IntenseDebate - sashareads

9 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 1 reply · +6 points

We actually did read the Odyssey and Oedipus Rex in my high school!

I think it would be neat to have kids read some classic western canon text and then a contemporary book that comes out of that tradition, but takes it somewhere new.

Like, I don't know. Have them read Medea, and then have them read Beloved.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 0 replies · +3 points

omg yes!
I randomly happened upon Gail Carriger through my public library's audiobook downloading app, and they kind of took over my life.

I devoured all the finishing school series books in a little over a week, and then started in on the Parasol Protectorate books. I've listened through Blameless and am next in line to check out Heartless.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 0 replies · +3 points

I just read that! I liked it!

I definitely agree about the worldbuilding. I'm not sure I'm sold on the characterization? I guess I can think of one or two major character traits for each of Kell and Lila, but not necessarily a lot of depth?

That said, I'll definitely read books 2 and 3.

But kind of more, I'd like to just read other stories (maybe fanfiction?) set in that universe. I want to find out so much more about the history of the Londons. Maybe some stories set before the split?

Also I have a theory that Kell and Lila are secretly siblings. They both had the potential to be Antari, but he was chosen, and she was discarded/left to live on the streets.

9 years ago @ The Toast - "You just get stronger... · 4 replies · +29 points

yes! seconded!
also, I didn't lose weight.

sometimes, once you stop caring about your weight and just focus on fitness, you end up losing weight anyway. but sometimes, all that happens is that you get more fit. it's still pretty awesome.

the first time I bench pressed 100lbs, I felt like a total badass, and the fact that I weighed over 200lbs while I did it did not diminish that feeling in the least. :)

9 years ago @ The Toast - Cocktail Hour: Open Th... · 0 replies · +15 points

I recommend reading the book "How To Grow Up" by Michelle Tea.

She's this amazing queer, feminist, radical writer/artist/publisher, who's always seemed impossibly cool to me. Like when her spoken word tour came to town, I felt like I was too boring and conventional to even go to the show.

This is her memoir on how she othgrew the stereotypical "artist lifestyle." She talks about how challenging the day-to-day life was, and how a lot of her "artist" friends weren't even making art, because their lives had been taken over by drugs and alcohol. It's about her slowly getting herself together psychologically, and once she started actually liking herself, realizing that she wanted to take care of herself and be healthy. It's also about her coming to terms with the fact that wanting a stable, monogamous relationship, or a clean apartment, or some nice clothes, didn't make her a sellout.
The message is basically, giving yourself some stability doesn't make you not an artist, it just makes you a grown up.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Link Roundup! · 0 replies · +44 points

Right. And it's even worse when you take it out of the passive voice. "If girls are near us, we will rape them."
It's basically a threat

9 years ago @ The Toast - Let's Talk About Our F... · 0 replies · +2 points

yes indeed. I am younger, so snood was a high school thing for me. Our school had just started a laptop program, which like most of those programs, was very poorly thought out. "Let's require these kids to carry around computers with unfettered access to the internet at all times. It will help them learn (in unspecified ways we will figure out later)!"

I decided to uninstall snood and AIM from my laptop when I got to college, and largely due to that decision, my college GPA was a full point higher than my high school GPA.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Let's Talk About Our F... · 0 replies · +3 points

I do not remember dysfunctional family circus, but I do remember nietzche family circus! I imagine it's the same basic idea?

and yes, the peter pan guy. I always visited his website by mistake when I was trying to buy tickets for the peter pan bus.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Let's Talk About Our F... · 0 replies · +4 points

I said that the other day to a friend and she did not get the reference.

I had her watch the video immediately, because knowing that video is just basic cultural literacy, right? right.

I then made her watch the badger song video because I associate the two with each other. Roughly the same era of the internet, I guess?

I apologize for getting the badger song stuck in your head.

9 years ago @ The Toast - Friday Open Thread! · 1 reply · +1 points

many of my favorites have already been mentioned, but one I recently started listening to and like is is Flash Forward.
It's hosted by a woman (Rose Eveleth) and the premise is to investigate the real-world science and implications of imaginary sci-fi futures. So, for example, one episode this season, the topic was, "what if we eliminated all the mosquitos in the world to get rid of mosquito-borne diseases?" Each episode starts off with a short radio play set in that week's imaginary future, and then the host interviews scientists and other experts about whether a future like that could actually happen, and what it would be like to live in that future.

Oh also, there's a fairly new podcast called Sampler, hosted by Brittany Luse, which is literally a podcast about podcasts. She has on guests to talk about what their favorite podcasts are, and plays segments from them. I've found some podcasts I like just from listening to that.

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