Would You Still Love Me If I Was a Guy?

(Heads up that the following post touches on LGBTQ issues. If I say anything inappropriate, please let me know. I admit I'm on shaky ground here.)

Recently, a friend of mine came out as a trans man. Or possibly nonbinary. It seems like they're still on that journey of self-discovery, but regardless they do know that they don't really identify as a woman. And they're preparing for a transition.

Naturally, they have my full love and support, and I told them so.

Afterward, though, Laura noted that this friend's husband (who was well aware this transition was coming since long before they were married) was very supportive of the transition. Laura casually mentioned that she wasn't sure I would be as supportive if it were her.

Naturally, as such casual comments are wont to do, it kinda stuck with me. She made that assertion weeks ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. It's sparked a fair bit of self-reflection. So, what follows are some rambling musings as I search for answers. Naturally, given who I am, I'll start by talking about a video game.

30 Day Song Challenge (All At Once)

It’s been a while since the last time I wrote anything outside of work or D&D notes. I wanted to get back into the habit of writing a few months ago, though, so I found a nice softball topic: this “30 Day Song Challenge.” I didn’t see any reason to spread this out into 30 days, so I just did the whole thing at once.

And then I promptly filed it away and never did anything with it. And I absolutely did not get back into the habit of writing.

Anyway, I found it again and figured now is as good a time as any to post it. Enjoy this 30 day song challenge.

My Ron Glass Story

With the passing of Ron Glass, many people have different reasons for remembering him. Like many people my age, I was primarily familiar with him through his portrayal of Shepard Book on Firefly.

However, the world is always smaller than we realize. As a result, I have a story to share about the man. A story from his younger days, before I was born. I should probably explain:

Internet Arguments: The Pence/Hamilton Thing

I have a bad habit of getting into arguments with people online. I would say I spend too much time on it... but I'm not sure that's true. The alternative is to avoid engaging with people, which seems like the sort of action that perpetuates this culture in which our views and the views of others are never challenged. We will likely never understand each other so long as we never make the effort to do so.

So, I get into Internet arguments. They're not always productive, and I don't think they result in changed minds per se. However, I don't mind making the effort to humanize my ideas and to at least attempt to understand where people are coming from.

However, if I'm going to spend a bunch of time writing like that, I should probably get some use out of it. Otherwise, all that work will simply fade away, banished to wherever it is that old Facebook posts go.

So, here's a discussion I had with some folks in response to a post my aunt made on Facebook. Unedited except for names, though I don't think the discussion is private, so theoretically anybody can find this discussion if they look for it.

Still Improving My Videos

My most recent video is up, the first real episode of my Constitution Series. It's incorporating a lot of the stuff I've learned in the past few months, and I think it's on the verge of being respectable.

That said, I still have a lot to improve upon, some of which I figure will come with practice, some of which I'm already planning to fix. This post is about some of those ways I'm planning to improve.

Odd Bard Instruments

Many a conversation starts with Laura lying on the couch and telling me about things she's reading on Tumblr. (I don't do Tumblr personally--Facebook and Twitter already eat up enough of my time.)

Today, she was telling me about a Tumblr post that included a strange list of possible instruments found in the Complete Bard's Handbook from 2nd Edition D&D. The list of instruments is pretty comprehensive, from drums and flutes to citterns and sistrums. Laura seemed doubtful that some of these instruments would be terribly inspiring or practical during battle. After all, while a pipe organ might sound incredible, it's not exactly easy to carry onto the battlefield. And then there are one-note instruments like gongs and castanets--not exactly ballad material.

These possibilities had me intrigued, though. While I can't really comment on the instruments I've never heard of (a hurdy gurdy sounds fascinating in theory...), I immediately had some ideas about some of the more familiar instruments.

The Brock Turner Problem

Recently I've seen stories about how there are armed protesters in Brock Turner's neighborhood. They seem to be there with the intent of intimidating him, of making sure he knows that the public has not forgotten what he's done. Which seems fine on the surface, since neither he nor the public should forget. However, the presence of prominently displayed weaponry in the protests is chilling. And the way people seem to be sharing the story with such glee is even more chilling. Here's why:

Dealing in Fear, Dealing in Hope

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can drive people to do many things, and the ability to instill fear into people's hearts is one of the more effective paths to power over those people. It's the calling card of many a movie or comic book villain, from Emperor Palpatine to Sinestro.

Sadly, fear isn't exclusive to the realms of fiction. Fear is a powerful force right now, in this year's presidential election. It's a tool being used by both sides of the conflict, to varying degrees of success.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Part 1: Preamble

PREAMBLE

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a proposed agreement between 12 countries along the Pacific rim: The United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Vietnam, Australia, Peru, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.

The preamble of the TPP lays outs the goals of the deal between those countries, which is mostly reflected by the pro-TPP statements on the front page of the United States Trade Representative's TPP website. The preamble doesn't really get into the details of the deal, so there isn't a lot to unpack.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Part 0: Public Perception

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a hot-button issue right now. Our current sitting president, Barack Obama, supports the deal, while both of our presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, oppose it. Clinton in particular has waffled on the deal, finally turning against it in part due to Bernie Sanders' influence on the Democratic platform, as he was particularly opposed to the deal. The final decision on the deal rests with Congress, but while it's not clear where Congress is leaning on it, it is clear that our next president will influence the deal's fate.

I'm intensely curious as to how a deal like this can be equally abhorrent to the thoroughly capitalist Donald Trump and the socialist Bernie Sanders. So, to cut through the rhetoric, I've decided to actually read the deal. Let's try to understand what, exactly, this deal is about.

Today I'll start by exploring the rhetoric surrounding the deal; arguments for and against the deal. Then, I'll start exploring the text itself.

Revised Amendment XXVIII

After discussing it with a friend, it became obvious that there was a problem with the run-off method in my proposed amendment: basically, that getting people to go out and vote a second time in the case of a run-off would be difficult for many people. So, instead, there needed to be some way to have that run-off election without having an entire second Election Day.

I've edited the amendment to reflect a better system:

Why I'm Running for President

I don't want to run for President. I don't want to be President.

Yet, strangely, these are the thoughts that made me decide to run for President. These are the thoughts that have been driving me toward my 2020 run for the past 12 years.

AMENDMENT XXVIII

I would like to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution:

The President shall, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

All eligible voters within the Unites States, its Territories, and all its Possessions, may vote by ballot. They shall name in their ballots the person they select for President and who they select for Vice President, and the choice for President and Vice President shall be distinct. The Person with the greatest number of votes for President, shall be President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of votes counted; And, if no person has such a majority, then another election shall take place within 30 days, this election featuring only the two People with the highest number of votes for President from the initial election; and the Person with the most votes for President from this second election shall become President. The Person with the greatest number of votes for Vice President, shall be Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of votes counted; And, if no person has such a majority, then another election shall take place within 30 days, this election featuring only the two People with the highest number of votes for Vice President from the initial election; and the Person with the most votes for Vice President from this second election shall become Vice President. If both the President and Vice President require a second election, the second election for the Vice President shall be held on the same day as the second election for the President.

Please allow me to explain what this amendment would do and why it's important:

The Politician Stigma

Recently I read a sentence that said, "you've probably dreamed of becoming a model, athlete, or worst of all, a politician."

This got me thinking about how we perceive politicians. By no means is the author alone in their disgust with that particular profession. Few professions are more reviled, whether for being corrupt, inept, unbending, and/or oblivious. These things are all bad on their own, but these faults (real or imagined) are magnified by the fact that these are the people in power in this country.

However, I have a theory that this revulsion toward politics as a profession may be a part of the problem; that the politicians we have are a product of the reputation we lay upon them.

Campaign Setting

The scientists loved to speculate about the nature of the universe. They measured it, saw that it was expanding, and figured it would just keep on expanding forever.

They were wrong about that.

It's only been about a thousand years since the universe started contracting. It's weird being on this side of eternity, knowing our universe's days are numbered. Even though it's a long way away, even though each generation knows that the end won't come in their lifetime, we're all taught the important dates: the year and time that the universe will cease to be, of course, but also, more importantly, the moment Earth will cease to be. We won't even see it coming. The stars will look exactly the same, they say. And then: Nothing. Our planet will cease to be.

D&D as a Player

For the second time in my life, a player from my own D&D campaign is planning a campaign of their own, and I'm likely to be a player in that campaign. It worked out pretty well the last time this happened, and I have some vivid memories of the my friend Aaron's Valendia campaign. To this day, it is the only D&D campaign I've been in from start to finish. Hopefully, the new campaign is even half so successful.

Either way, though, I'm excited at the prospect of being a player again. Playing Dungeons and Dragons with a good group is one of my greatest pleasures, and one I don't often get to enjoy anymore.

"You're Watching the Wrong News"

I try not to argue of Facebook. It's not what I would consider an enjoyable activity. However, with the election getting ever closer, more and more political stuff is showing up in my feed, and sometimes, against my better judgment, I feel the need to respond. This response pulls me into a war that I frankly don't have time to fight, and I generally try to extricate myself as gracefully and quickly as possible.

In one of these recent debates, I was told that I don't "watch the right news," and that I need to get "all of the facts," as if more facts will make me suddenly think people (especially black people) shouldn't be upset over the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Still, this criticism got me thinking about where I get my news and when I choose to act upon it.

How It Should Be

Police killed more civilians this week.

What happened? How many more times will it happen, how frequently, before people lose all trust in their police force?

I'm not going to condemn all police officers here. The policemen who did these things don't represent all police officers. The brave officers who lost their lives while protecting peaceful protesters in Dallas this week are a testament to that fact. However, every time something like this happens, I can't help but wrack my brain trying to figure out what could be different, what we'd need to change, to stop this from happening. This is not how it should be.

On the Issues: The Costs of Trade

Transcript:

Reflections on the Declaration of Independence (American Revolution vs. Civil War)

Today is the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. And, while many Americans are out celebrating this national holiday with feasts and fireworks, I find myself considering the document this holiday is meant to celebrate. For the past few months I've found myself obsessed with the American Revolution, and after reflecting on the birth of our nation for so long, I find this day holds much deeper meaning to me than it did before.

So, I'm going to reflect on the Declaration of Independence a bit tonight. Perhaps you should, too. You can read a transcript at the National Archives website.


In fact, I may do this every Independence Day from now on. There are many things to consider when reading the Declaration of Independence: the concept of nations, human rights, justified rebellion, the meaning of freedom, and the power of language to convey these ideas, for instance. Today in particular I'm thinking about the way this document justified the secession of the states from Great Britain.