A Library of Reaction Gifs

Just a fun post, because I'm reeling from massive amounts of transphobia in the comments section on an article about a six-year-old DMAB girl who's being prevented from using the girl's bathroom at her school anymore.

SO, when you want to perfectly convey how you feel about something, do you use your words?  Naaah, you use gifs! :D

Warning for relatives sensitive to this sort of thing: Lots of swearing ahead.  STRAP IN.

Dinner for One: Chicken and Rice

Riveting!

What do you do when you're a single university student with a limited budget and a craving for the taste of almost-home?  You make a single serving of chicken and rice, of course!

I should say before I get very far into this that I'm not basing this on any particular traditional recipe.  I'm not trying to be super authentic to Latin cuisine.  I just like chicken and rice and it's something different from the thoroughly European fare I usually have for dinner.  I should also say that while in general this recipe is something I've come up with on my own, I'm stealing the rice steps from British culinary goddess Delia Smith; I also had my mom look over the recipe and give pointers on how to make it go smoothly.  So this recipe is by me, my mom, and Her Excellency Delia Smith.

Gather 'Round While I Preach Some (with GIFs!)

GENDER IS NOT A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT.

What's that, you say?  You already knew that?  Well, congratulations.  You're not an overzealous feminist.

...yes, I do have problems with some feminists.  And this is my number one problem with said feminists.

It's a mistake some people make in combating gender determinism, which is basically the idea that because, say, I have a vagina and breasts and my chromosomes are XX, I am a woman and that means I'm meant to do certain things and I'm only fit for certain roles in life.  To feminists, this is plainly silly, but we have different ways of addressing this huge, society-wide misconception.

I Am Damaged

Source

I was just engaging in some masochistic reading of conservative Christian blogs, when I came across a statement, an idea, which I hadn't seen in years (mostly because I was better at self-care before I discovered Patheos).

This idea is best summed up as such:

GAY PEOPLE ARE A RESULT OF HUMANKIND'S FALL FROM GRACE.  THEY ARE A SYMPTOM OF OUR DAMAGED, SINFUL WORLD.

I'll let you sit on that for a minute and think.

Dinner for One: French Onion Soup

What do you do when you're a single university student with a limited budget and leftover beef stock?  You make a single serving of french onion soup, of course!

When I got this idea the other day, I was both excited and nervous.  All of the recipes for french onion soup which I knew were for serving 6-8 people, and I'm definitely not 6-8 people, nor did I want to deal with storing leftovers.  So I went over to ASDA, picked up some onions, stock, garlic powder and wine, and I'm cooking my bowl of soup as we speak.  I figure waiting for it to finish is the perfect time to tell other people how to BS their dinner!

Politics and Friendship: Thoughts from London So Far

Outside Buckingham Palace.

Hello, readers!  I'm here, in England, in London (specifically, the district Roehampton in the borough Wandsworth), and I'm going to be here until June.  I'm studying at the University of Roehampon and living on-campus with a bunch of nutty flatmates* and drinking lots of tea.

It's been a very interesting experience so far, because I'm in this strange situation where I'm more informed about social justice issues than I've ever been before, and I'm used to being surrounded by like-minded, sensitive people in my classes and clubs, and I've suddenly had to practically start from square one in making friends.  This has meant, unfortunately, tamping down my indignation, concerns, etc. in the name of getting along.

Advent: Peace on Earth

My family is having Christmas week more than Christmas day.  We had roast chicken and baked potatoes last night and opened most of our presents, and we've flown into Seattle today so that tomorrow night my sister and I can sing with our old church's youth choir in the 11 PM service.  We'll open the rest of the gifts on Christmas day and then have dinner with extended family downtown, then my parents and I will fly home on the 26th (my sister is on a secret mission that requires she stay in the area for a few more days).

My relationship with parts of my extended family is complicated, and all of this travelling and confusion has led to some internal chaos, and so here I am writing about peace while rather stressed.  How fun.

PEACE

A lot of things come to mind with the word "peace".  I'm a pacifist-in-training*, so peace is a world where people put aside their differences and choose understanding and imagination over violence.  I'm a tall, large-ish woman with some self-esteem issues, so peace is being comfortable with my body as my weight fluctuates.  I'm an introvert, so peace is spending time with just my partner or completely alone, when I can take time and recharge after being surrounded by people.

What I do know, whatever image comes to mind, is that peace is not passive.

In this culture, I have to fight for my right to be left alone when I need it.

I have to work hard to train my mind to see my beauty, not my fleshy rolls which make me feel so uncomfortable.

I have to get more creative in my problem-solving when I eliminate violence as an option in confronting or opposing injustice.

Peace is not merely an absence of war and turmoil.  It must be a conscious choice made over and over again.  It is a hard choice.  I believe it's a necessary choice.

Peace is the fourth and final candle on the Advent wreath before Christmas Eve/Day.  We've been hoping for a better future, loving our neighbors (and, ideally, our enemies), and finding moments of joy in our lives.  Now, we seek peace, and it can be found in hope, love, and joy.  Just as you can find joy through hope, love through joy, and hope through love.

Advent is about anticipating the coming of someone who both embodied and taught hope, joy, love, and peace, so that others may do the same, and it would spread until the whole world was enveloped in that active, teeming Goodness.

May the year following this Christmas, and each year following, bring us more hope, more joy, more love, and more peace.  Merry Christmas and God bless you all.

*Pacifism requires a certain discipline of thought that I'm working on.  If you're interested in pacifism as a specific political choice, check out this interview on Rachel Held Evans' blog.