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dragonlady7How to have Metal Hair, by some sixteen-year-old in Utah.
Informative.
Z is going to have this done to him, I hope he understands.
He's said no eyeliner, however.
Awesomest thing ever: a Google video of a very expensive cat toy. If my parents didn't rely on dial-up I would so send this to them. I hate to do this, but plug your ears: OMGSOOOOCUUUUUUUTE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Sorry, I couldn't help it. Just, just the look on her face at the end, where she's like, oh shit, the bad techno music-- I woke it up-- shit! and runs away! Awesome.
Heh heh. Ahh. Whoo. Yep. Ahh. Good times.
My parents had a photo taken of themselves in a studio, as kind of a fundraiser for the local church, and they were like, hey, that'd be a nice present to give people, right? A nice portrait of ourselves. So they ordered a bunch. And the proofs looked ok. But once the photographer was done with all the retouching and everything...
They look awful. They look like it's the early 90s and their heads are too big. I have no idea how my parents managed to appear that unattractive, because, you know, it's not like either of them is a model, but good Christ, neither of them is a complete freak either. It's like the retoucher put madness in their eyes, or something, only not in a good or attractive way. More... creepiness.
I got my copy, and promptly forgot it at home when I left, so I just got it in the mail just now, which is why I am blogging this now.
In other news we started debating, at practice, what we should do for our halftime show at the first roller derby bout, and whoa! Oh my God!
Turns out the Buffalo Bandettes, the cheerleading squad for the local pro lacrosse team (yes! we have one! Apparently they're good!) work out at the gym where my team captain teaches, and apparently they were kind of excited about roller derby, and they said they might do our halftime show. Which some of us think is great. But some of us...
What's really interesting is, of course, that this league is made up of all kinds of women. I mean, all kinds. There are women in their 40s (one in her late 50s, although at the moment she's on the injured list after a bad spill), women who are just 21; punks, housewives (there's considerable overlap between those two categories, lest ye judge them incorrectly), mothers, childfree-by-choice, models, art museum curators, teachers, factory workers, college professors-- there's a whole lot of ink [tattoos seem to transcend demographics, which is a fascinating side note], and a whole lot of athleticism, but there are also a lot of girls who at first glance don't look very athletic. There are girls of all shapes and sizes, from tiny little things with thighs like matchsticks to big girls with Thunder Thighs (tm) [and, contrarily enough, I know of more girls who've said "i'm too little for roller derby" than girls who've said "i'm too fat", unlike other sports-- they're wrong, of course, just like the few that still play the too-fat card-- you have to be generally physically sound, willing to work hard and possess a minimal amount of coordination and self-confidence, but that's as far as the requirements go, and size isn't *really* an overall advantage either way].
But of course such a diverse group is going to have diverse political and social views. Many of us think: Cheerleaders = Athletes, and thus = Admirable, and not in any way inappropriate. But some of us think Cheerleaders = Antifeminist Social Oppression; and thus = Deplorable, inappropriate, and not something we should be associated with.
What's miraculous so far is that the debate's gotten pretty heated on the Yahoo! group but to my perception has not crossed any boundaries in the way that Internet and discussion group debates sometimes do. I am fascinated to read all the viewpoints, and hope we can view the debate as "a fascinating window into understanding one another" rather than "an example of the way in which women are bitches", because I really honestly do see it as the former. But I know I'm way more into heated debate than most people and enjoy it a lot more as long as it's just debate rather than attacks, so, we'll have to see how it goes. I am trying to think of a way to respond to it myself, but given that I can feel perfectly comfortable with both sides of the argument, I don't know that I could contribute much that's meaningful. But really it is fascinating!
I just hope nobody takes any personal offense to any of it, as feelings seem to be running rather high. It is truly so, so, so interesting to see how deeply everyone feels about this-- from the mother worried about the socialization of her daughters, to the girl who is upset on behalf of the hard-working dancers, to the sociology professor who sees it through the lens of her gender studies. It's all really interesting and I wish I had the wherewithal and concentration to write an article about it.
Believe me, it is fascinating.
I posted my own email to the debate, and I know it sounded hokey as shit, but I really truly meant it when I applauded the energy, passion, and intelligence that underlay the whole thing. As long as we can keep this emotional debate from becoming personal, I think we can only be strengthened as a group by learning about one another's viewpoints in this way. (There's nothing wrong with emotion, but it tends to stir up defensiveness and ad hominem sort of things, and leaves resentment, so I'm hoping we can move on from the debate before this happens.)
Ah yes. Anyway. It's really interesting, as I've said. But we should probably move on.
In other news I have managed to continue bravely soldiering on through chapter 2 of the rewrite of Barbarians Novel, and have cut five thousand words from the first three chapters... but have added a bunch, argh. If I can get through the beginning I think I can cut a huge chunk from the next couple bits and then I can move right along to the first major plot climax thing, and all will be well. But it is so slow. I think I'm a hero for managing to do so much while Z is IMing me links to Google videos of kittens playing with laptops, however. (There was more. He was playing Google Seppuku. Eugh.)
Informative.
Z is going to have this done to him, I hope he understands.
He's said no eyeliner, however.
Awesomest thing ever: a Google video of a very expensive cat toy. If my parents didn't rely on dial-up I would so send this to them. I hate to do this, but plug your ears: OMGSOOOOCUUUUUUUTE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Sorry, I couldn't help it. Just, just the look on her face at the end, where she's like, oh shit, the bad techno music-- I woke it up-- shit! and runs away! Awesome.
Heh heh. Ahh. Whoo. Yep. Ahh. Good times.
My parents had a photo taken of themselves in a studio, as kind of a fundraiser for the local church, and they were like, hey, that'd be a nice present to give people, right? A nice portrait of ourselves. So they ordered a bunch. And the proofs looked ok. But once the photographer was done with all the retouching and everything...
They look awful. They look like it's the early 90s and their heads are too big. I have no idea how my parents managed to appear that unattractive, because, you know, it's not like either of them is a model, but good Christ, neither of them is a complete freak either. It's like the retoucher put madness in their eyes, or something, only not in a good or attractive way. More... creepiness.
I got my copy, and promptly forgot it at home when I left, so I just got it in the mail just now, which is why I am blogging this now.
In other news we started debating, at practice, what we should do for our halftime show at the first roller derby bout, and whoa! Oh my God!
Turns out the Buffalo Bandettes, the cheerleading squad for the local pro lacrosse team (yes! we have one! Apparently they're good!) work out at the gym where my team captain teaches, and apparently they were kind of excited about roller derby, and they said they might do our halftime show. Which some of us think is great. But some of us...
What's really interesting is, of course, that this league is made up of all kinds of women. I mean, all kinds. There are women in their 40s (one in her late 50s, although at the moment she's on the injured list after a bad spill), women who are just 21; punks, housewives (there's considerable overlap between those two categories, lest ye judge them incorrectly), mothers, childfree-by-choice, models, art museum curators, teachers, factory workers, college professors-- there's a whole lot of ink [tattoos seem to transcend demographics, which is a fascinating side note], and a whole lot of athleticism, but there are also a lot of girls who at first glance don't look very athletic. There are girls of all shapes and sizes, from tiny little things with thighs like matchsticks to big girls with Thunder Thighs (tm) [and, contrarily enough, I know of more girls who've said "i'm too little for roller derby" than girls who've said "i'm too fat", unlike other sports-- they're wrong, of course, just like the few that still play the too-fat card-- you have to be generally physically sound, willing to work hard and possess a minimal amount of coordination and self-confidence, but that's as far as the requirements go, and size isn't *really* an overall advantage either way].
But of course such a diverse group is going to have diverse political and social views. Many of us think: Cheerleaders = Athletes, and thus = Admirable, and not in any way inappropriate. But some of us think Cheerleaders = Antifeminist Social Oppression; and thus = Deplorable, inappropriate, and not something we should be associated with.
What's miraculous so far is that the debate's gotten pretty heated on the Yahoo! group but to my perception has not crossed any boundaries in the way that Internet and discussion group debates sometimes do. I am fascinated to read all the viewpoints, and hope we can view the debate as "a fascinating window into understanding one another" rather than "an example of the way in which women are bitches", because I really honestly do see it as the former. But I know I'm way more into heated debate than most people and enjoy it a lot more as long as it's just debate rather than attacks, so, we'll have to see how it goes. I am trying to think of a way to respond to it myself, but given that I can feel perfectly comfortable with both sides of the argument, I don't know that I could contribute much that's meaningful. But really it is fascinating!
I just hope nobody takes any personal offense to any of it, as feelings seem to be running rather high. It is truly so, so, so interesting to see how deeply everyone feels about this-- from the mother worried about the socialization of her daughters, to the girl who is upset on behalf of the hard-working dancers, to the sociology professor who sees it through the lens of her gender studies. It's all really interesting and I wish I had the wherewithal and concentration to write an article about it.
Believe me, it is fascinating.
I posted my own email to the debate, and I know it sounded hokey as shit, but I really truly meant it when I applauded the energy, passion, and intelligence that underlay the whole thing. As long as we can keep this emotional debate from becoming personal, I think we can only be strengthened as a group by learning about one another's viewpoints in this way. (There's nothing wrong with emotion, but it tends to stir up defensiveness and ad hominem sort of things, and leaves resentment, so I'm hoping we can move on from the debate before this happens.)
Ah yes. Anyway. It's really interesting, as I've said. But we should probably move on.
In other news I have managed to continue bravely soldiering on through chapter 2 of the rewrite of Barbarians Novel, and have cut five thousand words from the first three chapters... but have added a bunch, argh. If I can get through the beginning I think I can cut a huge chunk from the next couple bits and then I can move right along to the first major plot climax thing, and all will be well. But it is so slow. I think I'm a hero for managing to do so much while Z is IMing me links to Google videos of kittens playing with laptops, however. (There was more. He was playing Google Seppuku. Eugh.)
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 05:48 pm (UTC)I'll just be happy to leave it behind finally and move-on to more derby-related issues ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 05:50 pm (UTC)I liked the kitten, though. :)