Despite my natural curmudgeonly state of denial, there’s no doubt that the holiday season is upon us.
It is not really my favorite time of year. I find the constant bombardment of songs extolling the birth of a God that is not mine irritating, and the forced merriment infuriating. But all that has already been written up about a zillion times by people angrier and funnier than I’ll ever be, so that’s not what I’m writing about today. So don’t worry – this isn’t another one of those “angry pagan lesbian rants against the sacred national institutions of Christmas, Family Values, Truth, Justice and the (fictitious) American Way.”

Instead, I thought I’d spend a moment looking into the *real* meaning of this season – unadulterated greed and conspicuous consumption. I’m totally for these things, myself. :-) In the spirit of such things, let’s talk about SHOPPING!

Firstly. Let me extol the virtues and variety that await the Yuri fan on the Yuricon Shop. When you are creating your wishlists for friends and family, please consider using adding some Yuri anime, manga, apparel and/or gifts from ALC, Amazon, Amazon JP and Cafepress to that list. (If you’re making an Amazon wishlist, if you use links from the Shop, or generated through clicking through the shop, it would be extra lovely of you.)

Of course ALC has the usual 100% yuri manga – you know you want it. ALC will be running a post-holiday, “Get something you REALLY want” sale, so keep your eyes peeled for that in mid-January, after I return from Comiket. :-) If your relatives are paying, make ’em buy books now. LOL

But, what I really wanted to tell you about was the great new shirt designs on the “Gifts and Apparel” section of the Shop. The picture at the top is one of our three new designs – a long-sleeved black “I Love Yuri” shirt. We have this in a women’s fitted style and white, as well – and of course in short sleeve, hoodies and a variety of great shirt colors and pictures. These make terrific gifts for the yuri fan in your life – and even better gifts to get for the winter holiday of your choice. :-)

But enough about buying from me – let’s talk about buying *for* me. LOL

For the last six years I have spent an entire village’s worth of food money on anime, manga, books, drama cds, etc. I’ve been reviewing and promoting and traveling and in all that time, I’ve rarely accepted gifts – with some few exceptions.

(In fact, I’ve always kind of thought it icky to accept gifts from fans when they were offered. When people asked, I always said that the nicest thing they could do for me was buy something from the Shop.)

Last night, an intelligent and cogent person who I like to think of as a fan (and a friend) pointed out that some people might not feel comfortable buying things for themselves to make me happy. It does not compute. After another friend (Sean Gaffney, who owes me a review on Ichigo Mashimaro, Volume 1) shared his wishlist with me, I was persuaded to make a wishlist of my very own. You can see the link on the bottom of the righthand sidebar, subtlely entitled “In Case You Want To Buy Me Something Nice For My Efforts…” :-)

This is not a random wishlist, full of “Crap I Want.” It is a specifically yurilicious wishlist of things I will, should you decide to reward me for entertaining you, review, to further entertain you. (In other words, it is a wishlist of “Yuri Crap I Want.”) So its a win-win. At least for the moment, this wishlist will remain relevant to our shared interests. This way you don’t feel like you’re just getting who knows what – a little value-added “feel good” factor. ;-)

Lastly, while I am shamelessly begging for things that make me happy, if you really, really don’t know what to get; you got all the anime and manga and don’t wear t-shirts, use mugs, or need a clock, let me once again remind you that a copy of Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko, Volume 1 makes a fun and unusual gift for the budding babydyke or Yuri fan in the family – or for someone who is looking for something “different.” Buying my book is also a win-win. If you buy through the Shop, tell me you’re a reader of Okazu, and I’ll make sure the book is autographed – I’ll even write any message you request, provided it doesn’t make me feel dirty. :-)

So there you go. Buy from me, or buy for me. Either way, you get something you like (book, gift, shirt, review, etc) and I get something I like (income, prezzies.) We can all be happy with a holiday like that! LOL

It’s still a bit early, but as Chanukah begins Friday, let me take this opportunity to wish all my fans, friends, readers and itinerant visitors a happy and healthy holiday season!

Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for this round of “Now This Is Only My Opinon.” These were, for the most part, good questions. But I have to apologize, because they were also mostly serious, I wasn’t as funny as I’d hoped to be…

In any case, here we go:

1. Do you think there might be another Yuricon event in Japan?

You never know. I once said, “I’ll never do that again” about running an event, and now, four events later, we’re working on Yuricon 2007, so…

2.If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one yuri manga series, what would it be?

I thought about this long and hard and decided on Hana no Asuka-gumi, because it’s the longest. :-) The original series went 33 issues, an omake volume and a novel, and the new series is up to volume 4.

If you had opened it up to novels, the answer would have, of course, been Maria-sama ga Miteru.

3.In your opinion, what was the main cause of the decline of Mediterranean civilizations at the end of the bronze age?

I don’t believe there was a “decline”. There was only the evolution of culture that continually happens as technology and worldview changes. As “anonymous” pointed out, iron changed the dynamics of culture, but cultural shift is a constant, regardless of technology.

4.What color are your socks?

90% of the time, black. Otherwise, white.

5.What hentai fetish makes you cringe?

Excessive bodily fluids. I simply do not get the appeal of a woman drooling, splurting, shooting who know *what* out of her breasts and nose, all at once. And I cannot, for the life of me, understand how that got to be seen as sexy.

6.Have you evern been to a gay bar?

Evern – like ever/even? :)

Two lesbian bars. We ran the very first Yuricon events ever at Meow Mix in New York City. And I visited the Mars Bar in Tokyo with friends, the first time I was there. Oh, wait…now that I think about it, the last time I was there, I was taken to a lesbian party too, so three.

6.Would you turn away from yuri if the fans became as obsessed as say, some yaoi fans? (i.e. Your inbox would be litterally mobbed if you insulted Kanamiko and such.)

You don’t read the comments here much do you? LOL I have been accused of all *sorts* of crimes against fandumb, for pointing out that Kannazuki no Miko is a crappy story with a semi-happy yuri ending so people who have poor critical skills think its “good.” Repeatedly. But I like the series anyway, so I don’t care that it’s bad. And I don’t care that people get angry at me and constantly rail on me for hating it, which I don’t. I know a good story when I see one – and Kaishaku does not, ever, write what *I* consider good stories. :-) In fact, as an editor, writer and publisher, I fancy I have pretty solid “Know a good story when I see one” cred.

I work pretty hard at all Yuricon-related venues, whether the Mailing List, or here or at events, to ensure that the level of emotional and sexual immaturity one finds with other fandumbs is not replicated. I encourage mature behavior, regardless of age.

But I’ll be honest, I don’t involve myself with series-specific fandumbs, because fans are dumb – and I include myself in that statement. :-) They (We, I,) get caught up in things that really aren’t terribly important. I just can’t waste my time and energy explaining why Haruka and Michiru are lovers to someone who is opposed and simply won’t see it. Period. What would be the point?

So, to answer your question – no. I watch and read Yuri *because I enjoy it.* And I don’t much give a fig what other people think. If I did, I would never have started Yuricon back in 2000 when people saw the word “Yuri” and said, out loud, “Ewww, porn.”

8.How did you get such an awesome job? Related question: Will ALC ever hire trans or editors? Stupidly related question: Do I really have to live in NYC or LA to work in publishing? Somehow even stupider question: Should I bother getting a Blogger account?

Job? You mean I should be paid for this? I “got” this job, by, oh, creating it. I’ve been writing this blog since 2002 – the oldest Yuri-related blog in the world. I “got” this job, by creating the world’s first Yuri event/community/publishing/news organization and then by spending hours and hours of my time and more money than you can imagine promoting it. Have you ever bought one of our books? Until you do, it’s not a job.

ALC Publishing has had instructions for editors and translators up on the website for two years. Try reading the ALC Page on the Yuricon site.

If you want to work for a mainstream publishing company, then being in a major city, and being willing to work for peanuts, will definitely help. The latter more than the former.

I like Blogger, but unless you have anything to say, don’t get an account. There’s already too many “Read this, but yeah, I have nothing to say, but want to post anwyay” blogs out there already.

9.What do you think of “The L-Word”?

I’ve never seen it. I’m not really a fan of soap operas.

I do think that the actresses don’t much look like any of the lesbians I know. :-)

10. What is the correct way to use commas and semicolons in English?

From Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (which is a pun, because the acronym spelld “OWL” which is the Purdue “team name”):

Use a comma after the first independent clause when you link two independent clauses with one of the following coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. For example:

• I am going home, and I intend to stay there.
• It rained heavily during the afternoon, but we managed to have our picnic anyway.
• They couldn’t make it to the summit and back before dark, so they decided to camp for the night.

Use a semicolon when you link two independent clauses with no connecting words. For example:

• I am going home; I intend to stay there.
• It rained heavily during the afternoon; we managed to have our picnic anyway.
• They couldn’t make it to the summit and back before dark; they decided to camp for the night.

You can also use a semicolon when you join two independent clauses together with one of the following conjunctive adverbs (adverbs that join independent clauses): however, moreover, therefore, consequently, otherwise, nevertheless, thus, etc.

11. What kind of music do you listen to, anyways? Any specific bands, albums or songs you’d feel like recommending? Any all-time favourites? Weird curiosities? Anything else you’d like to say about your taste in music, or music in general?

I like, in no particular order: Classical, Swing, Pop Music in any language but English. I can listen to nearly anything except Country.

I don’t really have favorites, but I am exceptionally fond of Holst’s The Planets, and Battaglia by Bieber. I like anything with a good clarinet riff, and because of Yuriko, I now really enjoy cello concertos, as well. :-)

At work, I listen to a lot of anime OPs and EPs on my Ipod, stuff from One Piece, Sailor Moon, Utena, Simoun, Kannazuki, Strawberry Panic and a host of other yuri and non-yuri series.

And, last but not at all least:

12. What would you do with ALC if you won the lottery?

That is such a difficult question. I know what I *want* to do, but I can’t do that, for several reasons. So I’ll say that I’d put alot more money and manpower into advertising and promotion – and get me some wage slaves to do the production work that I hate the most. :-)

***

Again, my thanks to everyone for their questions – we’ll do it again next year!

As you must have realized by now, I am only partially in favor of blogs being a two-way flow of information exchange. That is, I’m thrilled when people comment on my posts and am mostly willing to read and comment back, but this particular blog is focused on one thing – getting yuri manga and anime fans to buy anime and manga through the Yuricon Shop, or getting you onto the Yuricon Mailing List by sharing with you all the great yuri I can. (I think it’s fairly obvious, but my apologies if you thought I had some noble intent. I’m just trying to make enough to support me being able to put out more yuri manga through ALC Publishing. Your purchases through the Shop, especially of ALC publications, go a long way to achieving that goal.)

So you may have noticed that all the links on the sidebar are focused on, well, me. Yuricon, the Shop, my fanfic page, my fan club. I have no links out to non-me related sites, except where it still focuses your interest back into “me” spaces, like the tags, or syndicating Okazu. This is all highly ironic to me since, of all the things that are important about Yuricon, “me” isn’t really one of them – but if it keeps you all funneled into the “yuri” channel, I’m not above it. I have very little pride. :-)

What, exactly, is the point of this self-obsessed rubbish? you are probably asking. Nothing, except that I’ve been tagged by my friend Lee Kottner, whose Blogorrhea Junior is something that I read – because it’s interesting. So for a moment, I’m breaking form and perpetuating a book meme originated elsewhere, for no other reason than because I was tagged and am now “it”.

That, for those of you expecting a point, was it. :-)

Please read Lee’s comments about the limitations of this meme, because all I have to say about those comments is “word.”

1. One book that changed your life?

Like most readers, especially young readers, my life is filled with books that were life-changing. And is there anything more scrunchy-face-making in the whole world than other people’s seminal books? LOL

Just one book? Just *one*?

How do I render my life into one single moment, when everything went “pop”? My shelves are full of my seminal books. The books that set off lights and bells and whistles in my brain – that STILL do.

But because it doesn’t fit into any other category in this meme, I will choose The White Goddess by Robert Graves. This “historical grammar of poetic myth” is brain-bustingly insane – and quite briliant. Most people hate it, but I thought – and still think – I understand what Graves was doing, by taking mythic images and qabalistically reinterpreting them. It’s not history – it’s not literature – it’s mythopoeisis. And it’s amazing. Reading this book was the first time in my life that I felt that several of my areas of interest were colliding for a reason – and that there was both rhyme and rhythm to my life. I had never considered that before that moment – and I’ve never doubted it since.

2. One book you have read more than once?

Hah. Which ones haven’t I read more than once? To be read many times is practically the definition of being a book on my book shelves.

Like Lee, I used to (with almost religious fervor) read The Lord of the Rings annually, but for me it was always in the autumn, to be begun around Frodo and Bilbo’s birthdays. Geeky? Yes. I have no regrets. Another seminal book for me.

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence, which oddly, reappeared in my life *this very week* in an article from a military history magazine, and which I will no doubt take off the shelf to re-read again soon.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

The above-mentioned Seven Pillars, definitely. Of course I’ll need to bring along all the source material too, so it’ll have to be a big case and include all the Greek and Latin classics in the original. I figure I’ll have plenty of time to learn the languages.

Also Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco. I love this book, not least because I know people in every single weird occult group he mentions. :-)

4. One book that made you laugh?

This one has me stumped. I can’t think of too many books that make me laugh out loud. Focault’s definitely made me laugh, especially in the bit about numerology, which was brilliance.

My own Shoujoai ni Bouken has made me laugh, honestly. That’s why I figure it doesn’t suck too bad. :-)

Of the books that live on my shelves, I guess I’m going to have to go with Flaming Iguanas by Erika Lopez .

5. One book that made you cry.

You mean, other than the fact that I get choked up every time when I read the bit in LotR where Rohan comes riding down out of the mountains to the war in Gondor?

The one book that really made me all out cry – and frankly I’ve never forgiven her for it – was The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I don’t really like crying – and I do NOT believe in “a good cry.” Nonetheless, this book was amazingly well-written and worth reading.

6. One book you wish had been written?

Just about everything I’ve ever written was because no one else was writing it…. ;-)

So, I guess I’ll say the Girl’s History of Yuri, in which I figure as a foremother of the enduring popular genre. LOL

6a. (Lee added this one for aspiring authors) One book by someone else you wish you had written.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. For years that was my default “Oh my god, now *this* is good writing” example.

7. One book you wish had never been written?

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. It’s a long story, but suffice to say that I deeply and personally loathe that book.

8. One book you are currently reading?

Maria-sama ga Miteru: Ready, Go! by Konno Oyuki in the original Japanese. I toyed with saying that I wish I had written the Marimite series,, but I think I’m happier being able to read them. The more I read these books, the more I honestly believe that Konno is an absolutely brilliant writer. The novel may be light reading, but the author is no lightweight.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

You know, I don’t have that pile anymore. I used to have a zillion books I was “meaning to get to” but now I either read a book or I don’t.

Okay, that’s not true -I have a whole pile of Maria-sama ga Miteru novels to read yet, and then the R.O.D novels, then Bakuretsu Tenshi, but that’s not me meaning to read them, so much as, I’ll get there when I get there. :-)

10. Now tag five people.

Sean, Alan (who is one of the very few people on this planet who can recommend books to me), Ed, Meryl (neither of whom read Okazu) and Pattie. Other than Sean, I don’t expect anyone will ever see this post, so “you’re it” probably won’t work. :-) Nonetheless, I’ll email them and invite them – and you, dear reader – to reply with YOUR responses here in the comments section.

The only reason I haven’t posted a review the last few days, was that I was feeling lazy. To make it up to you, I thought I’d post a list of the blogs *I* read regularly. These are in no particular order. You may wonder why I don’t just include them on the side bar as links. Don’t apply for a mangerial position anywhere until you *do* understand why. :-) If you understand why, then you know what I mean. LOL

The Dilbert Blog – I read Scott Adam’s blog regularly not because I think he’s smarter or funnier than I am, but because his comments about the kinds of things he deals with from his “fans” so eerily parallel my own experiences and ideas that I find it relaxing to read his expressions of the kinds of things I think and say all the time myself.

Aozora Art – This is Rica Takashima’s (yuri manga artist extraordinaire and author of Rica ‘tte Kanji!”,) blog (in Japanese.) We pretty much keep in touch all the time anyway, but I enjoy reading her thoughts about her art projects and even her day-to-day minutiae.

Cocktail Party Physics is not only fun, intelligent, fascinating and noteworthy, but also written by a good friend of mine. I like reading CPP if only to remind myself that once upon a time I considered becoming a physicist. :-) Jen’s writing is sharp and fun. And the cocktail recipes in the sidebar are a scream.

Zyl has become a good friend of Yuricon, and I find myself reading Hontou ni so omou? more and more often. I don’t watch every anime he’s watching, or agree with all of his opinions, but he’s funny, he plugs Yuricon and Okazu all the time and I find myself wanting to know what he thinks – especially when we don’t agree.

Blogorrhea is a blog I have only recently started following. Lee Kottner is a fellow fanfic and professional author and all around creative type. Last time we spent time together, we decided that, despite the several years difference in our ages, we must have been separated at birth…it was getting a little creepy, in fact. :-)

Yuri Kokoro is a Japanese yuri blog I’ve mentioned on Okazu before. I admit I haven’t been checking it with the same frequency I used to, for various reasons. I’m going to get back in the habit.

I scan a bunch of other blogs too, for personal and professional interest: Slashdot, PC World, Researchbuzz, Dialog Updated Bluesheets, Yuri News. I also check the Anime News Network, Anime Nation news, and ICV2 from time to time.

And lastly, I read a bunch of Japanese yuri artist’s websites, whenever I have a free moment. But I’ll save that for a future post.

I’m spending the weekend doing some reading – the 14th Marimite novel, Suzukaze Satsusatsu, and the original Hana no Asuka-gumi supplementary stories, and I hope to get some writing for Saiyuu no Ryouko in. I’ll be back with reviews next week!

Last week, I offered to wax opinionated on anything you asked, so here we are. A lot of the questions are Marimite related, so take all answers with the requisite grain of salt.

Q: I might as well ask the most obvious question (to me): Which Lillian schoolgirl would you want to be?

This is the “most obvious” question? It wouldn’t be to me, but okay… I’m not in the habit of wanting to be fictitious characters. And to be very, very honest, the idea of going to a Catholic school does not appeal to ex-Jew, currently pagan me. BUT, if I absolutely HAD to be someone at Lillian, well then there’s no choice at all. Lesbian, comparative literature major and dirty-old-man at 18, I’d have to go with Sei. And the sky is blue. ^_^

Q:I STILL want to know if you think Rei and Yoshino are sleeping together. And hey, I can’t seem to remember any evidence besides their word that they really are cousins…

Other proof? You mean other than the fact that the author says as much? Authors, despite fan’s hopes and dreams *do* have final say. Rei and Yoshino ARE cousins. Their fathers are brothers and their mothers were soeur at Lillian. I do not think they are sleeping together, no.

Q: Not sure if you are familiar with the fanfiction of Paul Corrigan, (and I don’t mean to plug someone else’s work on your site, nor am I affiliated with Paul Corrigan in any way) – but after your reading of the Marimite novels and such, what do you think of his characterization of Yumi and Sachiko in fanfics like this one? http://tinyurl.com/hdvup – Just curious on your take on it.

I am familiar with Paul and his curious brand of Canada-insert fanfic. I was not familiar with this story, because I mostly do not read fanfic other than those written by the members of the Fanfic Revolution. However, in the spirit of trying to be as fair in answering as I could, I went to the link and tried to read it. Again, to be perfectly honest, I was unable to get past the poor formatting and swiftly and randomly changing tenses and points of view to encounter the characterization that you spoke of. It seemed to me that story was that Sachiko had propositioned Yumi, but due to Sei and Youko’s unintended interference they got nowhere and everyone ends frustrated. I did not care for it. At the risk of sounding abominably pompous, I did it better in Distance.

Q: Any opinions on Shizuru and Natsuki of Mai Hime/Otome fame? (or any of the other couplings in that universe)

Nope. None at all.

Q: And while I’m at it, what DO you think of Kannazuki no Miko?

It was a funny, train-wreck of an insensible anime, and a slightly more heinous manga, clearly written by and for people who haven’t the least little idea what rape does to a person. But the multitudes of children who think it was beautiful and fantastic and sexy HAWT yuri make me want to cry.

It was fun. But it was NOT good.

Q: Who is the greatest anime villain of them all?

What a great question! I have no idea…there are so many.

Desslock from Starblazers was my first; with his beautiful blue skin and stylin’ orange hair, but no one gives him any respect these days.

(I’m doing a little review of my entries in the November ’03 issue of Animerica, in which I contributed to a “Rogues’ Gallery” of evil, and wrote a short piece on the “Badass-ness of Being Bad” to assist my memory.)

Gestapoko from the Kekkou Kamen anime is offensive in every possible way, so she’s on the list, absolutely. A Nazi-regalia-clad S&M “queen” with the look of a street hooker from “Hunter” Gestapoko made Alan Harnum collapse in horror once – that’s got to count for something!

Because of the recent Live-Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon I have to put Queen Beryl on my list. She was just another red-headed baddie until she was brought to life in the newest incarnation. And woo-hee, she was GREAT! The nails, the breasts, the *dress*! Beryl’s da bomb in every way.

Goldie Musou from Gunsmith Cats has always been one of my favorite Evil, Psychotic Lesbians (TM), for her driven insanity and desire to make a sex toy out of Rally. I respect that kind of vision in a woman.

But I have to say that my *personal* number one favorite villain ever is… Eudial of the Witches Five from the Sailor Moon anime. Doorknobder is the most pathetic miserable wretch of a Monster of the Day, Eudial is so hopeless, and so funny and so cracked, that I’ve loved her from first sight. I mean – she collects the parking and driving tickets she gets! Eudial can have my heart any day – pure or not.

Q: Do you know if anything ever happens between Sachiko and Yumi?

Um, do you folks realize that Maria-sama ga Miteru is for young teens, right? No one is going to have sex in this series. Move on already! I am prepared to bet money that none of the soeur couples will ever be seen having sex in the books proper. Ever.

Q: I’ve been wondering for a while, what exactly are your feelings about the ‘onee-sama complex’ in Yuri?

It’s a perfectly natural extension of the usual sempai-kouhai relationships all Japanese form throughout their lives, and has roots of tradition that date back to pre-literary times. It’s just a thing.

Q: Flat tax. Yes or No?

Doesn’t Matter. It’s not the tax system that is flawed (although it is, of course) but that *any* system of government or taxation is inherently flawed because people are inherently monstrously selfish. And regardless of the system of taxation, rich people will be able to hire professionals to wangle out of it, governments will always count on the middle class (a part of which I proudly account myself) to bear the burden of the lowest class, who are the unlikeliest to seek the correct kinds of help to lessen their loads for many and various reasons.

Q: Aside from the ones you’ve mentioned here on Okazu (or maybe even including them, for those who haven’t read all the archives), what original Yuri doujinshi circles do you read?

My top Circles currently are, off the top of my head: Jesus Drug, Sakuraike, NWXP, Office Mono, Girlish, Pen-Pen Gusa Club. Some of these do original, some not. I’m on a Jesus Drug kick at the moment, as I’ve become a huge Hayashiya Shizuru fangirl.