xian’s Friends

"Shape of Water" by Saint and Kings

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:53:49 -0700

Saint and Kings

Lately it's been heavy
all my friends have been in trouble by the pound
And they're spread out
and there is only so much of me to go around

Asking how things are going to go is like asking, "What's the shape of water?"
The condition is not the process is not the outcome is not the aftermath

Lately it's been harder
to stay present and not drift too far out of reach
What keeps me focused
is knowing the moment has so much to teach

Asking how things are going to go is like asking, "What's the shape of water?"
The condition is not the process is not the outcome is not the aftermath

The shape of water depends on the shape of the container you carry it in
The shape of water depends on the shape of the container you carry it in
The shape of water depends on the shape of the container you carry it in
The shape of water depends on the shape of the container you carry it in

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Thoughts on the 2008 vice presidential race

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:34:02 -0700

I don't think I've said anything about it up to now, and there's only (as of today) 9 1/2 weeks left.

I just read Mudflats' "What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan's Perspective." In it, she says:

[...] Listen to John McCain and you'll hear about a maverick reformer who took on big oil, took on corrupt Alaska politicians, and whose ethics are unquestioned.

Alaskans really want to like Sarah Palin. In a state where corruption is the rule, and the same faces keep recycling over and over and over again like a bad dream, a new face, with a promise of reform seemed like a breath of fresh air. Palin defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski (father of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who he appointed to his own Senate seat when he was elected governor) because he was such an obnoxious, bloviating, downright BAD politician. This staunchly republican state voted with relief, not having to cross over and vote Democratic, but still able to get Murkowski the hell out of office. In the general election Palin swept into office running against a former Democratic governor, Tony Knowles, who was capable but came with baggage. And he represented to Alaskans more of the same, tired old-style politics, and special interests that we have come to loathe.
So, if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. [...]

See, six months ago, it was pretty hard to tell the lineup of Republican presidential candidates apart -- even with a scorecard. So when I tweeted a friend a Publius Pundit vice-presidential poll, he said he was rooting for someone he thought could govern: Christopher Cox, for his conservative bonafides, relative youth and ability to shore up McCain's economic flank.

He asked me who I thought had a shot, and I told him I thought the nod would be more about campaigning than governing: "Whitman, Hutchison, Rice, Watts, Jindal, Powell, Palin, Blackburn, [Elizabeth] Dole, Steele." Of those, my friend said he thought only Watts had enough experience but lacked the desire.

I didn't give the issue any more serious thought until this morning. I'd assumed McCain wouldn't give in to his long-shot leanings. I was wrong.

Today, my friend asked me what I thought of Joe Biden. I said "Meh. I'd hoped he'd double-down on change (Bayh/Kaine) or pick Hagel or Powell or Richardson, but I'm pleased he didn't pick Clinton." I think we can all see pretty clearly what not-picking Clinton yielded.

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Review: Rachel Kramer Bussel, "Spanked: Red Cheeked Erotica"

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:24:22 -0700

"[...] I love what we're doing, but I'm getting confused. I'm having a
hard time telling the truth where the truth ends and the play-acting
begins. Sometimes we act like a regular couple and do normal couple-y
things; sometimes we have really fun, playful sex. And then sometimes
we get into this other thing. [...]"

Andy Ohio's "Tied Down"

So, like, what's up with that other thing? More to the point: Were you in a playful mood the last time you had sex with someone?

I'm not talking about "playful" as in "kittenish," much less "monkeying" or "horsing" around. (Save your human/animal roleplay jokes for now, m'kay?)

I'm talking about the state of mind that has to do with gleeful improvisation, glistening wetness and gleaming smiles, glowing pleasure in the moment and getting a grip on (or getting gripped by) a willing partner.

The latest book to remind me of that delightful state, that pleasant periphery in which ludic languor lives, is Rachel Kramer Bussel's anthology of short stories. (Full disclosure: I received a review copy in exchange for a promise to write a review and post it to the book's Amazon.com listing.)

Each story is not just a rude and randy recitation of body-part motion-capture that one might plot on a graph with as little difficulty as one might play buzzword bingo with nearly any politician's boilerplate address.

It's also not just a collection of completely unlikely or implausible scenarios (airplane bathrooms, department-store dressing rooms, college classrooms, graveyards, etc.). It's called wishful thinking, not fantastic (in that other sense of the word) thinking. Maybe it's just my own imagination, but situations where a few words gone awry result in a gauntlet thrown down and then taken up sound not just likely, but like good ideas (as in Thomas S. Roche's "Pre-Party" and Kramer Bussel's own "The Depths of Despair").

It's why I'm willing to go along with Shanna Germain's "Perfect Bound" with its library-look protagonist, bookstore-cum-flytrap setting and delightfully unexpected uses for certain old-school office supplies, or Alison Tyler's "Betty Crocker Gone Bad," which turns a domestic quirk into the kind of escapade that might get left on a cable-cooking-show cutting-room floor, or Madeline Glass' "Laser Tag," which makes the best out of bad behavior at a concert and the resulting cute-meat meet-cute.

By the time you've dropped in on the grownups-go-back-to-high-school scenario of Madlyn March's "Reunion," the barn settings (yes, if you must, perhaps now's the time for your roleplay jokes) of Thomas Christopher's "Riding the Storm" and L. Elise Bland's "The Breeding Barn," you're probably several turns of the screw into certain physical symptoms that result from the consumption of well-written erotica. You probably won't even mind the workplace-turnabout triptych of Fiona Locke's "Pink Cheeks," Laura Bacchi's "Page By Page" and Simon Sheppard's "Fiscal Discipline."

Make a point of checking this book out wherever you get your hands on it, and you'll soon concur that the only thing better than bending over a well-told tale is, well, bending over a well-toiled-over tail.

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about:robots

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:39:23 -0700

About_robots

George Kelly

(We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill!)

About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots

I downloaded Firefox 3
because all of the people I obsessively read
were doing it too, not doing-it doing it
'cause that would mean taking their hands off their mice

Dday_badge_fox

I downloaded Firefox 3
because I heard they want a world record
for most-downloaded browser as if a browser
is the right tool for keeping up with fights between Scoble and Eric Rice

And then I learned about:robots, about about:robots
About:robots (the one with the colon in between)
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots (the one with the colon in between)
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots

I downloaded Firefox 3
because I wanted to see how well it performed on my PC
Then I saw it really was a mess,
kinda slow, really not a success (all right, I'm kidding)

I downloaded Firefox 3
because I didn't want to be left behind with an unpopular browser
The kind you use to access the Net
in my cubicle when I'm learning

About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
The one with the colon in between
The one with the colon in between
Put it in your browser, see what I mean
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
The one with the colon in between
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots

Robots may not injure a human being
or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Robots have seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Robots are Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With.
Robots have shiny metal posteriors which should not be bitten.

Step one: open up a Firefox 3 browser
Step two: Type the word "about" and then a colon
Step three: Type the word "robots"
Step four: Hit return, and learn!

Shout out to all Bay Area nerdcore crew
Doctor Popular
MC Slutsky
I see you
I'm'a see you
And we have a plan.
Seen!

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On being Boddhisattva of the gender non-Euclidean

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:44:55 -0700

(inspired by Sarah Dopp)

If gender hath its own geometry,
its Euclidean arc the eye can mark,
then the non-Euclidean girl or guy
may also some new queer discussion spark.

If boddhisattva be what you are called,
it's not a label I'd consider dumb
for those Nirvana-bound are not at fault
for existing in that continuum

So those who classify and catalog
all people as they live and love and play
with every Twitter or post to their blog
they doth inform and lighten others' way,

thus broader bound be how we all exist,
how we are kith and kin, but also kissed.

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The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution

nobody@vox.com(vanderwal) — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:26:19 -0700

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution

Alice Waters

I picked this up in January and it has become a favorite very quickly. It is simple recipes with great background for understanding the food.

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Dora Doe

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:27:18 -0700

This year's Bike To Work Day wouldn't've been the same without her.

Dora Doe

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Just in case I forget my face

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:17:20 -0700

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Encinal HS walk-out, Alameda USD budget cuts for 2008-09

nobody@vox.com(gwen) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:53:49 -0800

EHS walk-out_78

EHS walk-out_102

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Time killing survey for YOU

nobody@vox.com(gwen) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:03:50 -0800

This is particular to San Francisco but if you want to talk about your town, I don't mind hearing about it.

I have no time at all because my very oldest internet friend who hasn't been here in ages and ages arrives shortly. You might have five minutes to kill and have some awesome suggestions for where to take her -- any recommendations much appreciated and links if you've got 'em, we are open to up to a two-hour drive.
xo
-g.

What's your favorite place to take out-of-towners?

1. #1 favorite tourist attraction:
2. #1 favorite local hole-in-the-wall:
3. #1 favorite secret:
4. #1 favorite natural wonder:
5. #1 favorite event happening in the next week:
6. #1 favorite impressive/uniquely bay area thing to photograph:
7. #1 favorite ?:

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