occasional posts by risa aratyr
thoughts, news, and items of writerly interest
Cultural appropriation is a hot topic these days. And rightly so. Getting woke to cultural appropriation ranks up there with waking up to white society’s systemic racism or male society’s inherent sexism. It’s about time, past due. Unfortunately, many are inclined to take the above balls and run with them right off the nearest politically-correct … Read more A Beginner’s Guide to Cultural Appropriation
It was a love-hate relationship from the start. “Social” means fun for most folks. For folks like me, “social” means stressful. Introverts tend to find the very idea of socializing online somewhat to very off-putting. When wonky pre-social networks (AOL profiles, Classmates.com) gave way to genuine social networks (Friendster, MySpace), I gave them a pass. … Read more Facebook Farewell
To all my pagan and pagan-esque friends who think Samhain has passed . . . In a few hours Mother Earth will have reached that powerful moment in her circuit ‘round the sun that is the exact mid-point between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. TONIGHT is the cross-quarter. TONIGHT is Samhain Eve. This … Read more The Season of the Witch
Caveat: this Garden Island Vacay blog-series will not be studded with drop-dead stunning pics of the Garden Island. I doubt I’d have managed many great snaps if I’d tried. Only a truly skilled photographer with all the right equipment could hope to capture Kaua’i’s breathtaking natural beauty in stills – and even then, sorry, they’re … Read more Two Tickets to Paradise – part ii: first look
I wasn’t an ideal younger sibling – far from it. Throughout our childhoods, my stable, amenable, tolerant sister Liane got shorter-shrift on maternal attention, indulgence, and patience. Volatile, confrontational, and uncompromising, I got things how I wanted them way more than was fair. As a toddler, I made a practice of bulldozing my way through … Read more Two Tickets to Paradise – part i: sfo to lih