Sounds From Silence

*deep, deep sigh* the accuracy.

Its the ableism

For Inktober Day 4, here is a little porg to stare into your soul with its giant eyes.

Transcript:

“Most of what you think you know about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is wrong.

This is the model that we all learned in psych 101 is wrong [image of Maslow’s pyramid is shown] where our basic physiological needs are at the bottom of the pyramid and achieving one’s full individual potential is at the apex.

What you may not have known is that Maslow spent 6 weeks with the Blackfoot First Nation in the summer of 1938. He learned about their worldview and the Blackfoot Tipi, appropriated and misrepresented their perspective to establish his own Maslow’s hierarchy, and then didn’t give them credit.

[Image of Maslow’s pyramid and Blackfoot tipi shown, described below]

According to the Blackfoot Tipi, self-actualization is at the bottom of the pyramid. In the middle we have belonging and community actualization, where people take care of each other and help each other with their basic needs. And at the top, we have cultural perpetuity, which is teaching each other how to live in harmony with the land and achieve community actualization through generations.

It makes so much sense, right? Taking care of oneself is not enough. We need to take care of each other and our community.

This is why we need to decolonize psychology.”

If anyone wants to learn more about this I suggest watching the late Narcisse Blood's interviews on Maslow and the influence of Blackfoot worldviews on his work thru the Blackfoot Digital Library, they're very in-depth

Eldon Yellowhorn also discusses Maslow and Blackfoot ways of knowing but I forget which interview it's in

The picture at the start of the next paper shows Maslow at the reserve, btw.

Also this is good if you're interested in a very short introduction to tipi construction and their use as homes and visual records of important knowledge:

I much prefer the Siksika model to Maslow's. It places the individual at the base of the tipi, and the existential objective in that model is literally cosmic in scale. A self-actualized individual can better contribute to the community, and a self-actualized community and culture can perpetuate itself through time. The goal is so much larger than the realization of your own self, it's about being a part of a greater whole and ensuring it lasts into perpetuity.

Just received a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and me/cfs about eight months ago and now I am moving into a new apartment. How is this related you might ask? 😋 I realized I should be thinking of different ways to set up my apartment that would help me out physically.

Any advice, tips, and/or tricks you folks might have in making life easier in your home?

Thanks!

Depending on your space, store everything you can at the best height for you rather than where they’re “supposed to” go. Nothing will drop your mood quicker than realizing you can’t bend down/reach up/otherwise get to something while symptomatic because you stored it on a good day without thinking about a bad day.

Create as much seating as you can. Stools, ottoman, shower chair, whatever you might need. If you don’t have space then a lightweight stool you can move from task to task will work. Also group your tasks to conserve energy. If you’re washer/dryer is in your kitchen take your clothes when going for food/drink or to do dishes. Speaking of laundry I highly recommend a wheeled laundry hamper, and if you don’t have roommates to mind, putting clothes directly into the washer when you change out of them until it’s full enough to run saves you one big trip and makes you more likely to do the laundry instead of putting it off.

Eat like a toddler (of semi-health conscious parents). High protein snacks, fruit, yogurt, and treats like popsicles and jello can be lifesavers on days when making food or eating at all feels like a 12hr shift’s worth of work.

Pajamas, pajamas, pajamas. Loose, comfy clothes will save your sanity. Also change your clothes when you get up for the day, even if you’re changing from pajamas into pajamas. It’s a simple thing that signals the brain to be more alert.

Disposable washcloths for when you can’t shower. Or when you can shower but hot water wipes you out, you can soap up outside of the shower and only step in to rinse off. If you use mobility aides occasionally, get more than one and place them where you might suddenly need them. Front door, kitchen, bathroom, bedside, anywhere that effort, temperature change, or just getting up and down might require assistance. There’s nothing worse than needing your cane and realizing it’s across the apartment where you last used it.

Put paper plates with the nonpaper plates so you don't have to go hunting for the disposable ones on bad days. Same with disposable silverware.

Have small garbage cans/bags by places you sit and then take those out when full instead of having to run to an inconvenient place. Also have a separate one with it for recyclables so you everything is sorted as you dispose of them easily.

If you have a walker with a seat, it can be nice to use that in the kitchen as you move to prep things, because it has the wheels and can go more easily back to where it is stored.

Keep some handy packaged bars near your bed if possible for really bad days. Possibly something like gatorade/pedialyte/coconut water that is high in electolytes if you can't bear the thought of food but still need energy.

Have a small dry erase board for making reminder notes. Also maybe have taped to it a brief flow chart of things to relieve symptoms to follow when you are having bad brain fog or other symptoms where you don't think of what obvious self care items should be.

Keep phone with charger near bed so it is easy to keep charged (therefore try to position furniture so there is a convenient outlet) so that it isn't out of reached or isn't going dead because there is no charger.

It would be so funny if autistic people started describing allistic experience the same pathologised way doctors describe autism

Symptoms of being neurotypical:

Don't be discouraged if you're neurotypical. If you work hard, you too can be decent at math and accomplish the same things autistic people can!

A celestial warlock sketch.

You can participate in my weekly sketchpolls on my Patreon!

Sunny picking some mushrooms 🍄

Polarity by Erica Lyn Schmidt

He is a steady point in the sky

Strong and constant

Radiating warmth and light

She is a spinner of dreams

Weaving in and out of darkness

With the ebbing and flowing tide

Round and round the sky they dance

Watching each other with fascination

A common thread pulling taught

Across the vast expanse

And though he heralds the day

While she must remain in shadow

When their eyes connect on the horizon

They paint the sky with color

VIEW DETAILS brought to you by Every Day Original

“the klingon empire deserves to die because it’s corrupt” says ezri dax, who uncovered that the entire trill joining committee is corrupt and then didnt do anything about it

’ We’re talking about a warrior culture that prides itself on maintaining centuries old traditions of honour and integrity, but in reality it’s willing to accept corruption at the highest levels ‘ ezri, remember how despite Trill’s vaulted culture of meritocracy, curzon completely shitcanned jadzia’s dream because he wanted to bang her and resented her for it and only changed his mind later explicitly because he got to possess her body in a different way , and you were never even bothered by this. 

remember how they blocked aspects of your zhian’tara in your brain because it had a serial killer in it and they just lied to you about it

like you could have told the people of Trill about any of these things at any time.

A robotic snake that eats computer mice

Here is a concept drawing. Accepting name suggestions.

Python, duh.

@theopeninvite on Instagram

SO in Britain all the swans may belong to the Queen, but lemme tell you about Hamburg:

Hamburg is built around a river, so there’s many many many canals (the 2400+ bridges put Venice and Amsterdam to shame), as well as a fairly sizeable lake (here the smaller section, innit precious):

This means a shittonne of swans

(stay away from the swans) (seriously don’t go sailing on the lake because they WILL chase you). Obvs swans aren’t made for cold weather (p sure they’re all Australian immigrants actually) so Hamburg has an official job position to take care of the issue.

This dude’s name is Olaf Nieß (trying to spell his name on non-German keyboards must be fun):

This guy’s job title is “Schwanenvater”, aka “swan father”, and his job literally consists of getting swans to safety before the winter chill sets in. How does he do this, you wonder? Easy: he goes up to EVERY SINGLE FUCKING SWAN in the city and sticks them in barges. I’m serious:

Look at this dude and his swans

Swans are like Satan’s personal pet and he paddles around with barges full of them like it’s nbd.

I fucking love this guy he’s braver than all of us and deserves some recognition for his absurd line of work.

I always learn new thing about my city….. this job must be tough!

This sounds like something for @elodieunderglass and her series of important birb facts.

Aaaah oh my goodness! THIS IS SO UP MY ALLEY, HOLY COW.

I was a little confused because mute swans (pictured)* are native to Northern Europe and are generally happy with cold weather (they’re quite significant in the folklore of, say, Northern Russia). In fact,my friend Dru posted a lovely video of some of my Swan Friends breaking ice here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDXURNuDNk

The cob, or daddy swan, is breaking the ice with his chest to make clear water for his family to feed in. Later the ducks (shown standing on the ice) will hop into the cleared water and enjoy the free foraging. 

But then I remembered that wild Mute Swans tend to fuck off from the big rivers when it gets really cold and go somewhere warmer (such as a nice shallow pond) cos swans ain’t fools and they don’t actually like icebreaking. So why wouldn’t they want the swans in Hamburg to fuck off from the big rivers? Why are they putting them into small warm ponds for winter? Wouldn’t the swans just… do that themselves if they got cold enough?? Why do you need to have a guy go out and grab them before they do anything? THIS IS IMPLYING THAT THESE ARE NOT WILD SWANS, BUT MUNICIPAL SWANS. 

 AND APPARENTLY, I researched this 5 minutes ago, APPARENTLY there is a prophecy about these swans that is similar to the prophecy of the Ravens of the Tower of London : “As long as the proud swans draw circles on the Alster, Hamburg will be a free and prosperous Hanseatic City.”  The swans also served the practical purpose of demonstrating that Hamburg was a free and independent city, because previously, only royal Europeans had swans.

So they are not exactly wild swans! The Swanfather cares for the swans year-round - they’re municipal animals - and in the winter he brings the swans to a place where they can “draw circles on the Alster” without fucking off entirely, and show off to everyone that Hamburg is a strong independent city that don’t need no king. 

SO the Ravenmaster of London is a position that exists because if the ravens leave the tower, a prophecy says that England will fall. And the Swanfather of Hamburg exists because if the swans leave the Alster, Hamburg will stop prospering. The Swanfather role has existed since 1674, about the same time as when the Ravenmaster job was set up. I guess there was a lucrative trade in bird-related political prophecies at the time. CLEARLY I HAVE MISSED MY CALLING???

* OP is confused - the swans that are immigrants from Australia are Black Swans, and the swans on the river in Hamburg are Mute Swans. 

Also, ALSO, I need to insert my standard disclaimer here: SWANS ARE NOT EVIL. THEY ARE NOT ASSHOLES. THEY ARE LARGE ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH HUMANS BUT ARE NOT SUBMISSIVE TOWARDS HUMANS.

A huge amount of people’s fear/anxiety/outrage about swans and geese is because these large wild animals have the AUDACITY to live near humans, and to interact with humans, but not in a fearful and submissive way. Swans aren’t afraid of humans - why should they be? - and that makes us escalate our own behavior, because we expect animals to be either loving or afraid. So we often do silly things to swans, such as poking our hands at them, provoking them, threatening their young, using incredibly aggressive body language when we see them, approaching them with kayaks (kayaks are Incredibly Rude for swans) and allowing our companion animals to behave threateningly towards them while we giggle.

Then the swan indicates (fairly politely) that we are being rude and need to give them more space… and we complain that swans are disrespectful, mean and scary. Most of swan politeness is about giving them space, not making direct eye contact, and not pointing at them, or flailing your hands around, or waving a paddle at them, or looking directly at their babies, or letting a dog approach them. BUT PEOPLE ARE INCAPABLE OF DOING THAT, so they complain that swans are Satan. 

In reality, they are just large wild animals that are often quite happy to be “nice” to humans, and will recognize ones that are trustworthy.

Look how nicely they’re sitting in their little boats to go to their winter pond.

flying witch 3 ~ moonbow

For fucks sake

My money says that’s what plesiosaurs were like: fast underwater, extra padding for buoyancy, long neck. Look at their skeletons!

It’s just like this:

They’re basically large horizontal penguins with a long tail and spiky teeth.

OH SHIT THEY PENGUINS!!

OH SHIT PLESIOSAUR PENGUIN!!!!!!!!!

This is the inherant problem with most reconstructions. It’s just unknown how much fat the animals really had.

Except it’s not, always, and we do have ways to infer or estimate. While shrinkwrapping, yes, has been a problem in palaeoart before, we are doing better. Many modern palaeoartists, such as Mark Witton and Emily Wolloughby, are far more mindful of representing proper body mass and soft tissues.

Things such as fat distribution, body shape, and mass, can be calculated by studying bones, or even seen if we happen to get a well preserved specimen with soft-tissue evidence. We actually do have some soft-tissue fossils of plesiosaurs!

A penguin-shaped plesiosaur is unlikely for a few reasons. For one, plesiosaurs and penguins swam in very different ways. Secondly, the widely accepted hypothesis for the very long neck of plesiosaurs, is to reduce their profile in the water and allow them to ambush shoals of fish - hence why they are usually reconstructed with such thin necks.

While ideas like this are fun for a bit of a laugh, don’t dismiss the very real science that goes into palaeontological reconstructions.

Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus by Mark Witton, showing a non-shrinkwrapped idea of what plesiosaurs may have looked like - including a tail fluke not often found in popular reconstructions.

Got to draw this sweet commission for @sapphicmadameumbralis of her two OCs Carmilla and Amalia ♥️

♥️

See my commission info here

Twitter: scredgirl​ Ko-fi: scredgirl Instagram: scredgirl

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