No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.

Patriotism, nationalism, and freedom

Keep driveway free.
Freedom for all driveways! (by christophheinrich)

To me, patriotism while being a transgender person is something like religion is for other LGBT people. Those aren't exactly the most compatible things. Obviously, I have a difficult time with it. If you would ask the people that know me to describe me, words like "patriotic" probably wouldn't make the list. "Good student", "talented", "smart", "friendly"... Heck, maybe even "fun"? But "patriotic"? No, not me... They'd probably say that I'm simply too queer forward-thinking to be into such "conservative and traditionalist" things like patriotism. Well, it's just who I am!