Blog

The Gelflings are trans
And trans people are Gelflings. ‘Now, we leave you the Crystal of Truth,’ the Beings tell the Gelflings who are no longer Gelflings — because they are finally being left alone.

‘Red flags’ in queer dating aren’t the problem
What we compromise on lies beyond the red flag. A ‘red flag’ is a difference that alarms or confuses you. Though the flag itself isn’t a conflict, it may lead you to suspect your date isn’t a good match.

Empathy for cis people
Trans people have it because we don’t live in a trans bubble. My jaw hit the floor. I picked it up and put it back in. It fell out again. It rolled under the sofa and I have spent the last two weeks looking for it.

If you’re told your position is harmful
Someone’s mad at your car. Did you almost run them over? I can pause and apologize. I care about others. I recognize that their perspectives are valid and their observations about my behavior might be correct.

I just want to select NO
The worst YES/NO interface design I’ve seen. We can create a nonviolent culture with the first questions we ask, being willing to hear an answer that’s polarized or ambivalent, loud or quiet.

Why someone complained about the review you posted to Goodreads
Their reason wasn’t as complicated as they made it sound. They say it’s too short. Or too long. What are they really complaining about? What don’t they like about your review?

If you don’t know if it’s a joke or a lie, what’s it called?
There is a word. When they issue statements halfway between jokes and lies, and they joke about it being a lie and lie about it being a joke, there’s a word for that.

Atheist-theist encounters
If you’re pretty sure there’s no god, when may you tell theists they’re wrong? Sometimes knowledge is best cultivated through personal encounters rather than intellectual demands. We see each other, and we’ll also know the world.

Moral analysis of what is ‘at stake in this story’
Naomi Kanakia on discussing novels. How to discuss a book itself and also let our learning transcend the book? To see the book as art, and to see it as a tool for our growth?