It’s the first night of Hannukah. I’m bathed in the light from the menorah as I write this. I think almost everyone is familiar with the story about the oil that lasted for eight nights when there was only enough to last for one day. I’ve got my holiday music playlist on and my Hannukah…
Tag: mental health
All I Want for Hannukah is to Keep a Little Oil in the Tank
Some parts of this piece have been percolating for a bit. There are a lot of things here that are just always gnawing at the back of my mind, waiting for the right story to come together for me to share. In fact, I even thought about writing it last week, but the truth is,…
What I’ve Learned this Year (Caturday)
Big Cat, Little Cat: Happy Anniversary What I’ve Learned about… Learning If you try things, you’ll learn things. That’s the essence of what I’ve learned from running the 2 Rules of Writing website this year. I guess it’s the positive version of “fuck around and find out.” It’s also what I went into the project…
Writer’s Notebook: Year in Review
“Hi,” he said. “How’s it going? Has the world ended yet?” Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch It’s kind of been feeling like that lately. At least for me. And probably a little bit for Adam, too, who has to edit all of my work before it’s posted…
World AIDS Day: A Tale of Two Pandemics
In the time of AIDS, when condom use was necessary… I am quoting John Ginoli, the founder of Pansy Division, the first openly gay punk band. Someone who had been at the forefront of the queercore movement in the 90s. It was on an episode of the podcast Out in the Bay that I listened…
Trauma Strikes, the Fight Continues: Club Q
Deja Vu Six and a half years ago I woke up in the middle of the night to flashing blue lights and news of a shooting at an LGBTQ club here in my adopted hometown of Orlando. A gunman had killed 49 people at Pulse. I felt it as a trauma. Those were my friends;…
Art and Trauma (Caturday)
Well. It happened again. At such times that tragedy touches a community that one of our own belongs to–a community that is a source of both strength and vulnerability–we make the following choice. Sometimes people who are grieving need to laugh. And sometimes they need to write about their feelings. So here’s the comic. Enjoy…
Soul-Dancer (An Archaic Concept of Me, 11)
Where we left it in Delivery 10 I could not quite fully trust that she was as committed to our relationship as I was. I was afraid I did not quite meet her expectations. Sometimes at night, next to her, I had bad dreams, often involving being abandoned in a desert, or searching for family in…
The Tsunami
A WhatsApp-text popped up on my phone, and a notification “ding” tone followed. The screen showed Shelly’s message in a blinding glow. An untimely text from her, although I liked her lots – a very outgoing, intelligent colleague. A promising scholar in the making. “I went to your sharing seminar,” her message read. “Your research…
NaNoWriMo! (Caturday)
Middle Cat, the Executive Producer of the hit series Big Cat, Little Cat, is excited to announce that 2 Rules of Writing is hosting a writing workshop for NaNoWriMo. The workshop will be this Sunday (Nov 6, 2022) at noon. Big Cat is probably going to show up an hour late because he always forgets…