caffeine diary

ELCA Draft Statement on Gender-Based Violence. It is well-written and I'm pleased with it in various ways, but I'm definitely most personally pleased about the inclusion of non-binary genders (not perfectly and not using the language I would use, but clearly intentionally inclusive.)

books
I read two Jincy Willett novels: Amy Falls Down, which is a sequel to The Writing Class, and Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather, which it turns out I'd read before, although I didn't remember any details.

I liked both of these books, but neither as much as I liked The Writing Class.

Winner of the National Book Award is full of gender-based violence, helpfully tying this post together thematically.

I read Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding. I... well. That is a choice you could make, Helen Fielding!

[spoilers]
( Read more... )

unspoilery: Like the previous two books this is laugh-out-loud funny. Bridget remains adorable and sympathetic. It was enjoyable on all those levels, but not ultimately emotionally satisfying because of reasons under the cut-tag (which, while spoilery, I don't think will spoil one's enjoyment of the book, whose pleasure lies mostly in humor and character voice.)

There are children in the picture, whom I didn't find particularly realistically drawn but who weren't annoying.

It's definitely not porn; it's also definitely more sexually explicit than the previous two books. I once read a review of the film that said something like, "There's a suggestion that Daniel and Bridget indulged in anal sex, something that would never happen in the book." This book doesn't have anal sex, but it would not be out of place.

I miss Shazzer. :(

Content note: there is a fairly substantial plotline involving weight loss/fat/obesity in a way that's different from the previous books and might be more triggery (on the other hand, it's fairly self-contained, and the rest of the book has less yo-yo dieting than the previous books); if it would be helpful to anyone I'd be happy to talk about this in more detail.

There are also other ick things that are common squicks -- there are parts that it would be wise not to read while eating.

It makes me wish that I could write fanfic again because it desperately needs a completely different ending. :(

I started reading cite>Clariel by Garth Nix. This is a major tonal shift from the other books I read this week and I'm finding getting into it slow-going.

games

I played some Puzzle Pirates while on the phone with Elizabeth the other day.

perfume
(Spoilers: I suck at identifying scents.)

I finished the 'weenies:

Pumpkin I
should be: "Pumpkin cream with cardamom, black tea, allspice, and ginger milk."
was: Cake! I probably need to stop acquiring MORE BPAL foodie scents because they all smell indistinguishably of cake to me, but in the meantime, cake!

Pumpkin IV
Should be: "Warm pumpkin with three honeys, oudh, sweet frankincense, and champaca resin."
Was: And yet another cake, with maybe the faaaaintest hint of something darker -- cinnammon? incense? underneath. Yup, definitely need to declare foodie scents from BPAL off-limits. They smell perfectly nice, like a generic sweet baked good, but, e.g., these didn't really smell of pumpkin to me, and I now own enough of them that if I desire this scent I have maybe half a dozen options. Sigh. Really disappointed, because description sounded sooo promising

I got Anne Bonny as a frimp from synecdochic_decants.
Should be: "A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense."
Was: Oooh. After ALL THE CAKE this is kind of a relief. Brine? It does have an aquatic sense to it, but maybe like a seaport, a bit of salt and -- cedar? -- I am definitely getting pirate feels from this. I think I might be sensing the same "trickle of blood" that's in Valentine of Rome.

music

I actually listened to Spotify for awhile this afternoon. All David Haas.

1. The cat is curled up in my lap (which does mean I am typing one-handed, but so precious).
2. Perfume package arrived! At some point I will make a bpal post.
3. Moved cat so I can have both hands, still have a cat nuzzlng my face.
4. FB added more gender options!
5. I have fresh-as-of-last-night bread for my sandwich for work, and am in the middle of making gingerbread, and I will make other things tonight.

1. So I did indeed check out one of the other sources that my Yuletide recipient requested, and I was quite charmed. Unfortunately, of all the possible stories for that fandom or for the fandom we matched on, the ones that are pinging me hardest are absurd crossover-fusions between the two fandoms that are superficially chronologically compatible, are SO ABSURDLY DIFFERENT IN TONE that crossover-fusions would be... okay, they would be lovely and delightful, and I am absolutely in love with a particular way this could work and have started writing it, and this is why my brain shouldn't be allowed out in public.

2. I broke Rule #1 and read the comments on some trans-related blog posts (not noting which ones, because I know the first thing I would do would be click the link and read the comments, and I don't want to inflict that on anyone else), and now I feel vaguely ill. (DO NOT READ THE COMMENTS, SELF.

3. Meanwhile it's not often that you get two Fridays in one week, but this week is a happy exception (that's my positive spin on having to work today.)

LiveJournal is removing the option to leave your gender unspecified at account creation.

& fixed. ish.

[IBARW caveat: I'm a white cisgendered able-bodied lesbian USian English-speaking middle-class college-educated Christian]

[Today: links to and discussions of articles about trans* PoC in the U.S. and Thailand, with bonus musings on identity, visibility, alliance, and privilege ( are all under the LJ cut )