May 24

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

May 17

“Maybe you should never transition”: On the four cisnormative corridors of denial trans people face when readiness to transition is voiced.

Cisnormativity

|||| Patience Newbury

The great revelation of 2011: not every child is cisgender, and not every child has a cissexual body.

Stop the presses. Or something.

It should be qualified somewhat: this was the biggest revelation of 2011 to a cisnormative audience and to cis people individually. For trans people who have (with gruelling patience) watched all of this cis fascination over trans children suddenly entering the cisnormative consciousness, one superlative of all superlatives emerged: this was the biggest non-story of our trans lives.

As trans people, we’ve been shrewdly aware of this knowledge for generations. For many, that knowledge is pretty clear throughout our entire conscious lives. For others, it lingers, nudges, and prods in the background until something — a particular event or an epiphany — forces us to confront and affirm it.

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Feb 22

In case nobody told you today, you are an irreplaceable person. So unique and beautiful, everyone loves you more than you know! – at College Point

See on Path

Mar 24

Bill Viola | Video Installation Artist

A pioneer in the medium of video art, Bill Viola’s work explores the spiritual and perceptual side of human experience. Since 1970 he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances and pieces for television. Works include Hatsu Yume (First Dream), The Passing, and installations Room for St. John of the Cross, The Messenger and The Quintet of the Astonished, recently shown at the National Gallery, London in “Encounters, New Art from Old”. A 25-year survey exhibition of his work organized by The Whitney Museum of American Art recently traveled to 6 institutions in the USA and Europe. MacArthur Fellow.

http://www.billviola.com/

Mar 20

Sleep

…as I lye awake in bed, I think of the things I’ve missed out on in my life, the awesome things I’ve yet to experience, and I wonder if I’d ever get past this feeling of being incomplete and just be content on WHAT IS, not what can or “should” be. Things I should NOT be thinking about before bed 😦 So, I drew the release of my brain’s energy, and, now I sleep. Sleeeeep. (Whitacre’s “Sleep” plays in the distance).

“I cannot sleep, my minds a flight; and yet my limbs seem made of lead.”
| E. Whitacre

Eric Whitacre | Sleep

This song is very dear to me, we (my highschool choir) sang this at state festival back in 2004, or 2003… 😛 I don’t remember the year, but I remember the beauty of this piece. The clashing chords, and just the overall composition is so magnificent. I can live in this song.

Mar 18

IDLE WARSHIP (2009)

HEY! I want to share a free album download with you all. (who doesn’t like free stuff?). So, I’m a fan of Res, she’s a folky r&b singer with a distinct voice and sound, she’s pretty much “underground” right now, when she released her first studio album “How I do” back in 2001, there was a little buzz… but as you know sometimes great things aren’t always an epidemic. I just recently found that she has her 2nd album “BLACK.GIRLS.ROCK” ready to download free on her website here.

She has also done a mix tape with various artist’s entitled “IDLE WARSHIP.” I’m really loving the song “Fyah,”  from Graph Nobel, I think many of you will too, it’s a very groovy and trance like song. It’s unlike Res’ original sound that I’m used too, but it’s good, very good. ^_^* I love it! …and you can too! Download the whole mixtape here.

Mar 18

Nikola Tesla | The Forgotten Father of Today

One of the greatest minds in history, Nikola Tesla. But unfortunately his name was discredited by Thomas Edison who had power, money, and many followers. Edison did not invent the lightbulb. In fact, many of “his” inventions were actually invented by the scientists that he employed. Edison was a genius, but also a ruthless cold hearted man that thankfully also made way for great progression in the electronic age.

“Nikola  Tesla developed and used florescent bulbs in his lab some 40 years before industry “invented” them. At the World’s Fair, Tesla took glass tubes and bent them into famous scientists’ names- the first neon signs. Tesla also designed the world’s first hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls in 1895. Tesla also patented the first speedometer for cars in 1916. In fact, Tesla invented all of the things that are listed at the beginning of the paper.

But Edison soon had too much money invested into his DC system, and he tried his best to discredit Tesla by showing that AC was more dangerous than DC. Edison paid local children 25 cents for each stray dog they could bring him. Then he would hold press conferences and electrocute the dogs at public gatherings to frighten people. He claimed that DC could not kill, but in fact, it could.

Tesla was one of the world’s most original and greatest inventors and thinkers, but because he was so original and out of his time, his genius was mistaken for insanity and science fiction. Maybe next time, the world will recognize a true genius when it comes around.”

This excerpt is from an article entitled “Tesla versus Edison.” [here].

Mar 17

Engaging Deviancy

I remember my mother yelling at me for using foul language around my brother when he was younger, “stop using such language around your brother! I don’t want him to speak this way, it’s not nice” my mother would say, to which I’d reply “but dad says it!” Which was true, sadly I did learn this “improper” language from my father.

In this chapter “bad language” was the least of learned behavior to be frowned upon. In the islands of Micronesia there was an overwhelmingly large number of suicides being documented and on a large scale increasing dramatically in a short period of time. The act of committing suicide had tipped. Those that accounted for most of the tipping were young boys that weren’t suicidal by any noticeable means and had some form of negative confrontation with a family member, I thought this to be somewhat peculiar. However when I took a moment to realize the setting that these individuals were in I began to understand.

If I’d had an altercation with my mother or father, I’d shrug it off and bury myself in a video game or listen to some extremely loud obnoxious music to help me forget, I had a coping system. These individuals were actually committing what most if us would think of as the unthinkable, suicide. I believe it was for the simple fact there was no outlet or coping system available. Family in that western culture was and is everything, having the respect of your parent or elders is a golden and vital part of who you are and where you stand in society.

When this respect has been lost (from a lover as well, or even a friend), it’s damaging on a large scale. So much so that some just want to escape, and relieve themselves of such displeasure indefinitely… Sadly, through media and other forms of communication, suicide has a persuasive whisper to those susceptible to it’s promise of no more pain. And thus they blindly commit the act, blind because in reality, these people are undeniably foolish and completely misguided.