| Just read this. |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|07:17 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sad | ] |
Just... read this.
When I was working at one of my other jobs, one of the things I helped to edit was a paper on veterans' issues. I was really triggered reading parts of it but I kept working, because... you know what? It didn't matter to me. Comfortable me sitting at a desk spending one day shaking and crying was worth it to at least try to help these people, somehow, maybe. And was nothing compared to anything they went through anyway.
And after that day, I was fine. Because it was the least I could do. And because I felt proud of myself for... I don't know. At least trying to do something.
Now I just... hope it mattered.
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|10:32 pm] |
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I just finished playing Red Faction:Guerilla. It was fun to play, although compared to the last big game I played, Fallout III, the story was disappointingly sparse and humourless. The main plot missions are very linear and the side missions are fun but plotless and they get kinda samey halfway through the game. In terms of gameplay it's sort of like Grand Theft Auto, but instead of a gangster hooning around the city in a stolen sportscar beating up hookers and shooting cops, it's Martian Che Guevara hooning around the Martian outback in a commandeered Martian Toyota Land Cruiser beating up buildings and shooting cops. |
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| help help my knitting is stuck |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|06:43 am] |
I should be knitting on holiday gifts. Instead, I am knitting the Noro scarf.
Repeatedly.
I have just finished #5 and cast on for #6. I cannot stop knitting this pattern. The 1x1 rib is perfect for mindless TV knitting. The delight of seeing what the yarn is going to do next is more than enough to keep you occupied: oh, look, the colors are converging again! OH WOW, LOOK AT THAT CONTRAST. Hm, I'm not sure if I like that combination ... Oooooh, I wish I could do a project that's just those two colors ... etc.
And you know what's worse?
WEBS was having a sale. I have enough yarn for seven more of them.
( My favorite colorway of that bunch: ) |
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| Not the start, but the middle of the beginning of the gay/trans divide... |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
This story is a teensy bit fictionalised, but it's 95% based on real history.
Imagine the year is nineteen-twenty-something and you're a heterosexual surgeon in Berlin with a great big bushy manly beard. You are also in the first generation of endocrinologists ever; since hormones were discovered a decade or two ago you've been experimenting with cutting and sewing and swapping glands in and out of a variety of small, cute animals and observing the effects on their sexual behaviour, and thereby making all kinds of exciting discoveries about sex. You were terribly proud of yourself the day you proved that testes and ovaries have different effects on animal sexual behaviour.
But you've got bigger plans. All of this messing about with horny frogs and castrated rats is academic if you can't demonstrate the effect of hormones on human sexuality.
The field of sexology is young too; research into disorders of human sexuality has only been going on for 50 years or so. To you, and many of your colleagues in the field of sexology, these disordered patients are collectively known as der dritte Geschlecht, the third gender (in England the doctors call them "sexual inverts"); this idea of "the third sex" predates sexology. However a few sexologists, and all of the psychoanalysts, believe that these are actually three entirely seperate types of sexually disordered person, Homosexuell, Transvestit and Zwitter, all with different causes, but frankly the medical evidence just doesn't back them up: the average invert is sexually (physically), sexually (psychologically), and sexually (sexually) more androgynous than a normal person with no signs of inversion (Yes, this is blatant statistical/definitional shenanigans. Bear with me here, we're roleplaying that the 1970s haven't happened yet. Besides, it's not like these groups have no significant overlaps, especially in an era when gays thought it was normal to be kinda transy and medical transsexuality is... well... wait for the end of the story and you'll see). Plus, you'd bet a hundred marks that psychoanalysis is just a lot of trendy wishy-washy nonsense that will inevitably be disproven once the interaction between the nervous and endocrine systems is fully understood.
You've read what happens to a man who is castrated, but you want to try the opposite as well, to give gonads to someone who has none, and thus prove that the reverse effect also works in humans, validating your theories about the hormonal system. Plus, if you're right in your pet theory that sexual disorders are actually glandular disorders, then perhaps if you took normal (heterosexual) gonads and implanted them into a homosexual, you could cure him or her. How exciting!
So you write to another German sexologist, one who is a part of the sexual invert community himself, and ask him to send you some sexually inverted patients to experiment upon. The answer to this simple request brings the surprising revelation that, from your point of view as a doctor, there are indeed two types of inverts: those who want you to cut out their gonads, and those who do not. |
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| *collapses* |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|09:02 pm] |
I have lived in Australia for 27 years now, and today, for the first time, I got heat-stroke. (Or possibly heat-exhaustion. We're not quite sure.)
This all happened because I was outside walking around without water for a grand total of three hours. It wasn't even all that hot - only 32 degrees (90F) - but my body just decided to shut down.
So I almost fainted, then drank lots of water, then vomited all the water back up onto the floor of the train, got escorted home by a very concerned colleague, and spent several hours lying on my mum's couch hoping I'd feel better soon.
THIS WEEK'S PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: DRINK WATER, FOLKS. THERE'S NOTHING 'UN-COOL' ABOUT HEALTHY HYDRATION LEVELS.
(For the record - yes, I am feeling much better. Thanks for asking.) |
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| Censored for censorship |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|05:29 am] |
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http://jenniespalette.com/2009/11/10/censored-for-censorship/ http://palette.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/censored-for-censorship/
Last week I received a rejection phone call. not a form letter, but a call to explain why my proposal regarding censorship had been rejected.
A couple of months back I submitted a proposal for an installation. it was for an art project set in a series of empty shops in a suburb of Melbourne. I decided rather than submit a series of paintings to be put on display I would go for something different. I would test myself and the people running the project. I decided to do an installation.
the concept was to show a gallery forced to close because of the subject matter in the artwork. I took real examples from national and international censorship issues and decided to show my works covered up in the same, brutal, methods used. duct tape, paper plates, garbage and paper bags, and empty spaces where the works were obviously so controversial as to be removed entirely. everything was going to be applied carefully to not damage the works but look as harsh as possible. the look was to be of a gallery that kept trying to appease everyone and still had to close down because nobody wanted to buy works they couldn’t see. and that clearly there was nothing wrong with the works to begin with. The reason for wanting to use my own works was accessibility, I needed to be able to install this at the drop of a hat, and the sheer lack of contention surrounding my works. I also don’t mind treating my work this way to make a statement but it’s a lot to ask of anyone else.
The proposal raised a lot of debate among the committee. some were in favor of the idea as original and well thought out, a chance for discussion and publicity. others saw all of that as a bad thing. they were concerned that it would be over the communities heads, that debate was not what was needed at the time and controversy should be avoided. some were worried it was too conceptual, others were worried it would be too real and spark real problems. apparently the debate grew quite heated. so much so that I received some quite confusing postal communication. the outcome is that it was just too controversial and contentious for the neighborhood.
so how do I feel about this? oddly elated. my proposal was debated, it raised voices and contention. it got people thinking. it may be that it wasn’t right for this project but I count this rejection as a success. I will be submitting the proposal to other galleries and storefront projects – I am confident that it will be taken up by someone. not as a profitable venture but as a statement. one that needs to be made.
if you know of a project or gallery that might be interested I welcome your suggestions 
Posted in Creating Art Tagged: Creating Art, Nudes       |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|04:53 pm] |
Hey guys, thought I'd post two jobs I've seen in the last few days since I don't think either of these will be put up on the net:
One at Priceline in Northcote Central as a Sales Assistant. (Priceline is a fun place to work, btw, especially if you like cosmetics)
One at Wendy's in Northcote Plaza as a casual Sales Assistant.
ETA: Hand in resumes in store, if it wasn't obvious :) |
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| QWIRE YOUTH PROJECT |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|12:52 am] |
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http://www.genderrights.org.au/blog/2009/11/qwire-youth-project/ http://www.genderrights.org.au/blog/?p=197 The Canberra Qwire is a non-auditioned choir, welcoming all members of our community, in a safe, social environment, and works together to performing music for our community, Canberra and the ACT, Australia and internationally.
They have requested that A Gender Agenda advertise their fabulous youth project, and we are more than happy to oblige! Qwire have made a fantastic effort to create an environment where they hope that trans, intersex and genderqueer youth will feel comfortable participating. I strongly recommend that if you have any interest in music, you consider getting involved.
They are seeking interested participants who would like to take on roles in singing, production, development, design, music and lyrics writing and arranging, and anything you else can think of, to develop and produce a public performance and commercial recording of an “event”.
Any way, here’s the info:
Participants aged 16-25, who identify as Lesbian or Gay, Trans or Intersex, bisexual or any other colour of our rainbow are who we are looking for!
Not only will participants produce their own performance, but they will be supported, coached, and joined by members from the Qwire, as well as music and production professionals from around Canberra, ACT and nationally.
Participants will also be encouraged and welcomed to join with the Qwire for a number of other events including:
Out and Loud, Australasian Gay and Lesbian Choral Festival, to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Easter 2010 (long weekend of the 4th April, 2010). Information on the festival is at www.outandloud.org if you want to find out more about it!
AIDS Candlelight Vigil, in conjunction with the Aids Action Council (usually held late May) 2010.
Mid Year performance – to be themed, designed and produced by the participants of *this* project!
How do I participate?
We will be holding a public meeting at 6pm on Tuesday 24th, for interested participants to come and hear more about the project, to meet and talk with Qwire members, and sit in on a Qwire rehearsal, just following our “Light and Fluffy” concert Late November.
Venue will be ANU Music Department, Llewellyn Hall, Level 5, Lecture Theatre 2. Please let us know if you wish someone to meet you there.
At this meeting, we will clarify questions about the project and seek your expression of interest, to commence working on the project, writing your own music and words, designing, developing and all the things that go with it, in the near year.
Those registering their interest prior to the meeting will also be invited to attend the “Light and Fluffy”, concert free of charge – with our guests, Can Belto (one of Canberra’s favourite choirs – other than us!),
Please contact the project Chef de Partie, Tim Little (Qwire Assistant Musical Director), on 0422210768 or cooltim@westnet.com.au to confirm your attendance, to register your interest and receive details of the “Light and Fluffy” concert.
You can also contact us on canberraqwire@yahoo.com.au for more information about the Qwire, and our regular season – you are welcome to join us |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|12:07 am] |
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Proposal to replace Schrödinger model of the atom with new theory of "Intelligent Atomicity." |
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| Excerpt from The Encyclopedia of Sexual Knowledge, 1930 |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|01:55 pm] |
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"Magnus Hirschfeld distinguishes ten categories of transvestists: the complete transvestist, the extreme transvestist (who wants to change his sex), the partial transvestist (who is content to wear silk stockings and underwear, in the case of a man, and a man's underwear in the case of a woman), the transvestists in name (who adopts a Christian name belonging to the opposite sex, like George Sand, for instance), the constant tranvestist (who remains so all his life), the periodical transvestist, the narcissistic transvestist, the metatropic transvestist seeking the love of mannish women in the case of a man and that of effeminate men in the case of a woman), the bisexual transvestist, and finally the homosexual transvestist." |
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| expression of extreme annoyance |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|05:25 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | extremely intelligent grind-core | ] |
dubious assertion that everything one Bryan Adams does is done on behalf of and/or for the benefit of, whether factual or imaginary, of one unidentified individual. |
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| Publishing, Painting and PhD |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|11:04 am] |
Three P's that are consuming most waking moments at the moment. And in the heat, I'm spending most of my moments awake.
We now have a working phone line in the new house, which I assume Netspace is responsible for - it's now been a week since I called about setting up a new connection. Unfortunately, the phone connection doesn't actually appear in our Netspace control panel, and so isn't available for me to relocate our broadband connection to...
Publishing:
I have corrections and updates for one and a half study guides (National Politics Units 3 & 4, and International Politics Unit 1). In the next few weeks, the remaining chapters for IntPol Unit 2 will arrive, and then there's an Economics guide due in December. Due to major changes to the course, the Economics book is being completely re-written for 2010. Judging by the number of tables and graphs in the current book, layout for the new version could take quite a bit of work.
I'm going home at lunchtime today to work on the Politics books. I could work from the air-conditioned comfort of my windowless box at RMIT as I'll be using my laptop. Unfortunately I need a proper mouse for InDesign, and mine has just run out of batteries... and I'm loathe to buy more rechargeable ones when there's a box of them at home.
Painting:
Three Ulthwé walkers, currently almost finished. I've been asked to add rare-earth magnets to all the possible weapons, so I still have a handful of weapons to finish painting today. I hope the house isn't too hot to paint in.
Four Imperial Guard tanks, assembled and ready for magnets in all the optional bits. I'd like to buy an airbrush to paint these with, as there are many more of them on the horizon. Unfortunately a decent double-action airbrush and compressor (reserve tank, pressure regulator, inline moisture trap) are likely to cost around $500, so I might have to paint them by hand.
PhD:
Literature review chapter has fallen by the wayside. I've gathered a bunch of articles to read through, but as it's not directly needed for any other tasks it's been put on hold at the moment. I still feel like there are dozens of articles that I need to track down, though I'm not sure if that feeling ever goes away.
There's a student conference for the CRC in December, up in Sydney. I'll be flying up early on the Tuesday morning, going to training workshops during the day, and presenting a poster the following day - and then flying home on the Wednesday evening.
I'm starting to wade through the paperwork for my Ethics Application, as I need approval before going any further with the research part of my project. Most of it should be pretty straightforward (while I'm dealing with people, I'm not trying to exploit them for anything) but there are many, many pages of forms to fill out. Most of it will feed into my Methods and Methodology chapter though, so it's still a useful exercise to do.
In non-work news, Sunday was our first wedding anniversary :) ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) aeliel and I spent most of the day lounging around the house, and cooking or eating lots of good food. We've also started unpacking wedding presents that have been in storage for the last year, so it's like receiving them all over again, and actually getting to enjoy the gifts properly this time.
Some time soon we'll have a housewarming (once we have furniture for people to sit on, and fewer boxes full of stuff). Ye been warned! |
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| oh god it's monday again |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|06:55 pm] |
Mondays, every week, let's celebrate ourselves, to start the week right. Tell me what you're proud of. Tell me what you accomplished last week, something -- at least one thing -- that you can turn around and point at and say: I did this. Me. It was tough, but I did it, and I did it well, and I am proud of it, and it makes me feel good to see what I accomplished. Could be anything -- something you made, something you did, something you got through. Just take a minute and celebrate yourself. Either here, or in your journal, but somewhere.
(And if you feel uncomfortable doing this in public, I've set this entry to screen any anonymous comments, so if you want privacy, comment anonymously and I won't unscreen it unless you tell me it's okay. Also: yes, by all means, cheer each other on when you see something you want to give props to!)
On Dreamwidth:  comments | comment (OpenID) |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|04:13 pm] |
NaNoWriMo has eaten my brain, apparently.
As such, I have made like...four1 blog posts all month. And in general, not been writing anything of substance in here, or at the very least, not using it as its primary purpose, and telling you lot what's been going on in my life.
So.
Stuff that's been going on in my life include:
...actually, not much of interest, really. BDan and I hung out for ages yesterday, which was totally nice, although we did not manage to dance in the middle of the cambridge commons like we wanted. Thursday night was the fifth of November, and as such, the Lesley University Chaos Club (unofficial) got together to watch V for Vendetta, as is our tradition. I feel like something happened on Friday, but I'm probably insane.
I've been playing a ton of Kingdom of Loathing --or as much as it lets me, really. Dancing tonight, which is exciting --I haven't been to SCD for the last two weeks, yes really. Hanging out with Nurit on Wednesday. Walking with David towards Diesel (and probably sticking around for Diesel Poly Social) tomorrow.
And writing. Swearing, hissing, pounding my head against the nearest surface, bemoaning my lack of plot, my lack of sense, and my lack of skill, and writing. Word by unsatisfactory word, but it's actually happening. I have written at least a word for the NaNoWriMo novel each day so far. I will make this book my bitch, I swear it.
...it's hard though, when I've no idea where it's going.
And that's me. How's you?
~Sor
MOOP!
1: This is so very a lie. I have made ten public, one private (that became the "hear me cry" post) one filtered just to Lauren, to show her how filters worked, and one on the sexytimes filter. BUT IT FEELS LIKE LESS. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|04:18 pm] |
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Concerned query as to whether the OP will dream. |
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