Winding up this year in Blogdonia

I had a lovely New Year's Eve lunch with my Cousin Bethie today. (At left: Me and Cousin Bethie at her son's wedding party in 2009.)




Time to look back at this Mayan year of 2012.

The newest, remarkable thing in Feminist Blogdonia this year, has been the wholesale demise of old-school blogs. Small blogs (one author only) seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur, and only stubborn hold-outs like your plucky narrator remain.

Where'd they go? Well, interesting that you should ask. They have all stampeded to Tumblr, that hip, young, visually-chic new net-destination. No room for grandma on Tumblr... as I said before (see link), I can't even figure out who is saying what. But even if I don't know who is saying what, I CAN read the basic messages... and damn. It's getting ugly over there.

The Tumblr feminists are identifiably young and post lots of cool graphics, videos and photos. They obviously come from affluent families and have advanced degrees; their education and experience can be quite intimidating. (I would not know what to say to any of them, which hardly ever happens.) I can understand why lots of people resent them. The Amazing Atheist informs me in one of his rants [caution, click that at your own risk; he can be pretty offensive to some folks... okay, most folks] that most of the Tumblr feminists do not seem to be into feminist theory or history or any of that boring, wonky political stuff. They mostly like to fulminate about pop culture, 'rape culture', trans women, men staring at them, and whatever else pops in their heads. (Typhon Blue, prominent female men's rights activist, did a funny bit about them also.) Their feminism seems to be a triumph of style over substance.

Clearly, the Tumblr feminists are on everyone's radar. Us Second-Wave ladies here on Blogspot are yesterday's news, the tired old-guard (yawns for emphasis).

But why have they all stampeded to Tumblr? What is it about the place that draws them? Is it inherently easier to post there than it is to post on Blogspot, Wordpress, Livejournal or Dreamwidth? I don't think it is. I think it's the fact that it's new and has an eye-catching layout (multiple publishing options and templates)... AND the fact that no comments are allowed. You can be as offensive as you wanna be, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. No screaming at you in comments. You do not have to BLOCK people, or babysit threads that threaten to boil over into major flame wars. You can say your piece and be on your way.

But of course, people being what we are, we always find ways to fight. What the Tumblrites do is REBLOG things, and start the fight that way. For example, here is what one such verbal-brawl looks like, an argument via Tumblr reblogging. (See how unclear it is, just who is saying what? Or is it just me?)

The biggest feud in Tumblr Feminist Blogdonia right now, is about transgendered people. I find this fascinating, since I thought the superior young feminists, who have preached to me incessantly since I first started blogging (and have painfully picked apart the comparatively harmless minutiae of my language) knew absolutely everything on the subject of transgender. I was assured they had all that shit settled, and it was only us old fogies who are always wrong every time we open our mouths. And they are still alluding to this, since the label "radfem" (originally designating Second Wave radical feminists; feminists over 40-45) is the word they repeatedly employ to describe women younger than my daughter, who could not possibly have been radfems. This is a creative way to insult young feminists by calling them old hags, without actually saying that... the fact that they might actually insult us older women, by appropriating a term describing us (radfem) and connecting that with something that does not describe our actual political position (transphobia)? Well, who cares, right? (You don't think they actually care about those women who made it possible for them to get those great educations, now do you?) Let's not allow concern over ageism to get in the way of a great feud, amirite?


At left: I finally figured out how to get a photo of my constantly-squirming cat, Cyril. Just in time for New Year's! (see, I can be as narcissistic and off-topic as any of the Tumblr folks)



All joking aside. What I think this tells us: even though the "big feminist blogs" have taken pro-trans positions and have tried to be progressive beacons of equality (and some have failed at that, even so) ... the rank-and-file young feminists have not signed on. Transphobia is rife among young feminists.

This should not surprise anyone. Their politics are mostly undeveloped, since real-life activism is virtually unknown and foreign to the majority of these feminists. They do not do coalition work; they have very little experience in dealing with people in real life who are not of their own social circle and class. Activism is where politics are forged and solidified, and where one quickly learns who one's friends really are.

Sitting around talking, simply isn't where it's at, as we used to say.

And so, on Tumblr, the kidz can air their provincial little prejudices in a safe place. They can raise hell and nobody can comment or object. It makes them feel powerful and it is addicting. Every man a king, as Huey Long famously said... and every woman a queen.

The initial strength of the internet was the free-for-all environment of its countless message boards, chat rooms and blogs... and yet, these seemed to create chaos. They WERE chaos. People became unglued; they got very freaked out and quickly demanded ORDER, and so Facebook and other gated communities came into being, to satisfy the need for cops and babysitters. And so, we now see another desire for chaos... but not GENUINE chaos. The narcissistic, play-acting chaos of yelling your opinions at 96 decibels in an empty room... with no reply and no interruption. The echo sounds nice. The fantasy that you are important is fun. And you can post photos and fancy wallpapers to match your fantasy-self.

And that seems to be where we are right now... or where Tumblr is.

Thanks, but I think I'll stay right here.

Happy New Year, yall.



~*~

PS: Our last podcast of the year! Have a great 2013.

Friday Cat Blogging: Ziggy

Whenever Cousin Bethie's kitty Ziggy relaxes, she sticks her tongue out. It's the cutest thing!

PS: Hope everyone has a great weekend; Ziggy says you should kick back and enjoy the summer sun.

Safe Harbor Candlelight Vigil for Victims of Domestic Violence

Becky Callaham, Executive Director of Safe Harbor, the women's shelter. The names and stories of the women were projected onto the wall during the ceremony.











Me and Cousin Bethie attended the SAFE HARBOR Candlelight Vigil last night at Bergamo Square in downtown Greenville. The vigil honored South Carolina women killed by domestic violence.

SC ranks 8th in the nation in deaths from domestic violence.

Photos of the candle-lighting below. (Admittedly, I am still learning how to take pictures--I do far better in SUNLIGHT. Hopefully, DEAD AIR readers will bear with me as I improve my photography skills!)

...

Photos 1, 2, 3: The candle-lighting ceremony.

Photo 4: Cousin Bethie holds candles.

Photo 5: Carolyn Wade, whom I knew years ago as a friend of Bill W, shared the experience, strength and hope that she gained as a survivor at Safe Harbor, and made us all cry.

She is a wonderful witness.

Photo 6: The featured singers were the Valleybrook Baptist Church Praise Team. Their pastor, Curtis Johnson, also delivered some great oratory about the underlying causes of domestic violence. Unfortunately, my photos of him were even blurrier than this one of the singers. Michael Cogdill, local newscaster, shared what it was like to grow up in a home with a violent father. (He was SO different from his 'objective' and unemotional newsman-persona, I almost did not recognize him as the same person!) Again, the photos weren't so good and the glare from the lights eclipsed his face.

It was a great ceremony and I was honored to take part.

~*~

Wedding Party at Table Rock

At left: Me and my ever-fabulous Cousin Bethie.

(I guess my redneck cred is intact, since both my bra strap and shamrock tattoo are on full display!)

~*~

All the way up to the mountains yesterday, to a wedding party at Table Rock. As always, it was stunningly beautiful, but hotter than a July firecracker.

I decided to grant the bride and groom some privacy, although I have already blogged about the groom's mama (Cousin Bethie), so she doesn't get to sit this one out!

Believe it or not, I once was in good-enough shape to climb to the top of Table Rock. That was, umm, some time ago. (Going back down was scarier!) I loved it and would like to get in that kind of physical shape again. (sigh) Well, maybe.

Below:

Table Rock State Park Lodge, exterior and interior. The buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30s and are on the Historic Register.

View of Table Rock itself, surrounding area includes the park, camping grounds, hiking trails and two lakes.

And finally, from the trail skirting the lodge, WILD DAISIES! :D

Everyone needs a WILD DAISY or two in their life.

Enjoy! And breathe in that mountain air!

~*~





More photos on Flickr.

More memes, for your edification

View from my cousin Bethie's house.

More photos on my Flickr-for-Cheapskates account.

~*~

Rachel Maddow recently said there is one way to know for sure that you are a Democrat: Do you still expect Obama to lose?

Well, there's my answer.

I do expect that; I'll believe it when I see it and only after the final vote is tallied in the deepest, darkest corner of Florida.

~*~

Natalia tagged me with her fun 8-Homes meme:

Where would you have yours, if you were as insanely rich as the McCains?

List them. You don’t have to list your reasons, but if you do at least for a few of them, it would be more fun. And remember that the only rule is: the homes must be within the borders of the United States of America or else, within the borders of the country you live in, so as to utterly emulate the McCains. When you’re done, tag 8 people, so that they may join in the self-indulgence, forgetting about the crappy property market and the equivalent of The End of Pompeii on Wall-Street. You could spend your time hammering your doors and windows shut in preparation for the apocalypse instead, but it would be much less fun.

Yes, she's right, of course!

1) Columbus, Ohio, my hometown. To be specific, German Village, where I briefly lived as a child, before it got all tarted up. Mr Daisy would especially enjoy living within walking distance of The Book Loft.

2) Asheville, North Carolina, preferably on Biltmore Avenue, down near the French Broad Co-op and Orange Peel.

3) Hendersonville or Black Mountain, North Carolina, (general vicinity) in the Blue Ridge mountains. I love it there.

4) Athens. Georgia, not Greece.

5) Berserkley, California. Lots of reasons, several I won't get into now, due to a profound lack of nerve. Suffice to say, it is probably the only city as consistently lefty as I am.

6) Like Natalia, I'd love to have a house in Buckhead (Atlanta), but I could never clean one of those things. "Call me pretentious, whatever," says Natalia.

Okay, me too!

7) New York City, a modest co-op would be fine. I don't know the neighborhoods, but is anyone working-class even LEFT in Manhattan these days? Or do the service workers arrive and depart with the rest of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd?

Wait, this meme assumes I'm rich, I forgot. And it's bloody hard to think that way!

Confession: I would not particularly enjoy being surrounded only by OTHER rich people! For this reason, I might not do so well as a rich person, so I guess it's a good thing I'm not, huh?

8) One of the South Carolina islands--Kiawah, Pawley, Folly, St John's, St James, Seabrook--any one of those would be utterly terrific, except of course during hurricane season!

~*~

I was also tagged by Renee and Sarah, for a Seven things meme:

* Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

* Share 6 / 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.

* Tag 6/ 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

* Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:

1) I'm allergic to avocados, an allergy that has recently worsened considerably. I am upset since I love guacamole, which I could handle in small amounts every month or so. NO LONGER! Bah. :(

2) I've seen DAYS OF HEAVEN about 20-30 times. Estimate. Maybe more.

I know Linda Manz's narration by heart.

3) And THE WILD BUNCH too.

4) As I recently stated in my comments on Pop Feminist's fabulous blog, I get an involuntary chill whenever I hear the first few notes of Remember, Walkin in the Sand, by the Shangri-Las.

5) I have oodles of meaningless certificates that certify (natch) I know how to do various and sundry things, such as: fiddle with DOS and Wordperfect; Medical Transcription; consult with people about herbs and enzymes; "customer service specialist", and other illustrious pieces of paper that I have long-since misplaced or lost.

6) I've seen lots of famous, legendary bands, including The Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Ramones (three times), Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Muddy Waters, and of course, the collective namesakes of this blog.

7) I've also seen a collection of non-legendary bands such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, J. Geils Band, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Heart, Foghat, Todd Rundgren, The Cars, Cheap Trick, etc.

~*~

Tagging whoever wants to do this! But particularly my droogs, Jojo, Annie, Thene, Jenn, Chaos, Mike and John Powers!

Anyone else who wants to, go for it. And if yall don't want to, conversely, don't worry about it.

HIPPIE MEMES, always! :P


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Listening to: The Who - Heaven and Hell
via FoxyTunes

Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots

Below, my Cousin Bethie's cats, Elvira and Pharoah.

Elvira, the brown-striped tabby, was originally my daughter's cat, then mine, and now resides with Cousin Bethie. Pharoah was rescued by Bethie's husband while on a routine work assignment, the day before he was scheduled to go to the shelter.

Elvira's ears are a bit flattened because she is spooked by my reappearance in her life. Obviously, cats do have memories! She seems afraid that I will take her away, or at least, becomes noticeably nervous and disoriented whenever I reappear. (Do I look different, but sound the same? The opposite?) She might be further confused by my voice, which sounds a great deal like my daughter's. (She always recognized my daughter's voice instantly and would run to greet her.) Elvira is almost 12 years old now.

She hated Grand Old Man with a deep and furious passion.

When I pet her, she looks up at me--meowing and purring immediately. It's as if there is a tactile memory that reawakens; just between us.

~*~







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Listening to: Bob Marley & the Wailers - Satisfy My Soul
via FoxyTunes