Crying Men

cornerofmadness posted this incident from a writer's group:

This week has me thinking about the shape of grief and writing it. Of course grief is different for everyone and that's one of the things we have to remember. Cop shows love to make a huge deal out of people being unemotional being guilty of murder. Women weep uncontrollably. etc etc. This takes me to one of the more contentious (and it was very mild at that) critique with someone in my writers group (it still could use new blood if you're interested) He was adamant 'men don't cry' and was very upset that I had a male character crying.


I write a lot of crying men. Part of that is because of the characters I find interesting. Some cry because they're broken. Some do it because they're in touch with their feelings. A lot of mayhem happens in my writing, after all, they've got their reasons. But part of it is because I think "boys / men don't cry" is stupid and dangerous, along with it's factually false, and I just like stabbing holes in genderboxes. Maybe it's just that I have a largely masculine personality in a presumably female body.

Here are some of my pieces with crying boys / men...

( Read more... )

Coraline Cats

Portland is doing a public art project with giant cat sculptures. 

I got to see Cows on Parade in Chicago.

Birdfeeding

Today is sunny, steamy, and sweltering.  :P

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of house finches, a fox squirrel, and a gray squirrel.

Lots of honeybees are swarming the metal birdbath.








. 

Monday Update 8-5-24

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Crying Men
Moving Characters
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Trees Absorb Methane
Philosophical Questions: Intelligence
Birdfeeding
Mountain Snake
Today's Smoothie
Early Mollusks
Today's Adventures
Sea Otters
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 8-2-24: Exo
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Discworld Bingo Card 9-1-24
Hobbies: Sculpture
Today's Adventures
Diamond Planet
Birdfeeding
Bingo
Alternative Education in Terramagne: School Systems
Recipe: "Cream Cheese Brownies"
Good News

The Clone post is at 225 comments. Poem: "Sand Won't Save You This Time" has 111 comments. \o/


There will be a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, August 6 with a theme of "Montessori Literature as a Genre." See also "Alternative Education in Terramagne: School Systems."


There are three open epics at present.

"Before You Can Love Me" belongs to Iron Horses. Warshirt considers his relationship with Spotted Deer and the other totem girls.

"The Simple Act of Caring" belongs to the Big One. Bennett and Jules are safe in the Can.

"Among the Imperishable Ones" belongs to the Finn Family. Aidan wants to visit a cache in Egypt.


The weather was mostly mild but today is sweltering. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of house finches, a mourning dove, a female cardinal, a gray catbird, a gray squirrel, and fox squirrels (including Nipple Squirrel and others). Honeybees have been mobbing the metal birdbath. Currently blooming: white Dutch clover, blue lobelia, marigolds, petunias, million bells, snapdragons, lantana, pansies, violas, dianthus pinks, blanket flower, red salvia, moss rose, alyssum, red clover, firecracker plant, pink salvia, yarrow, double superbells, pink verbena, blue salvia, black-eyed Susan, tomato, cucumber, ice plant, nasturtiums, garlic chives, morning glory, mountain mint, purple echinacea, blackberry lilies, spiderwort, yellow coneflower, cup plant, gladioli, naked ladies, zinnias, 'Autumn Joy' sedum, sunflowers, bachelor's button, and coreopsis. Tomatoes and cucumbers are ripe, though I've only picked tomatoes so far.

Alternative Education in Terramagne: Other Programs

Terramagne offers a greater variety of alternative education than here. Previously I covered "Alternative Education in Terramagne: School Systems." Below are examples of other programs, along with some places where they appear.

( Read more... )

Higgs Boson Musical

Can the Higgs Boson Shine on Broadway?

A musical about particle physics is under development, with David Henry Hwang, the playwright behind “M. Butterfly.”

The basement performance, for a small crowd of Broadway insiders, investors and friends, was the first private reading of a new musical with a story by Mr. Hwang, and music and lyrics by Bear McCreary and Zoe Sarnak. The show recounts one of the biggest events in physics this century: the discovery in 2012 of the Higgs boson and the people behind it.

The production, still nascent, is based on “Particle Fever,” an award-winning documentary film in 2013 produced by David Kaplan, a film student turned physicist at Johns Hopkins University, and directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker.


I am not generally a big fan of musicals, but I think that basing one on a major scientific discovery is awesome. :D