BlackSquirrel

Yuletide Letter

2016-10-06T21:22:10Z

Dear Yuletide writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! I really appreciate it, and I will love whatever you produce. So - no pressure! I want you to be able to have creative freedom, so if there is something you feel moved to write, feel free. However, if you want to know a bit about my likes and dislikes, here are some thoughts.

In general, I really prefer a happy or at least contented ending, and I am totally ok with Yuleporn. If you are drawn to writing something sexy with these characters, I would love that. m/f, f/f, m/m, m/f/f - all the things! But if you are not into that, no worries - gen is totally acceptable too.

Yentl - This one calls out to me for a happy threesome. Alternatively, an epistolary piece after the end of the movie as they keep up with each other's lives would also be great.

Wire in the Blood - Oh, these poor characters! I love the way they come together by inches, but then the narrative always throws them apart again. I would really enjoy seeing how Tony could come to accept some love and peace in his life. That would be ideal. I'm up on both the book and TV universe, so if you want to draw details from both, that's fine with me.

Chocolat - I just love Vianne and want to spend more time hanging out with her. Also, *chocolate*! I love the richness and sensuality of the film, and the depth of Vianne's connection with Josephine, Armand, and Rue. It's just so wonderful - bring me back into Vianne's world :)

Miss Fisher - Another lady I would just love to be around for as long as possible. I love that she fights for social justice. I love that she does not deny herself anything. I love how fiercely protective she is of the people in her life. I love the teasing little dance she has going on with Jack - and I wish they would finally take a leap and make it work.

New Article

2012-11-28T11:37:45Z

For the last year or more I've been working on a crazy article comparing Lady Gaga to the crash in the derivatives market. Thanks to many of you who read drafts and helped translate what makes sense in my brain to something that would make sense on the page, it's now been published in the peer-reviewed, but free and open academic journal NECSUS.

My article is available here: MP3s, Rebundled Debt, and Performative Economics: Deferral, derivatives, and digital commodity fetishism in Lady Gaga’s spectacle of excess

Here is the whole Autumn issue on Tangibility

I welcome and comments, questions and critiques here or by e-mail.

Real Update Soon, But Meme For Now

2012-09-24T22:24:03Z

By way of heresluck:

Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of. (I also put *s around the ones I used to have, used all the time, miss, and couldn't bring with me to Amsterdam)

I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, *pastry brushes*, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic crushers, margarita glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, *slow cookers*, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, fondue sets, potato ricers, *creme brulee torches*, miniature food processors, bundt pans, *angel food cake pans*, *fluted tart pans*, mandolines, and waffle makers languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.

Other kitchen oddities I love and use all the time: custard cups, tea pots, electric kettle, tea bag holders, mini spring-form pans

Dear Yuletide Author

2011-11-22T18:53:48Z

Sorry for the delay, Yuletide writer! First, let me just thank you for writing a story for me in one of these small fandoms. They need all the love they can get, and your story will brighten my day no matter what because it is such a gift to have something special to read in a fandom for which there is so little. Thank you!

However, if you would like some specific ideas and guidance, read on.

In general, you may want to check out my 99 kinks meme because I still love all those things, and my previous Yuletide letters which include a lot of information on characterizations that I enjoy and so on: 2009- Wire in the Blood, Casino Royale and 2008- Wire in the Blood, Casino Royale, Brotherhood of the Wolf

Lost Girl

Original prompt: Bo, Kenzi, Lauren. F/F, please, but I love all of these women and friendship fic would be great as well.

These ladies rock my world. Anything you write about them I will probably adore. I would really like to see Bo and Lauren happy together - after lots of angst possibly, but happy in the end - or Bo and Kenzi exploring or deepening their friendship. If you're up for it, I would totally love to have the nitty gritty on succubus sex ;) In terms of the show's mythology, I am most interested in the way the Fae world is situated within a human city, so something about the connections between Fae Toronto and human Toronto would be interesting - but only if that suits the story you want to write.

This totally wasn't in my original prompt and you can completely take it or leave it, but after the bodyswap ep, I'd love to read some Kenzi/Dyson or Kenzi/Hale, possibly as a secondary pairing.

Wire in the Blood

Original prompt: Tony, Carol, Paula. Tony's psychology is the most interesting thing about the show for me, so something dealing with that would be wonderful. Beyond that, any grouping of pairings would be great (Carol/Tony, Tony/Paula, Tony/Carol/Paula, Carol/Paula with Tony reflecting on their relationship). Friendship fic or case file fic would make me happy as well.

My last two Yuletide letters cover this pretty thoroughly - it's all about Tony until it's not. I'm really interested in what it would take for Tony to have a successful (but far from usual) sexual relationship. But in general, I would just love someone to show me what is going on inside his complicated, frustrating, self-undermining little head. However, I also don't want to see his partner - whoever you see that being - have to make all the sacrifices and do all the caretaking in the relationship. Something I think we see through the six seasons of the show is Tony slowly maturing to the point that he could start making an effort to occasionally take care of someone else and I would really love to see that growth pay off.

Alternately, Paula was a lesbian in the books although that's never really explored in the series, so I can read her in the show as bisexual or lesbian, and pair her either with Tony or Carol - or both. I think she's a fantastic foil for either of them because in the show their relationship is so stuck in a holding pattern right up until Carol presumably gives up and leaves. I think adding Paula to that mix could become a catalyst to finally push them to express their desires - either with Tony after Carol leaves, with them both together, or with Carol in the case that Tony really isn't ever going to be ready for a full adult relationship and she needs to move on.

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Original prompt: Mani, Fronsac, Marianne. I love, love, love Mani/Fronsac - that's the center of the story for me, preferably in a relationship, or something that really explores the depths of their friendship. I would also love Fronsac/Mani/Marianne.

What stands out the most to me in my memory of the film is the richness of the colors and textures on screen. Part of what makes this such a delightful story to explore is the sensuality of the setting. I also love that because this was such a crazy, mixed up cluster of ideas, there are numerous directions to take off from. I'm particularly interested in a story that further explores the historical setting and in particular Mani and Fronsac's relationship as it emerged from the violence of colonialism. I'm a complete Mani's death denialist, so feel free to set the story after the film and include Mani alive. I would love to see Fronsac, Mani, and Marianne all alive and together at the end of the film, sorting out their relationships to each other. Fronsac/Mani is the most intimate relationship of the film to me, so while I do think Fronsac's feelings for Marianne are real and important, I wouldn't want that relationship to come at the expense of Mani/Fronsac - it would have to build upon it. However, you could also go backwards and look at Mani and Fronsac in New France, or as they settle into Paris/Versailles. Something from Mani's POV about coming to France could be fascinating, although it would be very delicate to avoid turning him into a cliche. For more, also see my previous letter.

Casino Royale Verse

Original prompt: Bond/M. I love M's effortless power and authority. And Mr. Bond loves rubbing right up against it.

Oh, Mr. Bond. Just when you think you have everything and everyone under control, there is one woman who will never give into you - you'll always give into her because she knows where you come from. You'll do anything for her and you'll like it ;)

I love, love, love Bond/M. I've covered this pretty extensively in my previous two letters, and my Quantum of Solace Review. In general, though, my two favorite things about this Bond verse are how seriously and critically it represents global politics, and ~~tiny swim shorts~~- er, the emphasis on Bond's humanity, vulnerability, and emotional capacity. As the franchise continues on and Bond leaves Vesper further behind him, M is going to be the only person around him who really has his number- knows that most of his life is a facade and knows how to connect with the fear and need buried deep inside of him. Usually she channels that for the state, but she could use it to do ... any number of things with him :) Conversely, while I do like to see M emphatically in charge, I also loved that in Quantum of Solace we see just how willing Bond is to go the distance for M, and it would also be nice to see him expressing that devotion in other ways - both large and small. For example, both of them using their *super spy skills* to hide/detect M's real birthday could be both hilarious and touching. But I think in their business sincere affection is both part of the system of power/dominance/control, and the most precious thing in the world.

So, the main message here is that I am so very grateful to have someone writing for me! I appreciate all the time and effort you will put into this story, and I will love it no matter what :) Happy Yuletide!

Dinner Tonight - Recipe for Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes

2011-11-17T22:43:29Z

I've been a little out of sorts with food since I got here, bouncing between the joy of discovering Dutch cheese and yoghurt, and the frustrations of new stores, new ingredients, new pans, and a teeny tiny oven. I've ended up in a bit of a rut, mostly eating a number of variations on pastas and sandwiches that involve eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil - which is delicious, but rapidly loosing its charm.

So tonight I made curried cauliflower with potatoes and pomegranate, and it was wonderful. There's just something whimsical and decadent about pomegranates. They feel like such a treat.

1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeño, including seeds
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup water

Accompaniment: lemon wedges, pomegranate seeds, greek yoghurt, cilantro

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.

Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, cumin seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Top with a little lemon juice, the seeds of 1 pomegranate, plain yoghurt, and cilantro :)

Android Ap Recs?

2011-07-31T01:50:01Z

Ok, I have purchased a smartphone running android. Any suggestions for must-have aps?

blacksquirrel @ 2011-07-19T12:34:00

2011-07-19T17:34:04Z

I didn't know Sandy well, but she touched me deeply and I will miss her.

All my love to those mourning her loss.

blacksquirrel @ 2011-07-17T23:49:00

2011-07-18T04:49:33Z

I have been enjoying summer back at home. Things are still quite busy as I'm trying to reconnect with all my family and friends here all at once, while also squaring away a million little details of the move. We've gone on a number of surprisingly fun and harmonious family trips up North and to the zoo, among other places, and I've gone to the farmers' market nearly every weekend, which has been lovely.

And, of course, I'm cooking quite a bit.

Because it's summer and it's unbelievably hot out at the moment, lets talk about ice cream.

I adore my ice cream maker, and some of my very favorite summer places around the cities (Grand Ole Creamery, Crema, Sebastian Joe's), and in France (l'Art Glacier) are ice cream shops.

So here are some of the ice cream recipes I've been making and enjoying lately :)

Lavender Ice Cream

I love lavender gelato in the south of France, but it does always have a certain strange feeling to it because that scent is so often associated with soap. This recipe, however, was light and, forgive the pun, floral :) I served it with raspberries, mulberries, and lavender flowers from the garden, as well as a few candied violets - and it was almost like being back at l'Art Glacier.

2 heaping Tbsp lavender flowers
4 1/4 cups milk (2% or whole)
1 + 1/8 cups heavy cream
10.5 oz sugar

Bring the sugar and milk to boil. Remove from the heat and add the lavender flowers. Let infuse covered for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.

Filter the milk. Whip the cream into firm peaks, and whisk in the lavender milk.

Place in your ice cream maker and use according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Place in the freezer until ready to use.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

3 1/2 c milk
3 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon flake salt

1. Place milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge of pan (do not boil). Place egg yolks in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Gradually add half of hot milk to yolks, stirring constantly. Return yolk mixture to pan.

2. Combine sugar, cream, and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar melts. Cook 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat; stir in sea salt. Gradually add caramel mixture to yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Return pan to low heat; cook until a thermometer registers 160°. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until completely cooled, stirring occasionally, or refrigerate overnight. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Place in freezer until firm.

Serve with a sprinkle of flake salt.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

Surprisingly wonderful!

2 ears corn
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Grate corn kernels (and their "milk") off the cobs into a bowl. Discard cobs.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, milk, and corn. Bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk sugar and egg yolks until pale and thick. When cream mixture reaches a simmer, slowly ladle 1/2 cup of it into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat with another 1/2-cup ladleful. Reduce heat to low, whisk warmed egg mixture into saucepan, and cook, whisking, until mixture thickens a bit, about 5 minutes.

3. Pour mixture into a medium bowl, stir in vanilla, cover with plastic wrap (letting the wrap sit directly on the mixture's surface), and chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

4. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight plastic container and freeze up to overnight.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Cherry Sorbet

3/4 cup red cherry jam (with large cherry pieces - such as Bonne Maman or Trader Joes)
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups water

1. To prepare sorbet, combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add 2 cups water, stirring with a whisk. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring well with a whisk. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill overnight.

2. Stir sorbet mixture with a whisk. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon sorbet into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.

Serve topped with fresh cherries.

Gazpacho with Basil Sorbet

We ate this in Provence and absolutely had to learn how to make it. It tastes like summer in a spoon :)

Dice: 3 large tomatoes, 2 medium red bell peppers, 2 small cucumbers, seeds removed

Mince: 1/2 small sweet onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 hot pepper

As you dice, place the ends of everything (all the scraps) plus all the insides of the tomato and 1/2 carrot into a blender. Blend to liquefy. (Add more whole vegetables depending on how many scraps you have - you want about 3 cups of juice).

Put all the diced/minced ingredients into a large bowl. Top with: 2 tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper, the juice of 1 lime, and 1/3 cup of vinegar (mix white wine vinegar with rice vinegar, or use tarragon or champagne vinegar). Stir to combine and let stand for 5 minutes until vegetables start to release their juices.

Pour blender juice over the diced vegetables. Add water or ice cubes if there isn't enough liquid. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours to 2 days.

To serve, adjust seasoning (add more pepper or salt if needed), and garnish with avocado, olive oil, fresh cilantro, and/or basil sorbet

Basil Sorbet

5.5 oz (2/3 c) sugar
500 ml water
2 oz (2.5 c) fresh basil leaves 2.5 cups
Juice of 1 lime

Put the sugar and water in a pot and heat to dissolve the sugar. When it is boiling, reduce to simmer for 3 minutes Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Wash the basil leaves and place them in a blender with the cooled syrup. Add the lime juice and blend to liquify.

Strain (or not - I like it unstrained) the basil liquid and use an ice cream machine to make your sorbet. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. When done, place in the freezer until ready to use.

Enjoy!!

blacksquirrel @ 2011-02-03T00:41:00

2011-02-03T05:41:01Z

Just saw the VividCon membership announcement and *Sadness* I will not be able to go this year! For the best of reasons as I will already be in Amsterdam by then, but It feels very strange and empty to not go for the first time in ... 7 years? 8 years? A *long* time! I will miss you all fiercely in August - please dance a little harder, squee a little longer, and smile a little wider for me.

Putting Together This Year's Vidshows

2011-01-20T18:06:41Z

Please rec me slashy or otherwise queer (broadly defined) vids to music in the top 40 of the last two years. I am particularly looking for Lady Gaga and/or Ke$ha (sp? Can you incorrectly spell something spelled so egregiously?). Also, I am looking for accessible source, but that's negotiable. However, I already have vids for the following fandoms, and I'm trying not to repeat: Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Merlin, Star Trek, Highlander, Xena, Smallville, White Collar, Stargate: Atlantis, Lord of the Rings, Sara Connor Chronicles, Harry Potter, Buffy, Hercules.

So, top 40 music to none of those fandoms - if anyone has an awesome Inception/Dark Knight slash vid to Bad Romance, that would be perfect.

So, nothing too difficult, then ;p

Dear Beleaguered Yuletide Writer

2010-12-07T04:41:16Z

I am so very sorry for not putting this up earlier! And for continuing to cop out, really, because I'm not actually going to write a full letter this year.

First off, let me just assure you that if you've already started or finished a story for me, I will love and adore it no matter what because I am so excited to read a story in one of these underserved fandoms - that it's a present for me just makes it so much more special.

However, if you would still like some guidance, I'm going to refer you to Last Year's Yuletide Letter, my 2008 Yuletide Letter, as well as my 99 Kinks Meme because my tastes really haven't changed much and I've been waiting for the perfect moment to draft this year's letter, but finally accepted that there will be no time between now and the deadline when my life won't be completely crazy.

Thank you!

Dear Yuletide Writer

2010-11-20T05:22:46Z

I am currently traveling and will post a letter as soon as possible.

Love, Hugs, and Good Things on the Horizion!

2010-08-10T22:15:17Z

Happy birthday and belated birthday to arallara, wickedwords, and sherrold!

Intersex Primer - Personal, Political, Scholarly

2010-07-25T05:24:15Z

So, many of you may remember the blow-up a few weeks ago about medical research which surgically intervened to "normalize" the shape and size of the clitoris/"micro-penis" in underage girls, followed by the use of vibrators to measure the girls' level of retained genital sensation. There was tremendous outcry and disgust, followed by a few posts by people with medical credentials or background claiming that this wasn't any big deal because the children involved in the study were intersex and this treatment is considered medical best practice.

The moment for this post may have passed, or this may be a better time now that a rest has cooled tempers a bit. Either way, I feel like these are useful resources, and a topic that deserves to be talked about more openly and often.

I'm going to start by saying that I am not an expert, but someone with a combination of relevant personal and professional experience. Most of the classes I teach include a unit on intersex studies and activism, but I don't consider myself a specialist and I am not an intersexed person. This post attempts to do two things: first, to summarize and share autobiographical and scholarly resources on intersexed lives and issues, outside of f-lock where I've posted such resources before, and secondly, to provide some personal context because it's often most useful to think about social issues when there are names and faces and lives attached, but no individual intersexed person should be responsible for laying their life under the microscope so that other people can poke and prod and judge, and hopefully learn and grow.

So first, the story.

Intersexed people are almost entirely invisible in daily life in the USA - the only way most people hear about the possibility that someone could be sexually other than unambiguously male or female seems to be at the Olympics when accusations are suddenly leveled against every female athlete who isn't "pretty enough."

I'm a bit more clued in because when I was in middle school I had an intersexed sibling who died a couple weeks after birth. That's not very long to really get to know someone and I probably wasn't old enough at the time to fully understand how intersexuality would impact a person's life in the long term, but it's plenty to shatter the profound cultural illusion that we are a two-sexed species.

I want to be completely clear that intersexuality did not kill my sibling - because of the hole in his heart, as well as several other complications, we were told as soon as he was born that he could not survive for more than a year, and it turned out to be much less than that. But you may have noticed that I used the masculine pronoun to refer to him because even a baby who everyone knows cannot live longer than a year is required to produce a sex-gender identity that our two-sex culture can understand. Neither or both or "other" or intersexed are not valid options. He was never going to have a first birthday, never going to have very many clothes of his own or a room of his own, never receive a present, never going to go to school or make friends or date or get married, never going to get a drivers' license or passport, never going to register for military service or not, never going to use a public bathroom or changing room - and yet he still desperately needed to have a gender - the *right* gender - the gender that aligned "accurately" with his biological sex. So a newborn baby who had numerous fatal health problems had to go through testing which was not life sustaining or aimed toward alleviating suffering - but solely to make his genitals more comprehensible to the rest of us. Only then could we name him and baptize him and buy appropriately colored birth and death and condolence cards, and refer to him in our two-sexed linguistic system as a person rather than an object, and know that we were mourning a brother or son or nephew rather than a "child" (A bizarre yet culturally entrenched psychological requirement - do you really mourn a two week old boy and a two week old girl differently? If so, that's clearly a matter of our expectations, not anything intrinsic to that two week-old's being - at that point they haven't had a chance to do much of anything distinctive of a human being, much less a gender).

Take in the absurdity for a moment. To spent only two weeks on this earth, you must have a sex and gender that are determined medically and circulated socially. Even if you will only spend two weeks alive, everyone must know for sure whether you're a boy or a girl, and if you're neither, it's a medical crisis.

This is an open post and I am open to talking about and answering questions about this situation, but for obvious reasons it's an emotional topic for me so I will not tolerate any derogatory comments directed toward my sibling - if such things show up, they will be immediately deleted.

Ok, so, resources. I'm not going to editorialize a lot because I think in this case the best course of action is to educate yourself by reading a variety of accounts. However, I would like to say a few things.

We like to believe that the world gets progressively more advanced and "better," and particularly, the West likes to believe that it has achieved a greater degree of medical and social development than other cultures and countries. Very rarely do we look at any potential negative effects of new medical procedures/knowledges - they are always called "medical advances." There are times when intersexed infants require surgery that is oriented toward health (hygienic elimination of waste, pre-cancerous cells), but for the most part, genital surgery on intersexed infants occurs solely to allow that person to fit within a culture that erased their existence as soon as medical technology allowed the rest of us to do so. Intersexed surgery facilitates the cultural erasure of biological ambiguity between male and female, masculine and feminine (because we culturally believe that gender comes from biological difference). Our social anxieties are worked out on the bodies of babies.

I do not blame individual parents - my own parents felt like they needed to know if they had a son or daughter (even if there was no true answer to that question), and I don't know what they would have decided to do surgically if my brother had lived- as a boy. I do blame the cultural, linguistic, institutional system that requires all of us to have one sex-gender from birth through death in order to exist as people - and the medical establishment is a major player in that system. The institution responsible for defining what is "sick" and what is "healthy" has long been in the practice of regulating the binary division between men and women, masculinity and femininity, by stamping the label "sick" on anything in-between or slightly askew or cross-identified - which is part of the great irony involved in the outcry and discussion surrounding the study that prompted all of this: the vibrator, which people were shocked to learn had been used as an instrument of scientific research on "girls'" bodies, was originally invented to cure hysteria - that great medical condition for being a failed Victorian female. Here it surfaces again to make intersexed bodies into "proper women," once again asserting that doctors can transform unruly bodies into appropriate heterosexual subjects. The only shocking part about it is that we seem to constantly forget and keep erupting in shock when the medical establishment yet again puts reproductive normality above the well being of actual women and sex/gender rebels.

So, the articles:

Intersex Scholarship and Activism - Just a few things I've used in class as a starter guide.

Third Gender Anthropology - This includes intersexed people as well as others who various cultures categorize as neither male nor female.

Some relevant queer theory as background and a philosophical foundation.

I am open to discussing these articles and interested if other people would like to share additional resources. I will happily further explain my thoughts and further talk through the issues I've raised here as long as the discussion remains respectful of the actual people involved. I hope that people find these articles useful.

Tiny European Principality?

2010-07-02T13:13:37Z

Has anyone been to Andorra? We have three days free later this week and we're thinking of going. Suggestions?

Bolognaise

2010-03-29T23:54:32Z

So I've never been happy with my pasta sauces - there's always just something lacking. Then I tried this. It's apparently a more classically European version of pasta sauce? IDK, but it's wonderful :) I like it with whole wheat pasta because the robust flavor of the sauce needs a robust pasta to properly stand up to it.

Bolognaise

Adapted from The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn, a memoir about attending Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, which I highly recommend for fluff reading and recipes.

Serves 6-8

2 large onions, diced
1-2 diced carrots (optional - not in the recipe, but I like them)
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
2lb ground meat (I use a mix of beef and italian sausage or just sausage - you can use less or no meat if you want something lighter or vegetarian. Probably also good with larger pieces of stew meat . . . maybe rabbit)
1 bottle red wine (they recommend dry Chianti, but I've used a variety of wines and particularly like shiraz)
4 Tbsp tomato paste or 1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp italian herbs or a 2 Tbsp mixture of fennel seeds, and dried rosemary, oregano, thyme, and basil
1 cup heavy cream, half-and-half, or tomato sauce
3 Tbsp fresh parsley or basil (optional)
Parmesan, grated

Heat a heavy dutch oven and add oil, then onions and carrots. Cook until onions are translucent and vegetables are browned. Add ground meat and cook until browned and crumbled. Add wine and rub the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add tomato paste or diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Add salt and pepper.

The recipe adds herbs at the end, but I like to add them now. I put them in a disposable tea bag, but you could also use a tea ball or just throw them in if you grind the whole seeds and don't mind their texture. Cover and simmer for 2-5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and add cream/half-and-half/tomato sauce (to prevent curdling you may want to slowly add the heated sauce into the cream so the temperature rises bit by bit, then add to the pan). Add herbs now if you haven't already, or remove the tea bags/tea ball if you used them. Simmer until it reaches the desired consistency (I like it quite thick so it takes another hour but it could be ready in just a couple minutes when heated through if you prefer thinner sauce and/or are using spiral pasta).

Serve over pasta or roasted eggplant topped by parmesan and parsley or basil, if desired.

Notes: I think this could be good with diced zucchini and/or eggplant added at the start with the onion and carrot. I'm going to try that next.

Stuffings I Have Loved

2010-03-08T03:19:08Z

So I said I haven't been cooking new foods, and that's largely true since I got back from break. But before that, last term I was having a wonderful time experimenting with homemade stuffings which I totally fell in love with, so much so that for New Years I made a bounteous trio of stuffings in both gluten and gluten-free versions with homemade bread. My family kept looking at them saying "Are you sure that's not too much?" And I was all, "You can never have too much stuffing!" But apparently you can have too much stuffing b/c we ate it for two weeks straight and I couldn't even think about more stuffing again until this week.

So here are my trio of new homemade stuffing recipes. They are all amazing and heartwarming.

All the cooking temps and times are approximate and can be fudged to cook several types at once - and any of these can be stuffed into a chicken or turkey (or probably other fowl carcasses as well). I'm sure these could be modified for vegetarians, but I'll leave that to those of you who know better how to go about that.

Sausage-Fennel-Apple Cornbread Stuffing

Ingredients:
Corn bread (I make 1/3 of the recipe on the side of the quaker corn meal - recipe to follow)
2-4 links/patties sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings discarded (I like spicy)
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb with all greens and fringe
1 small apple
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
2 teaspoons dried tarragon, crumbled
1/2-1 cup turkey stock or chicken broth
olive oil
white wine - optional

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Slice corn bread horizontally and broil, cut sides up, until golden and dry, about 3 minutes. Cool, then crumble and transfer to a large bowl.

Dice fennel and onion. Place fennel greens in bowl with the cornbread, reserve the rest.

Saute onion and fennel bulb over moderate heat, until softened and browned. Deglaze with a little white wine, if desired, then transfer to bowl with cornbread and fennel greens.

Finely grind fennel seeds in coffee/spice grinder, then add to bowl along with thyme and tarragon.

Add sausage and about 1/2 cup stock until moist, then combine gently but thoroughly. Spoon stuffing into a buttered 3- to 3 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Drizzle with remaining stock and dot with butter, cut into bits. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more.

1/3 Quaker Cornbread Recipe:

1/3c 1Tbsp and 1tsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1 Tbsp and 1tsp sugar
2/3 tsp baking powder
.166 tsp salt
1/3 cup skim milk
1 Tbsp and 1tsp vegetable oil
1 egg white

Heat oven to 400 F. Grease a 4x4 pan.

Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, egg and mix just until combined and moistened.

Pour batter into pan. Bake 15 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Sourdough Stuffing with Pears and Sausage

Ingredients

4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed sourdough bread (about 12 ounces)
2-4 links Italian sausage
1 large chopped onion (about 2 pounds)
2 cups chopped celery (optional! I hate celery and omitted this)
1 cup chopped carrot (optional! I like carrots but didn't have any on hand)
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms (optional! Ok, I left out a lot of things. I don't like the idea of fungus)
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled Bartlett pear (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 2 Tbsp dried)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.

Arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 9 minutes or until golden (or broil . . . very carefully). Place in a large bowl.

Remove casings from sausage and add the bowl with bread cubes.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add onion (celery, and carrot); sauté 10 minutes or until onion begins to brown. (Stir in mushrooms; cook 4 minutes). Add onion (etc.) to the bread bowl. Add pear, basil, tarragon, and salt, tossing gently to combine. Stir in broth and pepper.

Place bread mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with butter; cover with foil or parchment paper. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake stuffing an additional 15 minutes or until top of stuffing is crisp.

Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing

Ingredients

1 pound mushrooms, rinsed, ends trimmed, and sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery (optional!)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
About 2 cups chicken broth
1 loaf (1 lb.) sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-in. cubes
2 jars (6 oz. each) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves or 3/4 tsp. crumbled dried rosemary
1tsp dried sage
2tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg

In a 12-in. frying pan over high heat melt butter and saute onions, (mushrooms, celery,) and garlic, stirring often, until vegetables are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Pour into a large bowl. Add a bit of broth to pan and stir to scrape up browned bits. Add to bowl.

Add bread, artichoke hearts, parmesan, sage, thyme, and rosemary; mix well. Add salt and pepper and stock and mix again. Make a well in stuffing. Add egg and beat with a fork to blend; mix egg with stuffing.

Preheat oven to 350° (if stuffing a bird, use temperature the bird requires). Spoon stuffing into a shallow buttered 3-qt. (9- by 13-in.) casserole. For moist stuffing, cover with foil; for crusty stuffing, do not cover. Bake until hot (at least 150° in center) or lightly browned, about 50 minutes.

(Supposedly can be made ahead, although I've never tried: Up to 1 day ahead, make stuffing, put in casserole, cover, and chill. Allow about 1 hour to bake.)

Thank you, anonymous interwebs!

2010-02-14T05:13:30Z

I'm in New Mexico at the moment, just done with a conference and about to fly home tomorrow, so I'll update for real later, but OMG, thank you to whoever sent me the adorable v-gift! Things are pretty stressed and crazed right now, so I totally needed that hug. Thank you!

Last Year's Vidshow, This Year's Vidshow

2010-01-16T20:06:50Z

So, this is the first of what will be several installments of posts I've owed since last March. Three classes plus lots of travel plus moving left me pretty exhausted most of last year, so I've really been meaning to tell y'all about the big exciting campus vidshow and Mexico and France and moving and so on, but mostly I've been huddled in a lump trying desperately to keep up or soaking in every possible moment of down time.

Anyway.

First of all, enormous thanks to all the vidders who made this possible. Not only was it a fantastic learning resource for my students (and the students of other professors who also brought their classes), but it was an opportunity for a larger group of people to see vids for the first time with some context about the community's history and a few suggested lenses for vid viewing and interpretation. Also, tremendous gratitude to revolutionaryjo who handled the tech aspects so that I could just stand there and commentate without worrying that the cyber world was about to crash in around me. She has mad skills, cycling seamlessly through two screens and about 4 media players, and she's totally unflappable. I am shaking in my boots at the thought of doing this again without her.

The vidshow last Spring Semester at Prestigious Midwestern Liberal Arts College where I taught went so, *so* well!! I had 3 classes with a total of 18 students and they were all required to come, but we covered the campus in posters and cross-promoted at the Big 10 Midwestern University next door where I did my undergrad and still have contacts. Feeling enthusiastic, and always preferring to overproduce than let people go without, I printed up 70 programs. By the end of the night, not only had all 70 programs been taken, there were a number of people who didn't get one. So, major turnout!

The room was *gorgeous* with a giant, near-movie theater screen and wonderful projection. Thank goodness revolutionaryjo and I did a run through the previous day, because it was just too tempting to sing along and dance across the stage with the *larger than lifesized* characters. Good thing we got that out of our systems so I could be all professional and stuff on the actual day ;)

And then the next day all my classes talked through their reactions and wow - I am so proud of them and of us because they were super impressed, and articulate in linking the vids to the class themes (Sexual Citizenship, Queer/Feminist Anthropology, and Media Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality). They repeatedly said that this was much more advanced and sophisticated than anything they'd seen before on youtube, and many of them were pretty determined to find more of it because they were hooked. I didn't provide any web locations to them, but I figure if they're willing to do the legwork to find and learn how to navigate the community, well, that's how fans are made. They particularly liked multi-fandom vids and humor vids, although many of them connected with the violence against women section (which, in retrospect was too long - watching all of those vids in sequence is like being hit by a truck of misogyny). Some vids were completely inaccessible to them, but I think that's useful to encounter - it helps them understand that this is an on-going dialogue directed at a specialized audience, and helps them realize there were probably layers to those fun multi-fandom humor vids that they missed.

Also, they couldn't believe that Merlin really is that gay, or that Starbuck really is that awesome. There are at least a handful of new BSG and Merlin fangirls in the world :)

Here's the set list. The structure I attempted starts with history, then violence against women, heterosexual vids, critiques of racial politics, then slash and queer vids. Thanks again to every vidder here - I'm overwhelmed by the helpfulness and generosity of everyone I contacted. It renews my faith in what we can do and the kind of community we've built. We are beautiful, creative, and mighty.

Vid Title, Source Footage, Musical Artist, Vidder

Pressure, Quantum Leap and Original, Queen, Sterling Eidolan and Brenda Wagner
Detachable Penis, The Professionals, King Missile, Media Cannibals (wickedwords, sherrold, gwyn_r, and feochadn)
No Way Out of Here, Buffy, X-Files and La Femme Nikita, David Gilmour, Gwyneth (gwyn_r)
Closer, Star Trek: The Original Series, Nine Inch Nails, Killa and T. Jonsey
Wouldn't it be Nice, Multi-Fandom, Beach Boys, Laura Shapiro (laurashapiro)
Walking on the Ground, Multi-Fandom, Sheldon Allman, Seah and Margie (flummery)
Improper Dancing, Multi-Fandom, Electric Six, marycrawford
Women's Work, Supernatural, "Violet" by Hole, Luminosity (sockkpuppett) and sisabet
Piece of Me, Britney Spears, Misc., Britney Spears, Nicky (obsessive24)
Martina, Veronica Mars, Meryn Cadell, Keely (darlulu)
Woman Like a Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Damien Rice, wolfling
Get Low, Resident Evil, Lil John and the East Side Boys, sisabet
Jack: or, Adventures in Reading Against the Text, Heroes, The Nields, LC (some_stars)
Disappearing Man, Lord of the Rings, Tracy Grammer and Dave Carter, Melina and Jo (melinafandom and feochadn)
Shut Up and Drive, Doctor Who, Rihanna, Laura Shapiro (laurashapiro)
Grrrindhouse, Buffy and Supernatural, Graeme Revel, danegen
How Much Is that Geisha, Firefly and Serenity, Misc., Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman, lierdumoa
Origin Stories, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aesop Rock, giandujakiss and thuviaptarth
Still Alive, Multi-Fandom, Ellen McLain and Jonathan Coulton, counteragent

~Intermission~

Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness, Multi-Fandom, Buster Poindexter, Rache and Sandy (wickedwords, sherrold)
Vogue, 300, Madonna, Luminosity (sockkpuppett)
The Glass, Multi-Fandom, Angelo Badalamenti, thingswithwings
I'm Your Man Multi-Fandom, Patricia O'Callaghan, charmax
Whatever It Takes, Bend it Like Beckham, Sinead Lohan, fan_eunice
All the Small Things, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Blink 182, Di (di_br)
Promiscuous Girl, Battlestar Galactica, Nelly Furtado, beerbad and jarrow
The Only One, Stargate: Atlantis, Maria Mena, Mamoru (mamoru22)
If I Was Your Girl, Merlin, Janet Jackson, danegen
Faster Kill Pussycat, Smallville, Paul Oakenfold, talitha78
Blackbirds, Highlander: The Series, Erin McKeown, Killa
Pavlov's Bell, Due South, Aimee Mann, butterfly
Gloria, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Patti Smith, sweetestdrain
Papa Don't Preach, Torchwood and Doctor Who, Madonna, fan_eunice and trelkez
2 Atoms, Stargate: Atlantis, Noah & the Whale, zoetrope
Maneater, Harry Potter, Hall & Oates, jarrow
Holding Out For A Hero, Hercules, Jennifer Saunders, marycrawford
I Put You There, Buffy and Original, Mary Schmary, laurashapiro and LithiumDoll (halcyon_shift)
Destiny Calling, Multi-Fandom, James, counteragent

Sponsored by the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Special Thanks to Pam Miles, Carol, & Jacqueline Kjono

Favorite and/or Most Important GLBTQ Film and TV?

2010-01-11T18:21:52Z

I'm putting together next term's syllabi, and one of the new courses I'm offering is Queer Film and TV. I have a preliminary list of media I'd like to show, but I'd like to get some other ideas and I thought I might try tapping into my f-list's collective intelligence. So, what are your favorte, most influential, and/or most noteworthy GLBTQ films and television series (or episodes)? Any type - any country or language, indie or mainstream. Whatever touches you or makes you think or makes you smile.

Here is my preliminary list: The Celluloid Closet, Tongues Untied, Queer as Folk (US and UK), The L-Word, Fire, Boys Don’t Cry, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Velvet Goldmine, The Wedding Banquet, Antonia’s Line, Pricilla: Queen of the Desert, Big Eden, Bedrooms and Hallways, High Art, Stonewall, Philadelphia, Borstal Boy, It’s in the Water, Maurice, Wilde, Better than Chocolate, Tales of the City

Please let me know if you think anything on this list would work particularly well/would be a horrible idea for a class of fairly sheltered but interested undergrads.

Thank you, mighty LJ folk!

Dear Yuletide Author

2009-12-25T05:01:16Z

I will hopefully be asleep in about 5 minutes and tomorrow will be a rush of family obligations, possibly followed by Sherlock Holmes, so I probably won't get to read your wonderful gift until Saturday. I'll love it all the more because of the delay!

Thanksgiving Pies: Done!

2009-11-26T05:09:54Z

I just finished baking for tomorrow: pumpkin (actually butternut squash), pecan (actually walnut and pinenut), and double-crust apple. I'll also assemble the banoffee pie in the morning, but the filling is made, so that's just a matter of pouring everything together. Wow - I can't believe how early I finished :) The house smells glorious

Yuletide Letter - Law and Order UK, Wire in the Blood, Casino Royale

2009-11-16T00:37:15Z

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing for me :D Whatever you end up writing, I am so excited that there will be one more story in one of these tiny fandoms.

But, if you'd like to have some direction, here are some ideas. Awhile ago I put together this 99 Kinks Meme and everything on that list still makes me verrrrrry happy. Here is Last Year's Yuletide Letter which includes two of the same fandoms at this year, so you may want to look at that too. Overall I like happy endings, although they don't have to be uncomplicated, and people who grow to understand each other and treat each other better. None of them are together in canon and a lot of them live in very dark worlds, so I'm interested in that journey into being less alone, with something good to hold onto. I prefer explicit to implied sex, but that's up to your comfort zone.

Law & Order UK

Original Prompt: Alesha Phillips/James Steel - I would love some smart, intense, perhaps slightly clumsy James/Alesha, but I would also take them being competent and awesome and friendshipy together.

I kind of don't care about the plots on L&O UK; I just watch to stare at these two. Anything you write that would allow me to continue imagining them in a sexy way, a platonic affection way, or a dream team for justice way would make me very happy. In response to canon, the obvious openings for them are the rape aftermath and the skating outing, so a follow-up to either of those incidences would be appreciated, but feel free to pick up at any point before, during, or after the aired episodes. I think that both of these characters have emotional depths only hinted at on screen, that James needs to be reminded that relationships are worth trying, and that Alesha is mightily competent but needs someone to be silly and relaxed with.

Wire in the Blood (tv)

Original Prompt(s): Alex Fielding, Carol Jordan, Paula McIntyre, Tony Hill - I love the women of Wire in the Blood - I would like Paula, Alex, or Carol with Tony being happy in an unconventional but satisfying relationship, or with each other, sexually or in a friendship.
Andy Hall, Kevin Geoffries, Tony Hill - Episodes 6x7 and 6x8, "The Dead Land," included ample slashy undercurrents between Tony and Hall as well as Tony and Kevin. Snarky Tony/Kevin or sweet, synchronous Tony/Andy would be awesome.

Relationships in WitB are super fraught - I don't think any character in the show can have a completely straightforward relationship (platonic or sexual) after the things they've seen and must continue to deal with. That said, Tony is a particularly tough nut to crack, but I'd very much like to see someone succeed - Alex, Carol, Paula, Kevin, or Andy. His psychology and sexuality is the central unifying absence of the whole series (tv and books) and I'm dying to read about what exactly the central issues are and how he could possibly move forward.

Alternately, the women of WitB are awesome and deserve a storyline of their own, as well as some comfort. Paula was a lesbian in the books, and we don't see anything to contradict that on screen, so I think of her sexual identity in an f/f story as more clear than Alex or Carol's, who may have never been with a woman, or at least not for a long time. Angsty, aggressive Carol/Alex after Carol returns from South Africa could be seriously smokin' as well - I could see their rivalry over the job and Tony taking an unexpected turn. Tony's reaction would be priceless (and a little tragic - 3some? Did I mention that mixed gender 3somes are one of my favorite things ever? Oh my - Tony/Andy/Carol - I think my brain just shorted out)

James Bond: Casino Royale Universe

Original Prompt: James Bond/M - Bond/M rocks my world! I adore M's mastery and Bond's little rebellions, but reluctant acknowledgment that she totally has him. So, anything on that theme :)

I said most of what I wanted to say about this in last year's letter, and my review of Quantum of Solace, which gives a pretty extensive recap of where I think that film left us. To summarize:

Bond/M = Scorching hot
~~Tiny Swim Trunks~~Bond's emotional vulnerability = For the Win!
Bond comforting other people = Love
M being *In Charge* and *Wicked Good at Her Job* = Joy
Bond = Nihilist, M = Pragmatist
Camile is to Bond as Bond is to M
Bond =/= M's son :)
M kept the necklace!

Also, there's this maid in Casino Royale who I'm kind of obsessed with, and I know it wasn't in my request, but if you wanted to write Bond/her, that would be amazing.

And my enjoyment of these last two Bond films has a lot to do with their critique of masculinity, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and American/EU/NATO/World Bank foreign policy, so extra points if you would like to pick up any of those themes.

See last year's letter & the review for more on all of that :)

So, Yay!!! I can't wait to see what you come up with. I hope you enjoy spending some time with these characters, and rest assured that your story will be well loved.

Linkage

2009-09-03T16:10:35Z

I'm swamped, so someday there will be a post about the tip and moving and the new job and so on, but for the moment, just go watch this clip of a flash mob of 200 coming out of the crowd, dancing to the Sound of Music in a Belgian train station.

Eeeeeeek - E-mail cloning?

2009-01-07T22:18:02Z

My e-mail was just flooded with a ton of delivery failure notices from spam supposedly sent from my account. None of it is listed in my sent mail, so I don't think anyone's hacked my account. Does anyone know what is going on? And more importantly what I can do to stop it?