I can't stress enough how much I miss StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon once sent me to a supercut of Lion King, Lion King 1 1/2, and Lion King II, the main edit being that the scenes of Lion King and Lion King 1 1/2 were interspersed so that they happened in the order they actually happened.

stumbleupon not existing anymore can be directly traced to a dramatic decline in my mental health, I could do a thesis on it.

bestie stumbleupon very much still exists its just called cloudhiker now. i use it all the time.

mini compilation of suggestions from the replies:

The Bored Button - "Press the Bored Button and be bored no more."

The Useless Web

Cloudhiker - "Discover the most interesting, weird and awesome websites of the Internet" (not really a rebrand, it's a different person running it but they have the same intention in mind)

Astronaut.io - "These videos come from YouTube. They were uploaded in the last week and have titles like DSC 1234 and IMG 4321. They have almost zero previous views. They are unnamed, unedited, and unseen (by anyone but you)."

Marginalia - "This is an independent DIY search engine that focuses on non-commercial content, and attempts to show you sites you perhaps weren't aware of in favor of the sort of sites you probably already knew existed."

spotify is raising prices again here's the apk that gives you premium for free

and here's the desktop version for Windows with adblock and skip-bypass BlockTheSpot

spot X for windows

spot X for linux/mac

growing up as a cis girl the patriarchy told me “you’re a girl because of the way you were born, there is nothing you can do about this, you have no say in your gender” and i hated being a girl because it wasn’t my choice it was a prison and the trans community told me “you’re a girl because you say so, your view of yourself is the most important thing, if you change your mind that would be ok” and it made me proud to be a girl and feel empowered in my gender and i wasn’t trapped anymore and then terfs come along and tell me “you’re a girl because of the way you were born, there is nothing you can do about this, you have no say in your gender (but like in a woke way)” and they somehow expect me to be on their side?

if you respond with some terf shit im blocking you lmao

I’m so happy someone wrote this because I feel the same was as a cis girl. I felt pressured to be feminine and went full nlog because I felt too ugly and fat to be “feminine” and I was in an academic setting where it’s a nono. Then the trans community was so proud of their femininity it made me feel gratitude for being born a woman. Trans youtubers empowered me to buy my first skirts and dresses and I no longer felt “stupid” for doing it. I took another colleague that felt “stupid” for being feminine dress-shopping once and we’ve been friends ever since and she now dresses up all the time and tries to feel cute and feminine and I’m so happy to see her like that. The trans community destigmatized being feminine for cis women more than any girlboss feminism I’ve seen and we owe it to trans women.

A trans woman was the one to make me realize I was a trans man. I’d always thought all girls hated being girls, that being born female was a terrible curse we all just had to endure. And then I met a trans women who was so, so fucking excited to be able to wear skirts and cute tops and makeup at last, after years of fighting for the right to get on HRT. I saw the pure joy she felt as she did a little twirl in a skirt and I realised being female isn’t bad. It’s not bad at all. I’m just not female. And I can experience that joy, too. And then I got my HRT and my voice dropped and I got hairy and I learned what it was to be happy with your gender. It took seeing a joyful trans woman twirling in a skirt for that to happen for me.

Thank you trans women.

I feel like this also might be relevant.

I’m trans but there is a special joy I experience when cis people experience what gender euphoria feels like, how fun it is to adjust your expession even if you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth. Cis people unlocking gender+ is so good because it shows how the trans experience can enrich lives and just… spread joy and happiness <3. Stuff like this makes me happy

And in a great mobius double reacharound in return cis people dressing/expressing themselves by not confirming to gender stereotypes also helps trans people who can’t pass or don’t want to including butch/masc trans lesbians and femme/girly trans men <3

[ID: A screenshot of a twitter thread by @/JoCat105 which reads: “the understanding of “trans people don’t need to ‘pass’ to be considered the gender they are” made me realize that wait a minute if trans people don’t need to pass, cis people don’t either right? and that has helped me explore myself so much without fear of not being a “real” man

i guess what I’m saying is kind of thank you for all the trans folks who encourage being who you are in spite of what society tells you. I know it’s not the same with cis people, but it’s at least helped me feel more comfortable in my own skin. yall are good role models” /End ID]

It makes me deeply sad when cis people put their resentment at their own gender onto trans people who experience euphoria for having the same gender. I love getting to see cis people doing the exact opposite of that. I think everyone benefits from examining their gender and finding what makes them euphoric, from realizing there are no rules and seeing that not as a destruction of their experiences but as an oppurtunity to construct a more healthy self conception. If being a woman doesnt require resenting being a woman, is that not permission to free yourself from the resentment, a freedom to love yourself and your gender with reckless abandon? I hope more cis people can learn this lesson. I know its one I have imparted to people in my life, and benefitted from when I received it.

I cannot begin to express how beneficial it has been to my comfort and happiness in my own gender to know and speak to and see and hear and be in the presence of trans people.

Nobody showed me how to love or enjoy my masculinity until trans men did. I didn’t even know that “enjoying” it was an option! *gestures at gender* You mean this fucking thing is more than just a set of imposed requirements I get to feel bad about failing to live up to? I didn’t realize until later how fucking lonely it had felt to be a man who had been assigned his gender without being taught how to think about it.

I owe a debt of gratitude to trans people, to trans writers, to trans artists and activists, because their experiences helped me finally see myself as a man for more than just the amino acid accidents in my cells.

Trans people and trans thought has helped liberate me from oppression in my own gender, I don’t know a world where I don’t have a moral duty to push for their liberation in kind.

https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947

Here’s the whole video. It’s called “Don’t Be A Sucker” and it’s 17 minutes long.

don’t just scroll past this actually watch it, it’s only 2 minutes long. If you re-recorded this today word for word with modern actors and places, it wouldn’t even look out of place as a PSA

300,000 notes and i can’t find a transcript

Transcript: (sorry for the language!)

Speaker: “I see negroes holding jobs that belong to me! And you! I’ll ask you, if we allow this thing to go on, what’s gonna become of us real Americans!”

Hungarian man with clear foreign accent: “I’ve heard this kind of talk before, but I never expected to hear it in America.”

Young man: “This man seems to know what he’s talking about.“

Speaker: “What are us real Americans gonna do about it? You’ll find it right here in this little pamphlet—the truth about negroes and foreigners! The truth about the Catholic Church! You’ll find…” [audio grows quieter as camera shifts to the onlookers]

Hungarian man: “You believe in that kind of talk?“

Young man: “I dunno, it makes pretty good sense to me.“

Speaker: “And I tell you, friends, we’ll never be able to call this country our own until it’s a country without… without what?“

Other man: “Yeah? Without what?“

Speaker: “Without negroes, without alien foreigners,”—the young man is nodding, following along—“without Catholics, without Freemasons! You know these…“

Young man: “What’s wrong with the Masons, I’m a Mason.” Looks to European man worriedly, “hey, that fellow’s talking about me!“

Huungarian man: “And that makes a difference, doesn’t it.“

Speaker: “These are your enemies! These are the people who are trying to take over our country! Now you know them, you know what they stand for. And it’s up to you and me to fight them!” A bunch of the onlookers in the vicinity wave him off like he’s crazy and turn away, “fight them and destroy them before they destroy us!”

Speaker: “Thank you.“

One man in the now somewhat awkward crowd: “claps“

Young man: *is visibly uncomfortable*

Hungarian man: “Before he said Mason, you were ready to agree with him.”

Young man: “Well yes but, he was talking about… what about those other people?“ *the pair sit down on a park bench*

Hungarian man: “In this country, we have no ‘other people.’ We are American people, of course.“

Young man: “What about you? You aren’t American, are you?“

Hungarian man: “I was born in Hungary. But now, I am an American citizen. And I have seen what this kind of talk can do. I saw it in Berlin.”

Young man: “What were you doing there?“

Hungarian man: “I was a professor at the university. I heard the same words we have heard today. But I was a fool, then. I thought Nazis were crazy people, stupid fanatics. But unfortunately it was not so. You see, they knew that they were not strong enough to conquer a unified country, so they split Germany into small groups. They used prejudice as a practical weapon to cripple the nation.”

People do not see masculinity as being as fluid and complex and nuanced as femininity and it’s annoying as hell. Because of patriarchy’s stranglehold on masculinity and radfem theory’s stranglehold on queer spaces, people really think with their whole heart that only femininity is subversive or experimental, or frankly, queer, and that masculinity is only a power grab and nothing more. Embarrassing!

Below is a bunch of writings from a variety of genders, cis and trans, on queer masculinity:

Female Masculinity by Jack Halberstam (book pdf)

Butch is a Noun by S. Bear Bergman (book pdf)

Understanding the Bear Movement in Gay Male Culture by Eric Manley, Heidi Levitt and Chad Mosher Mcoun (essay)

One of the best things that ever happened to me was during my trip to Venice 5 years ago. I had bought an all-inclusive ticket for all museums and exhibitions in the Piazza, and I was going through an exhibition of statuettes when I entered the next wing with paintings. The styles seemed somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t work out what was happening. Thankfully this incredible lady working at the exhibition saw that I was a bit confused and approached me to ask if I knew what this exhibition was. I said no, just that it had seemed interesting.

She explained that the reason why I might be confused is that I had entered the exhibition of Wolfgang Beltracchi from the end rather than the beginning. She then took me to the start and started explaining about him and his history. He has art forgeries in every style from medieval paintings to modern art and his forgery is not copying existing paintings but creating “lost paintings” that the artist might have painted or talked about painting but never did. He perfectly matched the artist style, composition, ideas, colours and medium. His materials were historically accurate and experts couldn’t determine that they were fakes.

And his wife Helene Beltracchi was incredible. She helped “backdate” paintings and provide evidence of their age. One of the things that stuck with me the most is this black and white photo, created with an old-time camera  and medium and the photo itself was aged so carbon-dating couldn’t discover that it was a modern photo. It was of Helene, with her features slightly altered, dressed in an old-time, era appropriate dress with the painting in the background. can you imagine the level of dedication and the immense attention to detail required to so convincingly fake a photo to provide a reliable history of this painting existing for centuries? She helped him create fake history for a lot of his paintings.

I’ll never forget that exhibition. There were so many paintings, all of them in the styles of different artists, most of them verified by experts as genuine until his mistake with the white paint which prompted a much, much deeper examination by experts. I think the lady mentioned that they could still not forensically confirm that some paintings were fakes, but it’s been a while, I might be misremembering. I was just struck with awe at the sheer knowledge they must have of multitude of painters, not just their styles, but their lives and the way their minds worked. He painted scenes “they might have painted” and when you look at them, you could definitely see it. It hits especially hard when you have more than passing familiarity with the artist, their lives and struggles, their choices of mediums and themes. You can look at this painting and think, this is definitely created by []. It makes so much sense, it has that distinct flair and works incredibly well as a parallel to [], their earlier painting. It was indescribable. Can you imagine the skill required to back that knowledge up? To be able to perfectly mimic the styles of so many artists and be able to so accurately forge paints, brushes and canvas that experts verified them as genuine?

And he had his own original paintings as well. One of them struck a chord with me especially. It was a painting of storage rooms, storing thousands and thousands of paintings that the public doesn’t know of, because they’re the unpopular paintings, the paintings that never get exhibited, the forgotten paintings. I thought it was very poignant.

I love these people. They really did do it because they loved art, they loved playing around with art forensics, and they just had a blast. Seeing his gallery brought be such incredible joy and so many interesting things to think about. 10/10, would definitely recommend

I got 1 task done today. I emptied the big trash can in my bedroom. That's one less fork to deal with.

I have severe executive dysfunction. I've been dealing with it by having myself do one small task a day. So far it's helped a lot. By doing it this way my brain doesn't freak out trying to tackle everything at once.

I got my inspiration for it from this Donald Duck comic:

Oh my God this is so fucking wholesome

“I saw the sunrise for the first time in years” moves me way more than it has any right to

"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

the angel staying over at my house asked for a nightlight in their room and i told them buddy, don't you produce your own light? what're you gonna do with more? and they said they wanted to see why people like it so much. and also that the nightlight i own is blue and they're been trying to understand color. anyways i think they've stared at it for an hour now

the angel staying over at my house said their eyes hurt from staring, so i took them to the store to get some eye drops. well midway through the medicine aisle i turned around to see them flashing in and out of colors like a combusting star, so i asked them what was up without looking directly at them. they told me that there were too many people at the store and they forgot how they looked. which. is understandable to be honest they've only been on earth for a little over 24 hours. my phone started to melt a little when i showed them pictures of themself, but my hand feels fine even though they held it while calming down. they're currently resting and i am not sure what to do with 5 empty bottles of eye drops

the angel staying over at my house has been eating my food for the past few days and i don't really know if they can taste it because the food sort of bursts into ash and fire before it reaches their mouth? but they seem to enjoy eating it or at least watching me cook. they tried to help me fry some onions earlier but the stove flame turned from blue to white and the onions started crackling instead of sizzling so they backed off. however they have the ability to chop garlic like a pro

the angel staying over at my house is taking daily walks with me around the neighborhood and i don't think they know about animals yet. we were going past someone's house and this labrador started barking at us. normal, right? but the angel staying over at my house asked me if that was music. and i had to stop and think about that one for a second. in the end i said it can be music to us, it's just that the dog doesn't know it (and may never know it, which is a real tragedy). then they asked me what's a dog

the angel staying over at my house went to the library with me and they wanted to know if humans actually dream or if that was something people made up for television. guess what the staff told us that the full name of the angel staying over at my house couldn't be printed on a library card so i just said well couldn't we have one anyways? and now we do but it's really like the first third of their name and not written correctly. oh well. i have to go help carry some huge books about neuroscience into the house

today the angel staying over at my house came up to me and started crying tears that melted through my carpet. told me they realised they wouldn't be able to use their library card after they left earth and i. i honestly forgot that was going to happen. but i told them hey dude that's just how humans feel too. can't read all the books, but the fact that you got to read some is worth bragging about, right? they could tell all of their angel friends about the cool stuff they've done. and they said that they used to think that the world was so small and that humans were being petty about missing earth but now they live here and they feel small too. and they're not sure what to tell their angel friends.

so i asked to hold their hand again. they didn't burn me this time, either. and i asked them if this moment felt small to them. they said it didn't.

anyways we made popcorn and watched it's a wonderful life. they told me that angels don't speak like that at all by the way

I tried to illustrate the second part

New York City ballet production of Midsummer Nights Dream

The fact this isn't a painting is a testament to one of the greatest feats of set design and production I've ever seen.

My god just look at this! The lighting, set design, photography... I've just never seen anything like it.

I think this is the first time I've ever been wowed by "this ISN'T a painting"!

yep, the whole thing is absolutely gorgeous

Hey I’ve noticed that more and more people have been talking about Wendy Carlos recently, so here’s a friendly reminder that Wendy Carlos has her own website. It’s ancient, but very informative and charming, with her art, photos of her pets, and her interests including color theory and astronomy.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that if you want to know anything about her to please use this as your source!! The website includes her biographical notes, a list of all her approved interviews, and has an archive of all her music. It also has a list of publications that are false/bigoted and that she does not approve of.

IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT that Carlos does NOT want her legacy to be “the trans woman who changed music”. She is a very talented musician who contributed to a rich history of music, but she makes it clear in this open letter that she is not a superstar, and in this message that she does not want to be known only for her gender identity, or defined by it.

Please please show her the respect she is due.

i really do feel like she significantly changed music, but also she’s just actually a very good musician.

"There's no hope for the future." And that's how they felt during the Atomic Age, during the World Wars, during the Enlightenment Revolutions, during thr plagues, during the Viking raids, during the fall of Rome.

Yet, we persisted.

CS Lewis had something to say about this

You should know: George Michael was a fierce, fierce advocate for gay rights. His 1998 outing is a perfect capsule of what gay men have had to endure

Michael began his career as the singer for Wham!, along with former schoolmate Andrew Ridgeley, in the early 1980s. The group had hits with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper,” and the enduring “Last Christmas.” And throughout his career, he’s always been unfailingly sex positive – before it was cool.

Gifs: BeeTheArtist

Resources for Mending Clothes

We toss out over 80 pounds of textiles each year. These textiles are often made of plastic materials (polyester, nylon), made in unethical conditions, dyed with harsh dyes that often get put into the rivers, etc. Even a single cotton shirt releases carbon emissions and uses tons of water. 

So the best thing to prevent the unsustainable growth of the fashion industry is to make sure that your clothing lasts as long as possible. To do so, mending clothing is a must. So here are some resources to help you learn how to do various things, such as sewing a button, to tailoring clothes, or even upcycling old clothing into new styles. 

* How to sew on three different types of button

* How to hand sew on a patch on a torn pair of jeans

* How to sew up a hole in an old shirt

* How to sew a simple T-shirt

* How to upcycle old clothing into new clothing

* More upcycle and sewing techniques

* How to repair a damaged sock

* How to do an invisible stitch

* 3 different stitches to work with for different results

* How to make a T-shirt smaller so it fits you better

* How to make repairs to your shoes

These are just a few of the things that you can do in order to make sure that your clothing lasts for a long time. Nobody wants to keep buying new clothing, as it is expensive and wasteful. 

So making alterations to your clothing, or fixing small holes hen you see them can be hugely beneficial to your wallet, to garment workers, and to the environment in the long term. 

If you like what I write, consider buying from:

My Etsy shop for upcycled bags, jewelry, and crafting supplies.

Or

My poshmark for reclaimed clothing.

Many people have asked questions, so I decided that I should answer them to the best of my ability!  So let’s see what people are asking!

How to make small clothes bigger, or short clothes longer

This question was asked a lot, for instance, Celestriankle and Drachenstocther are at least two users who asked this, and this is a great question! Often you see how to make large clothing smaller, but not the other way around.

Here are some resources on that:

Shirts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isy2xwFYihQ

Jeans/pants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4TnNcbgEU

Mostly this is done by just adding a wedge of extra fabric between the seams, and this can make youtr clothes last and fit you, even if you fluctuate in your weight.

Here is a resource about adding more butt to your pants:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG_QnEL9xYI

When it comes to repairing the crotch of jeans, which is what anyone with thick thighs know all too well the irritation of, there are a few ways that you can do that. For instance:

Patching:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90nYzbDFdE

Darning:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMsm6wyjF8E

This question was asked by user CleanLinens and Bovel.

One person, OnYourGoat, asked about resources for people who cannot thread a needles, The good news with this, is that there are needles out there that you do not have to thread if you have vision issues. These are called Self Threading needles.

Also, there were a few tips by users on how to make your sewing more sustainable. User SaveATruckRideAnOptimus-Prime states that you can get blankets and table-cloths from the thrift shop (something I often do myself) in order to have fabric to make your own clothing.

This is even more sustainable if you are choosing cotton, wool, or linen fabrics.

The last thing to mention is that user AssassinationTipsForLadies says:

“there is a great sewing instructor on YouTube called Evelyn Wood who has a whole bunch of videos on mending and the construction of old clothes.“

Let me know if you have any more questions or tips!

If you don’t have a sewing machine and done want to buy one, do check with your local library as it’s becoming more and more common for libraries to rent out things like sewing machines and other expensive but useful items. If yours doesn’t, expressing interest in a “library of things” could well be the motivation your library needs to get one going.

Fabric stores sometimes rent out machines too so check if you have one near by.

And if you’ve got any sewing/knitting clubs or places like the WI that are popular with old women, you will absolutely be able to find someone who will gladly let you use their machine and teach you how.

In their defence, a lot of it is sand.

I'm starting to think that maybe Europe just isn't that big

no but because australia is close to the bottom of the map and the flat map is distorted to fit a square map shape, australia on the flat map is significantly smaller compared to places closer to the equator.

Thank you for being the one single person in the notes who understands map projections. Australia is big, but still significantly smaller than the US.

Australia is not significantly smaller than the mainland US, no. These are the real sizes, not a Mercator projection. I think you're misunderstanding what yanzinator said. The US does have significantly larger island territories than Australia, though.

The continuous US (so, not counting the islands and Alaska) and Australia are roughly the same size:

US: 2,959,064.44 square miles (7,663,941.7 km2)

Australia: 2,969,907 sq mi (7,692,024 km2)

And the person above has the impact of the Mercator projection completely backwards: North America and Europe appear much larger than they actually are due to their latitudes. Most notably Greenland looks like it is bigger than Africa! (It isn’t.)

In the picture below, the pale blue is Mercator and the dark blue is actual size:

And here is Africa vs Greenland:

There is a website where you can drag and drop countries on top of each other to see the actual size comparison taking into account projection

It's pretty cool and also Japan is a lot bigger than I thought it was

#WHAT#i want a flat map that accurately shows sizes

Unfortunately, since the Earth is not flat, that is not physically possible.

Somebody who's not me please link the Maps Episode of The West Wing please that shit was fascinating and very well written.

Isn’t the blue map above pretty much exactly a flat map that shows the sizes pretty well?

I suppose if you don't care about stretching the distances between them and relative positions of countries beyond usability and are happy creating new oceans where real oceans don't exist then sure, you can do it that way. Like if the total land mass was the only information you wanted to present.

of course Europe is not that big, why do you think we're baffled when we hear how much time Usians can spend on a bus just to travel to the next state?

Guess what? Mercator is not the only projection that had been made. Only the most common used as it maintains correct angles to draw routes.

Here above a list so all the projections, some save more dimensions but have distorted lines, some have good scalability but miss angles or is not good for some regions far from equator.

Actually the only accurate representation is the map globe. Google earth 🌍 is the best we have widely available for physical map, but do not trust it on political borders!

enough reclaiming slurs, I think in 2023 we should reclaim nascar. they banned the confederate flag on all properties & their stance on lgbtq+ isn’t just performative bc in 2013 they fined a driver 10k for using a homophobic slur, condemned indiana in a statement for an anti lgbt law, and partnered w carolina’s lgbt+ chamber of conference in 2022. nascar was founded by anti-cop moonshiners/bootleggers who drove suped-up fords to out-run the police. #yaaascar

HELP

To this day, my favorite argument I ever had was with my Nascar-loving family about how a thin blue line flag on a Nascar is antithetical to the core tenets of Nascar. There is no organization more rooted in ACAB than Nascar. Literally, the only reason it exists was that a bunch of moonshining families had to build cars that could outrun the cops while on supply runs during the Prohibition Era. The goal was to make the car look like a regular vehicle so they could pick up supplies or drop off illegal alcohol without arousing suspicion. But if the cops were on you all you had to do was put the pedal to the metal and that little truck could outrun them with no problems. And of course, families would be in competition over who made the best alcohol, and whose car was fastest. So, they would have races on the weekends. When prohibition was lifted, the races continued. And that is why we have Nascar. It really frustrates me how people look at American car culture and scoff at it. Formula One racing is more exciting and more dynamic to watch, but the history of it is not as interesting: a bunch of rich assholes who made specialized cars for racing. And to this day, it is still a rich man's sport. Whereas Nascar was about a bunch of so-called hicks in the backwoods who used some basic hand tools and trial and error to make a junker into a racecar.