soc_puppet | Ice cream and speculative fiction for progress

HEY, VERMONTERS. (Vermontians? Bah, whatever.) Also hey to people who are living within traveling distance of Vermont!

Ben and Jerry's is re-naming Chubby Hubby in their Vermont Scoop Stores to Hubby Hubby. Also, "A Ben and Jerry's wedding truck will cross Vermont, from which free Hubby Hubby will be handed out to the public."

So go out and buy some Hubby Hubby (and think of me! Or gay rights! Or. Something. (People in other places can join me in mourning that such an awesome event will not be taking place where we are. Hopefully someday, B&J will realize that eighteen months is really not too long to get Gay Marriage Ice Cream recognized across the US.)

ALSO! The Outer Alliance Pride Day has officially begun world-wide! (Hat tip to

jimhines). I may not be published yet, and for all I know, I may never be, but I am all over their pledge/mission statement regardless.

I'm drifting farther away from devout Catholicism every day, but one of the few things that has stuck with me, and, I believe, will continue to do so, is the idea that you use your talents for the betterment of the community, no matter how they express themselves. I'm a writer and an artist, so for me, that means writing about and drawing progressive characters. It means re-thinking the implications of actions that my characters take on a larger scale, as part of a bigger picture. It means educating myself the best I can to at least try and avoid mistakes, and then doing my best to either correct them or own up to them when I learn about them (because I will make mistakes, of that there will be no doubt).

It means more than just that, of course; like speaking up when I find out about things, both positive and negative, that affect the community, or when I hear someone using a homophobic (or transphobic or ablist or racist or sexist or anything else which is associated with a marginalized group) slur, even, or perhaps especially, when it's someone I love; it means singing in the Quire, and photoediting when I can; it means taking time to examine my thoughts and actions, and how they might be affecting others, and examining the entertainment I pursue, and the messages it might be subconsciously leaving me.

It means taking a break when it gets to be too much, as well, and not blaming people for not taking up a torch with me - it's an exhausting world, after all, and we all have to take care of ourselves.

Whatever else it may mean for you, for me, it means reaching out to other people when I can, whether it's to offer help, or to ask for it. Because, as has been demonstrated time and again, for all our flaws, we are all stronger when we work together.

And if maybe the only people who ever read or see my fiction/art are the people close to me, then at least I'll have made a difference for them. And if I'm the only one who ever gets to know these characters and their stories, well. I'll still have made a difference to me.

Wow, that kinda got away from me. Well, I'm letting it stand anyway - cuz it's my writing, and I might not feel horribly embarrassed by it when I give it another read-through later. Feel free to skip, either way :P

In other news, Lurker Day is tomorrow! I plan on wrapping up the meme responses for then (which means there's still time to suggest/request), and hopefully scraping together a few banners :) Until then (and even during and after), Happy Lurking!