In honor of the shoe-thrower…

Courtesy of Get Your War On, the best Bush-era cartoon of all.

Bettie Page, 1923-2008

Famous model Bettie Page has died in Los Angeles at 85.

She had experienced a resurgence in popularity in the past ten years or so. While do I think that sexism and the objectification of women have been a bit stronger in our culture in this decade than in the previous one, I also admit that one of the good things to come out of the 2000′s has been the idea that there are many different types of female beauty.

Women might have more pressure on them to be sexy than they did in the 1990′s, but there seem to be more different “models” of attractiveness to choose from. A mixed blessing, to be sure.

But it is good, in my opinion, that it isn’t just supermodel gorgeousness or heroin-chic anymore—now we have beautiful athletic women, sexy geek girls, attractive older professional women, and pretty indie ladies.

Women of color, Asian women, and Latinas all get more acknowledgment as potentially drop-dead gorgeous than they did in the past, too. But one of the best beauty trends, in my opinion, is the dawning realization that you don’t have to be stick-thin to be beautiful and sexy.

I am not a large woman. Compared to some of the voluptuous women that model their style after Bettie Page and the other pin-up queens, I feel distinctly like a boy. But I love seeing how many bigger and curvier women are claiming the confidence that comes from feeling attractive, and I give props to one of the icons that helped make that possible.

I might not agree with the path her spirituality took, later in her life. I hope that our society moves away from pressuring its members to regret their innocent sensuality. When I look at old photos of Page, what I take away is a feeling of the beautiful reality of human sexuality—how it has humor, and normality, but also undeniable power.

Sex isn’t the earth-shattering boogeyman it’s made out to be, but it also isn’t at all humdrum. It straddles the line between being the most normal thing in the world, and being the most transformational. I feel that Bettie Page had the rare gift of capturing that tension in her poses. She was one of the immortals, and she will be missed.

Fall Term 2008 @ FSU

photo uploaded to Flickr by the catalyst…

Purple Bar, Deuce

Awww, yeah.

One more time, y’all.

Did it in 2006. Couldn’t in 2007, for reasons that still burn my ass to think about. And here we are, on the last day of November, 2008…and what’s that up there?

IT’S THE PURPLE BAR, BITCHES!

I did it again. Oh my, yes. And you know what else? I’m not done with the story yet. I’m headed into December, planning on writing another 50k words. Why? Because I can.

The way I see it, if helping with the Obama campaign, obsessing over the election, moving into a new apartment, and having oral surgery can’t stop me, then two finals and a job search sure as hell won’t. I’m just getting going.

See ya on the back cover!

Stats:

Days Where I Wrote: 7

Total Words Written: 50,888

Highest Daily Word Count: 8,411

2008 NaNo Novel Wordle:

Write Or Die

This guy has a future.

This is a nifty little website for those of you who, like me, have no problem sitting down to write, and staying seated…but slowly migrating from your Word document on over to the NaNoWriMo Forums, or your email, or IM.

You choose your settings and start typing in the box, and if you pause for more than a few seconds, you are punished. The punishments range from mild (a pop-up box appears and nags you to keep typing) to severe (your words begin to disappear, one by one). When you reach your word count or time goal, it stops, and you are free to copy your work onto your final document, and play again.

Watch the video. Smart guys with a sense of humor rule.

The NaNoWriMo Playlist, 2008

Here is what fills my head as I bang out Seven Hills:

Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Beastie Boys, Hello Nasty
Blondie, “Heart Of Glass”
Carmina Burana
Chromatics, “Mask”
Fiona Apple, “Not About Love”

The Fratellis, Costello Music
The Futureheads, “Broke Up the Time”
Iron And Wine, “Sea and the Rhythm”
M83, “Too Late”
Massive Attack, “Safe From Harm”

MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
Mofro: Blackwater; Live
Mono, “Life In Mono”
Moontribe, Sound Without Walls
The Presets, “Anywhere”

She Wants Revenge, “Out Of Control”
Shearwater, Rook
Danny Tenaglia, Global Underground #10
Tori Amos, Crucify EP
TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth; Cookie Mountain; Young Liars EP; & Dear Science
The Veils, “The Leavers Dance”

…and the Electronica tab of the iTunes internet radio, as usual.

NaNo 2008: an excerpt…

photo originally uploaded by the catalyst….