May 2009 Archives

(cuz L7 are teh awzomst!)

Thank you to Ken for sharing the link for this.

A bit late to posting this, but here it is nonetheless.

Perhaps you've already heard of Connie Culp, the recipient of the most complex facial transplant.

I'm far from the only one to find her inspirational, for getting through everything she has done, all the while maintaining a sense of humour and humility. And for stepping up to challenge assumptions people make based on outward appearances.

If only there were more Connies in the world.

I've almost completely stopped drinking coffee.

On Friday, I had a half cup that I didn't enjoy; yesterday, none at all. That said, I'm hardly giving up caffeine, I've found that green tea's quite nice, and I still have the odd cup of black tea. Earl Grey for preference. But I think it ticks off another box on the stereotype list to say that I'm really enjoying herbal and fruit teas instead. I can't get enough of my caramel rooibos or peppermint. Not at the same time, mind, that would taste funny. Also sampled and recommended in my Adventures with Infusions: strawberry and mango; orange, mango and cinnamon, Tension Tamer from Celestial Seasonings (though I think that's maybe my least favoured just now) and chamomile. I think I'll be ordering from Starchild at some point in the (hopefully) not too far off future.

(stolen from The Noble Savage)

1. What are your current obsessions?
English muffins with peanut butter; sugarsnap peas; World of Warcraft professions skills and companion pets.

2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?
Coloured tights, probably. Or my shirt that says 'I'm not bitter, just unsweetened' just now.

3. Last dream you had?
Something set in NYC involving Harry Connick, Jr. and Grace from Will & ... and Melissa McEwan's autobiography.

4. Last thing you bought?
Essential oils that were on clearance in the chemist.

5. What are you listening to?
Random podcasts. Last one was the Archers.

6. If you were a god/goddess who would you be?
One who could smite bigots and make the world a nice place for everyone. And I'd make chocolate for all.

7. Favourite holiday spots?
New York state and city. I'm kind of wanting to go back to New Paltz for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...

8. Reading right now?
Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present by Joanna Bourke; Kindred by Octavia Butler and Young Adolf by Beryl Bainbridge.

9. Four words to describe yourself.
Thoughtful. Daydreamer. Cerebral. Survivor.

10. Guilty pleasure?
Not Always Right.

11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?
Ken; also Ross Noble, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand and Mark Thomas.

12. Favourite spring thing to do?
Look at sunlight through the leves of trees.

13. When you die, what would you like people to say about you at your funeral?
That they will miss me, and maybe that I made a lasting impression on them.

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?
A cup of tea; my new meds are doing strange and interesting things to my head.

15. When did you last go for a night out?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages ago. Mostly because it's just a hassle to go anywhere from here in the evening. I like going out to OKO Express for lunch, which I did twice when Ken was over.

16. What album did you get a copy of most recently?
I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got by Sinéad O'Conner. It was £1.50 in Shelter!

17. Care to share some wisdom?
If wishes were horses, we'd all be glued to the ceiling.

18. Song you can’t get out of your head?
Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra. Or Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes.

19. Thing you are looking forward to?
Seeing Ken again. Also, moving to New York.

20. Which disease or condition would you most like to see eradicated?
Anything that causes a slow and/or painful decline and/or the loss of dignity. I'd also like to see ableism eradicated.

21. What is your most irrational fear?
That none of this is real.

22. Who are your favourite artists?
Turner, Arthur Hughes, Picasso and Van Gogh. I'm also very fond of the Pre-Raphaelites in general.

Rules of the game. Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag 6 people.

Right, I'm tagging Ruth, Aquarius, Jud, Pilfkin, Helen and the first person to volunteer who isn't one of them!

Shocktacular! An American feminist blogger who gets the differences between 'England' and 'the United Kingdom' (or 'Britian')! Admittedly, Melissa McEwan is married to a Scotsman, but I'd like to think that maybe she'd know the difference anyway, unlike Jill at Feministe, and that each country is no more or less important than the others, unlike the blogger who writes at Cast Iron Balcony.

I wonder if Melissa feels like running feminist geography classes for international feminist bloggers?

Oh, and I had a dream about reading Melissa McEwan's autobiography last night, oddly enough...

Why I no longer read the Independent: it's now more or less the Daily Mail but pretends not to be.

I'm vegan for primarily ethical reasons: I do not believe I have any right to inflict suffering on any other living creature (including fish which can feel pain, it's been scientifically proven [ignore the shitty fish puns and the -my-strange-friend-the-vegan bit]) but the way to get people to consider these things is to present it as a personal issue. *YOU* will die sooner if *YOU* continue to eat this amount of red meat. People can't see beyond themselves to other people, let alone 'dumb' animals.

I have no idea if 'rape kits' are handled with any greater speed in the UK, but given that attitudes to rape victims are pretty much the same the world over, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's much the same as in the US. Just take a moment to think about how many crimes could have possibly been avoided, if the evidence had been processed with due speed.

And I'm with NWA (and Rage Against The Machine) Fuck the police. And the whole fucking patriarchial, kyrarchical, heteronormative, cisnormative, racist shitstain that is humanity.