I read the news today, oh boy

I may be somewhat inaccessible for the next few days. While I rarely refer to real-world events, this particular one was momentous, and damning. The discovery that more than half of my country voted against nearly everything I am, everything that forms me, everything I stand for--that's...daunting, and I need time to come to terms with that.

I believe, strongly, in the power of compassion and love, even though I'm rarely the best one to express it. I believe that every person has the seeds of good and evil within them, that no one is entirely one thing or the other, and that everyone can choose to do the right thing with the right motivation. I know for a fact that at least one person I care for voted against my existence, and I'm fairly sure some friends did, as well, and I'm doing everything I can to believe that those that did are not irredeemable. That they are not racist, misogynistic, bigoted monsters.

I am working very hard not to dismiss them as caricatures of who they truly are, as people, as dear friends.

But I can't discount the fact that all this was predicated on wideband discrimination--of immigrants, of women, of religions that aren't a narrowly specified form of Christianity that ignores largely what it means to be a follower of Christ. I can't discount that there are pending legal cases for both fraud and child rape against our President-elect. I absolutely cannot discount that crowds of followers shouted "Lügenpresse!" at the journalists covering those events, which is a term that hasn't been in vogue since the Nazis were in power in Germany. I cannot discount these facts.

So...I'm taking some time off. You'll see me when you see me.