Letters to the Editor
amthoma
Published Letters: 21 Editor's Choice: 4
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Pot. Kettle. Black.
[Read the article: Dancing as fast as she can]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, someone's star is declining, but I'm not sure it's Madonna's. Madonna, hack that she is, will still always be Auntie Mame to Paglia's Agnes Gooch (Agnes Gooch?!?!). And Paglia herself is perhaps the biggest cannibal in the academy to date. HOW many times must she refernce her own work?
If anyone resembles the "pasty, powdered crumpet" of Bette Davis's Baby Jane, it's the decidely un-Dietrich-like Paglia, who--as this article demonstrates--is trying hard to convince herself and supposedly benighted Salon readers that she is relevant.
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I don't know why it's taken so long to reach the mainstream, but . . .
[Read the article: Science fiction for women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are plenty of kick-ass women SF writers, and a number of them are overtly feminist. Below are some of the best-known in the field (and favorites of SF scholars):
Gwyneth Jones
Octavia Butler
Nalo Hopkinson
Joan Slonczewski
Sheri S. Tepper
Nicola Griffith
Joanna Russ
Maureen McHugh
Marge Piercy
Ursula K. Le Guin
Connie Willis
Eleanor Arnason
Melissa Scott
Pat Cadigan
Suzy McKee Charnas
James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon)
Margaret Atwood
and as Rockwell mentioned, Lois McMaster Bujold
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Slippery Slope
[Read the article: Holy "Handmaid's Tale," Batman!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, those recommendations do sound "reasonable," but I still can't help thinking that the health of my hypothetical fetus is such an issue because soon (possibly) I won't have the choice of whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. That decision will be made for me, much like decisions were made for Offred and the other American women in the novel. Most of those women didn't make much of a fuss in the beginning, either, when they began to lose "small" everyday freedoms in the days before Gilead was formed--and look where it got them. Far better to make an unreasonable amount of noise about it now than to regret that we did nothing later.
Atwood was responding to the influence of the religious right in the 1980s, but this era, with its erosion of choices for women who (gasp!) want to take charge of their own repoductivity, is far scarier. I live in a city where local contractors refused to pour concrete for the new Planned Parenthood facility--and in a state where pharmacists routinely refuse to fill birthh control prescriptions. So, yeah, I think it's perfectly natural to view these recommendations with some suspicion.
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"Minor" writer?
[Read the article: Stranger than science fiction]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tiptree is one of the giants of science fiction. Just because that particular field is still marginalized--often considered inferior to the literary mainstream--doesn't mean that she is marginal. It's not an exaggeration to say that she revolutionized SF; her influence ranged far and wide, and not simply in terms of gender. William Gibson couldn't have written _Burning Chrome_ or _Neuromancer_ (and thus spawned the whole cyberpunk phenomenon) if it weren't for Tiptree's "The Girl Who Was Plugged In."
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One more Daily Show vote
[Read the article: The sexiest man living!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Demetri Martin: goofy and lovely.
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Raw (Goat) Milk in Austin
[Read the article: The udder truth]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]White Egret Farm: http://www.whiteegretfarm.com/
The owner caught hell from the Texas Department of Health a while back (illegal retail sale of raw milk), but they're still in business. And they deliver!
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And this is good news?
[Read the article: Camille's back!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Although seeing the caricature of her face made me wince in alarm, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and actually read the piece. I even tried to ignore the incessant "I, me, my, I'm on CSPAN" tics, but really it's impossible. She's not edgy; she's a predictable contrarian whose narcissistic streak makes her work almost unbearable to read. Please, please reconsider bringing her back.
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Hooray!
[Read the article: Salon's new letters registration policy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I look forward to reading the letters again--I had stopped when the trolls seemed to outnumber everyone else. Thanks!
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Peter Power
[Read the article: Finale wrap-up: "Heroes"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OK, so maybe it's a dumb question, but if Peter can absorb the powers of those around him, then why didn't HE fly up into the air to explode? (I realize that would negate the sacrifice of Nathan, but still, it bugged me.)
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My sympathies
[Read the article: I hate my cat!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're describing my cat, basically. I rescued him at three weeks, and certainly I've regretted doing so at different points over the ensuing 15 years. But I will say this: age has mellowed him--somewhat. I've found that he feels secure with a fairly strict routine (feeding, changing of cat box, arrangement of bedding places, etc.), and although he's still pretty aggressive when people come over, he's less likely to swat at them than he used to be. Or less likely to draw blood, anyway. My friends know the drill, so I don't even get embarrassed about his behavior anymore. Like your cat, he never had much interest in toys, though occasionally I can distract him with a bag of catnip. He never even learned how to groom himself until I got another cat. He's the most neurotic, aggressive, idiosyncratic animal I've ever had, and yes, he made my life miserable. But I have a ferocious love for that cat, maybe precisely because he is such a pain in the ass. He is affectionate--in his own weird way--toward me, and the crazy thing actually pined for me when I left him for one summer. I guess since he didn't really have a mother, I am his.
So I don't really know what to tell you. I don't imagine it will get much better for you, and yes, those vet visits are traumatic (ask them to gas him in his cage before the examination next time--it seems cruel, but it's much easier for everyone concerned). I simply stopped going a few years ago because he's an indoor-only cat, and those visits were taking a year off my life and his. Terrible, I know. Honestly, the only thing that helped a little bit was having another cat around who had been properly socialized. My cat was fascinated with the kitten I introduced into his world years ago, and he is now as protective of that cat as he is of me. Of course, introducing a new cat is a dangerous proposition for cats like ours, since you never know how they'll react. Plus, it's not so nice for the kitten to have to learn to deal with a neurotic brute.
Good luck to you--I've made peace with my decision, but I certainly felt exactly like you did three years into it.