Sometimes All I Eat is Dessert

Writing Advice: How to Create Conflict when Your Characters are Competent.

Featuring Leverage, the ultimate in Competency Porn.

"You can tell that there was a wealth of love that went into making this film so I hope people can take just a little bit of that love out with them." - Eugene Lee Yang | Go Behind The Animation for Nimona

Inmates being put to work does NOT SAVE ANYONE TAX DOLLARS you are still paying exorbitant amounts of taxes to the prison industrial complex, almost all of which goes into these corporations pockets, btw—-not spent on prisoners.

I don’t know about any of y’all, but I would so much rather my tax money go to actually rehabilitating people and finding ways to keep them out of incarceration, rather than an entire industry set up around getting people to recidivate and return to prison time and time again, just so that prison industrial complex can pocket even MORE of my tax money.

silliest thing about my body is that I regularly experience precordial catch syndrome, which is basically the medical term for an extremely painful "twinge" in your chest cartilage that's not medically significant & which we can't really explain.

anyway, mine falls in the extreme in that the "twinges" can last several minutes and they range anywhere from "agh, minor inconvenience, I just need to sit still for a moment" to "this is the worst pain I've ever experienced in my entire life, the ethical thing to do now would be to shoot me."

the problem is, when it's the latter, I literally look deranged. the "catch" comes on so fast, mid-breath, I gasp in sudden agony, clutch my chest, and seethe in agony as I struggle for as much oxygen allowed in the shallowest breaths possible. sometimes it's so bad I end up on my knees or even lying on the floor, basically writhing in pain, clenching my teeth like I'm turning into a werewolf or something. and of course people are terrified. they're asking what's wrong, but I can't talk. They're asking if they should call 911, and I'm just shaking my head and holding up a "just a minute" finger and also groaning in anguish,

and then the silliest part of all is that the minute it ends, there's no residual pain. not even the ghost of it. it's gone as suddenly as it came and I catch my breath and I say, "WELL! Anyway," and I immediately try to get back to the conversation but nobody's ever quite receptive to that for SOME reason

it's like this

Before him, it was Carnegie. Vertical integration, monopoly by undercutting competitor prices. Every wildly rich man of the Industrial Revolution got there by walking on the backs of every other human they possibly could.

Another feature of this current batch is they structure their business to avoid existing regulations (which were written in blood). So Ubers weren't taxis, and AirBnBs weren't hotels.

Then the circumstances that gave rise to the original regulations happened with the upstarts, and the regulations got to be re-written, extended to the upstarts, using the new blood.

— Everyone Into The Grinder

Going to try one of these

Spin this wheel to get a tumblr sexyman!

Reblog for a bigger sample size! And tell me who you got in the tags!

So my sister wants to start sewing more, because

a. She’s 5′ 11″ and can never find pants long enough for her legs or shirts long enough for her arms.

b. She hates synthetic fibers as much as I do and it’s difficult to find natural fiber clothes that aren’t made of cotton

c. She’s a biologist and would physically fistfight microplastics if given half a chance

So her gift from mom and dad for her birthday was a sewing machine. Not a super expensive one but a good solid serviceable one.

And recently she asked “So where do I GET wool or linen and thread that isn’t polyester” and mom was like ‘go ask your sister’

And I, of course, crashed into the group text like “GET A PEN I HAVE WEBSITES FOR U” and honestly I’m thrilled about this

“Where did u get all this”

“Bets, u know I’m a 15th degree blackbelt of buying shit on the internet”

“oh yeah tru”

Op can may we inquire about the website list

Linen; https://www.graylinelinen.com/

cotton and Silk thread; https://redrockthreads.com/

Linen thread and wool fabric; https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com/ (they’ve got wool stuffs and worsted wool fabric for $15 a yard! I just got three yards of navy worsted wool I’m making a constellation winter skirt from)

More linen thread and wool; https://wmboothdraper.com/ (just ordered wool broadcloth to make a coat)

Silk fabric (THE best place to get silk lining fabrics and raw silk fabric):https://www.dharmatrading.com/

A varying assortment of wool and silk and cotton and even some leather, use coupon code  spring2020 for 50% off your full order, worked yesterday when I bought some stuff there; https://metrotextilesnyc.com/

Wool. You want wool coating for under $20 a yard? Sure you do. It’s here. Not a huge variety of colors, most are black or brown, but hey https://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/Catalog?refinementIds=4096748&Keyword=wool&pageSize=16

I don’t know a lot about sewing, but I want to make or have my mom make some linen pants & shirts for when I’m watering, because it gets to 105 here and we have mosquitos so I need to be covered. What type of linen do I buy? Also, linen pajama shorts, yes/no?

(I’ve been wearing my renfaire pants which are a linen mix, I think. But the frikking mosquitos that hide in the tomatoes get my arms)

Medium weight is what I’d go with.

And linen pajama shorts is a HARD yes.

Renaissance Fabrics is good for all sorts of things

Mood doesn’t specialize in natural fabrics but they do have basically every fabric ever made so

Dorr Mill Store has a great selection of wool fabric in all sorts of colors and patterns.

i needed to read this today so im sharing it to all of you!!

This pride, a special shout-out to any late bloomers who feel like they're running out of time or like they wasted too much already 🏳️‍⚧️💗🏳️‍🌈

Enough of the trope where memory loss undoes the damage or the corruption or whatever. More content where removing memories just removes the context.

The tragedy of needing to grieve and not knowing what or who you lost or why. The angst of having trauma and being denied the awareness that it's trauma. The suspense of being different somehow and left to wonder how and when. The tension of knowing that something is off and you can't find where it hurts. The Adventure Zone gets it. Kingdom Hearts gets it.

There is an aching inside you and you don't know how it got there.

Why do my interests in canning, couponing, and homesteading overlap so often with blogs with titles like ‘The Obedient Housewife’? 

Like, I’m like, “I want to learn to make soap and farm,” and suddenly I see 500 “traditional family” motherfuckers like no you are mistaken. I am just a simple lesbian anticapitalist looking to limit my consumerism as much as possible.

‘these fun crafts will keep your kids occupied until your husband gets home!’ no i want a clothespin crown for me

As a nerd who homesteads, let me share the data I have gathered!

First is my megalist of homesteading-related links I’ve gathered over the years. I’m a mod over at r/homesteading and this is where I’ve put a lot of good sources (not all, admittedly some are still sitting in my bookmark folder waiting to be added). The search function at reddit is wretched, but there’s also been lots of good things I’ve shared there too. Please note that many of these sources are not actual webpages, but PDFs. That’s not an accident, PDFs are where you find the really good in-depth stuff.

Many of my sources are from the Extension Service. They won’t try to relate to you based on your lifestyle or sexual identity or religion or whatever, but due to that, they also won’t be alienating you either.

The Cooperative Extension Service (US only) exists in all 50 states and in most counties. It is taxpayer funded. The Extension Service exists to help people become more self sufficient, for farmers to be more successful, for people to be healthier, for kids to be well adjusted, to figure out how to grow the best plants in your area, etc. Some county offices even offer cheap classes in things like gardening, canning, soap making, and they’re taught by people with training in these areas (I once heard a great talk on composting from a soil scientist that way). Do you want to know what type of plant something is? Do you need help figuring out a plant disease or pest issue? You can now contact them online and get great info.

I HIGHLY recommend checking out your state’s extension service website, because they do offer different types of information, depending on what is grown/raised where you are (and how well funded they are). My county extension puts out a monthly gardening newsletter, which includes a helpful ‘this is the time of the year to do —-’ part.

Here’s an example from North Carolina - check out that left sidebar

Here’s an example from California - this website is HUGE so dig around

Here’s an example from New York - they have a calendar at the bottom, showing how they have things like hydroponic and urban agriculture workshops coming up.

Interested in raising animals? Penn State Extension is really really good. They have tons of free materials and courses available online, some I pulled for my megalist at the top of this.

National Center for Home Food Preservation - they cover the important aspects of food safety, and also have some recipes. Many state Extension Service websites will have lots more recipes.

If you have kids, check out 4-H programs for them. It’s part of the local public school system here. If you’re homeschooling, you can also purchase their science-filled educational and self sufficiency materials (materials are divided by age ranges - Cloverbud Member: ages 5-8, Junior Member: ages 9-13, Senior Member: ages 14-19). One of my coworkers is in 4-H, she’s still in high school, and last year she raised an award-winning heifer.

Congress grants the money for funding these programs, and they’re connected with various universities. There’s a level of cutting edge scientific knowledge and academic rigor you don’t find in blogs or even most books. There’s LOTS of homesteading books filled with outdated information like ‘till the earth every year’ hell I still have older coworkers who do it and I’m trying to figure out how to gently tell them that they’re destroying their soil that way, and that there’s better methods now, methods grounded in science.

Knitting - try this youtube series

DIY Crown - here’s a youtube video on how to make a mermaid crown

Hope this is helpful to someone out there.

HOLY FUCKIN SHIT BLESS

the fact that "eco" and "ethical" are two separate concerns in the global north, and that "eco" is a much more popular concern, with many "eco" products being made in actual sweatshops, is a big part of why i am The Joker

if you think this is an exaggeration or splitting hairs where it doesn't matter:

i used to work at a Local Organic Produce store that's popular with the lefties in my city who are interested in food justice. i quit for a lot of reasons, mostly the boss, but something i will always remember is one of our suppliers coming in to drop off produce, being told her check wasn't ready, and her laughing and responding it didn't matter -- even a low bank account was more than enough to pay the migrants who picked her produce. i am not filling in any blanks here. she said this.

after quitting, this was a common story i told people about my time there. some then became annoyed at me, acting like i was a wokescold trying to undermine the store's "eco" mission with unrelated "ethical" concerns. but, like -- if food justice isn't for the people making food, who the fuck is it for?

like, don't get me wrong. my contention here is that the things go hand in hand, and that something which is unethical isn't actually eco. after all, humans are a part of the fucking ecosystem, and if a product can only be made by unsustainably exploiting humans, then it's unsustainable. doesn't matter which chemicals were used in making it, or whether or not animals were factory farmed.

they *cannot* be separated. a product cannot be either eco or ethical — it must be both. a product that is made through human suffering cannot be eco for the reasons you said; a product that causes human suffering by contributing to the destruction of the ecosystem cannot be ethical. it must be both and we must insist on both

you are 16. you are talking with a gay man in his 50s or 60s, a friend, huge and gentle with a scarf and short fluffy curls of gray hair, who has directed you in two plays staged in your mid-size artsy town. (he has not yet asked you to be in his production of The Laramie Project which will change your life. this conversation will also change your life.)

he is talking about theatre. he is talking about theatre when he was younger. he says, "of course, it was AIDS then." in the pause, you ask him. clumsy and quiet and 16 and "straight," you ask him. what was it like.

he takes a moment in which his face is not like a person's face. "there was a time," he says, "i'm not sure how long, years. when i went to a funeral every weekend." he tells you about two funerals in a day, and choosing between friends when you couldn't make it to both. he does not look at you, he looks at them. his wet grey gaze is so clear that you start to see ghosts. it will be years before you understand why it feels like your grief too. why the ghosts call you family.

happy pride, family. i love every single one of you

Source

Source

I’m sorry, but aren’t we collectively tired of all our clothes being made of polyester?

"microfiber. viscose. rayon blend. ripstop. fleece. jersey knit. pet. vegan leather. polyurethane vinyl. lycra. vegan shearling. acrylic yarn. dacron. performance velvet. organza. china silk. broadcloth. flannel. sateen. elastane. taffeta. moisture wicking. antimicrobial" - so pretentious. it's plastic.

For the record, some of those can be real natural fiber fabrics. China silk, jersey knit, broadcloth, flannel, sateen, and taffeta are weaves of fabric, not fibers themselves. Fleece can be a form of wool, too. I have a skirt made out of wool flannel and evening gowns made out of silk taffeta. I lined my winter coat with 100% silk habotai a.k.a. china silk. My favorite sheets are made out of cotton sateen. Etc.

And I think part of the issue is that people are often just… Not taught about fabrics anymore. a lot of the terminology has completely gone by the wayside and we don’t know how to recognize different fibers (or, as seen above, know the difference between a term for a fiber and a weave). I research 19th century clothing and textiles as part of my job, and there are terms even I can’t fit to a certain weave or fiber in my mind. Just the number of different types of natural fiber textiles that used to be in people’s lives is absolutely mind-boggling considering that now it’s all just different forms of plastic 99% of the time

People don’t stand up and demand better because they simply don’t know another way, most of the time. And that’s so sad

Yep, pretty much.

"Microfiber" refers to a variety of different essentially plastic fabrics which all use a very fine thread.

"Viscose" is related to "rayon" and "acetate". All are made from cellulose fibers, most often wood pulp, through a chemical process. They are not plastic, although they are heavily modified.

"Ripstop" is a kind of nylon used for rugged outerwear and luggage.

"Fleece" is a weave, not a fiber. It most often refers to sweatshirt knit, which can be anything from 100% cotton to 100% polyester.

"Jersey knit" is a weave, not a fiber. It's the sort of plain knit fabric they make t-shirts out of. It can be made from any fiber.

"PET" is ethylene polyester fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. It's sold as eco-friendly, but it really is not.

"Vegan leather" is most often pure plastic. There are plant-based imitation leathers but they generally have to be bonded with plastic for greater durability and thus are neither compostable nor recyclable.

"Polyurethane vinyl" is a kind of plastic.

"Lycra", a.k.a. "Spandex" a.k.a. "Elastane" is a stretchy plastic fiber. In the US and Canada "Elastane" is called "Spandex".

"Vegan shearling" -- Uhh, I don't know what this is, sorry. If it's the combo of faux suede and fake fur that it sounds like, it will definitely be made from plastics.

"Acrylic yarn" is a form of plastic.

"Dacron" is a trade name of polyester (plastic) fiber.

"Performance velvet" is a polyester fabric chemically treated to be water-repellent and stain-resistant, used for upholstery.

"Organza" is a weave, not a fiber. It is stiffly-spun threads in an open weave and has a texture sort of a cross between a veil and a soft window screen. It's very common in silk, although there are poly versions too.

"China silk" is silk. Of course. What the heck. It is a very fine, thin, plain weave lightweight silk. (The only thing called "silk" that is not silk is "art silk" which is short for "artificial silk" and means "rayon" (see above). It was big time illegal to call rayon "art silk" for a long time because of deliberately misleading advertisers, but I have seen the term creeping back in online discourse.)

"Broadcloth" is, again, a weave, not a fiber. It's a densely-woven smooth medium-weight plain cloth mostly used for shirts. Historically it was always wool. More recently it was made from cotton. Nowadays poly-cotton blend broadcloths are most common, though you can still get pure cotton and wool broadcloths.

"Flannel" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a soft fabric brushed to have a nap on one side. Flannels used to be all wool or cotton. Microfiber is depressingly common these days.

"Sateen" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a satin weave, but not using silk, popular for bedsheets. Historically it was cotton. These days you can find it in polyester.

"Taffeta" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a crisp, plain, lightweight, tightly-woven fabric. The nicest taffetas are silk. They also come in nylon and polyester, sometimes rayon if you're lucky.

"Moisture-wicking" just means a fabric acts a certain way. It's neither a weave nor a fiber. Wool is naturally moisture-wicking. The term is mostly used these days to describe artificial fibers.

"Antimicrobial" is a chemical finish. It's not a kind of fiber.

Ok but like. What the fuck is there to do on the internet anymore?

Idk when I was younger, you could just go and go and find exciting new websites full of whatever cool things you wanted to explore. An overabundance of ways to occupy your time online.

Now, it’s just… Social media. That’s it. Social media and news sites. And I’m tired of social media and I’m tired of the news.

Am I just like completely inept at finding new things or has the internet just fallen apart that much with the problems of SEO and web 3.0 turning everything into a same-site prison?

Long collection of resources under the cut.

Keep reading

ALSO you should consider browsing Virtual Pet List and seeing if there are any pet sites you might be interested in playing. There is a whole genre of browser games right under your nose

Another one that I just found recently is this, which is a whole collection of blogs, organized by topic!

Look guys the real internet IS STILL THERE I’m going to cry

Getting off of twitter and onto neocities has really healed me and I am so glad to see it is healing other people too ;u; let’s retreat into the self-made digital woods and away from corporate bs pls, I am so tired

one of the chocolate guys videos appears on your dash. you pause your scrolling to watch it, trying to guess what he’s making because this doesn’t seem to be one you’ve seen before. as the video goes on you get more unnerved and impressed — he seems to be making a whole human being this time, and it’s uncannily realistic. it’s even filled with candied fruit and sweet pastries in place of organs, red velvet cake and a cherry reduction making up flesh and blood beneath the chocolate. but something feels off. the person he’s making seems strangely familiar. upon the final reveal, you know why. amaury guichon has created a perfect replica of you