Doctor Who and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

The above video was made by the cast and crew of Doctor Who at the end of David Tennant’s time as the Doctor, and it’s fabulous.

Happy Lantern Night, Bryn Mawr

My lantern, from Lantern Night 2006

Bryn Mawr College has four major Traditions: Parade Night, Lantern Night, Hell Week, and May Day. Tonight is Lantern Night 2011, and that means that the class of 2015 is receiving their lanterns, complete with green glass panes. 

Korean Adoptee Night

To be continued …

October Sky

Because I’ve been working the 1pm – 10pm shift at work lately, plus overtime, I haven’t been able to take photos after I get home from work: it’s far too dark. I took a few photos last weekend, however, and they reminded me how pretty the sky can look around sunset, even without actually seeing the setting sun itself. 

Books I’m Reading This Fall

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m nearly always in the process of reading several books at once — or rather, I’ll get distracted by a new book before I’ve finished the one I’m currently reading, so it will sit on the figurative back burner for a while (on the shelf or in my bag, depending on how much I really want to read it) until I get back to it. In the past few months, I’ve received a handful of new books, and I’ve been steadily working my way through them — books about everything from fine dining to the prison industrial complex, Haiti to hot sauce, Le Cordon Bleu to why being trans is awesome . 

My College, the Castle

My home for three years at Bryn Mawr

Byrn Mawr College has an incredibly beautiful campus. I loved living there. I also, as I try to gather photos to show people how gorgeous it is, realize that I didn’t take nearly enough photos. I took photos, of course, but most of my best ones are from my very first year.

Reasons I’m Glad I’m Short

As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be taller. When we lined up from tallest to shortest for picture day in lower school, I would always be at or near the end of the line. And as I grew older, it became frustrating that people would think me so young — possibly because I simply look young but also definitely because I’m short. On a flight back to college one winter, the airline people even wanted to make me aware that I need to be fifteen in order sit in the exit row. I still often wish that I were taller, especially because there are so few people my height who are read as male (I’m just over five feet tall, if you didn’t know).

Continuing Thoughts about Abusive Language at Work

As a queer, trans person of color, when I think of someone aiming abusive language at me, I immediately think of deeply hateful racist, homophobic, transphobic language. Words of sexual violence, people telling me that the world would be better off if I were dead, being told that I am less than human. I have not personally experienced that, but I know that others like me have, and so the potential for that is always in the back of my mind.

As irrational as it is, when I was told that I’ll just have to deal with abusive language at work, that’s what I thought of. Being called an idiot, or being yelled at because the person is frustrated with the company is one thing — something that will probably upset me, but something that I can deal with. But emotionally, it felt as though I were being told that I must deal with the rest, and that was unacceptable.

Katie Burgess: My New Hero for “Calling Out a Corporate Sponsor at a Pro-LGBT Event”

Katie Burgess, if you didn’t know, is the Executive Director of TYSN (the Trans Youth Support Network*). She also wrote a really fierce post today for The Bilerico Project titled “Solidarity: Calling Out a Corporate Sponsor at a Pro-LGBT Event,” which included her speech at the 18th Annual National Coming Out Day Luncheon last week. I am so incredibly impressed with her, her words, and her speech.

The Barbershop: Finally Found Somewhere to Cut My Hair

I have posted more than once about my attempts to get a haircut. It feels like such a complicated process that I usually end up putting it off until my hair begins to look like a chia pet. The haircut almost inevitably seems to be more expensive than I really want to pay and/or be thirty minutes away from where I live (or further) — and then there’s the issue that I nearly always get misgendered, and that’s stressful as well. All of those other issues actually tend to feel more important than the actual haircut itself: as soon as my hair is shorter, and I don’t look terrible, I’m usually satisfied on that front. Today, I may have found my solution to my Minnesota haircut dilemma (the answer to the Chicago one would be to have one of my awesome haircut-competent friends cut my hair) through The Barbershop.