Greta Christina's Blog (original) (raw)
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Content note: rape. Comment policy at end.
I was out and about today: going to the gym, stopping for coffee, getting groceries. Just a normal day. And every time I passed a man, I thought, “Are you one of them? There were 62 million visits to the rape academy site, in one month alone. Were you one of them? Are you, not just a rapist, but a calculating, plan-ahead rapist who conspires with other men on how to commit rape?”
I especially thought it of men in couples with women. Because the rape academy site specifically taught men how to rape their wives and girlfriends. And of course, I thought of the women I passed — especially the ones in couples with men. “Are you one? Does your husband or boyfriend drug you and rape you without you knowing about it?”
It’s really hard to sit with this. It’s hard to feel both how appalled I am — and how utterly unsurprised I am.
Comment policy: Do not try to console or reassure me. Right now that feels like gaslighting. And if I hear one whiff of “Not all men,” I will block you so hard and so fast you’ll hear the explosion on the other side of the world.
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My mom used to make homemade noodles when I was a kid, and I loved them. They’re homey, filling, and delicious. I recently got an impulse to try them myself, but since I don’t have my mom’s recipe, I had to try a few different ones before I found one that worked right for me and reminded me of home. This one comes from The Joy of Cooking, with some additional notes from me. It’s just a few ingredients and only a medium hassle: the biggest hassle is rolling and cutting the noodles. (I do tend to get covered in flour by the end of the process, so keep that in mind.) Continue reading “Homemade Egg Noodles” →
Content note: dentistry, fear of dentistry. Please note comment policy at end.
I have a serious phobia of dentistry.
Until recently I haven’t talked about this. I didn’t talk with friends about it, or even therapists. I rarely talked with Ingrid about it. I didn’t even name it. I didn’t call it a phobia. I just told myself I hated going to the dentist.
But I’m tired of not talking about it. My shame and self-judgment about the phobia has done nothing but make it worse. So I’ve decided to defy the shame, and speak up.
I’m dealing with this right now because I recently went to the dentist — for the first time in many years. Like I said, this is an intense phobia. And unsurprisingly, my teeth are a mess. My regular dentist can’t handle this task, she had to refer me to a specialty dentist. I need serious, extensive dental work, which I’m getting done under general anesthesia. I’ve had five sets of X-rays and scans in the last couple/few weeks, each more futuristic and science-fictiony than the last.
This is incredibly stressful. Continue reading “Fear of Dentistry” →
Patterned couch, The Alexandrian Hotel photo by Ser Amantio di Nicolao, from Wikimedia Commons
I fired my psychiatrist yesterday. I thought some of you might be interested in the reasons why. Here is my side of the correspondence. (I’m not publishing my psychiatrist’s side of the correspondence, because that seems like a violation of confidentiality.)
Letter 1:
Hi. There was something you said in our last session that deeply troubled me. When I said I was depressed and anxious about world events, you said there was nothing I could do about these things. PLEASE: When a patient is depressed or anxious about world events, don’t tell them there’s nothing they can do. Continue reading “Firing My Psychiatrist Over Politics” →
(I’m only speaking for myself here, not for anyone else.)
Dear Republicans,
Apparently some of you are having second thoughts. Recent events have led you to question your commitment to Trumpism, and even move away from it. A line has been crossed for you, and you can no longer accept the direction the country is going in.
Am I glad about this? Yes. Do I want you to step away from Trump and the Republican Party, to rethink the path you’ve been on and walk it back? Yes. As the saying goes: The best time to do that was earlier; the second best time to do that is now.
But as you walk back this path, you need to realize that it’s not going to be covered with rose petals. A lot of people are extremely angry with you, and we have every right to be. You have done a great deal of harm. The Republican Party has done a great deal of harm — not just in the last month, it’s been doing great harm for a long time — and you’ve been part of that. When you’ve hurt people badly, you need to do more than just say “Oops” and expect to be forgiven. You need to work to fix the harm you’ve done. And the greater the harm, the more work you have to do. Continue reading “Dear Republicans” →
No Kings Protest Concord, Massachusetts, October 18, 2025, C_09 By Victor Grigas – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=176953670
Why demonstrate?
There’s lots of reasons to do demonstrations like No Kings, and I’ll touch on a few of them. But the reason I’m really getting into is the one inherent in the word. We are literally demonstrating — showing clearly — what we think and believe.
Humans are social animals. We’re more likely to believe what others around us believe — or more accurately, what we THINK others around us believe. If our friends and neighbors and family believe capitalism sucks and Black lives matter, we’re more likely to believe that. And bigger numbers are more persuasive. Maybe they shouldn’t be, but they are. It’s easy to dismiss a lone anti-capitalist neighbor as a crackpot. It’s harder to dismiss the whole neighborhood.
A demonstration shows — literally demonstrates — what we think. And a massive, millions-large, nationwide and global demonstration like No Kings does this on a massive scale. It’s not going to persuade a hard-liner who’s opposed to us. But if people are on the fence, it can help move the needle. If people already more or less agree, it bolsters that position. It makes our beliefs normal. It moves the Overton window.
There are other reasons for demonstrations. They inspire people to other forms of activism. They’re a place to network and find out about specific other forms of activism. They give people courage to stand up and speak out in other places and times. They give people feelings of community and hope — and if you’re thinking that’s “just feel-good activism,” remember how hard it is to do activism when we feel isolated, despairing, and hopeless.
But I’m more than a little baffled by people who criticize big demonstrations for being “performative.” Of course they are. That’s a huge part of the point. A demonstration like No Kings is a massive performance — a spectacle even — saying “We all think this. We all think Trump and MAGA are vile. We are all scared and distressed by the direction the country is going, and we want it to stop.” And like it or not, that is persuasive.
(Originally published on Facebook.)
New glasses!
The vintage ones had an excellent long run, but they were starting to disintegrate. And I fell head over heels in love with these. Thought some of you might like to see them.
This is a guest post, a reprint of an article written by Tony the Democrat of Postcards to Voters, posted to their mailing list on June 4, 2025. And yes, Get Out the Vote campaigns are happening now, including postcard writing, with special elections and primaries happening frequently, and local/state elections happening this fall. Reprinted with permission from Tony, who’s been an atheist since he was in his late teens.
Why Write to Ruby Red Areas?
Yesterday, Postcards to Voters supported candidate Democrat Keenon Walker lost his bid to serve on the Hattiesburg, Mississippi City Council from Ward 3. It was a three-way race and the Republican candidate won with about 65 percent of the vote.
We knew from the first conversations with Keenon that his was going to be a difficult lift. He was doing all the right things on the ground including door-to-door canvassing. His list of voters was short. There was nothing else competing on our election calendar.
So when the results come in that lopsided, it is fair to ask: Why do we keep writing to ruby red areas?
Continue reading “Why Write Postcards to Ruby Red Areas?” →
I’ve just started a new hobby — painting boots! I have about twenty thousand pairs of black combat-style stomper boots, and I wanted to start dressing them up and making them more interesting. This is my trial run. I’m pretty happy with it! I have things to learn about the medium, but I really like how they came out and will be happy to wear them.
I just wrote this letter to Target. Cat pic for algos.
My name is Greta Christina, I’m writing to inform you that I’m cancelling my Target membership and will no longer be shopping with your company. I’ve spent about $1000 a year with your company for many years now, but that ends today.
This is a direct result of Target giving in to the Trump administration and scaling back on DEI practices. “DEI” is just another term for “fairness.” Target has essentially said that they are no longer willing to work towards being more fair — simply because they’ve been told to do so by the worst president in US history.
You used to be a decent company, as much as a large corporation can be decent. But you have ruined your legacy. You will now go down in history as one of the companies that, when faced with the decision to cave into pressure or stand up for what’s right, chose to cave in.
If you change your mind and rescind this decision, I’ll consider shopping with you again. But it will be very difficult to ever trust you again. I start my Costco membership next month. Goodbye.
-Greta Christina
You can email Target at [email protected].
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