a rose blooms in concrete

You are loved.

[lriswcst]

[incorrectpercyquotes]

Luke: Just give up before you embarrass yourself.

Percy: Oh no, I never give up before I embarrass myself.

[incorrectpercyquotes]

Luke: Just give up before you embarrass yourself.

Percy: Oh no, I never give up before I embarrass myself.

[hecallsmelovely]

Bethel

[adhdgooglesearches]

How to stop telling stories that begin with me having no idea where they’re going and end with everyone confused myself included

[bioluminesence]

😂

[lakemichiganbaby-deactivated202]

whomst else thinks about true luv all the time

[gogomrbrown]

I learned in a Latin Studies class (with a chill white dude professor) that when the Europeans first saw Aztec cities they were stunned by the grid. The Aztecs had city planning and that there was no rational lay out to European cities at the time. No organization.

[punkrockradio]

When the Spanish first arrived in Tenochtitlan (now downtown mexico city) they thought they were dreaming. They had arrived from incredibly unsanitary medieval Europe to a city five times the size of that century’s london with a working sewage system, artificial “floating gardens” (chinampas), a grid system, and aqueducts providing fresh water. Which wasn’t even for drinking! Water from the aqueducts was used for washing and bathing- they preferred using nearby mountain springs for drinking. Hygiene was a huge part if their culture, most people bathed twice a day while the king bathed at least four times a day. Located on an island in the middle of a lake, they used advanced causeways to allow access to the mainland that could be cut off to let canoes through or to defend the city. The Spanish saw their buildings and towers and thought they were rising out of the water. The city was one of the most advanced societies at the time.

Anyone who thinks that Native Americans were the savages instead of the filthy, disease ridden colonizers who appeared on their land is a damn fool.

[robotsandfrippary]

They’ve also recently discovered a lost Native American city in Kansas called Etzanoa It rivals the size of Cahokia, which was very large as well.

[greatestbastard]

[holdthepossum]

[discovered]

[immediately mocked by scientists]

[frostyknickers]

me as a discovery

[slavetomyheadcanon]

How can you not include the video?

@lordcephalopod

[spam-bot]

THEY’RE ROASTING HIM

[sageandbone]

8th graders with 6th graders

[iwouldntshowmom]

College sophomores with high school seniors

[onlyhuman]

[andimthedad]

Book Review: Man vs. Child, by Doug Moe

The real measure of a parenting book is not the answers it gives, but the questions it asks. Is its advice is drawn from experience, or from self-absorbed magical visions from the make-believe Land of Happy Parent Theories?

That’s why I am skeptical of the endlessly-published parenting books and blogs that ask questions like “What Are the Best BPA-Free Three-Syllable Strollers Under $1500?” and “What’s the One Weird Sure-fire Trick to Getting Your Child to Sleep Through the Night?” — and why I really liked Doug Moe’s Man vs. Child, which asks…

What’s good about sleep deprivation?

Is it OK to take my baby to a bar?

Should I worry if my kid talks weird?

Is my child too annoying for this restaurant?

What if I never get my iPad back?

Who is this tiny person?

…and so much more. Subtitled One Dad’s Guide to the Weirdness of Parenting, it’s clear that Moe draws from personal experience and keen observations of other fathers and mothers. Raising a child in Brooklyn, New York — the heartland of organic free-range irony — offers Moe plenty of irreverent perspectives on the craziness of parenting, like the proper way to fold different brands of strollers. (Tip: it’s mostly it’s kicking, smashing, and probably swearing.)

Doug Moe is an actor and comedian (see: UCB, 30 Rock, Inside Amy Schumer, etc.) so it’s no surprise that his book offers plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. You might have noticed this if you followed his Tumblr, coincidentally also called Man vs. Child. But in the midst of the humor, Moe raises some honest parenting issues that no book pointed out before I became a father.

For example, in a section titled “Time to Decide About God,” Moe suggests that we examine the differences between our religious beliefs and those of our parents. Maybe your parents are hardcore Christians and you’re not. How will you handle popular secular/spiritual holidays like Christmas and Easter? Are your child’s grandparents going to be pushy about their beliefs? It might be time to figure out your religion so you can stick to it and raise your child appropriately. (Anyone who follows my blog knows where I’ve landed.)

If you need help resolving an uncertain faith, I think “man vs. God” describes an entire department at your local bookstore. However, don’t misunderstand Moe; he hasn’t figured it out yet either. “If you decide to do what’s right, not just what’s easy, then I congratulate you,” he writes. “Deciding what you actually believe is a tough task that I have been avoiding for years. Soul searching is hard, especially when you have a tiny baby screaming at you.”  

To be clear, this book isn’t just about babies. It’s about that long-running game of life called So You Think You Can Dad. The book starts with observations from Moe’s childless stage of adulthood, and by the end of the book, his daughter is 10 years old, halfway between the ages of my own kids (8 and 12). That’s a long span to cover, and at under 200 pages, Moe’s book doesn’t even try to explain every detail, because that’s not the goal. You should wait for his 18-volume exhaustive treatise entitled Man vs. OMG Who Has Time To Read All These Parenting Books Anyways.

Instead, as he says in the introduction, “Man vs. Child is about the absurdity of being a dad today: from your blissful pre-baby days through when your kid is off at school, probably talking shit about you.” You might need a more serious parenting book to know the medical procedure for when your toddler eats gum off the sidewalk, but you should read Doug Moe’s book to know how to laugh about it. Remember, dads: safety first, but humor ought to be a close second, and Man vs. Child is an excellent reminder of that.

I am sure it is a random quirk of marketing fate that Moe’s book was released not long before Father’s Day (June 18). So, this year, if you’d like to buy a dad more than an ugly necktie, or something besides a new flashlight to replace the one your six-year-old dropped in the toilet, consider giving a copy of Man vs. Child. It’s available from Amazon and other places people can buy funny books.

Full disclosure: Doug Moe asked me to review his book and sent me a free copy. He’s also a friend of a friend. But I wouldn’t have read it if I didn’t expect it to be funny, and I wouldn’t have written this if I didn’t genuinely enjoy it. Plus, after 1500+ posts on And I’m the Dad, you would think I’d finally review a parenting book, eh? So here you go. Thanks for your patience.

[manvchild]

A nice review of Man Vs. Child from the great dad blog And I’m the Dad!  Thanks!

[deb-oceans]

[run2damoon-deactivated20230127]

Inside - Vadim Sadovski

[nubbsgalore]

lana slezic spent two years living with and documenting the lives of afghan women. she became quite close with malalai kakar, the first and only female police officer in kandahar, who can be seen in the second photo. a mother of six, malalai became a police officer prior to the taliban’s rise, and, once they were ousted, began working as the head of the city’s department for crimes against women.

but in september of 2008, malalai was assissanted in front of her children at their home by the taliban. says lana, “she was killed so unjustly and why? because she was a woman with power, because she was helping other women.”

lana also came to know eleven year old gulsuma, seen in the third photo, who was living in an orphanage before being married off for 60 dollars. gulsuma was physically tortured for seven years by her husband before eventually managing to run away.

sixteen year old lida, seen hiding behind a door with her nails done in the fifth photo, was also recently married off, and now no longer attends school (such as the one seen in the third photo, made from an abandoned, war torn building), nor is she permitted to see her family.

the human rights commission in kandahar claims that 86% of women in afghanistan are clinically depressed. many who don’t run away instead attempt suicide by self immolation, like nineteen year old zaha seen in the sixth photo.

says lana, “as human beings it is our responsibility to not only see and hear, but to listen and act. my work represent a very emotional journey that has given me an insight into the lives of afghan women, which is largely horrific. i hope that [this] collection of photographs will  communicate, influence and inspire others to learn more about the plight of afghan women.”

[nubbsgalore]

lana slezic spent two years living with and documenting the lives of afghan women. she became quite close with malalai kakar, the first and only female police officer in kandahar, who can be seen in the second photo. a mother of six, malalai became a police officer prior to the taliban’s rise, and, once they were ousted, began working as the head of the city’s department for crimes against women.

but in september of 2008, malalai was assissanted in front of her children at their home by the taliban. says lana, “she was killed so unjustly and why? because she was a woman with power, because she was helping other women.”

lana also came to know eleven year old gulsuma, seen in the third photo, who was living in an orphanage before being married off for 60 dollars. gulsuma was physically tortured for seven years by her husband before eventually managing to run away.

sixteen year old lida, seen hiding behind a door with her nails done in the fifth photo, was also recently married off, and now no longer attends school (such as the one seen in the third photo, made from an abandoned, war torn building), nor is she permitted to see her family.

the human rights commission in kandahar claims that 86% of women in afghanistan are clinically depressed. many who don’t run away instead attempt suicide by self immolation, like nineteen year old zaha seen in the sixth photo.

says lana, “as human beings it is our responsibility to not only see and hear, but to listen and act. my work represent a very emotional journey that has given me an insight into the lives of afghan women, which is largely horrific. i hope that [this] collection of photographs will  communicate, influence and inspire others to learn more about the plight of afghan women.”

[archiemcphee]

This tabby cat snuck away from home for a solo field trip to his local pet store where he made a beeline for the catnip toy shelf and proceeded to have the BEST CATURDAY EVER: 

Eventually the shelf couldn’t contain the intoxicated cat and he ended up writhing around with the toys he’d spilled onto the floor. But don’t worry, the blissed-out kitty’s humans showed up later on to take him back home.

[via Geekologie]

[goodreadss]

Water Lilies, Pink - Claude Monet