Reading Sturgeon’s The Dreaming Jewels as a Nonbinary Allegory
I've been inspired myself by the trans allegory readings of Tilly Bridges at TillysTransTuesays.com, and I thought that I would take a similar approach to The Dreaming Jewels. You may note that one of the two posts from November 2024 was a review of Bridges’s book, Begin Transmission. was While her background is film making, mine is literature, and literature is hemmed about with skepticism regarding authorial intent as well as of allegorical writing and reading. Films, on the other hand, are based in drama, which has a long allegorical tradition. So, my approach will reflect a literary approach but absolutely includes the personal as well.
Follow the white rabbit with Begin Transmission
I'm not the biggest fan of the Matrix. Bullet time was amazing, but action films, guns, and explosions don't draw me in. The movie didn't make sense to me either. But with several trans folk in my family, I have been on a journey to learn about trans experience from those who experience it
Show up in a powerful fashion: even when remote
On the podcast, Pfeffer gave a couple of people as examples: one was a tall woman, who also wore heels. The other was a short man, who commanded a room as if he were much taller. While both of these examples are height related, they also emphasize leveraging your strengths is a persuasive way. They also connect with another rule, which is to create a powerful brand. It seems to me that in-person will always be more powerful than remote, but even so, there are things I do to show up in a powerful fashion in a remote workplace.
Some stories of trans life
My father read books when he wanted to understand things, and I do as well. Also, life has presented me with some stories as well.
Some context for the upcoming discussion of trans rights, presented by American Public Square
The scope of American Public Square's panel on "Gender and Identity" is balancing rights of trans people with protecting women and children in the context of anti-trans laws in Missouri and Kansas. This scope is bad because it pits trans rights against the needs of women and children. We need to go deeper.
Barbie: let’s not settle for the appearance of happiness
I don’t like knowing too much about a film before seeing it. I crave new stories, new takes, and I dread having to sit through a movie I’ve already seen before, with a different title. When a new movie comes out that looks interesting, I’ll try to find out just enough to see if I want to see it in the theater or not. …
Making work visible with our family Kanban
Our family just started using Kanban in the house. Kanban is a project management tool useful for prioritizing tasks as they come up. It’s typically used in work situations like maintenance, where emerging issues might pop up. I’ve been wanting to try Kanban for our household, and finally got it done. …
Summer Update
Not only did I do the week-long class and test for the Microsoft DP-500, but I also did another class and test for the SAFe Agile Practitioner certification. I’m learning lots about Oracle reporting tools as well. Between that and Tears of the Kingdom, I haven’t had as much time for blogging. I plan to post more soon. […]
Analyzing dirty data (literature): narrators in Ernest J. Gaines’s story “Just Like a Tree”; also Power BI on-object formatting
On my About page, I claim that “I studied English Literature because it’s fun to find patterns in the unstructured data of a 1,000-page novel.” Nobody ever challenges me on this statement, so I thought I would give an example from my college years. I first read the short story, “Just Like a Tree,” when I was in community college.
Revival of the humanities
What a week it’s been for me! I feel like maybe, after the arrival of Covid and the previous crises of the Internetification of all the things, humanities are reviving, and continuing to humanitize. As Huey Lewis once sang, “the oboe may be barely breathing but the heart of rock ‘n’ roll is still beating.”
Review: Unintended Reformation by Brad S. Gregory
I’m done. I got through Unintended Reformation’s Chapter on morality, read a bit of chapter 5 on economics, and then (this time through) I skipped to the conclusion. For me, this book reads pretty quickly— Gregory’s urgency drives me on. It’s well-organized so you can see where the author is going next. The complexity of the writing is well suited to the intended audience: academics.
Review: How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
When I was about 21, I visited Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. I was working with L’Arche, DC, at the time and was encouraged to take a weekend off, away from the community. I asked around and someone suggested that that Harper’s Ferry would be a good place to visit. I packed a bag and caught a train down for the weekend. The train arrives in the town through a mountain tunnel and a bridge which crosses over the Potomac river, which comes together with the Shenandoah river at the town.
Reading in progress: Introduction to Unintended Reformation by Brad S. Gregory
As I grapple with history, I feel the need to get a broader perspective. I am returning to a book I read a few years ago to help myself with this broader perspective. The book is Brad S. Gregory’s The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society. I originally read this book because it was recommended by Michael Sean Winters, a nuanced thinker. I borrowed it from a library when I first read it but decided to buy it to read it again. What I love most about this book is its goal of exploring and understanding what happened, and not merely to push answers.
Faithfulness to my own history
I pulled these sections from a longer post because they are a positive expression of my background with social justice issues as a Catholic.
A 45-year Hiatus in ADHD: from Screening to Adult Diagnosis
When I was in 5th grade [1977-1978], I took a screening test for ADHD. The screening consisted in listening to a tape of a story with tones or beats in the background. The instruction was to keep track of how many beats were heard. […] If I recall correctly, the story was a pointless story about a monkey and maybe a tree. …
Anime and things hidden (spoilers)
Some incomplete thoughts on René Girard and anime treatment of sacrifice, rivalry, and mimetic desire.
Love in the Ruins is a weird damned book
It’s a weird book with some satirical teeth and some deep flaws
