My year of no gueros.

Inspired by a post by my friend Joy (her blog is linked over there on the right), I decided I've given enough headspace to guero writers.* Who needs more fresh! manly! wisdom! from white dudes, I ask you? I'd been reading the latest Thomas Pynchon and was moseying my way through a pretty annoying T.C. Boyle book when I thought: fuck it. I will put these books down and indulge in some women writers. As it happens, I've been out of town a lot this month, so my year of no gueros, which was to begin June 1, has started off slowly.

I started by re-reading Toni Morrison's Beloved, which I had read in college in a giant hurry, and was completely bewildered by at the time. The book drifts, jumps, and skitters back and forth in time, space, and imagination without warning or clarity, but this time around I was able to make sense of it. I don't know if I was less aware of the sexual violence built into slavery when I read the book as an undergrad, and therefore missed it, or what, but somehow I had forgotten that aspect of the book. It was perhaps the least fleshed-out, most casual references to the horrific sexual violence experienced by minor characters that most took my breath away. The woman who spent her adolescence "shared by father and son" ("the lowest yet", she called it). The guards abusing prisoners on a prison farm. I could go on, but it's more than I can repeat. It is a powerful book, and a difficult read, and I'm glad I picked it up again, twenty years on, with a more finely honed feminist consciousness and the time to move through the book slowly, deliberately, taking breaks when I needed to catch my breath.

Having no time to go out and buy something new just yet, I picked Mansfield Park off the shelf. I also, clearly, needed something a little more lightweight. I keep hoping that I will find a character in MP that I like, but I just don't like anyone in it. Never have. The character study, the plotting, the witticism, all are what I love about Jane Austen, but there's just nobody to grab ahold of. Fanny's nearly spineless, and when she does have a spine, it's because of some overly correct moral compunction. I'm not into religious people. Edmund's boring, Tom's an ass, Henry Crawford an insufferable egotist, etc., etc. The women are mostly dull or vain, except for the abusive Mrs. Norris, who I want to whack with a stick. I think perhaps this is Jane's pointiest book. I won't go so far as to say it's actually *mean*, but it's definitely got an edge.

I'm nearing the end and in need of more fiction, and so I went trolling through Joy's blog for some contemporary women writers to track down. I'm pleased to report that I have books by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Tayari Jones, and Kathryn Harrison headed my way. I've got some Kate Atkinson queued up but haven't ordered it yet. Book reports to follow, yo.

*I can't find the post I'm thinking of, but you should just go read her whole blog anyway.

Molly Ivins

Look, I'm not smart enough to figure out how to embed a YouTube video, so please click on this linky here:

Molly Ivins

for a video of Molly Ivins in her usual fine form: smart, funny, and fired up.

She died of the dread breast cancer earlier this week and she will be missed.

is this a southern thing?

So I'm in a strategic planning meeting this morning for a statewide arts organization, and every other person has to provide a lengthy personal anecdote along with their every suggestion. What is that? Yes, we all have personal anecdotes that lead to our opinions, but when thirty people are brainstorming, is it really necessary to listen to everyone's? REALLY? Bog.

Come to think of it, maybe it's not a southern thing. I went to grad school with a guy, who I actually refer to as Mr. Personal Anecdote, who could never say anything in a seminar without prefacing it with an anecdote. I'm not sure he ever contributed much besides that. But, damn, give him a word or two and he will free-associate a personal anecdote that will be long and pointless, and he will look miffed if you stop him in the middle of it to leave, in the event that you have, you know, SOMETHING ELSE TO DO besides listen to his long-winded tales. Mr. Personal Anecdote is from Kansas. So maybe it isn't a southern thing.

If you have made it through my own tedious personal anecdote, by all means go watch this, which is scary/hilarious.

And then maybe somebody can explain to me why Hattiesburg is the only city in American where NO ONE uses craigslist.

that is all. I have to go back to the strategic planning chatfest. I really need to put a bottle of vodka in my desk drawer for days like this.

On Losing Edges and Winning Senate Seats at I Blame The Patriarchy

On Losing Edges and Winning Senate Seats at I Blame The Patriarchy

Sometimes, I find myself blathering on too long on someone else's blog, and I think: why am I littering her comment section with my only-slightly-related musings? So then I come to my senses and just respond over here, littering my own personal space with said ramblings. So.

Look, I live in Mississippi, so I take my political joy where I can, right? So I have this shit-eating grin on my face all day yesterday, despite Trent Effin Lott's re-election. (and because Gene Taylor, my beloved democratic representative, got re-elected).

Then I go to the gym after work, in my continuing good mood, and mid-workout I look up at the monitors and see the quote in which Shrub says he can recommend a good interior decorator to Nancy Pelosi to help her change the drapes. I damn near fall off the elliptical trainer, I'm pretty sure I cussed out loud, and my heart rate went up directly. BOG, he just can't let up for a minute, can he? And I can see his frat-boy grin, shrugging shoulders, "what? what'd I say? heh heh" if someone were to say, what the fuck? What the fuckity fuck are you doing making snide suggestions to Nancy Pelosi about hiring a decorator?

In other news, red state chatter is incorrectly passing the word that Pelosi intends to immediately send more troops overseas, which is not even truthy, it's the exact opposite of the truth, according to her press releases, which I googled this morning. Google 'em yourself, though, because frankly I'm too lazy to run the search again. Try this one: Nancy Pelosi more troops to Iraq

Molly Ivins...

Creators.com - Creators Syndicate

as always, Molly Ivins hits the nail on the head. The media is turning the Middle East into a scary movie, and nothing is better for Republicans than fear, fear, and more fear.

I heart Molly Ivins

Creators.com - Creators Syndicate

Run Bill Moyers for President? GENIUS! I'm in!

Read this: Cat and Girl

Cat and Girl

"A kiwi is like if a hamster was a fruit."

Pure Genius.

A Harmless Woman

Louise Bourgeois

There are oh-so many reasons to love Louise Bourgeois' work: it is good to look at AND wickedly funny & insightful. I just ran across this in a Christie's catalog, a Harmless Woman.

Why harmless? She has neither legs to walk on, nor arms to fight, nor a mouth to speak, eyes to see, nor a brain to think. She is a fuckbot, pure and simple.

Of course, she's not a woman, either. She's just a mound of acquiescent flesh.

She leg-presses 400 pounds!

State of the Secretary - New York Times

Now, I don't know much about Madeline Albright, but any 69-year-old woman who can leg-press 400 lbs is a badass.

Damn!

democracy & despotism: Redneck Mother unearths a gem

Redneck Mother: But they have so many letters in common!

Watch the whole thing, and tremble. We are on the slippery slope to despotism, and if anyone showed this in a public school today they'd get stomped by the godbags. If anyone showed it on TV, they'd get hassled by the godbags and righties. If, bog forbid, PBS showed it, it'd be more fuel for the "PBS is commie" fire.

Except for the free exchange of information on the internet, the US is on the downside of each of the scales that help assess where a country is on the democracy-despotism spectrum. The categories: power, respect, wealth, and freedom of information. It's a blunt instrument, to be sure, but still pertinent today.

We don't seem to have made a lot of progress towards democracy in the last 60 years, looking at it this way. I have to qualify that, though, because women and people of color and children do have more power & respect than they did sixty years ago, at least legislatively speaking, but then again, in 1946, they were starting at zero on those scales.

The Andrea Dworkin Lie Detector

The Andrea Dworkin Lie Detector

Nice summary of truth & lies about Andrea Dworkin at nostatusquo.com I've heard for years that Andrea Dworkin said that all hetero sex = rape, and could never quite get my mind around it. turns out she NEVER said it, nevah, nevah, nevah. Well, praise Andrea. I couldn't finish her book Pornography, it was too depressing, but she's always fought the good fight.

The Crass Picture Show

The Crass Picture Show

In addition to Ms. Mentor, I also love Miss Manners. And I am sick and bloody tired of spending many dollars on a movie experience, only to have morons piss me off. If they're not text-messaging, they're actually talking on the phone. If they're not talking out loud, they're whispering. I particularly hate it when a couple is nearby and the man takes it upon himself to Explain the Movie to his date, who no doubt would be capable of understanding what was happening if he WOULD ONLY JUST SHUT UP for a minute. This happens a lot at sci/fi and fantasy movies, because, you know, science fiction is so Manly and Complicated, no mere girl could possibly understand what is happening.

example: I went to see Pride & Prejudice recently in Pensacola. It is a quiet, subtle movie, and definitely for grownups. A man down the row from me talked in his wife's ear throughout the movie. I mean, a running commentary. In a speaking voice, not a whisper, and he had a deep voice, so the rumble carried over to me. I shushed several times but to no avail. After the movie I stood up, looked at him and said "was that you talking through the whole movie? Maybe you should not talk during movies any more." And his WIFE apologized. Not him, his wife. I'm sure she has learned to tune him out, but for the love of bog, shut up in the movie theater, and talk about it later!! Why bother to pay the prices to see a movie in the theater if you're not going to pay attention to it?

My other recent movie irritation was the woman who said, when I asked her child (very politely) to please not talk during the movie, the mother said "He's talking to me!". Well, so? You should both shut up! Jeebus. He was old enough to understand it, and if he can't sit still and be quiet for 2 hours, she should wait for the movie to be out on video.

Well, and then there are the people who bring very small children to adult movies with scary stuff in them. No two-year-old needs to be in a movie theater watching a PG movie, ever. I expect childish noise at a G-rated kid movie, but not at anything more mature. Do these people not have babysitters? Can they not trade babysitting with friends & family if they can't afford to pay a babysitter?

Sigh. If I'm going to spend twenty bucks, I just want a nice peaceful movie experience, so I can lose myself in the action and not be constantly pulled out of it by rudeness around me. I have a friend who always has to sit in the back row, far away from everybody, so she doesn't end up in a fist fight with some rude bastard.

Miss Manners is right: they need to hire ushers who can boot people out when they're being rude.

Ms. Mentor knows all

Chronicle Careers: 2/6/2006: Isn't It Romantic?

I heart Ms. Mentor, the Miss Manners for the academic set. She is particularly pertinent for women academics, but men should read her as well. Unfortunately, even though I'm not currently ensconced in academe, some of the same problems apply to living in a small town. A university, after all, is nothing so much as a very well-educated small town. Everybody knows everybody else's business, and romance (the topic of this month's column) is rife with difficulty, starting with the limited pool of the eligible and ending with knowing you will have to see your exes at the grocery store until you die, or move away.

Human Rights Smackdown: Kidney vs Uterus at I Blame The Patriarchy

Human Rights Smackdown: Kidney vs Uterus at I Blame The Patriarchy

How I love Twisty. I'm always agreeing with her, and she takes the time to say it so much better than I can. What, however, does it say about me that my two favorite blogs, that I obsessively check, are "I Blame the Patriarchy" and "Cute Overload"??

hard to read but worth it

Joy Castro's memoir, The Truth Book, is a difficult story, beautifully told. The complicated intersection between the patriarchal Jehovah's Witness religion and child abuse is at the center of her story. I've known her for years and always knew the bones, but not the flesh, of the story of her stepfather. Now strangers know more than her friends ever did, and all I can think is: brave, brave, brave. Buy it, read it: www.joycastro.com