marilyn roxie

My blog turned 4 years old today, a few days after transferring marilynroxie.com to the neonsigh.tumblr.com address (both work and go to the same place). I think probably one of the best things about Tumblr is how many cool people and things I have found out about because of it, or interests I’ve had strengthened, from Teen Witch Magazine to vaporwave. Particularly in tag lists (or should I say, communities) based around common music interests and gender identities I have come into contact with some interesting people, some who I admire from afar, and others who I now communicate with on a regular basis.

Tumblr is now the home to all of the sites that I manage for my own projects, including netlabel Vulpiano Records, the music blog A Future in Noise, male model h(e)aven Lush Fuzzy Patch, and Genderqueer and Non-Binary Identities  to name a few. I also operate a fair share of “Fuck Yeahs” dedicated to musicians, with varying degrees of update frequency for the Manic Street Preachers, Nicky Wire, The Fall, The Who, and Pictureplane.

My Tumblr has seen me through quite a few complete life transformations. I started it when I was still living in a small town, just laid off from a job, a few months before I would start my netlabel. I was somewhat directionless and spending a lot of time on the internet, so it is no surprise I ended up on Tumblr after finding it via StumbleUpon. I was lost in music and my own creative endeavors as things in my surroundings dampened further. My love of bands that are important to me have saved me from deeper despair so many times, and in 2009 the Manics were that band. I don’t know what I would have done without their music and the friendship of some of their fans I’ve gotten to know.

Now it is 2013. I have a job, a wonderful boyfriend of nearly 3 years, I have just finished my AA degrees in Library Science and LGBT Studies from City College of San Francisco, and I’ve just completed an internship with the Center for Sex and Culture doing web management and library tech duties (I still curate content for the CSC blog on—that’s right!— a Tumblr). I have more clearly realized my gender and sexuality that ever before after years of fitful struggle and it is in no small part thanks to finding a community of support online.

Yes, there are bad things about Tumblr. There are fights, there are perpetuations of myths (about society at large, or just dissemination of incorrect, poorly cited information). There are times when I have wanted to give it up because of some dreadful post I have seen. There are also those “pale” and “soft grunge” blogs, I mean, what the hell? But I keep coming back and it’s not just for the rare, cute band photos.

I keep coming back because Tumblr has been my absolute favorite, easiest to use blogging platform and the ability to gain and provide feedback as well as to easily find an audience for one’s work, is I have found, unparalleled in any other service.

(Source: assets)