I don’t feel particularly talkative today, but i’ve read a few blog postings that i thought were really insightful and interesting. I’ll post a few snippets below, but i recommend you check out the full text of each of them. They’re all on the theme of oppression (such as white-supremacy and patriarchy) being [...]
Of the many articles i read today, two particularly stand out as interesting and insightful. The first was about US strategy with regard to their military bases on foreign soil. An acceptable presence: the new US basing structure in the Philippines by Herbert Docena, has interesting background information on the opposition to US [...]
I just read a nice article by Robert Jensen, one of my favourite authors with regard to politics: Masculinity: Where we are stuck. In the article, Jensen recounts 3 situations in which he was involved, each of which display some aspect of conventional masculinity. What i like about it is that it shows [...]
I just ran across this article about masculinity in high schools. The author did an interesting investigation into the usage of the word “fag” amongst teenage boys, and found that it was not just used in homophobic taunts, but was more generally used to enforce masculinity.
In a culture of hostility where certain acts and [...]
Here’s a comic strip that i particularly enjoy. It’s called “Boy on a stick and Slither”. There are some real gems in there, i suggest reading the whole archive from the beginning if you have some time ;). While i’m on the topic of comic strips, another one i read all the [...]
I had another calligraphy class yesterday, and learned a few more tid-bits. The class was a little sparse on instructional time because most of the people in the class are beginners at chinese and the instructor only speaks chinese. However, i was able to glean a few pieces of information from the instructor [...]
I’m feeling pretty down about my classes this week. Last week was the nationwide holiday, and i felt like i made some progress. Instead of going out travelling to touristy destinations with my classmates, i decided to hit the books. Spending several hours per day with my nose to the grindstone, i [...]
I’m starting to get a bit of an idea about this brush calligraphy stuff now. I got a nice book from the library that did a good job of explaining basic aesthetic principles, but didn’t spend much time on how to actually use the brush. The internet seems to fail me in this [...]
i started a calligraphy class this week. So far it’s a little slow, perhaps partially because many of the people in the class can’t speak that much chinese, but the instructor lectures only in chinese. Many times he resorts to drawing little pictures on the chalk board so people get the general idea. [...]