sundries

[rm]

It's weird being able to talk to Patty while she's away. Normally, she's on a dig and it's nearly impossible. This time around, we can email and talk a lot. Yet, in some ways that makes it much harder to deal with the fact that she is away, because I'm reminded of it all the time -- so close and yet so far. Constant longing. But, if the CH visit works out, I'll see her in one month. So yay.

Elsewise, there is little to report since I last wrote, 7 hours ago. Tonight, though, is all about creative meetings.

OMG, I have GOT to submit something to this. I don't have an idea in my head for it, but I must find one. MUST.

This made me laugh myself stupid. Note, while accompanying image is not NSFW, it is the cover of a porn movie DVD, so if someone noticed the big Hustler logo, that might not be okay for the office. It's okay for rollick's office though. Let her tell you why.

Some days the news is too much -- not for all the horror, but for the juxtaposition of headlines. See today's two side-by-side winners at CNN: "Cops: Mom taped toddler to wall" and "Cancer patient: I see Jesus in my MRI".

Things I can't believe I'm linking to (which may be a theme for today): iCarly and the spaghetti tacos. But hey, defictionalization!

In more serious news: A dancer living with AIDS talks about her life.

An inside look at the gay panic in Uganda. via supergee.

Also from supergee: How a placebo currency saved Brazil. It both makes perfect sense and is sort of brain-bending. It also explains why the Brazilian currency is named as it is.

Meanwhile, hazing charges at Sigma Gamma Rho.

Just had my first 2010 encounter with "the reason for the season" crap. Jesus is _a_ reason for the season. Not _the_ reason. Also, it's early October? Give us a month, yeah?

the_xtina thinks there should be a poll about a photo I linked to last night. Clickies below the cut.




[Poll #1628322]

And, just so we're clear, that distraction choice? That's for you browneyedgirl65

Comments

[sageautumn.livejournal.com]

Hrm. I guess I'm a bad person because I read "Mom tapes toddler to a wall" and think... wellll so long as it wasn't skin-to-tape contact, I can totally see that being a good idea.

Really, given the options of losing it and who knows what, and taping your kid to the wall for five-ten-thirty minutes? I'm totally okay with the taping idea. Of course, I'm also reasonably okay with the idea of putting a kid in a closet for a time out, IF the closet is safe, lit, stocked, etc. A time out being a matter of minutes, not hours/days/months.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

The duct tape story... I was more discomforted by the anchorwoman's tone than anything else. FFS, get a grip! But, as for the story itself, as someone who has taken care of babies and has very rumbustious nephews and niece, let me tell you, you can make duct taping (or any kind of tying up) playful for kids without it damaging to their delicate psyches.

I was very happy to play "hostage" in various pretend games... yes, kinks begin early, don't they.

In the poll to that gorgeous photo, I marked "depends on the day". Despite being very comfortably cis, the demeanour of both figures are very appealing and I just couldn't bare to chose who I'd want to be in that situation.
I'm wondering what that says about me.

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

It's a great photo but I don't identify in any way with either. They look too static and perfectly put together, presenting like mannequins, at least to my perspective.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

I think you need an "and I'm uncomfortable with it!" ticky box in there somewhere. That said, I think it's a little of both, but mostly gender. If their poses were reversed, I'd still be sticking with NK. If their outfits were reversed, I'd still be sticking with NK (also that could be awesome).

Also, thanks to trying to consider same-sex options for those poses in my head, I now have Neil Caffrey replacing NK and Peter replacing BL seared on my brain. You're welcome.

[dabhug.livejournal.com]

I agree. I didn't identify with any of it. It's pretty people doing pretty things. *shrugs*

[booknerdguru.livejournal.com]

*snorfles* I love NPR. That article about the reais is so very Brasilian. I agree with your perfect sense yet brain-bending. The entire country is like that.

:-D

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Me too. I kept thinking, "Good Lord woman, can you slant this any harder?" Yellow journalism at its finest.

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Poll answer: I'm female-identified and lean subbie, but I can't ID with Nicole Kidman. I'm too short, brunette and not-glamorous for that.

[airspaniel.livejournal.com]

Every time I try to articulate what that picture makes me feel, I end up off on a tangent that has very little to do with anything. It makes me feel things; I'll leave it at that. It's a very beautiful photo.

Also, and I feel bad for this, but Luhrmann's junk steals the focus in every full body shot of him I see now. I can't not notice.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Er, what? Hang on, distracted here...

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a very, very lovely White Collar image. And very interesting how gender both does and doesn't change the dynamic when I think about it.

[nysidra.livejournal.com]

I don't have the type of mindset that 'identifies' with people in a picture, movie, or book unless they are actually like me. And by "like" me, I mean, passionate about creative pursuits, intellectual, anti-social, learning-addicted, and hyper silly.

My physical attributes are 'nothing.' Just cuz you have tits, you are nothing like me. Having a penis doesn't mean you can't be my twin.

So, no, I don't get the identification thing, and just see "I've seen those people before. Nice dress. Like that suit. Why's he holding her chin like that? Love the dark background."

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

I don't even identify with photos of myself, so...

I can never do this kind of question about identifying with pictures/people/characters, and I can't decide if that's because I have a weird personal definition of identifying which leads me to answer these kinds of questions with a big fat "I don't", or whether I'm just personally weird. It's possible I actually just don't exist, and don't seem to want to try to, either.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, I think, in particularly, people very strongly didn't identify with this one, which was interesting to me, because it's so resonant to me, but then, so much of my life is about which side of the image-making thing I'm on, so I have an excuse.

And certainly, my ability to insert myself into any narrative is arguably excessive.

[bare-bear.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's a pretty image and has some interesting dynamics, but I don't identify with anything in this photo.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

But not at all abnormal, by my perception, anyway; I usually kid that I'm just a fictional sociopath. Which I guess is really part just how I roll and in part because my academic background is linguistics; I always look at language first in a text, and anything else that comes from that I suppose I tend to view as a product of the language rather than a graspable or aspirational thing in itself.

... Which has nothing to do with responding to photos, but there you go. Yeah, this, is just not a world I ever walk in, but I can totally see why it would resonate with you; in fact, I'd probably think of you if I'd seen this shot completely elsewhere. What would your ticky box answers be, if you don't mind my asking?

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Awright, more seriously (and now out of the rain, the traffic, and what all else), it's a fascinating picture, once you ignore the, er, distracting elements in it.

I was thinking about how it is constructed -- and it's a very constructed image, down to the elegance of their outfits *and* the shabbiness of the set they are on. The lighting, the clothing, the posing, all of that. For me, it makes it possible for me to identify with either of them. I didn't think that BL seemed to be *not* one to look at, because every element of NK's pose. There's a line from her right toe to her chin, along his arm (especially b/c of the lighter fabric covering it) right up to his face.

The power construction is fascinating, because on the one hand he's leading her with his hand on her chin, but my first distinct impression was that "he's got the tiger by the tail" which upends the "traditional" power reading. On the other hand, that segues back into him being the one powerful enough for someone like her (and not some other schmuck).

Am I the only one who finds vests androgynizing for men? Because to me they deemphasize the shape of the upper torso, making shoulders look much less wide, therefore getting rid of the classic V of a masculine silhouette.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It's definitely the power dynamic I respond to in the photo, far, far more intensely than the gender (which is interesting, because in terms of gender, if you said to me when you're styling yourself as a woman or as man, I'd point to this image, because it nails what I want to project in regard to genders very strongly). Certainly, it's the "depends on the day" answer. I've spent a lot more time being the woman in this photo, than the man, and it's not something that sits easy with me, even if it's true. For me, being posed chaffs, even if there's a part of me that's always looking to be chosen for same. And being the person doing the posing. Always, always so much fucking harder and heavier a task than I think it's gonna be. Always. Which then kicks the longing back the other way. That's the dilemma of it.

[tdanaher.livejournal.com]

If it had been present I would I have clicked on identifying with the photographer, because without the artistry of the observer BL and NK are just a man touching a woman's chin in a room.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who finds vests androgynizing for men? Because to me they deemphasize the shape of the upper torso, making shoulders look much less wide, therefore getting rid of the classic V of a masculine silhouette.</I. Not only you. I think it's very true. But I think that's because, to my mind, waistcoats particularly recall the Regency era, where an hourglass figure was a sign of _male_ beauty. Certainly, I wear waistcoats all the time, because it's the easiest way to fool the eye regarding my actually very hourglass silhouette.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Yep, that same factor would turn around and be an assist that way too.

I realize I didn't answer the question of which would I identify with and honestly? The person behind the camera.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Axial tilt is the reason for the season.

It's an old joke, but a fucking accurate one.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I wish this had been a numbered list, but that's one of my particular quirks.

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Re "This made me laugh...": You have been official declared a Bad Influence for showing me this. The part of me that's trying to tell me I should be embarrassed by wanting this has been quite thoroughly shouted down by the part that's screaming about how awesome it is and that I need to by the marketing tie-in as well.

Re "Things I can't believe...": I can't believe I'd never seen this before (admission of guilt: I have watched iCarly even when the kids weren't around). I'm going to try it. I'll let you know how this turns out.

re "Meanwhile, hazing charges at...": Having seen the public part of the sorority hazing at Mississippi University for Women (my high school is on the MUW campus), I'm really not surprised by this.

re "Just had my first...": Shouldn't they be too busy planning "Harvest" festivals so that kids aren't exposed to Halloween to have time for that yet?

re the photo: My first thought upon looking at it was "Pygmalion," which is a fantasy I can enjoy from either side.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Ha ha, I know! You don't even have to go that far back. I keep diaries when I travel, and was looking at one from 1987. That's the one where I went to Britain for the first time with two other friends. There's one day I describe in which we all went off on different errands and agreed to meet back at this plaza at 5pm or something like that. One thing led to another, and I got back to the plaza late (like 5:15, actually) and waited another 45 minutes for the rest to show up. That would absolutely freak me out now, because now I'd expect to be able to text them and find out what was up! But back then, I just waited because there was nothing else to do. I can't remember at what point of waiting I would have gotten worried at not seeing anyone come back yet...

[rm.livejournal.com]

I too have watched iCarly (which I think is sort of fascinating as a tween show about image-making and celebrity), but the spaghetti tacos were also news to me.

On the sorority story, the note I did not make was that I was in a sorority and was the pledge mom one term. We didn't hurt people and we didn't humiliate people (and I could tell you stories about shit I saw or heard about from other houses). But we sure as hell gave people a lot of no-win challenges. I found it all pretty easy when I was a pledge, in large part because I have the type of mind that understands that game. And I think I drove the other people in my pledge class mad trying to explain it to them. When I was pledge mom, I was pretty harsh, but I was also like, "look, this is how you get through, because this shit? this is bullshit? and I expect you to be smart enough to know it." Was an odd experience.