Film star Elliot Page, known for Juno and Umbrella Academy, has announced he is transgender. If you are less familiar with how to refer to a person who is transgender, this guide from GLAAD is helpful. I like the framing of someone embracing or discovering their “authentic self”. As with so many things, it is easy to embrace Page’s new identity by simply having compassion and seeing them as a whole person and by not getting caught up in the irrelevant specifics of “masculinity” or medical procedures.
Category Archives: Aside
The internet is weird. While trolling through YouTube I stumbled upon a “related” video by a channel called SourceFedNERD. The hosts were hilarious and the content enjoyable, so I clicked over to subscribe. The very next video of theirs I watched turned out to be an announcement that the channel was shutting down. It was posted last week. I could have found this channel at any point since early 2012, subscribed, participated and enjoyed their content. But instead I found it today.
Accidentally watched four episodes of The OA before I forced myself to stop. Wow. Compelling, captivating, original. Netflix is the only network I need.
For the last week I have dreaded loading Facebook for what I might see. Today my feed is full of hope and cheer and possibility. Let’s savor this, for at least a few more hours.
Our dishwasher has been out of commission for a month now and Sears has visited four times. They won’t have the part that we (presumably) need to fix it for at least another month. Meghan called last night and gave ’em hell, and now we’re getting a new dishwasher gratis. Which is great and all, but I’m feeling pretty bad/conflicted about this otherwise perfectly good machine getting junked just because the service department can’t get their act together.
None of my stories of misbehaving dogs at 2am impress colleagues. They just smile, shake their heads, and say wait until you have kids.
I never used to have much trouble with credit cards. But now as I try to switch banks (and after buying a house), the new cards I’m getting have minuscule spending limits and every time I make a purchase I’m getting flagged for fraud. I feel like the financial industry is out to get me for daring to question them.
The old wives tale that carrots improve vision is false. Where the tale originated is quite interesting and unexpected. It was promulgated by, of all sources, the British government, during World War II. Snopes has the full story. And can we take a moment to marvel at the wonder that is Snopes, the urban legends reference pages, still going strong after 15 years?
I had a scary dream last night in which I thought I had transferred money from my savings account to my checking account but Bank of America had delayed the transfer, and so I was hit with tons of $35 overdraft fees for a whole bunch of little purchases I had made, and it had gotten so bad BofA was going to sic some goons on me to take all my money.
Is this what it has come to? Nightmares about big banks ruining my life? You know what I blame this on the downfall of? Society!
Meghan and I have been dating for a bit over a year, but it is only in the last few weeks, as we have moved her things over here, that I’ve fully realized how different some of our tastes and styles are. If we ever go to buy a house, it is going to need to have lots of little rooms and closets and crannies and walls and nooks for all of her wonderful trinkets, tchotchkes, and keepsakes. And it is going to need to have few big, empty rooms also, for my use. Rooms that I can enjoy relaxing in after having filled them with…nothing at all.
Have you ever noticed how much better food tastes after a day of hiking? Even mediocre stuff is just so…good. I mean, Clif bars taste OK, for goodness sake. Clif bars!
I’m sort of disappointed with myself for not keeping up my Daytum page. Some interesting data in there for a year end review sort of thing.
Inspired by, among other things, Ken Burns’ forthcoming PBS documentary, I’d like to set a goal: to visit every national park in the United States. There are over 50 of them, and no doubt it will take a while. Guess I better get started.
I was gobsmacked to hear a reference to “JetBlue” in the soundtrack for Legally Blonde just now, but apparently product placement in Broadway musicals is nothing new, dating back to 2005 (or earlier).
Last night I finished re-reading A Wrinkle In Time for the first time since elementary school. Not nearly as good as I remembered, and woah, where did all that religious stuff come from?
I recently finished the first volume of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 comic book, and it made me yearn for some of the beautiful orchestral music from the show. Lo and behold, a mere two days ago Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score was released.
When I imagine the past, I picture it in sepia tones.
One of my favorite things about my cat Oscar, who is quite the talker, is his tendency to break into a big yawn right in the middle of a meow, and then continue it when the yawn is finished. “Me–ahh–oww!” Then he stares at me, daring me to laugh. Or perhaps comprehend.
When you think about it, Hellboy II actually doesn’t make any sense, what with the twins thing and the ending. Or to put it another way, why didn’t the ending just happen in the beginning?
There seems to be a lot of crossover between geeks/scientists, Ultimate players, and outdoorsy people. But on my BUDA Summer Hat team, the defining characteristic is medicine. About a third of the team works for or has worked for Partners, we’ve got one doctor, and a couple folks in med school. I feel very safe.