[Watson writing of Holmes:] Then my friend’s wiry arms were round me, and he was leading me to a chair. “You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say that you are not hurt!” It was worth a wound–it was worth many wounds–to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. [...]

[Read more →]

All right, folks, come hither and hearken unto my latest hare-brained scheme: Have any of you heard the Jonathan Coulton classic, First of May? If you haven’t, here it is (warning: there’s literally some fucking language in there). If you have, I know you’re all like “MST LISSEN NAO”, so here it is. See how [...]

[Read more →]

Think of your top five heroes (sorry, your mom’s my hero too but she doesn’t count)–people you admire from afar. Imagine that you wake up one workaday morning, and find that one of these people has invited you to a tea party. (albeit a tea party sans tea and finger sandwiches, in a warehouse in [...]

[Read more →]

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and, to kick things off, I’d like to take issue with the growing prevalence of the word “rape” as a slang synonym for “dominated”, “rocked’, or “killed”. Both I and a friend have recently had Facebook “friends” (which of course could be anyone from a mere acquaintance to a [...]

[Read more →]

One of the many reasons I don’t post with my IRL name here (I won’t say “real”, since xJane is just as real in many ways) is because I am attempting to manage my image. In our internet age, I still find it to be very important to not ruffle feathers in a public way [...]

[Read more →]

Texas is reviewing its science standards, specifically with the desire to remove them altogether. Skepchick has a great discussion of exactly what this means, but here’s the short version: Texas and California’s choices for scientific textbooks drives the availability of textbooks nationwide because of their massive marketshare the Texas State Board of Education (TSBE) has [...]

[Read more →]

Who has more power to change the system in which they’re embedded–women in Mormonism, or female porn actors?

[Read more →]

Late to the party on this one, I know, sorry. It turns out that conservative (read: religious) states have the highest porn rates in the country. Probably because they’re not allowed to have deviant (read: fun) sex at home. Meanwhile, people living in enlightened areas of the country have other outlets for their sexual urges, [...]

[Read more →]

A kid in a South Pasadena high school has declared this week “no cussing week”. He started the No Cussing Club in seventh grade when he realized that his peers were beginning to cuss, a word I find entertaining, something that his parents did not allow. I respect this kid for standing up to what [...]

[Read more →]

This is another lecture that was put on at my school, this time by the ACLU, in response to Prop 8. The California Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about the Constitutionality of Prop 8 a week from tomorrow. In preparation for that, the local ACLU chapter invited to gay people who grew up in [...]

[Read more →]