Let's Get Physical...

I think this picture pretty much speaks for itself...


...a pink speedo, Robin? Reading Terra Incognito from Marv Wolfman & George Perez, a prequel to The Judas Contract, which I just ordered off Borders.com

Dreams of Sundance / Going Kaboom

Anyone who has ever met me in real life has probably experienced what I like to call, "The Excitable Ryan." Just like Tinkerbell, I often have the emotional capacity to only feel one emotion at one time. Not with every single feeling, mind you, but when I get excited about something? It's hard to feel anything else. This year, just before Christmas, there was one thing I was so excited about I could hardly think about anything else.

It was the thought of going to the one, the only Sundance Film Festival.

I've been a long and often quiet admirer for many years of Sundance. While working at the Nashua Public Library, I was exposed for the first time to the joys of independent cinema. Going to places like The Wilton Town Hall Theater and later Coolidge Corner in Boston only strengthened this newfound interest. While living in Boston, I had the opportunity to watch the IFC Television Channel, which I'll admit, sadly got kind of obsessed with. I would say about half the films on my Netflix list (when I still had it) were independents; I was clearly hooked.

Big Gay Librarian

For the next few months, I'll be focusing on LGBTQ fiction. I've read a couple, so here they are: I'll admit it. I've picked small ones to start.

When I was still organizing my shelf, "The Slow Fix" by Ivan Coyote stood out for me. I picked it up and read it within the week. Coyote has been up for, and I believe won, some ALA awards for her writing before. This, well... it's more of a collection of essays, is pretty much autobiographical. It doesn't really follow a linear format; sometimes Ivan is talking about her girlfriend, then in the next story she's single, then back to the girlfriend for example. I enjoyed reading it. There was a story about her queer nephew who grows up to be not so queer which is sort of sad and beautiful. It's worth reading, but is super quick to read and the stories don't really compliment each other. It seems kind of like a bunch of stuff was slammed together here. Some works, some doesn't. I liked it, though, and I'm glad I picked it for my first book.

Followed by "Shuck" - a loose fictional account by a first-time author who somewhat lived what poorly named main character Jaeven goes through. I liked this book, pretty much alone among the other reviews of the book I've read. Maybe I'm easy to please when it comes to fiction. I don't think the point is to like Jaeven here... he's pretty much as unlikeable as you can get. His relationship with his roommate/friend/boyfriend is bizarre, but... well, aren't most relationships? I didn't find the book highly sexual, which I guess was a big selling or discussion point for it. Not a lot of actual sex occurs. Really there's just that art gallery thing with the goth boy towards the end. The book is very New York and got me smiling on the references (esp. Dr. Zizmor). A good read- I think I know a lot of gays who would love the book, but also probably not the best in the end.