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“In a politically important moment for the gay community, thongs and theatrics don’t cut it. ”

True?  You decide.  I’m all thunked out for today.

Today’s question:

“Hi Prudy, I know this is a bit out of left field, but I don’t know who else to ask. Is there a term for when somebody has the exact same nose as you do?  If you have the same parents, you’re siblings. And if you have the same job, you’re coworkers. If you play basketball together: you’re teammates. Same nationality: compatriots. Same house: roommates. But what’s the term when you have the same nose?  I ask because I have the exact same nose as Roger Federer.”

…now can we, as a country, please move on?

Just *go away*, Dick!

Inspired by my friend Adam, who recently described his life in TMBG song titles.  I decided not to torture my loved ones with an email forward or a facebook note, but  it entertained me for an afternoon, so why not share?

The game:  Answer the following questions as honestly / entertainingly as possible, using only the song titles from one band / singer / recording artist.

Without further ado, I present My Life in Tori Amos Song Titles:

Describe yourself:  “Strange Little Girl”

Describe where you currently live:  “Past the Mission”

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?  “Ireland,” or “China”

Best friend you ever had?   Alternately “God” or “Father Lucifer”

You can often be  found associating with…  “Devils and Gods,” and occasionally “Pirates”

Favorite color?    “Code Red” could be a color, I guess.

Something everyone knows about you is… “I Don’t Like Mondays”

Your favorite weather? “Blue Skies ”

You’re life is…  “Almost Rosey”

What do you wish you had more of?  “Time”

If you could change your name, what would it be?  Definitely “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout”

Coolest thing you ever saw?  “Purple Sunset”

If the last year of your life were made into a movie, the title would be…  “Pretty Good Year”

Fashion must?  “Leather.”  Oh yeah.

You’re a sucker for…  “Sugar” and “Real Men” (not the fakey ones)

Your superpower?  “The Power of Orange Knickers”

Your favorite food is…  “Pancake[s]” with “Honey,” and “Raspberry Swirl” for dessert.

You can often be found… “Here, In My Head”

A good piece of career advice?  “You Can Bring Your Dog”

How do you like your love?  Like a “Carnival!”

What gift would you like to give your best friend?  “A Happy Day”

What’s one thing you’d like to accomplish in life?  “Walk to Dublin.”  OK not really.

Heh.  There’s half an hour I’ll never get back…

Every now and then many of us forget how binary and clear-cut gender ISN’T.  Jennifer Finney Boylan looks at the interesting implications this has — and the paradoxes it can create — for gay (and straight) marriage.  Cool because it reveals the whole debate for the ludicrous, illogical debacle it often is.

A quick, fun read, but still dark, complex, engaging, and witty (cuz it’s Neil Gaiman). The book opens with a mysterious and creepy man named Jack on a mission to murder a sleeping family of four; he makes short work of three of them, but finds that the family’s 18-month-old toddler has somehow managed to slip through his grasp.

The boy wanders up the hill to the town’s historic graveyard, where its denizens dub him “Nobody Owens” and vow to protect and care for him. Bod spends the years that follow growing up in the graveyard, educated and cared for by his adoptive ghost-parents Master and Mistress Owens, his mysterious, formidable guardian Silas, and a host of tutors, friends, and all-around quirky characters. As he gets older, Bod begins to learn the truth about where he came from, why he lives in the graveyard, and the danger that lurks beyond the graveyard fence as a result.

I haven’t read Coraline yet, but I saw the movie, and I’d say it’s about on the same level in terms of darkness / storytelling / age level. Like I said, not what you’d call a dense read (I finished it in about a day and a half), but throughly enjoyable.  Kind of wish it was a grown up book, because I could see expanding this plot into something super-rich and intriguing (and probably even darker).  Still a lot of fun, though.

“I’d like you to punch me in the face,” he said.  As if he were asking me to scratch his back.

“Not that I haven’t always dreamed of it,” I said, “but why would you want it?”

“Hand-to-hand combat has been a common element of military training down through the ages,” he proclaimed.  “Long ago it was learned that recruits–no matter how much training they had received–tended to forget everything they knew the first time they got punched in the face.  In peaceful, affluent societies where brawling is frowned upon, this is a common problem.”

“Not being punched int he face a lot is a problem?”

“It is,” Lio said, “if you find yourself in hand-to-hand combat with someone who is actually trying to kill you.”

~ Neal Stephenson, Anathem

One wonders whether Neal Stephenson has some experience with the martial arts, cuz this is totally true.

Another important recipe I keep losing…

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Mix 1 can of soup with 2 cups of rice & two cans water.  Add spices (Lipton French onion soup mix, salt and pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, chicken broth, whatever).
3. Put half mixture in bottom of pan, then set 2 chicken breasts on top, then cover chicken with rest of mixture.
4. Cover & cook @ 350° for 1 hour; check ~ 30-45 minutes to see if more water is needed.

Oddly, I learned about this book by spotting it randomly in a bookstore back in the summer of 2007.  It had an interesting cover, so I picked it up and spend a few minutes reading the back & flaps of the jacket & perusing the first few pages.  After flipping through the rest of it and noting the, er, “uniqueness” of some of the formatting (more on this later), my curiosity got the better of me and I walked out with it, thinking I’d discovered some little-known but intriguing narrative gem.

Yeah, not so much.  After reading the first couple of chapters, I decided to try to hunt down a few reviews or critiques online & see what I could find, which quickly disabused me of the assumptions I’d made about the book when I’d first found it.  Googling [“House of Leaves” Danielewski] turns up over 100,000 results, and the Wikipedia page devoted to the book is some 15 pages long.  Apparently it’s had a cult following since its release in March of 2000.

So what can I write here about this book that’s in any way useful, without basically summarizing the Wikipedia page?  Not entirely sure, but I’ll try. Read the rest of this entry »