#stop excluding real people from safe spaces they need challenge

[barzfrommarz]

starting a war by saying you can’t call yourself a safe space if you exclude a fandom you don’t personally like

[never-forget-viva-la-pluto]

TW:transphobia, murder, transmisogyny, death, suicide mention

this is mostly a rant that i just need to get off my chest

Trans women are censored, harassed and ignored, stalked, and another trans child has been murdered. its a bad time to be trans in many countries rn

If you think that those things dont go hand in hand then you are wrong. Ignoring a trans women when she reports harassment and stalking is how trans women get killed. when a trans man gets excluded from lgbt spaces bc he is transitioned and people think that men=bad, it leaves him without support if he is suicidal or being harassed. When a child is seen as something other than human because they are non binary, officials don't call an ambulance when they are injured and thats how kids die. What happened to Nex was murder.

The ceo isnt committing murder, but he is contributing to the culture that gets people killed and i hope he feels bad about it, especially since tumblr is the one place where a lot of trans people feel safe being themselves.

@photomatt when the statistics have the faces of your friends it is very hard to take you seriously when you have been so glib about the experiences of the trans women on this site. Trans women are some of the most brutalized and murdered people in the world so sorry if I find the car hammer explosion joke funny. Against @predstrogen you look pathetic. I can guarantee she has gotten real death threats. How do i know? bc I have too, as most of the trans people online have.

Enough of that. FELLOW TRANS!! FELLOW QUEERS!!!

LINK TO TRANS RESOURCES INCLUDING SUICIDE HOTLINES:

Don't give up, and dont stop being angry. We deserve to exist and we deserve to be treated like human beings!

[thedreadvampy]

I think as well there is a degree of anxiety to TERF rhetoric that isn't ideological as much as it's a matter of discomfort.

like quite aside from the rigid gender divide of entrenched terf ideology described above, the existence of trans and nonbinary people does complicate how you approach a lot of feminist issues. Acknowledging the possibility of moving between or outside of binary genders, and the kind of lack of clear binary distinction between those who are subject to misogyny and those who aren't, can genuinely be existentially kind of overwhelming at first if you are seriously thinking about it, and I think a lot of people's early steps to terfism are to do with leaning away from that ambiguity and towards a more stable, easily understood approach.

Like there are a lot of reasons why feminist organising should involve some women-only spaces, for example, both in terms of strategy and safety. this is a legitimate need (for example, the experience of survivor's groups for misogynistic violence is often palpably altered by men being present. oppressed groups discussing their operation among themselves is texturally different to discussing it in mixed company)

But acknowledging how trans people fit into that paradigm raises a lot of questions - at what point is someone enough of a woman to come in? when are transmascs man enough to be pushed out, and does transitioning erase people's lived experience of oppression? what does being a woman even mean if it's not a single coherent class? etc etc

and like. these are all genuine questions. They've always been there, and they're worth engaging with to move feminist thought forwards. but. a lot of people have spent a lot of energy in finding a model of the world that seems concrete and clear, and they respond to having to confront grey areas or uncertainties with anger, hostility, and deflection.

this is especially potent bc it's coupled with a lot of discomfort about acknowledging your own privilege (and lbr a lot of older TERFs are 2nd wave feminists with a kind of gender-reductionist relationship to oppression, and they've got used to thinking of themselves as the Oppressed Class) It's challenging to acknowledge that the world isn't divided cleanly into People Like Me (underdog) and The Baddies Oppressing Me, and that gendered power might be a complex issue where you sometimes have power or advantages over others.

like if there's one thing we know online it's that people get really aggro when they're forced to confront their privilege or blind spots

and I think that while the in-depth TERF ideology has much more entrenched shit going on (as above), a lot of people's first steps aren't just 'everyone's being unfairly mean to terfs!!!!' there's also a really directly emotional, visceral discomfort, which manifests into resentment. a sort of sense of 'feminism used to be a source of comfort and give me a clear, unambiguous framework, but now the Transes have come and made it all messy and complicated and confusing and it doesn't feel safe and stable like it did before all these questions came up! stop making me ask questions! you've ruined everything I hate you why can't you just fuck off and die so things can go back to how they were?????'

like this is where a lot of people's first steps to all sorts of reactionary ideology comes from. "having to think about the ways that my thinking marginalised or excludes people is uncomfortable! it feels bad! this is all their fault for making me deal with it!" and people further along that process are there to reassure you that yes it is all Their fault and things would be simpler and more comfortable if They went away.

(which it wouldn't. the complexities and contradictions are real complexities and contradictions. pretending they're not there or that they're an attack or answering them with NO BECAUSE IT'S NOT REAL doesn't make them go away.)

Weird question of the day: so what is terfs’ actual endgame?

Like I know the middle game is “everyone identifies with their assigned sex and no one modifies their body in ways that alter secondary sex characteristics.” But then what?

They say they’re feminists, so that would imply the actual endgame isn’t just “the destruction of the transcult” but the end of patriarchy.

But how is everyone identifying with their asab and not modifying their body supposed to do that?

It’s very Underpants Gnomes.

Recruit trans people who doubt.

Destroy the transcult!

…..

End patriarchy!

?????

[itsclydebitches]

Remember when this half was billed as when things get serious? Yet every time things started ramping up something threw the breaks on the tension. Salem is attacking? Sits around waiting for the cane nuke. Ironwood is going to bomb mantle? Convenient defections allows him to be defeated in about a minute. Penny will self-destruct! LMAO, make her a "real-girl". Only with one episode left are people actually in any appreciable danger and the main cast aren't dealing with the sideshows.

I don’t think RWBY gets that consequences needs to both occur and influence the narrative for a significant length of time, if not the rest of the story. As you say, anon, the vast majority of our big problems have been solved both too easily and with no downsides: Salem and the whale are blown up, Ironwood is stopped, Penny is saved. This just leaves minor consequences, all of which, while fulfilling that first requirement of existing, don’t impact the story in any meaningful way: 

Nora does scar herself helping Penny. I think that’s the best RWBY has managed this volume (potentially excluding the finale right now for obvious reasons), but the problem is that Nora is still precisely the same Nora after this event. Is Nora inconvenienced in any way? No, she’s able to hope right back into the fight as soon as she’s fully conscious. Has she learned anything? No, because Ren reassures her that she did everything she should have. They don’t even talk about the scars past this generic reassurance, instead focusing on how Ren was supposedly a bad friend and Nora wants space  — a relationship conflict that may or may not develop further. What have these scars achieved? If they don’t change our character in any way, or change those around them, if they’re not a catalyst for something (notably, something other than giving the group an excuse to stay safe in the mansion considering the show never framed that as an excuse)... then they’re purely cosmetic filler. It’s just a more dramatic version of Nora getting a haircut like Blake and Jaune last volume. She has scars now, new character model! That’s it. 

Penny becoming human. Same as everything above. Has a second near death experience and being given a human body changed Penny in any way? Doesn’t seem like it. Has it changed her battle style? No. Has it changed her goals, desires, outlook, or the challenges she faces? Again, not that we’ve seen. It’s cosmetic. Penny is precisely the same Penny she was prior to the change and I don’t mean that in a,��“Penny was always herself” way, I mean it in a “Penny’s arc could be removed entirely from the story and it wouldn’t matter.” 

We learn of a consequence from long ago in the form of Summer likely becoming a grimm servant of Salem. This is immediately dropped because there’s everything else to deal with. 

We learn that Oscar used up a large portion of a magical weapon and automatically we don’t care because no one  — characters or audience  — knew that weapon existed to attach expectations to. But then this is also immediately dropped even though this is a limitation that should be a major concern of the cast. 

Yang falls into a void. Everyone watching knows that she didn’t die. Maybe she’ll come out of this changed in some way... but based on everything above, it’s unlikely. 

Cinder, as of the latest episode, has had the most development lately thanks to failure and consequences. 

But RWBY’s main characters are incredibly static. No one has developed since Volume 6. No one has learned anything outside of objective info. Did they realize the horrible mistakes they made regarding Ozpin and learned to apologize? No, he apologized again, just as he did three volumes ago. Did they come to a better understanding of why their “We will make things perfect” mentality is dangerous? No, Ruby sat around in a mansion until the “perfect” answer came to her and she proceeded to ignore all the damage she caused in waiting around for it. Did Ren come to a better understanding of himself and help the group acknowledge their flaws? No, he was told he was wrong until he reverted to precisely who he’d been before: quiet and agreeable. Did Nora learn not to try to solve everything by hitting it really hard? No, she did precisely that, got injured, and was reassured that she could keep that up because it’s who she is. Did Yang likewise ever learn not to run into dangerous situations without thinking? No, she just repeated her actions from Volume 3, once again getting grievously injured. Have the bees made any progress in their relationship? No, they’re still at the forehead touch stage. Does Oscar have to work through anything after being physically and magically tortured for multiple episodes? No, he shrugs it off entirely and, once his aura comes back, the magicked away bruises tell the audience to forget it too. Has Oscar become a different person as the merge takes hold? Not unless we count his body language changing a little bit. The show keeps saying the merge is speeding up and that it’s this big, existential threat... but their dynamic is exactly what it was in Volume 4. 

RWBY thinks of change in terms of things like, “Ren can randomly see emotions now,” not “Ren acknowledges something about their behavior and helps the group come to a better understanding of their actions, growing as people, not just fighters.” I don’t think the writers actually want the characters to change, not in any meaningful sense. Unless I’m proven incredibly wrong with Yang (here’s hoping) I suspect that our end volume crew will look exactly like they did in Volume 6, with the exception of some souped-up powers and, if we’re lucky, confirmation that sometimes they kiss their partner. That’s it. Regarding everything else, the characters will inevitably regress, or they’ll never be given the chance to develop in the first place, and that’s in large part because all of the stakes in the show now  — world-wide and personal  — are inevitably magicked away with the wand the show claims the characters don’t possess, but absolutely do. 

[hearthandhomemagick]

Food For Thought - Steven Universe

Hello there, I would like to tell you my story and journey with the amazingly beautiful, and wonderfully written TV Show...

Steven Universe.

I started watching this show when it first came out in High School. I mean, I was so excited to watch it that I anticipated the very first episode and sat down with snacks to observe it’s premier. I had become immediately enthralled not only with the art style, but also with the genuine wholesomeness and elucidations of processing emotions and life experiences. I was astounded that a kids show could express to me how to manage my emotions as well as connect with my moral standings. It’s a show I recommended to everyone, but often didn’t talk about because of it being a kids show, and me being almost being grown. It was my secret love until someone else brought it up.

This show stuck with me through the years, and helped me through some of my hardest moments in life. 

I remember watching the episode, “Mindful Education” and melting into Garnet’s lesson of mindfulness and self-awareness. I had been going through a lot at the end of 2016, graduating and going through a rough election along with having to move states for college. My opinions were forming in the extreme area and I had a fire to protect my thoughts and opinions with no restrain or any form of control of my emotional reality. I was rambunctious as much as I was head-strong and, at times, hard-headed all together. 

When this episode aired, I didn’t know why I loved Garnet and Stevonnie’s song, “Here Comes a Thought.” But I did, and it still carries with me into my life today. 

I want to discuss a specific time, though, that this episode saved my sanity and opened my eyes to a concept I didn’t understand when I first watched it. I was on social media, and was defending my opinions against quite a few people by myself. Eventually, I was getting nasty comments from a bunch of millennials telling me, 

“You’re too fucking stupid to understand, maybe you should go back to school, child.”

“You’re so emotional, and your emotions don’t matter here. Imagine being this dumb.”

“Imagine being a dumb bitch like Carly and saying you wanted to cut your penis off to look like a woman.” *NOTE I am not transgender, there is nothing wrong with being transgender and her insinuating such did not bother me. Her rhetoric insinuating trans was wrong is what irked me, this bitch was transphobic and had issues that she needs to repair in her own time. She wrote an entire post based around this context on her personal page using my real name, and she didn’t even know who I was.*

and my personal favorite, “Here’s the suicide hotline, I know your generation is prone to killing themselves and are overly emotional.”

Now, there were over 50, under 100, messages going back and forth where these people were just bullying me and I refused to back down. I wound up in a panic attack in my bedroom, literally wanting to kill myself because they were bullying me. The hotline would have come in handy if it were the actual hotline. I ended up going to my dad and older sister (my older sisters friend was the main one I was arguing with and her posy showed up on my post), because no one on the post was on my side.

Both told me, “If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” My sister told her friend to stop, and threatened the other girl for her nasty posts and comments. My dad tried to mediate on the post itself, but the people wouldn’t stop. I eventually had to take it down.

My family didn’t calm me down in this moment. Not even a little bit. It felt like a back-handed helping hand. Like they wanted to protect me, but also somewhat agreed with the people on the post.

The only thing that calmed my nerves in this moment, ultimately, was the song, “Here Comes a Thought.” 

I sat in my room, sobbing, hoping to myself that it would make sense as to why it was okay for these things to happen. The song soothed over my nerves, eventually releasing my muscles and giving me a sense ease. I was able to process and realized a few personal things as well. I didn’t realize it, but before long, I was meditating to the song on repeat. I kept telling myself, “I’m okay, this is a thought. A moment. I am not my thoughts. I am not this moment.”

This was simply one of the ways Steven Universe has helped me process and understand myself more. I bring this up because I came across and article today that disappointed me to the core.

The Steven Universe Fandom has toxic tendencies.

I was shook.

How could a child’s show be turned into something so negative? Something that was meant to promote self-awareness, self-love, acceptance of character, and understanding of others had been morphed into a gatekeepers safe haven.

Now I know this isn’t the majority, and before you get offended, hurt or start defending yourself, I want you to ask yourself if what you are defending is an action you would defend from anyone else. If it is, by all means defend your ground.

But the one concept that eludes me, and offers zero substance in terms of valid arguments, is that men can not watch this show. Let me explain why men NEED to watch this fucking show.

My boyfriend watched this entire show, episode for episode, and benefitted from it. This show offered him coping techniques, an understanding of why love should come before war, and mediating every situation so you see and understand every perspective. These are things children shows didn’t offer him growing up, he has often and openly verbalized his need for this show in his childhood because of certain traumas, and we often continue watching it even after seeing every single episode and movie.

This show was never meant for one or two groups of people, and if you feel that way then refer back to the writers themselves who were literally trying to teach the lesson in the show over and over again to NEVER EXCLUDE PEOPLE FROM YOUR GROUP. You exclude people, and you create a division, a war of sorts. You immediately have become the thing Steven Universe advocated against in the first place.

This also leads into the whole “art” situation in the fandom. 

This show is anti-bully. There are commercials for it and everything. It is expressed in multiple episodes why bullying is never a good thing in any situation. 

You simply cannot justify the hypocrisy in bullying someone out of self-expression that literally harms no one. You can’t justify it.

Think about it. You draw or sketch a piece of art that took you hours, or even a few minutes. It’s your favorite character, and maybe you yourself are going through some mental thoughts regarding your weight that lead you to draw the character thinner or bigger. Size shouldn’t matter in any capacity when relating a character to ones self. 

If you’re skinny, you’re beautiful. If you are thick or curvy, you are beautiful. If you are obese or overweight, you are beautiful. Weight doesn’t matter, but representation of body types in different characters does matter.

Imagine a child falls in love with a bigger character, but is experiencing body challenges where she is being picked on for being too thin or scrawny (it happens, I’ve seen it with my nieces). Who are you to say that making her favorite character look like her own body is wrong? Especially if art is a coping mechanism they use for mental health reasons.

Like Malachite, a fusion that was devastating and abusive in every way, you are taking the choice and voice of an entire being to make your actions and opinions “right” or “okay”.

There is so much more I could say on this show, and so much more I could say about the fandom. And I know it is not the majority of the fandom, but I did want to make everyone in the fandom aware that we are human.

None of us are stoic and balanced like Garnet, and even Garnet had problems in her relationship. None of us are strong and laid back like Amethyst, and even she had self-love issues. None of us are as analytical and organized as Pearl, and yet she had problems throughout the series. 

None of you are perfect, and to act as if you are is defeating the purpose of a show trying to teach you how to be responsible for yourself and your actions. I’m not perfect either, and preaching about a fandom I’m not a huge part of sounds counter-intuitive, I’m aware.

But my nieces want to watch this show. My nephew watches this show with me. My boyfriend’s niece is going to start watching the show. 

Please do not make a toxic environment for kids who need this show to grow up. Kids who experience trauma, and learn from this show deserve a safe space without people trying to justify bullying or force them to think that because they are a boy or girl, they can or can’t watch the show. Without people making people feel bad for being themselves.

Why don’t we create a new space? A space where everyone is accepted as they are, and negative behavior is addressed the same way the gems or Steven would address them. With education, perception awareness, and PATIENCE. 

I know some will say, “It’s not my job to raise your child.” and “It’s not my responsibility to make people aware of their tendencies.”

You’re right. It’s also not your responsibility to bully people into changing themselves to fit your dialogue. Simply put, you’re responsible for yourself alone. But you have no right to complain on someone's behavior, art or experiences if you are not willing to be patient with correcting said behavior in yourself first.  

Who knows, maybe I’m in the wrong here for not knowing the full story. All I’m saying is, if you see someone being a bully, being mean or even being a hypocrite, call them out in the sweetest way possible. Let them know we are facilitating a safe space for people who need a community rather than a closed off club.

Be the change you want to see in this world.

Learn, grow and prosper. 

I wish you all well and genuinely hope we can all expand our perspectives to fully understand each other in healthier and more communicative based ways. We deserve that sort of kindness from each other.

[theatredirectors]

Pete Danelski

Hometown?

Philly!

Where are you now?

Washington, DC. 

What's your current project?

My writing partner and I adapted Karel and Josef Čapek’s Adam The Creator. We’ve been developing it for a few years now. It’ll have a staged reading at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in DC this March. It’s a long time coming.

I’ve got a few more projects on the horizon. Doing some preliminary work on Every Hour—a semi-verbatim play/experiment, built around Chekhov’s personal correspondences. It’s being developed through a 2019 Drama League Residency this summer. Plus, I’m always looking for projects which build the theatre community.

Why and how did you get into theatre?

Total fluke. I was always a class clown and creative in some ways. It wasn’t until I stumbled into auditions for the middle school play that I got into theatre. I started as an actor and grew into a writer, director, theatre-maker.

What is your directing dream project?

It changes. And often isn’t focused on a traditional production process. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about directing an open-source theatre project. Transparency is interesting. I want to do some long term development on a new work while creating a theatre lab. In addition to traditional rehearsals, there would be periods of open rehearsals in the daytime, which would inform performances in the evening, in turn, informing the next day’s open rehearsal and on and on.

I’d love to direct a tight-knit ensemble through that process. Ideally, it would involve some devising processes and use of classic texts. We’d go longer than the standard three or so weeks. I want to make space for actors to create roles and grow them into something more than a typical process affords them. And let’s live stream some of the rehearsals. I believe there’s an audience for it and major potential in practice-based research methodologies. It’d be a dream to create new, exciting work while simultaneously challenging systems of theatre production through an innovative process.

What kind of theatre excites you?

Theatre that challenges me, my expectations and understanding of the event as a whole. Theatre that unsettles me. I’m excited when I walk out of a play unsure whether I absolutely loved it or absolutely hated it. That usually means it took some real risks.

I’m excited by theatre that embraces the uniquely theatrical. We’re never going to do naturalism as good as film. I’ve no interest in trying. I want to see theatre that embraces the magic, theatricality and strangeness of the live theatre event.

What do you want to change about theatre today?

Great theatre comes from risk. Yet, our craft—like most everything—has been crammed into some pretty capitalist-centric systems. These, by definition, are risk-adverse. It effects how we produce, rehearse and develop shows, resulting in some really less-than-exciting work. We’re working against ourselves in this way. I’d like to see more theatre making space for challenging, risky work. That’s the kind of work which will push us all forward.

I also believe, to my core, that if theatre is going to survive, we have to stop preaching to ourselves. Theatre made solely for theatre people and others who share our social, cultural, political views, will be the death of us all. There’s plenty of work, especially in major cities, shouting one perspective, excluding or dismissing everything else—gutting any chance of real conflict. It’s preachy and self-congratulatory. Safe and boring.

If we want American theatre to grow and effect real social change we need to make space for people beyond ourselves. We shouldn’t be making theatre solely for our friends. Ideally, we’re making theatre with our friends, for people within and beyond our circles. Inviting people in is more important than ever.

What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA?

Plenty of pros. Plenty of cons. I’m wary of systems which claim to have all the answers. And it often feels like grad programs are just selling a network. Which is not for nothing. I believe the best education is experience; sinking or swimming out in the world. However, having a concerted period of time to focus on craft is so valuable.

I went for an M.Phil which stimulated me in different ways. Sometimes I think I’ll go back for the MFA. We’ll see.

Who are your theatrical heroes?

Okay. Julie Taymor, Peter Brook, Cornel West and Samuel Beckett are my Mount Rushmore. Artist and non-artist, they teach me who I am as a theatre-maker.

In addition (and in no order) are Tina Landau, Anton Chekhov, Anna Deavere Smith, Sam Mendes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Aaron Posner, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Howard Schalwitz, Sarah-Jane Scaife, Edward Albee, Jean Anouilh, Joseph Papp. Gavin Quinn. Many more.

Any advice for directors just starting out?

Do work. Make work. If you’re not making your own work, you’ll have a career of waiting for the phone to ring.

See, read, think about everything.

Find your community. Embrace it, engage it, challenge it, do what you can to help build it. The best work comes from community and collaboration.

Plugs!

Adam The Creator by Karel and Josef Čapek has been criminally ignored in the US for virtually the entire 20th century. I’ve been working with Meghan Diehl to give this play the life it deserves. Here’s the blurb:

Adam, out of frustration with the state of humanity, negates all of existence in an effort to end rampant tyranny, violence, and prejudice. Left alone in the universe, he is then charged with its re-creation. Adam ventures to make a new, better world, all the while grappling with the inherent struggles of creation, as he tries to implement his ideals in reality. Throughout his attempts to create the ideal man, woman, companion and a perfect society, Adam glimpses the inherent value of life and the beauty of humanity. This "translaptation" from the Čapek brothers' original 1929 play, newly instilled with the spirit of ensemble-based storytelling, comes with a unique sense of humor and an optimistic look at the potential for good in all humans.

Great play and it just keeps getting more relevant. Anyone out there with an interest in early 20th Century Czechoslovakian theatre or the Čapek brothers, send me an email!

Website: www.petedanelski.com — Check out Adam The Creator, Every Hour and other projects on there. Shoot me an email and let’s collaborate!

[wbg1991]

Locked down but still dancing: how queer nightlife went digital

Digital stages create new opportunities for drag queens (photo credit: Club Quarantine)

A laptop screen filled with drag queens, pop stars, some people dancing in their lounges and others in bed just nodding along has become a lockdown highlight for many in the LGBTQI community.

For Andrés Sierra, a quarter of the team behind Toronto-based ‘Club Quarantine’, it has become a way of life.

Her virtual house party started out as a Zoom call between friends but has since become an international phenomenon. Within days Club Quarantine had to upgrade their capacity on Zoom to a thousand and on their fourth night they even featured the pop star Charli XCX.

“We said let’s dress up, play some awesome music and have a party, and then someone drunkenly made the Instagram handle for the night,” she says. “It then took on a life of its own. It literally just started going viral.”

Partygoers from around the world join a Club Quarantine zoom call (photo credit: Club Quarantine)

Harry Gay, one of the team behind London-based Queer House Party, had a similar experience.

“We had no idea it was going to get this big,” he says. “Throughout the night we’re actually getting 1,500 people dropping in and out. We never thought we would hit numbers like that.”

As nightclubs closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom parties allowed the LGBT nightlife scene to continue.

“It’s been good to socialise with people while social distancing,” says Queer House Party attendee Lee Cooper. “You can have a drink, a bit of a dance, and you don’t have to get a taxi on the way home.”

The initial experience of the Zoom parties can be overwhelming, according to partygoer Zara Mabey.

“You’re overwhelmed when you see people in bondage, dancing in their living room either alone or with others, people in gimp masks, all sorts of things,” she says.

The parties have kept the drag scene going as well, with drag queens performing to webcams. The digital format has even opened up new creative opportunities for them.

“We had this drag performer, called Yovska, who dressed as this mop monster, performing to Christina Aguileira’s ‘Dirty’,” recalls Andrés. “She starts in the laundry room, dips her mop titties into a bucket of water and washes the floor as ‘Dirty’ is playing. She ends up doing a washing machine dance in the shower. It was just wild to watch.”

The nights have provided a vital sense of community for a group of people who depend on the safe spaces of nightclubs.

“You hear a lot of stories about people who are stuck at home who haven’t come out to their families, or they’ve come out and it’s not a very accepting environment,” says Queer House Party attendee Dylan Goveas.

Dan Beaumont, owner of Dalston Superstore, a queer club in London, says, “Queer people draw power from the community, finding like-minded people, friends and chosen family. Isolation can be hard, especially if they have difficult home circumstances or unstable living situations.”

Joe and Jeff enjoy an intimate moment on Zoom (photo credit: Club Quarantine)

Those who have spent lockdown alone have found solace in the new virtual nightlife scene. Zara has been living by herself in London as her housemate went home just before lockdown started and has not been able to return.

“I’ve been alone for the six or seven weeks of lockdown so far,” she says. “Stuff like Queer House Party has made a massive difference. It’s been good to feel as though you have people there.”

For the DJs and promoters, the nights are not without their challenges.

“People need to understand this is a conferencing app which was repurposed as a club,” says Andrés, who says even soundchecks can be extremely stressful.

Andrés and Harry have also had to deal with internet trolls and ‘Zoom bombers’. They now have moderation processes in place to keep the spaces safe for attendees.

“Because we haven’t done it before, we’re learning every week,” says Harry. “We get complaints but we’re a group of problem solvers. By the next Friday we will have sorted it out.”

Poster promoting Queer House Party on Instagram (artwork: FreddeLanka)

For the DJs and promoters, the nights are not without their challenges.

“People need to understand this is a conferencing app which was repurposed as a club,” says Andrés, who says even soundchecks can be extremely stressful.

Andrés and Harry have also had to deal with internet trolls and ‘Zoom bombers’. They now have moderation processes in place to keep the spaces safe for attendees.

“Because we haven’t done it before, we’re learning every week,” says Harry. “We get complaints but we’re a group of problem solvers. By the next Friday we will have sorted it out.”

One of the main takeaways from the parties has been their greater accessibility.

While clubs have become more wheelchair accessible over the years, Zoom party promoters have come to realise a whole range of people have still been excluded – including those who are teetotal, struggle with social anxiety, are hard of hearing, blind, and more.

“We’ve had feedback that these people haven’t felt part of the queer community for so long, but these parties have allowed them to feel like part of it during the lockdown,” Harry says.

The nights have also been attended by people living in countries where queerness is not accepted, with Andrés saying she’s had listeners tune in from Saudi Arabia.

This greater accessibility is something that needs to stick, they both say.

“It’s a shame it took a pandemic for us to realise how accessible parties should be,” says Harry.  “When we’re doing real life parties again we’ll definitely live stream them on similar platforms so that people who can’t make it to the physical space are able to join.”

“There’s no way we would sever that tie because it’s connected a whole audience of people who aren’t able to do the ‘in real life’ moment,” says Andrés.

With lockdown likely to continue impacting the nightlife scene for a while yet, it’s likely virtual clubs will continue to stream on the community’s screens. However, when it does eventually finish, most partygoers will want to return to real life clubs.

“I cannot wait to be with real people and touching them, getting sweaty and hot – it’s a dream,” says Andrés, while Alex Lawless, who promotes a London-based party called Knickerbocker,  says you can’t “replace the live experience, especially having a proper sound system.”

That’s not to say Zoom parties will just stop after lockdown. Promoters and partygoers alike agree they will have a role to play in the post lockdown nightlife scene, in large part due to the greater accessibility they allow.

They will certainly live long in the memory as nights which helped to keep the community connected.

This article was originally published on PA Training in May 2020.

[oodlyenough]

fic: sidetracked

"You mean while Fiona and I were risking our lives, you were getting laid?”

~1k, mid-episode 5, Rhys/Sasha, past Sasha/Louise the Tour Guide, fluff/comedy/flirting

anyway i just find the idea that sasha fucked the tourguide mid-elaborate heist really funny so here we are

also on AO3

It wasn’t like Rhys had never imagined what it might be like to have hundreds of adoring fans. Sure, some of his past idle daydreams might have involved some small element of the masses worshipping his every move, bowing, and erecting creepy statues. Whose hadn’t, really? Totally normal.

Still, even in his most far-fetched fantasies, he’d never imagined people might be doing it because he’d sort-of-accidentally wiped out an entire space station, killing countless former colleagues as collateral damage in his bid to stop a digital megalomaniac.

That was definitely a complicating factor.

So when he first noticed the woman watching him and Sasha as they rummaged through bits of scrap for the caravan, Rhys did his best to ignore her. It was easier said than done; he’d only volunteered for this thankless task for a chance to spend some time with Sasha before they all probably died fighting a giant alien monster, and having another woman watch them so intently was really throwing off his game. Looking over the top of Sasha’s head, he eyed the woman curiously, hoping she’d take the hint.

“...in your left hand,” Sasha was saying. “Rhys? Hello?”

“Oh.” He looked back down to find Sasha frowning impatiently, her palm outstretched. “Right.” He handed her the ball joint he was holding, and she tucked it into her pocket. “Sorry. I was just, um…”

“Uh-huh,” said Sasha, with a hand on her hip and a quirk of her lips. “Just try not to space out when we’re facing down the huge teleporting alien, all right?”

Rhys found himself grinning back. “Roger that.”

“Think we’re almost done,” said Sasha, moving around him to grab another hunk of metal. “Then we can…”

But movement caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to see the woman watching them had abandoned her silent vigil and was walking their way.

“Hi,” said the woman, before Rhys could respond.

He sighed.

“Look,” he began, hands held out, “this is—uh—flattering, I guess, really, super honoured, but I really don’t—”

“Oh,” said Sasha, sounding stunned as she straightened up next to him. “Hold this,” she said to Rhys absently, shoving the hunk of metal into his arms before she turned to the woman. “Wow. Hi… Louise, right?”

Rhys blinked at her. “Wait, what?”

“That’s right.” The woman—Louise—spared Rhys only the briefest of glances before she looked at Sasha and nodded, hands on her hips. “Sasha, wasn’t it? Unless…”

Sasha laughed, high-pitched and uncharacteristically nervous. “Yep! That’s, uh, that is actually my name. For real.” She cleared her throat. “Glad you made it off of Helios okay,” she said, brushing back her bangs. “I did wonder.”

“You too,” said Louise. “I mean, evacuation was a total shitshow, but—well, here we are, right?”

“Right,” Sasha agreed.

“What?” Rhys asked of no one in particular. Neither woman reacted.

Sasha shifted her weight from hip to hip, looking Louise up and down. “So, are you settling into Pandora okay?”

“Oh, it’s a nightmare,” said Louise briskly, shrugging. “But so was Helios. Least there’s fresh air here.” She smiled, then pointed. “Your hair looks great, by the way.”

Sasha reached for it automatically, fiddling to adjust her headband, her cheeks glowing. “Aw, thanks. Wanted a change, you know?”

“Totally,” agreed Louise.

She took a step forward, close enough that she was starting to infringe on the border of the bubble of personal space that Rhys was very conscious of around Sasha. Baffled, Rhys looked from Sasha, to Louise, and back again.

“So you’re mixed up in all this Vault stuff, then,” Louise continued. “I thought that might be the case.”

“Ha, yeah. It’s…” Sasha thought about it for a second. “...a long story.”

“That’s an understatement,” Rhys muttered, rubbing the side of his face that was still tender from where Loader Bot had clobbered it.

Louise inched closer; now she was definitely in Sasha’s bubble.

“I’ve got time,” she said smoothly. “I’d love to hear it. I’m very curious.”

Rhys’ eyebrows shot up on his forehead, and he wondered suddenly if he was imagining things. Sasha hesitated for a second, tongue on her teeth while she considered.

“Oh, I, um, I'd love to but… I’m kind of busy,” she said after a second. She glanced briefly up at Rhys, then smiled at Louise. “But I’m sure Vaughn could fill you in.”

Louise retreated to a safe distance. “Right.” She sent Rhys a strange look before she nodded at Sasha. “Well, if your schedule opens up…”

“I know where to find you,” Sasha finished. “See you around?”

“Sure.” Louise waved as she started to walk away. “Good luck with your Vault monster.”

As Louise disappeared, Sasha turned back to the pile of scrap, but Rhys, still feeling like he’d only understood a third of what he’d just watched, stood staring after Louise.

“What… was that?” he asked after a moment, turning back to Sasha. “Who else do you know from Hyperion?”

Sasha straightened up, a large hunk of metal tucked under her arm. It was difficult to be certain, but Rhys thought she looked a little flushed.

“Oh,” she said, unconvincingly casual, “that was the tour guide. You know? We stole her badge.”

“You’re on a first-name basis with the tour guide?”

At that, Sasha waved a hand evasively. “Well, it was a… short but intimate job.”

Rhys stared at her for a second, forehead wrinkled in confusion. Then his eyes widened.

“You didn’t.”

With a fake air of innocence, Sasha shrugged.

“You fucked the tour guide?” he squeaked, far less dignified than he’d’ve liked, but—well—come on. “Seriously?”

Sasha arched an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

“Well… I… no,” he managed, feeling stupid and caught out as he stumbled to process it. He wondered if Fiona had intentionally excluded that detail, or if she was unaware of it herself. “But—I just—" He shook his head. "You mean while Fiona and I were risking our lives, you were getting laid?”

Sasha grinned in earnest now, any potential embarrassment totally superseded by amusement. “Hey, my job was to distract.” She lifted one shoulder. “I was distracting.”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Very distracting,” she added, with a tone of false modesty.

Unsure what to say to that, Rhys simply gaped.

Her grin turned to a challenge. “Jealous?”

“No,” said Rhys, one of the least convincing lies he’d ever told.

Sasha’s expression turned triumphant. “Well, there you are, then.”

“You didn’t…” He looked in the direction Louise had gone and cleared his throat, struggling to regain his footing. “You didn’t take her up on her offer.”

Watching him keenly, Sasha tilted her head. “Should I have?”

Rhys stared at her. Was that a trick question?

“I... don’t know,” he sputtered. “Why would you ask me? I mean, did you want to? ‘Cause if you wanted to, then... ”

Flagging under her scrutiny, he let his voice trail off and shrugged, still feeling like his head was spinning. What was even happening right now? Were conversations always this difficult and he’d never noticed? How had they possibly wound up here?

For a long moment Sasha studied him intently, her eyes narrowed, her expression inscrutable.

Then she laughed, and did something even more unexpected than sleep with a Hyperion tour guide in the middle of a con: she reached up to pat his cheek with her free hand.

“You’re an idiot,” she said, in an odd voice that made it sound like a compliment.

Rhys gulped.

All too quickly, Sasha pulled her hand away again.

“Think I got everything I needed. Come on,” she said, chipper as she turned to head in the direction of the caravan. “Time to go save Gortys or die trying.” She winked over her shoulder. “Hopefully the first thing.”

Rhys stood in place, certain his face was bright red, still trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. He brushed his fingers over the spot where Sasha’s hand had been, then gave himself a shake and jogged after her. There’d be time to sort it all out later, after the Vault. Hopefully.

[soph-goat-stories]

Zelda and the Land of Zorax

There was once a girl named Zelda. She was a very special girl. Not only chosen, but chosen as the next legend of Zeldax from the land of Zorax. Zelda was always a little calmer than most young people her age. She dressed casually and avoided making trouble. She usually thought to herself and was not outspoken about her opinions, though she did have them. The Elders in school would often encourage her to be open about her thoughts on the curriculum, even half-heartedly, though some of them didn’t believe the New Generation would have the opportunity to flourish in the future. 

The Little Man (his real name was Zeld) came down to the blue and green planet to speak to her of her tasks. Well, both up and down and through his own long journey. After lunch on her back porch, he appeared from the side of the house and confronted her. There was no way she could have known he was from another planet besides his mildly spiky facial features and odd smell. 

She responded to The Little Man with only questions and some staring, but after he committed to some probing, she agreed to follow him downstairs, underneath her home where the raccoons lived, and into a hidden door and further down dark, damp steps that creeked and buckled, nearly giving way to her. She felt her heart beat faster in anticipation and noticed how moist her face felt, but all-things-considered was alright. Being a rather athletic girl for those in her class, she could handle the unexpected climb about 100 feet down, and utilized the physical challenge to ease her mind, though Zelda never intentionally prepared for this journey. She was a little regretful not to ask how long it would take before they were already well on their way. The stairs seemed a lot easier to descend than climb.  

She and the Little Man finally finished. He told her her final goal was to find a mirror that she could reflect into and understand herself better. It was completely unique and she would be fully aware she found it, and it would tell her the secret to the land of Zorax. The least she could do was look. After all, she was the lucky chosen girl of the legend of Zeldax, and must maintain some strength to pass onto future legacies down the road. Again, this mirror would be plainly obvious, and it would be entirely possible to discover, though only after a long and winding journey. 

However for some reason Zelda was confused. Why would this Little Man leave me here, all alone, to find my way underneath the porch to god-knows-where, only to disappear again above my home? Why am I the chosen one? What types of terrain she was unaware of would she encounter? Was there anything underneath her home that would not be known from the green and blue planet? What was the purpose of this long, deep journey she must take, and what else unexpected will she encounter? Did she bring enough bottled water? Well, she had many more questions spinning through her head, but she luckily did not forget bottled water. It came in the canister dropped off from the morning by U.E.A-24. Zelda meddled at some of these questions and spurted out concerns for a few minutes in front of the patient Little Man. He was naive of the fact that she would be so concerned of all of this, not that any blame could be left on either of them. 

But rest your head. “Everything will be alright, just follow me through the second tunnel underneath the porch, the one with the green moss growing on the ceiling” said the Little Man. However little did they know this small journey, the one before Zelda would take herself, would take over three times longer than expected. They entered into a new sandy and dry cavity filled with bright yellow light as if inside a lightbulb. Wind whipped past their ears drowning them in noise, but they could see a dark pit about 50 feet ahead of them that must contain vegetation and thus water. They made their way over there, stopping once for some rest against the blizzard of sand and dust. Zelda had to squint to keep the dust out of her eyes. She sighed. Is this what I can expect this entire journey? It’s already greuling. But the Little Man must have heard her, and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. They continued. 

And so it began. The Little Man gave her a hug goodbye, a water bottle, a packet of lighters, and directions to the nearest green tree plot ahead where she could find a nice big trunk to rest onto. Zelda admitted the Little Man was at least somewhat trustworthy, and kind. Holding her breath, she stepped out into the desert space that she was recently unaware was just underneath her home. She mildly regretted the trip, but never felt a strong attachment to the blue and green planet to begin with, especially after hearing those concerns from some of The Elders. Zelda could at least get some alone time to grow as a person and forget about all the problems at home. 

…

Last time we left off Zelda was left alone by the Little Man resting upon a tree trunk in a desert-type arid space. Opening her eyes once again, she still couldn’t resist breaking a sweat. Among her was probably about 500 feet of windy and yellow sand and beyond that was unintelligible. It was an extremely sparse with barely any trees or vegetation, and mostly sand whipping up in small dumes with every gust of wind. She sneezed, and stood up. Now was an opportunity to actually think about the task given to her by the Little Man, telling her that she was the current Legend of Zeldax, and that she needed to find a unique mirror and stare into it to discover her place for her legacy, hinting that well that was just about everything she needed to know to understand herself. Zelda thought about Zeldax, and what that really was. She had no idea. With every minute passing she felt more alone and incredibly warm and itchy. Though the journey to this place with the little man was on the brink of being fun, and certainly enchanting, she was starting to feel nauseatingly uncomfortable with what was happening. She had enough sense to know she shouldn’t over-think any of this before reaching a place with more natural resources and hopefully an easy pathway to that dang mirror. 

Zelda took another walk for a couple of hours to enter into another dark and damper cavity which had a similar appearance to one of those large fibercrystal sewage pipes under her home city that dated back about 100 years. The other end of this tunnel was more narrow than the end she entered into, and about the size of a loaf of bread. A good size however to safely peer into, she dared look. In front of her about an arms length was another separated space that was indeed comprised of more trees and green herbs of sorts, and from what she could tell supported more advanced life. An animal with a shape similar to a cow but about the size of a cat was walking a little ways to the right, and though dainty and cute it was somewhat terrifying. From what she could tell there was a shiny substance covering its top half, and on the bottom half was a pattern of a few warm tones meeting to it’s head. 

It reminded her of the aging cat her family still owned a few hundred feet above her head. They kept it in just a few rooms, a small and stealthy creature with brown fur and dark eyes, and an animal that she swore was keener than her. Her family was actually breaking the law in keeping such an animal. Her parents said before she was born that the government banned keeping any domesticated animals and encouraged hunting them in order to bring down their population. After The Great Fall about 50 years ago domesticated animal populations skyrocketed, but because their meat contained traces of permethyol they couldn’t be hunted. Being a girl of about 13, Zelda felt a certain awe and inspiration from cats, knowing they were both illegal to keep and unconditionally opportunistic, incredible survivalists among all odds. She couldn't quite explain the rare but pleasant feeling of connecting with a non-human animal. 

This creature she saw was the only visible living thing there besides herself, excluding the audible chirping erupting all of a sudden. She thought to herself it was best not to lose sight of it. Meanwhile Zelda couldn’t even get through the small hole at this end of the tunnel without harming herself in the process, but she didn’t have a choice. She decided to step back and kick the hole numerous times to dent it, wearing down her thin shoes, but eventually thanks to the rust and bacteria already eating at it, she broke the hole into a bigger gap and thus could fit through it. Zelda then carefully slipped into this new forested section of this strange land underneath her home, and squatted next of the tunnel again, resting there and staring at her new companion for about 30 minutes, which was lazily eating herbs the entire time underneath some shade from a tropical-type of plant. Some forgotten cluster of trees swayed in the wind and helped her relax.

She then heard a sound of a large bird, and breaking out of this spell for a minute she dared look behind her. She saw a good sized group of about 40 beautiful blue-black birds spinning around a fat corpse, pecking at it, and calling to their group of her presence. Zelda got a peak at what they were eating at, it looked like a striped lump of glittery material with a bloody feline face. Her heart skipped a beat and somehow subconsciously she knew she had to get out of this place as soon as possible. But the tunnel was gone!

…

Zelda looked behind her again in search of the tunnel, or maybe even the mirror the Little Man told her about, but nothing was there. She immediately started running away from the pack of aggressive birds still flying in circles and screaming in angst. She was still located in this forested area but luckily contained open patches of space. This space was actually more of a void with gradient white flooring and kind of a foggy atmosphere. Though Zelda thought she knew enough about the physical properties of the world before this journey, nothing could possibly prepare her enough for her encounter with this space from the green and blue planet. At this point Zelda was running on her own adrenaline and not thinking very thoughtfully about where she was going, but stepped into this space that was about 100 feet in diameter intermixed between forest. The birds were no longer visible or heard, but something about this new place was easing her mind in a way, some kind of grey misty void, but turning into more of a sandy area without much of anything until the horizon. What was going through her head at this time would be difficult for anyone to comprehend without direct experience, but now Zelda again began to break a sweat. She was obviously terrified, but comically alone in such an inhumane area underneath her home. She began to think that her familiar Blue and Green planet made a lot more sense than she once thought. Running for a few minutes further towards the brightening horizon, she realized that something about this new region was serene and it actually began to calm her. Zelda always had an affinity for the desert and open space. She remembered taking trips to the desert to visit family friends at a Leftover Friends’ Camp out in Arizona a few times, in part to deliver water, and in part to reconvene and chat with familiar faces. Zelda took a moment to think about the mirror the Little Man explained, picturing it in her mind as essentially the oldest mirror that could have ever existed, with some kind of dull pearls lining the outside, smaller than a typical full-length mirror, and oval-shaped with a handle. The actual glass of this mirror would have to be worn and dull, dusty and scraped. Maybe there was some chance that that was what it really looked like and she would recognise it. Maybe the Little Man was right, that this mirror was somehow tied with herself and her prophecy. Somehow if this was true it would change everything she knew about the Blue and Green planet as well, or what some people still called Earth. 

Suddenly a person appeared near her, an upright shadowy figure breathing just as heavy as her. Night was falling in this region at this time, and as they approached her the face of this individual looked rough and old. They carried a luminous thin box on their belt beaming light on it’s corner. Zelda would never know that this person was alive before The Great Fall, even with the casual hints. She knew that before The Great Fall cell phones were still in use and on the market. She read something about that in school that around the time of the Great Fall there was one group of people called the Hacking Company (headed by two individuals Robot Mass and Tower Street) that broke into the cellphone networks and essentially hacked every individual cellphone user. They chose the perfect time for it, right at the end of Water Bill Season when most folks were scrambling to conserve their water rations. Mobile companies obstructed the production of these boxes for a few years while they struggled to figure out how to recalibrate their systems, but by this time cell phones were no longer popular, and especially at the time of the Great Fall more often than not people where dealing with problems closer at hand and came across near-death experiences more than before, so families and friends kept their companions close and formed new groupings without much focus on what was happening out of their communities. Once a good 30 or 40 years passed after the hack happened, few even remembered cellphone at all. 

Though Zelda would normally have been grateful for some company at this time, something about this person frightened her, maybe in the way in which their age and clothing style didn’t fit together, or maybe their look of determination and seriousness. They produced an aura unfamiliar in the least. Finally she approached this person and came to grips with her current situation. He opened his mouth and started to speak, but it was painfully difficult for Zelda to determine what he was saying. 

…

Zelda looked up again at this strange man. Who was he? He was uttering words familiar to her, but not exactly what she was used to. After about a minute of intense uttering from him, and only blank stares from her, she finally asked his name and why he was there. He responded in similar gibberish, and held up his phone with a code. Entering in the code of four digits, he wrote a note on the screen. It wrote “Lacey”. She was lucky to understand the writing. At least she could acknowledge him now. Zelda knew names were especially important in her community back home. Someone’s name indicated a personal strength of character, mind, or spirit. Zelda in Old English may have been a fictional adventure character. Zelda remembered that old conversation, not that it really meant much to her. Lacey sounded like lace. Maybe he was soft and intricate too. But he also seemed tough and trustworthy. So you are Lacey? Finally I know your name, my name is Zelda. I am here on some kind of journey, but it’s hard to explain.

“Huh?”

Zelda. She went on again to explain her purpose, but stopped when he finally turned away from her. There were a few uncomfortable moments of silence, and Zelda learned how to better empathize with his confusion, though still wanted his backstory. They uttered phrases to each other back and forth like this for a few minutes, until Zelda had enough, getting tired of nuances, and eager to hop into yet a new place. She sat down on the sand next to a rock where she rested her sack that held not unpleasantly warm water. She sat there near this man for a while, watching the edge of his tattered jacket sway in the wind, revealing the glowing phone on his hip where he entered the code, and a few beeps emerging from it. After about an hour of rest from pure exhaustion from both, Lacey decided to show her a new path. He led her through the great desert where they were into a brown valley with leaves scattered alongside the ground, and grey tree trunks everywhere under a billowing grey sky. It became a bit dark and chilly. Zelda shuttered, expecting something evil of sorts to happen to her along this path, but to her surprise nothing really happened besides the walk. They kept going into this valley and woods, where they heard hoots from owls and chirps from birds, meowing and barking of other creatures, and the like. Zelda always loved the company of animals, and the presence of familiar living things underneath the porch gave her hope for her future. The man took her through this wooded area for another hour or so, just on a slow but steady walk, brushing back some branches and vines in their way and stumbling here and there on rocks or thorn bushes. Some of the woods reminded her of recreational spaces at home where local children played games, and older individuals went for walks. She wondered if where this man came from people did the same. Of course communication was limited to only utterances of familiar words. 

Finally they came across a pathway into a greener and sunnier place, which opened up into remarkable rolling hills lined with a red-picket fence and a rugged soil pathway stamped out by years of pressure from feet and vehicles, though few recognizable markings. Lacey took her to this open and sunny space and guided her down the path and in and out of patches of woods for a little while. They saw a fork in the road and decided to turn left. They crossed a stream. Crouched under bunched of amber and orange leaves on low-hanging branches. They saw a cotton-tailed rabbit scatter out of their way, and packs of birds flying upwards and away. Zelda because a little less restless in this area, where she felt the comfort of the soft breeze and sunny beams of light shine on her in the open space, and the crunchy leaves under her thin soles in the woods. Lacey was kind enough to show her around the easiest paths, and she trusted him in his decisions to take them both somewhere safe and productive for her task. Though all of this was pretty random, Zelda couldn’t imagine that this man wasn’t somehow tied to all of this. She breathed a sigh of relief when he finally took her to a wooden cabin with a warm fire pit and bed to rest. Zelda drank some water. Something rang a smooth melody on his phone as soon as she shut her eyes to sleep. Lacy took the call and spent the rest of the night chatting away with familiar voices. 

[96thdayofrage]

Trump’s Impact on Americans of Color

The evidence in his first 100 days — by word, deed, and policy — couldn’t be clearer. Our president does not care for people of color. No? Let’s look at the evidence. It is voluminous.

Immediately after his hallucinatory inauguration, President Donald Trump loudly reaffirmed the need to keep Mexicans out of the United States, and that a “beautiful” wall would be erected quickly to bar Mexico’s riffraff from entering our nation.

And Mexico would pay for the wall, a hot air balloon that has progressively become deflated — going from “Mexico will definitely pay for the wall,” to “well, we will impose taxes that will result in Mexico really paying for the wall,” to “OK, work with me on this —Congress will provide the money to build the wall until Mexico pays for it.” This occurs despite much evidence suggesting that the wall will not stop undocumented immigration.

A week after his inauguration, Trump decreed a travel ban affecting seven Muslim countries, which caught many people off guard and generated massive havoc for travelers worldwide. Soon afterward, a federal judge in Washington state overturned the travel ban. Trump responded with Muslim Ban Lite. He did minor tweaks, excluding Iraq from the travel ban. Shortly, two federal judges — in Hawaii and Maryland — ruled against the second travel ban.

Trump issued an executive order in late January that reaffirmed that the wall would go up and expanded the categories of people who could be deported. The order also called for a significant increase in Border Patrol agents and immigration officers. The edict also mandated an expansion of detention centers, a worrisome measure. Private detention centers, the largest run by CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) and GEO Group, are sure to make massive profits once the Trump mass deportation machine goes into effect. As of early March, the stock value of CoreCivic had risen by 120 percent since the November election, and that of GEO increased by 80 percent.

This is a significant change from September when private detention centers were at risk of losing their contracts with the government. The Department of Justice had decided to phase out private prisons because of declining prisoner populations and major concerns about safety, security and medical care.

While the massive deportations have not yet materialized, there is intense fear in the immigrant community. That’s because even people without criminal records are potential deportees. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Session have threatened communities and counties with the loss of federal funds if they designate themselves as sanctuary cities, places that provide safe space for unauthorized immigrants — particularly those entities that do not fully cooperate with immigration officials on detainer requests. A federal judge in San Francisco recently ruled against Trump on this as well. Dreamers — undocumented immigrants brought here as children — are also unsure about their security. Trump has suggested that he likes them and will not put them at risk, but there is plenty of cause in Trump’s record to worry.

Haitian immigrants who were granted special immigration status following the devastating earthquake that shook Haiti in 2010 also face uncertainty as Trump has yet to renew their status. If he does not do so by July 22, approximately 50,000 Haitians risk deportation. While mass incarceration has disproportionately snared people of color over the past four decades, recent criminal justice reform represented a ray of hope.

But Trump and Sessions now seek to undo these measures. Never mind that the crime rate is about 42 percent below that in 1997. believing that the Department of Justice should not take on that role.

All these efforts will put people of color at greater risk of being racially profiled, disproportionately arrested and sentenced, and having their civil rights violated. People of color and, more broadly, the poor were targeted in Trump’s unsuccessful effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump had an embarrassing setback in not being able to eliminate Obamacare. Yet he is not giving up. He and congressional allies continue to try to dismantle Obamacare piecemeal, now concentrating on cost-share subsidies. He tried to swap $1 of such subsidies for every $1 that Democrats pony up for the border wall.

Despite the problems that plague Obamacare, it continues to be a lifeline for many people who otherwise could not afford health insurance. According to data from the American Community Survey, between 2010 (when Obamacare was signed but before it went into effect) and 2015, 26.7 million more Americans had insurance; the majority of them were white. The number of poor Americans with health care insurance rose by nearly 4.3 million during this five-year period, again with poor whites being the largest group (39 percent) of new beneficiaries. Many of these poor whites rallied behind Trump and helped put him in the White House. Obviously, Trump does not have their best interests in mind.

Trump has surrounded himself with few people of color. His Cabinet is the least diverse since that of Ronald Reagan. Nearly four-fifths of Trump’s 33 Cabinet members are white men. Only four are persons of color (two Asians, one African-American and one Latino) and merely five are women (two of whom are doing double duty as a female and a person of color). Throughout his campaign, Trump used hateful racist rhetoric against people of color. He embraced alt-right and white nationalist groups, and selected a prominent member of these groups —-Stephen Bannon—- to serve as his chief strategist.

It is not surprising that in his first 100 days as president — marked on April 29 — Trump has shown that he is not a friend of people of color. His policies and priorities are intended to firmly put people of color in their place, including through deportations and by not allowing others to enter our country. This is what he envisioned in his quest to “make America great again.” In the process, however, Trump has alienated and insulted so many groups — including people of color, the poor, women, immigrants, Muslims, the GLBTQ community and others — that he has roused the American spirit of protest. He has politicized many good people who realize they cannot accept Trump as normal and that he must be vigorously challenged.

This has the real possibility of making Trump either a one-term president or bringing about his impeachment over the numerous questionable and unethical actions that continue to pile up.

Rogelio Sáenz is Dean of the College of Public Policy and holds the Mark G. Yudof Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is co-author of Latinos in the United States: Diversity and Change. (Note: This article was originally published in the San Antonio Express-News on May 6, 2017.)

[brood-mother]

hey, i'm super into your 'the sun sets on us' blurb/board on pinterest. can you say more about the story? it looks super interesting

of course, yeah! it’s still in its infancy so i don’t even have definite names for the main characters yet (umm let’s call the them middle sis jara, little bro elan, and big bro amal for purpose of this i guess?). i’ll put it behind a read more because i am going to go IN on this bc i don’t get to talk about it often and i am excited abt it. edit: i definitely got carried away but it felt good to air it out, thank you.

anyway, the basic premise is that in this universe, magic is an inherently destructive force. it is capable of doing fantastic, unbelievable things, but it requires a lot of energy, and typically consumes that energy in the form of life-force. magic users, if they regularly use magic, have a dramatically reduced life-span (even magic users who totally abstain from using magic can expect to live to 60 at the absolute most, a good 20 or so years less than a normal person). magic use blackens and scorches the flesh. magic users are constantly hungry, and run at unnaturally high temperatures because of the perpetual unnatural energy generation in their bodies. however, it is possible to draw that life-force from other people and even the environment around you, and as such in most places seek to eradicate magic with extreme prejudice.

the siblings live in one such country with their father; their mother, a magic user like jara, has already passed away naturally. they live in almost total isolation to protect jara from persecution (although relatives of magic users are also treated abysmally whether they show talents or not), but when war breaks out in the land, conscription is enforced, and every family must provide at least one able bodied adult to join the army. the father immediately volunteers, so as to stop anyone from sniffing around, but shortly thereafter the siblings are forced to flee their home without him or be swallowed up in the violence. 

at first they are comfortably anonymous in a tide of refugees, but eventually it becomes hard to hide. other magic users flushed out by the war are caught, persecuted. people are scared, angry; scapegoatism is rife, and an actual witch-hunt begins. with nowhere to hide and so little experience of the ‘real’ world, the siblings are forced to flee. they run aimlessly for a while until they realise the only place they could ever be safe is a secluded, insular, frozen land far to the north. most southerners only know of it through fearful hearsay and myths, but it is rumoured magic is seen as a boon, and magic users are like gods among mortal men. 

the journey there is treacherous; they must first make it to the northern coast of their own country, cross the sea, and then trek across a great barren wasteland to reach it. on the way, they encounter many obstacles, not least of all a dragon (dragons, while exceedingly rare and quite dangerous, are not devastating beasts in this world; they’re sort of on the same level as a polar bear, maybe, if polar bears could breath fire). while it should be easy enough for them to defeat with jara’s magic - she is naturally inclined to a particularly destructive type of magic known as entropy, which causes poison, decay, unconsciousness, etc -  if they work together, amal panics and freezes, allowing elan to be mauled badly enough that he nearly dies, and has to have his arm amputated, which widens the schism in their already strained relationship.

eventually they reach their destination. they spend several weeks on the outskirts, among common folk with no magic. the land is barren and inhospitable, and the eke a modest existence as farmers, labourers, hunters, etc. while not technically oppressed, non-magic users are almost seen as second-class citizens; they’re used for their superior physical strength and health/longevity and rarely raise above that station, and are often excluded from ‘magic-only’ spaces and the upper echelons of society. magic is essentially a ticket to the aristocracy, regardless of birth. jara uses this to her advantage, and tries to find a space for herself with elan and amal posing as her servants so that they are permitted where other non-magic users aren’t.

it doesn’t work, at least not initially. while she is a magic user, she is still a foreigner in a very deliberately insular country. she is generally looked down upon, mistrusted and scoffed at for being untrained and reluctant to use her magic. she eventually garners enough ire to be challenged but another young woman; they skirmish, and jara manages to defeat her, but only just. this catches the attention of a particularly wealthy and powerful man, for whom the other woman was an apprentice (rather than standard blood inheritance laws, magic-users have apprentices who compete for the right to inherit their wealth, rank, legacy, etc, and apprentices in return contractually bind themselves to their master’s service). he releases her, and instead offers his apprenticeship to jara.

jara accepts immediately. while it is obvious that the competition between apprentices is ruthless, even a failed apprentice is held in good esteem and can live comfortable lives. she sees it as an opportunity to secure a better life for her and her brothers. all is well at first: she finds the magic-users strange and intimidating, with their gold-dipped hands to hide their burnt flesh, elaborate head-dresses meant to represent their magical aura, and clothes of sheer wispy material to prove that they don’t feel the cold, but she enjoys learning and shows great natural talent. she is even surprised to find she actually gets along with her master’s other apprentice, yulia, and they become close friends very quickly.

for a while, things go very well for jara. her talents grow tenfold. she experiences a wealth of new things she’s never tried before. for the first time in her life, she is able to be unapologetically herself. for the first time in her life she is not made to feel like a burden, a liability, or a mistake. for the first time in her life, she is not hungry. she even sees many older magic-users, those living well beyond the expected age in her home country, which gives her hope and confidence.

meanwhile, without jara’s knowledge, things develop differently for the brothers. jara’s master takes a particular interest in amal. he considers amal to be a ‘perfect psychical specimen’, and appears to think very highly of him - for a non-magic user. he wants to train him to be his personal guard and assistant. amal is easily flattered, and eagerly agrees, and is naively unconcerned by the apparent need for secrecy. 

as both a non-magic user, and physically ‘deformed’, elan is largely neglected by everyone - including his own siblings, who are suddenly busy with their own training. he becomes (more) moody and withdrawn, his resentment of amal grown to toxic levels, and only finds solace in the unexpected companion ship of the master’s current bodyguard, tymo, a strange and quiet man with a creeping terminal illness. as they become closer and tentatively explore their feelings for each other, he confides in elan about his master’s horrid mistreatment of him, and the reason his morbid interest in amal: he is obsessed with the idea of “blessing” non-magic users with the gift of magic, but it can only work on those with magic already in their blood - like amal, and like tymo. he’s tried the experiment on dozens of ‘guards’ but their bodies cannot handle the strain, and the few that survive sicken and die as tymo is.

things take a turn for the worse for jara. her studies begin to tread in areas of magic that she doesn’t care to learn, namely how to siphon the life-force of things to lessen the tax of magic-use. at first it is only plants, fruits, even the earth itself. her natural inclination towards entropy means she is exceptionally proficient at it. then they move on to livestock, and finally, her master presents her with a human - a magicless member of the household staff. at first she refuses and the master tries to sooth and flatter her, insisting that even sweet yulia had completed the lesson, and yulia wasn’t nearly as accomplished as she was. jara still refused, and the master becomes enraged at that point - he needs her magic to conduct his experiments, and as his apprentice she all but belongs to him. he threatens to use elan and amal in the next lessons if she fails to comply and, terrified, she does.

she watches the damaged flesh on her hands smooth and heal. she feels stronger than she has in months, the weariness of her magic use washing away, and she realises this is what allows the mages to live as they do. their magnificent buildings, the forever-blooming gardens, even the ability to grow food in such an unforgiving landscape - it’s all beyond the reach of natural magic. they use the non-magic citizens like batteries.

jara realises in that exact moment that both she and her brothers are in grave danger, and the only way she can ensure their safety is to play along. she acts as though she finally realises the true extent and appeal of her power, and that she understands what her master desires of her. as soon as she is away from him, she begins to plan her escape. she turns to yulia, her closest and indeed only friend, for help. she knows the master has forced her to do such horrible things too, and jara wants her to escape with them. she also tells her brothers.

at first amal refuses to believe it until tymo himself explains what his fate was to be. they agree a time and a place to meet so that they might all flee together. however, when the night comes, yulia and tymo are waiting for the siblings but something is off: once they are within sight tymo cries out that it’s an ambush, and that yulia had betrayed them to gain favour with the master. the trio manage to escape, but only just, and tymo is left behind.

they make it to a safe place, but elan cannot forgive himself for leaving tymo behind. he goes back in the hopes that he can free him somehow, and is caught. however, rather than being killed or tortured for the whereabouts of jara and amal, the master offers him a deal. he will give him tymo. he will give him an amazing functional prosthetic arm. he will even use magic to extend tymo’s pitifully short life, like he had his own. 

elan accepts. he provides a location, and his granted his boon, and while the master and yulia go to collect his siblings he is told to wait in the castle with tymo. he doesn’t wait: the information he gave the master was false, and he manages to escape the guards and flee with tymo back to their true hiding place.

the master anticipated this. he put a tracking spell on tymo, and is lead right to their position. in the cold and freezing forest, they fight. it nearly kills her, sapping her strength until her entire body is tortured and scorched from the exertion, but in the end, jara comes through victorious by draining the very life from her master until he crumbles to dust, betraying herself and her morals, but saving her family. 

she then has to make one final agonising choice: does she stay and inherit her master’s vast estate where they can live in comfort in a rotten land, or go back on the run where they can never rest but will always be free? either way, she knows she must fight to protect every single day of her life.

[leftpress]

Beyond Another Gender Binary

Filler Collective | IT'S GOING DOWN | March 10th 2017

The post Beyond Another Gender Binary appeared first on IT'S GOING DOWN.

My use of the terms patriarchy and gender are interchangeable, as I understand gender to be an apparatus of oppression and domination that overlaps with, and is inseparable from,  the apparatus of patriarchy. For more on this, I suggest the Gender Nihilist Anti-Manifesto, and Destroy Gender.

Against Femme, Against Gender, Against All Binaries

There has been a trend among the radical milieux over the last couple years to start using the term femme in place of woman. The reasons for this shift in language have varied depending on who you ask in the milieux, but the general reason behind the shift is to m...

ake ‘our’ understanding of patriarchy more inclusive to anyone who doesn’t strictly identify as a woman. Taken from the Wikipedia page for Femme,

Femme is an identity used by women (including trans women) and nonbinary people in relation to their femininity. As a gender identity, it usually denotes an individual who is “non-binary or queer femme gender specifically and inherently addresses femmephobia and the systematic devaluation of femininity as part of their politics”. The term is used exclusively for queer people regardless of whether they identify as female.”

This replacement isn’t just semantics, it has been a change from seeing woman as the oppressed subject of patriarchy to seeing anyone femme, or feminine, as an oppressed subject of patriarchy. It’s also a shift from seeing oppression as one’s relationship to gendered violence to one’s relationship to aesthetic, femininity, behaviour, and social norms.

Before, ‘our’ understanding of patriarchy was that only women could be oppressed by patriarchy and gender(ed violence). That is, if our understanding of patriarchy never dug deep enough to understand that there are a multitude of experiences and subjectivities that cannot be fit neatly into one of two categories (oppressed and oppressor, male or female, etc). For anyone who held such ideas, moving from that crass analysis of patriarchy and the apparatus of gender toward an interpretation that includes more experiences than before is a positive shift. But, like all interpretations and theory, it falls short in its goals and in its analysis. The shift to the term femme does little, if nothing, to challenge patriarchal categorization/identification/normalization, binaries, the reproduction of patriarchy, or its economic basis, and it does not truly create a theory of oppression that is inclusive of all subjectivities/experiences.

What Does It Mean to be Femme?

Who gets to be femme? Who is actually oppressed? Who is femme enough to be considered oppressed? Are all women femme?

As with all theories of oppression, if there is an oppressed subject/class then there is a corresponding oppressor subject/class (such as whites oppressing non-whites and the rich/bourgeoisie oppressing the poor/proletariat). Under the previous understanding of patriarchy where women are the only class oppressed by gender, men were considered the oppressor class.  With the contemporary understanding of patriarchy, femmes are the oppressed class and mascs are the oppressors. All identities are defined by who is deemed an other.

According to everydayfeminism.com, femme “is an explicitly queer title, it is a gender expression that encompasses a wide rage of identities. Gay and queer cis-men, trans-men, and gender-queer folx often identify as Femme. Saying that femmes are always only women perpetuates a gendered binary that excludes lots of people.” Besides the questionable use of queer as an umbrella term, this definition of femme attempts to include the experiences of many who don’t identify as women. While it does include some femme gay/trans men and non-binary people, it does so by abandoning women who aren’t femme. Women who aren’t femme, such as butch women and closeted trans women, are cast aside, either to be ignored completely or to be labeled as ‘masculine’ and oppressors. As if butch women are to blame for the strife of femmes, as if being a femme gay man means you cannot be a proponent of patriarchal control, as if our real experiences with gender and violence are secondary to our personal style.

Neither Masc, Nor Femme, But Unique

This line of thought doesn’t stop perpetuating a “gendered binary” but reinforces it by dividing people along the lines of oppressed/femme vs. oppressor/masc, except this division isn’t based so strictly on gender and biology like the previous (and still dominant) gender binary. It divides people based upon aesthetics and behaviour instead of by biology or by self-identification. Almost anything is an improvement from biological determinism, but this shift doesn’t go far enough to stop binary thinking. Before someone in the milieux asks me what my name and pronouns are, I am assumed to be “masc” because of my facial hair and the way I dress. My personal experiences with gendered violence are only taken seriously in light of revealing myself as a trans woman. Our theories should start from the ways we have experienced gender violence in our daily lives, not identity. Our relationships to each other should be based upon our affinities and similarities with each other, rather than based upon the categories of lowest-common-denominator politics. Daily life is far too complicated to be reduced into two categories.

Meet the New Binary, Same as the Old Binary

A few years ago among the radical milieux, before femme was the go-to inclusive term for people oppressed by patriarchy, the term not-men was used. The theoretical failings of not-men are similar to that of the term femme. Baedan, an anti-civilization, nihilist, and anarchist journal which explores questions of gender, queerness, and domestication, elaborate on those theoretical failings. They critique the term not-men for failing to be the inclusive term it aimed to be, not going beyond binary categories, and for continuing the policing of categorization.

(tw rape) “One recent answer to these critiques has been the introduction of the concept not-men. Most attempts at defining this category are extremely clumsy. At times it is used to mean not-cismen, or to explicitly say that faggots are not welcome at certain meetings. At others it simply means women plus trans people. Some feminists have even said that the category at times includes ‘emasculated men of color.’ Usually it is just postmodern shorthand for women. As with any other categories, it only functions if it has a firm border, and this border will always be policed. At every step of the way, it is ceaselessly problematic. The least problematic definitions of it […] are so vague as to not have any practical application. And it is always in the practical applications that these theories enact their violences. The prospect of a political body of largely cisgendered women determining which genderqueer or transfeminine individuals are not-men enough to participate in their groups is quite nauseating. This categorical policing mirrors all the others. Meet the new binary, same as the old binary. A way out of this dilemma may be to start from experience rather than identity. To seek out conspirators based on a shared experience of a range of gender violence. Some proponents of not-men have defined it similarly (‘those who are raped,’ ‘those who do caring labor’) but none of these experiences are limited by identity, and to accept a phenomenological or experiential framework would dispense with the utility of the category at all. If the concept is either problematic or useless then why has there been so much fancy footwork put into an attempt to save the concept? What we’re really seeing is a desperate attempt to save binary categories, in a world where they’ve long been decomposing.”

–Against the Gendered Nightmare, Baedan 2: A Queer Journal of Heresy

Whether it’s man/woman, male/female, afab/amab, not-men/men, or femme/masc, all binaries require policing and exclusion to be maintained and defined. Binary categorization is just one method the apparatus of gender uses to govern. Binary categories require policing, exclusion, regulation, normalization, and hierarchy.

Not A Third Way

“Insurrection calls upon us to no longer let ourselves be arranged, but to arrange ourselves, and set no glittering hopes on institutions.”

-The Ego and Its Own, Max Stirner

The problems behind the femme/masc binary did not start with its introduction to the milieux, nor will they stop after some other terms are adopted in its place. I do not suggest alternatives or expansions for these categories, only their total abandonment. This can only be achieved through an insurrectional break against gender. Insurrection would be the total undermining of governance: to abandon and destroy the apparatuses of governance, to take our affairs into our own hands.

“In more real terms, it means that we have communities and spaces that aren’t just safe, but dangerous to those who oppose our desires and our spaces.  Not just a reading group safe space, but reclaimed territories capable of providing for the needs of the working class/women/the excluded (free from gender/gendered violence). These spaces can’t simply be given to us by a higher power.  Through occupations of the borderlands and sites of production, or less formal territories of resistance, such as friends who have each other’s backs, we will make or take the commons back.”

–Destroy Gender

Lena Kafka

Inspirations: The Gender Nihlilist Anti-Manifesto Destroy Gender Baedan: A Journal of Queer Nihilism Baedan 2: A Queer Journal of Heresy Lies: A Journal of Materialist Feminism

Endnotes: 1) Progressive, radical, feminist, anarchist, etc

[jacewilliams1]

Pilot-induced oscillations: are you a sinner or a victim?

You have probably seen this before: a GoPro video showing a pilot struggling with large inputs on the yoke, giving the throttle a hard time with either high thrust or idle power, and after a fair amount of time focused on that demanding approach, a smooth touchdown followed by a reassuring smile. On the title of the video, something mentioning a high crosswind component, and below, the comments saying that the pilot nailed it like a boss. Did he or she?

It is no secret that pilots like to hand fly—after all, that is what make them aviators. No one watched Top Gun during their childhood and started dreaming about monitoring an autopilot-flight director system for seven hours straight. So, although the industry has slowly but surely turned airline pilots into managers, to the extent that it is itself now concerned about their hand flying capabilities, we, on the other hand, kind of pardon the boring hours of paperwork and flight path monitoring for the sake of those couple minutes taming the beast.

Wrestling the airplane to the runway—why?

Yet apparently some colleagues are taking it too seriously, and their thrilling performances are a great reminder to ourselves. After all, it requires a high level of self consciousness for one to know exactly how he or she is dealing with the flight controls. Recording yourself flying in video, instead, is a very useful tool for this matter, and although understandable, it is sad that most airlines do not allow their pilots to do so. Since you are very focused on flying, looking out the window and to the instruments, and your hands are responding almost automatically, to notice what movements you are actually doing is not that simple. Nevertheless, some people have recorded it, and after posting themselves on the internet, is time for us to look at them and try to figure out if we are doing the same unintentionally.

Imagine yourself flying, and while you are preparing for an approach, you encounter a challenging, windy condition ahead. The good side of it is that you are going to be more focused on the safe outcome of that approach, so the chances of you ruining your touchdown, for example, are greatly diminished. It is not uncommon to see basic mistakes being made in good weather with calm winds, since complacency tends to kick in and get us relaxed. But how do high winds affect our aircraft?

First of all, there are limitations we have to observe. Some are imposed by your airline policy, others by the insurance company policy, and besides those, for those pilots who are fortunate enough to fly their own aircraft, it is always advisable for them to have their own personal limits. When it comes to the manufacturers, usually the word used is “demonstrated” crosswind component. That is not exactly a limitation: anyone who has flown a Cessna 152 long enough knows it handles crosswinds perfectly well above twelve knots, if properly dealt with.

But having hard limits on your operations, either from your experience or from the operator that pays your bills, is healthy. In the airlines we are talking about crosswinds up to forty knots, and although such conditions would keep most light GA airplanes on the ramp, in major airports around the world it is just another day at the office—probably followed by a beer and some goods stories shared far from home.

Having said that, pilots from all types of aviation and all levels of experience fall into the pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) trap. From an F-22 Raptor test pilot to a Boeing 737 captain, not excluding several single engine piston students and instructors, the over control is just like the controls themselves: all over the place. But why does that happen, especially in high wind conditions?

Let’s start from the basics.

Every action has a corresponding reaction of same intensity but opposite direction: this is one of Newton’s laws. So this is pretty much the way an airplane, an inherently stable flying machine, goes up, down, and to whatever side it has to: by changing the control surface positions, leading to a reaction of the whole airframe in the air.

Now during a final approach, the objective is exactly the opposite: to remain on a constant flight path that will eventually take the airplane to a touchdown on a predetermined portion of the pavement ahead, no matter how dynamic is the atmosphere around it. But then there’s the wind. It can come from either direction, so a tailwind tends to make you float, to approach too fast, and pilots usually have fairly low limitations in order to keep us in the space available for us to stop upon landing.

Headwinds, on the other hand, are usually welcome, and since it is unlikely you’ll find any headwind capable of making your aircraft to fly backwards, there are no real limitations regarding them (other than for autoland systems). But, since high winds, even headwinds, normally change in intensity the closer you get to the ground and are often associated with turbulence, some kind of work on the power is going to be required for sure. As usual, the gold rule, “pitch for speed, power for altitude,” goes without saying.

Even airlines pilots can occasionally be accused of “bull riding.”

But it is with crosswinds that our bull riders are more prone to shine. And I say that from experience: I was one of them for a fair amount of flight hours, and it took an instructor’s advice to make me realize what I was doing wrong. Just like pilots in movies who do sharp hand movements and make confident statements using sunglasses to look cool, the same coming from a real pilot on a real flight had no use other than for dramatization. And we will get to that in a minute. First let’s review the three main crosswind landing techniques. Crab, decrab, and sideslip.

Landing in a crab means you are not correcting for the wind with the wings. Instead, you are flying wings level all the way to the ground, while your nose is pointing into the wind, relying on the natural reaction the airplane has when affected by any sort of crosswind. Although it might be easier, since all you need to do is keep flying in the direction of the runway and its aiming point without messing with the rudder while flying, this technique is not practical for all types of airplane. Conventional gear airplanes can handle it as long as you touch with the main first, and narrow body aircraft can usually do it on wet runways with ease, and even on dry ones with very high crosswinds (if coupled with a sideslip). But the widebody jetliners are the ones that take more advantage of it, because its robust bogie-mounted main gear can withstand some serious crab upon touchdown, tilting the whole machine back to the runway orientation almost by magic, especially with the modern, fly-by-wire systems behind the scenes.

The decrab method consists of turning the crab approach into a sideslip during the flare, which is so quick and precise that it leaves no room for funny inputs by the pilot and works well with pretty much any airplane. This is true especially when ground clearance by the engines or wings might be a factor, even at small bank angles.

But then we have the pure sideslip—the method of excellence for airplanes like narrow body jetliners (which would end up in the grass if crabbing into a dry runway) or single engine pistons (which, without this technique, would ruin their tires painfully as they touched down in a decent crosswind).

The sideslip method has a beauty all its own. It might not be as elegant as the crab when seen from outside, but it requires a decent amount of coordination on the flight controls by both human and machines—yes, automated landing systems use the sideslip, and this is the main reason why they have relatively low crosswind limits. The Boeing 787, for example, can handle up to 25 knot crosswinds, down to the roll-out, even on one engine. How amazing is that?

But humans can land in much more severe crosswinds, simply because we can add some crab into it and, of course, we have the capacity to react in a satisfactory way to quick changes that the computer would probably find too puzzling. So this is the perfect—although not only—scenario. You are approaching in a crosswind and choose to do it with a sideslip. Since, as mentioned before, turbulence is often associated with high winds, now you find yourself having to adjust to the changing movements of the airplane every tenth of a second, and that requires from you all your hard-earned skills. Suddenly, you are fighting the universe like there was no tomorrow, and either you are doing it thinking it is quite the right way to do it, or you are not even noticing the hard time you are giving to the airplane. Where does that come from?

To crab or to slip, that is the question.

In Portuguese, we have a very ironic expression to define it: “vento de cabine,” or in a direct translation, “cockpit wind.” Yes, you got it right: most of your corrections on the control were not even necessary in the first place, and could even be only a response to some overcorrection you did just before. That is why it is technically classified as pilot-induced oscillation. Most of the movements the airplane is making are a direct result of the pilot’s inputs. And if those inputs are not needed for any practical reason, then they are nothing but the pilot fighting himself, using the airplane as the battlefield.

How silly can it get? Well, a bit more. You see, even highly experienced, fly-by-wire aircraft pilots do it here and there, and many of these airplane types are able to distinguish the pilot’s inputs from the wind effect, thus correcting the latter to make our life easier. So, if you start correcting something that three flight computers already did, well, then it gets really embarrassing.

Some people got the bad habit during basic and even advanced training, from instructors who used to do it and made it look right. Others had this tendency naturally, increased by self confidence, and were never properly addressed by anyone they’ve flown with. The fact is, that is an obviously wrong thing to do. As you make large and quick inputs in a small airplane, you are exposing the airframe to loads it might not have been designed for. And if you are flying a big jet, then the whole inertia involved in airplanes that can have the area of an Olympic pool or even a city block, makes these quick opposite direction control inputs ineffective altogether—not to mention what your passengers are going to experience in the back.

So, if you have the chance to record yourself flying during a gusty approach, do it. Then analyze honestly your performance and come up with ways of improving it, if needed. If you can’t place a GoPro on your operator’s $250 million airplane, that’s also fine: the next time you fly into a windy destination, pay attention to the way you are acting on the controls. Do it gently, with small amplitude inputs, and wait for the airplane to react before you make your next move. Most of the adverse airplane displacement imposed by the wind is momentary, and it is not uncommon to end up where you were half a second before without doing anything—especially if you have a fly-by-wire system in normal mode assisting you.

One thing is for sure: there is absolutely no need to deal with the stick and rudder as if you were playing the drums.

The post Pilot-induced oscillations: are you a sinner or a victim? appeared first on Air Facts Journal.

from Engineering Blog https://airfactsjournal.com/2020/07/pilot-induced-oscillations-are-you-a-sinner-or-a-victim/

[enetarch]

Discussing How An Event Affected You, and What You Wanted Instead

When understanding a problem, testing samples include or exclude distinctive differences in a population. Diversity in the sample set or lack there of may be necessary depending on what problem is being observed. In the case of Darwin’s Finches, samplings were finches from different islands. In the case of a class room, it would be students with various and diverse backgrounds.  In the case of companies, it would be the various employees with diverse backgrounds.  And, in the case with clients, every client is considered unique.

While samples may integrate or segregate based on differences, it is used scientifically to study a particular and unique characteristic of the population as a whole.  Who is affected by this problem and why?  For cancer patients, the segregation of candidates may be required to identify a unique gene flaw, which is then tested against non-cancer patients.  The same would hold true with Alzheimer patients.  Or patients with Leukemia due to exposure to glyphosate [ Round Up ].

When segregation and integration are used in a human population to define racism, it is not used scientifically to understand a problem, but to create an artificial problem that doesn’t exist, and probably never did. Yet, it is used to exclude and separate people from opportunities that should be available to everyone.

Racism is not a prejudice against humans of different races, because there are no different human races. Rather, racism is the process whereby certain characteristics — like religion — are taken as signs of essential biological difference. Sociologists Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields call this creation of difference "racecraft." Racecraft is all the cultural work done to divide people into arbitrary categories called "races." Once you've established that this human, over here, is not in fact fully human, discrimination and prejudice follows naturally.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination in hiring on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin."

A recent ruling by U.S. Magistrate Mark Hornsby of Louisiana helped to clarify the distinction between race and racism. Hornsby ruled July 16 in a civil case Joshua Bonadona vs Brewer, where Bonadona sued under civil rights law, alleging that Brewer had discriminated against him by denying him a coaching position because his mother was Jewish, even though he himself is Catholic. In this case, Bonadona wasn't being discriminated against for religion, since he was not actually Jewish. So was he then being discriminated against on racial grounds, based on his heritage?

Hornsby concluded that he was, since "Jewish citizens have been excluded from certain clubs or neighborhoods," Hornsby writes, "and they have been denied jobs and other opportunities based on the fact that they were Jewish, with no particular concern as to a given individual’s religious leanings. Thus, they have been treated like a racial or ethnic group that Title VII was designed to protect from employment discrimination based on membership in that group.”

Systematic segregation was and is used to create unnecessary problems, like: discrimination, isolation, wage gaps, roadblocks to work, investment disenfranchisement, poorer public services, fewer business opportunities, opposing culture fears, concentrated fears, linguistic and dialogue drift … just to name a few problems at the society level.  

And in a recent conversation concerning low wages for teachers, I stated, “are you aware of the stress placed on people who are earning below that limit [4x their rent]. They and their children are not able to participate economically in our society. Many of these homes have high ACE numbers, leading to children that will not be productive when the graduate from high school or college, simply because they will be dealing with psychological problems and inappropriate social habits.”

To break down the stereotypes created through segregation there are two sets of instruction needed:

1. Debate as Scientific Inquery

2. Facilitating the affects of an action

Our country is not a democracy as many believe, but a republic.  A republic is built on the power of representation, or put another way, sampling.  The idea is that a representation of the populous as a whole is taken to understand the social direction the group as a whole should go.  We consider how these representatives are elected the democratic process, but it’s more than just voting .. it’s talking, and not just talking (free speech), it’s how we discuss issues that matter.

Debate provides the guiding principle on how issues are discussed. We don’t have to use the rules of debate, or Roberts Rules of Order to insure that debates between 2 or 5 individuals are handled with decorum. This methodology only gets in the way at this level of discussion.  Instead, it is to focus on the issue vs labeling.

Labels – topics, groups of people, types of fruit, … - are used convey meaning when a longer explanation of meaning is not necessary.  The distinction between Roman Tomatoes and Cherry Tomatoes is easily understood. Yet,  labels easily lead to classifications based in racism or wealth – squalor, poor, low, middle, and wealthy, upper class.  Labels can also be applied to the conditions children at home face – single parent, fatherless, only child, middle child, youngest child, molested, endangered, …

Whenever someone uses a label in a debate, the participants in the debate should not accept the label as given, but instead use the scientific method to consider the label’s validity.  Is gravity really 9.8 meters per second squared, or only at sea level?  What happens as we move farther away from the earths surface, does gravity change?  

Nor should labels be used in a derogatory fashion to label a debater, such as name calling, or race bating.  “You are only saying that because you’re a bleeding heart liberal!  Stop being a snow flake and accept the fact that homeless people choose to be low life’s who don’t want to work!  They could find work if they wanted to, they just don’t want to!”

Scientific Inquiry, uses 6 questions to determine if everyone agrees that something is what it is, vs common sense:

1. observer the phenomena

2. form a question

3. create a theory about the phenomena

4. conduct an experiment

5. analyze the data and draw conclusions

6. see if others can replicate your results

Here the scientific process can be used to test that gravity does in fact change as you move away from sea level, though ever so slightly.  And, it can be used to examine the labels used in a debate.  Those labels that concern the topic of diversity in homeless populations.  We could simply challenge the observation that all homeless people are alike. Are they?  What if some of the homeless do actually want to be homeless, while others are migratory, and others became homeless due to economic circumstances that they are unable to change and would willingly choose a home if the opportunity arose, and so on.

The biggest challenge will be changing the culture ingrained methods we use to discuss how a problem affects us.  I say culturally ingrained, because as a child I was uniquely positioned to watch how a family issue affected me personally, and how my mother used her authority and position to pressure me into silence.  This issue is the, “Family Secret!”. It’s passed down through the generations. It happens to every generation. It is never spoken about, because if others were to learn of the family secret they would judge us, ridicule us, think less of us, or they would split us up and put us in different families that would be far worse than what I was dealing with as a 5 year old.

The challenge is to provide a space where people of all ages can:

1. state what the situation was

2. voice how a situation affected them

3. state what they wanted instead

"We believe that the real number of children whose records were lost or who were afraid ever to come forward is in the thousands," the grand jury report says.  

In a study of children exposed to violence, including being a witness to and a victim of violence, is examined among 8-11-year-old children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. Potential relationships between sociodemographic factors and violence exposure are examined, and associations between violence exposure and children's emotional and behavioral problems, and weapon carrying behavior are investigated. The results show that greater than 50% of the children had been exposed to violence, with 46% having witnessed violence among others and 19% having been the direct victims of violence.

Violence exposure was positively related to children's emotional problems, behavioral problems, and weapon carrying behavior. Compared to non exposed children, violence exposed children were eight times more likely to evidence internalizing problems, were six times more likely to evidence externalizing problems, and were four times more likely to carry weapons (specifically, knives or guns).

As NYPD SVU demonstrates in their series, is that children do not have the language to articulate the violence that they have witnessed.  Nor, when the violence is reported, are people willing to listen to it, as the Grand Jury in Pennsylvania reported.  Victims of rape were often told to get out of the precinct house by officers who didn’t want to hear about it.  If they made it past the officers to a detective, the case was often lost.

When university's create “Safe Spaces”, what they should really be creating are “Safe Spaces for people to talk about the violence they witnessed or was perpetrated on them.”  In most cases, these safe spaces are created by therapeutic integration groups, where “Adults Molested as Children” or AMACs are able to see how the violence affected everyone involved.  They are encouraged to discuss how the violence affected them. And, they are encouraged to discuss what they wanted instead.

I said that this is a cultural issue, since this same situation [non disclosure and confrontation] is perpetrated by the HR departments.  People who feel offended are separated from those that have offended them, instead of confronting them.  Closure comes from being able to describe the situation, state how if affected them, and what they wanted instead. While I won’t go into all the legalities of why this methodology came about and persists, I can use this forum to advocate that the HR department review it’s policies with group psychologists to see if this method could be employed to improve relations between various groups of people.

References:

Judge rules that Judaism is not a race but Jewish people can be targeted for racism. Here's why that matters.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/judge-rules-judaism-not-race-jewish-people-can-be-targeted-ncna896806

Economic Consequences of Segregation

http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/consequences.htm

Scientific Method Steps

http://www.schoolofdragons.com/how-to-train-your-dragon/the-scientific-method/scientific-method-steps

Report details sexual abuse by more than 300 priests in Pennsylvania's Catholic Church

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/14/us/pennsylvania-catholic-church-grand-jury/index.html

Children Face Dangers On Farms, But Not From Farmwork

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/03/09/148320219/children-face-dangers-on-farms-but-not-from-farmwork

Survey of exposure to violence among the children of migrant and seasonal farm workers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7610214

Key facts about children’s exposure to violence

https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/childrens-exposure-to-violence

[nchyinotes]

How to turn your activist goals into reality in 2018

February 6 2018

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-turn-your-activist-goals-into-reality-in-2018-tickets-42197663347#

Thoughts: They were all so funny and real and genuine, and it was a pleasure to hear their honest accounts and journeys to where they are now. The Q&A was very helpful and rich with advice. Really motivating, felt a very encouraging “just do it!” push.

Carys Afoko (Levelup) - “Full time feminist”

4 stages:

1) Idea

Most ideas are simple, don’t be too obsessed with being new

Look for closest examples of your idea that exist + rip it off

For her: ultraviolet (US), ultra gender?? (aus), 38 degrees (UK)

Trying to think more broadly about other groups that inspire me

2) Team

Very important in early stages

People who share and believe in your vision - Co founders, or people who generally support you

Women of color in leadership positions was very important to her

3) Testing

Get it into the world ASAP

Pays off 100%

Hard if you’re a perfectionist

Just trick yourself into it by reframing it! Say it’s in beta mode or something

It’s how you learn + find other people + get more confident

4) Funding / resourcing

Don’t be embarrassed to say that you want to pay yourself! Plan this! Don’t martyr yourself!

Biggest lie people tell themselves: I can just do this stuff for free

Gendered stuff about people who can (afford to) work for free

She was glad to take the risk + bet on self

Fuck it, just do it

Paula Akpan (I’m Tired Project + gal dem writer)

Microaggressions photography project

Social media → real life: exhibitions + workshops in schools in NY and Nairobi

Way to bring this art to the real world!

Arts council funding (ask for tips!)

Nicole Crentsil (Unmasked Women)

Exhibition of mental health in black community

Safe space to openly talk about it with different artistic mediums

Spent a lot of time talking to people, hearing their stories

Got too immersed in research + stats?

Always mentally doing so many things

Expectation management → to follow how great it is, not just stop

Curation, art, cultural research, public speaker

Nicole & Paula - story of the first black girl festival

WOW @ southbank (angela davis, chimumandah)

So many black women! Electric energy

Exhilarating to feel that energy

“We should do a project” —> 2 hour phone call, do a festival, googlesheets

Left it, knew they were sitting on a gold mine

Got approached for a venue (unrelated)

Black history month = 7 months to plan this

With only a spreadsheet + venue

Approached friends at ICA, southbank, was told that name might be controversial & that black women dont want to come to the southbank, come back when its successful, etc

Had to fund it themselves

Took domain and social media handles just in case

Made the crowdfunder - 3 hours work, tips on website, so easy

Critical point: will people actually give money?

2 days and (30 pounds) later, crowdfunder website co founders wanted to meet because thought it was a great idea, envisioned 10k + success, gave them tips (ie. facebook is the way to make community), really gave them a mental boost

Both working full time jobs

Actually had to check in with each other, were only whatsapping each other about work

Ended up getting lots of support online, breaking goal, stretched it - to make sure to pay every black woman who helped out

Free, community festival for all ages. 350 capacity, 4000 tickets sold

Best thing they’ve ever done

Engaged with so many different organisations, sponsorships, so many people wanted to support in some way

Paula induced anxiety by downloading kickstarter / eventbrite apps (looool, so relatable)

Emotional, cried so much during day

Q&A

Getting over anxiety hurdle for putting idea into world?

Lowering stakes for self - doing a small version, iteration (lean startup) + improve

You need people who will tell you you’re great OR to do it as a team

Your tone + way you market need to come off as confident, so people believe in what you’re doing

Should come up with 1 strap line to not waffle (one mission / vision statement?)

How to get past people critical of what you’re doing?

Was asked: What would you do if it was called ‘white mans festival’ (actual reactions)

Mayor of paris, feminist festival? Something?

Assumption it’ll exclude other people, but is actually not? For anyone who celebrates black women. No racism, etc

Why are you not doing it for all women? Because i want this specific conversation.

But if someone is asking you questions like that, is not for them

Issues of inclusivity - role of white, middle class women?

The change needs to be in the way jobs are applied for and advertised (HR and directors)

In creative industries, an issue is that people don’t actually know what the roles mean

Creative mentor network

Access for young people to creative industry

Everyone experiences privilege and oppression

Most things are not in your experience

Intersectionality

Allyship should really be about ‘creating space’ - bringing someone else’s voice in

When should i be opening out the convo, rather than speaking for

When challenging someone on their power = defense mechanisms often go up

How to be valued + not exploited for my work, but to work with new people and organisations?

Morally align with ethics? Orgs that work alongside what you believe

Black pain is now cool to talk about / monetise

You should tell your own story, champion yourself, create that work

Think about how do people approach you - do they talk about fee / payment / budget, or just “exposure”?

You need to value yourself (time, craft, expertise)

Be smart about how much you’re giving to people (writing everything on a twitter thread vs a piece you can pitch)

You can’t keep giving out of an empty vessel - it’ll deplete yourself, you need to look after yourself!

Fundraising is a feminist issue?

Definitely had sexist / racist reactions

How people perceive your ask, steeling yourself for this

There is the expectation that we should just do for free

Lessons from fundraising

Facebook, videos = more money

Went to people in network with a high ask (100+ pounds)

Crowdfunding is tied to your social network

Have your people primed to share it - don’t be embarrassed of that!!

You have to be a good listener - why they’re giving, motivation for it, what will get us both excited

Personal relationships matter

Person most likely to give you money has already given to you → more sustainable model

Incentives

Project based vs idea based (different difficulties)

How the platform you’re using works + how people engage with it

Crowdfunder UK for the community aspect

The more it gets shared → bigger community

Keep engaging, re engaging, thank yous + pay attention to high donor

Doing things (imperfect testing) vs selling the idea

Nonny + Sophie: positive money = economic reform for fairer, youth network, dominant voices are white old male, we experience the brunt of the stupid decisions made  race/gender/class blind

[heckyeahlucilleballilovelucy]

Safe Nomads (8). Sophia Cheng and Jayme Elkins, UK. The life of a nomadic couple.

Mark Twain once said, “There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” And I’ve had hundreds of encounters that prove the old man right. Indeed, no matter how nice, cool or easy-going a friend can be while settled, the simple act of traveling can turn them into awful creatures. But the opposite is also true: someone you never think you could ever like proves to be a wonderful travel companion and a magnet for great encounters and experiences.

Now let’s take Mark Twain’s peer-reviewed assertion and try to apply it to a couple. All of a sudden, after – say – 5 years of being in a relationship the two decide to leave home and travel the world together for God knows how long. What will they learn about each other? Will it work? Will they break up under the constant pressure of finding new places,  new jobs, and adjusting themselves to new geographical and cultural climates?

“We must be doing something right.” says Jayme, a 40 year old musician and composer from England. Next to him, Sophia Cheng, 10 years Jayme’s junior and 7 year girlfriend nods lightly while sipping jasmine tea on the terrace of Café Veda in Canggu, Bali.

They must be doing something right, indeed, their relationship has strengthened since they left home almost 2 years ago. The first thing  was finding each other, I’ve rarely met two people so different and yet so balanced as a couple.

Mr. Yin and Mrs. Yang

Sophia is the doer. Goal-oriented, pragmatic and disciplined, she still preserves that corporate discipline that put her on the list of “The UK’s Best 30 Young Communication Professionals” in 2012.

Jayme, on the other hand, is a soft-spoken bohemian, a dreamer and a bit of a philosopher. And while Sophia hides her sensitivity behind a curtain of assertiveness, Jayme wears the cloak of apparent feebleness to disguise his strength. If Yin and Yang were ever to incarnate, they would look just like these two guys.

Sophia excels at organizing and making new connections but Jayme also has strengths his partner admits she lacks. She is the one who encourages him to keep working and move forward, but he is the one to blow a whistle when she’s been working too long and should stop and unwind.

Among the things Sophia and Jayme admittedly have in common is their profound and sincere care for the environment. They use modular mobile phones which  are built with conflict-free minerals and not upgraded every year, any repair is easily fixed simply by replacing the broken module. They wear clothes made from sustainably-sourced, environmentally friendly bamboo. And when they travel, (which happens quite often) they embrace the good habit of offsetting their air miles – to offset their guilt.

The Becoming

Up until 2014, Sophia had a “normal” job in Corporate Communications.  Then she received a job offer for a role that would take her to New York, Indonesia and Peru, sharing the messages of indigenous peoples.

She accepted, and for the following year traveled while Jayme stayed in London working part-time and writing soundtracks for various projects. Two years ago, however, they  decided it was time to turn traveling into a permanent lifestyle and leave the London ratrace. They took baby steps, short stays in Europe to test the nomadic lifestyle staying in Slovenia, Paris, then Madrid, where they studied Spanish so they could work with Latin American communities across the Atlantic.

“Usually, Sophia suggests where to go and I’m pretty easy going about it.” Jayme admits, cheerfully.

Sophia: “I’ve had the travel bug for long as I can remember, I was lucky enough to travel with my family and take a gap year at 21. I always said I’d get away again before I was 30. Life goal: tick.”

Jayme: “Initially, it was really frightening. I was afraid of travelling long-term, going to places like Central and South America. My family don’t do anything like that, it is totally unheard of. Partly I did it because my mind always evokes the worst case scenario and I wanted to challenge that, to see what I was so afraid of. Everywhere I went, the picture I had in my head was so wrong.”

For Jayme, the big departure was also more of a philosophical statement about life itself.

Jayme: “I’ve always been a deep thinker, as a teenager I didn’t understand the concept of work, I hate money and the illusion it portrays. I struggled for a long time working in offices, hating it and feeling lost in society because my mindset didn’t fit. As a teenager I was told ‘you need to find a proper job, you’ll never make money out of music.’ What is ‘proper’? What is success? And is it measured solely by my paycheck?”

Sophia: “One of the reasons that drove us to leave in the first place was to challenge the status quo. Our own, and that of the society we are part of.  I am so lucky being from the UK, I inherited privilege. I believe it is my responsibility to be useful to the world and ‘live deliberately’. I think that every decision we make should be fully conscious, we should commit to it with our eyes wide open. That’s what we have been trying to do over the last couple of years: to keep our eyes open.”

US was next: New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles. Then Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico. While moving from one place to another, Sophia was in regular touch with her clients, held work meetings on and offline, built up her new client base and began writing for the couple’s blog „With Many Roots”, while Jayme helped his former employer  and wrote music for video documentaries. He also began the tricky work of trying to sell himself.

In January this year they came to Asia in part for Sophia’s work, in part out of curiosity. “I had a feeling Jayme would love Asia.” she adds, almost smugly.

“2017’s been hectic. We haven’t stayed anywhere longer than two and a half weeks this year. We are staying still in Bali for a while!”

Life as a digital nomadic couple

Sophia: “I think there are many challenges in a nomadic lifestyle. You face more uncertainty and there is so much new stimulus every day; new conversations, new interactions. It’s easy to stay in the digital nomad bubble, so we try and make sure we get to know a little of the local culture, learn some of the language and spread our spending. On top of that you have to move forward with your career, find new clients, have your meetings, and meet deadlines. At the end of the day this is a wonderful way to live but it’s not all sunsets and filters!”

How has this lifestyle changed the couple’s life?

Sophia: “In our current lifestyle, the highs can be higher but the lows can be lower too.”

Jayme: “Leaving home was like a magnifying glass on our relationship showing us what issues we had and how to address them. We had to do that faster than we thought. We are closer as a couple now. We are trying to be more open with each other and communicate how we’re feeling. We do try and have fun too, it’s surprisingly easy to forget to do that! We hiked Mount Ijen on Java last week, that was incredible.”

Sophia adds, “We proactively seek out separate spaces to work or different people to meet to prevent things getting too intense. Bali has been great for that.”

On technology

Sophia’s globe-trotting online marketer office fits in a rucksack: photo camera, phone, laptop and a laptop stand for keeping a correct posture during the long working hours. She has to be up for 3 different time zones, her team being spread out in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Jayme’s studio, while a bit heavier, still fits in a bag: a laptop, soundcard and stand, an alien-like MIDI keyboard with keys that are almost sensual to the touch, a handful of cables, and a classic Spanish guitar on top.

With all this gear packed up, the two can cover almost every type of human communication service, from writing to photography, recording to complex soundtracks. They admit that their nomadic careers could not have been possible without technological innovation (I keep thinking of that keyboard!), but they don’t forget to add a pinch of salt to the tech-will-save-the-world soup.

Sophia: “I am a reluctant optimist when it comes to that. Technology has a lot of potential to help but I think that if we hide behind our technologies, then we’re not gonna solve the world’s problems. It’s opened up the range of possibilities to communicate but narrowed our echo chamber. It helps me get in touch with my colleagues around the world but it also prevents me from saying hello to the person next to me. I think we need technology but we need to find a balance that doesn’t exclude real life, real human interaction. ”

What makes them feel secure

Jayme: “Now that you’re asking it I realize that our relationship and what we have helps me considerably. Also when we come to a new place, there’s something about the room, the people, the area, it has to have something, it’s this feeling in my gut that makes me feel more relaxed. I feel protected in certain spaces, in others not at all.”

Sophia: “For me it’s the rituals and elements of routine that help me feel secure – like writing in my journal every day, keeping some kind of structure. When we land in a new place we put a lot of effort into finding a temporary home and ensuring (by photos and by conversations with the hosts) that it’s going to be a comfortable and safe nest for us, then we go for a walk and find a market, note the nearest cafe, co-working space, green space and realize we have all the essentials. It’s amazing how quickly a place can feel like home.”

Jayme adds: “For me security also comes from knowing that I live a free life. Each month that we keep going builds our confidence. It started out with 2-3 months on the road in mind and before we knew it we were at six months looking at the next set of flights! The more miles we’ve left behind, the more secure we feel about ones ahead.”

from HOTforSecurity http://ift.tt/2xF2bz1