I looked back at when I last posted and realized things have been up and down both mentally and physically over the last few weeks, which is probably why I thought it was only a week, maybe ten days at most since I wrote anything, only to log in and see it’s been almost twenty days. But don’t worry; I have a plan.
Let’s go back to the week of April 7-11/12
Despite dressing up a little bit more than usual on Monday morning in an attempt to give the week good vibes, the workweek was difficult. It wasn’t bad but it was certainly disappointing – so much that on Monday I decided to forgo whatever healthy option I had been thinking of making (I think it was chicken and Brussels sprouts) and instead got Arby’s (roast beef and cheddar) with fried mozzarella sticks. Even the deep fryer knew I needed something, and I got an extra stick in my order: one that looked like it was giving the middle finger to the world. Rarely have I been so “seen” by my fast food order.
On that Wednesday I got a bunny-shaped KitKat bar that was almost too good to eat.
Almost.
It was delicious.
Throughout the week Krystal kept reminding me that we had the local Renfaire to look forward to. We were supposed to go with friends of ours, but due to an unavoidable change in plans, we ended up going by ourselves. We still ran into people we knew, but it just wasn’t the same.
We’ve already marked off the dates for next year, so fingers crossed for April 2026.
We had a fun time seeing the harpists and drummers and singers and aerial gymnasts and other entertainment, as well as looking through the various vendor stalls.
This year the meaderies seemed to forgo the individual bottles and instead had either a pour or a wine-sized bottle. I had a variety called Raven’s Blood from Moonjoy Meadery.
I also found a leather leaf for my hair. I was looking at it and was seriously thinking about it and when I couldn’t put it back on the display I took it as a sign to purchase it.
The faire is a two-day event, and on Sunday I did a cosplay test of my D&D character, the Oath of Glory paladin and fire genasi, Kai Copperpark The outfit was great and comfortable (especially since I could wear jeans) and the glaive got a lot of attention – unsurprising since Krystal is simply amazing with props, but the hair just wasn’t right. It gave off Heat Miser vibes, or maybe Guy Fieri, but I leaned into it and had a blast.
Krystal even took a picture we called “Kai Fieri Defends Flavortown”
We enjoyed fried and a curry meat pie and then watched friends of ours put on a gymnastic routine – during which I got a great picture of Krystal enjoying the day.
That brings us to Monday the 14th, where I got several packages of books in the mail. The other week we went to re-read the Hunger Games series and though we searched high and low we could not find them. And so we turned to the used book market and found three hardback books in good condition, and while we were looking I found the finale of the Frey and McGray series by Oscar de Muriel.
On Tuesday I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Stuff You Missed in History Class, and host Tracy V Wilson gave an introduction that spoke to my very soul – so much so that I found a transcript of it online and now have it saved as a note on my phone, and share it now with you:
I’m not sure how time has already rolled us around to this point, but here we are with our quarterly Unearthed episodes. Again, if you’re new to the show, this is when we talk about things that have been literally and figuratively unearthed over the last few months. And as usual, this Unearthed is a two parter, and this time around, I want to start by acknowledging that while I was working on these episodes, I was struggling.
I’m still struggling, to be honest, and normally this is the kind of stuff that we would talk about in our Friday behind the scenes, but not today.
It’s not what we’re doing today.
First, the day I started working on these episodes, plainclothes federal agents grabbed PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk off the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, as she was on her way to break her Ramadan fast. I lived in Somerville for five years and Tuft’s University, which is where she was studying, that was in walking distance of my apartment in Somerville. So even though I don’t live in Somerville anymore, she feels like my neighbor.
So that happened on March twenty fifth. It was still weighing heavily on my mind on March twenty seventh, when President Trump issued an executive order called Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, which among other things, characterizes the Smithsonian Institution and its museums as needing to be saved from quote “improper ideology”. Basically, following the descriptions and the language in this executive order, our podcast is insane and full of improper ideology because we talk about ways that racism and sexism and oppression have always been part of American history.
And that followed another executive order called Ending Radical Indoctrination in K through 12 Schooling that was on January twenty ninth. Then those two executive orders have a lot of common themes. Based on that January twenty ninth one, our podcast is also not appropriate for use in K through 12 schools for pretty much the same reason that it’s quote insane, and also because we recognize that trans people exist, and we try to talk about trans people with respect compassion and dignity.
I sound angry because I am.
The next thing that also happened just recently was the continuing the reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy executive order from March the fourteenth. That one eliminated the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the maximum extent allowed by law. That’s like a way to shut it down without going through Congress to shut it down, which would normally be how that would work. It was reported that the entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on leave as I was doing the final read through of this outline before sending it to Holly last night.
There’ve also been other executive orders and actions by the Department of Government Efficiency that have cut other funding for scientists and other researchers.
And then there’s the removing the names and accomplishments of black people and Indigenous people and Japanese Americans and women and LGBTQ people and others from an array of historical sites and museums and Arlington National Cemetery and on and on in the wake of executive orders about ending DEI.
This is not even a tenth of what has been going on with this federal administration, and it might not even be a tenth of only the things that have directly impacted my friends and family in negative ways.
But this is some of what’s been happening that has most directly been connected to our work, and it’s made it kind of hard to focus. We do a lot of episodes that contextualize current political and social issues, and a lot of what we talk about is inherently political, but we have not really made a ton of explicitly political statements on the show.
Even without explicitly political statements, it really should be obvious to anybody who listens to us that our approach is rooted in a core belief that oppression is bad, and we’re all human beings and we all deserve dignity and equal rights, and a lot of history all over the world has not really lived up to that ideal. That is also true of the present.
But this is a history podcast and not a current events show. These executive orders and other directives are calling for a view of history that is focused only on patriotism and the idea of American greatness. But you can only arrive at such an interpretation of history by willfully ignoring a lot of stuff. It is not anti-American to acknowledge these realities, and it is absurd to try to pretend that they don’t exist and don’t still influence the world today.
Executive orders are not laws, and we are not federal employees, So in terms of what we write and say on the show, we can just say no, we will not be doing that. But also we rely on the work of museums and libraries and researchers from a range of disciplines, including the sciences, for our show.
That doesn’t just apply to Unearthed, but it especially applies to Unearthed because these episodes draw so heavily from newly-published research. Basically, I tried to pull these episodes together while the institutions I rely on to do it and the people who work at those institutions were actively under attack.
I don’t know what will happen to these episodes as researchers in the US the United States lose their funding, and as that loss of funding ripples through the entire academic community here, and as universities and other institutions scale
back on work that’s focused on people who are not cisgender, straight white men because of these executive orders about Dei.
It is obvious to me, though, that we will be
poorer for it.
On Wednesday April 16th, I found this poem by one of my favorite contemporary poets, Jay Hulme:
Wednesday was also our D&D campaign, and it turned out to be a pivotal moment for Kai. Kai willingly sacrificed himself to close a hellmouth to Azzagrat (the 45th, 46th, and 47th layers of The Abyss) only to find the flame within him is the same as the flame of that realm, and he was welcomed not as a victim, but as a much-needed heir to restore the flames of the Triple Realm, which has become a 1950s Leave It to Beaver/Smallville-type astroturfed suburbia.
The Tarokka cards Kai received in Barovia proved true: he is indeed something more – something perhaps no one could have imagined.
So, Long Live Kai Copperspark: the Layer’s Own; the Smoldering Heir; the Flame that Precedes the Throne (titles I just invented; not DM-approved)
And of course, you can always read the story so far and get to know my new and returning character, Leaf of Autumn. Leaf was a PC I played back in 2021 and was so happy to find a way to bring him into this campaign.
It was a shorter workweek; we had off on Friday – unfortunately I was sick Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday and so couldn’t enjoy it. At some point on that Saturday I bought a Tombstone pizza. Whenever I buy them I recall my grandmother, who both loved them and made sure everyone got an equal share of pepperoni when serving the slices.
I returned to work on Monday to find an interesting situation: Construction on campus has caused some geese to relocate, and they took advantage of no-people-for-three-days to set up a nest in the first median of the most-used parking lot on campus. The male was doing his duty by hissing and threatening to attack anyone and anything that came near the nest, which included every. single. car. (to say nothing of the people).
By Tuesday morning that section of the parking lot was blocked off and traffic rerouted.
I took a mental health day on Wednesday; I really needed it. I actually woke up earlier than normal but was able to spend the day doing small tasks around the house while also taking plenty of breaks.
Wednesday night was our Eclipsium game in D&D, and it felt good to get back to playing my Kenku, Rustle, after what seemed like ages.
Thursday I had a work event that went into the early evening. On the plus side, I got to take home leftover pizza.
Friday I went to work and did errands, and then today (Saturday) I did grocery shopping and now I’m typing this post, which I probably won’t post until tomorrow (Sunday).
I’ve got sweet tea brewing and Monty Python on the TV and things are good. Later on I’ll make fettucini with broccoli.
Sunday Updates:
I made fettuccini with broccoli and homemade cream sauce, sourdough bread with butter, and limoncello LaCroix (enhanced with gin and rich honey simple)
Also, what a difference two years makes! On April 27, 2023, I got what I still consider the best haircut I have ever had: it was the first one that made me feel like me. It was in preparation for my friend Victoria and I seeing Taylor Swift on April 29th, which is why I can remember the exact date.
I have not cut my hair in the two years since, and I really do like having hair this long, even if I don’t always know what to do with it.
I really appreciate my friends who consistently take the time to compliment my attempts, and I certainly want to shout out Krystal who helps me find brushes, products, and tutorials (and yells at my hair for being “too beautiful”).
Having her love and support each day – I can’t put that feeling into words.
How have you been?
Running In My Head 