i love you and i'm leaving you anyway


girlontape is officially in awe of this book
by the endlessly wise, utterly inspiring,
way way way talented
tracy mcmillan.
read it, savor it, delight in it, treasure it.

un año sin amor/like a virgin


cierre de un 2010 libre de amores grotescos:
sólo le pido a dios que aleje de mi toda falsedad, codicia e ignorancia...
y que nunca más se me ocurra traicionar el bien supremo por tan poca cosa.

it's official: girlontape has been a virgin throughout this year of our lord 2010.
sweet lady liberty, may i never ever again betray you so lightly,
and for so little cause.

photos: more vintage self webcam by girlontape


esta foto me hace feliz


demasiado lindo volver a encontrar esta imagen!
recuerdo de mi amiga adorée, que con tanta elegancia
y dulzura me llevó por las vias intrincadas de la ciudad de la furia...

with my beautiful, über-talented and
ever-inspiring friend mariana, who so elegantly
took me by the hand and showed me around the mean streets of buenos aires...


no kneeling allowed on this blog MF



thank you J for this invigorating piece of antipapist agitprop!

webcam was my playmate



vintage self webcam portraits by girlontape

when iggy was my neighbor


Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away, girlontape bought a little apartment on Avenue C
between 9th and 10th, and lived there happily ever after for a while.

Those years were special, radical and beautiful, and part of their beauty was strolling, lounging,
picknicking, listening to music and celebrating wigstock in our beloved and heroic

tompkins square park
. 

Over the hours and the seasons I got to know every tree and flower and Puerto Rican drummer
and homeless Vet in that park... and I love it as my very own.

The day my grandfather died, the park looked like this:

ph: david shankbone

To the garden, the world, anew ascending,
Potent mates, daughters, sons, preluding,
The love, the life of their bodies, meaning and being,
Curious, here behold my resurrection, after slumber;
The revolving cycles, in their wide sweep, have brought me again,         5
Amorous, mature—all beautiful to me—all wondrous;
My limbs, and the quivering fire that ever plays through them, for reasons, most wondrous;
Existing, I peer and penetrate still,
Content with the present—content with the past,
By my side, or back of me, Eve following,  10
Or in front, and I following her just the same.


walt whitman, leaves of grass

stills from la jetée by chris marker (inspired by claudio caldini)






"rarely has reality needed so much to be imagined"

chris marker


thanks to my friend claudio caldini for reminding me
to watch this beautiful film again -
a work of art and of warning to all of us


terra mia

ph: claudia fumo

But my soul wanders: I demand it back,
To meditate amongst decay, and stand
A ruin amidst ruins; there to track
Fall'n states and buried greatness, o'er a land
Which was the mightiest in its old command,
And is the loveliest, and must ever be
The master mould of Nature's heavenly hand;
Wherein were cast the heroic and the free,
The beautiful, the brave, the lords of earth and sea,

The commonwealth of kings, the men of Rome!
And even now, and since, fair Italy!
Thou art the garden of the world, the home
Of all Art yields, and Nature can decree;
Even in thy desert, what is like to thee?
Thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste
More rich that other climes' fertility;
Thy wreck a glory, and thy ruin graced
With an immaculate charm which cannot be defaced.

lord byron


the laika archives

this how she was when i first found her on the streets of buenos aires



slowly she got better


























and made friends with the black dog at the construction site


and posed for my camera


over and over 



my little girl i miss you so much... it's just not the same without you




plegaria de fin de año de la mano de mi fotografo fetiche, aunque


creo que por fin estoy a salvo pero you never know:

"dios mio cuidame de mis amigos, que yo me cuidaré de mis enemigos."

yamandu rodriguez






salió en la RED No. 4 mi columna con fotos de andrés di tella


foto de tapa: Patricio Rivera
Proyecto RED
2010
clickear aquí para leer la revista



 

maravillosa instalación permanente de daniel joglar en buenos aires


"La Carrera del Aire"
instalación permanente por daniel joglar
en el atrio del nuevo Banco Supervielle
Bartolomé Mitre 434

***
"The Air Race"
amazing permanent installation 

by Argentine artist daniel joglar
in the new Banco Supervielle building
Bartolomé Mitre 434
Buenos Aires


bailen por mi argentinos... es una orden!


if i were in buenos aires tonight,

this is where you'd find me:
dancing to the two best DJs
in argentina and possibly the world
carla tintore
diego ro-k

this is what i call a nice christmas present



Obama signs repeal of  'don't ask, don't tell'

For gay rights campaigners, policy was notorious roadblock on way to full acceptance




President Barack Obama signed a landmark law Wednesday repealing the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military, fulfilling one of his major campaign pledges and casting the issue as a matter of civil rights long denied. (con't)



strange lawn ornaments in rome

first a couple of random santas...


...then snow.  In the pic, girlontape sr. and le baron de charlus go for a stroll.
 ***
como algunos ya saben, girl detesta la navidad
y toda manifestación de oscurantismo clerical bla bla bla...
pero qué lindo cuando nieva en diciembre!
jamás me acostumbré a esos extraños festejos australes.


fiche-moi la paix...i'm begging you


anoche te mudaste a nuestra casa y nos reímos mucho
all night long. igual me gustaría que dejes de visitarme...
basta de esta inutil convivencia onirica!
seis años son too much no te parece?

***

you were here again last night
we laughed so much and i told you
it's been six years
still i wish you'd stop coming by like this

...come un noriega qualsiasi

facultad de letras y filosofia, tomada
ayer, movilización nacional de estudiantes, gremios y sobrevivientes del terremoto en l'aquila, contra el gobierno/national mobilization against the government, yesterday in Italy

l'on. di pietro, ieri in parlamento: "Presidente no le resta che consegnarsi alla magistratura come un Noriega qualsiasi...scappi presidente impavido, se ne vada alle Bahamas!"

el ex fiscal di pietro, ayer en el parlamento: "Presidente no le queda otra que entregarse a la justicia como un Noriega cualquiera" [Berlusconi y su partido dejan el recinto]
"Huya presidente temerario...huya a las Bahamas!"

ex prosecutor di pietro, yesterday in Parliament: "Mr. President why don't you turn yourself in like some tinpot Noriega" [Berlusconi and his supporters leave the floor]
"Run Mr. President...run away to the Bahamas!" 

el regalo de despedida de la mario/going-away present

self webcam portraits

la mario, one of the most stylish creatures in buenos aires,
gave me this necklace at my going-away party
courtesy of ass-kicking dj carla tintore
in the one and only cocoliche,
the best nightclub in argentina and possibly the world

girl can't change her spots


la meglio gioventú

estudiantes en lucha, con libros de escudos
ph: corriere della sera, eidon, indymedia






Me gustan los estudiantes
Porque son la levadura


Del pan que saldrá del horno
Con toda su sabrosura


Para la boca del pobre
Que come con amargura.
Caramba y zamba la cosa,
Viva la literatura!

appeal for Liu Xiaobo






We would be grateful if you would forward this appeal to other institutions and friends.


Dear friends of literature,





More than 500 signatories from around the world, including the authors John Ashbery, Wolf Biermann, Breyten Breytenbach, Hans Christoph Buch, Judith Butler, J. M. Coetzee, Dave Eggers, Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth, support the internationale literaturfestival berlin in calling for the immediate release from prison of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, and appeal to cultural institutions, radio stations and schools for a worldwide reading of Charter 08 and Liu’s poem ‘You Wait for Me with Dust’ on March 20th 2011.

The internationales literaturfestival berlin appeals for a signing of this letter and a worldwide reading on 20th March 2011 of the ‘Charter 08’ and the poem ‘You wait for me with Dust’ by Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2010.

Liu Xiaobo is currently the world’s only winner of the Nobel Peace Prize still held in detention. In 2009, after co-authoring ‘Charter 08’, a manifesto calling for greater freedoms and democracy in China, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years in prison on a spurious charge of “inciting subversion of state power”. 

His continued imprisonment is a basic breach of human rights, and also a violation of China’s own constitution where Article 35 states that “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration”.

1936 was the last time neither the winner, German journalist and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, nor any of his family members, could go to Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize. They were all barred from leaving Nazi Germany. This historical comparison should disturb the Chinese government.

China has made extraordinary economic progress over the last few decades. The country is now the world’s second largest economy, and a powerful player on the global stage. China is rightly proud of these achievements, but it should also value democracy.

The preamble to ‘Charter 08’ states that “Chinese citizens are becoming increasingly aware that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values shared by all humankind, and that democracy, republicanism, and constitutional government make up the basic institutional framework of modern politics. 

A “modernization” bereft of these universal values and this basic political framework is a disastrous process that deprives people of their rights, rots away their humanity, and destroys their dignity. 

Where is China headed in the 21st century? Will it continue with this “modernization” under authoritarian rule, or will it endorse universal values, join the mainstream civilization, and build a democratic form of government?”(1)

Now is China’s chance to take a magnanimous step towards democracy. China can do this immediately – by showing pride that one of its citizens, Liu Xiaobo, has received the world’s greatest award in recognition of a struggle to uphold human rights. This award should be an honour for China, too.

In 2005, Liu Xiaobo wrote: “Didn't they say that China was in a golden moment of historical peak, and that the state of human rights is at the very best? Didn't they say that the present government wants to treat "the people as the foundation" in order to build a "harmonious society"? Then why is the government which has built the golden and almighty China so panicky? Why in this "harmonious society" in which "the people are the foundation" are I and other dissidents treated like trash to be stomped upon? Why must the "harmonious society" be constructed only with police officers posted at stations?”(2)

It does not befit a great country to denounce the Nobel Peace Prize, expand the restrictive security net around a peace laureate to include his friends and relatives, and persuade foreign diplomats to boycott the prize ceremony. 

Since the prize announcement, there has been no let-up in the harassment of Liu’s family and supporters, and all others attempting free speech activities in China. Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest. Several Chinese human rights activists have been prevented from leaving the country in case they go to Oslo, and Liu’s brothers are pessimistic about their chances of being able to travel in his place.

Chinese citizens make up one fifth of the world’s population. Liu Xiaobo’s case is not the story of one man: he is a symbol of the aspirations and treatment of 1.3 billion people.

The call for worldwide readings of ‘Charter 08’, and Liu Xiaobo’s poem ‘You Wait for me with Dust’, signify support for the campaigner, and a call for his release from prison.

A courageous activist all his life, Liu Xiaobo once wrote that “in a dictatorial country, open letters signed by individuals or groups form an important method for the civilians to resist dictatorship and fight for freedom.”(3) 

And so we, citizens of the world, sign this appeal – some with our names, and many, many more with our voices, which will be raised on 20th March 2011 to read Liu’s words – and show solidarity with him, and others in China, who are not free to say what they want.

We will continue to speak up until there is an end to the unjust incarceration of Liu Xiaobo, and others like him.

If you would like to sign this appeal, please write an email to worldwidereading@literaturfestival.com or sign under www.literaturfestival.com.

We would be happy if you would like to organise a lecture as well. In this case, please inform us - we will publish it on our website: worldwidereading@literaturfestival.com

Best wishes, 

Your Team from the international literature festival berlin

Tel:  030 - 27 87 86 65
Fax: 030 - 27 87 86 85


(1) Extract from Charter 08, translated from the Chinese by Human Rights in China
(2) Extract from If the policemen are posted outside my door, by Liu Xiaobo
(3) Extract from Me and the Internet, by Liu Xiaobo