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Showing posts from 2012

Epiphanies Come From the Strangest Places

I've been reading this blog called Mark Reads , specifically his chapter by chapter reviews of one of my all time favorite series, which just happen to be the books that started me reading fantasy in the first place, The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.  Her books are amazing coming of age stories and often focus on strong, female characters (right up my alley!).  In the second book of the series, Pierce includes a sexual relationship between the main character and a friend of hers.  It's important to remember that these are young adult fiction, published in the 80s, and she's got a female character having sex with someone without being in a relationship with them.  Completely awesome, right?  I read these books for the first time somewhere between 1992-1994 and have reread them more times than I can count since then.  The blog review I'm reading about book two phrased it like this: "To have this sexual relationship presented so plainly and without sh

Rape and the GOP

I just posted this on Facebook and thought I'd share it here, too.  "I have no indignation left.  No surprise.  It's all been drained from me as the blows keep coming.  There is no violation of another person's body that is ok!  If there is no consent, then it is rape.  And I'm not talking about rape play or other consensual non-consent kinks.  Those are a completely different animal.  I'm talking about date rape, stranger rape, she's-my-wife-and-therefore-owes-me-sex-when-I-want-it rape.  I'm talking about removing someone's sense of self so you can have power over them, rape.  None of these are ever ok. The so called Christian leaders who espouse these vile positions are performing a different kind of rape: the rape of our rights.  They are violating every single person in this country, be they female, male, genderqueer, trans, or cis.  They are violating our individual choices and they are ignoring our boundaries.  It is time for all of us to s

National Coming Out Day

Today is National Coming Out Day.  I support all of those folks who have come out and all of those folks who haven't, for whatever reason.  Coming out as bi, gay, poly, trans, or anything else isn't easy.  Our society doesn't make it easy.  Being different is opening the door to being vilified and abused.  But we can change all that and that's why there's a National Coming Out Day.  It's easier to be different if you know you're not the only one.  Ironic, isn't it? I try to be open and honest about who I am, but I still let that fear of being bullied and misunderstood control me.  Every year for the last 8 or more I've watched from the sidelines of Coming Out Day.  I've watched, but I haven't participated.  I've rationalized it because my close friends and family already know all my secrets, so why would I need to come out to anyone else?  But if I don't, how can I really think of myself as being truly open and honest about who I am

Expert's Guide to Pegging review

Pegging (for those unfamiliar with the word) is the term used for a female bodied person penetrating a male bodied person anally using a strap-on dildo. Tristan Taormino's Expert's Guide to Pegging was her Valentine's gift to the world this year, and I just love how she introduces the topic, and how she talks about the fears people may have about pegging.  The anatomy lesson is great and full of info that is useful for both beginners and more experienced players.  I love how much Tristan loves her topic.  It’s one of the things that makes her videos so much fun to watch.  The first things she goes over are some of the basics like hygiene and lube, with really good information about both these topics starting the ball rolling. Tristan gives lots of detail on the types and stages of warm-up are great for anal play, taking us from oral stimulation through using more and more fingers, up through different types of toys that will help get the butt ready for pegging.

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

The Women of the Otherworld series covers a lot of ground in just a few books and bringing Eve into the picture shows just how much it covers.  Eve is the self appointed black sheep of the witch race, and she never learned to look before she leaps.  Her impetuousness, cliche though it may be, is her greatest strength and her greatest weakness.  She's a great spellcaster, a half-demon, a former track star and a decent martial artist, but if she didn't make snap decisions without all the facts, she wouldn't be where she is at the start of the book, or at any other point in it, to be truthful. Haunted takes place mostly in the afterlife and deals as much with the pain of being able to see those left behind as it does with catching the bad guy.  Pretty much everyone who has ever lost someone has wondered if their loved one was there watching them, hoping they were and afraid to hope at the same time.  Now we get to see the other side of the coin.  Possibly the be

Fear

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.  - Frank Herbert, Dune When I think of fear and overcoming it, this is what I think of.  The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.  And that's because it's absolutely true.  Fear will kill you quicker than anything else.  You will still be walking around, but you will be dead inside.  If you let fear take you over then you just haven't lain down yet, but you are dead where it truly counts. I spend more time than I want to admit living in fear.  I fear disappointing those around me.  I fear taking the wrong step so much that some days I don't take any at all and that is never the right choice.  I even fear succeeding at the things I want to succeed at. I really

Industrial Magic Review

For me, Dime Store Magic is where this series finds its feet and then Industrial Magic lives up to the expectations set up previously.  Paige is finally growing up and becoming an actual person, instead of living the life others expect of her.  The evolution of the characters is almost tangible.  This is not to say that there aren't still some moments of wanting to shout at the book because the character "on screen" is about to make a huge mistake and they don't recognize it, but that happens with pretty much every book, movie, and tv show out there. The pacing of this book was really good.  One scene leads into the next with the kind of flow that makes you realize it's suddenly 3am and you have work in the morning.  I also really liked how characters from previous books were reintroduced and a few completely new characters that had only been talked about but never actually seen got some time on stage.  In the first two books of the series, things were focused o

Stolen Book Review

Kelley Armstrong's second Women of the Otherworld book finds Elena in the clutches of a crazy billionaire and a team of scientists trying to understand what makes her tick.  It also introduces her to the wider world of supernaturals she never knew existed. I just don't get how a werewolf could be skeptical of the existence of vampires or witches.  It baffles me every time I read this book, and it's the fact that the character herself comments on her incredulity saves that part of the book for me.  For me this book is more about what makes a monster than anything else.  Is it turning furry on occasion and having a huge appetite?  Or maybe needing to drink the blood of others.  What about if your father was a demon?  Would that make you a monster?  Or is it the fact that you place your own entertainment above the lives of others?  That you will hunt thinking beings and shoot them in cold blood?  That sounds a lot more monstrous to me than any of the others.  Well, except

For the Challenge!

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Here's are the pics of the Kelley Armstrong books I currently own. I've got a ways to go... ;-)

Have you been Bitten lately?

I'm a huge fan of urban fantasy.  Were-creatures, vampires, magic users and gods and demons showing up and mingling in our everyday world?  What's not to love?  I can't pinpoint where my love of urban fantasy started, but I know who has fostered it: Laurell K Hamilton, Simon R Green and Mercedes Lackey are just a few that spring to mind.  Kelley Armstrong is another author who has built an amazing world using ours as her foundation. The first book in her Women of the Otherworld series is Bitten and she's finishing off her series with the aptly titles Thirteen, the thirteenth book in the series.  In celebration of this I've decided to be a part of a reading challenge to read one book from the series per month, until I'm done.  Here's a link to the challenge for those who are curious: Otherworld Reading Challenge I love rereading books.  Especially when it's been long enough that I can't remember everything that happens in them.  Makes things all f

The Perils of Sensitive Skin

My whole life I've had amazingly sensitive skin.  Sometimes this is a blessing, because each touch can feel like something so much more.  Sometimes this is a curse, because I can't wear polyester or rough woven cloth of any kind.  Wool is not my friend.  My skin gets irritated very easily and I scar like there's no tomorrow.  I also have to be careful about the soaps I use and the lotions I choose.  Between my skin sensitivity and my allergies, I can be in very dire straits if I'm not careful.  When I was very young I learned to not use regular soap because of the bizarre ring that formed on my cheek after washing my face. I started a new job almost two weeks ago and discovered after the first two shifts that the shirts were abrading my torso.  So I started wearing a tank under my work shirt and my torso didn't get any worse.  It took some getting used to, since I don't layer at all well.  I'm the girl who wears a winter jacket with a t-shirt underneath. 

Things we rarely talk about

There are a lot of things that we never really talk about openly.  Most women I know have been taught from a young age that they will have a yearly exam that includes checking their breast and vaginal health, but we don't really talk about it openly.  It's an important part of our general health, but gods forbid we talk openly about something that keeps us in the know about the likelihood of having cervical cancer, which can be a silent killer.  Breast cancer is a huge concern and yet, many of us don't do monthly exams at home which means that unless we get lucky, the yearly exam from our OB/GYN or the clinician at Planned Parenthood might be the best chance to catch the tell-tale lump early enough to do some good.  In the interest of opening things up and bringing important issues into the light, I'm going to share about my annual exam that I had just this week. I go to Planned Parenthood for my sexual health needs, and have since I was in high school.  It's the

Sorry about the absence...

Wow.  I've been sorely lacking in keeping up this blog.  Well, I'll try to change that in the future.  I assure you all that I'm still alive and kicking!