oh god I’m in an airport restaurant wearing a blue blazer I have become my own worst enemy

the booker prize judges make a lot of fuss about having to read 153 books. but assuming an average weight of 750g per book, that comes in at 115kg of literature - or just under the weight of a single adult male ostrich

no i love the temperature love it i just need the sun to keep setting at 8:00pm thanks

though i know bell hooks wrote this 20 years ago, it feels like she wrote it today.

There’s a priest walking through DC’s Union Station with his collar popped out of a shirt that says that queer people are no better than animals and I should go to the zoo for proof. So that’s a fine way to start a Monday.

At a pit stop on the way home from the staff retreat, a kid approached a recent grad coworker and me and shouted “are you father/son???” To which we replied no. So she rephrased, “I meannnn are you his father?” Then her mom dragged her off apologetically and I felt ancient.

Staff retreat, day 1:

Staff retreat, night 1: “all cats are Muslim.”

man man butch butch. thanks to @pgcmls.bsky.social for rewarding my reading with free seats!

Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...

every day!

“We’re now living through the downstream effects of people not being mean enough to dudes early in their careers.” — anonymous, unless they choose to be revealed 😃

Starting to wonder if Quaker straight boys should be allowed to read science, cuz they will take that information and use it to *absolutely torture* a metaphor.

I felt summoned here. I thought of how often the number 49 pulses through queer poetry. I watched dueling vigils of queers and cops. I saw the state profane the sacred. I left the only message I could. I rode off knowing the story of this place is not yet fully written.

“Take it up with Jesus, nationalists.” Why Christian nationalism isn’t actually so Christian.

I do find it funny that the only bit of the "inappropriate hymn" quoted in the article is a direct bible quote.

Joined a choir. Exercising muscles I haven’t used in 25 years. And already with the ideas! Like, what if we commissioned a cantata based upon an old school MAL at the shitty Washington Plaza Hotel? That would be heavenly. That would be hedonism.

so important to be hot AND funny AND sad

I utterly adore that there's a Venn diagram of Quakers and lesbians at a protest. Thanks @rhiannonbookgeek.bsky.social! www.quaker.org.uk/blog/why-are...

the truly inimitable @separkinson.bsky.social bringing the polisci to the footie. and to answer that age old question, yes, she has a flag.

“The fact is that our Present has become the very Past we desperately hoped we had outrun. History, as it turns out, has swifter feet than even the most alert of us could’ve expected.”

"No bookstore that PW has reached out to has been as adversely impacted as @loyaltybooks.bsky.social, which specializes in diverse and intersectional literature ... Sales are down 65% since August 11." you can shop at Loyalty at loyaltybookstores.com or through Bookshop bookshop.org/shop/loyalty

oh cool love the sound of fighter jet(s) flying low over my house. totally not dictator behavior.

NEW: This weekend in Trump's effort to make fascism happen. The Trump administration tried to illegally send children to Guatemala as troops walked aimlessly around Dupont Circle. This evening, at Law Dork:

“If his profile says ‘looking to settle down,’ red flag. He’s gonna propose marriage on the third date and not in the cool lesbian way. He wants codependency, and won’t even build you a shed.”

Trans People Belong 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Earlier, a medium suspicious security officer at the stadium gate: “Check what’s on those flags! What…what is this, a hamburger?” “Sure.” Which is how Section 125 wound up on CBS Sports & my friend & I in the photo below. (Flag image is Lorraine Hu’s “deli weapons,” from RainyMorningPrints.)

a little light beach reading.

Day two with the big water.

Some lakes a very big indeed. You might even call them great. TBD really.

This one is only for Blueskyers of a certain age.

Missing all your southern friends? Please be advised that it’s tomato sandwich season and we’re busy.

If you want to find out more about 'Communion: A Queer Christian Zine', how it came into being, and how to share it with your own community, then you can go to stnicholasleicester.com/magazine

"Communion" is designed to cover a range of inclusive Christian thought and serve a wide audience, with articles ranging from the deeply academic to the very silly, and there's even a crossword! As part of the ethos of radical sharing all of the contributors have offered their work for free.

so excited for this!

For too long the world of theological magazines and leaflets has been utterly dominated by slick corporate mass produced hatred. It's time for inclusive Christians to lean into the long Queer history of underground printing, zine making, resource sharing, and other such physical tangible activism.

Pickled peppers as the world burns.

I am admittedly curious if there will be another 51st min chant & whether/how fans build on last match’s momentum. Contemplating sign ideas. Match will be live on CBS (potentially interesting in of itself), in case you can’t grab tickets & roll up with a DC flag (w/ hoagies as the stripes, obv). 12

Sunday, Aug. 31 is a home match for Spirit (2nd in the league!) & Pride Night. Rodman has been coming in off the bench, & players like Kouassi & Bethune have been amazing. Stands are full of hilarious DC nerds & youth soccer team members who love yelling “VAR! VAR!” at the officials. It’s great. 11/

Lag time b/t initial event & nat'l coverage is notable. It’s interesting that sports outlets covered the chant & WashPo didn’t. ESPN’s live blog didn’t either (unsure if it ever mentions any broader context). Stadium chant was included as some outlets published broader stories a/b protest in DC. 10/

Now, a newer NYTimes article from 8/25 DOES mention the FreeDC stadium chant, in a larger article a/b ongoing protest & resistance in DC. It’s a short paragraph that is a/b the FreeDC movement more broadly. 9/

Here’s WashPo’s coverage of the match, w/ absolutely no mention of the protest & no coverage elsewhere that I could find by searching the website. "Straight sports," no politics. Of course, there is no such thing as “no politics” in soccer/football (or life). Politics by omission exist, though. 8/

On the 20th, Insta’s algorithm fed me a post from The Rachel Maddow Show & MSNBC w/ a segment on DC protests that included the chant, filmed from supporters’ area. I hadn’t seen that footage used anywhere else, so it’s interesting in terms of diffusion/who is sharing which visual perspectives. 7/

Local outlet WUSA9 posted the footage shortly after match; @thetnholler.bsky.social reposted. On 8/19, @19thnews.org had an article up on the protest & FreeDC. By 8/19 broader-audience progressive Instagram accounts like dear_white_staffers, Project Moonshot, & 50501 were sharing the footage. 6/

The coverage on sports sites makes sense given global histories of protest involving soccer/football fans, e.g., Celtic supporters waving the Palestinian flag, the role of Egyptian ultras in their revolution, the centrality of Turkish fans in Gezi protests, Barca fans waving the Estelada, etc. 5/

That night, there was footage on Instagram from at least 3 people who had been at the match (seated on E, S, & W sides of stadium). I saw coverage of the protest initially spread through sports, LGBTQIA+, & gender/politics accounts. thedailywsports reposted on 8/15 & ProSoccerWire on 8/16. 4/

Keep in mind: This is a protest in the capital w/ over 10K people *broadcast live nationally*. Apparently, the commentators stopped speaking on the live feed until the chant stopped at 53’. A few people had “Free DC” signs; there are always DC flags & rainbow flags in the supporters’ section. 3/

The protest event itself comprised a 2-min “Free DC” chant starting during the 51st min (DC statehood symbolism). Members of the FreeDC movement started the chant; it immediately engulfed the stadium. Crowd was 10-15K, so substantial, cross-generational participation in a family-friendly space. 2/

Friends have told me they don’t sense much public protest against DC's occupation (there is). Thread below traces media coverage of a demonstration during the Aug. 15 Washington Spirit match (for which I was present). Let’s look at one set of pathways coverage took through the media environment. 1/

New dating app red flag just dropped: A whole ass SKULL SHELF in the background of your profile pic. No, sir. No, ma’am.