…Came tonight from 10:30 - 11 pm, on “Linda Live,” which is a show on JCT Magazine’s online radio station.

Didn’t you hear I was going to be on the air tonight? That’s okay, neither did I. I replied to a craigslist ad some time ago — and the fact of the matter is, I reply to many a craigslist ad in my day-to-day life — and got a response back tonight in the form of a phone call asking me if I would like to talk about Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama on the air. In an hour.

…Okay! So we had a brief conversation, Linda told me she’d call me back at 10:25, and I proceeded to freak out a little, email and text message some folks, and bury myself in Wikipedia in attempts to procure some Instant Smartness.

Then we talked for a while about Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, and the race. We’re both Obama fans, but I don’t think our political views are terribly similar otherwise, so by no means was it a “two ladies get together and say nice things about Obama” kind of talk. She had much to say about her perception of how Hilary is running her race, and I had a lot to say about my perception of how everyone else is running Hilary and Barack’s race.

I am not going to try to paraphrase her opinions here, because I don’t totally agree with them and I don’t want to run the risk of misrepresenting them due to my bias. But you can check her out weeknights at 10:30 on Linda Live on JCT 92.G radio, and get a full dose of her views. And possibly mine again too — we mutually enjoyed talking to each other and she’s said she’d like to have me back sometime. I’ll keep you posted.

Here are my opinions on the campaign.

I feel that both candidates have had little opportunity to talk policy and issues, because people are very gung-ho to focus on Hilary as a woman (instead of as a candidate) and Barack as a black man (instead of as a candidate). I feel that almost every conversation I’ve had with someone about who-to-support-for-2008 has had the words “but is America ready for a woman president?” and/or “but is America ready for a black president?”

I feel that Hilary’s opposition has been extremely sexist and has chosen to focus on obviously gender-riffic questions like “Is Hilary too emotional to run the country/her campaign/her life? Is she Turning on the Tears to make us feel bad and give her what she wants? Is Hilary going to get PMS and make a destructive national decision?” These are the sort of utterly disrespectful, unrealistic, and stereotype-based questions that are thrown at EVERY woman up for ANY position of power, and I’m just sick of them and I want badly for us to get beyond that as a country. Nobody asks if a male candidate is going to get an attack of the Testosterone Angries and nuke somebody when there’s no reason to. Nobody asks if Barack Obama is going to mess up an important national decision based on an international diplomat tempting him with fried chicken. Why? Because these things would be offensive and stupid. They are equally offensive and stupid when aimed at a woman.

On the same token, I feel that a lot of opposition to Obama is fueled by racism. No matter who is circulating pictures of him in traditional international garb and calling him a terrorist*, its intent is pointed and clear. And disgusting.

In the meantime, though, can WE (you know, the intelligent people who know that Hilary is NOT going to make PMS-based decisions and Obama is NOT a terrorist?) get over looking at them as a Woman and a Black Man, and look at them as presidential candidates? I am dying to hear some policy, and I bet they’re dying to talk about it. If I were a voter who knew nothing about either candidate and was trying to make an informed choice, I would find it very difficult to find some actual legitimate information to make my choice on. Worrying aloud whether the country is ready for a black-or-female president is exacerbating the already all-too-present problems of sexism and racism in this country. If YOU are smart enough to vote for a black candidate, or a female candidate, based on policy and not their skin color or sex — I know I am — then for heaven’s sake, can you try to intelligently explain YOUR reasons for voting for whomever, instead of letting sexism and racism win by suggesting America is “not ready” to make that same distinction? I don’t disagree that prejudice is going to play a role in this election — but I would think that the NOT prejudiced people in this country could make an effort to minimize that role by focusing on real issues, instead of maximizing it by giving it constant airplay.

And that’s… that. I would absolutely love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on this.

*By the way, though, Hilary has said it wasn’t her and she would fire the person who did it if she found out it did come from her campaign. And Barack was willing to accept that, and declared where it came from a non-issue in the most recent debate. THEY’RE not fighting about where the picture came from, so can we not?

So, last week I emailed Psychology Today and complained, because their online Advanced Search-for-a-Therapist thing lets you select that you are lesbian, gay, or transgendered–but does not include the word “bisexual” anywhere.

I wrote in and told them that I had worked as a hotline counselor and given out many referrals myself, and knew that it was important when finding a therapist to find one who wouldn’t judge you for your orientation–and that it was just as important for bisexuals, because unfortunately there is prejudice on both sides of the fence.

They wrote me back this week and said thank you, and that they would change it!

Sometimes being impulsively vocal pays off.  It goes to show that you should speak up when  you see something that doesn’t seem right to you — you might make a difference.

Now, if only I could get those Myspace advertisers to respond to my complaints about their sexism…  or find a way to send a complaint email without having to register for “findaman.com”…

No, I don’t want to know why men get physical and then pull away.   Implying that you know some magical secret about all men’s behavior and that my love life can benefit from it is sexist and lame.

No, I do not want to try Raw Minerals FREE and be “better than bare.”  The idea that I can’t even look natural without buying makeup to help me do it better is sexist and lame.

No, my boyfriend does not want to buy me customized lingerie that says “Property of Andrew.” …Everything ABOUT that is sexist and lame.

Are we sensing a theme here?

P.S. Can’t wait to see what flavor of spam comments this particular post gets me.

Quoted reverently from “A Question of Class”…

Everything in our culture—books, television, movies, school, fashion—is presented as if it is being seen by one pair of eyes, shaped by one set of hands, heard by one pair of ears. Even if you know you are not part of that imaginary creature—if you like country music not symphonies, read books cynically, listen to the news unbelievingly, are lesbian not heterosexual, and surround yourself with your own small deviant community—you are still shaped by that hegemony, or your resistance to it. The only way I found to resist that homogenized view of the world was to make myself part of something larger than myself. As a feminist and a radical lesbian organizer, and later as a sex radical (which eventually became the term, along with pro-sex feminist, for those who were not anti-pornography but anti-censorship, those of us aguing for sexual diversity), the need to belong, to feel safe, was just as important for me as for any heterosexual, nonpolitical citizen, and sometimes even more important because the rest of my life was so embattled.

Full Text Here.

I’m not in this sort of a mood very often.

Here is a list of some things I love about myself.

After you read it, you should make a list of your own. And then publicize it and invite your friends to do the same. Perhaps on myspace. I don’t know. Let’s start a general self-love movement.

• I’m smart. I say I’m a dumbass a lot — which is true, I feel, on a variety of levels — but I’m also intelligent and have the capacity to teach myself and learn quickly. I also express myself fairly well in written words, which I’m learning is not quite as common as I’d thought.
• I sing like the dickens. And I spent a lot of years teaching myself to do it. I’m not Just Lucky. Though I guess I am lucky enough to have like, a good ear.
• My hair is awesome. For those of you who haven’t seen the current-est, awesome-est incarnation of my hair, I invite you to the picture page on my website. That first picture — that’s what my hair has looked like since August or so. And I think it’s a keeper. I think it’s my Perfect Hair, that I will ongoingly strive for and will never get tired of (or cut). Also, the red part? That’s henna, which in itself is fairly awesome. Down with craptastic chemicals!
• I think my underarms are really pretty and don’t believe I shall ever shave them again.
• I have the confidence to do things like never shave my underarms again even though I think the only person in my inner circle who’s with me on that is (oddly) my dad. I have confidence? Huh. That’s cool.
• I live in the city I want to live in, and am moving towards my ambitions daily. I get down a lot about the speed at which I am achieving my ambitions, but you can’t accuse me of not trying. And I am having some success.
• I know a lot about sex. And I think sex is really cool. And I have a good time having it. I can’t think of a better hobby than learning about sex, honestly.
• I know how to make cats like me. I have been told by a lot of people that their cat is Mean and to beware it. Yet I have never met a cat that was mean to me. I think this is because I treat them how I would like to be treated: show interest, but don’t be pushy with it.

By the way, if any of y’all care to see some of where I live, my boyfriend posted some pictures of our foyer.. The first sentence also neatly displays his sexy take on gender.

from www.xkcd.com

Hi all!

So the ever-awesome and ever-intellectually-stimulating Alan Semerdjian (whose name I can spell and you can’t) has written about me in the new edition of Long Island Pulse!

I’m one of his “Great Songwriters from Long Island You Probably Have Never Heard Of.” Check it out here, and if you’re local, definitely pick up a copy of LI Pulse. In fact, I’ll go so far as to suggest you peruse it over a minted hot chocolate at the Pisces Cafe, located right across the street from the Babylon train station. Tell Jeff and Justine I sent you.

hearts,
rorie

I’ve done it: I’ve purchased new shoes.

Those of you who know me know what a big freakin’ deal this is. I’ve owned my old Cons for no fewer than ten years–back then you had to look freakin’ everywhere to find Cons and they were still made in America. We’ve had a good run, my Cons and me. I wore them to my first real gig, in the Bayville Commons on Saturday mornings from 11 - 12. They carried me through coming out as bi and the entire four-year relationship that ensued. We trekked around the east village together, picking up copies of The Village Voice and pizza bagels and an overpriced pair of stripey arm warmers that I still have. We explored Ohio and parts of Indiana and Kentucky together (my ex-girlfriend was there too). We were poor and unemployed together, we moved to a really good (boring) neighborhood followed quickly by a really bad neighborhood, we took a job in Times Square and rode the subway to it. They were there when I started my business, and they’ve accompanied me to a good many of my recording sessions at Sound on the Sound studios. Ragged blue Cons, you will be long remembered.

I plan to spray them with something to make them stiff and turn them into bookends. This obsessive need to make my dirty old footwear into a display item stems from my childhood: my mom took the shoes I was baptised in and got them dipped in something that made them like glass or ceramic or something, and they are currently sitting in her china cabinet. Pink velcro Weeboks, I believe: even as a baby being initiated into a religion I don’t believe in, I had style. Mom, why was I wearing sneakers to a baptism? Isn’t that kind of a fancy affair? Maybe I have this story mixed up. It was a long time ago.

Anyway, the time has more than come. My cons were so full of holes that the balls of my feet were dangerously close to actually communing skin-to-skin with the sidewalks of BedStuy. So today, I went down to MooShoes and purchased my new No Sweat anti-cons. (That’s kinda like anti-folk but cooler and with more substance.) They’re lovely and they don’t have any holes in them. They also come from an awesome fair trade company, No Sweat Apparel. I have named them Amanda and Tegan, after two women whose songs have gotten me through stuff (much as my shoes get me through stuff by like, sheltering my feet as I travel). Here is a portrait:

Yesterday I had a kind of “down” night and the most productive things I could bring myself to do were take my delicious chocolate-flavored calcium supplements, eat some pasta, drink some Mike’s Hard Berry, and surf. I think I might have even filled out a myspace survey.

Most intriguing web-destinations have been www.feministing.com, www.realmsofdespair.com, and assorted Wikipedia articles relating to the history of sexuality.

Something you may or may not know about me: I’m really interested in sex. I’m sure a few snarky remarks are forming in your cute lil heads as you’re reading, but let’s all raise our general consciousness for thirty seconds (really, you can go back) and take on sex as a serious subject.

I think sexuality is one of the rawest, most psychologically revealing parts of a person’s personality. I firmly believe that nice people who believe in equality are better in bed than apathetic people who stand by their lameass status quo. And I am as opinionated, if not more so, about sex as I am about everything else.

Some miscellaneous opinions:

What are some of your-all’s thoughts about sex and sexuality?

Natalie Dee pretty much says it all:

nataliedee.com

By the by: Barack Obama all the way.

Yes, I’m a registered democrat. I was a registered nothing before, but shit’s gettin’ heavy.

Now that I’ve given MY all-important endorsement…