Diaphanitas

Poll #1488447
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0

Which genre ages least gracefully on average?

No really, the name outfit is as important as the name..... I picked my wardrobe for Modcloth.com

this top"

this Skirt

these tights

These boots


this hat

and a monocle!

This morning I staggered out of bed at 5am to relieve bladder pressure, and out of the blue realized the problem I was having with my SQL extract code. Then I realized that I should check and see if one of my jobs was clogging up the pipeline, which kept me exhaustedly awake for half an hour as I tried to convince myself that the world would not end.

Earlier this week something similar happened, several relative hours earlier. I've always been for the idea that if you sleep your subconscious self will find interesting connections that you simply cannot force. I like being able to trust my subconscious. Honing it has been a preoccupation of mine for more than half of my life.

But really, working during the middle of the night on weekends is pretty low on my priorities. Maybe I need to teach my subconscious to chill now and then.

Okay, not exactly my usual sort of post. On the other hand, I know some of my friends are involved in canine rescue, and as with many things, the further the word spreads, the more likely it is to actually do some good. This is copied verbatim from a friend's FB post.

11-20-2009: Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, WI will be closing on December 31, 2009. 900 Greyhounds need to be adopted or they will be euthanized. Please help me get the word out; there are only 6 weeks to get this task done. Contact Joanne Kehoe Operations Director P: 312.559.0887 Or Dairyland Race Track Adoption direct at (262)612-8256 Please repost this to your FB & help these dogs.

There are even more black boxes in cars on the horizon.

"THE European Union is drawing up plans for aircraft-style black box recorders to be fitted to all cars to help the police identify who is responsible for crashes.

A £2.4m, three-year study commissioned by the European commission’s transport arm has recommended the mandatory installation of the boxes in all cars. They will record 20 types of data, including speed, the car’s most recent movements and whether the driver braked or indicated.

The information will be used by police and insurance firms to reconstruct crashes and determine who was at fault. It could then be used in court cases. Insurers would be able to expose bogus claimants by checking their account of an accident against what really happened."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article6898129.ece
Times Online, November 1

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/11/21/compare-and-contrast/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=9158

From one of my friends:

Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisconsin will be closing on December 31, 2009. 900 Greyhounds need to be adopted or they will be euthanized. Please help me get the word out; there is only 6 weeks to get this task done. Contact Joanne Kehoe Operations Director P: 312.559.0887 Or Dairyland Race Track Adoption Center direct at (262) 612-8256.

Still sleeping!

Finally starting to keep track of it, using ShoveBox's 'Quick Jot' feature. Timestamps each jot, it's as easy as sin. And most of the time, sin is pretty damn easy. Anyway, so I am trying to jot down everything I eat and when, jot when I lie down to sleep, jot when I wake up, etc.

Up for just enough time to eat, and then I'm back to sleep. Goodnight!

What the title says really.

If you were a renegade Time Lord what title would you give yourself?

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/to/~3/N5g0j-EFzPM/Apple-Voiding-Smokers-Warranties

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/bTELHs5S_z8/

http://whatjapanthinks.com/?p=2382

Having done alcohol consumption earlier in the week, today I take a look at a survey from DIMSDRIVE Research into temperature of drinking water, etc, with a faddy diet as a bonus!

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of November 2009 9,947 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were male, 0.6% in their teens, 8.4% in their twenties, 27.6% in their thirties, 32.7% in their forties, 19.0% in their fifties, and 11.7% aged sixty or older.

The fad diet is the Sayu diet, 白湯 in kanji, the drinking of water at between 40°C and 50°C. Looking at the answers below, it appears it should raise one’s metabolism and burn more fat for the same food intake. Who knows if it works or not, although I would guess that the answer would be no, it doesn’t!

Research results

Q1: Usually, which of the following ways do you try to look after your body with regards health, beauty, etc? (Sample size=9,947, multiple answer)

Get lots of sleep	52.2%
Try to eat a balanced diet	44.1%
Try to drink lots of water	40.7%
Try to lead a regular lifestyle pattern	38.7%
Take appropriate exercise	34.2%
Try not to build up stress	31.2%
Take nutritional supplements	24.5%
Try not to chill my body	15.2%
Take waist-deep baths, sweat, etc, to stimulate my metabolism	9.2%
Other	0.7%
Nothing in particular	13.9%

Q2: Which of the following apply to you? (Sample size=9,947, multiple answer)

Lack of exercise	61.0%
Feel need to lose weight	31.0%
Lack of sleep	29.9%
Chilled extermities	29.4%
Metabolism, circulation is poor	21.0%
Constipated	20.8%
Water retention, swelling occurs easily	16.8%
Rough skin	15.6%
Low blood pressure	14.4%
Currently on weight-loss diet	11.9%
None of the above	13.5%
Don’t want to answer	0.9%

For chilled extermities, 12.3% of men but 51.1% of women reported it, with the younger age bands more likely to suffer from it. For poor metabolism or circulation, just 8.5% of men but 36.8% of women reported it, but there was almost no age-based trend.

Q3: What is your preferred temperature for drinking each of the following liquids? (Sample size=9,947)

	Water	Tea	Coffee	Milk
0°C to 10°C	57.0%	19.5%	13.6%	63.1%
20°C to 30°C	27.0%	11.5%	4.7%	12.7%
40°C to 50°C	6.8%	19.3%	15.4%	5.2%
60°C to 70°C	2.5%	21.2%	20.4%	4.0%
80°C to 90°C	2.4%	23.9%	32.2%	2.1%
Over 90°C	0.0%	3.1%	6.9%	0.2%
Don’t drink at all	4.3%	1.5%	6.8%	12.7%

Men preferred colder water, and those who suffered from chills preferred warmer water.

Q4: By season, at what temperature do you drink water? (Sample size=9,521, water drinkers)

	Summer July, Aug	Autumn Sept, Oct	Winter Nov - Feb
0°C to 10°C	80.1%	51.6%	37.4%
20°C to 30°C	15.6%	36.9%	38.0%
40°C to 50°C	1.9%	5.2%	10.4%
60°C to 70°C	0.8%	1.4%	4.2%
80°C to 90°C	0.8%	2.1%	5.3%
Over 90°C	0.0%	0.0%	0.8%
Don’t drink water during that season	0.8%	1.9%	3.9%

Q5: Why do you choose to drink lukewarm water? (Sample size=2,682, 20°C to 30°C water drinkers, multiple answer)

In order not to cool my body	48.9%
May be least worst for body	35.5%
May be best to have something close to body temperature	30.8%
Don’t like drinking cold water	11.3%
May be good for metabolism	10.7%
May be easy to absorb	10.7%
May be good for the bowels	6.2%
Avoids water retention swelling	1.9%
Other	3.8%
Just because, no particular reason	23.9%

Q6: Why do you choose to drink 40°C to 50°C water? (Sample size=676, 40°C to 50°C water drinkers, multiple answer)

Warms the body	47.0%
May be good for body	37.4%
May be least worst for body	33.4%
May be good for metabolism	26.3%
May be easy to absorb	14.9%
Don’t like drinking cold water	12.9%
May be good for the bowels	12.0%
Avoids water retention swelling	2.5%
Other	2.5%
Just because, no particular reason	16.3%

Q7: How do you prepare your 40°C to 50°C water? (Sample size=676, 40°C to 50°C water drinkers, multiple answer)

Boil a pan, kettle and let it cool	41.7%
Heat a pan, kettle to before boiling and let it cool	8.4%
Heat a pan, kettle to just the right temperature	8.3%
Boil an electric kettle, pot and let it cool	35.2%
Use hot water from a thermos flask	3.8%
Heat in the microwave	17.0%
Other	2.7%
Don’t know	4.7%

Q8: What problems, inconveniences do you have when you prepare your 40°C to 50°C water? (Sample size=676, 40°C to 50°C water drinkers, multiple answer)

Can’t prepare it just when I want to drink it	27.4%
Difficult to get to the right temperature	24.7%
Often let it cool off too much	18.0%
Soon cools off	17.9%
Often overheat it	17.2%
Bothersome if I just want a little	12.9%
Don’t know the best way to prepare it	2.8%
Other	0.4%
Nothing in particular	30.5%

Q9: Do you know the “Sayu Diet”? (Sample size=9,947)

Currently on such a diet	1.4%
Used to be on such a diet	2.7%
Heard of it, but not tried it	15.4%
Not heard of it	80.5%

Women were much more likely to have heard of it than men - about 10% to 20% of men versus 20% to 33% of women, with younger people more likely to have heard of it.

Q10: Would you like to try the “Sayu Diet”? (Sample size=9,947)

Definitely	16.3%
Perhaps	25.6%
Can’t say either way	24.1%
Perhaps not	15.7%
Not at all	18.3%

About twice as many women as men were willing to give it a go.

( Spoilers for EoT, and crackpot speculation. )
I don't expect this to be taken seriously, it's mostly just speculation for the fun of speculating. You should see some of the BSG stuff I've pulled out of my butt.

No matter what I do I have issues paying things online. My own student loan which i paid without hassle for years has spent every month in 2009 telling me that my password isn't my password and I have to call in to be overrided.

Now for the second time in three months Billpay did NOT pay Dish who called me at 8AM on a fucking saturday to tell me this. Yeah...i'm pleased.

For that matter I don't see my car payment when I went to look (that I DID pay by mail). Better call Honda up

And here's one for leni_ba who wants me to come visit her.

pishtacos

they'd take one look at me and think 'goldmine' then again i'm thinking if i knew about this i could have had lipo and made myself rich

http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/weekly/~3/Bpm-pr1-3Po/nations_music_snobs_protest

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nations_music_snobs_protest?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

WASHINGTON—"What those poor people have had to suffer through is a terrible, shameful travesty," said Rolling Stone's David Fricke. "Can you imagine being forced to listen to Deicide and Drowning Pool all day long?"

I've not heard of this show until now. But I am from the states so no surprise there.

(The host Alan Carr sounds an awful lot like Bluebottle, yeah? It's bizarre!)

Here on You Tube.
He's on the last third of the show. Of course his time was way too short...There's Mariah Carey going on about who knows what forever, when we could have had more of someone worth letting ramble.

I love Simon Pegg as well, and I'll go back and listen to what he had to say--but--sorry Simon I skipped to the end!
Anyway, just thought I'd post the link as a hello I'm new to this lovely community. Enjoy!

http://sue-denimme.livejournal.com/181850.html#cutid1

Not dialup friendly.

Je kent wel van die blouses met zo'n onderbroek er aan vast zeg maar :P Zodat je shirt in je broek blijft en je dus geen vette bouwvakkers glimlach hebt als je bukt ;) Ik weet niet hoe het heet, maar ik zoek zoiets, alleen dan niet in een blouse vorm, maar gewoon als t-shirt. Weet iemand of die verkrijgbaar zijn? En waar?

Alvast bedankt!

You may or may not remember the novel I'm working on now, which has a U.S. Corps of Linguist candidate -- who has failed three of her final exams -- ordered to do a penalty monograph on the grammars of four previously unstudied ET languages. [First page, draft 17, is at http://ozarque.livejournal.com/621925.html .]

Which means that I've had to spend this past week doing the following:

1. Thumbnail sketches of each of the four languages.

2. Phoneme lists for each of the four languages. [That is, the list of meaningful sounds].

3. Swadesh lists for each of the four languages. [That is, the core vocabulary list of roughly 100 words that the linguist would use to start her fieldwork.]

These three things have to be done before I can do the plotting, and they take a lot of time. And of course, for a linguist they're mind-candy. I'll be sorry when I've finished doing them.

No title yet. Not even a glimmer of an idea for a title.

I'm taking a bye this week for lj idol. I had an idea in mind, but I need to sit down and sort it out and I'm not going to be able to do that before tomorrow.

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/to/~3/gFPhB6oRRPU/Pittsburgh-To-Tax-Students

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/to/~3/6gS-jSS6PpA/Major-Electronics-Firms-Support-Ending-Use-of-Conflict-Minerals

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Title: Whispered Winds
Author: Unwanted Artist
Fandom: Guiding Light or Venice, depends what mood you're in.
Rating: PG
Summary: A poem.

A/N: This came to me earlier on in the year, never quite got round to posting it, but thought I'd do it now instead.

http://unwanted-artist.livejournal.com/2150.html

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Dear Shira:

After spending all of yesterday going back and forth from the old apartment to the new one, hauling things up stairs and down stairs and back up stairs (they're both on the second floor), I wanted nothing more than to curl up and die in bed. It was a relatively warm night.

I'm sorry I forgot to put on the heater. I'm sorry you were obviously cold when I woke up. Though I'm not sure if cats can actually shiver, it certainly feels like you were doing so when you curled up in my lap. Please accept my offer of warm, cozy snuggles to make up for my transgression.

Love and warm laps,
Mommy

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

The Roman Catholic Church has condemned the Twilight Series of books

For once I thought I'd finally found common ground with the Catholic church! Yes, such writing should be declared an offence to all mankind!

But no. Apparently it is condemned for "deviant moral values." Wait... aren't these the "mate for life, no sex-before marriage" vampires?

It's like they're TRYING to become less relevent in the modern world!

But there has been a terrible side effect from this.

*urge to read Twilight rising* Gods protect me...




I'm also kind of waiting for Anne Rice to fly out to the Vatican and start screaming "where's MY condemnation, arsehole?!"

I didn't see anyone else had posted this so I decided to:

( Cut For Length )

This new and negatively-expensive mobile phone of mine - which would have saved me money even if I'd never taken it out of the box: ask me how! - not only takes photos (which I knew) and videos (which I didn't know: it has just struck me, I could show you the boys in action! chasing Evil Red Dot up to the top of the door!! if I can figure out how to upload from object to internet), it is also an FM radio! Who knew? And why didn't you tell me?

Tragically, the radio function only works through the headphones, so it won't act as a substitute travel-radio; I doubt I'd fall asleep with things in my ears. Tho' I suppose a man might try...

In other news: lord, I am so mucky. Everyone is used, I think, to my spilling dinner on my clothes, but I do also need to change every time I cook. Which includes every time I bake: which, when making sourdough loaves according to my New Improved method - knocking the dough back three or four times before the final proof - really ought to mean every hour on the hour. I don't have that many clothes. Which means that if I slip out to the shops between one rise and the next - well. Mucky. All over flour, and in public too.

The solution, of course, would be some kind of cheffy apron. In sexy black: I'm sure they are available. But it'd need to include sleeves, because I'm always dangling my cuffs in the dough, and I don't think those are commonplace; and I'm not at all sure I'd wear it anyway. I suspect I'd either laugh or cringe or both; and then only remember it when it was too late, when I looked down and saw the state of me.

*goes off to knock back dough, in a state*

This piece originally appeared at Womanist Musings where Renee has very generously allowed my random musings to appear on her excellent blog

Specifically, why marriage rights are important to homosexuals. I’ve already spoken many many many times about all the essential, non-imitatable rights and protections are inherent in marriage. I’ve also touched on how denying ANY right, no matter how insignificant, sends a dangerous message from the government that that group is worthy of discrimination (though I’m going to cover that more) but those are other points.

Now I’m going to ramble about the assumptions of a relationship most heterosexuals enjoy EVEN WHEN THEY’RE NOT MARRIED. I’m doing this because I’ve seen a few heterosexuals around the edge of the marriage debate basically saying “well, why do you want it? Why is it important?“

Because I think, to a degree, there are some factors to this that heterosexuals miss simply because we’re all inclined to take for granted the advantages of privilege and we all just assume the power of rights when we have them for so long.

The fact is our societies are prejudiced and they have both privileged and normalised the idea of a heterosexual 2 partner relationship - to such a degree that anything outside of this is going to face opposition AND NOT GAIN THE ADVANTAGES OF ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS RELATIONSHIPS BENEFIT FROM.

And the latter is a point to emphasise (among many many other points). We can spend some depressing hours googling our way through horror stories about how denial of gay rights has caused real pain. Whether it’s the lesbian who had to wait with her children unable to see her partner of many many years even though she was dying in the hospital, or the gay man who lost his house when his long term partner died and they had crippling inheritance tax or the partner of a gay soldier who had to learn about his boyfriend’s death when the media turned up to INTERVIEW HIM ABOUT IT (I think that’s as much to do with DADT as anything - but seriously, that’s madness) to the INNUMERABLE cases where wills, power of attorneys et al have been challenged (successfully!) when homosexuals have desperately taken what limited steps we could to ensure basic rights that heterosexuals take for granted.

Do you know what the key linking factor between all these beyond how they would all have been solved if the couples could marry? The factor is that if all of the couples were heterosexual they would not have happened - EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT MARRIED.

If it was a woman wanting to see her long term male partner dying in the hospital the hospital staff wouldn’t have blinked. Challenging the will of a man who left all his property to a woman he had spent the last decade living with would be considered utterly insane. No-one has trouble thinking of someone fulfilling a parental role of children they have raised for 5, 10 or 20 years even if they aren’t married to either biological parent and haven’t adopted the kids - so long as they are heterosexual. Most employers won’t blink if you ask for time off because your heterosexual partner has had a bereavement, life tragedy or is hurt and needs someone to help look after them. Even little things - I cannot count the number of cards (and even invites) I’ve received from people who KNOW all about Beloved and have for years that don’t include his name. And I may have to go on an axe-murdering rampage through my local bank if they don’t give us a joint bank account soon.

To me, ultimately, marriage is about declaring to the world that you are an official couple (actually, I think TRADITIONAL marriage is about treating women as transferable property from father to her new owner, the husband, but that’s another matter and certainly a legitimate reason to have a problem with marriage) and that you should be treated accordingly. Many marriage laws and rights cover that - from treating 2 people as separate entities to 2 people acting, at least occasionally, as one unit. The reason why this isn’t always seen as necessary for heterosexual couples is because society will treat you like that ANYWAY (at least usually).

We don‘t get that assumption. It’s the legacy of societal prejudice and the blinkered view that privilege can give even the most well meaning of us. Even when we ARE married, it can be still very hard to get people and the powers that be to treat us as such. Without that legal recognition it can be like getting blood out of a stone.

And that is why marriage rights are important. It’s an official recognition not just that our individual relationships exist but a movement for society to realise that YES same-sex couples exist, YES these are reasonable relationships and should be treated as such and YES the assumptions that are applied so casually to heterosexuals should apply here too. Even for those of us that do not get married - it is a step towards having those assumptions, those so-helpful societal assumptions, apply to us as well.

(C) 2009 R.M.Ahsmann

Mikey Way: @newlondonfire "end of school zone" hahahah

Mikey Way: benefit for Chi from the Deftones..http://bit.ly/5S0hrc

Mikey Way: @JohnMiserable THA' BONE!

Okay.
You all know what I think about the whole Caster Semenya debacle, because that is exactly what it is.

It being the day after Transgender Day of Rememberence and the News about her so-called innocence coming out the day before, is all a convergence of an issue of which there is little to no awareness in the mainstream media.

Gender variance.
Beyond that, treating gender, sexuality, physical and mental abilities as though they are some kind of moral compasses for people.

The fact that the Guardian article linked above states:

South Africa's government, Semenya's lawyers and the IAAF had reached total agreement that she will retain her gold medal, title and prize money because she has been found "innocent of any wrong", the ministry said in a statement.

Emphasis mine.

What, exactly, was her crime? Surely, she was publicly tried and put through hell... but there was no criminal trial in which she had to stand on a podium and claim her innocence of anything.
I'll tell you what her "crime" was.
She won the race. Her opponents ate her dust. Her body is strong, big and built to run as Dave Zirin wrote in the article Standing with Caster.
That - Those - were her crimes.
Her public offences.

Because she doesn't look as feminine as women are "supposed to", her entire life, and career, was ruined for running too fast for a woman.
It really should go without saying that African women and women of African descent have always been under the suspicion of not being feminine enough - or on the flip-side, being overtly sexual.
So, not only was Semenya too good as a woman athlete, she was not good enough as an African woman who is supposed to be all curves and pliant flesh on which to be colonised.

There is a reason the first "foul play" cries came from her White European opponents^*.
They could not believe that a woman beat them with such a huge margin.
Obviously, she had to be a man.

The fact that her family feels the need to attest and confirm her sex ("female") is just too terrible for words. Her very identity was put into question, her body was presented as a freak show for having a advantage which makes her the supreme athlete that she is.

She gets to keep her medal, I wonder how much of a consolation that is for the loss of dignity she has had to put up with for the four months.

The findings of her gender sex tests will remain confidential, as the whole speculation whether or not she is Intersex was a leak to the press.
We will never know and you know what... it's none of our business!
Really.
Let's get over this, because when you begin to question another person's gender you are basically saying: "You are a liar", "You are a freak", "Your identity is a failure".
How do I know this? Seeing as I'm cisgender and gender-conforming in my appearance.
#1 There was a time I wasn't gender-conforming in my looks.
#2 I do my best to listen to people.

Friends, #2 isn't that hard.

I know that as I've gotten more politically vocal I've been told (by various people) that I'm intolerant of other people's opinions, that I'm rigid in my views, that I'm un-accepting.
I wonder if the various people who tell me these things realise that huge swaths of the population whose voice is routinely silenced.

People who have a greater chance of being raped and murdered simply by walking out the door.

Because Caster Semenya supposedly didn't look like a woman "should", the mainstream media had no qualms about turning into Yellow Journalism over her bits and instead of reporting about this great breach of privacy, and colossal mistreatment and humiliation of a champion athlete, they went along with the sensationalism of what a person may or may not have between their legs.
Because there are men and women and people who are neither who chose the live their lives with integrity, how they see fit and not through the "M" or "F" that was issued to them at birth... they are silenced, brutalised and killed.

Silence is violence.

Speak Up!

Footnotes:
* Even though the Silver went to Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei - but she only had 0.3 seconds over Bronze medallist Jenny Meadows of the UK, that's a "normal" margin... not a whole 2.45 seconds! That's crazy... Info from wiki.
Back to text.

Gister op mijn werk werd ik duizelig. Ik ben toen even naar achter gelopen en kon niet meer nadenken, hoorde nauwelijks nog wat en kon alleen maar staren. Vervolgens begon ik te hyperventileren. Ik ben wel door gegaan met mijn werk, maar rustiger en ik voelde me slap en energieloos. Thuis was ik helemaal kapot, mijn nagels leken wat blauw gekleurd, ik ben een paar keer bijna flauw gevallen en ik kon nauwelijks meer praten. Ik heb de huisartsenpost gebeld, maar daar werd gezegd dat dat gewoon door de hyperventilatie kwam, naar een oorzaak daarvoor werd niet gevraagd. Vandaag ben ik nogsteeds helemaal kapot, mijn nagels lijken nog steeds blauw en wederom val ik soms even weg (wel bij bewustzijn, maar alles gaat langs me heen en reageren lijkt bijna onmogelijk). Heeft iemand enig idee wat er aan de hand kan zijn of iemand die dit ook wel eens heeft meegemaakt? Maandag bel ik dus wel de huisarts, maar ik wil nu ook graag weten wat er is en de huisartsenpost doet het nog net niet af met aanstelleritus...

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• 22:48 411Mania | ANGEL Investigated - 1.3 In The Dark (James Marsters & Spike mentions): bit.ly/6R8sSc #
• 22:59 /End of old James Marsters articles/ints/etc posts. And that's the last of 'em (that whole 1 article!). So, I hope you enjoyed those. :) #

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Ik heb wegens omstandigheden 3 kaartjes over voor Rammstein op 6 december in Arnhem, ik heb ze zojuist nog nagekeken en alle plekken zijn geldig :D

Het gaat om staanplaatsen die ik voor 90 euro per stuk weg doe, maar voor 250 mag je ze alle 3 hebben.

ik ga met mijn team (van dansen) een suprise houden, maar neit voor sinterklaas of kerst speciaal
de bedoeling is dat we een lijstje maken dat iets over je zegt.. dus neit ik wil 1 en 2 en 3, maar eerder
mijn lievelingskleur... hobby,
t probleem is dat ik dus geen idee heb van wat ik moet vermelden,... :L
wat zou jij erop zetten? en wat mag ik neit vergeten?

A friend of mine recently asked my opinion of m/m fiction in general. I tried to answer then and there but found myself rambling around because it is complicated muchly - and within it are many ifs maybes and buts. So, time to make an LJ post to see if I can sort out my own thoughts and see if the wonderful people who read this can help find order in the ramble.

First of all - the definition. M/m fiction as I see it, is literature centring around a male/male relationship. It is also primarily written by straight women.

And I know some gay men loathe it with a fiery passion. And I don’t blame them - because most of it is bloody awful.

No, really. It’s full of gross (and often insulting) stereotypes, focused entirely on the sexing, full of tired and unrealistic tropes.

Now the reason I haven’t had the same averse reaction to the genre is the FIRST m/m I read was actually very good. I have read good m/m fiction since then - but the very first m/m fiction I came across in the net was written by 2 women whose stories I still follow and enjoy immensely (I had thought to name them here but have decided against doing so. If I invite controversy with my musings I‘d rather not spill it into their spaces). These were good stories with actual developed characters, great plot lines and in general were good reads.

Since then I have read good m/m. But the majority I’ve read doesn’t come close - in fact it goes a long damn way from coming close. In fact, let’s be frank, most of it is porn. The m/m characters have as much relation with actual gay men as the nigh obligatory “lesbian” sex scene in porn aimed at heterosexual men. And, naturally, that has strong implications of appropriation, exploitation and voyeurism to say the least and potential consequences for young gays looking for something about them come across a stereotypical, angst filled, sex obsessed one-hand-reading piece of m/m fiction.

In short, I do not like the majority of m/m fiction because it doesn’t have gay men in it - it has blow up dolls painted with rainbows.

This is further exacerbated by what I’ve seen of the m/m community - though I admit my perceptions are heavily coloured from the Lambda fail (Details: here, here, here, here and here.) I have found it to be extremely straight-centric, straight privileged, very cavalier with gay people, characters and issues and with a very strong sense of entitlement (displayed grossly by the Lambda award brouhaha). We have some straight authors pretending to be gay to sell books - and arguing that that is ok and even straight authors assuming they are allied to (you don’t get to claim ally status) LGBT people just because they write about gay sex. I have seen them show up in gay spaces, gay forums, pride parades, gay events and actually acting like authorities or members because of what they write.

In short, I have been neither impressed nor amused. In fact, I don’t consider the m/m genre to be a safe space for gay men.

BUT, I am unwilling to throw away the whole category of m/m altogether. I as I said some authors of m/m write extremely good stories with gay characters. Some of them read this journal and they know they’re good (or should do :P). I also do not buy into the idea that straight writers can’t write gay characters. I think it takes time and effort and research to write gay characters in a sympathetic, realistic, non-stereotypical and non-offensive way - but I have no problem with straight people writing gay characters. I think the idea that they shouldn’t is both silly and self-defeating.

So what, I ask myself, to do? What is the way out here?

IDEALLY I would like to see a split of genres. With m/m fiction being classed as primarily books aimed at straight women that largely orientate around the *ahem* “relationship” (term used loosely). With another coined genre based on gay characters in a more full, less fetishised/voyeuristic fashion. In truth I think the latter would often fit nicely into CURRENT genres. Is there a reason why a quality Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Romance novel is suddenly labelled m/m just because it has gay characters in centre stage? Why does the fact the main characters are gay utterly change the genre? Are gay characters unfit or unqualified, somehow?

(I have to say at this point that I wouldn’t support the idea of straight authors writing books that were labelled as ‘gay fiction’. For obvious reasons).


Of course, the ‘ideal’ doesn’t happen. Mainstream publishers are not exactly falling over themselves for books with gay main characters. And publishers that do publish m/m primarily are very much a part of the genre and I doubt very much will draw any distinction at all between a book written with realistic, fully fleshed out, non-stereotypical gay characters in an absorbing and detailed plotline who do more than hump and angst and books which are intended to read one handed, written by Julian McHomo (honest), have more words spent describing the throbbing of penis than actual plot and have characters that make yaoi ‘uke’ and ‘seme’ characterisations seem a positively glowing example of homosexual relationships.


Despite the ideal being likely unattainable, I have to say I am unequivocally against the good authors who are as not impressed as I am from just putting down their pens and packing up their keyboards. And, sadly, I have seen 2 authors consider doing just that. Removing the well characterised plots from the voyeuristic, appropriation almost-porn will not make the headache-inducing stories less common, less prevalent or slow down its production nor will it balance the genre or the community. While I can understand an element of not wanting to be part of or being seen to be supporting a community whose practices you find objectionable, there also has to be a measure of practicality.


So I would say that, even if you don’t like all that happens in the genre, write. Promote where you can in the community - preferably choosing the least objectionable spaces (and they most certainly exist) - but don’t be afraid to hold your nose now and then. Choose the publisher most sensitive to your concerns - but in the end, any port in a storm. Don’t think that being a part of the genre means you can’t criticise it.

Mercenary? Maybe. But I’d rather see more good stories with gay characters out there, than the authors deciding they don’t want any part of the various problematic issues in the genre. I don’t think either their disapproving stance is damage nor the genre’s negative elements encouraged by their participation. And if they were, I think these concerns are outweighed by the benefit of having allies increasing the amount of realistic portrayals of gay men in literature.


So... I’ve rambled a whole hell of a lot here and not said an awful lot, largely because of my own ambivalence. I have to say again that I don’t think in any way that my characterisation of the m/m genre to all m/m authors. It may not even apply to most (but, if it doesn’t, then ‘most’ are very very quiet). And, again, I say that my perceptions have been coloured by the Lambda debate and similar which did not show the genre in the best possible light. I do feel though. there’s more than a little... unpleasantness there and some very strong problematic elements. I don’t know exactly where to go here (or how to end this piece) but it’s probably something I’m going to be musing about for a while.

Title: In the Eyes of a Child - part 6/9
Fandom: The Silent Hill movie
Rating: Violence
Characters/Pairings: Cybil/Rose
Summary: What happened afterwards, told from Rose's perspective.

Note: I have finally finished the whole thing! I'll post the rest every other day or so. I hope you'll enjoy. Comments are welcome, as always. Also, thanks go out to my beta reader Matt.

( Read more... )

Welke Jiskefet sketches vonden jullie nog meer briljant?

( 'It's time for heroes - fetch the sledgehammer!' - Two songs from my favourite band, the German 'Wir sind Helden' )

"Doctor Who: The Stalker of Norfolk" comic update.

Wie heeft er weleens visolie geslikt? Welke effecten had dit?

Ik slik de capsules nu een dag of tien, vooral voor mijn huid (puistjes etc) en tegen winterblues. Pp m'n voorhoofd komen nu ineens kleine (vet)bultjes tevoorschijn, terwijl m'n voorhoofd juist altijd vrij glad was (en puistjes vooral op m'n wangen). Zou dit met de visolie te maken kunnen hebben? Wordt het over een tijdje weer beter en moet mijn huid eraan wennen? Of is visolie gewoon niet goed in combinatie met mijn huid?!

Ik heb een brief gekregen van de IB-groep over die OV-chipkaart.
In die brief staat dat je de chipkaart met jouw product vanaf 16 december (geloof ik?) kan activeren via zo'n chipkaartautomaat, en dat je hem dan daarna kan gebruiken.
Maar.. ik heb hem allang gebruikt :') Ik moest met de metro in Amsterdam en toen had ik het aan zo'n GVB-mannetje gevraagd en die zei dat ik hem gewoon langs die automaat kon halen en dat werkte en de poortjes gingen ook gewoon open en alles.
Heb ik nou illegaal gereisd? Moet ik die chipkaart alsnog activeren na 16 december? Heeft iemand hier hetzelfde?
(IB-groep is vandaag en morgen niet bereikbaar)

( Spoiler musings )

Two, actually: Farinelli and John Abell.

Ik heb een behoorlijke griep te pakken en voel me daardoor dus best klote :( Ik verveel me ook dood, omdat ik niet veel kan doen. Nu is mijn vraag of dat er mensen zijn die zin hebben om mij iets te sturen om me een beetje op te vrolijken?

Verder zou ik graag weten of mijn herfstpost al is aangekomen? Ik heb het begin november verstuurd, maar nog niet terug gezien..?

It seems whenever I try to be creative, I can't let go of pragmatism. I guess it's why I write Seven's POV best, and why my videos are straight forward and clear-cut, and why I suck at wallpapers and icons. As much as I enjoy rich beauty, I simply cannot create it. It bothers me because it means I have to rely on others to do it for me.

I like cracked.com's review of the Twilight series.

http://www.cracked.com/funny-36-twilight/

Also, my body is trying to get sick again. This wouldn't happen if I had some sparkly teenage vampire boyfriend to take it all away!

have a great weekend

take care
Ossie