Ten to Eight to Eight

fishingboatproceeds: Happy 88th birthday to the Great American...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:27:05 -0700

fishingboatproceeds:

Happy 88th birthday to the Great American Novel.

chernova: Teresa Oman by Ira Chernova style - Anastasia...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:00:48 -0700

chernova:

Teresa Oman by Ira Chernova

style - Anastasia Patellis

ckck: Monochrome Sweden. View bigger.

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:01:40 -0800

ckck:

Monochrome Sweden.

View bigger.

Photo

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:08:10 -0800

How long has Tumblr had Spotify integration? In other news, I...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:45:29 -0800

How long has Tumblr had Spotify integration?

In other news, I have recently become infatuated with (some) pop music. Curious.

squeak

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:22:55 -0700

*squeak*

alwaysdancingwithmyself: I love Luna, I feel like I’m just like...

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:12:08 -0700

alwaysdancingwithmyself:

I love Luna, I feel like I’m just like Luna in some ways. Many ways. Few ways. :)

I love Luna.

I love owls.

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:11:37 -0700

I love owls.

fishingboatproceeds: This is Jennifer Pinches, an Olympic...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:28:01 -0700

fishingboatproceeds:

This is Jennifer Pinches, an Olympic gymnast representing Great Britain who is also REPRESENTING NERDFIGHTERIA.

That’s right. There’s a nerdfighting gymnast in the Olympics.

A throwback to an old post on the article "Hard Core" by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:24:09 -0700

A throwback to an old post on the article "Hard Core" by Natasha Vargas-Cooper:

Reading my comments from a year and a half ago is fascinating! Apparently, then, while I disagreed with the author’s message, I was impressed by the article.

Now as I reread it, the article comes off as a piece of sensationalistic, anti-feminist, anti-humanist, repulsively stereotyping, pseudo-intellectual and unscientific bullshit.

What a terrible mess. Vargas-Cooper makes broad generalizations about the male psyche from … well, from nowhere really. The one anecdote below is the only bit of “evidence” for her case that makes much sense, and of course the one experience really says nothing about the gender as a whole.

And honestly, she throws out sentences like “But equality in sex can’t be achieved.” What a contrarian and cynical piece of work this is.…

So perhaps men are inherently aggressive, perhaps men do have a subconscious desire to debase women during sex—but I doubt it. Vargas-Cooper asserts this claim but does not support it with any real content. And then of course there is the argument I made in my previous comment; being able to shape ourselves (to a certain extent) and defy our biology (to a certain extent) is what it means to be human.

Previous-me made a very good argument below, but I think I was being a bit too generous.

… Am I smarter now, or just meaner?

102828:

…he asked if we could have anal sex. I asked why, seeing as how any straight man who has had experience with anal sex knows that it’s a big production and usually has a lot of false starts and abrupt stops. He answered, almost without thought, “Because that’s the only thing that will make you uncomfortable.” This was, perhaps, the greatest moment of sexual honesty I’ve ever experienced—and without hesitation, I complied. This encounter proves an unpleasant fact that does not fit the feminist script on sexuality: pleasure and displeasure wrap around each other like two snakes.

I actually read this article from another link on my dashboard the other day. I found it somewhat depressing. My immediate reaction was that the author is full of shit, but then I thought maybe I just didn’t want to believe it. Overall, I think there are va[l]id points here, but also things I disagree with.

There are 2 main points about male sexuality which jumped out at me. The first is that in sex, males are inherently aggressive and take pleasure in the displeasure of their partners (as seen in the excerpt above). While I was appalled by this at first, I can now see plausibility in this. But I don’t think I would ever want to make someone else uncomfortable for my own sexual pleasure (granted, I haven’t had any experience upon which to base this view). This is because I disagree with another point Vargas-Cooper made.

She is very adamant that primal urges overpower reasonability and “civility” during sex. And I just can’t bring myself to believe this. See, while I can agree with this part:

While sexual aggression and the desire to debase women may not be what arouse all men, they are certainly an animating force of male sexuality. They may be unattractive and even, if taken to extremes, dangerous, but they’re not, perhaps alas, deviant.

I can’t come to terms with her statement that, “the sort of sex…where respect, love, and civic connections are merged into erotically rewarding experience—is utopian.” I don’t think that it’s so far-fetched that men can’t conquer their intrinsic desires and have a satisfying experience. I really don’t. Humans have a sort of consciousness that allows us not to do what we immediately want to do. And, though I often have facepalm moments, I feel pretty optimistic about the abilities of humans. Awareness is a good step—I know I’ll keep this article in mind in the future.

What do you think?

Hank's Tumblr: Solving a Problem

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:52:24 -0700

Hank's Tumblr: Solving a Problem:

edwardspoonhands:

So every once in a while, someone (or a couple of someones) will get it into their heads that it’d be cool to come visit us in real life by tracking down our addresses and knocking on our doors, or leaving presents on our doorstep or in our mail box.

As harmless as that no doubt is, it is for…

Photo

Sat, 26 May 2012 21:58:50 -0700

"Peter Van Houten wore a white linen suit, tailored to account for his rotundity, a powder-blue dress..."

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:12:43 -0700

“Peter Van Houten wore a white linen suit, tailored to account for his rotundity, a powder-blue dress shirt, and a green tie. He looked like he was dressed for a colonial occupation of Panama, not a funeral. The minster said, “Let us pray,” but as everyone else bowed their head, I could only stare slack-jawed at the sight of Peter Van Houten. After a moment, he whispered, “We gotta fake pray,” and bowed his head.”

- John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

That time in Manhattan I felt empathy for every person on the...

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:15:07 -0700

That time in *Manhattan* I felt empathy for every person on the sidewalk. Share a memory from a place you’ve been.

Wander is very … interesting.

photojojo: Rad idea: Shoot portraits under different...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:28:21 -0700

photojojo:

Rad idea: Shoot portraits under different wavelengths than our eyes are used to seeing.

Cara Phillips shot these photos under UV light.

UV Light Portraits

via Fubiz

prostheticknowledge: Sloth photobombs holiday picture [via The...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:46:53 -0700

prostheticknowledge:

Sloth photobombs holiday picture

[via The Telegraph UK]

Jupiter and Venus from Earth by Marek Nikodem See more photos...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:50:13 -0700

Jupiter and Venus from Earth by Marek Nikodem

See more photos here.

Oh look, Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg, just chilling on the...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:12:52 -0700

Oh look, Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg, just chilling on the set of Nero Fiddled.

My excitement for this new Woody Allen film is immense. It also stars Alec Baldwin and Wooy Allen himself. Wow.

On Kony 2012, sloppily reposted from my Facebook

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:44:00 -0800

So Kony 2012 is the most brilliant/terrifying/closest-to-brainwashing use of social media I have ever seen, and you should all both watch the video and support the cause (though I would focus on raising awareness rather than donating money to Invisible Children, since the organization’s use of funds is somewhat dubious/not very transparent - e.g. see here - a little bit of skepticism is good, I think).

HOWEVER, I think it is always good to do some research before blindly committing to something. Is this campaign more feel-good or do-something? I think it has the potential to be both, but everyone should remember that the second part is the important one. The importance is to keep up the momentum of the issue, and not let it become a thing-that-people-talked-about-that-one-time. John and Hank Green both wrote really good analyses about the various facets of this campaign that are definitely worth reading.

I think it is also good to keep in mind that there are other terrible things going on in the world: Syrians are being slaughtered by their own government, millions of people lack access to clean water, and millions more who are enslaved, many as prostitutes.

I am not saying this to be obnoxious or dismal. I just want people to know that the energy your are bringing, rightfully, to Kony 2012 can be extended to further issues. There are many things to be solved, and many things we can help solve. But we have to persist.

John Green's tumblr: Kony 2012

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:24:08 -0800

John Green's tumblr: Kony 2012:

edwardspoonhands:

Apologies for my stunned silence in the face of the Kony 2012 movement and the internet’s explosion of power. I’ve never felt like the whole internet has simultaneously pushed down the same keys at the same time. Not even the response to SOPA made me feel this level of…

Ten to Eight to Eight

fishingboatproceeds: Happy 88th birthday to the Great American...

chernova: Teresa Oman by Ira Chernova style - Anastasia...

ckck: Monochrome Sweden. View bigger.

Photo

How long has Tumblr had Spotify integration? In other news, I...

*squeak*

alwaysdancingwithmyself: I love Luna, I feel like I’m just like...

I love owls.

fishingboatproceeds: This is Jennifer Pinches, an Olympic...

A throwback to an old post on the article "Hard Core" by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Hank's Tumblr: Solving a Problem

Photo

"Peter Van Houten wore a white linen suit, tailored to account for his rotundity, a powder-blue dress..."

That time in *Manhattan* I felt empathy for every person on the...

photojojo: Rad idea: Shoot portraits under different...

prostheticknowledge: Sloth photobombs holiday picture [via The...

Jupiter and Venus from Earth by Marek Nikodem See more photos...

Oh look, Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg, just chilling on the...

On Kony 2012, sloppily reposted from my Facebook

John Green's tumblr: Kony 2012

squeak

That time in Manhattan I felt empathy for every person on the...