Category: Blog

In which I return for a brief moment to share news of my continued survival

1 Comment

Greetings, friends and tumbleweeds. As it seems my last post was in the bygone days of September 2016 (a simpler time), I thought it might be a fine plan to make another post just to assert the fact that I am still among the living (just not among the living who have time for frequent blog updates).

So, yes. I LIVE!

gene wilder aliiiiiiive

Not much else can be said of the last year or so, except that I’ve been working hard imparting knowledge and sarcasm to the two-year-olds in my class, making my way bit by bit through an MFA program so I might one day aspire to my dream job of Cool College Professor With Old-Timey Blazer (or Roger Radcliffe-style vest), and fighting off various bouts of bronchitis and other ailments granted to me by my lovable but germy students.

kermit-typing

I’ve also, it must be said, been making incremental progress on my gay fantasy epic, Chosen, restructuring and rewriting and cramming as much glorious gay into the story as I possibly can. Lucas in Book Two, for example, now has two moms (both of the awesome variety), and his major love interest is a gangly, awkward guy from school instead of Random Pretty Girl #5. Lucas has always been bisexual in the land of subtext, but it’s nice to bring it firmly into the realm of the textual via a dorky/awkward school romance that simultaneously enriches his life and puts it in horrible danger. (That’s the way we do things in Chosen-land.)

And, of course, the main character in Book One is trans, which has been fascinating to explore from the perspective of a society where (a) being LGBTQ+ is no big deal due to the existence of queer gods and goddesses in their primary religion, and (b) magic exists, so it’s technically possible (though highly difficult/expensive) to alter one’s body to better align with gender identity.

So, yes. Life at present consists of work, school, and sporadic bursts of writing, hopefully culminating in eventual financial security + a finished and not-awful manuscript. And until then, I’ll try to check in here from time to time, hopefully with something interesting to say (though no guarantees on that front).

Until next time~~~~~!

tina-fey_YAY

Regarding Pima County and where I’ve been all this time (hint: not in Pima County)

Leave a comment

So, I’ve just discovered that my second book, Following Grandpa Jess, is available to borrow from the Pima County Public Library in Pima County, Arizona:

pima-county-fgj

Pima County Library: Following Grandpa Jess

It’s not available in Chicago, sadly, or anywhere else that I’m aware of, but Pima County residents, enjoy!

doctor-thumbs-up

In other news, regarding my lengthy and unexplained absence from the interwebs, I’m afraid I’ve been somewhat distracted as of late due to (a) getting a new job, and (b) finally beginning to completely bankrupt myself pursue my MFA in Creative Writing. The good news is that both endeavors are going well (though the compensation received for one in no way makes up for the bottomless pit of debt the other is going to plunge me into), but the bad news is that I’m sadly left with very little time or brain for the composing of blog posts, hence my silence in recent months.

I’ll do my best to pop in from time to time and offer up rambling and borderline incoherent gif-filled posts, so you can at the very least look forward to that. I’ve also been doing a lot of work on Chosen as of late, and I remain confident that it may be ready for publication at some point between today and the end of time, space, life, the universe, and everything. So. More things to look forward to.

cm_jeff_clap-yay

Right. So. On that note, I must return to my teacherly duties. Wishing you all a pleasant first day of September, and I hope our paths will cross again~*~*~*~*~

 

Women, amirite?

Leave a comment

It intrigues me when people imply that women are weak or unsuited for *insert job here* because they get periods. Dude, we gush blood every month, have sometimes debilitating abdominal cramps, and just generally feel like crap, but we still get up and go to work and get shit done. Oh, and there’s also that bit where some women push tiny humans out of their bodies, which while not something I’d ever want to do, is still pretty freaking amazing.

So, yeah. It kind of pisses me off that “don’t be such a girl” is an expression meaning, “Don’t be so weak.” Girls are freaking TOUGH, man.

ll_taz_tough

…this post may or may not have been inspired by the fact that my uterus is trying to kill me today. Wheeee~~~

/very important post #897

Brilliant-Clever-Awesome Title Goes Here

Leave a comment

This weekend, alas, has been something of a bust. I’ve managed, against all odds, to accomplish a few things – I opened a Word file and stared at it for awhile, which is almost like writing, and I even rage-washed the dishes (a convenient way to expel anger, tidy up the kitchen, and keep warm on a wintry day).

But for the most part, I’ve been a sad, lumpy lump of sadness, lying around watching stuff on my laptop and shouting into the soul-sucking black hole that is social media.

spongebob_meaningless-empty-friends-pointed-it-out

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut enough of that. Today is a new day, and there’s still time to turn this weekend around. I will Get Stuff Done, dammit. I will GET STUFF DONE.

suniverse_ruby_eternal-flame-baby

/very important post

Sugar and spice and a nice, satisfying scream of frustration and rage

Leave a comment

Today, on Things That Make Me Want To Scream:

  1. Little girls are encouraged to like certain toys and certain colors, behave a certain way, and enjoy certain activities.
  2. Little boys are encouraged to like certain toys and certain colors, behave a certain way, and enjoy certain activities.
  3. Little girls who stray too far in the “boyish” direction receive a small to medium amount of disapproval, and are lavishly praised when they do anything more traditionally feminine.
  4. Little boys who stray too far in the “girlish” direction receive a great heaping crap-mountain of disapproval, and are told again and again to “act like a man” or not “be such a girl.” (Being a girl in this case = being weak, silly, emotional, shameful, etc.)
  5. Unsurprisingly, assaulting children with a massive barrage of operant conditioning (positive reinforcement for behaving “correctly,” negative reinforcement for behaving “incorrectly”) leads them to feel pressured to fall in line, and to accept that “this is what a girl is,” and “this is what a boy is.”
  6. Idiot People then look at this result and say, “See? Boys and girls are so DIFFERENT. They just naturally gravitate towards different interests.”

annie-scream

This has been today’s edition of Things That Make Me Want To Scream. Thank you for your attention, and have a pleasant day.