gdp's Comments

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Thu, 2 Jun 2016 17:04:11 +0000

Oh man. Landmark is terrifying. There's an episode of Weeds where it gets a shoutout as a "self-help pyramid scheme."

The Toast : The Case of Thomas/Thomasine Hall: Intersex and Genderfluid Identity in the Colonial Period

Thu, 26 May 2016 18:21:53 +0000

Haha, I had to look up anvilicous! Yeah, sometimes I'm a bit too much of a fan of the heavy-handed symbolism... I read *about* the book after I'd read it, and the author had said some stuff about how he'd read the story of Herculine Barbin and wasn't satisfied with it so he wanted to write a book about how he thought it might feel to go through that experience... purposely not interviewing anyone who had. That rubbed me the wrong way, like his big artistic metaphor idea was more important than people's actual experiences. The other thing was the implication that 5-alpha-reductase deficiency is the direct result of incest. Inbreeding makes the genetic mutation more likely in population, but incest doesn't *cause* intersex children. The book acknowledges this, of course, but there seems to be a strong incest-->intersex thing going on. All that being said, I couldn't un-like the book, and it raised a lot of the ethical issues, especially around Dr. Money's practice (ugh), so... ambivalent.

The Toast : Classic Songs I Only Know Because I Heard The Neil Diamond Cover First

Thu, 26 May 2016 17:31:46 +0000

Oh, bless you and all your kin.

The Toast : Classic Songs I Only Know Because I Heard The Neil Diamond Cover First

Thu, 26 May 2016 17:30:48 +0000

Judy Collins sings a lot of Leonard Cohen songs and it is a beautiful thing. There's also a cover album, I'm Your Man, with lots of covers.

The Toast : The Case of Thomas/Thomasine Hall: Intersex and Genderfluid Identity in the Colonial Period

Thu, 26 May 2016 17:28:58 +0000

Thank you for writing this! I wrote a paper last year about infant genital "normalization" surgery as a human rights violation. I feel like so many people don't know that sex is not binary! I hadn't really thought about it until I read Middlesex, which is both wonderful and problematic, imo.

The Toast : Link Roundup

Thu, 26 May 2016 16:54:51 +0000

I wanted to add this link: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n11/naomi-klein/let-them... Naomi Klein's Edward Said lecture. Excerpt: "Fossil fuels aren’t the sole driver of climate change – there is industrial agriculture, and deforestation – but they are the biggest. And the thing about fossil fuels is that they are so inherently dirty and toxic that they require sacrificial people and places: people whose lungs and bodies can be sacrificed to work in the coal mines, people whose lands and water can be sacrificed to open-pit mining and oil spills. As recently as the 1970s, scientists advising the US government openly referred to certain parts of the country being designated ‘national sacrifice areas’. Think of the mountains of Appalachia, blasted off for coal mining – because so-called ‘mountain top removal’ coal mining is cheaper than digging holes underground. There must be theories of othering to justify sacrificing an entire geography – theories about the people who lived there being so poor and backward that their lives and culture don’t deserve protection. After all, if you are a ‘hillbilly’, who cares about your hills? Turning all that coal into electricity required another layer of othering too: this time for the urban neighbourhoods next door to the power plants and refineries. In North America, these are overwhelmingly communities of colour, black and Latino, forced to carry the toxic burden of our collective addiction to fossil fuels, with markedly higher rates of respiratory illnesses and cancers."

The Toast : Open Thread In Lieu Of Link Roundup

Wed, 25 May 2016 16:21:44 +0000

I hereby submit my formal request for someone to write David Brooks Writes a Sestina about Hillary Clinton http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/opinion/why-is-...

The Toast : Open Thread In Lieu Of Link Roundup

Tue, 24 May 2016 22:04:53 +0000

I loved your piece on the God thing. The end especially; I want to hear more about how this has changed your relationship with money, etc.! Future writing, hopefully?

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Wed, 11 May 2016 01:57:14 +0000

Your original problem: IT ME. I think this probably partially a personality thing, but also probably has something to do with the way school is structured. We, the smart, people-pleasing (ish, sometimes) achievers figure out pretty early what it takes to do really well and then do exactly no more. And we're super well rewarded for it until the "real world" strikes. My problem, which probably isn't yours, tends to be that I'm way too reliant on head-pats and external validations. Which is to say, I commiserate, also school structure, also best of luck!

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 6 May 2016 16:31:40 +0000

Congrats to you, too!

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 6 May 2016 16:31:32 +0000

yes, first time! i live far away so i can tell a bunch of people who don't know my family, i guess? but it's so exciting.

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 6 May 2016 16:07:46 +0000

Just found out last night that I'm going to be an aunt! It's not public yet, so allow me to SQUEEE into the semi-anonymous space that is The-Toast! SQUEEEEEEEE

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:17:43 +0000

"Except prayer doesn't help when it's actually a form of manipulation and a silencing tool." SO MUCH YES THUMBS UP x100000000

The Toast : Toast Points for the Week of April 22nd

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 00:25:37 +0000

I never knew I would have such Feelings about/ emotional investment in the staffing at the dash toast dot net! I too was worried about mysterious Mallory disappearance, and I too feel that Jaya was with us all too briefly. (And of course I must mention my infinite appreciation for the amazing Nicoles!)

The Toast : Prince.

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 00:20:27 +0000

Thirding Madeleine L'Engle. Also, in different ways: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Giver, almost anything by Katherine Patterson but especially Bridge to Terabithia, oh my gosh, can I join your book club?

The Toast : Prince.

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 18:02:52 +0000

Oh heyyyy Open Thread. I wasn't super attached to Prince, but I do have Minnesota connections and it's been amazing to watch all the tributes. Like others, now I'm thinking of the way his songs formed the background of my life without my even knowing it. SO, OT stuff! PhD Struggles Thread? #Ishouldbewriting. I'm in that part of the semester where I have to write 2 20-page research papers in 5 days? And this is always my own fault for not starting earlier, and this is my last semester of coursework, please advise on how to write more deliberately when dissertation time arrives.

The Toast : Thursday Open Thread

Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:37:49 +0000

Sorry I have nothing to add, I just want to follow this thread, because my husband is considering a career change and we have so many questions!

The Toast : Thursday Open Thread

Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:29:24 +0000

Oooh, early open thread! I had my first academic conference presentation last weekend! I think it went well! Anyone have advice on low FODMAP eating? My spouse is supposed to do it for a few weeks to see if he has any food sensitivities. Favorite recipes to share?

The Toast : Women Slipping Out Of Embraces In Western Art History

Tue, 5 Apr 2016 21:29:24 +0000

In #6 I love the photorealism of the satin skirt combined with the very little attention paid to head proportion.

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 04:23:52 +0000

Also also, eat panuchos!