One of the coolest thing about being at FTB is getting to know many of my co-bloggers as people. Before moving here, I knew of pretty much everyone here, but through our extremely silly back-channel e-mail threads, I am getting to know what everyone’s like as a person (for example, behind his tough-as-nails exterior, JT is actually much tougher than nails #jtmeme). I don’t usually consult with my fellow FTBorg on issues of content, but I felt like I was leading with my chin a bit with Monday afternoon’s post and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t ignored anything important.
Well, wouldn’t you know, several of them not only liked the post, but posted about it themselves. If you don’t read all of FTBlogs (and you really should, because they’re all quite excellent), you may have missed some of these:
- Mano Singham offers another anecdote and his perspective on identifying and dealing with racism
- Richard Carrier talks about his own experiences with accommodation for the fear in others
- Stephanie Zvan summarizes her reactions (and the reactions of a couple of others) to my piece and explains why diversity is of value
- Greg Laden shares a post he had previously written on a similar topic
- Daniel Fincke does his usual meticulous job exploring the topic (and, as an aside, I so wish I had thought of the phrase “Schroedinger’s Racist”)
- PZ sends his horde (school? do squid travel in schools? is it ‘squid’ or ‘squids’?) my way
- Hank Fox bigs me up (and by the way, if you haven’t read his post Thank you Mr. Darwin. Again. you need to. It’s an eye-opener. I have it bookmarked)
This is in addition to a bunch of back-channel encouragement through e-mail from other co-bloggers. Words are insufficient to express how privileged (in the good way) I feel to be part of the FTBorg, especially when I am made to feel welcome with such an overwhelming show of support.
I should also point out that the folks over at The Good Men Project have cross-posted Monday’s piece. The comments are… not encouraging, to say the least. But hey, people are reading it. Sort of. Parts of it.
And my final thanks go out to the legion of commenters, particularly those who have been around for a while, who have been policing the threads. I was not expecting that kind of flood, and was not equipped to deal with it. Y’all stepped up big time to help smooth out the wrinkles for me, which I appreciate. I’ve left a present for you below the fold.
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Aww! A widdle otter for us? No, thank YOU.
Did you know that otters make the most annoying noise?
They’re super-cute, though
D’awww. You’re not just cuddly, you’re meta-cuddly!
Are you Joe Cocker?
Seriously, it was an excellent post that I’ve been thinking about ever since you posted it.
No, that’s libertarians.
If I may be forgiven a slightly sentimental moment – a ticklish baby otter is lovely, just what I always wanted (fer realzies!) but the better gift was a reason to thoroughly explore FTB and the archives.
I previously stuck to the bloggers I already knew: PZ, Maryam Namazie, Greta Christian, Jen McCreight and only occasionally read other FTB bloggers, usually from linked posts. Yesterday, I went kid in a candy shop and had my mind blown by the insane amount of intelligent, thoughtful and often witty content here. It was both the most and least productive day I’ve had in forever.
Thanks!
PS: How did I miss that Alanis Morissette cover?
So somewhere there exists a video of me playing “My Humps” as a hard-rock cover at an open mic jam in Kingston, ON. I was dared to do this by my friends, who also had me do “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “I Kissed A Girl” (which I actually still play from time to time).
Glad you enjoyed your stroll through the archives.
Oh yeah. That Hank Fox post is always worth another read.
As far as The Good Men Project goes, have you read this?
http://www.morethanmen.org/2012/01/16/what-happened-to-the-good-men-project/
Thanks for the link to the Hank Fox post! Excellent.
Oh, and thanks for the baby otter, too!
Finally getting around to reading your post. Sounds like TGMP commentors like you just as much as they liked me: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/patriarchy-messes-with-all-of-us/
…THERE’S A RACISM-101 GUIDE IN CROMMUNIST’S ‘ABOUT ME’ FAQ HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS SQUEE!
/fanbird
(*cough* seriously, I started wondering how much other blatantly obvious crap I was missing, like “boy” and “articulate” and being hassled by cops, and what are the 101-level arguments that a clueful ally should know… and whaddya know there they are! THANK YOU)
Thank you, Crommunist, for the link to Hank’s post and thank you, Hank, for the post.