EEDA Newsletter Vol 6, Res 2: Trans People & Sports, LA Fires, & a New Project Announcement
This is a public issue of Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice. Feel free to share it!
Hi friends! There is so much going on in the world and in this country and I don’t even know where to begin. Monday is MLK Jr. Day and we’re off work, thankfully. It’s also the presidential inauguration and many of us are on high alert. Please take care of yourselves how you see fit.
Today is another resource issue because there are timely resources to share. Before I get to that, I want to share the fundraising links for friends who lost everything in the Eaton Canyon fire as well as for the stables owned by Nicole’s aunt, which were also struck by the Eaton Canyon fire.
Support Dennis & Shannon: Dennis worked at the comic shop I would go to weekly when we lived in Pasadena. For anyone who has a relationship with their local comic shop, you understand how you can get to know the people there and they become a part of your [weekly] life.
Help Eli Mendelson After Wildfire Loss: I met Eli when I first started in Prospect Research down in Pasadena many years ago. We went on to serve on a board together for the professional org for my day job. He’s a damn good person.
Help Rebuild Eaton Dam Stables Barn: Nicole’s aunt has had these stables for decades and it is an integral part of the equestrian community down there. They safely evacuated 39 horses, 12 chickens, and 2 cats. Absolutely harrowing. I think it was only a couple of years that Nicole and I had been dating and one of the horses had a baby and Nicole brought me to go see it at the stables. Definitely a core memory.
I’ve placed an announcement of a new project of mine after the resources.
It’s a resource week, so let’s get to it!
Resource 1: Trans People and Sports: Everything You Need to Know by Julia Serano
Every once in a while, I remember that I live in a bubble where a lot of the people I interact with personally (not professionally) know a lot of the same information that I do. Remembering this, I’m going to try to be better about sharing some things that not everyone reading this may know even though it feels like everyday information for me. This article from the end of October about trans people and sports is one of those things.
Resources: Fires in Southern California
Note: I’m mostly hearing that people need money donations not physical donations, especially because of people not understanding that physical donations need to be new items and not a closet cleanout (I’ve since learned this too!)
For people in SoCal: I’ve shared the Mutual Aid LA January 2025 Fire and Windstorm resource list but since I shared it last week, not only has it been updated but a wonderful person has made an interactive map of the resources at Fireaid.info. It’s slow to load, fyi.
An Instagram post on how fundraisers should be worded to avoid potential conflict with FEMA assistance
If you’re in the SF Bay Area: Bay Area Hospitality Support for LA
Ways to help in lieu of physical donations (Instagram post)
There is so much disinformation and misinformation going around about these fires that the CA governor had to put up a website: https://gavinnewsom.com/california-fire-facts/
An Instagram post debunking some of the things going around (images, videos)
LEARN: This Instagram account has a lot of information about the incarcerated people who make up some of the firefighters. If you prefer an article then please read this one: ‘Essential’: nearly 800 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires
YK Hong is always sharing phenomenal resources on Instagram so these following lists (relevant to the LA fires) are from them:
Altadena was a historically Black community; here is a list of all the fundraisers that need support tiny.cc/rebuildAD
To help Domestic Workers bit.ly/workersLA
How to put funds on the books for Incarcerated Folks on the front lines of the 2025 LA fires bit.ly/fund-jpay and how else to support them bit.ly/freeTHEM
To help the LA Pilipino community tinyurl.com/bdrforla
Fundraisers for Latine folks bit.ly/placeAD
LA Day Laborers, Migrant Workers, and Immigrants bit.ly/laborLOVE
Fundraisers for Disabled folks tinyurl.com/m6kzkec2
Support for deaf and disabled folks bit.ly/otg-donate (and to request help: bit.ly/otg-request)
This fundraising list focuses on the BIPOC families affected by the Eaton Fire
Tracking Rental Price Gouging in LA via Info4Renters, which has a linktree with many helpful related resources
Okay, this is all I’m sharing for now in this medium. I always share tons of resources in my Instagram stories and you’re welcome to follow me there @theinfophile.
New Project: Optimistic Hoarder
My mother was aggressively happy and extremely sad. She bought, collected, scavenged, and hoarded when she was joyful and when she was depressed. She passed suddenly in March 2023, leaving a lifetime of belongings in multiple caches.
This newsletter is my attempt to make sense of things as I, her only child, sort through them one box at a time.
Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice is not the right place for these essays so you can find & subscribe to Optimistic Hoarder here: https://buttondown.com/optimistic-hoarder. I do not know how frequently I will write nor do I know if I will ever paywall it (currently, sign-ups are free).
Recent & Current Reads
Inclusion of a book in this section is not necessarily a recommendation and these books won’t necessarily be added to my Bookshop. Links are affiliate links.
Recently Read:
Everything I’m reading is a slow read so I haven’t finished any books since last week
Currently Reading:
Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power by Tamiko Beyer, Destiny Hemphill, & Lisbeth White
What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna
Sleep Groove: Why Your Body's Clock Is So Messed Up and What to Do about It by Olivia Walch (out 1/28)
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown
That’s it for this week! You can shop many books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. In fact, any Bookshop, Amazon, or Etsy links in this newsletter are affiliate links so if you shop through those, it helps support my work. Or you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi, Paypal, or Venmo.
If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481.
You can find our podcast, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.