July 2, 2009

i also like those guys' pink wigs, very lazytown

Gay sex - yeah, not marriage or wimpy civil unions, but plain old gay sex - is legal in India. Step in the right direction, though! And I love the caveat in this article:

"Any homosexual act without the consent of either partner remains a criminal offense, however, Indira Jaisingh, counsel for the nonprofit Naz Foundation which had challenged the law, told CNN."

Just in case you thought we were legalizing sexual assault!


The rep from the Naz Foundation is only talking about gay Indian men, though...finally, a reason to Google "lesbianism in India."


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July 1, 2009

took an online test from the BBC

and it turns out I'm FUCKING AWESOME at rotating 3D objects in my head.

I just have to brag about this because I got 11 out of 12 when the average for women was 7 and the average for men was 8.

I AM THE BEST


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June 26, 2009

Seen in Iowa City today

The Meachem Travel Service building is spraypainted with "4CHAN."

An Accord with a license plate frame that says, "I'd rather be watching the Andy Griffith Show."

White Rabbit is capitalizing on death with a screenprinted shirt in their window that has a picture of young Michael Jackson and the words "Never Forget."


Several days ago: A handwritten note taped to the wall of the Dubuque St walkway tunnel that said, "This is probably the closest that you and I will ever be."


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June 25, 2009

Overshadowed!


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June 12, 2009

Chaz Bono

formerly Chastity, has come out as a trans man.

The AP seems confused: they're good about using the masculine pronouns - he, his - but they say he is having a "sex change" (come to think of it, I'm not even sure what all that means) and that he's going "to become" a man. Like, he will be a man at some point in the future. Do they mean that they think pre-op/non-op trans people are not yet (not really) the genders they claim to be? Just, you know, think for a second while you put the words together. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. The "related articles" headlines below the AP text do the same thing, also referring to him as Cher's "daughter" and even "daughter Chaz." Son! It shouldn't be that hard.


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June 8, 2009

Evan reading in the tub

Saved and blogged because I like documenting Evan's dainty and elegant hand gestures.









There's my handsome boy!


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June 4, 2009

art portrait artsy books

I got two from the library and am looking at them. I flipped the page to see Alice Neel's Self-Portrait, Skull, 1958.

I was startled!


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May 31, 2009

Dr. George Tiller assassinated

Fuck.

CNN says he was "shot to death." No, the wording is important here. This guy was assassinated. This man was one of very few late-term abortion providers in the United States - operations performed to save women's lives - and now he's dead. I've read about him a few times before on Feministe and elsewhere and I knew he was in danger, but it's still shocking when it actually happens.


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May 23, 2009

Nightmares

I had two of them this morning: one in which my mother strangled a gray kitten and then I wept about it, and another in which I was trapped in a house with a creepy roommate who may have been a monster. I wandered the house, lost (my nightmares often involve me being trapped in a labyrinthine building that is impossible to navigate) but terrified of finding this person, and every time I did I was overcome with fright enough to teleport back to where I started: crouching under a dining table. My goal was to make it outside to the back yard (which was foggy and looked like a cemetery), and eventually I made it there but was still afraid of coming across the creepy roommate and starting over. I realized that he only appeared when I was most afraid he was going to, and that since I was unable to think of him without becoming afraid, all I had to do was actively disbelieve in his existence and he would never appear. Then I got confused about whether that meant he was only a figment of my imagination or whether he existed outside of my mind but my state of mind controlled his ability to appear to me. It wasn't a lucid dream, as I didn't know I was dreaming and I didn't have any control over what was going on, but I rarely have such complex and reflexive thoughts on my environment, my influence on it, and my own thoughts while I'm dreaming. Couldn't stop my mom from strangling that kitten, though. What the hell, mom?

After sewing that last dress that came out so well, I went to Jo-Ann today and used up most of my gift card on another dress pattern, a zipper, and 2.5 yards of fabric - a sturdy cotton twill in my favorite color, a medium grassy green.

I also want to sew another item for Evan and I asked him what he might like. A dress shirt, shorts, a dandy waistcoat? He said anything would be good.


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May 21, 2009

latest sewing project completed

The fabric.


The finished dress.


Cream lining and invisible zipper.


Me in it - nevermind the hint of armpit hair (and yes! Lydia, that is our "Cancer" poster you got us in the background and Janani, the beard poster you got us is in the kitchen).


I still have a $25 gift certificate for Jo-Ann Fabrics that I got from my birthday - I'll probably get a couple more patterns and some more fabric. Once I start buying fabric I can't stop. Someday I'd like to splurge on a nice dress form but right now I have no place to put one.


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