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Showing posts from October, 2021

Confounded but still good

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers reminds me of 2 songs from my childhood. Barracuda by Heart and Don't Go For That by Hall and Oates. They are both songs about people pressuring them to write hits a certain kind of way. Through their integrity they wrote songs that were hits, but not by using the corporate formula being pushed on them. The idea that someone wrote this book and I have it in my hand goes against the "you don't have to do anything" message. I like the message, even if it's confounded. No message is free from counter examples. What I like is the quality of empathy, caring and honoring of one's truth, authenticity of her characters. There's a real kindness in the imaginary communities she creates. 

It's going to take some time to get used to

The genderless pronouns and sibling instead of brother or sister for a monk for Sibling Dex in A Psalm for the Wild-Built is going to take some getting used to. In a way the gender construct has some information to the degree that people cling or reject it, and to get a blank feels weird. I mean I want a post-gender world where gender doesn't matter.  The book uses "they" instead of him or her or she or him. And that makes me think of plural, like there are more people around instead of a monk of some moon in the future where there are gods we don't recognize.  Sex of course is a biological thing and that marks biological female and male, but that doesn't mandate anything about femininity and masculinity which are social constructs. If men work they can drink and punch walls. Women can be dependent and express feelings. Those are social ideas of being.  Transgender experience is puzzling, and really might be the last prejudice to overcome. I don't think we'

Ranking The Star Treks

The Ranking top to bottom, best to not as easy to watch. DS9: Deep Space Nine (176): I can't help but think this one is the closest to Shakespeare. STD: Discovery (42): The new series completes the set of representation, now we need Hispanic and Asian captains. Putting gays and non-binary has been wonderful in the show. Tig Notaro is a great move. Now that we've checked those boxes we can get to the story telling. I see people online who dislike it. I found it quite compelling. Time travel, alternate universes, immediate travel, environmental tragedy, it's really pushed the limits of Star Trek. Just like some lame TOS show that was cutting edge at the time, this one will be appreciated. STV: Voyager (172): This was the one that made me fall in love with the ethos. Beautiful actresses don't hurt. The rewatch reviews on Tor.com are interesting, detailed, and have comments. STE: Enterprise (98): Great continuation, too short lived. STP: Picard (10 episodes so far): Kind o