“Societies With Little Coercion Have Little Mental Illness” is a case study in Consent as a Felt Sense

I am an insane person because I have self-respecting humane reactions to being forced to do, think, and feel things I do not want to do, do not believe, and do not want to experience. “Societies With Little Coercion Have Little Mental Illness“, by Bruce Levine, Ph.D., writing in Mad In America: Throughout history, societies …

Dear friends, please help. I am asking you for help.

Yesterday I posted Professor Kevin Westhues’ “Checklist of Mobbing Indicators,” and, as if by clockwork today I was mobbed on Twitter in a thread that matched 13 of the 16 indicators, point for point. I’ve been the target of what Westhues describes as mobbing, which is evidently a sociological term that sometimes also goes by …

“How I Explained Heartbleed To My Therapist”

This is an important post by Meredith L. Patterson: “Remember back around April or May, when you had to change your passwords on all the websites you use? Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, everywhere?” He nods, vigorously. “Do you remember hearing the word ‘Heartbleed’ back around then?” A blank look. Maybe I should have worn the T-shirt. …

And so, she was beautiful to me

She had blue skin. And so did he. He kept it hid And so did she. They searched for blue Their whole life through, Then passed right by – And never knew. —“Masks“ by Shel Silverstein I remember the sunlight on 8th Avenue and 15th Street that morning vividly. New York City is beautiful in …

Broken Code to Broken Dreams to Broken Worlds

(Originally posted to my Tumblr blog.) On the way to a housewarming party, I wrote an email to a piece of my past. A snippet: [M]y dreams have subsided but my memories are resurfacing. I’m spending some time for the first time in years reading the archives of my own blog. And, as part of …

Settling in San Francisco

I wrote this on July 27, 2009, a little over a year ago: Not long ago I moved to San Francisco, California in order to make a fresh start for myself in a number of different ways. Creating a new home turns out to be a ton of work, especially since I had almost nothing …

Now it’s all the little things

Immediately after arriving in New York City, I turned myself into a tornado of work and worry in order to make sure KinkForAll was the success I desperately needed it to be. To my indescribable relief and happiness, KFANYC wasn’t just a success, it smashed through even my wildest expectations, topping at 45 presentations with …

Insomnia of the worst kind

Tonight’s my first of a little over a week’s worth of nights alone. When this ends, I’ll be on the other side of the planet. I’ve turned out the lights maybe four times already, trying to get ready for bed, but my body just won’t shut down despite its utter exhaustion. I really hate this …