it's like the eye of a duck

Just became aware of the fact that there are two art exhibits of interest going on locally, in the same museum: Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting (6/18 - 9/17) and The Poetry of Light: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art (4/20 - 10/1). Any interested parties?

Said it once, but it bears repeating: hie thouself to chaucerhathblog.

He doesn't post often, but each is a gem - today's is a parody of an interview with Paris Hilton. I didn't know it was possible to speak Valley Girl in old English (hint: it uses "lyk" a lot :P)

I knew I discussed this with someone at K.Zoo, and I've likely mentioned it elsewhere as well - imagine my surprise when cryptomundo coughed up this article this morning.

Long story short: Oliver is a 32 year old chimpanzee who has always walked upright (there are a lot of photos at the link - more than I've ever seen anywhere else). He made the rounds of circuses as a "baby bigfoot" or some such back in the day; tests later proved he was a genetically ordinary chimpanzee who happens to walk upright, for whatever reason. He's in the news again because his host animal sanctuary is falling into disrepair.

So.. not a Bigfoot, but interesting nonetheless. The person/people I was discussing this with over the weekend suggested that long exposure to humans caused Oliver to imitate their upright stance, and I suppose that's possible (Disclaimer: I am not a zoologist/primatologist), even though IIRC ape physiology would make it unlikely as the head is set too far forward on the spine to make it practical - perhaps standing upright for so long has deformed Oliver's spine? I'd love to get Jane Goodall's take on this (yes, I know, that's what Google is for but I've gotta go to work :P)

Were I not an old married thing, would you please marry me?? For your address to the White House Press Corp. In front of the president(!!!) Seldom have I seen such artful heights of snark combined with such astoundingly brass huevos!

This is beeyootiful, people! Transcript here if you can't watch the video.

Via tinynibbles, with her take here.

The article re: women can ovulate multiple times per cycle for those who didn't want to dig through the Salon article from a few posts back.

geekchick's post (from many different places, but hers is the most succint) about the Sioux President who wants to start a Planned Parenthood clinic on reservation lands in South Dakota. Reservation land = South Dakota state laws have no jurisdiction. There's even info on donating, check it out :)

Ok, perhaps not literally, but it is a social medium. Check out this episode (mp3) of Berkeley Groks where they interview Jerry Michalski about social networks and the future of the Internet.

I liked the interview because it points out what IMHO is one of the big, mostly ignored facets of the internet - for all it's value in commerce, advertising, file sharing/distribution etc. the internet started out primarily as a place for people to interact. As an introverted AND shy teenager with weird interests, Prodigy and the like were a godsend when I was looking for other people who liked (hell, had heard of) 808 State and the other very specific musical tastes I cultivated in high school. In college half my social life was built around a telnet-accessed chatroom called VRave (I first "met" D. there - details if interested), because even locally, I found it easier to express myself in text than face to face. I'm not as awkward as I used to be, but this medium still helps me enormously: I've made great friends through LJ and various mailing lists (you know who you are).

Despite all the legitimate worries about frauds and stalkers online, I think it's worth considering that some of us find the anonymity of the Internet as an opportunity to be more ourselves - speak up when in person we'd be awkward, about subjects we'd have trouble touching face to face, in a medium where you're judged not by how you look but by what you say and how well you say it. It's also useful if you have odd or specific interests and have difficulty finding people (local or not) who share them.

I think that these benefits are one of the reasons why "trolls" chap my hide so damn much. Instead of using mailing lists, chat rooms etc. to connect, they either 1) deliberately ignore the fact that the names on their screen are Real People, and view all their offenses as "not really mattering" because they weren't face to face, or 2) exploit the anonymity to be a shit to everyone because online there's no one physically there to punch them in the nose for being an asshole. In short, they use the medium to be less, rather than more, than they could be, I suspect because they're either cruel or cowards, or both.

So - is the internet a tool or a crutch? Are the people you "meet" online your friends, or just ciphers on a screen (or something in between)? Thoughts?

Introverts of the World, Unite!, a follow up by the author of the link from my prior post. Evidently the original article got quite a reaction!

Worth reading the whole thing; Rauch's suggestion that the Internet has had a benefit for "innie" communications especially resonates with me (more ponderings on internet socializing later on).

Meanwhile: remember, remember, the 5th of November - who else is going to "V for Vendetta" tonight?

Last night I joined skill_grl and her friend M. for a lecture on 19th century pattern drafting by Saundra Altman and Ericka Mason.

VERY, very good and thought-provoking. First time I've seen transitional garments and patterns for the period between the 1780s/90s (think "Dangerous Liasons") and 1800-1810 (think "Emma") and some discussion of how clothes developed from one into the other. Also "petting zoo" (i.e., extant garments that the audience could examine up close/handle with care) and I got to try on a muslin for a men's frock early 19th c. frock coat (I have GOT to make one! Another project for the neverending pile). Also learned a little about some very nice software; who knows - maybe I'll run into a place that has it at some point.

It was fun and interesting and a bit socially overwhelming - it turned out that I knew a LOT of people attending, from the ICG and the CSA, and it was good to touch base with some people I've not seen in months. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted, and am still running on little more than fumes today. I was just too wound up from talking to people and learning new stuff that it took me awhile to get to sleep :/

Today: work, plus math homework plus studying for the midterm. Ran across this thing awhile back, discussing how 1) no, algebra really IS necessary and 2) dyscalculia is a real learning disability (discussed by seamstrix awhile back - I tend to agree that facility in math does help with problem solving and logical, ordered thinking - programming prerequisites apart, these are some of the reasons I'm buckling down and taking it. I think everyone uses at least a little math, even if it's only to measure for cooking or figuring out tip. And to keep the two halves of this post from being completely tangential to each other - a goodly bit of math is needed to pattern draft, even with software.

More reasons to need math discussed here and here.

No more math for me tonight. Deeply tired. Think I'll have an early(ish) night.

Due to uncertainty about the dinner menu this week, I've spent more time than usual in the grocery check out line. I'm starting to notice repeating themes in the articles in gossip/celebrity/women's magazines that always sit there. It's so regular it's astounding - I don't even have to pick them up, because it's all right there on the cover:

1) Sadistic gourmet/"housekeeping" type magazines that feature articles about "5 easy desserts your family will LOVE!" listed right next to "lose the last 5 pounds" or similar. So.... the reader of the magazine is supposed to make the 5 desserts for someone else (boyfriend/husband? Kids?) but not eat them herself because of the aforementioned 5 lbs/flabby thighs/whatever. WTF?

2) Sex tips about "how to drive him WILD in bed!!" What about how he can drive you wild in bed? Or how you can drive yourself wild in bed?

3) Articles in magazines fretting about how one celebrity or another has lost too much weight, or alternately, gained too much weight - often right next to each other in the stands. While I guess it's reassuring that they're featuring something other than models who look picture perfect all the time, it's starting to look a bit like a freak show :P

3a) Tangential to 3: Not quite sure why the obsession with celebrity goings and doings beyond the fact that lots of them are pretty and have live lives the likes of which most of us mere mortals will never see. It's not as if any of them do much beyond being aesthetically pleasing and entertaining (and when they do, charity work and the like isn't glamorous, and is hardly going to be on the cover). It's much more interesting to wonder why some people get so fascinated by lives of the rich and famous - I'm reminded of a former co worker who went off on a tangent about how terrible Prince Charles was to Diana and I was surprised at the level of her outrage about people she didn't even know....

I found a link some time ago from someone who's evidently put a lot more thought into this than I have and found patterns of her/his own - I guess I'm not the only one who thinks these things.

Found this over at the delightfully named blog "Granny Gets A Vibrator": Fifty two year old woman gets buff. Opinions differ. Namely, people either find her muscles disgusting or sexy, when for her it's not about looks - it's about being strong. She also quotes from the woman from Stumptuous, who inspired me to lift heavier things, so extra cool points in my book :)

I don't lift anywhere at this woman's level, but I've already heard a few misgivings about the possibility of bulking up. Specifically, when I told my mom I was starting to lift freeweights she expressed a fear that I'd start to look like a woman bodybuilder.

I could understand if her reservations were about my health. The way I understand it (from Stumptuous and elsewhere): female bodybuilders only look that huge during competition, and the extremely muscled ones are possibly taking steroids. Being that ripped all the time would be unhealthy and unattainable for most women, so if that was my aim it would be a valid concern.

But Mom said "look" like a bodybuilder. Not that it would be possible for me to bulk up that much and still be healthy, but would it matter that much if I didn't meet her (or anyone else's) ideal of beauty? It wouldn't be the first time :P

No, what interests me is having a body that is able to do things. I admit I've not been lifting much or regularly of late, partly out of laziness and partly out of time constraints, but I want to make more time for it because even though my upper body strength has improved enormously over what it was, say, two years ago, I still find it woefully inadequate for my purposes. Over and over again my problem is endurance - I start out strong but can't keep it up. This is an impediment in all sorts of activities, from fencing through taking out the garbage and more. When someone says "hit harder!", I want to be able to! (Speaking of which, anyone got any good tips/tricks for improving endurance?)

And the oddest thing about my interest in fitness is that I have it at all: I was the stereotypical "kid picked last for kickball" through my entire kindergarten-high school career and only took jogging in college because it was a requirement, and now I've done a near 180 on my stance about fitness! I never did learn to appreciate team sports, but I can definitely see the benefits of regular physical exercise. Especially for young girls - it's good that they learn that their bodies are capable of doing things other than be looked at.