Thérèse Raquin

I was reading Tom Felton’s twitter feed, trying to describe if it was worth following (I only follow people who use twitter interestingly and people I know), and one of the things he’s been tweeting about is being in Serbia filming a new movie. One quick IMDB later, and I found out that there’s a movie adaptation of Émile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin, and he’s playing Camille.

I readThérèseRaquina few years ago in college and rather enjoyed it. I read it as part of a class, and it was introduced as being one of a trio of books about adulteresses, along with Flaubert’sMadame Bovaryand Lawrence’sLady Chatterley’s Lover. My professor presented it as though this were common knowledge, and it makes a lot of sense: all three deal with adultery and women’s sexuality in scandalously frank ways (especially for the times at which they were written). I don’t remember all ofRaquinperfectly, I’m afraid, but it centered on Thérèse herself and the guilt of what she’s done (both the murder and the adultery, to some degree) and dealt with of issues of oppressive societal expectations of women’s behavior.

IMDB has it categorized as a thriller.

From where I stand, that could mean one of two things: either IMDB doesn’t have room in its worldview for a story about society that happens to have a ghost in it, or the director’s using Thérèse as a backdrop for a ghost story. I hope it’s the former.

(Or, I hope, it means I don’t know what IMDB means when it says “thriller.”)

President Obama supports same sex marriage

Finally! This makes me so happy for two reasons:

  1. It’s hard for anyone to say “I was wrong and I’ve changed my mind.” It is exponentially harder (apparently) for a politician to do that. But that is what our President, what my President did. Four years ago he thought civil unions would do the trick & disappointed us all by being against same sex marriage, but now he’s seen that he was wrong and changed his mind.
  2. Coming out against hate is always the right choice.

I seriously did not think this would happen until after the election.

“Mark Halperin kicked off the Monday interview by asking Duncan, ‘Do you believe that same sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the United States?’” Duncan responded, “Yes, I do.”

According to Politico, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is the latest member of the Obama Administration to come out in favor of marriage equality. More.  (via gaywrites)

opinion time: Good job Arne, but what the hell Mark Halperin!? He’s the Secretary of education, a topic which is unruly and contentious and incredibly important to discuss in a serious manner, so you decide to start your interview with something else entirely? Something political and unrelated to education? I mean, yes it’s important that educators see the inherent equality and potential of all students, and be vocal supporters especially of those students in minority groups or other tough situations. But Congress stands poised to raise student loan interest rates, a new set of standards has already begun to roll out across the country, and our urban schools are still failing. There is a lot to talk about with Arne Duncan that is a whole hell of a lot more important than his personal opinion.

(Also, Advocate: a link to the rest of the interview might be nice.)

Autistic Boy Bullied by Teachers

foreverliberal:

king-of-fuckshit-mountain:

foreverliberal:

Thought this story might interest you.

- cardsofwind

Thank you for the submission! This really disgusts me and I cannot believe his teachers of all people were treating him this way. I hope that this story will raise awareness about this issue and help to stop incidents such as this — because unfortunately, I know that this wasn’t the first nor will it be the last case of bullying from a teacher. 

Teachers that have students with autism need to learn how to work with them, and the teachers in this particular case need to be fired immediately in my opinion. 

— Brittany 

Shine is like trash TV, but with the internet.

Here’s the story from USA Today and here’s the story from MSNBC. I also think that most major news networks are covering it.  

This is a terrible story, and I hate that this happens. But I also hate that we talk about it this way— the word “bully” has connotations of a peer-to-peer interaction, and is all too frequently dismissed as just something kids do to each other on the playground. When a teacher, or anyone in a position of power, acts like this towards a student, it is verbal abuse. We need to start talking about it as such.

kellysue:

Attention Caitlin DiMotta…

postcardsfromspace:

Knowing the science makes it all the more enchanting.

(Source: timetravelingscamp, via wilwheaton)

girlwithalessonplan: thedailywhat: Kindle Passage of the Day: The most highlighted passage in all of Kindle Land? It’s Katniss talking about her mom in Catching Fire: “Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.” Not suprisingly, the Hunger Games trilogy accounts for eight of the top 10 most-highlighted Kindle passages. Which begs the question: Readers are taking theHunger Games so seriously that they’re highlighting passages using Kindle? [amazon] And? One of my favorite things is when people who aren’t interested in capital-L literature, or in analyzing books at all, read something like The Hunger Games that’s both incredibly entertaining & is so intellectually compelling that they can’t help but think seriously about it.

girlwithalessonplan:

thedailywhat:

Kindle Passage of the Day: The most highlighted passage in all of Kindle Land? It’s Katniss talking about her mom in Catching Fire:

“Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.”

Not suprisingly, the Hunger Games trilogy accounts for eight of the top 10 most-highlighted Kindle passages. Which begs the question: Readers are taking theHunger Games so seriously that they’re highlighting passages using Kindle?

[amazon]

And?

One of my favorite things is when people who aren’t interested in capital-L literature, or in analyzing books at all, read something like The Hunger Games that’s both incredibly entertaining & is so intellectually compelling that they can’t help but think seriously about it.

TED talks: “Dan Barber’s foie gras parable”

Now I want to only eat things that come from local, small farms while they’re in season. Winter could kill me.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Elie Wiesel. Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012 - never forget. (via gaywrites)

“I Volunteer!”

hisnamewasbeanni:

enteringeducation:

Me: Would anyone like to volunteer to read?

*moment of silence*

Student jumps up *in a dramatic voice*: I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!

A+

I would give that kid bonus points. Or a cookie.

(via girlwithalessonplan)

gaywrites: Imagine if this is how you came out to someone. Love it. This is great.

gaywrites:

Imagine if this is how you came out to someone. Love it.

This is great.