Ah, the WWW. Just by it’s definition, you find yourself crawling from one strand to another and another. Thanks to this man, who I’d like to call a friend from Boston comedy, and who also writes here, I ended up here. So I checked out NPR’s show “In Character,” which I hadn’t heard before.
After whiling (or wiling) away some time listening to some of Broadway’s belters as the fabulous Mama Rose (Really is there a better musical?), I found this little NPR piece on what for me will always be until the end of time one of my favorites — Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy. Awesomeness.
I didn’t realize two things about the book, which I read, reread, dog-eared, wore out and eventually carved a square in the pages to hide my juvenile pot stash, it is literally as old as me, born in 1964, and it was something of a handbook for germinating lesbians of my vintage.
I’m not a lesbian, but I guess reading-wise, it could have gone either way.
Technorati Tags: comedy, Louise_Fitzhugh, Harriet_the_Spy, teenage, women, writing
A HANDBOOK FOR GERMINATING LESBIANS
THE SAGA CONTINUED
April 13, 2008
Annie Get Your Gun
hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/annie_get_your.html
EXCERPTS
Clinton, who has over the past two days, touted her family’s roots in Scranton, PA, as working class and church-going, has also portrayed herself as a defender of the Second Amendment. Obama tonight questioned her commitment, saying she is playing politics with guns. He said she was trying to appear like “Annie Oakley.”
SENATOR OBAMA
In a fiery speech, Obama again defended his comments, which have dominated the political dialogue for the past 48 hours, and he hit Clinton for using what he said were using Republican talking points against him.
“She knows better,” Obama said. “She knows better. Shame on her. Shame on her. She knows better.”
SENATOR CLINTON
The Clinton campaign released a statement calling Obama’s evening remarks an “outburst” and saying that “the shame is his.”
“For months, Barack Obama and his campaign have relentlessly attacked Hillary Clinton’s character and integrity by using Republican talking points from the 1990s,” spokesman Phil Singer said in a statement. “The shame is his. Sen. Clinton does know better — she knows better than to condescend and talk down to voters like Senator Obama did. Senator Obama’s outburst won’t change the fact that he has embraced his characterization of the millions of Americans who live in small towns.”
Um, OK, What the fuck?
I emailed this person directly, since s/he’s one of the people helping out on some anti-Obama initiatives I don’t really give a shit about. I gather from the world wide intertubes that her gig is to post article links and whatnot against the O. Since this is more of a personal writing project, I asked for little more sumpin sumpin in the commentary. Alas.
I don’t actually under stand this link, other than it’s about shame. I also way don’t get the heading about lesbians, apart from it quite loosely relating to my “punchline.”
It takes all kinds. And, with the power of the web, all kinds are representin’.
yea gods i go away for a while and come back and youve gorn all political and lesbo
and got a new wierdo stalker
anyroad that nice mr obama has shoved his foot firmly in it
with his comments on the bible pummelers
whilst mrs c is getting pissed with the workers on rye
let it go mrs c is what i say we all know you just want to nuke the rest of the muslim world into submission
anyroad back to the plot
i was a just william fan as a wee lad
and i did the same with one of his books to store my my dope now i just leave it on the side in a baggie
is it legal in californication land if so send us some as the local stuff is shite
when in uganda you shold try the local Dagga that realy is good weed
but i guess your on a good will mission so have to behave
as for the rafting good luck i prefered the hot air ballon safari there was slightly smaller chance of dieing involved
if it went pear shaped
have fun and the big white ducks laying eggys in front of the flat so im feeding her saussison sec and bread to keep her interested illl send a pic if i can get one
veda
DVAE!
Good to hear from you. I guess with the duck to lay eggs, no reason to work. You can eat duck eggs.
Thanks for the tip on the local weed. But yeah, between it being for work and good deeds combined with my likelihood of wicked paranoia from smoking, it’s a no go. I had to stop entirely once I figured out what was keeping me convinced something was following me.
You shouldn’t be so hard on our fucked up presidential race. Afterall, whoever wins you and yours are likely to be joining in the mayhem we create. Although Gordon isn’t quite the follower as Tony the Blair was.
Oh, I was just having a little fun with you.
And besides, if you write a phrase like “germinating lesbians,” you’re really opening yourself up to, well, whatever.
Yes, I oppose Barack Obama, and I support Hillary Clinton. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t care why.
That’s okay. As one of the Marx brothers once said (not Karl), I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have me as a member.
And I never check my email. Ask my husband and children. They’ve given up on me.
Hey, thanks for writing back. It’s nice to hear something of a human voice. I do open myself up with my rhetoric. Thanks for noticing.
As for your assumption that I wouldn’t care why you support Hillary over Barack, I’m sure you would be surprised. I’m not a dug in Obama support by any means. It was a tough choice for me in the primaries, but it largely came down to my disgust with especially Bill Clinton’s and Mark Penn’s underhanded attacks and techniques. Perhaps politics as usual, but I think we can do better.
I’ve been known to quote Groucho on that one, as well as Woody Allen’s take on the same quote. I try to keep myself from knee jerk reactions or blind following and prefer my own drumbeat.
How is that you fell into the Larry universe, and how is it that someone who writes levelly would seemingly align with someone who seems, pardon the vernicular, off his fucking rocker?
Hope to hear from you again.
aww what a bummer
i found out i cant eat the eggys of the big white ducks as they is reserved for royalty
HRH evidently has to be informed if you find a dead swan
and its protected
and there aint no way i am going to mess around with anything that can get 60lbs of meat airborne off the river
and is armed with a big pointy beak
not that im a coward mind
as for our gord well hes so bland n fucked up he will join the list of forgoten prime ministers in history
soon i hope
anyroad ive warned our Ray that your coming to africa
so he’s laying in supplies and weaponry just in case its a disaster in the waiting
are you planning to sort ole bob mugabe out on your own as your on the same continent
you might as well as your there mind
have fun coz i am
at least till the pay off check dries up
M and cricket well theres a turn up for the books
can he find 10 other idiots in cali coz if he can the local pub team might be up for a tour
beats playing in the rain in slough
dvea
You don’t need M. to organize a cricket team. This part of California is teaming with folks who came from various colonies. (You know, that shit about the sun never setting on Old Blighty’s empire.)
Bring your pub team over and challenge the locals. They even where white and everything when they play.
I’ll try to leave my worldwide destructive streak behind. But, if Mugabe is tossed out while I’m on the same continent, I’m taking credit.
GIVE ME A KICK-ASS LESBIAN ANY DAY OF THE WEEK
“How is that you fell into the Larry universe, and how is it that someone who writes levelly would seemingly align with someone who seems, pardon the vernicular, off his fucking rocker?”
If you read the commenters at Larry’s site, you’ll find many level-headed there. Victor is one of the best. All of us probably arrived there for different reasons. We had our own reasons for opposing Obama in the first place, and Larry’s story was just another nail in the coffin.
As for Larry being “off his fucking rocker,” Larry is his own worst enemy, to be sure. But that doesn’t mean that his accusation that Obama smoked crack cocaine in 1999 isn’t true. I wouldn’t want to be in Larry’s shoes right now.
And aren’t you the least bit intrigued that the openly-gay choirmaster at Obama’s infamous church ends up brutally murdered? I am. I’m not implying that Obama had any direct involvement. But it is just possible that someone close to Obama took matters into their own hands, shall we say.
Something stinks at that church.
As for why I opposed Obama in the first place, well, you asked. Or, at least, I think you asked.
Comment by sisterrosetta on April 9, 2008 @ 10:50 pm
http://blog.hill4pres.com/2008/02/19/obamas-credibility-problem.aspx
Please check out above link and comments where I’ve commented on this issue in the past. Thank you.
TO BE CONTINUED
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST
I guess this just goes to show you that everyone has her own lenses by which she sees the world.
When I heard Larry and then read more words from his fingertips, my conclusion was lies, lies and sad delusions. I wouldn’t want to be in Larry’s shoes, because I think he’s a natural born shit-stirrer who suddenly got an itch to go for a bigger stage.
The more I read, the sadder I feel for him. He writes at a fourth grade level and engages people at that same level of childishness. Even if I stretched my imagination to believe somehow as late as the 90s Barack was out prowling for drugs and sex, I can’t see him giving Larry the time of day. Larry’s creepy.
Part of my disbelief is that Barack and I are not far from the same age, and Larry might be in the general vicinity too. Doing coke in college, as BO has admitted, is for people at the more expensive schools in the 80s more of a “who didn’t do coke?” question.
By 1999, most people I knew, certainly the ones who had become successful, and by all standards Barack had, had cleaned up. A few might do the weekend bump every now and again, but no one, no one at all of that demographic was/is doing crack. It’s too ghetto for the young lawyer Barack had become, and he was never from the streets where it would be common. (Hell, I’ve known more people from that demo who have snorted heroin, but who wouldn’t do crack.)
That’s just one way in which Larry’s narrative just sounds fucking wrong. Bad story telling, like in stand-up comedy when you hear some ugly nerd making some claims about his luck with the ladies.
Anyway, I went on too long on that point.
As for Victor, I read his posts and think what an insufferable, pompous ass who takes a little knowledge and puffs it up to something else. Honestly, he’s long-winded, which buries his gaps in logic, and I can’t for the life of me understand how he believes half of what he writes. (And, yes, I do recognize anyone could say the same about me.)
Finally, on Donald Young, I am sure it is a terrible tragic murder. I don’t see the connection at all to any of this nonsense or with Obama. I find it much more compelling to believe what the gay press has been reporting — It’s some kind of serial killer targeting gay men, including gay minorities, in Chicago that is not getting investigated or publicized as gay-related.
Even if Barack Obama has a closeted life, as many in politics have had before him but usually not on the left, the only connection I see is that they probably knew each other. If not from gay circles, they were at the same (large) church.
So? My brother and sister-in-law once rented a house with 4 other couples. One of the men years later stabbed his wife to death. Where is the conspiracy?
One thing I almost forgot about that link about O’s credibility — That’s exactly the kind of article that pisses me off here in America. I actually have been in that neck of the world, and I can tell you the U.S. is pretty fucking clueless about Muslim behavior, particularly in Asia, where most of the world’s Muslims live. It’s the same type of sweeping generalizations that I’ve heard about the Kennedys and Catholics, but I could easily refute in my hometown, Boston Irish suburb.
Your girl HRC is doing her damnedest to sound like a regular Joe’s daughter from Scranton. I figure her posture is about on par with Obama’s downplay of his crazy, hippie mother’s bad choice in men.
You gotta love the Crown Royal shooters.
Why I Could Never and Will Never Vote for Obama
By Sister Rosetta
I was teaching in Jackson Heights, Queens on September 11th, 2001. They don’t call it Jackson Heights for nothing. And my classroom was on the top floor.
Suffice it to say that I and my students had a bird’s eye view of the towers on a day that one could literally see forever.
I had received instructions to close my blinds, but I had always had trouble with one blind. I could never get it to stay closed. After several fruitless attempts, I decided to open all the blinds on our bank of windows.
I happened to have my own 6th grade homeroom with me, and they had a right to witness history in the making.
Even today, the memory is such a surreal one.
I was busy watching my students, trying to comfort them. So I didn’t actually watch. They kept me informed.
More than one student came up to me and told me that they had dreamed this was going to happen just the night before.
More than one student came up to me crying that one or both of their parents worked at the WTC or nearby.
Then, “There’s a plane flying into the other tower.”
Then, “One of the towers is falling down.” “It’s gone.”
Then, “The other tower is gone, too.”
Then my husband called from Shea Stadium, where he and his staff ended up housing and feeding the first responders.
He, too, was in tears. He, too, could see everything from way up high in the stadium. And he’d heard the initial reports of 50,000 dead.
One of my brightest and tallest students, Giselle, stuck close to me. I remember saying to her, “For the rest of your life, you’ll never see anything like this again.” I hope I was right.
Even though I was teaching science at the time, I made sure I had a “Social Studies” discussion with all of my 6th 7th and 8th students.
You see, I knew what was to come. I knew that some would say that we the people deserved this.
And I told them point blank, don’t believe them. We did not deserve this. Yes, we’ve made mistakes. But the people of the United States of America are the most generous on earth.
And also the bravest. Our men and women literally put their lives on the line every day to save their fellow human beings, even when it is not in our own best interest.
It’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback about our decision to invade Iraq. My prayer then was the same as it is today. “Father, if we’re wrong, please stop us. But, if we’re right, please help us.”
Only time will tell.
And so I will be voting for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton from the great state of New York on Super Tuesday.
Rose Cupo
Wow, if that’s a first person account from you. It must have been a horrible thing to see out the window. I was freaked listening on the radio.
However, I don’t see the connections you’ve made. I don’t think anyone “deserved” what happened, no more than I do with any violent act that happens to civilians all over the planet. The U.S. is learning a bit later than other places in this world that we are all in this together, though. Our policies have long-reaching effects, and whether we like it or not or whether it is just, we as a nation are a magnet for blame by nuts and madmen and zealots.
Some of the attention is sadly justified. Our trade policies and various strategic embargoes and what not usually harm the poorest and least able to compete, while the rich get richer worldwide.
We have lived in isolation, but 9/11 forced us into a worldwide terror game. No looking back on that now.
Factually and truly, I don’t understand how Iraq got thrown into the mix. There is no connection, none at all between the 9/11 attacks and Saddam Hussein. He was a secular dictator out for himself and at odds with the fundamentalist fanatics who are behind Al Qaeda.
Our strikes against Afghanistan were prompted by 9/11. But, the war in Iraq was prompted only by George Bush and the neocons with their own, non-terrorism related, agenda.
Too much information and too many reports and a whole lot of conversations with people well-connected with Washington, DC have convinced me that we never should have engaged in war with Iraq. It’s not an article of faith with me, it’s an article of fact and research.
As for being a Monday morning quarterback – Nope, I thought it was wrong-minded before it even happened, even as Judith Miller and the so-called liberal press was stroking Bush and pushing the war forward. I was then and am still a news junkie, and I wasn’t buying it.
So, the connection I don’t get is that essentially you are voting for Hillary, because at one time she supported the war? If it’s a vote for 9/11, truth, justice and the American Way, HRC is no longer the torchbearer. That would be John McCain.
ooooo loooky seeeee ee
two towers all gorn to rat shit and why
tis the end of the world
get fucking real girl
a couple of fucked up repressed muslims let loose the dogs of war on the poor old citizens on NYC
and oh fuck they did
we poor brits had the IRA and every other twat wanna be terrorist for ever having a go
when terrorism landed in the good ol USA it hurt
so you fought back
hello sadam hi there iraq
woooo oooooooooo hooooooanother hi there vietman
grow up u bunch of cunts theworld dont need your miss guided values
your current bunch of mormon cunts in charge are shouting about polygamy
and underage sex
me i say nail em to the tree for being peados just like i condem the muslin tradition of og femail genital mutilation
ill stick to my swans nd the river
you sort out the pope and the peados
remember all of merica is built on the trash of immigration that europe didnt want
give me your poor and all that bollocks
so why are you building walls across borders like mexico now
vdea
its a fucker when
the shit comes home toroost
smile sweetly and carry a big stick
mmmm and theres all that oil to consider
ooo look we have to walk to the wal mart
whist africa starves
fuck off and ge tsome real life values tesstrarossa
red head oh are you bleeding i do hope so
from the ears
dave
Hahaha. It’s notes just like that that make me miss you when you go away for a bit.
No one rants like you, dvae. Cheers, mate, or whatever you punters say.
i does likes a good rant
thet will teach the testarrossa beeetch to call me offmy fucking rocker
just cause i happen to think
te best candidate for one of the worlds important jobs
isnt a white bigot with money and an unfaithful husband
whos only clainm to anything other than mediocraty was a cum stain
Bart for president i say
anyday
with homer for vice
anyroad its a done deal
see the Boss for further details
bye mrs C perhaps a bit of clit licking in with a wanna bee celeb might get the common man on your side but i think its a wee bit late
as for the ducks they are fine
i got a job today bugger i knew i would when i started to enjoy myself
c’est la vie
as for ole Bob just you do whatever you can
oh and doo ignore the bollocks about giving the begging kiddys sweeeties and pens give the poor buggers dollars
one a day keeps starvation away
i know you cant give em all a dollar
but everyone helps
even in uganda
now lets see what that red headed beetch
responds with
and as for the i saw the planes getting parked bullshit from the red headed beetch its like seeing pink floyd at the yarborough vaults if everyone who said i was there actualy was the bloody pub would have held 500 000 rather than 50 that it does
and punters is mmmmmmmm well never mind
caps is the current yockel term of endearment for berkshire
royal of course
i can always say i live next door to the Queen
bring em on maybe mrs C is a closet lesbo
in denile
perhps you’ll see her when u go rafting
me
dave
coo fuck a correct spelling
i must be drunk
D is NOT a lesbian. I think. But she may have blown Barack Obama. We just can’t be sure about it. It makes you wonder. 😉
ahh i know Dee aint a rug muncher but is Mrs C
as for ol barack getting a knob polish off her
im not sure she would she seems like M is the center of her univerce
an ol Barack aint around here everyday like
so Paul do you like polishing knobs as well as inflamatory comments
hmmm takes all sorts
ill get my mate steve to let you know who’s free down n dirty down in Brisol just in case you need helping out with a bit of the ol carrot cleaning
vead