I am choosing not to edit this relic of my 31-year-old self. I really haven't changed that much, except that now I have an intense Tori Amos obsession and not so much of one for Courtney Love anymore, although I do still love her.
Why are some of your pictures blurry or out of focus?
Let's use this picture as an example:
I like the quality of movement that the "blurriness" conveys. Also, I think the blurriness exaggerates the things that make this picture work to begin with: it enhances the heaviness of the dark parked cars at the bottom of the frame, and the wispiness of the tree branches, rendering them almost hair-like. It creates a smeared aura of light around the sun, and makes the whole picture revolve around the sun because the sun is the only thing remotely in focus; this effect would not be as pronounced if the picture were in focus. Finally, the palette of the sky, a dull pinkish gray, is more complex because of the black of the trees and the orange of the sun's aura bleeding into it.
Who are your favorite poets?
Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Stan Rice, Dorothy Parker, Stephen Crane, Clementine Morrrigan, Patti Smith, Courtney Love, Suzanne Vega, Leonard Cohen
Who are your favorite artists?
Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Peter Le Grand, Barbara Crane, Linda Montano, Sabrina Raaf, Annette Messager, Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono, Barbara Kruger, Nan Goldin, Edvard Munch, Vincent Van Gogh (but it wasn't until I saw an original painting instead of just a print), Judy Chicago, Mindy Faber, Julia Gillard, Jody O'Connor, Peter Brueghel the Elder, Cathy DeVuono, Annie DeVuono, Susan Romanelli, Annie Leibowitz, Jon Gitelson, Kelly Jackson, Katie Herzog, Sarah Grana, Lu Heintz, Jen Davis, Emmet Gowin, Francesca Woodman, Odd Nerdrum, Robert Adams, Jeff Wall, Holly Roberts
What's up with the Courtney Love obsession?
She was my personal savior when I was fifteen... I didn't know about riot grrrl or Patti Smith or bands like Heart, and so Hole was the first time I was exposed to a grrrl picking up a guitar onstage and screaming. Also, I could tell she was really smart from reading interviews with her.
What is schizoaffective disorder?
The following description is taken from the National Alliance on Mental Illness web site:
Schizoaffective disorder is one of the more common, chronic, and disabling mental illnesses. As the name implies, it is characterized by a combination of symptoms of schizophrenia and an affective (mood) disorder. There has been a controversy about whether schizoaffective disorder is a type of schizophrenia or a type of mood disorder. Today, most clinicians and researchers agree that it is primarily a form of schizophrenia. Although its exact prevalence is not clear, it may range from two to five in a thousand people (- i.e., 0.2% to 0.5%). Schizoaffective disorder may account for one-fourth or even one-third of all persons with schizophrenia.
To diagnose schizoaffective disorder, a person needs to have primary symptoms of schizophrenia (such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior) along with a period of time when he or she also has symptoms of major depression or a manic episode. (Please see the section on Mood Disorders for a detailed description of symptoms of major depression or manic episode). Accordingly, there may be two subtypes of schizoaffective disorder:
(a) Depressive subtype, characterized by major depressive episodes only, and
(b) Bipolar subtype, characterized by manic episodes with or without depressive symptoms or depressive episodes.
Differentiating schizoaffective disorder from schizophrenia and from mood disorder can be difficult. The mood symptoms in schizoaffective disorder are more prominent, and last for a substantially longer time than those in schizophrenia. Schizoaffective disorder may be distinguished from a mood disorder by the fact that delusions or hallucinations must be present in persons with schizoaffective disorder for at least two weeks in the absence of prominent mood symptoms. The diagnosis of a person with schizophrenia or mood disorder may change later to that of schizoaffective disorder, or vice versa.
The most effective treatment for schizoaffective disorder is a combination of drug treatment and psychosocial interventions. The medications include antipsychotics along with antidepressants or mood stabilizers. The newer atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, and aripiprazole are safer than the older typical or conventional antipsychotics such as haloperidol and fluphenazine in terms of parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia. The newer drugs may also have better effects on mood symptoms. Nonetheless, these medications do have some side effects, especially at higher doses. The side effects may include excessive sleepiness, weight gain, and sometimes diabetes. Different antipsychotic drugs have somewhat different side effect profiles. Changing from one antipsychotic to another one may help if a person with schizoaffective disorder does not respond well or develops distressing side effects with the first medication. The same principle applies to the use of antidepressants or mood stablilizers ( - please see the section on Mood Disorders for details).
There has been much less research on psychosocial treatments for schizoaffective disorder than there has been in schizophrenia or depression. However, the available evidence suggests that cognitive behavior therapy, brief psychotherapy, and social skills training are likely to have a beneficial effect. Most people with schizoaffective disorder require long-term therapy with a combination of medications and psychosocial interventions in order to avoid relapses, and maintain an appropriate level of functioning and quality of life.
Do you hear voices? Do they tell you to kill people?
I do sometimes hear voices, and they certainly do not tell me to kill people! Even if they did, that doesn't mean I'd do it, because I know they aren't real. They're very disturbing when they happen, but they don't make me violent, towards myself or others.
Why don't you shave your armpits?
I'm growing out my pit hair for me. (Although the fact that my husband likes it too is an added bonus!) I like having hair under there, and I got sick of shaving under there. I was getting razor burn on my armpits! Ee-ew!
*I wrote this page awhile ago. I started shaving my armpits again about a week ago. The fact that my area has been going through a series of intense heat waves may have something to do with it. Anyway, even though, as of now, I am choosing to shave my armpits, I still have mad respect for women/girls who don't and I think it's really unfair that's it's okay for guys to be as hairy as gorillas but if a female doesn't shave her armpits it means she's man-hating and gross.
