“Do you think I’ve gone round the bend?”
“I’m afraid so. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
If You Can’t See Anything Beautiful About Yourself, Get a Better Mirror
I love that line.
& I love the art, too.
But this line: “A balancing act that has less to do with pain, & more to do with beauty” is right on.
Ending the Day: Amiri Baraka
Every year we read a ton of quotes attributed to Dr. King, and miss out on all the other amazing, liberatory art that’s come out of Black america. This is only an excerpt:
This is my own transcription:
But I aint come from a foolish tribe
we wants the the mule / the land / you can make it 300 years of blue chip stock in the entire operation
we want to be paid in a central bank the average worker farmer wage for all those years we gave it free
plus we want damages for all the killings and the fraud, the lynchings the missing justice the lies and frame ups the unwarranted jailings the tar and featherings the character and race assassinations historical slander ugly caricatures for every sambo stepnfetchit flick
we want to be paid
for every hurtful thing you did or said
for all the land you took for all the rapes all the rosewoods and black wall streets you jobs
all the miseducation jobs lost
segregated shacks we live in
the disease that ate & killed us
for all the mad police that drilled us
all the music and dances you stole
the styles the language the hip clothes you copied
the careers you stopped
all these are suits, specific litigation
Penguin Awareness Day
I didn’t know there was one until my friend Ben posted these groovy photos on Facebook, so I thought I’d share the day and the photos with you all.
They are such a lovely pretty form of goofy.
What Being a Blogger Feels Like Sometimes
Sex & Disability
So happy to see someone has made a documentary about disability and sexuality:
This narrative, written by Mark O’Brian and originally published back in 1990, is stunning and important and moving and amazing.
Letting me go, she put her hands down on the bed by my shoulders and kissed my chest.
This act of affection moved me deeply. I hadn’t expected it; it seemed like a gift from her heart. My chest is unmuscular, pale, and hairless, the precise opposite of what a sexy man’s chest is supposed to be. It has always felt like a very vulnerable part of me. Now it was being kissed by a caring, understanding woman and I almost wept.
And these articles all came my way via Andrea Grieve-Smith because of this one about a madam who is in the news for wanting to start a brothel for the disabled.
Baby Elephant Swim
I want to go back to SE Asia.
Chicken Vaginas & Epic Penises, or Happy New Year from Auto Correct.
(and here’s the trans content! here too.)
Chan Lowe Cartoon
“Never has the dedication of the people who practice the teaching profession been spotlighted in the way it has over the past few days.We were shown, in dramatic terms, to what lengths teachers are willing to go to fulfill the crucial mandate they have been given: the education and welfare of the most precious members of our society. Yet they are so often treated with disdain.” – Chan Lowe
Be sure to read the blog post that goes with this amazing image.
Blizzard.
I got back to Appleton yesterday just in time for a blizzard to drop! It’s very pretty, and actually a very nice welcome back.