I’m having a hard time breaking in this new blog, what with little time to write and very little brain-food during the day. I broke out of Feministe rather abruptly and basically quit writing altogether for awhile, despite a few side projects that never took off. I haven’t been able to get back on that train.
If there are any burning questions from the peanut gallery that could help me break the silence and/or banality, please feel free to leave a comment. Consider it a favor.
Ok, a feminist question…
From the whole Tittiestorm ‘06 thang… What still need to be done for attractive women to be taken seriously as feminists without being labeled negitively for being attractive?
(remember, just trying to help… I am no Yoda when it comes to having good questions)
Mind-meld with Merle and give us some of his thoughts on premium cat food issues of the day. Review movies. Caption news pictures. Slag on celebrities. Have E become staff illustrator.
I love Norbizness’s last suggestion. I wish I had one for you myself, but the only I have is awkward: Can we get more political stuff? I know it’s a pain in the ass and brings down all kinds of unnecessary aggravation but, Lauren, you were always good at it. Better than you knew, maybe.
Barring that, I vote for more boobs. More boobs and more Doug.
Doug’s man-cat-boobs in three-quarters profile
And put a sweater on him. No! A blue dress. And a beret.
Why the hell is Ann Althouse so bent on proving she hates other woemn based solely on her hatred towards one man? I still can’t get over her asshattery
Write about how hard it is to blog regularly.
Write about how I’m not on your blog roll. (It’s because I’m uninteresting, isn’t it?)
Write about trying every know cocktail to man and rating them on a scale of 1–10.
Write about that time that that one guy did that thing… you remember, that one time? With the guy? You know, at the place?
Write about…
Ah, fuck it. I agree: more boobs.
I still say Doug would look adorable in a beret. No pressure!
Write about how crazy you are to hate salmon.
No, I’m not letting this go.
Write about how Auguste obsesses over salmon.
and then boobies lol
I think high school basketball sucks and is stupid. So is Gene Hackman.
There. How does that feel?
Nyah.
:-P
As someone who sat through The Conversation wondering, “What the fuck is all the fuss over this about,” I have to second that.
(Now watch him turn out to be a huge Coppola fan! Ai.)
(Psst. I actually like Gene Hackman - cf. especially The French Connection. I was just trying to slay an Indiana sacred cow at Mark like you people keep killing my salmon. But that’s okay, because the good news is I’m at least halfway to agreeing with you about The Conversation - if I even remember it. Said lack of rememberance doesn’t speak well for my enjoyment of it.)
Like cold. Like bad. Like pacific salm… no I won’t go there :)
Gene Hackman? Indiana sacred cow? I thought he was from Danville, Illinois (then again, culturally, that place is in Indiana, soooo….nevermind.) And The Conversation had a good jazz soundtrack!
Anyway, what I liked most about your posts at Feministe, Lauren, was your take on class issues and single-mother issues—you were a breath of fresh air.
What’s it like to move from college to the working world in Indiana? Seriously! Because most college graduates in the midwest get the fuck out of dodge ASAP—the whole point of going to college was to escape the poor economy. I’d like to hear the perspective of someone who stayed. Was it just the logistics and expense of moving? Lack of job opportunities to get out? Or are you thinking about staying for the long term? If so, why? (mind you, I’ve lived in Bum Fuck, central Illinois for half my life, so I’m not judging you here).
I’d have to agree with Ilyka: your political posts on Feministe were always very well written and even-handed, but I also agree that they bring with them a lot more work. I’ve also really enjoyed your more recent stuff about single-mothering E., and all of the personal-political issues that come along with this new turf. Just my 2 cents.
Tell us about Ethan’s party. Did you call the cops on anyone?
Really you can write an essay on just about anything & I’ll read it. I think you are an insightful & clear writer. You police your comments, so the trolls don’t get out of hand & the comments remain relevant. Except the friday random 10. I’m not going to wallow in my ignorace of music. lack of an MP3 player/Ipod and I just don’t care enough to learn or buy one of those thingies.
If that fails, there’s always boobies.
Ichthyophobia: The Musical!
I find that writing reviews of books, movies, or CDs is an easy way to flex one’s writing muscles. If you’ve consumed anything recently that’s noteworthy, let us know.
Isn’t James Dean the Indiana state sacred cow?
I was including Gene Hackman as a secondary feature of the Hoosiers reference I began by hating HS Basketball.
That’s all.
It’s not that bad that you’re a liberal, Lauren - we can forgive you your sins - but a flag-waving liberal? Where’s it hiding, in the garage? Explain.
Your political criticisms, especially class-focused ones, have always been a joy to read and have caused much pondering from the peanut gallery. Please continue.
I’d have to agree with La Lubu– your posts on motherhood, single-motherhood, feminism, and class (any combination of those!) were always my favorite to read. I know you can’t blog too much about your current job, but I think I missed (?) why you aren’t teaching– did you decide not to teach? Or maybe you’re teaching, and I misunderstood?
But also, I think I’d be interested in anything you thought was interesting.
very little brain-food during the day
Btw, you know what’s really good brain food?
I would say right now the Indiana sacred cows are David Letterman, Larry Bird, and Jim Davis.
Especially Larry Bird… ya know the whole basetball thing and all.
Myself… Jim Davis. If you say something bad about my man Garfield, I will have to ask you to step outside.
:)
So you’re not a big fan of humor in comic strips, I take it?
I like Garfield the Cat, but the comic strip? Self-referential and repetitive jokes are a little boring after the first week or so.
An honest discussion of faux yaux yauxs would be helpful.
Knit weird things and then blog about them.
Ooh! You and PZ Myers could do a joint Friday Cephalopod Blogging thing! He could pick the cephalopod, and you could knit it!
I be respectin’ the man. I be wishin’ I had an idear as good as a lazy comic cat. After all, he has had two major movies, a few made for tv, cartoon series (i think?), syndicated forever probably, numerous books…
and those stuffed doll cats that you stick on the back of your car window.
Respect the man! :)
Pirate day today?
Arr, so which scurvy dog took the time to be a-editin’ all the comments then? 8^D
Me be guessin’ it is a plug-in… argh!
You won’t consider this a favor.
Hence, I’ll begin with a heap o’ qualifiers and reciprocating praise so that what I’m about to say won’t sting so bad. I LOVE you Lauren, not exaggerating, because you are a subtle and deep thinker and a prose stylist of the highest order. I’ve been a news-junkie since I saw a Time Magazine cover featuring a child victim of the Cyprus Crisis in 1962 when I was nine-years old. I’ve both read and written obssessively about current events since and believe me when I say you’re one of the best writers of “emphemera” on contemporary events I have ever read during that period. I read ‘em all: Left, right, center, old, young, male, female, black, white, William F. Buckley, Gloria Steinem, Cornel West, Mark Steyn, Alexander Cockburn, Jim what’s-his-name the blind guy at NY Observer. You may not be better, but you’re as good as the best. When I discovered you at feministe I was first dazzled, then, I clicked through and read pretty much everything you’d written (admittedly skimming sometimes when it felt repetitive).
Your problem is this.
When you started this incarnation of your blog you began with a big ta-doo about how you didn’t want to play the political-pundit game this time around (I’m paraphrasing, too lazy to go click the link for your exact words).
By doing so you self-restricted your available topics, and, I believe, did so against your own nature and tendency. Yes, there’s a part of you that’s understandably sick and burned-out-tired of the political-pundit dialectic, which is especially disheartening for a writer/polemicist who realizes quite rightly that she is in a minority and possibly in permanent opposition to the current regime.
But there must also be a part of that yearns to return to the battle. You can’t have fought that battle so well for so long without some core part of your soul needing and wanting to fight it.
So I say: Go back to that first “I don’t want to be a pundit” post and update it “… except when I want to be.”