Lauren Morelli, on writing for OITNB, and then realizing she was gay:
Which is why it’s now a punch in the gut every time I have to say, “I’m getting divorced because I’m gay.” It’s a sentence I’ve said approximately 5,223 times in the last six months. For those of you keeping track, I’m definitely not exaggerating and I’m not prone to hyperbole, ever.
Often, after I make the declaration in as casual a voice as I can manage, the next question is, “Did you know?” It’s a question that I dread because I always hear the implied “How could you not know?”
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Run by self-proclaimed Occult Master Erik Vonroth, who, according to his email address, is based in Israel, the site claims to offer members “secrets to attracting a succubus/incubus.” When I entered my name and email address and clicked “SIGN UP NOW!” I was sure I’d be asked for money, at which point I’d obviously give up. But after confirming my email address, I was immediately sent the first lesson of the promised seven. The subject line reads “Katie, Your First Succubus Summoning Lesson.” I regret using my work email address.
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The Drake lyrics/Degrassi Tumblr you’ve been waiting for.
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ilu:
This was the kid who in preschool answered a teacher’s “Good morning, how are you today?” with “I’m fine, but my mother is menstruating, so her uterine lining is sloughing.” I just shrugged and explained to her that he’d seen blood on the toilet paper and wanted to know if I was OK.
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Please enjoy this video of a kangaroo petting a Rottweiler.
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[a small subset of] the the french on partying:
8. If you’re not dancing, you’re boring.
The kiss of death at any French party is to “not move your shoes!” says 20-something Stuart Bommes, in his bare chest and patent-leather Repettos. “If you’re standing still, it’s like, really depressing.”
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RH Reality Check is hiring for a number of positions, ladies.
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tell us how you really feel about the racist book, sir!:
Nicholas Wade has failed spectacularly. A Troublesome Inheritance is wrong in its facts, sloppy in its logic, and blatantly misrepresents evolutionary biology. If the white power movement views this book as a triumph it is a sad reflection on the state of their ideas. Instead of providing a Darwinian success story, Wade’s thesis deserves a quick extinction.
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Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
There are few things I love as much as a really scathing book review and THAT IS GLORIOUS. But when a thesis is known to be politically incendiary it is the responsibility of both scientists and journalists alike to ensure that the evidence is, in fact, valid before it is presented to the public. lolololololol
Scathing book reviews give me life. They are always so entertaining!
Yep. Scathing reviews of anything, really. Angry movie reviews are my favorites.
This is my favorite scathing book review:
http://www.themillions.com/2013/06/modern-life-is…
I generally feel the same way and thoroughly enjoyed this review for that reason. Then I read the piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates and thought “Why the hell did I waste my time reading even a take down of that bullshit.?” I could have used that time to re-read The Case for Reparations. wah wah.
I’ve just spent the past hour or so reading the latest piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/…
Ta-Nehisi Coates should be required reading in every American high school social studies class.
I’m so angry that I never learned anything from that article in school. And I went to supposedly good schools.
DON’T DISCUSS NOW, WE HAVE A WHOLE POST ABOUT IT AT TEN!
OK. I GUESS I CAN WAIT.
Though I don’t think I have anything smart to say after reading that.
Oh good I have time.
I’m sitting here trying to finish Americanah, don’t distract me!!
It’s a question that I dread because I always hear the implied “How could you not know?”
As someone who is really unsure about her own sexuality, the answer to this implied question is “REALLY EASILY”.
thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis
*flings self off a cliff*
Labels are just so easy that people who have never thought to question theirs don’t realize that sexuality isn’t a straightforward memo; it’s a complicated narrative written in a code for us to break. For some, it’s an easy and obvious cipher. For others, the code can be broken in multiple ways and still has garbage data that always leaves us unsure as to whether we’ve found the real key or not.
PREACH. I linked the piece on Facebook yesterday, and a friend (who has dated both men and women, if that matters) was like “I haven’t read this but I know it’s going to make me roll my eyes.” CAN WE JUST LISTEN TO EACH OTHER’S PERSONAL STORIES WITHOUT JUDGMENT FOR ONCE?
It’s like when people say “what would you say if someone asked you when you realized you were straight?” to which I would say, “I dunno, around 16 or 17, still having occasional doubts”
Yep. “Oh I’ve always known. Except then it turns out I was wrong, whoops!”
I hope someday to be as level-headed as the author of the article on talking to your kids about sex, but considering my full-body shudder at the repeated use of “my mate,” I think my maturity level might have a way to go.
Also, I am calling her bluff at being genuinely confused at what the kids were laughing about after she mentioned testicles. Breaking news: 8-year-olds are immature and giggly!
Hell, if someone starts talking about testicles I’ll probably start laughing and I’m way older than 8! Testicles, testicles, testicles.
Heeheehee
As far as externalized body parts go, they are in fact seriously weird. Like, there is no way to think about testicles for more than ten seconds without some part of your brain devolving into “SoWeirdSoWeirdSoWeird”
I have been know to say to my partner, out of the blue, “Don’t you find it weird that your testicles are on the outside of your body?”. He clearly doesn’t find it as fascinating as I do, though.
That’s a shame. My partner and I are largely in agreement on the weirdness of externalized genitalia. Like, they’re just.. there. Hanging out. On the outside.
Bein’ weird.
Right? That article is so good, and I support people’s right to label their relationships however is right for them, but “my mate” gives me the shudders.
I am close to that open about it (my kids aren’t as inquisitive though. That’s what books are for!) and even my “mate” and I know that balls are funny. Also it’s totally clear that the kid who asked was just asking to get the woman to say “testicles” in the classroom. 8yo boys recognize animal balls when they see them.
procrastinating on the job search by reading The Toast needs to new job leads! Full service blog! Everything I need!
Except they only want applicants in EST. 🙁 🙁 🙁
I cannot stop hate-reading the Parisian culture articles on the Cut!
Right? I just got back from Paris like a week ago and I loved the slower pace of the city and the greater appreciation for (certain well-worn types of) beauty but honestly…Americans slavishly trying to make themselves Parisian makes me queasy.
It’s completely ridiculous and damaging. They’re painting Parisians (and the French) with the same broad strokes that others do of Americans. Really all they’re doing is fetishizing an already stereotyped group of young, wealthy and probably elite people, or at least people who are desirous of that status. And I think that the only takeaway is that we are all inferior in America and should probably buy more stuff to try and compensate for our lack of sex, coolness and beauty.
ButIlovetoreaditallthesamegodhelpme.
Holy shit I just read that one and I want to punch all of them. Makes me glad to live in a European country where everyone gets wasted.
Come talk about deathbed books with me today: http://landoflostbooks.com/portfolio/melanies-las…
(The blog host said she’s plugging the dickens out of it & that made me laugh so much I have to do my part to help.)
Those Parisians were so banal, cherie, but! There was a link at the bottom to a Kristin Stewart style slideshow. It says under her famously bored picture: Kristen Stewart broadcasts a glorified indifference that’s become a cornerstone of her elusive public persona. http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/08/kristen-stewart-l…
I did not expect to get a little D’AWWWW at the end of an article on talking to kids about sex. That took a turn for the sweet!
Awesome stuff though. I like her no-BS approach. My mom was very similar – she’d sit me down the weeks we had sex ed at school and go over all the information with me. I hated it at the time, but plan to torment my children exactly the same way.
I loved that article about talking to your kids honestly about sex. Her son sounds like a brilliant and wonderful kid. My son is four and already starting to put some things together. When I was pregnant last year, the following dialogue occurred:
Kid: How will the baby come out of your belly button if it’s all closed up?
Me: He won’t come out of my belly button, he’ll come out from down there (motioning).
K:……but that’s your ‘gina.
M: Yep. That’s how it works.
K: Oh. (pause) But then he’s gonna get ‘gina all over him!
And then I died.
p.s. When I posted this to Facebook a gay male friend of mine commented “I KNOW RIGHT WHAT IS THAT ABOUT”.
Just please promise me that when it becomes age-appropriate, you will explain to your son that urine does not come out of the vagina. There are too many grown-ass men who actually think this.
…come to think of it, maybe explain to that friend of yours on Facebook too.
Any cis dudes who are grossed out about that misconception need to take a good look at their own anatomies…
Could I love that story more? No. Absolutely not.
CUTEST STORY, Y/Y?
Also, I love your gay friends’ (dammit, apostrophe wheredo you go??) reaction to it.
Ahem: http://wheelchairdrizzydrake.tumblr.com/
I came back here from the sex ed article to signal boost this:
“a friend once asked our son what it’s like to be raised by Auntie Mame and Kermit the Frog.”
If I ever do marry and have a child (as unlikely as it may be), this is my ideal family structure.
It’s pretty much mine & it’s the best ever. I got mine, girl, and he flails his arms like you can’t even imagine.
CUTE
Yes yes yes to always aspiring to be Auntie Mame.
(And oh wow, that article was awesome & why can’t all parents be this open & honest???)
I just found out about this adventure game that uses sound to eliminate the need for screen readers for blind & visually impaired players. Prototype is here: http://www.foralltoplay.com/prototype/#27.5.5
Toasties! Allow me to share a Link of my own. It turns out that spotted hyenas are the Misandrists of the Animal Kingdom and are, not surprisingly, super intelligent (like, chimp-level intelligent) and unfairly maligned. They are matriarchal predators that get LITERAL LADY BONERS.
http://observationdeck.io9.com/wednesday-hyena-cr…
You can’t fool me, that kangaroo and that dog were trying to hump each other.
Except they only want applicants in EST. 🙁 🙁 🙁
Sex with ghosts is MUCH MORE FUN than sleep paralysis, sheesh.
I also want someone who isn’t me to summon a succubus and see what happens.