Today I'm sharing my interview with Cat from Friend of Marilyn where I talk a little bit about my blog and what I do. This is my first interview so feedback is appreciated. :) Please go to her itunes page where podcasts are available for free. If you don't have itunes, you can search for Friend of Marilyn under "on demand" here.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Walk in Greensboro
I had a great time both posing for the camera and taking photos with the NC Photography Group in Greenboro. We had a group of great models whom I really enjoy working with on both sides of the camera. If you want to see some of the photos that I took from the walk go ahead and visit my facebook or flickr. Anyway, I got some great photos from several talented photographers so enjoy.
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| by Andy Griffin |
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| ministry in designs photography |
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| ministry in designs photography |
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| by Stephen Smith |
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| by Krista Smith |
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| By William Wyrick |
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| By William Wyrick |
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Today, I am ashamed.
I don't usually go off topic, but what kind of rights activist would I be if I didn't mention the huge failure of North Carolina citizens in yesterday's election on Amendment One, the amendment to the state constitution which now defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions are also no longer recognized in the state, even among straight couples. Only 34% of Carolinians got out to vote yesterday. The right wing may have won on the amendment, but they failed as decent human beings and, therefore, we all failed. By not voting, by losing, or by bigotry- we all failed in some way.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who spend their time, money, and resources campaigning against Amendment One and now it's time to refocus those efforts on repealing this government sanctioned bigotry. If the system works correctly it will be overturned as unconstitutional as it should be. I know that every state is on it's way to allowing gay marriage, but in these moments it seems difficult to imagine living in a country where fear and bigotry and oppression aren't the ruling force. We've made some headway as DOMA was struck down as well as DADT. I know we're doing well, I just don't feel it. Today I am disappointed in my state and I am ashamed to live here.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who spend their time, money, and resources campaigning against Amendment One and now it's time to refocus those efforts on repealing this government sanctioned bigotry. If the system works correctly it will be overturned as unconstitutional as it should be. I know that every state is on it's way to allowing gay marriage, but in these moments it seems difficult to imagine living in a country where fear and bigotry and oppression aren't the ruling force. We've made some headway as DOMA was struck down as well as DADT. I know we're doing well, I just don't feel it. Today I am disappointed in my state and I am ashamed to live here.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
NC residents- vote NO on amendment one!
Amendment one would add an amendment to the NC constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Remember, this isn't a straight or gay issue, it's a human issue.
No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who don't love anybody. ~Rita Mae Brown
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| Photo by Danbwr Photos |
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Snow Queen
Not that it's actually snowing as NC has hit 95 in terms of temperature already this past week, but my new white hair doesn't reflect that. While I'm not sure what color I'm doing next (suggestions?), I'm kind of enjoying what I've got.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Speedlights at Night Workshop
This was an okay workshop. There were too many models and not enough photographers so I ended up sitting on a bench for an hour while other models worked with photographers and no one wanted to grab me up. I tried nosing my way in but no one was having it. The organizer,Chris, did a great job of putting me in the group shoots to make sure I had equal camera time. The first time it worked great (thouh I only got a single photo each from three photographers out of the dozen or so there), the second time the photographers literally ignored me (except for two people) and then shooed me away to bring in another model. Not the best experience. Group shoots are never as good as one on one shoots, of course. But, here are the results- I hope you enjoy them.
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| Photo by Abhishek Adhikari |
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| Photo by Shawn McEntee |
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| Photo by Shawn McEntee |
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| Photo by Shawn McEntee |
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| Photo by Chad Wilcox |
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Review of Bully
I was excited when I saw that Bully was showing at a nearby theater for less than one week only and, luckily, I was free and could go see it.
Right from the beginning I was in tears as a father shared the story of his son who committed suicide at 17 years old as a direct result of abuse from his peers. As the movie went on, however, I became more and more disappointed. Firstly, there was a very obvious lack of diversity. Of the six students portrayed, 5 were white, 4 were boys, and 5 were straight. They had an opportunity to look at the unique types of bullying that girls face such as sexual bullying, which they failed to even mention.
One kid, Kelby, I was happy to see, was gay (although I wasn't too thrilled with her girlfriend's assertion that she used to be straight). Bullying over orientation is the second most common form of bullying in the US. That being said, it should have been covered more and I'd have liked to have seen an lgbt student that was male. What I found really disappointing, however, was that the entire movie, all two and a half hours of it, completely skipped over the number one most common form of bullying in the country. That's right. Weight bullying. Not only was not a single victim fat or even chubby, but weight bullying wasn't even mentioned. In fact, the only time weight was mentioned was when the mother of Ja'Maya tells her that she doesn't want to get too big after commenting that her thighs looked thick like she'd gained some weight. She was also the only black student who was also the only student who retaliated by pulling a gun on a bus full of kids and was sent to juvy. Do I really need to point out why portraying the only person of color this way is a problem?? I'm positive they could have found a white kid who did this or a black kid who didn't. It may be unintentionally racist, but it comes across that way just the same.
The movie seemed to focus on how school administrators and other authority figures were failing our children, but I found it disturbing to see that the parents weren't doing that great of a job either. There were several scenes where parents blamed the children for not standing up for themselves or for not talking to them about it enough- even after the kids point out that they've tried talking about it to no avail.
I was disappointed enough with this movie that I contacted them to complain about the diversity issues and the other issues such as not covering weight bullying, race bullying, ableism bullying, etc. Please see the movie, tell me your thoughts, and contact them as well if you feel the same. Also, please submit your stories to Collateral Damage; Survivors of The War on Fat if you want people to know what those of us who were weight bullied (read: abused) have gone through. (You can submit anonymously by emailing me or by using the fan mail button).
Right from the beginning I was in tears as a father shared the story of his son who committed suicide at 17 years old as a direct result of abuse from his peers. As the movie went on, however, I became more and more disappointed. Firstly, there was a very obvious lack of diversity. Of the six students portrayed, 5 were white, 4 were boys, and 5 were straight. They had an opportunity to look at the unique types of bullying that girls face such as sexual bullying, which they failed to even mention.
One kid, Kelby, I was happy to see, was gay (although I wasn't too thrilled with her girlfriend's assertion that she used to be straight). Bullying over orientation is the second most common form of bullying in the US. That being said, it should have been covered more and I'd have liked to have seen an lgbt student that was male. What I found really disappointing, however, was that the entire movie, all two and a half hours of it, completely skipped over the number one most common form of bullying in the country. That's right. Weight bullying. Not only was not a single victim fat or even chubby, but weight bullying wasn't even mentioned. In fact, the only time weight was mentioned was when the mother of Ja'Maya tells her that she doesn't want to get too big after commenting that her thighs looked thick like she'd gained some weight. She was also the only black student who was also the only student who retaliated by pulling a gun on a bus full of kids and was sent to juvy. Do I really need to point out why portraying the only person of color this way is a problem?? I'm positive they could have found a white kid who did this or a black kid who didn't. It may be unintentionally racist, but it comes across that way just the same.
The movie seemed to focus on how school administrators and other authority figures were failing our children, but I found it disturbing to see that the parents weren't doing that great of a job either. There were several scenes where parents blamed the children for not standing up for themselves or for not talking to them about it enough- even after the kids point out that they've tried talking about it to no avail.
I was disappointed enough with this movie that I contacted them to complain about the diversity issues and the other issues such as not covering weight bullying, race bullying, ableism bullying, etc. Please see the movie, tell me your thoughts, and contact them as well if you feel the same. Also, please submit your stories to Collateral Damage; Survivors of The War on Fat if you want people to know what those of us who were weight bullied (read: abused) have gone through. (You can submit anonymously by emailing me or by using the fan mail button).
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