foreverlasting | Entries tagged with spring

Jumping on the bandwagon of online publishing, Simon & Schuster will now apparently be selling thousands of its availiable titles through Scribd, a site known for its pirated content. A practical move, considering the online following these days, and the whole "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." But then I read this:

Ms. Pittis said that piracy is “probably pretty low in this country,” but worries about it more overseas, where millions of Scribd users live and where “there’s such a culture of piracy.” Asked to identify a book damaged commercially by piracy in another country, Pittis said she couldn’t, but added, “I don’t want a HarperCollins title to be the test case.”

How many bad inferences can be drawn in a single sentence? Even if the US has lower piracy rates than the next country, its rates are by no means low. That Ms. Pittis cannot think of an example of a book damaged commercially by piracy in another country (though I'm willing to grant that 'damaged' is a little vague) only cements her vast generalization.

Here we have yet another case of nationalism and American priviledge. We downplay any problems that we may have and dump the blame in another country's lap. Way to go, Simon & Schuster.

Found via Dear Authors.

My first final was at the grudgingly early time of 8AM. Not a fan, but I think I passed. Afterwards I crashed in bed to the sound of Kiki packing and dreamed of faeries and curses. When I came to, we had the following conversation:

Kayla: "You're so weird."
Kiki: "Like you're not? You're a psych major."
Kayla: "I'm justified. You're not."
Kiki: "Who're you to judge me?!?!"
Kayla: "...a psych major."

On an unrelated note, I've been the victim of hiccups off and on all day. The record is currently at 5 separate sets.

I'd also like to note the significance of the 5 typed as a number, rather than spelled out. This, ladies, gentlemen, and gender-benders, is the direct result of becoming a slave to the psych department. I used to be well-versed in MLA. Now, I practically breathe APA. I know, I know; it's saddening.

I was browsing Carolyn Jewel's site this afternoon, and ran across this pretty:

"By and large, Romances are written for women by women and historically and presently, the efforts and contributions of woman are culturally denigrated across the entire social spectrum. Professions once traditionally male often see a decline in prestige and wages when women enter the profession. If men were to read and/or admit they read, romances, the reputation of the genre would soar. Romances exist in a ghetto and a lot of readers simply never take notice of them because they're not mainstream fiction. Romances need to leave the ghetto."

From a feminist standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. I more than agree that romance as a genre is a powerful, pro-woman industry. Unfortunately, every time I read a romance and I find myself mocking the characters for their trite and over-played gender roles, I have to wonder whether romance novels leaving the ghetto will honestly do any good. It's may be a female-run industry, but is it truly feminist?

More on that when I have my thoughts in order. Back to studying for Stats.

Current Music: Everywhere - Michelle Branch

All my classes were cancelled today due to PsychFest, and so I'm officially done with classes for the year. All I have left are finals.

Helix's 21st birthday is on Sunday. I'm giving him a giftcard to The Woods coffee and The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. Now, I pride myself on my ability to match people with books. Rarely has someone come back to me and said they didn't like it. Just recently I converted a friend to Anne Bishop's Daughter of the Blood, which is not a recommendation I make to many people. Turns out she loved it and wants to borrow the rest of the series.

Thing is, I'm not a lit fiction reader. Not really. The overarching themes of literary fiction may be beautiful, but in general the writing is far too dry for me. (I also picked up for myself Christine Feehan's Shadow Game, a romantic suspense, and Brenda Joyce's Dark Embrace, a paranormal romance, if that gives any indication of my reading preferences.) In contrast, Helix loves lit fiction. Catch 22 is one of his favorites. I gave him Catcher in the Rye for Christmas, which he appreciated, albeit I don't know if the recommendation was spot-on. (Catcher is a rather odd book, though.) I'm hoping that the writing style and story of The Cellist will match his tastes better.

I'll be carpooling down to Century Ballroom in Seattle tonight with a couple of salsa friends. We've been doing this monthly for almost 2 years now. Every first Friday night of the month... Century! Tomorrow I'll be staying in town for blues dancing. It's going to be a good weekend.

Current Music: Belly Up - Maria Mena

Kayla: "OH MY GOD. Obama just declared June the national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month!"
Kiki: "...All of them? They only get one month?"

May I present my roommate, Kiki.

Current Music: Love Me Like That - Michelle Branch

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this wildfire in me, it burns in you

I'll be your little forest bandit, setting fires where you demand it

Entries tagged with spring

simon & schuster & ...scribd?

you're everything I know that makes me believe

I don't recognize your doubt

now everything is shades of grey and you're pushing me away

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June 2012

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