I was inclined to pick up this book based on Karen Healey’s quick review on her LiveJournal (you’ll have to scroll down to find it in the list):

It’s about the difficulty of hope, how terrible things happen for no reason, how the mechanics of poverty and oppression keep great people down, how they can be combated, and how faith – of many kinds, including in one’s God, in one’s self, and in one’s friends and allies – can be maintained, lost, regained, and blaze like a beacon for others. There’s barely any hints of romance.

Unfortunately, for me, it’s told in 1st person point-of-view, and i’ve found that with 1st person you have to actually like the narrator’s voice well enough to keep on.  And i didn’t.  Perhaps if i’d pressed on i’d have gotten past Amber’s irritating narrative stylings, but these days i don’t waste more time on a book than i have to.  Sorry, book!

I don’t have much to say about “Sherlock Holmes.” I’ve never read any of the works by Conan Doyle (tho’ i think i’ve read versions for kids when i was in school) and i’m not even sure i’ve seen a full episode of any previous versions of Sherlock Holmes.  I have picked up enough about Holmes from popular culture to be fascinated by the character, but i’ll admit that i was really only interested in seeing this version because i was interested to see what Ritchie would do with such a fascinating character.  Also, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are pretty.

Read more »

“Komaneko” came out in 2006 in Japan.  I got to see it last november at The Grand Illusion Cinema, and this year Andy got it for me as one of my birthday presents.

Read more »

I can watch “Doctor Who” all night long — episodes back to back to back.  I can even watch an entire disc of Monty Python shows in one sitting.

But apparently i can’t watch more than 1 episode of “Futurama” in a go.  We finished the last disc of the last season tonight — and they were 4 good episodes (especially compared to that dark spot in season 3) — but i found myself getting really tired of the whole Futurama formula.  Bender says something obnoxious/offensive, Leela punches/kicks something, Zoidberg is pathetic yet sassy, the Professor gets off a few good lines, and Fry pines and pines and pines after Leela.  Perhaps, like Mel Brooks movies, Futurama is best served up as out-of-context one-liners in conversations amongst friends.

Also:  Hey, script-writers.  A dude pining after Leela the way Fry does and constantly begging, nagging, cajoling her to go out with him isn’t charming or poignant.  It’s the 1st sign of stalker.  Find a new schtick!

fic!

“Theft of Assets, Destruction of Property”, by Helen.  Harry Potter, Draco/Neville.  I’m not quite sure how i feel about the premise of D/N coming to live together, but i loved the characterizations and especially Draco’s transformation.  And, okay, i am a huge fan of Neville’s and love any story where he gets to be a fucking badass.

fic-ish!

“50 Things I’m No Longer Allowed To Do At The Academy”, by Theta Sigma.  Doctor Who.  By far my favorite:

15 – I am not at risk of a predestination paradox if I hand in my thesis on time.

That is, seriously, why all of my school essays were late, every single time, always.  Honest!  Very serious matter, that, predestination paradox.

vids!

“Fever (Remastered)”, by Talitha.  Sherlock Holmes, Watson/Holmes.  Cannot.  Stop.  Watching.

It is difficult to adequately wrap-up this book because i read it slowly over a 2-month period.  Perhaps that’s the 1st thing to say about it: This is not the sort of memoir that i was able to breeze thru’ because it was engaging and consuming and whisked me away.

This is a very, very thinky memoir.  Rothenberg is analyzing and deconstructing the framework of her personal history while she is recounting it.  The thoughtfulness of her narrative is very rich and dense, and i found it somewhat hard going at times.

That said, i think her memoir has the potential to be a very important piece to understanding the institutional nature of racism, classism, and sexism.  I found it helpful to have someone note the framework of these -isms  every step of the way as they told the story of their own life.  Tho’ i think that it will speak best to people who have grown up under similar circumstances: white, educated, middle-to-upper-middle class.

(Note:  Rothenberg does touch on why she writes about herself as white altho’ she is the child of Orthodox Jewish parents.)

There were instances where i wished Rothenberg would have more thoroughly investigated her class privilege — for example, in the last chapter where she speaks about her love of travel and how much of it she’s done.  I also distinctly remember the phrase “dead-end job” that leaped out and startled me with its implicit classist assumptions.

Overall, tho’, i would still give this a recommendation for people who are interested in an examination of how race, class, and gender can impact an individual life.