Things balance out

.

So, just when I'm thinking that my writing has basically been forgotten by the fanfic world, I get a message in my LJ inbox asking about a fic of mine. Turns out the fic in question was not actually mine at all, but in the process of communicating, my own work got complimented in rather glowing terms. Which, you know, makes me feel pretty nice.

:)

Big-assed and proud

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Leonard Nimoy (yes, that Leonard Nimoy) has recently published a book called The Full Body Project. Nimoy is a lifelong photographer, and has published images of female nudes in the past. This time, he takes on the subject of women with bodies that are normally frowned upon.


Leonard Nimoy's "The Full Body Project" - an exhibit at the R. Michelson Galleries


This is delightful. The women are part of a performance group from Northern California that style themselves "The Original Fat Bottom Revue". They are neither shy nor ashamed of their bodies, and the photos show them laughing, dancing, smiling, doing the can-can. There's one particularly charming piece that is a one-to-one re-enactment of a painting by Henri Matisse, that I would love to have hanging in my home.

The exhibit is also opening tomorrow here in Los Angeles, with a reception and signing. I'm definitely going.


ETA: Here is a wonderful print interview with Nimoy about how he came to do this project, and his evolving ideas about beauty and culture. Do read it; he is a really cool guy!

A couple of fascinating interviews

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Over at NPR, there are a couple of really great interviews you can listen to:


Michael Pollan on returning to a diet that consists of actual FOOD

Pollan makes the point that what we buy in the markets isn't really food as that word is traditionally defined. Great stuff on the changes in the way we see and think about food, and why those changes have endangered our health and world.


David Cay Johnston on how the rich get richer

You've got to hear this one. Johnston's new book, Free Lunch, is about how over the last thirty years, our government has funneled more and more money away from 90% of the population and towards the pockets of people who are already rich. For instance, did you know that NONE of the sales tax you pay at big-box stores like Walmart ever actually goes to the community? That the burglar alarms touted as being life-savers on all those scary commercials are actually making our communities far more dangerous? This interview is incredibly informative, and seriously, SERIOUSLY pissed me off. A real wake-up call.


Much as I dislike the political reporting at NPR (for a supposedly liberal network, they sure do tow the Bush party line on a lot of things), these cultural segments often deliver some really interesting stories that don't get covered elsewhere.