Hello, hello!
Things are a little hectic here, what with the painful, attention-seeking knee and, now, my near-lack of opposing thumbs (see my Instagram for more on that). But Things are also going well, and I’m actually truly excited about the work ahead.
It’s Thanksgiving Week here in the United States, and many people are travelling over break. I thought I’d provide a brief roundup of some older pieces this week to sustain you for the after-time of meals and the long weekend (should you get one). If you’re not in the U.S, it’s still a goodly roundup of pieces that introduce you or your friends to my work.
This time of year is often sharp with memories of loved ones, especially the animal companions we may have lost. Here’s “Season’s Greetings, Love, and Molecules.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about love and friendship. Here’s “Jason Momoa, Aquaman, and the Queer Art of Friendship.”
Social media continues to be a hilarious combination of a graveyard and a battleground. There’s lots of hand-wringing, especially on the part of those who claim to have “left” Twitter and are now installed on Bluesky/Mastodon/Whatever Else. It’s especially amusing to watch people who spent all their time on Twitter (and, often, on Tumblr before that) maligning and bullying people and who are now creating new personae on new apps, even going so far as to cluck that, oh, tsk, tsk, Twitter is a pit of toxicity and they’re sooooooo much better than that. Except, of course, that most of them still have their old Twitter handles on or are still lurking around in ghost accounts, ready to be reactivated like apocalyptic zombies the minute Bluesky/Mastodon/Whatever Else collapses under the weight of boredom. Twitter, for most of these people, is like the main house they’ve briefly abandoned, leaving the CCTV cameras on, ready for a return at any moment when they tire of their summer residences.
Here’s “On Leaving Twitter, or Not.”
And here’s “Twitter Is Not Your Writing Life.”
I wrote this, about the incessant pressure on writers to be more than “just” writers: “The Writer As Magazine.”
And here’s my recent “On the Possible Death of Social Media.”
Speaking of writing: online websites like Jezebel (the latest casualty) are shuttering as their venture capitalist owners get bored and ready for new adventures. I think that we can and should mourn the disappearance of websites that once gave writers a chance to flex and learn, and hope said writers land elsewhere. But we should also imagine something better than content mills that underpaid and overworked people to the point where most of them can now barely write. I’ll have more on the cost of a publishing industry that values clickbaits over, well, anything else, really but for now:
Here’s something I wrote about the hidden architecture of power and influence in publishing, “The Corruption of Influence: On Dimes Square, Byline, and the New York Times.”
And, of course, you can’t talk about publishing and the internet without this, “What Really Happened at Current Affairs?”
This past week was the ten-year anniversary of gay marriage becoming legal in Illlinois. Here’s what I wrote at the time:
“Marry you must!: Gay marriage in Illinois.”
“The Secret History of Gay Marriage.”
“How Gay Money Became Gay Wealth: A Fable.”
And of course, the classic, “Gay Marriage Hurts My Breasts.”
And here’s my recent “Gay Marriage Ruined Everything,” an analysis of the deep damage done by the cause.
And what’s gay marriage if famous people can’t get married? Here’s my review of Chasten Buttigieg’s “memoir” of Pete Buttigieg (which is what it really is), “What Chasten Buttigieg Has to Tell Us.”
This made many gays very angry, and I’ll have a longer piece about the backlash (which exposed the homophobia, yes, homophobia, racism, and general misogyny of the left (and, of course, the mainstream gay community), but here’s a short overview, “I Broke the Internet or, Daily Posts, September 11-15.”
I’ve written a bit about world affairs, and I’ll have some thoughts about children in particular. For now:
Here’s something I wrote in 2021, still sadly relevant, “On Israel Killing Children.”
Also from 2021, also still sadly relevant, “On Adam Toledo As A Child.”
Here’s what I wrote this October, “On Palestine, Israel and the Failure of Liberalism, and a Quick Update.”
On queer theory, this is still relevant, “We Were There, We Are Here, Where Are We?: Notes Toward A Study of Queer Theory in the Neoliberal University.” Here’s the pdf.
Have you been wondering about that whole Hasan Minhaj thing? Fear not: I wrote two in depth essays on the subject:
Here’s On Hasan Minhaj, Trauma Passports, and Immigrant Fictions
And, because the man cannot stop lying, Hasan Minhaj and the Curious Case of the Everlasting Untruths
I’ve been reading a lot more fiction, and that’s been is a pleasant return to a form I thought I’d left behind a while ago. Most recently, I picked up Starter Villain, by John Scalzi, an excellent romp featuring Cats as Overlords and Dolphins Who Unionise.
I’ve also discovered a couple of excellent podcasts about books: Backlisted and The Lit Pickers.
As for podcasts: I listen to Nostalgia Trap (I’ve done several episodes with David Parsons, including the Gender Trap collection) and, of course, Current Affairs (where I’ve also appeared a few times). Both give me a lot to think about, every time, with their deep dives into history and politics.
Do listen and support all of us in any way you can. Here’s a link to my subscribe/donate page. Even if you have no/little cash to spare (and, Holy Kittehs, as I look at the price of a single bottle of sun-dried tomatoes just now: that stuff is hard to come by!), please do spread my work in any way you can.
And I’m still around on Facebook (where you can follow me: I’m no longer accepting new “Friend” requests unless I know you in person—more on that later), Twitter, and Instagram.
Many thanks, and I’ll see you soon, with better, healed thumbs.
My work is not behind a paywall, but it still represents many hours of original research and writing. Please make sure to cite it, using my name and a link, should it be useful in your own work. I can, I have, and I will use legal resources if I find you’ve plagiarised my work in any way. And if you’d like to support me, please donate and/or subscribe, or get me something from my wish list. Thank you.