http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/The-Dark-Knight/1809271891/trailers/129

The Dark Knight Returns and it looks like Ledger's signature role, to bad he couldn't hold it together.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Feministing/~3/287085894/009170.html

http://feministing.com/archives/009170.html

Just to add to what Jessica posted two days ago about the Michigan Supreme Court decision, the University of Michigan is trying to find ways around the decision.

After a lower court ruled that the gay marriage ban applies to benefits, some universities switched their benefits programs so that they were available not to domestic partners but to “other eligible individuals,” a category that would include many gay partners, but would also include others who live with but are not legally related to university employees. For example, the University of Michigan’s criteria include joint residence for at least six months, some joint financial ties such as checking accounts, and no legal relationship or marriage between the individuals involved.

After the Supreme Court decision Wednesday, the university immediately asserted that its new benefits are not domestic partner benefits and are thus not covered by the ruling. Further, the university said it had eliminated domestic partner benefits after the lower court’s decision. “The university believes all current benefit offerings are in full compliance with Michigan law. The university cares deeply about recruitment, retention, and maintaining a healthy workforce and we design our benefits with these principles in mind,” the statement said.

This is why these kind of referendums (like the 2004 ballot measure that created the MI law) are so insidious. I wonder how many of the people who voted against gay marriage would agree that same sex couples should be denied access to each other's health care.

Thanks to Rose for the link

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Feministing/~3/287085898/009169.html

http://feministing.com/archives/009169.html

For anyone who is in NYC this weekend, there's a party tomorrow that can't be missed.

A lot of you probably know about Drinking Liberally, the organization with over 240 chapters across the country that brings progressive folks together over drinks. Well, they've grown into Living Liberally, the umbrella organization that holds together Drinking Laughing, Screening, Reading, Eating & Crafting Liberally. (Whew.)

On Saturday, they're having a big old fundraiser to help support their amazing efforts - it's going to help them increase their number of chapters, national programming, online presence and impact during this election year. Plus, it will be super fun.

So if you can afford to, dig deep into your pockets and head on over. You can buy tix here. I know it's no small amount, so if you can't afford a ticket (or if you're not in NY), consider getting involved locally and reaching out to the chapter in your area...

OMG! After my other tattoo, I MUST HAVE THIS ONE!

(I know… nobody knows what the heck that is… but I do!! Set Theory was my focus for my MS.)

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Tropic-Thunder/1809912814/trailers/115

Actors are inserted into a REAL war to make things more realistic.

Robert Downey Jr. in his second role of the summer plays an Australian playing a black man.

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Star-Wars-Clone-Wars/1809991325/trailers/133/880

This is a CGI feature which Lucas described as "Band of Brothers" in the Star Wars universe.

Opens August 18th.

Can anyone come up with a title and author for the (SF) short story described behind the cut? I read it 15-17 years ago, possibly in a Terry Carr anthology, as I read a lot of those around that time, but could be any anthology.
( here there be spoilers, but for what? )

Let's see if you lot get to see the back yard.

Agent called to say that I will probably be offered the contract I interviewed for last week. Not the most high-paying or exciting work, but good experience to have, and 3 months is the perfect length right now.

I called this week's better opportunity, and they probably won't interview me in time. Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

It would be nice to slow down the sales calls so I can deal with the bookkeeping and more strategic marketing. And it's about time I actually resigned from my job!

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Feministing/~3/287047870/009163.html

http://feministing.com/archives/009163.html

Facebook is on a roll today. Reader Adrienne alerted us to an ad for a crisis pregnancy center on Facebook, so I decided to do a little more research on the site’s advertisements.

Sure, there’s a range from shoe brands to social justice organizations, but pretty offensive weight loss ads are more common. And then we find the ad for “A Woman’s Concern,” a center that, according to their website, provides a variety of services including “pregnancy testing, ultrasound testing, information on abortion procedures, mentoring…” You can guess what the "information" on abortion is.

Another ad I found was a pitch to recruit egg donors. Not to say that egg donation is necessarily a bad thing, but the egg business has become one of many ethical and political questions. The Center for Genetic and Society, Choice USA and the Pro-Choice Public Education Project have been conducting research on egg donation and reproductive justice, make sure to check it out.

These should serve as a reminder that we need to pay attention to what's being marketed to young women online. In the meantime, Facebook may not strictly moderate their ads, but you can; report an ad you think is offensive. And as a first step, let’s get deceptive CPC advertising off of Facebook.

(And join our Feministing group!)

http://dykes.tumblr.com/post/34258642

Gina Genius of Team Gina

I was catching up on this very funny weblog when I came across this post:

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2007/12/19/2good-2b-4gotten/#comments

Wow! I am speechless. I just got a call from a woman I knew in Boulder Colorado, when I was going to University of Colorado - in my 70's dyke days. Back in my "Women's LIberation Coalition" days and "Lesbian caucus" days when women were talking about separatism and Marxism and imperialism and -- well, separatism. Back in the "no butch, no femme, no sex role" days -- all androgynous. We didn't call it "anti-binary" then, but yes, it certainly was. All sneakers and jeans and flannel shirts. Butch and femme was the 50's, and retro and wrong. This friend of mine was actually a pretty good dresser for that time, more whimsical and hippy with long flowing scarves and velvet vests. She was also openly bisexual which was a big deal back then in a time when even speaking to men as friends was considered suspect. My pre-punk time -- when I was a young fledgling dyke still completely overwhelmed by the world. Or at least, very young -- and forming.

She is partnered with a woman now and has been for some time.

I have not seen her for thirty years! She found me on Google, and just found out about my transition as well. She appeared to take it well, in stride. She has a book of mine on order now.

She is still a bi-dyke and partnered, and mentioned two of the women from that time, and they are still dykes. One prominent lesbian that I had a super crush on, who was super political and a leader of our group -- is now an Orthodox Jew living in Israel and is married with a bunch of children. Of course, I always went for the latent het or bi women I guess. Every single lesbian I dated as female is now with a man or dating men seriously. Of course, another became a man! But, I thought he was femme in the 80's. (you know who you are) . LOL -- Of course, one ex who is married to a man claims she is still a lesbian, but to each their own identity. I can't keep track anymore of who is a what, or why or why not.

But, I am really speechless. This woman who called, JH, gave me a box that she had made with her own hands, and I still have it. She still thinks of a line from one of my poems (written at 19) when she looks at the sky: "the moon dreams in the sky, a stone to forgive the world".

She also reminded me of a time when I broke a beer bottle and threatened to cut the throat of a professor who said something at a party that I disagreed with. She said, "I will never forget that. It was like a movie. You broke this beer bottle and said that you would cut his throat!" He was actually one of my favorite professors and I can't say I remember this incident specifically, even with my famous memory, but it sounds vaguely familiar. I have heard many stories of my wildness in my youth from people over the years, and -- I am pretty tame now. I told her I would have to put that in the next memoir. Indeed.

Speechless.

Okay, so my agent tells me they announced the deal on Publisher's Marketplace today, so:

Del Rey has purchased my first novel Spellbent and two of its sequels. I believe their tentative plan is to release Spellbent in early-to-mid 2009 and the other books in the trilogy will of course come later.

I'm entirely geeked about this. I got into science fiction and fantasy partly as a result of reading Del Rey authors such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley, so I'm pretty darn happy to have become a Del Rey author myself.

I notice that when she discusses Burma, she calls it Burma and not Myanmar. I wonder if there is any significance to this word choice.

When I use Burma, it's secret ant-talk for "I am not a fan of the State Peace and Development Council and do not consider its pronouncements binding on my word selection."

I write in two worlds: Technology and the Occult. In Technology, I write for both paying markets and non-paying markets because they both add to my street cred as a technology writer and information designer, and because the rate of pay is good to excellent in terms of what I normally earn working for a global technology company.

In the Occult, I write for non-paying markets if its something that I feel passionately about and as long as the deliverable is also free. I don't submit my content for free to books, magazines, or websites that will charge someone to buy it or to read it.

I'll consider writing for paying markets if the rate is what I consider to be reasonable. My formula for "reasonable" is sort of nebulous but includes who the publisher is and what the publisher offers me, and if the terms are fair. As you might expect, what I think is reasonable and fair is often not the same as what the publisher thinks is reasonable and fair. That's why the gods invented contract negotiation.

The bottom line for me in the last year or two is that there's not enough income to be earned as an occult writer for me to consider a paying gig either reasonable or fair. Therefore, I don't do any of them. I'll only contribute my work for free to websites or eBooks that are also free. The idea that a publisher is going to pay a writer a penny a word or some other ridiculous amount in hopes of building a business off of it simply doesn't sit right with me.

Your thoughts?