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Friendly reminder that the intro to Lion King….the non english bits leading up to the “circle of life” is not random yelling in *Africa voice* it is an actual language, Zulu, spoken by 10 million people, it is the most widely spoken language (out of 11) in the country of South Africa (1 out of the 54 countries in the continent of Africa, the continent home  to somewhere between 1500-2000 languages and around 3000 distinct ethnic groups)

this isn’t to say that you have to friggin learn the language to sing along with a disney film, it just means that you should be mindful, respectful, appreciative and respectful. don’t be yelling out whatever noise comes in to your head when you hear it

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Evening rain

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"Capitalism breeds innovation" girl there are only five websites left and they all look the same

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America has a weird relationship with cults where they’re terrified of small cults (or organizations they think are cults) but completely normalized massive cults that hurt many more people (eg: LDS Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amish, Scientology, most Megachurches)

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Superman & Batman scene redraw

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me: “yeah I dated a guy in high school who came out as gay. it was before i knew i was a boy so needless to say it didn’t work out”

coworker: “damn dude was preordering”

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What gets me about the Mastercard/Visa shit is this:

You are at the grocery store. You pick up a nice, girthy zucchini. You head over to the oils and pick up a thing of olive oil. Then a packet of condoms.

Satisfied with your selections, you head to the cashier. As you place the items on the conveyor, a voice shouts: "DON'T SELL THOSE! THAT'S GOING UP A BUTT!"

And then for some reason, the cashier agrees. Then the guy who shouted, this fuckass guy in a suit, marches up to the counter and starts demanding that the store never sell any vegetables that could be put up a butt. He starts out pointing at the zucchinis and cucumbers and carrots, but you heard what he said: he's effectively banning every vegetable, just enforcing it selectively.

You ask the cashier if he's corporate or something. The cashier says no. The manager? No. He works here at least? No.

Who the fuck is he, then?

Well, the cashier explains, he's the bank manager from the next street over. He's taken up a moral crusade against vegetables that might go into rectums and if they don't obey him, he won't take anyone's paychecks or any money from any store that opposes him. And his bank is the only bank in the region, so it'd be a huge hassle for the business and the employees.

And somehow this dumb fucking scenario is real.

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Some people might think I’m an optimist but I’m not. I’m a realist that’s going to try to increase the good things in this world if it kills me.

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I really hate how many people have shown themselves to be awful, but more than that, I hate how it's become a gotcha game whenever that happens. Like "ohhh you actually BELIEVED they were a decent person? ohhh you seriously THOUGHT they were pretty good?" Yeah, dude, I did. Because my baseline assumption for just about everybody is "they're probably a decent person." Surprise! That's actually a way kinder way to move about the world. Shockingly, I'm not actually walking around wondering what nefarious secrets everyone is hiding, because that thought makes me physically ill! Because everyone's a person, and therefore no one is pure and perfect! Because I like to lend grace to my fellow human beings, as I would hope they'd extend grace to me!

Every time a celebrity is outed as having done vile things, there are pages upon pages of comments saying anyone who didn't already know is a fucking moron, and like??? No??? I don't default to assuming strangers are monsters, actually. That would mean never leaving my house again. I always try to think of the time I was standing in a Meijer checkout line with my wife and a old white dude in camo was eyeballing us. Felt really dangerous! Felt really scary! And then he opened his mouth to tell us about his lesbian niece and how much he loved her and just wanted her to be happy, because happiness is all there really is in the end. And yeah, it's good to have guards and boundaries, because sometimes those people do mean you harm. It's good to pay attention and read a situation for what it is. But just assuming everyone is cruel by default? No chance, man. That's an awful way to live.

When someone proves to have done awful things or supported awful situations, that isn't on me for having assumed them to be decent. That's on them for having chosen to do something fucked up. It's a bummer every time, but I refuse to let it change my tendency toward seeing the good in people. Anything else just isn't worth sticking around for.

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The aromantic agenda is a good one.

Go and think about what kinds of relationships you want. Don't think about labels like romantic or platonic or sexual, think purely about what relationships would make you happiest.

When I realized I was aromantic, I was asked things like "Would you still date? Would you have a QPR? Will you ever kiss?"

But the aromantic community didn't ask that. Instead, they focused on "What do you want in a world where anything is possible?"

And I realized I want to be alone, surrounded by friends and family I love who are close enough, I can bring them fresh baked scones when I overbake.

They asked me "What do you want?" and the question was so broad, I could weigh labels in my hand like queerplatonic partner and nonpartnering and significant other. I could look at these and shrug and say, "What I want is to not worry about questions I don't care about." I could shelve these indefinitely. Maybe even forever. And just enjoy being myself.

The aromantic community celebrates exploration. Tells people asking if they are aromantic, "This is a personal decision. Your personal decision. If this label helps you, take it. If this community helps you, stay as long as you need. You don't have to be labelled anything, aromantic or otherwise, unless it would bring you comfort. You don't have to be anything you aren't."

It's a good community with good philosophies born from a unique experience, not rooted in missing out, but in being forced to consider what you want when you don't want what's expected.

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thinking about that one wordless calvin and hobbes sunday strip thats just calvins dad ditching his work to go play in the snow... its going to make me cry

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The entirety of Pritzker's speech today is extremely important, and I highly recommend everyone read it (or listen to it if you prefer), but I would like to share some segments that highlight the overall point of his message.

"I want to speak plainly about the moment that we are in and the actual crisis, not the manufactured one, that we are facing in this city, and as a state, and as a country. If it sounds to you like I am alarmist, that is because I am ringing an alarm, one that I hope every person listening will heed, both here in Illinois and across the country."

"Over the weekend, we learned from the media that Donald Trump has been planning, for quite a while now, to deploy armed military personnel to the streets of Chicago."

"What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American."

"If this was really about fighting crime and making the streets safe, what possible justification could the White House have for planning such an exceptional action without any conversations or consultations with the governor, the mayor, or the police?

Let me answer that question: This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.

This is about the president of the United States and his complicit lackey, Stephen Miller, searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities and end elections."

"There is no emergency in Chicago that calls for armed military intervention."

"So in case there was any doubt as to the motivation behind Trump's military occupations, take note: 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rate have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago.

Eight of the top 10 states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois."

"To the members of the press who are assembled here today, and listening across the country, I am asking for your courage to tell it like it is."

"Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city, punish his dissidence, and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is: a dangerous power grab."

"Earlier today in the Oval Office, Donald Trump looked at the assembled cameras and asked for me personally to say, 'Mr. President, can you do us the honor of protecting our city?' Instead, I say, 'Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.'

You are neither wanted here nor needed here. Your remarks about this effort over the last several weeks have betrayed a continuing slip in your mental faculties and are not fit for the auspicious office that you occupy.

Most alarming, you seem to lack any appropriate concern as our commander-in-chief for the members of the military that you would so callously deploy as pawns in your ever-more-alarming grabs for power."

"To my fellow governors across the nation who would consider pulling your National Guards from their duties at home to come into my state against the wishes of its elected representatives and its people, you would be failing your constituents and your country. Cooperation and coordination between our states is vital to the fabric of our nation and it benefits us all. Any action undercutting that and violating the sacred sovereignty of our state to cater to the ego of a dictator will be responded to."

"Finally, to the Trump administration officials who are complicit in this scheme, to the public servants who have forsaken their oath to the Constitution to serve the petty whims of an arrogant little man, to any federal official who would come to Chicago and try to incite my people into violence as a pretext for something darker and more dangerous: we are watching and we are taking names.

This country has survived darker periods than the one that we are going through right now, and eventually the pendulum will swing back."

"You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually. If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me, not time or political circumstance, from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law."

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preorders for my size inclusive, ethically made petticoats are open until august 28! these underlayers are a fan favorite for a reason: the satin skirt is smooth to and cooking against the skin and the stiff tulle adds the perfect amount of volume without being heavy or hot. my petticoat leftovers sell out super fast so don’t miss the preorder window!

US/CANADA: https://store.mayakern.com/collections/preorders UK/EU/INTERNATIONAL: https://mayakern.uk/collections/preorder

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i've always been dogshit at pottery on a wheel because i have weak noodle arms and can't hold my hands firmly in place to center the clay but i finally realized the root issue was that my legs are SHORT since i have the limb/torso proportions of a dachshund and i couldn't brace my elbows on my legs, so i put bricks under my feet and now i can sort of do it!! i've tried to learn twice in the past from TALL people but had a revelation when i watched a medium size guy throwing.

The moral of the story is: don't give up, maybe you just need bricks

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Being anti-death penalty is literally the easiest stance ever. People just say "but should the state kill THIS type of person?" and you just say "no". Not killing people is so fucking easy actually