I secretly have a man-brain

When I was visiting Colleen out in Western Mass this spring, we went out to dinner with a few of her coworkers/feminist friends. They started talking about books, and somebody mentioned Chuck Palahniuk.

I am fascinated by Palahniuk's books - I find most of them ridiculous and outlandishly crazy, but I am easily drawn in to his narratives. I think of his books as "light" reading; the little substance they contain is one-dimensional. Nevertheless, I have read them all several times. Whenever I need a break from something more challenging, I know where to turn.

Anyway. Colleen and her friends all complained about Palahniuk's "voice" - they saw it as too male...they couldn't identify with his books because even the female protagonists were written in C.P.'s male POV. I was completely surprised by their complaints, because an author's gender never, EVER crosses my mind while I'm reading fiction. Maybe it's because I don't follow the feminist issues-of-the-day and don't generally ponder those topics, but I don't know if that's the extent of it.

Within the book conversation, I mentioned that I'd never considered Palahniuk's maleness as part of his novels. Colleen pointed out that she thinks it's strange that most of the books I call my favorites were written by men. She's right, too - looking at my bookshelf, close to 80% of the novels I own are by male authors. If I was asked to list my top 10, I think only one of the books on my list would have been written by a woman, and the book has nothing to do with femaleness, and is in fact about a young boy looking for a father figure.

Since that conversation, I've been thinking about that topic a lot. I have a number of feminist friends who blog, so the latest buzz about The Bechdel Test grabbed my attention. I think I have the same deal with the movies I like.

Movies I love and can't get enough of? High Fidelity (in which the women are tools to help the men grow up). Donnie Darko (which passes the test, but barely). Fight Club (Palahniuk again, and VERY male). The Big Lebowski (exactly).

So, what does this mean? Does it mean anything? Does what you like reflect a portion of who you are? Do other women like mostly male-created media? Thoughts?

McSweeney's pays tribute to David Foster Wallace

I don't know why I feel so physically deflated thinking about Wallace's suicide. I'm authentically sad.

McSweeney's is posting memories and tributes to DFW; if you have something to add, they'll accept it. I love the one from aspiring writer Alec Michod, who wrote a fan letter/request for inspiration to Wallace. He wrote back:

Thank you for your nice letter. I'm sorry that I have no words of wisdom or inspiration. I get sad and scared too. I think maybe it's part of the natural price of wanting to do this kind of work. I wish you well.

Thanks, David, for making me want to be a better writer. Thanks for letting us know you were sad and scared too. I'm sorry you didn't see a way out.

"Maybe I would've been something you'd be good at"

OH HAI! LOL

Do you love LOLCats?

Would you like to display your very own cat L-ing OL on your very own fridge, in your very own home?

Here you go.

My TV is Philips brand, what will that get me?

It seems that Philips, makers of the Sonicare toothbrush, will soon be introducing their very own Philips brand sex toy.

Now, I know that the Hitachi Magic Wand is a popular vibrator made by a company better known for other products, but it's marketed as something to be used on other body parts besides the nether regions. In fact, I believe the manual even tells you not to use the Magic Wand in bed. Yeah, right. This Philips toy appears to be the first vibrator you can buy at, say, a drugstore that's being called what it is - sex toy, not "massager" - and also avoids using a sleazy porn-looking lady on the packaging.

In the article, John Brownlee makes a good point that Philips may popularize the vibrator, but according to this, the vibrator's been pretty popular for a long time. (Link NSFW.)

We also watched a few episodes of Degrassi Junior High that night. Ah, nostalgia.

Tracey invited me to go see a midnight showing of The Neverending Story this past weekend. I loved this movie when I was a kid; the concept of reading a book and becoming part of the story fascinated me. I hadn't seen the movie since childhood, though.

After the movie, Tracey and I talked about how the movie felt completely different now that we're viewing it through adult eyes. She said that the scene where Atreyu's horse sinks into the swamp felt like it took forever when she was a kid, but the actual scene is only maybe a minute long. I agreed. This movie felt epic and long when I was little, like the longest movie I'd ever seen - actual time, 102 minutes. The Nothing was SO scary, too, but looking at it now, it is just a bunch of shots of billowing clouds.

Also, Falkor seemed a lot less creepy when I was a kid. Eek.

It's funny - some movies I loved when I was young (The Princess Bride, The Black Cauldron, even Star Wars) I have watched as an adult and, while I notice things I didn't before or catch a depth of meaning in something I missed because I was six years old, the movies themselves don't really feel different. In the case of The Neverending Story, though, the fantastical elements were still in place, but the movie felt like a different experience. Do you know what I mean?

Have you ever had this experience?

Do you live in NYC or know someone who does?

And if the answer is yes, do you know anyone who needs a roommate?

My dear friend Lizzie moved to Brooklyn a little while ago, and due to some unfortunate circumstances and the fact that her current roommates are being total assholes, she needs to find a place to live by the end of the month. She is a fantastic person who is responsible with paying the rent, and she will make you delicious cake from time to time. Plus, she's a total hottie. Bonus.

So I turn to you, dear Internet, to see if anyone knows anyone who might appreciate an extra person helping out on rent. Lizzie and I thank you.