When I was about 12 and searching the local paper to learn local rent costs. I was looking with the plan that I would move out at 16 and take my sister with me so we could escape the abuse we were suffering from our mom.

Disturbed’s cover of Sound of Silence is not only awful, it is an antithesis of the meaning of the song. Anyone who likes that version better than S&G’s arguably doesn’t understand the point of the song, and the fact that everyone holds it up as the gold standard of “covers better than the original” is even worse.

A close second is Postmodern Jukebox and their horrendous tendencies to take tempos to an opposite extreme instead of finding more meaningful ways of changing the genre of a song. I like some of their stuff, but the number of people who love their cover of Welcome to the Jungle is mind-boggling to me.

There are plenty of songs that I prefer the cover of to the original (Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’), or ones that just give the original a modern coat of paint without changing much else (Smash Mouth’s ‘I’m a Believer’), but these songs in particular are just awful imo.

If I am reading correctly, they are just pointing out that people regret all kinds of decisions that have lasting impact on life. To try to say that trans people in particular need to be “protected” from transition because of possible regret is acting as though that regret is uniquely bad, which isn’t the case. Hence why it would be gaslighting.

Avocados and peppers to make guacamole 😋

Either pumpkin pie or apple pie are my favorites!

Thanksgiving is for pies in my family, any other desserts wait until Christmas.

When recipes call for you to cook an item in a pan without first adding oil, they say to toast it to indicate that you are applying dry heat to it. For example, most Indian recipes call for toasting whole spices in a dry pan before grinding. That is also why you can toast marshmallows over an open flame.

It just irritates my mouth. May be oral allergy or just a reaction to the enzymes in the pineapple. It isn’t as bad as my reaction to wine and vinegar though, so I have to see more specialists to figure that out lol.

Not really? I actually get confused if people use mixed up idioms or other weird turns of phrase. It is really only this food item in particular.

I also like my ice cream to be soup lol! Pineapple on pizza is okay, but I can only have small amounts of pineapple. The rest are odd, but at least you know what you like!

No, we grew up in the same region of the same state and haven’t moved from there. Most of our friends are native to the region as well. I have no idea why I call it something different, it is the term I have used all my life. Even my sister calls it a ‘grilled cheese’!

According to my husband and all my friends, the weirdest thing about me is my name for a sandwich.

Apparently, everyone else calls it a ‘grilled cheese’. I have always called it by it’s proper name, a ‘toasted cheese’.

If you make it in a panini press, then it is a grilled cheese. But if you make a sandwich by buttering each side and toasting it in a pan on the stove until the cheese melts, then it is a toasted cheese. But every time I say ‘toasted cheese’, people look at me as though I have grown another head.

Yes, I even passed my driver’s test in a manual while needing to do a 3 point turn on a hill. I am almost 30, born and raised in the suburbs of New York.

I haven’t driven manual in years, ever since that car fell victim to black ice and a guard rail, but I have done recent test drives of manuals without stalling, so I guess it is something you never forget once you know how.

Cooking in general, and baking in particular. It is actual fun for me, and is actually stress relief as well, because it allows me creative freedom in a medium that I apparently have natural talent in. I make my own bread every week for sandwiches, bake snacks for my weekly board game meetup, volunteer to make birthday cakes for friends and family, and give out giant boxes of cookies every Christmas. I am always inventing and researching new recipes, converting recipes to accommodate various dietary needs, and trying to find ways to use ingredients I have lying around in a way that will ensure I don’t have food going to waste. There is nothing better to me than when I figure out what each recipe needs at each step and why, and watching it all come together.

I grew up learning to bake from my grandmother, and I inherited her passion and apparently her natural talent for it. I have a lot of recipes memorized, can eyeball teaspoon and tablespoon measures of ingredients with good accuracy, and can somehow get anywhere from 5-10% more out of any given recipe. If a cookie recipe makes 5 dozen I get 6 or 7, even if I am not skimping on size. If I make bread, it rises quicker and larger, even if it is cold. Making cake, I always have extra batter for a couple of cupcakes. It works out though, because I can taste test everything and throw any extra cookies in the freezer so that way I am better prepared for Christmas.

It is always amazing to see someone’s face light up when they get baked goods they love, especially if their diets mean they don’t often get to enjoy them. For example, several of my friends have Celiac, and seeing how happy they are to get things like butter cookies, crinkly-top brownies, or gingerbread is just amazing. It is an easy way to make people feel included and happy, and I get to have fun in the kitchen while doing it.

As someone struggling with this issue, thank goodness someone is working on this!

I had a previous landlord illegally sell a settled debt to collections under my deadname, which wasn’t even my legal name at the time I had ended the lease at the apartment. They were aware of my legal name, as they had been accepting my checks with my new name for more than a year.

Because of this one item on my credit history, I have been unable to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, or get loans because no one can verify my identity through the bureaus. I have sent several rounds of letters from myself and my lawyers to the credit bureaus and the collection agency providing the evidence that the debt was settled and demanding that they removed the item from my report, but they have refused to do anything to correct it.

Meanwhile, I know people who have changed their names several times due to marriages and divorces, and they have never had any issues verifying their information for financial situations. I am lucky to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t using my situation as a way to exercise control over me, but I know other trans people who have been forced to stay on contact with abusers simply because their abuser has financial power over them. Whether it be loaning them money when normal loan avenues fail them, listing them as an authorized user on a credit card and then threatening to remove them so they can’t buy anything, or providing them housing through special agreements because no one will rent to them without passing a credit check, there are so many ways that stuff like this makes life more dangerous for trans and nb people.

Stuff like this is intentional, unnecessary, and incredibly harmful for those of us who are just trying to live our lives.

As someone in New York, this is wonderful news!

Also, for anyone looking to get out of a state for their own safety, consider reaching out to a real estate company in the area you are looking to move to. Specifically, find a branch in the general area and call their office. They will usually have an admin or admin assistant you can talk to directly who will be able to help you find local resources, and they may even be able to help with things other than housing.

My husband is such an assistant, and he has already helped a family move here to escape anti-trans laws. There are plenty of us who are willing and able to help in any way we can.