Tuesday night notes and links: three fun photos, some good art, and a poem that made me cry
It's a quiet Tuesday night here on the home front; a rare night for me to relax at home and putter. I've got some serious posts coming up later this week on everything from lesbians in women's sports to encouraging young men to challenge sexism amongst their peers, but I'm not in the mood for anything serious tonight.
Some notes and links:
I've got three new, very special photos of Matilde up in this album. Check out this one of her in full descent or this one of her in full dust bath flip. And, since yesterday was my birthday and the second anniversary of Matilde's near-death experience, consider making a tax-deductible donation to her charity. Exciting news about our work coming soon!
Lynn has a good post up about women, visuality, beefcake, and porn. It touches on many issues I've been dealing with, and asks some interesting questions. Please be civil when commenting over there.
Slate magazine linked to my post this morning on politics and virtue. Both evil_fizz and Glenn Sacks sent me notes to let me know about it, and I'm grateful to both of them.
One of my most memorable and talented students in recent years, Courtney Raney, is an artist, and I've been meaning to link to her website. Check out some of what she's done here and here; it's terrific.
If there's a male blogger in the blogosphere on whom I have the famous massive blog crush, it's surely Chris Clarke. He shares with me a passion for justice and a love for the hills of the East Bay Area in Northern California. He's ten times the writer I'll ever be. He put up a poem this past weekend about a baby squirrel he found. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking piece about the choice between sentimental interference with nature on behalf of one little creature, and respect for the harsh but wise choices of the natural ecosystem. At the end of the poem, Chris does what I would not have done. When I first read it, I wept, and I cursed him. When I read it a second time, I nodded my head and honored him for his courage, his humanity and his humble recognition of our rightful powerlessness.
Enough for tonight. I'm going to watch some WNBA (Storm vs. Comets) on ESPN2 and try and figure out who the heck to vote for in the California Democratic primary for secretary of state and lieutenant governor. I welcome suggestions from those who know more about these things than I.
I don't read Chris' stuff enough, so thanks for the reminder. He's definitely an underrated and underappreciated blogger.
Posted by: djw | May 24, 2006 at 01:05 AM
You know, chinchillas are sadly underrepresented at cuteoverload.com - you could do something about that.
Posted by: t. comfyshoes | May 24, 2006 at 07:59 AM
When our son was just a teeny fellow, he had a great concern for the welfare of all living things, so my husband was concerned when he came downstairs one day carrying a moth. He said he was going to put it outside (as it is our habit to do with all insects). My husband was just considering whether he should point out that the moth was already dead, when our little guy said " . . . so bird can eat."
Posted by: older | May 24, 2006 at 04:45 PM
That's the dilemma, isn't it? Perhaps that's why when I imagine heaven, it's a world where all the creatures I love can coexist, lions with lambs, and everything and everyone is happily, joyfully, vegan.
"And there shall be no more killing and eating, no not at all, for the former things have passed away..."
Posted by: Hugo | May 24, 2006 at 05:56 PM