oh hai

it’s been a minute. i’m currently beating the heat at my favorite coffeeshop around the corner and starting to change my position on buying an air conditioner unit. i’m pretty sure my apartment is at about 90 degrees right now. clothing is totally optional.

anyway, here’s some stuff i’ve been looking at over the last few days:

how to come to terms with your attraction to ‘fat girls‘ – from the jump, this writer nails it. i feel like she’s peering into my brain, talking about some stuff i’ve been pondering lately. (please keep in mind: this article is aimed at hetero folks.) basically, the part about women being taught to turn their shame inward, while men are taught to point the shame elsewhere is spot on. personally, i’ve had enough of this kind of garbage from dudes. i really can’t do this article justice commenting on it: you need to go read it.

president obama visited a prison last week – he’s the first sitting president to visit a prison. i love that he’s talking about the systemic racism in the criminal justice system and the social issues like poverty, lack of educational and job opportunities, and lack of social supports, that lead people to commit crimes – especially people of color. this is the kind of analysis and call to action we need from him on this issue. if only it’d come much earlier in his administration. i guess at least it’s happening now!? the president has been saying some good stuff recently. i hope he keeps pushing these issues to the fore.

honk world – having a crummy day? go listen to honk world. (thanks to stephen at bourbon and coffee for this link.)

we are never ever getting bad blood – easily my favorite mashup of all time. oh, tswift, i love you.

ellis island occupations! – this is a fascinating article from the new york public library (which, by the way, is still an incredibly useful resource even if you don’t live in nyc).

go read some of andrea gibson’s poems – and be sure to bring the tissues!

on running from monsters – my friend iain wrote this moving piece for his blog. i highly suggest you check this and his other writing out. i can’t wait for him to publish a book. 😉

there’s plenty of other stuff i’ve been mulling over, but in the interest of posting *something*, here ya go. have a good monday evening!