commonplacebook.com – Page 25 – The online journal, notebook and playground of HFM

Adorable Trans Teen Couple

Post author:HFM
Post published:November 13, 2012
Post category:GLBT Issues

From the Daily Mail is this story on the cutest trans teen couple ever:

To the casual observer, this young couple look just like any other teenagers in love.

But pretty Katie Hill and her boyfriend Arin Andrews share a unique bond – they were both born as the opposite sex.

Katie, 18, spent the first 15 years of her life as Luke, son of a Marine colonel, while Arin, 16, was born a girl called Emerald who excelled at ballet dancing and won beauty contests.

Both struggled with their sexuality all through their childhoods and were teased and bullied but their lives were changed when they both began hormone therapy and later met at a trans support group in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and instantly fell in love.

Unfortunately the headline and some of the text is phrased in really problematic ways because the Daily Mail is a pretty big insensitive rag of a media outlet, but their story is the cutest thing and very much worth reading.

Arin Andrews and Katie Hill

Also check out the video with the story.

NaNoWriMo 2012 – Day 9

Post author:HFM
Post published:November 9, 2012
Post category:My Writing Writing

8. 13,336 – 2750 (14497, +1161)

Those are my notations for Day 8 of National Novel Writing Month.

13,336 – that’s “par for the course” or the least word count for day 8 to stay on track to “win.”

2750 – the number of words I wrote yesterday.

14497 – total word count for November 2012. I have the chapters I wrote last year, but I’m not counting them in this years’ event. Some of those will get trashed and some considerably altered when I’m finished.

+1161 – the number of words I have as a “word count cushion” over the minimum to stay on course.

So I’m keeping up the pace pretty well. I’m poised to do more this weekend that I hope will really put me ahead. I have a pretty clear idea of where I’m going, too, but I’m trying to be flexible enough to make sure I can make changes. As our friend Garrett says – “Know where you’re going, but use a compass and not a road map.”

I have a much more fully formed notion of setting this year than last, which really helps me add detail to scenes and paint a more interesting visual picture than last year, and helped me add detail to the action as well. And I think I have a more complete and satisfying ending in mind that I did last year, with some nice turning points to get us there.

I’m very optimistic that I can get closer to complete by the end of November, and ready to polish. My goal is to have it ready to show my editor – that would be Stephanie – by February. I have one or two other people I want to get feedback from as well. And with editing and revisions based on feedback, I’d really like to have it ready for publication by the end of April. I’m going to use Book Tango to self-publish for e-publication, I think. I don’t have an agent lined up or anything, so I don’t anticipate being able to get the attention of a traditional publisher at first. We’ll see.

Only on afterellen.com would lesbian stalkers be a feel good story

Post author:HFM
Post published:November 1, 2012
Post category:GLBT Issues Writing

Only on that site would no one question a story like this:

The 8 Craziest Pop Culture Lesbian Stalkers

When you hear the term “lesbian stalker,” it’s usually referencing someone you or your friend broke up with that you just can’t get away from. Well I’m sorry to say but lesbian communities are oh-so-small, my friends, and we’re all someone’s crazy ex. But sometimes there are legitimate stalkers who send Ellen Page creepy letters or sit outside Kerry Katona’s house. I’d like to think these people aren’t truly lesbian but just women who are weirdly obsessed with celebrities. But that doesn’t mean true lesbian stalkers don’t exist in the wonderful world of film and TV tropes! In fact, the obsessive gay woman that is willing to go to any length to have what she wants is quite popular. And because it’s that time of year when you like to cuddle up with your closest ladyfriend and watch a scary story, how about one of these true nuts?

Given that the “Predatory Lesbian” trope is even called out as a massive anti-gay stereotype on TV Tropes.com, which actually takes the time to note that much of the time, heterosexual people wrote these stories to scare women back into the closet and to justify homophobic behavior towards lesbians, one would think that a list like this from After Ellen would, I dunno… maybe include why this trope is problematic in it’s portrayal of lesbian characters?

But of course After Ellen would never ever question whether pop-culture’s portrayals of gay women are problematic, because they’re owned and managed by a pop-culture producer themselves, and giving actual critique of a semi-political nature wouldn’t be good for their bottom-line.

Sigh. I don’t know why I read this site anymore, really.

NaNoWriMo 2012

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 30, 2012
Post category:My Writing Writing

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.

Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 30, 2012
Post category:Travel

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.

Temple Hill Corn Maze and Fall Festival

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 21, 2012
Post category:Travel

We spent the afternoon at a corn maze and fall festival, with pumpkin shooting and pig races. Lots of fun.

Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 21, 2012
Post category:Art

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.

Lichtenstein: Entablature.

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.

Washington DC

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 20, 2012
Post category:Travel

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.

The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1872. Thomas Eakins.

Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879. Auguste Renoir.

The Capitol, Washington, DC

The Sound of Cylons

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 16, 2012
Post category:Funny Videos Television

So awesome.

Lesbian Avengers

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 15, 2012
Post category:Feminism & Women's Issues GLBT Issues

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.