It’s not that I didn’t expect this–it’s just that I didn’t expect it so soon! See… I bought a new mic, thinking I might want to get into podcasting. But I know nothing about podcasting, nor how I might stretch my silly verses into something worth actually saying out loud and at length. So… I asked my best friend Kylie, who already does that sort of thing. She offers to show me the ropes, and we do an interview. I expected it to come out sometime in a couple of weeks; I was thinking of how quickly *I* get things done, not how quickly Kylie gets things done. So it’s up already. But it was easier than I thought, so maybe I’ll start posting some of my verses with audio versions as well. In the meantime, you can hear me over at her place.
The Digital Cuttlefish
Since the music plays so briefly... Can you blame me if I dance?
Wait, you have a voice? Not just kind of *blub* bubble bubble *glub glub* bubble bubble bubble swoooosh!?
I’m not sure I want to know. Is there a transcript?
All these years I thought you were a man. I learned something today.
It’s possible that The Digital Cuttlefish is indeed a woman — but this sounds very much like a computer-modified voice, which leaves the question open. Of course, I could be wrong.
We learn all sorts of things on this blog. Last year on this date, for instance, we found out that the Cuttlefish was PZ Myers. Maybe next April we’ll find out that s/he is the President of Lithuania.
I watched for a big barrage of comments. I expected “Wow! Cuttle’s a woman!” Or “Hey! I think that was a computer generated or distorted voice of a man.” I went through both of these stages myself. Indeed ,these were pretty much covered in the first 3 comments along with the ‘I don’t really want to know’ option.
I find it fascinating what it says about our culture, and about our (my?) default thinking. That because Cuttle is both clever (in the fun humorous sense..As American’s look at it, although the smart sense as the British define it, works just as well) nay, brilliant, showing scientific smarts as well as language-acrobatic smarts then Cuttle must be a guy like PZ and Dawkins et al. We just naturally assume, even having been repeatedly reminded over the years what the first 3 letters of that word entail.
Then when our latent chauvinistic presumptions are shattered (can I be chauvinistic as a woman? My subconscious would seem to say so. ) And we find that Cuttle is or might be a woman, where do we go from here? Well, if true, I will now have to reset my imagery. Xmas with Cuttle-kids as seen from Mom’s view, which …uh… didn’t seem all that different from a Dad’s view now that I think back. Maybe throw in some cooking.
I will now have to read the Cuttle poems about love from the female prospective. And, and. Oh heck! Is the mind feminine or masculine? Are men from Mar’s or Venus? Is the toilet seat up or down? Does it matter in writing? Probably not, if one were to ask Mary Anne Evans (AKA George Eliot) or Louisa May Alcott. (A. M. Barnard). Although, it was a necessity to get certain works published back in their day. Indeed, Cuttle could well be punking us with an electronic voice, or have used a female stand-in. Believe that if it works for you. In the long run, what we choose to believe says more about us than we might like to admit. I, for one, need to take a closer look at female authors with unisex names, where there is no flyleaf photo and give them some big props. But wait! I’ve already done that with Cuttle. Praise is gender free.
I should point out that my comment said nothing about whether or not Cuttlefish was a man or a woman — just that, female or male, it sounds like a digitally-processed voice to me. You can make of that what you will.
Parenthetically, I remember that when I was snooping around on the Internet Googling Cuttlefish because I was curious to find a clue to h/er/is identity, I found a number of comments asserting that Cuttlefish had to be a woman. Personally, I have no opinion one way or the other.
I’m pretty bad at being able to distinguish between the sexes in most (if not all) marine life. The user photo, though, usually has me reading through an “excitable kid” voice-lens that’s somewhat gender-neutral.
Hmmm. Did anyone note that today is April Fool’s day?
Duh…
Is Cuttlefish a womanfish or manfish or a neuter?
Whatever Cuttle’s gender still his verse could not be cuter.
Last year the PZ Meyers scam did not quite suck me in
But this one was just masterful. I took it on the chin.
If Ashton Kutcher needs a new producer for his show
There might be someone punkier than Kutcher that I know.