I’m an anarchist and so are you (probably)
Smashing the windows of Starbucks, a giant red encircled A, and the music of the Sex Pistols… these are the things, images, and sounds that may be evoked when people are discussing anarchy. I’m writing to set the record straight and share with you the ways in which anarchy can and should be incorporated into everyday life.
Funky Hair Me: How purple hair dye taught me a lesson about self-identity
I am sitting at my dining room table with a Russian Imperial Stout, and the world’s largest shower cap on my head, and I think I might be having a pre-mid-life crisis.
6 life lessons for introverts who love people-time
I am an outgoing introvert. Oxymoron, you say? Nope, you said wrong! To sum up, folks on this area of the intro-extroversion scale (ambiverts) need to have quality people time, just as much as we need to have quality no people time. I’ve done some research on this topic, primarily by feeling awkward at social commitments, just to give fellow people-time loving introverts these tips…
Moving to “us” from “me” and fearing the loss of my autonomy
My amazing future husband and I have been together just over two years and engaged over one. He’s amazing, and kind, and is a perfectly balanced feminist who looks like a Viking biker. I can’t even imagine my life without him in it, let alone how I managed to get here without him. Yet I’ve been really stressed over the fact that he and I become WE, US, THEM, in the eyes of the law, family, and society.
More exciting than being Superman: What it’s like living as a closeted, trans, sex worker
I keep trying to come up with a snappy way to describe the experience of living a triple life, and I keep failing. For a while, I was telling new people that I was like a really boring version of Superman but that doesn’t feel true either. I am “Legal Name,” “Sullie,” and a sex worker. In a single day, I might check five different emails, four Twitter accounts, two Tumblrs, and two Facebooks before I even get out of bed.
How my pink-loving son made me confront my weird gender biases
In our household, the lines of the past that steadfastly identified what was considered “man” and “woman” responsibilities were more opaque. It’s not the easiest job in the world, but to be honest I felt pretty good about being what most people would label a “modern dad” and I wore that title like a badge of honor. My title was put to the test however the day my wife brought a particular hula monkey toy home for my son…
I’m queer and religious: Yes, we exist
I’m happily engaged to another woman, and yet, I find myself adhering to more conservative religious dress standards. I have seen glimpses of others like me online — the ba’al teshuvah lesbian on Tumblr who actively dates women; the queer “frum from birth” Jew who got a tattoo to commemorate his struggle with traditional Torah observance; the genderqueer Muslim I went to school with who wears a hijab; the Seventh Day Adventist and Pentecostal LGBTQ activists who blog for other queers in their denominations.
Hardcore Norm: Because dressing different is such a cliché
The week before, at a craft beer tasting party at an indie advertising agency in Silver Lake, a sculpture artist was remarking about recently looking through photos of style choices from the aughts. “What was I thinking,” she said in bewilderment. That evening she was wearing a black tank top, and, like, pants. Maybe three quarter length? Or not? Maybe black jeans? Or not-jean pants? I couldn’t recall. Perhaps, I thought, this was just a symptom of getting older. There was some kind of sartorial giving a shit phase that we had all grown out of. But it turned out this, too, was a trend. Kids, too young to have grown out of anything, were dressing this way.