Big Baltimore book news! Grant winners! A new newsletter segment!

(Image by sweatermuppet, maker of incredible trans stickers.)

Hey friends,

Hope you’re all hanging in there. We haven’t had a normal newsletter in a few weeks, so before we get going, I’d like to belatedly thank everyone who sent Sag season mail—a true bright spot in a deeply weird holiday season. Special shout-out to these fun handmade cards:

And speaking of mail, I just sent out 100 patreon rewards to the new and new-ish patrons who hadn’t received stickers yet, and I’m just going to let you know right now: if I messed up your name or address, it’s because I was simultaneously watching Heated Rivalry and thus not paying SO much attention. I’m sorry!!!!! But you get it!!!!!! (Relatedly, sorry if I have quoted this at you in the last week but I will not stop.)

In breaking books news, I will be at Red Emma’s in Baltimore on February 12 for a Sex Change and the City book event. This is a direct response to your demands (you = approx. 5-6 newsletter readers) and I am excited to see you there! We haven’t nailed down an “in conversation with” partner yet, so feel free to hmu if you have a connection to a Local Queer Writer of Note; in the meantime, you can RSVP now here!

I will also be at Astoria Bookshop on Jan 20 to moderate someone else’s Fast & Furious book event, so I guess come if you wanna see me antagonize an audience of heterosexual Fast & Furious fans????

Idk bbs, it feels Bad—as always and even more so than usual—to be doing Promo when every single thing in the world is so sad. Here’s one good thing, though: we just wrapped up our biggest grant cycle ever, distributing $16,000 to 20 amazing groups across the United States, Uganda, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan, and Canada. Huge! (Also, we started with only $7,500 in grant funding, but individual grant donations covered the rest! Soooo generous, thank you everyone!)

Okay, let’s do Links & Stuff.

• I love that CrimethInc’s list of how-to guides is like: understanding riot munitions; responding to gunshot wounds; preventing doxxing; producing DIY estrogen! Truly all our needs covered.

• Find your regionally-specific How To Report ICE mini-zine here and print a bunch out! (Most are also available in Spanish.)

• On “thermochauvinism” and our bias against hot places

• Beautiful prose in Susan Choi’s remembrance of the bygone days of fact-checkers and magazines

• Not to lib out but lol.

• Two nights at Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s Steakhouse bc why not!

• Finally, here’s a fun TikTok of Welsh drag queens playing rugby against men.

Also, maybe this won’t stick around but I’m going to try a little Reading/Watching/Listening corner in the newsletter because it was so fun to talk about books with y’all last week. Here’s the inaugural R/W/L:

• Reading: Persona by Aoife Josie Clements (new LittlePuss title!), David Rakoff’s Half Empty, and Alex Krokus’s dead dad graphic memoir (love it recommend it!)

• Watched: All of Over the Garden Wall while I was conked out with norovirus.

• Listening to: “Honey” by Laura Stevenson and also David Byrne’s cover of “drivers license”

Okay, that’s it for this week. Thanks for being here. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb.

And also Puffin, ofc.

Xo,

Yr resident gender detective