I want people to like me. My friends (obviously), people at work, the people reading this. I’m pretty sure I should be embarrassed by how much it matters to me what people think, but it does matter all the same. The older I get, the more I’m okay with the idea that since some people aren’t really my cup of tea, it’s fair that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea either. But that means that I’m okay with about 2% of people not liking me, […]
The plan, a memory of the future, tries on reality to see if it fits.
This short, deeply smart collection of essays is really important. Seriously, “Men Explain Things to Me” resonated with me on every level. It’s a perfect gut-check… when some (most) men imply that I’m not entitled to articulate my own experience… when some (most) men cut me off in conversation about a topic on which I’m an authority because they have a couple of thoughts about it… when colleges and universities respond to reports of rape by instituting curfews and behavioral guidelines for women… when my […]
Intro to Feminist Theory
You can’t win these days as a feminist. There’s the bristling a-holes who sniff “What are you, some kind of feminazi?” whenever you try to distinguish yourself from a doormat. Speaking up about certain topics, like misogyny in video games (I’m sorry, about ethics in gaming journalism) can get you death threats. Existing next to these human septic tanks are the women who try to make themselves more palatable to the guys by saying things like, “I’m not a feminist, I shave my legs and […]
Further Misadventures of an Idiot Girl
Laurie Notaro’s background is in journalism. Her first book, The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club, was a collection of columns originally written for an Arizona newspaper. Autobiography of a Fat Bride, her second book, continues in that same vein, with a collection of short essays. They focus mainly on meeting and marrying her husband, and their first few years of marriage. I can’t help but compare it to another one of her books, a later one, The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, which I read and reviewed […]
The Misadventures of an Idiot Girl
For my first Cannonball 8 review (and my first book review. . .ever!), I reread one of Laurie Notaro’s essay collections. I own all of these and love to revisit them from time to time. This summer, however, during a move-induced purging frenzy, I accidentally sold my copy of the Flaming Tantrum of Death. I borrowed it from the library to see if it was worth buying again. While there are a couple essays in here that fall flat for me (or maybe I’ve just reread them too […]
Pretty great except for the musical interludes
When I bought this book of essays by Sarah Vowell, it didn’t occur to me that the 2002 publishing date would be so noticeable while reading it. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading The Partly Cloudy Patriot, but it was thoroughly weird being thrust back into the days of the Bush v. Gore clusterfuck and the years leading up to 9-11. I was a non-voting teenager back then, so while I remember the highlights, I wasn’t exactly keeping up with politics. There is […]
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