Reading the NYT and listening to Wiscon panels

both remind me of how opposed het feminist and lesbian agends can be.  The book about girl pilots in WWII who befriend each other...  especially if you know anything about how freeing service to their country was for dykes of a certain generation, such as Mary Renault... ending up just a smart book about the power of female friendship, it *is* like Neverland. 

In that "you will never be represented properly because our needs come first, always" kind of way.  I hate listening to how disappointing it is for a subtextual situation to become textual canonical lesbianism.  Will we ever move past Xena wank, really?

The vendor selling X:WP merch at Wiscon was kind of a throwback.  But it was refreshing, nonetheless.  What kickass at least arguably lesbian heroine has surpassed her, truly?  Plus it was "Bitter Sweet" X n G.  Still stunning.

Here's half of what  I'm crabbing about: Rowr.  We're looking for diametrically opposed experiences from that rare book with no cute-boy (or Alpha male) romance...   I get it, but I can't agree you should win every time in books that sell wide.  It's privilege and power.  I usually don't give a dime, but this stupid electoral ploy has gotten my dander up.  Must you claim exclusive rights to evrything, particularly our subcultural subversive liberatory histories?

The marathon was cancelled...

But luckily I'm a lazy runner and only registered for the 10k.  It was at night, a hilly course from the Capitol, around the U-W Madison campus, and up Observatory Hill, then down, then up again, and back to the Capitol.  Which means up a nice grade right before the final sprint.  Some nice views of the lake, glowy lights, and generally friendly runners.

The real reason for being there was of course Wiscon, the feminist science fiction convention, which was mellow and full of good conversations.  The Genderfloomp dance Sunday night and the hotel pool were the highlights for me, as well as several panels I'll discuss later and, of course, the Farmers Market.  My pointy Nina Hagen/Madonnaish costume was well-received.  Hopefully I didn't hurt anyone with the 'cones'...  If so, sorry...

We got to sneak away to visit my friend's hometown and a neighbor's goat and sheep farm for a picnic in the blazing sun.  Brats in beer and potato salad, rhubarb crisp, strawberry shortcake, and Norske Nook raspberry cream pie.  The kids sprayed us all with water to keep it from being too decadent.

Then it was back to debating race vs. class, planning for the zombiepocalypse, and plotting against the heteropatriarchy.  All in a normal days' work for the feminist cabal...

Addendum:

Apparently my partner in gender crimes (and probably crimes against dancing) came in third in her age group in the 10k.  (She's on the cusp of an age ranking change, so it's a good time to dominate...)

And I'm forgetting the sushi dinner with Mpls friends, the Outer Alliance party with book giveaways and good book suggestions, as well as friend Catherine Lundoff's release party for Silver Moon, her menopausal werewolf novel.  Seeing my Clarion West classmates Erin and Mike.  And much more...

An old gem

Butches of Madison County.  By Ellen Orleans.  Almost made the driver veer off the road from laughing...  I think that's a recommendation...

So let me get this straight...

Target, the corporate chain my GF loves to hate, who still defends their funding of Tom Emmer, the man who loves to hate, is now trying to sell those he hates t-shirts proclaiming pride in that which he hates, just in time for Target's unwillingness to oppose new more official, add it to the state Constitution hate.  But only online, not in their stores where straight people might get upset at the idea of gay pride and rainbows being sold next to the beer and hunting shirts.  And only in June, not, say, election time when the issue will be more live.  And the designs... you can do better if you actually attend Pride.  Or even making your own with a Crayola.  At age 5.  On Mars.  Because you would.use words like "Gay" or "Queer," or maybe "Lesbian" if you're really out there, instead of vague euphemisms.  With puffy rainbows.

Seriously?

"Target is not anti-gay," Michael Francis, Target's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, told The Los Angeles Times. "It's important to set the record straight..."

Poor choice of words.

I predict the GF will not be shopping there any time soon, despite it being the closest retailer to work.  Hate on.  They too too crazy.

Well, honesty, I'm holding out for Brony tees, at least.

Busy week

Last week, despite ongoing lower back pain, I managed to engage in a whirlwind of activity, including running the TC one mile (9:10, not bad for me,  and taking it easy with no sprinting.  Yes, I'm slow...).  We had a good time watching the Masters and then the pros duke it out.  4 minute something races go by fast...

Then we went to see Amy Ray at the Turf Club, a great small show.  The Butchies on backup was a nice surprise.  All the freaks and the fags at the rock show...  Plus random bar flys and some young straight chicks flaunting their engagement rings.  Um, no waiting in solidarity while the rest of us wade through pending constitutional amendment madness, I guess.  Seemed somewhat clueless, in light of the lyrics being ground out on stage.

The lady and I are contemplating the best t-shirts to make for Pride.  Something about the discount on taxes we expect for constitutionally-enshrined second class citizenship.  Not sure why the Minnesotans United people aren't playing up that possible up side of the whole debacle...  JK...

Sort of.  I'm really not keen on being fully taxed to pay for all straight people to be awarded those 515 federal marriage benefits and the 1k plus state ones.  Fund that selfish stuff yourselves and let my taxes go to the services to keep disabled folks independent jobs for all those young folks looking for some kind of leg up that the legislature didn't think we needed this year...  I don't think we'll be the only ones talking about this after election time if the hate crime enactment measure passes...

Dragon is a go!

Call me geeky, but I find this exciting:

"SPACEX LAUNCH! May 22, 2012 Falcon 9/Dragon launched successfully at 3:44 AM eastern. This marks the third consecutive Falcon 9 launch success and the fifth straight launch success for SpaceX. The Dragon spacecraft separated and the solar arrays have deployed. Watch the press conference at 5:30 AM Eastern atwww.nasa.gov/ntv."

OTOH, commercial space flight, OTOH, dudes in their backyard making a spaceship...

Mostly I'm happy because it makes the space opera I've been writing much more feasible for its time frame...

Ya Dracula...

Watching Novhnii Dozor/Night Watch, the Russian movie based on the book series.  Just got to the part where the little boy the vampires want to eat is watching the Dracula episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in Russian).  So far a decent horror thriller, not too gross or stupid...

We learn:

Some people are born different from others.  It's not good or bad, just different...

And everybody likes pelmeni/dumplings.....

Nice views of the power going out on Moscow at night from above.

Prong collars have no power if you don't believe in them... (for sure)

Wholesome vampire-filled fare...

The Ghostbusters nostalgia works too.  Plus, Best. Use. Of. The. Spine. Ever.

And the credits song based on my favorite Ray Bradury novel pretty much clinches it... Might have to read these.

Divided attention

I got on to reading The Hunger Games so we can go see the movie, mostly so I can gripe about it in an informed manner.  It hasn't really held my attention yet, 75 pages in, but the GF liked it, so I'm plowing forward.

Meanwhile  I'm also well into Celluloid Activist, the recent biography of Vito Russo, author of The Celluloid Closet and a stellar gay (GAA) and then AIDS activist in NY.  Here's a rousing speech from him.  Here's an interesting interview with  Rachel Maddow about her AIDS activism, on a sort of tangent. 

Well, then I am also taking notes on Queer Injustice, by Joey Mogul, Andrea Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock.  I went to college with Joey, who is now a fierce lawyer and directs the Civil Rights Clinic at DePaul.  Watching a bio of William Kunstler a couple weeks ago made me remember I'd never got to this book.  A much-needed look at the stuff the large G-and-other-people organizations don't address, or at least not well.  Speaking of which, the City Pages had a weird article about local woman CeCe McDonald, who is on trial for murder after being trans-bashed and fighting back.  A glass in the face and all.  The City Pages has difficulty actually formulating ideas in their reporting on local people and events.  It's very post-Facebook coverage.  Typos and all.

Paris by night

Also cool.  A past  NASA photo of the day 

NASA's photo of the day

is pretty cool.   The link