Oops… did it again! Teach me to work on a draft during my lunch break when I’m doped up on cold meds!
(I finished it, and now it’s available here.
Category Archives: blogging
Friday Links (divine figs edition)
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
Pastor’s Gay Brother ‘Frustrated That NPR Made This A News Story’.
Supreme Court faced gay rights decision in 1958 over ‘obscene’ magazine. A nice story of another mostly forgotten stepping stone in the gay rights movement.
Why it’s time to pull the plug on the worst awards show in Hollywood. “Broadcasting transphobia under the guise of punching up is still punching down.”
“Excommunicated Any Day”: The Real Reality Of ‘My Husband’s Not Gay’. “In reality, that choice has been dictated by the threat of being ostracized by their families, community and religion.”
Scenes from the Portland Counter-Protest That Drove Off the Westboro Baptist Church.
Dog sometimes hops on bus alone, gets off at Seattle dog park.
God, Gays and the Atlanta Fire Department.
What TLC doesn’t show on TV: Nearly 7 in 10 Mormon marriages between straight women, gay-leaning men end in divorce. Thanks to @seashellseller for the link!
What not to say to authors (and what to say instead).
132-year-old Winchester rifle found propped against desert tree in Nevada.
How secular family values stack up.
The Importance Of LGBT Visibility: Why I Want Everyone To Know I’m Gay. Awesome cartoon!
All The Little Things | Panti | TEDxDublin:
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Nice Guys Finish First:
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Patrick Roche – “21” (CUPSI 2014):
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Bright Light Bright Light – There Are No Miracles (Official Video):
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Do I have to explain everything?
A couple weeks ago there was a rash of op-ed pieces and blog posts debating whether it is the job of various people to constantly educate other people about the realities of oppression, unwitting misogyny, institutional homophobia and racism, and the ways that people unintentionally perpetuate those things. And I understand. Some days I’m just too tired to deal with yet another clueless person…. Continue reading Do I have to explain everything?
Friday Links
It’s the second Friday of 2015! And it’s been a weird week, with sad or troubling news on both the personal and worldwide level.
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
FL Counties Ending Courthouse Weddings Over The Gay.
Christians Behave Like Prayer Does Not Work.
Siberian, Native American Languages Linked — A First.
Why We Should Ban Conversion Therapy.
7-Year-Old Girl Climbs Out of a Plane Crash That Killed Her Parents, Her Sister, and Her Cousin.
Florida Law Firm Steps In To Marry Gay Couples After County Clerks Refuse: Today In Gay.
Why is television still ignoring gay lives?
Straightwashing at the movies: the Pride DVD shows gay people still make the film industry nervous.
A Dad Dropped His Son Off on a Date and It Restored My Faith in Humanity.
Let’s just let history decide who showed respect and who didn’t.
Want to Help Stop LGBT Teens From Committing Suicide? End Conversion Therapy.
It Gets Boring: NPR Features Same Old Ex-Gay Story.
Researchers Use Cangrande Mummy To Solve 700-Year-Old Murder Mystery.
Mike Huckabee Has Resumed Digging His Grave with a Knife and Fork.
What It’s Like Working for a Funeral Home.
DisneyWorld guest challenges Beauty & the Beast’s Gaston to a push-up contest:
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Eurotix – When You Are In My Dreams (Official Video):
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Frances Carroll & Her Coquettes Featuring Drummer Viola Smith:
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Sunday Funnies, part 9
Another in my series of posts recommending web comics that I think more people should read:
Police Reports Illustrated is an irregular feature of the news blog for the Stranger, a Seattle alternate weekly news paper. As the title says, each feature is a comic strip-style retelling of an actual police report. Each one I’ve read has been amusing, though I realize the original humor comes from the incident in the police report. I really wish they’d collect these into their own feed. You can find earlier strips by Callan Berry on the Stranger’s blog.
“Always Raining Here” by Hazel and Bell is a fun comic about two high school boys, one of whom makes a pass at the other because he’s desperate and lonely, and things get complicated from there. The comic tackles some difficult topics, such as attempted date rape, but mostly is just a story of several people trying to figure out who they are, grow up, and not make too much of a mess of things along the way.
I’m a big fan of “Deer Me,” by Sheryl Schopfer. This artist is also a friend. I have previously described this strip as: “Three roommates who couldn’t be more dissimilar while being surprisingly compatible.” Except in a recent story line Thomas has moved out! Eeek! Currently, the strip has traveled back in time to the high school days of one of the aforementioned roommates.
In any case, if you enjoy Deer Me, you can support the artist by going to her Patreon Page!
I’ve long been a fan of: “Mr. Cow,” by Chuck Melville… and not just because the artist is a friend! A clueless cow with Walter Cronkite dreams presides over a barnyard of a newsroom. Or just showing him reading reacting to news or hatching plans to achieve fame, or just reading ridiculous news is funny because the real news isn’t any more logical.
And if you like Mr. Cow, you can support the artist by going to his Patreon Page. Also, can I interest you in a Mr. Cow Mug?
And I love this impish girl thief with a tail and her reluctant undead sorcerer/bodyguard: “Unsounded,” by Ashley Cope.
The Young Protectors by Alex Wolfson begins when a young, closeted teen-age superhero who has just snuck into a gay bar for the first time is seen exiting said bar by a not-so-young, very experienced, very powerful, super-villain. Trouble, of course, ensues.
Tripping Over You by Suzana Harcum and Owen White is a strip about a pair of friends in school who just happen to fall in love… which eventually necessitates one of them coming out of the closet.
Tripping Over You has several books, comics, and prints available for purchase.
If you want to read a nice, long graphic-novel style story which recently published its conclusion, check-out the not quite accurately named, The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. I say inaccurate because I found their story quite epic (not to mention engaging, moving, surprising, fulfilling… I could go on). Some sections of the tale are Not Safe For Work, as they say, though she marks them clearly. The complete graphic novels are available for sale in both ebook and paper versions, by the way.
Friday Links
It’s the first Friday of 2015! I am working on a final blog post about my goals for 2014 and how they worked out. I’m also working on finalizing my goals for 2015. I know for many of my friends in wasn’t a great year, but personally, I’m pretty happy about 2014, and looking forward to an even better year going forward.
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
Old Fashioned 101: The classic American cocktail. An awesome, single-page web site explaining the proper way to make the world’s oldest cocktail.
Twitter, LiveJournal and navel-gazing. Covers some ground I’ve written about before, but much less rambly.
4 Things That Were Supposed To Happen By 2015 Because Obama Was Reelected.
In Which John C. Wright Completely Loses his Shit over Legend of Korra.
One last buzzing beehive for 2014. A nice answer to the bigoted writer who has proclaimed, “did not call for the extermination of people, but ideas.”
‘Modern Family’ gay criticism misses mark.
INDIANA CONSERVATIVES POISED TO INTRODUCE LICENSE TO DISCRIMINATE BILL.
Op-ed: We Queer Folk Have Always Been Both Black And Blue.
10 great LGBT stories from 2014.
Your biggest online security mistakes (and how to avoid them).
Ancient Trees: Woman Spends 14 Years Photographing World’s Oldest Trees.
How Amazon’s Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry.
If Protesters Are Responsible For Officers’ Deaths, So Then Are The Tea Party.
Is inclusiveness becoming the new closet?
When a Gay Man Marries a Straight Woman. The stories of people interviewed are worth reading. The author’s conclusions are a bit… well, you’ll see.
AFA’s top spokesman, thinker: Make adultery and homosexuality illegal.
NASA’s Plan For An Off-World Colony: A Floating City Above Venus.
DAN SAVAGE: PROSECUTE TRANSGENDER TEEN LEELAH ALCORN’S PARENTS FOR ABUSE.
This Graduate Stripped Down For All The Right Reasons.
Unconditional Love: A Missing Link for Homeless LGBTQ Youth.
Gay Black Men, It’s Time to Do Away With ‘Trade’ and Down-Low Brothers in 2015. While I agree with the idea, for a complex set of sociological and psychological reasons, I think this call will be as successful as the perennial attempts to get gay men of all races to stop having downlow relationships with politicians and the like who have anti-gay public personae/agendas.
The Saddest Thing I Know about the Integers.
The Solar System Is Slowly Re-Arranging Itself.
Judge stops short of ordering Florida clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses when ban ends.
The unexpected math behind Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – Natalya St. Clair:
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A gif set from this commercial was being shared on Tumblr, and I just had to track down the video:
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LogoTV NewNowNext blog reports: Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” has become something of an LGBT anthem, especially with its video depicting a harrowing gay-bashing and lyrics decrying religious intolerance. At a live show in Paris this month, the Irish singer-songwriter was surprised when a 20-member choir infiltrated the audience and began to sing along during “Take Me to Church.”:
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I included Hozier’s heartwrenching video in Friday links some months ago, but here it is again:
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Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian offers the Best of 2014:
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Abba – Happy New Year:
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Eli Lieb – Lightning In A Bottle:
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Boxing Day Links
It’s Friday! The final Friday in December. It is also, depending on whether you are reading this before or after sundown, the second or the third day of Christmas. Yes, it is still Christmas! (The first day of Christmas begins at sundown on Christmas Eve, which means that the second day begins at sundown on Christmas Day, and so on. The twelfth day of Christmas is not the invention of some song writer, but rather Three Kings Day or Epiphany, in which many churches celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men at the place where Mary and Joseph and the baby were by that time.)
Anyway, on this, the final Friday of 2015, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
My wish for the family with two dads who brought Christmas to a group of homeless LGBT youth. They had to remain anonymous, and not for good reasons…
U.S. Judge Robert Hinkle to Florida officials: Respond by Monday in gay-marriage case. And the judge appears to be losing patience with some state officials.
Florida woman in ‘Catholic Warrior’ t-shirt destroys Satanic Temple’s holiday display.
The Salt Lake Tribune Names Same-sex Marriage Plaintifs the Utahns of the Year.
This Response to Homophobic Bigots Is So On Point It Bleeds. Also, cheers for a comment: “…nobody worries more about the asses of gay men than homophobes do.”
Europa’s geysers play hard-to-see.
Fossil fish eye has 300 million-year-old rods and cones.
Gay Marriage Ban on Precarious Legal Ground.
Airline passenger freaks out over crew’s ‘Merry Christmas’ greeting.
How Many Stars Did It Take To Make Us?.
Jay Thomas’ Lone Ranger Story 2014 – David Letterman, Jay treats the audience to his final telling of the “greatest talk show story of all time”:
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Friday Links (All I Want for Christmas edition)!
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
Christian right’s vile PR sham: Why their bizarre films are backfiring on them. Delving into why the fear and false persecution narrative underlying fundamentalism prevents them from knowing how to tell an interesting story.
HILARIOUS: Model from ‘ex-gay’ twins billboard is ‘out, proud gay man,’ not a twin.
Let’s Say Goodbye To ‘White Collar’ With The Best Shirtless Matt Bomer Moments, In GIFs!
Do Pacific Northwesterners Have An Accent?
Gay W. Virginia high school soccer player comes out by dancing with homecoming king.
“Rape Exceptionalism” and Protecting Law Students from “Triggers”. And this is a problem because… victims of sexual assault actually need lawyers, prosecutors, and judges who are familiar with the relevant law.
“The Messier 67 Mystery” –Is Our Solar System an Orphan from a Distant Star Cluster?
New Family Tree Illuminates ‘Big Bang’ in Bird Evolution After Dinosaur Extinction.
Stephen Colbert Is Dead. Long Live Stephen Colbert.
Top 10 Things to Love About Letterman’s Top Ten Lists.
The cute rolling ball droid in the new Star Wars is a real robot not CGI.
News Corpse eBook ‘Fox Nation vs. Reality’ Reviewed By Wonkette.
Seattle’s unbelievable transportation megaproject fustercluck.
INDIANA METHODIST CHURCH TO CLOSE AFTER FIRING GAY CHORAL DIRECTOR – VIDEO.
Eartha Kitt – Nothin’ for Christmas:
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Every year since 1986, David Letterman has invited Darlene Love to perform on the last show of the year before Christmas. Every year, she sings “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” her Phil Spector-produced 1963 Christmas classic. Every year, Paul Shaffer and a sprawling cast of musicians backs her up. Next May, Letterman will retire from late-night TV, which means that when Love appears on Friday’s show to sing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” it’ll be the last time singing it on Letterman’s show.
Here is a super-cut Best of Darlene Love Singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman:
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The Ramones – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight):
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Billy Idol – Jingle Bell Rock:
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Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You:
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Wham! – Last Christmas:
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Robbie Williams – So This Is Christmas:
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Andy Williams – The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (From The Andy Williams Show):
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The Muppets ** It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year ** Xmas@Rockefeller Center:
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The Muppets sing Jingle Bell Rock from “Muppet Family Christmas”:
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The Muppets: Ringing of the Bells:
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Doctor Who in Dominoes:
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All I Want For Christmas Is You – Christmas Charity Single – Oxford A capella group Out of the Blue:
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Friday Links (rest ye merry edition)!
It’s Friday! Already the second Friday in December. Only a few more to go and then there will be no more. Before we reach that point, Christmas day will be upon us, and I feel so unprepared!
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
Let’s Stop Making Jokes About Furries While Discussing That Recent Terrorist Attack on Furries.
“I won’t be a weapon anymore,” says former symbol of ex-gay movement.
Why Evangelical Christians Oppose Obamacare and Civil Rights.
The dangerous myth at the heart of conservative ideology.
FBI Understates Hate-Motivated Attacks on Transgender People.
Marriage equality in N.C. grows LGBT wedding professionals’ businesses.
Michigan House Passes Bill Allowing EMTs To Refuse Gay People.
2 Futures Can Explain Time’s Mysterious Past.
Gigantic Cambrian Shrimplike Creature Unearthed in Greenland.
Begun The Christmas Tree War Has. Fight over artificial vs cut live trees has been raging for over 100 years.
Obama’s Approval Rating Is in the Tank Because Americans Are Being Lied To.
Shonda Rhimes Delivered The Most Inspiring, Badass Speech. “How many women had to hit that glass before the first crack appeared?”
HARPERCOLLINS REFUSES TO PUBLISH BOOK UNTIL AUTHOR RENOUNCES GAY DAUGHTER.
Anti-gay N.C. church members indicted on felony kidnapping, assault of gay man.
Bobby Jindal’s Prayer Rally Materials Blame Gays & Legal Abortion For Hurricane Katrina.
Good riddance, Darrell Issa: A wasteful blowhard’s humiliating history.
After half a century of waiting – this gay couple were finally allowed to tie the knot.
Pastor Donnie Romero Says Gays Are ‘All Pedophiles’ Who Should Be ‘Put To Death’ (VIDEO).
Family Research Council Will Fix Constitutional Flaw That Allows Trans Americans Too Much Freedom.
Neil Gaiman recites Jabberwocky:
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Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos) – ThePianoGuys:
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The Couch Gag Before Christmas | THE SIMPSONS | ANIMATION on FOX:
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President Obama Hijacks The Colbert Report ‘I, Stephen Colbert, Have Never Cared for Our President’ – President Obama literally takes over Stephen’s job for a segment, and it’s awesome:
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Mad Max: Fury Road – Official Theatrical Teaser Trailer [HD]:
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Iron Sky The Coming Race Official Teaser Trailer 1 (2016) – Fantasy Movie HD:
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DANIEL J CARTIER “THIS CHRISTMAS (STAY)”:
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[Official Video] Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy – Pentatonix (ft Tori Kelly):
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Annie Lennox – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:
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Friday Links (rum-pum-pum-pum)!
(In case you don’t know: I’m a taoist who loves Christmas music, decorating trees, and making everything bright and sparkly; my husband is a pagan who puts up with my yuletide mania and helps amp up the silly on my decorating themes.)
Anyway, here is a collection of news and other things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared:
Is This The Best Trans Character In The History Of Video Games?.
What If We’re Wrong About Depression?.
Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop.
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke. Thanks to @geojlc for the link!
Race ya: White people, we have to do better.
In Mississippi Marriage Ruling, Judge Gives History Lesson on Anti-Gay Discrimination. It really is a must-read.
How to Make Your Last Name Plural This Christmas Season.
Teacher Schools Class On Privilege…With A Recycling Bin And Some Paper.
And someone decided that wasn’t a comprehensive lesson: How to really understand white privilege.
VISIBLE GIRLS: LONDON’S LOST FEMALE SUBCULTURES. In the early 1980s, photographer Anita Corbin documented the “informal uniforms” of young women’s subcultures across London.
Speaking of stories that restore a bit of my faith in humanity: Andre Johnson Bought A Buttload Of Toys For Kids Again.
Turkeygate: In Defense of Sasha and Malia.
Stephen Colbert’s Defense Of The New Lightsaber Is Awesomely Nerdy. Thanks to @tdjohnsn for the link!
Arizona pastor predicts ‘AIDS-free Christmas’ if all gays are killed, as God commands. “Predicts” isn’t the right word. He advocates for killing us.
My Great-Great-Aunt Discovered Francium. And It Killed Her.
The typography (and iconography) of Ridley Scott’s Alien. This is awesome!
Cartoon by Steve Stack puts #BlackLivesMatter into clear perspective.
THE GLOWING MALE PHYSIQUES OF DUTCH ARTIST MAURICE HEERDINK. Click through all the pages, the art is worth it.
Eric Radford: Olympic figure skater, medal-winning family man. And gay.
One last gasp: Eric Garner and the failure of racial justice.
Electric Eels Can Remotely Control Their Prey’s Muscles.
Where Are The “Comeback” Columns About Obama? They Were A D.C. Media Staple For Bush.
I wrote about: NaNoWriMo achievement unlocked again!.
And Drop-kick me, Odin, through the goal posts of life*. Catching up on my goals, with a tiny digression about a cheesy country song.
Plus my thoughts On apologizing.
Bing Crosby & David Bowie – The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth:
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American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered | Bowie and Bing | PBS – the story of how Bowie saying he hated the song, led to the creation of a new Christmas classic:
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Star Wars Prank (Rémi Gaillard):
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Kate Pierson – “Mister Sister” (Official Music Video):
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[Official Video] Little Drummer Boy – Pentatonix:
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Queen + Adam Lambert – Somebody To Love (Live on X-Factor 2014):
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Carol of the Bells – David Hicken:
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Font Folly 