Why I'm Not Supporting The Salvation Army This Year

[This was originally to be posted the week of December 20-26 but was not due to family matters.]

They're ubiquitous at this time of year: red and clear kettles full of change, friendly volunteers shaking sleigh bells. I'm talking about the Sally Ann's Christmas Kettle Campaign of course. It's almost a holiday tradition walking over to one and dropping in a few dollars. I remember doing it with my Dad when I was younger. You'd practically feel guilty if you didn't.

I'm not supporting the Salvation Army this year.

There was something about the Salvation Army that always put me off as a kid. Perhaps it was the 'salvation' part. Or the 'army' part. (The focus on salvation in western religions, and some eastern ones, has always been a point of contention for me. The underlying premise being that humanity is somehow fundamentally flawed, but that is a discussion for another time.) Admittedly, the Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian organization with a semblance of military structure. Imagine my surprise when I found my childhood suspicions confirmed.

Consider this from The Washington Post via AMERICAblog Gay.

The Bush administration is working with the nation's largest charity, the Salvation Army, to make it easier for government-funded religious groups to discriminate against gay people in hiring, according to an internal Salvation Army document.

*SNIP*

"Alright," you say, "but that's the Salvation Army in America, Australia, and Scotland. Not Canada."

To which I give you the following from the Salvation Army's ethics website:

The Salvation Army upholds the dignity of all persons. For this reason, and in obedience to the example of Jesus Christ, whose compassionate love is all-embracing, The Salvation Army does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in the delivery of its services.

The Salvation Army believes that God’s will for the expression of sexual intimacy is revealed in the Bible, and that living fully in accordance with biblical standards calls for chastity outside of heterosexual marriage and faithfulness within it. We do not believe that same-sex attraction is necessarily blameworthy and we oppose the vilification and mistreatment of gays and lesbians. We believe that we are accountable for the ways in which we express our sexuality.

In other words: "Being gay is fine, just don't act on it." They claim to respect the dignity of gays and lesbians, but would ask that they refrain from expressing their love intimately to respect their own sensibilities. I see this canard a lot, and I find the attitude sanctimonious. It is rude for a group to expect special consideration from non-members of the group. Gay and lesbian Christians on the other hand, may feel obliged to follow church teaching, but they may have their own objections as well.

Consider also the following from The Edmonton Sun.

CALGARY — The Salvation Army says it refuses to distribute Harry Potter and Twilight toys collected for needy children because they're incompatible with the charity's Christian beliefs.

The policy has alarmed a Calgarian who volunteered to sift through a southeast warehouse full of unused, donated items and was alarmed when he was told by Salvation Army officials that the two kinds of toys are "disposed of" and not given to other charities.

...

"I was told to withhold a six-inch Harry Potter figure, but when I picked up a plastic M-16, I was told, 'That's for the 10-year-olds,'" he said.

"I was shocked...war-themed toys and toys from TV shows and movies with far more violence than Harry Potter and these were considered appropriate toys?"

This policy, while not universal, misleads otherwise well-meaning donors and deprives children of reading material, compounding problems with illiteracy in those already most vulnerable.

This cuts to the heart of my disillusionment with many charities. While often founded with the intent of doing good, many charities have ulterior motives in addition to their charity work. As I've already mentioned, the Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian organization. Their goal is to bring people to God; to save them. Working with the less fortunate provides the perfect opportunity for this. Beggars can't be choosers, and those that rely on the support of charities like the Salvation Army sometimes feel the need to adopt the charity's views to fit in with the group and feel secure. Alcoholics Anonymous could be another example of this.

I've made donations to the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders/MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES before. I became a monthly contributor to the Canadian Red Cross this year. I'm satisfied with their track record and I believe they'll make good use of my donation.

I'm not going to say that secular charities are immune to this; they can have ulterior motives as well. I think all that this stresses is that care needs to be taken when selecting who receives your charity dollar.

My Sins

It's time for confession.

Sometimes, I stereotype Christians. Even the ones I know. Sometimes I think they're intolerant, self-righteous, arrogant, ignorant (intentionally or otherwise), hypocritical, and so on. I usually manage to catch myself, but it's still disconcerting. Not all Christians are like this of course-and it's the rare few that have all of those traits.

The truth is sometimes I think this way about all types of religious people. I only single out Christians above because they're the most familiar to me and the ones I come into contact with the most. If I lived in Israel I might feel the same way about Jews, or Muslims if I lived in Saudi Arabia. (Although I might not express my thoughts, given the blasphemy laws some middle eastern countries have.)

I read a lot of American and global news. I read about the rise of Christian nationalism in the United States, religiously motivated cliterodectomies in Africa, and honour killings in the middle east and even parts of the first world. I also read a few atheist blogs, some of which appear in the sidebar. These blogs occasionally discuss events from around the world that exemplify the horrors of fundamentalist religion. As an atheist, these things scare me.

I don't come from a religious background. I don't have that experience. This makes it difficult for me to understand religious people on a fundamental level. If you have ever given a dog a command and the dog is unsure what to do, it will often cock its head to the side as it looks at you. I feel like that dog sometimes when I talk to religious people.

I hope you can forgive me.

Hating on Dan Brown

My mother has a habit of telling me what she is going to buy me for Christmas; or when asking me what I want she does so in such a way that makes it painfully obvious. ("What do you want for Christmas? "Ooh, what's that?" "Where can I find it?" "What was their address?") One day last fall I was sitting at this very computer when I had this conversation with her:

HER: Were you planning on reading that new book by that Dan Brown?
ME: Yeah, eventually.
HER: Well don't go and buy it. I'm going to get it for you for Christmas.
ME: Okay.

(About two weeks pass.)

HER: Here. (Places copy of The Lost Symbol on computer desk.) I decided I wanted to get you something else for Christmas.
ME: Okay. Thanks.

The book proceeded to sit on my desk until November when I finally decided to read it. The book suffers from the same formulaic plot that characterizes Dan Brown's other novels, so I need not describe it here.

However, I was amused by the following excerpt from the first chapter:

"I hate to embarrass you, Professor," the woman said, sounding sheepish, "but you are the Robert Langdon who writes books about symbols and religion, aren't you?"
Langdon hesitated and then nodded.
"I thought so!" she said, beaming. "My book group read your book about the sacred feminine and the church! What a delicious scandal that one caused! You do enjoy putting the fox in the henhouse!"

I can't decide if Mr. Brown is referencing the commotion created by The Da Vinci Code, giving a nod to his fans, stroking his own ego, or all three. If anything, it gives Robert Langdon the distinct flavour of Mary Sue.

But I don't want to talk about Dan Brown's books. I want to talk about Dan Brown.

It's not a well kept secret that many writers don't think fairly highly of Dan Brown's works. The same thing can be said about readers that care about their reading material. They don't think that someone with bad writing deserves to be as popular and successful as Dan Brown is. So do writers dislike Dan Brown because he's successful and they think his work is bad, or do they dislike Dan Brown because he's popular and they think his work is bad? I think it's both. (I know I've just conflated Dan Brown with his works, but give me a moment.)

But here's the point I want to make. Dan Brown is a popular author.

Popular. Author.

Dan Brown doesn't write for the sake of writing, he writes to make money. It's his job. To be successful he needs to know what his audience likes. His audience likes insipid action-mystery novels about controversial topics and secret societies. The masses are indeed asses.

I'd even wager that a lot of writers want to be Dan Brown. They want to do what they enjoy, entertain people, and make money doing it. They're just too full of themselves to admit it. It's easy to criticize the guy at the top when you're at the bottom.

Do I like Dan Brown's work? No. Do I think that he's rightly criticized for the quality of his writing? No. He's only doing his job.

The List of Shame, Part II

One-hundred movies I haven't seen:

1. Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles)
2. Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
3. The Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei M. Eisenstein)
4. Dirty Harry (1971, Don Siegel)
5. Rocky (1976, John G. Avildsen)
6. Schindler's List (1993, Steven Spielberg)
7. First Blood (1982, Ted Kotcheff)
8. Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
9. A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
11. Gone With the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming)
12. The Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)
13. Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
14. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
15. Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)
16. Wayne's World (1992, Penelope Spheeris)
17. Clerks (1994, Kevin Smith)
18. When Harry Met Sally (1989, Rob Reiner)
19. Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)
20. Airplane (1980, Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker)
21. Rain Man (1988, Barry Levinson)
22. American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)
23. The Birds (1963, Alfred Hitchcock)
24. The Last of the Mohicans (1992, Michael Mann)
25. The Big Lebowski (1998, Joel Cohen)
26. The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola)
27. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Milos Forman)
28. Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
29. It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
30. Dr. Strangelove (1964, Stanley Kubrick)
31. North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock)
32. Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)
33. Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis)
34. Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean)
35. The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)
36. Das Boot (1981, Wolfgang Peterson)
37. Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis)
38. Full Metal Jacket (1987, Stanley Kubrick)
39. Total Recall (1990, Paul Verhoeven)
40. Sin City (2005, Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino)
41. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, Frank Capra)
42. The Deer Hunter (1978, Michael Cimino)
43. Platoon (1986, Oliver Stone)
44. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill)
45. V for Vendetta (2005, James McTeigue)
46. The Princess Bride (1987, Rob Reiner)
47. The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin)
48. The African Queen (1951, John Huston)
49. Bonnie and Clyde (1967, Arthur Penn)
50. Ghost Busters (1984, Ivan Reitman)
51. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Wes Craven)
52. The Godfather, Part II (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)
53. The Godfather, Part III (1990, Francis Ford Coppola)
54. Back to the Future, Part II (1989, Robert Zemeckis)
55. Back to the Future, Part III (1990, Robert Zemeckis)
56. Ghostbusters II (1989, Ivan Reitman)
57. Children of the Corn (1984, Fritz Kiersch)
58. Frankenstein (1931, James Whale)
59. Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale)
60. The Thing (1982, John Carpenter)
61. The Blob (1958, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
62. Gojira (1954, Ishiro Honda)
63. Army of Darkness (1992, Sam Raimi)
64. Friday the 13th (1980, Sean S. Cunningham)
65. Bird on a Wire (1990, John Badham)
66. Waterworld (1995, Kevin Reynolds)
67. The Matrix: Revolutions (2003, Andy & Lana Wachowski)
68. Dracula (1931, Tod Browning)
69. Dracula (1992, Francis Ford Coppola)
70. Starship Troopers (1997, Paul Verhoeven)
71. Cujo (1983, Lewis Teague)
72. Pet Semetary (1989, Mary Lambert)
73. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984, Michael Radford)
74. White Christmas (1954, Michael Curtiz)
75. Miracle on 34th Street (1947, George Seaton)
76. Miracle on 34th Street (1994, Les Mayfield)
77. The Wolf Man (1941, George Waggner)
78. Labyrinth (1986, Jim Henson)
79. An American Werewolf in London (1981, John Landis)
80. Cat's Eye (1985, Lewis Teague)
81. Cat People (1942, Jacques Tourneur)
82. Cat People (1982, Paul Schrader)
83. Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett)
84. This is Spinal Tap (1984, Rob Reiner)
85. First Knight (1995, Jerry Zucker)
86. The 13th Warrior (1999, John McTiernan)
87. Kung fu (2004, Stephen Chow)
88. Ong-bak (2003, Prachya Pinkaew)
89. RoboCop (1987, Paul Verhoeven)
90. 28 Days Later (2002, Danny Boyle)
91. Down of the Dead (1978, George A. Romero)
92. The Dark Crystal (1982, Jim Henson, Frank Oz)
93. Clerks II (2002, Kevin Smith)
94. The Wicker Man (1973, Robin Hardy)
95. The Pink Panther (1963, Blake Edwards)
96. Scrooge (1951, Brian Desmond Hurst)
97. Predator (1987, John McTiernan)
98. Predator 2 (1990, Stephen Hopkins)
99. Blue Hawaii (1961, Norman Taurog)
100. Rebel Without a Cause (1955, Nicholas Ray)

The List of Shame

One-hundred books I haven't read:

1. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
2. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
3. Dracula, Bram Stoker
4. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
5. The Adventures of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
6. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
7. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
8. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
9. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
10. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
11. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne
12. The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
13. The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
14. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle
15. The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
16. The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle
17. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
18. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
19. The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoevsky
20. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
21. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
22. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
23. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
24. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
25. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
26. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
27. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
28. Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
29. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
31. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
32. Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
33. The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane
34. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
35. Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
36. The Swiss Family Robinson, Johann David Wyss
37. Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs
38. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
39. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
40. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes
41. Ivanhoe, Walter Scott
42. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
43. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
44. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
45. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche
46. Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche
47. The Gay Science, Friedrich Nietzsche
48. Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
49. Rights of Man, Thomas Paine
50. On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
51. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
52. Capital, Karl Marx
53. Iliad, Homer
54. Odyssey, Homer
55. Aeneid, Virgil
56. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Unknown
57. The Upanishads, Various/Unknown
58. One Thousand and One Nights, Various/Unknown
59. The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran
60. Ulysses, James Joyce
61. Finnegans Wake, James Joyce
62. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
63. The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu
64. The Art of War, Sun Tzu
65. The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
66. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
67. Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood
68. Amerika, Franz Kafka
69. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
70. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
71. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
72. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
73. Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
74. Generation X, Douglas Coupland
75. Pet Sematary, Stephen King
76. The Shining, Stephen King
77. 'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
78. Cujo, Stephen King
79. It, Stephen King
80. The Stand, Stephen King
81. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
82. The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton
83. Foundation, Isaac Asimov
84. I, Robot, Isaac Asimov
85. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
86. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
87. Children of Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
88. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
89. Xenocide, Orson Scott Card
90. Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
91. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
92. Ringworld, Larry Niven
93. Neuromancer, William Gibson
94. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
95. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
96. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
97. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
98. On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
99. The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin
100. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

[I know I owe you a review of Wicked still. Don't worry, it's coming as soon as I find my copy of the book for reference. Please vote on the poll to the left, I'd like to know what my readers enjoy so I can be a better blogger.]

The DSM-V

I found this today and thought I'd plug it. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has created a website on the development of the DSM-V, including proposed changes and rationale. You can even compare with the DSM-IV. (Yes, they provide citations. It's the APA for crying out loud.) I know there was quite a bit of concern in the LGBT community about how sexuality and gender identity disorders would be diagnosed. I've only given it a cursory glance, but the changes for Sexual Aversion Disorder, Gender Identity Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder look promising to me.

American Psychiatric Association.

Book Review: Eve: A Novel of the First Woman

Warning: May Contain Spoilers.

Eve: A Novel of the First Woman is just that. It is an expansion on the first few books of Genesis as narrated by Eve and her daughters. Eve's sons however, never act as narrators. I personally believe that this is an attempt on the author's part to maintain the overall feminine voice of the novel. Additionally, the story is told in a series of flashbacks, creating the impression that the reader is actively listening to the story rather than being a passive observer. (Later in the novel however, I did get the distinct feeling that Eve was narrating her view of the story to one of her daughters.)

The majority of the story takes place after Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and primarily the length of time leading up to Abel's murder by his brother Cain. At this point in time Eve and her family live alongside a society heavily based upon Akkadia and Babylon. This society provides most of the impetus for the conflict and plot development in the story. Eve's time in Eden is explored as well, mostly for some character development.

As for Eve herself, the author paints a sympathetic picture. Before the Fall, Eve is depicted as sensuous and beautiful. After the Fall she is no less so, but she becomes increasingly lonely and doubtful. Eve continues to have children as her relationship with Adam and her older children falter, for their unconditional affection. Eve wrestles with herself spiritually and is tempted by the neighbouring society's deities.

While the novel does grapple with some thorny theological questions, they appear to be either ignored or dealt with by liberal apologetics. I ultimately felt unsatisfied with this aspect. The author does write in the afterword that many of the questions dealt with in the story may be considered borderline blasphemous in the religious community, and I'm led to believe that the author herself is religious which may explain some of the reluctance.

The afterword that the author includes details her research and some of her choices in writing the story, and I'm grateful for it. There were many points in the book where I wondered why the author made the choices she did and it's very refreshing to have some answers. I do have one nitpick though: while the author acknowledges the two differing accounts of creation in Genesis, there is no inclusion of Lilith in either the narrative or the afterword. While I personally think the inclusion of this rabbinical myth would have been a good source of conflict in the story, it has probably already been done. Ultimately, the choice is the author's anyway.

Eve provides a good mix of history, myth, and legend along with a good exploration of humanity and feminity. Eve also has its rough spots, but I'm willing to let it slide for an author's first novel. Four out of five stars.

Book Review: Inferno

Warning: May Contain Spoilers.

(Note: I am using the Signature Press Editions version of The Divine Comedy by World Publications Group, copyright 2007.)

The version of Inferno found in the Signature Press Editions printing of The Divine Comedy uses the translation by Henry Francis Cary, which dates to 1805. Henry Francis Cary's translation differs quite a bit from the original form that Dante Alighieri employed. First and foremost, something is bound to be lost in the translation from Italian to English; and this is unavoidable. The biggest problem I have with this translation is that it abandoned the form that Dante Alighieri employed in favour of Iambic Pentameter, a form much more suited to the English language. This may not seem like much of an issue but the form that Dante employed, terza rima, was created by the author for the purpose of writing this epic.

The illustrations by Gustave Dore featured throughout the book are exquisitely detailed and can serve to aid visualizing the scenes or provide a brief refuge from the dense prose if you have difficulty.

One other critique of the book itself. It lacks footnotes and this makes it difficult for the lay-reader to appreciate the dearth of allusions and references in the book. There is only one footnote to be found in Inferno, and its purpose is to clarify the pronunciation of a word so that it fits the rhyme scheme. The language is antiquated and conversations are sometimes hard to follow. If you struggled with Shakespeare's works, you will surely struggle with Dante's.

Inferno is a classic work much referenced in our own times, as well as being an ambitious and creative work for its own time (the fourteenth century) and that should earn it points alone. However, I cannot imagine that the literary standards of the same time period were very high as compared to now, and this shows. Dante frequently writes of his fear, and exalts Heaven. On several occasions he states that he will not describe the horrors that he observes to the reader, presumably because he does not wish to recall them. I think this is an excuse for lazy writing. Further, Dante faints twice during his journey through Hell. Understandable, but the author doesn't make himself out to be a convincing hero, if he can be called that.

Inferno reads at times like propaganda. Dante places his political enemies, bishops, monks, and even a former Pope in Hell. However there is also a sympathetic side, or so it would appear. Dante places Saladin with the virtuous pagans, and the prophet Mohammad and Ali with the schismatics and sowers of discord, not blasphemers. (Although it should be noted that the blasphemers are punished in the seventh circle of Hell, the schismatics in the eighth.)

For all its apparent faults, I must still recommend Inferno and The Divine Comedy simply for its influence and historical value.

Three out of five stars.

Constant Novelty

xkcd posted a comic last week that I want to write about. Specifically, I want to talk about the first line. "Constant novelty saps my initiative."

You've probably noticed that I don't update as often as I would like or as often as I have promised. When I get home from work, I usually turn the computer on and check my E-mail, several blogs and a fair portion of webcomics. I have tried to blame this on OCD before-after all, it is a routine and has some of the characteristics of a ritual. On the other hand, I have a hard time believing it's abnormal behaviour.

Checking the same websites several times an evening for updates does strike me as a bit odd. Admitted, some websites have fixed update schedules, and who wouldn't want to fall behind in our modern fast-paced world?

I don't think that I have an Internet addiction. I don't spend an excessive amount of time on the Internet, and I have gone long periods without any use of a computer at all. If it is OCD, I don't quite get it. What exactly am I obsessing over? And why exactly do I feel compelled to alleviate this obsession? What even am I compelled to do, exactly? I find it more likely that the Internet just offers too great a potential for distraction.

It's easy to go to a favorite website and a find a link to something new and interesting. Then you find another link, and another, and the cascade begins. It is simply too easy to fall into the trap of constant novelty.

I wonder if without the constant novelty, would I be better off? Would I have written that novel by now? Would I have performed better in school? Would I be blogging more? (On the Internet!) Or would my life be less for the enrichment and new ways of thinking that the Internet has exposed me to?

[I'm going to end this here or I'm going to start rambling. I've already had to police myself.]

Updates:

The Digital Cuttlefish is posting again, so I've returned his link to the sidebar.

I've also added a new poll. Look for the review of Inferno next.

Bonk!

If the title makes no sense to you, watch this. If it still doesn't make sense, well, it wasn't intended to address the issue anyway.

I've started reading Inferno. The cantos are fairly short, and I should have the book done fairly soon. I'm hoping to have the review up in a week's time. Eve: A Novel of the First Woman and Wicked were the runners-up, so those will appear in the poll for the next review.

I'm not going to comment on the Prop. 8 ruling in California other than to echo the sentiments of the Pharynguloid hordes. The problem is not with California's supreme court, but California law and the members of the electorate that voted for the amendment in the first place.

Work on the C.O.F. charter is somewhat slow, mostly due to my own laziness. I want the meaning of the articles to be clear, but pen and paper doesn't lend itself well to frequent editing and revising. I think I'll have a far easier time once I import it into an electronic format.

While I'm on the subject, I'd like to plug the following column by Greta Christina, and this follow-up interview as well. To me, it sums up much of what I'd been trying to express but couldn't elucidate. It also represents some of what I hope for in C.O.F. as a philosophical 'movement' - not simply a club created between friends.

I got my course registration package from the college this week but I can't register for any courses until June tenth. I'm not disappointed, I'm just eager to start.

I think I may go downtown yet again this Saturday. I found awesome and win at the comic shop, and I can't wait to share it. I want to keep mum on exactly what it is until Saturday evening though to maintain the suspense.

It's been said before by other people, but it's worth repeating. Thursdays and Saturdays have become the highlights of my week. I can't wait to get together tomorrow and I think I'll bring Dirty Minds too. Also Storyteller, you were right. The peach cider is very good.

Mid-May Update

Please go vote on the new poll! I'd like to have even more responses than last time.

It's funny how you can have something in mind to write, but as soon as you sit down it evaporates. That is happening to me now.

Regarding the recent B.C. election, I can't say that I'm particularly pleased with the results. I can't say that I'm surprised either. With the current global economic recession, it was unlikely that voters would be willing to rock the boat. B.C. has certainly experienced an economic boom over the last few years which the Liberal party was quick to capitalize on. Occasionally voters will vote against their own economic interests, but voters in B.C. seemed smart enough to do otherwise. For all their faults (closed hospitals and schools, tree farm license sell-offs, ballooning Olympic costs, high poverty and homelessness) the B.C. Liberals appear to have been good for B.C.'s economy.

I think that the NDP made some critical mistakes in their election strategy. The first of which was raising minimum wage to ten dollars. I strongly doubt business owners would support that initiative given the current fears about the economy. The NDP also campaigned against the Carbon Tax, which I think a fair percentage of British Columbians view as a progressive move.

The push for the Single Transferable Vote failed spectacularly. I saw many pro-STV campaigners in Victoria, but very few anti-STV campaigners. The No on STV campaign seemed to devote a fair amount of their efforts on television ads. I found the claim that votes would be divided into fractions and that the voter would not know where their vote went to be misleading. The disintegrating ballot that accompanied this statement was clearly intended to invoke an emotional response in the viewer. Overall, I think the No on STV crowd ran a slick and effective, if underhanded, campaign. The Yes on STV crowd didn't appear to make as much use of electronic media as their opponents, to their own detriment. The failure of the referendum in B.C. will probably mean that initiatives for electoral reform will not be seen in Canada for some time.

I'm clearly becoming more of a cynic as far as politics is concerned. I've come to the conclusion that no matter what happens, you lose.

TMI Tuesday #185

I meant to post this Tuesday, but I ended up going out for coffee with a few friends and knocking a painting off of a wall. I'll have to tell you the story sometime.

1. Have you ever bought a membership to a porn site? If yes, what is the most recent one and did you like it?
I have never purchased a membership for a porn site. I can think of a few where I would buy one though. DOMAI is probably chief among them.

2. Would you rather watch an erotic/porn movie, read a story, or listen to an audio? Why?
All three have their selling points. Men are more likely to be aroused by something visual, so that's one for films. Stories allow the imagination to be used to great effect, whether it's creating the perfect scenario or the perfect partner. So that's one for stories. Audio provides something tangible while allowing the imagination to be used (and I find certain sounds to be erotic or alluring) so that's one for audio. Of course, 90% of anything is sh!t.
I would have to say I would prefer video (for obvious reasons) and you can just close your eyes if you want audio only anyway. Stories are a close second. I think a lot of it has to do with what mood I'm in. If I was aroused, I'd probably go for the video. If I was aroused and romantic, I'd go for the story.

3. If you have a significant other what do you do for each other to get in the mood? If you don't, what could a future potential long term partner do to get you in the mood?
I'm honestly not sure. I think it varies from person to person and relationship to relationship. A might find something sexy when B does it, but not when C does it in a relationship a year later.

4. When it comes to sex, how much do you talk about it with others? How comfortable are you talking about sex?
Sex and sexuality is a common topic among my peer group. I don't talk about sex at all with family members and occasionally anonymously. The comfort level has a lot to do with who I'm talking to and how old they are. That said, I know I shouldn't be uncomfortable or embarrassed talking about sex with anyone. I just perceive social conditioning (etiquette, taboos, etc.) to be quite strong and that has a subconscious effect on me.

5. What are the last 5 things you searched for on Google (or another search engine)?
I can only give you the last two: 'epanaphora' and 'Woodstock lyrics.'

Bonus: Have you ever had a fantasy that you were ashamed of?
I can't think of anything scandalous. Just two obvious ones that I think most people have: classmates and the attractive girl next door. Of course, this was back when I thought being ashamed of sexual fantasies was in vogue.

I Get Free Advertising

Thanks to one of Blogger's widgets (or honest charity, I can't be sure)I am hyper linked at the home of that most gracious of cephalopod wordsmiths, The Digital Cuttlefish. Unfortunately, the good poet's blog is dormant. I still highly encourage my readers to pop on over and browse through his (or her?) collection of witty verse. Buy a copy of their book if you feel so inclined, I'm sure he (or she) will appreciate it in these tough times.

I suppose if I'm going to be getting more traffic (unlikely) I should do some more work and post more thoughtful entries more often (even less likely.) So please take the time to move your cursor over to the right and cast a vote. Hopefully, it will give me more focus and a better idea of what my readers like and/or desire.

I'm not going to participate in TMI Tuesday this week, and I haven't participated in it the last two weeks. The questions that were posted were either not applicable to me, or ones that I didn't find particularly interested in answering. Not to mention that most of them weren't very TMI. I wonder if maybe the more TMI questions they had were all used up in the first hundred or so installments. Maybe I'll have to suggest a few to the editors.

On a completely unrelated note, my hair is getting to the length where I would normally get a haircut. I don't want one. I've never had my hair fairly long, and I want to try it. I might get a trim here or there to neaten it up or keep it out of my eyes or ears, but I don't want one of these either. (Sorry, ichthyology joke.)

I also need to start writing some poetry for Storyteller's charity drive. Maybe I'll read some of the works of Sappho first, for some inspiration. (Now isn't that odd!)

Things I Hate #1: Price Tags

I was originally going to start this series by ranting about plastic, but I bought some books a while ago and that caused me to re-direct my ire.

I hate price tags.

Particularly on books. Especially on books. They're difficult to peel off, and sometimes they tear. Even if they don't tear they leave behind a nasty glue residue that's a pain to remove. Sometimes they leave blemishes on the cover. It doesn't matter whether it's a softcover book or a hardcover book.

Why can't book merchants just scan the UPC on the book cover, or use the recommended price printed on the dust jacket? Why can't they enter the USBN-10 or USBN-13 into their computers at the checkout to get the price? Or even the author, publisher, or title? It's not exactly outside the means of the larger book selling companies, like Chapters-Indigo or Waterstone's.

Price tags frustrate me.

TMI Tuesday #181

1. Have you ever had a sexual experience with the opposite sex?
No.

2. When you see someone you like, how do you act, how do you get their attention?
It depends on the person and how I relate to them. Most of the time I get someone's attention by saying 'hello.'

3. Dominate or dominated, which do you prefer?
I'll take the latter over the former. I wouldn't feel comfortable in the position of a dominant. I prefer my partners to be equals.

4. Would you/ Have you ever had a threesome?
I would, but I never have.

5. When was the last time you had sex?
I've never had sex.

6. Sex on the first date...good or bad?
That would depend on the specifics. I'm not going to say it's good or bad...I don't know.

7. Do you have any random or out of the ordinary turn ons?
I can think of quite a few things that could be considered turn-ons, or enhance the sensuality of a sexual experience for me. Long hair, glasses, natural bodies, being out-of-doors, tattoos, fur, spanking(?), red hair, brown hair, expressiveness, "pegging," smaller breasts (I find rather large ones a turn-off), and let's say autogynephilia too.

8. What attributes attract you to a potential partner?
I think intelligence, open-mindedness, and enthusiasm are the important ones. I especially like women that will step out of conventional gender roles and make the first move.

TMI Tuesday #180

1. Have you ever sent or received a sext message?
No. I don't have a cell phone.

2. Have you ever made or received a booty call?
No.

3. Have you ever added or edited a word/entry to Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary or any other online reference?
No.

4. At what age did you have your first consensual sexual experience?
Not applicable.

5. What has been the greatest age difference between you a consensual sexual partner?
Not applicable.

Bonus: Why do you blog?
I think I blog for a lot of reasons. It's something to do. It's a way to express myself pseudo-anonymously without costing anything. It allows me to develop my ideas and practice my writing skills. Of course, there's peer pressure there too. Lots of other people where starting to blog, or had already started, when I did.

TMI Tuesday #179

1. Ever Googled a date, a potential date or an ex?
Nope.

2. Do you gossip?
I guess. Most people do to some extent.

3. How many people do you completely trust?
I can think of several people I trust, but only a few I completely trust. At least one person, for sure.

4. Have you ever had sex in a car?
No. It's on the to-do list.*

5. What is your best flirting technique: innuendo, telling a dirty joke, talking about sex life, or physical contact?
I don't know. I'm not a flirty person.

Bonus: How many times is the most you have ever had sex in a 24 hour period?
For sex, none. Does masturbation count?**

* I meant that as a joke, so only take it semi-seriously.
** You're not finding that number out.

TMI Tuesday #178

1. Don't tell us what it is, but do you have a sexual secret you have never told anyone?
Of course I do.

2. Do you have a nonsexual secret you have never told anyone?
Probably, but I can't think of it.

3. Did you ever tell someone a secret only to have them spill it? What were the repercussions?
I can't recall an incident like that. It's probably happened to me at one point, it seems to happen to lots of people.

4. Did you ever spill a secret someone told you? What were the repercussions?
See my previous answer.

5. Tell us a secret someone told you, however long ago, that you've never told. (You can disguise names or details.)
If I could remember any secrets, I would tell you one.

TMI Tuesday #177

1. Are you pro-marriage? Why or why not?
That would depend on how you define pro-marriage, but generally no. I think marriage is a social institution that government has no business dealing with in the first place. Government gives tax breaks and benefits to those who are married over those that aren't. The same goes for people that have children versus those that don't. Arguably these two things are in the government's interest, because young people stimulate the economy by spending money and providing labour. Even given that, I view it as the government discriminating against those who elect not to get married or have children.
If you define pro-marriage as "heterosexuals only" I'm even more against it because it's obviously discriminatory.

2. Have you ever invented or thought you invented a sexual position?
Not that I'm aware of. But if anyone has invented one, someone else has probably already discovered it first.

3. Do you like to be tied up? Always or sometimes?
I haven't tried that. I'll say yes-sometimes.

4. Do you consider online cybering adultery?
It would depend on the individuals involved in the relationship and the type of relationship they have. At this point in my life my answer would be no.

5. Do you prefer masturbation over real sex?
God, I hope not.

6. Do you want sex more times a day than your partner?
Not applicable to me.

7. Do you get offended when your partner openly flirts with others or are you okay with it?
This isn't applicable to me either. I would say that this answer is also dependent on the individuals in the relationship and the type of relationship they're in.

8. Do you think you're flirty by nature?
I think I'm too serious and introverted to be flirty by nature.

TMI Tuesday #176

1. Is there a sexual act/position/practice that you were sure in advance you would hate (or never try) and then discovered to your surprise you loved?
Nothing comes immediately to mind. Mind you, I haven't experimented a whole lot. My opportunities have been somewhat limited.

2. Is there a sexual act/position/practice that proved a lot less interesting in practice than you thought it would be beforehand?
Not yet. See my previous answer.

3. How do you let your significant other know you're in the mood? How do you let a new person in your life know?
The first question isn't applicable to me; and the second I'm not sure I have an answer for.

4. How does your significant other let you know he/she is in the mood?
Not applicable to me.

5. Is there one that got away - a sexual opportunity you didn't realize was one at the time, or weren't ready for and regret missing ever since?
Not a sexual opportunity. I can think of one opportunity-not a sexual one-that got away, but I couldn't have acted on it anyway. I probably would have been too young to appreciate it as I would now anyway.