Donkey Season! Elephant Season!
Recently I saw a couple of comments on a LGBT-related website that brought back such memories.First:I suppose I wouldn’t mind feeling preached at so much if I shared the cynicism and despair pervading the sermon. Sure, I’d like to see the electoral college reformed, too, but with three strong (and yes, electable) Democrat candidates vying for the Presidency, is this really the time for liberals
Donkey Season! Elephant Season!
Recently I saw a couple of comments on a LGBT-related website that brought back such memories.First:I suppose I wouldn’t mind feeling preached at so much if I shared the cynicism and despair pervading the sermon. Sure, I’d like to see the electoral college reformed, too, but with three strong (and yes, electable) Democrat candidates vying for the Presidency, is this really the time for liberals
The Easy Way Out
I'm going to take the easy way out today and make what should be an update into a post -- a short one at that. I'm in the middle of reading Amy Hoffman's An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community News, and I have several posts in the works, and I haven't been getting enough sleep ... so I'm taking a day or two off from posting. But I'll Be Back.First, thanks are due to the reader who
The Easy Way Out
I'm going to take the easy way out today and make what should be an update into a post -- a short one at that. I'm in the middle of reading Amy Hoffman's An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community News, and I have several posts in the works, and I haven't been getting enough sleep ... so I'm taking a day or two off from posting. But I'll Be Back.First, thanks are due to the reader who
There Won't Be A Problem Till The Girls Go Home
I don’t make any claim to historical completeness in what follows; I’ve not mentioned numerous performers who’d be relevant in a complete discussion of queer popular music. I don’t follow music and journalism/criticism as I did before the early 1990s, so I’m not sure I’m right about the trend I describe; this is just how it looks to me. With that in mind…. For me personally, how little has
There Won't Be A Problem Till The Girls Go Home
I don’t make any claim to historical completeness in what follows; I’ve not mentioned numerous performers who’d be relevant in a complete discussion of queer popular music. I don’t follow music and journalism/criticism as I did before the early 1990s, so I’m not sure I’m right about the trend I describe; this is just how it looks to me. With that in mind…. For me personally, how little has
Tenny Dearest
Another of my book reviews for Gay Community News, from about 1985.The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williamsby Donald SpotoLittle, Brown & Company, $19.95410 pp Tennessee: Cry of the Heartby Dotson RaderDoubleday, $16.95348 pp. I know this is going to sound odd, but Tennessee Williams really didn’t live that interesting a life. Oh, his life should have been
Tenny Dearest
Another of my book reviews for Gay Community News, from about 1985.The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williamsby Donald SpotoLittle, Brown & Company, $19.95410 pp Tennessee: Cry of the Heartby Dotson RaderDoubleday, $16.95348 pp. I know this is going to sound odd, but Tennessee Williams really didn’t live that interesting a life. Oh, his life should have been
Hey, You -- Out Of The Meme Pool!
I can’t see any good reason why Creationist or Intelligent Design research shouldn’t be done. It’s probably a waste of money and time, but so is most scientific research.Science cultists rant and rave and tear their hair, but there’s no good reason for their wrath. Creationism and Intelligent Design are certainly religiously based, but they are not anti-scientific. In fact their concession
Hey, You -- Out Of The Meme Pool!
I can’t see any good reason why Creationist or Intelligent Design research shouldn’t be done. It’s probably a waste of money and time, but so is most scientific research.Science cultists rant and rave and tear their hair, but there’s no good reason for their wrath. Creationism and Intelligent Design are certainly religiously based, but they are not anti-scientific. In fact their concession
Dialogue Is Hard -- Let's Go Shopping!
If religion is purely a matter of faith beyond reasoned debate, then who could object if believers participate in the public sphere? But when they do, there is no reason anyone should take them seriously, whatever their position may be. “The Lord wants us to do X” or “God says we shouldn’t do Y” – let them speak by all means, but then smile indulgently, as at the prattling of a child, and then
Dialogue Is Hard -- Let's Go Shopping!
If religion is purely a matter of faith beyond reasoned debate, then who could object if believers participate in the public sphere? But when they do, there is no reason anyone should take them seriously, whatever their position may be. “The Lord wants us to do X” or “God says we shouldn’t do Y” – let them speak by all means, but then smile indulgently, as at the prattling of a child, and then
Ecce Homo
I was very pleased to see that Avedon Carol linked to my post on Ray Bradbury. One of her commenters was not:Bradbury's critic nails him. He repeats motifs, he gets details wrong, he doesn't like abstract art. Let's crucify the bastard! Of course, the critic seems to hate representative art, he repeats himself, and he gets details wrong, too, so get that second cross ready. In particular, he
Ecce Homo
I was very pleased to see that Avedon Carol linked to my post on Ray Bradbury. One of her commenters was not:Bradbury's critic nails him. He repeats motifs, he gets details wrong, he doesn't like abstract art. Let's crucify the bastard! Of course, the critic seems to hate representative art, he repeats himself, and he gets details wrong, too, so get that second cross ready. In particular, he
They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Cyclotron
Actually, this time my fellow atheists are making me laugh. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s an improvement.Recently I thought I’d noticed an upsurge, on atheist / science sites, in protests that Science doesn’t offer certainty. No indeed, Science is humble and modest in its claims, and self-correcting too. When it makes a mistake, it admits it. Science doesn’t deal in proof, its
They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Cyclotron
Actually, this time my fellow atheists are making me laugh. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s an improvement.Recently I thought I’d noticed an upsurge, on atheist / science sites, in protests that Science doesn’t offer certainty. No indeed, Science is humble and modest in its claims, and self-correcting too. When it makes a mistake, it admits it. Science doesn’t deal in proof, its
A new floor!, well almost. . .
My husband was off for the holiday and had a three day weekend. We worked all three days and got about 1/2 way done. We are both feeling the aches and pains and looked forward to getting back to regular work today.If you are one of my studio students, the floor probably will not be done for class on Friday, but the class goes on! We will probably have more room because all the furniture is
Something Toothless This Way Comes
I was something of a Ray Bradbury fan in my early teens, back in the mid-1960s or so. The Martian Chronicles, of course, then R Is For Rocket, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, S Is For Space, The October Country … That was, I think, a good age to discover Bradbury. At some point, though, I realized that Bradbury didn’t have that many stories to tell, though that didn’t keep him
Something Toothless This Way Comes
I was something of a Ray Bradbury fan in my early teens, back in the mid-1960s or so. The Martian Chronicles, of course, then R Is For Rocket, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, S Is For Space, The October Country … That was, I think, a good age to discover Bradbury. At some point, though, I realized that Bradbury didn’t have that many stories to tell, though that didn’t keep him
The Devil Told You That!
My fellow atheists are such an embarrassment to me. Well, some of them.I’m not a “relativist”: I very strongly think that Greta Christina is full of shit. I don’t think that one truth is as good as another: I think that her truths are definitely inferior. (On religion, that is: she’s good on some things, like sex education.) What I think is that she’s come up against an argument – maybe that
The Devil Told You That!
My fellow atheists are such an embarrassment to me. Well, some of them.I’m not a “relativist”: I very strongly think that Greta Christina is full of shit. I don’t think that one truth is as good as another: I think that her truths are definitely inferior. (On religion, that is: she’s good on some things, like sex education.) What I think is that she’s come up against an argument – maybe that
The Sissy's Progress
Another book review for Gay Community News, published sometime in 1985.The Journals of Denton Welchedited by Michael De-la-NoyDutton, New York380 pp., $22.50 hardcover Maiden Voyageby Denton Welch(first published in 1943)Dutton, New York284 pp., $8.95 paper In Youth Is Pleasureby Denton Welch(first published in 1945)Dutton/Obelisk, 1985154 pp., $7.95 paper A Voice
The Sissy's Progress
Another book review for Gay Community News, published sometime in 1985.The Journals of Denton Welchedited by Michael De-la-NoyDutton, New York380 pp., $22.50 hardcover Maiden Voyageby Denton Welch(first published in 1943)Dutton, New York284 pp., $8.95 paper In Youth Is Pleasureby Denton Welch(first published in 1945)Dutton/Obelisk, 1985154 pp., $7.95 paper A Voice
Where The Wild Things Are
I know, I’m just one of those bleeding hearts. But when I happened on a copy of Tuesday’s New York Times science section and read John Tierney’s piece on the effects of living in fear after 9/11, I was monumentally underwhelmed. It seems that some researchers monitored a couple thousand Americans to see how their fear of terrorism affected their health. Not too surprisingly, “the most fearful
Where The Wild Things Are
I know, I’m just one of those bleeding hearts. But when I happened on a copy of Tuesday’s New York Times science section and read John Tierney’s piece on the effects of living in fear after 9/11, I was monumentally underwhelmed. It seems that some researchers monitored a couple thousand Americans to see how their fear of terrorism affected their health. Not too surprisingly, “the most fearful
New Website Name! cindigayrughooking.com
Thank you to everyone who emailed their opinions on the website name. A special thanks to Sunnie Andress of sunnieandressdesigns.com. The majority of you thought my name was an important part of the website name. Sunnie suggested www.cindigayrughooking.com. Perfect!I purchased that name AND www.cindygayrughooking.com. I am now back to a name that reflects who I am, what the site is about and
Chronicles Of The Backlash, Episode The Second
As often happens, I didn’t know what title I’d use for yesterday’s post until the last moment, when it was ready to post and I had to decide what to put in the title box. And then, suddenly, it was obvious.I’ve never been terribly concerned about an antigay backlash, though I seem to be fairly unusual in this. In the first place, as Michael Sherry and other scholars have documented, the “
Chronicles Of The Backlash, Episode The Second
As often happens, I didn’t know what title I’d use for yesterday’s post until the last moment, when it was ready to post and I had to decide what to put in the title box. And then, suddenly, it was obvious.I’ve never been terribly concerned about an antigay backlash, though I seem to be fairly unusual in this. In the first place, as Michael Sherry and other scholars have documented, the “
Chronicles Of The Backlash, Episode The First
Numerous writers have scolded the New Atheists for (supposedly) thinking that religion will just disappear overnight if it’s confronted with Reason. I don’t know if Dawkins, Harris, and the rest actually believe this, but it is a handy accusation to throw around: having exposed one’s targets as hopeless naïfs, one can return to the status quo with a sigh of relief. Things aren’t so bad after
Chronicles Of The Backlash, Episode The First
Numerous writers have scolded the New Atheists for (supposedly) thinking that religion will just disappear overnight if it’s confronted with Reason. I don’t know if Dawkins, Harris, and the rest actually believe this, but it is a handy accusation to throw around: having exposed one’s targets as hopeless naïfs, one can return to the status quo with a sigh of relief. Things aren’t so bad after
The God I Don't Believe In Is A Good God, A Just God, A Merciful God
Consider two imaginary countries, A and B. The gods of A require a human sacrifice, chosen by lot, once each year. B’s gods abominate human sacrifice, and forbid it absolutely. A, however, is a relatively peaceful society, with little interest in territorial expansion; when A goes to war, its soldiers kill other soldiers and don’t harm civilians. B is aggressive, seeking to become a “great
The God I Don't Believe In Is A Good God, A Just God, A Merciful God
Consider two imaginary countries, A and B. The gods of A require a human sacrifice, chosen by lot, once each year. B’s gods abominate human sacrifice, and forbid it absolutely. A, however, is a relatively peaceful society, with little interest in territorial expansion; when A goes to war, its soldiers kill other soldiers and don’t harm civilians. B is aggressive, seeking to become a “great
The God That Dare Not Speak His Name
It's time for another of my book reviews for Gay Community News, published December 1, 1984. This one is still as relevant as it was twenty-three years ago. (In My Hubristic Opinion, of course.) Scroggs's book is still in print, and is still cited in writings on homosexuality and Christianity. There's still no good book on the subject, though the second edition of Daniel Helminiak's What the
The God That Dare Not Speak His Name
It's time for another of my book reviews for Gay Community News, published December 1, 1984. This one is still as relevant as it was twenty-three years ago. (In My Hubristic Opinion, of course.) Scroggs's book is still in print, and is still cited in writings on homosexuality and Christianity. There's still no good book on the subject, though the second edition of Daniel Helminiak's What the
I need to rename my website, please vote.
In November I had a billing mix up with my web host. As a result, I lost the rights to www.cindygay.com (Cindi with a y). My website is still OK because I use www.cindigay.com (with two i's). Before I realized what happened, a porno site picked up my name. Just a day or so later, I saw an article on the Internet about how this is happening quite often. I haven't had the courage to visit the
Things Have Come To A Pretty Pass When Feminism Is Allowed To Invade The Sphere Of Private Life
I haven’t been able to get validated to post comments at TPM Cafe, where there was a discussion going on about Learning to Drive, Katha Pollitt’s new book of autobiographical essays. But that’s okay -- I have my own little soapbox here. I’ve been reading Pollitt’s essays in The Nation for decades now, and I own all three collections, plus a copy of her book of poems, Antarctic Traveller, that
Things Have Come To A Pretty Pass When Feminism Is Allowed To Invade The Sphere Of Private Life
I haven’t been able to get validated to post comments at TPM Cafe, where there was a discussion going on about Learning to Drive, Katha Pollitt’s new book of autobiographical essays. But that’s okay -- I have my own little soapbox here. I’ve been reading Pollitt’s essays in The Nation for decades now, and I own all three collections, plus a copy of her book of poems, Antarctic Traveller, that
Onward Atheist Soldiers, Marching As To War
Defenders of religion have sometimes told me that as an atheist I should be careful, because I might throw out the good parts of religion as well as the bad. They have it exactly backward. As an atheist, I can choose what to keep and what to discard from religion – which is just what I do. It’s the believers who are stuck with the whole distasteful mess, though that doesn’t stop them from
Onward Atheist Soldiers, Marching As To War
Defenders of religion have sometimes told me that as an atheist I should be careful, because I might throw out the good parts of religion as well as the bad. They have it exactly backward. As an atheist, I can choose what to keep and what to discard from religion – which is just what I do. It’s the believers who are stuck with the whole distasteful mess, though that doesn’t stop them from
Day 99. I am settled into the circle border with one exception. Do I want to hook multi-colored spots in between the circles, or do I want to keep that feature consistent? I have already ruled out hooking all the background black. I like the way the extra spots almost camouflage the circles. Hooking an all black background made the circles stand out too much.As you can see I started on the
And That's Why I Fell For The Leader Of The Pack!
Howard Fineman at Newsweek wrote a rather lengthy piece comparing U.S. Presidential campaigns to high school. IOZ directed our attention to it, and to Digby's annoyed dismissal thereof, and her pointer to Lance Mannion settling Fineman's hash -- which he does with maniacal literal-mindedness. (Like Fineman's chronology is so gay, and since when did anybody's high school totally bomb Iraq, okay?
And That's Why I Fell For The Leader Of The Pack!
Howard Fineman at Newsweek wrote a rather lengthy piece comparing U.S. Presidential campaigns to high school. IOZ directed our attention to it, and to Digby's annoyed dismissal thereof, and her pointer to Lance Mannion settling Fineman's hash -- which he does with maniacal literal-mindedness. (Like Fineman's chronology is so gay, and since when did anybody's high school totally bomb Iraq, okay?
Coming Out Of The Mobius Strip
I’ve written here before of the strange attitude many scholars have toward words and concepts, “as though concepts were unproblematically tied to words, and their ramifications were mystically packed into concept and word, so that they need only be unpacked by the intrepid theorist.” It’s so common, in fact, that it might be worth looking at another case. Historian Michael S. Sherry’s Gay
Coming Out Of The Mobius Strip
I’ve written here before of the strange attitude many scholars have toward words and concepts, “as though concepts were unproblematically tied to words, and their ramifications were mystically packed into concept and word, so that they need only be unpacked by the intrepid theorist.” It’s so common, in fact, that it might be worth looking at another case. Historian Michael S. Sherry’s Gay
How easily we forget!
My focus for the last two years has been to "get crooked." I thought I had made a breakthrough with Karen Kahle at Sauder Village in 2006. I was working on her Antique Rose Runner during the lunch break. All the other students were off eating and I was so excited about what and how I was hooking that I decided to work through lunch.A woman came into the classroom to see what we were
Border progress-Cat's paw
I have always loved the Cat's Paw rugs. I wanted to include this design in one of the minor borders, but I was afraid that it would look too modern. I decided to hook up a section. It looks great. Do you agree? I decided to make the background the darkest background value that I am using to outline the motifs in the center of the rug.This test proves that what looks bad (or good) on paper
Day 94 Finally got to hook!
I finally got to hook New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. My husband, David, and I rented videos and stayed indoors. --It's cold out there! Especially after my days in the Florida keys.
Homo Sum: Humani Nil A Me Alienum Puto
(The title quotation is from the Latin poet Terence: "I am human: nothing human is strange to me.")I once upset another man in a gay chat room by saying that I wasn’t going to see some highly touted new film because I was tired of seeing heterosexual movies. He accused me of being narrow-minded, of cutting myself off from most of the human race, etc. If I had that discussion to do over again, I
Homo Sum: Humani Nil A Me Alienum Puto
(The title quotation is from the Latin poet Terence: "I am human: nothing human is strange to me.")I once upset another man in a gay chat room by saying that I wasn’t going to see some highly touted new film because I was tired of seeing heterosexual movies. He accused me of being narrow-minded, of cutting myself off from most of the human race, etc. If I had that discussion to do over again, I
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