folky lesbians go to beer church

About a month ago, there was an article written in the New York Times about lesbians and folk music. I mentioned it here, but I didn’t say too much about how I felt about the article. Since then, I have read several commentaries about how degrading the article was, not only for lesbians in folk … Continue reading “folky lesbians go to beer church”

About a month ago, there was an article written in the New York Times about lesbians and folk music. I mentioned it here, but I didn’t say too much about how I felt about the article. Since then, I have read several commentaries about how degrading the article was, not only for lesbians in folk music, but women in all aspects of music. It did strike me as odd that a straight guy could presume to know enough about lesbian culture to pinpoint one genre of music that encompases us all, but his presumption didn’t make me angry until I read the well-articulated commentary by Amy Ray and realized that Hadju pieced together what he needed for his theory, and ignored attepts by other to enlighten him. By doing that, his article is reduced to a crack-pot anthropological theory by an “alien”.

“Why not interview lesbian punk, jazz, hip-hop, rock, or bluegrass musicians? There are plenty of them.”

On a lighter note, I found the most amazing church yesterday! Someone on one of the message boards I read frequently posted a link to the Beer Church. I haven’t read everything there yet; I got side-tracked by the mullet haikus. I even wrote one of my own:

Angry white boy yells
Lying on truck bed with Ray Bans
Damn! I am the shit!

Beer Church banner: Join the largest unorganized religion in the world | Beer Church | What the hell, don't cost nothin' - www.beerchurch.com

Continue reading “folky lesbians go to beer church”

election problems

Surprise, surprise… election problems in Florida, again. How hard is it to get working machines and competent poll workers in “poor” neighborhoods? We all knew that was where the problems would be – if there were problems to be had at all. Then there is Bubba Jeb, acting as innocent and dumb as Dubya… Of … Continue reading “election problems”

Surprise, surprise… election problems in Florida, again. How hard is it to get working machines and competent poll workers in “poor” neighborhoods? We all knew that was where the problems would be – if there were problems to be had at all. Then there is Bubba Jeb, acting as innocent and dumb as Dubya…

Of Ms. Reno’s troubles at her precinct Tuesday morning, Mr. Bush said: “What is it with Democrats having a hard time voting? I don’t know.”

The Louisville Courier-Journal has announced that it will be printing announcements for same-sex unions in the Celebrations page. This follows in the footsteps of the New York Times decision to do the same. Well, it’s about time!

“And, for the first time in CourierJournal history, the announcements can be festive and gay: Same-sex couples will be able to share their celebrations of commitment on the new page.”

Continue reading “election problems”

hair cut

I’m trying to decide about what to do with my hair.

I’m trying to decide about what to do with my hair. For most of the past couple of years it has been really short. I mean really short. Short as in I get called “sir” more often that you’d expect someone with a 42-D bra size to be called “sir”. One of my friends sent me to hair-styles.org for some direction. I found this quote to be rather amusing:

“Most women finally hack their hair off the same day they file for divorce. Interesting side note don’t you think.”

I didn’t initially cut my hair off because of a divorce; it was more of a lifestyle statement. I wanted a hair style that was easy and convenient, and I didn’t care anymore about how other people might perceive me with that hair style. Now I want to change my hair style again, but I’m a little more concerned about how it will look. I still want the easy and convenient bit, but maybe I can do that with a slightly longer style. Hm…

swap a book

The United Kingdom celebrated Swap A Book Day last Friday.

The United Kingdom celebrated Swap A Book Day last Friday. According to this article in the Guardian, there are over 879 million illiterate adults in the world.

“It’s about creating role models and an atmosphere in which reading is seen as normal. That helps those who can’t read as much as people who can but don’t.” – Sue Williams, family learning tutor at Wigan and Leigh College

I was reminded of BookCrossing.com. I’ve been leaving books here and there after registering them with BookCrossing for the past couple of months. I’m not sure if they’re getting read, since so far, no one has registered them, but usually when I come back to where I left them, they’re gone. It gives me a little hope to think that someone took the book and will read it.

quiet libraries

Jessamyn West had the following quote from a review of a hard drive on her librarian.net blog today: “The librarian in you will love Seagate’s new, ultralow-noise, consumer-friendly, 7,200rpm 80GB Barracuda ATA IV hard drive. Indeed, this drive is as quiet as the reference room on the night before midterms.” Obviously this reviewer has never … Continue reading “quiet libraries”

Jessamyn West had the following quote from a review of a hard drive on her librarian.net blog today:

“The librarian in you will love Seagate’s new, ultralow-noise, consumer-friendly, 7,200rpm 80GB Barracuda ATA IV hard drive. Indeed, this drive is as quiet as the reference room on the night before midterms.”

Obviously this reviewer has never been in a library reference room the night before midterms, or else he might have found some other descriptor for “very, very quiet”. Midterms and finals weeks are two times in a semester when the library has the most number of users. With that many people all in one space, it is rare that one is able to find a quiet place in the building.

Continue reading “quiet libraries”

Beer Node

Jeff sent me some copies of pictures he took of the group of us at NASIG in June, and I finally got some scanned in and uploaded to my website. Here’s another shot of a bunch of us with the “Beer Node” sign. Ahh… good times. I should (or perhaps shouldn’t?) note that the new … Continue reading “Beer Node”

Jeff sent me some copies of pictures he took of the group of us at NASIG in June, and I finally got some scanned in and uploaded to my website. Here’s another shot of a bunch of us with the “Beer Node” sign. Ahh… good times. I should (or perhaps shouldn’t?) note that the new President of NASIG is one of the women in the “Beer Node” line-up…

Continue reading “Beer Node”

Lisa Rogers For President!

My friend Kiya Heartwood recently sent me a link to Lisa Rogers’ campaign site. I think it is about time we put a folksinger in the White House! Especially if it means we boot Dubya and his clones out of there. “It’s so much easier just to complain. But I figure if I really want … Continue reading “Lisa Rogers For President!”

My friend Kiya Heartwood recently sent me a link to Lisa Rogers’ campaign site. I think it is about time we put a folksinger in the White House! Especially if it means we boot Dubya and his clones out of there.

“It’s so much easier just to complain. But I figure if I really want to help undo the mess, I should apply for W’s job. Let’s just say it’s my way, as a Texan, of apologizing to the rest of the world.”

What do you say? I’ll bet that if everyone who was dissatisfied with the current government situation (and it’s future prospects) were to write her on the ballot this next time when we have to choose between the Demagogue candidate and Dubya, she’d win! And wouldn’t the world be a much better place for it?

folk is lesbian music of choice, over-paid librarians, and other modern myths

My friend Anna sent me a link yesterday to an article about folk music having become the sound of lesbian culture. I have noticed this phenomenon, but I had never really thought about it specifically. You can read the full article yourself, but it will require a free registration with the New York Times. “We’re … Continue reading “folk is lesbian music of choice, over-paid librarians, and other modern myths”

My friend Anna sent me a link yesterday to an article about folk music having become the sound of lesbian culture. I have noticed this phenomenon, but I had never really thought about it specifically. You can read the full article yourself, but it will require a free registration with the New York Times.

“We’re seeing the coming together of a way of life and a form of expression that’s kind of primary,” says Lisa Merrill, a professor of performance history at Hofstra University. “This doesn’t happen often.”

A county in Washington State wants to dissolve the entire county library system, according to this New York Times article. So far, petitioners have managed to collect enough signatures that it might actually make it onto the ballot. Aparently some folks are upset that they pay an average of $38 per year in property taxes to keep the rural libraries up and running. <sarcasm>Gee, that sure is a big chunk to be taking out of some family’s budget.</sarcasm> Seriously, folks, don’t you think that is a small price to pay to have access to free books and computers?

“I home-school my kids, and our four library cards are maxed out at 40 books at all times,” said Linda Arrell, who lives off the electric power grid with her family north of here. “They say everybody is on the Internet, so we don’t need a library. Well, some of us don’t have credit cards, and some of us don’t have power.”

Oh, and that bit about the head librarian’s salary being too high? Let’s put this in perspective here, folks. Ms. Robinson is responsible for nine library branches, which includes all of the staff and budget issues that any large organization spanning a geographic area that size would have. If she were in the corporate world, she would be making three times as much.

beer, bluegrass, and Shaker lemon pie

I have some pictures of myself at the NASIG “beer node”, but I haven’t had the time to scan them in yet. I’m debating over whether it would be a good idea to do that. Yesterday, I went on the new faculty tour. I’m not exactly “new” here at EKU anymore, but they only do … Continue reading “beer, bluegrass, and Shaker lemon pie”

I have some pictures of myself at the NASIG “beer node”, but I haven’t had the time to scan them in yet. I’m debating over whether it would be a good idea to do that.

Yesterday, I went on the new faculty tour. I’m not exactly “new” here at EKU anymore, but they only do new faculty orientation once a year. Anyway, I toured the bluegrass region with a group of 25 new faculty, and it wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it might be.

I have been to Keeneland before, but this time I was able to see the clubhouse and the boxes that the corporations lease. Pretty spiffy, but I still prefer my usual spot along the rail down by the track. After Keeneland, we went to Lexington Community College. I worked in the resource center as a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, so there wasn’t much new-to-me information to be had. The best part of the day came next – a visit to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, where we had lunch. I have been to Shakertown (as it is commonly known in the region) twice before for dinner, but I had not had the opportunity to tour any of the buildings before. It was very interesting and informative. I think that if I had lived back then, I would have been drawn to the Shaker lifestyle.

After lunch, we hopped back into the bus and drove down to Danville, where we toured the EKU Danville Center. By then, I was on sensory overload and trying to recover from the piece of Shaker Lemon Pie, but that didn’t stop me from having a bowl of homemade peach ice cream. Yum. I was glad to finally see my car when we rolled back into Richmond at 5:15.

This next week I’ll be on vacation in Toronto, and right now my main agenda is to take a nap every day. Ahh…. sleep…..

Bryson v. Winters

A fellow Where’s George? person recommended “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson because I had enjoyed reading “Walking Home” by Kelly Winters. I hate to admit it, but I was not very impressed with Bryson’s tale of his Appalachian Trail experience. Maybe it’s a gender thing. Bryson spent more time focusing on the … Continue reading “Bryson v. Winters”

A fellow Where’s George? person recommended “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson because I had enjoyed reading “Walking Home” by Kelly Winters. I hate to admit it, but I was not very impressed with Bryson’s tale of his Appalachian Trail experience. Maybe it’s a gender thing. Bryson spent more time focusing on the hardship of the Trail and the politics surrounding the Trail than he did on the culture and life on the Trail. When I was reading Winter’s story, I felt transported into the trail. It was almost like I was hiking along with her through out. On the other hand, I had to force myself to finish Bryson’s story. Should I ever choose to hike the trail, his is the last type of personality I would want to be hiking with me.

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