATE HAS THIS BOOK.
Well, Bailey/Howe Library at UVM used to have it, but they lost it.
In contrast, the Somerville Public Library [where I used to patronize] in Somerville, MA has several books on hypnosis, including some how-tos. And I could have ordered Mindfulness and Hypnosis there successfully through interlibrary loan.
Dear God, are there any how-to introductions to hypnosis in this state that I don't have to BUY?
Apparently not.
Why are all the books on hypnosis so expensive?!?!?!?!?! I swear, it's some sort of conspiracy by the authors to reserve information about hypnosis for those who can afford to learn its secrets or something. There are NO [reputable-looking] books about hypnosis under $15.00!
Relatedly, the library has a single, solitary book in the adult collection about hypnosis, and it appears to be a discussion, rather than a how-to manual. ARGH.
And God forbid you want to learn anything about hypnosis online. It's all either porn or suspicious Web sites that want you to pay.
Ellery writes about Lucian to Kristen.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.4: “Frolics”
I ordered a Soom Metato. Bet you didn't see that coming, huh? :p He's fullset except for the outfit, which, to me, looks like a really lazy skirt that couldn't decide whether it wanted to ride high or low. Instead, I'm ordering him this Biweekly Clothes outfit, which looks more dignified.
Mellifer, as, he has informed me, his name is, will arrive probably in July to join the local fairy troupe. At this rate, they've got to start earning their keep; they can't just stand around looking pretty. :p
One of the most amusing comic strips, Piled Higher and Deeper, about the travails of PhD students, has a movie version. I am gonna get this, I think.
Indexed here. Oooooh!
Thanks to Racialicious, I just watched episode 1 of Awkward Black Girl. It's a first-person Web-based comedy series with short eps about ABG's awkward social life. Issa Rae, the creator, director, writer and star, is hilarious. Watch her express her frustrations by secretly writing rap lyrics in her bedroom. There's 1 season of 12 short eps out so far.
I took some quick pictures of Ginevra and Flower because a fellow DOA member wanted comparisons between male and female Soom Faeries. The photos are nothing special, except for the last shot of Ginevra, which captures her petulant beauty and her striking, glowy resin color.
Continue reading Ginevra and Flower!!!
"Verbiage" means either "verbosity" or "specific wording." Yeah, I know that. But what is this "verbage" I keep hearing about?
"Verbage" appears in contexts where "verbiage" is appropriate. Therefore, I think that "verbage" is a mispronunciation of "verbiage." I think it's kind of a stupid word, especially since "verbiage" is perfectly fine, but, the older I get, the more descriptivist and the less prescriptivist I become in my thoughts about language.
"Webinar" is still a stupid word, though.
Some businesses in New York City are complaining that lawyers join forces with people with disabilities to sue said businesses into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Shorter article: “‘We don’t want to obey the law,’ some businesses whined. ‘P.S. We hate disabled people.'”
Look at me, playing the world’s saddest song on the world’s smallest violin. >:
First, Soom made Sard, the May Monthly Doll for 2008. A typical Soom sculpt, he had pillowy lips, limpid eyes and androgynous lines. He was a limited edition with horns, hooves and wings. People went bananas over him, as evidenced by this actual comment made by a fan on Sard's sales page:
Is there any chance he will be restocked next year during the same time as his original release? I really wish I would have gotten this boy and I'm so mad I didn't. I'd be willing to sell my kidney for a Sard!
Tragically, Sard appeared for sale for a mere month, leaving many potential Sard owners distraught.
Then Soom realized they could get their racket on [as if they didn't already have so many rackets going] by, second, making Dia some time in the end of 2008. Dia has the same head as Sard, with the exception of the ears. Dia has human ears, while Sard has elongated, pointy ears. As an unlimited doll without a special outfit or body parts, Dia represented a less expensive way for Sard fans to get their fix, this time with no chance of the doll going out of stock.
But Soom wasn't done yet. They like to release the same or related sculpts in different sizes, so of course they came out with Metato, the Faery Legend doll for April, in 2012. Yes, he has the same headsculpt as Dia and Sard, only on a smaller scale [1:6, not 1:3] and with different faery ears. As an excited poster on DOA remarked, he's "Diet Sard…now in fun size!" :p Though a limited edition with wings [resin ones, as opposed to Sard's feathery ones] and truly not that much cheaper than his bigger cousins, once you add up all the options, Metato represents yet another chance for Soom enthusiasts to get their Sard on.
I have no particular conclusion to make. I just admire Soom as a company, not only because I really like their aesthetic, but also because they know how to play the market, satisfying and tantalizing customers at the same time. It's really fun to watch and participate in the anticipation of new releases, the frenzy over teaser photos, the formulations of opinion when the thing goes on sale, the commiseration in the DOA "waiting room" threads, the increased excitement as shipping notices start issuing, the collective freak-out when the first owner pictures appear and the ultimate satisfaction of receiving one's own package and being Soomed all over again. [The most popular companies have adjectival forms of their names representing how enthusiastic one can be about them. I've seen people who are Soomed, Fairylanded and Iplewhelmed, but I've never heard of anyone being DollZoned or ImplDolled, presumably because the latter two companies sell less expensive dolls and thus have less prestige.] The fact that we're all being manipulated by a savvy business concern doesn't make the consumption any less fun.
I remain uncertain about whether to get Metato. On the plus side, I've always kind of wanted Sard because he was a Taurus doll, my astrological sign, and Metato is basically a smaller Sard with no hooves and better wings. Metato is in competition with Kremer [that's Flower's sculpt] for the cutest male faery so far, and he'd certainly play well with others, viz., Ginevra and Flower. Plus he's my favorite size! On the minus side, he's $485.00 without EMS shipping, which usually comes to about $50.00 to $60.00.
P.S. Not that anyone cares, but I currently have 27 BJDs [OH GOD WHERE DID THEY ALL COME FROM?]. Soom is the number one maker, along with Elfdoll. I have 5 from each maker.
…are this man's twee, self-congratulatory, crabby, misogynist, ageist, sizeist, arrogant ramblings relevant? He seems incredibly put out by the fact that he's NOT a fashion-designing brain in a tank. We get it. You loathe people [except for yourself] and think that human physicality is revoltingly icky. Now do us a favor and keep your venomous bile to yourself.
I ripped the batteries out of my wall clock this morning because ITS INFERNAL TICKING WAS KEEPING ME UP. Then I got a SILENT wall clock today. Shhhh…
Hmmm, Ellery and Lucian seem not to be fighting!
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.3: “Developing Friendship”
Lyrajean brought about one-third of her collection, mostly Volks. She made all of their clothes herself.
goldi brought her Fairyland LittleFee Rolly [with cute little teefs!], while Shion brought her DOD Kyrill. Rolly and Kyrill made fast friends!
Continue reading Doll meetup, 04/14/12: Shion and goldi’s dolls
Four people total came to yesterday's meetup at the Brownell Library in Essex Junction: me, goldi, Shion and Lyrajean!! We spent the full 2 hours [and even some overtime] talking ABJDs and taking pictures. First up, some photos of Flower. The light in the Koolvord Room at the library provides much clearer pictures than the light in my bedroom, so these photos of Flower really do him justice and show what a cutie he is!
Continue reading Doll meetup, 04/14/12: Flower
The New York Times has an article about women going on crash diets in preparation for their weddings. This, of course, represents nothing new or even unusual. It's still sad, frightening and self-hating, though. The women interviewed internalize a cultural hostility toward women and toward a diversity of body sizes, shapes and masses by literally cutting themselves down to a societally acceptable size. Like the horrible "giving away of the bride," which transfers ownership of the woman from her father to her husband, these wedding crash diets and other modern traditions for heterosexual marriages literally diminish participants and bodily reformat them into transactional currency to be objectified. "The greatest day of one's life," indeed.
P.S. Diets don't work anyway. At least 95% of people who diet gain the lost weight back.
P.P.S. Don't even get me started on how this article [along with so many other articles in the NYT that concern women, queers and trans folks] appears in the Style section. We're not good enough for the main paper?!
I just looked up impetus on dictionary.com to verify that the plural is impetuses. [It is.] For a quote that used the word in a sentence, the dictionary provided this shining gem by the horrendous bilgewhacker D.H. Lawrence:
"While the white man keeps the impetus of his own proud, onward march, the dark races will yield and serve, perforce. But let the white man once have a misgiving about his own leadership, and the dark races will at once attack him, to pull him down into the old gulfs."
Apparently this comes from a 1920s novel by Lawrence entitled The Plumed Serpent. Stupid condescending crap from the main character Kate.
Maybe the dictionary.com quote generator should exclude bigoted tripe, huh?
P.S. The title of this entry comes from Yo, Is this Racist?, a hilarious [and ableist] Q&A blog.
We noticed yesterday that my work water bottle had yellow-green mold hanging around the bottom. :p Given that I haven’t replaced it since last July [it’s just a drug store water bottle with a squirt top], I decided to throw it out and get something else… This time my water bottle will be bigger and easier to clean…and I’ll put a recurrent reminder in my Outlook calendar to clean out the bottle at least every month.
In GOOD news, the best bread in the state is made just diagonally across the street from my workplace at Great Harvest Bakery. I go there at least twice a week to stock up. They’re very sneaky, in that they give out free slices of some of the day’s creations. That’s how they hook you… Since I became addicted last summer, I have tried many types of bread, including the following:
smoked Gouda and stout
pizza bread
nine grain
Gold Rush [a hearty bread with cornmeal]
Mountain Crunch [a sweet bread with gold and brown raisins and cranberries]
Popeye [has spinach]
cran apple orange
almond babke
brownie bread
challah
carrot cake cream cheese roll
spinach feta
apple cheddar
maple cinnamon chip
blueberry coffee cake
farmer’s white
farmer’s wheat
coconut almond tea bread
Mediterranean olive
green chili cheese
cinnamon swirl
They also make delicious BLT panini for lunch.
I really like Soom's Faery Legend line. And look — there's a new guy coming out: Metato, Keeper of the Heart!
You can't really see much from the teaser picture, except that it's a male doll, and he appears to have wing-like ears [like Flower, my Kremer] and REALLY AWESOME WINGS. I'm quite curious to see what his face will be like, as the headsculpt is always the determining factor for me in choosing a BJD. If I really like him, maybe I'll ask for him for my birthday!
Stay tuned…Metato debuts on April 12th. *fidget fidget*
Lucian asks Ellery questions…
Once upon a time, at some point in the previous millennium, Jill and I came across an amusing personals ad in Seven Days. The poster sought other gay men who knitted in the Northeast Kingdom. We thought that his chances of finding someone else who shared all those identities was vanishingly small, and "gay men who knit in the Northeast Kingdom" became a standard reference for a ridiculously specific set of conditions.
Years later, I wonder how many gay men there are who knit in the Northeast Kingdom. Let's do the math, shall we?
The Northeast Kingdom is a region in, obviously, the northeastern corner of Vermont, containing Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties.
Essex County = 6,306 people as of 2010
Orleans County = 27,231 people as of 2010
Caledonia County = 31,227 people as of 2010
That's a total of 64,764 people. We'll say that 50% of them are men.
That leaves 32,382 men. Let's say 10% of them are gay.
That leaves 3,238 gay men.
But how many of them knit? A 2003 survey showed that 1,300,000 people in the US know how to knit. Dividing that into the total population of the US in 2000, which was 281,421,906, we get a ratio of approximately 0.00462, or, rounding up, 4.6:1000.
Assuming that the ratio of knitters to the general US population remains stable from 2003 to 2010, that's about 15 gay men who knit in the Northeast Kingdom.
Yup, that's a vanishingly small amount. And that's not even getting into the probability that the 14 others will even see the ad that the 1 put in the paper!
Ellery finds Lucian moping…