So my convocation was on Saturday. I graduated from the College at the University of Chicago outside in Chicago's cold rain. It wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. I wore a kippah, of course, and President Zimmer wished me Shabbat Shalom. That was ... unexpected. So, I am now University of Chicago Alum(nus) AB '09. (Yeah, we're weird.)
I've been reflecting on what being a graduate means to me, and what I have gained from my lengthy college experience. First, graduation is an accomplishment: I have achieved getting through the Core, the language requirement, specifications for my concentration [sic], and even the physical fitness requirement. Second, graduation marks a transition (I happen into those a lot). Graduation is a transition from a learning community in the liberal arts to the general world or specialized academia. Third, graduation is a sign not that I am done learning, but that I have amassed the tools to learn by myself, at least to some extent. Fourth, graduation indicates solidarity with fellow grads, especially when you sit through a rainy ceremony. Lastly, graduation indicates for me a triumph, an overcoming of unforseen adversity.
Congrats, class of 2009!
15 June 2009
12 June 2009
11 June 2009
Time Warp
On the train into Chicago today (which took 4 hours to Hyde Park - ridiculous), I saw a young boy who looked just about like my love did when she was that age. I listened and he sounded just like her at that age. It made me miss her more. I had to hold back my tears because I did not want to cry on the train.
09 June 2009
I Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer
The summer season (and late spring) bring much sadness into my life. The bookends of May 20th and August 4th are provided by the dates of death of the grandparents I was fortunate enough to know. In between lie many tragic events in my life. In particular, the death of my beloved, which haunts me alwaays, lies especially heavy this time of year. Today it's been too much for me to handle.
Reposted: Call for Submissions: Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation
Call For Submissions
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Kate Bornstein & S Bear Bergman, eds
Deadline: 1 September 2009
In the fifteen years since the release of Gender Outlaw, transgender narratives have made their way into cultural locations from the margins to the mainstream and back again. Today's trannies and other sex/gender radicals are writing a radically new world into being. GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION (Seal Press) will collect and contextualize the work of this generation's most forward-thinking trans/genderqueer voices—new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Edited by that ol' original Gender Outlaw herself, Kate Bornstein and writer, raconteur, and theater artist S. Bear Bergman, GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION will include essays, commentary, comic art and conversation from a diverse a group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.
*What we’re looking for*
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION wants to collect work that represents a quantum leap forward in thinking and talking about gender and the gender binary, in the same way Gender Outlaw did almost twenty years ago. So blow us away. Bring the smart, bring the sexy, blind us with science, break the gender barrier, shine a bright light (or a disco ball) on the whole gender situation. Tell us about your future, what you imagine, how you want things to go and what you (and your friends) intend to do about it. Think big.
We’ll look at whatever you have for us – essays, graphic art, interviews/conversations, haiku, rants – as long as you’re thinking smart and fresh about sex and gender (and being an outlaw, of course). We will feel especially keen about your work if it adds to or advances the conversation about gender (as distinct from simply reflecting it, or lamenting it).
People of any identity are encouraged to submit work. This means you – yes, you!
We intend to privilege non-normatively gendered/sexed voices in the book but will include all the good stuff we can, regardless of current identifiers of the author.
*The Details*
Deadline: Sept 1 (early submissions are encouraged). Submissions should be unpublished; query if you have a reprint that you think we’ll swoon for. While we hesitate to list a maximum, please query first for pieces over 4,000 words. If you have an idea and need help writing it out, contact us to discuss an interview-style piece or other accommodations.
Submit as a Word document or black/white JPEG (no files over 2MB). Please include a cover letter with a brief bio and full contact information (mailing address, phone number, pseudonym if appropriate) when you submit. Submissions without complete contact information will be deleted unread. Payment will be $50 and 2 copies of the book upon publication in Fall 2010. Contributors retain the rights to their pieces. Send your submission as an attachment to genderoutlawsnextgeneration@gmail.com.
~please repost lots and lots, as appropriate~
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Kate Bornstein & S Bear Bergman, eds
Deadline: 1 September 2009
In the fifteen years since the release of Gender Outlaw, transgender narratives have made their way into cultural locations from the margins to the mainstream and back again. Today's trannies and other sex/gender radicals are writing a radically new world into being. GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION (Seal Press) will collect and contextualize the work of this generation's most forward-thinking trans/genderqueer voices—new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Edited by that ol' original Gender Outlaw herself, Kate Bornstein and writer, raconteur, and theater artist S. Bear Bergman, GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION will include essays, commentary, comic art and conversation from a diverse a group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.
*What we’re looking for*
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION wants to collect work that represents a quantum leap forward in thinking and talking about gender and the gender binary, in the same way Gender Outlaw did almost twenty years ago. So blow us away. Bring the smart, bring the sexy, blind us with science, break the gender barrier, shine a bright light (or a disco ball) on the whole gender situation. Tell us about your future, what you imagine, how you want things to go and what you (and your friends) intend to do about it. Think big.
We’ll look at whatever you have for us – essays, graphic art, interviews/conversations, haiku, rants – as long as you’re thinking smart and fresh about sex and gender (and being an outlaw, of course). We will feel especially keen about your work if it adds to or advances the conversation about gender (as distinct from simply reflecting it, or lamenting it).
People of any identity are encouraged to submit work. This means you – yes, you!
We intend to privilege non-normatively gendered/sexed voices in the book but will include all the good stuff we can, regardless of current identifiers of the author.
*The Details*
Deadline: Sept 1 (early submissions are encouraged). Submissions should be unpublished; query if you have a reprint that you think we’ll swoon for. While we hesitate to list a maximum, please query first for pieces over 4,000 words. If you have an idea and need help writing it out, contact us to discuss an interview-style piece or other accommodations.
Submit as a Word document or black/white JPEG (no files over 2MB). Please include a cover letter with a brief bio and full contact information (mailing address, phone number, pseudonym if appropriate) when you submit. Submissions without complete contact information will be deleted unread. Payment will be $50 and 2 copies of the book upon publication in Fall 2010. Contributors retain the rights to their pieces. Send your submission as an attachment to genderoutlawsnextgeneration@gmail.com.
Deleting E-mails
Deleting email seems to be an easy task, but when you've got nearly 12,000 in your inbox, getting it down to (hopefully) 4 or 5 is an almost impossible dream. Anyway, it keeps me preoccupied.
Moving out soon, hopefully
I will hopefully be moving out of my parents house soon. Moving to Chicago from South Bend will be nice as well. Maybe I can finally meet some new interesting people, as I think I have exhausted the supply in SB. My opportunities for a social circle my age will increase. Even though I like a lot of the folks I met on the campaign and in other volunteer activities, their lives are more established than my own.
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