Beware the Insulin Leopard

But how possible would it be to train crows to do this in exchange for food? We know they can be trained, we know they understand transactions, and we know they can complete tasks.

Crows: that sounds great!

i'm curious about your take that (just about) the only way diy matters in punk is throwing shows. what would the other assumedly less important ways be? also how would you try to define the concept of diy? i saw you put the term in quotes and i very much appreciate people being critical of the concept in that way, but i wanna know where you personally come from with that critique and where you take it

i spent a lot of time thinking about these questions when i was interviewing folks in the scene in santiago, chile. those people described their scene primarily as "punk autogestionado" ("self-organized punk" would be the best translation?) to distinguish it from the less political more cover-band heavy scenes of gigs in bars and whatever. a bunch of them, especially older members of the scene, were very questioning of the idea of diy cause like, to paraphrase: the money you need for all this comes from your job in the global economy, all the basic materials for the show and whatever else were made by people whose labor was being exploited, nobody is doing this stuff all on their own, etc. as one guy said, the dude who was the organizer for a huge stadium concert trying to make himself a ton of money could say he "self organized" it just as much as any of them could, which is kinda valid to me on a basic level cause ive been to legit shows with bartenders and security guards who check your ticket from an app that were run and planned by fewer people than it took to put on an informally organized "diy" punk show. and yet despite all of that, there was always a very clear difference between the nature of the shows in santiago's "diy" scene and shows put on to make money. so i was reading and writing a lot trying to figure out that incongruence and theorize a useful actual definition of diy or "autogestión".

and so, i guess from that experience and my understanding of the history of punk, i wanna know especially what you think about punk bands recording, releasing, distributing, and "promoting" (not with promoters but like flyers and graffiti and such) their own shit, and what you think of "diy" merch production/fashion (i know fashion is the touchiest of these subjects, but i don't just mean kids making their own patches with paintbrushes and putting studs on their jackets and shit, i mean bands producing their own stuff to sell for a pittance, like making batches of patches and shirts with screen printing presses for example).

i ask cause i feel like all that stuff has been quite important to distinguishing punk from other music based subcultures, but i'd love to hear your thoughts cause i know you care a ton about this stuff

it’s like this:

to me, “diy” means organizing a music community outside of the traditional music industry channels by any means necessary, AND ensuring ease of access to all who might be compelled to participate. nobody is completely economically divorced from “the system,” and i don’t even think there ought to be this massive stress placed on “diy” as anti-capitalism (though in many cases “diy” methodologies, for lack of a better word, might serve as effective anti-capitalist tools). the goals of a “diy” music community in my view are to protect the art and the artist being corrupted by the industry, which often stifles, pigeonholes, or otherwise manipulates the art produced, where it’s played, how loud it’s played, what it can be about, et cetera. even what an artist looks like.

bands recording, producing, duplicating, releasing, distributing, and promoting their music is DIY. no matter how a band chooses to get it done, making a record yourself is making a record yourself.

booking, promoting, and throwing a show, no matter how many people it takes, no matter where it is, whether it’s locals only or for a touring band, whether it’s a packed house or just two of your friends, is DIY.

utilizing social media as a means of “expanding your follower base” or treating those who enjoy your art as “fans” is thoroughly NOT DIY. this kikd of behavior recreates and reifies the structures of the music industry in ostensibly DIY communities, opening the door for the industry’s men to come banging down the doors in the worst case, or in the best case creating egos which lead to rockstar behaviors that harm members of the community who are there for rock and roll.

merch is not diy. no matter how you cut it. listen to fugazi. no one should NEED to own a shirt to signify to you as an artist or other members of the community their interest in your art. that said, band merch has become its own kimd of art form, and one that even i can kind of respect. it’s culturally important and often one of the best ways to make money that allows, for example, a DIY venue to continue operations during hard times economically (i am thinking of my city’s 27-year-old DIY venue collective, the Mr. Roboto Project, who just worked with an anarchist org to print a run of t-shirts to preserve their financials).

and last but not least: your shows should be broadly accessible. sometimes this isn’t always entirely feasible in the physical sense, as some show spaces are either extremely guerrilla and therefore sketchy as hell or they’re just not ideal as show venues (but you have to make do), but there are loads of things you *can* control. if your shows cost more than $15, are for one reason or another 21+, 18+, 16+ or whatever, if you don’t have a PA and a decent backline of gear, if you don’t have hearing protection onhand for those who might want it, if you have prohibitive rules around dancing or security at your shows, you’re not DIY.

So, if any trans men are being told about this, it’s not true!! Smoking will not change your voice, at least not until you’re about forty years down the line and you’ve already irreparably destroyed your lungs and throat and mouth and pretty much every other organ in your body. When you hear heavy smokers with deeper, scratchier voices it is literally because their vocal cords have been ruined. This is not a passive effect of smoking, it is a very very damaging one!

It’s simply not worth it! There will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Voice training will do a lot more for you than cigarettes will, I promise that the people urging you to start smoking as a voice training method do not have your best interests at heart!

(And you know what, this also goes for not eating due to the idea that starving yourself will decrease your chest size. Like with smoking, there will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Your body is worth so much more than that and there will always be healthier alternatives!)

(Btw, afaik smoking only has this effect on estrogen from HRT. Estrogen that AFAB bodies produce naturally is not affected, so smoking is still bad for trans men)

I got there and her daughter or granddaughter came out and was like omg her phone died we were worried

And then the older lady said something and the younger lady translated.

"She knew she could trust you because you have pink hair"

I thought it was funny at the time. But when I think back on it I think she was basically saying "you had a visible sign of not vibing with the system I was afraid of"

i've been away from this website for so long that i very deeply no longer understand it - e.g., what, for instance, the fuck is "tumblr blazed" - but i hope that you're all doing well. just wanted to drop a few updates on where i've been in recent years:

my debut novel both sides now won the international literacy association award for young adult literature, the cbc and the globe & mail both called it one of the best young adult books of 2021, and it received starred reviews from kirkus and booklist. buy a copy for the trans kid in your life.

i'm currently writing a second young adult novel for penguin

i'm also writing a contemporary adaptation of little women for adults, which you can read more about in the ny times and oprah

you can also listen to jo's boys, my podcast reading little women through a queer and trans lens. next month's guests are actress willa fitzgerald (who played meg opposite maya hawke's jo in the masterpiece adaptation!) and dickinson showrunner alena smith, so: good time to catch up!

i'm still writing about music for pitchfork and occasionally for billboard and uproxx too. caroline polachek is my aoty probably.

i'm getting my master's in creative writing and literature at harvard which rules and my favourite part so far was when flava flav came to read "a clock stopped" to my class on emily dickinson

oh my GOD i've been volunteering at my local humane society and i've helped about 120 cats get adopted since i started at the beginning of this year. highly rec looking up your local shelter and seeing if you can swing by to refill some water bowls, scoop some litter, socialize some skittish cats, etc.

Thirty-year-old Tamara Rees shows us what trans empowerment looked like in 1954. She fought Nazis, taught parachuting, and traveled the world... but her biggest challenge came when the press learned of her identity.

1950s news coverage of Tamera Rees' transition shows a time before the trans moral panic. Most stories regarded her as brave or heroic for her openness. National newspapers even celebrated her wedding in 1955.

The New York Daily News, which now hosts daily anti-trans editorials, ran a shockingly respectful series on trans people in the 1950s. Tamara Rees's narrative was among the longest and most detailed. She thoughtfully implored the public to respect not only her identity, but also other trans people like her.

Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French author of graphic novel 'Persepolis', dies aged 56 - https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/marjane-satrapi-iranian-french-author-graphic-novel-persepolis-dies-aged-56-2026-06-04/