Hey there, it’s been a while since we properly talked. I’m making nachos for dinner and right now I can’t decide if I should make frozen margaritas to go with them, or keep it simple with a beer? (I don’t usually have these options, but my bar is currently Corona-stocked). One is definitely more work, but also would be a new and different treat? The other is so much easier, and always satisfying. Who’s to say where this journey will lead.
If you’re wondering, after baking two (2!!) loaves of banana bread in two (2!!) weeks, this week I switched to banana bread blondies — and they are, in fact, heaven.
Ok, here is some news.
Queer as in F*ck You
In writing YA, I am able to imagine what I might have done if I were 16 or 17 again, knowing what I know now. I am able to put a little of myself in my characters, but instead of doing what I did, I can make them take the risk, or break the rule. I am able to imagine what it would have done for me to be around queer people and influences sooner — just to know they existed, to know there wasn’t only one way to be.
Writing for Teens Is a Do-Over, a first person essay by Katie Heaney that you DEFINITELY will want to read today and is going to give you a lot of melancholy nostalgia if you were a shy teen nerd who didn’t come out in high school (or maybe that’s just me?).
Sort of on the subject? The Gay History of America’s Classic Children’s Books, which was actually published last year from The New York Times but got re-upped again in honor of Tomie dePaola’s recent passing.
Samantha Irby’s Perfect Pandemic Playlist
How Trans And Nonbinary People Are Coping Right Now
Each day there are new bursts of color in the yard. There is no more traffic. The 405, a freeway normally packed with cars crawling along, is hauntingly empty. The smog is gone and the sky is crystal clear. During the day, I hear birds singing sweet songs. At night I see the stars, impossibly bright and shining. Dystopias always imagine the end of the world as dark and desolate. We should have had bigger imaginations.
Roxane Gay on power in a pandemic.
Saw This, Thought of You
tracee ellis ross giving me what i need to survive this week pic.twitter.com/rhv1EmrjzL
— gabe bergado (@gabebergado) April 6, 2020
😉
Here’s the link: The Health Benefits of Masturbation
“It seems extra cruel to make time slow down when all we want to do is get through this time faster, but trust me: that we will get through this very slowly is only thing of which I’m certain.” Chronic Uncertainty: Lessons for a Global Pandemic, From a Permanently Sick Person by Esmé Weijun Wang
Migrants Are the Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic — From Hospitals to Farmlands
Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide During Covid-19
How to Protect Your Zoom Calls Against “Zoombombing”
Helping Your Dog Survive During a Quarantine and Managing Boredom When You Can’t Leave Your House
Political Snacks
Despite Coronavirus Lockdown, Wisconsin Republicans Insist on an Election That Will Disenfranchise Thousands “There’s nothing fair about this election.”
And WOW THIS IS VERY MUCH RELATED: How to Fix Our Voting Rules Before November
There’s still time, maybe we won’t be f*cked.
That Tracee Ellis Ross comment is a gift to us all.
Thank you for seeing me in this moment lol
I will always be rooting for frozen margaritas but if you feel like keeping it simple just keep it simple
Us chronic illness folks do have unique perspective on how to mentally cope with the isolation and uncertainty but we also have unique perspective of cracks in societal structures that put us in danger and how thoughtlessly eugenicist average people can be.
That’s just purse violence in Wisconsin, the government is pretty much saying you have to vote on this date, you have to physical distance & oh we made it harder to vote with fewer polling places. That’s a form of the government actively wanting to hurt their citizens. Fuck that.
Omg! That children’s book article was fascinating. And I had no idea Tomie DePaola was gay, and that he had so recently passed away. He was always one of my favorites! ❤️
Samantha Irby is a gem — her new book is a welcome, hilarious reprieve from Everything Going On, as are all her books. What a gd babe. I will be perusing her playlist!