Tag Archives: James Deen

January 13, 2013 · 7:56 pm

Sunday Scraps 90

sunday90

1. HOLLYWOOD: It’s the piece everyone was talking about this week, so if you missed it, play catch-up with the Lindsay Lohan/James Deen/Bret Easton Ellis/”The Canyons” how-the-sausage-is-made essay.

2. INDEX: This is Indexed blogger/writer/drawer Jessica Hagy is interviewed for Fast Company about how she found her 3×5 sized internet niche.

3. WRITERS: The Rumpus interviews Zadie Smith about her novel NW, and why she doesn’t write autobiographically.

4. TINA + AMY: How pumped are you for tonight’s Golden Globes hosting-duo? Not enough? Get more so with NYMag’s recap of their friendship.

5. INDIA: I can’t even begin to describe how dead-on this opinion piece by Sohaila Abdulali is, so I’m just going to quote it: “Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the reasons that have been drilled into the heads of Indian women. It is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” It is not horrible because your father and your brother are dishonored. I reject the notion that my virtue is located in my vagina, just as I reject the notion that men’s brains are in their genitals.”

6. FRIDA: A closet full of Frida Kahlo’s personal items has been locked and guarded for 85 years and has just now been opened and explored.

Related Post: Sunday 89: Avalanches, Mr. Wright, pickpockets and Matt + Ben Forever.

Related Post: Sunday 88: Russian gymnasts, the Rockaways, origins of “doubt”, Moloch

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July 25, 2011 · 12:55 pm

Guess Who I Interviewed? Hint, You’ve Seen Him Naked.

This week, on The Good Men Project, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing porn star James Deen. I guarantee you this would be fun for anybody, but if you’ve been paying attention, you know I may be operating under the influence of a slight crush.

While everyone else was watching the World Cup penalty kick showdown, I was chatting with Deen while he putzed around his apartment, killing spiders and doing laundry. Read the whole profile for our conversation about feminism, professionalism, and the behind-the-scenes of consent on porn sets.

Related Post: A different sort of interview skilllz.

Related Post: I did another interview for the GMP, with Chicago social worker Anthony Di Vittorio.

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July 14, 2011 · 1:59 pm

Phoenix: Before and After

Earlier this week, I published an article summarizing my thoughts on porn (especially as it fits, or doesn’t, into relationships) for The Good Men Project. The comments went ballistic (many were longer than my essay), but at least no one said “I hate you,” like they did to Hugo. Sheesh.

One of the notes I liked the most while interviewing folks for the GMP post was Gretchen’s, about being inspired by real-looking porn stars, ones with “flaws” and everything.

As usual, I was reading pornstar James Deen’s blog (most definitely NSFW) and, as usual, there’s a picture of a naked lady. Except, not like usual, because this lady, Phoenix Marie, was snapped before she made it to hair and make-up. Here’s what she looked like:

Phoenix Marie, before

She’s certainly attractive, and the platinum hair speaks to porn convention, but to Gretchen’s point… she looks like a real person. Someone you might see on the train or in line at the grocery story. Not so once she comes out of hair and make-up:

Phoenix Marie, after

It’s too bad. I liked her better before.

Related Post: Advice from porn stars? Why not?

Related Post: Gaby Dunn interviews James Deen for 100 Interviews.

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July 6, 2011 · 1:43 pm

From “Ooh La La” to Tears with Gaby Dunn

If you don’t read Gaby Dunn’s blog 100 Interviews, you should. The basic premise is simple and brilliant and I’m jealous I didn’t think of it myself. She made a list of 100 types people she wanted to meet, and then went about meeting them and asking them a lot of questions.

Her two most recent interviews are perhaps my favorite, if only because they demonstrate the ridiculous range of the blog. On one end of the spectrum, she interviewed pornstar James Deen (who we all know I love), and on the other she just posted her interview with Jeff Gonski, who fit the horrible category “Someone Who Lost Someone in 9/11.”

The Deen interview made me giggle and blush a lot: “We go inside and it’s just me and him. Alone. In his house. To cope with my anxiety, I rev my usual defense mechanism; when I find someone attractive, I tease them mercilessly like I’m Helga from ‘Hey Arnold.’ James 1) sees right through me and 2) seems to find it wildly amusing.“

The Gonski interview, on the other hand, I had to stop reading in public because I was starting get choked up. His fiancee literally flipped a coin with a coworker to determine who’d attend the conference at the World Trade Center. She lost: “The nightmare didn’t end there. Usually when someone loses a loved one, they don’t have to watch their death replayed on the nightly news indefinitely. ‘It’s like, why are you showing it over and over again?’ He says. ‘You do realize people are dying? It’s not abstract. It’s real people and now you have to see the moment over and over again.’”

Blech. So… two interviews, two very different reasons not to read them at work, on a train, or anywhere that you mind people seeing you squirm or cry.

Related Post: Looking back, apparently I have a bit of thing for interview pairs. There was this one, about feminism, and then this one, about women during the Arab Spring.

Related Post: The Atlantic‘s idiotic and overreaching take on the state of modern pornography.

Related Post: I have my own conversation with a stranger, and consequently miss a flight. Sigh.

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March 13, 2011 · 4:05 pm

Sunday Scraps

1. BODY IMAGE: Addicted to textsfromlastnight? Spend a lot of time thinking about body image/health/beauty etc? Meet your dream site.

2. FASHION: I want this coat. I’m not cool enough to wear it, but whatever. From NYMag‘s slideshow of the best/worst of February fashion magazines.

3. SPORTS: Iron Girl founder Judy Molnar is the shit. Triathalons here I come?

4. SPORTS/BODY IMAGE: The coffee-table book came out years ago, but the images are apparently just hitting the internet. The human body really is pretty fucking awesome, no?

5. SEX: Posts like this (NSFW) are why I love pornstar James Deen. Introspective, sex-positive, feminist… swoon.

6. THE INTERNETS: What happens when an Etsy crafter tries to strike back at Regretsy? Read the comments.

Related Post: Another list… who do you want to know instead of who do you want to bang.

Related Post: Letters from Johns and Working Girls… addictive reading from Susannah Breslin.

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