Just in case you haven't heard about the current Amazon flub-up, here is the skinny. Amazon just removed rankings from books that are now considered to contain "adult content." Rankings are what allow books to show up in searches and lists and so forth. The books are still for sale on Amazon, but it looks like searching for them without the title and/or author is... difficult. From what I've read, it looks like those who were hardest hit by this unranking move are authors that deal with gay, lesbian, trans, and even some sexy heterosexual topics (think Lady Chatterley's Lover).
But, as usual, my recap of this event is awkward at best. So here are a couple of links you should check out.
1. "Why the Amazon de-ranking of GLBT books matters" on Jenny Boylan's Blog - You might remember my still starstruck post about her visit to our campus last week. Her bestselling book, She's Not There, is now unranked. There is such a lack of "adult content" in that book.
2. "'Gay writing' falls foul of Amazon sales ranking system" from The Guardian This article explains a bit more about what is going on and what Amazon has to say about it so far.
I've always been interested in issues of censorship. I mostly feel that it shouldn't happen. We live in a world that doesn't censor much of anything that it should. We see sex and violence and drugs and hatred and high-fat foods and ignorance on a daily basis. Before we reach the age of 2!
Yet great books are banned every day because they might bring up topics that we aren't comfortable explaining to our children. And, I have come to expect this. But this is too far. To automatically consider LGBTQ texts "adult content" is homophobic and wrong. Hiding LGBTQ texts by pulling them from topic searches is such an horrific step back that I can't even really believe this is happening.
Like Jenny Boylan said in her blog, hopefully this will be old and over by the time you read this. I sure hope so.
But just know that Amanda's pissed.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
I'm Looking Through You
Today our English grad association brought a bigwig to campus. I and three other grad students have been planning for this visit for months. I have been stressing and worrying and freaking out for the last week or so.
Our distinguished visiting author was Jennifer Finney Boylan. You might remember her from my earlier plea to you all to read her two memoirs.
You can find more stuffs about the author and her books (memoirs, novels, short story collections, etc.) and her blog at www.jenniferboylan.net. I highly recommend you jump over there.
I loved having Jenny Boylan on campus today. We had a memoir-writing talk, a pizza lunch, and a reading of new stuff. It was all great. Jenny Boylan is friendly, funny, and extremely knowledgeable.
Oddly enough, my favorite part of the day was a little phrase that no one else might have noticed.
We were sitting in the English department lounge around 10am and Boylan was talking about... something. And then - mid-sentence - she said, "Now that the secondhand has passed the twelve, I'll start my talk. You'll notice no difference between what I've been doing and that talk."
One of Boylan's big themes is that being true to one's self is the best way to live in the world, even if living one's truth is really quite hard to do. I found her quick comment reflective of that focus. The comment made me smile at the time and it has kept me thinking all day.
I'm still thinking.
P.S. - I don't care for long-lined booksignings, but I do love having meaningful books signed by the authors in slightly personalized ways. Perhaps one day I'll show you my David Bevington book... Anyway, today Boylan totally eclipsed Bevington. Just try and tell me that isn't the cutest signing you've seen. Ever.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Gakked from Rishyish
This week has been filled with the ups and the downs for me. I gave a presentation that was hectic in the makings and a relief in the presenting/finishings. Stuculty went off without a hitch and was extremely well-received, but again, somewhat nerve-wracking and hellish in the organization. My students seem to be on the up and up, so that is win. And I got back a paper that I thought was rubbish but my professor deemed "promising." Ironically, I wrote that exact word on one of my own students' papers this week. Finally, in a rather surprising turn of events, I won a racquetball game of cutthroat on Thursday against E and K. Major win there. *pumps fist*
In addition, there are various other things swirling around me this week that don't need mentioning on the interweb, but let's just say that I am feeling... njkwychqogsaj.
In case you haven't noticed, I've introduced some new terminology into my blogging thanks to my current read: Serafina67 *urgently requires life*.
Susie Day's book is spot on. The book is the collected blog entries (complete with reader comments) of a young adult named Sarah. Sarah is contemplative and angsty and totally not speaking to Patch anymore. Her parents are divorced and their new relationships baffle her. Her friends are super supportive and their comments are riddled with blogspeak and emoticons. The book is, in a word, blogtastic.
So, in honor of serafina67 and the happiness she has brought me every night this week before I nod off, I've gakked a survey that she "gakked from rishyish". Here goes nothing.
Here is the passage from Serafina67 *Urgently Requires Life* (pages 186-187 if you are keeping track)
"List 6 things you would like to say to 6 different people, online or in RL. Be as honest and direct as you like. (Do not say who they are!)
1. I wish I was you.
2. F*CK OFF.
3. I love you loads and loads and I wish you liked yourself more. But sometimes I think you put it on a bit so people will tell you how much they care.
4. I miss you.
5. I don't miss you.
6. Sometimes I think we're really close, but I don't think I could ever say that to your face, which probably means we aren't."
Okay, here ends the serafina67 bit and begins my bit? That sounds blergh but I'm not going to take the time to make it better.
*debates over what to include in list*
*debates level of ambiguity desired*
*decides to start listing and get over planning*
1. I don't want to know.
2. You are the bright spot in my week.
3. I'm glad we didn't grow apart completely.
4. Sorry, but I can't make Girl's Night.
5. You are probably my best friend in Maine.
6. According to ET!, Hilary Clinton and I share a dress size.
So, how is that for some honesty? That list was really hard to write. It must just be the nature of these survey/list/blog things, but I got a little bit angsty just doing that. *headdesk*
Dangerous... I'll have to remember not to gak very often.
I do, however, want to incorporate more of these asterisk-bookended actions into my blogging. Apparently, I've been blogging all wrong. *hugs on serafina67*
In addition, there are various other things swirling around me this week that don't need mentioning on the interweb, but let's just say that I am feeling... njkwychqogsaj.
In case you haven't noticed, I've introduced some new terminology into my blogging thanks to my current read: Serafina67 *urgently requires life*.
Susie Day's book is spot on. The book is the collected blog entries (complete with reader comments) of a young adult named Sarah. Sarah is contemplative and angsty and totally not speaking to Patch anymore. Her parents are divorced and their new relationships baffle her. Her friends are super supportive and their comments are riddled with blogspeak and emoticons. The book is, in a word, blogtastic.
So, in honor of serafina67 and the happiness she has brought me every night this week before I nod off, I've gakked a survey that she "gakked from rishyish". Here goes nothing.
Here is the passage from Serafina67 *Urgently Requires Life* (pages 186-187 if you are keeping track)
"List 6 things you would like to say to 6 different people, online or in RL. Be as honest and direct as you like. (Do not say who they are!)
1. I wish I was you.
2. F*CK OFF.
3. I love you loads and loads and I wish you liked yourself more. But sometimes I think you put it on a bit so people will tell you how much they care.
4. I miss you.
5. I don't miss you.
6. Sometimes I think we're really close, but I don't think I could ever say that to your face, which probably means we aren't."
Okay, here ends the serafina67 bit and begins my bit? That sounds blergh but I'm not going to take the time to make it better.
*debates over what to include in list*
*debates level of ambiguity desired*
*decides to start listing and get over planning*
1. I don't want to know.
2. You are the bright spot in my week.
3. I'm glad we didn't grow apart completely.
4. Sorry, but I can't make Girl's Night.
5. You are probably my best friend in Maine.
6. According to ET!, Hilary Clinton and I share a dress size.
So, how is that for some honesty? That list was really hard to write. It must just be the nature of these survey/list/blog things, but I got a little bit angsty just doing that. *headdesk*
Dangerous... I'll have to remember not to gak very often.
I do, however, want to incorporate more of these asterisk-bookended actions into my blogging. Apparently, I've been blogging all wrong. *hugs on serafina67*
Thursday, November 6, 2008
1000 Pin-Ups
I'm not entirely sure why I have been feeling especially self-reflective the past couple of weeks. Let's blame it on Obama and Rachel Maddow.
Anyway, I did my customary browse through Borders tonight and found myself at the Gender Studies/Sexuality shelf. This is usually good and bad for me. I find great books that make me feel good about myself. However, I also usually realize how far I am from where and who I want to be. If I even know where and who I want to be anyway.
So, I read most of Is It a Choice? Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Gay and Lesbian People. I'm sure you can imagine how that went.
After displaying the proper amount of excitement over the chrysillis (spelling?) of the Monarch butterfly to the most adorable, tiny, maybe four-year old boy who sat beside me, I polished off Is It a Choice? and graded two or three student revisions.
From my seat I spotted my next read on the Self Help shelf. How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You by Leil Lowndes. I learned many interesting tactics that I will probably never implement successfully. Let's just say that it has a lot to do with the eyes and how you use them.
I walked out of Borders with no conclusions, but a shiny new picture book.
After all, when life is scary and mercurial, the best thing to do is think about a tattoo.
Anyway, I did my customary browse through Borders tonight and found myself at the Gender Studies/Sexuality shelf. This is usually good and bad for me. I find great books that make me feel good about myself. However, I also usually realize how far I am from where and who I want to be. If I even know where and who I want to be anyway.
So, I read most of Is It a Choice? Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Gay and Lesbian People. I'm sure you can imagine how that went.
After displaying the proper amount of excitement over the chrysillis (spelling?) of the Monarch butterfly to the most adorable, tiny, maybe four-year old boy who sat beside me, I polished off Is It a Choice? and graded two or three student revisions.
From my seat I spotted my next read on the Self Help shelf. How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You by Leil Lowndes. I learned many interesting tactics that I will probably never implement successfully. Let's just say that it has a lot to do with the eyes and how you use them.
I walked out of Borders with no conclusions, but a shiny new picture book.
After all, when life is scary and mercurial, the best thing to do is think about a tattoo.
The Art of Slacking
No one needs to be taught how to slack. Slacking is easy. Effortless, even. However, making slacking into an art is an entirely different thing.
The most important bit of the art of slacking is the deceit. As I much as I dislike the term, Randy Pausch's 'headfake' makes a lot of sense here. The goal of the artful slacker is to never appear to be slacking. Even more to the point, the artful slacker is never caught slacking.
Last night I drifted off to sleep while awkwardly thinking about an almost lover from my past. Who knows why homegirl came back to me last night, but it was an interesting thought experiment to remember that most uncharacteristic of Mays. Anyway...when I woke up this morning at 8:40am, I laid in my bed - fully awake - for several minutes before I decided to make a move.
Today is that day of the semester when the one class of the day is canceled and there is no reason to go to campus.
Knowing I had a full day to myself, I determined that what I really needed to do was organize my bookshelf. As soon as I found out I passed the Comp Exam earlier this week, I have been dying to incorporate the comp list books into my other books. This seems like the last step in acknowledging that the Comp Exam is completely behind me. So...while still sitting on my bed, I rearranged my bookshelves. First by category, then alphabetically. I now have anthologies and writing about writing across the top. Non-fiction on the two top shelves. Fiction on the next four. I still have a bunch of books that won't fit on my Dollar Tree shelves, but one day I'll have a glorious library. These shelves will do for now.
I allowed myself to work with the bookshelf until 10am. 10am, of course, is when The Martha Stewart Show comes on in Orono, Maine. I scrambled downstairs and readied a bowl of cereal in front of the television set. Now my roommate might be the only one to understand why this upset me, but Martha was touring Mexico on her show today. Ugh. I did not watch. I disappointedly watched Hoda Kotbe and Kathy Lee on the Today Show. It was okay, but not what I wanted.
After the lack of Martha, I read a bit of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. We're going to be discussing the book in my YA lit class next Wednesday, so this reading cannot possibly be condemned as slacking. :) See how this works? Anyway, The Book Thief is a really gorgeous moving book and I'm only 100 pages in. It's a work of historical fiction about a girl in Nazi Germany as told by the Angel of Death. Like I said, gorgeous and moving.
Between chapters, I vacuumed the apartment. It didn't take long and it was oh-so-gratifying. Let's just say that it really needed to be done.
After finishing Part 2 of The Book Thief, I researched cupcakes. I wanted to find the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe for this coming week's National Vanilla Cupcake Day. I haven't decided if I will take the cupcakes to campus on the actual holiday or make the vanilla cupcakes for my YA lit workshop on Wednesday or Stuculty on Thursday. Either way, I've decided to try Amy Sedaris' Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Success.
When I realized that I had been messing around with vanilla cupcakes online for over an hour, I decided I should do something else light that would create the appearance of productivity. Dishes.
Dishes done, I showered. At noon. Ladies and gentlemen, when you can live half of your day before you take a shower, that is a clear sign that you are slacking.
If after slacking all morning and feeling quite relaxed and chill, you can then look forward to the rest of your day without having been caught slacking, then you, my friend, are an artful slacker.
Isn't it nice that I can now shamelessly use the John McCain "my friend" without any fear of having to listen to it for the next four years? :)
In conclusion, I am quite pleased with my slacker performance this morning. My roommate just returned home to evidence of vacuuming and dish washing. I'm clicking away at my laptop, a clear sign that I'm working diligently on something relentlessly academic.
Well...I guess I should actually make something happen with my afternoon. I need to grade about 7 student paper revisions and plan my 101 class for tomorrow. But for now...I'm making grilled cheese.
The most important bit of the art of slacking is the deceit. As I much as I dislike the term, Randy Pausch's 'headfake' makes a lot of sense here. The goal of the artful slacker is to never appear to be slacking. Even more to the point, the artful slacker is never caught slacking.
Last night I drifted off to sleep while awkwardly thinking about an almost lover from my past. Who knows why homegirl came back to me last night, but it was an interesting thought experiment to remember that most uncharacteristic of Mays. Anyway...when I woke up this morning at 8:40am, I laid in my bed - fully awake - for several minutes before I decided to make a move.
Today is that day of the semester when the one class of the day is canceled and there is no reason to go to campus.
Knowing I had a full day to myself, I determined that what I really needed to do was organize my bookshelf. As soon as I found out I passed the Comp Exam earlier this week, I have been dying to incorporate the comp list books into my other books. This seems like the last step in acknowledging that the Comp Exam is completely behind me. So...while still sitting on my bed, I rearranged my bookshelves. First by category, then alphabetically. I now have anthologies and writing about writing across the top. Non-fiction on the two top shelves. Fiction on the next four. I still have a bunch of books that won't fit on my Dollar Tree shelves, but one day I'll have a glorious library. These shelves will do for now.
I allowed myself to work with the bookshelf until 10am. 10am, of course, is when The Martha Stewart Show comes on in Orono, Maine. I scrambled downstairs and readied a bowl of cereal in front of the television set. Now my roommate might be the only one to understand why this upset me, but Martha was touring Mexico on her show today. Ugh. I did not watch. I disappointedly watched Hoda Kotbe and Kathy Lee on the Today Show. It was okay, but not what I wanted.
After the lack of Martha, I read a bit of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. We're going to be discussing the book in my YA lit class next Wednesday, so this reading cannot possibly be condemned as slacking. :) See how this works? Anyway, The Book Thief is a really gorgeous moving book and I'm only 100 pages in. It's a work of historical fiction about a girl in Nazi Germany as told by the Angel of Death. Like I said, gorgeous and moving.
Between chapters, I vacuumed the apartment. It didn't take long and it was oh-so-gratifying. Let's just say that it really needed to be done.
After finishing Part 2 of The Book Thief, I researched cupcakes. I wanted to find the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe for this coming week's National Vanilla Cupcake Day. I haven't decided if I will take the cupcakes to campus on the actual holiday or make the vanilla cupcakes for my YA lit workshop on Wednesday or Stuculty on Thursday. Either way, I've decided to try Amy Sedaris' Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Success.
When I realized that I had been messing around with vanilla cupcakes online for over an hour, I decided I should do something else light that would create the appearance of productivity. Dishes.
Dishes done, I showered. At noon. Ladies and gentlemen, when you can live half of your day before you take a shower, that is a clear sign that you are slacking.
If after slacking all morning and feeling quite relaxed and chill, you can then look forward to the rest of your day without having been caught slacking, then you, my friend, are an artful slacker.
Isn't it nice that I can now shamelessly use the John McCain "my friend" without any fear of having to listen to it for the next four years? :)
In conclusion, I am quite pleased with my slacker performance this morning. My roommate just returned home to evidence of vacuuming and dish washing. I'm clicking away at my laptop, a clear sign that I'm working diligently on something relentlessly academic.
Well...I guess I should actually make something happen with my afternoon. I need to grade about 7 student paper revisions and plan my 101 class for tomorrow. But for now...I'm making grilled cheese.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I passed!
That's right, kids! I found out yesterday afternoon that I passed the M.A. Comprehensive Exam!
No more forced reading of those 30odd texts. No more stretched connections between Paradise Lost and Frank O'Hara. No more marathon days of testing. No more dread of a retake. No more . . . valid excuse for slacking on my other coursework.
Stink.
Well, I guess I should be getting down to business anyway. I have two classes of my own to wrap up and about 20 first year writers to pass. I feel like my classes will be okay as long as I actually sit down and work on them. My students . . . well . . . I feel like they are coming around too.
However, as will happen, I've been struck down with a cold. My left eye won't stop watering and my nose is running and stuffed up at the same time. You get the idea. So what does this mean??? You guessed it! Another valid excuse for slacking on coursework. See? There is always a silver lining.
In other - clearly more important - news, go vote!
I know we'll all be glued to our laptops and tvs tonight as the results roll in. With any luck we'll have cause to celebrate by midnight.
No more forced reading of those 30odd texts. No more stretched connections between Paradise Lost and Frank O'Hara. No more marathon days of testing. No more dread of a retake. No more . . . valid excuse for slacking on my other coursework.
Stink.
Well, I guess I should be getting down to business anyway. I have two classes of my own to wrap up and about 20 first year writers to pass. I feel like my classes will be okay as long as I actually sit down and work on them. My students . . . well . . . I feel like they are coming around too.
However, as will happen, I've been struck down with a cold. My left eye won't stop watering and my nose is running and stuffed up at the same time. You get the idea. So what does this mean??? You guessed it! Another valid excuse for slacking on coursework. See? There is always a silver lining.
In other - clearly more important - news, go vote!
I know we'll all be glued to our laptops and tvs tonight as the results roll in. With any luck we'll have cause to celebrate by midnight.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Thank God for Fall Break
Alright, I promised details of the UMaine M.A. in English Comprehensive Exam so here they are. In bullet and picture form.
Prep:
+ 30 text reading list (top shelf)
+ soothing craft to do the night before the exam (it's a necklace. of buttons. does this cement my quirky teacher persona once and for all?)
Test:
+ Essay 1: Tigger swirled yogurt, Paradise Lost, Phillis Wheatley, religious content's influence on literary form
+ Essay 2: gay M&Ms, the Wife of Bath, Aurora Leigh, Judith Butler's theory of gender performance
+ Essay 3: ice water, burnt Dunkin Donuts coffee (large disappointment), New Negro anthology, part's importance to the whole
+ Essay 4: vanilla chai tea (thanks, Beth!), Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative, Frank O'Hara's poetry, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, and the notion of literary national history
As you can see, the exam was obnoxious and not something I'd care to repeat but it's done. I'll know in three weeks whether I passed or not.
Ugh. And, in order to reestablish my life as my own, I'm baking cupcakes as I type.
I may also cruise the Columbus Day sales. Just for kicks.
I should be back to normal by 10am Wednesday. Let's hope. :)
Prep:
+ 30 text reading list (top shelf)
+ soothing craft to do the night before the exam (it's a necklace. of buttons. does this cement my quirky teacher persona once and for all?)
Test:
+ Essay 1: Tigger swirled yogurt, Paradise Lost, Phillis Wheatley, religious content's influence on literary form
+ Essay 2: gay M&Ms, the Wife of Bath, Aurora Leigh, Judith Butler's theory of gender performance
+ Essay 3: ice water, burnt Dunkin Donuts coffee (large disappointment), New Negro anthology, part's importance to the whole
+ Essay 4: vanilla chai tea (thanks, Beth!), Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative, Frank O'Hara's poetry, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, and the notion of literary national history
As you can see, the exam was obnoxious and not something I'd care to repeat but it's done. I'll know in three weeks whether I passed or not.
Ugh. And, in order to reestablish my life as my own, I'm baking cupcakes as I type.
I may also cruise the Columbus Day sales. Just for kicks.
I should be back to normal by 10am Wednesday. Let's hope. :)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Comp Exam Finale
For those of you keeping score,
I'm done!!!!
However, my fingers refuse to type anything more at this moment.
I'm done!!!!
However, my fingers refuse to type anything more at this moment.
omg. revision.
So...I've been at this for 28 hours now, and I've got a complete first draft. Success!
Now the ginormous task of revision lies before me, but, really, that is small beans compared to the massive project of writing 4, 5-page essays.
Now the ginormous task of revision lies before me, but, really, that is small beans compared to the massive project of writing 4, 5-page essays.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
36 minutes and counting
This is the worst kind of waiting room.
What's before me:
1 exam between me and the Masters in English.
4 questions that I will choose from a list of 10.
5 page essays in response to each of the 4 questions.
30 texts at my disposal.
20 texts that I am prepared to use.
48 hours to use as I please.
I almost wish this were a math test. :)
What's before me:
1 exam between me and the Masters in English.
4 questions that I will choose from a list of 10.
5 page essays in response to each of the 4 questions.
30 texts at my disposal.
20 texts that I am prepared to use.
48 hours to use as I please.
I almost wish this were a math test. :)
Friday, October 10, 2008
What Comprehensive Exam?
The exam starts in 10 hours and 47 minutes, and I'm actually looking forward to it in a let's-get-this-over-with way.
I'll let you know how long this era of good feeling lasts.
I'll let you know how long this era of good feeling lasts.
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