#smartphone workshops

[davidhoptman]

DH_PHOTOCREATIVE

[xiomaro]

Watch my page and website for details. www.xiomaro.com

Open to all experience levels and camera types.

Feel free to DM or email with questions.

[somewhere-at-the-burrow]

𝒜𝒩𝒮𝒲𝐸𝑅𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝒬𝒰𝐸𝒮𝒯𝐼𝒪𝒩𝒮

— ​𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 | @tubadorashifts

(( these questions are amazing! i have so so much i want to say about my life at hogwarts that i get overwhelmed aaaa so this is PERFECT! this is also my longest post yet, so buckle in yall i'm about to overshare on the internet ‼️))

1. If you’re DR is set in the 90s/70s - How different is it to modern day? What are some changes you like and what changes did it take a while for you to get used to?

this question might be difficult to answer, as in my DR I am fully involved in the wizarding world and I don't really have that much contact with the muggle world, but definitely the technology! that might seem like a no-brainer and something to be expected when shifting to Hogwarts, but I wasn't expecting how different it would be. the hardest thing for me to adapt to was not being able to pull out my phone to take a picture whenever I wanted to. there were so so many little moments when I was at the Burrow where I would have the most perfect photo idea and I would realize I don't have my phone and realize I left my old film camera in my room. getting used to carrying that thing around and learning more about it (as my dad (arthur) brought it home for me one day and we fixed it up in the workshop!) is such a hassle sometimes. AND I HAVE TO DEVELOP FILM... which is rewarding in the end but sometimes I miss the instant gratification of a smartphone!

a change I do like is the style of music, both wizarding and muggle. I feel like the popular wizarding bands definitely reflect the 90s atmosphere in music, with many different new songs that have changing sounds in alternative rock and sometimes even annoyingly catchy pop songs. many other wizarding bands have themes that go all of the way back to classic jazz, so the range is INSANE. the music is truly so immersive, as the wizarding community is generally in favor of playing all types of music (at parties etc) both wizarding and muggle. truly an education!

2. If you’re part Veela/Metamophmagus/Mermaid/siren/werewolf etc. what is it like?

being a siren is still a change I am getting used to in my new DR, but it is absolutely something out of my biggest fantasies. as a girl who loves the sea and all her mythology, actually being a part of the sirens and learning about all of their folklore is a sacred experience I hold so dear to my heart. the life I have lived as a siren (even though my actual shift was quite short) feels so innate and like something I won't ever forget.

with being a blood-related siren comes many many things I didn't fully expect. there is a siren language (which I can speak in that reality), rituals and ceremonies that I noticed, and certain abilities that are passed on through family. there is also the wizarding public, who looks to sirens with curiosity because they are so closely related to merpeople and veela, yet they have such a distinct culture of their own. because there are so little sirens that engage with the wizarding world, I am kind of known as "that siren girl" and sometimes people say it negatively, but it is usually people who take the merfolk classification of "beast" very seriously and they are a bunch of idiots CONTINUE

3. Where do you change into your robes on the Hogwarts Express?

the Hogwarts express is completely different (length wise) on the inside than on the outside. when I first got onto the train, I was completely blown away when the twins and I walked into a long compartment that looked almost like a diner. they were serving pear & apple cider and I thought it was so cool that they had a bunch of different train areas. I walked around with Ginny during our train ride, and we found a bunch of these changing rooms / bathrooms and I remembered changing there in previous years so that is where we went!

inside of these bathrooms, it definitely has an expansion charm because it feels small while also having a lot of space for many students?? kind of like how the train expands or shrinks to fit the amount of compartments needed? also, these rooms are definitely hot spots for seeing other students bc tell me why I saw half of my year while I was in there for maybe 20 minutes??

4. If you’re an exchange student - How does the sorting ceremony work? Do you get sorted with the first years regardless of what year you’re in or do you get privately sorted somewhere else, like Dumbledore’s office?

this has only happened twice that I remember, and both times the students were sorted before the first years and Dumbledore gave kind of a mini introduction to their year and where they came from. personally, I would've been so scared to be individually introduced like that, especially in a new school with people I've never seen before. But Hogwarts is just kind of crazy like that, and the random outings by staff in front of the entire Great Hall never get boring I SWEAR!

5. Is Hogwarts a lot different to how you imagined? Is it like the movies or was there any changes?

I'd like to say the hours I've spent touring the castle on games like Hogwarts Legacy would prepare me for it, but I was still absolutely blown away (and I don't say that lightly)! the biggest thing for me was the sheer height of the castle! it is kind of a thing among newer Hogwarts students to not look up at the towers from the ground, as some people get this kind of reverse-vertigo? other than that, it definitely has the same vibe as the movies, except things feel waaay more spread out in my DR. I swear, in the movies Harry and Ron are getting to class in ten minutes, and I can barely get to my next class with my 30 minute passing time IT IS SO STRESSFUL. especially when I go from Care of Magical Creatures all the way to Advanced Herbology on tuesday mornings LIKE I AM RUNNING they are on opposite sides of the castle. I get the same feeling when I walk into the Grand Staircase and see all of the steps. I'm definitely debating adding a floo-network for easier transportation, but it is quite fun to feel like i'm getting a workout while exploring my favorite place ever!!

6. What are some classes you weren’t expecting to like as much as you did?

def divination! everybody kind of hates on divination for being a class that people only take when they have a free hour and nobody really takes it seriously, but I love the atmosphere so much and it feels like the kindest part of the castle when I am in my Advanced Div. 1 class. because I am in the advanced class (which prepares for OWLs), everyone there genuinely wants to be there and I am obsessed with the teacher student ratio of that class. there are probably less than ten students taking advanced divination and we all know each other so well and so far it has ended with us practicing techniques on each other or just filling in professor Trelawny on what is happening throughout the castle. sometimes in a class that small it just ends up being a bunch of divination nerds gathered around a table with the professor reading tarot or something ! it is my little safe haven in a castle so obsessed with intense schedules and such

6. And the opposite - What are some classes that you didn’t end up liking?

in my uni-structured Hogwarts, you can stop taking certain basics classes after your third year, so DADA was OUT. i never really liked that class because I remember always thinking that the environment was super energetic and one of my friends (??) El was kind of my academic rival in that class and that mf never left me alone. i am definitely built for more personalized classes and that is okay! Hogwarts has something for everyone once you pass the basics! also, FUCK HOME STUDY CLASS. i signed up for that class because it was supposed to be a general home economics class that teaches basic spells for around the house (like cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc) but the professor is an absolute NIGHTMARE and she reminds me of rita skeeter somehow?? also, Fred and George took that class as a joke (seriously, nobody has any idea why they took it), and now it is just constant bickering between professor and students. every time I've stepped into that classroom this week, I've wondered, "how are the boys going to harass professor reen today??"

7. Is it strange to be in Hogwarts if you grew up watching the movies? Id imagine it to be a bit surreal

it is so unbelievably surreal. my first night at hogwarts, I hardly got any sleep because I was so overwhelmed with excitement (and I say that so sincerely). all I wanted to do was run around the castle at night and talk to my roommates for hours and I couldn't wait for breakfast because everything felt so amazing. I have been shifting for a couple of years, but Hogwarts was always the place I had been waiting to go to and I wanted it to be special and when I finally was there and I was running my hand on the castle stone behind my bed it all hit me. my entire childhood felt complete. I wasn't worried about anything anymore, and I couldn't believe that I finally made it to the place i'd considered as "home" almost my whole life. in addition, hogwarts no longer felt like something I had only seen on a screen. when I shifted back a day ago, I went on pinterest and saw some photos of the dorms and the great hall and it felt so strange? kind of like if you saw a photo online of a place you've been to in your daily life, and you knew the way around even if the photo didn't show every detail? there was a new awareness of having lived in these places, and I had memories attached to simple things like a photo of the Great Hall from the movies!

8. Have you made any friends in school that aren’t mentioned in the books or movies? Talk a bit about them

if you've seen any of my previous posts, I talk about my little group of friends that live in Ottery St. Catchpole (and some of them don't exist in canon)! one of my closest friends is a girl named June Smithey, and she is a slytherin in my year. we both take advanced div. together and she is so sweet!! her twin brother is El, but he doesn't seem to like me very much and is always competing with me for NO REASON. he always has to hang around us though bc he is Cedric's best friend and sometimes Ced and I are attached at the hip. another best friend of mine is a girl named Vanessa Nacky, and she is a sixth year prefect. everyone calls her Nessa, and she is such a mum figure to all of the younger students and she is so liked by everyone in every house! she is dating Oliver Wood and they are so insanely good for each other I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER COUPLE TRUST ME

9. How long does the Hogwarts express take? If it takes very long - apart from talking to friends, what things do students usually do to occupy their time on the train? Are there different types of games in the wizarding world or popular magazines among witches/wizards?

the Hogwarts express usually takes 7-8 hours! apart from talking, some of my friends and I read the old issues of the Hogwarts newspaper (called the Hogwarts Legacy) and we speculated about what the next year would entail. there is also the diner-areas where they serve small lunch-like snacks (unlike constant candy from the trolley) and different drinks! also, in the movies they made it seem like students could only stay in their compartment the whole time, but that is not how it was like during my journey. people constantly got up to go visit with other friends and see each other after summer, so talking never really got boring! people also compare collected cards (which is a big thing in the wizarding world) and there is even a couple of chess tables in one of the train cars. other than that, reading and sleeping are very popular, as the first day of term is always a very late night and sometimes people just need a little quiet time!

10. What is it like sharing a dorm? Who are you sharing a dorm with and do you like your dorm mates?

thankfully, I went into my DR already being best friends with my dormmates, so each night really felt like an organized sleepover! we each have our own little alcoves where we can keep our stuff and our beds, so I never really felt overwhelmed being in a busy dorm. I share a dorm with Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Iris Fawcett, and Fay Dunbar! I am thankful that most of these lovely girls are on the quidditch team with me, so we really are very close and we spend many nights talking from our beds when we should be asleep :') the whole situation did turn out very well for me, though, as some people in Hogwarts do not like their dormmates very much and are stuck wishing they can become a prefect to get their own dorm. (cough, percy and oliver wood)

11. What is quidditch like? Do you like it or have you decided it’s not for you?

I am OBSESSED with quidditch. in my desired reality, the quidditch season hasn't started yet, but I scripted that I was going to become seeker and I am so unbelievable excited! back at the burrow, we played many small games in the back field, and even though I scripted I would be great at the sport, I genuinely enjoy trying to learn new tricks and improve my ability in other positions (i will never be a good beater I swear 😔). quidditch is such a ceremonial experience for students at Hogwarts.. and there is really no escaping it!! I grew up fascinated by the whole strange concept and rules in this reality, and even if you think the whole idea is stupid the crazy crowd will definitely make up for it bc we all band together for quidditch!!

also, if you choose to get involved in the different leagues and tournaments, there is truly so much content and magazines that are released weekly YOULL NEVER GET BORED! quidditch is such a culture in the wizarding world, and it is comparable to muggle sports leagues and all of the devoted fans that sit down weekly to watch. at the burrow, when the league games are broadcasted on the WWN, we crowd around the radio in the kitchen and sometimes even have dinner while the game is playing if it goes late! and don't even get me started on the WORLD league...

12. Is there anything in the wizarding world that surprised you?

the amount of errands the average wizarding family goes on! to the average movie watcher, it feels like during the summer the students all go home and then the only places the parents go are the Ministry. this was far from the truth for me! at the burrow, mum (Molly) would let me take the floo-network to Diagon Alley whenever I needed to get my film developed, and sometimes she would let some of us go in groups to get supplies / materials for crafts we are doing etc! also, there is another common wizarding market in Birnam that many people go to for fresh produce and lots of cooking things. Molly goes pretty frequently, and when I went once over the summer, I saw people from school there and it is kind of a small hangout spot for wizarding families. another common place to go is Prelly's, which is in the heart of diagon alley and everyone AND THEIR MOTHER has been to Prelly's. it is comparable to a grocery store, except everything is marketed magically and it is so chaotic in there all of the time. that store is so cherished in the wizarding world, I don't think i've ever been to a magical household that doesn't have something from Prelly's. I was so surprised to learn that even wizards had places to shop for groceries 😭

13. What is your favourite place to spend time in Hogwarts/Hogsmeade? Do you have a secret place where you and your friends hang out?

I haven't gotten to explore Hogsmeade that much yet, but inside of Hogwarts there is a small inter-house common room that is called the Selkie Commons. it is located near the main Viaduct and it overlooks the lake through big windows in the stone. it gets its name from the series of stained glass dividers that show pictures of yellow selkies as you enter the room! this place isn't very secret, though, as many people come here to study and sometimes it can even get kind of loud late after dinner. however, this place is technically considered a Study Hall, so it closes at 10:30 and we are limited to hanging out inside of our common rooms :,)

other than that... the art wing. there are certain classes offered for magical art, and a lot of my friends also dabble in those classes because they are such a nice break and the evironment is truly amazing! there is a main studio space, so sometimes we sit in there after school hours, but there is also a little gallery hall that is filled with art books and student works over the years, and sometimes it is fun to sit in there and talk with the portraits and experience the art that students have made years before me. nobody really goes in this specific gallery hall, so we can usually hang out in there late at night until it closes!

15. What are some things in your DR that you couldn’t live without?

my "endless quill"! when we went to diagon alley to shop for school supplies, I used a good portion of my personal money to buy that quill, as it was a newer model that was becoming more popular among students. I didn't know how useful it would be until I actually started using it day-to-day in class! at hogwarts, we are allowed to use pencils and sometimes pens on little notes, but for assignments it is strictly quill and ink and I HATE redipping my quill every couple of lines. I think it is so genius and I am so glad I saved up for it bc it is SO WORTH IT. if you have experience shifting to hogwarts and writing with normal quills, you might feel my pain ‼️

another fun thing is my shared journal! my friend Iris enchanted these journals that can be written in and seen by each other, kind of like Tom Riddle's diary but for multiple people. whenever my main friends and I are separated in the castle or in vastly different classes, sometimes we will leave little notes for each other and then they will all see it the next time they open the journal. we have useless conversations with our friends in different houses in the middle of the night, and it is like our little wizarding form of texting. IT IS MY FAVORITE!!

16. Does butterbeer taste as bad as it does here? (I tried it a couple years ago on the Harry Potter tour in England and it was so gross)

i'm probably so biased (as I LOVE the taste of butterbeer here), but I can say that it does taste slightly different than what it does at the Harry Potter theme park when I went. the cream soda base mixed with the butterscotch topping is definitely an aquired taste, but in my DR it is not as fizzy and it has more buttery undertones? I definitely agree that the fizzy soda they use in this reality is a little jarring, but when I tried it in my desired reality it just warmed my body and left me so comfortable?? I am such a fan, and I have spent so many nights in this reality trying to replicate the recipe bc IT IS SO GOOD. so far, i've found that adding butter extract really helps! i'm a butterbeer defender till the day i die ‼️

17. Spill some drama about random students. Like who cheated on who, what student is a little bitch etc. lol

oh my fcking god I have so much I could say?? I never anticipated talking all about the "random" students, but i am finding that spilling drama about some of these idiots is so enjoyable and if anyone wants more posts abt this I CAN DELIVER ‼️

to begin, I think we should talk about a seventh year slytherin man named Matteo Pearce. he has lots of family in italy and he was doing school years at some fancy italian wizarding school, and he recently just came back to hogwarts this year?? BAD CHOICE. for some reason, the ENTIRE student body is obsessed with him and he always goes around saying seductive shit in italian and i hear the older gryffindor girls giggling about it all the time in the common room. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL—— before he left, he was dating a gryffindor named Poppy (Matthews, i think?) and they kind of had a bad end to their relationship when they moved. so poppy went all GIRLBOSS and became Head Girl, and now all of her "friends" in her dorm hate her bc she has been ignoring Matteo even though he CLEARLY fancies her still. so, on the SECOND week of school, Poppy decided that she would speak to him again and get on good terms, but when she found them he was snogging a DIFFERENT gryffindor girl (and one of poppy's "friends"). the other girl was named Holly Lauren, but when we found out it was her, none of us were surprised bc Holly is always starting things and we could've guessed it was her. I always think it is so funny bc in Fred's second year of school he was actually trying to be friends with Holly (he had a little puppy crush) and every time that girl does something irresponsible I remind Fred of the bullet he dodged ‼️

also, Louisa Bones has a huge crush on Cedric, and she tells EVERYONE but Ced actually likes her roommate Mia Edwards more and won't stop talking about her. which sucked for me to hear bc I was trying to make Cedric my man but whatever 😔

18. Is there any holiday traditions that Hogwarts has?

I haven't been there long enough to experience a lot of the well known holidays, but during the equinox we have a Mabon feast! this is one of the main times during the year that the classic Hogwarts apple pies are made, and the Cooking Club always has sm fun with it!! as for christmas/yule season, in my desired reality there are yearly Yule Balls that occur during Yule, and there is always a giant party for older students that is had and it is tradition for people to try and stay up all night and then sleep on the train that goes home for holiday. kind of like a giant all night celebration before heading home to family!

I am also so so excited for the Halloween feast because we get the day off and a lot of the students carve the pumpkins that are displayed around the castle / in the Great Hall. also, the newspaper ( the Hogwarts Legacy) always makes a giant Halloween edition and from what I've heard it is pretty amazing (and has a lot of secret sections!)

19. Have you been to any of the other Wizarding schools and what are they like? Have you met any of the students?

I will come back and semi-answer this question when we have the Triwizard in a couple of years! I do want to make a Beauxbatons transfer student DR though, just to practice my mediocre french ‼️

(( I covered question 20 already!))

21. Favorite spell to do in your DR?

this is so basic, but definitely Accio. I never knew how much I would love a spell until I got to use accio for the first time! I don't usually use it for grand things though, and it usually occurs when I am getting ready in the morning and I have something across the room. but it is random all of the time and I think it is making me lazy but oh well!! my non verbal / wandless use of accio is also improving tremendously, but that is something that usually comes innately with sirens! IM LEARNING!!

22. If you’re related to someone in the books or movies - what are they like?

being related to the Weasleys is one of the best choices I have made in ANY desired reality. at first I was worried that I wouldn't fit in in some way, but when I first shifted and Ginny came running into my room with the newest Seeker Weekly and I got to experience the dynamic play out, I knew that these lovely people would impact my life in more ways than I could imagine. For starters, having Molly as a mum is like having another best friend. she is always there to recieve my letters, and she is also there for each of her children when they write. sometimes we wonder if all she does is write to us, because we each get personalized letters and she genuinely enjoys hearing about what happens in our lives. Arthur is the most uniquely supportive of dads. he may be gone most of the day at the Ministry, but he always takes time to pick up things that he thinks we would like so we can fix them together in his workshop. the older siblings are hardly around, but they do write and Charlie and I have surprisingly kept in touch! (mostly because of my magical creatures class HE LOVES that someone else is interested in it). Percy is quite similar to how he is in canon, but when he is genuinely happy it is so contagious to be around. recently, he confessed to dating Penelope Clearwater, and we got to have her over for dinner. certain people bring out the best in him! the twins are as expected! since we all have birthdays in april of the same year, we were inseperable throughout childhood. something I love is how involved I am in the creation of their little business! they get so passionate about the things they care for, and I think other students assume they don't care, but that is far from the truth! the weasleys are so family oriented and we take family dinner and talking about our days very seriously! they all have hearts of gold and the compassion of that family is so admirable <3

if you've read this far, thank you so much for sticking around and letting me explain this life of mine that I hold so close!

as I was writing this, I only realized how little I actually covered and how much I could talk about my DR. I still can't believe that I have finally shifted to Hogwarts??

happy shifting everyone!

tonight is your night!

— 𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐧𝐞

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

The Life Cycle of a TARDIS

How TARDISes are born, grow, and die.

🌤️ The Birth of a TARDIS

From a Seedling/Sapling

In one version, TARDISes aren't built—they're grown from seeds and/or saplings. The process begins in the Time Travel Capsule Growth Foundry (AKA a TARDIS Shipyard, the Gallifrey Black Hold Shipyard, or the "Womb").

They're put into Dimensionally Transcendental Cradles (AKA Ubbo-Sathla, or maybe Hyperlooms). This is deliberately within an area of null space, where the normal laws of physics don't apply. This is needed to nurture the TARDIS as it begins to grow because the process has to be non-linear.

(Some sources place the Foundry on Gallifrey next to the Caldera, while others say it's located away from Gallifrey to avoid the time pollution, but it's probably the former.)

And Then There's Block Transfer Computations

Some sources claim that TARDISes are actually created by block transfer computations. Put simply, BTC is a concept that allows very clever people to create objects and events in spacetime using pure mathematics.

If this is the right version, a spacetime event is created by using BTC, and then put in a Dimensionally Transcendental Cradle, which turns the event into a viable time capsule like a little spacetime microwave.

Or Maybe Both?

That's not to say a seed couldn't BE this initial spacetime event, or that perhaps BTC are applied to the seed while in the cradles to create sentience, but eh. 🤷

🍼The Growth of a TARDIS

However they start, as they grow, they're embedded with a Protyon Core/Unit, which is programmed with 'greyprints', which are like the blueprints of a house. These greyprints establish all the specifications the TARDIS needs, including essential rooms, etc. The TARDIS then begins to grow using these greyprints.

After ten years in the cradle growing, a TARDIS is moved to a Solar Workshop, where Time Lords implant exitonic circuits. These exitonic circuits are designated XX or XY, depending on what gender was given to the TARDIS in its greyprint, and also add other features like the temporal drive and chameleon circuits.

Once this process is complete, the TARDIS is considered to be fully working. It's taken to a Berthing Bay in the Dry Dimension Dockyard Cradle and registered, given a unique code. Then, it's ready to bond with a Time Lord.

💀 The Death of a TARDIS

A TARDIS has an estimated lifespan of a few thousand years, but on Gallifrey, TARDISes are like smartphones - every time a new one comes out, you'll trade in the old one. It's expected that if the pilot is upgrading or their TARDIS is otherwise dying, they will put their TARDIS 'to sleep'. This is usually achieved by having a healthy TARDIS help the dying TARDIS into the heart of a star, which allows it to get to the TARDIS Graveyard outside of space and time.

However, some TARDISes are left to decay and die from entropy. Once it's dying, a TARDIS still capable of spacetime flight will go to the TARDIS Graveyard on its own. If it can't, it will attempt to 'call out' to any pilots who have previously symbiotically linked to them for help. If no one answers, the TARDIS will die very slowly, potentially in a near-death state for thousands of years.

🪸 Footnote: A Piece of Coral

It's extremely likely that the piece of coral given to Tentoo by Ten is from the TARDIS' Protyon Unit - you can grow a new TARDIS from a sample of a female TARDIS Protyon Unit, because it contains all the instructions for growth (the greyprints). However, this process will take thousands of years, because the growing TARDIS will have to rely on a nearby Time Lord's artron biofield. In essence, it has to use the Time Lord as a source of energy. This can of course be accelerated by a cradle or some wibbly-wobbly science stuff.

Once it's grown, it will be different to a normal TARDIS, because it hasn't had the exitonic circuits implanted. Without these, the TARDIS will not have the chameleon circuit (it will appear as a featureless metal cylinder), have no gender, and cannot time travel. However, making these exitonic circuits away from Gallifrey is achievable by a Time Lord, even on a rudimentary, technologically limited planet, but it'll take a bit of time.

Gallifreyan TARDIS Biology for Tuesday by GIL

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[mitarbeiter]

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Du kannst deine Lieblingsstreamer:innen in einem speziellen Tab für später speichern.

Und das war’s für den Moment. Stell dir vor! Gaming-Livestreams! Buchclubs! Pilzzucht-Live-Übertragung! D’n’D-Kampagnen! Live-Kunstwerke! Hai-Fakten! GRWMs! Cosplay und Con-Casts! Strickstunde! Fotokurse! Erzählzeit! Pflanzenpflegetipps! Wohnzimmerkonzerte! Furby-Workshops! Museumsführungen! Krebse! (nur Krebse!)

Eine tolle neue Spielwiese ist da! Wir sind gespannt, was ihr euch einfallen lasst.

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Extended rant about being poor and disabled under the cut, not really worth reading I just needed to get it out.

Hope everyone’s having a decent day

Listen I’m disabled unemployable massively in debt and have exactly $0 in liquid funds and no sizable assets. Unless you count physical assets. Like I could sell my body I guess. Ugh. Anyway throwback to that one time like an hour ago when I at least had a iPad to use. It was from 2013 so I knew this day would come. Can’t believe it lasted this long. And I know I should be extremely grateful to even have a smartphone, but I cannot use my phone as a computer the way most people do. I cannot hold onto my phone that long. I can’t look at such a tiny screen that long. I can’t crane my neck down for that long. I can hold it up level to my eyes but I can’t hold my arm up that long either. It’s not practical or sustainable. Plus my smart phone won’t last forever. Then what will I do? Without access to the internet? Yeah yeah touch grass nobody had internet for millennia blah blah blah okay but now we do. Now it’s a basic necessity. You need internet to do pretty much anything adults need to do nowadays in order to be an active part of society. I agree it’s fucked up but it’s real. I cannot get to a library. I don’t have friends in walking distance (or any distance for that matter) I have no access to using the internet for more than a couple minutes at a time. Im writing this post in segments over the course of a whole day. I keep coming back to it because I can’t think about anything else. I legitimately don’t know how to remedy this situation.

Not that this is a remedy but I want to inflict suffering onto anyone that’s ever said money only causes problems or doesn’t buy happiness or the best things in life are free or any of that classist bullshit. Two hundred dollars is pocket change to so many people but a little refurbished tablet would change my life right now. I hope every billionaire lives long but suffers endlessly and unfathomably until they die.

Also I hope my dad and his wife are really enjoying their fully refurbished three story three bedroom two bathroom home complete with a sunroom a heated deck/screen porch (yes different from the sunroom) heated floors in every room a garage big enough for their two brand new cars a little Vespa & a whole workshop plus a cute little stone patio with a fucking water feature pond fountain thing that they don’t even see that much what with their practically monthly elaborate getaways and international vacations every year. Fuck I hope they are really fucking enjoying themselves. Meanwhile I have to decide if I want to cut back on food and medicine for a while to save up for a device I can access the internet on.

Anyway. Ignore this I’m just really fucking tired, sooooooo unbelievably fucking tired, of being poor and disabled. Big fucking deal I know I’m so far from the only one. I know I still have so much that some people don’t have. And I’m grateful. But…fucking hell. Poor and healthy would be fine. Poor and disabled but still employable would be fine. Disabled but financially stable would be fine. Disabled with adequate support systems would be fine. My piece of shit grandfather finally fucking off and dying and leaving me something to live on would be cool. I’d kill for any of these. But poor and disabled just feels like someone is beating the fuck out of me and every few minutes they stop for just long enough to help me up and let ms pull myself together and there’s a momentary glimmer of hope until they go right back to beating the fuck out of me. I feel like eventually I won’t be able to get up or pull myself together anymore. I don’t fucking know.

Anyway at least I have a place to stay!! At least I have something to eat!! I can make tea if I want!! My eyesight is going slowly enough that my glasses are still usable!! The fact that I even have glasses in the first place!! The fact that I have any clean water at all, even if it only stays hot for three minutes. I can still take a shower. I have books to read. There a lot of ways in which my body and mind have not yet let me down. Honestly how dare I complain about anything I guess??? I don’t fucking know how I’m supposed to feel

[laidee-flegman]

the 12 days of Christmas journaling prompts

Seasons greetings everyone! To celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season I'm going to be uploading journaling prompts everyday for 12 days all surrounding Christmas, starting with todays!

What's your go-to Christmas movie, and why does it give you all the warm fuzzies?

If Santa had a smartphone, what emojis do you think he'd use to describe his Christmas Eve adventures?

Describe your ideal winter wonderland – snowflakes, hot cocoa, and all that jazz.

Share a childhood Christmas memory that still makes you grin like a kid on a sugar high.

If you were in charge of the North Pole, what quirky updates or improvements would you make?

Write a letter to your future self, reflecting on this Christmas and your hopes for the next.

What's the weirdest, most unexpected Christmas gift you've ever received? Spill the peppermint tea!

Create a Christmas playlist that perfectly captures your holiday vibes. Bonus points for dance-worthy tunes!

Imagine you're a mischievous elf causing harmless chaos in Santa's workshop. What kind of mischief would you make?

What's your secret weapon for surviving awkward family gatherings during the holidays?

Share your favourite Christmas recipe – whether it's a classic or your own quirky creation.

If your pet could write a letter to Santa, what do you think would be on their wish list?

Describe your dream Christmas tree – lights, ornaments, and all the trimmings.

What's your strategy for tackling holiday shopping without going totally Grinch-mode?

If Christmas characters had social media profiles, what kind of posts would they share? #FrostyTheSnowmanSelfie

Write a short story about a magical, unexpected Christmas adventure you'd love to experience.

Share a cringe-worthy holiday moment that still makes you laugh. We all have 'em!

If you could spend Christmas anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Create a Christmas-themed bucket list for the season. Check off as many as you can!

What's the most bizarre Christmas tradition you've ever heard of? Would you give it a go?

If you were in a Christmas movie, what would your character be like, and what wild shenanigans would they get up to?

Reflect on the year and jot down three things you're grateful for – big or small.

Share a Christmas joke that never fails to crack you up. Laughter's the best present, right?

Describe the perfect Christmas morning – from the smell of pancakes to the sound of ripping wrapping paper.

If you could invite three fictional characters to your Christmas dinner, who would they be and why?

Write a letter to Santa outlining your good deeds and maybe a few… not-so-good ones.

What's your favourite way to give back during the holiday season? 'Tis the season of giving, after all!

If you had a Christmas-themed superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?

Share a heart-warming holiday quote that inspires you to spread good vibes.

Reflect on one goal or intention you have for the upcoming year. How will you sleigh it?

[sofarfarout]

experiment start

Full Name: Clockwise the Artificer

Goes by: Clockwise

Nicknames/Aliases: old man(by Cold Steel), Rustbucket(by Cold Steel)

Gender: male

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: asexual

Marital status: single, not interested

Age: 53

Birthday: April 14th

Species: born an earth pony, mechanical augmentation makes him functionally an alicorn

Occupation: artificer

Past occupations: horologist and clockmaker

Alignment: Lawful Good

Family: Greasemonkey(father, deceased at age 49), Chug-a-long(mother, deceased at age 74), Nitty Gritty(younger sibling, age 48), Mila Minute(younger sister, age 41)

Relationship with family

Greasemonkey: died when Clockwise was a young adult in an accident at work, they were close and enjoyed messing around with machines and trinkets together

C: "Father was always a busy stallion. Always working, whether it was in his shop or at the factory. He saw beauty in machinery and I'm always grateful to him for sharing that with me."

Chug-a-long: was close with his mother and especially liked riding the train with her, had a shared love for mathematics

C: "Mother and I often enjoyed doing puzzles together. She was very adept at sudoku and while I wasn't bad myself, I was never as fast as her. She told me that numbers simply made sense to her. They were absolutes and did not change. That stick with me for whatever reason."

Nitty Gritty: were never that close but don't really have bad blood either, just went about their lives separately, envy each other's abilities

C: "My sibling and I are near polar opposites. They are a wonderful artist, seeing the world in all these...fantastical hues. Their work is something to behold. I, on the other hoof, seem to lack that color."

Mila Minute: was once very close with his sister but has grown increasingly distant over time, Mila no longer associates with him

C: "..."

Other relationships

Cold Steel: former student that grew disillusioned with his mentor's ideals, believed his views to be naive and childish

CS: "Holier-than-thou? No. But I am holier than you, old man."

Distinguishing physical features

-gangly build, mostly legs with a slim torso

-about half his body is composed of brass augmentations

-very large ears, comparable to a donkey or mule

-tears in left ear

-straight profile, face is neither dished nor aquiline

-eyes are sharp, almost diamond shaped

Cutie Mark: a large gear shaped clock with a smaller gear to the side

Special talent: tinkering, specializes in industrial revolution era technology

How he got it: repaired his family's most prized heirloom, a 17th century pendulum clock, got his mark later than most at age 14

Personality: brilliant, cautious, contemplative, eloquent, empathetic, enigmatic, gentle, idealistic, indecisive, kind, logical, mawkish, meticulous, nervous, passionate, passive, private, reclusive, selfless, unassertive, warm-hearted, wise

Greatest Strength: sensitivity and kindness

Fatal Flaw: difficulty opening up about his own struggles, prone to isolating himself and dealing with his troubles alone

Likes: meditation, math, crabapple jam, antiques, birds(especially owls), tidying up his workshop, hot chocolate, foals, harps, tinkering, whistling

Dislikes: public speaking, being rushed, the smell of gasoline, smartphones, being called a robot, arguing/debate, gardening, sports, heavy metal music, thunderstorms, dirty jokes

Fears: death, clowns, failure

Clockwise is a brilliant artificer working selflessly to unify flesh, metal and the arcane to improve the lives of all creatures in Equestria. He's very passionate about his life's work and spends most of his days tinkering away in his underground workshop. Being rather shy and a workaholic, Clockwise doesn't get out much and is prone to isolating himself and unintentionally pushing others out. Despite this, he's quite sensitive to the plight of others and will not hesitate to use his inventions to help another. He's something of a bleeding heart despite what his metallic body may suggest. This has come back to bite him more than once, most notably with his former apprentice, Cold Steel. A young Cold Steel had come across the fantastic brass pony one day and begged to be taken under his wing, though Clockwise didn't need much convincing after assessing the colt's talent. For years, Steel studied dutifully under Clockwise, eager to learn as much as he could, until Steel's bitterness and anger overtook him. Cold Steel believed his mentor had gone soft and grew to find his ideals and beliefs antiquated. After a heated, though one-sided argument, Steel left his mentor behind, never to return.

Any questions or additional information you want me to add? Don't hesitate to comment!

Bases- box-of-ideas on dA

[likes-words-and-shrimp]

Took some new pics of the charms @frayed-symphony made for me a few years back based off our RPs! (Older pics are here.) First pair of charms is from a modern AU where they both live together as roommates in the city and eventually date, with the second pic about Cruxis!Lloyd and a Colette who has been taken to Welgaia and is already suffering from her angel crystallization. Below are some quick summaries/trivia about the AU’s these charms are based on! (Because it sounded fun to me).

Modern AU: Lloyd hails from the countryside and works in Dirk’s workshop as sort of an apprentice craftsman. Colette has been living in the city and currently goes to a university (meanwhile Lloyd has only completed high school). When they become roommates, Lloyd also brought along Noishe to live with them. Lloyd of course also uses a flip phone, while Colette has a smartphone complete with some charms. They start navigating a tentative romantic relationship with each other, but old hurts from Colette’s past along with some of Lloyd’s naivety about certain things make it a rocky start at first.

Cruxis AU: Lloyd has been raised in Welgaia by Kratos, but is more or less very isolated and closed off from any form of normal society. He has only known angels, Yuan, Yggdrasill, and few of the Grand Cardinals such as Pronyma. Sometime on the journey, Colette got stuck with the crystal sickness and was taken to Welgaia with Kratos intending to cure her. Lloyd is then tasked to watch over her and the two grow close to one another. Eventually, with Kratos, they make their escape to Sylvarant! But Cruxis is still hunting them down.

[rabbitcruiser]

Nature Photography Day

Get out of the house and capture the beauty of nature on your own  camera. Even if it’s just taking a walk with your smartphone, you’re  sure to find something snap-worthy.

The natural world is full of so much gorgeous beauty and wonder, and  it is important for us to embrace it as much as possible. We can  experience so much breathtaking scenery in nature, and it is important  to make sure you make the most of this. The world of nature is one that  exists alongside our own, and it is important that we love and respect  it, and the best way of doing this is to try to understand and admire  the beauty of nature as much as possible. Many people have hobbies and  interests that involve the natural world in some way

One of the best ways of being able to admire and experience the  supreme magnificence of the natural world is to capture it on film.  There is a reason why people take cameras and camcorders when they go on  safaris. Nature is so awe-inspiring and unique that we often only get  fleeting moments that pass as quickly as they happen. And it is so  important to try to capture these moments, as many of them are things we  may never see or experience again. Things like The Great Migration and  thunderstorms are good examples of things in nature that you need to try  to capture when you get the opportunity.

Have you ever enjoyed a photo of a flower? Or a close up of a bee  landing on the entrance to its hive? Have you marveled at the grace of a  gazelle leaping through the Savannah, or the lumbering majesty of a  rare elephant as it feeds from the highest trees or draws water from a  watering hole? If so, you know what it is to marvel at the natural world  around us. Nature Photography Day celebrates those amazing souls who  are able to capture nature’s beauty in the eye of a camera. Capturing  these seminal moments is so important for allowing you to take in the  beauty of the natural world, and preserve the amazing power of nature  for years to come. So, let’s take a look at Nature Photography Day, what  you need to know, and how you can go about celebrating this amazing  global event.

History of Nature Photography Day

The North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) was formed  in 1994 by well over 100 nature photography enthusiasts. The members of  this organization were deeply invested in the future of this art form,  and ensuring that those who practice it are taking proper steps to  protect the subject of their photography through environmental  conservation and awareness. Through their efforts they ensure that  access to public land continues to exist for nature photographers.

NANPA established Nature Photography Day to help bring awareness to  the works they produce and the fragility of the subjects of their work.  The first step in truly appreciating the beauty that is nature  Photography is getting out into the world with your camera and finding  beautiful and rare subjects to photograph. To encourage amateur  photographers to participate there’s even a competition held with prizes  ranging from an amazing new camera, NANPA membership, and workshops  with the leading experts in nature photography.

There are limitless possibilities in nature photography, ranging from  standard photography to macro photography to capture all the smallest  details of the natural world we live in. In fact, with every passing  year there is more and more technology developed that allows people to  get closer and even more personal with the natural world, and the  animals that inhabit it. Making sure you have all the best equipment and  gear to help you enjoy and celebrate this day properly is so essential,  and you need to ensure you make the most of this moving forward.

How to celebrate Nature Photography Day

Obviously, the first step to celebrating Photography Day is getting  out into the world with your camera. You can’t take pictures of nature  without being out in it, and who doesn’t need a walk every now and then?  Visit your local park and discover the beauty held in such a natural  setting, or take a look in your garden for the little-hidden world of  insects and flowers. Nature can be found everywhere, even in the cracks  in the sidewalks! In fact, you could even take this one step further,  and try to snap one picture every single day for a year of the natural  world. Challenge yourself.

If you really want to make sure you get the best possible outcome  from your nature photography, one of the best things you can do is to  book something like a nature safari. This kind of thing is going to set  you up for success in the future, and give you access to some of the  most incredible and unique wildlife and nature in the world. You might  even look at booking a trip like this to coincide with Nature  Photography Day in order to really maximize what this day has to offer,  and how much you can enjoy it.

Try to get out of the house and make the most of the world around  you. Take your camera to the park, head into the garden, experience  nature from a different viewpoint. This is a great way of getting up  close and personal with the natural world, and there are so many things  that can play a major part in this. So, you are going to need to make  the most of everything that comes with it.

Nature photography is a beautiful art that really brings us closer to  the world we live in, and the view through the camera’s lens helps us  catcher it every day. So use Nature Photography Day as your excuse to  get out into the world and take a closer look at it than you have  before, and then capture it for the memories.

Source

[tieflingkisser]

Israel targets information technology experts as part of its genocide in Gaza

The Israeli army has systematically targeted dozens of programmers, information technology experts, and workers in computer engineering, in addition to destroying the headquarters of their companies, as part of the ongoing crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. Since the beginning of its large-scale attack on Gaza, the Israeli army has killed hundreds of people with intellects and expertise in the blockaded enclave, especially those proficient in information technology, programming, and computer engineering, as well as other elites in the local community such as doctors, academics, and others. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor compiled a list of technology specialists, including those with expertise in programming and artificial intelligence, who have been directly killed by the ongoing Israeli attacks. Among those is the well-known programming engineer Haitham Muhammad Al-Nabahin, who was esteemed as one of the Gaza Strip’s most accomplished computer engineering specialists. He, along with his wife, Eng. Nasma Zuhair Sadiq, was killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential home in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on 14 March. A relative of Nabahin told Euro-Med that he and his family had fled to a house in Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip. However, Nabahin’s two children, Layan and Muhammad, were killed, and his wife was wounded in an Israeli attack that forced them to flee once more, this time to a house in the Bureij camp, where the Israeli army killed them approximately two weeks later. According to his relative, Nabahin had paid a hefty price to have his and his wife’s names included in the coordination lists for individuals seeking to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Border with Egypt in order to treat his wife abroad, before they were both killed in the Israeli attack. Tariq Thabet, a graduate of the American Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, was also killed on 31 October 2023 in an Israeli air strike that also claimed the lives of his wife, children, parents, and other family members. Thabet was the director of the UCAS Technology Incubator Programs at the University College in the Gaza Strip. Baraa Abdullah al-Saqqa, the founder of DITS and a software engineer specializing in website and smartphone application programming (senior and lead developer), was also killed in a similar Israeli air strike on 21 November 2023. He held positions with numerous industry-specific businesses, such as (CTO) company. Additionally, he was active in providing programming courses and specialized workshops. In addition to being a student in a master’s program in computer engineering with a focus on artificial intelligence, Saqqa was regarded as one of the leading young programmers in Gaza. He was recognized for his efforts in training numerous new employees in the technical fields and was awarded numerous certificates and awards. Saqqa was killed in an Israeli air strike on his family home in Gaza City, along with his pregnant wife and his in-laws. The list also includes Muhammad al-Athal, who was killed on 26 October 2023, Hamza al-Shami on 2 November 2023, Obaida Khater on 20 December 2023, Anas al-Sheikh on 9 December 2023, and Abdel Rahman Hamada on 15 March, in addition to another group of young programmers, including Rami al-Sousi, Abdel Hamid Al-Fayoumi, Bilal Zaqout, Ahmed Nidal Qaddoura, engineer Muhammad Hassouna, and others.

[keep reading]

[xiomaro]

Where Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler courted. Coming this fall. www.xiomaro.com/dar_photo_walk.html

[lucielxbe]

chaebolz angle starter for @besiwoo + @bejaeyoung

somehow, they’re here — three of them, participating in a workshop for acting together. from nextgen to being thrown into an acting camp, luciel has little time to get himself adjusted to new routines and schedules. he’s used to sudden changes in his life anyways, so he goes ahead and memorises the script without getting too annoyed by it.

it was a stupid script, a stupid scene and all; a regular human being teaching two immortals how to use smartphones. luciel wasn’t entirely interested in it, yet his two little brothers that crashed into his life seemed excited about it. were they excited? he just saw two dogs barking and messing around with each other. maybe that’s their own form of excitement, even if they were trying to bite each other.

of course, who is luciel if he didn’t tried to put effort into this? by all means, he’s no professional in acting. but he lightly wonders if acting as a ‘good child’ his entire life could count as experience.

he rewatches the scene as he spins his own phone in his hand, as if it was a pencil. “you said we’re going to the play store… is it far?” he mumbles the lines, finding it a tad bit difficult to capture the accent. then he has to tell siwoo to get his coat while jay stares at them in disbelief like they were… ancient men. how old was his character again? over 900?

thinking about it, it reminded luciel of the time when touma had to teach him how to use line through exchanging emails. maybe he could get this down after all…?

[milehighmechanic]

𝟑-𝟓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐄 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘.

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐒:

red

gold

black

glowing sky blue of the arc reactor

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒:

engine oil

that sort of real subtle, real expensive spiced cologne

coconut

𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐎𝐍:

designer suits

leather jackets

sneakers with everything

sunglasses indoors

MIT sweatshirts

𝐎𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒:

a metal suit

a personal modified audi

stark-glass smartphone

𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄:

shoulders back, head up, you're on camera, never let them see you bleed

restless fingers tapping a beat

an arm around your shoulder, peace signs thrown to the sky, a cocky grin and sure footing

a hand over his chest, breathing just off-kilter, tension lining msucles, holding just too still to be natural

that Classic Iron Msn attack pose, coupled with the Superhero landing

𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒:

trails across the sky

the city skyline at night, shining and bright and ALIVE

sleek and shiny, futuristic

the whole Workshop aesthetic - battered leather couch and floating holograms, soldering irons and the whir of fabrication units, organised clutter and robots scurrying around in the background

the clang of metal in a blacksmith's forge

Tagged by : @glacierfront Tagging : @myatonements @rcscue @rejectory @feralego @paragonrising

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Next Tues, Jul 18, I'm hosting the first Clarion Summer Write-In Series, an hour-long, free drop-in group writing and discussion session. It's in support of the Clarion SF/F writing workshop's fundraiser to offer tuition support to students:

https://mailchi.mp/theclarionfoundation/clarion-write-ins

#20yrsago Reality shows: pointing the way to the panopticon future http://www.coherenceengine.com/blog/2003_07_01_archive.html#105830809488576022

#20yrsago How to fight for privacy https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/archives/2003/0715.html#1

#20yrsago MSFT provides tools to defeat its own DRM https://web.archive.org/web/20030730184611/http://openp2p.com/pub/wlg/3517

#20yrsago Amtrak is faking it https://web.archive.org/web/20030718092819/https://www.oblomovka.com/entries/2003/07/15

#20yrsago Love in the age of spyware https://www.salon.com/2003/07/16/city_of_angels/

#15yrsago Tiny sovereign Dutch neighborhoods in Belgian town https://bldgblog.com/2008/07/baarle-hertog/

#15yrsago Pedo-crazed parents call father a “pervert” for photographing his own children at a park https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1035315/Father-branded-pervert--photographing-children-public-park.html

#10yrsago Saga: visually stunning, sweet and exciting space opera comic from Brian “Y: The Last Man” Vaughan https://memex.craphound.com/2013/07/15/saga-visually-stunning-sweet-and-exciting-space-opera-comic-from-brian-y-the-last-man-vaughan/

#5yrsago Ben Carson wants to raise rents on public housing tenants by 300%+, attacking elderly, people with disabilities and working poor https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/ben-carson-says-hes-raising-rents-to-put-poor-americans-to-work--but-in-the-district-the-majority-are-either-elderly-or-disabled-or-already-work/2018/07/13/b85866a0-8127-11e8-b658-4f4d2a1aeef1_story.html?noredirect=on

#5yrsago Dianne Feinstein has lost the California Democrats’ Senate-race endorsement to a left-wing insurgent long-shot https://theintercept.com/2018/07/15/kevin-de-leon-stuns-dianne-feinstein-wins-california-democratic-party-endorsement-in-a-landslide/

#5yrsago Avowed “utopian anarchist” Elon Musk is also one of the top donors to the GOP “Protect the House” PAC https://www.salon.com/2018/07/14/elon-musk-revealed-as-one-of-the-largest-donors-for-a-house-republican-pac/

#5yrsago Chinese iPhones crash when users try to type Taiwanese flag characters https://objective-see.org/blog/blog_0x34.html

#5yrsago The world’s most popular smartphones are underpowered, unusable hot messes https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/big-tech-apps-for-the-next-billion-underperform

#5yrsago Sky blue, water wet, porn filters don’t work https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/cyber.2017.0466

#5yrsago America’s largest fast-food chains forced to end conspiracy not to hire people looking for better-paid McJobs https://www.npr.org/2018/07/12/628549616/fast-food-chains-back-away-from-limits-on-whom-they-hire

[matmarrash]

My 2023 in Review: Grants, Public Art, and Teaching

With 2024 right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to reflect on 2023 and share a bit more about what I’ve been up to. In terms of making pictures, 2023 is currently in my Top 3 worst years for creating photographic work. This doesn’t mean that everything else I was working on wasn’t photography related, it just wasn’t work for myself. Looking back, this year was all about strengthening my arts connections locally by sharing photography with the community. In no particular order, here’s what I’ve been up to for the past twelve months.

After-school Arts

Since the Fall Semester of 2022, my good friend Tariq Tarey and I have been working closely with a local charter school to develop an after-school photography program. For our first year, we were able to get interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras into the hands of fourteen eager 7th and 8th graders. Each week, we would take an hour to introduce the kids to a different aspect of photography. Throughout the year we managed to guide them out of Auto Mode on their cameras and start “seeing” their photos instead of simply “point and shoot”. By the end of year one students had: photographed a body of work, critiqued and edited their pictures, printed, framed, and entered their photographs into a local art show.

It’s been a long time since I’d worked with middle school aged kids, and to say I was nervous about working with younger students is an understatement. From years of teaching privately via Midwest Photo and One-on-One workshops, teenagers haven’t been my typical clientele. Many of them had no experience with a camera outside of a smartphone, and the idea of a dedicated device for picture taking was completely foreign. To the surprise of Tariq and myself, they picked up the basics at lightning pace. The mechanics took a bit more practice than anticipated, but their grasp of the language of photography was impressive and helped guide their vision. Overall I’m incredibly proud of what our students were able to accomplish in our short time together, and I’m looking forward to 2024 where we’ll be back for a new class of creatives!

Hilltop Cyanotype Day

Each year, the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) offers financial support to individual artists and arts organizations in the Columbus, OH area in the form of grants. These can range from one-time stipends for artist’s supplies to sustaining grants for arts nonprofits in the area. I’ve been participating in GCAC Individual Artist grants since 2015 and looking through the 2023 opportunities list, there was a new program that piqued my interest. The Neighborhood Arts Connection (NAC) grants are a way for artists residing in a particular Columbus neighborhood to receive funding to elevate and engage the community. And one of the two neighborhoods on the list for early 2023 was the Hilltop, where I’ve been for the last four years. There were two levels of the NAC grant available, $5k and $10k for a neighborhood based art program, so I decided to swing for the fences. I pitched a one-day public workshop where ANYONE would be able to attend free of charge to make a cyanotype print. To my complete surprise, the grant was approved; this was going to be my biggest undertaking of the year by far!

Even as I talk about it in past tense, $10k is a lot of money to spend on any one thing. I’m incredibly grateful that Columbus has an arts organization that’s able to support artists and their communities with grants like this. All of that being said, $10k for a public art event can be tough when accounting for everything that goes into the day. Breaking it down into three core categories, here’s what the budget looked like on my grant application versus what it actually came out to:

Material Resources - $4360 planned, $3878.81 actual

Includes art supplies, consumable goods, first aid supplies, and miscellaneous goods purchased for the event.

Human Resources - $4400 planned, $4682.50 actual

Includes pay for event host (me), eight assistants, and security all at a fair wage.

Event Planning - $1240 planned, $1693.11 actual

Includes space rental, permits, insurance, and event marketing.

So how far did that $10k go? I’m a little biased here, but I think it was enough to make an impact on my neighborhood. On Sunday October 1st, 2023 at Westgate Park, I along with eight other local artists hosted a hands-on workshop where all attendees were able to make their own cyanotype prints, free of charge. No photography experience? No problem! There were 200+ pieces of pre-coated light sensitive materials on-site, with dozens of different stencils and objects to make a unique photogram.

Throughout the course of the day, we had over 130 members of the public join us in making nearly 200 cyanotype prints on: watercolor paper, t-shirts, tote bags, napkins, and a few giant cotton murals! We had folks of all ages in attendance from age 4 - 72, many of which stayed to make extra prints. There were a few photographers that showed up, but a vast majority were Hilltop and Westgate locals that were interested in making something by hand. Any leftover arts and craft supplies that were used from the day made it into the hands of Hilltop art teachers, and two of the giant “snow angel” murals were donated to Hilltop local establishments. Most importantly, no attendees left the event empty handed, and everyone remained safe while having fun experiencing the joy of photography!

There were plenty of hurdles and a lot of lessons learned during the planning and execution of this event. Once I have that all of my thoughts and feelings compiled into an explainer video, I’ll be sure to append this blog post accordingly. For now, here are a couple of galleries of photographs taken on Cyanotype Day by photographers Shiann Banks (below) and Gracie Becker (above), thank you both SO MUCH for your help!

Research & Residency

Working as a freelance photographer is still not something I’m 100% used to yet, but in this second year of not having a 9-to-5 job I’ve started to look at opportunities that were previously out of reach. In previous years I’d see a handful of amazing location workshops and artist in residence (AiR) programs that I couldn’t participate in due to lack of paid time off days. One of my big goals for 2023 was to change this by applying to upcoming AiR programs and explore new grants. The Hilltop Cyanotype Day was one such opportunity afforded by a generous GCAC grant, but I’m happy to report there are a couple more.

Starting in January in 2024, I’ll be taking part in the Winter Residency program at the Penland School of Craft. Penland is an amazing craft school nestled into the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Each year they host over a thousand students in residencies and workshops of various lengths and disciplines. During those few Winter weeks I’ll be in charge of the photo studio and darkroom spaces at Penland in exchange for some much needed time and access to work on my alternative process photography.

Alongside the Winter Residency at Penland, I’m equally excited to announce that I’ve received a generous grant award from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) to help fund additional materials and research related to alternative process photography. Combined with my upcoming time at Penland, my aim to is come back to Columbus and spend more time making fine prints throughout 2024. With any luck I’ll be attempting several new-to-me alt processes and be reporting back to you all here on the blog and the YouTube channel.

In retrospect, 2023 was another year defined by photography, just not my own. I wasn’t out making pictures with big sheets of film through an “old timey” as much as usual, but I still had a blast. Thanks to everyone that helped make this past year a meaningful one, and an especially big thanks to the Greater Columbus Arts Council and Ohio Arts Council for helping support my continued photographic projects. Have a safe and Happy New Year, and I hope to share more photography with you all very soon!