There are two things that I really want to write about right now- Terra Naomi (in another super happy fun awesome music post full of videos) and the trans community (particularly the under representation in media AND the issue of trans children, a topic that's been on my mind for a while but was brought back to the front burner by an Autostraddle post)... But it's such a blah day out and I have a headache so I'm not feeling very productive. I'm not sure I can fully commit myself to either at the moment (especially the epic post that the trans topic would become...) I guess that's the big bonus of writing a small, personal, random blog that almost no one reads- I can do what I want, when I want. Na na na boo boo :D So... If anyone has any opinions on these topics that you'd like me to include in these posts-in-progress OR if you have something else entirely you think I should write about, let me know. Until then you get a picture of me in a homemade gay pirate hat. Because it's funny and it has magical powers. Of cheering. Or something.
Look at all those days that passed between posts! Except really I've slowly been working on that web TV post for days. And I was busy being a drunk zombie this weekend. Also, I forgot to mail my rent and health insurance checks. Ruh oh. But that's not why we're here right now, is it? Today we are here to talk about Angie Mattson.
I first saw Mattson perform around this time last spring when she opened for Uh Huh Her at Double Door here in the Windy City (or, as I like to call it, the Rainy Fucking City because that's all it's been doing for days and days). And saw her I did. Couldn't really *hear* her at all, though. It was wall-to-wall lesbians and hipsters chomping at the bit to see UHH and I couldn't actually hear a damn thing. All I could see was this tiny girl with a guitar on stage and I could hear some guitar reverbs below the rumbling of the crowd. Curses to that sound guy. But she seemed cool and Leisha kept giving her shout outs. So after the show, while we were waiting in the two hour line to meet Leisha and Camila (Leisha loved my Murmurs pin, and I was a starstruck freak, for the record), my friend and I signed up for Mattson's mailing list. It was through one of her email newsletters that I remembered I wanted to give her tunes a listen. And I am so glad that I did. Her voice is smokey, like fire- Dancing and dark and beautiful. If something gives me goosebumps, I'm sold, and all I get are chills when I listen to her sing. Some of her songs were featured on TV- 8 Simple Rules, Joan of Arcadia, etc. She recently hosted an episode of NewNowNext on Logo and she's opened for Melissa Ferrick. I can't tell if she's queer or just queer friendly between the Logo spot where she is wearing suspenders, touring with Lezzie bands, the fact that all her favorite musicians are queer, the cryptic talk about her music having a sexual vibe for everyone, regardless of orientation, and videos about 'a person' but lyrics about a man... I just don't know for sure and I don't want to make any assumptions. But no matter what she's so gorgeous and so talented that it almost hurts to watch her videos. But in the good way. She's that super adorable kind of sexy where you can't tell if you want to hug her or... ahem. Yeah. Here's a bit of wisdom from one of her MySpace blogs:
What I learned from this tour:
1. MySpace won't let you post photos of fans breasts
2. I should have joined a truck stop points program
3. You can wear one pair of jeans for two months (if they're Levi's anyway)
4. Guitars break on planes
5. I am a magician who can make Guitar picks disappear into thin air
6. Silver sharpie ink looks cool on skin
7. Liquid eyeliner lasts longer than pencil
8. Tuna come in vending machines sometimes
9. It's good to have a million pairs of underwear
10. Don't eat a ceasar salad while driving
11. Vitamin C and whiskey can sustain you
12. If people are drunk they love you more
13. I can't wait to tour again
Adorable, no?
Here's the video for In Violet where she sings to/about a guy:
The Drive video where she sings about grabbing someone & running away:
Spring Tour 2008 Webisode #1 of 6:
Now, go buy Given To Sudden Panic And Noisy Retreat on iTunes. Angie also has an earlier cd, Monarch EP, available through her website.
This is a repost from my fabu friend Rebekah's (myspace) blog. She's one of our many brilliant straight allies and I love her so. Check her out under my just for fun links on the left there- Rebel's Advocate & Food Food Food! (Her hubby is pretty cool, too) :D ---------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, April 22, 2009- actual conversations
the work phone rings, it's a local number, i pick up and deliver my usual spiel, Public Health this is rebekah blah blah blah. i get this in return:
"hi there, do you have a moment to talk about the increasing problems of President Barack Obama?"
Me: "no, i don't have a moment actually."
Them: "Did you know our President supports the gay agenda and we at WyWatch blah blah..."
Me: cutting them off mid sentence. "I do too as a matter of fact support those evil homos. I'm an atheist, I'm not a Mormon, in fact I despise organized religion and the Christian right, I'm a libertarian, pro choice, pro gay marriage, legalize or decriminalize marijuana bleeding heart commie bastard liberal. Do you really want to this conversation to continue?"
Them: *audible gasp* Click, Dial Tone.
they say honesty is the best policy. i'm beginning to think whoever they are, they're totally right. as for me, i'm going to try and get this WyWatch group listed officially as a hate group. because that's what they are.
I own this tshirt. I love this tshirt. I am wearing this tshirt today. My mommy bought it for me a few years ago (from Steve & Barry's, along with a Coo Coo For Cocoa Puffs shirt)... I only needed to wear it once for my friends to point out that as a lady-loving-lady this shirt took on a whole new meaning. I pondered that truth for a bit and came up with some advice to go along with it: Just because it can be done in three licks doesn't mean that should be a goal. Know what I'm saying (to be said in a very Will Smith nudge*nudge*wink*wink tone, of course.)
I will finish this post later. I may even include vid clips/music videos (assuming youtube hasn't suspended *all* the accounts I subscribe to....) of what I'm going to be talking about (tv on teh interwebs)... If I don't... well, since only 2 of you read this blog anyway, you can throw stuff at me. Or just nicely remind me via email or twitter ;) Until then, enjoy this snapshot of my kitty, Zeke, leering at me from under a moose costume. -----------------------------------------------
OK, here are the shows:
-Home & Away (Australia)- It's a family/teen soap and I watch current season 4 clips of the Charlie/Joey lezzie storyline on youtube. Charlie is a cop (senior constable, natch) who helped Joey after she was raped by a coworker/friend of her brother. Joey was way in the closet and Charlie thought herself to be straight. The show has put up with a lot of grief and protests from Aussie 'family' groups, but the writers haven't backed down from showing same-sex kisses or the relationship as its developed. It's quite nice. UPDATE: The storyline has started to follow some of the annoying, aggravating cliches. Hopefully it gets better again soon.
(UPDATE, 4/28: The Charlie/Joey storyline is pretty much over, for now. Check out this brilliant up-to-date recap on AutoStraddle.)
-Cuestion de Sexo (Spain)- Another soap. I mostly watch current season 3 clips for the Sofia/Dani lezzie storyline, but I've been watching a bit more to try and improve my Spanish (and see if I can't figure out the other story lines!) And Anna Fernandez (Sofia, the reticent one) is super gorgeous. And it's pretty funny. Everyone is hip and pretty and bright and shiny and yay! Here's a music video since most of you wouldn't understand the super fast (Spain) spanish anyway!:
-Sugar Rush (UK)- It ran 2 seasons and I just finished watching the series. It's about a young gay girl, Kim, and her totally screwed up family. And her druggie/thieving best friend Sugar. Very good. Cute, hysterical, endearing. I love the little brother. It had a guest appearance by Jemima Rooper (Hex, Black Dahlia). This clip is from an episode or so into the second season:
-Welcome to Paradise (New Zealand)- It ran one season and I'm halfway through it. It's about 6 20-somethings running a hostel for backpackers, cyclists, etc. Sasha, the uptight receptionist. John, the weirdo. Zac, the sex-crazed dude. Lucy, the Irish barman. Alex, the inept manager. Barry, the sweet guy. One 'gay' episode. Also has had episodes about Brazilian waxes and masturbating. It's sort of an off-the-wall comedy. Kiwi love! First clip is the first 5 minutes of the series. Second clip is the obligatory strategic editing of the gay episode:
-Mistresses (UK)- This UK drama/soap is about a group of friends who are... you guessed it Mistresses (in one way or another). I've watched several clips and chunks of the first (of two) series because Shelley Conn (of Nina's Heavenly Delights) and Anna Torv (of Fringe) have a fling. And anyone who knows me at all knows that I love Indian women (and Aussies/Kiwis!) I do plan on watching more/complete episodes as soon as I can get them.
-GirlTrash! (US/web)- It ran for several episodes (totalling less than 15 minutes, I believe) and was created by Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S., the good parts of The L Word). It's a lesbian crime noir and it has a lot of great people in it (Lisa Rieffel [of Killola whom I blogged about before], Rose Rollins, Jimmi Simpson, Margaret Cho, Mandy Musgrave, etc). Now that The L Word is over... will she finish it? (NEWS: Angela Robinson tweeted that they are now trying to cut together some more footage and see if they can't put up another few eppies) (BETTER NEWS: Lisa just tweeted that they are making a GirlTrash! movie starting in October and Killola is doing the music!!!) Here's episode 1:
-Anyone But Me (US/web)- New web show from one of the creators of The L Word (she had the good season 1 ideas and then had no part in it) about a young lesbian and her single father dealing with post 9/11 life. I've watched all 9 installments (6 episodes, 3 interludes so far) and it's really well done. Lots of good internet buzz about it currently (I was watching it before the buzz thanks to Arlan). Here's the second episode:
-The Guild (US/web)- Just finished the 2nd season and I've watched every episode and every available outtake. Hysterical nerdery at its finest. It's written by and starring Felicia Day, queen of the hot, cool nerds. It's about gamers and how they (cant/wont) deal with some real life issues. Here is Season 1, Episode 1:
-Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show (US/web)- Created by and starring Kim Evey, one of the producers from The Guild. It's a spoof on nonsensical Japanese game/talk shows. Too funny and strange for words. Except- cownicorn and unicow. Here is the first episode where we first met Lick Poop:
-Retarded Policeman (US/web)- One of the many web shows created by people in the group of friends of Felicia Day and Kim Evey. At first I thought it would be stupid and offensive because of the premise- it's squad car cam recordings of a police officer with Down Syndrome pulling people over for ridiculous things. BUT it's actually funny AND one of the creators is the brother of the lead actor. The lead actor is well aware of his condition and likes to make jokes about it. He is not being exploited. I would never advocate it if he was. Felicia Day and Kim Evey are among the drivers that get pulled over. I've not watched every episode yet, but I've watched many. Here is episode 4, Racial Profiling (one of my favs):
-The Legend of Neil (US/web)- Created by Sandeep Parikh, friend of Felica Day and cast member of The Guild (Zaboo). More awesome web TV nerdery and hilarity. Premise- A dude is... pleasuring himself while playing Zelda, he passes out and wakes up in the game. He has to fight/play his way through. Felicia Day has a guest spot as the green fairy. I'm anxiously awaiting season 2. You have to go to the website to watch it (because youtube is a bastard) but here is a funny clip Sandeep and Felicia made instead:
-Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (US/web)- Everybody has seen this musical blog in 3 acts, right? Created by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) it's supposed to be the blog of NPH's Dr. Horrible as he struggles to gain entry into the Evil League of Evil. Also starring Felicia Day (Buffy, The Guild) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly). I've watched the 3 acts and I'm waiting to see if another installment/movie/something/anything is going to be made. There are rumors. Here is Act I:
-Quarterlife (US/web)- Ran for many episodes online and then Bravo reworked it into a few tv episodes... and then I sort of forgot about it and fell behind. As the title says, it's about a group of friends in their mid-twenties (mostly all creative types) trying to figure shizz out. One of the actors left to make another tv show (Greek?) and Michelle Lombardo is/was also involved in GirlTrash! so I'm not sure that it will go on forever or make an official leap to tv or anything. I think I should get caught up, though. There are 36 episodes and also many vlogs from the characters (Dylan's and Andy's are the best, though you should watch the actual episodes before watching too many more of these 'vlogs'):
I think that's all. But if you know of another web series I may enjoy or a serious from outside the US I may want to DL... let me know! :D
I got the outline and some of the background done for my 17th tattoo, a ganesh on my left leg. In about a month, once this is fully healed and Robin isn't all booked up, we will do the color.
(Look! I'm not ranting about something! Yay! I'm spreading happy music cheer!)
If you're like me then you're a little sick of all the country and 'hip-hop' music that seems to be popular everywhere lately. Now I can appreciate a great song regardless of genre, but come on. SO much crap out there right now. So I've decided to make a bloggity about some good, high energy rock/alternative (and yes, pop) that I've been listening to recently that isn't necessarily 'mainstream' or popular. Of course I am still always listening to Tegan & Sara, Rilo Kiley, Murmurs, Mike Doughty, etc... but this stuff is a bit different.
Killola- I love Killola. Killola loves everyone. They really do. They are a very cool, interactive, fan-oriented band (they give away free downloads, answer fan mail and are super excited every time someone gets a K)) tattoo). Front woman Lisa Rieffel and hubby/band mate Johnny are very cool, very funny and very talented. Their web shows and videos are brill. And their live shows... well, they don't disappoint. Lisa (also an actress some of you may recognize from GirlTrash! and various TV guest spots) has a very real, very high energy stage presence. And Lisa loves/appreciates her lezzie fan base. And it's a huge fan base considering GirlTrash! is a lesbian noir web show and she was one of the stars. She also signed my boobs once when I went to a Killola Show at Reggie's and forgot to bring my cds. True story. I was one of many ladies there to meet Arlan (of YDLM). But I digress. And use very too much. Check out these vids:
This is the video for 'I Don't Know Who' where Lisa shows off some of her acting chops. It's also one of my fav songs of theirs (from their first album):
This is a live performance of 'All Of My Idols Are Dead', the first single from their second album:
This is Arlan's video of when she was traveling around the US trying to meet 10,000 people and doing a mini-tour with Killola. Lisa signs my boobs in this video. When she is yelling about being distracted by tits... she is talking about me. Warning: there is a lot of non Killola sexy talk in this video. But it's funny. (It also includes a nice Action Design clip, another rocking awesome, chick-fronted band I love!)
The Action Design- I gave you a little taste of them in that last video, but here is a little more. Emily Whitehurst and crew had a band called Tsunami Bomb (which I also recommend) but they are now Action Design and I first saw them open for Killola. I met Emily briefly and she seemed just as cool offstage as on. And it doesn't hurt that she is gorgeous.
Here is the video for 'Connect/Disconnect'... I really want Emily's hair from this video:
This is a live performance of '10 Feet Of Snow':
And here is the Tsunami Bomb video for 'Dawn On A Funeral Day', just for comparison. Same chick, same genre, more awesome hair:
Overnight Lows- This is a band that I just learned about, but I already think they are awesome. I can't say much about them except that they are another hot-chick-fronted rockin' band and I like them. And they have sweet hair too.
This is the video for 'Destination'. I did the robotic sound:
Here is their video for 'The Breaks'. It sounds a bit more mainstream than the last video:
Lastly, here is a video for the song 'Castles In The Sand':
If you've enjoyed these bands and/or think you'd like bands like them, ResidentBand is a good resourse as they are always plugging new/little known talent.
(ps- sorry the 2 of the videos are sort of cut off on the right edge, some videos are only available in the super HD/widescreen formats and even the smallest of those videos dont *quite* fit on my blog the way it is currently set up. I may change my blog format in the future. We shall see.)
So... the fucktards at Amazon decided that they need to protect (erm, censor. Let's call this what it is) their precious customers from 'adult' material (re: LGBT books and romance/erotica novels, mainly) so they re categorized many books and stripped them of their sales info and ranks. What does this mean? These books will no longer show up in most searches or on best seller lists. Want to search The Joy of Sex or Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and find related titles? Too bad. BUT... want The Anarchist Cookbook or a playboy/penthouse book of stories? NO PROBLEM. Those didn't get stripped of their sales/rank. So it's mostly LGBT books. Even the history volumes, college guides, and YA/nonsexual ones. Right now if you search 'homosexuality' on Amazon you will get a list of anti-gay/ex-gay books. It's bigoted censorship at its finest, folks. And the ladies at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have a great idea- Google Bomb them! Hit them where it hurts- PR! Since they posted that article earlier today #amazonfail and #amazonrank have taken over. Just check twitter. Or google 'Amazon Rank' and see what the first search result is. Go ahead, I'll wait. [whistling] See. What'd I tell you. Here is a (short) list of some of the articles of affected titles/authors-
Booksquare.com's Open Letter to Amazon- here's an excerpt: "As a heterosexual, happily married adult female, I am deeply offended by this decision. As a customer, I am angered enough to take my business elsewhere, and I’d like a refund on my Kindle since, despite reports that your database sweep was not complete, you have decided to limit my ability to purchase books — from literary classics like Lady Chatterley’s Lover to newesque titles like Tipping The Velvet and Running With Scissors"
Andrew Sullivan/The Atlantic- "Mein Kampf is fine. Jackie Collins is fine. But books about gay subjects are now "adult" on Amazon and so not included on best seller lists or rankings."
AfterEllen.com's findings- "You can only find the de-ranked books if you both search by title and choose the search category "Books." If you do a generic title search from the Amazon front page without specifying that it's a book search, you will not find the de-ranked books among the top results (or anywhere on the first page of results, in some cases). Which means that not only will those who browse Amazon.com's "top sellers" lists in various genres never come across any of these books, they may not even find these books when they're deliberately looking for them."
EurOut's international take- "Why Amazon's ranking matters anyway? You can find a brief summary about the reasons here. Amazon is the biggest online (book)store, they set such a prominent bad example with this, that many could follow if we don't shout right now!"
Meta_Writer is keeping a list on LiveJournal if you have titles you'd care to add.
It's just so infuriating and unfair, I don't even know what to say anymore. Except I did sign a petition (I was 131 of 4,767 signatures so far) and I included a note: "If this is how your company chooses to treat its LGBT customers then I will take my (considerable) business elsewhere to a company who celebrates rather than censors my community."
(ps- This was brought to my attention today by Neil Gaiman's twitter [@neilhimself] Other celebs who have tweeted their #amazonfail disdain today- Zoe Keating [@zoecello], Demi Moore [@mrskutcher] and Amanda Palmer [@amandapalmer])
UPDATE: (Sunday night) Someone from Amazon is claiming this is a glitch. That's a HUGE glitch AND it's been slowly happening since February AND they told an LGBT author in a letter just yeterday that:
"In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature. Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.
Best regards, Ashlyn D Member Services Amazon.com Advantage"
Glitch. Mmhmm. Dear Author puts the 'glitch, my ass' arguement into much better words here.
UPDATE NUMERO DOS: (Monday) Here is Neil Gaiman's bloggity about #amazonfail and the 'glitch'... Also, now word is that it was a hacker of some sort. Well, one hacker dude is claiming responsibility. So a hacker AND/or someone at Amazon thinks gay=sex=evil. Either way they need to fix things and APOLOGIZE!
All FOX is good for is Faux News (thank you Rupert Murdoch) and prematurely cancelling good, smart TV or cool sci-fi TV (which is often one and the same). Over the years they have canned many a brilliant show, probs because they cater to idiots and right wing extremists (as if there's a difference...) and killing many of them before some of the best episodes or finales even got to air:
-Arrested Development -Wonderfalls -Fastlane (beautifully shot and action-packed, big screen style) -Tru Calling (ok so it wan't *great*, but it was Eliza Dushku) -Dark Angel -Firefly -Futurama (I liked it on and off) -Undeclared (I've been an Apatow fan from the beginning)
(note: I also think they let programs like That 70's Show and X-Files run too long until they started to go bad/wrong...)
Actually, I own a good chunk of these series on DVD. Great stuff. But now, in the grand FOX tradition of cancelling sci-fi/fantasy shows, The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been canned and things aren't looking good for Dollhouse. In fact, only 12 of the 13 Dollhouse Season 1 episodes are going to air. I guess we are all supposed to dumb ourselves down and watch Don't Forget The Lyrics or Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. I do hear good things about Fringe, but seeing as how it's a sci-fi series on FOX, I shouldn't jump in and get attached because it will probably suddenly be cancelled next week. No, I'm not bitter. What would ever give you that idea?
(yes, I sort of stole the phonetic WTF from Ms. Snarker but it goes so well with my post and all, being that the Actives/Dolls of Dollhouse are named for said alphabet. And yes, I like to speak in parentheticals.)
UPDATE: Apparently all the buzz on the interwebs today has caused even more articles/blogs to be written to try and clarify things. Dollhouse has not actually been cancelled, but a second season still hasn't been confirmed either. There were actually 14 episodes shot, but one was a scrapped pilot that was cannibalized into the other 12 'main' episodes. 'Episode 13' (the one with Felicia Day and Janina Gavankar) exists as an apparent coda to the first season, but is not considered part of the main storyline, it's a stand-alone of sorts. That episode is not going to be aired. It will be on the DVD. Episode 12 is considered the season finale. It sort of ties things up, sort of opens doors for season 2, but is not a big cliffhanger.
I did that 25 Things About Me deal a while back on FB and decided to repost it here so that the... 2 of you that read this blog (because you actually find me to be interesting?) can read it and learn a weird thing or two about me. Believe it or not, I left some of the more horrible things off (I could actually add at least 5 more major injuries to the list, but I stuck to bones and left off the real bloody ones...)
1. I get really motion sick on the bus/train if I sit backwards. If it’s also hot... I’m better off walking.
2. My fingers are sort of double jointed. Interpret that as you will.
3. If I like a band/song I tend to get really obsessed with them for a while. So much so that it’s all I will listen to for months. I will scrounge up demos and obscure things on YouTube... and read every bit of info I can find. Meeting favorite musicians have been the only times in my life when I’ve been star struck.
4. I have eleven extra holes in my head. I want another ear piercing or two, maybe a lip or labret. But no piercings that aren’t on my head.
5. I have 16 individual tattoos, but some have started to combine together into larger pieces. I’m going to start working on #17 next week (April 17th).
6. I’m afraid that one day I will drink waaay to much at a bar/party and someone will ask me to take off my shirt to show off my tattoos... and I will. My friends will encourage this activity.
7. I am really nerdy about many things, like TV. shows. For a while I wanted a Battlestar Galactica tattoo... I still might.
8. I hate big (drunken) parties. I get really uncomfortable, especially if I don’t know a lot of people. I think it has something to do with my childhood and having alcoholic family members.
9. I can clap with one hand. Interestingly enough it sounds just like two hands clapping. (verbatim from Moo’s list cuz it’s also true for me!)
10. I still sleep with stuffed animals a lot of the time. I like to snuggle.
11. I’ve never been a good sleeper. I can get by on 3-4 hours a night.
12. I get really anxious about things. Lately I’ve been having panic attacks in the middle of the night over nothing. It’s less than fun...
13. I'm a pesco-pollo-ovo -lacto ‘vegetarian’, but it’s easier to just say that I don’t eat red meat or pork... I don't eat much poultry or fish at home, just when I go out. I could never give up salmon.
14. People constantly think that I'm much older or younger than I am. No one gets it right.
15. When I was 6 or 7 I jumped off a table into a kiddie pool and sprained both my ankles and fractured pretty much all of my toes. I was staying with my mom’s boyfriend’s ex-wife at the time.
16. When I was 12 I was ice skating and I fell down, tripping my friend, and she landed on my arm and it broke. My arm swelled up and got stuck in the elastic cuff of my puffy winter coat. I called my stepdad who was home sleeping (because he worked nights) and he was so out of it he hung up on me.
17. When I was 21(?) I slipped in the shower right before Christmas, kicked the faucet really hard and horribly horrible broke my toe. They almost had to do surgery to fix it. My mom kept wanting to pull on it to straighten it out and my best friend wanted to call me Niner. It still bends funny.
18. This guy, Tony, used to live on our couch when I was little. He raised tanks of angelfish on our bar. My babysitter’s best friend also used to come over in the middle of the night a lot when her stepdad beat her. If my mom had it her way we probably would have been running a halfway house. We both like to take care of people and fix things...
19. I am a bastard. My mom and dad were never married. I didn’t really see my dad until I was 4 and we didn’t really speak from when I was 8 until I was 22.
20. I have a half brother and two half sisters. I had another half brother that passed away almost 5 years ago. To me, the half part is not at all important.
21. My sisters are fraternal twins. I didn’t get to meet them until they were 15.
22. The same day my brother died, my car also got broken into and all my cds were stolen. I was meeting Hoobastank at the time.
23. The only time I’ve ever left the country was to drive into Canada for lunch one day.
24. When I was 13 I fell asleep while reading and my bed sheet caught on fire from the small reading lamp. My mom woke up for no reason and came in to check on me and my little brother. In all the commotion of my mom ripping the burning sheet and lamp from me/my bed I didn’t even really wake up. I was just like, ‘Oh’ and laid back down and kept sleeping. The next day I was really confused as to why my room smelled like burning plastic... I wasn’t allowed another reading lamp for a while.
25. My name isn’t what it was supposed to be. My mom wanted my first name to be Elisabet or Lizbet (a German form of Elizabeth) but the nurse wrote me down as Elizabeth Jones. My mom didn’t want me to have my father’s last name either, but she could only afford the court fees/paperwork for one name change. She changed my last name to her maiden name and left my first name as Elizabeth.
I have to name my construction 'painting' for class and I am at a loss for the right words or title. The whole idea was that the piece had to be completely design free and non-representational, everything had to be either painted over or part of a poured-on paint slurry. Colors were up to us, so I did mine in a rainbow pattern (yay). The background was originally just white but my instructor told me I had to paint it (yes, in between all the poured and painted bits) so I did it in black, white and greys to keep the rainbow and make it pop. I do get a musical feel from it, and not just from the cds- The yellow fabric stripes are reminiscent of a guitar neck as well. Any ideas? Help... (click to enlarge)
1- Massachusetts 2- Connecticut 3- California Iowa 4- Vermont!
The Vermont marriage bill to allow same-sex marriage passed through state congress (with record votes/in record time, it seemed), the stupid, ignorant governor vetoed the bill as promised, and then, THEN, the Vermont legislature voted and overrode the veto (23-5 Senate, 100-49 House)!! I hope Cali feels super salty today.
Also, the Iowa Senate Majority Leader, Mike Gronstal, blocked a proposal to bring up a constitutional amendment to ban the newly allowed same-sex marriage. It's brilliant, you have to watch it-
The other really great thing about the Vermont win is that, in the cases of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, same-sex marriage rights were granted when the courts, via civil lawsuits, found same-sex marriage bans to be unconstitutional. Vermont was the first state to have a bill proposed and passed through legislature, without there having to be a lawsuit or supreme court involvement. That's major progress and words cannot describe how happy this makes me today. Twice in roughly a week. Wow. It's really something.
I ordered this brilliant Boober (Fraggle Rock) tshirt from 80stees but they apparently got it from somewhere else. And on the inside, where the tag (actual or screen printed) should be... is some sort of dictionary or manifesto. It's strange. I will try and transcribe it as it appears, as best I can (spelling, punctuation, spacing, etc.= sic):
Wash with cold water, take pride with this beauty, cheers.
DON'T TRAVEL OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY:
THERE ARE LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES, ESTUARY ENGLISH,
IT SOUNDS THE SAME, BUT IT'S NOT.
AVOID DEATH. IT CAN HURT. COUNCIL ESTATE PRINCESS
PROJECT ROCK(IST) trailer trash stories...
ESTUARY ENGLISH, OR ENGLISH ENGLISH:
Pissed - Drunk, not angry.
Tomato/Geiser/deodorant/alluiminium/mate/dude
Bollox - Sucks, not the truth, a staple word.
Fag - Cigarette
Gaff - Apartment
innit - Is it not?
Corta Panda - quarter pound cheese burger
Fit - Attractive/hot
Easside - East Side
Donut/Muppet - idiot, no style, no class
Oi Oi - Traditional greeting
Up Tan/Dan Tan - Uptown/Downtown
Yafta - you must/obliged
Yooz - the assembled company
Cockney Slang - avin a bubble bath (having a laugh)
Rub a dub dub - Pub, Glory be - Tea, Fish & Shrimp - Pimp
Dog & Bone, Eau de Cologne - the phone. 4 by 4, boat & Oar - ?
Trouble and Strife - Wife. Milky Way, Cafe au Lait - Gay.
Very Chandelier, Buccaneer, Ginger beer - Queer.
Adam & Eve - Believe, Ooh La La - Bra.
Melvyn Bragg - Shag. Holyfield's Ear - Year.
Harry Dash - Flash. Laters.
ROCK(IST).
(ps- Blogger and I are not getting along w/r/t images and where they should go, what size they should be, how they can be moved/edited/etc. nor do we agree on my time zone or where paragraph breaks should go. ARgh.)
So first we had Massachusetts. Then we got Connecticut. Third was California, but then they reneged. But now we have a new #3, so California can suck it!
Today the Iowa Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY struck down the same-sex marriage ban, stating that it was unconstitutional. Weeeee! You can read all about it here- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30027685/
Now only time will tell if Vermont can get their bill passed. The VT Governor must know what a jackass he is, especially after today.
