London

...Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
He lifts his voice, the earth melts...
Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
He burns the shields with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God..." ...
(Psalm 46)

... When the senses
Are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness,
Who can stand? ... Oh, who hath caused this?
Oh, who can answer at the throne of God? ...
Hear it not, Heaven, thy ministers have done it !
(William Blake)

I am the strength that protects, that limits. I am the power that says No, No Further, and That Is Enough. I am the things that may not be spoken of, and I am the laughter at the edge of Death.
(The Charge of the Dark God)

Do some good

Sponsor gregmce in the AIDS Marathon.

Sponsor campion7 in the Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Useful things

Australia: The National Public Toilet Map. (If this makes you laugh, you've never needed it!)

Britain: Defiant tea ikons

Inside the TARDIS next week

Here's my schedule as it stands right now - I'll be at the Friday night premiere of Inside the TARDIS at Monash, and at Continuum on the Saturday, but I'm not sure I'll catch Saturday night's show at the Palais. More than happy to say hello and sign books (have to keep my ego healthy :-).

(no subject)

Mags sent me an article on radical feminist Sheila Jeffreys from The Guardian, which quoted her on her 1973 decision to stop dragging up: "I gave up beauty practices, supported by the strength of thousands of heterosexual and lesbian women around me who were also rejecting them. I stopped dying my hair 'mid-golden sable' and cut it short. I stopped wearing make-up. I stopped wearing high heels and, eventually, gave up skirts. I stopped shaving my armpits and legs."

Ye gods - I never started.

I've never dyed my hair. I can count on the fingers of one hand the things I've ever done to it. (Mind you, I have more excuse than most.)

I tried shaving my armpits sometime around the beginning of university. The stubble annoyed me so much I quickly gave up.

I've never worn makeup on a regular basis - lippie a few times, and I've played around with the full mask in my thirties, though never eye makeup. (I do try to carry a coverstick with me in case of pimples too hideous for the human eye.)

I've never worn high heels or shaved my legs.

All of this obviously contributed to not being kissed until I was twenty-five and not getting laid until twenty-eight. (Good. Frankly, I wouldn't have been mature enough to cope with any of it in my teens.) I did get a couple of come-ons during university, but basically, I wasn't sending any sexual signals at all, except possibly the "obvious dyke!!!" signal picked up by some of my work colleagues.

For many women, these would be profound acts of rebellion. In my case, I just didn't care. I'd never been part of the feminine society at school. The media conditioning went in a little, but mostly, I just wasn't motivated. I think I'm extraordinarily lucky. (Lucky too that Jon is so unconcerned.)

So I don't drag up. My question, though is - in what ways do I "do femininity" without even realising it?