Another moving speck in the ocean of “the Reading Public”

Here is a Meme I originally spotted on LitLove (check them out, if you think I’m dork-tastic when it comes to books).

1. First book to leave a lasting impression? Konstantin Paustovsky’s autobiography, The Story of a Life. I read the first volume when I was in the first grade. He was born in Kiev, just like I was, and went to the same school as Mikhail Bulgakov. Paustovsky lived through two World Wars, the 1917 Revolution, and the Russian Civil War. He was at his best when he wrote about about nature, his family, and Romanticism. He made me want to be a writer.

2. Which author would you most like to be? Zadie Smith. I am a bigger fan of Kate Atkinson’s work, though.

3. Name the book that has most made you want to visit a place? Tolkien made me want to visit Middle Earth. And Donna Tartt’s The Secret History made me want to see Vermont, despite the gruesomeness. Continue reading “Another moving speck in the ocean of “the Reading Public””

Veiled Wonder. It’s the stupidity, stupid.

A variation on the Orthodox scarf. Of course, the knees aren't covered. WHAT A HO!This is the first in a series of posts I’d like to dedicate to my experiences with the veil.
I don’t like people who, when greeted with the word “Islam,” immediately start spouting off about pedophilia and compulsory veiling. I want these folk to stop and think, maybe even read up on the Quran a bit. And I certainly don’t want this post to contribute to this sort of hysteria.

Having said that, us “Western whores” really ought to keep an eye on the veiling debates, especially if we call ourselves feminist. If River of Baghdad Burning is forced to wear a scarf, because she fears for her life in the “free” Iraq, something is wrong with this picture.

Of course, the “real Muslims” will jump in and tell us that, hey, we ought to mind our own business, River will learn to love the scarf if she’s a “real Muslim” like them, and isn’t it about time we stopped being hookers and converted anyway? On the other hand, the handmaidens of “liberty,” the Ann Coulters of the world, will tell us that River’s situation is simply more proof of the fact that Muslims ought to be exterminated. The minute you engage in this debate, you’ve lost.Continue reading “Veiled Wonder. It’s the stupidity, stupid.”