Snow, Fish, and Gender-Reversals
Jan. 16th, 2007 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseWe finally got some snow on Saturday -- about two inches. Global warming pisses me off, because I feel like Mason gets denied the pleasure of Midwest winters. The memories I have of winter involve snow by Thanksgiving that stayed until March. December snow was best for building forts because the temperatures were mild and the snow was melty. Mason has yet to build a snow-person because there's either no snow, or (like today) the temperatures are sub-zero (not the best for a toddler/pre-schooler.)
Despite the temps, I bundled Mason up on Saturday morning to go play in the snow. We were outside no more than ten minutes when he announced that it was too cold. Turns out he's also caught a headcold, so he's been snuffling. He's even worked his cold into the "story of going to sleep." Last night when he answered the phone for the zookeeper, he said, "Achoo, Hello, Achoo!"
Poor little guy. At least he's got a well developed sense of humor.
As for the fish, well, the saga continues. The downstairs tank seems to be 100 percent stable, but in a fit of fish hobbiest enthusiasm I allowed the friendly guy at A World of Fish to sell me six neon tetras and a dwarf gouramie for our upstairs "hospital tank." That's been interesting, if only because Shawn finds the gouramie (now named "Dip") creepy. Admittedly, he's one of those Amazon River fish that looks a bit like a piranha -- flat and bug-eyed and he tends to hide behind things (apparently both neons and gouramies are shy fish--*sigh*)
We lost one neon already (combination of new tank syndrome and a bout of "ick"), and the thing Mason was most upset about was that he didn't get to flush it. I would have waited for him, but I found the neon stuck to the bio fliter in the morning along with some un-eaten shrimp and I just couldn't stand how gross it all looked.
Mason has developed his own ritual for flushing. He says, "You were a good fish. Gucci-gucci!" When asked what gucci-gucci means, he said "it's nonsense, ima." Personally, I think it's a kind of toddler benediction. Works for me.
I've taken the advice of carrying a book from room to room and I've been able to read a hundred pages of CARNIVAL by Elizabeth Bear. It's interesting so far. I ended up talking about it with fellow writer April last night, because she had just been to see the Science Museum's exhibit on race. One of the background tidbits in CARNIVAL is that at some point in Earth history an eco-plague of some kind wiped out the entire Northern Hemisphere. So, basically in the future there are no white people. So far that hasn't really figured much into the main plot -- although it adds tension because our heros are gay, and given that the majority of the people in the Southern Hemisphere are either Muslim or Catholic, being gay is a crime that can result in "culling" (death.) The main issue is gender politics, though. I'm struggling with that... if only because I have a strange reaction to role-reversal stories. Bear has agreed to let me interview her, so I'll get to find out authorial intent.
My main problem with role-reversal stories is what I call the "titilation factor." There are things that authors can do to men, that if done to women, would send most feminists into a fit of screaming heebie-geebies. This is includes treating men like cattle, property, whatever. I realize that's kind of the point, but I often find myself think that this is done not to make the reader uncomfortable with women's roles in today's society but as a kind of almost B&D turn-on. I suspect that much of my reaction come from the fact that it works for me... :-)
Anyway, the book is quite good, regardless. Shawn, Mason and I went to Uncle Hugo's this weekend about I picked up two other books that are on the Philip K. Dick short list. I got RECURSION by Tony Ballantyne and CATALYST by Nina Kirki Hoffman.
Despite the temps, I bundled Mason up on Saturday morning to go play in the snow. We were outside no more than ten minutes when he announced that it was too cold. Turns out he's also caught a headcold, so he's been snuffling. He's even worked his cold into the "story of going to sleep." Last night when he answered the phone for the zookeeper, he said, "Achoo, Hello, Achoo!"
Poor little guy. At least he's got a well developed sense of humor.
As for the fish, well, the saga continues. The downstairs tank seems to be 100 percent stable, but in a fit of fish hobbiest enthusiasm I allowed the friendly guy at A World of Fish to sell me six neon tetras and a dwarf gouramie for our upstairs "hospital tank." That's been interesting, if only because Shawn finds the gouramie (now named "Dip") creepy. Admittedly, he's one of those Amazon River fish that looks a bit like a piranha -- flat and bug-eyed and he tends to hide behind things (apparently both neons and gouramies are shy fish--*sigh*)
We lost one neon already (combination of new tank syndrome and a bout of "ick"), and the thing Mason was most upset about was that he didn't get to flush it. I would have waited for him, but I found the neon stuck to the bio fliter in the morning along with some un-eaten shrimp and I just couldn't stand how gross it all looked.
Mason has developed his own ritual for flushing. He says, "You were a good fish. Gucci-gucci!" When asked what gucci-gucci means, he said "it's nonsense, ima." Personally, I think it's a kind of toddler benediction. Works for me.
I've taken the advice of carrying a book from room to room and I've been able to read a hundred pages of CARNIVAL by Elizabeth Bear. It's interesting so far. I ended up talking about it with fellow writer April last night, because she had just been to see the Science Museum's exhibit on race. One of the background tidbits in CARNIVAL is that at some point in Earth history an eco-plague of some kind wiped out the entire Northern Hemisphere. So, basically in the future there are no white people. So far that hasn't really figured much into the main plot -- although it adds tension because our heros are gay, and given that the majority of the people in the Southern Hemisphere are either Muslim or Catholic, being gay is a crime that can result in "culling" (death.) The main issue is gender politics, though. I'm struggling with that... if only because I have a strange reaction to role-reversal stories. Bear has agreed to let me interview her, so I'll get to find out authorial intent.
My main problem with role-reversal stories is what I call the "titilation factor." There are things that authors can do to men, that if done to women, would send most feminists into a fit of screaming heebie-geebies. This is includes treating men like cattle, property, whatever. I realize that's kind of the point, but I often find myself think that this is done not to make the reader uncomfortable with women's roles in today's society but as a kind of almost B&D turn-on. I suspect that much of my reaction come from the fact that it works for me... :-)
Anyway, the book is quite good, regardless. Shawn, Mason and I went to Uncle Hugo's this weekend about I picked up two other books that are on the Philip K. Dick short list. I got RECURSION by Tony Ballantyne and CATALYST by Nina Kirki Hoffman.