unique swirl and stay

it may interest you to investigate this finely crafted mystery link.

it may interest you to investigate this finely crafted mystery link.

Some Happy Hanukkah doodles!

Water Blossom Menorah by Amy Reichert

According to Jewish tradition, the original temple menorah was made of gold, almond-blossom-shaped cups.  This modern riff on that design inspiration sets a ring of almond blossoms in a shallow pool of water. The pool both reflects the candlelight, and provides a dramatic and safe way for the candles to sizzle out as they burn down. 

Confession: I hope I’m making sense. Can black women just exist without having to do something radical and uplifting? Can we have a good time and just exist without it having a deeper meaning? I know these movements mean well, but it’s sometimes it’s exhausting and feels performative to fall into these #blackgirlmagic etc hashtags. I just really hope for the day when black girls can just exist and thrive without it meaning something deeper? I don’t know, maybe I’ve snapped.

Shout out to my Arabic teacher that looked at us yesterday mid-lesson and said, “I’m worried. You all look exhausted and depressed.”

Of we were all like, “Oh yeah we’re dead inside, you haven’t noticed?”

And he snapped shut the textbook, threw up his hands and said, “That’s not healthy! No more vocab! Time for dancing!”

And he taught us a dance from Iraq and we danced instead of doing vocab. We didn’t stop dancing until he saw all of us laughing and was satisfied that we were all feeling better. It was perhaps the coolest, most kind-hearted thing I’ve ever seen a college instructor do.

happy halloween

(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Herona marathus)

i made a very large worm out of wire, quilt batting and CDs. his butt lights up. well bye

a Friend....

@awyeahtism @cetaceanxneeded :o

|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|     SEND NUDIBRANCHS |＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|                             ||          ❀ ____/\_/\ ||          (_________/

@chesed-universe-180

watching history repeat itself as the united states and countries across the world descend into fascism in an all too familiar pattern of events

Microaggressions are often represented as little pokes throughout the day that eventually leave you bruised and tired. In that scenario one micro-aggression isn’t bad, but a hundred of them are.

But microaggressions are reminders that there is a force present that threatens your survival. So a single micro-aggression can send your survival instinct into ‘ALERT. THREAT TO SURVIVAL DETECTED’ mode which sends your whole emotional system into overdrive.

A microaggression is a reminder that you are not safe. That’s why a single microaggression can hit you like a truck.

mood

aromantic stage 1: i’m so glad that i don’t have to deal with crushes and dating and romance, i really dodged a bullet there

aromantic stage 2 (laying on the floor staring at the ceiling): none of my friends will ever love me as much as i love them because they’re all gonna end up in relationships and i will become, at best, a secondary fixture in their lives. maybe sometimes one of them will remember i exist and invite me out for pizza once a month. i mean nothing to them compared to what they mean to me.

I understand that venting is needed sometimes. And that a pretty central piece of the aro experience is loneliness. But, fuck. I just keep seeing stuff like this spread around in aro spaces. And part of it’s getting to me.  I don’t want aro spaces to be filled and built on despair. These should be spaces to talk about our experiences, but also work on building the world we need. So I’m proposing 

aromantic stage 3: being aro puts me in a really powerful and unique to look at the world. We live in a world that expects so many of our needs to be filled by a romantic partner. Being aro gives you a perspective to see this and how pervasive it is. I can start building a world beyond that. I can build strong friendships. I can assert strong boundaries and help others see that that’s possible. I can create space for boundaries and consent. I can do anti-capitalist political work. I can build structures of community care. Being aro isn’t hopeless. It’s a wonderful place to begin making the life and world I want and need. 

dream: taking turns cooking for beloved persons, being cooked for, cooking together

It is okay to take your time with your transition. It is not a race and you need to do what’s best for you. If you’re too drained to fill out those name change forms or if you’re uncertain about a taking a particular step in your transition that’s alright, take your time. If you don’t have the money or a supportive environment right now, just hold on and remember that one day you will get to the point where you can take those steps.