Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Dissertation Research: Tumblr, Language, & Political-Ethical Practice
Hi Tumblr!
I’m a graduate student in linguistic anthropology conducting doctoral dissertation research – the focus of which is the different ways people use language on specific social media platforms and how that relates (or not) to political and ethical stances and practices.
I’ve created a questionnaire that asks about political-ethical stances, Tumblr, and language and I would absolutely love to get as many responses as possible.
Therefore, if you are at all interested, I would be delighted if people would click through the link below and take my questionnaire :D If you can’t or aren’t interested in taking the questionnaire right now, but would be willing to reblog this post or share the link with any friends who use Tumblr, that would also be much appreciated!
**For those of you who took my preliminary survey last year, this is a more fleshed out version with some additional and restructured questions. I would be delighted if you completed this one as well. However, if the idea of doing another survey sounds just the worst (which, fair enough lol), but you do still want to participate in my research, simply follow the link and choose the third option on the introductory page. That will send you to the final page where there is a list of other ways to participate in this project and you can check off those in which you might be interested.
Have any questions?
More details can be found on the questionnaire itself and on my FAQ page. You are also welcome to email me (howdoyoutmblr at gmail dot com) or send me an ask/message on my blog.
THANK YOU <333 I am so grateful for any responses that I get and so excited to hear all of your thoughts about this topic!
"Scissors"
The bad part about being a person who menstruates with colitis potentially having a flare up is not knowing where the blood is coming from!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"At seventeen, I started to starve myself I thought that love was a kind of emptiness And at least I understood then the hunger I felt And I didn't have to call it loneliness"
Subway Eye Contact
I stare at you slightly longer than I should and notice
how your hair falls above your shoulder on
one side and flows far below on the other. you
look up, we lock eyes for a moment too long to
be a meet-cute and a moment too short to
worry about being murdered. Now I'm slightly
on edge, and this train is tilting so that I lose my
balance and fly into the pole, ram my hand against
its cold and hit your chest with my fingers. I stutter
what should be an apology with the little voice
I have left, move my hands higher and look back at
you. our eyes never meet again.
The man, not the monster
the burn on my skin looks like
a pink patch sown down
with a slightly lighter pink thread
that criss crosses in a stich I never
learned because I never bothered
to try hard enough. (I was taught though:
I found that the white threads
are the thinnest. I could never
get them through the hook.)
it fades a little bit each day, the raised
mark becomes smooth.
soon it will be an
undistinguishable imprint on
a body of imprints pieced together
through a thin outer layer of memory.
quick reactions, fight or flight, are
what keeps us alive.
yet how many times did I have to learn
not to touch the stove when hot?
or the oven. this time it was the oven.
Sundays
this font doesn't make me feel not alone,
not when you type it into love letters
not when the words are a story
that anyone could tell
but no one wants to hear
again and again and again.
Tourists
on the weekdays they
ask which way is
Times Square while they
block the entrance to
my 42nd st subway. on
the weekends they
are swarming the Great
Lawn or enjoying
their carriage ride slower
than I can run.
if I ever need
a side job I will be
one of those bikers
who pedal so slowly,
earning one dollar
per minute while
hearing where they
come from, pointing
out every fountain
and bridge in the park.
2018 © daniel rojatz | austria
New פסח-exclusive genders: -The Wise Gender -The Wicked Gender -The Simple Gender -The Gender That Doesn’t Know How To Ask a Question
i absolutely love this article by molly ringwald where she looks back on john hughes’ writing and the misogyny (particularly the sexual violence against women), racism, and homophobia in his movies & articles. it’s so honest and nuanced and i love how she reached out to other actors in the movies to see how they felt about them.
At the Dinner Table
Lies are easy. They form in
the space between my teeth where
the mango threads stick and mix
with the red pepper flakes sprinkled
on my tongue. I breathe such a sweet
fire, I doubt anyone else can see the
orange flames, while I feel heat
that blows back down my throat
and lingers for far too long.
Why is my heart beating so fast?
I worry my stomach will eat itself,
swelling to swallow
when I'm too hungry to consume.
They call this feeling The Pit and
indeed it seems I have swallowed a core,
tightening my own and standing
straight upright, the familiar dizzying
emptiness that makes me think I'm starving
I worry my stomach will drown itself,
overtaken by thirst
if I ever drink much too much.
I'd call this feeling floating if
I wasn't so clearly cemented on the ground,
much too human to be light, my
mind acheing from the uncomfortable
fullness that makes me know I'm dying
Afternoon Commute
Every afternoon I remember
how to sleep with my eyes open,
glazed over at a screen of white
and noticing the subway has a new floor.
When I get on it is light out
But arrive home under a dark cyan.
A blinking light tells me to walk,
a light wind pushes me awake.
THIS FONT FEELS LIKE SHOUTING
the train moves the same way
as an earthquake,
bodies lurching with reluctance
and clinging to dear life
my eyes peel away from your face
long enough to look up
and see the smoke billowing from
a picture of a cigarette
the ads, in their branding, scream
in sans and bellow in serif,
THIS FONT FEELS LIKE SHOUTING
and it does what it wants
this row yells FIRE in a theatre
two cars down swims in the sea
saving your neighbor from overdose
is what it means to be brave
crowds of people, caring
for one another in helvetica and ariel,
telling poems and stories
of mountains that explode
but the font doesn't
make me feel not alone
letters rushed, crowding together
is the way we all get buried
Glitch
my body is not having
a technical error,
it is one
please excuse any delay
as I fumble for the parts