Minerva Victrix

An illustration of a black wolf decorated with pink, white, and light blue flowers. Hand-lettering around the wolf reads “Defend Trans Lives, Fight for Trans Rights.

I’ve been trying to use my art to be more visible in the world as a trans person, I hope it helps others know they aren’t alone.
Aspenhearted.com if you’d like this on a shirt or sticker ❤️🏳️‍⚧️

Yet, because of my credit score and the fact that I'm now technically a homeowner, I keep getting "preapproved!" offers in the mail that will not actually approve me. Like, 2-3 a week sonetimes.

Also, while I'm here, credit is a scam.

This means they calculate that my debt to income ratio is like 250% (despite me having $0 payments right now). This is apparently the standard way to calculate such situations, and bankers are not allowed/able to ignore my loan in considerations, despite that being 1) incorrect and 2) my only debt.

Finances are ridiculous. I have a decent credit score. I have a steady income. However, I cannot get any sort of credit card or loan approval because my student loans are paused (I'm a full-time student). Since I have NO payment, banks and lenders automatically assess my payment at 1% of the loan.

Meeting went well. My advisor is literally the most supportive person on the planet. I am so fortunate!

Now to try to sleep (after three Monster coffees, I am yawning my head off lol)

Guess who hasn't been to bed yet?

Oops.

I'll sleep after my meeting with my advisor...at 10am 😅

Just wasted 2+ hours digging out, setting up, and logging onto my old PC, certain the document I needed would be there.

It wasn't lol

Today the United States wasted another #1B on an illegal war in Iran, money that could have been spent on funding health care or providing SNAP benefits or cancer research or academic scholarships for minorities. I could go on and on but I think you get my point. #endtheiranwarnow

And since it works so well and no one questions it, I then start wondering "am I really actually stressed? am I being dramatic? am I a horrible liar?"

Which, of course, only makes it all worse.

The weirdest part for me about masking is that it become such second nature that I sometimes question if I'm even experiencing anything.

Like, right now, I'm very close to spiraling because of stress, anxiety, and worry--but I can't let people SEE that, so I put on my best normal!Minnie performance

How's the job hunt going, Minnie?

Oh, you know...just got my fourth rejection. No one has asked for more materials, I've had 0 interviews, and there are candidates on the market in my exact field who've had a decade+ in tenure-track positions but who now need new places. So yeah...it's going SWELL.

So, hivemind...tell me about where you live. Do you like it? How's the cost of living? Are there any jobs (preferably in higher ed, but I know it doesn't pay to be too nice about that right now).

I'm interested in opportunities to go somewhere new, assuming we can support ourselves and ensure options for a good high school experience. If I had my druthers, we'd go to Ireland or the UK, but that's a wish more than a possibility.

We have the option to return to my childhood home in NC, which tempts because that means no rent, and it would be kinda cool to see my daughter go to the same high school I did (when I was in high school, I was certain I'd never want kids at all, lol)

My advisor told me, amongst other things, that the absolutely shit state of the job market might make this the best time to do something new and just pick a place that we want to live, since getting a job is equally impossible anywhere.

My advisor described my work as having a "gossipy curiosity" vibe, and I kinda love that.

Why am I now, in the final full semester of my dissertation, deciding that I should be doing history instead of literature??

I hate it here lol

Full disrespect; if you're a rapist or a child molester, I want you to lose everything. Your money, your position, your privilege, your freedom. All of it.

If the system would crumble because abusers are brought to justice, it doesn't deserve to stand.

Burn it all to the ground. I have matches.

Jerrod Carmichael or Chris Lane

Reposting with alt text!

The SAVE Act isn’t about voter ID.
It is a weapon aimed at voter registration.
No passport? No birth certificate in your hand?
You are shut out. Women, students, military families, low income Americans get hit first. Republicans know it.
Call 202-224-3121. #HandsOffHerVote

A canvas spattered with paint in the form of a trans-inclusive rainbow with pink, white, and blue leading into black and brown, and then ROYGBIV rainbow colours. Across the image is a quote from @ltteoal that reads "'LGB without the T' is a farce. If you want the rights but not the T, you missed the point entirely. Trans people built this movement. You don't get to rewrite it."

No LGB without the T!

A map of the Midwestern United States, with the cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Toledo labeled 1,2, 3, and 4, respectively.

I need someone to explain the USPS shipping system to me like I'm 5.

Why on earth did my package go from the UK to Chicago to Cincinnati to Detroit, to then just have to be brought to Toledo?

Also, why did it take longer to get from Cincinnati to Detroit than from the UK to Chicago??

"When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row."
~Alice Paul

Whenever I feel like I'm a bad instructor, all I need to do is visit r/professors, and I suddenly feel better about myself and my work.

Hive-mind: with the job market being the garbage fire that it is, how does one go about getting into a new line of work in this day and age? If employers don't even seem to want to hire qualified, experienced people, how do you then convince someone to hire you for a job you HAVEN'T done before?

It will never not be funny to me to see people from clearly enfranchised, majority identities suddenly understand that representation matters once they don't see themselves represented by default.

No, cishet white dude, no one is "erasing" you by representing queer/trans/Black/POC/indigenous folks.

"...and the man who looks on the Stars and Stripes and doesn't hold a right to say nay to his neighbor, even if the neighbor is of the larger party, has forgotten the history of his country."
~Woodrow Wilson

"We forget that there is much more patriotism in having the audacity to differ from the majority than in running before the crowd; we forget that in the resistance of the minority some of the biggest things in our own history have been accomplished..."

“It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.”
~Molière