♥ ¢¢ ♥ ♥

You remember my younger self, right? It's been a while. The younger self comics aren't around much because they're so uh, different. They're odd, I write them as I go.

I spent two days working on a comic that I ended up not liking. Maybe I will fix it later and post it sometime, it happens! Expect another update soon. But for now, not wanting to wait any more days to update, I just made a comic about frustration. Poor little self, I don't always treat her well! And I felt so bad about the broken telescope, I kept it until I was in university.

I still like advent calendars, though.

Huh. So my HPL honour's thesis has been copypasta'd in its entirety into a thread on a white supremacist forum. That's...interesting.

Yesterday I ran into the mother of someone I went to high school with at the grocery store. She clearly is out of the gossip loop as she was very surprised to see me. She seemed kind of shocked, actually, and kept saying how she could not get over how much I haven't changed since high school.

This is a statement I feel conflicted about. I think it's true, but I kind of wish it wasn't. I'd like to look better than I did in high school. But most of the time I am the same badly dressed make-up-less slob with frizzy hair that I was then. Huh. But it's true that I haven't gone grey or started balding or gained a lot of weight, like some of my classmates have. Not that those things are bad! Just obvious signs of aging.

On the other hand, a couple of people asked me, when I was out with my sisters this summer, if I was their mother. To which my response was basically JESUS CHRIST. I mean, I was NINE when the YOUNGEST was born. And I'm pretty sure it was about how my body is read as matronly because I'm fat and they're all thin, when I just take after one side of the family and they take after the other.

I'm wearing black underwear today, like the bad girl in a film noir.

This came from someone else, but I laughed so hard I figured it deserves a place in here.


Teih sentensd me 2 toentie yrs uv boerdom
Becaws I tryed 2 chang teh system frum teh insaed
Nao I'z caming 2 reward dem
We can has Manhattun first, than we can has Berlin

I'z gaided bye a signul in teh ceiling
( Read more... )

I've been emailing back and forth with Padre Mike, the padre at the military college where we'll be getting married, and all of this time I've been thinking that his name sounded awfully familiar. Today it hit me: he's the padre who stood beside when I went to my ex's repatriation ceremony when they brought him back from Afghanistan.

I told R about it as soon as I figured out how I knew the padre, and his immediate response was "are you okay with that?" (my emphasis). I've thought about it, and I am. I remember Padre Mike as being someone who was nice to me when I really needed it, the fact that that memory happens to be tied to an ex-boyfriend's death doesn't, for me, change that fact.

I'm wondering, however, if it's fair to my fiance to have anything that he might remind him of my ex? Even if it's one he never has and never will meet? He says it doesn't bother him, but is it something that I should even be asking of him? As much as I like Padre Mike, this wedding is about both of us.

Speaking of my awesome fiance, exactly two years ago tomorrow, I met the man I'm going to marry. (D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!)

I was a pretty bug fan of A Claymation Christmas Celebration when I was a kid.

Originally published at Unicorn Tea Party. You can comment here or there.

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Last year, on December 6th, Megan Leslie delivered this speech:



Hello. Thank you for asking me to be here today.

I have been attending December 6th events my entire adult life. It never feels any less somber. Less affecting. Less urgent. Nineteen years later, and where are we?

I was 16 when the Montreal Massacre happened. The victims seemed like adults, I remember thinking that. Women in their early 20s, studying engineering. It was all pretty far away from my teenage reality a small mining town.

But when I look at this list now, and read these 14 names and ages, it strikes me. They were so young. They seemed like adults, and yet, I’m several years older now than the oldest victim was then.

I’ve noticed over the years that we are very careful with ourselves when we discuss this shooting.

We do not to say the name of the killer, just as I am not going to today.

We also only talk about the fatalities. Not of the hit-list the shooter had prepared, containing the names of several prominent feminists, many of whom are our friends.

We hold the events at arm’s length, and we squint.

In looking for answers, we ask ourselves: “why?”.

Because we can take comfort in that answer to “why?”

It contains phrases that allow us some distance:

“Lone gunman.”

“Isolated incident.”

“Psychotic break.”

Oh, we let ourselves think. That’s why. All of those reasons are separate from me. Unique.

I am not culpable.

I am not in danger.

But the question we don’t let ourselves ask is what.

What is it about our culture that made the shooter blame “feminists” for all his troubles?

What is it going to take to change things?

What can *I* do?

The answer to these questions is unsettling, because it makes us face uncomfortable facts:

We live in a culture of casual misogyny.

We live in a culture that pays attention to women most often when it wants to berate us, blame us, or compare us to each other.

And we don’t do enough to fight it.

Like when hundreds of Aboriginal women go missing.

When the word “equality” is taken out of the Status of Women mandate.

Like when on my first day in Ottawa as a new MP, another MP said something so sexist and so degrading to me that my first thought was “what am I wearing? Did I ask for this?”

When victims of violence are referred to in the media as “hookers” and “junkies” rather than “women” or even “people”.

As a woman, we’re subject to these warning shots all the time.

Be pretty.

Be careful.

Be good.

When we talk about December 6th, we place it as an extreme end of a spectrum that begins with domestic violence.

I am acutely aware that domestic violence touches many more lives than we are likely to ever know . It is a pandemic problem that provincial and federal governments have done little to address.

But I do not feel that the events of December 6th were an exaggerated version of domestic violence. I believe they were an extreme form of the gender terrorism that happens so much all around us that we hardly even recognize it for what it is anymore.

In the wake of these shootings, big plans were made.

We promised ourselves an end to violence against women.

And here we are today, for the nineteenth time, saying “Never again”, and trying to believe it.

We need to do better than this.

We need to call out sexist behavior, even if it causes social friction to do so.

We need to support women who are working to create and reflect a culture of non-violence and possibility.

We need to tell the media that they won’t talk us into hating ourselves and each other.

We need to remind our government that women count.

We need to look after each other, and ourselves.

The handbill for this event asks us to make a commitment to act against violence against women. I commit to naming sexism and gender terrorism. And I commit to going easy on myself when I don’t have the strength to stand up against it. And I commit to seeking support from others to make sure I have the strength to name it the next time.

On December 6th, 1989, fourteen women were shot because someone thought that they’d stepped out of line.

On that day, all of their power and potential was taken from them.

On this day, and on all days, we owe it to them to not waste ours.

I've been rewatching the new Dr Who series, starring David Tennant, and oh god. How does a television show make me get misty over people in big rubber alien suits? How does it create a sense of majesty and tragedy about a time traveler, and make me care about a robot dog in just one episode? (you're a GOOD DOG. 'Affirmative.' AHHHH) I think maybe I've gone soft in the head.

Looking for a Christmas gift for the independent free-spirited lady in your life? The last time I looked, my novel Overqualified was something like #20 in "Literature / Single Women" over at Amazon. I have no idea how that sort of thing happens, but when I read that, I walked around all day winking at ladies on the street. As you do.

The TV show Hustle has me wanting to become a professional con man and pickpocket. What could go wrong? It's sort of the opposite end of the spectrum from being a super-villain, which has been another dream of mine for a while now. Do you think it would ruin my career if I kept getting arrested for picking pockets?

ha ha! I put a drawing there to get your attention! It's of the Food Emporium on Gottingen, so it is related geographically at least.

The details for the signing at Strange Adventures next Friday in Halifax are up! All the info is on this facebook event. See you there! (ps, dudes, don't add me on facebook, I don't add people I don't know and neither should you!)

Whenever I go for appointments with my personal trainer, we spend a couple of minutes in the trainers' office. On the wall they have a poster of a woman in a bridal dress who looks at you accusingly while standing next to a caption that reads "Will YOU be ready for the Big Day?" Stupid poster, trying to make me all self-conscious, I've got 'til July, and my dress fits just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Yesterday, I got to take a break from the high-pressure high-maintenance Bay Street type-A gym for something that felt just as effective but way more fun: I went to a hula-hooping class with durdaana. It's the most fun I've had at a fitness class in a while, and I was terrible! I remember my hula-hooping skills being awesome in elementary school, but I seem to have regressed. Keeping that hoop up was hard work. (Interesting fact: the larger and heavier the hoop, the easier it is to keep up.) This is a workout that only looks like goofing off; I had already worked up a sweat ten minutes in. This morning my abs feel like ... well, like they've been repeatedly beaten into submission by a large, heavy circular object. It took me until the 45-minute mark to finally get the hang of "basic hooping" again. Unfortunately, by that time, I was so exhausted that the fancy tricks the instructor was teaching us just weren't going to happen. I will definitely be going back.

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

Didn't I say he'd be back? I read that famous rant by Verne about how Wells was full of it for making up spaceships etc without explicitly showing how they functioned and powering them with steam or coal or what have you, things that made sense in 1899.

But listen to this interview between H.G. Wells and Orson Welles. Who could EVER stay mad at someone so adorable? I ask you!



stoorree

PS: Are you in Halifax? I'll be doing a signing at Strange Adventures on the 11th, details to come!

and also: My friends, it appears Bad Machinery is kicking it up a notch, if you haven't gotten into it yet I think now is the time.

People write the most AMAZING press releases. For example:

GREAT PANTHER RESOURCES LIMITED (TSX:GPR) (the "Company") is pleased to advise that it is seeking shareholder approval at its Extraordinary General Meeting on December 17, 2009, to change its name from Great Panther Resources Limited to Great Panther Silver Limited, without any change to its capital structure.

FANTASTIC.

I resist the urge to forward every release to someone I know, because probably everyone would stop liking me, but it's all so interesting!

I guess some of it is mostly interesting in its banality.

OH hey also, today I was thinking about this contrast in media. Two works that explore the idea of life as a series of small personal tragedies. One is a poem, one is an electropop song:

1. Charles Bukowski's "The Shoelace"
2. Windom Earle's "Oh No No No No No."

Can you think of a similar pairing? Please share!

Caught up in all the mess that is Swine Flu I totally forgot to tell you guys about something awesome that is going on in the near future.

This lovely little gallery known as Diagonale is hosting it's annual fundraiser this month and 3 of my pieces are there for sale. If you or someone that you love is in the Montreal area with weekend than you should check it out! The show is only up from the 4th - 5th of December. The vernissage is in the afternoon of December 5th from noon - 2pm.

So folks, please come on out and see what is new and for sale in fibre art this year. The gallery is run on next to zero money and this fundraiser is their way of paying the rent. In all seriousness though, come on out, you don't have to buy you just have to be there to tell me that my pieces are better than everyone elses. Jokes!

Here is a link to the online preview gallery showing some of the art available for sale. LOOKIE ART!

My main email address (not the one on my profile page here) has become impossible to use due to spam. Even Spam Sieve on my system can't cope.

I am going to change it and I was wondering if anyone knows... Is there a disadvantage to having a one letter email address? i.e., one letter in the part before the "@"?