The Weekly Infodump, 2023/09/29
Welcome to The Weekly Infodump, which contains a short write-up of whatever is on my mind. You are allowed to share this newsletter with others and I hope you will.
I'm in stealth mode lately, having enrolled in a parenting class (through our county's extension service) aimed at caregivers of "Charismatic, Unique, Nervy, and Talented" "Unique, Interesting, and Mysterious" Children on the Autism Spectrum. Am I successfully camouflaging? I guess we'll find out!
Now, a surefire way to piss off most autists is to say, "But you don't look autistic."
Some get annoyed on the grounds that autism has no "look," whereas I get annoyed because a.) oh yes it most certainly does and b.) I am it.
It is, however, true that the NT brain cannot consciously identify us; while on some level they intuitively sense that they are interacting with a Creature of the Uncanny Valley, they don't necessarily realize why they find us weird and off-putting.
Meanwhile, we autists are pretty good at spotting each other, due to an ND-specific Spidey Sense that I've heard people call "A-dar" or "My Spectrometer" or any number of clever names. My favorite venue for Spot the Autist is late night talk shows, which, due to the just-ended WGA strike, have not been on the air for months.
Talk shows are like a Voight-Kampff test with better lighting. Guests have to 1.) wear makeup and tailored clothing, 2.) walk across a stage (with musical accompaniment, fml!), and 3.) sit in a chair, which – trust me! -- is MUCH harder than it sounds.
(podcasts) I survive my day job largely by listening to the world's most low-effort, least consequential podcasts. Which brings me to Strike Force Five, which involves 5(? tbh, there could more OR fewer, I have some audio processing issues) late night hosts who do a podcast to support their out-of-work writing staffs (staves? idk).
Setting aside the obvious question of "why do these actual millionaires not simply give their own money to their writers?", I tuned in hoping for some Hot Labor Goss, which it seems I will not get.
Also, because I live for NT chaos, I thought there was an above-average chance, given the demographic of the hosts (white, cishet, middle-aged, majority Catholic), that, once thrown together without a regular work schedule but presumably with daytime access to alcohol, they would turn on each other, which also would have been acceptable!
Despite my clinically documented resistance to change, I am actually quite flexible in this respect.
However, I'm sad to report that it's mostly older dudes talking about older dude stuff. (I can't swear to it, but I feel like vasectomies came up at one point? Also the usual amount of "ha ha I'm only a functional human being because my wife is the load-bearing structure of my entire existence" which would be hilarious if it weren't so, so true of literally every straight man.) However, because dudes sucking up all the air in a given room is the white noise (ha!) of my existence, I feel like I could slip some chill music under the audio and start a YouTube streaming channel called "Late Night Lo-Fi Hip Hop Beats for Body Doubling."
Anyway, if you'd like a better podcast headed by a (former) talk show host, I recommend Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, which has enough of a variety of guests that you can pick and choose the ones who seem interesting and ignore the rest. What I especially appreciate is that not everyone is a celebrity; some guests are bicycle mechanics or aquaculture specialists or wedding DJs or what have you, and I always enjoy hearing what other people's lives are like.
(links) Speaking of friendship, here's a decent 101-level explainer re: the double empathy problem, written by Neurotribes author Steve Silberman.
I'm putting this here because sometimes I'll mention something offhand to another autist and they'll be like, "wait, what is that?" and then I'm reminded, once again, that not everyone relaxes by reading peer-reviewed research about our kind. Can you imagine!
(books) I was going to recommend a book but then Libby, THAT BITCH, recalled my e-loan before I could finish it and I am so mad. Fuck you, Overdrive, and the private equity goons who acquired you for no doubt nefarious purposes.
As you know, I always try to end on a positive note, which is probably the most neurotypical thing I do!
And so, without further ado:
(links) The only good news out of Florida maybe ever.
A drag queen with an aquaculture masters from the University of Miami, Miss Toto was the opening act — and driving force behind — what may be Miami’s fiercest fundraiser: Drag n Tag.
Sharks have to keep swimming, but not you, human being! You can stop reading now, or three paragraphs ago. Your choice!