Cassie (she/her)

@mosquitochaser.bsky.social

Queer entomologist. Poet. Sometimes editor. Dog rescue worker (in MS with some transport potential, especially between MS and ME, please ask). Life is strange and long.

The dog in my profile picture is John. He’s an absolute sweetheart with a big head and a big appetite and three legs and a love of walks and treats and all the cuddles. This man does not want to live in a kennel. He wants a couch and a kitchen and someone to hug him. He is the best.

My current profile pic dog is Mama. She’s not yet available bc she had scabies when 1st picked up with her puppies & she’s still healing. She’s the sweetest dog. I need her to not be stuck so I’m promoting her mildly, now. The paw stretch is bc I stopped petting her to take the pic. She’s a LOVE.

The dog in my current profile picture is Buddy. He’s the absolute sweetest and he’s available for adoption. He loves treats and attention and he seems like he’d pull you over, but as soon as he’s got a leash on he’s just checking on you constantly. He is the best. If I could take him home, I would.

It's Pride Month, so once again here's Sappho's Reply, one of the most powerful queer poems ever. Written by Rita Mae Brown at the height of the post-Stonewall struggles, it's the origin of "an army of lovers shall not fail/cannot lose." Y'all, we are going to win.

A photo of Rita Mae Brown's poem "Sappho's Reply"

"My voice rings down through thousands of years
To coil around your body and give you strength,
You who have wept in direct sunlight,
Who have hungered in invisible chains,
Tremble to the cadence of my legacy:
An army of lovers shall not fail."

i wrote this in 2018, after John Kelly defended Rob Porter, a Trump aide, even after everyone saw photo evidence of him beating the women he was married to. I hate how relevant this piece still is.

to sully a man's good name

what dirties a man is not:
the photographs of wives he beat
nor stifling her screams.
everyone does it.
how dare her black eye look accusing! how could she when we know boys break their toys and bury them. men break their wives. some bury them. oh sweetheart, it's the way of the world. don't get so angry.i am not angry. i am well on my way to breaking this world.
i will light my sword afire to build paradise.
i speak directly to the angels and they said to tell you to fuck off.when we are young we keep sweet hearts unsafe, fragile in our ribs.
desperate then and now to stretch our arms, leave cages
dip in toes. just try.
the devil does not wear your face; if i said hell lived in you you'd be getting off so easy. evil is banal and demons are busy.
the urge to break those ribs and rip our hearts began with you.i hope justice beats you with her scales. i will strangle you with her blindfold.

::stares in Hegseth tattoos:: But the point is that nobody serving in government should have Nazi tattoos? And maybe none should be repeating Nazi rhetoric? Or excusing the atrocities of the Holocaust? Or rephrasing Nazi goals? Actually, full out rejecting Nazis should be everyone’s goal…

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“We asked two Republicans which party has a worse antisemitism problem, and they both said the other party. Checkmate, libs!”

“Fetterman, McCormick agree Democrats have worse antisemitism problem than GOP
‘We don’t have many people in the Republican Party who are running for office with Nazi tattoos on their chests,’ McCormick said, referring to Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner”

Secondary traumatic stress rolls up FAST when you stack trauma on previously unmanaged trauma. So...a bad thing happens and you struggle. The bad thing goes away. You feel better. The bad thing or something like the bad thing comes back and whew the stress comes pouring in.