All posts by fontfolly

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About fontfolly

I've loved reading for as long as I can remember. I write fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and nonfiction. For more than 20 years I edited and published an anthropomorphic sci-fi/space opera literary fanzine. I attend and work on the staff for several anthropormorphics, anime, and science fiction conventions. I live near Seattle with my wonderful husband, still completely amazed that he puts up with me at all.

Friday Links (Lovers gonna love edition)

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JD Crowe, Alabama Media Group, al.com (Click to embiggen)
JD Crowe, Alabama Media Group, al.com (Click to embiggen)
It’s the second Friday in February, not to mention the day before Valentine’s Day as well as the birthday of my good friend, Jared.

Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:

Recovering The Doves Type: In 1916, the Doves Type was seemingly lost forever after it was thrown into the River Thames.

Some more details here: STOP PRESS! ORIGINAL METAL DOVES TYPE SALVAGED FROM THE THAMES, NOVEMBER 2014. READ MORE HERE.

Sea Slug Uses Gene from Algae to Live Like a Plant.

For gifted children, being intelligent can have dark implications.

Samsung Is Doing a Great Job Showing Us How Terrible Smart TVs Can Be.

Study: ‘SO THE OPPOSITE OF ADDICTION IS NOT SOBRIETY. IT IS HUMAN CONNECTION.’

THE RISE—YES, RISE—OF RADIOSHACK.

Typeface Mechanics: 001.

No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning.

Just What Are Those White Spots On Ceres?

Forgotten Moon Camera Found Tucked Away in Neil Armstrong’s Closet.

Holy Shit, I Interviewed the President: Bethany Mota, Glozell Green, and I got an opportunity that a lot of people don’t think we deserved. “There is nothing actually legitimate about Fox News (or MSNBC for that matter) and young people know this.”

#QuestionsForMen shows guys what sexism is.

Police: Family plots to teach child a lesson with fake kidnapping.

MLK’s Mother Was Assassinated, Too: The Forgotten Women Of Black History Month.

Utah Puts Science Standards On Hold, Demands More Local Control Of Reality.

It’s Time To Face The Truth That Republicans Are Traitors.

When America behaved like ISIS: Jesse Washington and the Bible Belt’s dark history of public lynchings.

Same-Sex Marriages Proceed in Parts of Alabama, Amid Judicial Chaos.

ALABAMA MAN EMBROILED IN LAWSUIT AGAINST MOTHER-IN-LAW NOW LISTED AS SPOUSE ON DECEASED HUSBAND’S DEATH CERTIFICATE.

ANTI-GAY BIGOTS SAY FIGHT TO REPEAL LGBT PROTECTIONS IN HOUSTON IS ‘DAVID VS. GOLIATH’ BATTLE.

A Culture of Violent Entitlement, and the Culture of Silence Surrounding It.

No, Ken Ham, Atheists Are Not Spreading Misinformation About Your Noah’s Ark Theme Park.

“I Don’t Know What You Mean by ‘Healing’ ” A new documentary shows that the loss of Matthew Shepard will be with his family and friends forever.

Alabama Loses Yet Another Fight to Remain in Eighteenth Century.

Why Race Is Dominating Discussion Among LGBT Activists.

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Homophobic slurs written on woman’s body in Tacoma hate crime attack.

Montana GOP Legislator Wants to Ban Yoga Pants.

The gay version of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue.

Christian schools scapegoat LGBT youth and it’s time it stops.

Significant Ruling Against Conversion Therapy. ‘it “is a misrepresentation in violation of [New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act], in advertising or selling conversion therapy services, to describe homosexuality, not as being a normal variation of human sexuality, but as being a mental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent…”‘

Jeffress: Gay Marriage Sign of the Last Days.

Mississippi KKK ‘salutes’ Alabama chief justice Roy Moore for gay marriage stance.

Federal Judge Orders Mobile County Official To Stop Denying Same-Sex Marriage Licenses.

I wrote about my Four Childhood Crushes.

And I remember… lots of things about my wonderful husband.

Rabbi Responds To Huckabee’s Ridiculous ‘Bacon Wrapped Shrimp’ Comments .

The Daily Show Tackles Gay Rights in Kansas and Alabama: ‘There’s No Place Like Homophobia’.

Sergei Polunin’s (“ballet’s bad boy”) improvised dance to “Take Me To Church” by Hozier:

Sergei Polunin, "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, Directed by David LaChapelle from David LaChapelle Studio on Vimeo.

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Hot Chip – Huarache Lights (Official Video):

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Chris Cuomo Battles Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in Epic 25 Minute Interview on Gay Marriage:

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Madonna – LFL:

Madonna – LFL from Benjamina Falcon on Vimeo.

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Kiesza – Take Me To Church (Hozier Cover):

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I remember…

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Gene and Michael standing in a living room.
Picture taken at my Aunt Silly’s house circa 1999.
I don’t remember the exact moment I fell in love with Michael.

I remember meeting him, at the Northwest Science Fiction Convention, in 1996. I remember meeting him at a room party I was co-hosting. He tells me we actually met the day before, at a panel discussion. I do remember discussing the cute, shy guy from Missouri with Ray after the party. I remember meeting him again, a year later, at NorWesCon. I remember him showing up for a Red Dwarf Marathon Party Ray and I hosted a couple months later, and because by the time the party ended there were no more buses going back to Tacoma, he crashed at our place and we drove him home the next day. By that point, he and Ray had bonded like they had known each other for years. So we started seeing him a lot more often.

When Ray died suddenly (only days after the doctors had given a cautiously optimistic report on how the second round of chemo had gone), Michael was one of many friends who kept me from falling completely to pieces in the aftermath… Continue reading I remember… →

Get them to the church on time

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AlaMarriageThe New Yorker calls it “The Moment for Marriage in Alabama,” while the Religion News Service says, “[the] Handwriting [is] on the wall for gay marriage.”

And they’re both right, at least in the big picture sense. Though we must remember the proverbial warning about counting chicks before they’re hatched. It is clear which way the arc of history is going, but Alabama shows us yet another example of how smooth sailing isn’t in the immediate future—even though In 17 Words, Justice Clarence Thomas All But Declared Marriage Equality Inevitable.

Lots of people have drawn a parallel between the Alabama Chief Justice’s declaration that state officials don’t have to follow the federal court orders about marriage equality to George Wallace’s refusal to let schools integrate racially back in the 1950s. Enough people have drawn that parallel that now op-Ed prices are being written to claim that it isn’t merely “Alabama being Alabama.” According to those pundits, this is somehow not merely prejudice but a manifestation of a deeper-seeded conflict between local and state control versus federal control.

The only way you can make such a ridiculous argument is to be completely ignorant of the history of the struggle for racial equality. Because the argument that it wasn’t prejudice but rather a states’ right claim is exactly what Governor Wallace and the other opponents of segregation and the civil rights movement claimed at the time.

Alabama isn’t the only state where officials are fighting tooth-and-nail against equality for gay people, so in that sense it isn’t just Alabama being Alabama—but it is most definitely bigots being bigoted. If the opponents of LGBT rights were merely (and really) concerned with local control, they wouldn’t (at the same time as they’re making these states’ rights arguments) also be passing state laws to overturn individual cities’ gay rights ordinances.

So, the haters are gonna hate. They’re going to lie and defy. They’ll impede and interfere. But in the end they’re going to lose. Justice will triumph. Equality with reign. Love will prevail.

So, get those lesbian and gay couples to a church, chapel, or courthouse, and let love win the day! And then, let’s dance!

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here!)

Four Childhood Crushes

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Clockwise from upper left: Race Bannon, James West, Mowgli, Major Don West.
Clockwise from upper left: Race Bannon, James West, Major Don West, Mowgli.
Last week lots of people were sharing lists and sets of pictures of their childhood crushes with the hashtag #4childhoodcrushes. I was thinking this might be too late for me to come to the party, except that when I did a google search on it, I found a big cluster around the tag dated in 2010. One thing that was a bit disconcerting was how many of the people I follow on social media were posting pictures of TV and movie characters that didn’t come into existence until I was in my 20s or later. Clearly I’m the old, old man of several online social circles. Continue reading Four Childhood Crushes →

Sunday Funnies, part 10

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Another in my series of posts recommending web comics that I think more people should read:

Hi, I'm Liz logo.Hi, I’m Liz! isn’t your typical web comic. Rather, its the tumblr of artist Liz Clizmo (among her claims to fame is being a character artist and storyboard revisionist for The Simpsons) who posts a lot of mostly stand-alone strips usually featuring talking animals. She’s collected a few of them into books (a recent collection has my favorite title: Lobster is the Best Medicine). It’s difficult to describe her comics beyond saying they are funny, light, do not require you to follow on-going stories, and are often at least a touch surreal. Go check her tumblr out! If you like her stuff, you can buy her books, and/or pick up prints, t-shirts, mugs, and so forth.

The Junior Science Power Hour by Abby Howard logo.For some really silly, and quite frequently geeky, fun, take a look at The Junior Science Power Hour by Abby Howard. Abby’s journey to creating the crazy strip about science, science nerds, why girls are just as good at being science nerds as boys, and so much more, could be said to begin with a paleontology course she went on a few years ago in which she went on an actual dig in Saskatchewan. The strip is frequently autobiographical, but will definitely appeal to dinosaur nerds, anyone who has ever been enthusiastic about any science topic, and especially to people who has ever felt like a square peg being forced into round holes by society. If you enjoy the Junior Science Power Hour and want to support the artist, you can pick up various gifts at her store.

Some of the comics I’ve previously recommended:

dm100x80I’m a big fan of “Deer Me,” by Sheryl Schopfer. This artist is also a friend. I have previously described this strip as: “Three roommates who couldn’t be more dissimilar while being surprisingly compatible.” Except in a recent story line Thomas has moved out! Eeek! Currently, the strip has traveled back in time to the high school days of one of the aforementioned roommates. In any case, if you enjoy Deer Me, you can support the artist by going to her Patreon Page!

mr_cow_logo
I’ve long been a fan of: “Mr. Cow,” by Chuck Melville… and not just because the artist is a friend! A clueless cow with Walter Cronkite dreams presides over a barnyard of a newsroom. If you like Mr. Cow, you can support the artist by going to his Patreon Page. Also, can I interest you in a Mr. Cow Mug?

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And I love this impish girl thief with a tail and her reluctant undead sorcerer/bodyguard: “Unsounded,” by Ashley Cope.

The_Young_Protectors_HALF_BANNER_OUTSIDE_234x601The Young Protectors by Alex Wolfson begins when a young, closeted teen-age superhero who has just snuck into a gay bar for the first time is seen exiting said bar by a not-so-young, very experienced, very powerful, super-villain. Trouble, of course, ensues.

3Tripping Over You by Suzana Harcum and Owen White is a strip about a pair of friends in school who just happen to fall in love… which eventually necessitates one of them coming out of the closet. Tripping Over You has several books, comics, and prints available for purchase.

12191040If you want to read a nice, long graphic-novel style story which recently published its conclusion, check-out the not quite accurately named, The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. I say inaccurate because I found their story quite epic (not to mention engaging, moving, surprising, fulfilling… I could go on). Some sections of the tale are Not Safe For Work, as they say, though she marks them clearly. The complete graphic novels are available for sale in both ebook and paper versions, by the way.

Friday Links (Jonny Quest edition)

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Jonny-questJanuary has come and gone. Here we are, at the first Friday in the marvelous month of February. It was a heartbreaking Superbowl, but the possibility of loss is what makes the game exciting. Looking forward to next season!

Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:

Bishop Gene Robinson: Dear Mormons: Thanks But No Thanks.

How the Mormon Church Leaders Punked the Press.

“If you were a kid in 1964 and you had a TV, chances are, you wanted to be Jonny Quest.” Over two hours long, but a very well made documentary about how the Jonny Quest series came to be (along the way, explaining how animation, which had been thought to be too expensive for television, was used to make prime time hits). This link is for part 1 of 3.

Jonny Quest Documentary part 2 of 3.

Jonny Quest Documentary part 3 of 3.

How an Internet trolling victim bonded with her worst troll. I love Lindy West…

Mike Huckabee Is Literally a Con Artist.

Have You Ever Tried a $58 Bottle of Beer? We Went to Stout and Did It For You (with Photos).

Harper Lee Promises A New Novel—Or Does She?

Missing transgender teen found; runaway knew about search.

Creationist Ark Museum Suing To Practice Religious Discrimination At Taxpayer Expense.

Civilities: If my husband is pro-LGBT but indulges his Chick-fil-A cravings, is he waffling?

Survivors of 1980s AIDS crisis reveal what happened to them.

The story of the bronze riders that might have been made by Michelangelo.

The Gay Gene Won’t Save Us.

Montana pastor to lawmakers: We discriminate against incest, why not gay people?

Holocaust Memorial Day: The Nazi Bid to Exterminate Gay People.

Nancy Reagan Turned Down Rock Hudson’s Plea For Help Nine Weeks Before He Died.

Bully My Son at Your Own Risk.

Beware Of Mormons Bearing Gifts: Why The LDS Gay Rights `Compromise’ Isn’t Useful.

Mike Huckabee’s Alleged Gay Friend Surfaces On Twitter, Is Hilarious.

HTGAWM star Jack Falahee is over sex and gender binaries thank you very much.

First Stars Younger Than Thought –“May Impact Understanding Dark Components of the Universe”.

Rarely Seen Moonfish, Size of Manhole Cover, Caught on Camera.

Conservatives are such crybabies: Whether Fox News or angry police, exaggerated whining is always the first move.

Atheist Nonconformity: Against the Grain.

Twitter CEO: ‘We Suck at Dealing With Abuse And It’s All My Fault’.

Can a Novel’s Plot be Reduced to Data Points?

California moves to end personal belief exemptions for vaccination–at last.

Runaway hits.

What do you mean, “real” father?

Jonny Quest Opening Titles in Stop Motion:

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Sam Smith – Lay Me Down:

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6 Sick Myths You Thought Were True – Debunked:

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Ian McKellan as Mr. Holmes | In Theaters Summer 2015 | Clip:

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Kelly Clarkson – Heartbeat Song:

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Stephen Fry on God | The Meaning Of Life:

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What do you mean, “real” father?

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A man and a toddler stand on a half-disassembled utility vehicle under trees.
I’m the kid in this picture. The man standing beside me on the old street-sweeper is my mom’s biological father, who is not my grandfather.
I’m the first to admit that I have more than a few buttons that people can push to send me off on a long rant. One of them is the use of the term “real father” (or mother, or virtually any other familial designator), particularly when it is used to refer to someone’s biological-but-absentee relative. And sometimes I don’t just rant, sometimes I’m barely suppressing an urge to punch someone in the mouth over the use of the phrase. More than a little of the blame for that irrational reaction rests solidly at the feet of the man pictured here with a very young me. A man named Ralph.

The story can get a little convoluted, so I’m going to first sum-up, then unpack a bit as I also explain why I get so ticked-off about the use of the phrase “real father.”… Continue reading What do you mean, “real” father? →

Runaway hits

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http://endsexualexploitation.org/fiftyshadesgrey/ (Click to embiggen)
http://endsexualexploitation.org/fiftyshadesgrey/ (Click to embiggen)
I was working on a post about one-hit wonders of various kinds—both the pop song phenomenon and the runaway bestselling book version of that. The impetus, of course, was the upcoming release of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey based on the book of the same name that should be more accurately titled Fifty Shades of Converted Fanfic of Predatory Domestic Abuse because it started out as a literal fanfic of the Twilight series which is a collection of godawful books with a heroine who is actually nothing more than a stalking victim suffering history’s worst case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Not that I have any strong feelings about it

Anyway, I had this post in progress, and then I took a break to skim through Tumblr where I saw a pair of short posts by Neil Gaiman that made all of the points I was making, only much more succinctly.

So I abandoned the post. But then comes news of a new Harper Lee novel-fifty-four years after the publication of her first novel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird. And that made me think about the idea of a one time runaway hit in a new way… Continue reading Runaway hits →

How’m I doing on those goals?

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When I set my goals for the year in 2014, I also committed to doing regular updates. Just about every month I met that commitment. I also felt as if I accomplished more of my goals last year than usual, and I suspect that making the regular reports helped keep me focused on the goals, so I’m doing it again.

Last year each goal was paired with some specific tasks based on the notion of trying to replace a bad habit with a good one. This year’s goals continue that idea and include extending the success of some of last year’s.

So, how did I do…? Continue reading How’m I doing on those goals? →

Superbowl superstitions

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A thought from Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian (BettyBowers.Com)
A thought from Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian. Click to embiggen. (BettyBowers.Com)
Betty Bowers is sharing this meme along with a link to an article that says 1 in 4 Americans Believe God Will Decide Who Wins The Super Bowl. Right, because that’s more important than saving starving children. Or something.

Of course, it’s not as if I have much room to make fun of anyone for their superstitions about things like football. Last year on the eve of the big game, I was posting pictures of myself in my old Seahawks sweatshirt that I have been wearing sometimes while watching games for years, and had worn for every game that season, along with pictures of me in my three newer shirts/jerseys, and asking which I should wear for the game. Several friends pointed out that if I’d been wearing “Old Faithful” all season long, that I needed to wear it to the Superbowl, or I’d jinx the team. So I wore Old Faithful, and we won.

But Old Faithful was old, and getting frayed, and was a bit stained, so this year I’ve been wearing the newer 12th Man Jersey I got last year on game days. I rotated through my other shirts (one with the shiny silver ‘Hawks logo, the NFC Championship shirt, Old Faithful, an older grey t-shirt with the older logo) on Fridays before the game, but I wore the white jersey for each regular season game.

Then my husband gave me the #24 Marshawn Lynch t-shirt for Christmas. The next Sunday, I started the game wearing the new shirt. We had one of our worst first halves of a game the whole season. I realized my mistake, and retrieve the white jersey at halftime. We kicked butt and won in the second half.

So, even though my white 12th Man Jersey has two stains that have refused all efforts to remove, today I will be wearing it while watching the game.

I don’t want to jinx us!