So have you lot heard the hype as of late. I know I've heard some very dramatic statements like today, "Kansas seems to be ground zero for the Republican war on women this year". While dramatic, from the research I have started it's not a wholly untrue statement. Just recently Kansas passed a bill that would allow pharmacists and doctors to deny a woman birth control if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. This bill was particularly targeted at the morning after pill and what shocked me the most was the ignorance about birth control that is being brought to light.
As little as forty percent of women get on birth control to Only prevent pregnancy. Pregnancy isn't the only reason you'd want to start a method of birth control. Birth control can regulate your cycle as well as help control and reduce the symptoms a woman suffers during her time of the month. If they called it the anti-pms pill would men still be trying to ban it so actively? What I don't understand is why ban birth control if you are ok with Viagra? I think that is what has a bunch of panties in a bunch. Men are making choices about reproductive health they don't understand. If a woman has severe cramping and heavy bleeding well then that's part of being a woman. If a man can't get it up well then someone call 911 we have a real problem. I don't think people should be encouraging men to get a hard on if they want to deny their women a way to pay for prevention of the consequences. No one is naive enough to pretend that Viagra is bought only by married men who want children just as no one believes that every woman on birth control is an out of control hussy. The world doesn't work that way.
What has my panties in a bunch is that the state is slowly moving toward allowing religion to dictate what could potentially be me. What if it was my state? You are Catholic so I don't get to have birth control? If you don't want to sell it to me I get it but don't tell me you won't give the prescription to the guy that will. You not personally selling it is your business you using your religion to enforce this on me is wrong and unconstitutional. Religion slowly creeping into the government actually worries me quite a bit. When candidates win things they thank God. When they want their people to follow them blindly they rally the people in the name of God.
I don't identify with their God with the capitol G. I believe you should live a good life for it's own sake not because someone is holding Hell over your head. I know that is an awful over arching statement to make but I have heard a little too much fire and brim stone the past few days. So my point being why should Your God preside over my life? I don't understand how a country that brags about its religious freedom is trying so hard to enforce the rules of one Religion. I am honestly surprised that no one has made a move to try and pass a national religion. We have a national language, food, birds. We have something to represent just about every aspect with the except of a few constitutionally protected rights. Yet the constitution doesn't seem to be cracking the whip like it used to. I have heard it called out dated on more than one occasion and maybe it is.
We have come so far from where our country was founded. Some part of my mind says it might not be a bad idea to rewrite the constitution so that we have a more updated blanket of write and wrong. However I am afraid that if someone tried to undertake this then it would fall into squabbling and everyone's own personal agenda. I think any attempt to modernize it would end up removing a lot of protections that the constitution offers such as the freedom of religion.
I did hear a valid point today though despite all the bickering. There should be better sex education and birth control education. There is a difference between abortions and birth control and not all birth control does the same thing and I've met a lot of people who don't know the differences. For example some birth controls mean you just don't drop any eggs because it prevents ovulation and I think men should be the primary ones informed of this. So many men hear the word period or woman issues and they stone wall then have the audacity to think they have enough information to chose for women. America really needs to stop being such a prude and start talking about sexual health and not just their own but that of the opposite sex as well. If you are with a partner you need to know what you are looking out for and how various forms of birth control work and how diseases are transmitted. That's just the basics.
I think I've had all the ranting I have time for right now.
I would love some perspectives from people on other countries at this point.
Corset disappointed,
signing off.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Web Comics
So do you follow any online comics? I do. It started out just one. A friend came to and said "Look what I found. It's pretty funny." So I made my way over to Ctrl+Alt+Del Comics did some back reading. They started out silly but really picked up in quality when he started to introduce story lines and it's been going strong ever since and I have been following since all those years ago. Then a few years later someone else approached me. "Hey have you read Girls With Slingshots?" Turns out that was pretty good too. Then I found WereGeek on my own one year when I went to Gen Con and she happened to be sharing a booth with Devil's Panties. Then there was Gregor and The Way To Your Heart. The list actually goes on for quite a bit. So I started to wonder what do these have in common that I keep coming back for more?
Well the first thing is they all early on started to flesh out their characters. Each one develops their quirks and their good sides along with the bad and each of those points works into the story line. I found I'm really fond of webcomics with solid stories. Now granted Ctrl+Alt+Del took a little bit to work into a story but I try not to hold the first few weeks of a web comic against someone. I know when I started to blog I just flailed around for a few weeks. Well unlike me I kept flailing and they developed plot.
The Way to Your Heart is particularly good at this. Where the others were meant to be funny ha-ha comics with plot. This one is a comic in the Japanese style meaning if the lovely artist had been born in Japan it would be a Manga. However she lives in Seattle and is condemns to comic status. Still it's a wonderful little drama that keeps us guessing and moving toward an actual end point. I must say that is one respect where I am sad. A majority of the comics I read will keep going as long as the artist is moved to draw. This one has a plot and one day in the mediocre future she will write "THE END" and those characters will be done. On the upside she had said she wants to start a new story afterwards so it's a mixed bag.
I've already dedicated a whole post to what I like about Gregor so I'm going to skip him and move right on. I don't want to say too much about any particular comic just because I'm limited without giving away spoilers and for the most part I'd like to stay spoiler free so the next thing I realized I like about all of these is the quality of art. XKCD is the only comic I am willing to forgive for poor art style, it's beautiful in its own way. All the rest tend to have well drawn beautifully coloured work. (Forgive Ctrl+Alt+Del this was another portion they took a bit to catch up). That being said Ctrl+Alt+Del is a great example of beautifully done panels and work. I love the attention to detail such as in the most recent their are shadows on the floor and a picture in the background you can almost make out. I can't tell you how much it irks me when I see something that is going nicely then an artist slacks and nothing has any shadowing done or they decide they don't want to keep up with that level of detail anymore.
Well I don't want to take up too much of your time. If you clicked a few of those links my mission is accomplished. I'd love to hear what you have to say about the comics I read. Or if you have any other suggestions you think I might like. All I've discovered in writing this is I still like pretty art and I am a sucker for a story. Nothing new there. I would like something new to talk about though. Give me some comments on something I should write about.
Meandering through web comics,
Corset signing off.
Well the first thing is they all early on started to flesh out their characters. Each one develops their quirks and their good sides along with the bad and each of those points works into the story line. I found I'm really fond of webcomics with solid stories. Now granted Ctrl+Alt+Del took a little bit to work into a story but I try not to hold the first few weeks of a web comic against someone. I know when I started to blog I just flailed around for a few weeks. Well unlike me I kept flailing and they developed plot.
The Way to Your Heart is particularly good at this. Where the others were meant to be funny ha-ha comics with plot. This one is a comic in the Japanese style meaning if the lovely artist had been born in Japan it would be a Manga. However she lives in Seattle and is condemns to comic status. Still it's a wonderful little drama that keeps us guessing and moving toward an actual end point. I must say that is one respect where I am sad. A majority of the comics I read will keep going as long as the artist is moved to draw. This one has a plot and one day in the mediocre future she will write "THE END" and those characters will be done. On the upside she had said she wants to start a new story afterwards so it's a mixed bag.
I've already dedicated a whole post to what I like about Gregor so I'm going to skip him and move right on. I don't want to say too much about any particular comic just because I'm limited without giving away spoilers and for the most part I'd like to stay spoiler free so the next thing I realized I like about all of these is the quality of art. XKCD is the only comic I am willing to forgive for poor art style, it's beautiful in its own way. All the rest tend to have well drawn beautifully coloured work. (Forgive Ctrl+Alt+Del this was another portion they took a bit to catch up). That being said Ctrl+Alt+Del is a great example of beautifully done panels and work. I love the attention to detail such as in the most recent their are shadows on the floor and a picture in the background you can almost make out. I can't tell you how much it irks me when I see something that is going nicely then an artist slacks and nothing has any shadowing done or they decide they don't want to keep up with that level of detail anymore.
Well I don't want to take up too much of your time. If you clicked a few of those links my mission is accomplished. I'd love to hear what you have to say about the comics I read. Or if you have any other suggestions you think I might like. All I've discovered in writing this is I still like pretty art and I am a sucker for a story. Nothing new there. I would like something new to talk about though. Give me some comments on something I should write about.
Meandering through web comics,
Corset signing off.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
BBQ Goodness at AppleWood
Do you like BBQ? I like BBQ. And not mediocre BBQ either. I've been eating the stuff since before I could walk if you put a plate of just so so ribs in front of me I'm burnt out on the things to the point I'll probably just eat the bread that goes with it and call it a night. Same thing goes for even modestly good pulled pork. That being said I can't go into a city without trying their smokey goodness at at least two different places. Typically I go to the cities 'best' and the runner up to see what they have to offer. Typically it's good not great and I end up wondering why am I eating BBQ again when I don't really enjoy it. There are a small handful of exceptions.
I made my way into Kansas City for a spell one summer and everyone raved about Oklahoma Joes BBQ. It's run out of a gas station and I've never been when their wasn't a line running out the door and that's during church hours on a Sunday. I drove past during lunch on a Saturday once. No Barbecue is the worth the wait I saw. This place has won oodles of awards and is generally considered awesome right up there with Jack Stacks (I wasn't fond of this place so no paragraph for them.)
Oklahoma Joe's was somewhere I could go and have some pulled pork and baked beans and enjoy my meal with modest satisfaction. It was good, not the best I ever had but good. Then traveling with the man like I do we mozyed on over to Independence, Mo. You know birthplace of Harry Truman. Big historical site all that jazz. Stopped at a little bbq joint with no reputation no awards yet and had the best barbecue I have had in years. Apple Wood BBQ (http://www.applewoodbbqkc.com/#) was absolutely delicious. They had sauces that had some heat they they had some with the tangy but my favorite turned out to be the apple bbq sauce. I saw it in the line up and decided why not, best choice I ever made. I loved the stuff. Then I got mine with a baked sweet potato with honey butter and brown sugar. My man got rib tips with the fries and baked beans and a burnt end sandwich. We went halvsies. It was all delicious. The rip tips were cooked perfect. The fries weren't the out of a bad steak fries these were honest to god fries. Everything was so delicious. I'll admit the burnt ends were not my favorite but I've never been a super fan of them.
Then about that time where we know we're about to eat to much we know we should stop but it's so good you don't want to. The owner comes on over and says "I hope you saved room for rum cake."
My man replied, "I don't think we have room for desert."
He nodded, "I'll bring you a sample then let you decide."
So a moment later he came back bearing two small squares of rum cake and I had decided. I needed me a slice of his aunts rum cake. I hadn't had a rum cake that good since I was a little girl. I think the best part was we ate til we were stuffed. Spent $20 between the two of us and had enough leftovers I got to do it all over again for breakfast this morning. Compared to the rest of the barbecue we got in Kansas City, it was a steal.
So if you ever happen to be doing the tourist thing in the Kansas City area hop on over to Independence. It's a cute little historical site with BBQ that is just as good if not a bit better (close call) than the cities best. So help keep deliciousness in business.
Apple Wood BBQ
1003 E 23rd Street Unit E
Independence, MO 64055
http://www.applewoodbbqkc.com/#
Later in the week I'll talk about the Varsity in Atlanta. Don't let me forget.
Corset missing the rum cake.
Signing off.
I made my way into Kansas City for a spell one summer and everyone raved about Oklahoma Joes BBQ. It's run out of a gas station and I've never been when their wasn't a line running out the door and that's during church hours on a Sunday. I drove past during lunch on a Saturday once. No Barbecue is the worth the wait I saw. This place has won oodles of awards and is generally considered awesome right up there with Jack Stacks (I wasn't fond of this place so no paragraph for them.)
Oklahoma Joe's was somewhere I could go and have some pulled pork and baked beans and enjoy my meal with modest satisfaction. It was good, not the best I ever had but good. Then traveling with the man like I do we mozyed on over to Independence, Mo. You know birthplace of Harry Truman. Big historical site all that jazz. Stopped at a little bbq joint with no reputation no awards yet and had the best barbecue I have had in years. Apple Wood BBQ (http://www.applewoodbbqkc.com/#) was absolutely delicious. They had sauces that had some heat they they had some with the tangy but my favorite turned out to be the apple bbq sauce. I saw it in the line up and decided why not, best choice I ever made. I loved the stuff. Then I got mine with a baked sweet potato with honey butter and brown sugar. My man got rib tips with the fries and baked beans and a burnt end sandwich. We went halvsies. It was all delicious. The rip tips were cooked perfect. The fries weren't the out of a bad steak fries these were honest to god fries. Everything was so delicious. I'll admit the burnt ends were not my favorite but I've never been a super fan of them.
Then about that time where we know we're about to eat to much we know we should stop but it's so good you don't want to. The owner comes on over and says "I hope you saved room for rum cake."
My man replied, "I don't think we have room for desert."
He nodded, "I'll bring you a sample then let you decide."
So a moment later he came back bearing two small squares of rum cake and I had decided. I needed me a slice of his aunts rum cake. I hadn't had a rum cake that good since I was a little girl. I think the best part was we ate til we were stuffed. Spent $20 between the two of us and had enough leftovers I got to do it all over again for breakfast this morning. Compared to the rest of the barbecue we got in Kansas City, it was a steal.
So if you ever happen to be doing the tourist thing in the Kansas City area hop on over to Independence. It's a cute little historical site with BBQ that is just as good if not a bit better (close call) than the cities best. So help keep deliciousness in business.
Apple Wood BBQ
1003 E 23rd Street Unit E
Independence, MO 64055
http://www.applewoodbbqkc.com/#
Later in the week I'll talk about the Varsity in Atlanta. Don't let me forget.
Corset missing the rum cake.
Signing off.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Stephen King's On Writing
So being a wannabe author like I am, I tend to write a lot and read a lot. So when a friend of mine raved about how amazing Stephen King's book was called "On Writing" I had to check it out and for the most part it was time well spent. I agree with a lot of the things he says and the process he went through writing various books. It was nice to read about an author who wasn't afraid to admit he didn't come from the swanky area of town and just happen to make it big. Knowing that there are authors who fess up to having had to actually work to be able to write for a living and all the struggles he faced was inspiring to me. I could read through and identify that I had been in a situation like that and it sucks but it doesn't mean the sky is falling or that you should give up on writing.
The one issue I did have is how in part of his book he declares that you are as good a writer as you will ever be. He says that it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer and equally impossible to create a good writer out of a competent one. This irked me the wrong was as it does many because I look down at my work and if this is as good as it gets I should just stop trying to write a book and create a pseudonym to write erotica for life. Most of those readers don't care how well it's written.
Thankfully I am in a position where I don't believe that. Not at face value anyway. I am using my write to interpret his words to come up with a different meaning that is implied. Some people just get it. Have you ever met one of those kids that picks up an instrument and starts to play and it sounds beautiful despite the fact they can't tell you what they are holding? I think writers have those people too. I think that is where you get people like Yeats from. They pick up a pen and it just works for them. That doesn't mean that if you can't do that you shouldn't write. It means you shouldn't expect to grow into be a savant or grand master. You may just have to settle for being a good writer. Or in the case of some people (like Stephanie Meyers) you should just get down on all four and thank god and your publisher/advertisers for gullible high school kids and their mothers trying to reclaim their youth.
I might go on a rant as to why the Twilight series is bad for society but that is for another day. Right now I'm trying to talk about an author worth reading. So as I was saying, I am taking my time to interpret his words. If he disagrees then he should have been clearer on the subject. I would probably have a rabid fan girl moment if he commented on this to tell me I'm wrong.
At any rate I feel I am starting to flake away at you. So here's some end notes. This past month I have submitted my short stories to see about that whole publishing thing. We'll see how it goes. I think I might have some pretty new rejection notices to hang on the wall but that is ok with me. Writing isn't for the faint of heart. It takes a thick skin, knowledge that if you have a five percent acceptance rate you are doing it right, and that if at first you don't succeed try and try again. It's all about the persistence and pigheadedness when people tell you there isn't money to be made in writing.
Crossing my fingers to be published,
Corset signing off.
The one issue I did have is how in part of his book he declares that you are as good a writer as you will ever be. He says that it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer and equally impossible to create a good writer out of a competent one. This irked me the wrong was as it does many because I look down at my work and if this is as good as it gets I should just stop trying to write a book and create a pseudonym to write erotica for life. Most of those readers don't care how well it's written.
Thankfully I am in a position where I don't believe that. Not at face value anyway. I am using my write to interpret his words to come up with a different meaning that is implied. Some people just get it. Have you ever met one of those kids that picks up an instrument and starts to play and it sounds beautiful despite the fact they can't tell you what they are holding? I think writers have those people too. I think that is where you get people like Yeats from. They pick up a pen and it just works for them. That doesn't mean that if you can't do that you shouldn't write. It means you shouldn't expect to grow into be a savant or grand master. You may just have to settle for being a good writer. Or in the case of some people (like Stephanie Meyers) you should just get down on all four and thank god and your publisher/advertisers for gullible high school kids and their mothers trying to reclaim their youth.
I might go on a rant as to why the Twilight series is bad for society but that is for another day. Right now I'm trying to talk about an author worth reading. So as I was saying, I am taking my time to interpret his words. If he disagrees then he should have been clearer on the subject. I would probably have a rabid fan girl moment if he commented on this to tell me I'm wrong.
At any rate I feel I am starting to flake away at you. So here's some end notes. This past month I have submitted my short stories to see about that whole publishing thing. We'll see how it goes. I think I might have some pretty new rejection notices to hang on the wall but that is ok with me. Writing isn't for the faint of heart. It takes a thick skin, knowledge that if you have a five percent acceptance rate you are doing it right, and that if at first you don't succeed try and try again. It's all about the persistence and pigheadedness when people tell you there isn't money to be made in writing.
Crossing my fingers to be published,
Corset signing off.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Game of Thrones
So I just walked the first episode of Game of Thrones and I am seriously considering not continuing. I mean it was honestly a bad idea what they did. SPOILER ALERT
So you know how in the book when Khal Drogo and Dany first shack up she was like no I don't want this because she was afraid. So Khal Drogo was all gentle and persuasive until SHE SAID YES. Well in the TV series all that happened is she started to cry we find out the only word Drogo really knows in her language is no and then he strips her down and bends her over and cut scene. So he raped her? No that is not what happened and to me that is a story breaking thing to have the viewers think. She may have been unhappy at times but she did grow to care for him and love him.
Then there was the casting. Everyone was too pretty. Even the people who were described as being but ugly looked too pretty. Like the Imp. He was supposed to be a bulbous dwarf and ugly as sin but they cast his character like he's just a hobbit or something. Then there was his older brother the Kingslayer. I'm sorry but his character walked on screen. He's also a lot more brunette than blond and the first thing I thought is Look! It's Gaston! Then you can insert some Beauty and the Beast flashbacks.
Anyway time moves on they change some more things I don't really approve of it. Like Bran's age. He morphs from seven in the book to ten in the TV series. So how old is Dany supposed to be? The actress is obviously over eighteen as she has some nudity going on but the character was Sansa's age. Closer to thirteen. A lot of the dialogue rings true from the book but they change the context where it was said or in the methods. Such as when Bran fell. It was more than he caught them going at it like rabbits. He heard them plotting.
So with many a sigh and much woe I am a little put off from watching episode two. However there is so much praise surrounding it that I might trek onward. I really did enjoy the books but I am reserving judgement for this.
Corset Tsking from a distance,
Signing off
So you know how in the book when Khal Drogo and Dany first shack up she was like no I don't want this because she was afraid. So Khal Drogo was all gentle and persuasive until SHE SAID YES. Well in the TV series all that happened is she started to cry we find out the only word Drogo really knows in her language is no and then he strips her down and bends her over and cut scene. So he raped her? No that is not what happened and to me that is a story breaking thing to have the viewers think. She may have been unhappy at times but she did grow to care for him and love him.
Then there was the casting. Everyone was too pretty. Even the people who were described as being but ugly looked too pretty. Like the Imp. He was supposed to be a bulbous dwarf and ugly as sin but they cast his character like he's just a hobbit or something. Then there was his older brother the Kingslayer. I'm sorry but his character walked on screen. He's also a lot more brunette than blond and the first thing I thought is Look! It's Gaston! Then you can insert some Beauty and the Beast flashbacks.
Anyway time moves on they change some more things I don't really approve of it. Like Bran's age. He morphs from seven in the book to ten in the TV series. So how old is Dany supposed to be? The actress is obviously over eighteen as she has some nudity going on but the character was Sansa's age. Closer to thirteen. A lot of the dialogue rings true from the book but they change the context where it was said or in the methods. Such as when Bran fell. It was more than he caught them going at it like rabbits. He heard them plotting.
So with many a sigh and much woe I am a little put off from watching episode two. However there is so much praise surrounding it that I might trek onward. I really did enjoy the books but I am reserving judgement for this.
Corset Tsking from a distance,
Signing off
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)