Brain Droppings

A place where I write about religion, music, GLBT rights, current events, and atheism. A heavy dose of cynicism may also be involved. These are my brain droppings.

[quickhits]

What we found in our analysis was that a staggering 93 percent of all occurrences [of climate stories] in the last six months in the prime time news of Fox News were misleading occurrences of climate science. Okay, for the Wall Street Journal opinion section in the last year, we found a surprising 81 percent of the occurrences were misleading. And of the accurate ones, these were all letters to the editor that were submitted in response to misrepresentations in editorials or other letters. So, a broad swath of News Corporation viewers and readership are being misled about the science.

Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, on a study of the coverage of climate science in America by News Corp.. (via quick hits)

[rsnovak]

-From the Unabridged Journals of R.S. Novak

Usually I only write in my journals, but sometimes, I also like to draw whatever is on my mind. This particular doodle was inspired by the song Two Birds by Regina Spektor. 

[mybraindroppings-blog]

This is from my new blog. Just posting as a link to those of you who haven't heard about it yet. I may delete this current blog soonish. 

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Moving main blogs. Follow if you're interested!

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Starting a personal blog!

Today I started a personal blog to keep track of my writing work and find people who are interested in what I write. Since I'm going away to college, it'll also be a nice way to keep my family updated about my life. I'll probably keep Brain Droppings as a just for fun/random blog, but may not be as active on it as much anymore. If you're interested in following the new blog, click here. 

[gaywrites]

In which CBS compares Anderson’s coming out to Ellen’s from 15 years ago, looking at how the change in societal reactions says a lot about how far we’ve come. Pretty cool.

[clearobjectmilkshake]

I heard that the guy who played Sheldon was gay but I couldn’t find a reliable source. 

I’m not sure if CBS counts or not.

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Starting a book blog

I'm starting a blog devoted entirely to books. The new blog can be found here. Follow if you're interested! 

[thedailywhat]

Call Me Maybe Parody: Well, well, well — isn’t this is a refreshing take on the Carly Rae Jepsen anthem.

[collegehumor]

[clearobjectmilkshake]

That’s really very quite clever. 

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Epilogue: The Future of Print

This is a gorgeous documentary about what place printed books have in our lives. Personally, I don't think I could ever own an E-reader. I just love the physicality of printed books too much. However, I do like the idea expressed at the end of the film about E-books and printed books coexisting rather it being a matter of either/or. 

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Back to Black (Live) - Amy Winehouse

You go back to her, and I go back to black. 

[thehpfacts]

This is the worldwide book cover for J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy!

“It takes on a vibrant, vintage red/yellow color scheme with an ‘X’ mark in a box – presumably a voting ballot. How do you think it looks?

In addition to today’s art, Little, Brown reveals that the character previously known as Barry Fairweather is now Barry Fairbrother (reportedly an error on the publisher’s part). The confirmed page count is 512. Mario J. Pulice designed the cover, with illustration and hand lettering by Joel Hollan. The audiobook will be read by Tom Hollander.”

And here’s another look at the summary, now updated:

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

Remember, it will be released on September 27, 2012!

Source: Hypable

[christinapotter09]

[poisonarchives]

[smellyantorcha]

I’m so excited for this, it’s not even funny.

It’s like everything Glee had hoped to be, but never was.

[septemberpoems]

hell yes I’m watching this

[iwouldntmindit-atall-deactivate]

omg.

[bassnicky]

Rebel Wilson is my hero

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Fortnight for Freedom

This Fortnight for Freedom thing is absurd. I'm sorry, dear Vatican, but your religious rights end where my human rights begin. The idea that not being able to discriminate against a group of people is a violation of religious freedom makes you, to put it mildly, less than savory, especially in moral terms. Hopefully, I'll make a blog post about all this nonsense tomorrow. 

[trollexa-blog]

[bountifuljourney]

*Thanks to the HRC

[abaldwin360-deactivated20130708]

On more than 10,000 acres of drained swampland in western New York, Maureen Torrey’s family farm grows an assortment of vegetables in the dark, nutrient-rich soil known as “Elba muck.” Like other farms in the area, Torrey Farms Inc. of Elba, N.Y., depends on seasonal labor,...

[gaywrites]

Remember that time Chick-Fil-A donated a ton of money in 2009 to groups that work against LGBT rights? Remember how they did it again?

Following the discovery that fast food chain Chick-Fil-A donated millions to anti-gay groups in 2009, an analysis of the chain’s donations showed that they donated $2 million to the same or similar groups in 2010. Details from the Advocate:

WinShape, Chick-Fil-A’s official charitable arm, has donated $1.9 million to Exodus International, the National Christian Foundation, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Family Research Council, the Marriage and Family Foundation, and the Georgia Family Council, Equality Matters reported Monday.

The largest donation, $1.1 million, went to the Marriage and Family Foundation, an anti-gay marriage organization that raises money for the Marriage CoMission. The latter group was created in response to the “downward spiral of marriage and the traditional family in America.”

What’s more: Chick-Fil-A continues to deny its involvement with any anti-gay groups. If you still give this establishment your money, please don’t. There are ways to get fried chicken-y goodness without contributing to anti-gay causes - check out this recipe for a Chick-Fil-Gay chicken sandwich that might as well be the original. As the site says, all the taste, none of the bigotry! 

[mybraindroppings-blog]

Life Imitates Art

"Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." - Oscar Wilde

So I'm starting to notice an interesting phenomenon. 

I've been writing this book for a while, and now I'm really into the heart of the conflict.

The interesting phenomenon I've noticed is this:

My protagonist started out to be nothing at all like me. I purposely created her to be like this. It actually feels a bit strange to say that I created her, though, because it doesn't feel like I did. Rather, I feel as if she existed all along, and I was merely discovering her. 

However, the more I write, the more similar to her that I become. It's kind of cool, since I feel like I really know who she is now. But it's also kind of bad, since she isn't exactly an ideal person. 

Our uniting tie seems to be that we'd both sacrifice almost anything to fulfill our ambitions, and we've developed each other from there.