It Takes A Village - Tumblr Posts

Here’s a list of times Danny has been spotted by the townspeople as Phantom outside of ghost fights!

1.) Laying down half asleep on a traffic light post, no one saw him fall

2.) Standing outside on the street during a big blizzard sipping what people are guessing was hot cocoa

3.) On the roof of Casper High looking at the sky

4.) In Casper High’s library browsing the outer space section

5.) In the park playing with a ghost puppy, who unfortunately kept turning into a large ghost dog and growling at anyone who tried to come close (it’s worth noting that Phantom kept trying to calm him down and apologizing, with the exception of Maddie, who seemed to make the ghost dog even angrier)

6.) Having a friendly chat with a large ghost wolf in the nearby woods

7.) On the street during a blizzard, waving at a large ghost resembling a yeti and going “Hi, dad! :D”

8.) Asleep on one of those couches in the local library with a book on astrophysics on his chest

Here’s a list of times Danny has been spotted by the townspeople as Phantom outside of ghost fights!

1.) Laying down half asleep on a traffic light post, no one saw him fall

2.) Standing outside on the street during a big blizzard sipping what people are guessing was hot cocoa

3.) On the roof of Casper High looking at the sky

4.) In Casper High’s library browsing the outer space section

5.) In the park playing with a ghost puppy, who unfortunately kept turning into a large ghost dog and growling at anyone who tried to come close (it’s worth noting that Phantom kept trying to calm him down and apologizing, with the exception of Maddie, who seemed to make the ghost dog even angrier)

6.) Having a friendly chat with a large ghost wolf in the nearby woods

7.) On the street during a blizzard, waving at a large ghost resembling a yeti and going “Hi, dad! :D”

8.) Asleep on one of those couches in the local library with a book on astrophysics on his chest

I am so sorry.

Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss, 7x01 It Takes A Village

Successful trans men

I wish I knew about men like these growing up, I wish I knew that trans men could be successful after a lifetime of never seeing anyone ‘like me’ excelling in life. So here are some trans men - some that you may have heard of, some that you may not - that are successful in a range of careers. Never let being trans hold you back, never think you can’t do something, never think there is not a place for you.

Ben Barres American neurobiologist for Stanford University and advocate for women in science. Barre’s research on the interactions between glial cells and neurons changed the way that we understand the brain and opened up a whole new field of research.

Stephen Whittle Professor of equalities law. Founder of FTM Network in 1989 and Press for Change in 1992. Whittle has been heavily involved in trans activism since joining the Self Help Association for Transsexuals in 1979. His research and activism has been instrumental in ensuring the rights of trans people in the UK.

Michael D Cohen Actor, teacher and coach. Making his break in award-winning Nickelodeon sitcoms Harvey Danger and Danger Force he was the first series regular actor to publicly come out as transgender. Cohen has a BSc in cell biology and a masters degree in adult education, teaching at his own acting studio and providing workshops.

Chris Mosier American triathlete and award-winning coach. Six time member of Team USA in both duathlon and triathlon, Mosier also won two national championships in racewalking and was the first transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympic trials to compete against other members of his gender.

Yance Ford African-American film producer and director. Ford received an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and was nominated for an Oscar for his part in producing and directing the documentary Strong Island which follows the death of his brother.

Kael McKenzie Canadian judge. Serving in the Canadian Armed Forces for several years, McKenzie later attended law school and and worked as a lawyer before being appointed as a judge to the Provincial Court of Manitoba in 2015. 

Shane Ortega Native American former flight engineer in the US army, former marine and professional bodybuilder. Throughout his career Ortega has served in Iraq and Afghanistan in over 400 combat missions. He has a long history of advocating for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the recent banning on transgender service members in the US army. 

Drago Renteria Chicano photojournalist and deaf and LGBT activist. Renteria founded the Deaf Queer Resource and is CEO of DeafVision - a webhosting and development company run by deaf people and the founder of the National Deaf LGBTQ Archives. Renteria has been instrumental in both creating and hosting many online deaf/queer spaces online along with being heavily involved in real-world activism for decades.

Phillipe Cunningham Elected city councillor for ward 4 Minneapolis and previous special education teacher, Cunningham holds a masters degrees in Organizational Leadership & Civic Engagement and in Police Administration and is passionate about tacking inequalities in his community. 

Breaking News!

There is a young boy at my school.  I have no idea what he has been through for the past several months.  All I know is that his grandfather now has custody of a two-year-old, a four-year-old, and a six-year-old (my student).  These kids haven’t been in school since it shut down back in March of 2020.  Grandpa owns his own company…a small one-person kind of company.  He can’t afford to feed and clothe these kids. Mercifully this little guy has a decent coat and sneakers.

My school provided a backpack.

His other teacher provided school supplies.

I bought him masks and hand sanitizer.  His teacher showed me a picture of him with a messy faced grin as he ate his breakfast. One of the masks I got him hung just under his chin.  It was dark blue with stars and rocket ships.  I’m so happy I could put a smile on this boy’s face!

Now if only I could get him to like reading…

Random thought spawned by TikTok: Successful multigenerational parenting should take notes from Star Trek.

The captain and first officer are the command team: they decide (within reason) where the ships going, how fast it moves, how it gets there etc. They call the shots and the buck stops with them. They are ultimately responsible for the ship. And they may switch roles as the situation calls for it, with first officer becoming captain as needed, but at the end of the day they operate as a team.

These are the parents.

But if you’ve set up your village correctly, they can be the bridge crew. Experts in their field, ready with advice, options and to provide support. Sometimes the captain shouldn’t make a decision before checking in with one of them for their knowledge or advice. But no matter what advice they get, the command crew should be confident in making their decisions because it’s what they think is best. They’ll have to justify it later if the admiralty have questions, so they need to be sure of their choices regardless of who gave what advice.

And if you’re a member of the bridge crew (looking at you Grandparents) you need to accept that you’re not in the command chair. You might give your expert opinion and advice on a situation, but the captain is likely getting advice from multiple people and their decision probably takes all that advice into consideration. You (the navigation officer) might think the course forward is obvious, but another expert (the communications officer) has more information for the captain which you’re not privy to which informs the command teams decision.

And once the captain has made a decision, you can’t contest it. Like the ref in any sports game, their call is final.

For the ship to sail smoothly, the bridge crew needs to work as one, and support the command teams decision. And yeah, sometimes the captain is going to make a bad call. But then you debrief afterwards and learn where you went wrong. What should the command team do differently next time? How should they weigh or value different peoples expertise or advice?

As the bridge crew, you’re there to support command. Advise and inform yes, but ultimately to aid command so they can make the hard calls.

And giving them honest advice, to the best of your knowledge, and then aiding them once they’ve made a decision? That makes them more likely to turn to you again in the future.

And we can take it a step further - sometimes the command crew will be away from the helm, maybe injury or personal reasons. And they’ll need to appoint someone else (‘Sulu, you have the con’). They’re only going to pass that command to someone they trust can handle the responsibility. If you’re constantly questioning or overriding their decisions, how likely are they to trust you in the captains chair?

The ship works best when the whole bridge crew work as one. Every person is a valued member of the team, and at the end of the day the ship is the priority.

—————————————

Don’t know how well I articulated this but the analogy wouldn’t leave my mind…

"Lil' Lulu, lil' Lulu, with freckles on your skin... In and out of trouble but mostly always in!" Ed sang to the baby as she wandered down the hall with Lupin in the baby carrier, Ein at her heels.

"He's got freckles?" Jet inquired, glancing up from his bonsai as the trio paused outside his door.

"Nope! Not yet anyway. Not enough fun in the sun," She replied. "Of course you'd know if you ever bothered to hold him! Hold him, hold him, Texas hold 'em, aces wild - time to fold 'em! But don't fold the baby. They've got spongy bones but they'll still break if you aren't careful," Ed told him seriously.

"I'm surprised they let you hold him. Faye's been so adamant about having Lupin in her arms constantly that I've hardly even seen Spike toting the little guy around," Jet remarked. He didn't want to outright say that he didn't think Ed was responsible enough - or, well, capable of holding still - to be trusted with the newborn. "Where are those lunkheads anyway?"

Ed shrugged carelessly. "Hopefully passed out. They were both looking rough when Ed took over. 'Member after Vincent when Spike-person got back to the ship and slept for days and days and days and Faye-Faye refused to sleep at all because she was so worried even though she kept saying she wasn't?"

That had been bad, Jet remembered. It was the most hurt he'd ever seen Spike - at least prior to his confrontation with Vicious - and Faye had not handled it well. Probably that was due to Spike having gotten back in seemingly decent shape only to collapse down the stairs into the living room before he could find his way to the couch. Then again, that was likely the worst Ed had ever seen Spike or Faye since the hacker hadn't been on board after the Tower takedown.

"That bad, huh?"

Ed nodded, pulling faces at the infant in the carrier she wore. Jet was glad to see it was the one for the baby and not the one Ed had been using constantly for Ein. "Faye-Faye was a wreck, as Spike-papa put it. Ed took Lupin from her when she kept crying and then Spike-papa came in the room looking as tired as the egg-drink mornings. Said as long as Ed wore the baby and didn't run or jump or twirl or dance or swing or cartwheel or somersault or do *anything* other than walking the halls, well, it was okay." She regarded the carrier as she spoke, patting the fabric. "It's smaller than Ein's and Lupin weighs less so it's much easier than carrying Ein around. And Ed knows how precious baby Lupin is so no acrobatics or flailing about. Using this even lets Ed have hands free to give Lulu a bottle or shake a rattle in his face. He's mostly just sleepy though - kind of boring really."

Relieved to hear about the rules and Ed's clear understanding of the responsibility of wearing the baby around, Jet focused back on the name she kept calling the baby. It was no surprise she'd found a nickname for him already and really Jet wasn't too confused to hear her call the baby boy by a girl's name. Ed had insisted months ago that names were not gender specific, after all.

She had given her attention back to the baby after calling him boring and was smiling down at him while singing again. "Lil' Lulu, we love you-lu just the same - the same! Lil' Lulu, we love you just the same!"

"What's that you're singing to him, Ed?" Jet asked then.

The hacker looked over at him, grinning. "It's from a cartoon from even before Faye-Faye's time! About a wild child with smarts and heart. Ed will play it for you on Tomato later. Ein wants to go sit on the couch with us so he can watch the baby too,"

Ein gave a quiet yip as if to confirm Ed's statement and turned his little body around to head back towards the living room.

"You can join us, Papa Jet!" Ed assured Jet then. "Spike-papa and Faye-Faye might be dozing for a bit and, well, we won't make you hold the baby but Lil' Lulu is gonna be hungry soon and Ed hasn't actually made a bottle yet..."

Rising to his feet, Jet hastened over to the door, putting his hands on Ed's shoulders as they began to follow Ein.

"You just keep that kiddo in that holder, Ed - he seems happy there and the last thing we need is for him to start bawling again. I'll handle the bottle situation - I already had to help Spike figure it out once so I know what to do. We'll just find something kid friendly to watch on TV while the others get some rest, hey?"

"Hooray!" Ed rejoiced. "A nice quiet afternoon on Bebop-Bebop!" She grinned down at the baby who was blinking at her sleepily. "You'll learn that naps are everyone's favorite hobby on this ship, Lulu. Then you won't be as much of a hassle to your folks! They both love to sleep," She confided to the infant. "I bet you'll take after them one day!"

"Normally I'd advise against that, Lupin," Jet said. "But that would be pretty helpful. Try not to take after your folks too much though - they've got a lot of habits no one needs to emulate."

Ein, trotting ahead of them, yipped in agreement again.