The Queensblog.

Song guaranteed to make me cry.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:47:55 +0800

Song guaranteed to make me cry.

Photo

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:17:24 +0800

Good Omens, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:17:22 +0800

Good Omens, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

varjaks: Benedict Cumberbatch and Natalie Dormer as Humphrey...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:17:15 +0800

varjaks:

Benedict Cumberbatch and Natalie Dormer as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for Electric Cinema

Too much perfect in one post what is this I need to see this

16/23 gifs of jason mraz Nothing like this GIF to spruce up a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:06:34 +0800

16/23 gifs of jason mraz

Nothing like this GIF to spruce up a boring class.^^

Integral to the mechanics of a hardcover, endpapers offer a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:05:45 +0800

Integral to the mechanics of a hardcover, endpapers offer a blank canvas for the imagination and creativity of a book designer. Also commonly known as end sheets, or endleaves, around here we usually just refer to them as “ends.”

From the Design Desk, Making of a Book series via the Chronicle Books blog.

frank-e-fighting-words: strugglingtobeheard: mamasam: the-worl...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:35:22 +0800

frank-e-fighting-words:

strugglingtobeheard:

mamasam:

the-world-is-a-corner:

amazonpoodle:

theinfernalcakewalk:

combatbrodom:

sweaterkittensahoy:

The premise of the film project is simple: a woman is asked to read an excerpt from a personally elected body of literature. (x)

It’s called “Hysterical Literature,” and I have never seen a better example of questioning why it is that educated women (whether self or otherwise) always seem to be showcased as having no interest in sex. They all choose interesting books, and they all get off, and it’s fabulous.

It’s also brought forth a lot of comments (on youtube and otherwise) and WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THIS. IT’S SO DIRTY, and I feel that’s part of the point: Why is this considered so scandalous? It’s just sex. In fact, we don’t even SEE the sex, so the only thing that could be making people uncomfortable while watching it seems to be watching a woman enjoying getting sexual pleasure.

And maybe some of those people just aren’t into voyeurism and that’s cool. But I’m betting a lot of them just don’t like to consider that maybe they think women having sexual pleasure is weird and that they think that you can’t have sexual pleasure as a woman and also have other facets and appreciation for “finer things.”

What I’m saying is, this whole series gives me a lot of thoughts.

Always reblog because Hysterical Literature is the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long while.

Pretty sure I’ll wanna watch this later soooo

I think some reasons for why the people who probably do watch porn are made so uncomfortable by Hysterical Literature are a little more involved, since there’s definitely a decent market for porn in which women masturbate solo. It’s not JUST that each woman is experiencing sexual pleasure, it’s the combination of a bunch of aspects that are specific to this series:

each woman is without a partner, so she’s not servicing anyone;

she’s without a partner, so her attention is focused inward — this is completely about her enjoyment only;

she’s without a partner, but she does have a vibrator and her own body, so she isn’t dependent on any other human for her orgasm;

she’s reading a selection of her own aloud with some serious dedication, demonstrating that there are things she finds just as interesting as sex;

we don’t get any of the visuals or the melodrama or the POV that are usually considered to be the point of porn, so we can’t be titillated by her body (or her partner’s body/actions, or her reactions to her partner’s body/actions) — we don’t get to see what’s causing her pleasure, we only see how it makes her feel.

The whole production is actually super-dismissive of mainstream (straight) porn and its primary audience (dudes), in that it’s not particularly staged for the viewer’s pleasure (there’s no pretense that there isn’t a viewer — it’s just not about them) unless the viewer happens to be a person who gets off on the idea of women having some fantastic selfish orgasms, even when the viewer is in no way invited to imagine themselves participating. :D

FANTASTIC.

I love this simply because I sorta just love seeing people feeling this good. Specially the fourth one, I just stare at her beaming and thinking “hey, it looks like this is awesome, so happy for you!”

I’ve only seen a bit of these videos (the fourth gif is Stoya, a porn star, who reads the most beautiful excerpt about love) but I’ll add that what I also think makes critics so uncomfortable with this project is that for the first minute or so you are just listening to the woman read while showing no arousal. It is forcing the viewer into a (slight but still) personal connection before any sex comes into play. You are hearing a woman speak the words she wants and you the viewer are not receiving any reward for this, even if you do enjoy voyeurism.

I really love this idea of empowerment. The idea that, “I am going to say something, and I am going to feel something, and you might enjoy both—but I am doing this for myself and my own enjoyment.”

I’ve only watched the black woman’s video where she reads from Toni Morrison and it was awesome. I love this too cause as a “smart woman” I am constantly desexualized by my peers. Yay

took a moment to watch the one with Sole. I have no additional coments, just that I still have a smile on my face.

So may thoughts on Hysterical Literature! It’s got to be one of my favorite things at the moment, as it combines three of my favorite things: books, sex, and female empowerment. And everything everyone above has said about the series just hits the nail on the head so well that I don’t feel the need to add to it.

That’s not even mentioning how sensual the whole production is. Watching the videos not only makes the center tighten; listening to the words these gorgeous women are reading also stimulates the brain. There’s a mental component to sex that I think porn misses altogether, and that Hysterical Literature captures perfectly.

m-as-tu-vu: How to bend light

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:21:29 +0800

m-as-tu-vu:

How to bend light

“heavenly creatures”: in vogue australia 2012 photographed by...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:20:01 +0800

“heavenly creatures”: in vogue australia 2012 photographed by will davidson

Photo

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:26:11 +0800

Photo

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:25:59 +0800

The post-graduate studies level.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:11:49 +0800

The post-graduate studies level.

"I really love language. I love it for what it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:11:26 +0800

““I really love language. I love it for what it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and the delicacies of our existence. And then it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language.””

- Maya Angelou (via brittdussault)

Literally me plus freeverse poetry.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:28:00 +0800

Literally me plus freeverse poetry.

"The American Psychiatric Association recently released an updated version of its manual of mental..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:27:34 +0800

“The American Psychiatric Association recently released an updated version of its manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) and this time it includes a new addition: Caffeine withdrawal.”

- Caffeine withdrawal now classified as a mental disorder. Quick, Orwell to the rescue! (Also see how we came to depend on coffee so deeply.)

Not yet ready to be mentally ill, at least in that way? Might as well learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee.

(via explore-blog)

bard-core: yours-truly-calliope: This is a useful...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:27:26 +0800

bard-core:

yours-truly-calliope:

This is a useful resource…

#wait there’s a cooking knife that’s called a scimitar

I’ve more commonly heard it spelled a cimeter knife (we had one in my house), but it’s used for cutting meat! You know, like slicing a big turkey up for thanksgiving.

Photo

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:26:07 +0800

tylerknott: Typewriter Series #444 by Tyler Knott Gregson

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:26:03 +0800

tylerknott:

Typewriter Series #444 by Tyler Knott Gregson

Kinam.

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:44:22 +0800

Kinam.

Photo

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:43:48 +0800