feminism and porn and prostitution.

Sometimes I read radical feminist writings where the authors decry pornography and prostitution in all forms and it saddens me and destabilizes me at the same time. It’s kind of like the effect of the true feminists can’t shave their legs argument, where I start to doubt to doubt my feminism for a couple hours, [...]

we might get snow tomorrow.

Here’s to remembering autumn, and summer, and warmer weather:

“this is easy” vs “whoa, that’s hard.”

I had private French lessons today. (If you’re wondering – I take private lessons to supplement French class at my school, because the foreign language department is lacking.) Mme, my teacher, is one of my all-time favorite teachers. She’s so energetic and exuberant and very passionate about French and linguistics. Mme pays a lot of [...]

nude figure drawings.

I went to to the university’s art dept today for some nude figure drawing.

A little more that 2 hrs spent on the 5 figures.
I will be back next week. This is good practice for me.

in French class today:

We were “practicing” want to and ought to. I’ll leave my useless busywork talk for another day. But each group had to present their own examples. One group, of all girls, said, “I want to get married, but I should ask permission from my parents first.”
Well, I wanted to say, dears, you don’t have to [...]

sketchbook.

From a couple weeks ago:

I took the photo of the leaf and the tree, also.
—

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939). The Wild Swans at Coole. 1919.
The Wild Swans at Coole
THE TREES are in their autumn beauty,

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water

Mirrors a still sky;

Upon the brimming water among [...]

Norman Mailer and other things.

New photo.
Self Portrait. 2007. Approx 2.5′x2.5′, oil on Masonite.
Norman Mailer died. I have The Executioner’s Song checked out from the library, and I have put it to the top of my list of books to read. I need a catalyst to do things, and death seems as good as a reason [...]

marriage.

Don’t worry, I’m not about to get married, yet. But a little thought on proposing, and who gets to do it.
My orchestra conductor recently got engaged. She has a humongous ring. When I say “humongous,” I mean, fucking gorgeous. Her fiancé really spent some time picking out a ring, and he did a [...]

finished on Sunday

Took me about 12 hours. The nose is a little funky, but otherwise, I like it.
You can’t really see the underpainting, the blues and the greens, but there will be another photo after it finishes drying.
And apparently there are Renaissance paintings that aren’t chemically dry, yet. Mine will take far less time to dry, thankfully.

I [...]

so much wrong.

You Take It Out of the Dryer This Minute!
Indian dude sitting outside laundromat: It wasn’t a baby! It wasn’t a real, white baby!
Blonde: It was a genuine baby!
–Greenpoint, Brooklyn
via Overheard in New York, Nov 5, 2007
There’s so much wrong with that quote. It’s almost insinuating that a baby has to be “white” to be “real.” [...]