today's beautiful things

[helenic]

Stephen Fry's letter to himself: Dearest absurd child
"Yes, you will grow to be a very, very, very, very lucky man who is able to express his nature out loud without fear of hatred or reprisal from any except the most deluded, demented and sad. But that is a small battle won. A whole theatre of war remains. This theatre of war is bigger than the simple issue of being gay, just as the question of love swamps the question of mere sexuality. For alongside sexual politics the entire achievement of the enlightenment (which led inter alia to gay liberation) is under threat like never before. The cruel, hypocritical and loveless hand of religion and absolutism has fallen on the world once more."

Filament Magazine
"A new magazine for women. I felt the world was in desperate need of one with:

• Intelligent, inspiring articles, and no fashion, celebrity gossip or diets


• Erotic photography of men based on research about what women think is sexy.

It's hard copy, quarterly and the first issue will be posted out on 1 June.

(Reviewed by Erotica Cover Watch and featuring photography by the talented Ara Maye McBay)

Comments

[glitzfrau]

You know, I did love that Stephen Fry piece, overworded though it is, but his conclusion?

Unlike so many of the young, you do not yearn for adulthood, pubs and car keys. You want to stay where you are, in the Republic of Pubescence, where feeling has primacy and pain is beautiful. And you know what ... ?

I think you are right.

Seriously, Stephen? Pain, the closet and acne are to be valued over a fulfilled, calm and beloved adult life? It's only from the vantage point of the universally admired, successful and happy fifty-year-old that one can indulge in a bit of adolescent nostalgia, I suspect. Or am I wrong?

[helenic]

Oh, I couldn't agree more! I have no nostalgia for adolescence, none, not at all. But I thought it was a beautifully written and moving piece nonetheless.

[glitzfrau]

Oh, yes, yes. And the comments are so very endearing also, which truly does suggest that Fry has the powers of an angel, given the usual tone of comments on the Guardian.

[helenic]

Yeah, I noticed that. He inspired everyone to become similarly grave and twinkly in his presence. It's a gift.

I did have my first and probably only ever nostalgia for adolescence recently, while reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. But that's mainly because his protagonist is a 17 year old geeky political activist using the internet to overthrow a quasi-totalitarian Department of Homeland Security, and it made me wish I'd started engaging with technology and politics earlier. (It's basically a manual for subversive geekery and I want to give it to every 12 year old I know.) That's not quite the same thing, though!

[biascut.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute - you - you - you TRAITOR!

[glitzfrau]

What, just for saying that I'm happier now with you than I was when I was sixteen? *innocent look*

[sevenhelz]

Yes. For some reason it took this for me to see that that letter was beautiful, and not just fascinating.
I've been reading a couple of Fry's books lately, and I rather suspect he misses the highs of manic depression.
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