NaNoWriMo 2012

Yup, I’m going to do this again. I’m basically going to add 50,000 words to my novel from last year in hopes of finishing it. Wish me luck. I did it once; I can do it again. Of course last time I took a week off work to do it, and this time I’ve already used my vacation. But if other people can do it, so can I.

Nanowrimo Participant 2012

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Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina

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After our corn maze excursion, we visited Stephanie’s grandparent’s gravesite at Arlington Cemetery. And we rounded out the rest of our vacation with visits to Stephanie’s cousin in Philadelphia, one of Stephanie’s childhood friends in Lynchburg, Virginia, and then a visit with our friends Lisa and Jason in Durham. We also met for dinner with my old friend Dennis and his husband Jeff in DC. I took quite a few sight-seeing photos, but in general I steer clear of taking or posting photos of other people’s kids for privacy’s sake. I got to drive by Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, which was cool. I definitely want to go back and stop at some point.

Durham is always a treat to visit. Lots of cool culture stuff going on there, so we have plenty to do, and we visited their Life + Science Museum to go on the “Dinosaur Walk” which is a nice landscaped garden pathway with dinosaur sculptures. Very fun.

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Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

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This special exhibit at the National Gallery was enlightening. I benefited from seeing a collection of Lichtenstein’s work in person; context is quite meaningful in the case of his work – it is, in fact, the point of his work.

It’s one thing to see digital representations of his comic-inspired works and to compare the to some of the comic originals, (a number of critiques complain that the comic originals are “better” than his reproductions – “Lichtenstein made amateurish renditions of art made by better people and better artists than him.”) but the physical size of many of his pieces is impressive and means something in the comparison; Lichtenstein is not just reproducing comic panels, but is also enlarging them to outsized proportions and divorcing them from the rest of their comic story to make commentary on social issues.

The size of his works emphasize the messages and alter their meanings beyond the intent of the comic panels, and the impact of that commentary is not something as easily dismissed when you’re standing in front of a collection of his works. Looking at his works in person, it becomes clear that comparing a 2-inch comic panel and a 10-foot-tall painting that is grouped with other paintings of the same subject matter is a silly and willfully obtuse exercise.

And though Lichtenstein was often influenced by comics, he also took inspiration from MANY other sources and, and his execution of those works is superb; he wasn’t just a painter but produced bold and interesting works in other mediums as well.

In viewing his work, I came away with a dozen creative ideas of my own and a new found respect for an artist I hadn’t understood previously, and for that I’m very glad.

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Washington DC

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Decisions, decisions.

We’re in the DC area for several days to visit Stephanie’s family. Today we’re doing some sightseeing.

UPDATE: We spent the afternoon in the national gallery.

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The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1872. Thomas Eakins.

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Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879. Auguste Renoir.

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The Capitol, Washington, DC

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Lesbian Avengers

Via Lesbian Avengers, the awesome lesbian direct action group that was active in the 1980s and 1990s.

On June 28, 1992 six activist dykes threw down the gauntlet: “LESBIANS! DYKES! GAY WOMEN!… We’re wasting our lives being careful. Imagine what your life could be. Aren’t you ready to make it happen?”

By 1994, a multitude had responded. Twenty thousand dykes marched on Washington. More than sixty chapters sprang up worldwide. The Lesbian Avengers also took “out” gay activism where it had never been before — into the heart of heartland politics where they successfully beat back anti-gay legislation in rural Idaho.

Two decades later, are they ancient history? Or a springboard to the future? It’s up to you.

Lesbian Avengers: We Recruit
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Evolutionary Psychology and its Top Ten Failures

This is worth reading… Via Dr. Beetle: Evolutionary Psychology and its Top Ten Failures.

The dreadful pseudo science of evolutionary psychology is founded upon concepts such as survival of the fittest, selfish genes, inherited instincts and mind modules. It has shot to prominence in science and societies’ thinking, and found many a willing ear.

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