please boost the signal

From the Dopp Juice blog, by way of bodlon:

“I want to build an online marketplace for gender-variant clothing solutions.

“Not a store where I sell to you, but a service like Etsy and Ebay where we sell to each other, in a focused, supportive community. And while we’re at it, we also trade all sorts of tips and inspirations on how best to look the way we want, gender-be-damned.

“You know what I’m talking about. Tuxes for hips and breasts. Size 16 extra-wide high heels. Custom alterations, custom orders, custom tailoring. Hot unisex indie designer labels. Hand-made t-shirts. That awesome skirt from your closet that doesn’t fit you anymore. A good chest binder. That amazing jacket you found at a thrift store for $5 that you want to resell. And while we’re at it, let’s bring in styles from every subculture that celebrates androgyny, which is pretty much all of them.”

Via copperbadge:

( Here, have an advalanche of superballs. Oddly soothing. )

Wishlist PSA

A lot of y'all have been posting wishlists of late; in a few cases, I've been able to fulfill an item or two of those. For anyone who might be feeling generous towards yours truly, there's really only one thing I want that 1) I can think of offhand, 2) I couldn't just buy for myself on Amazon, and 3) is at all attainable. (You'll note I'm not putting "A return trip to New Zealand" here.) Very simply, I love mix CDs/tapes; when I moved into this building about eight years ago, I had an entire box- fifteen years' worth- of tape/CD mixes people had done for me vanish. As it is, I've encountered a lot of great new wonderful music, and learned a lot about musical context ("Another Brick in the Wall" becomes rather a different song when played in conjunction with "Hooray for Santa Claus) along the way. So, yeah: if you could drop a mix or two in the mail to

Fred B. Smith
182 Graham Ave #2E
Brooklyn, NY 11206

...that would be wonderful. (My tastes? Fairly catholic- lowercase "c". It can safely be surmised that I'm familiar with, say , the Beatles; I probably listen to '66-'76 classic rock more than anything else; I also listen to everything from Mozart to Miles to the MC5.)

(no subject)

Once upon a time, I wrote this, about rediscovering the song “I’m Only Sleeping” years after first hearing it in the wake of John Lennon’s death. Five years ago, I wrote this, upon visiting Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park on the 25th anniversary of his death. There’s little fresh to say; I still listen to the music, and still mourn the loss of the man.

(no subject)

Via rm: Wild coyotes patrol Chicago.

Also, in unrelated news: first wave of holiday cards sent; first card received! Considering I was still sending cards in, err, March last year, this is quite pleasing to me.