Not to change the subject (whatever the subject I’m bound to return to it) but I wanted to highlight two genuinely cool posts from yesterday’s Half-nekkid Thursday contributions.
shows us a photo of one of her tattoos
this is my daughters autograph on my right rib. the girl, Speedy, was born with a brain tumor. it was found by ultrasound at 28 weeks in utero and they removed it at 3 weeks of age. she was then diagnosed with a form of CP and i was told she wont walk or talk. she has proven them all wrong and runs and doesnt shut up.
she does have a seizure disorder, a learning delay, ADHD, and still with the mild CP.
when she tried to start printing, she had a hard time. they thought she would not be able to at all. she struggles with it but she has managed. so at the 10 year mark of my finding out about her tumor, i had her sign her name and draw a heart on a paper and i brought it to the tattoo guy. ‘i want it just like that’. he said no problem. :)
Even though I have a tattoo, and even considered becoming a tattoo artist, and don’t have a problem with tattoos in principle, in practice I’m rarely very enthusiastic about the results. Partly it’s because people aren’t shaped like canvas, but more because tastes change over time such that what seems unforgettably cool today seems, um, awkward 35 years later.
However! There’s just something perfect about kids drawings and skin. They look good, they’re timeless, and if they’re your children’s drawings you probably not ever going to want to forget them anyway.
Anyway, in this case especially, recording the impossible miracle of a written-off child’s handwriting? Oh yeah, that’s perfect. Add to that the nuance of a whole person with a multidimensional life and the too-often overlooked erotics of human beings’ ribs, waists, and sides, and even while being perfectly “work safe” it’s a lovely, sexy picture as well.
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Dana of Amid Life’s Crises has another thoroughly memorable HNT post this week
For about 3 days, I had been hearing a new noise when driving my car. Now mind you, I drive a 1998 Chevy Cavalier with 132,000+ miles on it – it makes many noises – but this one was unfamiliar. I talked to husband about it Friday night. Told him it was a rumbling vibration, maybe an exhaust issue. He assured me he would ride in the car over the weekend to see if he could tell what was going on. Did you know, as a wife, it is my obligation to nag? I did NOT nag him incessantly until he caved remind him that he was supposed to take a ride in my car, therefore it did not get done (*note to self* Take nagging 101 next time it is offered at the Community College).
Monday, I came home for lunch and found this. Yep! Definitely an exhaust issue. No way I can get it fixed before payday. Off to Ace Hardware to secure some 14 gauge steel wire (got to MacGyver the exhaust system back to where it belongs – at least temporarily) and then I do what all good grease monkeys do … take off my shirt, get under the car, and temporarily fix the damn thing. And yes, I really did!
See the text, the photo, plus her cool but not work-safe click-through photo here.
I love that click-through photo. It’s got this cool quality similar to the best of BDSM imagery only instead of exploring the erotics of dominance or submission — which even people who aren’t into bondage tend to be familiar with — it expresses the erotics of capability and resourcefulness. Which we tend not to encounter as often. Or at least not acknowledge.
Submitted by 2769 (not verified) on Fri, 2009-03-13 15:56.
Thank you so much for the kind words! It's an odd thing really. I am an only child and grew up in a home where my father really wanted a boy. He worked in construction and I'm pretty sure I learned to use a hammer before I learned to use a a pencil. When I turned 16, he required that I not only be able to change a tire on my car, but change my own oil before he would allow me to drive. When something went wrong on my car, he talked me through fixing it.
I was a young girl (10) when Title 9 went into effect, and I think my father was ahead of the curve. Now? It just seems "normal" to, as you so eloquently put it, be capabile and resourceful.
Submitted by 2769 (not verified) on Fri, 2009-03-13 18:15.
Actually, I've seen it a lot, though mostly in comics - a lot of hetero males and lesbians (or at least those who read comics) seem to be big fans of female mechanics/machinists, female mad scientists, and especially female steampunk mad-scientist-esque machinists. And that's hardly a new thing. It appears to have been at least somewhat popular since the late 1980s, and possibly even earlier.
As a side note, such characters usually have small breasts, and generally wear glasses or goggles (though there are certainly exceptions to both). They apparently don't necessarily need to be human, either, judging by the amount of fanfiction and porn revolving around Gadget Hackwrench (who is an anthromorphic mouse from a Disney cartoon).