goddamnshinyrock

[goddamnshinyrock]

once these 15 million different stressful situations resolve themselves I’m gonna be so normal again. I can be normal and not exhausted

[goddamnshinyrock]

wait do you guys actually carry purses/bags everywhere you go i really need to know

[goddamnshinyrock]

some problems are so humiliating the only solution is to solve them yourself and then continue to never talk about it

[goddamnshinyrock]

to the tune of “video killed the radio star”: 🎶walmart killed the grocery store🎶

[goddamnshinyrock]

[goddamnshinyrock]

update: the people who put this shelf support in DID find the studs but they used the cheapest shittiest softest pine possible and it is NOT sturdy enough to anchor a pull-up bar. Which I figured out by building and installing one and then gently weighting it, causing the support board to start pulling out from the wall. RIP.

okay gang do we think I can safely mount a DIY pipe and pipe fitting pull-up bar on the inside of this walk-in closet?

I’m thinking straight into the doorframe and/or the shelf supports put up by the previous owners. I’ll just be trusting that THEY found the studs when putting up this shelf. (the fact that these studs and doorframe MAY be 125 years old is. a minor issue. hopefully.)

(yes I realize this will put my face straight into a light fixture with every rep but that’s a problem for later.)

[goddamnshinyrock]

saw the guy who is repairing our apartment elevator cross himself while reading something on his ipad which we can only hope relates to his feelings about the pope's death and not his feelings about the state of our elevator

[goddamnshinyrock]

okay gang do we think I can safely mount a DIY pipe and pipe fitting pull-up bar on the inside of this walk-in closet?

I’m thinking straight into the doorframe and/or the shelf supports put up by the previous owners. I’ll just be trusting that THEY found the studs when putting up this shelf. (the fact that these studs and doorframe MAY be 125 years old is. a minor issue. hopefully.)

(yes I realize this will put my face straight into a light fixture with every rep but that’s a problem for later.)

[goddamnshinyrock]

I recently got a few notes on this old drawing of Maia and Velvet from 2018, and decided it was time for a redraw. I have improved on horses, lol.

[goddamnshinyrock]

I urge everybody take part in this! Next weekend, April 25-28, get outside and take photos of whatever organisms you can find. It is mostly a friendly competition among the world’s cities, but there is a category for everyone else too. I especially want to encourage those of you who live in Philadelphia, or in one of the counties that shares a border with Philadelphia. Let’s beat last year’s numbers for species and participants. After you take the photos you’ll have another few days to upload them to iNaturalist.

Let’s go Philly!

[goddamnshinyrock]

The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments)

The US federal rule-making process is founded around the right to comment: the public's opportunity to publicly address the agency responsible for a decision. This right is enshrined by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 and reinforced by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, which both require that citizens be able to take part in pre-decision communication with a federal agency.

Public comments are important for a number of reasons:

Agencies must consider all new information received during the comment period and address that new information before publishing the final rule; this includes revising the proposed rule.

A good comment can be the basis for a court challenge. If the agency does not adequately address the new information in the comment, they can then be sued and the rule placed on hold until the issues raised by the new information are resolved.

Advocacy groups and journalists often scour public comments to get ideas for their own comments and campaigns, and to contextualize proposed rules.

Submitting a public comment on proposed federal rules and regulations is not like commenting on social media, though. Substantive comments that require agency response are those that contain information pertinent to the actions proposed in the regulation, such as community impacts, scientific evidence, or other data. Non-substantive comments ("I don't like this!") don't require any response beyond maybe a "Comment noted."

Here's a brief set of tips from the Public Comment Project:

“The most valuable public comments are unique, fact-based, and succinct. The agency will have to sort through many identical form letters and expressions of personal opinion.  

Your comment can report on scientific evidence that opposes or supports the theory behind the regulation. Providing additional supporting evidence helps strengthen the agency's position by creating a stronger scientific foundation for their action.

Use an opening sentence to establish your credibility. State who you are and summarize any of your experiences that are relevant to the topic of the proposal.

You do not have to come to a conclusion or judgement regarding the entirety of the regulation, but you do have to clearly communicate the implications of the research you present. Avoid leaving it up to the agency to infer how research or data relates to the regulation. 

Check out the agency's mission statement and any statutes relevant to the regulation. Federal agencies' actions are driven by their mission and held to the standards dictated by statutes, so make your comment stronger by explaining how your information contributes to their mission.”

You can also find templates here: https://publiccommentproject.org/comment-templates

Sources:

The Public Comment Project https://publiccommentproject.org

Democracy in Practice: Public Participation in Environmental Decisions, Beierle and Cayford 2002

Union of Concerned Scientists https://www.ucs.org/resources/participating-federal-rulemaking

[goddamnshinyrock]

I recently got a few notes on this old drawing of Maia and Velvet from 2018, and decided it was time for a redraw. I have improved on horses, lol.

[goddamnshinyrock]

Heads up for fellow USAians, Penzey's Spices is having a 16.8% off everything sale until the end of today, April 23, 2025, before they have to raise all their prices 8.4% to deal with the tariffs (because, hey, guess what we CANNOT grow here in the US? Most spices).

Their spices and vanilla extract are excellent, and their politics are as well.

Hie thee hence to https://www.penzeys.com!

[goddamnshinyrock]

"Kill yourself" is basic. "I hope your fandom gets a new installment that is objectively a great work but also tonally dissonant from the previous ones in a way that generates a huge newbie boom of people uninterested and hostile towards the history of the franchise" is smart. It's possible. It's terrifying. It's happening right now.

[goddamnshinyrock]

just saw a horny post with vaguely historical terms in it and the weird misuse of those terms is frustrating me beyond belief. your historical sexual fantasies should be well cited from primary and secondary sources you can’t just make this stuff up.

[goddamnshinyrock]

nyt spelling bee editor not a monsterfucker: confirmed