Postcards from the Imagination

It's quite far from done, but this is what I'm working on today...

*snip*

Posted by Ginger at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Question: If the original story was written by a woman, the screenplay was written by a hetero couple, and the film stars two decidedly straight actors, how does Brokeback Mountain complicate everything we think we know about identity and authenticity? Or doesn't it?

Posted by Ginger at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"Yeah I live here,
but so does that rotten television."
                                      -- Joshua Beckman                                          

Something I Expected to Be Different and Your Time Has Come (from which the quote above is taken) both arrived via ILL today. I just picked them up about fifteen minutes ago, and I'm already much taken with the latter. Class now. More later.

Posted by Ginger at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Assignment: A poem describing a person, in free verse. Strive for concrete details, fresh or unusual metaphors. Make the person tangible, vivid, physical. Use body action and mannerisms. This is not meant to be a poem that foregrounds your feelings about the person, but rather the person him/herself.

Eruptions

The burning architecture of your face
is both victim and Vesuvius,
your color the metonymy of fiercely
red interiors, where the domestic is at odds
with the geophysical, and neither so difficult
to outrun as when you try in earnest.
I can feel you quaking through the floor,
hear the scrape of needles on paper
as the seismograph records your half-
pleading, half-profane eruptions.

I kept drawing blanks while trying complete the assignment. Hopefully this will resolve itself after I've done a few of them.

Posted by Ginger at 05:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." — Benjamin Franklin

(from a protest banner created by GULC students)

Kudos to students at Georgetown University Law Center, including my good friends Scop and Lyco,  for their protest today of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's speech regarding the NSA's illegal domestic spying program. Acts of peaceful defiance such as this—students turning their backs on a corrupt and hypocritical government—are exactly what our republic needs right now. In solidarity, G.

Posted by Ginger at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 
GOD IS A MASTURBATOR

Folks, sex has never been
more than a blend
of bodies doing for one
another
that which pleases
them and evolution
to do
either in desire
or in desperation
or in necessity
It serves no purpose
other than love
and life's purpose
Sexualists
are a product of sex
We are made by sex
Sex made the Salvation Army
We are sex
There is nothing dark
about this magic
And those pangs of lust
which make you sick
Those unthinkable dreams
which fill you with doubt
—as long as wild joys emit
from an enthusiastic spirit
eat the dust! shout!
Thank God one's thoughts
excite as much as flesh
Thank God there's a place
in all this he and she
and he and he
and she and she
for a me and me—

             — Gregory Corso

Posted by Ginger at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

And hopefully back to blogging. Winter break felt like little more than a long weekend, though in cyber-time it must have seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth.  My senior year kicks off this afternoon with Theology and Queer Theory. I'm excited, though I feel as though I could have used at least another week of vacation.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Seth and I started South Beach on Jan. 5th.  It's a huge change for us, and one that's required a significant amount of time and effort--BUT, I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm down 6 lbs. since the new year. More importantly, I feel fantastic. I'm never hungry, and when I eat (6 times a day), I don't feel like I'm about to slip into a food coma. I've also started working out--cardio for an hour, or swimming for half an hour on alternating days six days per week. The hardest part has been planning, shopping for, and preparing three healthy meals and two snacks per day from fresh ingredients. A typical day might include:

BREAKFAST:  1/2 cup Egg Beaters scrambled w/ 1 wedge of Laughing Cow light cheese, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1/2 cup cooked spinach, 6 oz. V-8,  coffee w/Splenda and fat-free half & half

SNACK:  1 wedge of Laughing Cow light cheese

LUNCH:  1 can of tuna with chopped onions and 1 tbsp. regular mayo on bed of Boston lettuce

SNACK:  1 part-skim mozzarella string cheese

DINNER:  6 oz. Cracked Pepper Steak, stewed tomatoes, peppers and onions, steamed broccoli, tossed salad (mixed greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, almond slivers) w/ 2 tbsp. "CarbWell" bleu cheese dressing

DESSERT:  Mocha Ricotta Creme (1/2 cup part-skim ricotta, tsp. Splenda, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder, 1/2 tbsp. chocolate chips)

Plus 52 oz. of water, all of which comes to about 1500 calories.  I've learned that with exercise I burn about 2500 calories per day, so the calories in/out difference is about 7,000 per week. Since one pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, I'm losing about two pounds per week (after the initial 'water-weight' loss). What's more, I feel stronger and healthier than I did just a few weeks ago. I suspect my mental acuity might even be improved by the new lifestyle, but we'll see how the next few weeks go.

Posted by Ginger at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've been tagged by Steve.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life
1) Assistant Manager @ Easy Spirit Shoes  2) Insurance Compliance Coordinator  3)  K-5 Tutor  4) Model for a wedding gown designer.

Four movies you could watch over and over
I'm not much of a movie buff.

Four places you’ve lived
1) Edgewater, NJ  2) Ithaca, NY  3) Chestnut Hill, MA  4) ______, NH

Four TV shows you love to watch
There are only two right now:  1) The West Wing  2) Project Runway 

Four places you’ve been on vacation
1) Paris  2) Niagara Falls  3) Cape Hatteras, NC  4) Washington--Charlottesville, VA--Chapel Hill, NC road trip

Four websites you visit daily
1) Bloglines.com  2) CNN.com  3) Poetry Daily  4) FitDay.com

Four of your favorite foods
My favorite foods helped me start the new year at 180 lbs., so I've been doing South Beach since Jan. 6. I've lost 3.5 lbs. so far, and am thoroughly enjoying the 1) Grilled Rosemary Salmon  2) South Beach Surprise Mashed "Potatoes" (a truly amazing recipe that substitutes cauliflower for potatoes)  3) Laughing Cow light cheese wedges, and  4) Mocha Ricotta Creme.

Four places you’d rather be
Paris, Paris, Paris, Paris

Four albums you can’t live without
1) Yo-Yo Ma, Cello Suites (inspired by Bach), 2) Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Lift Your Skinny Fists to the Sky, 3) Bob Dylan, Biograph, 4) Paris Combo, Motifs
 
I don't know who to tag since I've been offline for the past couple weeks.

Posted by Ginger at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The second issue of The New Hampshire Review is currently in the works, and will be released later this month. We've fallen a little behind with our correspondence, but those of you waiting to hear from us can expect something soon.

Posted by Ginger at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"I want the external world
to continue the interior monologue of who I am"

                                 — Henri Cole, "To a Prince"

Posted by Ginger at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)