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Getting friends in to musicals is hard because when they ask what it’s about you have to be like “15 year olds having sex” or “a plant from outer space that takes over the world” or “teenagers killing people for fun” or “Alexander Hamilton”

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West Wing Wednesday

The West Wing is one of those shows that never particularly piqued my interest. At the time it was on the air I was between the ages of three and ten. I vaguely remember my father occasionally tuning into an episode here and there but it was never one of those things that made an imprint on my childhood. And why should it considering the content. 

I mean I was a precocious young kid, but even I don’t think I would have understood it. However, I do wish I would have gone back and watched it earlier. Perhaps in my adolescence. When I was 12 I remember becoming increasingly obsessed with politics and policy and I religiously followed the 2008 election. I remember telling my mother, “I don’t think I’ll be the first female president, but I’ll be the first good one.” 

Now as my interest in politics has shifted because of - well, growing up and developing my own views based on my experiences - I became less and less interested in the idea of actually being a politician. In fact I have turned my eyes to my first love writing. And I have always wanted to write good episodic content.

Recently a close friend of mine has become obsessed with The West Wing, just now bingeing it for the first time. I see posts on my facebook feed about how they prefer to stay in that world rather than the political climate we are currently in.

As such my interest was piqued. And two days ago while on a date with one of my partners, he told me, “You need to watch The West Wing. And listen to The West Wing weekly. I’d like to know what you think of it.” 

And thus West Wing Wednesdays were born. Every week I will post a short decompression of what I think of the episodes I had watched that week and the podcast counterparts to said episode. 

I’m writing this after just finishing the Pilot so let’s start there. 

Fuck this show has good dialogue. And pacing. Very much a show of it’s time. I.e. Hairstyles and the use of pagers. Even still, the hot button issues are still relevant, if not more.

Now I’m listening to the West Wing weekly and I realize that I need to up my analysis skills. Let’s see how this goes. And they made a Hamilton reference.

Til next wednesday,

Ekko

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

I’m just sitting here like: Why is there a bee on this woman’s lip.

Why does that make me think of the Post Apocalyptic LARP I’m a part of.

Particularly a character named Trash Can. 

Also my boyfriend who has a fetish for bees walking on his dick.

Like... I get your point guys. But the fact that I’m still ruminating on these things concerns me. 

I think there is something wrong with me.

GOD DAMNIT TRASHCAN

I’m the owner of one, and I want to say this because I’m tired of seeing it specifically used against my people, but when you see news websites on twitter (especially) or any social network post something controversial to you, like saying “Kylie Kardashian created this new unique Hairstyle” and you know deep in your soul it was black people who created it, they do it on purpose. They purposely make that article title in that way (or any other title you know not to be true or you’ll be offended by), they do it purposely so people will catch wind of it and argue about it, make whole threads under it and it’ll make it to Black twitter to reach 10,000-100,000 RTs, hoping for a subtweet. Any one post with a link in it that reaches a minimum of 2000+ retweets that get people offended enough can reach can get earn that single post $500-$2000 in revenue for that one post, in fact if it makes it far enough one post can get someone as much as $5000, and news websites usually get no RTs at all like 10-80, so basically you give them their salary in one post. But of course the poster themselves aren’t ignorant to what they’re doing, and black twitter or even allies want to fight against it to prevent people from seeing a lie. so they make a post that wasn’t going to viral in the first place viral. Just here to say the best thing to do to fight that is simply instead of subtweeting/replying them is to take a screenshot whatever their post was, (and make whatever thread you want on your own account) and post it on your own account and make whatever comment you want about it, it’ll still get the 1000s of tweets it gets, but whoever posted it gets ZERO amount of money and still get ALL the hate. So if you know any twitter famous/any social network people who be subtweeting/replying controversial let them know

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

Dark Tower Decompression

I started reading Stephen King in 4th or 5th grade. Shortly after my dad made me watch Carrie. My dad had this great idea of using horror movies as punishment, you can imagine how that backfired. Carrie was the first King Novel I read and I read his other work pretty often too, mostly the ones that inspired my dad’s favorite films. Stand By Me, Cujo, Christine, The Shining, etc. It was in middle school I discovered the Dark Tower series. I fell in love with it and continued to read other of King’s novels. 

There is a lot of flack going on for the Dark Tower film, and I personally think it should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s a high concept film that isn’t going to be for everyone. As an adaptation - I’m not even going to finish this sentence. 

It was made public knowledge that this wasn’t an adaptation, but a continuation of the novels. For all you purists stop getting your panties in a bunch. The film was good, I was a little thrown off by the Shining references considering that is not a book - as far as I know - to have any overlap with the Dark Tower universe. Though it does have several other references to concepts we know and love. 

I’m interested to see how the television series and film franchise pans out.

All Hail The Crimson King ;)

Ekko Rhodes.

NOTE: I haven’t read much King since Freshman year of high school. This has inspired me to go back and read more from an adult perspective. So look out for some talk on that.

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

Cats trying to decide who gets to go to the afterlife. 

Getting friends in to musicals is hard because when they ask what it’s about you have to be like “15 year olds having sex” or “a plant from outer space that takes over the world” or “teenagers killing people for fun” or “Alexander Hamilton”

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

A story that may have relevance for others, or then again, maybe not:

When I was in college, about ten or so years ago, I was a history major. I wanted to learn to dance, so I joined a swing dance club on campus. To my surprise, this club had about twice as many men as women (in high school, the last time I’d tried dancing, the ratio had gone the other way–lots of girls, and boys only that you could drag by their ears).

But apparently, there had been some kind of word spread specifically to the STEM guys that dance was a way that they could meet girls.

So anyway. I joined the swing dance club, and met a few guys. And at one point, when socializing with the guys outside of dance class, one of them asked me what my research was on. (I had already established that I was an honors history student doing a thesis, just as he had established that he was an honors… I’m not sure if he was CS or Math, but it was one of those.)

So I gave him the thumbnail sketch of my research. Now, to be clear, an honors senior thesis, while nothing like what a graduate student would do, was still fairly in-depth. I had to translate primary sources from the original late-Classical Latin. (My professor said, basically, that while there were plenty of translations of my source material, that I’d only be able to comfortably trust them if I had at least made a stab at a translation of my own. And he was right.) And there was so much secondary material, often contradictory, that I had been carefully sorting through.

But I was able to sift it into a three-sentence summary of my senior thesis work, you know, as one does.

So I gave him that summary, and then asked–since he was also an undergraduate senior doing an honors thesis–what his research was on.

“Oh,” he said, “you wouldn’t understand it.”

Reader, I went home in a frothing rage. Because I had thought we were playing one game–a game of ‘let’s talk about what we’re passionate about!’– and he had been playing another game, which was, one-upsmanship. I had done my best to give a basically understandable brief of my research–and he had used that against me. As if my research, my painstaking translation, my digging through archives and ILLs of esoteric works, my reading of ten thousand articles in Speculum (yes, the pre-eminent medievalist journal in North America is called Speculum, I’m sorry, it’s hilarious/sad but also true), and then my effort to sum it up for him, was nothing. Because his research into some kind of algorithm or other was just too complex for my tiny brain to conceive of. Because I just couldn’t possibly understand his work.

Now, the important note here is that the person I went home to was my senior year roommate. She was a graduate student–normally undergrads and graduate students couldn’t be roommates, but we’d been friends for years, and the tenured faculty-in-residence used his powers for good and permitted us to be roommates that year. Anyway. My senior year roommate was basically… in retrospect I think possibly an avatar of Athena. She was six feet tall, blonde, attractive in a muscular athletic way, a rock climber and racquetball player, sweet but sharp, extremely socially awkward, exceptionally kind even when it cost her to be kind, and an incredibly brilliant computer science major who spent most of her time working on extremely complicated mathematical algorithms. (Yes, I was a little in love with her, why do you ask? But she was as straight as a length of rope, and is now happily married, and so am I, so it worked out.)

(Still, yes, she is my mental image of Athena, to this day.)

Anyway, I came home in a frothing rage to my roommate, the Athena avatar. And I said, “He made me feel like such an idiot, that I could sum up my research to him but his research was just too smart for stupid little me.”

And she shut her book, and smiled at me, with her dark eyes and her high cheekbones and her bright hair, and said, “If he can’t explain his research to you, then he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.”

Now I hesitated, because I’d be in college long enough to have sort of bought into the ridiculous idea that if you couldn’t dazzle them with your brilliance, you should baffle them with your bullshit. But she said, “Look, I’ve been doing work on computer science algorithms that have significantly complicated mathematical underpinnings. What do I do?”

And I said, “Genetic algorithms–that is, self-optimizing algorithms–for prioritization, specifically for scheduling.”

“Right,” she said. “You couldn’t code them because you’re not a computer scientist or a mathematician. But you can understand what I do. If someone can’t explain it like that, it isn’t a problem with you as a person. It’s a problem with them. They either don’t understand it as well as they think they do–or they want to make you feel inferior. And neither is a positive thing.”

So. There.

If you are looking into something and have a question, and someone treats you like an idiot for not understanding right away… here is what I have to say: maybe it isn’t you who is the idiot.

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

Headcanon there is a warning like this one the front of the London Institute about Jessamine.

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

Reblog If

Reblog if you are trans, non binary, or just really like food.

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

The best advice I could ever give any high school or college student is to save every paper you write because you never know when you can reuse that paper for a different class and save yourself lots of valuable time.

(via deadsensescompany)

THAT’S FUCKING PLAGIARISM THEY TEACH YOU THAT IN ANY FIRST YEAR COLLEGE ENGLISH CLASS!

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

I would like - If I May - To take you on a strange journey

For those of you who are unaware I am a member of the San Francisco shadowcast for the Rocky Horror Picture show. What do I do? I’m an MC and Co-Head of the Pre-show dept. as well as a performer of the Parts of the Criminologist and Transylvanian with the purple hair (In my head canon her name is Lavette and is a centuries old cosmic Lesbian).

I’ve been a part of this show for about 3 years. I first came to it shortly after my 18th birthday when some friends of mine were going to be in a production of The Rocky Horror Show so for research we went and saw The Bawdy Caste at the Clay Theater. I was so excited I tagged along. Red lipstick V’s adorned our faces along with the words SLUT and ASSHOLE for each of them and apparently I had some CUM on my chin. 

When it came time for the MC to announce they were recruiting my friends turn to me and say I HAVE TO DO THIS. And so I did. I made the crazy 2 hour busride to menlo park to see their other show and declare my intention for joining cast and pray someone would give me a ride home. And they did. And now 3 years later after some crazy life stuff that forced me into taking time off for a year and some change. This coming Saturday will be my 40th show and my first time doing a full MC routine. 

For a while it felt like Rocky Horror was just something I did. Now it’s something I’m a part of. We are going to do some awesome things in the future. 

I’m so lucky to be a part of this cast and this community. 

Let’s do the Time Warp Again,

Ekko

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

#pop #sucker #car-mel

Reblog and put in the tags:

- what you call the things in the first two pictures - how you pronounce the thing in the third picture (caramel)

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

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Some soprano: Oh no sweetie I'll take my coffee black, I've got a concert in two days so no dairy will touch these vocal chords!

Me, literally on the way to the dress rehearsal: hold on I gotta stop for ice cream

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Working with Autism... with Autism.

About two years ago I was diagnosed with ASD. Looking back at my life and doing a ridiculous amount of research this makes alot of my childhood and adolescence make a lot more sense.

Flash forward two years. 80% of my friends are on the spectrum. I was recently asked to be a mentor for my friend’s - who is on the spectrum - stepdaughter who is on the spectrum. That little girl has become very fond of me after I drew her a picture of a character form one of her favorite video games. If there is any way to get an autistic to like you it’s Special Interesting with them. 

After that I became very interested in the idea of giving back to communities and populations that have helped me in my youth. Usually I go for non-profits associated with foster youth or queer youth, but my most recent career venture has been getting my certificate to be a behavior analyst for kids on the spectrum. 

As I go through the trainings it’s an odd experience learning more about a diagnosis that is both new and familiar but in the context of helping people with Autism. To put this into perspective. I am taking a training about working with small children on the spectrum designed by neurotypicals for neurotypicals. It’s a little strange. I’m fortunate that two of my special interests are acting and behavior psychology, it will help me pass as Normative. I don’t particular mind if my employer knows I am on the spectrum but I don’t know how well it will fair amongst the majority of parents. Which is unfortunate but, this is a job. So I can’t exactly complain. My focus will be working with these kids. 

Updates Soon,

Ekko

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

@maymarinheiro It's not prejudice. If you look at my post I don't bring up his autism at all. I'm just saying I don't think there should as much oversexualization of a character who hasn't acted outward on it. And saying that he's aromantic doesn't even deny him sexuality. I'm aromatic, but not asexual. I identify alot with Tiberius and while I'm not forcing my identity on him I'm just saying I don't like people forcing this ship down my throat as a "this is an inevitable its practically canon" when it's not.

Kit and Ty Ship Rant

I love Kit and Ty’s relationship don’t get me wrong. I hate the blatant and treatment of it that it’s so obviously gonna be a thing. There is no basis for it. I’m pretty sure Tiberius is aromantic at the very least. Kit is fiercely protective of him but it’s never any kind of sexual or romantic attraction. There’s no tension like that whatsoever. There is intense emotional connection… But that’s it.

:/ Let them be squishes. Let them be QPPs but there is no evidence so please don’t ship them romantically or sexually :(

Maybe it’s just me.

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@clockworkopera I think you were able to more eloquently express my frustration. Fans can have their own imagination and that what makes fan fic and fan art awesome. But the series isn't over yet and I'm not sure where these too are going so seeing people express these ideas prematurely is a little off putting at least for me.

Kit and Ty Ship Rant

I love Kit and Ty’s relationship don’t get me wrong. I hate the blatant and treatment of it that it’s so obviously gonna be a thing. There is no basis for it. I’m pretty sure Tiberius is aromantic at the very least. Kit is fiercely protective of him but it’s never any kind of sexual or romantic attraction. There’s no tension like that whatsoever. There is intense emotional connection… But that’s it.

:/ Let them be squishes. Let them be QPPs but there is no evidence so please don’t ship them romantically or sexually :(

Maybe it’s just me.

[queerpunkmedia-blog]

Jace Herondale: I walked in on your parabatai at the computer talking to a plastic duck. Clary: Rubber duck. Jace: Whatever... I think he's been possessed by a greater demon. Clary: Nope he's working on a computer program that can handle a rune keyboard without exploding. Jace: o.o

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