What refugees pack for the voyage:
Houthayfa is not bringing much to sea. First, he hasn’t a lot to take with him – most of his valuables were left behind in Syria. Second, he’s been told the smugglers discourage taking all but the essentials. On such crammed boats, keeping the weight down is vital to keeping the boat afloat.
He’ll take a black jacket, to keep him warm during the nights. A big bottle of water, to keep him hydrated. As proof of identity, he’ll have his nearly-expired passport and a government booklet detailing his military service.
Reading The Guardian‘s Europe news has been my first stop for following the refugee crisis, but I would love to know yours.
What went down with Roxane and Erica Jong (Roxane is a SAINT):
Jong’s response began rather differently. “I also want to say that anybody who says that feminism is only a white thing is ignorant of the history of feminism,” she began. She mentioned blues singers, black abolitionists, and black female civil rights leaders, “who were all passionate feminists beyond any white women you could name”.
Jong said she thought anyone who claimed otherwise was speaking from “historical ignorance. “We have a long tradition of people of colour, of women of colour, being feminists,” Jong insisted. “A long tradition.”
When Gay agreed but reminded Jong that mainstream feminism has historically excluded women of colour, the audience clapped. Jong, apparently taken aback,demanded: “And I don’t know – are you talking about me?”
Gay answered simply, and almost consolingly, “No.”
In New York and Los Angeles, the simulated patients are often actors; here, in eastern Virginia, they are part-time or former professors, baristas, retail workers and house spouses, all contract workers paid by the session, and not extraordinarily so. Gliva-McConvey, the program director, said wages were confidential but added, “All I can say is, we don’t pay them enough.”
Vocabulary becomes hugely important to avoiding clumsy wording. Teachers are taught to neutralize sexual language — it’s a “table,” not a “bed”; a “drape,” not a “sheet” — and cut back on awkward phrases: Say “footrests” instead of the too-equestrian “stirrups”; “lots of pressure” instead of “this is going to hurt.” Students aren’t supposed to “grab,” “stick in” or “pull out” anything, though in the moment, instructor Kelene Williams said with a laugh, “sometimes neutral doesn’t come out.”
This lovely man, Rob Gough, who we just lost to cancer on August 29th, the day before his 42nd birthday, was a dear member of my family, and he did SO much to raise money for other people, and I would love it if some of you could help his wife and kids, who are obviously swamped with both grief and uncertainty, and this is a tough dang world. Prayers and good vibes appreciated too! But money definitely wouldn’t hurt, and it would mean a lot to me personally for you guys to help.
Beejoli Shah taked to Andre “Bubbles From The Wire But Also So Much Else” and they hung out and it was magical:
He continues to wind his way through the all-white futuristic display case, as an older Russian woman sifting through a nearby rack of sweatpants exerts exactly the least effort possible to pretend she didn’t hear Royo hypothesizing on the trendiness of his teenage daughter’s sexuality. In a space not much bigger than a shipping container, Royo has already canvassed the room twice, while running through his feelings on homosexuality (for), smartphones (against, he still uses a flip phone), and the neighborhood loveshack he used to run as a teenager (“The best!”). And we’ve only been shopping for three minutes.
My friend Carrie’s puppy is sitting on a couch:
Fun feminist web series Kickstarter alert! She’s a Friend of The Toast.
Game of Thrones casting season came late this year, but it currently appears to be in full swing. Days after Danish actor Pilou Asbæk was cast as Euron Greyjoy, BuzzFeed reports that unREAL‘s Freddie Stroma has joined the cast as Dickon Tarly, younger brother of our beloved Samwell. (In the Game of Thrones books, he’s supposed to be about 13; in real life, Stroma is 28, a year older than John Bradley-West.) Dickon has not yet appeared in the books, but he’s described as everything poor Sam is not: In the words of the leaked season-six casting breakdown, he is “athletic, a good hunter, an excellent swordsman, manly, not particularly bright, but the favorite child of the father.” Stroma is also known for playing Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter films, so this latest role does not seem like too much of a stretch.
WHAT! HE WAS CORMAC? WHOA.
Speaking of perfect things like unREAL, unREAL is perfect and you have to watch it right now.
Whenever I’m having a bad day, I read the wikipedia article for the high five. pic.twitter.com/RonWOFPSlY
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) May 16, 2015
