Question of the day.

What webpages do you read religiously?

Me, every morning its the same few,

Facebook feed, (follow any links people have posted which I'm interested in)
Sydney Morning Herald online (its my only regular source of news plus added bonus that it gives me something to be cranky about without fail)
Shakesville.

Boing Boing is coming up in the ratings, I read there most days.

Shameless self promotion #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNpSE9H3hUI

There above is the link (apparently blogger won't let me embed it. Bastard) to the last ad I produced. Its for the Australian Cancer Council's summer merchandise promotion.

Fat Hatred : Queer Hatred.

Here is an excellent post from Melissa McEwan at Shakesville on the subject of Fat Hatred and Eliminationism. 'Liss does an excellent job of debunking fat hatred, and in this post she links to Paul Campos who writes about how queer hatred (I don't like the word "homophobia" for a number of reasons) and fat hatred are similar.

When the science eventually catches up to the reality that fat people who are not fat as a result of disordered eating already know, the people who are putting their faces and names to this campaign will be ashamed that they ever supported such naked bigotry, such rank hostility, such victim-blaming garbage. Paul Campos, who has written extensively about the OH NOES Obesity Crisis! and debunked many of the myths surrounding fat and health, has observed that the science, conventional wisdom, and cultural narratives of obesity closely mimic the science, conventional wisdom, and cultural narratives about homosexuality a generation ago, and has pointed out parallels between the gross "reparative therapy" touted to magically make gays straight and the gross "reparative therapy" touted to magically make fatties thin.
Once upon a time, most people thought not being gay was just an issue of willpower, too. 

Here's the link to the whole article, which you should read.

First post!

I was going to write a list of people whom I consider my heros/heroines, and then butted up against the idea that putting people on a pedestal is a shitty thing to do. To do that means we offer no room for failure and if we do that, then we fail each other. Nobody is perfect and we all grow at different paces and in different directions at different times triggered by different things. Thats one of the most beautiful things about being human.

So, instead I wrote a list.

Here's a short list of qualities I admire in others and in myself, to the extent that I embody them over a time period.

I may use this list to generate some blog posts on each point. Who knows? Stay tuned.


Honesty.
Knowing and communicating one's own boundaries.
The expectation of respect.
The ability to say "I don't know", "I was/am wrong", "I am sorry".
True creativity (as contrasted with the ability to recognise creativity which is its own attribute).
The ability to sit with uncertainty and not be overwhelmed.
Adventuresomeness.
Wittiness.
Compassion and empathy.
A willingness to define one's own values.
The capacity to not over-identify with anything outside oneself.
The strength to ask for help.
The courage to allow oneself to be weak.
Good consent.
Generosity.
The capacity to accept love.
Empathy. (Yes, I said it before. I know).
Loyalty.


What are your most admired traits, both in yourself and in others? Post in comments below.

Remembering that a trait is different than a skill. (I had "the ability to cook" listed but I edited it out, since I consider that a skill and not a trait).