MIA, but I still love you.

This goes out to all the wonderful friends who I've lost touch with: I'm sorry. Every time a week goes by, a month, or even a year, when I haven't been able to make time to visit, it frustrates me -- enough that I need to say something about it. I could go on about how much work I've had, the changes I've experienced, the particular health problems I've been dealing with, which are all legitimate excuses, but it doesn't change the fact that I've been distant. I just want to say that it's nothing personal.

To my exes, to my former roommates, to my family, to my childhood friends, to my college chums, to the many extraordinary folks who've touched my life in Seattle -- please know that even though we may not see each other face to face, I haven't forgotten about you. For whatever it's worth, I still think about you, and wish you the best in your own journeys. And if we get the chance, let's hang out sometime, okay?

I Stand Corrected

I remember when a friend first recommended that I subscribe to this cool email-a-day service that offers random great deals on local businesses. Sure, seems harmless enough, I thought, so I passively jumped on the Groupon bandwagon. To date I've only bought a total of two Groupon deals.

Most of the time I ignored their emails; their discounts may be fantastic, but my disposable income always hovers around zero. Still, when I saw some of these deals, they did seem outrageous. I couldn't believe these businesses that were willing to lose that much money to advertise through Groupon . . . but I still didn't pay it much mind. Advertising so often means paying top dollar to whore yourself out to the public--if a business wants to give me half off my entire meal at an Asian restaurant, why not?

Well, by now you've all heard about the Groupon Super Bowl commercial. Unbelievable. It's disgusting to think about how much money they shelled out to put such an offensive commercial on the air during one of the biggest sports events in the country. That ad is a little slice of everything that disgusts me about American culture. Moreover, that ad pushed me past the tipping point and made me actively consider Groupon's business tactics. It was bad enough to think about the enormous cut they take for themselves. Now their true colors have shown through. The idea behind Groupon is not a horrible one, but their greed is overwhelming. This company doesn't help businesses; it robs them with joy.

Goodbye, Groupon.

Egypt

In light of recent events in Egypt, with the monumental amount of protesting and backlash, it's hard to be interested in my mundane existence (or anyone else's) at the moment. I know it's a complicated situation, but I admire the protesters for their organized efforts to achieve justice. And the government has shut off Internet access for most of the country -- this is huge. I'm still processing everything, but damn, I can't quit thinking about what's happening on the other side of the world. The Guardian has a page of live updates that you can follow for the latest news.

I feel an overwhelming sense of perspective that I can't put into words right now.

Crocheted Viking Hat

The amusing thing about this sudden urge was the fact that I've been meaning to crochet a Viking hat for several months. So when I learned that my three-year-old friend had just recently developed an interest in Vikings, I seized the opportunity. I didn't go into this with a real pattern or plan, but I'm happy with the result.

Gay Snowflakes

During one of our many Michael's trips, Kai found some wooden snowflakes. They were in sets of three graduated flakes strung together. When she cut the strings and started playing with them, we decided they would look neat as layered, painted tree ornaments. A generous amount of color and glitter paint later, they became our first collaborative Yule tree ornaments.

Collaborative Doodling

Last week Kai got out the graph paper and starting working on a new design. I decided to scan it and add some of my own modifications...

Feeling Crafty and Ambitious

Welcome to 2011! Between slow business at my job, a raging case of insomnia, flaring seasonal tempers of those around me, and a few explosive board-member crises, December was an interesting month that tried my detachment skills. Why did 2010 get so cranky at the end? Nonetheless, I still had a quiet, peaceful, drama-free holiday, and even though the insomnia and meager earnings are continuing into January, I like the way this year is taking off. I feel inspired again, my head swimming with ideas for new projects. I'm eager to learn, ready to create, and tired of excuses, and I'll be sharing all my creative adventures here. I'm actually giddy with excitement! Stay tuned!

My First Adventure into Lesbian Literature

A Review of Jane Fletcher's Shadow of the Knife

I'm not entirely sure what made me pick up this book in the first place. If memory serves me right, it was during my initiation into online dating a few years ago, when I was emailing one of numerous potential dates and complaining that I didn't know of any good fiction with lesbian protagonists. The woman heartily recommended Shadow of the Knife. To make sure I didn't forget the title, I put it on my Amazon wishlist, and a year later I ended up owning it.

I started reading Shadow early 2010, and after putting it down for several long spells, I finally managed to finish it in the beginning of December. So, in theory, I feel like this is a book I should like. There are lesbian protagonists and antagonists, action, murders, a bit of suspense, some romance, believable characters. With regard to the plot, the book is technically correct, all of the story elements fleshed out appropriately. The climax was pretty intense, and the book didn't end happily ever after. Those are all points in the book's favor, so why did I still feel so disinterested about the story in general?

**spoiler alert**
One of the immediate things you notice about the world Fletcher has created is that all the characters in this land are female. Not just female, but lesbian. Interesting. Okay, I figured, I'll play along provided you eventually explain this odd phenomenon later. And that became one of my major expectations. Women can't reproduce naturally by themselves, so it was difficult for me to suspend my disbelief and be comfortable with the fact that there are no men, and reproduction involves some type of outside intervention. Maybe this is explained in one of Fletcher's other books, for even though Shadow is marked Book 1 of the Celaeno Series and comes first on the timeline, it's not the first book published in the series, making it more of a prequel. Nonetheless, it's one of the only things I wish she could've resolved, and it doesn't get addressed.

The main conflict of the story -- stolen sheep and the murder of minor characters I don't care about -- never grabbed me that much. I even had a hard time caring a lot about the protagonist, Militia rookie Ellen Mittal. So for some reason I just couldn't get as interested in her life and drama as I should have been. I felt lukewarm about her attraction to Hal, and I had a strong suspicion right from the beginning that Hal wasn't who she claimed to be, thereby making any flirtatious scenes between the two of them a little boring and inconsequential. The sexy bits were nice, and eventually we learn that Hal does have true feelings for Ellen, despite her initial deceptions . . . but it wasn't enough to save the book overall. Things picked up a little in the end, and as twisted as this may sound, I got more interested during the torture scenes. Probably because this was the first time it felt like Ellen was in true danger, that she might not survive, and all the while Hal's betrayal was tormenting her mind.

On the writing itself: it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great, either. It's hard to put my finger on what would improve the prose, since like I said, the book is technically correct, but it seems to be missing that extra spark. Ultimately, for my own experience, I'd give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. But I also have to acknowledge that part of the reason why I didn't enjoy this book is because it wasn't quite the book I wanted to read, and to some degree I can't fault the author for that.