I don’t care if he endorses trans-themed T-shirts designed by a trans guy. He’s still a giant cissexist asshole.
Posts categoriezed as Uncategorized
Not ever using this phrase
I will never ever ever use the phrase "doing someone a solid." It sounds like you're taking a dump on someone.
\o/ She’s green! \o/
So Soom's latest Faery Legend doll, Absynthe, is, in fact, light green. She's also really, really cute. Darn fairies. They're overtaking my house.
Mellifer is in flight!
Soom just gave me a shipping notice for him! He should be here by early next week at the latest!
Craaaaaaap part III
Now there's a Buddydoll April, with the cutest stylized headsculpt, winking and smirking, on the DOA marketplace that I want too.
She’d better be green — that’s all I can say!
Soom's upcoming Faery Legend features Absynthe, La Fee Verte. She'd better have an option for green skin, or else someone at Soom is not correctly exploiting their opportunities.
cough Volks Emma??? cough
No word yet from the seller, which is surprising, because DOA members tend to be fanatically prompt in responding to PMs. Very frustrating!
Me and My Muses 3.1: “Drumroll, Please!”
Ellery and Lucian get closer to knocking boots.
cough Volks Emma cough
I have inquired about the Volks Emma on the DOA Marketplace. That is all.
Craaaaaaaap part II: now it’s serious!
Been eyeing a Volks Emma on the DOA Marketplace, but that's not the serious part. The serious part is that I gave her a name already: Nathaniel.
And you know what that means.
Craaaaaaaaaaap.
Staff evaluations
Ugh, writing self-evaluations for work is so painful, as is determining goals for the coming year. I can't think of anyone I've met who finds these chores exciting and enjoyable.
Craaaaaaaaap.
I have developed a crush on a 60cm BJD, Volks Emma. At the latest Chittenden County Doll club meetup, Lyrajean brought her Volks Masha, who I thought was an Emma, so I looked online for Emmas and decided I liked her better than Masha.
So cute, so cute, so cute! I'm sick of Soom's pillowy, liquid, androgynous sculpts [gasp!] because they can be really bland, but Emma has character. She reminds me of a real kid. And that little smirk… ^_^
Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: vermont chick and Lyrajean’s dolls
Here are 2 more photos, courtesy of vermont chick, covering the dolls that I did not get pictures of because my battery ran out.
Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: vermont chick and Lyrajean’s dolls
What the hell?
Today I learned that $20.00 of each of my paychecks has been going to a flex spending account. What the hell? I have never ever in my life signed up for one of those!!! HR is investigating.
This would have been good to know when I was paying for expensive surgery at the end of May. >_>
Needless to say, I'm NOT paying into an FSA this fiscal year.
Me and My Muses 2.9: “Breakfast Bribery”
Ellery and Lucian are actually getting along!
Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: some of Lyrajean’s dolls
My camera battery crapped out [after 9 months on a single charge!!!] in the middle of shooting vermont chick's RealPukis, so I didn't get any photos of Lyrajean's dolls. Fortunately, vermont chick generously supplied those below.
Lyrajean's Volks F36 holds vermont chick's Pupu.
Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: some of Lyrajean’s dolls
Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: vermont chick’s RealPukis
vermont chick brought an Iplehouse YID Harin [not shown] and her 3 Fairyland RealPukis! From left to right, Kaka, Soso and Pupu. Personally I think there should be a Wiwi to complete the scatological triumvirate. :p :p
Anyway, now that I've seen these in person, I really like Pupu more than I did when I saw the pictures. It's a very cute smile!
vermont chick got her RealPukis because she saw Noodge, my Soso, and thought she was so cute! She touched up her Soso's teeth so they can be better seen. Somehow this makes her Soso look even MORE devious!
Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: vermont chick’s RealPukis
Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: Flower and Ginevra
Lyrajean, vermont chick and I attended a meetup yesterday at the Brownell Library in Essex Junction. I brought Flower and Ginevra. Flower's stupid ear fell off in transit, so that's why you're only seeing him from his good side. :p
Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 06/09/12: Flower and Ginevra
“Very special,” indeed!: Maxine Aston and authority in discussing Asperger’s syndrome
“Very special,” indeed!: Maxine Aston and authority in discussing Asperger’s syndrome published on Read more posts by the author of “Very special,” indeed!: Maxine Aston and authority in discussing Asperger’s syndrome, ModernWizard2 Comments on “Very special,” indeed!: Maxine Aston and authority in discussing Asperger’s syndrome
I was justing listening to Dan Savage's Savage Love podcast 289, in which a teenaged boy called up about expressing romantic interest in another teenaged boy, who happened to have Asperger's. This was the occasion to bring in British counselor Maxine Aston to discuss challenges and special considerations when communicating with people with Asperger's.
I immediately hopped over to Aston's Web site to investigate her credentials. She has a Master's of Science in health psychology. She specializes in counseling people with Asperger's and people who love people with Asperger's. She's also written a bunch of articles and books about people with Asperger's in relationships with non-Asperger's people. Sounds pretty qualified, right?
WRONG! The About Maxine section tells all: She writes, "I was once married to a very special man who was affected by Asperger syndrome…"
Pardon me while I barf! As far as I can tell, Aston does not have Asperger's. However, she presumes to be an expert on people with Asperger's because she's objectified them for years and years by studying them.
You can tell she has objectified people with Asperger's because she uses the dismissive and condescending term "very special" to refer to her ex with Asperger's. In my experience, the term "special" is frequently used by non-disabled people to place disabled people in a separate, subhuman category where they become silent, inspirational symbols instead of fully respected human beings. In fact, when I hear a non-disabled person describe a disabled person as "special," I interpret that word as a derisive insult. Aston does not respect people with Asperger's; instead, she feels pity and contempt for them.
Aston arrogates the authority to discuss Asperger's syndrome because of her neurotypical privilege. Paradoxically enough, she is assumed to be an expert in Asperger's syndrome precisely because she does not have Asperger's syndrome. She may be an authority on people without Asperger's in relationships with people with Asperger's, but that doesn't automatically make her an expert in Asperger's syndrome. The experts in Asperger's are the people who know what it's like to experience Asperger's day in and day out because they themselves have the condition. But they are frequently marginalized by the non-disabled majorities who participate in their objectification and suppression, therefore making it very difficult for people with Asperger's to communicate their experiences.
Man, now I have even more of a reason to loathe Dan Savage. Instead of having some people with Asperger's on to discuss their perceptions, communciation and advice, he perpetuated the dehumanization of people with disabilities by calling in a neurotypical "expert." Way to go, Dan Savage!
P.S. Is it pronounced "ass per gerrrrs" or "ass per jurrrrrrs?"
Shit My Students Write
This blog is hilarious, and this is the crown jewel of the submissions: right here. I don't even know what the writer was trying to say!
Crystallized while reading Postmortal
As much as I'm interested in the concept of the novel [a cure for aging and its effects on the world], I DO NOT CARE AT ALL about the adventures of the protagonist, a straight, cis, white, middle-class, able-bodied, US man with a societally acceptable body shape and a slag heap of unexamined privilege.
Seemingly THE ENTIRE WORLD revolves around the adventures of straight, cis, white, middle-class, able-bodied men with societally acceptable body shapes and slag heaps of unexamined privilege. They're tedious, boring, self-indulgent and overdone. Find a new narrative, people.
P.S. And if you're a straight etc. man whose protagonist happens to be a straight etc. man, you're suffering A FAILURE OF IMAGINATION. The world don't look like you no more. Get over yourself.
Jumpman on a modern compooper with joystick?!!!
Goodbye, Eduard Khil.
Known online for being the Trololo Man, Russian singer Eduard Khil died yesterday. I didn't know about his iconic video until recently, which is too bad because, every time I see it, it makes me smile. Even though he's singing nonsense syllables instead of censored lyrics, Khil just looks so damn ebullient and joyful. How can you resist that?
OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD part 3!!
We also enjoyed Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?…except for the fact that time traveling somehow took up time, which made no sense to me. If you're in a time machine and can enter and exit any point in time that you wish, how could you spend time traveling through time? Stupid.
Anyway, I can download that for the Cow Manure 64 too!
Life is good.
EDIT: And Playful Professor Math Tutor!
EDIT 2: Bank Street Writer, anyone?
Hmmm, what was that program that we used where you could create illustrations from premade units, such as shapes, animals and people, and then add text??
OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD part 2!
We used to love playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? on our Cow Manure 64. I found a place to download it! I just have to get an emulator, and I can play it again!
OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!
I just bought a copy of Jumpman, my favoritest compooper game ever, on floppy disk for the Commodore 64! It was just $24.00!! I thought my desire to play this game as it was meant to [i.e., with a joystick on the original system, as opposed to with arrow keys on a modern emulator] would disappear since the time in 2009 when I first played it on an emulator, but I guess not. Apparently I'm on my way to acquiring an entire original C64 CPU/keyboard, monitor, disk drive and joystick. Fortunately they're cheap and plentiful.
S/He by Jesse Green: oh God, it’s so HARD being cis!
New York magazine has a feature about families with trans children. The subhead summarizes the article's angle: "Parents of transgender children are faced with a difficult decision, and it’s one they have to make sooner than they ever imagined." In other words, when their child announces a trans identity, how do the parents respond? Do they give their child anti-puberty Lupron shots? Do they research surgery on secondary sex characteristics before 18? Do they support their child's social transition at school and elsewhere? Or do they hold back?
When you think about it, this is nothing new. Parents, children have been deviating from your expectations from the beginning of time!! This feature articulates an age-old tension that just happens to manifest around gender identity. In pretty much every case, the best resolution for this tension is for the parents to accept their children as they are, not as they wish their children to be. For our purposes, this means that parents of trans children should respect their children's trans identities and support them in their transitions to the extent that they are able [with the recognition that drugs and surgery are a) not for all, b) pants-wettingly expensive and c) of course not covered by our wonderful patchwork insurance options in this country].
Frankly, I don't care about this story. It's just another whine about how hard it is for cis people to accept trans people, with the added unequal power dynamics of the cis people being parents to the trans people, who are their kids.
Get over yourselves, cis people; you're on the losing side of history. Trans people have always existed and will continue to exist, and your hand-wringing will avail you nothing. Sit down; shut up, and accept it.
Brave again
I previously pronounced Pixar’s upcoming Brave as bilge. I stand by that statement, despite the awesomeness of the protagonist’s hair.
Remind me against why I’m supposed to be excited about a headstrong princess defying restrictive standards of femininity and charting her own destiny, thus proving that she’s just as good as a man? That trope just reinforces the idea that a female character with self-knowledge has to be an egregiously ass-kicking iconoclast in order to determine her own life. It’s a form of exceptionalism that dismisses the much more interesting [and common] stories of the ways that women create their own stories in more ambivalent, less flagrant fashion.
Pixar/Disney clearly thinks it’s so great for doing Brave, like they’re supposed to get feminist cookies for pushing tired stereotypes. This movie irritates me so much, and it’s not even out yet!
Makies: customizable, printed-plastic, 10″, articulated dolls!!!!!!
Makies are the coolest thing I've seen in a long time: customizable, articulated, 10" dolls made of printed plastic. You design one online, adjusting all facial features with sliders, then choosing eyes, wig and clothes from a variety of options. They're like single-jointed BJDs, only without elastic! You can choose to leave your character digital, or you can order a plastic version of your character. The alpha session is currently open, with 20 of 100 slots left. One doll is 99 pounds including VAT [made in UK].
I would love to get one, but I don't have the money. I'd also like to wait until they have skin color options [currently only available in white] and adjustable body shapes. I hope this company succeeds and adds many more options. I've always liked online pixel doll maker programs, but have been annoyed at the lack of ability to actually have dolls made from the pixel characters. I'll be watching this company to see how it develops a little bit down the line…
Goddammit.
I think I need a new compooper. After just over 3 years, my current laptop now has problems. As I discovered when trying to install Adobe PhotoShop Elements, the CD/DVD drive does not register. This would not be a very big problem, as I rarely use it, BUT THAT’S HOW I INSTALL SOFTWARE. Interestingly enough, it was working a week ago, when I tried installing Elements the first time [didn’t work — faulty copy]. I don’t know what went wrong.
Fine. Be that way, you stupid compooper. I guess I’ll be getting another one.
While I’m at it, I should also get Norton AntiVirus and a [cough] legitimate copy of Manga Studio EX 4, which, I see from Amazon, is down to ~$80.00-90.00…finally affordable! I think I’ll leave Daz Studio on this compooper, though. I haven’t touched it in months. I will be able to transfer all my documents, movies and music over easily, as I have been backing them up on a separate hard drive with some regularity.
EDIT: Also need a lap stand that cools the compooper, as I use it on my legs all the time.
EDIT 2: A possibility. …Oooh, look — it’s in stock locally! Instant gratification!
EDIT 3: Here’s where I’m doing some comparison shopping.
50 Shades Freed: victory lap!!!
I finished the book…and the series! God, I thought it would never end. After the official conclusion, there is, of course, an epilogue in which Ana and Christian gambol about with their son [because the Penis of Doom always generates a first-born son] and coo about their upcoming daughter. The epilogue contains awkwardly inserted flashbacks and serves no purpose whatsoever except to hammer home that Ana and Christian live happily ever after in true love, perfect bliss and harmonious, nurturing parenthood. Yeah, I'm not going to believe that until I read transcripts of their kids' therapy sessions.
And then, after the epilogue, we get a 50 Shades of Christian section, which, I assume, is bonus material supplied for the Vintage republishing. James gives us a first-person report of Christian's first Christmas with his adoptive family, the Greys, which adds nothing to the story because we've already been inside young Christian's head in the prologue when he was telling us about his nightmares. If anything, this section tickles my gag reflex, as James writes the 5-year-old Christian without nuance, realism or complexity. It's just…baby talk for pages and pages.
Just in case you haven't had your fill of redundancy, 50 Shades Freed finally, finally, finally closes out with Meet 50 Shades, an exhaustive recap of Ana and Christian's first two meetings from Christian's point of view.
Insights I gained from Meet 50 Shades:
1. Christian is an asshole.
2. He has the hots for Ana.
3. Even though he has no "subconscious" or "inner goddess," Christian's interior monologue sounds exactly the same as Ana's: repetitive, shallow and unindividualized.
4. Wow, that was a pointless section.
On second thought, scratch that victory lap. Now that I'm done with the 50 Shades trilogy, I'm too exhausted to put forth more effort. I just read 514 [book 1] + 532 [book 2] + 579 [book 3] = 1625 pages of erotic romance over 9 days. It was clearly a feat of endurance for which I should get a prize [preferably in the form of well-written erotic romance]. I understand the commercial impulse behind stringing the story out over 3 books and thereby making $$$ [or, for E.L. James, £££], but oh my God…the trilogy could have been easily cut down to 400 pages by a ruthless and judicious editor without losing any of the traits that make it such a gloriously bad read.
It's victory nap time instead.
Wow, Impldoll made an attractive doll for once!
I've long cringed at the dolls issued by Impldoll. They've been producing a steady line of sculpts with bug eyes [which, in a field where big eyes are part of the Asian BJD aesthetic, is pretty hard to do!], minuscule pinched-up mouths and weird noses. Their Impl Child Joyce, an early doll, shows the too-close-together eyes, squinched mouth and, for a bonus, a very pointy chin that I've been talking about. Impl Model Mandy epitomizes the weird nose. Why is her philtrum 6 feet long?! And I have no idea what this googly-eyed monstrosity is [hint: it's an Impl Star Lauretta], but it's not coming to my party.
Imagine my surprise when they recently released Elvira. She's certainly not original or stunning, but she's very cute. I see in her the same traits that were exaggerated flaws in earlier sculpts, here and now refined into parts of a wholly conceived aesthetic program. Nice to know that their sculptors can learn from their mistakes.
50 Shades: “Fair point well made” ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
Of all the recycled phrases in the 50 Shades trilogy, the one that's driving me up the wall the most is "Fair point well made." Ana and Christian say this about as often as they have sex, which is up to twice a chapter. Sometimes they even say, "Fair point well made as ever."
I have never heard anyone in my life say this, especially not a 26-year-old Harvard dropout [Christian] and a 21-year-old recent college graduate [Ana]. If people under the age of 30 who have been born and raised in the US want to acknowledge someone's opinion that they disagree with, they typically use one of the following phrases:
"Yeah, but…"
"Okay, but…"
"Touché."
If one feels the burning need to use the word "point," one could say, "Good point."
One could also say, "You have a point."
If one feels like being particularly snotty, one could also say, "Fair point." I've never heard anyone actually use that phrase in the wild, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I think I've probably read it in a novel somewhere.
But "Fair point well made"?! What the hell? Who even says that? Is it some sort of Britishism? If so, I've never encountered it in any of the British literature I've read before the 50 Shades trilogy. [The author lives in London, England.] It could possibly be a function of E.L. James' fallback on her own British idiom and her lazy refusal to invest in any research that would make the voices of two US citizens in their 20s realistic and believable. However, I can't really tell much about the origin and current use of this phrase, because, hilariously enough, most Google results of "fair point well made as ever" point to pages lambasting the 50 Shades trilogy for this irritating verbal hiccup.
50 Shades Freed: Ana’s eating habits and her jealousy
50 Shades Freed: Ana’s continued pregnancy and gooey maternal feelings
Oh for God's sake! Less than 2 pages after fearing for her safety because she's pregnant, Ana suddenly changes her mind (p. 413):
"…Perhaps I shouldn't tell Christian. Perhaps I…perhaps I should end this. I halt my thoughts on that dark path, alarmed at the direction they're taking. Instinctively my hand sweeps down to rest protectively over my belly. No. My little Blip. Tears spring to my eyes. What am I going to do?"
Well, because this is a romance about a fertile, heterosexual couple, they will be brainwashed by Baby Magic into abandoning their previous agreement to postpone kids. The Miracle of Reproduction will overawe them, activating their dormant, but hereditary and totally natural, parental instincts. With surprising ease and no ambivalence at all, they will quickly convert to anticipation and adoration of their little Blip. Baby Magic is overtaking Ana even in this paragraph: Automatically characterizing her thoughts of abortion as a "dark path," she "instinctively," without any thought at all, develops protective inclinations. YAY BABEEZ!
I detest this trope so very much. I've discussed before, in relation to Bones' pregnancy on her eponymous show, the trivializing, insulting and misogynist ways pregnancy is portrayed in popular media. It compresses a range of emotional, intellectual and characterological responses into a single trajectory of blissfully complaisant, essentialized and instinctive [ergo brainless] femininity. It's pretty much always a horrible derailment of character that represents a descent into utter boredom.
This can't end well either.
50 Shades Freed: Ana’s pregnancy and ensuing ABJECT TERROR
At the end of Chapter 19, Ana discovers that she's pregnant.
Continue reading 50 Shades Freed: Ana’s pregnancy and ensuing ABJECT TERROR
Gilbert Gottfried reads excerpts from 50 Shades of Grey
As irritating and pretentious and unfunny as I find Gilbert Gottfried, I must admit that this fake commercial of him reading explicit excerpts from 50 Shades of Grey, less because of Gottfried himself and more because of the increasingly horrified expressions on the readers' faces. Needless to say, this contains explicit sexual language.
A few thoughts about 50 Shades Freed [book 3]
I'm almost halfway through 50 Shades Freed, book 3 of the 50 Shades trilogy, by E.L. James. Forthwith, some random remarks:
1) Remember how I objected to Ana's sudden promotion from executive assistant to editor at the end of 50 Shades Darker, saying that it made no sense and that Christian should have been behind it? Well, he was. Okay, fine. I still don't think she's remotely qualified to be an editor, though.
2) Ana and Christian have a big fight about Ana wanting to keep her surname. This fight occurs about a month after they get married. Apparently they just forgot to address the subject before they got married; they must have been too busy "quirking" and "pouting" and saying, "Fair point well made." Seriously, people? You just neglect a subject that affianced couples notoriously have strong views on? You couldn't even be bothered to ask each other your preferences?
3) Speaking of fights, I'm way more interested in all of Ana and Christian's arguments than their sex scenes. In fact, after the first sex scene, I've been skipping them all and paying close attention to their disagreements instead. It's like Conflict Porn!
4) There's a notable amount of alcohol consumption in this trilogy. Before dinner? Have a drink. During dinner? Have a drink. After dinner? Have a drink. After sex? Have a drink. Hectic, worrisome day? Have a drink. Angry at your spouse? Have a drink. Nervous? Have a drink. Since they have sex, eat dinner, feel worried and get angry with each other frequently, Ana and Christian drink copiously. I'm waiting for someone to either get drunk and do something really stupid or to develop alcoholism. Or both.
Allen’s Law of Censorship
The probability that a book will be challenged, banned and/or censored increases exponentially as the book approaches mega-bestseller status.
As a corollary, if a book or series hits mega-bestseller status, somebody somewhere will challenge, ban and/or censor it for one "reason" or another.
Libraries around the country are currently throwing fits about the 50 Shades trilogy. So infuriating. Censorship is wrong. I don't care if you disagree with the views stated in the trilogy. I don't care if you think it's pornographic. I expect my public library to offer reading opportunities, rather than remove them. Public services have no right to selectively and arbitrarily limit reading material like this just because someone somewhere thinks it's icky. "Ewww!" is not a valid argument against anything, from marriage equality to 50 Shades of Grey.
SHUT UP, Cassandra Clare!
Cassandra Clare writes popular YA fantasy series. I have no problem with that; in fact, I enjoy them as mind candy. I really wish she would stop quoting British literature, though. In the Infernal Devices series, a quotation from some British novel or poetry begins every single chapter for no apparent reason. Furthermore, the characters spew poetry at inopportune intervals too. Why? Why? Why?
This incessant quoting serves no purpose. The pre-chapter quotes relate, sometimes in very strained, tangential ways, to the events in the chapter, but that's it. The characters' useless quotations do nothing to further the reader's understanding of the story or the characters, unless your understanding is furthered by knowing that the protagonist likes books. There's no thematic, sustained, interesting, clever or relevant treatment of the quotes or the works they're from. They don't do anything except waste space. At best, they prove the author's prowess in Googling public domain works of literature. Must be some sort of self-congratulatory textual porn for English majors whose intellectual achievements peaked with their close reading of Dickens' Great Expectations [snore] during their sophomore year at a small New England liberal arts college.
As an English major from a small New England liberal arts college [ask me about my close reading of Emily Dickinson!], I'm real impressed. :p
Me and My Muses 2.8: “Fear Not”
Ellery reassures the insecure Lucian.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.8: “Fear Not”
She’s passive-aggressive and he’s clueless! Perfect match!: sexism in The Muppets
She’s passive-aggressive and he’s clueless! Perfect match!: sexism in The Muppets published on Read more posts by the author of She’s passive-aggressive and he’s clueless! Perfect match!: sexism in The Muppets, ModernWizardNo Comments on She’s passive-aggressive and he’s clueless! Perfect match!: sexism in The Muppets
We watched The Muppets last night. It was a pretty cute movie, with most of the humor at no one's expense, but I was continually bothered by the rampant sexism on display in the plot between the 2 human leads, Gary [Jason Segel] and Mary [Amy Adams].
Gary and Mary have been dating for 10 years, but they don't even live together. They're not engaged either. Mary wishes that Gary would propose to her, but he does not. In fact, their 10th anniversary trip to Los Angeles ends up including Gary's Muppet "brother," Walter, in spite of Mary's obvious displeasure. Gary constantly privileges adventures with Walter over adventures with Mary, who acquiesces by trying to put on a brave face. When Gary forgets his 10th anniversary dinner with Mary, Mary goes back home, leaving a note that addresses the source of her upset only obliquely: "Are you a man or a Muppet?" Gary follows Mary back home and proposes to her. She says yes, blah blah blah, whoop de doo.
This entire plot could have been avoided if Gary and Mary had just had one single solitary stinkin' conversation about their expectations and desires. On a deeper level, it also would have been a much shorter movie if Mary hadn't been trapped by expectations about feminine passivity. If she loved Gary so much and wanted to marry him, why didn't she propose to him years ago? Why does she suffer Gary's callous, clueless behavior in silence, without speaking up for herself? Why is Mary such a spineless, retrograde drip? Why is Gary such an inattentive, uncommunicative clod? Does anyone really think this relationship is going to work out?
My favorite character was '80's Robot.
50 Shades: Ana’s dream job
The plot with Ana and her sleazy boss winds up this way: The sleazeball harasses Ana, so Christian has him fired. Somehow, after only having been an executive assistant for a week, Ana gets the sleazeball's job, becoming head editor at Seattle Independent Press! Amazingly enough, Christian has nothing to do with her sudden promotion.
THAT MAKES NO SENSE. Why would the press stick Ana in the position of a seasoned executive? Even if her sleazeball boss has praised her work, she has no track record at the company, so why should anyone trust her? She also has zero related experience, her job during college having been cashiering at a hardware store. From what little we know, she's conscientious as an assistant, and, uh, she likes to read British literature. That's not enough to recommend her. As much as I object to Christian's abusive, control freaky behavior, if he had gotten Anna the sleazeball's job, that would have made been much more logical and believable, narratively speaking. E.L. James really doesn't know how to write.
50 Shades: Ana’s “inner goddess” and class warfare
I got about halfway through 50 Shades Darker [book 2 in the 50 Shades trilogy by E.L. James] last night. It picks up several days after the end of the first book, when Ana and Christian break up, for reasons that I'm not quite clear on. When Christian proposes that they try again with a non-kinky, completely vanilla relationship [hah hah hah!], they're off and running [or, rather, bonking]. There's something of a plot in there too, involving Ana's new job at Seattle Independent Press, Christian's ex-domme, one of Christian's emotionally labile ex-subs, Christian's secret past, et hoc genus omne.
I'd like to talk about Ana's "inner goddess." Introduced toward the end of book 1, she appears in pretty much every other paragraph, usually in counterpoint to Ana's "subconscious." Like Ana's "subconscious," the "inner goddess" is personified, apparently as a multi-talented Olympic athlete, given her acrobatic performances of joy whenever Ana thinks about getting kinky. Beyond that, she serves no useful function; she's just a convenient image for James to use in describing Ana's lust. So, if the "subconscious" and the "inner goddess" do nothing to advance Ana's character development or the plot, why does James insert them on every damn page?! Characters in one's head can be interesting, compelling and revelatory if done with care, purpose and depth, but these are just useless, stupid and annoying.
On another note, I'm fascinated by the tensions of class warfare as exhibited by Ana and Christian. Ana seems to have grown up [from what I can tell — she doesn't have much history] in a middle-class family; as a college student, she had little spare money [hence driving the same beat-up car for three years], and she currently earns an entry-level publishing salary [which, let me tell you, is diddly squat] in her first post-college job. At this point, I'd call her lower middle-class, aspiring to higher, and rather anxious about money.
Meanwhile, Christian has millions, maybe billions. For the first few years of his life, he grew up in poverty, but, since adoption at the age of 4, he has been surrounded by ostentatious, fabulous wealth. He uses money casually and confidently, without anxiety about it at all.
Ana and Christian clash on financial matters. Christian spends exorbitant amounts on gifts for Ana, including a set of first-edition Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a laptop, a Blackberry, an Audi, an iPad, diamond jewelry and a Saab. He doesn't understand that this makes Ana, who earns much less, feel unworthy, subordinate, bought off and kept. He explains that he wants to "give [her] everything," that this is "how [he is]" and that this is "part of [his] world." Nope, he just wants to make her his objectified possession, as evidenced by the fact that he buys the publishing company Ana works for [ostensibly because he's jealous that Ana's boss shows interest in her, which is a great reason for a takeover]. He uses his socioeconomic privilege to control Ana's communication [laptop, Blackberry, iPad], transportation [Audi, Saab] and occupation [Seattle Independent Press]. It's like the 1% overruling the 99%, but with bonus secret childhood trauma!
50 Shades: insidious stereotyping
After mulling for a few days, I've determined some of the most problematic assumptions underlying 50 Shades of Grey. As I've discussed, it is about a young woman, Ana, who embarks on a submissive, bdsm relationship with the dominant and slightly older Christian.
Continue reading 50 Shades: insidious stereotyping
50 Shades: the Twilight connection
Yes, folks, just in case you were curious, E.L. James' 50 Shades trilogy started off as Twilight fanfic. It starred Edward and Bella in a bdsm relationship, and it was entitled Masters of the Universe. No word if Skeletor and He-Man were involved. I doubt it. That would have been interesting, and if it's anything these books aren't, it's interesting.
Ableist child murderer gets only 9 years
This week has been a particularly enraging week. The NYT reports that Angela Norman "gets 9 years in teen's malnutrition death." Norman's daughter, Makayla, died at the age of 14, weighing 28 pounds, suffering bed sores and other signs of ill health. Makayla had cerebral palsy.
This was not a "malnutrition death." Norman murdered her disabled daughter by abusing her, neglecting her and starving her to death.
Ugh, I don't even know what to say any more.
Racism and dehumanization in a biography of Millie and Christine McKoy
I've been reading Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Remarkable Journey of Siamese [sic] Twins from Slavery to the Courts of Europe, by Joanne Martell. It's a biography of conjoined twins Millie and Christine McKoy, who were born into slavery in North Carolina in 1851. Owned/Managed by a variety of people during their lifetimes, they toured with sideshows in both the U.S. and Great Britain as singers and dancers. They died in 1912.
Continue reading Racism and dehumanization in a biography of Millie and Christine McKoy
50 Shades: what is this relationship based on?
As far as I can tell, Ana and Christian's relationship in 50 Shades of Grey is based on the following:
1. Their mutual sexual attraction.
2. Christian's abusive need to control his partners.
3. Ana's delusion that she can somehow change Christian.
They don't really understand each other; they don't communicate well, and yet they love each other. Since they've known each other only several weeks as book 1 ends, I opine that they are feeling infatuation, but not love.
Even if they are in love, they don't seem to like each other. By that, I mean that they don't enjoy each other's company, unless they're having sex. I do not have high hopes for this relationship being satisfying for both partners for any length of time.
50 Shades: done!
Just finished book 1. The ending is abrupt, resolving nothing. I suspect that E.L. James initially wrote a single, much shorter story that was then strung out into a trilogy upon acquisition by an actual publishing house. God forbid we ever have a single novel that tells a complete story. Everything comes in threes these days. It's an extremely irritating privileging of capitalism over story.
And now to rustle up books 2 and 3…
EDIT: Awesome! They're coming [hur hur hur] on Saturday. I should donate them to the local library when I'm done.
50 Shades: insight into Christian’s character
Christian, on page 135: "I want you to become well acquainted, on first-name terms, if you will, with my favorite and most cherished part of my body. I'm very attached to this."
Given the unusual lack of explanatory prose around this bit of dialogue, I think we're supposed to take this statement straight, at face value, without self-consciously mocking undertones.
Sorry, Christian. I can't take you seriously any more. Not only do you have a HUGE CLICHE for your favorite body part, but you also use the phrase "making the beast with two backs" as a synonym for "having sex." I have never heard anyone, much less a modern, 27-year-old dude from the U.S., use this phrase, Iago excepted.
James clearly has no concept of voice and how all people — and therefore characters — have unique, individual, internally consistent ways of expressing themselves.
50 Shades of Grey: further adventures
In Chapter 8, Ana and Christian have the first of apparently many sex scenes.
Continue reading 50 Shades of Grey: further adventures
NYT digs its own grave on coverage of Lorena Escalera
Earlier this week, I fired off an enraged letter to one of the authors of a NYT article about the death by suspicious fire of Lorena Escalera, a trans woman of color. The article was a vile cesspit of sexism, transmisogyny, transphobia, racism, bias against sex workers, stereotypes, objectification, dehumanization, othering and probably many other forms of bigotry that I am not currently picking up on.
The NYT responded to the criticism with vacuous, unsympathetic justifications that positively reeked of unexamined privilege. GLAAD analyzed the paper's response, accurately describing many of its shortcomings. I should note that the GLAAD critique does not, however, recognize the NYT's bias against sex workers in the article about Escalera.
If the NYT really wanted to, as it claimed, "capture the personal [story]" of Escalera, why didn't it do what most writers of articles about dead people do and incorporate information from people who actually knew her? Some people among her social circle of friends, family members and fellow performers at the House of Xtravaganza would have provided comments on what they remembered her for and how much they missed her. Instead of interviewing the neighborhood ignoramuses who had no respect for Escalera as a woman or as a person, the NYT should have sought out quotes from people who saw her as she was: a fellow individual deserving respect. But no…the paper merely perpetuated multiple axes of oppression by selecting a narrative of dehumanization.
50 Shades of Grey: initial impressions
I started 50 Shades of Grey, by E.L. James, first in the 50 Shades trilogy, last night. The trilogy constitutes a very drawn-out romance novel with bdsm themes, starring Ana as an inexperienced college graduate and Christian as a 27-year-old CEO and millionnaire.
Let me tell you, folks — it's a treat! And by "treat" I mean "a book in dire need of a ruthless and judicious editor." I found myself rolling my eyes up to thrice a page at some infelicity of style or bizarre authorial choice. I fear I'm going to sprain my ocular muscles by the time this book is through.
In no particular order, here are some of my observations after about the first 60-80 pages [I forget where I stopped]:
Ana has an unusual relationship with her inner monolgue, which she, in her first-person narration, inaccurately terms her "subconscious." Her "subconscious" repeatedly appears personified, tapping its foot and rolling its eyes at one of her stupid remarks, for example. This gives the unintentionally hilarious picture of a homunculus inside Ana's brain, providing MST3K-like commentary on everything she does. It's an interesting characterological device if you want to explore it, but, of course, James doesn't, so Ana's internal divide ends up revealing nothing interesting about her.
Furthermore, Ana's inner monologue sounds off indiscriminately, no matter what the needs of the story. It's almost always repetitive. For example, when Ana admires Christian's office building, she describes it as "impressive." Okay, she's impressed. We do not need to know that her internal monologue is saying, "Wow." Ana's inner voices have a reaction to every single event in the novel, mostly along the lines of, "I feel horrible for doing [insert embarrassing thing] in front of Christian." Since Ana's body language and speech, also detailed in the text, clearly demonstrate her chagrin, her thoughts add nothing to either the story or her personality. In fact, she ends up coming across as literal-minded, unanalytical and kind of stupid.
On another subject, Ana keeps tripping over her own feet and falling into Christian's arms. She should consult her primary care doctor about this. I think she might have problems with proprioception.
Speaking of Christian, he too is a very odd duck. He has the most labile emotions of any character I've met recently. His feelings change from paragraph to paragraph, as he vacillates between leering at Ana, freezing her out, then getting angry that she's not acting the way he wishes her to [which, of course, he hasn't communicated to her at all]. His actions are extremely unusual, in that most people don't cycle through emotions so rapidly. His transparent, fluctuating facial expressions suggest that he was inadequately trained in the socially acceptable methods of monitoring and expressing his emotions.
We know that Christian has some painful secret past, so it's possible that James intended his emotional instability to manifest his internal damage. However, given the way that James completely fails to recognize opportunities to psychologize her own characters, even as she's writing these opportunities into the story, I doubt that I'm supposed to be considering what historical effects led to Christian's emotional problems. More than likely, James wishes us to read Christian's instability as the seductive moodiness of a typical romance-novel alpha male.
On a related note, I see nothing but trouble for Christian in any sort of bdsm scenario. An ideal scene requires explicit, trusting communication between the participants about their roles, interests and dislikes. Christian would much rather impose his will on his partners, instead of initiating productive dialogue. He's the sort of creepy dom who would touch people sexually without their permission and probably ignore their safe words.
A particular incident between Ana and Christian set off warning bells for me about Christian's abusive traits. In one scene, Ana gets drunk for the first time and impulsively calls Christian. She has a short chat with him, at which point Christian flies off the handle and states that he is coming to pick her up. He tracks her location by using data from her cell phone call. Conveniently, Christian arrives just in time to save Ana from being raped by a "friend." Ana pukes on herself and Christian [that's what I think of him too], then faints, waking up in Christian's bed in her underwear.
Look, Mr. Grey — I don't care how "justified" you are [according to the story] with the assault and the puke and the sexual tension. You are stalking Ana by finding her through cell phone data. You are assaulting her by nonconsensually removing her clothes. Furthermore, you are a classic abusive personality in the first place for using her phone call as an excuse to control and confine her behavior. You really are a repulsive individual. And if you "quirk" your eyebrows or grin a "sardonic" grin one more time, I'm taking away your poetic license.
The same goes for you, Ana. If you don't stop biting your lower lip and saying "crap" and "double crap," there will be consequences.
Today’s hilarious simile
And now, for something more amusing, let's turn to John Scalzi's blog entry, "Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is," which begins:
I’ve been thinking of a way to explain to straight white men how life works for them, without invoking the dreaded word “privilege,” to which they react like vampires being fed a garlic tart at high noon.
The entry itself goes on to analogize "straight white male" privilege as the easiest level setting in a video game. I sense some implicit Oppression Olympics going on in his analogy, so I can't recommend it unreservedly, but that opening comparison sure is hilarious.
Transmisogyny in the New York Times
Wow, the NYT is the gift that keeps on giving.
Lorena Escalera, 25, died in a suspicious fire in Brooklyn, NY, last weekend, and the NYT was much more interested in her body, her clothing, how sexy her neighbors thought she was, her trans identity, her occupation as a sex worker and her participation in the House of Xtravaganza performing troupe and other details not directly relevant to the case.
Pam's House Blend pointed out just a few of the problems in the coverage here.
I sent a form E-mail to one of the article's authors, Al Baker, containing the following:
Your coverage of this story is sexist, transmisogynist and generally disgusting. Your inclusion of Escalera's trans identity is irrelevant to the tragedy of her death by suspicious fire. You add insult to injury by quoting a neighbor who misgenders her. Furthermore, the details about Escalera's appearance and sex life add nothing to the story, except to reinforce the stereotype of trans women as objectified prostittutes. The dehumanization exemplified in this coverage directly contributes to the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of trans and gender-variant people every year. We deserve better.
Racism towards Nepalese pedicurists in New York City
The NYT writes about Nepalese pedicurists practicing in New York City. These people, almost all women, face challenges if they move to the US. Some Nepalese women decide to go into the salon industry because licensure is affordable and relatively quick. When it comes to pedicures, however, some newly minted Nepalese salon workers balk:
Women in Nepal, especially Hindus, touch only their husbands’ or parents’ feet as a sign of respect, said Tara Niraula, an advocate of immigrants’ rights and a former administrator at the New School who was born in Nepal and is considered an expert on Nepalis in New York. To touch strangers’ feet is to show deference they have not earned, Dr. Niraula said, and to label oneself as low-class, or at least lower than the person whose feet are being handled.
A pedicure customer reacts to this cultural aversion with surprise and the following response: “You would think she was born to do this.”
Wow, how insulting. The customer's comment dismisses the salon employee's choices and hard work, not to mention the cultural differences and bigotry she endures. Instead, the economically privileged customer naturalizes a brown woman genuflecting in servitude before her by saying that the salon employee's skills seem innate. It's a subtle form of objectification that takes part of the same racist assumption that people of certain colors are just meant to be enslaved.
Appropriation of POC’s experience in Grimm
In the most recent ep of Grimm, Big Feet, a Wesen, or human that can change into a therianthropic form, has been killing people. Monroe, a Blutbad Vesen and friend of Nick [who is a police detective and protagonist of the show], harbors Larry, the killer Wesen, in his house. Larry is injured, but Monroe does not wish to take him to the hospital because then people will recognize him as a semi-human creature and persecute him. "I don't want crosses burning on my yard," Monroe explains to Nick.
No! Grimm does not get to appropriate the real-life terrorism experienced by African-Americans and apply it to fictional bestial characters, especially when the fictional characters are played by straight white men. The show might think that it's being clever by giving a historical resonance to the treatment of Wesen, but it's not. It's using the lived experience of thousands of people as a rhetorical gesture, a shorthand for persecution. That disrespects the violence and suffering that African-Americans have endured in real life and implicitly dismisses their lives as figments of imagination.
Thanks for Fangs for the Fantasy for alerting me to this phenomenon, which is a continuing problem for the series.
Me and My Muses 2.7: “Mad Mazzy 3”
Ellery's been fantasizing about Mad Mazzy. What will Lucian say?
Speaking of 50 Shades of Grey…
…I ordered it, primarily because sources tell me it's based on Twilight Saga fanfic [!]. I had so much fun with the Twilight Saga [see "twilight" and "breaking dawn" tags if you really care] that I think I will at least have a little fun with 50 Shades.
Also, concerning 50 Shades of Grey, please see the related parody video by Flula: entirely ridiculous and safe for work. You're welcome.
Anti-BDSM AND misogynist!: Philip Galanes of NYT’s Social Qs
I read advice columns for the same reason I watch mediocre TV shows. I gain entertainment not only from the stories told, but also from the advice supplied by the columnist and, frequently, the commenters. Plus there's always the opportunity to castigate the TV show or the advice column for how good it could have been.
Before I go into critiquing the NYT's most recent Social Qs, let me just say that the only advice column I can currently take seriously is Captain Awkward. She's a person with no official credentials to tell other people how to live their lives, but she, along with the trenchant commentariat, manages to provide practical, straightforward, explicit, helpful advice to the questioners. Be warned, though; she does use sexist slurs ["bitch" and "dick"], as well as ableist adjectives ["crazy"]. Despite her failings, I approve of her generally open-minded approach.
Now back to my original subject. In the most recent Social Qs, a letter writer says that her daughter's future mother-in-law loves Fifty Shades of Grey, a BDSM romance novel. "As a feminist," the writer dislikes the books and wonders how to respond when the future MIL asks the writer what she thinks of the books.
Philip Galanes, author of Social Qs, advises the following:
Engage your future in-law, mother to mother. Steer clear of judgmental terms like “offensive,” but try to get to the bottom of her excitement. Say: “I’d hate for a man to treat me or my daughter that way. What do you think the big appeal is?” She couldn’t object, and it might start an interesting conversation.
Good advice. When someone asks you your opinion of something controversial with which you disagree, you can neutrally state that you have a different view and, if you're interested, attempt to start a more general discussion and go from there. Of course, you can react in other ways [for example, "I don't really feel comfortable talking about that" is also perfectly acceptable], but this is a polite option.
I agree with the advice, but I resent the snide tone in which it's delivered. Galanes spends one paragraph of four answering the writer's question and the other three making sneery judgments about BDSM. In effect, he undermines his advice to be respectful and tolerant about things you don't know anything about by being derisive and dismissive about a subject with which he is [clearly] unfamiliar. Wow, he's really shoring up his credibility.
Besides an anti-BDSM stance, I also detect some misogyny in Galanes' response. Romance novels are predominantly read by women and, for that reason, are frequently not taken seriously, especially by male critics. Galanes' incredulity that female readers could find romance novel tropes interesting seems to subserve his distaste with Fifty Shades of Grey.
P.S. We're not even getting into the letter writer's assumption that feminism is incompatible with BDSM.
Investigating a person’s sex as part of my job!
I was in the very awkward position today of trying to find out the sex of a coauthor of an article for which I was sending a revision letter. I wanted to include in the letter that the doctor needed to update their financial disclosure and wanted to give instructions on how to do so.
I couldn't use third-person plural pronouns or "his/her" because the company objects to those uses. In order to avoid really awkward phrasing, I wanted to find out this person's sex so I could use the correct pronouns, and the person's name was not giving me any clues.
I eventually found information about the person's sex and completed the instructions with the correct pronouns. This situation highlighted for me the English language's need for a broadly accepted gender-neutral pronoun. Third-person plural pronouns are fine to me, if only conservative institutions would stop having grammatical fits about them.
Interestingly enough, I mostly avoid the subject of people's sex in my job because pretty much everyone we deal with is a doctor, so we just address them by that title.
Bye bye, Alcatraz. Hello, more Grimm and Once Upon a Time.
Of course Fox canceled it.
Crap.
It had absolutely no character development, but it sure was entertaining.
Meanwhile, in other news, Grimm has been renewed for a second season [on NBC]. Here's hoping that the show learns how to weave its meta-plot and mythology more evenly in with the stand-alone monster-of-the-week eps. I'd also like some well-developed female regulars, but I think that's asking too much.
Also renewed for another season was Once Upon a Time [on ABC]. How long will the show be able to string out its format of developments in Storybrooke, supported by flashbacks into fairyland? How will it perpetuate forward momentum without having Emma eventually break the curse and wake all Storybrooke residents up to their original fairyland lives? How will it develop sympathetic, fully three-dimensional female characters when all it's been relying on so far are stock types? The answers to all three are "it won't," "it won't" and "it won't." Man, that show annoyed me.
No, Mr. Wallek, YOU’RE “kind of bizarre”: rape culture at work in a stalking case
No, Mr. Wallek, YOU’RE “kind of bizarre”: rape culture at work in a stalking case published on Read more posts by the author of No, Mr. Wallek, YOU’RE “kind of bizarre”: rape culture at work in a stalking case, ModernWizard1 Comment on No, Mr. Wallek, YOU’RE “kind of bizarre”: rape culture at work in a stalking case
John Wallek, plumbing and heating inspector for the state's Public Safety Department, faces charges of stalking a much younger woman also employed by the state. Wallek harassed the woman at work, at home and online, messaging her with E-mails and Facebook posts for about a year, even after being told to stop.
For some reason, the Freeps interviewed Wallek, who stated, "It's all kind of bizarre. I just don't believe it has gone this far."
Look, folks — it's an embodiment of rape culture! Only in a society in which women are presumed heterosexual and automatically available to all types of attention from men, only in a society in which women's consent means diddly squat because, so many times, they are presumed to have granted it merely by existing, only in such a society would a man think that his possible conviction for being a misogynist ass would be "kind of bizarre" because it's going against the unstated expectations of man-woman interaction in this society.
Jeez, how "bizarre" is it that a woman wants to be treated with egalitarian respect and decency? It's mind-boggling. It's almost like…almost like…women are people too! Imagine that.
Me and My Muses 2.6: “Mad Mazzy 2”
Ellery talks more about the cult movie phenomenon. Lucian may have competition…
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.6: “Mad Mazzy 2”
Suddenly, I bought more books!
Wow, this temporary free 2-day shipping deal with my Amazon Prime test membership is really liberating me to purchase books that I have long yearned to buy, but never gotten around to. Today's purchases include two books about conjoined twins [Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton], Sex Changes: Transgender Politics and The Development of Imagination [about paracosms!].
I'm quite curious about Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, the story of Millie-Christine McKoy, conjoined twins who were born into slavery in the US in the 1850s and became well-educated entertainers, dying in 1912. They were treated both as one person and as two. For example, their family called them Sister, but also gave them separate names. From what I recall of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, they had a joint sense of self, referring to themselves in the first-person plural. I look forward to finding more about Millie and Christine's concepts of their personhood as I read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.
Conjoined twins fascinate me. In One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal, Alice Dreger actually touches on two of my interests — conjoined twins and trans subjects — by discussing the case of conjoined twin boys who shared a set of genitalia. When they were separated, one boy got the penis and was raised as a boy. The other penisless boy was raised as a girl. I haven't read the book yet, but I'm eager to learn more about these twins, especially since their case addresses both non-consensual separation surgery and non-consensual genital change surgery. [NB: Non-consensual genital change surgery rarely goes well. See David Reimer for details.]
Non-consensual separation surgery and non-consensual genital change surgery both piss me off for the same reason. In both cases, people with abnormal bodies [either conjoined twins or people with ambiguous genitalia] are changed against their will. Guardians and/or medical professionals decide that the conjoined twins and the intersex people must be modified to find societal concepts of personhood. In the case of conjoined twins, they go against our deeply ingrained belief that a single person must have a single body. In the case of intersex people, they go against our deeply ingrained belief that a child's genitals must easily appear to belong to one sex or the other. So we cut them up because we have problems with them, not because they have problems with themselves. We disrespect the autonomy of such people and the self-acceptance that they show in the vast majority of the cases because we get queasy seeing two people share a body or a person possessing ambiguous genitalia. They're not wrong; they have no need to be altered; it's our narrow definitions of personhood that must be changed.
I can’t stop buying books!
Now that I have a month-long trial of Amazon Prime [free 2-day shipping!!!], I can't stop buying books. Yesterday I got Whipping Girl by Julia Serano and One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal by Alice Dreger. Today I got Alison Bechdel's two memoirs, Fun Home and Are You My Mother? Yum yum yum, so much to read!
Why does hypnosis go along with EFT [Emotional Freedom Technique]?
Looking on local hypnotists' Web sites, I see that several of them offer EFT services along with hypnosis. Why?
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique, which is the theory that, by being poked in various places, people can cease bad habits, overcome negative emotions, cure sickness, etc., etc., etc.
Seriously, people?! Seriously?! Did you lose your critical faculties?
Maybe it's because they think that hypnosis is some magic panacea, instead of a nice little altered state where you can play with suggestibility and imagination.
Here come the gender police: “Dear Prudie” pisses me off yet again.
Recently a young woman wrote to Dear Prudie, Slate's advice columnist, saying that she is a self-described "tomboy" who dresses in casual clothes in accordance with the lax requirements of her job. Her boyfriend has been bugging her about wearing "more feminine clothes" and "makeup application lessons." He thinks her personal style makes her less employable. The letter writer wants to know what to do: "Should I change this about myself because he wants me to?"
Prudie answers by telling the letter writer a resounding YES. She advises the letter writer, "Dress for the job you want." In Prudie's view, this entails getting a personal shopper, visiting a makeup counter and reading Marie Claire and other women's magazines.
This incredibly stupid response enrages me. First of all, Prudie is collapsing two topics into one. The letter writer wants to know about how to deal with her boyfriend's campaign for her increased femmey-ness. She also mentions her boyfriend's belief that her self-presentation hurts her job prospects. Prudie rolls both topics into a single answer by focusing on the connection between the letter writer's style and her employability.
Let's separate out the two subjects: first, this "Dress for the job you want" stuff. I agree with the concept here, but I object to the execution. Members of the workforce today are expected to conform to ideals of professionalism, including adherence to an implicit or explicit dress code. Fine…follow the dress code. If you're in that aspirational phase of your career, it's always better to overdress than underdress.
However, Prudie assumes that aspirational dressing means going all femme. No, it doesn't. Less femmey work clothes for women exist, though they are few. I know because I am wearing them. 😛 Stop implying that "femme" is the only correct gender presentation for professional women, Prudie.
Second, let's deal with the letter writer's annoying boyfriend. He knows that the letter writer's gender presentation is more butchy rather than femmey, but he keeps trying to change it with a suspect justification about it affecting her employability. Basically, the letter writer's boyfriend does not accept her gender presentation, instead preferring to police it.
This is the real problem. Her boyfriend is trying to control her. Attempts at control combine with nagging to create resentment. Resentment leads to conflict and general nastiness.
Assuming good faith on the boyfriend's part, I have advice for him: He should express his preference and state his reasons once, then shut up about it and wait for a cue from the letter writer. If she wants to pursue his suggestion, fine. If she puts him off or ignores him [which it kind of sounds like she's doing], he should be perceptive enough to notice that she does not wish to pursue his suggestion, and he should keep his gender policing to himself.
I also have advice for the letter writer: She should consider the general concept of aspirational dressing, but ignore everything else Prudie says. She should pursue a change in her gender presentation only if that's what she's truly interested in, without anxiety or coercion. However, she should also know that her gender presentation is perfectly fine the way it is and that it is possible to be a butch professional woman. Either way, she should tell her boyfriend to quit with the gender policing. If he doesn't, she should get a better boyfriend, one whose head won't explode at the thought of a woman wearing a pantsuit to an interview.
“Transgender Voice Surgery”
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.
I have discovered a lacuna.
Holy poop, there are practically no up-to-date, non-self-published books about having a trans partner.
I am deeply disappointed.
Me and My Muses 2.5: “Mad Mazzy 1”
Ellery talks to her sister Avery about her cult movie experience.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.5: “Mad Mazzy 1”
Fringe: Letters of Transit SPOILERS!
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.
Fringe renewed for 5th season!!!
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.
Happy [early] birthday to me!: I got some new books!!!
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…
Must read this book!
Would-be hypnotist stymied by lack of knowledge
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.
Today’s frustration: expensive books, also, nothing in the library
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.
Me and My Muses 2.4: “Frolics”
Ellery writes about Lucian to Kristen.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.4: “Frolics”
Welcome, Mellifer!
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
Piled Higher and Deeper got adapted into a movie!
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.
Some queer Web series
Indexed here. Oooooh!
Awkward Black Girl! ^_^
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.
Ginevra and Flower!!!
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!!!
What the heck is “verbage?”
"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.
OH MY GAWD, we have to obey the law?: whiny ableist dingdongs strike again
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. >:
“Diet Sard, now in fun size!” and “being Soomed”
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.
On what planet…
…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.
Tick — tick — tick — tick —
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…
Me and My Muses 2.3: “Developing Friendship”
Hmmm, Ellery and Lucian seem not to be fighting!
Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.3: “Developing Friendship”
Doll meetup, 04/14/12: Lyrajean’s hordes
Lyrajean brought about one-third of her collection, mostly Volks. She made all of their clothes herself.
Doll meetup, 04/14/12: Shion and goldi’s dolls
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
Doll meetup, 04/14/12: Flower
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
Weight loss for the bride to be
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?!
Yo, is this racist?
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.
Ewwwwwwwwwww…/Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
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.
A new Soom Faery Legend: Metato, Keeper of the Heart
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*
Me and My Muses 2.2: “Getting Acquainted”
Lucian asks Ellery questions…
Gay men who knit in the Northeast Kingdom
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!
Me and My Muses 2.1: “Penitent”
Ellery finds Lucian moping…
“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 Read more posts by the author of “Tale of Love and Illness Ends in Death” or “Long Marriage Ends in Ableist Murder”?, ModernWizardNo 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.
Me and My Muses 1.11: “Avery”
Ellery talks to her older sister Avery.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 1.11: “Avery”
More Flower!
Flower has his wings and hair. I glued the purple wig on. Now he just needs some clothes. Pictures do not do this guy justice. He's extremely cute! ^_^
Continue reading More Flower!
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!!!
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
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!
Me and My Muses 1.10: “Limits of Belief”
Ellery is not nice to Lucian…
Continue reading Me and My Muses 1.10: “Limits of Belief”
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.
Flower is shipping!
Flower, my Soom Kremer Faery Sprite of Slumber, is shipping! He should be here next week!
Me and My Muses 1.9: “Illuminations”
Lucian shows Ellery his manuscripts.
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.
Brave
Merida is a nice name, but I think Pixar’s latest outing, coming in June, will be shite. Pixar’s overcompensating. If they really wanted to earn my respect, they would have had important female characters in their movies from the beginning.
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!
I have to stop watching Once Upon a Time…
Not only is it racist and heteronormative, but it's also static and deeply boring. I dismissed Bones from my repertoire, and I don't miss it. Surely I can do the same with Once Upon a Time.
Me and My Muses 1.8: “Keeping Warm”
Ellery and Lucian are at it again…
Wow…
A first season ep of Fringe seems to have more characer development than a first season ep of Alcatraz. Also Fringe doesn’t seem to be killing off its characters of color at the same rate.
Beautiful porcelain dolls
These approximately 1:6, double-jointed, porcelain dolls with strung bodies and leather-padded joints will be for sale some time in early March, No further details about cost, but I admire their curvy bodies and serene faces.
“Vocal fry”
Wow, ya learn something new everyday. I didn't even know that that low, grating tone that you put on the end of words sometimes even had a name, but apparently it does. The New York Times introduced me to the subject in an article about linguistic novelty among girls. Unfortunately, it's difficult to describe vocal fry, but you know it when you hear it. Here's a Youtube commentary on vocal fry, including some examples. In my experience, vocal fry seems to be an affectation to suggest sophistication, doubt, frustration or sarcasm.
Me and My Muses 1.7: “Slight Vulnerability”
Ellery learns more about Lucian's hobbies.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 1.7: “Slight Vulnerability”
Me and My Muses 1.6: “Three Questions”
Ellery interrogates Lucian…
Ginevra with eyes!
So Ginevra got some 8mm eyes with irises of silver glitter and white pupils. They really pop! See?
Ginevra's so beautiful. I'm really glad I didn't give her hair because I enjoy all the details of her sculpt. I love her ears!
Continue reading Ginevra with eyes!
What the hell is this poop?
Via Shakesville, this “editorial” is not only sexist, misogynist and essentialist, but it’s also completely incoherent. This is my favorite sentence, primarily because it makes no sense:
Anyone serious about thinking through the role of women in today’s civilization is doing worthless work unless they take the controversies on the right hand in hand with the unsuccessfully suppressed tensions on the opposite side of the spectrum, where disagreements far more volatile in their profundity roil respectable liberalism.
How does bilge like this even get published?? This is some of the worst writing I’ve ever come across in my life, and I’ve seen some doozies.
Now on track to becoming slightly more informed
Ever since last spring, I've been sad because my main source of news, the New York Times, put a limit on free reading to 20 articles a month. Recently I looked into digital subscription prices and discovered that I could easily afford a digital subscription at $15.00 a month. So I got one.
The thing is, I used my account information from an account that I created back in 1996, when I started reading the Times my first year in college. Therefore my user ID is "bowiegirl." Well, I'm not a girl, but the reference to David Bowie is still accurate! Ah, the good old days…
The more the story goes on…
…in Once Upon A Time, the less I care about the characters. No one's sympathetic; no one's interesting, and no one's making any progress in the overall plot. It's an incredibly static show, and it's continuing to bore me.
Me and My Muses 1.5: “Omniscient?”
Me and My Muses is baaaaaaack!!
Ginevra the one-winged fairy
Today I worked on Ginevra, a Soom Spider Faery Sprite in magenta skin. First I tried gluing the magnets into her wings and back so that she could have articulated wings. One wing got stuck together at the magnets, so it couldn't pivot. When I tried to separate the magnets, the resin cup on her wing holding one of the magnets broke. There is no way to fix it unless I want a static, unpivotable wing on that side, which I don't, so I guess she's a one-winged fairy. Note to self: When gluing in magnets for future dolls' wings, let the Super Glue dry thoroughly on one part before hurriedly trying to assemble everything together.
Anyway, I then gave Ginevra a faceup. That means that I gave her brick red lips and very stylized eyebrows, and that was it. I'm not really one for detailed faceups, so good thing Ginervra didn't need one. She just wanted a little color to bring out the beauty of her headsculpt: the long eyes, the arched brows, the Roman nose, the plushy lips.
After sealing Ginevra's faceup, I dressed her in her full-set outfit minus the armwarmers and shoes. The raw edges of the black and magenta fabric, the loose layering and the mess of danglies all go well with my simple, messy faceup design.
I've had the hardest time deciding what type of hair to give Ginevra. Then, when I was taking pictures of her in her current eyeless and hairless state, it hit me: Like Sardonix and Noodge, Ginevra doesn't need hair! This solution appeals to my laziness and to my aesthetic sense. Any hair on Ginevra's head would distract from the beauty of her headsculpt, which I love for its hilariously crabby expression. So she just needs some eyes [the 6mm ones I got were too small — she needs 8mm!], and then she's done, waiting for her fairy comrade Flower, who will have two wings successfully attached.
Continue reading Ginevra the one-winged fairy
Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Zofia
vermont chick's Zofia, an Iplehouse SID Zera.
Continue reading Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Zofia
Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Penny
goldi's beautiful and soulful Penny, a FairyLand Minifee Chloe.
Continue reading Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Penny
Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Janvier Jett
Three of us — me, vermont chick and goldi — met in the Koolvord Room, Brownell Library, Essex Junction, today for an hour of photos and fun, despite the bitter wind chill factors. See the next three posts for the pictures I took.
From left to right: vermont chick's Iplehouse Zera named Zofia, goldi's FairyLand Littlefee Chloe named Penny and Janvier Jett serenading them all.
Continue reading Doll meetup, 02/11/12: Janvier Jett
Me and My Muses 1.4: “Kristin”
Your favorite Web serial continues!
Out of perverse curiosity…
…I listened to a podcast of Dan Savage’s on which Ira Glass [of This American Life fame] was a guest, and oh my God…it was like a symphony of irritatingness. Two self-congratulatory, smug, recursive assholes thinking they’re the wittiest thing since [insert really witty thing here]. Dan Savage is quickly becoming a so-bad-it’s-good pleasure.
Once Upon a Time racism…
So the only character of color in Storybrooke [Sidney the newspaperman] has his origins as the "Genie of Agrabah," some sort of pseudo-Arabian stereotype? Way to reinforce that POC are exotic, you stupid show. >:(
1.3: “Interrogation”
The third ep of Me and My Muses!
Continue reading 1.3: “Interrogation”
1.2: “Hello, Lucian”
The second ep of Me and My Muses.
Techniques of Pleasure by Margot Weiss
So Margot Weiss wrote an ethnographic study of San Fran's kinky scene, Techniques of Pleasure, finding it much more conservative and less transgressive than it would like to believe itself. Weiss challenges BDSM's portrayal of itself [see review/interview in Salon], saying that:
It's not diverse. Weiss finds that, at least in San Fran, the community is boringly white in its racial homogeneity.
It's not wild. Strict rules govern scenes.
It's not transcendent. It's mired in consumerism [all those special toys!] and reproducing societal inequities.
I'm definitely interested in reading this analysis. In parting, I leave you with one of my favorite Onion articles: S&M Couple Won't Stop Droning On About Their Fetishes.
A new 1:6 scale saga: Me and My Muses
From the creator of the beloved Boston vampire melodrama Love Has Fangs comes a new serial starring 1:6 scale dolls: Me and My Muses. With new eps every Monday, Me and My Muses follows the adventures of Ellery Langrock, a young queer woman, and the various magical and sexy characters inside her head. Episode 1.1: "Introduction" is below. Please give me a comment; they make me happy!
Doll meetup, 01/14/12: Barahan
Doll meetup, 01/14/12: Sardonix
Doll meetup, 01/14/12: Noodge
Doll meetup, 01/14/12: all dolls
vermont chick and I met in the Koolvord Room of Brownell Library, Essex Junction, yesterday. She brought her new Iplehouse Barahan, and I brought Sardonix and Noodge. I took 200 pictures [primarily because my hands were shaking], mostly of her Barahan, since he is so handsome, with his serene smirk. Below, pictures of Barahan, Sardonix and Noodge.
Work It dies!!
ABC cancels Work It after 2 eps only! Good riddance! Good riddance!!
Work It, episode 2
Summary: Jerkwad protagonists Lee and Angel actually go on sales calls. Angel gets results by stereotypically flirting and playing up "feminine" mannerisms. Lee gets jealous and accusatory, then tries the flirty style to great failure. Meanwhile Angel gets a date with one of the doctors he was selling to.
Analysis: Oh God, I can feel my will to watch draining away as I watch this show. I feel my mouth hardening into a permanent cringe. I thought that the collective scorn and criticism of the Internet and the known world would force this show back into the dank hole of "isms" whence it came, but apparently not.
The transphobia…because Lee can't describe how Angel looks as a woman without mocking him for stereotypically masculine traits such as big biceps and a broad chin!
The sexism and misogyny…because this episode just assumes without question that women using their sexuality in the workplace to get what they want is acceptable and appropriate!
The slut shaming…because Lee can't express his jealousy of Angel's success without intimating that Angel is a whore!
The trivialization of date rape…because Angel was going to drug his doctor date if the date put any moves on him!
The homophobia…because God forbid that two men touch in an affectionate or intimate manner!
Disclaimer: This is not a comprehensive list of prejudices evinced in Work It. The stupidity is multi-dimensional, much the same way as Dan Savage's bigotry, and no one entry can comprehend it all…maybe a series.
My favorite response to Work It was someone's tweet saying, "I think ABC left out a letter when they described this as 'the new hit show!'" LOL!
Stuff Cis People Say To Trans People
"Eric, what are you doing in my house?!? Oh my God!!"
Sexism on a customer service line
So today I called Dental Dental of Illinois' customer service hotline to try to find out which type of Delta Dental I had. One of the first questions that the rep asked me, even before my name or ID number, was, "Who's the holder of the policy, your husband?"
Let's break that down…
The rep knew nothing about me, not even my name or my ID number, no personal information, except for that I sounded stereotypically feminine. He therefore automatically assumed that:
a) I was a woman.
b) I was heterosexual.
c) I was married.
d) I did not have insurance under my own name.
I can understand assumption a), but were any of the others warranted? NO! What stupidity!
P.S. MY HUSBAND?!?!?!?!?!? What husband?
Work It is a racist turd.
Besides being horrible for reasons I enumerated previously in my first two entries about Work It [1, 2], ABC's comedy about two men impersonating women to get sales jobs, the show is also racist as heck. Arturo of Racialicious discusses the show's racist crack about Puerto Ricans automatically being good at selling drugs, how this line has stirred criticism around the country and how the star who said the line has not responded at all. ABC, cancel this rotten mess!
Reasons that Dan Savage is a shit.
Dan Savage, a gay male advice columnist who writes for the Seattle Stranger, has some cachet among liberals/Democrats/progressives as being queer-friendly, pro-kink and open-minded, but he still has lots of privilege as a thin, white, rich, cis, married, U.S. man. I’ve collected several criticisms of his advice which should make you think long and hard before calling this columnist helpful, progressive and open-minded. In no particular order…here they are…
Continue reading Reasons that Dan Savage is a shit.
Confession
There is nothing quite so pleasing as a newly filled gas tank, unless it is a newly filled larder!
A review of the first episode of Work It
Earlier I wrote about ABC's new sitcom Work It, in which two men impersonate women to get jobs at a sales company. I just caught the first episode of this dung heap on Hulu. I am here to report that I stand by my earlier comments about all the show's prejudices and to report that it was, besides being offensive on many levels, poorly written with unfunny jokes, unoriginal characters and lazy execution.
A few especially stupid and offensive moments stood out for me after my cursory viewing:
1. In an early conversation in a bar, the laid-off protagonist commiserates with his two laid-off friends, a mechanic and a shuttle driver. The shuttle driver describes the recession as a "mancession," insists that women are "taking over" and predicts that soon men will only be kept around as "sex slaves" if women continue asserting their dominance. This character is factually incorrect; there is no mancession; women are not taking over, and the joke about "sex slaves" makes light of sexual abuse and rape. While the shuttle driver clearly serves as the "stupid comic relief friend" archetype, no one corrects him or calls him out on his behavior, thus reinforcing the idea that his false interpretation of events is acceptable.
2. While I have detailed earlier how the entire show is transphobic, one especially transphobic moment caught my eye. In a flashback scene where the protagonist, now impersonating a woman, tells the mechanic "how he does it," a saleswoman is shown at a counter. She sees someone off-camera and screams and recoils. The camera then shows the protagonist with makeup all over his face [including lipstick on his teeth, blech], imploring the saleswoman, "Help me, please…help me!" The laugh track resounds.
Now is the saleswoman [and the laugh track] laughing at a generally bad application of makeup or a man in drag? It doesn't really matter because the show is mocking the protagonist, who dares to "look bad" in makeup. The show thus looks down on the protagonist's gender presentation in that scene, allowing the interpretation that the saleswoman shrieks because of the "incongruity" in a stereotypically masculine-presenting person wearing makeup, a stereotypically feminine accessory. The rigid implicit heteronormative bias of the saleswoman's shocked scream militates against anyone who dares to deviate from traditional stereotypical masc/fem gender presentations.
I really hate this show. It's bad, and it's offensive.
“Barbie Trashes Her Dream House”
Carrie Becker did a series of 1:6 dioramas entitled "Barbie Trashes Her Dream House," in which 1:6 scenes were made to look as if taken over by messy hoarders. While some miniatures she used were Rement, others she made by hand. Check out the whole detailed set on Flickr!
This wig…
…is the best pink wig in the history of the world [in hot pink — scroll down to see]!
Katie Perry Barbie with cupcake dress
Look at all those little cupcakes! I'm impressed, and I don't even care for Katie Perry.
Confession III
I hate open-toed shoes with the fiery passion of 10,000 suns. Sandals, however, are fine.
1:6 tombstones
I’m on a quest to find 1:6 tombstones. I need to make a 1:6 cemetery set for Ellery to hang out in and write in her diary in.
I could design some in PhotoShop Elements and print them out on a color printer, but I don’t want to make them because I am lazy. I typed in “miniature cemetery” and “miniature tombstones” and “miniature headstones,” etc., into search engines, but all I came up with were 1:12 miniatures. Too small! I eventually had the genius idea of trying Halloween decorations [“halloween miniature cemetery”]. But, at 9.75″ tall, the tombstones were more like 1:3 scale than 1:6 scale.
Rats! Thinking about what objects might be the appropriate size, I came up with magnets and salt and pepper shakers. A search of “tombstone” on Etsy revealed many salt and pepper shakers of the appropriate size. I decided against these because they all had silly poems about “Here lies Pepper/Salt” on them that would not have contributed to the realism.
Finally I discovered these tombstone magnets by Dellamorte Co., “curators of the reliquary macabre.” Each of the 3 magnets are around 3″ high, their silhouettes and symbols drawn directly from those I have seen on 17th and 18th century graves in places around Massachusetts. While they don’t have epitaphs, the magnets do have Latin admonitions common to tombstones of that era, all about the shortness of life and inevitability of death. While there are fewer of these ornate graves in Vermont [where Me and My Muses is set] than in, say, Massachusetts, these magnets look suitably sepulchral and about the right size [maybe a little small?], so I got them.
Further bulletins as events warrant!
EDIT: Well, shit. “Tabletop tombstone” in the search engine gets me all kinds of appropriately sized resin or plastic tombstones. I was just using imprecise keywords!!
Damn…Ellery is cute!
Wouldn't you like to have a friend like her? I touched up her mouth a bit.
Continue reading Damn…Ellery is cute!
Mazzy has gazongas!
Here is Mazzy, Ellery's third created muse. He is a Lumedoll Arine, just like Ellery, but with a large bust. And what a bust it is!
Continue reading Mazzy has gazongas!
Just another picture of Ellery
She's so cute! I think I need to touch up her mouth a bit.
Continue reading Just another picture of Ellery
Our lovely Avery!
It's Avery, everyone, Ellery's older sister!! She is a Lumedoll Elin. I got her today, then painted her face and gave her hair from an old fur wig. Clothes are an42, CG and Moxie Teens.
Continue reading Our lovely Avery!
Flower accompanies Ginevra.
I have ordered him with company faceup, eyes, wig and body blushing so that his wings and ears come in those delicate pastel hues. I shall call him Flower, and he will keep Ginevra company!
Kremer the Soom Sprite of Slumber
Look at the little 1:6 fairy with flower-like ears and luscious lips. He is Kremer, the latest in the Soom Faery Legend line, which, by my lights, just keeps getting better and better.
Continue reading Kremer the Soom Sprite of Slumber
I hate Lifetime Xmas movies part deux!!!
Yesterday, I watched another Lifetime Xmas movie, The Road to Xmas, in which a woman is happily engaged to an Italian man. He’s preparing a surprise wedding for her in Aspen and, when one of her photography shoots is canceled, she decides to fly out early to surprise him. When her flight is canceled, she hitches a ride with a widower and his teenaged daughter. The woman [naturally :p ] falls in love with the widower, conveniently discovers her fiance’s infidelity and dumps the fiance for the widower.
For a Lifetime Xmas movie, The Road to Xmas was surprisingly tolerable. This is probably because the movie itself was a road-trip romance that happened to occur arround Xmas, rather than a film in which Xmas plays a starring role as the holiday of cliched and enforced happiness for all.
Because I could watch Road to Xmas without gagging on holiday cheer, its problematic elements stood out all the more strongly: 1) homophobia and 2) domestic violence.
You see…the photographer’s fiance wasn’t just having an affair with some random woman…he was sexing it up with the male wedding planner. After unbelievable excuses, the fiance protests that he really wanted the wedding between him and the photographer to work out, which makes him seem like not only a cheater, but a cheater deluded enough to think that a straight marriage would somehow keep both parties happy when one party is secretly gay. After an entirely heteronormative movie, two gay characters appear only to provide a devastating [yet convenient] end to the photographer and fiance’s relationship, thus reinforcing the idea that gay people are selfish homewreckers.
I also objected to the domestic violence at the end of the film. When she discovered that her fiance was gay, the photographer swung her fists at him, slapping him and pounding him in the chest. He said something like, “Please don’t hit me!” or “Why are you hitting me?” Her response was something like, “It’s the only thing I can think to do, and it feels good.” The photographer’s blows against her fiance were shown to be ineffectual and comic, but just make the assailant a man and the victim a woman to see how chilling this exchange truly is. Can you imagine a male character justifying violence against a female character by saying, “It feels good”? Most people would recognize such a situation as the abusive behavior it is. When the assailant is female, however, and the victim male, the situation is minimized, diminished and played for comic relief so that the violence seems more palatable, even acceptable and dismissable! Vomitorious.
“Man down”: mocking men for “effeminacy” in Samsung Focus Flash ads
Hulu is playing ads for the Samsung Focus Flash smart phone these days, and both ads that I've seen so far piss me off because they both contain mockery of men who dare to deviate from culturally presecribed masculinity.
In one ad, a man tries on a pink shirt and black tights, then asks his friends via phone, "Do I look like an ice skater?" Despite his female significant other's assurance that he looks fine, his social network [whom he calls "the guys"] respond with jibes such as "Man down." These comments imply that Pink Shirt is losing his manhood by a) wearing such an outfit and b) allowing his female significant other to select clothing for him. Pink Shirt's peer group polices masculinity by teasing and shaming those who deviate from the machismo of current U.S. masculinity.
In the other ad I've seen, two men are threatening each other with things to post to Youtube. Friend A shows a video of Friend B crying at a movie, calling it a video of "a sad, sad man," with sad meaning both "unhappy" and also "pathetic" here. When Friend B teases Friend A about a comment from Friend A's girlfriend, Friend A threatens to post a video of Friend B in a shower cab in bathtub, washing his legs. Friend A impugns Friend B's masculinity by showing Friend B doing "effeminate" things such as crying at a movie or wearing a shower cab in the tub. The social network, like Friend A, who calls Friend B "a sad, sad man," responds instantly with derision.
I can't believe this campaign. The whole point of this phone is to easily update one's social networks, and the best way the execs can think to do this is by having the characters insult one another's gender expression? It's a sad, sad ["unhappy" + "pathetic"] view of social networks as promoters of rigid joyless conformity. It's also a sad, sad view of friendship as superficial togetherness masking secret wells of nasty criticism.
I hate Lifetime Xmas movies.
They all contain female protagonists who are over the hill at my age >:( [Eve’s Xmas] and who learn the true, fulfilling value of heterosexual marriage through the intervention of unrealistic “meet cutes” [His and Hers Xmas] or Magical Wise Negro fairy godfathers. Vomit vomit vomit. They’re sort of fascinating in a stomach-churning sort of way.
Repartee to bigots??
On this thread on Dances With Fat about LGBT ally George Takei’s fat phobia, commenter Saffie brings a possible retort for people who stick their noses in and offer bigoted, shaming comments about her fat body:
My favorite response?
- “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry for your loss.”
- “What loss?”
- “Seems like your parents weren’t around to teach you manners. I just thought you must have lost them at a very young age.”
Recognizing that not everyone is raised by their parents and it’s not appropriate to bring up parental death to strangers who may have had parents who died, I would change this conversation as follows:
- Bigot: [stupid comment]
- Person: I’m so sorry for your loss.
- Bigot: Bzuh?
- Person: You seem to have tragically lost your manners. My condolences.
HAH HAH HAH HAH!
“One card is celebrating moms for all they do during the holidays.”
I just came across an outrageous online ad for Mastercard. It said that, if you sign up for this special, you can spend $200.00 online and get a $20.00 gift card. I have no objection to the particular promotion itself, but it's the framing of the promotion that enrages me. It's targeted explicitly toward moms, including the text in the subject line of my entry.
This ad assumes that…
1) Everyone viewing it does holiday [i.e., Xmas] shopping.
2) Those who do shop are mothers. Other people don't shop.
3) The best way to reward people for undergoing the aggravating, time-consuming, frequently stressful, often anxiety-producing business of shopping is to give them more money so they can do more shopping. That doesn't sound like a reward to me.
This ad just recapitulates the tired sexist trope that mothers are responsible not for a family's support or earning, but for a family's consumption and happiness [in the form of gifts]. The gift card that urges its recipients to spend $20.00 more than the $200.00 they already have, to mother more, to consume more, to do more for the holidays, to somehow be better mothers.
The kyriarchy is never satisfied. It denigrates women, but then expects them to achieve impossibly high standards of feminine "perfection." One can't win!
Doll meetup, 12/10/11: Araminthe alone
Araminthe suffers the chilly weather in the Essex Shoppes gazebo in Essex Center, all for the sake of a few good backlit photos.
Continue reading Doll meetup, 12/10/11: Araminthe alone
Doll meetup, 12/10/11: TIny Thai, Essex Center
vermont chick, goldi, JustKate89 and I met this afternoon at Tiny Thai in Essex Center for some frigid pictures at the gazebo in the Essex Shoppes parking lot.
Attending were [L to R] vermont chick's Alchemic Lab Unoa Lusis, my Araminthe, JustKate89's Angel of Dream Mimi and goldi's Fairyland Minifee Chloe. They are all holding onto their hair because it was windy out!
Continue reading Doll meetup, 12/10/11: TIny Thai, Essex Center
Those overzealous autocorrects…
…are here encapsulated in all their perverted glory at damnyouautocorrect. brb lollin 4evr
Prudie advises woman with blankie
Advice columnists can sometimes give terrible advice, with Prudie from Slate being no exception. Being very cross with the cissexist, misogynist, fatphobic, ableist advice columnist Dan Savage, I was pleased to read some advice of Prudie's that made sense to me.
The questioner, a 27-year-old woman with a blankie, noted that her significant other did not like the blankie. Prudie said that, "after talking with blankie" [hah!], the questioner should let her significant other know that the blankie is not going anywhere. Prudie described the blankie as a harmless object that fills the space of lucky charm or security object in the questioner's life, and the blankie should not be derided or dismissed, as it is not doing the questioner any harm.
As someone who still enjoys snuggling with the teddy bear that I received for my first birthday, I approve of this message.
ABC’s new dung heap of a show: Work It
So I learned, thanks to Shakesville, that ABC has a new show coming out in fall 2012 called Work It. In this show, two cis straight guys pretend to be cis straight women in order to get jobs. How bilgey is that?
Oh, the horrible sexism. Shows like this, which pretend to be reflective about gender and sex but really aren't, usually end up cementing the vast, irreconciliable differences that supposedly exist between men and women. Shows like this also tend to suggest that, somehow, the male protagonists are better at being women [you know, fooling all those stupid cis straight wimmenz] than women are, thus denigrating the sex and gender of women.
Oh, the horrible transphobia too. Shows like this assert that it's funny when biologically male people try to radically change their gender presentation. Shows like this say that biologically male people who radically change their gender presentation will never successfully pass; they'll always eventually be seen as their "true," biologically male selves. Shows like this portray gender transition as fatuous and ultimately futile, preferring to see it as a comedic device, rather than a way that some people use to manifest their true identities.
Oh, finally, the horrible stupidity. It doesn't really make sense, given the barriers to employment that women face [such as pay disparities with men and risks of sexual harassment], that being a woman would somehow make things easier for our two cis straight guys. In fact, new challenges would crop up, not of the easily resolved comic variety, but of the deeply situated, kyrarchical kind. What a stupid show!
I’m thinking…
…that Lola Paprika might need new eyebrows. Her current ones make her look so plaintive!
This is a medley of all the Dr. Who themes so far.
Exactly what it says on the tin. Zooooom zoooom zoooom weeee-ooooooooo! [Insert TARDIS noises here.]
Hi, Jujube! ~_^
This weekend I bought an Elfdoll tiny Winky, one of the original releases, with regular [as opposed to elf] ears. Here's a picture of what she looks like on the official site, but mine has a cuter faceup, with raised eyebrows and little freckles.
The Winky that I bought, whose name is Jujube, does not have any purpose in my amassment other than to be cute. I decided that she can be my at-work BJD, making me smile while I'm at my desk. Even though I already have non-BJD Junebug and her BJD Precious Little to keep me company, I can always use another, especially one as adorable as Jujube.
The technical definition of a jujube is "a cough drop of gelatin, sometimes made with berries from the jujube tree."
I hate you Facebook.
Someone hacked into my account and started posting lies, like how I lost 30 lbs.
So I deleted my account.
Word of the day: “tsuris”
I learned a new word recently: tsuris. It's a Yiddish word meaning "trouble" or "distress." It seems to be used in English to refer to a large, annoying vexation, i.e., "They are always creating artificial drama wherever they go, and you really don't need that tsuris in your life." Pronounced "tsir iss" or "tsoo riss."
Just like garlic…
…Tabasco green pepper sauce makes almost everything better!!
If you’re racist when angry, you’re a racist all the time!
Tami says it succinctly and well on Racialicious. Some people, including those that I’ve been friends with, seem to think that racism or any other prejudice that comes out in anger represents a deviation from their normal character. However, I agree with Tami that pressure shows what a person is truly made of. If racism comes out of you when you are angry, you have shown yourself to be a true racist. No ifs, ands or protestations.
Grimm: still silly
Grimm is such a procedurally stupid show. This episode showed the detective and his Blutbad friend breaking and entering in their investigation. Hey, it's no problem if the police bend the rules, right, as long as they get the right suspects, right? Wrong. This show is so sloppy. Yet I still keep watching it.
The boring Pregnancy Plot strikes again.
Bones is back [well, I finally got to watch the first ep of Season 7], and there's yet another Pregnancy Plot on the table. After suffering an entire season of Angela and Hodgins' heteronormative nesting behaviors in Season 6, we have to go through the same thing again with the 2 main characters, Bones and Booth. I say "the same thing again" because there's apparently only one way for mainstream pop culture, especially TV and movies in the US, to treat pregnancy.
- No matter what the situation of the woman getting pregnant and the way that she gets pregnant, she always wants to go through with the pregnancy and have a child and raise it herself. Where are the miscarriages? Where are the adoptions? [Once Upon a Time, featuring Henry, Emma's son that was given for adoption shortly after birth, remains an exception to the rule.] Where are the abortions? Mainstream pop entertainment does not reflect the realities of so many pregnancies.
- The attitudes of the prospective parents suddenly become suffused with gooey lovey-doveyness, confidence, starry-eyed idealism and happiness. I mean, God forbid that anyone feel hostile or ambivalent about the fetus! That's just not possible! That would destroy the unrealistic emphasis that TV has on pregnancy and childbirth being some sort of panacea for life's problems.
- Pregnancy brings out the inner femininity of the pregnant woman and fulfills her. No matter how many successes and enjoyments the character has had in her life before becoming pregnant, the glorifying way in which pregnancy is haloed on TV makes all the other accomplishments and sources of joy insignificant in comparison. For some women, pregnancy may be the best thing they've ever done with their lives, but, if TV insists that every pregnant female character feel this way, then these shows are just reproducing boring, essentialist, reductionist stereotypes about what women can do and be.
Pregnancy Plots just instantly flatten out character depth and plot dynamism. Furthermore, their relentless heteronormativity makes me want to throw up.
Soom Aenigma ordered!
So I'm doing a split with someone [outside of DOA] for a human magenta Aenigma [no fangs or pointy ears] with human legs, outfit and wings. Her name will be Ginevra, and I don't know what I'm going to do with her, but she will be so awesome!!
Dr. Who season 4 wrap party music video
This video, set to a Proclaimers song, just makes me so happy to see how much fun the cast and crew of David Tennant's Dr. Who run are having! Look at David Tennant's expressions when the Proclaimers themselves come on!
Aenigma the Soom spider sprite
Oh GAWD, look at the little 1:6 scale fairy with magenta skin and cobweb wings and little pointy teefs!! I really want her. She's the first of Soom's Faery Sprite line that I've really wanted right off the bat. A 1:6 vampire! How cool!
Monster High dolls
I really like Mattel's Monster High dolls. Each has a unique headsculpt, which I appreciate, and I like the bright colors, patterning and funky layering of the clothes. Not to mention the fact that they are well-articulated! I've even watched some of the online cartoons, which are pretty cute. My favorite character is Ghoulia Yelps because she is a nerdy zombie. 😀 But I will not be getting any MH dolls because there's no need for me to go into a new size or scale of dolls. I'd love to see someone do BJD versions of MH dolls, though. That would be really cool.
Review of new show: ABC’s Once Upon a Time
In ABC's Once Upon a Time, which debuted last week, fairy tale characters are trapped in Storybrooke, Maine, unaware of their true identities. Bail bond person Emma Swan must accept her destiny as mother of Henry, who she gave up for adoption as a baby, and Snow White's daughter to reverse this evil curse. On her side are Henry [her kid], Henry's teacher [Snow White] and probably the sheriff. Against her are arrayed Regina [the evil queen], Mr. Gold [Rumplestiltskin] and Henry's therapist [identity not known].
While I don't think Grimm is making much of the fairy tale concept, I think Once Upon a Time has the capacity for greater insight into these stories, as it's showing how they act out in characters' lives, forming sort of primal motivations. So I like the concept, the jewel-toned cinematography and Jennifer Morrison's sarcastic expressions as Emma. I find Lara Parrilla's evil queen broadly overplayed, though she did gain some interesting backstory during ep 2, and Jared Gilmore's Henry borderline annoying. So far I'll keep watching because I think the quality is slightly above average.
Grimm: a review of the pilot
In NBC's new procedural/fairy tale production, Grimm, Nick Burkhardt is the last in the line of the Grimms, apparently NOT collectors of fairy tales, but instead people with the gift to see folkloric monsters as they truly are, though they walk among us looking like humans. Nick develops his new abilities when he senses a wolf-like creature dismembering women wearing red sweatshirts. His skeptical fellow police detective is along for the ride, while his police chief appears to be in cahoots with the monsters. Shenanigans ensue.
This show has very little to recommend it, besides its concept. Even then, the concept isn't much good. If the first ep is any indication, Grimm will use fairy tales as sources of monsters without plumbing the psychological hold and resonance these stories still have over us today.
Furthermore, I find the plotting in this ep jarringly ridiculous. While on the trail of the killer, Nick and his partner are about to give up the search until they realize that the killer was humming the same song that was playing on the first victim's music player. This coincidence causes them to turn back. Fortunately, their hunch that a connection exists between the killer and the first victim is correct, but it's a pretty huge stretch to call a guy humming a popular song a real clue. That's just silly.
Additionally, when Nick and his partner turn back into the house, guns drawn, to find the second, still living victim that the killer has hiding in his house, the killer rushes both Nick and his partner, throwing each of them to the ground. As the wolf-like creature runs away, Nick's partner shoots the man several times in the back, killing him. I do not understand why the creature was shot in the back when fleeing from the scene. I was under the impression that police aren't supposed to shoot to kill unless they are imminently threatened, which they were not at the moment. If a story follows the form of a procedural, it shouldn't be sloppy with the basic rules of the genre. Bad idea.
With nothing original about it and no actors that rise above the level of competency, Grimm is a waste of time.
More small BJDs incoming [for Me and My Muses]!
My messy little protagonist, Ellery
I like Ellery's confident, smirky expression!Continue reading My messy little protagonist, Ellery
Thinking of…
…getting a resin BJD for Avery, Ellery's older sister, in Me and My Muses. I just realized that she's the only character besides Ellery who appears in every single season. She deserves inresination, if I can find a form for her.
Ableism in American Horror Story
So FX network has a new series out this season, American Horror Story. The story concerns the Harmons, mother, father and teenaged daughter, who move into a haunted house in Los Angeles, complete with past murders, creatures in the basement and eccentric neighbors. Among the neighbors is Adelaide, or Addy, a young woman in her mid- to late 30s. She has Down's Syndrome and lives with her mother in the house next door.
At first I was all excited to see an actor with Down's Syndrome playing a character with the same condition in a television show. I suppose I was entertaining visions of Life Goes On, a feel-good sit-com from the 1990s centering around a family in which one of the members had Down's. I'm not here to discuss the complexities of the portrayal of Corky, the young man with Down's, but just to say that, in my memory, the show at least gave him a personality and character arcs, treating him as a well-rounded character.
No such luck for Addy on American Horror Story. Her primary function is to give warnings about ghosts to people, who then ignore her, and also to sneak inside the Harmons' new home and startle them. In fact, the first scene of the first episode has a young Addy warning twin brats who vandalize the house, "You're going to die in there." Naturally they do. Grown up in the present day, Addy continues pestering the Harmons with similar admonitions. From her initial appearance, then, Addy is shown to have unusual insight into the creepiness of the house, in the same way that so many blind characters in TV and literature can't see, but have unusual insight into people's souls [or something]. This subtle display of a compensatory strength — maybe Addy has intellectual disabilities, but, as a substitution, she can sense ghosts! — starts Addy's one-dimensional portrayal as a character solely defined and developed by her disability.
The TV show itself presents Addy as a strange sort of disabled object, and the able-bodied characters in the show continue such alienating, abusive treatment. In the first episode, Addie's mother refers to her derogatorily as "the Mongoloid." In the second episode, Addie's mother refers to tying Addy to a chair "again," about which the Harmons make no comment, thus passively colluding with the ableist, demeaning treatment of Addy. We are also shown a scene in episode two in which Addie's mother abuses Addie, locking her in a closet full of mirrors and telling her to "look at [herself]." Though Addy's screams follow us, the camera quickly cuts away, denying the audience any chance to sympathize with a grown woman being manipulated by her cruel mother by being shoved around and locked in a closet. The show doesn't care about Addy as a person, and neither do the characters.
In the two eps of American Horror Story I watched, I also noticed how Addy's mother subtly infantilizes her through controlling her appearance. As I mentioned, Addie is in her mid- to late 30s, so figured because she was shown to be somewhere between 6 and 8 in the initial scene in 1978. Addie now wears the same type of pastel pinafores that she did when she was less than 10. Furthermore, her mother keeps her hair in long curls. I assume that her mother controls these aspects of her appearance because she treats Addie like a stupid child on other occasions, so why wouldn't she continue this abusive attitude with Addy's dress and self-presentation?
I'd watch a show about a woman with Down's Syndrome growing up next to a haunted house, dealing with her abusive mother, if the show focused on the protagonist as a full, rich character who was affected by, but not defined by, her disability. But American Horror Story is not that show, and I will not be watching it any more.
Thanks to Fangs for the Fantasy for summarizing [and calling out various prejudices of] this show.
Doll meetup, 10/22/11: Old Mill Park, Jericho
After lunch today at Tiny Thai, vermont chick and I ventured into the muddy confines of Old Mill Park in Jericho in hopes of capturing our dolls along with fall colors. Sadly, rain had knocked most of the leaves down, and the ground was too squishy for extended photoshoots, but we got some good shots of our dolls, my Sarah [Dorothy stayed in her glasses case box, not wanting to deal with large, wet leaves] and her Jamie [Iplehouse Claude]. Jamie is quite handsome, with a serene smirk.
Continue reading Doll meetup, 10/22/11: Old Mill Park, Jericho
The Jabberwocky in Latin!
Fac ut vivas!
Futility Closet contains many other useless scraps of entertaining information.
Ellery the geek and Lucian the sly
Ellery and Lucian's clothes from Andrea came today! Sadly the jeans and the underwear did not fit because the measurements that I gave Andrea were too small, though I took them from Lumedoll's Web site. Regardless, here's Ellery the geek with her questionable sense of style and Lucian the sly, finally with pants. Bonus picture of them together!!Continue reading Ellery the geek and Lucian the sly
A devious man
Canst thou tell by his smirk?
I erased one side of Lucian's smirk in an effort to make his mouth seem smaller.Continue reading A devious man
Television viewing this season
- Bones. I'm rather worried for the start of this season, which is the last one. Now that Brennan is pregnant with Booth's child, I fear that the season might do away with all her character development and just show her as a mindlessly joyous mommy-to-be, in the way that the previous season was all about Angela and Hodgins having a baby, blech.
- Fringe. Previously extolled.
- Haven. In this summer SyFy series, FBI agent
Mary SueAudrey Parker investigates people with unusual powers, who all live in the small town of Haven, Maine. Helping her in her quest are police chief/ love interest Nathan Wuornos and the guy who just hangs around being a lovable scoundrel, Duke Crocker. Intriguing hints of an overall conspiracy or mythology rise above thoroughly mediocre acting and predicatable mysteries of the week. - Sanctuary. One of my friends turned me on to this Sy Fy show last year. It's about an immortal genius, Dr. Helen Magnus, who preserves, studies, rescues and allies herself with "abnormals," or paranormal, mythological, folkloric beings. Amanda Tapping, as the indefatigably capable Magnus, is an exemplar of feminist heroism, besides being really sexy. The constant time-traveling, season-end cliffhangers and whammy-like game-changing twists [Magnus' daughter dies! Her supposedly dead father comes back! There's a Hollow Earth inside this one! It's invading our Earth!] provide mindless entertainment. It's a silly series, but I keep coming back, even though Agam Darshi as Kate Freelander is a character so annoying and useless that she needs to go away.
- Supernatural. Why do I even bother with this misogynist drivel? Must be my crush on Jensen Ackles, whose portrayal of the long-suffering Dean continues to attract my eyeballs. Since it burned out its universal apocalypse storyline at the end of season 5, this show has had nowhere else to go, instead just preferring to hang around into irrelevancy. I only watch occasionally.
- Warehouse 13. This SyFy series concerns two Secret Service agents, Myka and Pete, who happen across a warehouse filled with magical, semi-historical artifacts. They join the quest to snag, bag and tag artifacts when the artifacts are wreaking havoc across the world. Repartee between the two agents, the silly Pete [played by Eddie McClintock] and the more tightly wound Myka [played by Joanne Kelly], provides chuckles, as does curmudgeonly leadership from Warehouse head Artie [played by a dry Saul Rubinek]. Add a computer genius in her 20s, Claudia [played by Allison Scagliotti, who is way hot], always ready with a slick phrase, and you have a low-key, good-natured series.
Our lovely Lucian!
Lucian!!!
Continue reading Our lovely Lucian!
Our lovely Ellery!
Ellery with a redone mouth and darkened eyebrows looks no less messy, but infinitely improved, to my eyes.
Continue reading Our lovely Ellery!
Do-overs
I have come to the decision that Ellery's mouth looks blotchy and too dark. I will find some pale pink paint after work and maybe a smaller brush. I really like living so close to an arts and crafts supply store!!
Ellery with final pink hair!
I made Ellery's hair tonight and started painting Lucian, but his mouth wouldn't cooperate, so you'll see no pictures of him tonight.
Continue reading Ellery with final pink hair!
Ellery with “test hair”
How do you think Ellery looks with long blond hair? She doesn't look right to me…too severe….. [Wearing a dress by an42!]
Continue reading Ellery with “test hair”
The Great Sarcasmo, or, Ellery scribbled on [=painted]
I painted Ellery this evening. She's much more sarcastic than I expected. :p I have also included a picture of my messy desk with faceup supplies all over it.
Continue reading The Great Sarcasmo, or, Ellery scribbled on [=painted]
Ellery and Lucian arrive!!
Ellery and Lucian came today. They are so beautiful. The Lumedoll resin has a solid, chalky quality that I really like, with delicate tones and a nice tooth for scribbling on with watercolor pencil.
Continue reading Ellery and Lucian arrive!!
More clothes for Ellery: T-shirts and sleeves
Andrea finished up Ellery's clothes recently and sent me pictures of the final products.
Continue reading More clothes for Ellery: T-shirts and sleeves
More pictures of Stardoll Barbies!
I found large pics of the other 4 in the Stardoll/Mattel collaboration Barbies. They are below. I can't really tell because of the paint jobs, but there seem to be some new headsculpts there!
Continue reading More pictures of Stardoll Barbies!
Welcome Home doll furniture
Mary Ann Roy of Welcome Home creates brightly colored and detailed "neo-retro" furniture and sets for dolls. Impressively, she makes all her pieces by hand. I enjoy browsing the pictures on her blog.
First real shoot with new camera part II: Sardonix in a tree
Looking mischievous, as usual.Continue reading First real shoot with new camera part II: Sardonix in a tree
First real shoot with new camera part I: Sardonix praying [?]
She was supposed to be rubbing her hands together evilly, but she looks like she's praying for an afflatus of sarcasm…
Continue reading First real shoot with new camera part I: Sardonix praying [?]
Some shots from my new camera!
I'm slowly learning how to use my DSLR. Here are some pictures from my second round. I reduced my first round too greatly and had to trash them. From top to bottom, Ellery's desk, Ellery's desk, Ellery's desk, and Jareth.Continue reading Some shots from my new camera!
La la la, using my new camera
So I used my new camera this morning and took some awesome closeup shots of my dolls and their accessories, but you can't see them because I haven't figured out how to get them off the camera yet. Things I have learned about my new digital camera:
- It is very sensitive to shaking, so I have to hold it very still.
- It's also very sensitive to light, and I haven't figured out how to compensate for that.
- The greater the number of mm in a lens, the closer it can get to the subject!
Ooooh, a user’s guide to my new camera!
I just bought Canon EOS 30D Digital Field Guide to help me in my pursuit of DSLR photography too. For $4.00!
Lookit my new camera!
More clothes for Ellery
Andrea showed me Ellery's underwear and one of her many pairs of sleeves today. "Semper ubi sub ubi…." Tee hee hee!
Continue reading More clothes for Ellery
DSLR acquired!
Just spent $436.39 for a used Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens from amazon.com, as well as $40.39 for a CompactFlash memory card and an extra battery. It comes with a battery, battery charger, manual, lens, et hoc genus omne. Now to learn to use the damn thing…
I think it’s time for my first DSLR.
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-buy-a-dslr-camera
Canon EOS 400D? 30D?
I'm so sick of my current camera crapping out when I try to get in really close to my dolls.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
In A Discovery of Witches, magically gifted but power-blocked witch Diana finds a medieval manuscript that witches, daemons and vampires want, falls in love with a 1500-year-old vampire and struggles to prevent war between various groups of supernaturals, all while trying to master her own magic. Grace notes about the joys of old books and libraries, as well as a learned, persistent treatment of alchemy, make this one more interesting than the average, but it still is a heavily predictable and somewhat silly beginner for a trilogy. I’m still curious to read the sequels, though.
Ellery and Lucian shipping at the end of this week!
Headline says it all! I hope to have them in my possession soon!
Wings for Jamisia???
I made Jamisia some wings out of fake maple leaves glued back to back, then pinned to the back of her dress. I'm not sure if I will keep these or make different ones. I do like the ragged edges though. They seem in keeping with her character.
Continue reading Wings for Jamisia???
Jamisia mostly done
I may add wings to her if I can find some, but, for now, she has eyes and hair and a dress and underwear, so here she is…Mismatching apron is for when she bakes!
Continue reading Jamisia mostly done
Jamisia with wire and also Lucian’s clothes
Now with 23 gauge brass wire in her arms, Jamisia poses much more effectively. In the second picture, she shows off Lucian's blouse and vest, nabbed from a Mattel Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow Ken doll.
Continue reading Jamisia with wire and also Lucian’s clothes
Jamisia’s messy, sketchy faceup
Just did Jamisia's messy, messy faceup with my new watercolor pencils. They behave much better than chalk pastels, but I still wish I could find some medium that would apply to resin as easily as colored pencils to paper.Continue reading Jamisia’s messy, sketchy faceup
Jamisia’s here!
Jamisia arrived today! Here are some pictures of her box opening. I was mistaken — she did not come with wings, but that's okay. She's still a fairy princess with beautiful soft pink-colored skin, little pointy ears and a nicely sculpted smirk. See?
Continue reading Jamisia’s here!
Lola Paprika on the windowsill
Just some large beautiful pictures of Lola Paprika sitting on the sill of my condo.
Continue reading Lola Paprika on the windowsill
Lucian’s clothes, take 2
I just ordered an outfit from a Mattel Jack Sparrow [pirate] Ken doll for Lucian. The vest separates from the blouse, but the blouse and pants are sewn together, so I have to remove the blouse and hem it, which I think I can handle with my limited sewing skills.
Lucian’s clothes arrive
Lucian's clothes, courtesy of a June Planning Captain Hook Taeyang doll, arrived today. Overall, it's too big, better suited to fit a Cy Girl [see Frank modeling the jacket below] or a male action figure than a slightly built, slender male figure as Lucian.
Furthermore, much to my disgust and annoyance, all elements are well-made of soft, lined fabric, except for the dang shirt. The blouse is made of a sleazy pink fabric more appropriate for cheap playline Barbies. When I pay a lot for a doll or its outfit, I expect high-quality fabrics, not something that I can find on a $5.00 doll in the department store.
I don't know what I'm going to do with these clothes. I like the jacket; it's well-structured, form-fitting and nicely lined, along with being a deep dark red. But I refuse to offend Lucian's [and my] standards by dressing him in the blouse that I thought would work so well for him. Back to the drawing board…
Continue reading Lucian’s clothes arrive
“Here be dragons.”
A collection of fanciful beasts on old maps, presented in a slide show by Slate, addresses the famous phrase denoting the edge of the known world: "Hic sunt dracones," or, "Here be dragons":
It’s a common belief that “Here be dragons” was a typical inscription on old maps. In fact, the Latin equivalent, Hic sunt dracones, has been found only once, on the 16th-century Lenox Globe, and the first scholar to study the globe, one B.F. da Costa, opined in 1879 that it referred not to mythical dragons at all, but to the “Dagroians”—a bloodthirsty Sumatran tribe described by Marco Polo. The phrase may have entered the public consciousness via the writer Dorothy Sayers, who used it in one of her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.
Jessica comes home early
Well, apparently Jessica Jamisia, Ellery's third created muse, will be coming home before Ellery, Lucian and Mazzy in the form of a Soom Faery Legend Rose Sprite Princess in rose pink resin, bought on the DOA Marketplace. As you can see on the product page, she comes with a human body and optional rose-shaped wings and pointed-blossom "faery feet." I plan to give her wings, but leave her barefoot with human legs.
Of course, there originally was no particular justification for Jessica Jamisia to be a fairy, but, now that she is, I really should work an explanation into my story. Hmmmm…
Janvier Jett against the brick
Just some pictures of Janvier Jett against the brick wall of my house. I used some watercolor pencil to enhance the yellow eyeshadow, making it more greenish and blending it with the blue. I think it looks more striking this way. She' s such a happy character! Continue reading Janvier Jett against the brick
Yay, Fringe is back!
Just saw the latest ep now. While, at first, I derided the show for being a rip-off of the X-Files and making a mess of the Boston area setting, I have now come to really enjoy it. The mythology of the show has slowly built over each successive season, creating a rich tapestry of "fringe" events, shapeshifters, Observers, alternate realities and a whole coherent system that we viewers still have much to learn about. The way in which the show builds tension and engagement with each following episode keeps me entertained, as does the vast collection of mythology that the show seems to have only suggestively scratched the surface of.
Anna Torv as Olivia and her other-world alternate shows nuances of talent playing two versions of the same character, both hardened in different ways. I used to think that Olivia had all the personality of cold tofu, but, as the show has gone on, I have realized that much of her character is repressed, but Torv plays the depths beyond that repression very well, with an American accent even.
Usually, I do not really care for main-character romances in TV shows, but I really like the slowly developing relationship between Anna Torv's Olivia and Joshua Jackson's Peter. I assume there must be a lot of underplayed angst because the characters have been thwarted by so many things — not knowing if the other reciprocated, Peter having sex with Alternate Olivia instead of Real Olivia, Peter's erasure from the main timeline — but the actors do a good job of downplaying their emotions so that their actions speak loudly than any maudlin score.
Speaking of Peter, I am very distressed that he hardly appeared in this ep, only as "the man in the mirror," and I hope that he becomes reintegrated in the cast soon. I really like the way that Olivia, Astrid, Walter and Peter work as a family-like unit and as a Fringe team, and I wish that Peter would be back to sustain that group chemistry.
Do you think Ellery has enough dolls?
Ellery's completed bookcase and desk with the addition of Homies figures for her dolls.
Continue reading Do you think Ellery has enough dolls?
Working some more on Ellery’s desk
Got some more Rement today and added the mushroom lamp, mushroom bookends and mushroom pencil cup to her desk. Can't wait till her dolls come in.Continue reading Working some more on Ellery’s desk
Some of Ellery’s clothes
Andrea is making some of Ellery's clothes. Here's what she has so far. Look at the incredible little patchwork skirt!!
Continue reading Some of Ellery’s clothes
USPS in the toilet…no mail on Saturdays proposed
According to VPR, the US Postal Service proposed closing 3,600 post offices across the US, including 14 in Vermont. Meanwhile, Obama backed a plan to cut out Saturday delivery! None of these plans have been approved by Congress, so they remain only ominous threats for now.
These ominous threats lurk on the horizon because the USPS is losing money for several reasons. 1) People are purchasing fewer post office products than they used to. The USPS depends on consumers' money because it funds itself. 2) The USPS recently overfunded its pension plan billions of dollars. 3) Also the economy in general is in the toilet.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I tend not to care about the USPS because so much of what it brings me is either useless [junk mail] or redundant [bank statements]. I suppose I'm a little agitated now because I'm in a phase of amassing things for Me and My Muses, which means depending on the USPS, and I WANT MY MAIL. But, overall, the USPS to me looks like an institution that needs to make sacrifices because it is not keeping up with the times, unfortunately.
Working on the details in Ellery’s room
Here are Ellery's desk, end table and bookshelf as I begin to add to them from my store of Rements and other small items. I'm leaving some space on her desk and bookshelf for the small hordes of Homies that should be coming soon…
Out of all of these, my favorite piece is the Rement end table, featuring a working lamp with a shade that has animals all over it!Continue reading Working on the details in Ellery’s room
Ellery’s room
Here's Ellery's bedroom where much of the action takes place…Continue reading Ellery’s room
Improved rolltop desk from Batchix, now with little legs
I substituted the carpentry scrap boosters for little pieces of dowel to raise up the rolltop Batchix gave me. Now it looks much better!Continue reading Improved rolltop desk from Batchix, now with little legs
Rolltop desk from Batchix, now 1:6, with some dolls on it
I just glued the loose pieces of the rolltop desk together and added some boosters on the bottom, then put a few of Ellery's dolls around the desk to see the effect. Pretty nice!
Continue reading Rolltop desk from Batchix, now 1:6, with some dolls on it
Rolltop desk from Batchix!
My rolltop desk came in the mail today! This is Ellery's desk. As you can see in the first photo, it needs some help. As you can see in the second photo, with Frank for comparison, it's also a little small, probably closer to 1:8 than 1:6. However, I can make this work. I think that I will add some legs, if I can find any, to boost the height, which will make the scale seem more agreeable. It's a nice little piece, and, for $5.00, I can't complain. It has a lot more character than the plastic Barbie desk that I was planning to use.
Continue reading Rolltop desk from Batchix!
Doll meetup, 09/17/11: Janvier Jett and others
More pictures from today's doll meetup. From left to right: Janvier Jett, Mousey's Customhouse Ai Ange Gaby in lap, Mousey's Asleep Eidolon Jiao Jr., vermont chick's Kaye Wiggs Layla Fair Elf.Continue reading Doll meetup, 09/17/11: Janvier Jett and others
Doll meetup, 09/17/11: Janvier Jett alone
vermont chick [Lorraine], Mousey [Suzanne] and I gathered at Tiny Thai in Essex Center today for lunch and doll play! We took our dolls out to the gazebo and the butterfly bench for some photos after eating. Here is Janvier Jett by herself. I thnk that she has beautiful eyes, especially behind her wee orange cat's-eye glasses!
More toys for Ellery
My mini GI Joe came today, along with his mini adventure-mobile and his mini sarcophagus. Jareth and Jennifer show off the playthings.
Continue reading More toys for Ellery
Today’s word: “wamble”
Today's word is "wamble," pronounced "wahm bull" or "wham bull." It means "to feel nausea" or "to move unsteadily from side to side." It seems pretty onomatopoetic to me!
I also think there's room for a figurative definition, "to tergiversate," i.e., "President Obama wambles on the issue of same-sex marriage; he used to support it, but now he hedges."
Lucian’s castle complete!
I got my black velvet fainting couch and earring holder [=bookshelf] today. Here are some pictures with Jareth modeling. Tres sophistique!
Continue reading Lucian’s castle complete!
The illusion of pictures
This fountain, presumably located at Osaka City Station, Osaka, Japan, sprays the time, the station name, floral designs, stripes, etc. Think about the engineering that went into this…
Some of my favorite little things: 1:6 foods and accessories
Since I have such a collection of Rements and other 1:6 foods and accessories, I decided to highlight some of my favorite pieces, mostly food. Boy, I have a lot of this stuff!
Continue reading Some of my favorite little things: 1:6 foods and accessories
Barbie ornaments with travel cases: perfect 1:36 scale!
I picked up a Hallmark ornament of Silken Flame Barbie and her travel case to be a doll for Ellery to play with. Today I got the mini doll and the mini case in the mail and checked them out against Jareth and Frank…just the right size to be a doll's doll! The doll can be put in and taken out of the left side of the carrier, and the bottom drawer opens. The clothes on the right, however, are molded into the sculpture of the carrier.
To find similar items on Ebay, search for "barbie traveling case ornament" or similar. Barbie ornaments of dolls without traveling cases are not in correct scale.
Continue reading Barbie ornaments with travel cases: perfect 1:36 scale!
More Rements!
I went to my parents' house today and sorted out the 1:6 things I didn't want. I also used my two new plastic trays to organize the rest of my Rements and small items.Continue reading More Rements!
Stuff that went to Goodwill today
I found some weird 1:6 things in my collection that went to Goodwill today. I took pictures of everything, but I don't want to post them in case I get nostalgic and want them back. I got rid of some music-playing stairs that had a wreath on them, 2 chairs with metal frames, a couch shaped like lips, a wooden Chinese table, a shopping cart, a shampoo bottle shaped like a water cooler, a round end table, a set of three drawers, a folding baker's rack, a washer and dryer combo, an ATM machine, a lamp, a mini fridge and various clothes that no one would ever wear. No, nobody can have any of it because I already dropped it off at Goodwill. I feel better now that I have gotten rid of two boxes of 1:6 stuff.
Old lighting results vs. new ones
So here are old lighting results with parchment paper over the lamps:Continue reading Old lighting results vs. new ones
A doll for Ellery
Ellery plays with dolls, so, naturally, I need to get her some dolls. I would like the dolls to be around 1:36 scale, that is, 1:6 scale for 1:6 scale people, but I can go with slightly larger or smaller. Anyway, I bought Ellery an awesome little replica of Silken Flame Barbie and her carrying case. It is a Hallmark ornament with two pieces, one the doll, the other the carrying case, which actually has an opening drawer. It's either 1:36 scale or a little smaller. Pictures when I get mine! No, I won't tell you how much I paid for it.
EDIT: I also got her a set of 3 1:36 GI Joe ornaments, including a GI Joe, an ATV and a mummy's sarcophagus. Yay, now she will have truly scaled dolls! No, I won't tell you what I paid for those either.
EDIT 2: I also got her a set of 12 Homies figures, which are 1.75 to 2 inches tall, just right for 1:36 scale. It was only $6.00 for 12!
Improved lighting setup
EDIT: Uh oh, the light looks too brown. I'll have to substitute wax paper for the parchment paper.
I put some parchment paper over my lamps this evening to diffuse the harsh full-spectrum light. Here is a picture of the lamps.Continue reading Improved lighting setup
1:6 toy chest
Here are most of my 1:6 toys. Can you find the [not all are listed] Barbie [starting from top left and working toward bottom], warrior woman, zombie, American Maid, princess, woman with stole, blond girl, 1:144 dollhouse furniture, doll of Jareth, happy family, angel, baseball glove and baseball, basketball, soccer ball, mushroom mat, ray gun, pink squirt gun, [now moving up the right side] cars, VW bus, school bus, backhoe, stuffed pigs, stuffed bears, stuffed bunnies, puzzle mat, helicopter, duck pull toy, dog, penguin, caterpillar, lunchbox, swan training potty and toy shelf with black-haired girl, bunny, devil girl, horse, bird and art supplies?Continue reading 1:6 toy chest
Lucian’s castle walls
Jennifer shows off Lucian's castle wall with tapestries. I don't want to hear anything about unconvincing fabrics or obvious tacks. This works for me.Continue reading Lucian’s castle walls