Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi

@rjelevi

Ethicist, half-assed text nerd. Sexual ethics & Jewish text. Queer. AuDHD. She/her. Current project: The Neurodivergent Talmud Book: When We Collide: Sex, Social Risk, and Jewish Ethics (IUP 2023) RJELevi.com

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Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· 28d

I hadn’t seen my friend Reuben in over a month, and my mental health desperately needed some Horf. It was too humid to bother with a saddle (or to wear skintight leather boots!) but we managed. Photo courtesy of his human.

Me, wearing black riding clothes and a dark grey helmet, leaning over the neck of the bay draft horse I’m riding bareback, and skritching his withers.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Jul 13

Anyway, Cohn's ironic epitaph on the NAMES Quilt is also an apt one for Graham and anyone else who uses their power to fuck over the communities in which they deny their own membership: Bully. Coward. Victim.

Roy Cohn's square on the NAMES Quilt. His name is in black sans serif type, in a box at the center of a white field. Underneath, across the bottom of the field are BULLY (red, all caps), coward (yellow, all lowercase), VICTIM (grey, all caps). Image is from https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc953511/m1/1/high_res/

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Jul 6

It is my birthday, and I have pie and a cup of Song Tea’s wild tree Yunnan Red, one of my favorites ever, for breakfast. I think we all know one of the things I would like from Chance or Necessity or whatever else for my 39th birthday.

A slice of blackberry-apricot pie with a lattice top on a light green plate, and tea in a darker green mug whose handle is in the style of an octopus tentacle.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Jul 3

I mean, we clearly need MANY such books.

Distracted Boyfriend meme where the miffed girlfriend is "actual book in progress I need for tenure" and the girl in the red dress is "what if I wrote a public-facing book on sex and gender diversity as moral goods"

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Jun 1

If you have not tried mixing @white2tea.bsky.social’s Suzuca sheng with Okinawan black sugar, may I recommend doing so immediately? white2tea.com/products/202...

A cup of dark amber-colored tea, in a glass mug, on a grey counter.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· May 26

Calling my section drafted for the purposes of drafting. Now to integrate our two VERY differently written sections, but at least I've finally contributed my part to work with. Here are my tentative concluding grafs:

All these considerations clearly point to the problems with framing COVID risk, social inclusion, and public pleasure as matters of individual choice. The correct way forward is inarguably collective. But simply thinking collectively cannot, in itself, force us to stop pretending COVID is over. After all, the reciprocal of community is exclusion, and it’s also possible to see the “COVID is over” narrative as one of insiders and outcasts: “we,” the normal, sane community who refuse to “live in fear,” and “they,” the “forever maskers” who have not moved on.

Viruses, however, do not care about affinities or alliances. They flourish in the places where care, support, and immunity are weakest, but they find toeholds and replicating grounds, and mutate and spread, among the cautious and the “normal” alike. The collective action required in response, here, is not the tightening of social and material fences around particular communities, but the recognition that we all fare better when we see our epidemiological fates as intertwined. When we treat risks as the collective things they are, understand risk mitigation as a collective duty, and work to make public space safer for those who most need it, we make life safer, less miserable, and more pleasurable for all of us.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· May 25

I looked up prices for *basic* COVID mitigation supplies as of today, so I could throw them in a back of the envelope footnote in this article. Keep in mind this is NOT including ongoing costs like replacing filter panels, masks, tests, etc.

A box of 250 3M Aura respirator masks from Walmart ranges from $59.99-$308.39, depending on when you purchase them; this is probably the best price available on high quality, broadly well-fitting n95s in bulk at the moment (and also presumes you have a place to keep a giant box of masks). A two-barrel Exhalaron from Clean Air Kits–probably the gold standard of portable air purifiers, which is specifically designed to provide a column of filtered air when placed on a tabletop–costs $295. Clean Air Kits’ least expensive room purifier costs $129.99, not including 4 Merv 13 filter panels. A box of two FlowFlex rapid antigen tests (probably the best of the lot as far as non-molecular home tests go) is 19.99 at Walgreens. More speculative but potentially promising mitigation measures include nasal sprays and antihistamines. A bottle of Profi nasal spray costs $21.49, and a bottle of generic azelastine nasal spray, which has some intriguing clinical evidence behind it (but tastes revolting) is $14.99 at Walgreens. Also at Walgreens, a bottle of 365 10 mg cetirizine tablets costs $49.99, and a bottle of 75 20 mg famitodine tablets costs 24.99. All prices looked up 5/25/26, several of which are probably lower than usual due to Memorial Day sales.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· May 20

Starting the day* with a mug of @white2tea.bsky.social’s Big O V3, the mini of which I liked enough last time that I went back and ordered a whole cake. *actually I started the day by dropping my toast on the floor, which is awesome.

A cup of dark tea in a green mug, with a tan paper label bearing a watercolor image of a mandarin in front of it, and Steve Brusatte’s “The Story of Birds” open to pp 346-7 behind it.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· May 11

Two things that are good and fortifying: 1. When I look at our solar app and see how little grid energy we’re using. 2. There seems to be a breeding population of broad-headed skinks in our yard, and it’s thriving.

A nice fat broad-headed skink—a squat, glossy lizard of maybe six inches nose to pelvis, with a coral-colored head and an olive-gold body—in a mulched bed. He (I think this coloration indicates a breeding male?) has at some point dropped his tail in self defense, for he has none left.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Apr 22

Faintly Macabre finally got her labs back from the vet, and she has hyperthyroidism, and small-cell lymphoma in her GI tract. Fortunately, this cancer is very treatable, with steroids and oral chemo. Anyway, this is the face of a cat who says “I have cancer; I can do whatever I want.”

A shorthaired brown mackerel tabby cat with a clouded right eye sits on my lap and looks up beseechingly.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Apr 14

To be fair this is a photograph of my actual doctor.

Dr. Lauren Lewis from Lost Girl: a thin, white,blonde woman with wavy shoulder length hair wearing a white coat. Her expression—a slight smile—is oozing sexual hunger.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Apr 12

Mandolin, Girlyman, and @white2tea.bsky.social Daily Duckshit on ice. (A friend let me borrow a mandolin so I could fool around and try to pick the skill up before committing. So I have been teaching myself Girlyman’s “St. Peter’s Bones”).

Photo of a mandolin resting in my lap and a jar of iced tea in my left hand, all on a red couch.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Mar 27

Pictured: a bay draft horse grazing, with halter and lead on, on one side of a wire fence, and a skewbald warmblood horse on the other, ears pricked and face towards me. Not pictured: me jumping, for the first time since February of 2020, with Reuben (said draft horse).

A bay draft horse grazing, with halter and lead on, on one side of a wire fence, and a skewbald warmblood horse on the other, ears pricked and face towards me.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Mar 11

2024 Jamrock Steady (a shou/sheng hybrid) from @white2tea.bsky.social—last one left to taste from the Accidental Puer Box. Very tasty—maple syrup, aromatic wood, cocoa fudge, pastry. I am also finally starting a tea journal. We’ll see if it sticks. #TeaSky

A tea tray with a gongfu setup and a packet of tea on it. An open notebook and pen are in front of it on a purple placemat.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Mar 3

Attempting to finally get going on two overdue article reviews. Inducement: @white2tea.bsky.social’s 2024 Alienist. It’s delicious—smooth, and the in-your-face sour plum jam I associate with young sheng has mellowed to a sweet apricot compote. #TeaSky

A glass mug of amber-colored tea sits on some printed pages, which are in front of a laptop on a desk.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 26

Chip in if you can! www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...

Thank you for your $200.00 donation! You have made a one-time donation to Trans Continental Pipeline.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 24

Apparently today is Edward Gorey's birthday, so let me take the opportunity to say that there are few literary characters with whom I have felt a greater sense of kinship than the Doubtful Guest.

A panel from Edward Gorey's "The Doubtful Guest," in which the eponymous Guest, a penguin-like creature that wears high-top canvas sneakers, stands in a fireplace, looking up, while reaching down with their fin to pick at the sole of their shoe. A woman in an Edwardian style gown and updo looks on from the right of the fireplace.
The caption reads:
It betrayed a great liking for peering up flues,
and for peeling the soles of its white canvas shoes.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 23

Well, to be fair the specific word used was "coitus." Although if we're being technical about it that means most gay men are still free to bang as they please.

Still from "The Big Lebowski" of The Dude asking Maude "you mean coitus?"

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 23

From the draft:

Screenshot from my book mss.: Queer people, neurodivergent people, and queer neurodivergent people experience these moments of recognition that challenge the borders of heteronormative and neuronormative universes of possibility and ethical regimes, often many times in our lives. When, like little Alison in the luncheonette, we meet someone who simply by their existence and way of being opens possibilities that hadn’t previously been conceivable but resonate nevertheless—someone who shows that how we express ourselves, what roles we can take in the world, whom we desire, or who we can grow up to be, isn’t limited by rigid and arbitrary gender categories, or that the sky will not fall if we move our bodies or express ourselves in ways we’ve been told just aren’t appropriate, or that the things we experience more or less intensely or as qualitatively different than what we’re supposed (“supposed” both in the sense of “ought” and of “assumed”) to aren’t false—we begin to see that the paths we can take in our lives are far more numerous, and go in far more possible directions, then the well-worn, linear, hierarchal path dictated by our families of origin.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 23

Faintly decided to join @sarahel1771.bsky.social’s and my gongfu session this afternoon. Today’s tea: @white2tea.bsky.social’s Camphornought. Wood, mushroom, and old books.

A tabby cat in loaf form on top of the Zingerman’s box I keep my teas in peers down at a wooden tea board with a dark clay pot, a strainer, and a glass sharing pitcher.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 16

With cat tax.

A brown tabby cat flopped on her side on a wood floor, in a sunbeam.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Feb 13

Friday afternoon Horf.

An awkward close-up shot of a bay draft horse’s head and neck, wearing a black plush halter and lead, grazing.

Dr. Rebecca J. Epstein-Levi@rjelevi· Jan 30

So our grid power and heat are out. Thankfully, we have limited power from solar and battery, and hot water, so between those and several wool sweaters and blankets we’re doing okay at home. However, this is how Faintly has decided she is going to sleep on me to stay warm: