JaNell

Dancin' With Myself

2004-09-21T04:58:17Z

Hey, I got the password back!

A lot has happened in the last few months, and I may write about it, or not.
In the meantime, go here and buy something from me.

Weapons Of Mass Google Bombing

2004-03-16T13:55:15Z

A friend posted that if you google the phrase "miserable failure" you'll be directed to the official biography of George W. Bush.
He's been google bombed.
In fact, creating your own link to that page using the phrase "miserable failure" will add power to the google bomb...

Hmm, wonder if the same could be done with the term "43rd President"?
Not that I'm suggesting that you do anything like that, but...

I feel a little resentful that I went to all the trouble to vote and then we didn't even get to elect a President. If they were going to assign one, why all the election year hoopla? Scarier is the fact that when I went down to vote, I found that I'd been dropped off the registered voters list. Now, I was living back where I grew up at the time - a place so small that everyone knew everyone else's business so it'd have been very easy to guess who would vote for or against certain people in an election. I had to wait for a volunteer to call and consult the actual voter registration records, which of course said that I was registered...
As I left the office, there was a line of other people forming, a line of people who had also been dropped from the rolls, all waiting for that volunteer to call, person by person, and verify that they weren't carrying fake voter registration cards. A quick informal poll found that every whom person I asked, in that line, was a Democrat.
I don't even live in Florida.

Bio, B.O., Whatever

2004-03-16T00:37:30Z

Writing my own bio - aaaggh. It's gonna sound stupid no matter what you say about yourself. Here's a few statements that I *didn't* use but might have if I were in a different frame of mind:

"In her spare time, JaNell plays with hot glass, horrifies the neighbors by walking around backlit and nude in front of sheer curtains, and terrorizes her children with blatant nonconformity."

"Her hobbies include stalking balding middle-aged couch potatoes..."

"She has had photographs published at the local Post Office."

"Although she is no longer a practicing Thespian..."

OK, the first and last are a little true.
I did get some good news today: The Dream People seem interested in using some of my weird photography.

Waiting So Long, I've Been Waiting So, Waiting

2004-03-10T14:58:48Z

I'm wondering how the preview copies of "Fundamentally Challenged" went over. Did people like the illustrations? Should I keep pursuing that, or write more?

I'm also wondering if Mr. Schweitzer is ever going to publish The Neil Gaiman Reader. My critical essay of Violent Cases, "Pay Attention: There May Or May Not Be A Man Behind The Curtain", is in it. It's been about a year. No, more. I'm also wondering if he'll re-name the thing because there's already a book called "The Neil Gaiman Reader".

Anywho.

Pimp City: "Let's All Hate The Homos"

2004-03-10T14:50:59Z

Some friends of a friend got together and made a little song. It's all about hate, [sarcasm]because you gotta hate someone to make yourself feel better, right? Hating someone makes everything OK, just like prescription drugs and revisionist history.[/sarcasm]

Anywho, here 'tis for your listening and distributing pleasure, preluded with a statement from the artists:

"The following is a message from The Committee to Re-Elect the President (C.Re.E.P.).
It is as significant as anything you might hear during this election year.

2/15/2004

In the wake of recent controversy, a group of concerned Americans decided to form a group of collected thought, and state, as succinctly and clearly as possible, the Republican platform for the 2004 Presidential race.

On February 15, 2004, the Big Fish, Danny Skank, Mr. Donut and the irrepressible Bo Rockstar recorded the Republican Platform 2004.

The rest is history.

Thanks to:
Big Fish – Lyrics and reproduction
Danny Skank – Lead guitar, production, arrangement
Mr. Donut – Slide guitar, engineering
Bo Rockstar – Kazoo, positive attitude

Should you happen to hear and share this song thanks also go to you and everyone between you and us and everyone between you and whomever you get this to. We can choose a positive path in life.

Peace,

The Big Fish"

Please feel free to copy the mp3 and pass it on with the statement from Big Fish. In fact, I insist on it. So there.

••• "Let's All Hate The Homos" by C.Re.E.P •••

Viva KnoxManBoobs

2004-03-03T22:32:04Z

I live in a wonderfully odd town.

We have the World's Largest Hermaphrodite buried here. The protruding parts are currently being used as the Tennessee Amphitheater and the Sunsphere. We even have our own Onion-esque online paper, KnoxPatch.com, which won't make much sense to anyone who doesn't live here.
And, as Neil pointed out, we have transgender concern from PETA...

Although the sign has been covered and moved. Dammit.

Being Gay And Coming Of Age In A Climate Of Hatred & Fear

2004-03-03T15:58:25Z

"Utah Voices (letter from an openly gay teen):

Being gay and coming of age in a climate of fear

The other day I watched a woman on television cry because she felt so strongly against homosexual marriage.
"As a heterosexual and a Christian, I speak out . . . ban gay marriage!" She cried – she actually cried.
If you don't like gays, just come out and say it. Don't hide behind your religion and don't ever, ever hide behind God. He is our God, everyone's God, even mine, an 18-year-old homosexual. We are taught of his light, generosity and unending love, and that hate is never justified.
Now, however, it is convenient for many adults to use God not only as a shield but also as a sword.
It is hard enough that for the whole of our young lives we who are gay live with no identity. Our constant fear is driven by a wheel of bigotry. We are told God hates us and there is no place for us in this world because the Bible dictates that is so.
Every human has worth. Every child is special. I was born gay. I know this just as heterosexuals know they were not. To say I chose this life is ludicrous. Would you choose to live a life where you are threatened daily, where you are denied jobs and family? And don't tell me that we are murdered because we decided to be gay.
Even though I am an "out" homosexual, I will never be who I truly am. The stigma attached to homosexuals frightens me. I put on a facade at times because if I don't, I naturally walk gay and talk gay, attracting the attention of those who spit on me or call me "fag" from passing cars. Some adventurous ones even get in my face with threats, all because I merely walk down the street. I'm my own worst enemy, torturing myself over things I try to modify yet cannot change.
I deal with boys who dare each other to talk to me and make cruel entertainment of my orientation. They lick their lips suggestively, creating new scenarios to make the "fag" squirm.
The locker room was hell. I used to go early and change with the self-conscious boys who all have a certain silent camaraderie, changing feverishly, each hoping his own choice words aren't passed around like the Victoria's Secret catalog.
When I came out to my mother in the eighth grade, she asked me what she had done wrong. I could not convince her that it was in my veins, that it was my being. I've never been burned by women. I wasn't coddled by my mother, or dropped as an infant. I do not know how I am gay or for what purpose. I am just an observer like everyone else. I cannot explain my position the way I wish I could.
I just want to live my life in the truest and most honest way I can. The only way to do that is to live it for myself.
Why should our sexuality be scrutinized? It is nobody's business what happens between two consenting adults, gay or straight. You can turn anyone into a pervert. It is only the kind of light you shed upon a person that dictates how they are viewed and treated.
I believe sex is personal, not for public debate. Just as there are offensive, vulgar, and shameful homosexuals who flaunt their sexuality, there are also heterosexuals doing the same thing. It is unjust to label a community. Homosexuals who want to marry desire it for legal, religious, and symbolic reasons, not to mock anyone. It is human nature, not hetero-nature, to partner up and settle down.
It is not immoral to love. It is not immoral to connect with someone and want to spend your life with that person. If you focus on the sex aspect you are so far from the issue that you need to pick up a dictionary and find the definition of love.
Gay people can have Christian values and some are Christian, embracing the beneficial values that God offers. Why focus on hate? It benefits no one. Being gay is like being short, tall, black, or white. It is something else that make this a diverse world.
Don't tell me God doesn't love me and that I was born damned. Tell me you don't like me. Tell me you're a bigot. If God hates me, I was a waste of his time and will be judged accordingly. It is not man's place to judge, it is God's. Every Christian knows this.
Stop holding marriage above our heads and crying that it is because you are Christian. I say give it to us because you are Christian.
The other day I saw a woman crying because she felt so strongly against homosexual marriage. Go cry because people starve, because children are abused, and because war and tragedy run rampant, but not because two people fall in love.
I cannot attribute my name to this article because I am a high school student and I couldn't bring any inconveniences upon my friends and family. I don't want people to be sorry for me. I have friends who love me. I have family who love me. And you know what? It's not in spite of my being gay.

The [unnamed] writer is a high school senior who lives on the Wasatch Front."

Seussentennial

2004-03-03T04:33:29Z

Dr. Seuss' 100th Birthday

What's this I read?
What's this I hear?
Seuss' birthday, this day, for 100 years?
© J. Golden

Seussentennial

Marriage Equity

2004-02-25T23:02:18Z

This entry came about because of a friend's LiveJournal post fearing a backlash against gays because of the fight for Marriage Equity.

I understand what he's saying. It probably will happen - people are predictable that way. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't take a stand. I'm in this fight because I have kids. A country that excludes people from marriage simply because they differ from the norm, or because they were born differant than the ruling majority, is a nasty unstable bigoted place to live - and I want better than that for my kids.

As for religious beliefs...

If your religion is so fragile that a secular law can negate it, if your faith is so weak that gays getting married will topple your world, then you need a new religion or a serious renewal of Faith.

Please, don't embarrass yourself (or your God) like that.

The following is the tail-end of my response to my friend's post:

"A few reasons that I will continue pushing for Marriage Equity:

• Marriage/families stabilize society, and that's a good thing.
• Religious/personal beliefs should not be the basis for Law.
• Without marriage, gay couples can only live together, thus encouraging the stereotype of gays (in particular, gay men) as emotionally immature and promiscuous people.

That last point is very important and often overlooked, or avoided to be PC, but, the stereotype is there nonetheless. The lack of the ability (legally) to "settle down" will only further that stereotype. You're in a quandry here - push for Marriage Equity, and risk appearing strident and having a backlash, or don't push for Marriage Equity, and encourage bigots. I don't know what to tell you. Do what you feel is right, not what's comfortable or popular or PC."

√2		φ	e		π
Love is Irrational

</center>

Fundamentally Challenged

2004-02-20T06:54:26Z

I got my part of the artwork for Fundamentally Challenged done and sent. The editor, Jeff Turner, seems happy with the art, and I enjoyed doing it. There are going to be preview copies sold at ConDFW in Dallas this weekend, and then the full version (Frank Wu cover art and tracks from at least two voice artists, including Kyle Hebert from DragonBall Z) will debut at AggieCon in March.

Ha, I found myself volunteering to do art for any orphaned stories...
But then again, why not?

Stories About Nothing

2004-02-20T06:43:59Z

I have a problem...
I write very nice - vignettes? scenarios? conversations? I'm not sure what to call them. They're not really stories, I suppose.

In any case, today I got three rejections from Aoife's Kiss:

#1 - "Fairy Tell"
"I'm going to decline this one. The writing isn't bad, but there's really no story here. There is no tension, no conflict, just a conversation. Nothing actually happens in this passage.
But I do hope you'll try us again...even though this one didn't work out, you do have believable characters. That's a plus."

#2 - "Once Upon A Time, I Was A Spider"
"Again...this is not a story. But I must say your use of language is quite excellent in this passage. There are some verrry nice turns of phrase here. Please use your skills to tell me a story...I really would love to see one from you. Give me a plot, a storyline, characters who grow and/or change as a result of the events of the story, give me a conflict, and tension, and a denouement..."

#3 - "A Girl Once Fell In Love With A Tree"
"...There's no story here. Very good writing, but no story."

All very complimentary - and exactly right. I need to work on plot, unless there's a market for pretty pictures painted with words. Oy. I still have great faith in these pieces of writing - anyone know of a market for conversations involving "verrry nice turns of phrase" between "believable characters" in a Fairy Tale/Allegory setting?

Deaf AND Dumb?!

2004-02-17T14:33:40Z

The Bush administration is effectively censoring TV for hearing impaired people by refusing to fund close-captioning for shows that it doesn't deem "appropriate".

"The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government."
Opinion: Palm Beach Post.com

The Natonal Association for the Deaf's list of censored shows.

National Association for the Deaf's press release regarding the censorship.

Can you believe those self-righteous morons?! Maybe they finally figured out what a "Scooby Snack" is...

... But Do Not Forget

2004-02-17T14:29:13Z

Cologne artist Gunter Demnig has begun a project to memorialize Holocaust victims...
One by one.

His project, known as The Stumbling Blocks, is to place a stone paver with a plaque about the birth and death of each victim in front of their last known residence. There's great significance in this for Jewish people, as it's very important to have a marked grave site, which concentration camp and missing victims often do not.

I heard the story about this beautiful idea this morning on NPR and no, I'm not Jewish (this time around), but yes, I cried.

Fan Chick Moment

2004-02-15T04:36:32Z

See how useful it is to live in a city renowned worldwide for its silly politics and now, embarassing lawsuits?

Triskadecaphilias Friday the 13th!

2004-02-13T05:08:07Z

It's a Leap Year February, too.
It was bound to happen eventually...

O Spring Where Art Thou?

2004-02-12T03:54:52Z

Bears must hibernate because winter is so damn boring.

I'm tired of winter. I'm tired of wearing the spring/fall jacket that was once very cool but is now a tattered, reeking parody of warmth just because the Jacket Trolls have taken away my metallic purple life-preserver of a winter coat. I want open windows and longer days and single layers of clothing.
I want to feel warm again. Not hot, I hate summer, too.

Errr. I mean, brrr. How it can manage to be this cold and not have a decent snow all winter is beyond me.

Anywho, I'm behind with everything (email, laundry, and such) because I'm too cold to be anything but lethargic. The illustrations will be done on time, though, because my computer is in the warm room.

Ms. Jackson If Your Nipple's Showing

2004-02-03T23:06:11Z

I am shocked and appalled (two Ps) at Ms. Jackson's lack of sensitivity to those who were watching the SuperBowl last Sunday...
That red thing really ruins the look of the outfit, and worse, the corset thingie squinched up her boob in a most unattractive way. Ouch!
Note to exhibitionists: Check your look in a three-way mirror before performing on live TV.

Regarding the furor itself, who cares, really? If it's OK to show male nipples on TV, then it's OK to show female nipples on TV. Attaching a sexual connotation to women's nipples just prolongs the stereotyping of women's bodies as sex toys.

Do I get to be the first to point out how wonderful it is that the nipple shot was on CBS, which wouldn't run the anti-Bush commercial?
*snicker*
I guess they're anti-nipple even if they're not anti-Bush. Damn double-standards!

Anywho, I *do* like the nipple pierce.

A Thousand Pointy Lunkheads

2004-02-03T22:50:56Z

Nashville schools have quit displaying their Honor Roll because it hurts the feelings of less intelligent and less motivated students. There seems to be no plan to hide athletic trophies for fear of hurting the feelings of less athletic students, or forcing the more attractive and well groomed students to wear paper bags lest they make the more "attractiveness challenged" students feel dowdy...

~

On reading this entry, my husband Cameron pointed out that Kurt Vonnegut had written a short story about this theory of equalization: Harrison Bergeron.

Proof that there's a good side to some people having waaay too much time on their hands...

2004-01-24T20:02:24Z

George W. Bush "Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire" Doll

Bushwhacking

2004-01-23T00:43:01Z

Snippets of Whack:

Proof that George W. Bush's speechwriter isn't actually a monkey.
Thanks for the link, Sati.
~o~

Luscious calls him "Bullshitler".
~o~

George Bush, Jr.: Putting the "Duh" back into "W".
© JG 2004
~o~

Diltopian State (Job)

2004-01-22T01:17:23Z

My husband made up his own word for the state of complete corporate depersonalization that is apparently being aimed for at his job:

~
Diltopia, n.
A state of depersonalized corporate perfection such as that achieved in Scott Adam's satirical comic Dilbert.
~

I googled it and the word only appears in one other place online, an interview with Dilbert creator Scott Adams, as a potential name for his utopian society.
Therefore, I offically claim "Diltopia", in this usage, in the name of Cameron Howell.
Heehee.

"Von Bek", my son Sean, Worldbuilder, and legalizing Same-sex Marriage.

2004-01-22T00:48:15Z

Slogging through Moorcock's "Von Bek" series. I'm nearing the end. Slowly. I think I just keep going because of stubbornness and the temptation that it's full of wonderfully quotable quotes. If only it were condensed into just the quotable bits!
Hmmm...

~o~

Sean, my sixteen year old, has always been a storyteller. He's been offered money by various members of his family to write down the stories he makes up, but hasn't, until recently. Now, however, he's beginning to document his thoughts and stories sometimes. He's been popping in randomly to tell me about his (non-human) charactor's theories and associations with color.

I showed him the glossary of terms in the back of a Diane Duane book that I just finished as an example of how to do it. Ms. Duane's book has cats as protagonists, and so they have their own language, pronunciation capabilities, philosophy, and religion. The words included in her glossary tell as much about the society of her cats as it does about the simple definitions of the words. Sean has all the right ideas about worldbuilding for a fantasy world - he's told me about his thoughts on the physics of his planet, the different races living there, and the psychology, speech, and religion of his dragons...

Yes, dragons. It seems that my son is interested in writing Fantasy. Mom writes Horror poetry, son writes Fantasy novels.
*sigh*

~o~

Vote here in the (so-called) "American Family Association: America's Pro-Family Online Activism Organization" poll about same-sex marriage. Let me make this clear: They do not speak for my family. My family believes that a Family is defined as two or more people who love each other and build their lives together.

A family is not defined by two adults, legally married, one of whom has a penis and the other a vagina.</a>

Submitting to the Kiss

2004-01-19T20:29:09Z

It's always important to follow submission guidelines; sometimes it's just annoying and damn near impossibly complicated. Sometimes there are little quirks in the guidelines that are really fun, like this from the submission guidelines to Aoife's Kiss:

"Thank me for reading [I am a Leo, and I appreciate fawning and obsequiousness, although your submission will only be accepted on its own merits]."

Like I can pass that up.

So far, I've tested my florid verbosity with:

The Query
"Greetings, gracious and humble Leo-"

The Submission of "Fairy Tell"
"Dear Leonine Benevolence:
I humbly thank you for consenting to read my work, and hope that the enjoyment thereof is at least equal to the value of time lost in doing so, and that this missive is neither arrogant nor irritatingly obsequious to Your Graciousness (hey, this is kinda fun!)..."

The Submission of "Once Upon A Time, I Was A Spider..."
"Most Feline Felicity:"

I expect to get whacked at some point regardless of the editor's acceptance of my stories.

~o~

I've found a place online to sell stock photography - Lulu.com. That's a project that'll keep me busy for a while:

Crap.
Crap!
EEEWWW.
Crap.
Hey, this is a good one!
(Looks at picture at 200%)
Nope, crap.
Repeat hundreds and hundreds of times...

Illegal Art

2004-01-16T20:04:07Z

"Packard Jennings
"Fallen Rapper Prototypes"
Mixed Media, 2001

Jennings' proposal to Pez Candy Inc. to make Pez dispensers for deceased rappers Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E, and Biggie Smalls."
from the Illegal Art: Visual page.

Illegal Art is an interesting website about the gray area in the arts between parody, homage, and copyright infringement.

I am very much for creator's rights; after all, they did the work. However, I also believe that parody is a fair use IF the work has become iconographic. I also believe that corporations who "sit" on a character without using it should lose those rights - which will return to the creator or heirs - after so many years of disuse.

Actually, if I were writing the law on this, I'd load the law in favor of the original creator and have the rights of the original creator greater and longer than those of someone who has bought the copyright from them, and a clause for additional money (a percentage of profits) to be paid to the original creator should profits from the creation exceed the price paid for the rights by, say, a 1:100 ratio. Yes, I understand that a large corporation spends money and time and effort to promote characters and ideas; however, without the original idea, they'd have nothing to use their efforts on. There's a point at which the effort & idea become useless without each other, thus making the original creator and the people who make a success of the idea a team who should share profits more equally.

• Speculative Literature Foundation •••

2004-01-12T17:46:01Z

Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 2004

We are delighted to announce the official launch of the Speculative Literature Foundation (www.speculativeliterature.org), with our mission "to promote literary quality in speculative fiction, by encouraging promising new writers, assisting established writers, facilitating the work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and developing a greater public appreciation of speculative fiction."

We hope to accomplish this by creating a free comprehensive resource website, by developing materials for outreach to schools and libraries, and by raising funds to redistribute as grants and awards for quality work by individuals and organizations.

The first award we will present will be the 2003 SLF Fountain Award, $1000 in prize money for excellence in short fiction. A select jury will accept nominations from magazine and anthology editors, and announce the winner and honorable mentions on June 1st, 2004. (For more details, including nomination guidelines, please see our website.)

The foundation is supported by annual membership fees, and we encourage all those who read, write, and generally appreciate speculative fiction (by which term we mean to encompass the broad range of fantastic literature, from hard sf to sword and sorcery to magical realism to slipstream) to stop by our site, take a look at the resources we offer, and consider joining as supporting members. Your membership fees will go directly towards the ongoing development of grants and awards to reward literary excellence in the genre; we're also pleased to welcome new volunteers to our staff.

For more information on what the Foundation offers, please visit our comprehensive website and take advantage of our extensive (and growing) set of free resources geared towards the needs of readers, academics, editors and writers. Thank you for your time, and again, you can find us at:

Speculative Literature Foundation

- Mary Anne Mohanraj
Director, SLF