Ok, this is an absolutely fair question and the answer is that nobody in real life kisses like people in fanfic. Nobody “plunders their lover’s mouth”. Tongues do not “battle for dominance”. Two people kissing do not look like they’re trying to “eat each other alive”. I can’t explain to you exactly why fanfic (and writing generally for that matter) is so bad at describing kisses but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s that it’s difficult to make actual kissing as it is practiced by normal, non-slobbery human beings sound exciting:
“A’s mouth pressed against B’s gently, then more firmly. Their lips slid against each other as they both tilted their heads, slightly varying the pressure. B’s tongue made a brief appearance to brush against A’s lower lip, then receded. They parted momentarily, then pressed their lips together again, firm, then gentle. They continued in this vein until a) they had to stop because you can’t actually take off your clothes while your face is attached to someone else’s, b) they got bored, or c) they misjudged the angles and knocked their teeth together, which is a thing that never happens in fanfic, does absolutely happen in real life, and really fucking hurts.”
okay if I could time travel to the past, you know what I’d be most excited to see? THE QUALITY OF TEXTILES. Clothing was built to LAST before the industrial revolution and everything was HAND-MADE. We lose so much of women’s art from the archaeological record because textiles are perishable and we only get vague snapshots of what clothes and tapestries, etc, were like, and these would have been so important to everyday life! What did a hand-made toga feel like! How heavy was it! What did the tapestries hanging in castles look like! How did needlework enrich the home! Fuck! I love textiles!
I don’t really know much about Delacroix– every anecdote I’ve heard about him is friendly, but it’s harder generally to find writing from artists than from authors, for obvious reasons–btu atm I’m fond of him because of his visits to Gerard in the asylum, his habit of making sketches that actually look like the disaster scribbles normal human artists make instead of the elegant Basically Finished Masterpieces SOME famous artists called their sketches and studies, and because he drew this:
I was unfamiliar with Pittsburgh photographer Teenie Harris when I ran across the first photo in this series of posts. In looking for more information about him I ran across the Teenie Harris Archive, a vast repository of some remarkable work spanning much of the twentieth century. As I scanned through parts of the collection I encountered a trove of portraits taken in 1960-61 that appear to be based on random encounters on the sidewalks of downtown Pittsburgh.
Harris was, IMHO, a great portrait photographer and I found myself drawn to his subjects. There’s a warmth and a genuineness in many of their faces that I found reassuring at the end of this crappy week. Maybe it’s the reminder of the basic decency of ordinary people, in their diversity and lack of pretension. Just as I found it reassuring to see the photos of the people out demonstrating these last few days, saying that love trumps hate. I think there’s where real hope lies, when we look in each other’s faces and realize we’re all pretty much the same and we oughta stick together.
Portraits, from top to bottom: Dorothy Small, Raymond Bluhm, Nathan Herring, Janet Kratochwill, Sarah Burney, and Frances Freeman. Photos taken between August 1960 and January 1961 in downtown Pittsburgh by Charles “Teenie” Harris.
Just seemed like a good day to reblog this post from November 12, 2016. I am sickened by recent events. My heart aches for the families and communities that have been brutalized by these vicious acts of hateful violence.
We’ve got to look at each other in our common humanity and realize we’re all brothers & sisters and we have one last chance to beat this divisive & hateful monster back. If we stand together we can do it.
If there is any hope at all for this country it will be because voters overwhelmingly reject the party in power on Election Day, November 6. Every vote matters. Every person matters. Let’s do this, together.
getting up at 6 am by choice: wow what a beautiful sunrise! the house is so peaceful and quiet. i feel really tired but i don’t have to do anything but just sit here and enjoy the morning. what a pleasant feeling
getting up at 6 am because you have to: these covers draped upon my mortal coil have become the dirt above my casket. my corpse refuses to unsettle the earth to rise from its grave. i have been dead for centuries and have no intentions to assimilate once more into the tragic world of the living
Jeff Sessions was interrupted by a priest who just directly quoted Jesus at him. Jeff Sessions was speaking about not allowing refugees and immigrants into this country.
The priest was removed. Another religious leader stood up and defended the priest, and they were also removed.
Powerful video. Jesus loves that priest, and that priest knows Jesus.
My hot take is that anti-fascists should sing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” more, particularly at events in which they are tearing down confederate monuments, or otherwise protesting against neo-confederates (which is a huge chunk of fascists). Most Americans know the song, have strong emotions tied to the song, and it would immediately put the historical context of what you are doing firmly into place.
Plus, like I said, the song owns.
Counterpoint: We sing ‘John Brown’s Body’ instead, because it slaps just as hard with the added benefit of *not* idolizing the United States government or setting up the United States government as the embodiment of God’s will on Earth.
For though he’s gone to glory, still we struggle for the slave; and his soul is marching on.
Mooncustafer 