Nuevo Wallstrip

New Wallstrip

Wow, good actors and editing really made this show wonderful. Nice work, guys (and girl)!

BCOO: The Fall, Camus

The confession of an existentialist. That's what this book is. A monologue that takes place in a bar and the surrounding areas.

His fall= The Fall = Garden of Eden fall.

I enjoyed it. I find Camus' outlook pretty bleak. Existentialism makes life pointless and leaves people who believe in it free and captive at the same time. Free to make noise and watch it's effect on the world, but unable to mean anything by it. Unable to care.

Anyway, on to freaky, Portland pastures. Next up, a close look at freaks and the people they love, Geek Love, by Katherine Dun. It's a book Chuck Palahniuk talks about all the time. Definitely has the same eyes wide open feel: the main character is a female albino dwarf with a hump.

Wallstrip: WW

Oops - slacking on the Wallstrip Posts

I've been forgetting to post my Wallstrips. Here are the latest two that I wrote. I'm also in the Tim Hortons show. Wasn't planned and I'm horrible and ugly, but I'm there.

BCOO: Slow Man, J.M. Coetzee

Ah, love me some Coetzee.

Slow Man is perfect for the writing student. Basically, the climax happens at the beginning, then someone has to come in to force things to keep moving. That someone is a Coetzee creation: a writer named Elizabeth Costello.

The writer places herself into the story, claiming the main character "came to her." She never really explains herself, but keeps forcing the character to do things. She always gives the guy a choice, but makes suggestions as to how to be more active in life.

This surface stuff is pure gravy. The real story is underneath. It's all about love. The main character wants love, wants to be loved, but he doesn't accept the idea of love. Classic tragedy.

Can you tell I loved it? Coetzee is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Yes, I know. I wrote "love" a lot. Deal with it.

Almost done with: The Fall, by Camus.

BCOO: Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden

I know more about geisha than I ever wanted to know.

I am really glad to be done with this book. I loved the language in the beginning, but that only took me so far. The central character had no actual character. None that I could find, anyway. It felt like she was simply a tool to teach me about geisha. And I don't want to know about geisha. Maybe I'm forcing my ideals on Japanese culture, but it seems like a completely degrading and socially repugnant practice.

Of course, it didn't help that the author is from Tenessee and male (that's him, on the left of this post). He didn't examine any of the implications of geisha-ism. Maybe that's why people like it.

I'm not saying a male author can't write women characters well - Wally Lamb manages to create a truly believable, extremely troubled woman in She's Come Undone - but this one completely missed the mark for me. He lets the main character think someone is disgusting, but he doesn't let her delve into the depths of her emotion. It just wasn't authentic for me.

As far as the Japanese thing, sure, he has an MA in Japanese History, speaks Mandarin Chinese, and lived in Japan for awhile. Now he lives in Boston, and has written a book tinged with American male sentiment. I didn't buy it.

Next: Slow Man, by J.M. Coetzee. I'm thrilled. I loved Disgrace.

My Wedding

Yes. We did it. And Wallstrip filmed it. Still Amanda Elend, just Mrs. now.

Wallstrip: GPRO

New Wallstrip: Malaysia ETF

I learned a lot (ETF, etc.), but we had to go for the LCD, i.e. "Where the fuck is Malaysia?"

BCOO Returns: Diary, a Novel, by Chuck Palahniuk

Just finished Diary, a novel, by Chuck Palahniuk.

I love him. He is unique and can make the most disgusting words beautiful (and vice versa). I didn't like this book as much as I liked Survivor, but I'm still on the Palahniuk love ride.

This book is hard to describe without giving too much away. It is written like...a diary...surprise! A poor woman meets a rich guy and pays a rather hefty price for her happiness.

The novel relies heavily on magical realism and has a distinct ring of fairy tale by the end. I think that's a Palahniuk "thing." The worlds in his novels are always at least hyperbolic, if not fantastical.

I'm sort of rambling here. I JUST finished it, so I haven't had much time to digest. Can't wait to read another of his. Go Portland! (he lives there)

Favorite quotes: "Because everything is important. Every detail. We just don't know why yet."
"What you don't understand, you can make mean anything."
"It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness."

I'm going to take a little time to catch up on my magazines. I have a Bitch, a Paste, and I think two Busts. Hmmm...a bitch, a paste, and a bust. Sounds like a bad sitcom.

Can I have an abortion please?

State legislators in Ohio want to give fathers a FINAL say before a woman gets an abortion. And they mean final.

Before having an abortion, a woman must have the written consent of the father. THE father. The man she slept with. If she doesn't know who the father is (maybe the man who raped her?), she must submit a list of "possible" fathers. The physician would have to conduct paternity tests and, after determining who the father is, get his signed consent.

WHAT THE FUCK??!!! I understand the desire to give men a say, but I'm not sure I agree with it. I know it affects men's lives, but not nearly as much as it affects women's. I have to admit, I feel like it's the woman's body, she gets to decide.

All that aside: a list? possible fathers? paternity tests? Imagine what that does to the woman.

And again, what if the woman was raped? What the fuck is she supposed to do then?

This CAN'T go anywhere. It's just another bunch of guys, led by Rep. John Adams, who think they have the right to decide what women can and can't do with their bodies. I don't know, though. With the current climate, anything is possible.

Hang on to your wood: New wallstrip

Celebrities are dying, politicians are in surgery, people have sex to burn calories, and I finally have time to post

Why are so many celebrities dying? Is it the heat? I thought Tammy Faye was immortal.

Dick Cheney was president for two hours and five minutes, while Bush was having a colonoscopy.

They were obviously playing tag: Cheney went in to get his defibrillator replaced. Desperate not to miss out, John Roberts had a seizure and ended up in the hospital. Everyone's fine.

Broadsheet just posted this, which profiles an article about the 237 reasons people have sex. Among the more ridiculous: to get rid of a headache, feel closer to god, change the topic of conversation, and my favorite, burn calories. There is still hope: the top reason was "I was attracted to the person."

Personally, I have sex to make babies. All you people reading this are morally dead to me if you don't feel the same way. Babies. I LOVE babies.

Back in the real world, my beloved Broadsheet also reported that Second Life is a refuge for the under-educated teen. Second Life may help your sex life, with a new island dedicated to sex ed. According to Broadsheet:

There's a screening room for movies about HIV/AIDS, an outdoor classroom where students can watch presentations from sex educators, a newsstand that updates itself every 10 minutes with the top two sexual health stories from Yahoo News, an interactive game/quiz area where students can test their knowledge, and a "sky box" where visitors can have one-on-one sessions with counselors. There's even a vending machine where visitors can buy virtual condoms. The goal, as the explanatory video puts it, is to help students learn how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies, and promote equitable sexual relationships.

Free, independent, intelligent sex ed? Right on, Second Life.

Just found out Jenna Elfman is a Scientologist. Shit!

For MUCH more important breaking news: the UN is sending 26,000 international forces to Darfur. FINAL-FUCKING-LY. Thank you Gordon Brown. Here's the story. As Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a spokesman from Save Darfur said, "This isn't the time to pop champagne." But it's SOMETHING. It's a start.

Back in the banalities of every day life, I finished Anna Karenina. I enjoyed the social/political commentary, and the characters were wonderfully contrasting and tied into Tolstoy's criticism of Russian society. The novel is full of characters who are struggling to be themselves - a constant struggle in everyone's life, I think - so it really hit home.

Also joined the rest of the world in finishing Harry Potter. Sad it's over. Because of my transition-full life, I couldn't get my hands on any of the earlier ones while I was reading, so I spent a lot of time trying to remember what happened in the last book. No matter, I still loved it. I do wish they had brought in the idea of the deathly hallows earlier, though. It was a lot to discover in one book.

I'm reading Diary, by Chuck Palahniuk now. I love him. His style is unlike anyone's I've read.

Love for Janitors: New Wallstrip

Wallstrip: CXW

This guy is hilarious.

Wallstrip: FLIR

The guy is Lindsay's boyfriend, Aaron. He was also the Jack in the Box employee in JIB.

New Wallstrip - dead babies and MIL

Dupont: New Wallstrip

Update on Gasparilla Girl

First she was raped, then she was jailed, then she was denied Plan B. Now? The police may be accusing her of making up the rape.

In an article ridiculously titled to add insult to injury, "Alleged Gasparilla rape victim speaks out," Bay News 9 reports that "Betsy" is speaking out. The police deny their denial of the rape, but Betsy says she's been accused of trying to make some guys feel bad.
They wouldn't walk her to her car.

Yikes.

Here's the article.