1984 was set 36 years too early

a-fucking-men

I can’t believe the country is split in the way it is. There is no middle ground. Not any more…

I’ve been trying to stay out of political conversations - ESPECIALLY at work, where they lean a little more conservative - but tend to fail.

I basically threw a co-worker out of my office today because she wouldn’t shut up about Pelosi.

I’d be OK with her speaking her opinion if everything she said wasn’t a direct quote from Fox News or Trump commercials, but…

I’m just so over Trump and his fucking joke of a presidency.

Could we please end 2020 on a good note by preparing to inaugurate Biden?

Please?

 

History is happenin’

Happy Hamilday, everyone!

I wasn’t a Hamilton fan when I saw it live, but I am now after listening to the soundtrack. That said, there’s a huge difference between the musicality and the visuals. I’m hoping watching it a second time - now that I’m familiar with it - will be a different experience. Plus, it’s the OBC, which should make a difference.I hope.

The Hamilclaws (yes, there’s a Facebook group for everything) are planning a watch party after we’ve all had time to watch it on our own. I never do shit like that, but I’m thinking about it this time.

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In other news, I bought a stupid expensive treadmill  I had originally purchased a $250 one, thinking it was never going to get any use. I ended up putting almost 1K miles on it in roughly a year. Which reminds me, I need to buy new running shoes. I think my first pair of Hokas need to be aged out considering that I wore those for the bulk of the treadmill miles.

I’ve been joking that I outgrew it… that I bought a treadmill destined to be a coatrack. (Because that price range is perfect for those that make resolutions to exercise more.)

Honestly, I think I did. I seriously doubt that I could run a marathon on it without killing it. I think having the iFit membership and a treadmill that will respond to the different workouts will make a huge difference as I work on logging longer runs on it. Plus, the idea that I can run on an incline AND a decline was a huge selling point as well.

Of course, it won’t be here until the middle of this month at the earliest. I’m hoping it might be here in time for the next CRC Road Trip, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Speaking of running… the runDisney Princess weekend series sold out in record time, too. So, that’s now Wine & Dine, Marathon Weekend, Princess, and… the 2021 Rival Run.

If you book through a travel agent or at the previous year’s race, you can purchase your bibs early. Since the 2020 Rival Run was cancelled, there went one option. I made friends with a travel agent at the Universal runs (when the fuck did I become that person?!?!) and I’ve been booking hotel rooms with him. He was my backup for Marathon Weekend.

Imagine my surprise to get an email from him telling me that he could only sign me up for the 10K and Half instead of the Rival Run Challenge - which is heartbreaking. Apparently, they rolled out the TA allocation in a fucked up method and bibs were practically impossible to get. A TA in a rD group said they sold out of the allotment in 8 minutes. EIGHT MINUTES. I’m torn between thinking they should have offered a deferral or a chance to register first if you were scheduled for 2020’s race. It’s not our fault the race was cancelled, you know?

Tomorrow’s 4th of July run has been cancelled and I was really hoping that it would happen. Instead, it’s virtual. My August run has been cancelled as well. I’m waiting for the local September and December halfs to be cancelled / postponed as well.

- - - - -

Florida is experiencing a surge in COVID cases - no doubt because of Gov. DeSantis-Trump. The man was pushing hard to have the state reopen and, even now, won’t put statewide measures in place. Instead, he’s forcing the cities and counties to do it.

Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties are closing the beaches and bars for this weekend. It’s so fucked up. They should have never reopened.

To make matters worse, Universal reopened in June. So did Sea World. Disney’s opening in two phases this month.

The theme parks don’t need to be open right now. NOTHING needs to be open right now.

But, you know, let’s bail out multi-million dollar companies instead of giving out money to the unemployed. The stimulus checks were nice, and we spent ours on luxury items because we both kept working, but we don’t need any more handouts. They really should be shifted to the people who need them… and that’s not going to happen.

It’s reported that The Almighty Orange One is “bored” with the virus. Was “never briefed” on the fact that Russia was paying to have American soldiers killed. Thinks Black Lives Matter is a “hate group/speech.”

He’s totally pandering to the only people he has left. You can’t tell me he didn’t know about the “White Power” chant in a video he retweeted, his campaign is selling shirts oddly reminiscent of Nazi Germany, and he just keeps doing whatever the fuck he wants.

Our only way out of this is to vote him out.

And elect Biden.

Biden is the much better choice, but he’s not the BEST choice. A 77 year old, white, male, career politician is so not my first choice.

But, you know, vote blue no matter who.

This country absolutely deserves to be wiped off the face of the earth so that we can rise again like a phoenix from the ashes.

And hopefully not fuck things up this badly again.

He was reared to give respect

one, two, ready, fence

“I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred.” - Daniel Radcliffe

- - - - -

There once was a little girl who grew up desperately wanting to be a little boy.

It was “just a phase” when she took scissors to all the pink, feminine, clothing her mother used to buy.

It was “just a phase” when she decided she had to learn how to do boy things. Like pee standing up.

It was “just a phase” when she asked her father to call her Tom. (He thought it was short for tomboy. Yeah. no.)

It was “just a phase” when she got her period and felt suicidal.

It was “just a phase” when she realised that she preferred being a tomboy because it was as close as she could get to the real thing.

It was “just a phase” when she stopped buying women’s clothing.

It’s funny… out of all the things in the DSM-V that’ve I’ve been diagnosed with, gender dysphoria hasn’t been one of them.

My pronouns remain she/her.

My body remains as is.

My brain remains as is.

I’ve come to a kind of internal compromise in the war between my body and brain.

Had I known that being transgender was a real thing and not “in my head”, I might have pursued treatment and had my gender changed.

Now that I know that it’s OK to have my brain and body not match, I actually feel better. The dysphoria has actually lessened, just from knowing that I could actually get the penis I’ve always wanted. (Yeah, the one I was left in the Band Senior Wills, I think ‘96 or ‘97, doesn’t count.)

When I started fencing, I’d already studied gender reassignment and tossed around the “what ifs”...

And then I met Phil.

He had kids my age and we became fast friends. It was hard not to notice that he had longer nails, was growing out his hair, and spelled his name “Phyl”. He wore a female chest protector and had pronounced (but tiny) breasts. I kept my questions to myself. It was none of my business.

Until she made it mine.

She came out to me one night before we took the piste for a match.

I nodded, said “Cool”, shook her hand, and proceeded to win the match. When we were off to the side waiting for our next match, she told me she was surprised I was so calm about it. All I could say was that I knew. It was obvious to me. I was surprised she hadn’t said anything sooner.

Her wife had always known something was off, and it wasn’t until she died that he started to take how he felt into consideration. He realised that it was more than cross dressing, more than… well, just more.

She made me reconsider my options even more. Here was a biological male, 60 years old, and beginning to transition.

What a fucking inspiration.

Maybe, one day, I can be as brave as she is and finally live in the right body.

The only TERF I like is astro…

words are weapons, sharper than knives

FUCK. YOU. JK ROWLING.

I just can’t with this woman.

I really wish she’d just shut the fuck up and quit tarnishing one of the best things that ever happened to me.

I am so fucking disgusted right now

THIS IS NOT OK

My friend posted this on Facebook the other day and I literally got sick to my stomach.

Here’s the thing: we’ve known for a long time that he’s incapable of holding the job.

Every single day he shows a complete lack of empathy for what’s going on.

Every single day, he treats the presidency like it’s one of his businesses. Like it’s a reality show.

And it’s just getting worse…

The protests of people who think getting a fucking haircut is more important than my life, storming state capitals with fucking guns… it’s too much for me.

The selfishness of these people is unfathomable.

The fact that a bunch of WHITE guys storming a state capital with MILITARY GRADE weapons is upsetting to a level I don’t even have the words for. (And let’s not forget that if they were black… well….)

AND THE FUCKING PRESIDENT IS CHEERING ON THE PROTESTERS.

I can’t fucking wait for November.

 

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While I’m completely outraged, let’s talk about the book I just read.

It was about Chornobyl and written by a guy who was pretty obsessed with it.

It started out promising: a full overview of the mechanical and operational issues that plagued Russian nuclear reactors and submarines since the very beginning. A detailed, blow-by-blow description of that fateful night.

And then he started to describe his trip to Prypiat.

Dude, I could see his hard on.

His awe at seeing the ruins of the city verged on inappropriate. He was gleeful to be there.

It was so disrespectful that I wanted to smack him. With a brick. Repeatedly.

I ended up deleting it about halfway through. (Thank God it was on Kindle Unlimited.)

My memory is fuzzy - partly because I was 11 when it happened and partly because I blocked out a lot of my childhood - but I swear I remember sitting there in my grandparents’ house watching it on the news. I also remember hearing that we had some relatives in that area, family that died.

Whether or not that’s true, the fact remains that people died.

It’s not a fucking theme park.

I mean, when I went to Highgate Cemetery to see Douglas Adams’ grave, I treated it with the proper respect the dead deserved. There’s a time and a place for fangirling and the middle of a place of the dead is NOT it.

I don’t know. I’ve been in a shitty mood this past week and everything is just amplifying my unhappiness.

*sigh*