the front row

awareness

Thu, 28 May 2009 06:44:21 GMT

I've not been taking care of my cuticles lately, so they tear and get those annoying staph infections. Adding to the bother is the extent to which I still sunburn; cue more redness and swelling. Frustrating. But for a moment, I stopped and thought. My body, without my being particularly aware of it, is responding to threats. It's working to protect me against radiation from the sun; it's attacking foreign bodies that my torn cuticles admitted. In the most ridiculously literal sense of the words, my body is fighting for me. It shouldn't be as encouraging as it is, but there you have it.
Work is routine, although the reading is good. I've mostly been working on this women of color in academia issue, trying to find articles that also treat it as an issue of class, which is surprisingly hard. I'm more inclined to do the other research job that I have, the international criminal law articles. Still knitting, on a difficult lace shawl that just seems to take forever. The summer is heavenly.
Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale tastes like soda pop. I'm going to Washington DC on the 18th (only for the weekend) and to Ireland on July 10th (for study abroad). The future's so bright I oughta wear shades.

About the Prop 8 lawsuit

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:39:34 GMT

I feel like I should make this point clear to my non-law friends: while the decision of the California Supreme Court is unfortunate, the Court's hands were essentially tied. The issue being argued was not whether Prop 8 was wrong, or hateful, or a product of the LDS; the issue was whether it was an 'amendment' (requiring only a simple majority of the popular vote) or a 'revision' (requiring prior approval by 2/3 of each house of the CA legislature). However the CA Supreme Court felt about the amendment, they could only decide whether or not Proposition 8 was procedurally sufficient under the California constitution.
So please, stop Facebooking about how disappointed you are in the California Supreme Court which, if I may point out, already overturned one ban on same-sex marriage. Democracy means that sometimes the voters get to do mean, mean things to people they don't like, and until there's a recognized federal right to same-sex marriage, it will continue to be so.

(A caveat: I personally disagree vehemently with Prop 8. Of course same-sex partners should have all the rights given to heterosexual married couples. But the specific law being applied in this case means that it really could have only come out one way.)

page 1 of the perfect metaphor book

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:12:04 GMT

Stewing over something that you can't do anything about is like snakebite; you have to suck it up and spit it out or else the poison circulates and causes necrosis. (ewwwwwwwwwwww.)

the fight continues

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:00:16 GMT

I went to see Milk today. It's very good, and very fair. Importantly, it isn't overly congratulatory and doesn't treat the fight for gay rights as a thing of the past. How much would I have loved to work with Milk and his compatriots; how much I should still be working for marriage equality. Honestly, Ursula, stop knitting and go volunteer.
In slightly related news, there's apparently been an uptick in anti-gay violence in 2008, maybe centered around the Proposition 8 campaign. A few weeks ago a woman in San Francisco was gang-raped because her car had a pride sticker on it. Closer to home, seven gay bars on Cap Hill have received letters threatening to dose their patrons with the nerve toxin ricin. There are awful, hateful people in the world, and those of us who care about equal rights have much, much more work to do.

avoiding the topic

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:53:11 GMT

Saw the 1979 version of Dracula last night. It's not extraordinary (except perhaps for the liberties it takes with the original story) but it has an even-handedness that some more recent versions lack. Frank Langella plays the Count as intellectual, compelling, and charismatic, but not overtly creepy or 'metro'; his seduction of (in this version) Lucy Seward is believable, because he generally seems affectionate towards her and she towards him. (NB there's no poorly played lost-love/reincarnation narrative as there was in Francis Ford Coppola's version.) Because of the civilized of most of the movie, the scenes where it does go over the top are almost comically misplaced; the discovery of Mina Van Helsing (no seriously) as a vampire and the climax between Van Helsing et al. and the Count are happily brief and rely too heavily on special effects.
There are also interesting gender narratives that I can't quite address in brief here, sadly. This version compares favorably enough with the Guy Maddin version from 2002; they have the same sense of swooning romanticism, although Guy Madden's plays much more with silent film techniques and beats one over the head with the colonialist subtext. If you're sick of slick Dracula reimaginings, either of these two films might be your antidote.

well that was quick.

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:38:40 GMT

The latest Bond movie once again features naked ladies in its title sequence. Thank god, because we were RUNNING OUT OF OBJECTIFICATION.

happy election day

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:30:49 GMT

What is there to say? I hope, as many do, for a new era in American politics. But even if the Obama administration is only competent, it is something more: it is a door opened.

VOTE AND PEOPLE WILL GIVE YOU THINGS.

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:41:50 GMT

I already sent in my ballot. But I'm pleased as punch that I can take my voter registration card or ballot stub to many fine retailers and receive Free!! Things!! for voting. AND SO CAN YOU.

1.) Starbucks will give you a free tall drip coffee.
2.) Krispy Kreme will give you a free donut.
3.) Ben & Jerry's will give you a free scoop of ice cream
And, last but most certainly not least....
4.) Babeland will give you a Silver Bullet vibrator (if you're a girl) or a Maverick sleeve (if you're a boy).

What more can I say? There's a lot of malarkey being tossed around as we draw near to the election: the most important election ever, change for America, etc. etc. etc. But you can not buy into the hype and still understand just how important it is to vote. I expect every last one of you to take advantage of these limited-time offers. But don't get to Babeland Seattle before 2- I'm worried that they'll run out, so I'll be headed over as soon as class gets out at noon.

hum-de-dum

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:30:35 GMT

Not much to say today. Here's a great review of 'On Beauty' by Zadie Smith, which is a deeply unsatisfying and thought-provoking (and yet immensely readable) novel. Amanda talks about a lot of issues that I'd noticed but hadn't really addressed through a feminist lens. The key, I think, is that there is no protagonist; every female character reflects and struggles with society's gendered pressures on her. (Perhaps the only happy female character is Charlene Kipps, and that happiness itself might be her chosen coping mechanism.)

too much memery

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:16:28 GMT

If you are on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you.
I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other.
Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!
Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) Favorite band to listen to when you're mad?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favourite and least favourite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

And now: ice cream.

I know what you are!

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:12:47 GMT

Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. - Rich Lowry at The National Review Online

Emphasis mine. Guys, it's happened at last. Sarah Palin has been outed...

... as a vampire. No wonder she's so into hunting.

since I know y'all are so excited to vote for her anyway...

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:12:18 GMT

Here's one more reason: Sarah Palin, Young Earth Creationist.
Because only real mavericks insist that Jesus rode an apatosaurus.

nothing's new

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:22:25 GMT

Been wasting a lot of my time elsewhere these days. I don't have a real explanation, beyond that a lot of my friends don't really post to LJ any more, so it's mostly become a tool for keeping track of people. Trust me that life is fine in the meantime, and e-mail me of you want to catch up for reals.

just like i told y'all

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:57:13 GMT

So, I've been maintaining a constant low-level chortle at the efforts of certain Ron Paul supporters to establish 'Paulville' in the West Texas Flats. Now, as I find out, they have (drum roll) a WEB SITE. The subtitle is 'Like minded people, coming together!'
What I want to know:
1.) So they're similar to people with minds?
2.) In what sense does a coop that holds land in the shareholders' stead qualify as a libertarian paradise? Sounds like some collectivist poppycock to me.

In other news, life continues apace. Nick, bless him, got me a hose for the garden and it's literally the best labor-saving device I've gotten in the last year and some. I always felt like a pioneer lugging the watering can up and down, up and down the hill to water the vegetable garden- but no longer! I've joined the (20th?) century at last!

history is with us

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:37:38 GMT

I just read this powerful post by Rick Perlstein about open housing in late '60s Chicago. The rhetoric used then, by whites who desperately argued for their right to remain free of black 'infiltration' of their neighborhoods, sounds all too familiar. Many mention an editorial by Barry Goldwater that stated, 'rights, and respect, are earned.'
Um, no. They're not. Read your Constitution and try again, please. There are many, many people who still argue this line, and they all deserve to be addressed the same way. Rights are not earned; rights inhere. We have those rights, not because of how we act, but because of who and what we are. Rights are not created by wealth; they are not mere reflections of societal norms.
Which, ironically enough, is why I'm so very down on libertarianism. Libertarianism invariably hews to a traditionalist view of rights that may no longer be relevant to our society; libertarians might recognize a right of companies to pollute groundwater, but not a right of residents to have water free of pollution; a right to discriminate racially, but not a right to be judged on the merits instead of on one's race. This recognition only of affirmative rights creates a sort of race to the bottom, a moral hazard by which she who behaves worst and creates the greatest externalities is rewarded economically, and ignored by the state, as long as she doesn't go around punching nuns in the face. Libertarians, especially the anarcho-capitalist variety, generally do not think to change societal norms or remake the social order, no matter how unjust it may be. They think of society in Econ 101 terms: equal distribution of resources and rational actors, and assume that society mirrors this understanding. As we know, it does not.
Anyway. Read the post, please. It's historical, not ideological (for the most part), and it puts the lie to anyone who argues that civil rights legislation was unnecessary because race relations would have naturalized eventually.

so damn glad

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:00:06 GMT

Life is good. School is double-dutch-done. I'm working on really interesting things at my internship. There are tomatoes and squash and peas in the garden (well, the plants, anyway) and the little Carolina jasmine in the front yard is slowly winding its way up towards the sun.
Oh, and the Democratic primary is effectively over. Thank all possible deities. Everyone vote Obama, because the only thing older than John McCain is his agenda. I know there's a lot of noise being made about women voters taking their ball and going home or going to play with the Republicans instead, but I suspect that there'll be very few of those, at least among my friend group. To those that are considering it, please consider that yours is not the only agenda; a McCain presidency will be worse for many, many people who are not well-off white males. Think of the wars he'll start, the benefits he'll cut, the Supreme Court justices he'll appoint (and the rights that he'll thereby constrict) and every other disastrous policy position of his that you desperately disagree with. Obama is preferable to that in any number of ways.
We'll have our day, we women. We will. There will be a woman vice president, and a woman president, some day. In the meantime, everyone reading this remembers 2000, where a few thousand votes could have made all the difference. Don't be the person who has to apologize for their vote this time around. A year from now, don't be ashamed of the decision you made in November.

i am that shrill harpy

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:44:19 GMT

Just saw Iron Man. On one level, it was hilarious and fun.
On another level, it was so goddamn tired. Summer movies are this universe where men, hot men, schlubby men, smart men, stupid men, walk around surrounded by beautiful women in ludicrous heels who tumble into bed at a moment's notice; I mean, here's Gwyneth Paltrow, for god's sake, an actress in her own right, walking around in 5" ankle-strap heels and a skin-tight pencil skirt taking Robert Downey Jr.'s dictation.
Women are an afterthought in this world. They're a momentary distraction, something pleasant for the eyes to wander across between explosions. There will never be a summer movie about women who are leaders, women who are technical visionaries, women who make hard decisions and fight other women for the fate of the world. There will never be a female Iron Man.
And I hate to be shrill. Because god knows, no one ever listened to some shrill feminist harpy going on about summer blockbusters.
But there's still so much to do.

looking back on Loving

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:21:25 GMT

Mildred Loving, of the landmark Loving v. Virginia decision, passed on today. I can only hope that forty years from now, we'll look back at the various DOMAs the way we look back today on the anti-miscegenation laws: to ask, how did that take so long? There is no rational reason not to allow gay people to marry, just as there was no rational reason not to allow members of different races to marry.
(Turns out Mrs. Loving thought the same, for what it's worth.)

don't let me hear that life is taking you nowhere

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:54:54 GMT

The Pod hit 'Golden Years' by David Bowie while I was walking in to school today. That song is one of the few that can right off put me in a good mood; I think it must have something to do with watching A Knight's Tale on TV some time and the one scene where they're all dancing funky to, strangely enough, 'Golden Years'.
Which of course made me sad, because Heath Ledger isn't much of a dancer any more. But it was sunny and 'Golden Years' was on, and somehow one abides.

The starlings in their bright mail were feeding on the grass

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:33:09 GMT

Virginia Woolf has said everything better than I will ever say it.
That said: the (European) starlings are out in force recently. It seems to be the time of the season for them; always on the way to or from school I'll hear and then see one perched on a power line, warbling loudly, flapping his wings in display. Or maybe it's a she; European starlings aren't sexually dimorphic to the extent that some birds are, so the males and the females look the same to me. (I'm told by the interwebs you can distinguish them by the length of the breast feathers. Ho ho ho.)
The funny thing I saw today was a group of starlings, all sitting in a tree and exhibiting this behavior- and then a robin jumped up into the tree and started doing the same thing. Oh! dear silly Robin.
I know I'm getting older because spring heartens me, it really does. The slow opening of the season, from the wintry camellias and poisonous hellebores to daphne and crocus, star magnolia and daffodil and then, suddenly, lilac, hydrangea, peony, like fireworks; it feels beautiful, moving, meaningful. I fall in love with spring so easily, each time more easily than the last. My affection for the seasons accumulates like the gold scales of sunlight in Woolf's Monday or Tuesday, a wealth of useless sentiment. (No wonder my classmates call me 'grandma'.)
I had two planters on the stoop, and both of them seem to have passed the winter much better than I expected; all of the herbs in them have come back, as opposed to those actually in the ground in the front yard, which are still reluctant. I put in jasmine and daphne that I hope will be lovely and fragrant by summer, but they're taking their time too. There's something unforgiving or unhealthful about the soil in our yard. Perhaps it's just a reminder not to put down roots just yet.

tonight: high school humiliations revisited

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:22:29 GMT

Tonight is LAW SCHOOL PROM! I have a vintage yellow dress (that I took the hem up on today) and a grey velvet clutch (that I made today) and GOLD SHOES and my blue coat (that I mended today).
I'm a crafty mofo. And as my reward, I'm taking tickets from my fellow students for the first hour or so of the prom. I hope my feet don't die.
The point is, I've been watching The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King, because, you know, they're on, and they're AWESOME. Especially The Scorpion King, what with the Rock going into slooooo moooooshun every time he starts fighting. Fabulous. I love that man.

gimme everything you own, and then beg to get it back

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:15:09 GMT

We've been reading about the various methods by which the United States took land from the native tribes. It's not quite what you'd expect- long before the government came anywhere near putting the tribes on reservations, our nation's greatest minds were working on the assumption that as heirs to the discovering nations that came before them, the United States already had 'absolute title' to all of the land within their borders. They then forced each tribe onto smaller and smaller parcels of land, by treaty and forced treaty, by forced migration, by congressional legislation abrogating treaty. Native people weren't using the land productively, they reasoned, and so they weren't entitled to it. A choice quote in my casebook reads, 'three hundred thousand people have no right to hold a continent and keep at bay a race able to people it and provide the happy homes of civilization.' This isn't the rhetoric of self-evident rights and liberties that we are familiar with; rather, it is the rhetoric of imperialism, of fascism.
Aand Godwin's Law strikes again. I don't know. I'm rambling. The point is, all this makes me unbearably angry. There's this sad irony that in 1491, the inhabitants of the Americas had the incredible good fortune to be living in a vast land with vast resources, vast enough to accommodate them two times over; in 1492, they had the bad fortune to be in that same vast land when others 'discovered' them. Native Americans had, for the most part, no systems of real property ownership (read: real estate) because they didn't need them, because land wasn't at a premium; when the European nations began parceling up the New World, they only acknowledged a basic right of occupancy in the inhabitants because the inhabitants did not have property rights that the European nations recognized.
If I were there, on San Sebastian, when Columbus landed, I would have told them to kill every damn European who set foot on their land, and keep doing it until no more came. Because once those greedy nations got a foothold, it was mere centuries before they'd taken it all.

i'm gonna go out and get absolutely drenched in mccain

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:08:01 GMT

So, um, there's this video, by McCain supporters (one presumes), which kind of filks 'It's Raining Men'.

As Dan Savage notes, this is a disrespectful and, more importantly, badly sung misappropriation of an early gay anthem. However. If this is how McCain supporters want to promote him, I say bravo. Please, pudgy off-tune ladies, misappropriate some other movement anthems. My boyfriend recommends 'In The Navy', for one. Why not '(You Spin Me) Right Round' or 'I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight'?
But why even limit yourselves to the gay movement? We've all been waiting for a conservative cover of 'I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar' or 'Rebel Girl' by Bikini Kill. How about 'War' by Edwin Starr, or 'Mosh' by Eminem? Lend your atrophied vocal cords to the cause. The results are bound to be hilarious and do nothing whatsoever for your candidate.

an open note to SciFi Original Production Company

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:20:00 GMT

Dear Messrs,

In regard to your movie 'Bone Eater,' not to be confused with 'The Bone Snatcher,' which also played last night: never do a monster reveal before the opening credits. While I understand that your opus suffers from many flaws, I believe that correcting this matter would make it bearable for at least the first five minutes.

Most sincerely yrs,

Ursula

P.S. Stop casting Casper Van Dien in all your movies; you're only protecting him from the social Darwinism of the acting world. His failed acting genes must die out in order to allow mankind to evolve.

scary things I have read this morning:

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:20:42 GMT

1.) McCain / Huckabee '08
2.) McCain / Lieberman '08
3.) McCain / Gingrich '08

Seriously, can anyone explain to me why they hate Hillary so thoroughly that they would consider voting for McCain instead? Give me detailed policy reasons, not 'she's not for hope and change!' or 'her husband got a blow job in the Oval Office!'