What is the female form of emasculating? I don’t think English has one. Why do we have a word for making a man less of a man, but no word for making a woman less of a woman? Is femininity so bullet proof? I think not. In practical terms, “motherhood” will probably serve, despite being the most feminine status possible. Body changes, sleep deprivation, and the touched-out feeling that comes from days spent with toddlers all join forces to strip women of the very thing that made (most of us- adoptive moms represent!) mothers in the first place – our sexuality. Read More
ByGD
In Which I Love Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Roméo et Juliette Immoderately
You kiss by the book(let)
Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure…this one left them all behind.
This line from The Princess Bride kept running through my head during Roméo et Juliette at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Since I first saw ballet, there have been four instances that left the others behind. Read More
ByGD
In Which a Review of American Gods Turns into a Writing Riff
Fiction changes lives. I haven’t written fiction since middle school. (Except that one NaNo novel in 2008, but that was therapy.) Even so, I am subject to that universal writerly neurosis – I secretly think that deep inside me lies hidden the great American novel. At least I think it’s universal. Maybe other technical writers are perfectly happy with what they do. Maybe novelists secretly dream of writing that perfectly researched narrative nonfiction.
Anyway. When I got back from Airwaves, an idea for a story popped into my head; a few characters, some themes, a couple of scenes. This is nothing new in itself. I’ve walked around narrating stories in my head that I had no intention of ever writing down since – well, since I stopped writing them down in middle school. But these characters wouldn’t go away. Whatever else I was doing, a part of my brain was thinking about these broken characters and the shit they were going through. Since another good chunk of my brain has been following my kids around in this manner for the past five years, it left precious little attention for the tasks at hand, which has, unfortunately, been noted at the day job. Read More
ByGD
Stevens Passages: Full Family Snowboarding
New Year’s Day, 2013 launched ski season here in the crooked little shack. It’s not just any ski season. For our family of four, this is the family ski base year. The scene: Stevens Pass. Allow me to introduce the players. Read More
ByGD
GOJIRA! GOJIRA DA YO! (at Studio Seven)
Caressing strings
After (not) seeing the first two bands at Studio Seven, I knew that I couldn’t just listen to Gojira when they played Studio Seven. I had to see the stage. I unloaded camera and coat on long-suffering spouse who camped against a pillar. It had been a long time since I worked my way through a crowd like that, so I was out of practice with the “This small girl pushing past you is so harmless you’ve already forgotten her,” mind trick. Plus, the Gojira fans were notably protective of their space. I made it as far as the next pillar before a group of very tall guys blocked my way. Currents of aggression swirled through the crowd. Read More