Mordant Curiosity

-ancient roman posca: water, red or white wine vinegar, honey, salt, herbs (coriander, mint, thyme)

-switchel: water, ginger, vinegar, sweetener, lemon, salt

-ayran: yogurt, water, salt, mint

I made this transparent PNG the night he died in preparation for one of the many ways I was going to memorialize him--a surface rug in his likeness that I planned on laying directly in the line of his favourite sunbeam. And I uploaded that PNG here, because this is the website where people post their cats.

I was not expecting the reception I got. Many people have pointed out that this post has more reblogs than likes, and how insane that is in 2025 when reblog culture is at an all time low. I didn't even talk about the fact that Burger passed away in the original post, it wasn't a tearjerker reblog bait or anything like that. People just loved Burger that much, in the same way I fell in love with him at first sight. He was such an ugly kitten.

Anyways, it's really special to me that so many people have reblogged my best friend. I made this PNG to memorialize him in a completely different way, and you all wound up doing just that in ways I never even imagined.

Thank you. Wherever he is, I know the sun is shining.

so I'm distracting myself from all the other shit freaking me out by thinking like. ideally what do I want to teach my voice to do?

list so far kind of goes in two separate directions:

angry shouting

Living Colour

Heed Case

Delilah Bon

Kate Nash

The Defiled

Archspire

X-Ray Spex

Coffin Mulch

delivering lyrics

Justin Sullivan

Depeche Mode

Rammstein (?)

Seeming

Apoptygma Bezerk

Annie Lennox (unachievable lbr)

Hart was on testosterone, legally changed his name, and had gotten a hysterectomy (that was described as "unfortunate" by the Right to Privacy gay and lesbian political action committee), making him the first documented trans man to transition in the USA, yet he was characterized as a lesbian woman because cis gays and lesbians had the nerve (when do they NOT have the nerve, dare I say) to think they had the right to "honor [his] life as a woman" by having fundraiser dinners with his deadname attached to them, having college lectures where they talked about him as a lesbian hero, and using she pronouns for him until 2000. The USAmerican trans community, including trans activist Lou Sullivan, had to fight to defend Hart's identity and to have his manhood recognized by the wider community by protesting these lectures and dinners and having a conversation with the Portland chapter of the Lesbian Avengers association, which ended up having a favorable response and joining the trans community in the battle.

I want to end this by reporting the words of Candice Hellen Brown, a trans woman from Portland who wrote a letter to Just Out magazine in 1994 defending Hart's transness:

The Right to Privacy Political Action Committee in Oregon has a big fundraiser every year that is called the [deadname] Hart Dinner. When asked if I am going, I indignantly answer, "Not until they stop using the wrong name and gender for one of our heroes!" His name is Alan [. . .] He never wavered from his identity as a man, and upon his death, his widow continued to insist that he was a man. Why would such a straight man be called a lesbian by the gay community when today we would certainly call him a female-to-male transsexual? [. . .] He was transsexual or, at least, a transgenderist - a true pioneer. One who is seen as a hero by today's transsexual community. Please don't let him be taken away from us by allowing his old name to be used as though it were a badge of honor.

Cliches! Yesssss.

Cloves: I’m sure there are other brands out there, but The Classic Clove Cigarette was Djarum Blacks. BE WARNED: No cigarettes are good for you, but cloves are supposedly worse. (But they’re the only cigarettes I miss.)

Absinthe: My current favorite brands are Oregon Spirit, St. George, and Mata Hari. Lucid and Mephisto are okay, and DEAR G-D IN HEAVEN DO NOT TRY HILL’S. Hill’s tastes like gasoline and NyQuil and despair. 

As to sugar cubes: I don’t use sugar when I have absinthe, I just add water to louche it. However, if you want to add sugar, go ahead! You don’t have to have a special absinthe spoon (tho’ they’re fun) - you can just put a sugar cube into the absinthe, let it dissolve, add the water, and then mix it until it louches and turns that lovely jade color.

I know there are people who are fond of the “Bohemian” method of adding sugar: pouring more absinthe over the sugar cube, setting it on fire, and then dribbling the water over it. This will come as a complete surprise to everyone, but I’m actually strongly against this method. Yes, fire fun, but good absinthe doesn’t need this. If I remember my absinthe history correctly, this method was invented by some bartender in the 90s. 

(Note: this method won’t make Hill’s drinkable. Don’t bother trying.)

I haven't compared cloves to normal cigarettes for a long while, but I think they tend to have a higher tar and nicotine content, and the clove in the tobacco makes it easier to hold the smoke in for longer. So they're probably better as an occasional treat :(

Does that stop me from ogling the “Alice” top and skirt from Blackwood Castle? No.

UK people I am suggest send this:

https://www.lemkininstitute.com/_files/ugd/c88266_d867000e790846f08b0aa1de85474fde.pdf

To your MP.

Highlight whatever bits you deem relevant.

Statement on the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission: Violation of the Paris Principles and erosion of protections for transgender and intersex people

There is more in the link.

To email your MP go to:

and follow instructions.

You can send an email like:

Dear [MP],

I would like to draw your attention to the following:

[LINK]

In particular:

[QUOTED TEXT]

And ask that you [esclatate my concerns to someone in a position to take action/address this matter in Parliament/consider seriously if this is the international image which you wish for our country].

I am concerned because [this affects me/my loved ones directly/the well-being of a minority group is a litmus test for the well-being of the nation/history has shown that targeting minority groups is a bad indicator of governmental trustworthiness].

Sincerely,

[NAME,

libraries, parks, rec centers, and other public amenities

craft/game/hobby specialty stores or event spaces

bars or similar venues

I know I said "if you're not in school anymore" cause that's me right now, but if a college/uni campus doesn't have security requiring a student ID to get in, nothing is stopping you from just Hanging Out on the campus even if you're not a student there lol. I do it all the time and there are flyers abound

literally just on a wall or telephone pole outside

if the only coffee shop around is starbucks, ime even Some starbucks locations have these kind of bulletin boards in them (not the drive thru ones obv). and no, you don't have to order anything from the starbucks

instagram and facebook too unfortunately. i know i know i hate them too