I'm just sitting here making rude hand gestures

[blamebrampton]

I've been working rather hard on a bunch of stories for the some time now. What would make all of this seem worthwhile would be if any of the many invoices that are sitting in the Accounts Payable offices of many Australian publishing houses could be bloody well paid. That seven days' terms line isn't a joke! Grrrr!

Anyway, this means that I still have no time for sensible long posts, but there are some things that need to be written up!

1. Most of you have probably read the heartbreaking story on LGBTQ schoolchildren in the current Rolling Stone. I have a really long thing to say in response, which will have to wait for another time. I also have a short thing to say:



2. I have been sending things, some very late. kath_ballantyne, I have what can only be described as a gift for losing your address. LJ keeps deleting the messages that contain it, cursed LJ! One more time?  libby_drew, I am afraid your box requires more postage than I possess at the moment, so I ate some of the chocolate and thought nice things about you! And I very carefully knitted a hat for someone last year and then forgot who it was for. I have a vague idea it was someone European, and feel certain we spoke about it and an address was sent and then ... probably a cat-related distraction, knowing this house. thisgirl_is, it was not you. Your hat is in the post! 

3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY norton_gale!! I hope you have a wonderful day and your two tiny people are well behaved and hilarious from dawn to dusk! And to old_enough, too. We miss you!  So late with so many other birthdays! I've made a few via email, but for abusing_sarcasm, marryoh, 1strangebird, morien_san, and el_princess, I hope you all had brilliant days!

4. _inbetween_ really is a genius. This was her response to my self-description the other day:


The hair in reality is a bit straighter and longer, and has a stripe the colour of the claws here, but otherwise, yes, pretty much spot-on! Right! Off to the gym so that it's only my mind that goes! Much love to you all!

Comments

[leaf-light.livejournal.com]

I thought I'd post in apropos of nothing at all except that I didn't sleep last night and consoled myself from some time far too early this morning with rereading all your fics back to back (except the Wips) and wondering when or if there'd ever be more brilliance to join them. And I got a note to say you'd updated just as I finished the last one. Still there from waiting for the excellent end to Fathers. So Hi, and I hope the publishers all have a fit of conscience at once and send their money owed poste haste and that life gets a little smoother.

Also your entry made me smile, although not the tragic bit. I couldn't agree more with your statement.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Hello! Thank you! Fingers crossed I will soon have enough mental energy to do some entertaining writing rather than yet another exciting feature about orchids ...

You've really cheered me up by reminding me that people do enjoy reading my work. It's been a bit of a shitty week all round, so thank you very much for that!

[sherryillk.livejournal.com]

Best quote of the day and so very true! From what I know of it anyway, through pop culture and two weeks spent studying the Bible in college since that's all I have to draw on when it comes to Christianity...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I used to think that it was just mad Christians who were willing to ignore everything Christ said in favour of one line from Paul, and then I learned that the most eminent scholars don't even think that Paul wrote that bit! MADNESS!

And yes, when you have atheists who have a better understanding of your religion than its members, they're doing it wrong. Sigh.

[quatrefoil.livejournal.com]

And how's this for another short comment: 'Jesus had two daddies' (said matter of factly by a small New Zealand child in a nativity play). I think it would make a nice bumper sticker.

[nenne.livejournal.com]

What a brilliant quote! :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Heh! When one of my GFs was given grief about 10 years ago for going the old turkey baster route, she told her horrible Aunty: 'If it's good enough for the Virgin Mary, it's good enough for me!'

We should definitely give thought to a bumper sticker run ...

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

Thanks Brammers! Eat some chocolate for me! :D

Everything fine here but hectic. Very excited to be getting a morning off today.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Tragically, bugger all cash and no chocolate in the house, so I had a cup of cocoa instead. HURRAH for morning off, I hope you got breakfast in bed, or at least a nice cuppa!

[marryoh.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting that link to the Rolling Stones article. My brother had posted in Facebook last week but I forgot to read it.

I'm at work and very nearly in tears because of it. My brother and I went to Blaine High School. I had already graduated college and moved to Illinois by the time most of the suicides started. I'm only now starting to get interested in what's happening in the world around me so this is all news to me even though it's my home town and neighboring area. I feel so stupid for not noticing something that I feel so strongly about happening in the school I went to either while I was going there or after I had left.

But my brother was still in high school when a lot of this starting happening. He's gay and just came out to our family last year. It's heartbreaking to know that he had to see this going on around him at school and felt like needed to keep silent.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh babe, do not read depressing things at work!

And your brother gets a MASSIVE HUG from me. You weren't stupid for not noticing, most bullies are quiet and subtle and will, as Shakespeare had it 'smile, and smile, and be a villain'. The biggest bully I ever knew at any of my schools was a fellow prefect, happily her form of bullying was classic and old school and just indiscriminate detentions and abuse for anyone not in her house, so it did less damage than the personal sort.

The fact that you are there for your brother and that he feels comfortable being out to your family is such an important thing.

If you feel up to it, let him know that he can give your phone number out to other kids if he thinks they might need another friendly ear who's a bit older: my mum used to encourage me to have my friends call her if their parents gave them crap over their sexuality, and she would often talk with parents, too. Because she was a successful professional as well as being a gay activist, it was surprising how many parents listened to what she had to say and were at least a little restrained in response. I think the more people stand up and say 'No, it's normal', the harder it is for fundamentalists to pretend otherwise.

[marryoh.livejournal.com]

I didn't think it would end up being so terribly sad! I think it just hit me really hard cause it's where I grew up. Blaine and Blaine High School wasn't even the primary focus of the article, but it was mentioned and is still in the same district.

All I can think of now was my brother coming to terms with his sexuality at the same time that these other teenagers are taking their lives because of theirs. I don't know if my brother knew any of the Blaine students since it's a very large school, but either way it must have been really hard for him to deal with. He didn't come out to the family until his first year of college last year.

That's a great idea, though! My brother is one of those popular kids who knows everyone. I bet he still knows kids that are still in high school. My family is pretty accepting and open-minded. I bet if I suggest it to my brother and mom, we could work something out. I really like this idea! Thanks for sharing your story about your mom. It's really inspiring. :)

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I tried reading the article, and couldn't make myself finish it. I feel so very fortunate that I attended a school that was an amazingly supportive environment for kids who were different from the normal in any way, and wish that everyone could have done so. The teen years are hard enough with a supportive environment, I can't even imagine what it would be like in a hateful one.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

The scary thing is that it was generally better when we were kids than it is now in places like this. It's bizarre that Americans would think it's OK to act as though they are the Taliban. Madness!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Yah, the more I hear about it, the happier I am to not be there...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Ah well, as a zombie, you'll have so much stuff tangled in it, that it will soon look curly (plusIwasgoingforMarkBolan;))



ETA: I should remember that "had no postage, ate it and thought nice things of you" when I whimper to friends that I don't manage to find/send stuff.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You make a convincing point.

And also, BWAHAHAHAHAHA OMG I cannot believe I missed that!!

Do feel free to use this handy excuse for ineptitude. I had enough cash to fill a box with some things including sweet treats, then couldn't afford to send it for Christmas, and haven't been paid since, so I reasoned things were just going to start going off ...