My fucking cat has figured out how to gently dig his claws into my eyelid and pull my eyes open while I'm sleeping. He does this. It does not hurt. He is remarkably precise and gentle. I however am asleep when it happens and do not appreciate being clockwork oranged by a needy clingy goddamn animal who thinks he needs attention.

I would like to clarify that this animal self feeds and is not being denied breakfast by my sleeping in. He doesn't do this to anyone else. Everyone else simply gets increasingly invasive headbutts and even thats a fairly rare occurence. This fucking cat needs to cuddle with me specifically, And he is decided that the best way to do it is to gently shove his claws underneath my eyelashes and pull. There is no way I can train him out of this because believe it or not shoving your fingers in somebody's eyes to wake them up has the desired reaction.

We have come to a compromise. One that neatly illustrates the reason I'm not wearing an eyemask.

If I have a hair tie on my wrist, my darling sweet baby boy, love of my life and apple of my eye, can gingerly dig his teeth underneath and grab it in his mouth and then back up. and pull. And Snap the hell out of me with the elastic. Again, he is very gentle and precise, there are never teeth touching my skin. This is not a fluke, he managed this several times in various circumstances and positions.

This is worse than a toddler. We are approaching diabolical machinations hitherto undreamt of by domestic felines.

Behold, Prince Shithead himself.

New zine that's free for anyone to print and distribute! Read the whole thing at newlevant.com/COVIDzine or in the rest of this post.

UPDATE 4/11/2023:

I swapped out the colloidal silver nasal spray info for xylitol nasal spray info. I originally included colloidal silver spray because of the linked study and recommendation from RTHM, but I don't want to be pointing people toward something with notable health risks. Xylitol spray (Xlear) is also cheaper and more widely available!

This is such a concise and informative resource! PLEASE boost this and keep each other safe! The pandemic is NOT OVER.

it’s been long enough i’m making an executive decision that we all need to go reread the tgi fridays infinite mozzarella sticks article

still just as good as i remember it

The link is broken nooooo

burning of the fucking library of alexandria right here. anyway everyone say thank you wayback machine

Happy ten years of Caity weavers infinite mozzarella sticks article

This is EXACTLY why Bucky Barnes is my favorite character and it brings me so much joy to finally see a little bit of it on screen.

I feel like an extremely minor 616!Bucky moment that really sums up who Bucky is as a character is when he and Natasha are strolling in the rain and he begins to whine about it and she’s like “...seriously? That’s too much for you? You fought Nazis.” and he just straight up says “If I have to compare everything to fighting Nazis, I’ll never get to complain about anything.” and I remember stopping and smiling because that’s it. Bucky hits every trope of the grimdark hero but instead of becoming the grimdark hero he just... complains a lot about inconsequential things in ways that hurt no one. He remains sweet and genuinely upbeat as a rule, he’s just... gonna make sure the world knows when he’s Mildly Inconvenienced. He’s 100% on board with helping you move on a weekend! He’s just gonna complain about random stuff while he does it and he won’t expect you to understand half of what he’s even talking about, he just has a complaining quota to meet, like a psychological fitbit that measures harmless irritation

girls I know this isn’t at the top of the concerns list but you’re gonna want to stop eating commercially produced meat real soon

this got more attention than I thought. if you’re confused:

he had promised to fully deregulate and privatize food safety inspections in his second term. this is to favor massive producers and reduce their costs at the expense of public health and safety. the reason why I make immediate mention of this is because anything that can be construed as “culture war” makes the news and everyone finds out about. these things, however, happen quietly because they aren’t sensational stories for the media to profit off of clicks with. the recent numerous recalls can be tied back to these first term rollbacks, which went over so quietly and discreetly no one demanded reinstatement during the Biden admin.

More How To Manage ADHD

“I never remember to take out the trash until my trash can is full, at which point the trash bag is really heavy and the stuff at the bottom has been rotting a while, and it’s awful!”

Small brain: “Try to train yourself to take out the trash on certain days at certain times.”

Large brain: “Buy a tiny trash can. Now you HAVE to empty it.”

That’s genius!

I just put it in front of my door when it’s full so I am physically unable to leave unless I pick it up.

The best advice I’ve ever received about managing my depression/anxiety/adhd is that disability exists in the context of the environment. Accommodations are not about changing yourself to work in your environment — it’s about changing your environment to better work for you.

So yeah, get a tiny trash can and put it by your door. Store your towels in your bathroom so you can immediately change them when they smell funny. Hang a basket by your door for your gloves and earbuds. Leave a box of cliff bars by your door so you never leave without breakfast. Change your environment and change your life!

“Change your environment and change your life”

On twitter I’m seeing dozens of threads from Black activists warning people against burnout, giving all sorts of useful tips about preventing and managing it for the sake of a long-term, sustainable effort.

On tumblr I’m seeing a hell of a lot of young white kids yelling at anyone who actually follows those steps, and acting like burnout is a moral falling rather than a well-proven psychological phenomenon.

Be careful who you get your information from. Don’t let guilt lead you to make choices that will harm both you and the movement.

I’m going to reblog this again since I see more individuals are inquiring about burnout prevention tips in the notes and it’s why I sought out this resource. I hope it helps you!

source

advice from dad

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.

Planet's Fucked: What Can You Do To Help? (Long Post)

Since nobody is talking about the existential threat to the climate and the environment a second Trump term/Republican government control will cause, which to me supersedes literally every other issue, I wanted to just say my two cents, and some things you can do to help. I am a conservation biologist, whose field was hit substantially by the first Trump presidency. I study wild bees, birds, and plants.

In case anyone forgot what he did last time, he gagged scientists' ability to talk about climate change, he tried zeroing budgets for agencies like the NOAA, he attempted to gut protections in the Endangered Species Act (mainly by redefining 'take' in a way that would allow corporations to destroy habitat of imperiled species with no ramifications), he tried to do the same for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the law that offers official protection for native non-game birds), he sought to expand oil and coal extraction from federal protected lands, he shrunk the size of multiple national preserves, HE PULLED US OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT, and more.

We are at a crucial tipping point in being able to slow the pace of climate change, where we decide what emissions scenario we will operate at, with existential consequences for both the environment and people. We are also in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the rate of species extinctions far surpassing background rates due completely to human actions. What we do now will determine the fate of the environment for hundreds or thousands of years - from our ability to grow key food crops (goodbye corn belt! I hated you anyway but), to the pressure on coastal communities that will face the brunt of sea level rise and intensifying extreme weather events, to desertification, ocean acidification, wildfires, melting permafrost (yay, outbreaks of deadly frozen viruses!), and a breaking down of ecosystems and ecosystem services due to continued habitat loss and species declines, especially insect declines. The fact that the environment is clearly a low priority issue despite the very real existential threat to so many people, is beyond my ability to understand. I do partly blame the public education system for offering no mandatory environmental science curriculum or any at all in most places. What it means is that it will take the support of everyone who does care to make any amount of difference in this steeply uphill battle.

There are not enough environmental scientists to solve these issues, not if public support is not on our side and the majority of the general public is either uninformed or actively hostile towards climate science (or any conservation science).

So what can you, my fellow Americans, do to help mitigate and minimize the inevitable damage that lay ahead?

FINALLY SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT THIS

A 2nd trump presidency will basically be one of the last nails in our coffins, as the US, one of the biggest polluters, is going to be no longer have no qualms over fucking over the entire planet.

I get people's immediate priority isn't this, so they aren't talking about it, it's their rights and livelyhoods, it is totally understandable.

But talking to one of my professors today really showed me that the scientific community really is panicking and the planet is on its knees.

HOWEVER,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we cannot lose hope, bc climate doomrism is as bad as climate denial

Take this time, while these issues are fresh on our minds, to educate yourself. Get involved. Share news with others. Call out misinformation. Do everything you can, while we still can.

Today is going to be rough for so many people. It's going to be rough for you. There are things you can't change today.

But you can take care of yourself. Eat breakfast, drink water, take a long shower, put on clean clothes/favorite clothes. Checking in on the politics as needed, rather than wallowing in them all day. Put on a comfort movie or show, and watch that for a while. Focus on your job if you have to be there today. Reach out if you need help.

You can also check in on your friends- making sure they have eaten and had water and showered and have something comforting. Reach out if they might need help. The only way out of this is through, and we need each other to get there.

We will have a long fight ahead of us for the next 4 years. We would have had a long fight ahead of us regardless of who won; only the kind of fight would have been different. This is the fight we have: survival and damage control. Not the fight we wanted, but it is what it is, and we're still going to use tooth and nail.

Today is Day 1.

Today is checking with your clerk's office, if you mailed your ballot, to ensure your ballot got counted. Today is weathering the despair. Today is taking care of yourself and checking on your loved ones to make sure they have what they need to weather Day 1 with you.

Tomorrow is resolving to vote in the next local elections to aid in damage control, and planning the next steps.

Survival and damage control.

Hope is not a fragile flower, easily crushed beneath a fascist boot. Hope is a fighter with blood on her knuckles and dirt on her knees, and we are going to help her get back on her feet every time.

i hate viruses so fucking much. literally getting attacked by a fucking shape. a concept. consumes no energy. responds to no stimuli. its only existence is to fuck with you. like fuck offf

prev's tags are too good not to save

[ID: #right???

#it's not even a beast or a creature #a bacterium is at least a guy. a horrible little scallawag of a guy but a guy nonetheless

#a virus is just. a mean tiny complicated philips head screwdriver

#fuck off out of here. go back to concept town /end ID]

HELLO??

Hot damn, I will definitely buy champagne and strawberries for the horny cheese

That is my favorite cheese of all cheeses and I canNOT get it, here.

Starting to think a cooler headcanon for Clark’s upbringing might just be that the entire town of Smallville collectively decided to just go with it and accept that Martha and John's kid has superpowers, but we don't talk about it.

Someone's tractor gets stuck and nothing can get it out? "Be a dear and run down to the Kents, would you? Ask for Clark?"

"Why Clark, we need a machine--"

"Run along now."

Or if he kicks too hard and the football vanishes into the upper stratosphere, no it didn't, we all collectively saw it land over there *vague hand movements*

Clark: *does anything beyond human limits*

Smallville citizen:

The Kent's found an abandoned baby in a cornfield? Well good for them they've been longing for a child for years

I swear that Kent boy was running faster than that train...welp none of my business

Jonathan! Your witch child busted my tractor!

these are small town Midwest farmers they ain't saying shit to FEDS

I was gonna say, Midwestern rules says as long as that boy is polite and respectful (of course he is), there's no reason to ask any questions.

Imagine the nosy bitch (there's always a nosy bitch) going, "Oh, he's their ADOPTED son" and the OUTRAGE. "Oh, is your daddy your step-daddy, Lauren?"

"How could you say that???"

"Because everyone knows you don't look a thing like your daddy, but you sure look like his cousin."

I also like how this can mirror Bruce; Batman only lets a small handful of people in on his hero identity, but most of Gotham has no idea who he is... meanwhile, more than half of Smallville knows about the Kent boy, and they just keep quiet around a few folks they don't trust

When Superman starts showing up on the news all of smallville collectively smile and go and congratulate the Kent’s “you know Martha I just knew that boy of your’s would grow ta some good,” they have a potluck whenever he wins some big fight and are all holding their breath when he get hurt, also every single person in smallville will curse out Lex Luther on a whim,

Look, despite what some people might think, country folk aint stupid. Simple sometimes, sure, but not stupid. So when three events happened in quick succession, it wasn't hard to connect the dots.

First, there was the shooting star. Meteor. Meteorite. "That green blaze of light that went cross the sky screaming like a banshee's flute". Whatever you're going to call it. Anyone who was up at the time saw it. But nobody heard any sound of it hitting ground. And with all the fuss it was making, you'd figured you would. Everyone would've just figured it burnt itself up while stretching through the sky. Except.

So, did you know that in order to register your baby (and get a SSN) all you need is a proof that people acknowledge you birthed the child? (You need.2 documents).

This can be a birth certificate from the hospital, yes.

But can also be:

(yes, I did the research for fanfic. Did you know there's something called "Superman exception"? Haha :) )

Oh, do you know who can give those in a small town?

The neighbours 👀

(sure, it was snowing. So what if no one knew? We all know she was so scared in previous pregnancies.)

Oh, I have a WIP about Martha Kent, who had several miscarriages, and the whole town just goes "IT'S HER BABY".

*Thumbs up* Headcanon accepted.

my god you're fucked: the lady at the help desk just went to ask someone else for help with your issue and everyone's got a confused look on

No you're gonna be fine they've gotten their Very Obviously Autistic coworker from the back and that coworker does not look at all confused. They will not greet you or make eye contact, but will solve your problem in three to five minutes then return to their Quiet Backroom.

one of the coworkers I assumed didn't like me - which made all those outings a bit uncomfortable - took me aside last night, put her hand sort of on my shoulder, looked me intensely in the eyes and said:

"just so you know, I do like you. I just have autism."

also, one of the guys was getting very comfortable - too comfortable for most people - and he kept resting his arm over the back of my chair, and so at some point when I turned to her to ask about something mundane she interrupted me:

"I see his arm on your chair," very intense eye contact, which I understand was specifically for my benefit "if it makes you uncomfortable let me know and I will tell him off. I literally don't care what he thinks and it will be easier for me than you because I'm incapable of feeling awkward."

So this comment section on a tiktok about insane things people ask at aquariums is a goldmine

i worked at a natural history-type store for a while and one time this mom came in with her sweet little boy and he was asking intelligent questions and she was giving zero-information answers and i was able to not pipe up in my shrill hectoring voice until she confidently informed him that "snakes dont have bones". she was standing next to a shoulder-high specimen of this:

Baptized in the Otter Exhibit by Chuck Tingle

All throughout childhood, while my peers were socializing and making friends, I studied the blade read so many books that I am now almost legally blind, which left me with vast and deeply instinctual understanding of English grammar - and next to no ability to explain how it actually works. Friends will often ask me to proofread their writing and then get very mad when I say things like, "You need to completely reverse this sentence and cut this clause entirely; no, I'm sorry, i don't know why, I just know that the way it is now ITCHES 😭"

Now, what I want to see is a fantasy story where this plays out with MAGICAL grammar. Someone from a backwater town deeply steeped in folk magic arrives at Wizard Uni where all their fellow students are like "What do you mean, we should add another '𝞯∘⋇𝞿' to the incancation because it 'sounds better'? What do you mean, 'it could just be a regional thing'?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'THIS SPELL JUST FEELS LIKE IT NEEDS A LIVE RAT'????"

"I mean, on the plus side, there's live rats in a lot of places, so the odds of you casting that spell within close enough range of a live rat to work is pretty high? Like, if you've ever had that spell just randomly fizzle out on you, then you tried it again ten minutes later without changing anything and it suddenly worked, a rat probably just wandered into range in that time."

disclaimer: spell does not work in Alberta