Today in Higher Ed: fanfic and gay penguins!

I regularly read parts of The Chronicle of Higher Education; I get an e-mailed list of articles with links every workday, and it's helpful for those moments when I feel like I'm about to fall asleep over an academic article. The Chronicle gives a nice change of pace. Not usually this radical a change, however.

These links both come from outside The Chronicle and so should be accessible to all.

First, from The Literary Review of Canada Online, we have "Friction over Fan Fiction" by Grace Westcott. I think Westcott (and no doubt others) do not appreciate the sophistication with which online readers read; I mean, really, I've found stories where I can't get through the first two paragraphs because the author knows nothing about writing, but I've never found any evidence of anyone thinking that fanfic has the blessing of the original author or creator or that bad fanfic diminishes the original work. There's not a lot new in the article, but it is lovely to see that a law professor at Georgetown writes fanfic and is willing to use her real name in her fight for truth, justice, and the fanfic way. (If only I were so brave!)

Also in the "not new but interesting" category, we have, from Scientific American, "Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom," by Emily V. Driscoll. This article does worry me a little. I don't think we're slaves to our biology, so parallels with animal behavior only go so far; I hope no one will attempt to take such research as justification for polygamy, mentioned late in the article as a productive family structure in some circumstances. On the other hand, I worry that people reading this will say, "See? Even the experts say the animals aren't really homosexual but bisexual; gays and lesbians could be straight if they wanted!" Then again, people have been saying that for centuries anyway, without the animal research.

I must admit that the story of Roy and Silo at the beginning warmed the cockles of even my mostly-gen little heart. I don't slash John and Rodney at all, but I do think those penguin icons are pretty cute. Feel free to use one in the comments. And I did read a story in which they adopted an egg! When you get to the end, you find that Roy and Silo are not, apparently, an OTP. Still, I hope they remain friends. :-)

Now back to that article in Italian....

Today in Higher Ed: fanfic and gay penguins!

I regularly read parts of The Chronicle of Higher Education; I get an e-mailed list of articles with links every workday, and it's helpful for those moments when I feel like I'm about to fall asleep over an academic article. The Chronicle gives a nice change of pace. Not usually this radical a change, however.

These links both come from outside The Chronicle and so should be accessible to all.

First, from The Literary Review of Canada Online, we have "Friction over Fan Fiction" by Grace Westcott. I think Westcott (and no doubt others) do not appreciate the sophistication with which online readers read; I mean, really, I've found stories where I can't get through the first two paragraphs because the author knows nothing about writing, but I've never found any evidence of anyone thinking that fanfic has the blessing of the original author or creator or that bad fanfic diminishes the original work. There's not a lot new in the article, but it is lovely to see that a law professor at Georgetown writes fanfic and is willing to use her real name in her fight for truth, justice, and the fanfic way. (If only I were so brave!)

Also in the "not new but interesting" category, we have, from Scientific American, "Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom," by Emily V. Driscoll. This article does worry me a little. I don't think we're slaves to our biology, so parallels with animal behavior only go so far; I hope no one will attempt to take such research as justification for polygamy, mentioned late in the article as a productive family structure in some circumstances. On the other hand, I worry that people reading this will say, "See? Even the experts say the animals aren't really homosexual but bisexual; gays and lesbians could be straight if they wanted!" Then again, people have been saying that for centuries anyway, without the animal research.

I must admit that the story of Roy and Silo at the beginning warmed the cockles of even my mostly-gen little heart. I don't slash John and Rodney at all, but I do think those penguin icons are pretty cute. Feel free to use one in the comments. And I did read a story in which they adopted an egg! When you get to the end, you find that Roy and Silo are not, apparently, an OTP. Still, I hope they remain friends. :-)

Now back to that article in Italian....

Movies, etc.

First, happy belated birthday to astrogirl2 and happy early birthday to mrwubbles! Sorry to those I've missed; my birthday wishes are very hit-and-miss, and please don't take it personally if I miss yours!

I've seen a couple of movies lately and thought I'd share. I'm trying not to give too many spoilers, but to give a little idea of what the movie is about.

( The Queen )

( Hancock )

We returned home from the movie to enter a house with twin trails of bright pink yarn stretching from my home office out of sight. Small Child was given a knitting set for her birthday; I'd had one skein and the needles in my office to practice with some videos I was going to watch on the Internet before I helped her learn to knit. I'd never gotten around to the videos, Doofus the Cat had already attacked the ball of yarn once, and Brilliant Husband had consigned the yarn to the cubby of my desk, which has a door that hasn't closed in years.

Further investigation showed that part of the skein was out of my cubby but still on my desk, trapped by two old appointment calendars that had fallen on it--thank goodness. Doofus had, however, managed to get a large loop stretched all the way from my desk through the corner of the living room (around a table) through the kitchen (around a table and chair and two carts full of bookbooks), into the dining room. The clump of yarn had stopped less than a foot short of the water bowl. He often saves his prizes in the water bowl, whether to drown them or to be sure he can find them later because he knows he's an idiot and he loses everything that's not by the food we don't know. I'm very glad the yarn didn't make it to the water bowl, because that would have been unpleasant.

We picked up the yarn and brought it to the family room; I found a loose end and started making a ball. I thought this would be quick and easy.

It took the two of us (BH and me, not Doofus and me!) forty minutes to disentangle it, and only then could I make a ball of it (which didn't take all that long, by itself). The ball is now locked securely in the wicker basket that holds the rest of the kit. Stupid cat! It was quite amazing; I wanted to take a picture or some video of it, but we were afraid it didn't really look as impressive as it truly was. I'll leave it to your imaginations.

The adventures at home aren't quite as funny as the adventures in the movies, but they actually involved less property damage than Hancock.

WARNING: SPOILERS on the movies allowed in comments.

Movies, etc.

First, happy belated birthday to astrogirl2 and happy early birthday to mrwubbles! Sorry to those I've missed; my birthday wishes are very hit-and-miss, and please don't take it personally if I miss yours!

I've seen a couple of movies lately and thought I'd share. I'm trying not to give too many spoilers, but to give a little idea of what the movie is about.

( The Queen )

( Hancock )

We returned home from the movie to enter a house with twin trails of bright pink yarn stretching from my home office out of sight. Small Child was given a knitting set for her birthday; I'd had one skein and the needles in my office to practice with some videos I was going to watch on the Internet before I helped her learn to knit. I'd never gotten around to the videos, Doofus the Cat had already attacked the ball of yarn once, and Brilliant Husband had consigned the yarn to the cubby of my desk, which has a door that hasn't closed in years.

Further investigation showed that part of the skein was out of my cubby but still on my desk, trapped by two old appointment calendars that had fallen on it--thank goodness. Doofus had, however, managed to get a large loop stretched all the way from my desk through the corner of the living room (around a table) through the kitchen (around a table and chair and two carts full of bookbooks), into the dining room. The clump of yarn had stopped less than a foot short of the water bowl. He often saves his prizes in the water bowl, whether to drown them or to be sure he can find them later because he knows he's an idiot and he loses everything that's not by the food we don't know. I'm very glad the yarn didn't make it to the water bowl, because that would have been unpleasant.

We picked up the yarn and brought it to the family room; I found a loose end and started making a ball. I thought this would be quick and easy.

It took the two of us (BH and me, not Doofus and me!) forty minutes to disentangle it, and only then could I make a ball of it (which didn't take all that long, by itself). The ball is now locked securely in the wicker basket that holds the rest of the kit. Stupid cat! It was quite amazing; I wanted to take a picture or some video of it, but we were afraid it didn't really look as impressive as it truly was. I'll leave it to your imaginations.

The adventures at home aren't quite as funny as the adventures in the movies, but they actually involved less property damage than Hancock.

WARNING: SPOILERS on the movies allowed in comments.

Fic rec (TW): short fic for a bad day

Ever had one of those days when you just want to relax with a fic, but you keep stumbling across ones that are really bad? Apparently travels_in_time has--and so delivers us this Torchwood piece: General Wrongness in the Hub. Yes, I know it's hard to get through the first few lines with the typos and everything: persevere, and before the end you'll know why I recommended it. You won't regret it.

Fic rec (TW): short fic for a bad day

Ever had one of those days when you just want to relax with a fic, but you keep stumbling across ones that are really bad? Apparently travels_in_time has--and so delivers us this Torchwood piece: General Wrongness in the Hub. Yes, I know it's hard to get through the first few lines with the typos and everything: persevere, and before the end you'll know why I recommended it. You won't regret it.