Quirkyalone

Taking Politics Way Too Personally

Jan 15, 2004 - Written by Reyhan  |  Filed under: Uncategorized

Although the QA movement is not founded on political ideals, it is hard to imagine a more odious prospect than Bush’s new marriage proposal. As reported by the New York Times, “Under the president’s proposal, federal money could be used for specific activities like advertising campaigns to publicize the value of marriage, instruction in marriage skills and mentoring programs that use married couples as role models.” As every QA knows, marriage isn’t the only path to fulfillment, and a traditional marriage doesn’t guarantee economic stability or success. Now might be a good time to mention two recently published books which put forth different ideas on love and family: Against Love by Laura Kipnis, a blunt look at the mythology of love, focusing on the pitfalls of marriage and Urban Tribes by SF author Ethan Watters, which shows how city-dwellers are putting off conventional coupling to create closely-knit communities of friends.

And what business does this government have putting federal money towards marriage advertising? Isn’t reality television enough?

In a welcome respite from federally-mandated monogamy, PBS featured a thoughtful essay on friendship . Positing friendship as a defining relationship wouldn’t appear to be such a revolutionary act, unless, of course, our current president wasn’t working so hard to keep “American” values firmly anchored to an oppressive past.

Approaching the Tipping Point?

Jan 13, 2004 - Written by Reyhan  |  Filed under: Press

Keeping track of the press attention on QA could be a full-time job — what a perfect activity for someone slugging through another full-time job. We at QA headquarters are continue to be blown away by Sasha’s dexterity in handling the sometimes dubious talking heads (while we love that Anderson Cooper recognized the cultural import of the QA, we wonder whether he really grasped the concept.) Here is a quick look at the past few weeks of media limelight…

Satisfied singlehood is becoming chic, according to USA Today.

San Jose Mercury News article on the phenom.

The Urban Dictionary, only a short skip to the eventual OED entry.

Listen to Sasha’s talk at Grace Cathedral’s Forum on Sunday, January 11th.

Also in the works: piece on NPR’s nationally syndicated show, “Day to Day”, San Francisco Chronicle profile, and CNN Headline News appearance TONIGHT at 5:10 Pacific Time/8:10 Eastern time. Who knew CNN would be at the forefront of the Q.A. publicity machine?