This place has been my standby breakfast and writing spot. The food is amazing, and the servers are always so helpful. They’ll watch your computer while you go to the bathroom–they’ll pull out the furniture to look for a lost car key. Did I mention the food is great? But mostly, smiling faces and friendly people […]
KB and Celeste! Again and again, they have been there for me. Celeste came by for Binder Con at UCLA and stayed weith me for the weekend and was amazing supportive. KB has been checking in with me almost daily, just to see how I am during some difficult times. What amazing people. And amazing […]
I was given the chance to close the Trans Asterisk Conference at UC Riverside. It was such an amazing warm and emotional experience. Not only did I run into Kay Ulanday Barrett and Jade Phoenix and Jade Hambaro, I made a lot of new friends. I read. I sold books, I talked to folks, I had […]
Hope folks can come by. I know a lot of folks in Laguna Hills. A lot of amazing writers and people and friends, and I am so honored to be reading with them. I’ll be reading from my latest book, Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul. “The Spoken Word Club will feature Ryka Aoki at […]
I am stunned. Really just feel so happy and blessed that He Mele A Hilo continues to reach readers. It’s as if I put my best stories (and my recipe book) into a bottle and sent it into the sea. Suddenly, it has come back–with new readers and new friends. Thank you so much! Here is […]
I am so grateful people are reading this book! Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul was released kind of quietly, but I really worked on this book–and am really happy with the results. It is not an easy book–it was written from a different, darker place than He Mele A Hilo, and even Seasonal Velocities–and it took […]
March 3, 2016 · by xanwest It’s World Book Day, so I thought I’d share some recommendations of books by trans and non-binary authors. Please feel free to share your own recommendations in the comments! Gosh, all three of my books made this list for World Book Day!
Happy that I finally worked out that rough spot in our basic hanbo (half-length staff) pattern. It works so much more like I intended it to. A little overbuilt to compensate for size differentials, with deflections, misdirections, targeted strikes to weak points. All key to what we do. We really are becoming our own school, […]
I wrote a review of Ryka Aoki‘s book of poems! TL:DR It is very, very good and you should read it. The book, not the review. Although the review is pretty fabulous too :)–Cat Fitzpatrick “It is through this complex grasping, not only of the minutiae of living, but of the minutiae of speaking, that these […]
This is Melanie Cuesta. She’s the first student I’ve ever promoted to black belt. I’ve taught judo for many years, of course–but in judo, I never really promoted past brown belt because it is a competition-driven art. Most judo promotions happen on the mat. Not much to it–you win a lot of matches, you get […]