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[decisionparalysis]

how to explain to my cat that when my brother's cat hisses and smacks his face, that means "go away"

[decisionparalysis]

People with ADHD can often get misdiagnosed with anxiety instead because they describe their thoughts as “racing.” I think a better way to describe my thoughts is “bouncy.” Like, you know when you bounce a rubber ball on the ground and it just sorta keeps going and you don’t really control which direction it goes in?

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

all i really want out of life is to be the second-weirdest person in my friend group

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

bc like, i don’t want to hang out SOLELY with people who are weirder than me, bc where’s my chance to shine

but also if anyone tries to call me out on my shit i can be like “ok but Calder has that dissected cow head soaking in bleach in their closet so maybe get off my dick”

[decisionparalysis]

This but I want to be the second smartest. Because my ego demands I be in the top 3, but I don’t want to always be the one who has to shoot down a stupid fun idea.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

so clicking on today’s Google doodle takes you to a search for “December global holidays”

Okay. But here’s what I get when I google “December holidays”

the December public holidays for my state. Setting aside how incredibly american it is that they would add a British holiday no one has heard of before letting people take time off for Hanukkah….this feels performative on Google’s part, and representative of a larger Western tendency to talk about the “holidays” using inclusive language to cover up the fact that they really just mean Christmas. “Oh but there are lots of December holidays, everyone can celebrate! The holiday season is for everyone!” Well, not really. There’s Hanukkah, which people aren’t even allowed to take time off for (and which isn’t even the most important Jewish holiday, for fuck’s sake). And there are a few other minor holidays you don’t care about. If there were more, you probably wouldn’t care about those either.

Conservative christians complain about “happy holiday!” being a war on christmas (????) but i’m going to lean into the opposite end of that spectrum: culturally christian liberals use the “happy holiday!” attitude to give the false impression that December is the most important holiday season even outside of Christianity. But it’s not. Which is a problem when we’re using that as an excuse for centering such a fucking enormous part of western culture (not to mention the public calendar) around it. And that’s the issue with white western christianity, and even & especially with non-religious cultural christians: they are incredibly instrusive. They aren’t content with just celebrating; they insist on pushing their celebrations on the rest of us. 

We will celebrate goddammit, in one form or another. We will listen to their music and their pop songs, and shop in stores brimming with their holiday food, we will exchange gifts at the office and walk through public spaces filled with their icons. We will have their jingles stuck in our heads and we will say happy holidays! back to the cashier. We will shape the schedule of our lives around their holiday, and if we celebrate on a different calendar that’s just tough fucking luck. Because it is just that important for their culture to dominate beyond all others. And every year it is exhausting.

[decisionparalysis]

Remember the “controversy” about Starbucks’ holiday cup just being red one year in an attempt to be inclusive? As if red is associated with all winter holidays?

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

I don't mind nudity on tv, I mind the sheer amount of unrealistic nudity. Nudity should be sexy approx. 2% of time. People don't keep their bits out bc we're sex maniacs, it's just fuckin comfy

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

but on a serious note nudity in media is sexualized to a dangerous degree, and contributes to really harmful puritan attitudes about our bodies. portray nudity as a normal, non-sexual thing, and stop demonizing body parts (breasts in particular)

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

increasing gay/bi/trans/queer visibility & acceptance will naturally lead to more people coming out, and to more teens identifying as queer. because:

it’s safer 

it’s a real option 

they know there are other people like them 

they know their identity exists

they have a name to put to their internal experiences

and anyone who is worried this will “turn their kids gay,” actually means “my kids won’t be forced, by fear and terror, to closet themselves.” 

and they see this as a bad thing.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

I love artemis fowl bc the author decided to write about fairies who live underground & have magic, but the coolest thing about them by far is their super tech.

like yeah elves exist but more importantly they have laser weapons

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Exactly

I read so many books in the “pre-teen child discovers magical realm and must fight to protect it” genre as a fledgeling

But then Artemis Fowl decided to take that concept and turn it into Mission Impossible, and I think that changed 11-year-old me’s life for good

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

"preteen child discovers magical realm and immediately decides to kidnap a fairy for a million dollar ransom" BLESS you Eoin Colfer, bless

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

I’ve noticed some common misassumptions about autistic people and verbality, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences!

If you meet me at a social occasion, I will be talkative and you will probably be surprised to know that some days I struggle with being verbal. Here’s what I might look like on a nonverbal/less verbal day

I can force myself to talk to people, but it will be draining. It may drain my energy, heighten my sensory issues, raise my stress levels, and in general lessen my wellbeing.

After a long conversation, I might need to rest/lie down.

I think of my nonverbal days as a battery recharging itself. You can still use the device, but that will just make it drain more quickly.

Not all conversations are created equal!!!!

Keep reading

[decisionparalysis]

This post is a good example of how being “able” to do something is supposed to mean “able to do it without hurting myself.”

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

i do NOT understand why it gets dark so early during winter. WE CONTROL THE CLOCKS!!!! I am making a unilateral decision to set the clocks forward 90 minutes. I am inventing a new time zone called That Feels About Right Time. I looked outside, it’s dark, it feels like 8pm. so that’s what time it is. 

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

who the FUCK is out there trying to make you believe the best 4 years of your life are in college??? Same punks trying to pretend those “best years” were in high school. That’s complete fucking nonsense. You don’t get your best years until your late 40s. At least 6 of em are saved for after retirement. Fuck offf

[e-the-village-cryptid]

thank you, people keep telling me I’m supposed to be having the best time of my life right now in college and it’s making me terrified for what the rest of my life will be like if this wreck is my high point

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

what the actual fuck, babe your 20s are for therapy & recovering from trauma. 

im not kidding ok, your 20s are Adolescence 2.0. in essence. Young adulthood is about re-playing the mario level until you finally get around all those stupid fucking levitating bricks. it’s about working through old shit until you’re free to move on to a new level. your college and post-college years are not the best time of your life, they are you putting in the hours battling pokemon in the grass so you can move on to the gym leaders. 

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

#you’re gonna get your fucking gym badges later i promise

[decisionparalysis]

Young adulthood is about figuring out your criteria for your “best years.” Recognizing that this ain’t it, chief, and going to therapy. Deciding that you want to be a person who makes their bed in the morning and spending a weeks getting into the habit. Or maybe your best life involves going to college parties every weekend and sleeping around and you go do that (safely!).

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

Heads up! Apparently conservatives are spreading a lot of misinformation about Kamala Harris, purposely portraying her track record as less progressive than it is (particularly regarding marijuana and lgbtqa+ rights) in an attempt to alienate the left.

So like, be aware of that. I’m not saying don’t be critical of the new administration (please do be), but please aware of where your info is coming from, because conservatives understand where our values lie and are happy to use that to alienate us from allies we can work with.

For the next month or 2 especially, please get into the habit of fact checking before reblogging posts about Harris, because a lot of that (not all but a big chunk) is coming from some murky places atm

[decisionparalysis]

Before the election I saw loads of ads for Trump’s campaign because I once clicked on one of the surveys to give a bunch of snarky answers. One of the ads I saw heavily implied that Harris and Pelosi were conspiring to impeach Biden as soon as he was elected so that Harris would be president instead. I don’t know how I was supposed to feel about it, because I’d kinda be fine with that honestly.

[prokopetz]

Sometimes I get people sliding into the notes on my tabletop roleplaying shitposts to give me hell about misusing the word “witch”, and on those occasions that I take a moment to look at their recent posting history… well, I’m not saying “the word ‘witch’ has exactly one meaning in every culture across all of history” is always code for “there is exactly one authentic experience of womanhood”, but there’s definitely a correlation between those two opinions.

[decisionparalysis]

To me, one of the beautiful things about witchcraft is that there is no authority on it. There’s no Wiccan Pope who gets the final say on what it means to be a witch, what spells are real, or which deities you should pray to if any. These are ideas that are passed on by word of mouth, shared between equals. So who gets to say that only certain women can be witches? Or that witches have to be women at all? And being a Creative Commons practice means that people develop wildly different belief systems. Your practice is unique to you.

[prokopetz]

If you think it’s cute that school essay topics have maximum as well as minimum page or word counts, you’ve gotta understand:

The minimum page or word count is there for those of us whose main difficulty is getting started.

The maximum page or word count is there for those of us whose main difficulty is getting to the fucking point.

[decisionparalysis]

For my final essay in a college writing course, the recommended length was about 6 pages, not including the Works Cited page. My submission was 17 pages long.

[decisionparalysis]

Are you in love with my lips

dry as my wit

cuz I never use my chap stick

[decisionparalysis]

Sponsored Pinterest is wild, man. I just watched a video on how to construct an autumn wreath using supplies from Arby's.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

when it comes to imposter syndrome, i recommend mentally roleplaying as a Privileged White Dude. my persona is named Carson, he doesn’t give a fuck if he’s qualified for the job, he’s gonna go in & do the interview & smirk the whole time 

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

@ariadnespyns said: Mine is Braeden, who is never worried about taking space or being in the way. He puts his things away nicely in his wallet before moving away from the register at the grocery store, no matter how long it takes!

[decisionparalysis]

Hi, I’m Chris. Wanna know what I think? I will assume yes. Because we are having a conversation, so surely I’m meant to contribute. Maybe I’ll even start the conversation sometimes.

[shiftythrifting]

[decisionparalysis]

I recognize the Santa!!! The entire thing is 4 feet tall, and if you press a button on the stand, he dances and sings a Christmas carol. Or you can take the mic and use him as a speaker. My family has had one for over 10 years. For storage, the legs collapse. The head is also removable, and is meant to be stored under the torso, like how a penguin carries an egg between its feet.