I'm thinking about the moral obligation behind symbols, and use of symbols, in art. I don't think that a symbol should be off limits to someone because of their cultural background or their relative social power. But I do think that a line can be drawn between responsible use of those symbols and hurtful, exploitative use. The cult of "authenticity ( Read more... )

A good universal moral, and a good thing to always check yourself against, is "never punch down".

Which is not to say "never punch". But punching down is most of the punching that people do.

From now on, unless I have an announcement that I want to make sure absolutely everyone reads, I'll probably keep my posting to Livejournal. LJ isn't perfect, but I don't have as many problems with it as I used to (while my problems with Dreamwidth have only multiplied), and I have an LJ-only friend and a few other acquaintances/people I follow ( Read more... )

Addendum to previous entry ( Read more... )

Reading about Cary Grant's experience with LSD is a great way to disillusion yourself about LSD. Not that taking LSD was bad for Grant... if anything, it was a positive experience, freeing him from a lot of neuroses and probably making him a better artist. But finding out how narrow-minded he remained in many ways -- along with his sexism and ( Read more... )

(EDIT: I took out the whining for attention. I thought better of it after writing, and it's one of the things I want to change about myself ( Read more... )

One of the things I find most objectionable about capitalism is that money is, I think, the real universal language. Strip away all of the politics, economic philosophies, and moral associations, and money at its core is a means of communication. And it's compulsory to learn; you have to be fluent in it, or at least conversational, to survive ( Read more... )

I'm going to a campus talk on the 6th, where I will, hopefully, find out something about entry level programming careers ( Read more... )

I've been turning over the thought of going back to school, either on a part or full-time basis ( Read more... )

My power is not a masculine or macho power. It’s not the kind of power that comes from leading others or from defeating the enemy or from standing up in front of a room full of people and being right. Nor is it the femme action hero kind of power of a Lucy Liu character who kicks all sorts of booty without ever messing up her eye makeup. I’ve tried ( Read more... )