honest to blog

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Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:49:20 -0600

You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me.

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:49:15 -0600

You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me.

"I still catch myself feeling sad about things that don’t matter anymore."

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:46:49 -0600

“I still catch myself feeling sad about things that don’t matter anymore.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Unready to Wear (via allisonweiss)

flylikebirds:

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:46:46 -0600

flylikebirds:

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Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:46:44 -0600

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:38:32 -0600

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:38:29 -0600

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:38:24 -0600

shadowsbestforgotten: bunnika: I seriously just had to teach...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:13:24 -0600

shadowsbestforgotten:

bunnika:

I seriously just had to teach my mother some basics of parenting.

Both photos are of my daughter in October, the first in 2011, the second in 2012. I let her pick out her own clothes, shoes, haircuts, hair colors, anything superficial, really. She’s too young to understand the permanence of piercings, so she doesn’t have any. But hair grows, shoes get grown out of, clothes go threadbare. These things don’t really matter—shouldn’t really matter—but anyone raising a gender-variant child knows the world isn’t that kind.

My daughter recently requested a haircut like mine. A long flop on top, pixie-length fade on the back and sides. She’s been bugging me for weeks to color her hair again, I just haven’t had the time. But today she came to me with the same shyness she keeps developing when outside our home; she’s being pressured by peers and family to look “normal,” to grow her hair long and uncolored, to dress a certain way (she hates to match), to indulge in self-consciousness, and alter or not alter her appearance to gain the approval of others, and society at large.

THIS FUCKING INFURIATES ME.

I called my mother tonight, because my daughter had become shy again, and didn’t want to color her hair anymore, and she said it was because of what her Nana had said to her. My mother told me we should get that spray-on Halloween hair colors, so it wouldn’t be so “permanent” and my daughter could be “normal” again to avoid being bullied.

IT IS NOT THE JOB OF THE VICTIM TO STOP BEING BULLIED. IT IS THE BULLY’S JOB TO STOP BULLYING.

I know she gets teased sometimes, and we always talk about it. She stays strong and confident, so long as she has the support of those around her. But what that support falters, or pulls a 180, she’s left to crash.

She also gets teased for liking dinosaurs and not dolls. She gets teased for preferring roughhousing to playing house. She gets teased for liking Lightning McQueen and not Cinderella. Where do we draw the line?

My mother thinks this is a “minor” thing, that it’s better to just blend in. But it would plant the seed of doubt, it forms the foundation for queer kids staying in the closet, for disabled kids to feel worthless, for young girls accepting abusive partners. This is not “minor,” it is fucking MAJOR, because this is my daughter’s foundation, and it will shape her life.

Support your fucking kids. Let them be who they want to be, look how they want to look, and play how they want to play. And make sure they know that you will love them no matter what.

+A parenting.

"Life is about doing things that don’t suck with people who don’t suck."

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:13:24 -0600

“Life is about doing things that don’t suck with people who don’t suck.”

- John Green (via marisais)

souflegirlandchinboy: you know the friendship’s real when there’s a rumour you’re gay for each...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:06:27 -0600

souflegirlandchinboy:

you know the friendship’s real when there’s a rumour you’re gay for each other

KRISTEN.

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:04:31 -0600

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:04:25 -0600

mydrunkkitchen: INternetCEPTION

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:04:21 -0600

mydrunkkitchen:

INternetCEPTION

pamela-jane: I know its a little early but Jingle Bell Rock w/...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:04:12 -0600

pamela-jane:

I know its a little early but

Jingle Bell Rock w/ my mom

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:04:07 -0600

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Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:56:19 -0600

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Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:56:14 -0600

twloha: It’s happening. One of our biggest dreams is coming...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:56:12 -0600

twloha:

It’s happening. One of our biggest dreams is coming true. We’re taking our favorite night on the road. Beginning January 29 in San Diego, HEAVY AND LIGHT is coming to 16 cities across America. We’re loading up two buses with some of our favorite artists and friends, and our aim is to create nights people will never forget. Beyond nights of great music, our dream for this tour is to move people to choose to stay alive and to get the help they need and deserve. We want folks to know their story matters, and it’s okay to be honest, okay to ask for help. Below is the press release that we just sent out.

We hope to see you there.

—jamie

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Melbourne, FL – December 10, 2012 - Non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms is taking their flagship annual event, HEAVY AND LIGHT, to cities across America. HEAVY AND LIGHT is a unique evening of songs, conversation, and hope. Throughout the tour, there will be intimate acoustic performances by the likes of Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot) & Fiction Family, Christina Perri, Now, Now, Will Anderson (of Parachute), Aaron Gillespie (of The Almost), Bryce Avary (of The Rocket Summer), Anthony Raneri (of Bayside), Noah Gundersen, The Lone Bellow, Satellite, and award-winning spoken word poet Anis Mojgani. Jon Foreman, both solo and with Fiction Family, as well as Now, Now will be performing on the entire HEAVY AND LIGHT tour, with additional artists playing select cities.

HEAVY AND LIGHT is not a benefit show, but an attempt to move and encourage people through great music and powerful words, to stay alive and to get the help they need. Everyone who attends a HEAVY AND LIGHT show will also leave with a list of local resources—places where they can get help for issues such as depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.

TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski says, “HEAVY AND LIGHT has been our favorite night of the year. Up to now, it’s been just one night each January at the House of Blues in Orlando. We’ve seen people travel from across America and beyond to be there, and we’ve heard people call it the best night of their life. We’re beyond thrilled to bring HEAVY AND LIGHT to cities across the country, and we’re doing it with the hope and goal of changing lives.”

On the tour’s opening night (January 29), Fiction Family will be releasing their new album, Fiction Family Reunion, in their hometown of San Diego. Jon Foreman states,“The HEAVY AND LIGHT experience has always been an amazing night of music. To bring it to the rest of the country is going to be incredible. I really believe in what TWLOHA does and have supported them since the beginning. I’m honored to join them in the HEAVY AND LIGHT tour across the country.”

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. Since its start in 2006, TWLOHA has donated over $1,000,000 directly into treatment and recovery and responded to more than 170,000 messages and emails from more than 100 countries.

Last year, TWLOHA was awarded a $1 million grant at the first American Giving Awards presented by Chase Bank on NBC. They will be using this generous award to fund the nationwide HEAVY AND LIGHT tour.

HEAVY AND LIGHT tickets will go on sale this Friday, December 14, 2012. To purchase tickets, get information about the tour, and learn more about To Write Love on Her Arms, please visit www.twloha.com.

erraticintrovert: Better Than Ezra’s “A Lifetime”. And you...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:56:06 -0600

erraticintrovert:

Better Than Ezra’s “A Lifetime”.

And you move like water;

I could drown in you.

And I fell so deep once,

‘Till you pulled me through.