The perks of being a chopdawg

We are all googling our name origins for fun and I never really thought about the fact that my first...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:17:33 -0400

We are all googling our name origins for fun and I never really thought about the fact that my first name comes from Alice and essentially means “Little Alice.”

mynameisgrey: incipient: lovett91: failstun: tomhiddledong: innercheeseburger: tomhiddledong: ...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:09:08 -0400

mynameisgrey:

incipient:

lovett91:

failstun:

tomhiddledong:

innercheeseburger:

tomhiddledong:

the mediocre gatsby

the decent wall of china

the ok depression

alright britain

The mildly interesting barrier reef

somewhat fulfilled expectations.

alexander the good enough

the average and feeble Oz

Adventures in self-diagnosis

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:26:38 -0400

After googling some symptoms I’ve experienced, I uncover several people who have the same thing. Summary of their possible explanations:

1. epilepsy
2. anxiety / panic attacks
3. hypoglycemia
4. i’m psychic
5. i’m receiving messages from God

so, you know. pretty standard.

(I joke because I’m scared, but don’t worry just yet)

#ThrowbackThursday: A dream I had on July 27, 2009

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:27:19 -0400

I just randomly discovered a document saved on my computer containing a description of a dream I had in 2009. I no longer have any actual recollection of the dream except for some of the parts described at the very end (the car thing), so it’s cool that I typed it out after it happened. It’s kind of dumb, but still interesting. The “you” addressed in the text is Levi Throckmorton (I sent it to him after writing it). He is quite tall in real life. BTW, the car thing is a very common trope in my dreams. For my whole life, I’ve dreamed about being in a car that misbehaves, or I forget how to drive, etc.

It seemed that you and I and some other people were attending my elementary school (I dream about that place a lot) and waiting to be picked up from school in the carpool line. We were not, however, elementary school aged. At some point, everybody there broke out into a choreographed dance routine, resembling Thriller. You and I didn’t know the dance as well as everyone else seemed to. Your excuse was that you had never ridden a school bus. After that I was having an argument with some guy about the evolution of rock music. I turned to you for help and discovered that you were hiding in a file folder in a box I was carrying. How did you fit in there? I have no idea.

Next part is less interesting but still weird…The scene changed at some point and we were on top of some building looking down at something like a playground, where an event was being held that was either a reenactment of pre- Civil War times or a 1920s party. I remember a large gazebo that was made out of cake. There was also a stack of several copies of a book, which was authored by a relative of yours. I don’t know if this person was present. But then another relative, maybe your aunt, showed up to (finally) pick you up from school. She stuck around and talked to me, even though you never actually introduced her to me, which was rude.

Somewhere in here, I had a conversation with Ben Stutts about having a 1920s themed mixer.

I realized that no one was going to pick me up from school, and before I could ask your aunt for a ride, you two were gone. Then I realized I had a car. But after I got in my car, it started behaving quite strangely. It went in reverse when I had it in drive, and it accelerated when I tried to brake. Before I could realize what it was doing, I crashed backwards into a wall or something at a very high speed. The car exploded and pieces flew everywhere, and…this is the best part…I flew into the air and into the SKY and I was transformed into some kind of Nintendo game controller that had wings. And then YOU appeared in the sky as well, also as a game controller with wings! You were yellow. THE END

Hospital To Discontinue Practice, But Swaddling A Baby Is Still Best

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:57:49 -0400

Hospital To Discontinue Practice, But Swaddling A Baby Is Still Best:

i’m not sure whether i was “swaddled” as a baby, but i’m sure i would have loved it. being wrapped up like a burrito is so nice.

i don’t know why i’m putting this on my blog. i am neither a mother nor a baby.

oh well

can’t handle cuteness.

Sat, 11 May 2013 16:02:35 -0400

can’t handle cuteness.

Fangirl problems

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:08:53 -0400

I fell asleep listening to “Sleep” by The Dandy Warhols (from my collection of Queer as Folk songs) and woke up a few minutes later to Darren Criss singing “Cho Chang” from A Very Potter Musical because Darren came up up next on my iTunes.

This was a bizarre experience, but I think a handful of people on Tumblr will be able to appreciate it.

Certain feelings of anxiety can be so terrifying yet so thrilling at the same time. I guess...

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:38:00 -0400

Certain feelings of anxiety can be so terrifying yet so thrilling at the same time.

I guess that’s why people ride roller coasters and things. I set lots of lofty goals for myself instead.

Baz Luhrmann, can I please borrow your drugs?

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:30:38 -0400

Baz Luhrmann, can I please borrow your drugs?

I applied for a job and it is the only job I will ever want ever ever ever. I just really want it.

Wed, 08 May 2013 23:29:34 -0400

I applied for a job and it is the only job I will ever want ever ever ever.

I just really want it.

stfuconservatives: mohandasgandhi: What happens if you flip...

Wed, 08 May 2013 21:09:31 -0400

stfuconservatives:

mohandasgandhi:

What happens if you flip gendered book covers?

You are informed about a book’s perceived quality through a number of ways. Probably the biggest is the cover.

And the simple fact of the matter is, if you are a female author, you are much more likely to get the package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality. Because it’s “girly,” which is somehow inherently different and easier on the palate. A man and a woman can write books about the same subject matter, at the same level of quality, and that woman is simple more likely to get the soft-sell cover with the warm glow and the feeling of smooth jazz blowing off of it.

This idea that there are “girl books” and “boy books” and “chick lit” and “whatever is the guy equivalent of chick lit”* gives credit to absolutely no one, especially not the boys who will happily read stories by women, about women. As a lover of books and someone who supports readers and writers of both sexes, I would love a world in which books are freed from some of these constraints. Click here to read more about the perceived differences between ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ books.

(Continue reading…)

This is a pretty interesting experiment from author Maureen Johnson.

I read this earlier today. Really, really worth looking at and thinking about. There’s a whole gallery of them.

be confident and demanding and go after what you want. maybe you won’t get it, but if you just...

Tue, 07 May 2013 23:33:33 -0400

be confident and demanding and go after what you want. maybe you won’t get it, but if you just sit there and do nothing, then you definitely won’t.

Woman: I'm smart

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:17:35 -0400

Woman: I'm smart
Patriarchy: Well you're probably ugly then
Woman: I'm creative
Patriarchy: You mean unattractive right?
Woman: I have all these incredible accomplishments
Patriarchy: Yeah but look how ugly you looked doing them
Woman: I have value
Patriarchy: Not if you're ugly lol
Woman: I'm conventionally-attractive & posted selfies on my blog
Patriarchy: I'm so sick of these empty-headed chicks only caring about their looks. Just because you are attractive and get attention from men doesn't mean you are special or deserve respect. Why don't you read a book or do something productive with your life you dumb slut

(TW: rape) Elizabeth Smart and Abstinence Only Education

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:02:00 -0400

jessicavalenti:

If anyone is still holding on to the idea that abstinence only education isn’t all that bad, check out this quote from kidnapping and rape victim Elizabeth Smart:

Smart said she “felt so dirty and so filthy” after she was raped by her captor, and she understands why someone wouldn’t run “because of that alone.”

Smart spoke at a Johns Hopkins human trafficking forum, saying she was raised in a religious household and recalled a school teacher who spoke once about abstinence and compared sex to chewing gum. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you know longer have worth, you know longer have value,” Smart said. “Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.”

Wow. It’s so dangerous to teach women and girls that their instrinsic value is tied to their virginity. I am not a chewed-up gross piece of gum! I hate gum.

"More recently, the media has speculated that Adam Lanza was motivated by bullying he experienced..."

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:19:30 -0400

“More recently, the media has speculated that Adam Lanza was motivated by bullying he experienced during his time as a student at Sandy Hook Elementary. Conversely, not a single person has inquired about the mental wellbeing of the Boston Bombing suspects. Experts in psychology, violence and mass murder haven’t appeared on cable news or written op-eds for the New York Times and Washington Post with insight into what causes people to snap. No one has speculated about bullying that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar’s may have experienced, particularly Tamerlan, who was in middle school when he immigrated to the United States, an age when bullying is at its peak. Of course, all of these questions are rhetorical since we already know the answer: Adam Lanza and James Holmes are Christian white males whose names have the appropriate number of consonants. Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are Muslim (which cancels out white) males who immigrated to the US from a region of the world where names are difficult to pronounce (for us).”

- James Holmes, Adam Lanza, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Double Standards (via azspot)

Rania Khalek on point.

(via mehreenkasana)

Poem for Earth Day - NYC-style

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:27:31 -0400

allisonbklyn:

I’ve always enjoyed Earth Day because I like nature. Finding nature in the middle of a big city can be tough, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Here’s a poem I worked on today. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m being down on New York - it’s not supposed to.

The nature of things

Among the grid of taxi cabs and the subway maze,
a few brave New Yorkers look for the Earth.

We’ve covered it up with tar and sidewalks, skyscraper spikes, tenement flats.
But it’s still here somewhere.

Thirsting for something fresh, dank, earthy,
Pedestrians shuffle into Whole Foods Market for a pound of whole coffee beans
straight from Central America, says the paper bag, on sale for $7.49.
It’s natural.
It was in the ground once.

A detour to the corner deli
reveals almost-fresh strawberries, $2 a pint,
and sunny bouquets of tulips, daisies, in every shade,
a thousand miles removed from their natural state.
They’ll wilt on the commute home
but might brighten a windowless kitchen for a night.

Here and there on Seventh Avenue, if they look up,
there’s a cherry tree standing tall,
a crisp silhouette to rival the height of a shining office tower,
and potted daffodils are reflected
in a furniture-store window in Chelsea.

People are a kind of nature, too,
with their wool sweaters, silk scarves,
and other gifts bequeathed – churned out by the hands
of the workers of the Earth in their infancy.
If you strip them bare,
their bodies breathe the same air that’s blessed by trees,
and on a summer afternoon
they’re baptized in the coolness of fresh rain.

Manhattanites could go their whole lives
without looking up and seeing stars.
But sometimes in the still hours of the night,
if only in their fleeting subconscious,
they’re reckless – untamed – they’re something wild.

There’s nature among the concrete.
The pulse of the city thrives
with the tacit consent of the Earth.

:(

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:35:06 -0400

Cue the shameless flirting with my gorgeous (gay) male co-worker. Sigh.

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:52:43 -0400

Cue the shameless flirting with my gorgeous (gay) male co-worker.

Sigh.

"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives."

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:14:31 -0400

“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

- Audre Lorde in Sister Outsider. One of my favorite quotes. Happy birthday, Audre. (via queerbookclub)

ionicruby: Dr. Niles Crane yes, it is time for me to be open...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:59:28 -0400

ionicruby:

Dr. Niles Crane

yes, it is time for me to be open about my feelings for niles crane