kali

As a synonym for female genitalia, it leaves something to be desired, no? Oh spam filter, what would I do without you...

On another front, dreamwidth!!! I feel so out of the loop. This is definitely a sucktastic time to never be near the internets. It is impossible to perform the appropriate amounts of suck-up networking. Anyways, if any of you have an invite going spare... *bats eyelashes*

News from the cancer fields: Things mostly the same, except the bills have started coming in. I hate them. They are incomprehensible, the people you can reach by phone are, apparently, paid to be unhelpful, and it is infuriating. My parents continue to be remarkably incompetent for the educated, sensible people that they are, and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY. Last night, my dad had a fever. Does my mother call the doctor? No. Does she read the nice red, crab-decorated notebook that I have prepared where I write down everything that happens, all the instructions given, and all the doctor's contact info? No. She calls me. Whereupon I have to do all of this, over the phone, and then speak to the doctor, who recommends an antibiotic and calls it in -- then I have to come to their house to pick up the prescription card, run it to the all-night pharmacy, wait to get the prescription filled, run it back to the house. In the middle of the night. (D. [blessings be on his head] drives me around, so this is less aggravating than it could have been, and I'm happy to do the running, but what the fuck????)

!!!

Also, Eve Sedgwick has died. I was extremely fond of her, and will always be inexpressibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work & make things with her, if briefly. On my very first day at the Graduate Center, I met her... and was blown away in a wave of fangirliness -- and since I was already sort of nervous and freaked out with first day jitters, it was all sort of overwhelming. She gave me an enormous cuddly, comforting hug, and I've never forgotten it. It was always a shock to realize that such a fine, penetrating, incisive intellect was housed in such a... snuggly exterior. She was profoundly kind, and I will miss knowing that she is in the world. Sigh. Also, cancer. FUCK YOU.

Anyway. How are you guys doing?

Here is some cool stuff:

a video shown at a Sony executive conference earlier this year regarding the information age. I thought it was pretty neat.

And the Indonesian hobbit skeleton goes live today at SUNY Stonybrook for the first time.

Also, Trek Yourself! Cheezy goodness, sponsored (appropriately) by Cheeze-it. You haven't lived till you've seen yourself as a Vulcan. Live long and prosper, kids.

I love google, my fandom, and Wales.

How much, but how much do I love that google punk'd Doctor Who/Torchwood fandom? With a Victorian ghost???? That is wearing a scarf??? SO FUCKING MUCH.

original story via rm

Best name for a group ever? Or best, best name for a group ever?

A Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women is planning a protest against some wingnut right wing group which has been assaulting young women for going to pubs, and is planning on using V-day as an excuse to attack some more in their attempt to compensate for their small dicks effort to be the morals police.

Man, V-day so not my thing, but these ladies seem pretty awesome:

It does not matter that many of us have not thought about Valentine’s Day since we were 13. If ever. This year, let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS*. Look in your closet or buy them cheap. Dirt-cheap. Make sure they are PINK. Send them off to the Sena.

[...]

What happens after Valentine’s Day?

After Valentine’s Day we should get some of our elected leaders to agree that beating up women is ummm… AGAINST INDIAN CULTURE.

I feel proud!

*chaddis: colloquialism for underwear.

This is crazy.

Dear god. I.. wow. More reasoned response later.

Oh, Canada. I envy you. When y'all have debates, they actually, you know, appear to be debates. Like (more than two!) people sitting around talking. It sounds nice...

In addition, hello Sen. Biden. Just about the time you zinged Gov. Palin about the Road to Nowhere, I forgave you for the Rave Act. What's more, hofnarr did too, and that's saying something. You were great. Also, see what I did there? What's wrong with Mr. Biden? Mr. McCain? Why must we remove all civility and etiquette from this process? WHY? This isn't a barn raising. It's a presidential election. (Granted, the distinction is becoming less and less clear, and thanks for that, Republicans!) I also notice that despite the plethora of "Baracks" and "Johns" and "Joes" - there remained not one single Sarah. What, she's a woman, so gets to retain the courtesy of her title? WTF?

I thought Biden did an excellent job. Much of the time, it seemed like Sarah Palin wasn't even there. He had bigger fish to fry, and I think he fried them. I thought the notes on gay marriage were powerful, and incidentally I loved that he slipped first and called it marriage, when he first said he was for it, and only later in the answer amended it. That slip actually gave me hope, much like the part where he said they supported nuclear energy. It's sad that Dems. can't win an election talking about nuclear energy, because environmentalists (naive ones) hear nuclear, and go crazy. Anyway, those two moments really gave me hope that underneath all the pacifying rhetoric, the Obama/Biden ticket might... for lack of a better term, be on the side of the angels. Which is nice. Biden's affect in the gay marriage moment was great too. "Marriage is between you and your religious leader. If your pastor/rabbi/priest/mullah/holy kumquat won't marry you, I'm sorry but it's none of my business. But there's a justice of the peace who will. WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS AGAIN?" And it's so nice to know that Mrs. Palin tolerates me. And some of her best friends are gay. Thanks. That and two dollars'll get me on the subway. Also so disingenously saying that she & McCain won't take away rights that haven't been granted yet. Fuck you. Incidentally, have read several newspaper accounts of the whole thing, and got several different versions: Sen. Biden unequivocally endorsed gay rights; Gov. Palin didn't, vs. neither Sen. Biden nor Gov. Palin support gay marriage and all the varying permutations in between.

I also thought Palin bringing up Biden's wife was one of the tackiest things I've ever seen. Really charming there. But his slam at the end about single fathers - yeah, you don't get to play that card with this guy, Mrs. Palin.

I wish however, that re: healthcare, the Obama/Biden side would stop giving so many numbers. I mean, I like the numbers, but I already know who I'm voting for. Is it so hard to say: in McCain's tax plan, he wants to tax medical benefits. He wants to tax you when you have go to the hospital. I think that would give people pause.

In the end, Palin had five answers memorized, and insisted on giving them over and over, when they had nothing to do with the questions. (Nice zing to Katie Couric by the way, Mrs. Palin. That's it, blame the interviewer for the filter of showing you looking like an uneducated yokel. Nice!) Some news sites are calling this a draw, because she didn't fall on her face. This particular gauge of success is so alarming to me, I don't even know what to say, except that it's humiliating for both my country and gender. On the other hand, you'd think I'd be used to that by now.

I've lots of things to post about - drinking absinthe, bombs, food porn, etc. etc., but this is not that post.

I've just discovered that Lucy Maud Montgomery killed herself in 1942. Anne & Emily, Valancy & Pat and Jane - they were some of the dearest friends of my childhood. And this year, I've been reading L.M. Montgomery's journals for my dissertation - and reading someone's diary is such an intimate feeling, even after they've been published, even after they're dead.

I remember discovering the short stories - ghosts, and divorces and illegitimate children and alcholics and depressions, always depression - and I was so fascinated.

This, though. This makes me feel... I don't know what.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition the Roman Empire.

faris_nallaneen sent me this today. Something about it seems v. odd.

I keep telling myself that I don't care any more about this election.

Mainly because, after the last one, I cried. Actually cried. With real tears and everything. If you know me in person, you know what that means. I don't get choked up over this stuff. I don't cry at movies or books either, except as a figure of speech.

I also remember watching the DNC last time around, in '04, and watching this speech that came out of nowhere, and saying, "Wow. This guy's going to run for president." Well, lots of us did that, no? That's why we're here. But I didn't think it would be this year, and he has managed to disappoint me in so many ways.

But I've got to say. I got a little teary here:

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

I wish I could believe it.

I can understand wanting to recreate Torchwood in real life. But hopefully real life spies will be a bit smarter, because honestly, I love Torchwood 3 to death, but I'd be terribly worried if the actual fate of humanity rested in the hands of people who, as doctorwhy put it, couldn't change a lightbulb. One of them would fall in love with it.

Time Warp Wives.

What do you lot think of this? I am at a loss. I never know what to make of these people. On the one hand, I admire their dedication to detail. For another, I am really into vanished worlds as well. (Hello, cosplay! Dressing up is awesome. Recreating lost worlds, equally so.) In addition, it's nice to live in a time, where people can be this weird, and not get, y'know, stoned to death or whatever. I support people's constructed, fictional lives, no matter what fashion, as long as they're not hurting anyone, - and it's great that they've been able to find people of like mind to live with etc.

BUT. They are crazy. tin. hats. Like, I get the desire, but not the 24/7 of it all, you know. Obsession can be taken too far.

Here's the other thing. It's like the male-dom thing in bdsm. Like, I've been known to find it really hot. BUT. in sex! Not in real life, right? Politically I find it to be repugnant and stupid. (Femme-dom too, for that matter, but you know what I mean.) For me, the great thing about recreation of these vanished times, means that we can keep the things we like for play, and lose the things we don't. Also I like running water, the internet, eyeglasses & contact lenses, etc etc.

I just don't know.

Thoughts?