stuff
October 8th, 2008 | Uncategorized
I don’t know what this picture is about. I’m just trying to get your attention.
A few items:
1. Apparently we should not be complacent about the CA marriage initiative–things aren’t looking good.
2. Google has their first index from 2001 up, for their anniversary. I couldn’t help checking to see how many hits I had then–1,460–and now–171,000. Two orders of magnitude! Not bad.
3. Uh…but then I googled Sarah Palin. In 2001–zero. Today? 22,100,000.
124 Responses to “stuff”
First post! And, fittingly, I have nothing to add. Er, nice looking nib. What is that, a 712?
Close! A 512. Extra-fine bowl point. I use it for lettering.
Alison, what’s your haircut style called? A TinTin? (Am I dating myself by calling it that?) Do you go to a barber? I am staring chemo and want to get a jump on the locks falling out by getting a smart buzz with a little flair. Give me some tips, please.
BTW, I don’t want to look like you in case that is giving you the creeps.
It’s a last chance to do something crazy…I may just die it yellow with orange tips to look like my head’s on fire too… I really haven’t decided.
But trimming it close is the last step and I don’t want to look like a military drone. You’ve been perfecting your ‘do for years, I just want some tips n terminology.
Noominal, God, I’m so sorry to hear about the chemo. Hope it goes smoothly.
Yeah, you have to go to a barber to get a decent haircut that short. They know how to use the clippers. But even so, it’s often hard to convince them to go that short if you’re a woman. I don’t think this style has a name. The best way to get what you want is to tell them which clipper guard to use. But I never remember what my barber uses. I think he starts around the edges with a #1, which is 1/8 of an inch. Then tapers up to a 3 or 4 on top, 3/8 or 1/2 respectively. THen I tell him to leave a bunch in the front.
Noominal…I’m sorry. Trust me, you’re gonna muddle through.
Make sure you have some Tylenol or other pain killer handy for when it starts to fall out – it can be surprisingly sore. (Like that feeling that you get when you release a ponytail that you’ve had in all day, but it persists.) Tylenol can help with this. I wish I could give you my email address in case you wish any more assvice, but with the infiltration here lately, I’m a little leery. Hang in there, Noominal.
CA needs George Takei,Portia Rossi and Ellen deGeneres to show their wedding pictures with George’s lovely voice in the background talking about how happy they all are to be married. Everyone loves Sulu.
Sorry to read abt. Noominal’s chemo. Hang tough, kiddo, and make sure you get a blue wig. Several of my friends who have had chemo have enjoyed this weird pageboy style blue wig. (Not all at once, they took turns.)
Takei has been politically active in the past, so that’s another plus.
How would YOU know whether the initiative is not going well? You don’t live in California! As much as you may want Proposition 8 to be defeated, you don’t know the climate of California to be making any suppositions.
2. Google has their first index from 2001 up, for their anniversary. I couldn’t help checking to see how many hits I had then–1,460–and now–171,000. Two orders of magnitude! Not bad.
3. Uh…but then I googled Sarah Palin. In 2001–zero. Today? 22,100,000.
The difference is that you, Alison, deserve the attention you’re getting now. Palin deserves the attention she was getting then.
You and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”
I was watching aforementioned program last night on the DVD machine’s recording of the most-recent episode. There’s a scene where Brian Austin Green (surprise, he actually CAN act, I never woulda thunk it) sees a deer. And I immediately flashed to the photo you had of the fawn on your site a few months back.
The ears were just as adorable. Maybe you should put a Terminator in an episode of the strip when it comes back?
Oooh. Opening panel: Mo, in a nuthouse, after living through 8 years of Bush, is rescued by a Terminatrix. And we’re off …
Uh…California…that was harsh. You know, what with this darn newfangled interweb and all, plus other inventions like magazines and newspapers, communication between the states (not to mention people) has really picked up in the last hundred years.
California, did you read the link?
Not every response is going to reflect star-struck awe for AB like “Hollywood” but exercising dissent is not harsh, though it may const chafe with her typical infatuated fan base. I like AB’s books but don’t necessarily agree with her assumptions.
California, who pooped in your petunias?
California, I live in California and I sent Alison the link and asked her to mention it since this blog has a big audience and the word needs to get out that No on Prop 8 needs more support than it’s getting. Alison was very kind to do this and I can’t thank her enough.
However, I don’t understand why you’re annoyed about this. Understanding California isn’t the issue; discrimination against a group of people, specifically asking voters to enshrine this discrimination in the state constitution, is the issue. As a native Californian, I’d like to live in a state that is at least as egalitarian as Massachusetts or Vermont. It’s not just high time for gay marriage to be legal in California, it’s overdue.
Too bad the anti-gay marriage camp is raising more money than the No on Prop 8 people and complacency is a problem. Too many voters didn’t think Prop 22, the original ban on gay marriage that the CA Supreme Court overturned this year, would pass. But it did and now was have to take Prop 8 more seriously. Or gay Californians will lose the right to marry that they’ve fought so long and so hard for.
And that’s why I asked Alison for the link. And because she’s so cool I’m getting frostbite just writing this, she blogged it.
Thanks again, Alison! Sorry for the soapbox moment.
Who pooped in your petunias, indeed, California? Best laugh and best rejoiner. I live in California, too – Burbank, no less, speaking of the heart of the entertainment industry and I appreciate AB posting this information. Yeah, it’s great to get different viewpoints as long as they’re not snarled at us. BTW, anyone want to join us out in Sunny Cal – 90’s,bone-dry and we’re nervously on firewatch. Ah, for a bit of frost – except from a blogger.
Just as distressing? The list of celebs who have NOT donated to fund raising to defeat the CA Marriage Initiative, Ellen Degeneres, Portia di Rossi, Melissa Etheridge, and Rosie O’Donnell among them. Why take advantage of your right to marriage and then NOT support the movement that wants you to retain that right? I am so, so disappointed.
i just read this on my friend’s blog. really, what DOES mo think about her?
“Looks like Alison Bechdel, author/illustrator of the 25-year-long comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” has (temporarily, I hope) retired her cartooning pen to pursue other writing projects (http://www.dykestowatchoutfor.com/dtwof-episode-527)….
I discovered it unexpectedly last night, when I decided to check up on my old pals, Mo and the gang, to see what they thought of Sarah Palin. (Yes, I’m serious. It suddenly occurred to me the other day that, of all the “people” whose political opinions matter to me, Mo was one of the few remaining I still hadn’t heard from.) Turns out I might never get to hear Mo’s thoughts, er, long-winded, wonky rants on the moronic VP pick – the “last episode for who knows how long” of DTWOF was dated May 13, 2008, months before the Palin horror show began.
I first met Mo – the neurotic, slightly self-obsessed, depressive, panic-prone heroine of DTWOF – in 1991 while I was an undergraduate at UW-Madison. The local liberal arts and culture rag, “The Isthmus,” ran the strip each week. I’ll never forget the joy that the strip and its characters brought me during our first few months together. These were women who were destined to become my life-long friends, penned by an artist whose humor, intelligence, depth, and storytelling ability seemed boundless. Bechdel is rare indeed. Her artwork is brilliant and hilarious; her dialogue is without compare, whether the genre is comics, memoirs (see her graphic novel “Fun Home,”), or just plain old literature; and her characters are fully-realized, fleshed out people who grow and change (and delight and annoy) just like we real ones do…
The picture is Tintin meets Salvador Dali. If you just stuck on a curly oiled mustache it’d be perfect.
As for Sarah Palin in 2001 — not true! Well, not entirely. If you do a search for “Palin Alaska -Michael” you get 214 hits, and at least several of them specifically refer to Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin. (You have to include “-Michael” because otherwise almost all your hits refer to the former Monty Python member’s travel show.) I don’t understand why a search for “‘Sarah Palin'” (in quotes) yields no hits, since several of the pages I found appear to include that exact string. In any case, while Palin’s visibility has certainly increased far more than she deserves, it has not increased by a factor of infinity.
(Warning: Nitpicking!) Also, being me I can’t resist pointing out that this is Google’s tenth anniversary, and that index from 2001 is only their earliest index that’s still available.
tas, are you sure about Ellen? I saw her on another talk show the other day, encouraging people to donate to defeat the initiative, stating “we” have donated “a bunch”. Just sayin…
As far as poop or petunias go don’t assume my state of mind. I will disclose that I am not some lesbian blogger fan who is infatuated with AB and hangs onto every word she writes!
as a californian who lives in the bay area and “knows” the leftist political climate, what ginger pointed out is very true. We (on the left, as it were) totally don’t believe prop 8 will pass, EVEN though prop 22 passed not that long ago. so the fact that the prop 8 folks are organized, well funded, and have a “save the children” campaign means exactly what AB said: we shouldn’t be complacent.
Noominal: while going to a barber as a female bodied person is an experience in and of itself, you can also cut it yourself! especially if you have a friend who has a clipper set. sending you healing through the chemo…
Nice picture, Alison. Congratulations. Sort of … inspiring. Anyway – that attention-thing worked 🙂
Sorry to hear about noominal’s chemotherapy. 🙁
Have you seen today’s John McCain Freudian slip?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/index.html
No, that wasn’t it. This is:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/My_fellow_who.html?showall
It looks as if, in addition to being hacked, the blog has acquired a troll…
Kate L–I feel like a prisoner; every time McSame opens his mouth…
As far as poop or petunias go don’t assume my state of mind. I will disclose that I am not some lesbian blogger fan who is infatuated with AB and hangs onto every word she writes!
Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. A little troll. I want to poke it with a stick for an even more spectacular reaction.
And I’m star-struck? Who knew? Tell you what, when Alison shits roses and cures cancer, she’ll have my awe. (And if anyone knows this, it’s her. A more unassuming person you’ll not meet.) Hey, California…are you from Oksameridial, by chance?
Kate L, that was just…freaky. And he didn’t even catch himself.
>Sorry to hear about noominal’s chemotherapy. 🙁
Me too.
And sorry to hear about all the hacking, Alison. And I find myself itching for a one-time-only DTWOF special election episode.
Hi All,
I organized a fundraiser for the Obama campaign – if you’re in the Twin Cities area, please come!
Oct. 18th, 8:00
Lee’s Liquor Lounge in Minneapolis
7 bands, including the Pines and the DitchLilies
All proceeds to benefit the Obama campaign
Link: (scroll down to my cool poster) http://www.leesliquorlounge.com/calcomplete.html
xo, Jennette
P.S. Good luck, noominal.
J.
omigod, Kate L! I hadn’t heard this.
God, horrifying as it is, it’s also kind of soothing to hear someone speak the truth.
We are all just prisoners here…though of our own device or someone else’s, it’s hard to call.
California, I’m a 56 year old straight white man.
I’m a big fan of DTWOF series and characters AND the divine Ms. Bechdel herself!
As for Prop 8, just about every state constitution has the words, “All persons are equal before the law” or very similar.
So, by the very words a state has in it’s “Operating System”, marriage equality is an absolute requirement.
Which was, pretty much, the logic that the Supreme Judicial Court, here in Massachusetts, used when they decided that, yes, gay couples DO have the same rights as straight citizens of the Commonwealth.
By the way, about the only negative result of marriage equality here in the Commonwealth is that there’s occasionally a wait to have your wedding pictures taken in the Public Garden. There’s a few scenic spots much favored by wedding photographers. One of the benefits is seeing all these happy people getting their pictures taken on a very happy day in their lives.
I’m a California resident. Thank you for the poke in the ribs– just made a donation to No on 8.
There’s a gorgeous Anti Prop 8 ad from Bryton Film I saw last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q2R7O-0WRo
About the haircut and what it can do to you:
When my 3-year old is “reading” TinTin he points at TinTin and says mom. According to him, his mom is TinTin and his grandfather is Captain Haddock.
I just want to say “awwwwwww”, Anonymous!
And also, “lucky you, I was Badger from Wind in the Willows!”
😉
Palin may have more hits, Alison, but you’re intelligent and I’d pick you for any length of time on a desert island. Palin, not for more than a minute. Unless I was starving. (And even then I’d rather use her for compost). You’re never going to be a “What were they THINKING?” question in trivia quizzes.
Don’t poke trolls, and they’ll eventually wander off to get in a fight on some other forum, or go back to reading Ayn Rand, or whatever they do.
Heroine worship of AB aside, it’s never good policy to be complacent about anything involving votes — Prop 8’s defeat is not locked up, neither is Obama’s presidency, and we’ve got just under a month to win or lose within. Keep working, keep getting the word out.
Yep, on any forum the golden rule is “don’t feed the trolls”!
Sorry to hear about the chemo Noominal, but I hope it goes well.
And no, you never can be complacent with elections. Somehow Labour leader Neil Kinnock lost the British general election in 1992 after a bit of grandstanding, celebrating the assumed win before it happened and it turned a lot of voters off. 5 years later, Bliar, sorry, Tony Blair won with a landslide 100+ majority with less votes than Kinnock. Work that one out if you can.
They don’t have those Republican electronic voting machines in California do they?
Noominal, I’m so sorry about the chemo, and I wish the very best of luck to your body and to your mind (to all the different parts of ‘you’…)in the coming weeks.
And Jessie (from the previous post), thank you so very very much for providing the impetus to make me introduce myself to the works of Mary Oliver. (‘Wild Geese’: what a poem!)
Hey, comics fans in the Midwest! Breaking in with a PSA about the Wisconsin Book Festival starting next week, specifically this:
Saturday, October 18 | 2:00 – 3:30 PM
Venue: Orpheum Theatre: Stage Door
Presented by WORT
Presenter(s): Mike Konopacki, Paul Buhle, LYNDA BARRY, Seth Tobocman
Political and social commentary in graphic form has rapidly become a dynamic and exciting part of the book world. A generation of illustrators, often radical in outlook, has given us a diverse range of graphic novels and histories, which draw literally and figuratively from experiences past and present in order to agitate and broaden the critical horizons of a widening audience through new ways of seeing. Come meet some of the heavy-hitters in the world of graphic art.
Bookseller: Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative
~~
You’re welcome. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog comments board.
P.S. This is a free event.
I don’t understand the troll mentality. If you’re not at least someone with SOME appreciation of Alison’s work, why even BE here? Unless it’s to stir up $#!+.
Thanks, A.B., for the haircut advice! 🙂 I’ve been struggling with just what to tell a barber/hairstylist for years! The closest I’ve come up until now was when I went to a stylist, and just happened to be the next customer after a woman in a plaid shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots got her hair cut. I said, “Cut my hair just like hers, please!”.
A.B., did you just accidentally almost quote “Hotel California”? 🙂
Ah, yes… Barber shop experiences. The irony of it all…
Back when I was a boy –you young’uns might want to scootch up a bit closer–, when me and my friends were first experimenting with something longer than a flattop or a D.A., we were still trying to go through the motions of going to the barber (mainly ’cause there really weren’t any other options).
And you’d try to tell the guy to “not take too much off”… you know, kinda trim it neatly at the bottom of your collar… The real trick was to escape the place without getting a buzz cut….
I have a guy at a shop who does a great job with my hair, and has for about 15 years now! He starts with a two on the sides, then trims those up around the edges with a smaller razer. Then he uses scissors on the top, but still manages to get it all to flow with no line. It is probably about 1/2 inch on top.
I’m willing to suspend judgement on whether or not California is a troll. Cal may just be a person with no tact. The same point could have been made thusly: “I’m from California and keep up with the local politics, and I say you’re dead wrong about Proposition 8…” It’s still a strong statement, but the lack of furious rudeness helps the reader to look at what Cal’s saying. As it is, we all shift automatically into “Troll–Ignore” mode. A greater degree of politeness would have served Cal’s argument better.
On the other hand, if Cal’s purpose was not to get across a point but merely to express anger, then Cal is, indeed, a troll and can be ignored.
Jana C.H.
Seattle
Saith JcH: Beware! Beware! The Fremont Troll! / Ev’ry auto moving he regards as rightful toll. / No race or nationality escapes his breakfast bowl / The Fre Mont Troll.
ld – I know exactly what you mean. I want to know what Mo thinks of the election and the economy right now. I’ve been with the DTWOF as a contemporary only six or seven years – like you, I also discovered it at uni. Though I’ve read and mostly own copies of the lot I’m afraid I’m young enough that one of the ‘before my time’ strips was the first place I heard of Iran-Contra (and probably a bunch of other important stuff). And I miss getting it every week and seeing how my favourite DsTWOF comment on our world now. Not to mention its some of the best comfort reading. Is the blog becoming AB’s DTWOF replacement in her communications with her fans? It’s fab -but I want both!
(I know, I know: ‘You can’t have everything you want in life’ (Dad, 1984). ‘But I WANT it!)
When exactly does AB “NOT” have our undivided attention!
Hehe the Fremont Troll! (laughs remembering my Seattle trip…)
You know who’s helping fund No on Proposition 8? Dan Savage, (from Seattle, north of California.) Maybe y’all read his October 2nd column–here’s an excerpt:
A NOTE TO MY READERS: I get more letters at Savage Love than I could ever hope to respond to personally and infinitely more letters than I could ever hope to fit in this space. There’s really no secret to getting your letter into the column: I just have to find your problem somewhat interesting, basically. (You are, however, better off e-mailing me on Tuesdays, when I sit down to write, than you are on, say, Fridays, when I sit down to drink.) The fact that I can’t respond to every letter leads to a lot of hurt feelings. Every day I get complaints from readers who can’t believe I replied to (someone else.)
Well, dear readers, for two weeks—and two weeks only—you can get a guaranteed response from me. Just go to http://www.noonprop8.com, click “Donate Now,” and do your part to help preserve marriage equality in California. On the left-hand side of the donation page, there’s a spot where you can indicate that you’re making your donation in someone’s honor. Type in “Savage Love,” put my e-mail address— mail@savagelove.net—in the space provided, and then send me your question in another e-mail along with the e-mail confirmation that No on Prop. 8 sent you after your donation cleared. The six biggest Savage Love donors get their letters in the October 16 and 23 installments of Savage Love. Everyone who makes a donation of $25 or more by October 16 gets a personal reply to their question from yours truly. The cutoff dates for donations that qualify for a letter in the column are October 9 for the October 16 column and October 16 for the October 23 column.
Is that so cool, or what?
Just to add to this list of stuff…
Has anyone noted already that it was ten years since Matthew Shepard’s death, on the 7th October? If not, I hereby note.
I’ve just read a post on LesbianDad’s always stunningly written blog. http://www.lesbiandad.net/2008/10/07/ten-years-ago-today/
Then I went to the Matthew Shepard Foundation website http://www.matthewshepard.org…and cried.
shadocat: According to my _Gay People’s Chronicle_ and the sources it cites, Ellen hasn’t donated a penny.
OK, $100 donated to No On Prop. 8, with the donation in honour of not Dan Savage, but of instead AB.
Since most of what I know about being a dyke comes from her art, it seems appropriate…
By way of procrastinating about my work (which, being somewhat in the financial sector, is going down the pan today, plus I heard at 6am this morning that I’ve lost a vitally important customer as they can’t afford my services any more), let me just add to the noise level around here…
Noominal: good luck with the chemo. One good thing to bear in mind is that over the past few years the doctors have got much better at design of dosing schemes, so some of the “traditional” side-effects are much weaker now than they were in earlier times. My father had chemo a few years ago, and although it sometimes made him very tired, and sometimes nauseous, he managed to avoid most of the other side-effects (and he kept his hair). I hope your course of treatment goes as well. I’m all in favour of the shorter hair anyway: if I were a girl I’m sure I’d think Alison’s quiff very hot… Have you considered a “flat-top”, like Lois used to have?
MC: It hardly needs mentioning, but not all of us Ayn Rand readers are trolls, of course. There does seem to be something about her that attracts a higher than average proportion of nuttiness, though. It’s interesting, and probably most fruitful, to view the formation of her political views in the context of her life experiences.
California: You can count me in the “optimistic” camp on this one – I’m an optimist on human nature!
Some good news…
Connecticut Ruling Overturns Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third to legalize such unions.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
Oh, that anonymous above was me. I have airport brain, I guess.
LondonBoy, no, not all who read Ayn are Randians. It’s the “A = A” set that cause all the trouble. (Which once again reminds me of the alphabet song from “Forbidden Zone”. “A is A, A A A .. “)
Years before Matthew Shepard’s murder, a friend of mine(who might wish to be anonymous so I won’t name him or give many details) had a similar experience, except they left him alive and he was able to physically recover after being found and rescued.
At the time I thought they were evil and horrible to him, and of course they were. But when I head about Matthew I wished he’d be treated as “kindly” as my friend.
*waves in case he reads this*
# Laura J Says:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:02 am
“Palin may have more hits, Alison, but you’re intelligent and I’d pick you for any length of time on a desert island. Palin, not for more than a minute. Unless I was starving. (And even then I’d rather use her for compost).”
Boy, that was good for a smile and a half. Great comment.
I would say that our dear Sarah would be unusually well suited for compost, being mostly bs.
I’d further note that what can you expect from someone who spells her name Sarah with an h? The girl I had a crush on in eighth grade was Sara, and that has always been the best way for me.
AB, I think it would be a good idea if you made a little election bet with the appropriate gods: Obama wins, and you post a new DTWOF as a karmic thank you.
Well, just a guy, I don’t know about AB, Mo, Lois, Jezanna or anyone else, but should Obama win then I’ll be running down the road singing and doing the dance routine from this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ELcE4utRLE (remixed for added gayness).
Keep Palin out of my compost!
I *eat* stuff that grows in it!
Did you know that Obama’s Irish? It’s true! A pub song in his honor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek
Arizona reporting here–our marriage amendment looks like it might carry this time around (right now, anyway).
I think a lot of people are fatigued. Arizona rejected an almost-identical ballot question in 2006. I think I speak for a lot of folks when I say we’re reacting with less vigor and with more “Why don’t I just move away?” We’re not going to lose anything we already have if Prop 102 carries here.
But we are going to lose face.
As a student of constitutional law and of rhetoric, I think it might take twenty or thirty years for the tide to turn, but when it does, Arizona will be a laughingstock if we pass 102. Everyone else is responding to a court. But Arizona has –nothing to gain– by passing our marriage amendment.
And no one in the campaign wants to talk about it, because their expensive polling data tells them to stay on message. But you know what? Win or lose this year, history will judge us sharply for these ballot questions. It’s 2008. We’re in two wars. Our economy is tanking. It won’t be long before the I-hate-fags way of getting out conservative votes loses its appeal, one way or another.
i live in california. as a queer poly girl, the marriage cause isn’t the highest on my priority list. still, i’ve been loosely following (and of course supporting) the No on 8 campaign.
forget complacency. it’s been a question from the get go — everyone’s been working, pulling for a victory. no one’s taking anything for granted in this state where ballot measures have been a conservative gold mine for decades, and the entire interior of the state is red.
and every queer, lesbian, bi, gay, fag, boi, tranny, hag,femme, stud — you name it — out here knows this. hell, folks still get beat up in the Castro.
so yes, California is a troll. or worse.
re: our current status:
the tone of urgency has heightened in the last few days: with right-wing ads out, and something like $10M in their war chest, we’re now losing by 5 points in the polls.
the No on 8 campaign has some great ads (as well as some we-can-be-just-as-normal-and-responsible-as-you ads that make me gag), but not enough funds. a recent appeal stated that without a million coming in in the next few days, we’ll likely lose.
so, uh … can somebody bug Ellen? (note: she could have donated anonymously). and all the Others who aren’t broke-ass grad students who should be working on their thesis instead of indulging their AB blog obsession? thanks!
p.s. the Bryton Film ad is gorgeous, and very effective, I must say. though the fact that it almost exclusively features white folks is a huge drawback in a state where people of color are nearly (or are already) a majority, and being gay, lesbian, trans, or queer is often dismissed as a ‘white’ thing by communities of color. (someone tell ’em!)
still, the ad brought a tear to my eye and a stake of investment to this cynical heart. beautifully done, effective, and challenging of assumptions all at once.
I thought the Bryton Film was beautiful too, but you don’t need to state sanctified wedding for love. You need one to get the rights to visit a partner in the hospital, to get benefits, to inherit money.
So, in my opinion, it misses the mark.
Right now, I’m seeing the ugly side of marriage. Where a mentally unstable man gets to call the shots on the medical care of his wife (my mom) simply because he’s her husband. Be very careful who has control if you are sick or disabled. Sometimes, a spouse isn’t the best choice.
And be sure to write up a living will. If yours is more than five years old, double-check it. Medical procedures may have changed.
Just thought I’d mention, Ms.Bechdel, I’m a freshman in college and for one of my classes we are reading your piece Fun Home. I thought you might enjoy that piece of knowledge.
Ellen, thanks for engaging.
your story reinforces my feeling that civil marriage – for everyone – should simply be abolished, with religious and cultural communities free to celebrate their own rituals and maintain their own institutions of love / commitment / marriage.
as you pointed out, you don’t need the state’s blessing for love. kinship & joint household rights (visitation, benefits, inheritance) need to be determined some other way, preferably culturally or by community. why should the state OR a hospital determine who has visitation rights? the person who is ill should determine this, ideally beforehand.
what i liked about the ad was the “separate is not equal” argument. *if* the state is going to recognize some love-based partnerships, i can understand the desire of those who see exclusion from recognition as reinforcing inferiority to be recognized by the state. i.e. the civil rights argument.
by that logic, though, i’d also support state sanctioning of poly kinship networks & relationships, and the regulation that would go with this recognition .
nope, i just don’t like marriage. i don’t really see the point. beautiful ads notwithstanding.
good luck with the situation with your mother!!! i’m sorry to hear it, it sounds very painful, and i hope it turns out alright.
Ellen, what you’re going through sounds quite awful. I wonder if hospital administrators can step in with some kind of court order in order to protect your mom. Keep us posted, O.K.?
Thanks Gin, great you tube tune (o’Bama), now enroute to many, as we speak. Nice Sami flag, AB, and great shot, “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword. Noominal, recover quickly and completely (with perfect health in your forcast).
the sami flag:
http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/samegiel/eng/samiflag.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/books/review/Moehringer-t.html?em
“Some of the essays aren’t quite essays. Two are cartoons. Alison Bechdel’s strip about Vermont is lovely and fact-filled: The Abenaki had a rule that ‘in their cramped winter wigwams, everyone got a small but inviolate space of their own.'”
If you liked the 2001 Google index, try the Internet Archive Wayback machine at http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Amongst other things you can view the earliest archived version of dykestowatchoutfor.com, revisit your old school / college / work website, check out what your elected representative was saying 5 years ago…
Warning: hours can be spent on this. I blame AB for posting the link to the google index.
How odd that the illustration in the Times today is from Tamara Shopsin (whose father is the subject of an article in the magazine) and not Alison or the other artist in the book.
Gentle (((((( hugs )))))), Noominal! I hope your (arduous-sounding) recovery is behind you as soon as possible and you are feeling in glowing health again.. And have fun with your hair decor in the meantime. Even if it doesn’t rebel and stomp off from the chemo, it WILL grow back.
Ginjoint, thank you for your helpful words. You are shining light on something that seems dark and scary.
some-lesbian-blogger: “kinship & joint household rights (visitation, benefits, inheritance) need to be determined some other way, preferably culturally or by community. why should the state OR a hospital determine who has visitation rights? the person who is ill should determine this, ideally beforehand.” hm, maybe I’m having trouble parsing this. I think our problem has been that kinship and joint household rights *are* determined culturally (we live in an antigay one, last time I looked) and by community (ditto). I like the idea of abolishing civil marriage across the board, but I’m not sure that would get rid of the problems.
Suz,
Thanks fer the heads up about Tamara Shopsin! I’m kinda fascinated with the Shopsins after seeing the documentary, “I Like Killing Flies,” about their restaurant.
Is Kenny a lunatic? Or Buddha?
In case you haven’t seen this one from an Orthodox Jewish woman in support of Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAVn1-gC7cg
(As a Jew, I struggle her pro-Israeli govt/policy stance; but yes, I still passed it on to anyone who still needs convincing….)
***
Many thx to Juliet for remembering Mathew Sheppard ~ I just finished reading several blog entries about it and am feeling heartsick and moved all over again…
Kenny Shopsin? I’d guess just another cranky New Yorker who gets attention now because he hasn’t been diluted into new New York niceness–or else one of those rare folks who’s actually as difficult as we’re all reputed to be by much of the rest of the country. I’ve been meaning for a long time to eat there– I’ll report back if/when I do.
Is this the guy who kicks people out of his restaurant if he doesn’t like them? In the NYT Magazine this week there’s a small article about that guy, with his recipe for mac & cheese pancakes.
OMG! I had to share this article with you given the number of lexicographical posts on the blog lately. The BBC website has a feature on Ammon Shea, the New York man who reads dictionaries for fun:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7654511.stm
“If you come across a word like “remord” (to recall with a touch of regret) it’s impossible to read that word without thinking of things that you regret yourself, he says, or to read “unbepissed” (not having been urinated on) without a chuckle.”
Thanks to this article I now know I’m a pejorist – one who thinks the world is getting worse!
P.S The Beeb also did a follow up article of readers’ 50 favourite words:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7659954.stm
which include blog favourites kakistocracy and syzygy! According to one reader, “From Ancient Greek “palin” meaning “again” (as in palindrome)”. Which is appropriate as Sarah Palin really reminds me of Dubya in some ways. There are some great words in there like the rather gothic chthonic and susurrus, but also my favourite, palimpsest.
Thanks to Ian for the list favorite-word list.
I see that they included “Petrichor” (a word I learned from from Vermont Public Radio’s wonderful “Eye on the Sky” weather reports) and in the spirit of his mention of “palimpsest” I’ll include a word which they didn’t include: “opistograph”.
And another word which isn’t on the list –but surely must be any the short-list for “how cool that they need such a word”– is “kipuka” a Hawaiian word for “an ‘island’ of trees or other unaffected ground surrounded by a lava flow”.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but here’s one of my favorite words: “Hlonipa”. It’s a word found with slight variations in several south-east African languages, and means “the act or custom of politely not saying words that are cognate with, and might remind you of, your mother-in-law’s name”. It’s part of a larger culture of in-law-avoidance, all of which go under the general rubric of “hlonipa”, but I particularly like the linguistic component, which, in the absence of the in-laws themselves, is the most characteristic manifestation of the custom.
It’s also one of only two words I know that begin with “hl”, the other being “hlymru”, which is a variant spelling of “llymru”, a word borrowed into English from Welsh, nowadays more commonly rendered as “flummery” (the pudding).
WTF Department: regarding http://www.noonprop8.com, down at the bottom of the “donate” page, it says “Please note that foreign nationals are prohibited from donating to this campaign.”
On a lighter note (and totally different tack): I like the word “abstemious”.
This is not remotely on topic. It is submitted here for no other reason than the Amidons are musical family based here in Brattleboro; I think the music is wonderful; and, well, I thought it was a good day for a smile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIIKHFN0svc
Btw, the photo of A.B. at the start of this blog looks like an image from a 1920’s German film about a cartoonist driven mad by her art. Just kidding! 🙂 Driven to distraction, maybe…
One of my favourite words is ‘myomancy’: ‘divination from the movement of mice’ as in ‘If the US economy had been run according to the principles of myomancy, perhaps we’d have been better off than we are right now.’ 🙂
They don’t have mice on Wall Street, they’re all rats.
Oh gosh, as soon as I posted that I regretted it. Please allow me to retract that comment – I have many good friends working on Wall Street, and those that I have spoken to are unanimously depressed and guilty. They’ve given many years to trying to help people manage their hard-earned savings and pension assets so as to get the best returns for the lowest risks, and now they’re being castigated by their friends and clients for disastrous events largely beyond their own control. Not everyone who works on Wall Street earns a vast bonus and is a “Master of the Universe”: many are just ordinary working people trying to do a decent job.
What I think I mean is: not everyone on Wall Street is a rat.
Sorry for the flippant comment.
but I thought it was funny. 🙂
You’re right London Boy – there are people on Wall Street, and in the finance sector generally, who aren’t greedy bastards. I think what enrages so many people though is that the ‘Masters of the Universe’, having totally messed things up by their greedy market manipulation, seem to have absolutely no remorse whatsoever, and in fact are trying to block the bailouts because their bonuses are under threat! Their only long-term consideration was for their own pensions and stock options, and ordinary people can go hang. When will just one of these guys said ‘I’m really, really sorry’?
And oh, I thought your comment was funny, too, but the teensiest bit rat-ist 🙂
@Minnie, c/o WTF Dept.: Indeed. So I had to use a US-based credit-card account to bypass an associated hurdle.
We don’t want no furriners messin’ in our politics.
Thank you, Alex. This furriner indeed used a U.S.A. credit card.
But first I went elsewhere, to http://www.eqca.org, where there was no mention of restrictions on donations from foreign nationals. Equality California simply needed to know my work title and for whom I work.
Oh — and my credit-card number.
The TV ads to repeal the right to marry for same-sex couples are mean-spirited. They try to induce fear and anger and a sense that such unions are ‘wrong’. We are being barraged with plenty of these ads on prime-time TV here in California.
@minnie:
“Abstemious” is one of a few words in English that includes all five vowels in alphabetical order. If you prefer, you can make it an adverb — “abstemiously” — to include the semivowel “y.”
Hmm. I wonder if they’ve invented a term for such a word. (Not to be facetious.)
Not surprisingly, one of my favorite words is “logodaedaly.”
I am thrilled that AB is working on a new book and still posting here but damn, damn, damn am I missing my DTWOF friends and their viewpoints during this election. Sure, I know most of their viewpoints and where they’d stand but with Palin and Prop 8 and that Republican character whom I dislike so much I forget her name, things must be crazy.
Which brings me to the next question: are these characters existing on their own right now or are we taking more of an authorial, text-based only approach to the strip during the hiatus?
Oh, they’re existing in their own right alright, you can bet on it. I’m sure they’re yelling in Alison’s head much of the time. And I felt as though I’d spoken to Mo and later Clarice on the phone the other day.
@abstemiously (hee!), could the word be termed an alphavowelbetical acrostic?
You just know Clarice would be ranting about Palin and Sydney would be winding Mo up by wanting to sleep with her. Or Lois would be dragking it up as McCain down at Club Q. Mo would be defending Ellen for not publically donating to the No on Prop 8 (even tho she’s given publicity worth muchos $$$$$ to the campaign).
Adapted from wordie.org (http://wordie.org/lists/10641)
Panvocalics are words that contain all the vowels.
Euvocalics (aka supervocalics) are words that have each of the five vowels only once.
Euryvocalics are words that also have a “y”
I was thinking of Clarice and Gloria and Raffi yesterday, because something I don’t know what triggered some Throwing Muses in my head and, in the imaginary DTWO4 film that I have up there, the song “Walking In The Dark” underscores the scene where everybody’s trying to get to Gloria’s when she goes into labor.
God, I miss the strip.
sorry, no pressure—just the blogging equivalent of thinking out loud, I guess…
yeah, D2WO4 got me through many a painful political moment (and this is **painful**!)… memorably the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hoo-ha, and many others. But hey, back then we didn’t have this awesome blog!
Thanks, Alex the Bold! And I’d forgotten about Wordie. What a great site!
Thanks, Alex the Bold! And I’d forgotten about Wordie. What a great site!
Next week we’re having an LGBT film festival in Liverpool and amongst the many films I’ll be seeing will be Canadian flick Finn’s Girl, which sounds rather spiffing (lol). Has anyone seen it already? Any good?
By the way, it looks like there’re some good transgender fillums on the bill, including “XXY” and “She’s a Boy I Knew”.
This is great… go kids! You rock…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUlJel4RR8
ian… fillum and film??
that’s like colour and color and elevator and lift and flashlight and torch…
right?
Fillum – it’s Irish for film which is what the English call a movie … 😉 It’s a joke-Irish word because some people with an Irish accent pronounced ‘film’ as ‘fillum’. Another example would be ‘feck’ for ‘fuck’ ‘cos characters in an Irish sit-com used ‘feck’ as a substitute. Though I can honestly say I’ve never heard an actual Irish person say ‘feck’ except as a joke.
What the feck?!?!… that anonymous above was me.
I was just teasing you Ian… I knew you were being silly!
I missed the debate last night… since Mo and crew aren’t around to provide their take on things can someone else give me a three sentence summation?
Aunt Soozie, I liked that video – it definitely humanizes the issue. The debate? Some guy named Joe the Plumber kept interrupting.
Re: British English vs. Irish English vs. U.S. English – I can’t remember where I heard this; I think it was one of those baby-delivery shows on the Discovery Channel or something. (Discovery is a medical- & science-oriented channel.)
Remember what a “torch” is in the U.S. (Not sure about Canada on this actually – torch or flashlight?)
Anyway, a British woman was talking about a gynecological exam she’d had. She unintentionally floored me with laughter when she spoke of the doctor “carefully examining her with a torch.”
Now just you try and get that image out of your head.
Thanks,Aunt Soozie,for the link. And the testimonial by the self-described Jewish mother,Molly Pier,was wonderful as well.
Oops,that was me above. As Virginia Woolf wrote,”Anonymous was often a woman.”
Re: XXY. I saw it this summer at an indy theater; it’s set on the coast of Uruguay. There are some upsetting violent scenes, but overall it’s well-done. The sea biologist father of the young protagonist,Alex,is quite supportive of his daughter/son.
Aunt Sooze, you inveterate tease! If you’d not posted anon, I’d’ve known where you were coming from.
Ginjoint, to what does “torch” refer in the States? We obviously call a torch a flashlight, but I’m having visions of a woman’s vajayjay being illuminated by a stick of wood that was dipped in pitch and set alight as used by various peasants storming the castle to kill Frankenstein. Of course, if you’re into S&M … 😉
You got it, Ian. Hence my horrified laughter.
So all those novels/short stories where the male explorer takes a torch into a cave weren’t just metaphor?
I knew there was a reason I loved you even though I don’t know you.
And Ian… what do the brits call sanitary napkins…? I think those are torches too… aren’t they? or what? and tampons? I think I remember there were some different names for them as well.. oh, maybe you aren’t the expert on those devices… and got it.. joe the plumber. okay. don’t think I’m gonna change my vote… I didn’t intentionally show up as anonymous.. I just kept having to reset my browser cause I was having some puter problems.. but, now all is well and my cookies are all in place!
your cookies are in places where torches dare not go, I hope, Aunt S.
Thanks for the delightful posts. I’m smiling.
I’m also phone-calling for Obama to NH daily. Gobama! ps I was happy to hear Obama expound so eloquently unabashedly pro-choice. I hope McCain’s articulated anti-choice stance seals his fate — that all the fence-sitting or conservative-leaning women will realize this is the end of the line for a woman’s right to choose, and they make him go awayway.
“your story reinforces my feeling that civil marriage – for everyone – should simply be abolished, with religious and cultural communities free to celebrate their own rituals and maintain their own institutions of love / commitment / marriage.”
Woo woo, Lesbian-Blogger-Fan! I couldn’t agree more – I’ve always argued the best way to acheive equality would be to scrap marriage. But people seem to think I’m extreme…
Well, it’s easy to say let cultural communities maintain their own institutions of love/commitment/marriage. But what if you are a minority type of family (not straight or monogamous) in your cultural community? Without civil law upholding your marriage where will you be? People are not infinitely mobile and often need to remain in communities where they are not the majority for a variety of reasons.
As poorly as law protects the minority I’m not sure I want to be without it.