One Girl Revolution

River otters could be returning to southern Michigan!

shadesong is looking for artists willing to contribute to Shayara. It isn't a paid position, but it's a rather fascinating project and concept. Contact her via LJ if you're interested. (I'm participating by way of roleplaying, because I'm just that much of a dork.)

Though I'm not going to hold my breath, there are rumors that we may finally be in for a thaw this week. That makes me rather happy - the sooner I can start walking to work again, the better. I'm pretty damn sure that I gained weight over the long winter, and I'll be happy to reverse the trend. It'll be easier now that it's more hospitable outside; I'll be able to alternate between walking outside or visiting the complex fitness center, which is finally, finally getting expanded to meet demand. Once I can be sure that I won't be walking out into single digit or sub-zero temperatures at night, I plan to go back to the indoor swimming pool for more no-impact cardio. I really miss swimming, though I still panic when people walk into the pool area while I'm swimming. It's for a stupid reason - I STILL don't like people seeing me in swim wear. As it stands, I'm still nervous about what my Boy will think when I teach him how to swim come June. I have a little more confidence about my appearance these days, but these worries have pretty much been hardwired into me from a very young age. I don't know if I'll ever be completely over them, but hopefully I can learn to live with them.

I think some of it may have to do with the people I'm surrounded by these days. You know that whole study about obesity being contagious? While I really disagree with the way that was presented (AVOID FAT PEOPLE OR SEAL YOUR OWN DOOM!!!1!), I think the theory that we base our assumptions of "correct" or "acceptable" body size on those around us may have some merit. I say this because of the shift in perception I've noticed in myself recently. Many of the people at work are comparatively thin; this may or may not have to do with the sizable vegetarian and vegan population we have in the office. None of them have said anything to me about my appearance or size (in fact, I feel more accepted here than I have at any other workplace), but I still find part of my psyche quietly panicking that I am, to use a phrase, "frickin' huge." My experiments in eating very limited amounts of animal protein resulted in a mixed bag - I think I did lose weight, but I also felt weak a majority of the time. Reintroducing animal protein made me feel much better; in the end, I just think that my personal genetic makeup demands this. I don't feel guilty about it, though I do sometimes wish I could follow the veggie trend more rigorously.

Of course, I'm finally settling with the fact that I'm never going to be the slightly taller, willowy person I've always thought I could be. I haven't been totally sedentary during the winter - I've been doing exercise videos and the like - and I've come to the conclusion that where most people slim down when they work out, I just build muscle. The program I'm doing now incorporates (modified) push-ups, and I'm having the bizarre experience of squeezing my forearms and feeling taut muscle instead of flabby squish. My legs are pretty solid these days, too. There's also a fun day after post-workout feeling - sometimes I feel sleeker, but mostly I just feel a lot stronger and more powerful. Combine that with a strong cuppa coffee and I feel like I could kick in doors. (Not that I go around trying.) There are still things I wish I could change about my body (it'd be nice if I didn't have such a broad ribcage, if only because I'd be able to find shirts that fit), but I guess being a sturdy girl has its advantages.

coterie_diaries has been resurrected and repurposed, and now it's ready to go!

The community layout and design (which was generously donated by jou back in the day) has not changed just yet. I don't know if I will do that or not - on one hand, I would like to give the place a new look to celebrate its new life, but I also don't want to discount the time and energy jou put into the initial design, either. I suppose time will tell, or something.

For now, the community is ready to accept new members and head into its new direction, so go ahead and check out the profile, join, have fun, and tell all of your friends. I'm interested in seeing who shows up and where things will go from here.

Thanks to both current and new members for their support, and thanks to teaandbitchery for giving me the idea in the first place. Now, grab your beverage of choice and join the fun!

Your daily dose of San Antonio Rock City

In addition to leaving it out of your diet for health reasons, anw gives us a new reason to avoid palm oil - apparently, demand for the stuff is causing deforestation and putting already endangered animals under further strain.

jou brings the awesome, art style.

And nebris reminds me that I really need to hurry up and build that raft so I can make like a refugee and claim asylum because my country is too stupid, and will probably soon start with the "disappearing" of the intellectuals.

And now:

I am amused. Why is it that in every sub- or counter-culture, there always seems to be a "filth" subset? I don't consider myself particularly high maintenance, but I do know that I feel hideous and vile if I don't shower daily. (It's one of the reasons that I am generally against tent camping.) How do these people do it?

Artist alert: anw has put out a request for birthday artwork! The theme is the Greek Gods, and it would appear that he's looking for interpretations of the male gods in particular. I can't draw, but I know there are many of you who would be up to the challenge. Go forth!

And now, a word of advice: If you decide that you have some books that you want to get rid of, DO NOT SELL THEM AT HALF PRICE BOOKS! Conor and I trekked up to the nearest one on Saturday with an overflowing paper bag and some additional overflow, including a few rare Japanese CDs that I was willing to part with to further my dual causes of donating to charity and getting myself over to Ireland. I was hoping for a nice sum, and I figured I'd get it, either because of the volume or the novelty of what I was parting with.

After waiting around for a good 30 minutes, I went to the desk and got my total.

Of $23.

Half of which will be going to World Education.

Which leaves me with a paltry $11.50 for my fund.

If it wasn't for my principles and my belief in standing by my words, I'd be taking that $23 all for myself, even if it is a sad joke of a sum. It's better than the barely more than $10 I'm left with after it's all said and done. If it wasn't for the fact that Conor was there to keep me from getting worked up, I probably would have gotten that whole "pit in my stomach" thing and spent my drive in a state of numb, light depression. Thank god for the gently optimistic.

So from now on, it'll be Half.com, with HPB as an absolute last resort for those times that I just want to be rid of things once and for all. I'm starting over again with a couple of books my mom wanted sold (the anti-Clinton book is NOT MINE), and I hope to start going through my collections and weeding out as time permits. I'll also try putting some things up on Gothic Auctions and eBay, again time permitting. And since I can't sell things without giving back, you can expect me to be donating some of the proceeds then, too.

Well, back to the grind...

I am pissy because Photoshop hates me and I have to take a shower and all I want to do is make a god damn icon out of this picture:

( Just one picture! )

I love Leonard Pitts. And so should you.

I love The Sultans of Ping. And so should you. And now that you can buy their CD for a relatively decent price (as opposed to the $40 you'd pay on eBay or the $80 you'd pay on Amazon.com), you have no excuses. You need this CD in your collection. That's not an opinion - it's marching orders.

So as to heed this startlingly prescient horoscope, I will be embarking this week on assembling some portfolios that I can send off to The Big Three Music Magazines - Rolling Stone, Blender, and Spin. I'll be asking them about both full time and freelance positions; while I'm aiming for the former, I will accept the latter. Anything to get my foot in the door. Even if I don't hear anything from them, I'm not worried. Why? Because thanks to a wonderful, wonderful person, I am now in possession of The Überlist - a never-ending mine of information that will provide me with job leads from now until I shuffle off this mortal coil. I'd give a shout-out to the person who provided me this info, but I don't know if he'd appreciate it, if only because he might end up with masses of people clamoring for job advice and info. I would like to thank him, though. So if you're reading this, Mystery Person To Whom I Am Now Indebted, thank you. Thank you times infinity. You're an awesome person, and I'm way grateful.

Before I scurry off, I would like to encourage all of you to check out the website for an incredible documentary called Before the Music Dies. I had the fortune of seeing it yesterday, and I think it's something that all music lovers should see and support. Instead of releasing the film in a bunch of cities at once, the producer and director will be "touring" the film, much like a band would. Keep checking back to see when they'll be coming to your town, and don't hesitate to write them and ask them to stop by. They're great people - I got to talk to the producer at length, and he seemed to genuinely appreciate my opinions about the film, as well as my insights about the importance of music in our culture. I'm hoping that I can help get the word out, and I would encourage you all to do the same.

Alright, that's all for now. I need to get some actual work done before people start getting suspicious.

Archeologists have discovered an ancient sun temple in Egypt.

The Toms River, NJ, school board took a stand against bigotry by refusing to fire a transgendered teacher at the request of a fundamentalist parent. You can thank the board for their efforts and decision here: trboe@trschools.com

Also, a pastor in Alabama puts conservatives in their place by calling them on the fact that they should be worrying about education, health care, unfair taxes and an ineffective constitution as opposed to gay marriage. Thank Pastor Evans for his efforts here: faithmatters@mindspring.com

Real Live Preacher (preachermanfeed) lays the smack down on people who use the Bible to justify homophobia in two posts listed here. And before anyone starts discounting him, yes, he is a real preacher. In fact, he's a Baptist preacher.

Only in Cleveland. (Thanks to malignance for his post here.

brazenbells makes beautiful things.

Remember how I kept telling you guys that I had a big announcement? Remember how I kept teasing and saying I would be posting something soon? Remember how I said it was going to be really, really cool?

Oh. Well, I did. And now, before I forget and go to bed, I want to let you in on a grand scheme, one that could forever change the world! But I will need your help to do so.

No, not I. We. There's another person involved. One who's a lot smarter and has more experience with this sort of stuff than I do.

The Beginning! (Also known as, "Genesis")

Flist, meet Conor Duffy. Or rather, meet his website. I was lucky enough to meet him over on the Alternative Press forum, and once I found out about his online fanzine, I contacted him about submitting an article. One thing led to another, we ended up talking via AIM, and we both started staying up much later than we should have. (But him more so than me, as he is in Ireland and I am...not.)

As we started talking, we realized that we had a whole awful lot in common. And all of this talk and similar interests lead to The Idea.

The Idea (Also known as, "Wouldn't It Be Cool If We Could Pull This Off?")

The fabulous invention that is the Interweb Internet allows people from all over the world to communicate and share ideas. (It also allows them to argue for weeks on end over which episode of Star Trek is the best ever, but that's beside the point.) As we were discussing the possibility of putting out a print version of Conor's fanzine (and all the complications inherent in doing so), we struck upon an idea - why not make an International Superzine, taking submissions from authors around the world and then allowing them to distribute the zine in their own areas? Daft? Maybe, but it was daft like Jack. After deciding that over-analysis would only serve to kill the dream, Conor and I decided to go through with our plan. (I believe my exact words where, "Eh, why the hell not? I'm in.")

The Details (Also known as, "There's an LJ-cut right below this. You know the drill.")

( Your mission, should you choose to accept it... )

teaandbitchery! Look look look look look!

He really is a Chibi Goth!

All together now: AWWWWWW!

The ever-impressive jou has been interviewed for Newsarama, which appears to be a website dealing with comics and artists and other talented people. As usual, the lovely lady is intelligent, eloquent, and articulate. It also seems that she has won an award for a book what she wrote:

“And because comics weren’t keeping me busy enough, (okay I’m kidding, really), I also wrote and designed the book, Timing: Expressions of Time in Sequential Art and Design, which received the Charles Logan Smith award for excellence in design."

Jou knows comics. Jou knows books. Jou apparently also knows calendars. Talented, talented Jou. You can read the interview here.

Meanwhile, I continue my reign as Count Suckula. Because when I use Countess, no one gets the joke.

I think I'm going to go stare at my ceiling now. I mean, terrorize the citizens of my vast kingdom. The kingdom of SUCKULA!

Good god, that was awful. Let us never speak of it again.

I love Franz Ferdinand, and tonight I finally figured out the perfect way to describe their sound.

( Cut for those who may not be interested. )

Probably didn't think you were getting an art lesson, did you?

You know, you think you're doing well. You have a job in your field. You're a regular freelancer for Scene. The article you wrote for an online British fanzine gets good reviews and positive feedback. You feel famous.

And then jou comes out with this pwnage.

What is a suburban rebel to do?

That's right - listen to Green Day and make a list of story ideas. Gotta keep the ball rolling.

And congrats, jou. It looks incredible.