Being Amber Rhea

From the Good Vibrations blog:

Book burning is wrong and much of the time I feel like that’s what our culture does with written works that confront our anxieties and inadequacies as a society. If folks just read or listened to the words written on the pages they feel so desperately need to be destroyed, they might not feel such a desperate angst towards them in the first place. Catch 22, huh?

But seriously folks, I just peaked at CJ’s post on the Sex Worker’s Art Show and it really upset me. People can be very ignorant, which in and of itself is not wrong, but when people refuse to own that ignorance and then crusade it against others they don’t understand, we end up with epic tragedies like the Witch Trials, the Jim Crow laws, the Holocaust, and the Christian Right. Are those results worth saving our children from a little diversity?

So at last, your sex tip of the day… Speak up. Whenever you get the chance, talk to people about sex politics, sexuality, and sex-positivity. Attend art shows, performances, lectures, and films that promote open dialogue about sexuality. Support politicians who seek to decriminalize the sex industry. Watch porn, read erotica. Have sex, and talk to someone about it. Support your local sex shop and demand higher standards.

Doing just one or two of these things during your lifetime will help make this world a better one for your children, trust me. The more comfortable, open, and safe people feel about sex, the less danger there will be for you or your children to come up against in this world.

Annie Oakley really did handle herself with amazing grace on Fox News. Btw, the Midwest Teen Sex Show people will be on Fox tomorrow. Kudos to them for being way braver than I would be.

I didn’t go to the Sex Workers’ Art Show tonight, and that saddened me, a lot. Probably more than it should have. I’m probably being ridiculous and melodramatic.

I laid in bed and wondered what would happen if I just didn’t do anymore work on Sex 2.0 from here on out. That won’t happen, because I couldn’t bear to let the conference fall through and have people hate me; but I did entertain the fantasy.

Tomorrow I need to finish another Download Squad post. I have the notes for it saved as a draft, but so far I haven’t found the inspiration to meld it into actual complete sentences and paragraphs.

I hope that soon I’ll start feeling good again.

Oh, also I’m out of white grape juice. Dammit. (Not that I’m leaving the apartment at this hour… I’m already in my pajamas, and it’s freakin’ cold outside.

It’s going to be a jam-packed (in a good way) weekend. Here’s the run-down:

• Tonight: Pre-SoCon07 dinner
• Tomorrow:
  • SoCon07!
  • PoleLaTeaz fashion show (unless I decide I need a nap)
  • Sex Workers’ Art Show (possibly including an interview with Annie Oakley, which I won’t fuck up this time)
• Sunday: Podcast party

There will probably be live-blogging from SoCon07 tomorrow. See ya!

Back in February, Rusty and I attended the Sex Workers’ Art Show at Eyedrum. Our digital recorder had arrived mere days before, and at the last minute we thought, “Why not try to record some interviews for a podcast?” (Note that at this point, we’d recorded only one other interview - Rusty’s interview with Creative Loafing - and the site was little more than a set of mock-ups.)

So, after the show, I attempted to conquer my crippling fear of approaching complete strangers. I managed to get short interviews with several of the performers, and also the organizer, Annie Oakley.

When we got in the car to leave, I was excited/nervous to hear how the interviews had turned out. I wanted to play them back and listen. Only when I tried to do so, I found that I’d successfully recorded… nothing. I’d had the damn thing on “hold” the entire time!

I was so pissed at myself. It was all I could do not to cry the whole way home. And I know this is bad, but I was so embarrassed that I never even emailed Annie Oakley to admit my flub. I felt like an asshole, because she’d given me my admission money back. (But maybe she’ll read this and finally the truth will be out.)

I felt bad about that for a long time, but I guess the silver lining is, it’s a mistake I’ll never make again!

(Cross-posted at my Georgia Podcast Network blog)

If you live in or near Atlanta, don’t miss the Sex Workers’ Art Show this Friday night, Feb. 24th, 8:00 p.m. @ Eyedrum. The banner has been in my sidebar for a few weeks now, but I figured I should do a post formally announcing it, as well. (No, I’m not in the show; I’m just promoting something awesome.)

Anyway, this is all I can manage for now; I came down with a rotten cold, and unlike the many occasions where I just complain extensively about any minor ailment, this is the real deal. You can tell it’s the real deal because I took the day off work, and I hate doing that. It makes me feel unproductive, and when I get back I’m always behind. I’ve spent almost all day in bed, and have been on a steady diet of Sudafed Nighttime. I guess those Grand Buffet fools would be proud of me for buying ephedrine.