the calm before the

Today I am at home in Atlanta, enjoying the quiet and getting ready for Creating Change, which starts today officially but which for me starts tomorrow.

If you’re at Creating Change, please come introduce yourself and say hello!  I’ll be teaching a community-building workshop called “There Is No Wrong Way To Have A Body” on embodiment-based bias awareness and reduction on Friday afternoon at 4:45.

On Saturday at 1:30, I’ll be signing books at the Charis Books and More booth.  I note that from 2-2:30 I’ll be there signing at the same time as my good old wonderful friend and beloved colleague, S. Bear Bergman so you get two fat Jewish fabulous mouthy queers for the price of one!

Then at 3 on Saturday, I’ll be sitting on a panel of fabulous people helping to tease out some of the pleasures and politics of the last 40 years of sexual liberation activism, and talk about possible futures for our work as activists who work with, around, and on sexuality issues.

Right now, though, I am making soup, because my Philosopher has been sick with the flu now for well over a week, and though he is getting better, he is not yet Back To Normal.  I was at home in Massachusetts for the worst of his flu, but now that I am here, he is getting what I believe should be standard treatment for any cold or flulike illness, namely: The Soupening.

What soups, you ask?  Two of them.  Nice big pots of DIY Hot and Sour Soup (my recipe and method are at the link) and a matzo ball chicken soup.  There is no recipe for matzoh ball soup, or at least I’ve never used one, so you’re on your own there.

I have also, for amusement, explained what I do using only the ten hundred most common English words… more difficult than you might think, and an instructive exercise.  You can do it (or indeed explain or write about anything else) here, if you like.

Here’s how that turned out:

What I do:

I write books about what happened in the past.  I help people learn about why what happened in the past is important.  Sometimes I write about relationships, love, and fucking and how they happened in the past.  I help people learn about why we think the ways we do about relationships, love, and fucking.  Sometimes this helps people feel better or think better.  I like this part of my job very much.

I also write books about bodies.  I write books about how we can be nice to us and other people no matter what their bodies are like. I help people learn about being happy in their bodies. I help them learn that their bodies are good ones, even if they are different.  Sometimes this helps people feel better and think better too.  I like this part of my job very much too.

Sometimes I go talk to people about these things instead of writing about them.  We talk together and learn together.  I like this best of all.