little imagination, too much free time

Swedish Metal Aid - Give A Helping Hand

and i can prove it.

Please repost, forward, and share.

god love the gay weatherman!

you might not want to open this in front of your boss.

for those who love riding a hot smelly crowded train as much as i do...

i mean the old school stuff

like this

and this

and this

Most importantly, what will they name it?

Have you experienced discrimination for being trans? In the workplace or anywhere else?
MTPC needs your stories and stories from your friends and/or family members in order to make a strong case to legislators.

Please tell your stories of discrimination here.

Want to help in a more hands-on way?
Join a committee!
OR
Come to an open meeting!

See you there!

so i get this newsletter from Grist Magazine - environmental news and commentary - every few weeks or so. maybe once a month.
today's had a short article about a group called "Inconvenient Christians" who are offering two free tickets to Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth"....
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View unto others
A group called Inconvenient Christians (best! name! ever!) is offering "committed, Bible-believing" peeps free tix to Al Gore's movie. In return, Truth-seekers agree to post mini-reviews on the group's site -- and to shut up about The Da Vinci Code already.
-----------------

Some of the reviews are from ministers, and other plain old christians. it's interesting, and kind of moving, to see an issue that people from opposite sides of the fence can come together on.

just thought it was interesting.

here's Grist Magazine.

hear me out...
not in the "sure, nazis, you can have our milk money" kind of way but more in the "god, that jerry lewis is hysterical!" kind of way.

Emmy nominations were released today.

To back up my argument, here are a few nominations that appalled and nauseated me:

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series -
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper in CBS' Two and a Half Men;
Kevin James as Doug Heffernan in The King of Queens....

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series -
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell in CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine
now, she was funny on SNL...funny on Seinfeld...on her two failed series? not so funny. kinda pathetic, actually. definitely not emmy-worthy.

come on.

so i need some help. i need to know the name(s) of cool pet stores around San Francisco. specifically, dog stuff.

my roommate is moving back to CA tomorrow and she and her fiance are getting a new puppy when they get there.
I wanted to give her a gift (she's getting married soon, she took me to a Sox game, she's extremely sweet and i'll miss her).
i was thinking it would be good to get a gift card to a cool, locally-owned pet store (not a chain) but i don't know any or how to find one.

if anyone in the SF area has any recommendations, or ideas on where i could find out such a thing, i'd love to hear from you.
thanks.

went to hear her speak last night at a BGLTSA lecture at Harvard. I really liked everything she had to say. I feel like we share a lot of sensibilities about some things. It was a great comfort to hear her speak, given that she's the head of the NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality). Kinda like I feel really good that she's "on my side". Even what she had to say about the "anti-allies" resonated with me. A very kharmic attitude. I really appreciated it.
If you're interested, you can read the Harvard Crimson article about the lecture here.

Her talk made me want to quit my job, move to D.C. and become a trans lobbyist.

*sigh*

EDIT: Here's a bit more detail about some things she had to say:

* the mouse story - three mice get to heaven. they're ecstatic. st. peter checks in with them a few days later to ask how they're doing. they're elated except, they say, "heaven is amazing and huge but our little legs are so small, we can't get around it fast enough." st. peter says, "no problem. i know exactly what you need. i'll take care of it." and the very next instant, they're all wearing roller skates. awhile later, a cat dies and gets to heaven. a few days later, st. peter checks in with her to see how she's doing. she says, "wow. heaven is so great. and i really love the meals on wheels program you've got."
point is: if you're not part of your own liberation, if it's being done by other people, even if they're well-intentioned, you might get eaten.
That's sort of what's happened since the 70's with the GLB + T movement. The T gets a little left behind. We have different needs. Only recently have we begun to stand up and speak on our own behalf.


* discrimination, racism, sexism, any -ism: if it's okay to tell a black joke, it's okay to tell a white joke. if it's okay to discriminate against someone with a disability, it's okay to discriminate against someone who is elderly or queer or whatever. if it's okay to kill a latina transsexual sex worker, it's okay to kill me. these things are not okay. if it's a transgression against one of us, it's against us all, is basically what I think she was saying. we have to help each other. by collaborating, we get more done for more people. GLB should help T. T should help GLB. and others.

* the war on hate cannot be won with more hate. it can only be won with love. when the religious right - or whomever - spout off with negative things to say, it's because they are ignorant and need to be educated.

* when you believe that there are some who cannot be educated, then that's when you should give up trying to change policy and peoples' minds. through education, and patience, and love you can achieve positive results.

i totally believe all of this stuff. and i'm excited about it.
god, i sound like a religious nut.
anyway...that's what i came away with last night.

can you believe this??!!!

my heart can't take this cuteness.
just picturing little Australian grannies knitting tiny sweaters for baby penguins...
i'm going to go throw up now...throw up with love and preciousness!!

...and I'm starting to get really nervous.
===========================
Rally for Transgender Equality at Harvard and Beyond

Wednesday, April 19
1pm to 2:30 pm
outside the Harvard Science Center
(intersection of Kirkland Ave and Oxford St. in Cambridge, MA)

Now that Harvard has added gender identity to its nondiscrimination
policy, think that our work is done? Think again! We're just getting
warmed up.

The Harvard Transgender Task Force has declared this April 19
Transgender Awareness Day. We invite you to attend our rally to honor
the nine-year struggle that resulted in this victory and to celebrate it
by continuing this work in new and necessary ways at Harvard and elsewhere.

This rally is about creating meaningful change in the lives of Harvard
staff, students, faculty and alumni, and in the broader community. We
will be discussing other steps we think Harvard should take to make its
campus safe for transgender, genderqueer and other gender-non-conforming
people.

Learn what we hope to accomplish next and how you can help! Come, be
educated, and show your support for ongoing efforts to improve the lives
of trans and gender non-conforming people!

Harvard students, staff, faculty, and alumni will be speaking at the
rally. Featured speakers include Mara Keisling, Executive Director of
the National Center for Transgender Equality and Harvard GSAS alumna;
Dean Spade, founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and visiting
professor at Harvard Law School; and a Harvard Faculty member whose son
is transgender.

For more information: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/queer/ttf

Join us for our after party at 6pm 45 Mt. Auburn St. (indian food! yum!)

so i'm taking the commuter rail from wellesley to south station with the intention of taking the red line to my new job in harvard square and apparently, they've switched to new, state-of-the-art, fancy shmancy turnstiles - but only in south station. your tokens are no good in these doodads. you must either have a pass or buy a paper ticket to insert in the turnstile. so i am standing in line for one of the ticket vending machines - because they've gotten rid of the job that a real live person used to do now that they can be replaced by a machine - waiting to buy my ticket. i get up to the machine, push all the appropriate buttons, and insert my $20 when prompted. what happens next is pretty good...i get my change. in coins. lots and lots of them. heavy, clanging coins during morning rush hour in south station. some woman looks at me like i've just robbed the place. i can only throw my head back in exasperation. gah. now i'm gonna have to carry around a heaving pocketful of 3 quarters and 18 dollar coins all day. awesome.
bonus: after i've collected my booty, i get almost down the stairs when i realize the train is right there and i have to run for it. the right side of my pants are drooping and i am jangling like i've just held up some miserly kid's piggy bank. i feel like Scrooge McDuck with all this heap of coinage.

i've slowly been spending them only having to explain once that, no, this isn't canadian currency, it's actually a U.S. dollar, dimwit. i'm down to my last 3 sakajaweas. maybe i'll save one just for the heck of it. to serve as a reminder that i need to either cough up for a legitimate T pass or carry around exact change from now on.

is your bank a conglomerate monster funding illegal forresting practices in Indonesia or involved in other harmful practices?

is your affinity card working for the forces of good more than the forces of evil? "affinity cards are cards issued by a major bank that also bear the logo of a select charity or nonprofit. Each time you use an affinity card, the issuing bank donates a set amount to the charity/nonprofit. However, since affinity cards are usually connected with a mega-bank, your money also indirectly supports any problematic practices of that bank and interest rates are often higher."

to find out, read this.

"the greenest affinity card available is the Working Assets Visa card, which donates ten cents with every purchase to your choice of one of 50 nonprofits. It offers a 9.9 percent APR, with no annual fee."

Also, just for fun, check out this amazing magazine based in Brooklyn. (thanks to my dear friend Hanna for introducing me to Stay Free!)

watch this and share it.

Boston 'T' party
An All-Ages Dinner and Dance to Benefit the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

Saturday April 8th
7-11p
Arlington Street Church
351 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

Tickets: Adults: $20 in advance, $25 at the door
Under 18: $8 in advance, $10 at the door

Come have a buffet style dinner and then dance the night away with us to raise money for MTPC. Dress is casual... let's have fun!

Contact Evan to purchase advance tickets at Evanflux@yahoo.com or (617) 519-8216 Visit www.masstpc.org for more info and other ticket outlets

this is insane.

"The World Islands are a collection of man-made islands shaped into the continents of the world, located off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It will consist of 300 small private artificial islands divided into four categories - private homes, estate homes, dream resorts, and community islands. Each island will range from 250,000 to 900,000 square feet in size, with 50 to 100 metres of water between each island. It will cover a total area of 9 kilometers (5.4 miles) in length and 6 kilometers (3.6 miles) in width, surrounded by an oval shaped breakwater. The only means of transportation between the islands will be by marine transport."

i say we all chip in and buy a big ol' homo commune island off the coast of dubai. who's with me? we just need to raise between $6.85 million and $1.8 billion. let's sell lemonade or put on a show.
c'mon. think of the possibilities!

seriously. you Have to watch the promo video. it's terrifying.

EDIT: Related to this... while reshaping geography, they're also smothering aquatic species and destroying ecological systems in the process. yippee.

what do you think about me?
http://kevan.org/johari?name=gmsensing


or pick out what's wrong with me:
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=gmsensing