pop culture

Monday various

Wednesday various

Monday various

  • The first four Harry Potter books condensed. Lovely. [via]
  • Geeks, Girls, and Media Misogyny: The Saga Continues:

    I can accept that questioning a actor or actress about their geek bona fides when part of their job involves selling their project to the public, including the geeky public, and especially when it’s a geeky project may seem like a good idea, except for one thing: it’s only women whose geek cred is called into question, time and again.

    If nothing else, arguing that sexy women can’t be geeks seems to be forgetting one simple thing: smart, geeky women are sexy.

  • Writers and Kitties. Does exactly what it says on the cat food tin. [via]
  • I think what I like most about this article from the New York Times about booksellers who are also authors is this revelation from author Jonathan Lethem:

    “I have the habit of accumulation,” he said. “When I first met my wife, my kitchen cabinets were full of books.

  • And finally, seriously Marie Claire? Seriously, “nutritionists”? Easily the most ridiculous is the woman who skips lunch and then eats an entire box of macaroons for dessert at night. There’s a lot of calorie counting going on in almost all of these, but very little healthy eating. [via]

Saturday

Today, I mailed out contributor and subscriber copies of the latest issue of Kaleidotrope. I got a haircut. I cleaned a little. I wrote a little. I saw a little bit of the royal wedding, on repeat, finding myself more interest in the architectural grandeur of Westminster Abbey itself than any of the rest of it. (I wasn’t able to go inside when I was in England.) And I watched Birdemic: Shock and Terror, although I don’t think I could have made it through the film with a little help from RiffTrax.

So that was my Saturday.

Thursday various

  • English Teacher Writes Racy Novels. Which…what? Should be grounds for firing the teacher? It’s not as if she assigned the novels as readings for her class, or even mentioned them to her students; by all accounts, she kept her writing life very separate, if not secret, and I don’t see why this should be anybody’s business, much less a problem.

    “Now my son knows so how is he thinking when he’s sitting in her class knowing what she does on the side,” said parent Wendy Apple.

    To which I say, maybe it’s time you and your son both grew up, then. The woman is allowed to have a personal life, and has committed no crime or obvious impropriety. And, honestly, if you’re trying to get a 10th-grade boy to quit thinking about sex, whatever the circumstances, you’re fighting a losing battle. [via]

  • Oscar Wilde takes on Jersey Shore. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
  • TSA security looks at people who complain about…TSA security.

    “This violation of my Constitutional rights in the service of fear-mongering and creating the illusion of safety is really — oh no! They’ve caught on to my nefarious plan!” [via]

  • When words change meaning. [via]
  • And finally, because it was only a matter of time, Infographic of Infographics [via]