Upon hearing about Steve McNair's death, I opened up his Wikipedia page to see if I could figure out who on earth Steve McNair was. Having accomplished this, I was about to close it when the Wikipedia categories at the bottom of his entry caught my eye -- and specifically, one: Recent deaths. I expected to find Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Instead the name that caught my eye was Shi Pei Pu -- a name I did recognize, and which I was surprised to see dead.

From the New York Times: Shi Pei Pu, Singer, Spy, and M. Butterfly, Dies at 70.

This was Shi Pei Pu:



The story of Shi Pei Pu and Bernard Boursicot is a particular oddity of 20th century history and international espionage; for those who aren't familiar, their story is the story on which David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly was based. Shi was a male Chinese opera singer working for the Chinese government and masquerading as a woman who carried on a years-long affair with smitten French diplomat Bernard Boursicot.

The story of Song Liling and Rene Gallimard, their fictional counterparts, is a decidedly tragic and fascinating one -- M. Butterfly is an ingenious play. The story of Shi Pei Pu and Bernard Boursicot, on the other hand, I can't say I'm qualified to say anything about, save that it appears to have been at the very least very odd and very embarrassing. Even so, I find myself wondering a bit at Boursicot's reaction:

“I’m not surprised,” he said, in a tone that suggested weariness with a former lover’s theatrics. “It is a long time he has been sick. Now it’s over 40 years.”

Asked if he had any sadness at all, Mr. Boursicot said: “He did so many things against me that he had no pity for, I think it is stupid to play another game now and say I am sad. The plate is clean now. I am free.”

A very telling response, I think. Telling of what, I am not sure.

In any case -- RIP Shi Pei Pu, M. Butterfly. I wonder.

exrevolutionary (10:37:55 PM): do you know the word 'polyamory' bugs me
faded enmity (10:38:02 PM): why?
exrevolutionary (10:38:10 PM): poly-: greek
exrevolutionary (10:38:12 PM): amor: latin
exrevolutionary (10:39:07 PM): poly-: greek. gamos: greek. polygamy: fine!
faded enmity (10:39:25 PM): i see
exrevolutionary (10:39:51 PM): it's just... so very blatantly a neologism
exrevolutionary (10:40:01 PM): because if it weren't, it would be more etymologically harmonious
exrevolutionary (10:40:13 PM): and it bothers me that some people who make up words don't think about this
exrevolutionary (10:40:22 PM): i'm going to go reorganize my pencilcase now :(

DID YOU LIE ABOUT LIKING GRAMMAR TOO

Been a while since I updated this, so I figured I'd get back into the swing of things with a good-old fashioned book review. I read LXG Century 1910 today in the bookstore and didn't deem it worth the purchase, so I'll be operating off memory for most of this cursory review.

Picking it up, I opened it and found a naked chick on the second page. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the book.

( Sometimes Vertigo is the HBO of the comics industry. )

Yanked from demonlet, Jon Schmidt's spectacular piano-cello arrangement of "Love Story"/"Viva La Vida" that I can't stop listening to:



It's funny, on the list of things I find blazingly romantic, being able to play an instrumental duet together numbers pretty high. I can certify that being willing to accompany me on another instrument a la Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin is a sure way to my heart, in the case that any of you were intending to woo me. This applies particularly to anyone willing to play the cello part of this song.

What does it say about me that a description of one of my idealized romantic scenarios includes the phrase "a la Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin?" It says I have awesome taste, is what it says. I would give my left arm to have a marriage half as excellent as Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin's.

Also, hey look at me I updated my LJ profile

No I don't waaaaanna do my art homework

If there were a paid-media equivalent of 4chan, I would have to say it's talk radio. Except that while 4chan is populated by lulzy, immature, sometimes funny, occasionally hateful but mostly just stupid people saying offensive shit because they don't think words have any particular consequences, talk radio is, at least in the shock jock sector of things, populated by creepy and genuinely hateful people who get their rocks off bullying and threatening those weaker than themselves.

In any case: KRXQ Sacramento Radio Hosts Encourage Violence Against Transgender Children.

I'd encourage you to write letters to those advertisers who have not yet withdrawn sponsorship from KRXQ. I really should not have to justify this to the majority of you, but to those of you who remain in doubt of the significance of things like this, who think this is just two shock jocks spouting hyperbolic shit to get a rise out of people, the equivalent of trolling, who wonder why we're feeding the trolls here:

These are not trolls. These are professional media personalities. Yes, they're talking out their asses. By pressuring sponsors we as citizens are exercising our very legitimate right: using our influence as consumers to make it clear what sorts of things we do and do not tolerate on our radio waves. They may not go home and actually commit violence upon their children, or other children (but then again, they might), but words like this contribute to the hostile and violent atmosphere which transgendered people are forced to survive every day and they do breed violence. Showing no tolerance for words like this as consumers, similarly, is a small step in the direction of basic dignity and human rights for transgendered people.

The First Amendment affords Rob Williams and Arnie States the right to be douchebags. Usefully, it also affords us the right to tell their sponsors that we don't really appreciate their funding their continuing douchebaggery. That's what I'll be doing.

evilprodigy: also living alone sucks, no one can protect you from murderers and children with creepy bags over their heads


corialis: I HATE YOU
I HATE YOU SO HARD


evilprodigy: i was expressing sympathy!
perhaps cruelly worded sympathy
but i understand, i do
i mean, my understanding won't protect you when the weeping angels come
but what could


corialis: omg stfu

Offline yesterday, so I'll just post a link to an NY Times story about the fatal shooting of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

RIP Dr. Tiller, a very, very brave man.

If the rest of you want to lose your faith in humanity, check out some hateful #Tiller tweets on the subject. Charming.

It's true that making webpages with Wanted lists of abortion providers isn't the same as pulling the trigger on a doctor in a place of worship; it's true that suggesting that murdered doctors have "had a procedure performed on them with a rifle" isn't the same as killing them (thank you, Anne Coulter) -- verbally harassing them, sending and encouraging death threats to them and their families, rejoicing at their deaths, adding caveats to your insincere condemnations of their deaths, describing in detail the torments they'll undergo in your denomination's conception of hell, none of these things are the same as murdering them.

Nevertheless, I hope this incident gives pause to at least one person who previously thought that unleashing a slew of bloody and violent rhetoric against their opponents was, in fact, just harmless hyperbole.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8069457.stm

Stop trolling, your macros are not funny and the mods are getting pissed.

Thankfully: Kim Jong-il is a fucking lunatic, might say anything. Unfortunately: Kim Jong-il is a fucking lunatic, might do anything.

I stopped by B&N today and discovered once again something I never seem to let myself believe: I don't like nonfiction. It's a little damning, not liking nonfiction. You tend to think you can't be a real curious person if you find little enjoyment or interest in reading nonfiction books in general -- it's sort of the book equivalent of never watching the news. It's something that demands, entertain me now, and implies you aren't interested in the state of the world past or present. It's especially damning for a writer, who by some schools of thought ought to be studying primary sources of human existence -- that is, nonfiction of various sorts -- nearly as much as they study secondary sources -- that is, fiction.

But I don't. I don't even like nonfiction on subjects I know I am interested in, on which I could do large amounts of research, but pertaining to which I can't bring myself to sit through an entire book of narrative nonfiction. I was thinking about this in the bookstore today and how the only reason I got through half of Guns, Germs and Steel was that the only other options were even more boring. And I tried to pick it up in the bookstore and found I couldn't.

You know, it wasn't that it was boring. It wasn't; it was an interesting subject, interestingly written. So why is it that someone who finds no tedium (okay, comparatively little tedium) in the Latin subjunctive can't bring herself to read nonfiction? Why can someone who spends hours on Wikipedia be so utterly unwilling to sit through In Cold Blood?

I think I found the answer, or at least an answer, talking to neherenia about it. This is what I said to her:

I think it's this. Nonfiction falls into the uncanny valley between narrative and information. I'm interested in information, but oftentimes nonfiction is too slow-paced and goes on overly specific tangents about minute details for the sake of storytelling/interestingness; however, it is never quite interesting enough to actually be a story. So it doesn't actually help me that much in a real understanding of the topic, and it's not as interesting as a book.

Does anyone else have this experience? I know others of you read nonfiction, but I'm even more interested to hear who else doesn't and wonders why they don't and passively pretends they do: because let's face it, I do it, you do it, we've all done it for something, particularly if we majored in literature.

Better late than never, in posting this. I'm not sure I have an icon serious enough for it.

Ex-GI convicted of raping 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and the rest of her family.

Tami: God, jesus christ.
"personality disorder" I think they forgot to use the word 'outright evil'.

Kate: Yeah, I should think every person on the planet who rapes and murders other human beings has a severe personality disorder. It's just in the military that it's an excuse for anything.

I am not a firm advocate of the death penalty, but if there ever was a person it applied to I should think it would be Pfc. Steven Green. Let justice be done here, and elsewhere, when it comes to crimes of this proportion. I haven't got a lot of hope, but I hope his conviction is a precursor to the thorough trial and conviction of the guilty among the U.S. military, and not simply a single scapegoat case used as proof that the U.S. is trying its war criminals so the issue falls once again out of public memory.

But, as I've said, I haven't got a lot of hope. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. What high adventure war always proves to be.

Un: Thank you all for your help! I wound up putting down my deposit at Northwestern, so that's where I'll be. I am going to a school that calls its online student portal Esqwire and its acapella group Habeas Chorus. Lord have mercy.

Deux: My life drawing class starts next Monday and I am, err, actually more nervous about that than I am about graduate school. I think it's that I feel rather less qualified. Any final words of wisdom? Should I take it pass/fail since I am not an artist by any means? Can I even pass this thing?

For the fandom/RPG folks:

I'll take TEN requests for drabbles of any pairing/character from a fandom with which I'm familiar, or an RPG in which I participate. In return, those ten people have to post this in their journals, regardless of their ability level.

I reserve the right to write more than a drabble if you give me a good prompt; you reserve the right not to repost if you don't feel like it.

If you're considering asking me for something, don't be afraid to ask me for something you truly are curious about fandom-wise; I know I'm not really much of a fandom writer but part of my impetus for posting this was to have the opportunity for the exercise, so have no fear. Or you can ask for something else totally random. In the interests of full disclosure, my only caveat is that serious requests are more likely to get done than random lulz ones. Otherwise, hit me, I'll write that Spenserian sonnet. Except don't request that. Please don't. At least make it a Shakespearean sonnet, I hate Spenser.

Hey, I keep meaning to repost this for all you other A Song of Ice and Fire fans on my friendslist, of which I know there are a few: it seems like HBO has greenlit the first book, A Game of Thrones, for a TV series, in which Peter Dinklage will star.

You know, I'm not sure if I care how faithful it is? -- well, okay, I know I will. But I also know it'll give me a fannish thrill merely to see Westeros visuals in a high-budget TV production and hear the lines spoken aloud.

This has to be only the second time I've seen something I truly loved adapted to film, Watchmen being the first. I must be growing up.

Remember my picture "head of some dude?" Probably not, but if you do, you may be interested to know that that was but a tantalizing preview of a picture I've been working on extremely slowly, down to extremely slowly getting my hands on some Microns and less slowly inking it. So I am treating you to a thrilling in-prog of baby's very first sorta-completed picture, now with 100% more crappy cell phone action and my exciting commentary.

( For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of my beautiful cloakpin. )

I never actually get sick of literal music videos.



Thank you all for your comments on my law school decision post, by the way -- they're appreciated and I'll be considering them all and replying in short order. <3 And, belatedly, thank you for the congratulations on the acceptance post as well.

(horse montage! horse montage!)

So I need to make a decision. And thanks to the deep consideration and forethought of Northwestern and Georgetown Universities in notifying me late (Northwestern) and taking me off the wait list shortly before the deadline (Georgetown), I need to make it quickly.

As you might recall, Northwestern Law accepted me this week. Soon after this Georgetown took me off their wait list and accepted me too. They're both highly ranked universities and acceptances I really wasn't expecting to get after a slew of rejections and waitlistings, so it's good news all around and there's probably not a bad choice to make here. However, they're also both very expensive universities and constitute three years of my life and a move nearly across the country either way. It's a big decision, and it's a big decision due by May 8 at the latest: that being Georgetown's deadline. Thanks again, Georgetown.

I'm leaning towards Northwestern at the moment, but I'm going to list what's going for each behind these cuts:

( Northwestern )

( Georgetown )

I want more time. Actually, I want a year's deferral: my family's in some very rough financial straits at the moment and I'd like the time to think things over and work and save up more money for these very pricey private schools. Basically I think I'm going to talk to both schools' admissions departments and bring up the subject of deferrals and of financial aid, as those are going to be my deciding factors, I think. I wish they didn't have to be, but I'm not exactly rolling in cash here and my family certainly isn't at the moment; we're facing foreclosure.

But even so, I need advice. Help me, Obi-Wan, you're my only hope.

My favorite thing about this anthology is its introduction. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not that the stories are so bad as that the introduction is that good. I picked it up mostly for that, and for the title: My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, From Chekhov to Munro. I don't read a lot of literary short fiction -- much less anything compiled by the guy who wrote The Virgin Suicides, classic of pointless postmodernism -- but what the hey, a Catullus reference and a bunch of stories about love all in one bundle? Sounds like a plan to me.

When it comes to love, there are a million theories to explain it. But when it comes to love stories, things are simpler. A love story can never be about full possession. The happy marriage, the requited love, the desire that never dims -- these are lucky eventualities but they aren't love stories. Love stories depend on disappointment, on unequal births and feuding families, on matrimonial boredom and at least one cold heart. Love stories, nearly without exception, give love a bad name.

Clearly the introduction has the right idea. Do the stories have the right idea? Well, some of them. I haven't read them all -- frankly, if I waited to read all the stories in an anthology before I reviewed an anthology, I'd never review any. Which I usually don't. So, of the ones I have read, here's the breakdown:

( Loved, Liked, Didn't Like, Haven't Read Yet )

You know, I'm just not a litfic reader and I'm just not a short fiction reader. Short fiction I'm willing to put down as a matter of taste, but I maintain that a great portion of literary fiction is just -- not really about anything except the author's ego. If I really wanted to read about Lesbia's sparrow, living or dead, I'd rather reread Possession or Written on the Body.

I set pasta on fire.

Literally, while I was trying to boil it, it burst into flames. Yes I have made pasta before. No I don't understand. I was putting it in the pot and it it combusted. I am making this record to mark the day I possibly first discovered I was developing pyrokinetic powers.



I ended up ordering pizza.

Dear Katheryn -

Congratulations! The Admissions Committee at Northwestern Law has completed its review of your application, and I’m delighted to offer you admission to the Law School.

I'm really surprised.

Today I:

- bought a Corningware casserole dish
- made a spinach mozzarella pasta casserole from scratch, the first thing I have ever baked
- ate a portion of this (delicious) casserole

This is so exciting. I almost feel accomplished.

I baked.

I baked a casserole.

You have to understand that while cooking for myself is not a foreign concept to me, ovens were so very, very little used in my family that the prospect of baking has until now been a thrilling and dangerous prospect; the idea of a casserole dish held a strange, exotic sort of allure. I also now have leftovers for forever. This was a pretty excellent day.