So sad. FTM cousin has sent out a "No drama at my wedding. Can your parents be trusted to use the right name and pronouns so I can invite them?" email to my sister.

Ugh, the constant tension. His sister and mother don't use the right terms, at least not at the beginning of the year. I don't know if they've gotten better. I hope so.

But then I realise that although I pretty much see him as him, he's still his sister's sister. So I have some work to do.

Two monkeys appointed station masters at Japanese train station

Nehime and Rakan, two baby monkeys, have started "working" at Hojo-cho station in Hyoto prefecture in a bid to attract more visitors to the line.

The monkeys, aged seven months and three months, were dressed in blue uniforms made from traditional local fabrics complete with mini hats before being formally appointed station masters and "special city residents" by the local mayor.

The pair will now go on duty at the station located on the Hojo-cho line, which currently operates Japan's first biodiesel fuel train.

The monkeys belong to a local resident who proposed the unusual arrangement in order to help revive the fortunes of the financially troubled railway line, according to the Mainichi newspaper.

It is not the first time in Japan that animals have found themselves at the helm of a railway station: Tama, the tortoiseshell cat, is famous in Japan as a longstanding station master of Kishi station in Wakayama prefecture.

Following Tama's appointment four years ago, passenger figures increased by as much as 17 per cent, while the publicity surrounding the unusual feline contributed an estimated £8.5 million (1.1 billion yen) to the local economy in 2007 alone, according to a study.

I want to shave the monkey's pubes.

This is one of those things that make me think about how much people must HAVE to transition, to set themselves up for the ongoing drama and hassle. You know?

In less fraught family news, I just wished my twin cousins a happy birthday on facebook, but I gave one of them an extra exclamation point. I hope they don't notice and/or care.

I want to shave the monkey's pubes.

I'm tempted to COMM this, as it's more funny out of context....

how much people must HAVE to transition, to set themselves up for the ongoing drama and hassle

Yeah. Reminds me of the sadface one of my Montreal friends gave me when it was implied homosexuality was a choice. "Why would I choose this over normal?"

I'm perfectly willing to have the "Behave or else" conversation with my parents. They tend to go for decorum over anything, but I do fear they might play the clueless card if there's any leeway. Especially since his immediate family was so slack about the same stuff for so long.

I realise now that I have absolutely no valid excuse to buy a new dress for the wedding. Now I'm just wondering how good my family's memory is. What if I haven't worn the dress in 10 years? But 11 years ago it belonged to one of them? How tacky is that?

Cute doggie walking on hind legs and carrying a teddy bear: [link]

A short story, made up of critics' blurbs about itself. [link]

Reminds me of the sadface one of my Montreal friends gave me when it was implied homosexuality was a choice. "Why would I choose this over normal?"

Yes. Aside from people being genuinely happy with who they are, if you were given a chance to be born into any body, wouldn't everyone choose straight cis white male, just for the ease? Anyway.

What if I haven't worn the dress in 10 years? But 11 years ago it belonged to one of them? How tacky is that?

Not very.

Ugh, now I have to do a boring task that I thought someone else was starting for me, but he did a truly crappy job. @@

I realise now that I have absolutely no valid excuse to buy a new dress for the wedding.

Well, suck. I wanted to vicariously shop some more.