That video put me in the mind of this story:
Portly and the Car Salesman -- Circa 1988, Portland, Oregon
So, on April Fool's Day, 1988, I managed to get in the way of someone who was making an illegal turn across traffic. I walked away from the head-on collision unscathed, but the family's beloved Datsun B-210 station wagon did not fare so well.
My then-partner and I began the arduous process of buying a replacement vehicle. We had a limited income, and knew exactly how much money we could spend and what kind of car we wanted (Toyota Tercel wagon -- you know, the one that looked like it had an ATM on the back?).
It was the late 80s. The auto-sales industry had gotten wise to the fact that more and more women were buying cars -- and doing so without the "aid" of a man. I had just read two or three articles in major newsmags about how the industry was re-gearing its sale-pitches and changing its showrooms to re-niche-ify toward the car-buying women's market.
I hate haggling. I've bought only three of the many cars I've owned at car dealerships -- my 1978 Datsun pickup, the Tercel, and my current van (all used). I take some hippy pride in the fact that I have never in my life purchased a new car.
My partner and I went out car-shopping the first time with the kids. (Note to parents: This is a very bad idea. If you want to gain the dealership's sympathy vote because you're raising a family -- ha! -- stuff your wallet with pictures instead -- put a "My kid was an honor student at blah-blah-blah" sticker on your car -- anything. Just do not take them along.)
The dude at the first dealership showed us the Tercel (awful color, nasty-ass plaid upholstery -- glad it didn't work out, really). We told him how much money we had to spend (which was, of course, far below the sticker price), and he herded us into his office, assuring us that he thought he could work something out.
Which began the two-hour agony that followed, where he exercised all the old ploys -- took our car-keys so we couldn't leave, went back and forth and forth and back to the manager's office, etc., etc., etc. -- if you don't know the drill, that's a good thing -- my advice to you is that you keep it that way.
When he got it through his thick skull that when we said "this is how much money we have to spend" what we really meant was,"this is how much money we have to spend" -- that we weren't driving a hard bargain, that we weren't being cagey and conniving -- as this simple message finally penetrated his consciousness, he looked at us, absolutely dumbfounded (two HOURS later), and said: "Well, I can't sell this car to you for that!"
To which I said something like: "Yeah, dipshit -- I thought that was probably the case, and every time I tried to tell you that, you told me you could work something out, and then left us sitting here for another 15 to 20 minutes!"
We regained possession of our hostaged car-keys, and the children never forgave us for the two hours of lost Saturday which they endured. (It did have the fortunate upside of them never wanting to go car shopping with us again.)
The next weekend, just the two of us ventured out once more, this time to a different dealership.
We guarded our car-keys carefully, and, exhausted from the craptasticness of the previous foray, we came up with a signal -- if either of us made the sign-language gesture for "Fuck" (my partner was an ASL interpreter), we agreed that we would both get up, without discussion, and leave. No explanation needed, and either of us could make the call at any time -- we had concluded that life was too fucking short (hence the choice of sign).
The Tercel that we looked at was closer to our price range (on the sticker), so we allowed ourselves to be seated with coffee and really bad pastry in the salesman's office.
At first, it went fairly well. We politely explained that we only had ____ amount of money to spend, and that no, we weren't kidding, and no, this wasn't a counter-offer thing -- it really was the entire amount we could spend (which really confused the salesman, I could tell), and then it began -- the smarminess, the cajoling, the manipulation. It was mostly vocal tones and lack of meetings of gazes, but it wasn't long before I saw my partner give me the sign.
I said: "Thanks very much for your time, we're not interested", and we stood up and headed for the door.
What happened next, I never, ever imagined might occur.
The guy followed us. I mean, really close behind us, and shouted at us that we had to come back. Literally -- those word -- we had to.
When that didn't work (now keep in mind -- we are walking through a very large showroom, and then through a very large parking lot, with this guy right behind us, yelling at us the entire time), he tried things like: "Get back here! You can't walk out of here! You women have no idea what you're doing! I demand that you come back here right now!"
We were kind of glancing at each other now and again, but we basically just kept walking resolutely toward our car, when we heard him scream, at the top of his lungs:
"You're nothing if you don't buy a car from me!!!!!!"
Seriously.
We were still just marching stalwartly to our car, when a manager came sprinting out from the showroom, got between the salesman and us, and started rapid-fire spewing things like: "Please. Don't go. I'm sorry. I know we can work something out." We kept walking. "PLEASE -- Ladies! . . . . "
That stopped us.
It was not planned -- it was not calculated -- but my partner and I wheeled around as one and said, in perfect unison (both in terms of words and level of dripping venom):
"We're not Ladies!!!!!"
The manager then said: "Girls! . . . . . . ."
When he caught the look on our faces, he went silent, his jaw going up and down for a few seconds, and then finally spluttered out -- pathetically -- desperately -- as if he'd only just remembered that the word existed:
". . . . Women!"
But it was too late. We were already gone.
When we got home, I called the owner of the dealership at the corporate office (he was the mega-owner of Blankety-Blank Ford, Blankety-Blank Toyota, Blankety-Blank Honda, etc., etc., etc., now known as the Blankety-Blank AutoGroup).
I was passed from one secretary and middle manager to another secretary and middle manager, and kept insisting on speaking to the owner. I believe that it is possible that I may have uttered words like discrimination, harassment, and lawsuit.
I was finally passed up the foodchain and spoke to the owner directly.
I told him about the articles I had just been reading about the "New Consumer -- Woman!" (yeah, right, we've been here all along, doofus), and I inquired of him just how he thought he was going to cash in on that market when he employed these kind of salespeople.
To his credit, he listened (and in the following weeks, he had his dealers calling us every single time a Tercel station wagon that was within our price range rolled onto one of his many lots).
We ended up buying from an private owner after all, and we drove, drove, drove that blue Tercel over the next years. My ex- got it in the "divorce".
I just had to tell that story, after I saw that 60's reel up top.
Although that salesman was an unmitigated ass, I really must thank him for all the laughs he's given me over the years -- whenever I replay his outraged shriek in my mind:
"You're nothing if you don't buy a car from me!!!!"
[crossposted from Teh Portly Dyke]
Another Portly True Story -- But First, A Movie!
Obama Not Likely To
In what is now probably my favoritest headline of all time: Obama Not Likely To Make It To Gay Leather Events During Inaugural Weekend.
Well... damn. As a spokesperson for the president-elect put it, "Let's just say it's likely the president-elect will be occupied with many other activities."
You know what I loved about this article? (Aside from the ridiculous premise here that Obama might have otherwise swung by if he just wasn't so damn busy. Seriously, how did that question even get asked?) The reaction from Obama's camp. The spokesperson at least seems totally unbothered by the idea. "Hey, wanna come to our leather party?" "Nah, we've already got plans, but thanks anyway." Not the typical hand-wringing I'd normally have expected. Good for Team Obama.
Maybe next year Obama's schedule will be a little freer.
I Write Letters
Dear John Doe US Army:
Stay classy. Keep up the competence. Great contractor selection, as always. You totally rock.
LYLAS,
Liss
P.S. I enjoyed sitting next to you in English class this year. Have a great summer!
Action Item: Help American Arts & Crafts Toymakers
by FishOutofWater, former Kauai body surfer now living near a pond in central North Carolina, who enjoys watching the blue herons in the early morning and is the father of Shaker SamanthaB.
Handcrafted, safe, traditional American toys need your help. Send a letter. Sign the petition. Congress' response to lead contaminated Chinese toys may inadvertently ban safe handcrafted toys made in America and Europe.
The law (CPSIA) to protect American children from lead- and pthalate-tainted mass-produced Chinese toys is being used as a bludgeon by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to force toy stores to take all untested toys off shelves by February 10. The CPSIA goes into effect in February, but the CPSC has not exempted handcrafted American and European toys made from natural materials and safe coatings. Individual toymakers cannot afford to pay for thousands of dollars of product testing designed by Congress for mass-produced Chinese toys. Small shop owners cannot afford to test their inventory. Owners are threatened with $100,000 fines.
Makers of small, handmade toys have formed an alliance to fight for their right to make safe traditional American toys, but they are caught in a catch-22. Safe handcrafted American toys should be exempted by law but the CPSC must conduct a rulemaking to exempt them. The law goes into effect February 10 while the rulemaking process, which can take years, is just getting started.
Retailers could also be hurt by the new law. Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said stores would not be allowed to sell inventory after Feb. 10 that had not been tested for lead content. That means if the products are made out of natural materials but have not been tested, they'll have to be pulled from the shelves.My daughter, SamanthaB., opened a toy store in North Carolina last year. Here's her story in her own words:
I started a toy store last Spring partly in reaction to the lead toys from China controversy. I wanted to carry safe, special, and lasting toys. Very quickly I came across a wonderful local treasure, an 85 year old former test pilot who began making beautiful wooden toys after his retirement twenty years ago. Gradually I learned a little more of his story.Please, help save traditional American arts and crafts toys that have educated and entertained American children for generations. Write or e-mail your congressional representative. Write or e-mail your senator.
He made all of his toys from scrap wood, mostly wood that local furniture makers would otherwise discard. When someone in the neighborhood needed to rid their yard of a cumbersome cedar tree, he was there to fell it. Out of it would come gorgeous bark-encased puzzles and children's stools. And he was a World War II veteran with not one, but two Purple Hearts.
As time went on I found more people. Nine local craftspeople, to be exact. There's the retired couple who carefully research the history of toys to develop each design.
When a couple wanted them to develop a handmade beading set, they went to the drawing board and came up with something especially for them. You can do that when there are local crafts people around. Of course, the results are so beautiful that I will now carry them in my shop.
And there's the woman who hand makes stuffed animals out of vintage chenille, no two alike.(Fish's note: See picture on top of diary. Note also that one-of-a-kind toys like these are the only ones that appear to be specifically exempted by the CPSC.People come into my shop every day and ask me, "Are these locally made?" One woman told me she lived in a single-wide trailer because she couldn't afford a double-wide, and she was so grateful that I could offer her a handmade wooden rattle treated with organic, food-grade linseed oil, at a reasonable price because it was made locally. It isn't a conservative or liberal, rich or poor issue to value community and craftsmanship.There are exceptions to the testing rule for crafters making only one unique copy of each item, said Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission."It's sticky and it's tricky, but if we can't see that the products are truly one-of-a-kind, they have to be tested," she said. "This is not a time where a manufacturer should be rolling the dice on compliance with the law."
It's deeply ironic that toys made in China could come to threaten the livelihood of these people who take so much pride in their work. And, of course, my business will no longer stand out from the big boxes. I can't ever have their selection, so how can I compete if I can't carry something those guys don't have?
Communicate your concerns to the CPSC.
The handmade toy alliance has written a sample letter to make responding easy. They have written a petition that you can sign on-line. Please help.
Tell your congressman, your senator and the CPSC that toys made in America and Europe from natural wooden, cloth and fiber materials and safe, tested lead-free paints and coatings should be exempted from the third party testing requirements because toys made from those materials have proven to be safe.
(Cross-posted Also see Etsy for more.)
Top Chef Open Thread
Chef Tom Colicchio will drink. your. milkshake!!!
He will also, if you will accompany him into his suspiciously sexy kitchen, show you the proper way to toss a salad.
Question of the Day
Continuing on the theme, and suggested by Shaker Heather...
What TV shows are you most excited about seeing new episodes of in the new year?
I shall answer this question by posting the promo Petulant just sent me via email:
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!!!!!
14 days. Pant, pant.
Quote of the Day
"People who are against gay marriage do not understand the very freedoms that they themselves are enjoying."—Brad Pitt, in an interview with W magazine.
You may recall, as Mustang Bobby reported, that Pitt donated $100,000 to fight California's Proposition 8.
My love affair with the Jolie-Pitts continues unabated.
Yo, Seattle: Celebrate, Feed the Homeless, and Support Muntadhir Al-Zaidi
by Shaker BGK
On Jan 20th, 2009 Barack Obama will deliver his inaugural address, becoming the 44th President of the United States of America. He will also become the first President of the United States to be a Person of Color. His speech and ball will hopefully be a party for our nation.
Unfortunately, not everyone on Jan. 20th will have the same ability to celebrate.
For many across the nation, January is a hard time to make ends meet. Here in Seattle, Northwest Harvest reports heavy demand on our foodbank.
Half a world away, Muntadhir Al-Zaidi awaits trial for expressing his anger at 43rd President of the United States George Bush. Everyone can understand that frustration and anger. Now that he's held at Camp Cropper, there are some reports that Al-Zaidi has suffered injuries and brutality. Clearly, he should not be tortured for his crime of shoe-throwing.
The combination of these three events has spawned a local event here in Seattle.
One of my local pubs, The Red Line Bar & Grill, will host an inauguration party. The TV screens will show the news feed of the inauguration party for all to watch. It's my hope that we will have great conversations happening inside as we watch this moment in US history.
On the back patio, you can donate 3 non-perishable food stuffs or $5 to the Northwest Harvest, helping to feed the needy of Washington State and Oregon. In exchange for your donation, you will be given the opportunity to take Al-Zaidi's place and try to hit President Bush with a pair of size 10 loafers. Just like our outgoing President, he's dodgy. If you manage to hit the president with both shoes, you will win a coveted and rare Redline t-shirt. There will also be excellent drink specials all night! (Manny's beer to name one.)
All in all, there will be good fun, good food, good conversation, a new president, and a healthy donation to Northwest Harvest to feed the needy in this area. Please consider this an open invitation to any Shakers. If you have questions or need directions, please contact me (Shaker BGK) at shoesatbush@gmail.com.
Thanks!
As if You Needed Another Reason
Rick Warren continues to show that he was a horrible choice for Obama's Inaugural Invocation. This might be old news to some of you, but this was the first time I had heard of this little gem. According to Warren, women do not have the "right" to divorce abusive husbands.
Yeah.
Warren, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to deliver the Inaugural Invocation, instructs his parishioners that the Bible says physical abuse is no excuse for getting a divorce. Warren explains:
I definitely suggest following the first link and reading the entire post. As Nina the author puts it, this "gives abusive husbands another tool to control their victims: the Bible." Having been involved as a pastor in situations of abuse, there's something in me that wishes there were a Bible verse that says if they abuse you in such kind of way, then you have a right to leave them.
"God," Warren says, "hates divorce." This teaching is posted in the "Bible Questions and Answers" section of the Saddleback Family website (#32, "What should I do when abuse is happening in my marriage?").
As he puts it:
Apparently, it's not only possible at Saddleback to pray away the gay, it's possible to pray away the abuse. An abusive marriage is a "situation." A separation will heal all wounds and fix all problems. You might want to keep this little tidbit in mind the next time someone tells you "It's just a prayer, what's the big deal?" if you're speaking about Warren's campaign against LGBTQI persons. There's quite a few eye-openers on the Saddleback website, if you can stomach listening to the files.I want to tell you the advice that we give in our counseling ministries. First of all if you are in this kind of a situation, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of our lay counseling ministry. Go in and talk to someone and let them minister to you. And the advice that we give is not divorce but separation.
Warren omits mention of contacting the police, seeking medical attention, or obtaining legal assistance to secure orders of protection for yourself and your children.
Warren was a terrible, terrible choice.
(Energy dome tip to NMMNB, via Alternative Invocation.)
Assvertising
Part Thirty-Five in an ongoing series…
Heineken, not quite outdoing its keg-as-uterus advert:
I'd just like to point out that some wankjob advertising firm made big money coming up with the extraordinarily sophisticated and cutting-edge concept "Girls Like Shoes; Boys Like Beer."
What I like best about it is the subtle messaging about women: When the women scream, nada from the men; when the men scream, the women stop their own celebration and go see what's up with the dudez.
Because the women's reactions are not overtly revealed, it can play into your favorite stereotype—either women are submissive nurturers who stop their own celebration to make sure the guys are okay, or women are henpecking harpies who can't enjoy themselves if "their men" are having any fun. Wheeeeeee!
[Via Sociological Images. Assvertising: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four.]
Wednesday Blogaround
hey your big gay blogaround's bevis is fat
Recommended Reading:
Andy: Animal Rights Activist Nathan Runkle in Brutal Anti-Gay Assault
nojojojo: S.O.S., Different Year
Elle: Labor Pains
Shayera: Already loved him, now I ADORE (Heads up, Izzard fans!)
BAC: A President Forgotten but Not Gone
Marcella: Understanding and Misunderstanding Genuine Consent
And update your blogrolls! Shaker Redstar, aka Leigh Graham, is blogging Poverty in America at Change.org.
Leave your links in comments...
No Big Thing. Right.
Following up on 'Liss' post.
When Shaker BGK sent me this article about the letters sent to 11 gay bars, I was struck by the first paragraph, and the last (seems to be a thing for me lately):
The article starts out:
"Eleven gay bars in Seattle were sent letters Tuesday threatening ricin attacks — in what some are describing as a hate crime." (emp mine)and it ends:
"Stranger editorial director Dan Savage said he didn't take the threat too seriously: "I get a death threat a day with Savage Love," he said, referring to a sex column he writes.WTF? "What some are calling a hate crime"?!?!?!?
Savage said the letters didn't contain any religious references, making him wonder whether the author was an embittered gay person. He said that if the threat were designed to ruin business for gay bars, it may backfire. Staffers from The Stranger made a point of visiting gay bars Tuesday night to show their support, he said, and others may be inspired to do the same."
See, it doesn't matter who sent the letters -- this is terrorism, pure and simple -- and it is terrorism targeted at a specific oppressed population, which is, by definition, a fucking hate crime.
And hey, Dan Savage -- good for you for dealing with your fear in the face of death threat letters sent to The Stranger, but you know, when the police and the FBI are taking it seriously, you might want to join in and get off your pleasure cruise down that river in Egypt.
Because even if the author of the letter doesn't follow through on the threat, the threat itself is still an issue, in my mind -- it's designed to stimulate fear in an already-threatened population, and as I cruised around the blogosphere looking at responses from queers, I noticed that I had that uh-oh feeling again:
"Like most gay people, I've been getting death threats since grade school, so bring it on."
"They collected the letter and that's about it. I don't think it's anything to worry about it." Roland admitted to being unnerved by the letter at first. "But after the initial 'what?', it's like whatever."Which is sad, to me. We're so used to being despised. We're accustomed to watching our backs and being vigilant.
Don't get me wrong -- I understand it --we almost have to make it "no big thing", because if we responded to every potential threat against us, that's just about all we'd do every day.
I've been in the majority of those 11 bars, at one point or another, and in some sense, the author of the letter has been effective, no matter what happens next -- because the next time I walk through the door of one of them, I'll think of that letter -- it will be one more piece of vigilance I carry with me, when my armor is already feeling a bit weighty.
I was trying to imagine, though, what the response would have been if the same letter were received by, say, eleven churches of a specific denomination. I'm guessing the members of that community would not be saying things like: "Well, we get a death threat a day", or "well, whatever", and I'm guessing that next Sunday, there would be a strong police presence in the neighborhood of each of those churches.
I think it's important for queers to maintain their mental health in terms of this stuff -- these are the ways we cope sometimes -- by calming ourselves and going on with our lives, even in the face of threats and malice -- but I also think it's important for us to remember that, in a just society, those threats and that malice would not be an accepted reality, but rather, a very rare experience.
It's important that we remember this, lest we become like a battered spouse who just gets "used to it", because we all know where that goes.
No Terrorism Since 9/11
Since there hasn't been any terrorism on Bush's watch since 9/11—certainly none here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, anyway—it's good that Bush can go out without any more terrorism here, either:
Eleven gay bars in Seattle were sent letters Tuesday threatening ricin attacks — in what some are describing as a hate crime.Let us all take a moment to note, appreciate, and summarily despise the bitter irony that the GOP made gay-hating a centerpiece of the 2004 Bush reelection campaign in a desperate bid to put their boy back into office because it is only the GOP who can protect us from the terrorists.
The anonymous letters say, "I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients. ... I expect them to die painfully while in hospital."
A 12th letter was sent to the alternative weekly The Stranger, according to its Web site. That letter says the paper should be "prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals."
...In a statement, the Seattle Police Department said it takes the threat seriously. It has seized the letters and is processing them and is coordinating efforts with the FBI and other federal agencies.
More on Gupta
I don't have a problem with Gupta's qualifications. But I do remember his mugging of Michael Moore over Sicko. You don't have to like Moore or his film; but Gupta specifically claimed that Moore "fudged his facts", when the truth was that on every one of the allegedly fudged facts, Moore was actually right and CNN was wrong.Avedon:
What bothered me about the incident was that it was what Digby would call Village behavior: Moore is an outsider, he's uncouth, so he gets smeared as unreliable even though he actually got it right. It's sort of a minor-league version of the way people who pointed out in real time that Bush was misleading us into war are to this day considered less "serious" than people who waited until it was fashionable to reach that conclusion. And appointing Gupta now, although it's a small thing, is just another example of the lack of accountability that always seems to be the rule when you get things wrong in a socially acceptable way.
Anyone who can utter that many conservative lies and talking points about single-payer/"socialized" medicine is, to put it generously, the wrong choice - and looks an awful lot like a signal from Obama that he doesn't give a damn about one of the most vital issues facing us. It's not bad enough that he said before that he doesn't support single-payer, but he clearly hasn't learned anything of value in his long period of running for president. Another "Up yours!" to the people who voted for him thinking he had to be better than this.In good news, he does disagree with the recent HHS rule change regarding conscience clauses that allows healthcare professionals to opt out of providing drugs/treatments and performing procedures which they find morally repugnant.
...I don't consider Gupta an honest voice in the healthcare discussion, and I don't think anyone should. As a medical journalist, he's not really that good - he's on TV because he says things The Villagers like, which means conservative bull.
Change I Can Believe In
In its new package of rule changes, the House has finally decided to make its official language gender neutral, recognizing the growing representation of women in Congress (including as Speaker of the House). Gone are references to "he," "chairman," and phrases such as "his duties."Using "male" as the universal for all humankind is one of the most pernicious narratives of institutional sexism, diametrically opposite in its gravity from the seriousness with which it's usually treated. Objections to, for example, the substitution of "mankind" for "humankind" are perhaps the most likely to elicit knee-jerk reactions of the exasperated eye-rolling sort, frequently even from generally feminist men and women, who might insist that there are more important things about which to worry.
But an inevitable effect of regarding "male" as the Norm is regarding "female" as the Other. Every time we engage in the little, unimportant thing of male-universal language, we are reinforcing the very foundation of inequality upon which the entire structure of institutional sexism rests.
I can think of few things more important to worry about than that.
I grew up in a world in which the default human was not like me. I was a girl who was part of "mankind," a girl who read "him" and "his" when it was meant to refer to me, a girl who saw human beings generically represented on everything from street signs to "How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver" pamphlets with exclusively male forms, a girl who, in the first grade, asked her teacher why she called a woman a "policeman" because the dissonance piqued me, a girl to whom sexism was transmitted early and repeatedly as I saw women doing "-man" jobs—policeman, fireman, mailman, repairman, businessman, congressman, councilman, spokesman, chairman, fisherman, tradesman—communicating to me at an early age that I was less than, even as the inharmonious language arose in me a feeling of anger and unfairness I couldn't yet articulate; the jobs were now open to women, but their titles were reflecting that they were still regarded as the province of men.
And now, here I am at 34 years old, and as the representatives of my country are finally acknowledging that maybe something's wrong with all that, I glance (foolishly) at the comments at Think Progress and see that the long overdue progress is being met with the same vexing accusations of language policing and wasting time on insignificant things. I am meant to believe my equality is not attached to language, and yet the moment the language comes to me at long last, it is an outrage, while the 34 years I've spent trying to carve out a space for myself in language that did not provide one for me hasn't evoked so much as a modicum of the same indignation.
Sure. Language doesn't matter.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: Telling a girl since birth that she is equal matters little if she travels within a culture that consistently sends signals contrary to that message. It's imperative to subvert the presumption that male is the default, the norm, the unique representative of humankind. And it's no little thing.
[H/T Oddjob.]
Question of the Day
Riffing off last night's: What film released in 2008 did you want to see but haven't seen yet, for whatever reason?
My #1 wannasee is Wendy and Lucy, because I adore Michelle Williams and it just sounds really interesting.
I am also desperate to see Kate Winslet's two new films, Revolutionary Road and The Reader, which I believe have only opened so far in NY and LA to qualify for the Oscars.
There are a bunch more I still want to see, too, but those top the list.
