I am so, so proud to have been part of this, alongside BuzzFeed’s Jessica Testa and Tyler Kingkade; and all the brave, amazing comics pros who spoke up.
This is the sum of about three years of groundwork; and even then, it wouldn’t have been possible without BuzzFeed’s support.
Which brings up an important thing that I think a lot of folks miss in the furor of breaking accounts: Reporting harassment stories right is hard. Yeah, you can post prurient blind items; but making something stick, and making sure it has the potential to have the impact it should? That takes a lot of work; and it takes a platform and really good editorial and legal oversight.
The sea change of the last few weeks is huge: for the first time, the news outlets that have the resources to run this stuff care about it. I tried to pitch this for years, and got told over and over that it was too niche, or that maybe could it be an op-ed, or–you get the idea.
BuzzFeed ran this through the news desk. Not entertainment desk. Not arts. News.
And that?
That matters so much.
(My e-mail address isn’t visible on the post because of a glitch. If you want to get in touch, or have tips about similar stories, you can reach me at jay(dot)edidin(at)gmail(dot)com.)
I picked up a worm, and it wrote something in my hand with a tiny pencil. Unfortunately it was too small to read. An autograph? A spell? An angry note?
I’ve decided to line up with their writing and whatever they wrote appear to be…. phallic.
I don’t how to break the news with you, but, I think that worm drew a penis on your hand…. Congratulation?
Ooh! Thank you for this valuable contribution to the field of worm linguistics and/or art. It is still unclear to me if it’s meant as a rude message to me, if it’s just putting its tag there, or something else. Further research is needed!
I think the idea of it being a penis is anthropomorphism. I mean, the worm doesn’t have a penis itself, nor proper eyes with which to see one. No, I’m afraid this is something far more interesting: a self-portrait. You have been touched by an aesthetic annelid, and now your life will never be the same.
Now I will forever try to communicate with all the worms I find, but I worry that I’ll never meet this one again.
My name is Werm I liv in ground And thru the darck I skwirm around
The peepl tell me All the tym I’m farr too yuck With too much slym
@dollyp shared a story on twitter about refugees after the news of trump’s new ban (which has, thankfully, for the moment been stayed by a federal judge)
