Seska, I am curious: my cousin's husband is a professor of sociology at McMaster's and I think his emphasis is disability. (My cousin is also a sociologist, but she's at U of Toronto and her specialty is immigration.) Have you had occasion to read any papers by Robert Wilton?

Still sad that I missed the excursion to Purple. I will have to make a trip to Seattle just to eat there at some point.

Looks like my irrational anger grazed the thread...may I have the ultimate revenge when I get notes from HBO on how to improve my characterization of a cartoonist from a New England state who was drawn to disability humor due to considering his past as a premature ejaculator "practically the same thing" (Sherman Alexie once made a Hillerman-like character an impotent bedwetter in one of his books...My mother does say that "Indians get even," a lot.) It sounds silly, but I did sort of lose my taste for Hillermaniana after that.ETA: It's not just the appropriation...lots of people do that, to varying effect, including the luscious Hugh Laurie, who constantly makes it difficult for me to be all "Disabled parts for Disabled Actors," just by being so fucking good. But it bugs me because SMF(heh!) gets paid buckets for such brilliant comments on the zeigeist (best be careful...sounding like Mr. Simon now) as "gee, those girls from Facts of Life got fat," mixed in with Joe the Gimp Cop, while people tell me my stuff won't sell. Seriously, America? Gee, I watched TV after school too. And I could learn to write 'wicked retahded' I can haz three-show-deal nao? (You could pay me less money than you could believe possible, sadly. At least till Ari asked me just how profoundly I was brain-damaged, signing my life away for that. Then, maybe not.)

my characterization of a cartoonist from a New England state who was drawn to disability humor due to considering his past as a premature ejaculator "practically the same thing"

No! Seriously? ...NO. It's just not possible that a college-educated human being could say such a thing. No.

...Really?

Get even. Get even a lot.

No, I made that up.(/Olbermann) But I guess I really am good at it.

Oooh, Pete is taking me to Purple tonight. The place that a bunch of us went during the f2f!

Love that place!

I've even gotten weirdly fond of her unapologetically abrasive style; some readers seem to just get antagonized and flamey, but there's such a weight of experience and knowledge behind the bristling.

Heh. Yeah, umm, from my experience with her in her fandom days, she's on the list with C-- G-- in the RUN! RUN SCREAMING! category.

Though, that said, it's unfortunate that she's having to deal with her PTSD.

Before, she was just a carrier, eh?

Happy birthday, Jilli!!

Woo hoo, Nora!!

I was looking at those cutiehead pics of Ryan when the TV started to play a dogfood commercial which began with the dog saying "I'm a great pooper--better than that, I'm an efficient pooper!" and I was looking at baby Ryan and cracking up, picturing him saying the same thing.

Before, she was just a carrier, eh?

The Spike Wars did bad things to people, I fear, and she was a serious apologist back in the day. Which, err. Not so amusingly, wound up being kind of triggering for some of us.