HP 7

okay, who’s ready to talk about it? I AM! I AM!

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stuff I’ve been reading

on the web, which isn’t where I should be doing reading, considering I’m supposed to be doing thesis research:

• Red Jenny: Economic Growth Creates Poverty in the World and The Good Life and the Economy

• Sigel Phoenix’s Women and Violence series, which is an excellent deconstruction of the ways in which gendered violence is embedded in our society and normalized through social structures
• Tekanji’s Privilege in Action and Privilege List series (for anyone who ever wondered what the heck privilege is all about, and can’t seem to grasp that it doesn’t necessarily mean that you get “stuff” as a result – there’s about 20 posts thus far, go read ’em all)
• Nezua’s The White Lens series, which is just plain amazing for pointing out the ways in which white people are racist and it’s built into the whole damn way we have constructed society (for anyone who had difficulty with my recent post on the subject)

Ok, go on now, get going!

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Thinking Blog Awards Nos. 2 and 3

So, a while back, Aspazia of Mad Melancholic Feminista bestowed upon me a Thinking Blog Award, with great honour.

And a little while ago, Max of Celluloid Blonde also included me in her list of recipients, for which I was very flattered, but I didn’t respond yet, mostly because school was getting busy, I was in the middle of that anti-racism thread, and also the PUA thread started picking up again (pun kind of intended).

Then today, Dave of Wandering the Ether added me to his list as well, so I thought it was time I respond. So, as far as I can tell, that leaves me with 10 slots to fill on my list of Thinking Blog Awards – which is great, since I read so many wonderful blogs by so many talented and clever folks, I am delighted to expand the original list of 5! (who were, BTW, Freeslave, Brownfemipower, Sage, Queer Dewd, and Renegade Evolution. Love to you all!)

So, before I begin, thank you to Max and Dave for your support of my work here, and here are my ALL NEW 10 Thinking Bloggers!

1. Sylvia of Anti-Essentialist Conundrum -she’s one smart young black woman with a helluvan analysis of north american culture. I love reading her blog.

2. Defenestrated of Muttering in a Corner – Def started out as a commenter, who decided to get her own blog. she’s still an active commenter, but she writes some wicked posts too! she’s very insightful indeed.

3. BlackAmazon of Having Read the Fine Print… – again, super-smart young black woman. Holy shit, this girl can flip it. Her posts read like stream of consciousness, calling out your ass on your bullshit, awesome you will listen to me rants, and I love every minute of it. She’s fearless, and she pretty much blows my mind. Did I mention she’s 22?

4. Rainbow Girl – I only recently discovered RG, but I feel like I’ve known her for years! She’s very dedicated and has actually succeeded in taking academia into activism in the real world, which rocks. Go Team Rainbow!!

5. Liberallatte of Between the Linds and Realities – I’m kind of like LL’s fairy blog-mother (a term SteveG thought up for Aspazia). I “met” LL when he began commenting here, and when he started his own blog up, I was thrilled to add him to my blogroll. He offers up a very insightful analysis of media representations, and I think he’s just great!

6. Darkdaughta of One Tenacious Baby Mama – I only discovered darkdaughta recently, but I have been avidly reading since. I can’t even describe what she does adequately enough to do it justice. Just go and read, and look, and you might understand. She’s awesome.

7. Kevin of Slant Truth – I’ve been reading Kevin for a while now. I gotta tell you, I really dig his style. He spins it like he sees it, and I definitely admire that.

8. Nezua of The Unapologetic Mexican – again, newly discovered, but I’m lovin’ it over there! Nez is one smart, smart man, and his site is lovely to behold. Check it out, you won’t be sorry. Make particular note of his White Lens series – that’s some excellent blogging happening.

9. Julie of The Pinko Julie Show – wow, can Julie ever write. She is a very powerful voice for the alternatively abled in our slightly leaving something to be desired although still a million times better than the freaking US health care system. I love her writing style, she’s brilliant, go check her out.

10. Last but most definitely not least, my partner in so many comment sections of so many posts here at Thinking Girl, Ruxandra of Strength Never Power – she’s smart, articulate, eloquent, vegan, activist, sciency, feminist, punk music afficionado, lover of Jane Austen, and lucky for me, now a friend. Thanks for everything Ruxi!

Geez, I think I could go on… so many intelligent bloggers out there who make me think. Thank god!

If you’ve been tagged here, and you want to participate, please follow these instructions:

The idea is to name 5 blogs that make you think. Here are the rules for participation:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

That’s it! Now everyone – get to reading!

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tagged

So, I’ve been tagged by Ruxandra. I have to recommend a book in one paragraph. YIKES! Which of the thousands of books should I recommend? Fiction or non-fiction? Something about feminism? Something about philosophy? Something that I found helpful, useful? Something that made me feel something wonderful?

really, just one?

I think I’ll recommend the book I most loved these past few years:

The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. This book is just pure magic. It is about a man named Henry, and his wife Clare. Clare meets Henry when she is very young, and Henry is a grown man. Henry meets Clare when she is in her early 20s, but not before. You see, Henry time travels. But not by choice – he does so involuntarily, thanks to a strange physical condition he has. So while Clare has grown up knowing Henry, Henry hasn’t met Clare until she is an adult. The story is fantastical, due to the element of time-travel. But on another level altogether, the story is magical because it is a completely romantic love story like no other you’ve read. The connection between Henry and Clare is really touching and lovely. The book is impossible to put down, highly addictive, and overwhelming in its ability to make you FEEL the story. It’s tragic and beautiful and sad and passionate and absolutely unforgettable. Everyone I’ve given this book to has loved it deeply and counts it among their favourites, and has thanked me for introducing them to it. So, now I’m passing it along to you. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Thanks Ruxandra for the opportunity to plug this book to a wider audience!

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