And all I want to say is Go P-town! (Although I must admit this story qualifies as best twist on a human interest story, re: same-sex marriage.)
For your edification and amusement: early American erotic artifacts. Talk about “from the male perspective,” though.
Why I didn’t think to google the newsgroups during my John Preston search, I don’t know. But I did after the fact and discovered this account of his memorial service.
As you may know, I’ve been participating in readings here and there. Sometimes, I nail it correctly and sometimes I realize where I need to shore things up. It’ll come with time and practice and further preparation. However, I must say, this NYT article kind of spooked me. See, although I’ve “performed” in the past, it was musically, not verbally, and I’m a bit too much of an introvert to be a performance artist. But if I had to, what would I do? Self-bondage and vibrator? Maybe hands cuffed behind my back and turning the pages with my teeth? Read blindfolded and gagged? OK, that last one’s over the top, but still. My imagination runs wild. Sure hope the local reading scene doesn’t so I won’t have to for real.
On a far more serious note, I’m shaking my head (but not at all surprised) over right-wing pundits’ knee-jerk efforts to blame gays, women, recreational/consent-based sadomasochists, the academic left, and all the other usual scapegoats for the prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. They just love to parade us out and scourge us, don’t they? (It’s also a convenient way to kick the dead horse carcass of the culture war.) Laura does a great job, documenting the rhetoric and deserves credit for keeping a pundit watch going.
I suppose it does no good to point out that the pictures look far more orgiastic and de Sadean than anything, I guess straight, phobic ultra-conservatives don’t seem to have it in them to look at a bunch of male bodies and see anything but a homoerotic puppy pile. They fail to understand that orgiastic humiliation has plentiful straight origins (and they should have their knuckles rapped with a ruler and get sent to the corner to read their de Sade until they learn their lesson), but then again, scapegoating is all about doing a bigot dump on everyone you feel has constructed the hand basket that’s ready to depart for hell, isn’t it? It’s so much easier, after all, than admitting that maybe your conservatism and the flawed policies it engenders are the real culprits.
I promise a better mood tomorrow, but credit me for at least beginning today’s entry on an upbeat note, OK?
