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Just wrapped Day #2 in Walt Disney World. ( A bunch of vacation-themed ruminating and pondering... )
Dear fellow guys...
May. 26th, 2014 01:40 pmYou are not owed sex.
Not if you find her attractive, not if you find her unattractive. Not if she's an old friend, not if she's a new friend, not if she's a best friend. No matter how she dresses (or doesn't dress), no matter what rung she may occupy on the social status ladder. No matter who else she loves. No matter which set of "parts" she was born with, or acquired later in life. Not if she's a co-worker, a subordinate, or your boss. Not if she's of your creed or of some other creed. Not if she's a complete stranger, or if you've been seeing her for only a week, or even if you've shared living space for more than forty years.
No matter what she says, no matter what she does, you are not owed sex.
You are owed the essential respect and polite decency that is owed any fellow human being --in other words, the same essential respect and polite decency that you owe everyone around you. That's a cost of living on a planet occupied by other human beings. So yeah, there is something you're owed.
But not sex. Nobody owes you that.
Seriously, guys. We've got to purge this mindset; it's poisoning the entire goddamned culture. It needs to be tossed out of the workplace, it needs to be tossed out of the law books, it needs to be tossed out of the religious traditions, it needs to be tossed from the unspoken background noise that is soaked up by friends, family, and popular culture. Internalize this; I am begging you. You are not owed sex.
(And no, I'm not calling for new laws, new codes, new restrictions. This mindset goes intrinsically deeper than anything that any pointless law or politician is going to change --it must be internalized and the only way I know how to do that is to keep driving the point home. For my own sake as much as for every other male with whom I share the planet.)
You are not owed sex. Get that into your head.
Not if you find her attractive, not if you find her unattractive. Not if she's an old friend, not if she's a new friend, not if she's a best friend. No matter how she dresses (or doesn't dress), no matter what rung she may occupy on the social status ladder. No matter who else she loves. No matter which set of "parts" she was born with, or acquired later in life. Not if she's a co-worker, a subordinate, or your boss. Not if she's of your creed or of some other creed. Not if she's a complete stranger, or if you've been seeing her for only a week, or even if you've shared living space for more than forty years.
No matter what she says, no matter what she does, you are not owed sex.
You are owed the essential respect and polite decency that is owed any fellow human being --in other words, the same essential respect and polite decency that you owe everyone around you. That's a cost of living on a planet occupied by other human beings. So yeah, there is something you're owed.
But not sex. Nobody owes you that.
Seriously, guys. We've got to purge this mindset; it's poisoning the entire goddamned culture. It needs to be tossed out of the workplace, it needs to be tossed out of the law books, it needs to be tossed out of the religious traditions, it needs to be tossed from the unspoken background noise that is soaked up by friends, family, and popular culture. Internalize this; I am begging you. You are not owed sex.
(And no, I'm not calling for new laws, new codes, new restrictions. This mindset goes intrinsically deeper than anything that any pointless law or politician is going to change --it must be internalized and the only way I know how to do that is to keep driving the point home. For my own sake as much as for every other male with whom I share the planet.)
You are not owed sex. Get that into your head.
Thing The Forty-Ninth (give or take)...
May. 23rd, 2014 12:51 pmI figured it was high time I updated my "inner circle" hereabouts as I've been mostly staying the hell away from social media except in the context of promoting The Monitor's Guild. There's an awful lot of steps still to take, between now and the July 4 kickoff date, and I dearly hope this pays off. Some other artists are contributing material, a honest-to-goodness professional pinup model cosplayed as one of my characters, and I've even commissioned a 30-second commercial. I'm now soliciting local comic book stores to carry the title (it's been just about as disappointing on THAT front as it was last year trying to find a publisher).
Some of you might have seen the video on my professional Facebook page where I held the first printed proof in my hands for the first time. I kept a straight face for the camera, but I assure you there were a LOT of emotions winking on and off in that moment:
( More under here, including a link to aforementioned video. )
Some of you might have seen the video on my professional Facebook page where I held the first printed proof in my hands for the first time. I kept a straight face for the camera, but I assure you there were a LOT of emotions winking on and off in that moment:
( More under here, including a link to aforementioned video. )
My tweets: Hyping a fellow artist
May. 8th, 2014 08:01 am- Wed, 23:48: Getting over myself. http://t.co/5TNda9TEvp via @honeyandollie. Very insightful (as always). Give this amazing crafter a look.
My tweets: I'm in a movie!
May. 4th, 2014 08:00 am- Sat, 22:51: Hey folks. I'm in a movie! As in, acting! Enjoy "Mr. Cuthbert's Chair" by Now Shooting: http://t.co/z7AgGlxw3H via @YouTube
Happy Birthday Lisa
Mar. 18th, 2013 09:26 amMiss you ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lucinda_j. We all think of you a lot. Hey, I finally got that graphic novel done that I was forever boring you about; you're on the dedication page. Thanks for persuading me to stop merely talking about it, and actually doing it.
Hoisting a long-neck to you this day my dear.
lucinda_j. We all think of you a lot. Hey, I finally got that graphic novel done that I was forever boring you about; you're on the dedication page. Thanks for persuading me to stop merely talking about it, and actually doing it.Hoisting a long-neck to you this day my dear.
A great visit
Aug. 23rd, 2011 10:35 pmmama_hogswatch, my elder offspring and I had a wonderful time this evening meeting up at local watering hole Seven Barrel Brewery with longtime alt.callahans buddies valkyrwench and twfarlan. Despite being friends for nearly 15 years, we'd never actually connected in person.  |
 |
Great evening; great to (at last!) connect. Naturally a toast was drank to our Patron And Founder, Spider Robinson --if not for him, we'd have never connected.
...getchyerself to Bradford, VT and enjoy an evening at the theater, to see "Enchanted April" by Matthew Barber. The folks at the Old Church Community Theater have really pulled together something delightful here: a romantic comedy that even my jaded teenage son frankly admitted to enjoying! Director Gloria Heidenreich has taken a plot that is at once both funny and touching, combined it into an English-style farce with relationship maturity issues, and assembled a brilliant cast to make it all happen. I especially defy you NOT to fall in love with the amazing "odd couple" rapport generated by Robyn Greenstone as the free-spirited-to-a-fault Lottie and Barbara Swantak as the almost-too-practical-for-her-own-good Rose.
Pick up your tickets here.
(My favorite scene.)
Go on, treat yourself. I promise you won't regret it.
Pick up your tickets here.
(My favorite scene.)
Go on, treat yourself. I promise you won't regret it.
Wonderful week
Aug. 14th, 2011 08:38 pmOn the heels of a relaxing week with mama_hogswatch and the kids at Virginia Beach, I am now home from a week at Pennsic War XL ("Pennsic Xtra Large"). Shadow Legion says hello to one and all, by the way. Awesome folks, every one of them. Also greetings from fellow mercenaries Tir Thalor, whose parties frankly rival Vlad's Pleasure Palace for fun and mischief. Odyssey Coffee says hi too.
Something odd this year at Pennsic, observed by me and the folks in my camp, but also in nisaa's and svava's: there was a notable ABSENCE of toxicity and all its attendant drama. nisaa put it this way: "It's as if everybody just agreed to grow up this year." An apt observation, that. ZERO "relationship processing" drama or loudly arguing couples/triads/quads or inter-personal shenanigans. One encampment was notable by its absence: the pirates of The Outlanders, with whom I had camped 5 years ago. Relationship-py nonsense had peaked that year and ultimately caused the whole damn group to messily implode. A telling object lesson, perhaps?
I shall put this dearth of damnfoolishness down to an awesome gift presented tomeadwench from bronxelf_ag001: a dagger with a llama handle. Clearly some in-joke 'twixt these two wonderful ladies, but I choose to interpret as a Decisive Slaying Of The Drama Llama.
Seriously. The drama was limited to in-character "vendettas" and kingdoms pranking one another (for example our merc group was hired to T.P. a prince's household and leave an "incriminating" note at the scene blaming someone else) --and THAT was only because the East Kingdom handed Midrealm's ass to it in Monday's battle.
While I'm at it, meet my character.
Time well spent; well worth the long drive and the rain and the at-times-unpleasant heat. Much mead, much merriment, delicious meals, some new garb, some new friends, and of course the company ofmeadwench, which I have not enjoyed in FAR too long. Much with the happy. Pics to follow shortly; for now, it is time for me to return to the realm of the mundane. --pouty face--
mama_hogswatch and the kids at Virginia Beach, I am now home from a week at Pennsic War XL ("Pennsic Xtra Large"). Shadow Legion says hello to one and all, by the way. Awesome folks, every one of them. Also greetings from fellow mercenaries Tir Thalor, whose parties frankly rival Vlad's Pleasure Palace for fun and mischief. Odyssey Coffee says hi too. Something odd this year at Pennsic, observed by me and the folks in my camp, but also in nisaa's and svava's: there was a notable ABSENCE of toxicity and all its attendant drama. nisaa put it this way: "It's as if everybody just agreed to grow up this year." An apt observation, that. ZERO "relationship processing" drama or loudly arguing couples/triads/quads or inter-personal shenanigans. One encampment was notable by its absence: the pirates of The Outlanders, with whom I had camped 5 years ago. Relationship-py nonsense had peaked that year and ultimately caused the whole damn group to messily implode. A telling object lesson, perhaps?I shall put this dearth of damnfoolishness down to an awesome gift presented to
meadwench from bronxelf_ag001: a dagger with a llama handle. Clearly some in-joke 'twixt these two wonderful ladies, but I choose to interpret as a Decisive Slaying Of The Drama Llama.Seriously. The drama was limited to in-character "vendettas" and kingdoms pranking one another (for example our merc group was hired to T.P. a prince's household and leave an "incriminating" note at the scene blaming someone else) --and THAT was only because the East Kingdom handed Midrealm's ass to it in Monday's battle.
While I'm at it, meet my character.
Time well spent; well worth the long drive and the rain and the at-times-unpleasant heat. Much mead, much merriment, delicious meals, some new garb, some new friends, and of course the company of
meadwench, which I have not enjoyed in FAR too long. Much with the happy. Pics to follow shortly; for now, it is time for me to return to the realm of the mundane. --pouty face--Once again, would somebody PLEASE explain to me how this week's legal decision in the state of New York jeopardizes YOUR marriage or weakens YOUR faith? Are either of them really that precarious?
Man, if all it takes is a 36-26 vote in some other state's legislature to "shatter" your faith and "threaten" your marriage, then perhaps some serious introspection is called for.
Nobody repeat NOBODY is being harmed, in any way, by what went down in New York this weekend. Quitchyer whining and go do something important.
Man, if all it takes is a 36-26 vote in some other state's legislature to "shatter" your faith and "threaten" your marriage, then perhaps some serious introspection is called for.
Nobody repeat NOBODY is being harmed, in any way, by what went down in New York this weekend. Quitchyer whining and go do something important.
Inception lives up to the hype, first and foremost. Deserves every award for which it's been nominated. The pacing was tight, the character development was phenomenal, even the soundtrack was damn near perfect. Solid storytelling and A-list performances from every single cast member.
This is a thinking person's action-adventure movie, by the way. In fact I'll even go as far as to call it a critical thinker's action-adventure movie. It's not gonna spoon-feed you a damned thing. You are dropped into the story and you're just plain gonna have to accept a couple of plot points without explanation. In other words, nevermind the how, the director needs to get you straight to the what and the why. So, no convenient recaps or setup scenes --this movie starts out already assuming your IQ is sufficiently high to be able to process more than one person's viewpoint in 2 hours' time.
Inception is the latest heir to a succession of "reality-or-not-reality?" movies that includes such splendid mindf**ks as The Thirteenth Floor, Dark City, eXistenZ, and of course The Matrix. It goes without saying that the special effects and the cinematography are first-rate, and I'm happy to report that they serve the story and don't become ends in and of themselves.
So with all this praise, what's my beef with the flick? Why, its essential premise: the notion of entering someone else's subconscious and deliberately planting the seed of an idea that is not theirs. So while most folks are raving (justifiably so) about DiCaprio's character and the way he ultimately triumphs over his own personal demons, for me the true hero of the piece is Cillian Murphy's character, the "mark," the guy who's actually being manipulated below three levels' worth of subconscious. A group of total strangers has barged their way into this guy's head, honed in on his latent Daddy Issues (inwardly I cringe at the notion that Pete Postlethwaite's swansong role is in fact a dying man in a hospital bed), and plugged in an idea that isn't his, but one that he believes he came up with on his own.
In other words, the entire arc of the story is a long, drawn-out act of deliberate gaslighting. And anyone who reads this blog certainly knows my views on that.
So... by all means see it. It's tremendously rewarding, is visually brilliant, and I guaran-damn-tee it'll trigger meaty discussions about the nature of reality, and what it means to be human, and what dreams can reveal about us, and of course The Triumph Of Intellect And Romance Against Brute Force And Cynicism. Just be aware that, at its core, it's about deliberately tricking someone into accepting a falsehood. And for that alone, I have to stop short of giving it five stars. Call it 4.5.
This is a thinking person's action-adventure movie, by the way. In fact I'll even go as far as to call it a critical thinker's action-adventure movie. It's not gonna spoon-feed you a damned thing. You are dropped into the story and you're just plain gonna have to accept a couple of plot points without explanation. In other words, nevermind the how, the director needs to get you straight to the what and the why. So, no convenient recaps or setup scenes --this movie starts out already assuming your IQ is sufficiently high to be able to process more than one person's viewpoint in 2 hours' time.
Inception is the latest heir to a succession of "reality-or-not-reality?" movies that includes such splendid mindf**ks as The Thirteenth Floor, Dark City, eXistenZ, and of course The Matrix. It goes without saying that the special effects and the cinematography are first-rate, and I'm happy to report that they serve the story and don't become ends in and of themselves.
So with all this praise, what's my beef with the flick? Why, its essential premise: the notion of entering someone else's subconscious and deliberately planting the seed of an idea that is not theirs. So while most folks are raving (justifiably so) about DiCaprio's character and the way he ultimately triumphs over his own personal demons, for me the true hero of the piece is Cillian Murphy's character, the "mark," the guy who's actually being manipulated below three levels' worth of subconscious. A group of total strangers has barged their way into this guy's head, honed in on his latent Daddy Issues (inwardly I cringe at the notion that Pete Postlethwaite's swansong role is in fact a dying man in a hospital bed), and plugged in an idea that isn't his, but one that he believes he came up with on his own.
In other words, the entire arc of the story is a long, drawn-out act of deliberate gaslighting. And anyone who reads this blog certainly knows my views on that.
So... by all means see it. It's tremendously rewarding, is visually brilliant, and I guaran-damn-tee it'll trigger meaty discussions about the nature of reality, and what it means to be human, and what dreams can reveal about us, and of course The Triumph Of Intellect And Romance Against Brute Force And Cynicism. Just be aware that, at its core, it's about deliberately tricking someone into accepting a falsehood. And for that alone, I have to stop short of giving it five stars. Call it 4.5.
Sorry I've not been very communicat-ey; am in the final stages of a pretty big illustration project (deadline this Monday!). I think y'all will like it! My day job is also about to kick into extreme high gear for the next 8-10 weeks (again, effective this Monday!), so there probably won't be a whole lot of interesting stuff coming off of this blog for a good long while. Just general gripes about troublesome students and Dark Sarcasm In The Classroom.
(Hell, I don't expect to even have time to pen any political rants. If you can believe that.)
Still here though, still reading your entries (though not very much on Facebook; I'm more active over here on LJ). And of course being the nerd that I am, I check my email approximately 3,976,323 times per day. And for the elite few of you who have my cell phone number, by all means drop me a text every now and again, just to make sure I'm still alive. It goes without saying I cherish the HELL out of such communications.
(Hell, I don't expect to even have time to pen any political rants. If you can believe that.)
Still here though, still reading your entries (though not very much on Facebook; I'm more active over here on LJ). And of course being the nerd that I am, I check my email approximately 3,976,323 times per day. And for the elite few of you who have my cell phone number, by all means drop me a text every now and again, just to make sure I'm still alive. It goes without saying I cherish the HELL out of such communications.
Oh, I almost forgot...
Jul. 22nd, 2010 11:24 amPictures from the weekend.
(Not all images are public; by all means "friend" me on Flickr if you like.)
(Not all images are public; by all means "friend" me on Flickr if you like.)
Because I can't think of anything else
May. 17th, 2010 07:55 amHenry Rollins on Ronnie James Dio:
RIP you righteous crooner and thanks for the awesomeness.
RIP you righteous crooner and thanks for the awesomeness.
Just an observation...
Dec. 18th, 2009 04:26 pmI was just sucker-punched by a banner ad for jared --one of those vapid "he-bought-you-expensive-shit-so- therefore-he's-a-good-man" commercials, the one that ends with the entourage of cackling girlfriends asking "if he has brothers."
Such commercials may just be among the most evil things in all of human civilization. Right on up there with legalized torture and radishes.
Such commercials may just be among the most evil things in all of human civilization. Right on up there with legalized torture and radishes.
Bein' thankful
Nov. 26th, 2009 03:57 pmI'm thankful as hell for a really long list of people, for a whole lotta reasons.
Do make a point of cherishing the presence of those you love this day --it's time more precious than most of us care to acknowledge.
Do make a point of cherishing the presence of those you love this day --it's time more precious than most of us care to acknowledge.
