When I was in ninth or tenth grade, I wrote an opinion editorial (“op-ed” in the biz) about how Christmas had become so commercialized. This was over thirty-five years ago, and I was such a naive child back then. I thought I had seen the height of consumerism, but I had seen nothing yet. I… Continue Reading
I have been watching several videos of autism and gender. Well, not exactly. I have been watching the first five minutes of several videos on gender and autism. The reason I haven’t made it past that is–there are several. In one, the woman repeated called herself ‘a female’ and women in general ‘females’. As a… Continue Reading
I don’t watch much TV. The only kinds of shows I really like are what I call gentle competition. Meaning, competitive shows in which the contestants are supportive of each other, rather than “I’m not here to make friends!!!” So, No Cutthroat Kitchen, in other words. I like shows such as Blown Away, Sugar Rush,… Continue Reading
I don’t wear a bra. Ever. I think I might have autism. Bear with me because I think these two things are related. Tenuously, maybe, but related, nonetheless. I also think I have OCD traits. This, too, is related. Let’s start with the bra thing. I hate clothing in general. It all feels so restrictive… Continue Reading
Roughly three years ago, I started having what I thought were menopausal symptoms. Before I get into that, let’s talk about periods. People understand them very little in general, and what is seen is that women get them every month for a few days. The symptoms include cramps. That’s about it. This was what I… Continue Reading
I think about the Dunning-Kruger effect from time to time. Probably more often than most people do. Not the Dunning-Kruger effect that most people know (people who are bad at something often underestimate just how bad they are or think they are good at it*.), but the second effect that no one ever talks about.… Continue Reading
There is something that is specific to online interactions that I find fascinating. I call it the online flounce, and it’s when someone in a community announces loudly and at length that they will leave if blah, blah, blah doesn’t happen in the group/community. Yes, in real life, there are people who will take offense… Continue Reading
In the last post, I talked about how I had basically found ways to work around my own brain. I don’t know if I have autism and/or ADHD, but the signs are there. Or at least they would be if I let myself react instinctively rather than how I have learned to deal with them.… Continue Reading
Autism runs in my family. My tbrother has it (undiagnosed). My nephew has it (undiagnosed). My other nibling sa it (diagnosed). My mother suspects she has it (iffy). I never thought I had it because I have a freakishly high EQ/ability to empathize, etc. I read social cues extremely well (whether I follow them or… Continue Reading
I don1’t know if this is specifically an American thing or a human thing, but, man, Americans really want to believe in the just world fallacy. When I was a kid, my mother liked to say that life was not fair. Which infuriated me, but she was correct. Life was not fair. It was life.… Continue Reading