(Too?) Honest parenting mood:

Me begging my daughter to finally learn that I'm not as fun as Bandit and Chili from Bluey...

Sometimes I wonder why I'm like this (*gestures to all of me*), and then I remember when I was a kid, I would regularly pop in our VHS of The Lion King just because I wanted to cry at the Mufasa death scene again. And I bet that's probably just as valid an explanation as any diagnosis I've gotten.

Me being anxious and awkward in social situations: "oh yeah, well you should see me in a group chat. 😎"

One of my biggest pet peeves and as a result potentially meanest takes has to be:

If you scoff at an idea, work of art/entertainment, or cultural practice as stupid just because you don't get it or have never heard of it, then it's not stupid—you're stupid.

Remembering that brief fond moment where I thought Bluesky might actually be a nice place to rebuild the academic community I lost after leaving the toxicity of X (deadname: Twitter)...before crash landing into the reality that my experience on this app has mostly amounted to ghost town vibes.

I'm gonna start here by clarifying that I have great friends and colleagues doing important academic work in the state of Texas...but:

As someone whose very identity would be at severe risk in Texas, why are there so many academic institutions currently hiring there when I'm looking for jobs?!

The eternal tension within between being opinionated (prone to critique and/or "hot takes") and being anxious about disagreeing with others/especially feeling like they disagree with me.

Trump threatens to shut down US government unless all trans health care is banned The US government's looming shutdown hinges on anti-trans measures after Donald Trump refused to speak to Democrats unless they were passed.

For what little sharing news like this is worth, especially in light of the fact that the government is now currently in said shutdown...😞💔🏳️‍⚧️

(And apologies for making *his* face 😖 pop up on your feed)

www.thepinknews.com/2025/09/29/t...

I am sad for Charlie Kirk's wife and daughters. And I believe I am called to a higher love even for those who hate (LGBTQ folks like) me.

But I'm not sad for him and the only thing I can say to all the conservative calls to "Pray for Charlie" is that I pray for his soul.

My irkiest trend I notice lately is the "ew no what is that?" kind of reactions to KPop Demon Hunters as if it's some silly thing only kids and nerds would care about.

Because I'm like, they literally have songs topping the Billboard Hot 100! Actually you're the weird one for not knowing about it!

disagree here. if you think christianity is a real thing — like i do — than you're allowed to say some things are so dissimilar from that real thing that they aren't actually a part of it *whatever other people claim.* leftists, who are so good at policing real leftism, should understand this.

I am not part of a ‘movement,’ NYT. I’m just a human being

Front cover of the book, The Intermediaries, by Brandy Schillace

Just finished The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story, by @bschillace.brandyschillace.com, and it was such a fascinating and poignantly queer/trans history that feels more timely than ever, especially it now being Pride Month. Can't recommend highly enough, but take care: this past is a harrowing read.

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ and happiest to share that this year Ashley and I will have a second ceremony to renew our vows in celebration of our 10th anniversary! Here's the vow renewal playlist I call "Vow! That's What I Call Music." 😁 Listen along for a gay ol' time!

open.spotify.com/playlist/5BZ...

One of my favorite artists already, and just became even more so. With the kind of strength it takes to stand up against transphobia in the UK right now, she truly is Made of Bricks (one of my favorite albums)!

When you gaze into the Bluesky, the Bluesky gazes also into you.

😫

Volume 17, Issue 1 - The Strong National Museum of Play

Happy to report a wild new publication appears for me! My first book review, of Melissa Kagen's Wandering Games, is now published in Volume 17.1 of the American Journal of Play. You can read my review but more importantly read Kagen's book, it's great!

www.museumofplay.org/journalofpla...

Of course Hank's replies are chock full of every variation of "Harm's already been done, Hank," because the Internet has trained us to traffic in bad-faith readings of one another's points. 🤦🏼‍♀️

"Biological woman" is just "real woman" with a micron-thin veneer of pseudoscience.

It's "No True Scotsman" for being a lady.
bsky.app/profile/tali...

Can we not misuse the term Luddite? The Luddites were not ignorant of technology or against its use. They were against the use of exploitative technology. LLMs are an exploitative technology, so the parallel works, to some extent, just not in the way OP seems to think.

I don’t think the LLM-evangelists realize that the rest of us can never again trust anything they claim to have made. “I wrote an essay on how AI has improved my life!” Cool, why on Earth would I read that? You literally can’t be counted on to communicate your thoughts using your own words.

In trying times like these, I try and turn to one of my favorite Bible verses for encouragement:

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
- Ecclesiastes 1:2

This Is 35 ❤️

How fitting that yesterday was Casimir Pulaski Day because you can catch me and Sufjan Stevens both crying in the bathroom right now.

Leave it to the Academy to literally prove the entire point of The Substance with a metatextual slap to Demi Moore's face. 😤

Seriously got me contemplating a tweak on that "The Cruelty Is The Point" saying going around: The Cruelty Is The Punchline. 🤬😞

One thing I didn't think to have on my 2025 Bingo Card is that the current(ly despicable) administration would actually "meme" their version of the Holocaust.