[apollos-olives]

before i forget to tell you all

on wednesday my history professor pulled me out into the hall and asked me how me and my family doing. i told him about how we're trying to get people out of gaza but it's getting harder and egypt is upping the prices to leave. he nodded and then said "today i wanted to talk about the biden administration and how they're handling the situation in class" and i nodded and right before we headed back in, i stopped him and said "by the way palestinians are really sensitive over using the correct words for this situation. we don't like hearing 'conflict' or 'war' because that implies there are two militaries against each other and palestinians don't have a military, and 'war' implies it's an equal fight when it's not." and he nodded and said "okay what words do you want me to use" and i said "genocide. call it a genocide, that's what it is." and the LOOK. the LOOK he gave me. i can't even describe how horrible it was. just a pure look of surprise shock and disgust and it was like every single microaggression i've ever received all put in one face. you could instantly tell he was uncomfortable. i then said "you can also call it a humanitarian crisis" and he stared at me for a while and then nodded uncomfortably and said "yeah i'll just call it a humanitarian crisis". i shrugged, nodded, and we walked back into class.

the fact that people are SO uncomfortable with using the word genocide and refusing to use it to describe the situation in palestine is just so fucking frustrating. of COURSE genocide is uncomfortable, it SHOULD make you uncomfortable. but palestinians are suffering from censorship and people refusing to call it genocide is not helping our cause. call it what it is. a genocide.

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[radiofreederry]

Lol

[cavegirlpoems]

I cannot stop laughing at the idea that socialism ignores humanity’s highest spiritual ideal: owning yachts.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I also love the idea that prisoners and slaves have perfectly fine lives where they basic needs are met, but they tragically lack yachts 😔

[nudityandnerdery]

Also, the GOP is really just only focused on telling you that you can dream of owning a yacht, they don’t care about if you have shelter, food, or health care. But you’ve got that dream of a future yacht when you’re hungry and horribly ill!

[justangrymacaroni]

i’m working on a play about 65-year-old lesbians, and my dramaturg is an older gay man who has been helping me with historical context and research, and also just in general giving me advice based on his own personal experiences.

fav thing he told me so far, said with a lot of love: “dyke drama was specific. it was always so specific. it was precise and narrowed and pointed. and also so dumb.”

[justangrymacaroni]

also spoke to an older lesbian professor. i was asking her all these questions about marches and protests and summits and infighting and rallies and “what was it like what did this mean to you what was it like to experience that?”

and she kinda stared at me for a bit and said, “you know, it was a lot. and it was big and it did feel revolutionary. but also at that time i was mainly focused on getting my heart broken in a bar.”

and like. yeah.

[justangrymacaroni]

another thing my dramaturg told me, from the perspective of a gay man who lived through the 80’s, was that whenever a young gay person asks him what the dating and play scene used to be like, he answers:

“we went to rallies and funerals.”

[justangrymacaroni]

our persistence in our continued existence is big and scary and revolutionary, and the grief stretches on and the losses hit hard.

and because of that, i think it’s important to remember the dumb drama, and the first loves, and the first heartbreaks over beer. i think it’s important to go to rallies and vigils, and also dive bars and game nights.

it’s all so big and so small.

[do-you-have-a-flag]

absolutely losing my mind over this not surprised fully just that he said it ??? HUGH????

[do-you-have-a-flag]

again...... hyughhh gra t,.... said that

[captjamestkink]

i know we say "nothing could have prepared me for what i was about to hear" a lot but let me tell you, nothing could have prepared me for what i was about to hear

[intj-confessions]

Tread here.

[toothsalad]

The best part is OP got fired because their boss asked why they weren’t “incorporating blockchain technology” into the video switcher they were building and OP straight up said “you have no idea what you’re talking about” and went to lunch

[queershoulder]

this is one of the funniest things i’ve ever seen

[gorgoroth-deactivated20220130]

Nudes from a girl that make you think "damn I should visit that country huh..."

[gorgoroth-deactivated20220130]

real

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

addicted to david byrne enormous suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

happy enormous suit sunday everyone

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

you know what day it is

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

enjoying another wonderful enormous suit sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

hell yes

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

have a splendid enormous suit sunday everyone

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

suit as it ever was

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

oobh i got plany off suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

i got a big suit that's better than that

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

happy enormous suit sunday once again

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

you may find yourself beneath the cloth of a large suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

sunday again

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

moon in the rock... rock in the moon..... theres a moon in my suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

happy sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

suit suit.. little baby

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

enormous suit sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

we are born without bigsuit.... born without sin

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

psycho killer... qu’est-ce que suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

big suit exists between me and the good thing

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

big suit big suit big suit big suit big suit big suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

we dress in big suits... we dress like housewives

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

mommy daddy come and look at me now im a big man in a great big suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

if they ever watch tv again... it'd be too suit for them

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

happy sunday!!! enormous suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

one year anniversary of enormous suit !!!

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

the world was moving... the suit was right there with it and it was

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

we're on a road to big suit... come on inside

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

enjoy yet another big suit sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

you're runnin circles around me ... show me what you can suit

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

i gotta ... find a suit ... find myself a suit to live in

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

happy sunday :)

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

for a long time i felt ... without style and grace .... wearing suits with no socks

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

THERE IS A SUIT. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN. REMOVE THE SUIT. CARRY THE SUIT.

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

gigantic suit. on a sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

girls are getting into... abstract analysis... they want to make an insuititive leap

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

enjoy your sunday

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

into the suit again... water flowing underground

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

suits are simple and suits are straight... suits are lazy and suits are late.... suits all come with points of view suits dont do what i want them to

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

have a great enormous suit sunday :)

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

IM THINKIN ABOUT.. SUITS IN MOTION

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

sunday chillin

[godspeedyoublackemperor]

check out mr businessman.. oh oh oh .. he got some wild wild suit

[catchymemes]

[mustachioedwalrus]

[shoresoftheshadowlands]

[queershoulder]

I made an executive decision.

[marcbrainbarf]

[dilfbrigade]

George is out here trying to get laid with a poster at the pride parade at ninety years old

[lgbtlaughs]

This is George Montague, he’s an author who is currently campaigning to have a historic conviction for “gross indecency” from 1974 (PDA with his then-boyfriend) struct from his criminal record. You can sign his petition here!

[iamthecutestofborg]

The epitome of “Distinguished Gay”

[star-temeraire]

Update as of 7 November 2018, this guy is now 95 years old and is still looking for his apology.

[theamazingsallyhogan]

He’s still waiting for that apology. 

[amara1783]

https://www.change.org/p/a-petition-for-an-apology-to-the-oldest-old-gay-men-still-alive

[one-time-i-dreamt]

PLEASE SIGN THIS

[one-time-i-dreamt]

George Montague, the legend that he was and the ‘oldest gay man in the village’, has passed away peacefully at almost 99 years of age, March 18th 2022, with his husband Somchai Phukkai right by his side.

Per Wikipedia, “His funeral was on 11 April 2022, where there was a procession through the city, which closely followed the Brighton Pride parade route, eventually ending at Downs Crematorium on Bear Road. His hearse had colourful flowers and his iconic sign in the back window. The hearse was followed by a special double-decker bus decked out in pride colours.” Source: X.

Obituary: The Guardian (do read it - his life story is incredible).

George did receive his formal apology in 2017 and you can read it on Pink News. It was so many years overdue but I’m glad he got it regardless.

George told BBC One that he was over the moon with the apology he received.

[rainbowbarnacle]

When I was a kid, I was really enamored a handful of local radio stations--the DJs were hilarious and really nice and would play songs for you, but my favorite thing was this thing one of them did called the 5:20 Primal Scream.

Every day at 5:20 he would take a random caller and let them shriek their head off on the air. No opinions or venting or anything like that, just wordless screaming. Often these were people in traffic or just getting off work. And you got some really adorable people being all "YRAERGH" and then giggling and feeling better after

And I remember one guy who just went "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" for like half a minute and the DJ was like "holy crap you're like some kind of tornado siren". I think about that guy sometimes.

And I think about that DJ. I hope he's doing okay.

[birlinterrupted]

my only addition to the proliferation of pride flags is that honestly someone should just start making pride flags that are for the most part inoffensive but then like give the meanings of the stripes like absurdly controversial microcommunity discourse. like "here's my pride flag - the stripes represent all the different types of attraction in the split attraction model, the maroon represents that bisexuality represents being attracted to the two binary genders, the green stands for lesbian bed death, and the stars represent the amount of hypervisibility that trans women use to take up all the space and oppress afab trans people via invisibility and the labrys represents lesbians who are into men (cis men only, obviously). nothing it in represents gay men because they are not oppressed" creating perhaps the most hated object in the queer community and uniting us all

[honorarycassowary]

good job op, the sheer memory of these discourse highlights made me seethe. so of course I made the flag you described.

[birlinterrupted]

okay wow. spread this like wildfire for the people in the back or else you dont care about our community, why is nobody talking about this. the discoursegender flag

[ekphora-deactivated20190614]

You must always be yourself no matter what the price. It is the highest form of morality. We should both try to live it. You’ve got to always keep your heart and mind open. You can disguise your emotions you can even numb them and finally you can paralyze them. And that is tragic. Our emotions are the only clues to our identity. The only true meaning in life is passion. The passion to learn, to paint, to love etc. Don’t dare destroy your passion for the sake of others. When you do you’ve lost the beauty of life and that’s what a sin is. By robbing yourself of your very reason to exist you have cheated. You must laugh when you must laugh, you must weep when you must weep, and you must love when you must love.

– Candy Darling, Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar

[librarycards]

I think what’s important to remember about fatphobia is that it’s most damning consequences (the brutal abuse and death of fat people) serve to reinforce its structuring logics (that fat people are always and already dying / evidence of societal&personal decline).

the work of undoing fatphobia thus is both pointing out the hypocrisy of a medical industry that has the audacity to call fat people an “epidemic” while actively hastening their deaths, AND about understanding the broader discourses of blame and unworthiness that allow institutions to commit murder while swearing that victims did it to themselves.

[librarycards]

Just want to add real quick: if you are fat and have experienced medical abuse/neglect, it is not your fault. Never. Not even if you’re “unhealthy.” No one deserves abuse. Not from doctors or anyone else. The existence of medical violence is a symptom of systemic fatphobia, white supremacy, ableism, and cisheterosexism.

You have done nothing wrong. Doctors have wronged you.

[samanthagoestorestaurants]

Samantha Goes to Muskrat & Frank

Old Hollywoo is an obsession of mine. For instance, did you know that Audrey Hepburn once told my mother that a psychic told her that she would give birth to one of Hollywoo’s greatest restaurant critics? (That would be me, for any of my slow readers.) 

Because of this, it brings me great sadness to declare this Hollywoo institution a total travesty. I left shortly after receiving my appetizer because there was so much food on the plate. It looked more like a full meal. It felt like a personal affront to my spiritual and political beliefs. Even now, as I type this while driving down Sunset (yes, I am driving; multitasking is one of my many skills) my entire body is vibrating with rage. 

One bright spot in the meal: I saw Maggot Gyllenhaal at the bar on what appeared to be a very bad first date.

STAR RATING: 2,541 out of 1,000,000,000.

[samanthagoestorestaurants]

Samantha Goes to the Banana Pan

The lovely monkeys at this tiny establishment do a fine job……………at ruining your evening. My veggie burger was admittedly delightful, and the strawberry milkshake I sipped while perusing the Twitter feed of my rival critics was rich and alluringly pink. 

However, the couple sitting next to me kept talking about their recent vacation to New York City, a destination I cannot condone due to the fact that the mere thought of getting on a subway makes me gasp with claustrophobia. A more responsible staff would take care to avoid such junior seating mistakes. 

One bright spot in the meal: I found a typo on the menu that reminded me of a wild and passionate night I had with a former set designer from the classic sitcom Mr. Peanutbutter’s House.

STAR RATING: 81,210 out of 1,000,000,000

[samanthagoestorestaurants]

Samantha Goes to Elefante

My late grandmother was a big fan of dinner theater. In fact, she died during the third act of a production of Madame Butterfly at a Japanese restaurant in the Valley. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of dramatics with my dining, which is why I am giving my lowest rating EVER to Elefante, the restaurant owned by mildly successful 90s sitcom actor BoJack Horseman. 

The food was…well, somewhat fantastic, but at one point during the experience I witnessed Mr. Horseman himself fighting loudly with a pink cat who I believe was his agent (or maybe his ex-agent after that little spat?). I also witnessed a member of the kitchen staff racing through the dining room WHILE IN FLAMES. Might I add that I also waited over 2 hours for my food? It was most frustrating.

One bright spot in the meal: The air freshener in the bathroom was cloying and reminded me my grandmother, the one who died at that Japanese restaurant in the Valley.  

STAR RATING: 412 out of 1,000,000,000