Fathers Day Blogaround

This is the first Father's Day I've had without a father or a father-in-law. I miss them both dearly. But you know, I've really been keeping up with blog reading of late, and they were both readers of this blog, so I'm going to do a blogaround with their spirits in mind, because why not?

Lots of food for thought at The Mary Sue lately. Here's some of the better essays: an examination of women-only trains and how their existence once again puts the onus on the victims of sexual assault to find a way to protect themselves rather than tackling the perpetrators; how Rogue One's protagonist isn't a Mary Sue but that's how too many fanboys refer to a female lead because they can't process the idea that we're people; and something I heard a lot when I was more active in comics fandom, the gendered use of the word "genius" on the heels of Beyonce's "Lemonade" (which I've finally recorded but haven't yet watched).

Of course, one of the best and most eloquent experts on this sort of fanboy gendering and entitlement is my old Friends of Lulu buddy (and founder) Heidi MacDonald, who has a terrific summary here of the Captain American-is-Hydra kerfuffle and how it illustrates the ever-scarier instances of fans crossing the line from disappointment in a storyline to threats of violence against that story's creators. She also references Devin Faraci's essay on fan entitlement, which is well worth a read. Makes me long for the good old days when fan entitlement was so relatively benign that we would all nod in agreement that "fans don't know what they want until you give it to them." This escalation is one of the reasons (besides Real Life and all that) that I backed away from comics fandom.

April was Confederate Heritage Month, and if you have a lot of time to read them, David Niewert's essays commemorating actual Confederate history are phenomenal and as necessary to read as they are difficult to get through.

Tom Sullivan at Digby's place has an ode to life's maintainers. This is kind of what I consider myself. Without behind-the-scenes admins, most businesspeople couldn't get nearly as much stuff done. I might dream of glamour but I get much more of a high from being necessary. And I do find that I've slowed down on the multitasking, which Kevin Drum reminds us is a good thing. I'm more of a serial monotasker now.

On the other hand, as Matthew Inman observes, creativity is like breathing. I mean, look at Jeremy's Demonym Map, for instance. That's why I want to do more of these blogarounds, and maybe even get back to comic script writing. Time permitting, of course (which it currently isn't).

And so, we find ourselves at politics, not that any of us in the USA can really escape that. Susie perfectly articulates the problems I have with Andrea Mitchell reporting on the economic fallout of her husband's policies with nary a disclaimer. And Janelle Ross explains the history behind a meaning of "okey-doke" I never knew, even though I use that expression a lot. In the same vein, Neil Gaiman defines a squick.

And speaking of squickiness, we must deal with the Great Orange Swindler, mustn't we? Let's begin with Lance Mannion's brilliant Donald the Clown. Then we can segue over to Anne Zook's return to blogging (at least for one post) with her conjecture as to whether Trump is sabotaging his election chances deliberately so as not to actually get elected. Meanwhile, the Rude Pundit reminds us how Trump is doing the Islamic State's recruiting for them, and Digby examines how lying is as natural to him as breathing. Lastly, my favorite writer Melissa McEwan has been absolutely brilliant at BNR, and her Dark History of Republican Fearmongering should be as mandatory to read as her wonderful examination of Hillary Clinton's career. Seriously folks, the difference this election couldn't be starker. It all comes down to competence, experience and ability versus a bumbling, bigoted con man. 

And that should about do it - see you sooner rather than later!