Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

I do think that you're doing God's work in helping people of this community emancipate, as there's a lot of counterculture going on in some parts of Europe and the US and there's still a need for progress in many respects

I'm currently reading an autobiography about Malcolm X (The dead are arising), written by Les Payne. It's a great read and it's certainly interesting from a historical perspective in how structural and institutional deprecation could create an inferiority complex in the Afro-American community and how some people like Malcolm X tried to fight that system. Anyway, perhaps this is of interest to you.

Oh my God, you really went for a swim in what still registers as ice water to me - respect! - it sounds as if you've had a wonderful time.

I had a lovely Easter weekend myself and got to spend some time with my dad as well as a bunch of cousins and friends. My ears weren't happy at the end of the day, but, I guess, you can't have all.

We ended up having "Osterpizza" because everybody felt, oh, somebody else's going to bring some cake. I thought is was rather nice because I'm not the biggest fan of Torte. Too much whipped cream for my taste

It's great that you see it this way. The lack of fictional (main) characters queer people can identify with has been a sore topic for years. I remember talking to other writers at conventions and we'd all agree and say, yes, we've really got to do something about that. And then another project would get in the way and that was it.

Most of my stories already had queer characters in them, but more because I've always been of the opinion that it's the natural thing to do. We're part of this world, some of us very visible and others just quietly in the background and that's how I've always treated it in my books.

My little side project that got out of hand has an asexual main character. Being a demi person myself, my reasoning for picking a niche within a niche was, why leave it writers who'll at best guess at the A-spec thing when I've have the background and connections to know what I'm writing about

A Malcolm X biography sounds tempting, indeed. I'll have to remember it for when I go on my next book splurge!

Ey Leila, great to hear about your Easter. Hope your spike has settled down a bit.

Well, what I did is nothing compared to what a lot of people do on New Year's day. Have you ever heard of the Nieuwjaarsduik? lots of Dutchies love to swim in the cold North Sea near Scheveningen while only wearing swimming trunks or a bikini. It's a weird but fun tradition to start a new year with a clean slate, as it were.

I hope you'll save a slice of Osterpizza when I visit Germany someday. Never heard of it but it sounds delicious. Is it something like flammkuchen? Those thin crust pizzas are pretty damn tasty

It sounds great what you're doing. It certainly helps that you share your writings and stories with the world from your own unique experience and make the LGBT+ community more visible.

I really do hope that the collective project that you and your fellow writer-colleagues have agreed upon will catch on in Germany and beyond.

I had to look up the word 'demi person'. I never knew the LGBT+ community has so many subcategories! It would indeed be very interesting if you were to focus on that particular subject. I certainly think that it's a great addition to the literary world if you write from your personal point of view. There's so much that a lot of people don't know about the pluralistic nature of this community.

OMG, Christiaan, I had no idea our closest neighbours were crazy like that! So far, I've only known about Finnish people rolling in the snow after sauna or Russian people doing some ice bathing in winter - bibber, bibber, frier

"Osterpizza" was pretty much regular pizza with a dash of relabelling to fit the occasion (and hide the fact that nobody remembered to bring actual Easter cake). It kind of caught on, though, and people keep asking, did you have a sweet pizza with chocolate eggs on it?

My Italian friend said there actually is something such as dessert pizza in Italy. I've never had one with a sweet topping myself, but maybe it's something I ought to try. After all, we all eat chocolate spread on toast, how different can it be?

And yes, the LGBT+ community is larger than it seems. Fortunately, it has become a lot easier to identify as queer because the knowledge required to do just that (especially, if you belong to a minority within a minority) is far more readily available today than it was when I was a kid.

Yes, we Dutchies are quite silly when it comes to cold water haha. But I bet you have some interesting traditions as well in your own country, right?

Oh boy! I feel so stupid right know for thinking that Osterpizza is genuine German dish I do think this should be a new tradition that's worth keeping. Chocolate on pizza sounds delicious.

I know an Italian pizza restaurant around here where they sell pizza with Nutella frosting and some raspberries on top. Too bad it contains milk, otherwise I would have tried it myself

I'm glad that more and more people are more open-minded toward diversity in this matter. I've seen at my previous school, where I've worked as a teacher,