Monthly Archives: March 2009
Happy birthday, doll
| March 9, 2009 | Filled under Video |
Barbie is 50 years old today. I was never a girly girl, but I loved my Barbies, and I loved the old Skipper doll my mother probably still has.
Rodeo Run 10K
| March 9, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
We got there super early, at C’s insistence, and ended up standing in the 20-30 MPH winds for about two hours. The day before, Friday, it had been 80 degrees outside. On the morning of the race the temperature was in the 30s.
The first hour I was okay — adrenaline was keeping me warm. But the Rodeo Run is a late race. By 9:30 we had stripped ourselves of and dropped off our warm-ups and were trying to figure out where to get in line, since C runs a good two minutes per mile faster than me.
At 9:40 a.m. the starting horn sounded, everyone let up a great cheer, and then? Nothing. We had to stand around for another five minutes, slowly shuffling forward with 10,000 other eager runners, until we got to the starting line. I knew this would happen, I just didn’t realize it really would take that long. The minute I lifted my foot over that starting line I clicked on my Forerunner and was on my way. (more…)
It fits in the palm of your hand
| March 10, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
My Kindle-lust has subsided, but only by the smallest margin. I have downloaded the new Kindle app for my iPhone but I haven’t bought any books yet, because why should I? I have a stack of unread books at home and a library card in my wallet.
I have, however, been making great use of the Istapaper app. It’s a simple bookmarking site, like del.icio.us., but if you download the application you can sync text-only versions of bookmarked articles to your phone to read later, offline. As a result, I have been reading so much more, mostly articles from the NYT and Slate, than I’ve ever had time for before. I can read anywhere, without the burden of carting around a book (which, let’s be honest, I still do anyway). Last night I read three articles while waiting in line at the grocery store.
The point is to say that this is a glowing review for Instapaper (which is also free!) and also to warn you that I may be linking more often now to things I think you should be reading.
Drinking gin at nine in the morning
| March 10, 2009 | Filled under Video |
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love talks about how hard it is to write every single day when you get little to nothing in return. I like the idea behind her etymology of the word genius. I love the story of the poem sweeping through the field like a cargo train. It makes me want to read her book.
Right now I’m working through The Artist’s Way and Julia Cameron has a similar theory. She refers to God as a creator who enables creativity in all it’s creations. I prefer to think of “GOD” as Good Orderly Direction, and it’s nice to allow yourself to believe that there is an unseen hand guiding you in all you create, and all it takes is open-ness, acceptance of that inspiration. That once you open up, you will find it everywhere.
She doesn’t mention this but genius is also etymologically related to genie, the Arabian Nights variety.
Standing four feet ten in one sock
| March 10, 2009 | Filled under Shorts |
Nabokov was dirty, and I like it.
Girls’ Club
| March 11, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
We finished The Josephine Baker Story this week, a B-level made-for-HBO movie that was mildly educational if not entertaining. I liked mostly that it delved into aspects of Baker’s life after her years of greatest fame.
Since traveling to Europe I have been thinking a lot about certain strong-headed women who were fucked over by society. Many of them lived or worked in Paris:
- Joan of Ark — obvious
- Josephine Baker — Paris loved her for more than her body
- Beate Uhse — One of the first female German fighter pilots, was later arrested for her scandalous attempts to educate women about their bodies
- Jean Seberg — Gamine beauty, Nouvelle Vague star, member of the Black Panthers. She died under suspicious circumstances.
- The Radium Girls — They were encouraged to use their tongues to keep the paint brushes sharp.
- Camille Claudel — Rodin’s protegé was locked away.
Original footage of the adorable Baker onstage at the Folies Bergere below:
Bishes and niggaz
| March 16, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
Been thinkin’ about etymology a lot lately.
The n-word, for example, makes me extremely uncomfortable. Why is it that “bitch” can be appropriated by women (myself included) and it doesn’t seem derogatory, but “nigger/nigga,” when appropriated by Blacks, still causes me to cringe?
Maybe it’s because “bitch” connotes traits that in men are seen as assets: assertiveness, strong-willfulness, full of bravado and of unwavering opinions.
“Nigger,” on the other hand, connotes traits no one would be proud of.
10. Journalists are loyal
| March 17, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
The Top Ten reasons you should hire a journalist.
She’s got legs
| March 17, 2009 | Filled under Video |
Magic Molly links to this TED talk by Aimee Mullins about traditional standards of beauty and the misnomer of disability.
I get what Mullins is trying to say, and I agree with her on most points, but at the same time she is speaking she is walking around on prosthetic legs made for high heels, legs that give her 6 extra inches, making her over six feet tall. And Mullins is a fashion model who has walked the runway for Alexander McQueen and was named by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
One wonders if she might feel differently about the standards of beauty if her disabilities were, say, above her neck, not below her waist.
Naked paintings of famous people
| March 17, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
Obvisouly, NSFW. Cary Grant links come from Rakka. Golden Girls picture comes from The Millionizer
The most well-traveled man in history
| March 18, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
I might have to start reading Roger Ebert’s wordy though well-written blog. He’s friends with Paul Theroux.
Real Housewives Of D.C.
| March 18, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
Currently overwhelmed by a newfound love for Betty Ford. Note the presence of a young, still evil, pipe-smoking Dick Cheney.
It’s tickling my fancy
| March 28, 2009 | Filled under Video |
We watched True Stories a few nights ago. It made me miss Spalding Gray.
Ham on Rye
| March 29, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
…reminded me of all those dreary times of sitting on some boy’s floor while he rapturously quoted Bukowski at me, as though somebody with a bleeding liver getting drunk and vomiting on a junkie hooker is somehow meaningful to a 16 year old boarding school kid. Such a strange revelation in wishful thinking. Such a hallmark of the juvenile male, the kind of guy who invites you over and then just plays guitar for hours while you sit there, and then as you’re leaving tries awkwardly to grab your boob. And yet I wanted to french all of them, regardless. The boys, not Bukowski, OBVIOUSLY.
In high school I began dating a boy who was four years older than me, a boy who was on his way to college in New York before I could even legally drive. He idolized Bukowski, and gave me the book “Women” to read, which I found disgusting and confusing. Once, I was hanging out at his house, trying to amuse myself while he napped on the floor beside me, and I reached under his bed to find a spiral notebook filled with poetry about little girls’ panties.
(Link via tinyluckygenius.)
