Weekly Linkroll

Summer has arrived in Vermont, at least for the weekend. Hot and muggy and time to clean the carpets? Yeah, don’t ask. But they’re mostly done, and I’m recuperating on the couch with a cold drink and links for you. Enjoy!

What Do We Really Know About Vampires?
From R.G. Emanuelle at Women & Words. House of cards, people.

Copyright and Using the Work of Others
A good reminder from Karen Gadient. Don’t be grabby and rude–a good philosophy to live by.

Hot pants, wobbly toning shoes, and the latest in skinny making fashion
Sam B. at Fit, Feminist, and (almost) Fifty on the scam of exercise fashion. Yoga pants and seaweed?

The Distress of the Privileged
The Weekly Sift dissects privilege and the folks who just want their dinner.

A Safer and More Caring Society
On the anniversary of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, we also mourn the death of Dr. Henry Morgenthaler, the man who succeeded in making abortion legal in Canada. The Belle Jar shares her thoughts in a beautiful essay.

25 Vintage Photos of Librarians Being Awesome
Hannah Meiklejohn shares a great collection of library pics that she reblogged from Flavorwire. Librarians rock.

Let me tell you a thing, about an amazing man named Patrick Stewart
LemonSweetie tells us about her meeting with Patrick Stewart. It’s gonna get dusty.

Casting Lord of the Rings, the gender swap and POC version
This is amazing. Sabrina Vourvoulias at Following the Lede recasts Lord of the Rings. My only question: where’s Gina Torres? She would make an awesome Aragorn, too. Or Boromir. Ooh, wouldn’t that be interesting?

A Transcript of Joss Whedon’s 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Speech
How could I not link to this? Joss Whedon’s commencement address at Wesleyan. Pretty cool. Although I learned that in Billie Jean King‘s commencement address at Williams College today, she played tennis with the audience. Wish I’d seen that!

 

Randomocity for You

So, I was thinking of writing a Words in Progress post today. There have been words and they are progressing. But then I got distracted by Karen’s shiny post about herself and decided to play along. 25 random things about me is the meme. Here’s what I came up with (although some I stole from Karen because I’m kind of lazy).

1. My first drafts are almost always handwritten.
2. I’ve lived in 15 different places (7 states).
3. I’ve lived longer in the place I live now than anywhere else in my life. (just did the math on that; wow, I thought it was just my adulthood)
4. I worked for years as a veterinary technician.
5. I like fast cars. Shiny fast cars.
6. I’ve only owned one, though. It’s still my favorite car, long ago that it was. (a black T-bird named Phaedrus)
7. My current car is a 19 year-old Jeep named Clayton. Yes, I name my vehicles.
8. I’ve considered myself a feminist since I was 15. (35 years now!)
9. I love genealogy. So many stories. (My aunt who attended Mt. Holyoke College in the 1850s. My grandfather who was an Orphan Train rider. My great-grandmother, the piano prodigy, who was forced to marry a man 20-some years her senior instead of going to music school. I have dozens.)
10. Both of my parents are the children of immigrants.
11. My cd and record collection is kind of huge.
12. I’m a Cancer. And married to a Aries. Yes, we are both stubborn and cranky in our own ways. I’m not sure astrology has anything to do with that, though.
13. I like spiders. And snakes.
14. My other grandfather was a pianist for a silent movie theater. (see? So many stories)
15. I’ve seen the Northern Lights twice and want to see them some more.
16. I used to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center when I lived in the Bay Area.
18. I would totally go on a vacation to the moon. (or anywhere in outer space)
19. I have a fondness for Existentialism. (I’m a Whedon fan–kinda goes with the territory)
20. Someday, I want to have a successful enough garden, it produces all the veggies and fruit we need.
21. I support psychedelic research, although I’ve never actually tripped.
22. I love ancient cultures and tribal societies. (well, historic stuff, in general)
23. Yet, I’m just as fascinated with artificial intelligence and future science.
24. I watch at least 2 movies a week, more often than not.
25. I’m always on the lookout for the next perfect pop song. (which very rarely syncs up with what’s actually popular)

Pacific harbor seal in recuperation pool at the Marine Mammal Center. Photo Credit: The Marine Mammal Center (Photo credit: Wikipedia)