Fall is Not Fall-ing

This weather is distressing me

Nov 04, 2022

✨A few things✨

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Hi Dear Readers,

Fall is not fall-ing in the way I had hoped it would. I’m writing to you on a day where it is supposed to get up to 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20.5 degrees Celsius). Maybe it’s the neurodivergence, maybe it’s my climate fears, but I am someone who gets incredibly distressed when the weather is not what it is *supposed* to be. I think my weather sweet-spot is around 30-40 degrees. I am an overheated soul who needs (and enjoys) the hold of cold.

I’m also leaving for Minneapolis next Thursday to work at the National Women’s Studies Association annual conference for my 9-5 job. Truthfully, I’m really angry that NWSA decided to not mandate masks. They are “strongly encouraged,” but not mandated, which feels really shitty—especially at a women’s studies conference. People are too afraid to mandate anything anywhere because they don’t want to upset others, but what about the rest of us? This conference was virtual for the last two years, and there is no virtual option this year. If you’re going to put on a conference during a global, once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, you need to at least make it hybrid. If that isn’t feasible, then make it fully virtual so everyone can attend.

But I digress…

Please, if you can spare them, send me good vibes for this trip.

I made some Reels this week, and I’m sort of, oddly, enjoying making them (WHEN I WANT TO, NOT WHEN I FEEL PRESSURED TO)… But ICYMI: 504 Boyz, Test Scores, and Alcohol.

Thank you for being here,
xL<3

Reading List 🔖

“This Time Feels Different”: Iran’s Women & Youth-Led Protests Continue to Grow Amid Brutal Crackdown - Democracy Now
Anti-government protests in Iran, first sparked last month by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, have moved into their fourth week. The youth and women-led protests cross class and ethnic divides, and the demands have grown in scale and scope, with many, even in the clerical community, now calling for the complete abolition of the Islamic Republic.

Finding My Asexual Identity in My Thirties - Emma Bolden
The most baffling part of my puberty experience was what didn’t happen: My body simply did not react to other people’s bodies. Not a single part of them. I knew there was a difference—a very large difference—in what my peers felt and what I felt—or, rather, what I didn’t feel. I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something, but I didn’t know what. And how was I supposed to know, at twelve years old?

Belabored: Mental Health Workers’ Double Pandemic, with Kellie Benson - Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen
This week, we spoke with Kellie Benson, senior mental health coordinator at Allina Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and a member of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa. Healthcare workers are, of course, the first people we think of when we think of the impact of COVID-19, but the mental health pandemic that has come alongside the virus is less often discussed, and for mental healthcare workers, the two issues are deeply intertwined. Benson tells us about how her work has changed, and the ongoing struggle of mental health workers for fair pay, safe staffing, and support on the job.

Please, for the love of god, stop accusing people of queerbaiting - James Grieg
Part of the problem is that “queerbaiting” has merged with a different and distinct concept: the idea that straight actors shouldn’t play queer roles. Given the disadvantages that LGBTQ+ actors face within the entertainment industry, there is some merit to this idea – it’s true they are less likely to be cast as straight or cisgender characters, and there’s hardly an abundance of queer roles available. Simply as a workplace issue, it does seem unfair if straight actors are hogging all the gay parts, and wanting to remedy that isn’t unreasonable in and of itself. But if you turn this idea into an absolute, prescriptive rule, what this means in practice is that only out queer actors can play queer roles, and that everyone who plays an LGBTQ+ character is liable to face demands that they disclose their sexuality in public.

Books of Note 📚

Weird Girls: Writing the Art Monster - Caroline Hagood (nonfiction)

Once There Were Wolves - Charlotte McConaghy (fiction)

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants - Robin Wall Kimmerer (young adult)

Isabel and Her Colores Go to School - Alexandra Alessandri (children’s book)

The Body in its Seasons - Maz Hedgehog (poetry)

How We Live Is How We Die - Pema Chodron (self-help)

[If you order any of the books above or any listed on my Bookshop site, a percentage goes to local bookstores and I get a small commission. Thank you for not ordering from Amazon!]

Playlist 🎵

“Dirty Work” - Steely Dan
”Grace” - Hercules & Love Affair
”Woman in Love” - WILDES
”Maroon” - Taylor Swift
”Please Don’t Ruin This For Me” - Tennis

Mood Board 💓

Self-Care + Good Things ☕

Pictures of my nephew are still my fave thing ever—his sweetness reminds me of the good in the world. Making these cookies every chance I get (minus the dried fruit—I put chocolate chips in instead). My new keyboard and matching mouse. Samhain ritual under the moon with Mamma.