A Prayer for Transformation

From Jewish tradition, a prayer for transformation:

תפילה להפך – מאבן בֹחן | Prayer for Transformation, from the poem Even Boḥan (“Touchstone”) by Rabbi Qalonymus ben Qalonymus ben Meir (1322 C.E.)

---8<---
Father in heaven
who did miracles for our ancestors with fire and water
You transformed the fire of Ur Kasdim so it would not burn [Avraham]
You transformed Dinah in the womb of her mother [Leah, to a girl]
You transformed the staff [of Moshe] to a snake before a million eyes
You transformed (Moshe’s) hand to (leprous) white
and the Sea of Reeds to dry land.
and the sea floor into solid and dried-up earth
You transformed the rock into water,
hard flint to a fountain.[15]
Who would then transform me from a man to woman?
---8<---

International Transgender Day of Visibility

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility.  Here are some ways to celebrate it.

Scan a list of my QUILTBAG characters for some of my transfolk.  Of these, Calliope has her own thread, and Victor Frankenstein leads a series.

Have you posted anything trans for this holiday?  If so, comment with a link and I'll add it below.

Blogroll:

"Small Troubles" by zeeth_kyrah -- main character is trans

America's Gay President

Today I learned something new about gender history: President James Buchanan was gay.  That is so awesome.  Feel free to prompt me for that if you wish.

Sunday Yardening

Today is clear and chilly.  It rained a lot yesterday.

I fed birds.  Then I started clearing the dead leaves and stuff off the strip garden. 

EDIT 3/31/19: Round 2, I cleared another section of the strip garden.

Saharan Megafauna Dying Out

All of the large animals in the Sahara are either extinct or headed that way.  O_O 

Project Update: Common Bonds

Common Bonds: An anthology of speculative fiction featuring aromantic characters and centering platonic relationships by Claudie Arseneault has reached its first stretch goal to pay contributors a professional rate. With about 6 hours left in the campaign, they're $1000 from the next stretch goal of illustrations.

My Birthday Gifts

Tomorrow is my birthday. Since it's after sunset, I opened my birthday presents, a matched set of books:

The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes
by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws
by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

( Read more... )

Shiv Thread Page Updates

The previous batch of entries has been uploaded to the Shiv thread page.  The last batch of entries is now waiting for me to proofread it.  We're almost done!

Meet Ugly Bingo

I did not make a line this month, but I made 1 fill on my Meet Ugly Situations card and 8 on my Meet Ugly Words and Phrases card.


SITUATIONS

N3 (You were shopping) -- "Bitter Melon" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)


WORDS AND PHRASES

I1 (broke student) -- "The Diary of the Human Race" (standalone)
I4 (mistake) -- "The Responsibility to Make It Better" (Polychrome Heroics)

G2 (fight) -- "A Nation of Inconsistencies" (The Hollow Way)
G5 (dark alley) -- "The Line of Righteousness and Justice" (Polychrome Heroics: Officer Pink)

O1 (short temper) -- "By the People's Voices" (Polychrome Heroics: Officer Pink)
O3 (trip) -- "The Restoration of Order" (The Hollow Way)
O4 (rebel) -- "The Lowell Mill Girls" (standalone)
O5 (mask) -- "A Thousand Faces" (standalone)