Natalia A.

Sexy Movies Fail

Because it’s been a horrible few days (folks who have e-mailed – I shall e-mail you back, just give me a moment to process, so I don’t sound like a moron), and, therefore, some lulz are desperately needed in this corner of cyberspace – here is Joe Sapien on “Sexy Movies that Make You Want to Stab Yourself.”

A word of advice – do not attempt to dredge up that Jack Nicholson & Jessica Lange clip from “The Postman Always Rings Twice” re-make. It might possibly ruin your day. Or life. Depending on how fragile you are.

I had to do it for professional reasons, but my life feels good and ruined already – so it’s OK.

Having finally gotten around to playing the new Prince of Persia

I am…er…transfixed.

Wait, did I say “playing Prince of Persia”?

I meant reading Jameson on Jameson: Conversations on Cultural Marxism. What did you think I meant? What, you people like me participate in mass entertainment culture? A mass entertainment culture with Orientalist elements? And write about it? Using our own names? While struggling to maintain the veneer of genuine intellectual engagement with the, uh… the… uh…

What do the kids intellectually engage with nowadays? Genuinely, I mean.

Anyway, I’m just seeing if you’re paying attention.

This game is so sweet – I can taste it in the back of my throat. And, you know, a lot still needs to be said about the exaggerated portrayals of women in the video game ‘verse – but it’s good to remember that fellas like my Prince here are pretty exaggerated as well, and that is sort of endearing to me at the moment. I’ll admit it, I’m not above ogling game characters. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a work of art. It be pweety.

Perhaps there is a lesson in the fact that Boyfriend doesn’t immediately drop and do a hundred push-ups upon watching me spend my entire day with the Prince. Perhaps it is a grim one.

Yeah. So. Be back. Er. Whenever.

Abortion is Not the Issue

Looking over this discussion on The Hand Mirror – a discussion spawned by the Catholic Church’s genius handling of the issues surrounding the rape and impregnation of a nine-year-old Brazilian girl – I am once again struck by what a huge red herring this entire ZOMG ABORTION thing is.

Here’s a fact: abortion has always existed. It wasn’t particularly safe and it certainly wasn’t something you spoke about in mixed company, but the truth is – women have been choosing to end their pregnancies for thousands of years. For as long as it was done secretly, for as long as the sluts stood a good chance of bleeding to death – few people actually worried about the so-called moral implications of abortion.

Of course, the minute a rape victim or anyone else can have access to a safe abortion, it becomes an issue of BUT WHAT ABOUT THE INNOCENT BABY???

Like I said in the comments to the post I link to: if you really believe it’s a “baby,” then be consistent. Demand that not only abortion be outlawed, but that every “suspicious” miscarriage that didn’t have witnesses must involve a criminal investigation. If it’s really a sweet, innocent perfectly cognizant baby in there, the moral crusaders need to determine – did the potential mother trip, or did she deliberately jump off the staircase to murder the baby?

In fact, we ought to prevent pregnant mothers from doing anything at all that could possibly harm the sweet, innocent soul. They shouldn’t leave their houses. They shouldn’t even have conversations with anyone, lest they get into an argument about the merits of “America’s Next Top Model,” or something, and get really stressed out and miscarry and murder their own children due to their irresponsible behaviour.

Or, better yet, how about we just scoop women’s brains out altogether – and turn them into little hatchling factories for the precious babies?

Isn’t that what this is really about? The idea that some of the little ladies, far from fullfilling their duty as hollow objects so that the smart and intellectual and totally-not-insecure men could have something to project against, decided to officially and publicly assert dominion over their own wombs?

Nah. Abortion is not the issue. Misogyny is.

Things for you to read (and look at) at the door of Spring 2009

Spring is my favourite season. I’m writing an essay and a short story on the subject right now, and while I’m doing that, please check out the following:

Hexy interviewed by Renee Martin. This is a really good, and really important read for any feminist, womanist, sex worker rights advocate, progressive person, and so on and so forth. Did I mention I love both of these women? I really do.

Aaminah Hernández guests at Problem Chylde. Racefail ’09 wasn’t really about feminism, but this is a good post to read on the tail-end of that debacle. I think the dynamic being discussed there is pretty relevant to any conversation where in racism is brought up.

Nina Hartley: My Brunch with Barbie. Found this one via Ren (thanks, Ren!). Nina Hartley’s been featured as one of the Beautiful People on this blog (i.e., folks I love to ogle), but she is much more than that, and you can see why.

Neil Gaiman just lost someone (you can find out who after clicking on the main page of his journal, but read the post I link to first). My sincere condolences to him. It’s amazing – the people we love drop out of space and time suddenly, go elsewhere, but the day just trickles on, professional obligations must be met, words must be said, food must be chewed and swallowed. Maybe there’s something good about that. When I got news of Yaroslava – I felt like my legs had melted down onto the rug, and that was where I pretty much stayed. Things are different when you have somewhere to go, something to do. Maybe.

Daisy on Jack Sterling. That’s right, people, steal 278 million dollars – go to jail for 5 years. 5. Meanwhile, our idiotic “‘war on drugs” ensures that other people get locked up for decades. And it looks like nothing’s changing. More Daisy – on sickness and the body. As inspired by Julie. Who was herself inspired by BFP and Jess’s series (Re)Thinking Walking.

On the local front: I’d completely missed this photo-essay at And Far Away before. Low quality? Natalia begs to differ. There is a great calm in pictures of pictures. I like calm.

Speaking of things I’d missed back in February – this story about a Facebook status suicide note. I want to find out more about the person behind it. You’re going to say it’s just morbid fascination, but still. The NY Daily News story on the man who took his life will make you even sadder. The person who forwarded me this story noted that the quotes used made his mother sound “evil.” I don’t know. It’s hard to talk to a reporter at a time like that and say what you really want to say. And the mother had already lived through the suicide of her child’s father…

But this might cheer you up, on the other hand. It’s also a very good reminder of how the economic crisis is taking lives.

I’m glad this piece should be on the way to me soon! Please check out the whole of Olha’s site. She is wonderful.

I think I am all linked out for now. Will brave the wind in the streets for a bit. And will write some more. Take care of yourselves, darlings.

Spring comes to my household

it's the time for PDAing all over the place

the time for lounging regally in what remains of the flowerbeds

And mostly the time for Natalia to drink coffee in the yard, whilst wearing a set of out-of-season “ho ho ho” pajamas in pink and white, and watching the cats as they watch the bugs (no picture is forthcoming).