Nose to the grindstone

I have not been able to post today because I have been working hard on this research paper: “Is that a bandana? Gay Bar Hanky Codes of the Reagan Era.” You wouldn’t think that such a paper would even be relevant for a student in the landscape architecture department, but, since the hanky codes had such regional variation, there is a topographical element at play in the matrix. I am working on my map overlays, color coded for each year of the Reagan administration, mostly focusing on established gay neighborhoods in San Francisco, NYC and Colorado Springs. Research is difficult because much of the source information has been lost. We are talking about an oppressed subculture here after all. Some dominant themes hold together on both coasts, however, and my analysis of the color associations (at times obvious, at times devilishly ironic) is brilliantly conjoined with color theory as it relates to graphic design issues in all aspects of the human experience. The paper topic was almost rejected by my professor, who questioned its overall relevance. I accused her of homophobia and went to the department head and soon I was back in business. Nobody’s gonna shut me up.