Scarlett Letters

A lot of interesting stuff has been popping up on my LiveJournal and Facebook feeds lately, so I've decided to aggregate them here for my reference and yours if you are so interested.

I don't know how many of you follow the delightful and thoughtful jimhines but if you don't, you might want to consider it. He's been running a guest blog series on representation in science fiction and fantasy, and some of the latest essays have hit pretty close to home. Links are included below.

Nancy Jane Moore's essay "No More Dried Up Spinsters" gets into the issue of representation of older, unmarried women in SF and fantasy. What's missing, she says, is vibrant, independent women of a certain age who don't need a man to be complete and who aren't done living by a long stretch. (As one of those women, I'm here to say "I feel ya, Nancy Jane.") It's an excellent essay, well worth reading.

She notes, about halfway through her essay that "Catherine Lundoff has put together a great list of older women characters in SF/F, which she’s updating regularly. But to get a good list, she has defined 'older' as women 40 and above." I have made a point to mention, in the comments, Sian Katte and Arian, Factora-Consort of Alizar, from calendula_witch (Shannon Page) and jaylake's novel Our Lady of the Islands, as they are perfect examples of the kind of women we're looking for: experienced, independent, with agency and not in need of any man in particular.

Gabrielle Harbowy's excellent essay "Next Year in Jerusalem" gets into the issue of representation of Jews in science fiction and fantasy. As in Seattle, we are few and far between in the genre (though I will note, on behalf of kradical, that some of the Star Trek tie-in novels feature a couple of prominent Jewish characters and, on behalf of mabfan, his most excellent Hugo Award-nominated story "Kaddish for the Last Survivor" which you can read at the link--among others of his work--has Judaism at its heart). Steven Silver has compiled an extensive list of Jewish science fiction and fantasy and includes links to other sources as well.

Lastly, Alis Franklin's essay, "Fat Chicks in SFF" gets into another area with which I have some passing familiarity. I was surprised that she hadn't encountered Mary in Spider Robinson's Callahan stories, a character that made me loyal to Spider as author to this very day (and thereby hangs a tale for another time). But she's got a point worth making.

Finding myself in my genre has been challenging, and I'm grateful to Jim for giving space to allow these voices to be heard.

This morning in his link salad, jaylake included a link to a National Geographic piece about language loss, a magnificent photo essay/slide show showing people who speak vanishing languages, including words from those languages. Most of the languages shown are Native American, though they are certainly not the only languages we are losing in the world. I'd encourage you to look at it because, really, the portraits are extraordinary and the effect of seeing these people and sampling their words is quite moving.

Looking at the words and images reminded me of my first, extraordinary Passover here in Seattle. I was working at Wizards of the Coast and was invited to seder at the home of a coworker. Her parents were Greek immigrants, and so I knew that I would be attending my first-ever seder in the Sephardic tradition. I figured that the foods would be different from what I'd grown up with as an Ashkenazic Jew. What I hadn't expected was to hear an entirely new language--and providing the same experience myself, though unaware that I would be doing so. My coworker's parents spoke Greek and Ladino, a mixture of Spanish and Hebrew, much as Yiddish is a mix of German and Hebrew, a language that has been designated in danger of extinction. It was beautiful and musical, and I was completely enthralled listening to it. It sounded a little like Portuguese, and a lot unfamiliar; I couldn't get enough of hearing it. What I didn't expect was how delighted her parents were that I could say prayers and read in Hebrew. They asked if I wanted to make one of the blessings that night or, well, pretty much anything I wanted to. They wanted to hear me read and speak Hebrew*, as they'd never heard it before, even in synagogue (where, apparently, Ladino was the primary language). I was surprised, delighted, and a little humbled, to do so; I felt like it was nothing compared to listening to their beautiful Ladino and was not nearly as important or impressive--but these experiences are in the ear of the listener, aren't they? We did the seder in four languages that night: Greek, Hebrew, Ladino, and English, and to this day it's one of my most precious holiday memories.

That memory brought on another: of seeing a documentary about the "homeland" that Stalin tried to establish for Russia's Jews in the southeastern portion of the country. The one thing I remember most clearly about seeing that film was a moment of pure, almost instinctive memory. One scene shows a group of seniors singing a Yiddish folksong, Tumbalalaika. I hadn't heard that song in . . . well, probably since I was too small to really remember it consciously, but as soon as they began to sing, I remembered it, and it was a revelation, uncovering something that had been buried for decades--and I could sing along! I didn't sing out loud, of course; in a crowded theater that would have been rude. But I sat there and quietly mouthed the words for as long as the scene lasted. And I still remember it today, a waltzing melody that is sweet and a little sad.

So here I am this morning, hopping through this chain of language and memory. I think that music is as powerful a memory trigger as scent is, at least for me, and for me, language and music have always been closely tied. Which all brings me back to the thing that provoked this post, because I can't help but mourn the loss of the music that's disappearing right in front of us as we lose a language once every fourteen days. On the one hand, with globalization and colonization and forced assimilation, it was bound to occur. On the other hand, hope springs eternal, with things like the Endangered Languages project, which works to preserve languages in danger of extinction. I hope that Yiddish and Ladino will both be preserved and survive. Like so many of the languages profiled in the National Geographic slide show, it's not just a language that will be lost, but a rich culture and heritage, traditions and practices, that we'll never see again.


* It should be noted that my Hebrew is the product of early training and that what comes out of me is either done from memory or read phonetically. Though I have basics, as any good Hebrew school student might, I can't translate or speak it in any meaningful way without significant brush-up.

I'm backing this project on Kickstarter--a documentary about the legacy of the 1965 World's Fair--and I think you should, too. Why? Because a great deal of the world we know was first introduced there, and more people ought to know about it. Also? Because it's fun! (I'm a documentary junkie, in case you didn't know. Also, my brother and I are both World's Fair enthusiasts, as was our dad, so this project has a special place in my heart.)

I have noticed my wonderfully gifted writer friends posting holiday stories all over the Web. This morning, I decided that I'd aggregate links to those that I could find as a sort of Christmas anthology. These pieces are awesome: some are dark, some are funny, but they're all entertaining. For my friends who celebrate, and for those who bask in the residual holiday cheer: enjoy!

Reindeer Games, a noirish tale of reindeers and fat men, by urban fantasy author Kat Richardson

One Foot in the Grave, which posits that a spot by the chimney may not be the only place for a stocking, by science fiction/fantasy author J. Steven York

Elf Shit, the dark truth about Santa and his elves, by science fiction/fantasy author Jay Lake

Bedlam Inn, a Victorian Christmas fantasy, by alt-history fantasy author Madeleine Robins.

And some random holiday delights:

NORAD Tracks Santa: I follow him every year. At this writing, he's over Kazakhstan.

An eel-powered Christmas tree in (where else?) Japan.

Holiday fiction from the New York Times by Tea Obreht

For the Seattle locals, 5 ideas for the week between Christmas and New Year's

Merry happy!

Let me share with you the links that have thus far distracted me from being truly productive this morning:

Tea partiers try to express themselves (care of mistymarshall). What a world Fox News is creating.

The trailer for a new IMAX 3D film about the repair of the Hubble telescope makes the film look awesome. Must see it.

"The top 25 most ancient historical photographs" is a fascinating gallery of early photography that I couldn't stop looking at (care of jaylake).

Today's Post Secrets post intrigued me (for no particular reason--it always intrigues me).

I've been kvelling over the number of friends who contributed to Family Games: The 100 Best edited by James Lowder. I travel in such a high-falutin' crowd (though I wish it included more women)! Buy your copy today!

I've been researching links and news with which to update the @flatstuff Twitter feed.

I must needs move on to other things. I have projects to work on, posts I want to compose for LJ on subjects other than my personal life, and laundry to do. Must also cuddle cats. Cuddling cats is key. Also alliterative.

Snurched from mysticalforest: Recipes are key on Thanksgiving, and regionality makes all the difference. The NY Times provides a really nifty tool showing what recipes are most commonly searched for in each state via a clever interactive map. What do people in your state typically search for most? Check it out.

Thanksgiving is a day when we express our gratitude for all the goodness in our lives. My brother, my friends, my kitties are my goodness. And as an expression of my gratitude, I share with you one of my top ten favorite sequences from Friends, perhaps the only time you'll ever see Courtney Cox with a turkey on her head.

Garrison Keillor observes that on Thanksgiving we gather among our kin who know us a little too well, and put civility to a true test. He also gives Sarah Palin props for encouraging the conservative right to join the book-buying public. Well, I'll give her that anyway, but no more--and neither will he.

And lest we forget, you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant (excepting Alice).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. So many of us are having a tough time right now, but having each other makes it all a little easier and for that--having each other--I'm truly thankful.

1) gnomi dreams of me, my phantom home in Boston, and my secret TV show.

2) Nabbed from ironymaiden: The superhero project: Art with a message--everyday people are often superheroes to those they love.

3) jaylake: Jay turns his cancer surgery into an art project.

4) Via holyoutlaw, a universal truth: There's nothing so happy-making as a squeaky toy. I laughed out loud watching this.

5) mcjulie's writing an honest, thoughtful, candid series of posts about her experience of religion growing up. You ought to read it. Yes, really, you should. My journey has been significantly different from hers, and yet I recognize myself in between the cracks. You might, too.

Let's take a moment: We're living in the future. We have an International Space Station in orbit. Didn't we used to write books about this possibility? Wanna see it come together? Courtesy of a friend WINOLJ: Watch the Space Station assemble. A lovely animation--and it's science fact!

I first heard the name John Moe on KUOW, the local NPR affiliate, on "Weekend America." He's a humorist, author, and commentator. What I didn't know is that he regularly produces pieces for McSweeney's. The Pop Song Correspondenses are absolutely brilliant. Go pick any one of them to read, but especially if one of them involves a song you know well. You'll have a blast. Trust me.

Spoke to my brother tonight and heard something I never thought I'd hear: he's thinking about international travel. You know how I can't get enough of it? Bro's never expressed much interest.

But Bro is a World's Fair enthusiast. He's been interested in the Expos since we were little kids. And it turns out that Expo 2010 (yes, there are still World's Fairs being held all over the world--except in the US) will be the largest World's Fair ever held.

Where's it happening? Shanghai.

It also looks as though the US will be participating, which doesn't happen. It's huge. And a model for the building has been unveiled.

The fair's theme is "Better City, Better Life" and a number of international cities are participating--Barcelona, Liverpool, Hong Kong, Hamburg, London, and Paris among others. Where are New York City, Washington DC, Seattle?

Why isn't this being covered by the media?

My brother's talking about looking for a travel package to attend. I have to admit, it's tempting. (Let's not discuss money; I'm blue-skying here.)