Resident Genius

epistemophilia (n): an excessive striving for or preoccupation with knowledge ~reading, writing, art, music, words, fandoms, bandoms, factoids, anything and everything~

[haiderabd51]

[what-even-is-thiss]

I wanna be famous, but like how voice actors or authors are famous. I wanna be able to go to conventions and sign stuff and meet people that are way cooler than me but somehow like my work and feel famous but then drive out to Robertitos taco shop for lunch in my Nissan Cube and not have anybody recognize me as I scarf down my chicken burrito and spill hot sauce on my shirt.

[randomslasher]

#goals

[gigifrontpage-blog]

when your nails subconsciously match your mood

[gigifrontpage-blog]

"Panic in the attic!"

-my elderly woodshop teacher attempting to read my shirt

[gigifrontpage-blog]

there are some days you try to eat healthy and then there are some days you shove a processed apple danish in your face and tell the world to suck it

[macrolit]

How does #MeToo and #TimesUp affect literary giants?

The last time I reblogged a photoset of Simone de Beauvoir books, @andrewjacksonscenichikes made a comment that has stuck with me: “In the wake of all the recent Hollywood sexual assault allegations I would appreciate if you would hold off on reposting a serial child molester.” (Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre have a lurid history of sexual misconduct involving children.)  I didn’t delete my post, but that comment really got me thinking. In light of #MeToo and #TimesUp, which has led to the falling of so many giants in the entertainment industry, do we need to take a similar stance with literary giants who were terrible people or who did terrible things? I’ve already mentioned de Beauvoir and Sartre, but what about William Golding, who attempted to rape a 15 year old girl? What about William S. Burroughs, who got drunk and shot his wife? What about J.D. Salinger? I’m sure there are scores of other authors we could cite (and I’d appreciate it if people would chime in with more names we may need to reconsider.) Do we ignore important works by these authors because of the lives they lived and the things they did? Does the fact that most of these authors are now dead make a difference? Does de Beauvoir’s actions negate her important feminist work The Second Sex? Or should we continue to read them but with mental asterisks in our minds? 

[rootedinfiction-deactivated2019]

If you’re going to dismiss work just because the author/artist was a flawed human being, you might as well throw away all fiction. That’s the road that leads to Fahrenheit 451. This author is tossed on the fire because he was a sexual predator. Then that one because he beat his wife. Then another author because he was a prolific gambler. And we can’t have those authors because they were rampant abusers of narcotics (Say goodbye to Stephen King, who did cocaine AND wrote a child sex scene in his most popular book). We just accept that sometimes people who have literary or artistic talent are also not necessarily good people, but that doesn’t mean their art is less valid.

[coffeebooksorme]

This! This! This!

If a reader wants to make the conscious personal choice to not read/watch/listen to something because the creator did something they didn’t personally believe/support then that is their prerogative. 

As a society, we cannot start picking and choosing what is available to the public based on some moral/ethical compass. First of all, I don’t want some random person deciding what I can and can’t read based on what they feel is morally or ethically acceptable. I’m a grown ass adult, I can make those decisions for myself. And secondly, if people start doing that then we’ll end up in a world like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, or Equilibrium.

Anyone who ever wants to get books pulled from publication because it has a problematic aspect to it needs to read Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, and watch Equilibrium. Endorsing that behavior is a straight line to those types of worlds. 

[stvrmwitch]

It’s never going to be a cut and dry issue though to act as if numerous works by marginalized peoples haven’t been cast into the shadows all throughout history in favor of white men’s art is naive. Just to start.

Fuck mediocre authors who dictate canon like their take on the world was better than others because it stayed popular for longer. Nah.

We need to slap a huge ass asterisk over these authors. You can’t unlink their behavior from their art. One informs the other. Just because you’d rather read with a clear conscience -like fuck man we all wouldn’t???- doesn’t change anything.

Y’all for real think the only voices worth hearing are the ones that made it into literary canon and that there was zero agenda behind their inclusions? None? Y’all sincerely believe there’s only enough black authors (in America alone) to fill a month’s worth of curriculum once a year? Only enough queer creators to fill your minor in college? That indigenous peoples haven’t painted a vastly different and equally important portrait of America throughout time? That no stories went untold or undervalued because of privilege -or rather the lack therof?

Why do you think the average person has to go on a hunting expedition just to find these works?

Great works get forgotten all the time because the authors were judged by ludicrous standards. Let the authors who fail to live up to even the most basic of human decency (subjective, I agree) collect dust or -at the absolute least- come with a huge ass caveat.

There are incredible works by incredible monsters. Is it so hard to admit that in our discussion rather than ignore it so we can praise without guilt?

Sewing a warning into the fabric of our consciousness about a book or its author or the time it was written in -being aware of what we’re getting into- is hardly turning books into forbidden fruit.

More to the point, this isn’t about burning books it’s about burning legacies. If you’re so keen on divorcing one from the other then what’s the harm?

I’m sure I sound angry. I’m not, I am frustrated but I’m also open to the conversation. I just haven’t heard a good argument yet.

Again, it’s complicated. People come into this argument from all different angles, I get that. But every single “it’s great/important art” is subjective and sounds the exact same as defending Woody Allen for his contributions like he’s the only motherfucker to capture wit on film. Hint: he’s not.

[just-shower-thoughts]

How many people aren’t really introverts, but just surrounded by people they hate?

[gigifrontpage-blog]

Yes, very helpful. thank you

[gigifrontpage-blog]

note to self

people do not appreciate when you speak to them exclusively in star trek quotes

[gigifrontpage-blog]

if you're going to bring me cold fries then just don't get me fries at all

[gigifrontpage-blog]

achievement

when your scrawny american ass spells Reykjavik right on the first try

[gigifrontpage-blog]

theatre culture is when your director tells you to start from the beginning and half the cast starts singing the opening number of a different show

[st-jahn]

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”  - P. J. O'Rourke

[novacorps]

this tweet haunts me

[memeufacturing-deactivated20161]

find out your 2007 emo forum username

your birth date 1-10: XxX 11-20: xXx 21-23: ^_^ 24-28: *** 29-31: !!!

your birth month jan: em0- feb: w3ntz- mar: hawt- apr: revenge- may: damaged- jun: kitteh- jul: rawr- aug: 1337- sept: scene- oct: l0nely- nov: br0ken- dec: shad0w-

first letter of first name a-d: kitteh e-g: w0lf h-k: mcrmy l-n: urie o-p: way q-s: out-boy t-v: rawr w-x: leto y: chemical-r0mance z: luvver

then apply ur birth date again

[amberleaf]

Edgar Allen Bitch

[kinsaleroadroundabout]

F. Thot Fitzgerald

[foxy-mulder-deactivated20190929]

Charles Dickens

[mysharona1987]

[necclibrary]

YES.

[towardsmorning]

I once saw someone point out something I hadn’t really considered before- libraries are one of the only places that are warm and dry where you can stay for long periods of time if you have no money. If you’re someone with nowhere to go during the daytime, they provide a safe environment in which to keep a roof over your head for a while- and all while you can access information.

So yes. This.

[edwardspoonhands]

It’s weird…libraries almost feel /wrong/ now. It’s like I walk in and think “This is great…where do I put my money?”

[standbyyourmantis-deactivated20]

I used to work on a campus library and if you want someplace to put your money, so to speak, make sure you put books back in the designated areas. I know you think you’re being helpful by reshelving, but even if you pull something out to read a couple paragraphs just stick it in the basket for things you didn’t want. I don’t care if you know EXACTLY where you are. In academic libraries (at least in Texas) our funding was determined by how many books people looked at. So we got additional funding based on books not being reshelved. If there’s a designated shelf/basket for things you don’t want, stick things in it!

[gingerjab]

What @standbyyourmantis said about not reshelving is true for public libraries, too. Our funding is dictated largely by how ‘used’ we are, so we scan all the items that are laying about as In House Use. That, tied with Reference Count and Door Counter numbers (we have to manually put in the time we take for references) to prove we’re providing a needed service. We also have to count the number of people who come for our programs, which not only helps funding but shows that the programming/services are needed, as well. So, basically, if you want to feel like you’re making sure we’re getting paid and staying around, keep these in mind.

[queenquong]

I didn’t know that’s why you’re not supposed to reshelf!

[rosalarian]

Wow! That’s astounding!

[davidhuyck]

LIBRARIES!!!

[citylightscomebackinjune]

I’ve lost how many times I get asked about how much it costs to get a library card. It’s free. Everything is free unless it’s late or you lose an item. Free. Free. Free. Free.