House, M.D. and the sexual "shippers"

Even as a fan of Hugh Laurie and the supporting cast of House, M.D.  who is looking forward with much expectation to the Season 7 premiere on the 20th (**TWO! Count them, 2!*** days, as some of the more motor-revved fans might write it), I am a bit overwhelmed by some of the ideas attached to video and salivated over by the most dedicated "shippers." I think this  is short for worshippers. I first encountered this web-based phenomenon when The West Wing was going off the air, which was, to be sure, a sad day for all of us who loved that supremely well-written show.  The Josh and Donna "shippers" were poring over every tiny spoiler detail that slipped out, and were practically doing in their pants what they wished they could see the actors Brad Whitford and Janel Maloney do on-screen. The final denouement of TWW was, I thought, relatively restrained, and probably not nearly salacious enough for the fans (or the "pajama people," as Aaron Sorkin called them.
Now, "shippers" of House (Hugh Laurie) and Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein, whose appearance as Laurie, Sam Seaborn's friend who happened to be a prostitute on The West Wing probably helped her get the job as Cuddy),  House's  boss and sudden girlfriend, are waxing ever more passionate. The "Huddy" fans pore in a most unrestrained manner  over videos, clips, many-times-seen exchanges between the two actors, and a few escaped spoilers.
I was rather startled to see, on one site, an image of Hugh Laurie facing Lisa Edelstein, she lying on a bed, he wearing boxer shorts and a watch, and she obviously performing SOME act on him-- which, I understand from Ausiello's blog and other places, is an image of her kissing House's scar. The fans were not all willing to accept this. Was she kissing his scar, or "kissing his scar," ha ha?
Even if it were possible to show an act of love between them in which one performs oral sex on the other, which it is not, even for "House," which takes as many liberties with the uptight rules of the networks as it is possible to take, so what? Is that somehow less an act of true love than her kissing him on the scar, or the lips, or making love to him? I feel sorry for Mr. Laurie and Ms. Edelstein. Of course this is great for their careers (and Laurie should really have won an Emmy for last season's finale performance, I feel), but it does seem to be slopping over into the realm of soft porn. I am sure the producers and writers are well aware of this and are capitalizing on it, but it seems to me that the "pajama people" might wake up a bit and see how much of this kind of real love they can put in their own lives, rather than slurp over what, exactly, this fictional doctor is doing to that fictional doctor. I'm going to be watching the show, and I hope for the best for House and Cuddy, but I really think it goes too far when a show that's about medical mysteries (and the people who solve them) become a kind of porn for the night people...
Oh well. I'm being too mean... compassion. Karuna, as Huxley says in Island-- or the birds in the trees say... have compassion on all these who have, perhaps, not even one lover in their lives...

Here is some information about Quarry Hill and the Fiske family, for those who may not know.

Quarry Hill, named for a nearby marble quarry, was bought (for about $1,000 for 140 acres!)  by my parents, Irving and Barbara Hall Fiske, in 1946 as an artists and writers colony. 

 I grew up there and in central Florida. Till I grew up and attended college, I never went to school, since William Blake, my parents' resident "genius," was opposed to it, and corporal punishment was rife in many schools in those days. Blake:" The child that weeps the rod beneath writes revenge in realms of death."

 We traveled 1500 miles  a year, up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States, in order to live the free life we wanted to live. In the beginning my parents,  brother William and myself traveled in a tiny trailer (about 6'X6')!

Later, my cousin David joined us, and my uncle, my father's brother, a classical composer, followed at a distance he considered maintained his personal dignity with his other son, Robin. (He and David didn't get on, and their mother had died).

My parents believed that children should never be spanked or scolded and should choose the things to learn that interested them the most. Actually, they said children should be in charge of adults, and often followed up on their words with actions.

Both my parents were educated. My father had attended Cornell and my mother had studied art in California and New York, where she had been a cartoonist for Harvey during WWII. (See The Great Women Cartoonists, by Trina Robbins, Workman Publishing Co. -- B. Hall.)

 Irving, my father, was, among many other things,  a WPA and freelance writer, and had a correspondence with G.B. Shaw about Irv's translation of Hamlet into Modern English-- a very controversial thing to do at that time. It was published by John Ciardi in The Saturday Review-- with scorn-- but to his surprise, most readers wrote in saying they liked the translation. He also wrote a now-classic article, Bernard Shaw's Debt to William Blake, which Shaw loved and had reprinted at his own expense (unsuprisingly, since it "shews that I also am among the prophets," as Shaw said.

 My  mother, who paints in pastel and tempera (though at 91 a little slowed down), is  a visionary artist. Therefore, our educational life had hefty ramparts,and we learned much that we were interested in by the Socratic method, by traveling, and on our own. Still, loneliness was almost unavoidably a part of our daily life without too many other children. Thank God for my several Vermont friends! They were brave to befriend "summer people" and bohemians, but they did it and opened their homes and farms to us for lovely Charlotte's Web-like summer play.

Books and Civil War battlefields (and other visits to historic places) helped us learn more. My brother became a historian and a computer programmer on the cutting edge of medical software before his unfortunate early death in 2008. He held two Masters' degrees and was on his way to a Ph.D. at the time of his death.

In the mid-Sixties, my parents opened a space called the Gallery Gwen in New York's East Village,and there gave art shows, poetry readings, and my father spoke on "Tantra, the Yoga of Sex" and many other things. On Thursdays he spoke, and on Fridays he drove people to our place in Vermont to spend the weekend.
In the later 60s and 70s people began to build houses there, have children, and become a group that traveled together, shared child care, and also, when they wanted to, shared lovers. We began our own school which influenced other schools around the state, and most of our kids grew up to be Valedictorians at the local school and good at what they do.
We are still here today in a rather different form. 
We are mostly a place that rents out land and spaces to live now, but we always uphold our original beliefs. Children are never spanked or intimidated here, and we do not harm or kill animals. We welcome the unusual person, the creative person, the outsider. And we enjoy our lives.

By our Poet Laureate

I am an aging hippie
And proud to say I am
And for your straight conventions
I still don't give a damn.
  -- Dillard K. Henderson

My Sheltie, Lucky, age 4

The Vermont Movie http://thevermontmovie.com/advisors/

Or,"Freedom and Unity." This will feature a few moments of information on Quarry Hill, including, I think, part of an interview with me conducted by Nora Jacobson, the creator of the "communities" portion of the movie. I have a good feeling about this movie, which is connected, I believe, with the book Freedom and Unity by Michael Sherman et al, and look forward to its release. It is all about Vermont from many various angles. And Vermont is no ordinary place.
One day in Vermont is worth a thousand years anywhere else (at least, if it's a nice, sunny day).

An article on communities and "Freedom and Unity" from the Rutland Herald

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709300326

Quarry Hill isn't and never was a real "commune," but we are indeed cited in Freedom and Unity by my old professor, Michael Sherman (et al).

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://mylikes.com/embed/js?user=ladybellefiske"></script>

Irving Fiske in Wedding attire at the 10 day Marriage of two former residents, 1970s

Irving seems to have had a new career-- after his death! How odd!

http://www.amazon.com/Rochester-Vermont-Windsor-Rutland-2-Representative-2002-2012/dp/115846925X

Some Places to find Info on Irving Fiske, co-founder of Quarry Hill (PS I wrote some of them myself).

Irving Fiske - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irving Fiske (March 5, 1908–April 25, 1990) born Irving Fishman in Brooklyn, New York, was a playwright, inventor, freelance writer, and speaker. ...

en.wikipedia.org

Quarry Hill Creative Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On April 10, 1946, Irving Fiske (born Irving Fishman in Brooklyn, New York, on March 5, 1908), a playwright, inventor, freelance writer, and speaker, ...

en.wikipedia.org

Irving L. Fiske, 82 - Created Community For Workers in Arts ...

May 1, 1990 ... LEAD: Irving L. Fiske, a freelance writer who founded a community for artists, writers and freethinkers in Rochester, Vt., died of a stroke ...

www.nytimes.com

Irving Fiske - Wikiquote

Irving Fiske (5 March 1908 – 25 April 1990), born Irving Fishman in Brooklyn, New York, was a playwright, inventor, freelance writer, ...

en.wikiquote.org

William Blake again...

http://www.themorgan.org/blake/
A New World Is Begun.

I have invited others to write here...

Sent several invitations to others to write their thoughts on this QH related Blog. I am posting here to say that if I did not e mail you, you're still welcome to post or write. Just let me know if you'd like to say something related to the history and point of view of QH or some other topic, as long as it isn't super-offensive to some other bunch of people.
Love,
LB

A nice mention from Steve, who was here a few years ago.. The Rucksack Letters.

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1ez03/TheRucksackLetters/resources/85.htm


Hi Steve!
Ladybelle

NEW QUIZ (October)

1. Are you glad to be alive?

2. Is alive glad to be you?

3. Do you think "here and now" is the crucial issue?

4. How important is it to you to help others?

5. How important to you is it to have fun?

6. Can  you do both?

7. Why not?

Thanks!

Facebook is a strange place...

I find myself a little baffled by Facebook. It is a good way to stay in touch with people, yet at the same time it can turn on its users. I watched a friend saying he thought he'd "like" all his own posts. For some reason, this bothered people and they said it was narcissistic. I can't see why anyone should mind!
Also, when people post birthday greetings to someone who has no computer, it is nice but would be better if they could send a card or call (my 91 year old mother is the person I have in mind). It's not the same to them to hear that people sent love on FB. She doesn't even really know what it is!
But I plan to take the computer over to show her, and maybe she'll get into it. Who knows.
In the meantime, though, I urge friends to think of those who aren't into social networking sites. A call, or a card, can mean a lot to an older person.
However-- thanks to those who posted!

Today I wrote the NY Times to suggest

...that a mosque should be built exactly in the MIDDLE of ground zero. That, it seems to me, would deter attacks by fundamentalist Muslims who are bent on killng-- though I can't guarantee anything about other religions such as Christianity.

I really think it would be a good idea. We should get over all these divisions. Religious affiliations are like pets or fashion. All the real religious experience in the world has nothing to do with creed or ritual. It has to do with waking and seeing "who in fact we really are," as Aldous Huxley put it.
Or so it seems to me.

Joya Lonsdale 2010