http://www.amptoons.com/blog Feminist, anti-racist, pro-fat, plus whatever else we feel like talking about. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:53:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I haven't been writing and it hurts; it's a tightness in my chest and a twist in my gut, and there is a part of me that wants to scream. Well, maybe not scream, but at least to grunt, let out some exclamation of frustration that I have not been ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/06/writing-and-pain-community-and-hope/ A friend of mine who does not like jazz--especially anything that has a saxophone in it--told me once about a conversation she and her ex-husband, a serious jazz-lover, had over dinner with a couple, the male half of which also loved jazz, while the female half felt similarly to my ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/06/i-know-ive-had-orgasms-that-changed-me/ And discovers the sinister plot to steal Glenn Beck's precious bodily organs. Is he crazy, or is he so sane he just blew your mind? http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/05/jon-stewart-channels-glenn-beck/ I don't have anything to say right now. Awful is awful, and we'll have time to dissect which particular flavor of awful this is soon enough. For now, keep the dead and wounded in your thoughts. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Mike Doughty. Mike Doughty, “Fort Hood” - More free videos are ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/05/let-the-sun-shine-in/ This is a post-election thread; feel free to discuss any of the recent election news, future election trends, etc., here. Virginia and New Jersey: No surprises here. I don't think these races indicate national trends, but I can't blame Conservatives for grabbing on to any hope they can. In the end, I ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/05/in-the-future-people-who-voted-against-marriage-equality-will-lie-to-their-grandchildren-about-how-they-voted/ I’d really been looking forward to this episode. In fact a couple of days before I dreamed that I’d watched it and in my dream I thought “That was good, but not as much Sierra as I was expecting”. ((I never used to dream about television, but since watching the ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/04/belonging-review-dollhouse-204/ EDIT: So I deleted this cause I was having trouble cutting the post, saw nojojojo and decided to leave it deleted, but it got crossposted anyway. Whoops. Have a midweek linkspam. (Alas a blog? This post is video heavy) I went to see Whip It a few weeks ago. It was absolutely ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/04/american-women-athletes-part-five-at-the-movies/ Have a midweek linkspam. (Alas a blog? This post is video heavy) I went to see Whip It a few weeks ago. It was absolutely wonderful! The Roller Derby scenes in particular left me cheering and full of adrenaline, and the fact that the movie made the love story a secondary ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/04/american-women-athletes-at-the-movies/ In the wake of unusualmusic’s ever-so-fun linkspam, let’s talk about cultural appropriation! Again. (C’mon, you know you love it.) Or not. I’ve become aware in recent months of a growing movement in the creative world that I’m going to call, for lack of a better term, anti-appropriation. ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/04/the-appropriateness-of-appropriation/ Tor.com has just published "The Memory of Wind," a novelette (("The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula awards for science fiction define the novelette as having a word count of between 7,500 and 17,499, inclusive." --Wikipedia)) by Rachel Swirsky, who also contributes to "Alas" as Mandolin. The ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/04/new-fiction-the-memory-of-wind-by-rachel-swirsky/ [Visual description: Panel one: Dude wearing "Uncle Sam" hat and a Hawaiian shirt is walking alongside a cliff, with John Keynes, who has a big mustache. HAT DUDE: Keynes, you are old-fashioned and useless. Modern economics has transcended you. Panel 2: Hat Dude teeters on the edge of falling off the cliff. HAT DUDE: ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/03/regarding-the-ongoing-irrelevance-of-keynesian-economics/ We've heard it before, but it's always neat to see a map: Via Matt, who got it from Openleft, at a link which is currently dead but which I hope will revive. Matt writes: ...progressive politics is badly disadvantaged by a situation in which the overwhelming majorities of political leaders and prominent ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/11/01/the-white-male-vote/ Or an Indian, Chinese, Native America, Mexican … There’s another post on my fl list that says it eloquently but its locked. However, I found another blog that breaks down the sentiments quite nicely. My identity is NOT a costume for you to wear! (The Native American via Ancient Eygpt costume ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/30/dont-dress-up-like-what-you-think-is-a-jamaican-this-halloween/ [This post was originally published on Clarisse Thorne's blog, and is reprinted here with Clarisse's kind permission. All three installments may be viewed here.] I'm about to assert something that makes me nervous, because I worry that people are going to stick me in the "asshole MRA" box. Don't get ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/30/questions-i-want-to-ask-entitled-cis-het-men-part-3-space-for-men/ I linked to these a couple years ago when they were published, but the magazine's website seems to be down. So, here they are in a blog entry. Happy Halloween (in a couple days)! i. Gwennie the good-hearted ghoul did her best to avoid being cruel. She offered to mate with the men that she ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/29/halloween-limericks-2/ From an article entitled "Precarious Manhood," which was referred to on a guest post yesterday: ((Vandello, J.A., Bosson, J.K., Cohen, D., Burnaford, R.M. & Weaver, J.R. (2008). Precarious Manhood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (6), 1325 – 1339. Pdf link.)) If manhood is viewed as elusive and tenuous, two ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/29/two-implications-of-an-elusive-and-tenuous-manhood/ [Reprinted with the kind permission of Clarisse Thorn. All three installments of this series (once they've all been posted) may be read here.] In the 2006 documentary "Boy I Am", a trans man talks about how one of his mental barriers to transitioning was the fact that after transition, he would ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/28/questions-i-want-to-ask-entitled-cis-het-men-part-2-men%e2%80%99s-rights/ Three students from my technical writing class came to see me during my office hours a couple of weeks ago because they were unhappy with the grades they received on their first assignment of the semester and they wanted my help in rewriting it for a better grade. The ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/27/thinking-about-the-relationship-between-teaching-grading-and-learning-or-you-dont-want-to-sound-like-a-black-girl-from-the-suburbs/ On July 1, over at Minnesota righty superblog True North ("Pointing Minnesota in the Right Direction"), Kevin Ecker decided to use his time to highlight an anti-immigration rally in Austin, Minnesota: Political activism at it's [sic] best is honest grassroots efforts by people finally fed up with lying politicians who decide ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/27/hatred/ This is the first of three guest posts, reprinted with the kind permission of Clarisse Thorn. This post originally appeared here on Clarisse's blog. Once they've been posted, all three posts will be accessible at this link. Clarisse Thorn is a feminist, sex-positive educator who has delivered workshops on both sexual ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2009/10/26/questions-i-want-to-ask-entitled-cis-het-men-part-1-who-cares/