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the charmingest man
21 November 2009 @ 08:43 pm
Okay, this is actually sort of a silly thing to post about, but there's history behind it. See, for about three years of my childhood, I took piano lessons. I wasn't ever any good -- I mean, I had rhythm, but no great talent. When my piano teacher moved away, I stopped taking lessons, but never really stopped playing. I went through a brief songwriting phase which ended when I realised that I was no good at writing melodies. (This has actually repeated itself on other instruments.)

Point being, piano's always been one of those trouble spots for me. And right now, my life's pretty full of trouble spots, and I. Just got done improvising jazz piano. And it sounded good.

Silly as it sounds, having done this, I'm feeling proud of myself for the first time in a while. And if that doesn't warrant posting about... well, what does?
 
 
and today's emotion is: accomplished
to the tune of: Moon Over Bourbon Street - Sting
 
 
the charmingest man
20 November 2009 @ 11:01 pm
I feel I ought to say a few words about Transgender Day of Remembrance before the day actually ends. It's not going to be as epic as the Coming Out Day spiel, but still, it seems to fall to me to speak up about trans issues in the communities I involve myself in, so.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is not a happy holiday. As the name suggests, it is a day to recognise those who came before us -- and transgender history is rife with tragedy. Last year, we held a candlelight vigil for Lawrence King, who had been murdered the year before in an act of transphobia. We spoke about improving the future, working to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening again. This year bad weather prevented the gathering from occurring again, though I hear San Francisco had a great one.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is not just about remembering history. We remember first of all the people who have died or been injured in transphobic hate crimes. The list is always horrifically long.

But it's also about history. The transgender movement and use of the word is fairly new. Before the twentieth century, there were just as many individuals who indentified outside of the gender binary. The difference was that there was no community to speak of. There's little recorded history, so we can really only speculate about what it was like to be transgendered before the last century or so. But I suspect it was pretty bad. If only because sex reassignment therapy (hormone therapy, surgery, recognition that these people had a legitimate identity) wasn't developed until the twentieth century.

Transgendered people are often forgotten in the queer rights movement. Gay marriage being the rallying call lately, I guess it makes sense, though this affects all transgendered people; depending on a state's policy on the matter, any given relationship involving a transitioned (transsexual) transgendered person may be construed as homosexual or heterosexual from state to state. But it's harder to see transgender. There isn't an image or a stereotype, really. It's a bunch of us trying to blend in, and a few of us trying even harder to stand out. But Stonewall was a bunch of drag queens who decided enough was enough. That was us, too.

Anyway, that's what today's about. Just remember us. Remember the transgendered people who have been hurt and killed and forgotten and pushed aside and denied their identities, denied their place in history. Remember the transgendered people who have worked to make this world a better place. Remember that the work is never done, and that there are so many more of us working today, so many more of us who don't even know where to begin.

Please also take a moment to visit gender.org's website, where they have posted a list of the people we are remembering this year.

Please take a moment to remember.
 
 
and today's emotion is: pensive
 
 
the charmingest man
16 November 2009 @ 08:19 am
So every year I try and sometimes don't succeed in sending out holiday cards to whoever so desires one. I'm sure plenty of you remember last year's great failure. (Sorry about that, guys.) I'm trying again, though! This time I will buy enough stamps and make them all at once. It will work!

So anyway. Cards. Leave a (screened) comment with your address and a preferred subject of illustration or drabble prompt if you want one. If not, that's cool too.

I'm not going to friends-lock this post, jut screen comments, but if you like I can give you my address. Or I can post it in another friends-locked entry.
 
 
and today's emotion is: sick
 
 
the charmingest man
14 November 2009 @ 06:30 pm
YUUUUUUUULETIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE

I am so psyched you guys. My prompts are killer. (TWO FANDOM MATCHES! TWO FANDOM MATCHES! AND THEY SHIP THEM LIKE I DO!)

In other news, I am home from Boston, which is significantly more depressing. Tomorrow I will do ALL OF MY HOMEWORK, and then proceed to catch up on all the NaNo I have let slide. It's not actually that much. I had one six-thousand-word day, which gave me a little leeway.

More later, I only got three hours of sleep last night and I have THINGS TO WRITE!

Next time on my journal: 52, Boston, New York, and why I am a big stinking idiot for not doing any homework in Boston AT ALL.
 
 
and today's emotion is: ecstatic
to the tune of: All Along the Watchtower - Bryan Ferry
 
 
the charmingest man
09 November 2009 @ 02:24 pm
Hello, Livejournal! I'm reporting to you from sort-of sunny Boston, before I head out for another day of getting lost looking for T stops and gaping like a fool at the gorgeous fall colours. I'll talk more about the trip later, I'm too busy being amazed right now to really articulate how ridiculously cool Boston is. I want to live here. I don't want to go back to California ever.

Anyway! I'm a little behind NaNo schedule, but I'm planning on posting the first section of my novel later today. Some people have already mentioned wanting to read it, but I'd like to make sure everyone who wants to get on the novel filter does, so friends, Romans, countrymen -- who's interested in reading my novel? (If you are, you actually have to speak up, as I'm locking it behind a filter and need to know who to include. Don't be shy!)

In other news, Daredevil is eating my brain again, and costumed vigilantes are the new zombies. Write or Die is saving my sorry ass. I need to start going to sleep BEFORE I hallucinate. I hallucinate about TV Tropes.
 
 
to the tune of: Bryan Ferry - All Along the Watchtower
 
 
the charmingest man
29 October 2009 @ 11:17 pm
Just thought I'd let you know, I've decided to go on a fandom hiatus for all of November, and a Livejournal hiatus for the first week. I have homework to catch up on and a research paper to write, and that novel. The quickest and most painless way to get all that done is to kill my Internet time. Thus. Expect me in a week, when I shall shower you with tales of my Week Without Livejournal, and possibly my Trip To The Other Side Of The Continent. (if I can get a ticket.)

Tales of Terror will go up once I've finished one of my papers. They're mostly original this year.

Though I won't be checking until next week, what are you lot doing to make time for NaNo? (If indeed you are, as I know many of you are putting the "no" in November.) Or what are you doing now to get ready, in these last couple of days? And what are you hoping to get out of this year's experience?

Until next time!
 
 
and today's emotion is: optimistic
to the tune of: The Meeting Place - Hem
 
 
the charmingest man
28 October 2009 @ 02:54 pm
From [info]sentienttoaster on [info]youngavengers:

In other brief news, Gabriel said the new Young Avengers limited series by the concept's creators Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung called Avengers: Children's Crusade is scheduled to debut in July 2010 before Comic-Con International: San Diego and is expected to be released bi-monthly to assure its timely shipping. Gabriel added, however, that the creative team is already "two or three issues into that story."

Source

MORE YOUNG AVENGERS. BY ALLAN HEINBURG AND JIM CHEUNG.

In other news, I have been to the doctor and the radiologist and while I do have a (very minor) concussion and I've strained my neck muscles, there's no big damage done. Which is all very nice, and I'm thankful for that much, but a minor concussion still sucks and I am having even more difficulty focusing (both my eyes and my concentration) than usual. Also, dizziness and headache! I'm in better spirits about the whole thing, too -- the guy is a douchebag, sure, but his insurance is paying for everything. I feel that the increase in his premiums is all the retribution I need. Suck on that, sweetheart!

Kind of a lot of things to write this week; most of them are school-related. Coupled with my focus issues, I still won't be responding consistently to online communication. It's not you, it's me.
 
 
to the tune of: Harmless - Coldplay
 
 
the charmingest man
27 October 2009 @ 08:45 pm
[info]poisonivory put out a call for help tonight. The website she helps run -- Girl-Wonder.org, a feminist comics fansite -- has been under siege by malware, and the webmistress finally got rid of it via some pretty destructive means.

In poisonivory's words: if any of you are experienced in civicrm, and could lend Betty a hand in putting everything back together, that would be excellent of you. Please contact her at sturdyandserviceable@gmail.com

I dunno if any of you are familiar with civicrm, but this sounds like a pretty good cause to me. if you know anyone who might know it, and would have interest in helping out a site like this, could you pass the message along?
 
 
and today's emotion is: cold
 
 
the charmingest man
27 October 2009 @ 02:08 pm
Holy crap, you guys, do you see that header? FIVE DAYS TO NANO.

Which means it's time for haiku summaries! Pretty self-explanatory: summarise your novel's plot or premise in haiku form. I'll go first:

social class struggles
against the rich sorcerers
don't do very much


Your turn now!

Alternatively, use short sentences. 10 words or less! (Haiku are more fun.) For added fun, try limericks.
 
 
and today's emotion is: sleepy
to the tune of: Love for Sale - Dexter Gordon
 
 
the charmingest man
24 October 2009 @ 05:15 pm
I was going to write about how the speaking gig went, but I just got rearended and I hit my head and all I want to do is curl up with an icepack and JLI. So that's where I am. Have a great weekend.

douchebag called me 'sweetheart' and dented poor Essi and didn't even fucking apologise. Tried to make it seem like my fault. I want to punch him right in his ugly self-satisfied redneck mug.
 
 
and today's emotion is: numb
 
 
 
 

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