reading between projects

So, it's that time in the semester when I have very little time for anything other than wrapping up the major projects. Maybe you're in the same place? Here are three little reading tidbits for when you need a procrastination break:

• Chloe Hillard in The Village Voice has an interesting article about AGs, or Aggressives, a subculture comprised of predominately African American or Latina lesbians. I saw Daniel Peddle's documentary in last year's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on the same subject. I have mixed feelings on this issue: on the one hand, it's reassuring to see coverage of the diversity in the gay and lesbian community, but on the other hand, the rampant sexism that seems to be perpetuated in the community (this was stressed more in Hillard's article than in Peddle's documentary) in terms of attitudes toward femmes is profoundly disturbing. Also, while the documentary focuses on the women's limited career choices based on their often impoverished circumstances, the article skews toward the career-stalling choices some of the women from "better off" backgrounds make in order to maintain their appearances/lifestyles. Sample em both and weigh in.

• Having looked at a thousand houses with my parents over the course of my life (we moved a lot), I've often wondered about the appeal of the split-level ranch. Here's a fun little article on the subject. Turns out, wood paneling was once revolutionary.

• There's a new fiction editor at Esquire, and he's making his mark with fun pieces like The Napkin Project. This is an institutionalization of the age-old game in which you write a story on a napkin (if you're Laurel or me, you do this collaboratively while waiting for concerts to start). It's is a good one to sample over the course of several days. Check out, in particular, David Means, Daniel Alarcon and Julianna Baggott. Thanks for the tip, AD.