Folks! I've got to update my current blogging picture since the one I've got now is a year out of date. Would you please take a look at the following pictures and tell me which would be best for feminist blogging purposes?

The first is from my birthday party last month!!



The second is from December when I got my hair cut!



The third is a recent session of self-portraiture:


The fourth is from last monthish:


Poll #1562306
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 12

Which of these do you like best?



Sometimes my arguments with Jason are just fantastic. We've been watching the season one finale of Heroes and his reactions are so very wrong and so honest. He just keeps saying "it's just ridiculous" and listing all the reasons it is, actually, ridiculous and over-arch, and I keep saying "You just don't understand" and listing the reasons the first season is clearly awesome, and sci-fi is fantastic. And it's totally fun.

This are the kind of arguments we should have. But this weekend, we had yelling arguments about John Mayer. And more serious stuff, but you know. John Mayer. Not even [mayer's] racist or sexist comments, whether or not he's devalued his musical career through fame-whoring.

There's stress on stuff right now - not undue or unusual, just tension. But there is debate and respect as well. Even if it's about Christina Aguilera's new single.

I would say I text people about 50  times a week. I text to make plans about 80% of the time. Most of my chatty texts are like "I had fun last night!" or "Thanks for coming over!" Occasionally, I'll send people something that made me think of them, or a feel-better message, or a funny joke, or something. But I don't have one of those keypad phones, so I find chatting through text to be slightly awkward. 

I am drinking a big old glass of red wine and listening to the Jay-Z show I attended last night in Greensboro.

The show reminded me of several other shows.

At the show, I was most reminded of the Britney Spears show I went to in September. It was the same venue, and there was an aspect of fashion show to it – everyone at both shows was dressed up, club wear I suppose (I am not much for clubbing myself, though it sounds fun!).

In conversation with Jason, I was reminded of the No Doubt show I saw in June. The crowd had the same intense level of participation and enthusiasm for the music – juxtaposed with a lot of respect for other concert-goers. It wasn’t a social event primarily – folks were there for the music. There was a similar level of stagecraft as well - effective without going overboard (though No Doubt was much more with the costumes).

Looking at the set list drew a strange parallel with David Allen Coe. Coe and Jay had about the same number of songs (~40) and both were short sets (by my measure – 40 and about 90). Both did a lot of one-minute songs and medleys. But David Allen Coe is the single worst show I have ever seen or ever expect to see, and Jay-Z was terrific. (and more so on the second listen).

The difference is professionalism, sobriety, respect for fans, and enthusiasm. David Allen Coe is basically a worthless racist and misogynist with some songwriting talent. I only saw him because there’s one song of his that I love and because it was on the way to another show. I’m frankly sorry I gave that scumbag money. Its only use was setting the bar for exactly how low live music can go. Jay-Z made a point of showing appreciation – beyond even the typical James Hetfield ego-stroking crowd participation – to the crowd. The band was polished and professional – they knew their cues.

Jay-Z spent time at the beginning of the show and ten minutes at the end thanking his fans, often individually, trying to make us feel like he appreciated the money we spent to see him (a lot, by the way). David Allen Coe walked out with his middle finger up, and ended the show while the band was still playing while yelling “FUCK YOU WE’RE FROM TEXAS!”

It's a play on/mocking my feminist sensibilities and my poppy frivolities while reinforcing my own patriarchal leanings.

Aloud, it's supposed to sound like a youthful woman saying "oh, that's soooo patriarchal" as they would say, "oh, that's soooo gross", as an offhand comment in a casual conversation. It's meant to mock the OH SO SERIOUS trappings of the word by placing it in a trivial context. 

I'm a feminist, and it's a part of my daily life, but I don't always let it get me down. "So patriarchal" is a way of letting that crap roll off me, of dismissing it with a "whatever, so patriarchal".

It's also meant to reflect the conflict between my beliefs and my life. I live a pretty traditional life, and I often find myself reinforcing societal norms. So it's a poke at me - even though I'm a big ol' downer feminist, I live in this world too, and I'm happy here with my privilege sometimes. it's okay to be happy, but I sometimes don't fight it as much as I maybe should.

I actually prefer to use kyriarchal now, a word I didn't know when I created this journal in May 2008. Kyriarchal refers to the system of interlocking privileges that create the conditions for inequality, whereas patriarchal is focus on male privilege. And males ain't the only ones with privilege.

I am never, ever wishing for snow again. Fuck. You. Snow.

Three firsts today:

1. Stung by a bee. (Twice. Ouch.) I used to be terrified of them, but yesterday I totes killed one and though "Ha! You'll never get Me!"

2. Swept my bangs to the opposite side (part stays on the normal side).



3. Got linked by Feministing.

Hey LJ friends. I am scrambling to finish my resume for my application for a MA in English at Virginia Tech, but it's kind of ... long. I've got all of the writing-related jobs I've had on there, dating about four years and six different jobs (two of them at Hollins' CLE - my old job as a tutor and my current job as a coordinator). What should I cut down? Should I have my three most recent jobs and leave off my job as a tutor? Should I combine my two jobs at the CLE? Should I just have it all? Please help!

These are the books I read for pleasure in 2008, in order read. I'm posting my quantitative review of each work and a brief qualitative review after each cut.

1. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo

( 3/5 )

2. Logan's Run, by William Nolan

( 2.5/5 )

3. The Running Man, by Stephen King

( 3/5 )

4. Selected Stories of Phillip K. Dick
 

( 4/5 )

5. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Phillip K. Dick

( 5/5 )

6. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson

( 3/5 )

7. The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan

( 4/5 )

8. The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson (I specifically recommend this to babyinthecorner.)

( 4/5 )

9. A Scanner Darkly, by Phillip K. Dick

( 3.5/5 )

10. Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

( 1/5 )

11. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

( 2.5/5 )

12. The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout

( 3.5/5 )

13 - 20. Sin City, vol. 1-7, by Frank Miller

( 2.5/5 )

21. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach

( 3/5 )

22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick

( 3/5 ) 

23. Ghost World, by Daniel Clowes

( 3.5/5 )

24. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, by Phillip K. Dick

( 2.5/5 )

25. Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg

( 2.5/5 )

26. A History of Violence, by John Wagner

( 3/5 )

27. Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story, by Harvey Pekar

( 3.5/5 ) 

28. Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

( 5/5 )

29. The Quitter, by Harvey Pekar

( 4.5/5 )

30. Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up In Smoke, by Dean Kuipers

( 3.5/5 )

31. The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe

( 4/5 )

32. Choke, by Chuck Palahnuik

( 3/5 )

33. Absolute Power, by David Baldacci

( 2/5 )

34. The Dead Zone, by Stephen King

( 3.5/5 )

35. Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin

( 3.5/5 )

36. The Ugly American, by William Leder (recommended to Amy G.)

( 3/5 )

37. Thirteen Days, by Robert F. Kennedy

( 4.5/5 )

So, that's 17 traditional novels, 11 comics, 6 non-fiction, 9 sci-fi, 9 horror, and 6 by women. (I would be most interested in raising that last number if anyone has recommendations.) 37 books in 2008 is an improvement from 27 in 2007.

I recommend all of these books, by the way! Even the ones I didn't like were worth reading.