These Were Coveted Precious Artifacts For Us Kids; They Were Talismans In The Truest Sense Like The Root

As if I have the option not to.

There was still such optimism about the future, then.

“Space station” by Denise Watt-Geiger, 1979.

Remember kids, the best way to embody important values like equality, inclusion and diversity is to maintain a prioritizing hyper focus favouring your arbitrary demographic based identity group.

Always loudly demonstrate your beliefs in individual human rights, person-first ethos, anti-nationalism, anti-communism, anti-ideologism , anti-elitism, anti-classism, by shaming and castigating others for failing to conform to this enlightenment which only we possess, and has forced us to always protectively act solely in the vested interests of our group in the name of justice for all.

Think of it as being part of an eternal elite Hive granting you purpose, clarity and a badge of untouchable authority. It is essential, if we are to prevail in having our truth dominate, that you see, think and act solely through the lens of our unified group's needs, feelings, grievances and agenda. If you ever doubt, remember that is your internalized misogyny. There is only being with us, or being oppressors and we won't tolerate them. Don't worry if it sounds confusing, we have it very clearly defined for you in our discourse that no one is allowed to debate.

Be proud, aggressive and fierce about it: devalue, discredit and dismiss dissent it is the hate from out-group voices who don't want us to get our way, they are distracting noise. Opposition shouldn't be allowed to be heard, it could confuse people. If they oppose us then they are by our definition, oppressors. Whatever their needs, or any challenge or question, always be swift in calling out opposition and use anything you can to silence it. Make our voice loud and overpowering, denounce them as haters, anything it takes. That is how you will have freedom to carve out entitled space and privilege for our group. Then you just continue to self-promote us under the banner of inclusive justice and equality that no one can argue against.

I know it sounds deceitful, hypocritical and impossible to pull off, but trust us, we've been doing it for decades, no one has stopped us yet and most wouldn't dare try. Demands and shaming, always repeat what works.

These days the revolution is just out for blood, they ain't making a single friend.

Kurt Vonnegut:

“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”

And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”

The force is with us.

Are you?

Here are some of the images I created for Topp’s new series of trading cards, Star Wars: Chrome Perspectives. It was a blast to make them, and I’m gratified that the folks who’ve seen them seem to dig them.

Yes.

EXACTLY.

I'm at the very functional end of the autism spectrum and I find randomness or change difficult and agitating. Sometimes, I do just have to say no.

What's tiring in the extreme is having to explain over and over to people who question every single time. It invalidates and devalues me. I find with cognitive, neurological, psychological and emotional disorders and conditions, people say they understand, that they are accepting and oppose stigma, but then do this "what's going on" confused, impatient, or disbelieving routine any time you show signs of a symptom or trait.

Worse, when you explain, they chime in again with their flaccid facile two cents on both the condition and my diagnosis. I've reached the point, I usually just want to reply with violence. Some ways I can flex, other ways not so much. And more stress = more rigid, less resilient. That's not complicated to remember.