Your Guaranteed Invitation to the Lint Ball

All my ideas are balled up in my sweaty palm dangled before the cart. I keep on moving, pretending they'll be used in a future art project or story, until found wasting away in the corner like dust bunnies with carrot breath, consumed but ultimately useless.
Attempting to concieve a child through science with my partner, both working 40 hrs+ a week, bombarded by holidays. Pardon the construction as I turn up the heat, the lint tray should pluck out some good sh*t that's been pillaging my brain.

12.31.2007




Oh boy. Okay. Jodie's wife should never wear a dress. Please. She's not a bad looking gal, but some folks were just never meant to wear a dress. Please. Why do celebs insist on appearing a certian way? Why??? Jodie's not exactly a dress gal either. Drag queens look more comfortable.


image curtesy of www.ourchart.com

Iowa Caucus Smaucus




I found this GENIUS statement, and I must agree. When did we start electing tools? Was Washington a Tool? And Lincoln, besides that pesky living with a man for three years and sharing his bed, was he a tool?


image courtesy of hydrangeasarepretty.blogspot.com/

12.30.2007

L Word Season 4 Does Not Suck!



They were all wrong. This is a public service announcement. Season 4 so far has been one of the best seasons. I am very disappointed in afterellen.com for their terrible reviews. I read scribegrrrl's reviews every week last season to keep up with what was going on until I could buy the season since we don't have cable. She shredded this season with off-base sarcastic comments, to the point that we almost didn't get this season.
I am glad we did.
The new additions to the cast were fantastic, I actually like Papi's character, although she was only created to be a foil for Shane, the 'I'm too cool to admit being a pimp' pimp. Ugh. I must be the only one who thinks Shane is overrated. I loath the whole greasy hair in the eyes crackhead fashion that is so popular. And side note- What's up with the gals pretending they are all under thirty? When they show up for that Cowboy Night at the Planet bullshit, they're looking a little tired and old.
My only complaints?
I wish they had brought Paige on to be with somebody else instead of Shane. She's way way hot, and a better actress than some of the permanent cast. Couldn't they set her up with an actual hot person, like Skylar Cooper (See Above Image), Ian Harvey, hell it would have been fabulous to see Paige with Helena or Tasha.
Poor Kit falls in the failing to act my age category. And of course I continue to loath Tina.
Why must they dress like fashion victims?
Why must ugly men like Bogus Angus appear?
Why must Jodi be a whiny artist?

If for no other reason than to see Last Picture Show Cybil Shepard go lesbo this season is worth the price, believe you me.
Pictures will be forthcoming.

12.26.2007

Favorite Presents From Girlhood


I got my Molly doll when I was nine years old. Molly used to be a sturdy girl who was toughing it out during the depression. Of course, this was back when the Pleasant company was going it alone, and the toys were not dumbed down.
For those who don't know, Pleasant Company was founded in 1986 by Pleasant T. Rowland who used to be an educator and was making dolls for girls with brains.
Unfortunately from the latest catalog the company no longer operates in this manner, since it's affiliation with Mattel or some such crap. Now they have doll 'spas', and hairstyling kits and horrible cheesy movies with lame best friend plotlines, where the girls are no longer resourceful but instead an opportunity for bad set designers to work on their historical portfolios.
I remember when I opened Molly's school set, with her little pencils, and school bag. Now they've got this silly Emily business, I don't know why they have to make every girl get a best friend. It's gay. I mean that literally.


Image courtesy of drtoy.com

D&G (I don't need to gay up) in 2007


More great ads of 2007

12.25.2007

Sucky Coach Fears


Okay, I am not so huge of a fan since I caught this news so late, but this past weekend I learned my alma mater has hired a new coach for the football squad. Apparently some alumni were so eager to be rid of Carr they forced him into retirement, and now we are stuck with some yokel looking douche. aRgH!


image curtesy of mgoblue.com

Merry Christmas in that Melancholy Way...

Have a happy holiday, from my desk at work to whomever is reading this. I always get a little melancholy on Christmas because everything has been shiny and nice for a month and now it will go back to being ugly and dull. The saving grace for me this year is that I am due to ovulate on the first of the year, and here we go again! The merry-go-round of emotions, the whirling so much to do and then long wait to see if aunt flo returns.
This medication is making wheepy. Anyway, enjoy all your gluten containing food, and kiss your kiddies. Alright, alright, enough with the self-pity, to all a good night!

12.24.2007

dying a slow death from the cuteness...



sigh... sigh... sigh. People shouldn't be this good looking. This child is perfection. For real, yo.

"Just the Ten of Us" or Why Barbie Made Me Gay part II


Did anybody else watch this show, Just the Ten of Us? It was a spin off from Growing Pains. It was never that good, especially when at the end of the second season the girls formed the 'Lubbock Babes' singing group and the show fell into a sleaze trap.
This program may have affected and/or added fuel to the flame of my queer barbies.(See the Barbie Made Me Gay Post) A family with SIX daughters? Come on. The show focused on the four older girls and their dad, this conservative catholic fat gym teacher who'd freak out if a guy even looked at one of them. He must have been happy when they all turned out gay! We had a TV in the basement, and I vaguely recall having this program on while we played with our barbies...
The show had everything I loved at that age- Blonde girls, California, ambigous repressed sexuality. Very SVH when you think about it! Simplistic airheads, nerds, and sluts. Oh, the memories of youth.


image curtesy of sitcomsonline.com

Canada Continues to Rock in 2007



Why did my year pass without seeing this on TV? Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm an american. :-( We don't do diversity.

Christmas Gifts Gone By...




Damn, these meds are powerful. They've got me sentimentalizing toys I used to love. Namely, the Little People. Do y'all recall Little People? Damn I loved those things. They still have them, but they are goofy looking now to protect from the choking hazard.
I never choked!


Images curtesy of wishbookweb.com

Selling Out (Favorite Commercials of 2007)


Ok. I am a cheese ball. It might be the Clomid racing through my system, but this commercial makes me cry every time. All I want for Christmas 2008 is one of these.

Another Best Of Video for 2007



I OWN the orginal Rosie Barbie.

Little House: A Christmas I Wish They'd Forgotten


About a week ago, I made my partner cozy up in our Little House bed for our annual Christmas Torture. Ever since I was a child, I have watched Little House on the Prairie: A Christmas They Never Forgot. You may ask why I would want to put us through such agony during the holidays, but I was raised Catholic, and misery IS fun. Crap, I hope I don't get any flack for that. But it's true! My sister and I spent years mocking this program, I don't want to quit now! I miss watching the gang get together YET again, all looking miserable only showing up for the money, except Charles and Laura who gain pleasure purely from the opportunity to warm in the spotlight.
Here's the deal why this episode is so particularly heinous. All the characters you can barely tolerate get to recap their favorite holiday moments resulting in a ton of cheesy recreations that suck A*S!!! They are ABSURD, entirely inaccurate from the original program, totally off character, inanely stupid. A horrible attempt to keep the show going but still I eat it up.
I can't even vote for the worst flashback because they are all sooo bad. Caroline's dad dies and while the bed's still warm her mom's got his best friend in it, we are supposed to get sentimental over a watch fob the new 'daddy' gives Caroline for xmas he'd gotten from her real dad many years ago.
Don't forget the completely inaccurate slavery recreation or the fact that Mary wanted off so bad she clocked in at a whopping eight minutes of screentime. Poor Carrie looks like a regular kid they pulled off the street who has never acted in her life.
All in all, this is one of the best holiday specials to check out because it captures the unrealistic expectations, as well as the disappointment the season always provides.

12.23.2007

Good News on the SVH Front

I was able to order myself a copy of SVH volume one, for ONE PENNY plus shipping, so yippee! As soon as it arrives, you can bet I'll have one hell of a detailed review to post. I might not go in order after the first book, but I really wanted to get that good initial review out there to start us off. Yippee!!!

Pee-Wee's Holiday: The Hot Ticket



This was my great find. I got it for $3.99 at a Dollar General in rural South Carolina about three years ago. It made my collection. If you have not seen it yet, your holiday season isn't complete until you do.

There is no work involved in making this thing gay. Just watch Little Richard try to ice skate, see the actual Dinah Shore sing, KD Lang run around like Tobey Maguire in drag as Whoopi Goldberg yaks into a can of corn. Pee-Wee chats it up into a FRUIT COCKTAIL can.

For pete's sake, it opens with Pee-Wee surrounded by the Marines or something. I don't think they are the real thing... are they??? This program is a great example of how back before the 90s things could be so freaking GAY, and wonderfully so, and the gays don't get any of the credit. Everybody was happy to give them the credit when Pee-Man got busted, though.

My So-Called Little House Life

We truly live the Little House on the Prairie lifestyle. Our rented home is smaller than the Ingalls, so we have to sleep in a futon that was once very expensive. Promised to not be like all the other futons, it behaves just the same and breaks our backs. The other night I was having popcorn in bed like Pa used to do, made from scratch the old fashioned way on the one eye that works on our old fashioned stove. I have to cook all my meals and cannot go to restaurants because I have celiac disease and the risk is too great. I feel like I am cooking morning, noon and night and we don't even have kids yet. Prep room in our kitchen is ridiculous. To have a simple snack like popcorn is a major production.

The wind whips rattling the windows, lights flicker for no reason. All our plumbing leaks, the tub feels like it's gonna go through the floor. Our kitchen table has betrayed us as well. At each sitting it wears like a pile of kindling. No matter how hard we fight them, mice sneak in when you least expect it, no matter how clean and organized we are. Old houses can suck major.

So I'm lying there next to my partner in the barren light from our small lamp because the outlets can't handle anything stronger, and I realized I'm living the dream, the simple 'I wish it were like the olden days' ideal so many folks run on. My lovely books are getting the beatdown of a lifetime because they stay in lousy crates (no space ) and my partner's clothing obsession has had to be halted because in Walnut Grove there's no room for more than one set of clothes.

I know the peeps up in NYC complain about cramped quarters, but down here it's tight too. I don't know how Charles and Caroline did it. I know it's selling out well aware the charm will be gone, but our next place has got to be new, with no mice, central heat and air, and maybe if we are good the rental gods will bless us with a stove that works.

12.18.2007

I Miss Christmas in Connecticut



This movie has been one of my all time favorites and I am going through withdrawals. When we moved it was lost in the shuffle. I am lost without Barbara Stanwick's witty sarcasm! My holiday season movie season is tainted!
Catastroph! Catastroph! Catastroph!



image courtesy of amazon.com

12.17.2007

FreeRice.com Use Your Wasted Game Brain For Good

Play freerice.com, and every word you get correct 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations. Now you can play a game at work when you are bored and actually do something good with your time. You could even say you are volunteering, which makes it sound more impressive than wasting time.
Increasing your volcabulary at the same time, I learned on NPR that the creator was helping his son prep for the SAT, and he already had a site to fight hunger. So there you go, some people use their time to actually help the world.

12.16.2007

NEVER too much Beyonce!!!



I am posting my favorite videos of 2007. Check this, he is ADORABLE!!!

Non-Food Items: My Barbie McDonald's


Santa never failed to bring us unusual gifts. More like a hotdog stand, my Barbie McDonald's came with a brown and yellow booth, a swinging 'thank-you' garbage receptacle, brown trays, plastic versions of the Styrofoam sandwich containers, and get this- little hamburgers. They were three pieces- bottom bun, meat, and top bun. It was fun to stack them inside the containers, slapping it all on a tray next to the little box of fries.
McDonalds disgusts me now. The food is what my partner and I refer to as non-food items. You are told that the Big Mac is a hamburger, but the ingredients are so far from organic, so distant from their original sources because of preservatives, additives, artificial flavors and colors, hormones etc that there isn't a shred of nutritional value.
My Barbie Mickey D's was the hottest ticket. I was five when I got it, so my sister was just a toddler forbidden to touch the small little buns. My Barbies had McDonalds morning, noon and night. It was the only restaurant in town. They took dates there (see Barbie Made Me Gay) and their obvious anorexia posed no health risks. I haven't had McDonalds in over three years, but somewhere in my mother's basement is a box full of antique happy meal toys.

Lesbians in Riverdale! OMG!!!


I spent several dollars a month as a youth purchasing a comic book about two repressed lesbians fighting over a ginger kid who was a total tool. Like, fresh from the shed kind of tool. They are typical high school kids screwing around aimless. One of the two girls is spoiled and rich, but beautiful with black hair and a fashionable wardrobe. The other gal is down-to-earth, a wholesome middle American with blonde hair who dresses like the mom next door.
You guessed it, I loved me some Archies. Mostly I collected the Betty & Veronica series, which centered around the trials and tribulations of the repressed lovebirds. They never really fought with each other, and any debacles incurred over Archie were for comedic relief from the Betty and Veronica's sexual tension.
Again with the dolls, when I was eleven I ordered a set of Archie Dolls from the back of a comic. I had to trudge out in a blizzard to get the money order, and when they arrived, they were a lovely rubber (not plastic! No fabric!) A solid rubber set of dolls made of the same stuff as stretch armstrong.
With power of the Archies, the Asexual Jughead was left in the box, Reggie and Archie developed an oddly close relationship sitting in front of the television set, but Betty and Veronica? They never bickered anymore, unless it was Betty fake protesting the obnoxiously large gifts Veronica bestowed upon her.

Lego Christmas

12.15.2007

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt ranks as Most Influential Infant



By reviewing web presence and press clippings Forbes decided the most influential babies five and under. Three out of the four Jolie-Pittsters are in the top five:

1) Shiloh
2) Suri
3) Zahara
4) Sean Preston
5) Pax

I already knew Shiloh is the most beautiful baby in the world, but my god she's also got consumer appeal. Damn. If only Pitt gave donations to deserving queer couples. By the way, no joke, at my partner's father's house hangs a picture just like the above image. What am I saying? Yes, my partner looked like Shiloh as an infant. No jokes, no tricksies. For real yo.

Pine Valley Scandal



Bianca & Babe 4eva!!! I miss Bianca. The Show's gone to sh*t.

12.14.2007

Pine Valley: Way Gay Before Bianca


Pine Valley was a homosexual town long before binks came out. For pete's sake, it had a GAY BAR. I watched this show from birth, as the womenfolk in my clan are ABC soap people. Old school soapers don't stray from their network. From Erica's gay assistants, to the utterly queer decor of the flimsy sets, All My Children is perhaps the gayest soap on television.
Bianca only made it more gay. My aunt bless her heart is perhaps the largest All My Children fan. When I was in the fourth grade, she turned me on to Susan Lucci haircare products (she's also a big QVC freak). I used the Lucci line in their black & red bottles until they ran out.
When they started the Big Gay Bianca plot line, to quote ABC's site, "Bianca felt smothered by Erica's mothering and it was clear something was weighing heavily on her mind." What the hell does that mean? She turned gay because her mother was smothering her since she was coming to terms with being gay?
Huh?
Bianca started hanging out with Rain, this homeless girl, and again I quote ABC, "they seemed to share an easy rapport, much more so than the snooty girls Bianca encountered at Pine Valley High. Leo escorted Bianca to the Halloween dance and Bianca was crushed when she heard her classmates call her weird. A teary Bianca then ran into Rain, who said she knew a place where Bianca would feel more comfortable."
I remember I was in my dorm room in undergrad (Go Blue!) working on an art project with All My Children in the background when I saw Bianca and Rain go to a GAY BAR in PINE VALLEY, but they are followed by Leo and Greenlee (you remember Leo?? The guy who could act and was funny (as far as soap acting goes?))
Using fake ID's Bianca pretended uncomfortability but she was loving it. I was all over the telephone calling everybody I knew. Hello! Gay bar on national TV! Granted, 'The Blue Angel' was a gay bar circa 1989, but what the hell, that's what made it hilarious. It was dark and dank, with slinky patrons drinking beer from the bottle, Melissa and KD blaring. I've been in many gay bars but none like Pine Valley's queer dive.
You never really saw it again because Bianca was one of those 'I'm too good for a working class small town lesbo bar in PA' sort of lesbians. The kind who wears forty dollar lipstick from her mother's cosmetic company. Leo and Greenlee spied on Bianca trailing her to the bar, and this is where ABC's site cracked my *ss up, "Greenlee was shocked to discover that Erica Kane's daughter was gay, but Leo was very tender and supportive of Bianca. Bianca feared Erica wouldn't love her if she learned she was gay and Leo promised to keep Bianca's secret." Gag.

Rick Steves Rocks


I just wanted to do a shoutout to my favorite PBS travel show host, Rick Steves. There's nothing particularly gay about the show, but I can still make it gay, because it's not anti-gay. In none of the episodes does Steves shy away from addressing gay tourists or destinations, and he is very neutral about presenting controversial places and histories. For example, in his holiday special, he doesn't shy away from telling the truth about most of our holiday traditions being lifted from the pagans.
On his blog, he has gotten alot of sh*t from folks for this, so I have to give him a positive review. In fact, my partner loves the show so much, I bought a few episodes as gifts. (This gift has already been given, so this post isn't ruining any surprises.
My only wish is that he would do more shows on Northern Europe. That's where we want to go next (Norway... Someday.)

image courtesy of ricksteves.com

12.10.2007

#1 Double Love Out of Print



Well, here's the debacle. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to find a new copy to start my reviews, since my mother kindly sold all my childhood books at a garage sale for twenty-five cents apiece. All those hours of babysitting for nothing! Not a store in town carries the Sweet Valley books since they are out of print, and I am wary of Amazon, since two good friends had their credit information stolen from using independent sellers.

I am going on the hunt through my local used bookstores, so I will keep you posted. If any of my kindly readers would like to give me a copy, please contact me and I'd appreciate it! Meanwhile, life has gotten very interesting in the past few days. If you will recall, we were supposed to wait until next month for our appointment with the specialist, but there was a cancellation for today (thank god someone got knocked up!) so we go in today! Yippee!!!

image courtesy of amazon.com

Little House: The Pilot, aka Best Episode in Series


I am going to rewatch every episode of Little House on the Prarie, this time recording the antics for all at the Lint Ball to enjoy. This will be the most difficult post in the series since the pilot is actually very good. Away from the permanent set of Little House, the actors appear young and happy. The whole show lies ahead and the permanent cast is left to shine since there aren't side bit characters yet except Mr. Edwards, and I've always thought of him as family.

It's the show I fell in love with. To quote Laura, "It's a fine thing to go where there has never been a road before." Well, kid, you are right. You can never go home again, there's no going back, though I bet I'm not the only one who wishes the show were as good as it's first episode, when the dramatics made sense with the plot.

Oh, sh*t, the TEETH! Poor Laura's teeth are facing forward at attention. The sound is fantastic at first, left silent aside from the clatter of the wagon and the unending wind. Charles looks like he rode across a state park horse trail, but the womenfolk appear as if they just stepped from the trailer with the star on the door.

So confident Charles ushers them across the river. I'm blurring my eyes again. (refer to prior Little House post). Laura is annoyingly fixated on the dog Jack, and Mary bumps her head against the spinning wheel when they cross the river. They could have a spinning wheel, but not a cup for everyone?

Charles hair gets ruined, but when he goes to look for the dog he returns thank god perfectly coiffed. Caroline threatens Laura to wear her bonnet or her skin will get leathery (like the biker gal you messed around with last night, lady??). Caroline is very shrill in the first episode.

When Charles hugs the returning Jack, you are struck at how in emotional moments he is a decent actor. I've never seen a man who can cry so well. The drama continues, from Laura learning to spit to Indian Trouble. Caroline abhors Mr. Edwards because she doesn't like body hair (lesbian!) and says he isn't refined nor as womanly as Charles. "Caroline, you don't have to sleep with the man, but he's building us a house for free, so f*ck off!" I think that's what Charles said.

The indians are really italian actors wearing the orange foundation a woman I once worked with wore, with matching chin lines. Poor Mr. Edwards treks drunk through the snow to bring these kids a treat and Caroline is still a bitch!

Damn, Charles is sc good with kid actors. Poor Carrie. Even as a tiny thing, she can't even cry out "Santa!" very well. Every time I turn to type another disaster happens. This is the slow evolution toward over acting and too many debacles that will make Little House famous. A fire! The idiot man beats his roof with a coat to put out the freaking fire! That's how crazy Charles is. Then god sends the rain, and they all gather in front with a rainbow. Now you'd think this was the end of the episode, but no. They are just getting started. A decent imitation of an 'indian' drum beat, then the indians return. Now again, Charlie's plowing, and you are tricked into thinking all's well. But no! Here come the calvery, to tell the family who never had a chance they have to go back to civilization after all. Their shot at being pioneer heroes has ended, they will now turn into stereotypes and chuckle producers with the Olsens.

image courtesy of amazon.com

Barbie Made Me Gay


Not how you think, grab your mind back from the gutter. It was the fact that her genitals were made from a plastic mold. Everything was ambiguous and nothing could be pinned down. Most of the kids I knew had a dozen barbies and maybe two Kens.

Kens, while rare, were not the focal commodity. They were extras, sidebar notes. My sister and I both had Barbie houses side by side. (I have told you before we were spoiled). They were the Sears Magnificent Fashion Mansion in shades of orange, pink and tan. The image above is from the 1985 Sears Book where you could purchase one of these beauties for a cool $49.95. Three rectangle rooms on top of three rectangle rooms. My dad worked with carpet, so he got us each our own 4'x3' scrap of carpet, in two different shades of blue-green. We set the homes up so that each of our 'properties' had a driveway. The homes backed up against the lovely grey cement wall of our basement. The models varied, but we later choose to recover the furniture when I had my sewing elective in junior high. Yes, I played with Barbies until I was in the ninth grade. My cool factor shoots even higher.

Various additions were made over time as my Barbie family became an orgiastic uncontrolled phenomenon. I used the 1987 Grandma Heart as the dad, and the 1987Grandma Heart as the mom. This was due to the wide age range of their children. I needed distinguished looking parental units. Depending upon loss or damage they had 7-10 children, all girls except for the Heart Family baby boy. The family grew so large I had to add a bedroom off the family room next to the driveway.

'The Girls' are what I called my 17, 16, 15, and 14 year old dolls. With a skipper and Stacey age daughter and the baby boy & girl twins, they were All American. They'd ride around in my Barbie Ferrari abstractly going on dates that never transpired with Kens left behind in the doll bin. My seventeen year old wore her off the shoulder striped shirt she'd gotten from my Jem doll, and she was always the driver. The Blonde Girls were cool staying out late kissing nameless Midges on the basement stairs also known as the mountain outside of town. They got alot of action. I just didn't know what to call this wonderful life with so many women.

I still get the same quivery feeling when I think back on how sexy I was with those silly plastic dolls. When my mother would open the basement door it was amazing how fast they fell off the cliff. I knew what I was doing was outside the box, I just didn't know the dolls I got were big ol' gays.


image courtesy of wishbookweb.com

12.09.2007

Ug-Oh Theory


This will be my most controversial post. This theory has caused me much trouble in my home. If you share my perspective, please join me. I feel that in every couple, yes even Brad and Angie, there is an Ug and an Oh.

The 'Ug' will make you go ugggh! They will be the less attractive physically, emotionally, or mentally. They may be dull, stupid, or bland. This is measured in degrees, I must remind you, but even the smallest percent can make a difference.

The 'Oh' is the one you are drawn to. Your reaction upon meeting the couple is oh! What a pleasant surprise! This person may be easier on the eye, more mentally stimulating, or just plain less boring.

While I must admit my theory is subjective, there are some Ug-Oh's that jump right out at you. You know who I am talking about. You're introduced to your friend's wife, and all you can say is Ugggh! My partner does not endorse nor does s/he support this theory in any way. But I felt compelled to publish it in hopes of others who feel the same.

I'm not biased either, for subjectively, I must admit my Partner in the looks department is definitely the Oh. Make that emotionally as well. I may have a stronghold in the wit department, but the verdict's still out.

Why I'm Ashamed to ask for L Word Season 4


I dusted off the old routine this year. We've been together for six years, and I'm a true child at Christmas, making lists dropping hints better than Ralphie's best attempts. Trying to seem natural I said, "Did you watch any After School Specials?"
"Huh?" My partner's response. They did have television on the farm, it's just that there is a fourteen year age difference, "The After School Specials. They ran from 1974 until like 1989. Totally crossing both our generations!"
"I've never heard of them," The response was not shocking, as my partner was cool as a young teen all blonde and cute, while I came home from school to watch after school specials in the kitchen with peanut butter on celery sticks alongside my mom. Well, as my mom made dinner and yelled at us kids.
"Come on," I pleaded, "They were the epitome of cheesy goodness, troubled youths!" I proceed to sell the old series, then casually drop the fact that the shows have been released on DVD in a special bus shaped container, all of them, for hir to catch up on.
S/he began to talk about cooking a turkey at our friend's house, so I don't know if my red rider bb- I mean After School Special DVD set will be arriving under the tree.
I always ask for these pop-culture things s/he's not interested in, really. Like the After School Special. But there is one thing I am very ashamed to ask for, and I shouldn't be, if you think about it. Well, it's kind of embarrassing.
I would like to get the fourth season of the LWord.
Now, to quote Hillary Frey on salon.com, "No longer a brave exploration of smart, successful, driven women who have sex with other women, "The L Word" is just another Sunday-night drama full of desperate women who happen to be lesbians instead of housewives."
My partner has begun to seriously dislike the show. I myself had almost given up. The lame way they treated the character of Max, the ridiculous death of Dana. We own the first three seasons, and had come to an ambiguous decision not to buy any more. But then I saw the previews for season five. Now, I know it doesn't air until January, and we don't have cable so we won't be seeing it unless I buy it in fall of '08, but it looked hot. It revitalized my women in prison fetish, and I like the idea of Daniela Sea's character hooking up with a guy. But season five and season four are not the same, and I've read the recaps. Season four is the season when Landon brought on Johnny Cash- Oh, I mean Ilene Chaiken tows out Cybill Shepherd. I'm nervous. But now, with wanting to see hot prison action- I mean poor sexy brit sadly going to jail, I HAVE to see season four. And I don't want my collection to be incomplete.
So I coyly asked for season four about a week ago. I thought, this won't be a problem, the partner needs some gift ideas (although s/he's a notorious lone ranger when it comes to gifts). I was surprised by how I received such an apprehensive reaction.
"no shit?"
"Yes!" Played previews for season 5. Twice.
"Well, maybe."
"Did you see what's going on with Brit?" S/he has a thing for Brit, it's cute. We call the one who was cool and rich, then poor and lame, Brit. The one who's mom turned out to be gay.
"Yea. We'll see."
ARGH! The Classic Partner LWord BLOCK!


image courtesy of amazon.com

12.08.2007

Babysitters Club, also known as One Thing I Can't Gay Up


Oops, I lied. Has anyone taken a look at Kristy lately? Um, that girl was totally in the works with such a huge crush on Stacey. Maybe this is a stretch, but as I dig into my memory, I can't recall why I enjoyed these books so darn much. I collected the entire series well over #100. More of the other kids read The Babysitters Club, too, for some reason it was not as 'trashy' as SVH. All the gals in the neighborhood wanted to babysit, there was a surplus of pubescent girls foaming at the mouth to test out their newly constructed Kid-Kits (remember those?) filled with lame reject toys left over from their now grown-up relations nobody would really want to touch.

I have three younger siblings. I don't recall a strong desire to babysit, I did enough at home. I think I wanted money. I wanted out of the house. Also, and here is where I gay it up again, I liked anything to do with all female groups. I have also been very balance oriented, so to counter balance the slut-SVH factor, I read an all-American book like Claudia and the New Girl, like having a salty flavored food before you have the sweet.

Say, there's another character with homo tendencies. I mean an artist, come on! I have my master's degree in painting, let me tell you it's a queer haven! Weren't Claudia and Stacey best friends? Because Stacey was a big city New York lesbian, that's why, and Claudia, the little suburban artist... ok, now I remember why I liked the ol' BSC books.

It couldn't be for their literary value. I have to say in hindsight, the authors of SVH were much better writers than their BSC counterparts. Maybe it was the sweety-sweet factor that held BSC back so much.

One question I have is, why were BSC books so much more popular with my peers? I can see why adults would have liked them more than SVH, but kids? God, was I the only one with illicit thoughts at that age?

I think that for kids, books with no literary value seem to do better in the same way a Twix will beat a banana.

What a fantastic site! SVH alert!!!


I just discovered this fabulous site that has inspired me to take my SVH obsession to new levels. The author of thedairyburger.com says her purpose, and I quote, is "To reread the entire series to relive my tween years, and also to get really angry at how SVH gave me a false and misguided view of high school life. And life in general. In fact, I blame all my insecurities, problems and worries on these books."

I think this is a fantastic idea. I am toying with rereading myself, not because I directly blame the books for anything, but rather, because I wish I could. They never set up false expectations, they set no expectations. Their lack of queer inclusion left a void that I had to fill with my own interpretation of what life could be like for me. The Sweet Valley High books made me fantasize about what relationships would be, completely thinking outside the box.

For me and my friends in school, these books were seen as fillers, trashy, not real novels, so I was embarrassed already to enjoy reading them. Then, to top it off, I was brutally embarrassed I was thinking about the characters in so-called perverted ways.

Hellfire, read my prior post, I still can't get these nitwits off my mind! One of my new goals is to reread each of the original SVH books and post on each one with my special way of Gaying Things Up! Ta-da! What do y'all think?

Keep a look out, this will happen as soon as I get my hands on the first issue of Double Love. Hmmmnnnn..... The title alone has possibilities!!!

LITTLE HOUSE LOVER



This was never a secret. From the time we first got our DVD player in 2003 (behind the times, I know, don't laugh) I started buying the Little House on the Prairie TV series on DVD.

We own every season now, and rewatch them only when my partner is forced inactive due to illness. I loved Little House. Mostly Pa, with his air of transgenderedness, (again- hairless chest, not girly, but with a coiffed 'do, close to gay but not enough. If I blurred my eyes, the perfect butch). I loved the lingering looks between Ma and Mrs. Olsen, or Ma and the new neighbor, or Ma and the lone female African-American cast member.

We had an above ground pool growing up in our split-level suburban enclave, and my mother hated the heat. She loathed to sweat in any form, and kept the house at a cool 68 degrees. We would go outside for an early swim, then come traipsing back in with wet towels in tow to sprawl out across the maroon carpet and watch TBS's 11am rerun of Little House.

As all good wasteful bratty suburban youths, we were more than adept at being cynical, masters of the art of making fun. My family loves to make fun. We could make fun of anybody, anywhere back then. My younger sis and I would spend a solid hour laughing our ass off at the Little House crew. Nothing was off limits, and my developing homo mind knew no boundaries.

Whether it was Laura's teeth, or the fact that Lindsay and Sidney while cute couldn't act for sh*t, watching Pa's face crestfallen as they singlehandedly screwed up emotional moments and refused to carry the torch. The giant Victorian dollhouse that sat in a field, starring as a wealthy woman's home Pa might be having an affair with, a blind school, and finally burning to the ground. Don't get me started on Pa's burly buddies who were always lurking by the 70s barn.

Almost every day we were in tears, rolling around, eating Ritz crackers from the box. To this day the combo of crumbs, wet towels, and fields of flowers mean one thing.

We were cruel, spotting wigs askew, fake snow, and unrealistic expectations a mile away. Our cynicism isn't something some may look fondly back on, my partner finds it disgusting since she grew up in farm country completely kind and sincere, but I still try to explain. Our mockery was out of love. It was the only sincerity to bond over. In a loud household, it was expected. We were simply exceeding expectations, as we always tried to do.

Popping in a new disc of Little House today, I will still tease and taunt, but the maliciousness has left replaced with an admiring longing to live in the Little House world. Not the real Little House World of back breaking labor, but the gentle town where little sheds on dirt piles are transformed into loving homes.

My partner (although this may be hotly denied) gets in on the act, showing me the proper way to be entertained by the program's hokey moments. We've even discovered how to laugh at the contemporary Little House, The L Word, where ridiculous things happen at the drop of a hat and characters disappear and reappear by the creator's will.

I wish I'd gone into TV Show Owning.

image courtesy of amazon.com

12.07.2007

Viking, the Misnomer that Keeps on Giving


mis·no·mer –noun 1. a misapplied or inappropriate name or designation. 2. an error in naming a person or thing.

Doing research online is lame. Nothing is certain and facts can be made to suit one's will at random. I could write about whole tribes of lesbian Vikings and somebody will quote me in a paper. It's gotten that absurd. It's like all the tools have been let loose out of the shed, running around out there on the Internet stealing each other's ideas. I mean, think about it. For a typical book to get published it has to go through so many editors, and it's still chalk full of errors. Now any idiot like me can try to build with an empty bag of nails, and kids today use the Internet as the blocks for their 'research'. Kids today, I act like I am eighty. My partner is senior to me in technical years, but I am the elder in reality.

So I'm knocking around with a vague Viking obsession, debating how far to take this thing. It all started because we went to see the movie Beowulf. Now, as you can tell from my posts, many of my thoughts have been sexy recently. I think it's because we are trying to get pregnant, and for me, attempting pregnancy in itself so far isn't sexy. I haven't felt too sexy. But our next appt isn't until January (we are being referred to a specialist- it's a long depressing story), so a window of sexiness has opened. Also, the holidays are kind of sexy too. It's all the tinsel and razzle dazzle. But I digress. Back to the Vikings.

The movie was good. Allot of other people didn't enjoy it, as much as I think it deserves to be liked, but we loved it. We never go to the movies that much, but we went to see it twice in 3D. The character of Beowulf had this transgendered look to me (don't ask- that's a post in itself, seriously, there are men I find attractive because they are just feminine enough, but not girly. The character of Beowulf was nice and blonde and hairless, tough, but troubled too, just enough to appeal to me. Men like Brad Pitt. I think my partner looks like Brad's transgender sibling. Again, a post in itself.) Angelina Jolie wasn't hard on the eyes either, but I was surprised by how little she had to do with the enjoyment of this film. She was our original interest in seeing it, as we are both big brad 'n angies.

The imagery! The folklore! The story! All really good. Well, it got me thinking about when I was little and played with the Viking Lego sets. You know how a little fact can sit in your brain, and even though weeks can go by, you can't let it go? That's what's happening for me regarding the truth over who 'discovered' America.

Of course, this all need to be prefaced by the fact that you can't discover a place where people already are living, but besides that, the hypocrisy over Columbus discovering America! The Vikings were here first!

The word Viking was never truly applied by the people themselves. It was applied later by others to describe them. The word Viking is Scandinavian for 'pirate'. From my amateur research it appears we know very little about these people, other than the fact that they were a fierce people, depicted as blondes and redheads. From what movies show us they were a very sexy group indeed. Geez, I am getting sexy on this blog again. I really don't mean to, I can't help it. You see, I am fascinated by the Vikings right now. One site describes the women as 'among the world's most beautiful, whether slim or zaftig, blond or dark-haired, with perfect rainy-weather complexions. They have been independent thinkers for centuries. Gunnora Hallakarva, who researched Viking attitudes toward women, explained that "if a husband complained of his wife's lesbian relationship, she could simply divorce him."Yet Icelandic women were legally barred from dressing like men and restricted from taking men's jobs. Still, Icelandic history is replete with legends about women, like the 17th-century orphan who not only dressed as a man and went to sea with men but ended up captaining her own herring boats, which conferred high status. She married several men for children, divorcing them after the children were born, and lived happily alone. She was called "kynvilla, or 'perverted,' " ' http://www.outtraveler.com/detail.asp?did=306

Like most histories, queer Viking history is a wasteland with little evidence to go on. But just enough for me to dig in and recreate my own to post on the Internet as truth.

12.06.2007

Sweeties in the Valley


The other night I had the weirdest dream.

Jessica from Sweet Valley High was flirting with this poorly dressed butchy gal in her gym class. She gets the girl all worked up, because the young bull is a repressed lesbian, but then Jessica leaves her by the track to sweat it out.

Some time later this sweet broad shouldered ponytail sporting gal comes in to put the volleyballs in the supply closet that also doubles as a place to cry, and what do you know? There's Jessica with her skirt up, romping on Ms. Butson the gym teacher, both of their faces looking up at the young victim of Jessica's notorious flirting witnessing hot outrageous sexual activity.

The teacher was all strapped up, you know what I mean. I don't want my blog to get removed with only one post. It gets kind of kinky from here. I don't normally have sexy dreams, but it got me thinking. I used to read the SVH books all the time from like third to ninth grade. They were the candy between worthwhile novels one could diddle to, ruminating on blond twins and wealthy brunettes. I am not the only homo to have this sort of memory. Right? It was just odd to come upon this on a Tuesday night deep asleep next to my partner after so many years.

My partner identifies as transgendered more than as a lesbian, I am attracted to butchies, so obviously my dream followed this pattern. I heard from a friend yesterday that some of the newer books have gay male characters in them, the Valley is getting 'hip' to the issues of the day. But I can't wait until they jump the shark and have Jessica Wakefield get real for once. Because I know someone else out there has thought the same darn thing. Women who have to act out so much are obviously hiding something! Besides, Elizabeth is too obvious a choice as resident lesbian. Her journalistic integrity would prevent her from hiding something like that.

Speaking of jumping the shark, what a fabulous first post! I can't wait to get off work and go to sleep for more material. Where you are starting from here, you can't go anywhere but up.






image courtesy of amazon.com

12.05.2007

Greetings, Salutations, Hellos, Welcome, Y'all!

This, as my first post, should be utterly significant. It should describe exactly what I want to do, where I am going with this, and what will come of it. Unfortunately, that would defeat the purpose. I collect ideas, holding them in my sweaty little palm, dangling notions before my cart to keep moving forward, for use ina future art project or story, until they are found wasting away in the corner like dust bunnies with carrot breath.
I work in a variation of the tourist industry, a job with benefits that I desperately need, but my degrees as well as my heart tell the truth, I am not a reservationist but instead an artist, a writer, in desperate need of an outlet.
Barreling forward with my partner to concieve a child through science, working 40 hrs+ a week, encircled by the holidays, and who would have guessed I'd decide to kill time at work by productively blogging? So pardon the construction but as I turn up the heat the lint tray should pluck out some really good sh*t pillaging my brain.