so this is thanksgiving

went back to kck to visit the fam last weekend, which was stressful and depressing. everyone in kansas is married or pregnant.

did see a traveling exhibit of john lennon's drawings at the old ritz on the plaza. i didn't really know much about lennon as an artist before the show, but i liked what i saw. you could really see his style change and the subject matter shift as he grew older.


i especially liked the series on animals that he did for his son to teach him about the world.






Also, they had blown up some old clippings of news articles about a police raid on one of his shows in london for violating obscenity laws, for such works as this








in defense, lennon's lawyers compared his drawings to the erotic nature of picasso's 'the embrace.'

not sure if they meant this





or this







cool, anyway.

addendum

Just remembered the best part of the conference. We gave an award to Laurie Zabin, a researcher at Johns Hopkins, for her career in adolescent health. During her acceptance speech, she reflected on the change in atmosphere in the last 50 years or so, specifically the shift from talking about a problem of illegitimacy to one of teen pregnancy. She recounted meeting with a certain bombastic Maryland legislator who opened a session by barking, "WE CAN'T BEAT THE COMMIES WITH AN ARMY OF BASTARDS." so true.

life on the pita

oh my christ, its good to be home. spent the last week in bmore at my org's conference and i feel like i've been underwater for 5 days. took the amtrak home last night, curled up in the fetal position and fell asleep within minutes and awoke to station agent barking "union station! district of columbia!" inches from my scrunched face. hallelujah.

the conference went really well. i was in charge of organizing the opening panel session the first day and presenting a workshop the second. my panel featured 5 leaders in the field of youth development programming, including Kazi, the founder of the Hip Hop Project in nyc, on whom i immediately developed a debilitating crush. he was only supposed to stay one night and do the panel, but i convinced my boss to give him another night in the hotel and for him to perform later in the evening at the networking reception where everyone was milling about, looking at the exhibits and eating crab and brie filo off silver trays. we hooked him up with a mixer and a mic and he did some spoken word and a couple songs, complete with audience participation bits. it was great and i was beeming, but i kind of felt like an asshole, as everyone there including myself was dressed in suits, sort of gingerly swaying and trying not to seem as old and uncool and sooo not hip hop as we truly are.

on the last day, i met up with a friend who just moved to bmore from nyc (against the general migratory grain up the east coast) and had coffee and walked around Fells Point, which seemed like a quieter, less douchebaggy adams morgan. we even walked by the police station building where Homicide was filmed. i'm kind of stoked to know someone in baltimore now, so i'll have an excuse to get to know the city (my job's impending move there aside, god help us). it always gets me how, just by having tall buildings, other cities look and feel so much more like a real city than dc. effing washington monument.

but its good to be back.

tellem where you stay

Going to Baltimore til Saturday for my org's conference. Its going to be a rough week. I have to present in front of my peers and colleagues and as usual I feel like a complete fraud. plus, my coworkers are talking about getting together in the evenings to watch grey's anatomy, which makes me want to die a little. I've gone through all the stages, from denial to rage to acceptance. I hope I don't make a jackass of myself, all I ask.

also, can't believe i'm missing this ish today. saw LSS speak about her new book "unhooked" at P&P last winter. definition of batshit.

bleeding out

honestly, i dont love it

I'm at the American Public Health Association's national meeting at the convention center in DC. This conference brings together preeminent professionals working in the fields of adolescent, family, and population, and environmental health from across the us and abroad. Leaders in the field present cutting edge research in dozens of scientific sessions running concurently.

I feel like a fraud. Most obviously, i registered under a false name - my boss' - to avoid paying the membership fee. I also feel like I need to have a few more degrees just to know what's going on at all. And I'm totally bored.

Don't get me wrong, I actually do care about this stuff. Just today I've been to panels on risk factors for adolescent sexual behaviors, and how interpersonal violence has occupational effects in the workplace, and heard about advocacy initiatives for family-friendly policies at the state and local levels. Its fascinating and relevant and I'm going into this field because I love it.

But man, these people are fug. I know that public health isn't sexy, but come on, you're not even trying. I haven't seen this many white sneakers and polyester pantsuits and paisley scarves since the 'women of faith' conference came to the verizon center this summer (as observed swarming around chipotle in gallery place from a vantage point drinking 40s of OE at the Hotel Monaco).

what was I talking about?
Whatever. Not a girl, not yet an elastic-waistband, bridge and tunnel, I give up.

welcome to the trannydome