Thank you, thefreak!

I can't be open or candid, online or in real life, to anyone, and it makes everything so much worse. And please don't make it even worse by asking, or worst of all, assuming you know what's wrong or why I can't spill all of the most private or even most mundane details of my life on the internet for the whole world to read. Just because I'm naked and occasionally write a few words of little note, a couple people think they have license to psychoanalyze me. I give everyone here what I can give, and what I'm willing to give. Sorry if that's not enough, but you get no more than face value.

Also, I am highly amused by Wendy's set, for many reasons. Maybe everyone is still locked in that enforced family togetherness, because I figured more people would get their panties in a twist about it. I find it hilarious when someone looks at photos on a porn site and sputters about "poor taste". Look back at early sets, by Katie, Al, Mia -- this is what SG is supposed to be about.

(And before one person fucking dares call me a hypocrite and invokes Nana, comparing this to the child rape set is apples and oranges.

As one person huffed, Wendy's set starts no dialogue. This is true. But I think it's an interesting exploration of the function of nudity in art. While Fra Angelico, Wendy's stated inspiration, doesn't seem to have a nude Madonna in his works, the Madonna is sometimes shown with her breast bared to feed the Christ child -- it's 5:30 in the damn morning and I am too tired to go search out examples. Renaissance painters also broke the mold as far as content of paintings -- no longer limited to strictly religious iconography, nude subjects appeared in anatomical studies, depictions of classical mythology, and sometimes even portraits of rich patrons. Even the post-Inquisition religious society of Europe accepted nude images of God and of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.

Art is all about context. Those Neanderthals who look at a work by Jackson Pollock and trot out that oh-so-clever criticism that their child could do that are missing the point. Pollock did something new for the time, exploring and changing boundaries in technique, materials, composition, and process. While Pollock's work isn't really to my taste, I can appreciate his contribution to artistic development.

So what is Wendy's context? Does the context of its appearance on a porn site negate any possible artistic value? Could one or all of the photos be considered to have artistic value if they appeared first in a gallery rather than SG? Up for debate, really. Duchamp, who I loathe, illustrated this very question by signing a urinal with a fake name and putting it in a museum (several times). I don't LIKE this art, but I understand its significance. Amid rapidly changing concepts of what constituted art, Duchamp pointed out the problem of how art is defined, and who does the defining.

Am I putting Wendy on a level with Duchamp? Hardly. Frankly, I find Wendy's body a more appealing piece of art than anything by that French hack. I bring it up because the tired Art vs. Porn debate will likely be revived by this set -- and if it isn't, it should. I like when people think.

Back to the original point: Isn't it hypocritical, you accuse, to decry Nana's Nazi child rape set and glorify Wendy's? No, actually. Look at the context: suicidegirls.com, a nudie site created for the purposes of titillation and redefining the pin-up photo. Hardcore fetishes like Nazism and rape fantasy were never part of the picture and therefore inappropriate for this context. Looking back at classic, pre-Alberto Gonzales sets by SG heavy hitters like those already named, Wendy's set fits in perfectly as a scandalous, sacrilegious, poke at mainstream concepts of what is beautiful and what is acceptable. The most basic goal of an SG photoset is show some sexy pictures, and on that level, Wendy's set is successful. Anything beyond that is up for debate.

I have a hedgehog, and his name is Snuffleupagus!



He is still very nervous and easily frightened because he just came home yesterday. There are so many weird smells and sounds he won't even eat his favorite worms when we're awake



We're just going to talk to him and give him treats for the next couple days until he starts getting used to us. Then maybe he'll want to cuddle with his ima.





This is what the word "hedgehog" looks like in Russian. We call Snuffly this too:



It's pronounced "yozh". It's a funny word.