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Not Enough Power

When one is happy, it takes a lot of cognitive work to stay happy, thus the brain cannot critically think things through because it doesn’t have enough energy. It takes so much energy for me to lie or pretend to be happy that when I barely have any energy at all I constantly say the truth without realizing how much of a bitch I sound like when I do. The typical mindless small talk I have to navigate carefully so that a genuine response of how shit I actually feel does not seem like a self victimizing cry for attention. I forget that wanting to die isn’t a casual norm outside of my head or a typical response to ‘How are you doing?’

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Y'all ever met someone that's never had anything traumatic or bad happen to them. Like how is that possible? Did i steal your portion?

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Why do you like sharks?

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Curious Blue Shark

(source)

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Hello I’m here to talk about sharks

Okay, so when you think of sharks, you probably think of a massive man-eating monster from prehistoric times or Jaws. It’s just a thing that everyone has grown up with - the media and the entire world in general portrays sharks as evil and soulless.

So, I, a shark fanatic, am here to teach you the real side of sharks.

Sharks have a bad rep. It’s just a fact. I think the sharks that have it the worst off are tiger sharks, bronze whalers, oceanic white tips, makos, bull sharks, hammerheads and great whites. 

Let’s start with tigers - these sharks are one of the largest in the ocean, and the reason for the famous attack on Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer who came out with one of her arms missing. They’re known as the garbage cans of the ocean, because they eat literally anything they come across. Their teeth are shaped like can openers for piercing through flesh and getting through the shells of turtles. Despite the fear, here are some things that you probably didn’t know about tiger sharks. They’re mellow creatures, and people dive with them all the time. They’re very curious and usually come up and swim around the diver, and although this might look menacing they’re actually just taking a look. The babies have long spots all over their bodies, and these fade overtime to look a bit like stripes.

Time for bronze whalers. These sharks aren’t very well known since they’re a lot shyer than other species, but they are known to attack humans if threatened. They get their name from the beautiful bronze hue to their scales that make them shine, and are known as whaler sharks because they are frequently seen around whale corpses and used to hang around whalers boats in the nineteenth century. Honestly, these sharks are some of the most beautiful in the world, and are also called copper sharks from the beautiful colour of their scales.

Oceanic white tips aren’t seen very often, since they live out away from the shores of the world - hence the name. Their fins, although with the same markings as their relatives white tipped reef sharks, are rounded and much larger for better propulsion through the water. They can grow up to 4 metres (13 feet for all you weirdass Americans) and are incredibly shy, but usually cause panic when seen because of how rare and large they are. They’ve actually been the reason of more shark attacks than the great white shark and the tiger shark. It’s one of the most hunted sharks in the world because of its large fins, oil, hide and meat. They can be docile when divers swim alongside them though, and there have been many instances where divers have swam with them and not suffered any injuries at all. These sharks are totally fine unless you actually approach them, which is a bad idea because they’ll get scared and attack.

Mako sharks are honestly one of the least threatening sharks on this lovely little list I’m making. They can grow up to 3.8 metres (12 feet) and are very thin and light. This is because makos are the fastest species of shark recorded, their maximum speed being 32 kilometres (19 miles) per hour, and are known as migratory sharks. They also breach, observed to jump 9 metres (29 feet) into the air. They eat pretty much anything they can get their jaws around, including bluefish (their main food source), dolphins, turtles, squid, octopus, and even other sharks. It’s overfished for its teeth, skin and fins, and is considered vulnerable. People are also afraid of this shark due to it accidentally jumping into boats and attacking people when realising it didn’t land back in the water. 

Then there are the bull sharks. Up with tigers and great whites, this shark is considered one of the top three man eating sharks, and with good reason. It’s one of the only sharks known to travel into fresh water, and can be found in tropical rivers (especially around Australia, coz we got all the good animals). They’ve been found in the Amazon river, thousands of kilometres away from the ocean, and also jumping up the waterfalls to get to Lake Nicaragua. It’s absolutely massive, and not just in length. This shark is super stocky, and because of this and its aggressive attitude it gets its name. Because of these factors, bull sharks are probably one of the most dangerous in the world, above great whites and tigers even. 

Hammerheads are a family of sharks, the largest - The Great Hammerhead -  sometimes growing over 6 metres (19 feet) long. The Great Hammerhead - which I’m going to be focusing on because I know the most about them out of all the hammerheads - are endangered from over fishing for their strange heads and their fins. Hammerheads have massive fins, since they need to propel their enormous bodies through the water fast enough to be able to catch the small fish they prey on, and illegal poachers love this. They look terrifying, but hammerheads are usually quite docile. Their mouth is too small to do any real damage, but if it gets its jaws around you it’ll probably sever a limb if it wanted to. They can get aggressive if threatened, or if they’re in a frenzy and a human is in the way. They use their strangely shaped snout to find their prey, usually squid and octopus that they hold down with their snout as they bite into them, not unlike what sperm whales do when hunting giant squid. 

Then, of course, the most infamous shark of all. The Great White Shark is one of the largest sharks in the oceans, the spitting image of its much larger ancestor the Megalodon. The great white has starred in some of the greatest horror movies, such as Jaws, Open Water, Shark and The Shallows, and has always struck fear into the watchers. These sharks I have personally swam with, and they’re one of the most stunning creatures I’ve ever seen. The largest I’ve seen was about 3.5 metres (11 feet) long, but the largest found was almost 7 metres (22 feet) long. 

Let me tell you about my experience with great white sharks. It was last year, and I had just turned 14. My dad decided to take me on a holiday to the Neptune Islands in South Australia, one of the best places for great white shark diving. We ended up going twice - the first time we didn’t see any sharks, but it was an incredible experience nonetheless. We swam with seals, went into the cage to look for sharks, and trevalli were everywhere. The second time was a few months later. This time the ocean was swarming with sharks - between all twelve of us, we saw seven different sharks over the span of four days on the boat. My two personal favourite sharks were ones the team hadn’t seen before, and I got to name them.

Let’s start with the male first. I called him Buddy, and he was only about 2.5 metres (8 feet) long. He was obviously a juvenile, and he was recognizable by the slashes across his gills. The younger and smaller sharks are always the ones that are more violent and dangerous, and he had obviously picked a fight with a much larger shark, seal or albatross. He wasn’t paying much attention to us, and managed to snag the bait off its tether, slamming into the cage in the process. Even though he wasn’t very big, he was absolutely stunning.

And then there was the female, Sweetheart. She was the largest we saw, at 3.5 metres (11 feet) long. She was easily distinguished by the white spot on the tip of her snout, and the fact that she was probably one of the largest sharks around at that time. Just like her name suggests, she was very gentle and curious, nudging at the cage just next to my hand. When she looked at me I could see the deep blue colour of her eyes. Unlike popular opinion that shark’s eyes are black and lifeless, if you get close enough you can see their eyes are a brilliant blue colour, and you can see the emotions in their eyes. 

With Sweetheart, we were about to take the cages out of the water for the day when she appeared out of nowhere. I’d already taken off my wet suit and there wasn’t enough time to put it back on, so I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in the cage. It was freezing, but thankfully I went numb after a couple of minutes so it was fine altogether. She circled the cage a bit, not seeming interested in the bait but more curious of us. They’re such beautiful and misunderstood creatures, and it’s honestly sickening what people do to them. They shouldn’t be feared, they should be respected and loved. 

If you want more facts about these beautiful creatures and more rants about how they deserve so much better, hit me up

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I really fucking love Shortfin Mako sharks, okay. They’re the fastest sharks and the best at lunging the fuck right out of the water. they’re also warm-blooded and super smart, but most importantly every image of them breaching looks like someone just photoshopped a shark into the sky really badly

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Tattoo commission I made for a friend! ✨

With her favorite sharks snouts! Whale shark, Thresher shark, Mako shark and Goblin shark!

More sharkart in me Instagram! 🦈

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The Great White

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Getting out of hand? These? Never! 

There are like five new owls, including a trans owl, an agender owl, a demi- and a gray-ace owl, and a RAINBOWL! (I am so pleased I can now finally make that pun).

Also still there: asexuowl, pansexuowl, bisexuowl, genderqueer owl, nonbinary owl, polyamorous owl and arowlmantic owl! 

They are for sale here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/prideandpunk If your owl isn’t there, poke at us and I shall dig up more colours of yarn <3 

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the extremely disastrous aromantic

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Dark skinned goth girls? Amazing. Beautiful. Haunting. 🖤🖤🖤

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Wish i looked like a fucking monster. Or like super creepy full of scars and sunken eyes that would so cool but unfortunately i look like a baby.

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Ten Mistakes New Herb Gardeners Make (and How to Avoid Them!)

Mistake 1: Growing from seed. When you first start out trying to grow fresh herbs, I recommend you begin by trying to grow from seedlings rather than planting your own seeds. These great little starter plants are widely available in grocery stores in the late spring. For the same price as a packet of fresh herbs from the produce section, you can buy your own little starter plant. Lots can go wrong in the seed to seedling transition (including not thinning out plants properly), so its probably best to begin by skipping that complicated task or you are in danger of washing out before you really begin.

Mistake 2: Starting with the wrong varieties. I recommend you start by trying to grow fresh basil. It is the perfect trainer herb. First, basil grows quickly, allowing you to observe the effects of your care more easily. Second, basil leaves wilt visibly when not watered enough, but recovers well if you water the wilted plant. This makes basil a great ‘canary in the mineshaft’ to help you figure out how much water is enough.

Mistake 3: Watering herbs like houseplants. Instead, water herbs a moderate amount every day. While some houseplants flourish with one solid watering per week, most delicate herbs require moderate and regular watering. This is particularly true during hot summer months. If you have good drainage at the bottom of your pot (at least a drainage hole, possibly rocks beneath the soil), it will be difficult to water herbs too much.

Mistake 4: Not cutting early and often. As a novice gardener, it may seem like your puny little plant just isn’t ready for a trip to the barber, but then you will find yourself sitting there wishing for leaves without much success. Again, basil is a great herb to practice pruning. As with all herbs, you want to cut the herb just above a set of growing leaves. With basil, when you cut the plant that way, the originally trimmed stem will no longer grow. However, two new stems will grow around the original cutting, creating a “V” shape (see the photo above, can you spot the Vs?). If you don’t trim basil aggressively, it will continue to grow straight up, and become too tall and top-heavy. Making your first trim approximately 3-4” above the soil produces a nice sturdy plant. Of course you want to be sure you are always leaving a few good sturdy leaves on the plant (see below). As it continues to grow, continue to prune it approximately every 3-4" for a nice solid plant. I like to let it grow for some time and then cut back to within 2-3 inches of the original cut. After only a few early trial cuts, this usually makes for a nice clipping with plenty of basil to use for a pizza.

Mistake 5: Taking the leaves from the wrong place. When you are just starting out it seems to make so much sense to pick off a few big leaves around the bottom of the plant, and let those tender little guys at the top keep growing. Wrong. Leave those large tough old guys at the bottom alone. They are the solar panels that power your herb’s growth. Once your plant is big enough to sustain a decent harvest, keep on taking from the top, as you have been when you were pruning. That way you get all those tender new herbs that are so tasty, and your plant gets to keep its well developed solar power system in place. Plus, if you pluck from the base and leave the top intact, you get a tall skinny plant that will flop over from its own weight (and yes, I know this from experience). When you pluck from the top, instead of clipping off just below a pair of leaves, you want to clip off just above a pair of leaves. It is a bit counter-intuitive as a novice, but trust me it works. The place where the leaf joins the stem is where new growth will occur when your plant sends off new stems in a V.

Mistake 6: Letting your plants get too randy. If you are pruning regularly, this may never become an issue, but unless you are growing something for its edible flowers, be sure to cut back herbs before they start growing flowers. My friend once brought me to her backyard garden and pointed, frustrated, at her wimpy, small basil plants. “I just keep tending them, but they don’t even produce enough leaves to put on a salad!” she lamented. I pointed to the glorious stalk of flowers at the top of each plant, “That’s your problem” I explained. Because herbs are kind of like college boys: if you give them half a chance, they will focus all their energy on procreation and neglect growth. If you want leaves, keep cutting off the little flower buds whenever you find them (see photo above), and it will encourage your plant to focus on growing more leaves.

Mistake 7: Using tired soil with no nutrients. Tired soil that has been sitting in your garden or lawn for ages often looks grey and a little depressing. Would you want to grow in that stuff? Give your plants a dose of the good stuff and they’ll thank you for it. I grow my herbs in a combination of potting soil, used coffee grounds (with a near-neutral PH, available for free at Starbucks), and organic compost. If I have some on hand, I also throw in crushed egg shells. Those without access to compost (and no deep commitment to organic growing) may find Miracle grow useful. My momma swears by it for tomatoes. A diluted solution of Miracle grow occasionally can help many herbs flourish.

Mistake 8: Getting in a rut. There is an element to passion about herb gardening. In order to be good at it, you need to feel rewarded. So don’t stick too long with one or two herbs just because they work. Branch out to a few other basic herbs that you will use regularly in your kitchen. There are few things more rewarding as an urban foodie than being able to pop out to the fire escape to clip fresh herbs to use in my cooking. Once you have become comfortable with basil, I recommend moving on to try growing oregano, mint, rosemary and thyme. All are regularly useful herbs in the kitchen, and all are relatively easy to grow. You will notice that rosemary cleaves after cutting in a somewhat similar way to basil, but grows much more slowly, so the effect is difficult to notice. Some plants also respond to clipping by throwing out more full leaves at their base. I have long wanted to grow cilantro but have not had much luck with it.

Mistake 9: You mean there’s more than one kind of mint?When choosing herbs, read the label carefully. For example, there are two main varieties of oregano: Mediterranean and Mexican. Mediterranean oregano is the more common variety, and what you likely own if you have conventional dried oregano in your cupboard. I have Mexican oregano growing on my back fire escape. I love Mexican oregano in spicy dishes, for making beans from scratch, and often use it in tomato dishes where I don’t want the flavor to seem too much like marinara. Similarly, there are many different kinds of mint. You don’t want to be thinking of the pungent spearmint plant and accidentally take home the much more subtle (and not mojito savvy) applemint by mistake.

Mistake 10: Feed me Seymour! If you are planting in soil instead of pots, take care that your cute little herb seedling doesn’t become a giant plant that takes over your garden. A word of warning for oregano and mint: both can be voracious growers. If you are planting outside in a garden, rather than in pots, you may want to consider potting these herbs and then burying the pots in the ground. This will add a measure of control to the root systems of these herbs, which can otherwise take over a garden and strangle nearby neighbors. When in doubt, check out wikipedia, they usually are careful to point out which herbs are in danger of overwhelming your garden.

Some really useful info here if you’re new to herb gardening.

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halloween twitter headers

like/reblog if you use/save

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Яблоко от яблони :3

Яблоко от яблони :3