Bullying

Jamel Myles killed himself a couple of days ago. Or, as the new vernacular goes, his will be listed as a death by suicide. It didn't have to go that way. Jamel was in the fourth grade and had just come out as gay. His family was supportive, but his classmates were not. I honestly thought we, as a society, had moved past this kind of prejudice. The kids I know are accepting and loving and would have supported Jamel... at least I think they would. I hope they would. But children can be mean. Adults can be mean. Heck, we're learning now that a lot more people wanted to be mean, but were just hiding it until some jackhole, flag-humper gave them permission to be outwardly hateful to those who are a little different from themselves. And so, a fourth grader kills himself. The press and some politician, some celebrities and some random neighborhood busybodies will lament the bullying, as I will here. But it won't do any good. As long as our society says it's ok to harass trans-children when they need to use the restroom, or shout down Muslims when they're trying to pray, or shoot unarmed black men while they're handcuffed and lying in the street, or to grab at women without their permission; nothing will change. We've brought out the worst of ourselves.

So You Think You Can Dance had a beautiful dance routine choreographed by Travis Wall. It'll probably get him his thousandth Emmy. I wounder if Jamel Myles had seen it, would it have made a difference?

Cute Animal IQ Boost

Everyone loves animal photographs. Well, everyone loves them unless they're a monster. Are you a monster? I like the photos of the photographers getting up close and personal with their subjects. These are ridiculously cute. Plus, looking at cute animal pics are supposed to raise your IQ. So really, this is a lot like studying. I'm sticking to that explanation. You can use it, too, if you want. I'm not actually a doctor, but I have a terminal degree and that's kind of the same thing.

Cute animals doing cute things.

If you were ever wondering how to take liberties with definition of words or phrases, you've just got to look at the paragraphs above.

Also, just so you know, it's a little clickbait-y. It makes me sad, but the pictures are good, so that almost makes up for it. 

Don't Do It

I miss Hyperbole and a Half. It was a super great blog, funny, insightful, and very well drawn. Allie, its creator tackled things that I cared about, primarily being awkward, weird, and the irredeemable use of "alot."
However, what I miss most about her, is the way she tackled depression. I don't know how she got through it in real life, but her blogs were pretty spot on. And, it simultaneously felt like a cry for help and an explanation on why she wanted everyone to go away. It felt like I felt (or, more accurately feel). It saddens me that she doesn't post on her blog anymore because I feel wrong reposting her stuff when she's not posting anything new. However, here I go, because this is how I feel.

Depression

So, yeah. I might post part 2 later. She's really good. I hope you're ok, Allie.