My overall impression of The Labyrinth

Whine, whine, penis, whine, penis, penis, whine, Frank Oz, whine, penis, whine.

on cross-dressing

All men should have the opportunity to spend a day in a dress.

After experiencing the body issues, constant superficial commentary, and general discomfort associated with women's fashion, a new perspective begins to crystallize. Maybe there's a reason that girls seem so quick to assume the shapeless clothing stereotypically associated with males. Maybe there's a reason that women avoid drawing attention to themselves, if that attention is so likely to be critical of appearances. Why is it that there is no stigma attached to a woman dressing as a man, but there is a stigma attached to a boy who dresses effeminately?

Thank you, SPAM

In Sedona, that kind of deep cleansing would have cost me thousands of dollars.

well then

Good thing I wasn't planning on having a good week or anything. Being vindicated is rarely as cathartic as they show on tv.

What is the preferred and proper procedure in a cry for help?

feminist thought

In a non-patriarchal society, the headline would have read:

"Shirley Temple Black, Former Diplomat, Philanthropist, Corporate Leader, First Female Chief Of Protocol of the United States, and Breast Cancer Activist Died Today at 85."
First Known As Child Actor

Wil Wheaton vs. The Omniasshole!

Wil Wheaton has a tumblr. You probably knew that already if you know who he is. If you don't know who he is, I'll wait a moment while you practice some Google Fu.

Everybody back?

OK, Today, he's been answering some questions on his tumblr, as he is wont to do most days. This day, however, he has been the focus of the MRA horde (incidentally - holy shit did Urban Dictionary come through on that one!) since he has spoken out as a decent human being and a male feminist.

This is their thing. They've done it to PZ, they've done it to other decent folks, and they'd probably do it to me if my footprint was big enough to catch their attention. Basically, they throw a lot of false equivalency, a lot of strawmen, a touch of ad hominem, and a whole load of misogyny at anyone who dares to point out that they are assholes who embrace false equivalency, strawman arguments, ad hominem attacks, and engage in misogyny. Indeed, they will accuse you of misandry if you point that out.

Anyhow, this is all a long-winded way of pointing out that you should head over and check out the yeoman's work that Wil has been doing for us all today.

Our kids deserve so much better than us.

Hello there, Lubuntu! Lookin' good...

There's such a clean feeling that comes with the completion of a new OS install. Everything's up and working satisfactorily, basic settings have been adjusted, and the computer's running fast and happy. It's a good thing. Now let's see if I can convince an 11-year-old BIOS that it really does need to read a USB flash drive.

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

An artist died today. It sure was nice of the Department of Defense to arrange for all of those honor guards and flyovers on such short notice.

One More Reason I Love the Open Source Community

Not once in all of the years that I have been using Linux (Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Puppy, etc.) have I encountered a deceptive service. A few times, I've been asked to contribute to the development of a program or distro, but I've never tried to update the software on an important piece of hardware only to find that the manufacturer links to a third party that will run a diagnostic test which then leads to a paywall.

This is why people quit Windows and never look back.

Howie Mandel on Mental Health

When was the last time you seriously considered what Howie Mandel had to say about anything?

Mandel said that just like parents take their children to pediatricians and dentists, mental health -- such as counseling -- should also be part of the picture.

What if we actually scheduled yearly checkups for ourselves? This could clear up all of the mental health stigma in this country and it would really help us to avoid letting folks fall through the cracks. No more finding out that someone is OCD when she can no longer attend classes or finding out that someone is manic depressive when he threatens to kill someone, but a continuous process of assessment and tracking, just like we do for eyes and teeth. Surely our brains are more important than our chompers.