@krakenantlers / krakenantlers.tumblr.com
AKA odd_stick
While I've been poking around fandom since before ff.net, I was most active on LJ, where I went by odd_stick. Then Real Life took my focus for several years before I finally hopped over to tumblr.
I'm most active here, but you can also find me at:
I also have a Recommendations side blog: @krakenantlersreadgood
anyway yeah DELETE YOUR FUCKING ADVERTISING IDS
Android:
Settings ➡️ Google ➡️ all services ➡️ Ads ➡️ Delete advertising ID
(may differ slightly depending on android version and manufacturer firmware. you can't just search settings for "advertising ID" of course 🔪)
iOS:
Settings ➡️ privacy ➡️ tracking ➡️ toggle "allow apps to request to track" to OFF
and ALSO settings ➡️ privacy ➡️ Apple advertising ➡️ toggle "personalized ads" to OFF
more details about the process here via the EFF
Okay, but also, don't bring your phone with you if you're doing something that could get you in legal trouble. You can get a burner phone (such a tracfone) and prepay for minutes using cash if you need to. But if you don't want to be tracked, the most foolproof plan is to not bring a device that can track you. (Don't bring your laptop, either.)
Here. Take the Prowls👇👇
One of my favorites was Freddy Mercury's response to someone calling him a homophobic slur during a concert. He signaled the rest of Queen to stop playing, said, "Say that again, darling," and reached the mic out for him. He was *silent*
"You got this, kid"
Death and The Hermit | Cody and Obi-Wan
using "what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament" to mean "yeah i made an embarrassing reference but you understood it which is also embarrassing" is very funny to me
my favorite part is that absolutely nobody says this except here. so if you use it in public, it's a dead giveaway that you spent the last ten years on tumblr. but then again, they recognized it, which means they were at the devil's sacrament
#no one wants this presidents shoelaces #so yeah we had to update the pass-phrases @ayrki these cannot be left in the tags
Now is a good time to check if you need to renew your passport or get one for the first time.
Not even as an alarmist thing, but because you want to do it NOW before any requirements change and your get distracted by the world. It's just a good thing to have.
The full passport book is pricey ($130), but the card ($30) has all the same benefits as identification and can be used at land borders.
Just to make it clear, because I've also seen this (good) advice going around on other platforms and being challenged:
The main point of having a Passport in the times to come is NOT to emigrate or have the ID to claim asylum, and I pray we don't need it for that.
The point is that Upcoming Administration wants to deport people. They will almost certainly not have the federal staff for the plans they espoused. The Passport is proof of citizenship in ways that other IDs in the US are not.
Additonally, beyond the travel book - which you should keep in a safe place similar to your Birth certificate when not traveling- you can get a wallet card. Immediate proof, right there.
This may be especially important for POC and Latine people soon.
Be safe, friends.
Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)
40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)
Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)
Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)
How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)
Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)
Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)
Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)
Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:
Calculus 1 (full semester class)
Learn basic statistics (free textbook)
Introduction to college physics (free textbook)
Introduction to accounting (free textbook)
Learn a language:
Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)
Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)
Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)
Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)
How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)
How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)
Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)
Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)
How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)
Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game
Go (back) to school
Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)
Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)
Introduction to philosophy (free college course)
Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)
Learn a language
Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)
Portuguese (Brazil)
American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)
Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)
Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)
Coding in Python - one of the most flexible and adaptable high-level programming languages out there - explained through projects making video games
Learn to swim! (for adult learners. I don’t care if you live in Kansas or Mali or wherever. LEARN TO SWIM.)
[Learn about quantum mechanics again, but in a more advanced engineering/mathematics class. Then read more about the math and physics of it]
Something I learned this year: how to sew a quilt (Here’s a very easy beginning pattern that looks amazing and can be done with pre-cut fabric!)
Tutorial video on what is under the hood of most (gas) cars + weird engine sounds and what they mean
How (American income) taxes & tax law work (choose “audit course” at checkout for free class)
Pickleball for beginners (so you can finally join your neighbor/friend/distant cousin who is always insisting you join their team)
+ Para-Pickleball for beginners (for mobility aid users!)
School is so much more fun when there’s no tests:
Learn a language:
Arabic + Resource Guide compiled from Reddit (includes info on different dialects)
Urdu (frequently recommended course on Reddit) + Resource Guide
So, my Dad is a 73-year-old Mexican man who has lived here since he was 16. He was in Watts during the riots in 1965; in 1992, when I was in LA, as soon as the Rodney King verdict was announced, he called me, told me what was coming, told me how to stay safe. He has survived horrible living conditions, being kidnapped, physical abuse, prejudice, discrimination. He learned English, got his green card, pays his taxes, works hard, and has three daughters.
I thought he would be devastated today.
But he wasn’t.
He saw that I was sad and angry, and he asked me why, pretending he had no idea. I almost started crying. And then he said, “no se me chicopale.”
It means, don’t lose heart. Don’t give in to despair.
I asked him why he wasn’t upset.
He said, basically, “The world has always been this way. There are always people who are afraid, who are racist, who are awful. This is not new. And it will never go away. He won. We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is what we can do. Fight for what matters to us. Take care of each other. And don’t lose heart. And here, I got these unsalted cashews for you and a bag of jamaica drink mix and can you show me how to use the new washing machine because it’s not working.”
And, for reasons I can’t articulate, I feel a little better.
As a Jew who just spent two hours talking to a rabbi for the first time in thirty years, please give your dad a hug from me.
Tikun olam, the rabbi reminded me. Literally, it means world repair. It means we live in an imperfect world, and instead of looking to the Heaven of the next world, it’s our duty to be a light in THIS world – to protect those people who need our protection, to work for social justice, and to improve the world as a whole.
The world needs our light.
Made a mouthwashing animation yayyy
Made a mouthwashing animation yayyy
Feel free to add on.
wow! as a broke college kid, i wish there was a way to access books and movies as well as scientific articles that the new administration isn't necessarily a fan of. man. If only there was a free and trusted vpn ( up to 10 gigs of downloadable data) to use in conjunction with an anonymizing router (also free up to 10 gigs) to safely, er, permanently borrow media in an untraceable way as well as share files. Man, what's that browser that keeps your online activity anonymous? I'm awfully attached to firefox, personally. If only i had a browser extension that would throw a smoke screen over my browsing data while blocking ads at the same time.
what was i talking about? hmm. weird.
don't give up
makes me just think of this poem by Caitlin Seida
So a while back, I was working on getting some singer 66 sewing machines running, and here is the test run on the motorized unit using a new needle and a new bobbin
This is #12 tent/tarp/sail canvas folded to 8 ply, because I couldn't fit 12 plies under the foot. She took it like a champ. Gonna make a tent, baby!
I'm gonna do so much stupid shit with this thing, like oh my god
I want everyone saying they want one to know that you can find one of these or something similar at just about any charity resale or thrift shop for dirt cheap. People turn the treadles into tables and discard the cabinets and machines. Which is crazy because the machines usually only need a good internal cleaning/oiling and a new needle/bobbin to be mechanically sound even if they look like a rusty POS at first glance.
I put this one on a base box from this gentleman and added/replaced a universal motor/footpedal kit for my local electric voltage like this one. Choose your oiling syringe, or use a wooden skewer or chopstick to dip and drop. Net result is this is now a portable (if heavy) machine that I can set on any table.
For less money than you would pay for a new plastic machine that is designed to break down in a few years, you too can put a vintage cast-iron beauty (or ugly duckling) back into service, it'll handle much thicker fabric and even tarpage and leather, and it will still be running long after you and I have expired.
I just picked up one of these lovely machines! She's in her original table, with manual, I'm just still learning how to make her tick.
I've got great news! The manuals are free to download from the International Sewing Machine Collectors Society!
Youtube university is also a great help for threading and lubing
