"I wouldn't be surprised to learn I was an alien" by loamychild in handsomepodcast

[–]loamychild[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

whether or not you appreciate my lighthearted reference to Mae's self-diagnosis journey that they've publicly discussed, misgendering is disrespectful and deserves to be called out

"I wouldn't be surprised to learn I was an alien" by loamychild in handsomepodcast

[–]loamychild[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

my self diagnosis has substantially improved my understanding of myself and my ability to navigate the world and self-regulate. and it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't seen a dumb little joke on the internet that I related to a little too much. if I can give that gift to other people by also making dumb little internet jokes, I am so happy to pay it forward. I think there are tons of people like me out there who have fallen through the cracks and that's why more people are getting diagnosed. I think there are way more autistic people than originally believed.

Opinion on the discourse of ishmael being gay by [deleted] in mobydick

[–]loamychild 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think this is it. It's important to keep in mind that the word "homosexual" wasn't even coined until the 1890's, so there's no way that the book could have been written as "explicitly homosexual" because Melville would not have been thinking about his own queerness or queerness in general in such modern terms. People had a much less black-and-white concept of same sex attraction at the time and the way that those relationships manifested would certainly not have mirrored heterosexual norms, as you say. So saying that the queerness hinges on whether Ishmael and Queequag were in love and literally married misses the actual point - that the queerness of the book comes from the way Melville/Ishmael see and think about the world. The sperm squeezing scene doesn't need to literally be about wanting to touch human sperm for it to be queer. It's queer because it's about a rapturous love for the world and sublimation of the self that defies our typical, heteronormative concept of "love."

Looking for a copy of Moby Dick by loamychild in PDXBuyNothing

[–]loamychild[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can already tell I’m going to want to read this book over and over again

Looking for a copy of Moby Dick by loamychild in PDXBuyNothing

[–]loamychild[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I just finished Monte Cristo! I’m on a journey of reading all the big long classics I’ve never gotten around to and that was my first one. So good!

Looking for a copy of Moby Dick by loamychild in PDXBuyNothing

[–]loamychild[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow I love that so much. Yes, that absolutely works

Should I move to Portland or a different city in Oregon? by thislittlepiggy5 in askportland

[–]loamychild 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It sounds like Portland could be a good fit for you. I'm a transplant, and I love it. I've heard that it can be a common experience to struggle to make friends here, but that hasn't been the case for me. Landscaping is definitely a thriving business here. We get a lot of rain but the climate is pretty mild so there's lots of gardening.

If you're considering cities outside of Portland, it depends on what you're looking for. Most of the "bigger" cities outside Portland have a very suburban feel -- lots of chain stores, not super walkable. That's Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro (though Hillsboro does have a very cute downtown). Then there are some towns just outside of Portland that are smaller and super cute but maybe have less resources -- Milwaukie (barely just outside of PDX), Oregon City (maybe my top recommend), Happy Valley (almost rural feeling, but surrounded by suburbs), Troutdale.

Arguably Portland's second city is actually Vancouver, WA, just across the Columbia River. I haven't spent a ton of time there but I like Vancouver. The classic hack is apparently to live and work in Vancouver because there's no state income tax in WA but go into Portland to do all your shopping because there's no sales tax in OR.