hey ho let's grow

[anthonyhurd]

What’s your number 1 take away from 2025? Mine is clearly this: We’re not going anywhere.

[muttsandmustelidae]

From the Nashville Zoo’s fb page! Here’s the petition, please please please take a moment to add your name (even if you’re not from Nashville!). If you are from Tennessee, contact your representatives and make it clear that the people do not want this data center. This is an AZA accredited zoo which is home to several species of critically endangered animals, we NEED to protect it. Make your voice heard!

[muttsandmustelidae]

Because people will pay attention to cute animals, here are some of the critically endangered/endangered species housed at the Nashville Zoo!

The Amur Leopard and Clouded Leopard (which recently celebrated its 50th cub born at the zoo!)

The Sumatran Tiger

The Red Ruffed Lemur and Ring-Tailed Lemur

The Cotton-Top Tamarin and White-Cheeked Gibbon

The Colobus Monkey and De Brazza’s Monkey

And the Mexican Spider Monkey!

Look at them!!!! Look at them and fight like hell to save them!!!!

[themightywolftiger]

Adding my own images of Nashville Zoo to this. It’s super important to stand, fight, and continue to spread awareness on this.

There’s so many other great animals at this zoo, and it's done so much in teaching people about animals and conservation.

[todaysbat]

Other animals includes bats, btw.

Nashville Zoo fights potential data center, developer addresses concerns raised

Developers are seeking to turn land into a 69,000-square-foot data center next to the Nashville zoo.

Tennessee is home to dozens of data centers, why a new one faces pushback

Amid a growing number of data centers in Tennessee, the Nashville Zoo is pushing back against a proposed facility near its property, citing

Developer claiming they'll follow government regs when the EPA is openly rolling back regulations.....

[howmanyholesinswisscheese]

Biggest fuck-up ever is that people have to pay to become doctors

[howmanyholesinswisscheese]

Like unironically we should be subsidising at least 50% of their educations. What do you mean we have a shortage of doctors we should have surplus. What do you mean they’re being overworked they should be treated like royalty, they can fix human bodies

[howmanyholesinswisscheese]

I don’t care if some of them are only doing it for the money. I don’t care if all of them are only doing it for the money. Intentions don’t matter to the stitches in my nana’s leg or the ten billion other lifesaving treatments we all get at a detriment to their finances and mental wellbeing. Entire cities are kept alive by just a couple thousand of them what are we DOINGGGGG

[naamahdarling]

If we had more, maybe it would be easier to get the shitty ones fucking replaced. The board isn't going to do much to the only endocrinologist in the state who takes Medicaid, you know? But if there were more than, idk, maybe 5? Maybe then?

[landunderthewave]

More importantly if you needed less money and less physical stamina to become a doctor, people with less money and less physical stamina could become doctors, which would increase diversity and improve patient care.

[crownedinmarigolds]

I have a big folder on my desktop of inspirational pictures/memes/etc to keep me going so I shall share them with you here.

[goatmilksoda]

A question I get asked a lot while working at a public library is "how do you deal with homeless people?"

And the answer is, we don't.

The unhoused people who come here seeking refuge 99% of the time understand that they will be kicked out if they misbehave.

The people you have to watch out for are Jessica, who only came because the kid she didn't want had to visit for a homework assignment and she just *needs* to yell at her child for asking to borrow two books or stay an extra five minutes, or Michael, who came in to look at porn on our computers for whatever fucking reason, or Karen who just wanted to come by to throw a fit that the particular book she wanted was checked out and harrass our staff about our collection being too limited.

99% of the time, the people we need to ban are middle to upper-middle class white people while the homeless and mentally ill/disabled people mind their own damn business and are honestly some of the best patrons we have.

[goatmilksoda]

I bring this up because today we had a man come in. He stopped at the desk, pulled up a chair and said "I'm newly homeless and was living in my car. I'm disabled. It was impounded. It's raining. I don't have a phone and I don't know where to go tonight."

And we did what we could to help. He was incredibly kind and patient despite his obvious anxiety and stress, more than most able bodied, housed patrons are to us under much less dire conditions. I liked knowing that we were the first place he came.

We have so many people like this who come in everyday. Many are quiet and keep to themselves, but sometimes they talk to us.

They tell us about how they're taking a few courses on a scholarship they applied for from our library's computer at the local community college to get their diploma. Or ask about a manga or dvd or book we might have to help them pass the time.

One woman, who comes in daily with her tattered walker always says hello to me and likes to work on the new jigsaw puzzle with me when we set one out.

So like, treat unhoused people like people. Treat disabled people like people. I don't want my library to feel like the only safe space in the world, but I'm glad it can be one of them.

I'm so sick of hearing about how "the homeless are ruining everything" when they are some of the kindest, most respectful people here. Sometimes they mutter, might not have had a place to shower, and might need a little extra space for their backpacks but that's FINE. It Doesn't Matter Actually. None of that is a problem or any of my business to care about (unless they request help/services), and I also don't think it's any of yours.

[pusheenthenerdcat]

libraries provide vital and lifesaving services and i will die on the hill you have to let people who are mentally ill and disabled and homeless and politically disagreeable to you still access those rescourses. its simply too important to society

[epicswagdivorceguy1]

i need you all to see these two pics i got of one of the gators at my nearby nature center with a crawfish(?) in his mouth. he wasn't even chewing it or anything he was just standing there

[wearecovidconscious]

thinking about how the cosmetics industry would have been devastated if widespread masking is still a thing in society. lipstick? useless. foundation? transfers too much and sales plummet. the only survivors would probably be eye products and maybe lip balm. i would not be surprised if Big Cosmetics (TM) also lobbied for early relaxation of pandemic policies.

yes this post is motivated by my instagram feed serving me makeup content

[pyrebomb]

During lockdown, women were OPENLY talking about how much more time they had to themselves without being expected to perform an elaborate hair and makeup routine every morning. Just one more thing society has memory-holed for back-to-normal. 🙃

[imawitchywitch]

Ohmygod and the fashion industry too! Who needs as many work clothes or going out outfits if we’re going out less and are home more? I clearly remember Old Navy having more sweats and athleisure wear after lockdown started.

[buffalo-tracks]

From the site:

Project Rainbow Turtle is a mutual aid fund and network that provides direct financial assistance, support, and resources to our 2-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ Relatives within the united states.

We understand that our current colonizing reality has kept us from being ourselves and free. We aim to challenge and disrupt such current circumstances.

We will assist our 2-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ Relatives within the united states with the following:

Name Change Fees

Passport Fees or Identity-related documents fee

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT)

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

FFS

Laser Hair Removal

Transition-specific clothing, like binders, tucking garments, make up, wigs, or traditional clothing

Travel expenses related to accessing gender affirming care, such as ceremonies or other

Relocation Assistance

If you'd like to support Project Rainbow Turtle:

Donate to Help Fund Project Rainbow Turtle's Mission, organized by Project Rainbow Turtle

Project Rainbow Turtle is an Indigenous LGBTQ+ centered mutual aid f… Project Rainbow Turtle needs your support for Help Fund Project Rainbo

[nightmaresyrup]

Drawing Postures

[turquoisemagpie]

Scapegoat.

(Safe to say things have not been very safe recently for a lot of people - a lot of nonsense going on because of stupid people with too much power, and they push the blame to those who can’t defend themselves easily. But this has happened before. And we’re still here, just as we’ve always been. We will fight for the right to exist.)

[roymbrogart]

I made a friend! Literally!

I finished this brushbuddy art doll earlier this week and he is very cute. It's got a wire armature inside and is fully posable, including the leather fingers and toes. (There are also magnets in the feet to potentially stick it to things later.)

[roymbrogart]

Made another little guy for my friend's birthday! I'm slowly refining the pattern and process and am going to try to make a tutorial for these little guys now that I'm not just winging it lol.

[formlines]

Thunderbird Rising Yellow Cedar, Acrylic Paint, Abalone  24"h, 24"w, 2.5"d

Trevor Husband

from the website “The piece shows Thunderbird as Phoenix. It was created in response to having the hottest summer ever on record and a plea for humans to work harder to get in harmony with nature. Climate change is bringing natural disasters, and BC had more area burned this summer than ever before…this is bringing a new reality to living on Earth and we have to both protect ourselves and combat practices that contribute to the climate crisis.”

– Trevor Husband

[probuccalfat]

every time a young gay person quits smoking or makes the decision that they want to quit, the sun shines on us all with the promise of happiness and beauty.

[probuccalfat]

i appreciate everybody that’s sharing the sentiment that it’s good for anyone to quit smoking (it is) but i very specifically wanted to highlight and encourage LGBTQ youth because lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are about 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to smoke cigarettes than heterosexual people, and the statistics for transgender people are even higher than cisgender people. this is due to tobacco companies marketing heavily and aggressively to LGBTQ communities and exploiting the higher rates of mental health struggles prevalent in our communities.

i want and hope to see all my LGTBQ people live long, healthy, fulfilled lives despite how predatory and punishing this world can be. you should stay around as long as you can to make it a little better in your own way.

[this-is-trans-joy]

I wanna specifically shoutout trans men here because back in the day (I don’t know if it’s still prevalent) there was quite a common rumour going around that smoking could make your voice deeper, which meant a huge upstick in young trans men taking up smoking.

So, if any trans men are being told about this, it’s not true!! Smoking will not change your voice, at least not until you’re about forty years down the line and you’ve already irreparably destroyed your lungs and throat and mouth and pretty much every other organ in your body. When you hear heavy smokers with deeper, scratchier voices it is literally because their vocal cords have been ruined. This is not a passive effect of smoking, it is a very very damaging one!

It’s simply not worth it! There will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Voice training will do a lot more for you than cigarettes will, I promise that the people urging you to start smoking as a voice training method do not have your best interests at heart!

(And you know what, this also goes for not eating due to the idea that starving yourself will decrease your chest size. Like with smoking, there will be no meaningful changes except terrible ones. Your body is worth so much more than that and there will always be healthier alternatives!)

I wanna see trans people thrive, and one day when things get better and you’re able to start your transition, you’ll want a body that will last as long as possible so you can enjoy every little moment of your life. Please take care of yourself!!

[ob-2-kenobi]

As for trans women and other trans people taking estrogen HRT, smoking has been proven to reduce or even cancel out the effects of estrogen on the body. If you quit smoking, your transition will be faster, fuller, and smoother. I know that it's hard, but your boobs will thank you!

(Btw, afaik smoking only has this effect on estrogen from HRT. Estrogen that AFAB bodies produce naturally is not affected, so smoking is still bad for trans men)

In addition (and this applies to all trans people), smoking increases risks of complications during surgery, so doctors might refuse to let you get whatever surgeries you want if you smoke. They'll at least tell you to quit for a while beforehand, which will be easier to do if you'd already quit to begin with.

[al-grave]

The varying wavelengths of different colors

[great-and-small]

Rabies is an incredibly lethal virus that kills more than 50,000 people globally each year. About 99% of those people who die from rabies were infected by the bite of a dog. This doesn’t mean that dogs are evil, or that they are disgusting, or that they should be eradicated from the planet to prevent the risk of disease transmission to humans. It does mean that we should do everything in our power to promote vaccination efforts, study disease transmission on a local and global scale, and find ways to prevent infected dogs from encountering and biting humans.

Okay, now are you ready to hear my biggest personal biology hot take?

This is pretty much how I feel about ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) and other arthropod disease vectors. Yes, these animals cause unbelievable suffering to humans by inadvertently transmitting disease, but that doesn’t mean they should be portrayed as evil or exterminated entirely from the environment. Ecologists have been speaking for years on how critical these species are within their established trophic webs, and how their removal could have devastating effects to many other organisms including humans. You can still be scared of or grossed out by these animals (very normal response to a potentially dangerous disease vector), but it’s important to understand that the best way for scientists to minimize the risk of these animals is NOT just eliminating them from the environment. No animal is evil or immoral for the ecological niche it fills, and encouraging a more nuanced understanding of these animals can arm us with better ways to minimize their negative impact to humans.

[great-and-small]

@crearuru this is a really funny comment, I find it interesting sometimes to see how others interpret the things I say on this website that seem very straightforward in my mind. Always neat to hear a different perspective.

To me, the phrase “promote vaccination efforts” would imply supporting development and distribution of vaccines to protect humans against these vector borne illnesses. In the case of rabies we can easily vaccinate the primary vector to threaten humans (dogs), but with arboviruses or bacteria carried by invertebrates it is obviously more feasible to directly vaccinate the humans at risk.

In this post I am advocating for continued research and development of vaccines to protect us against vector borne illnesses, I am NOT proposing an army of tick veterinarians tromping into the woods with teeny needles to vaccinate our least favorite arachnids for a transmissible bacterial disease, as hilarious and adorable as that mental image may be. I love your whimsical mind!

[diseases-for-center-control]

Wait wait. She wants to hear more about this teeny vaccine you have to offer. It will require a lot of humans tromping into the woods, you say? Come, step into the tall grass and tell her all about it

[banchie]

i've been phasing the phrase 'google it' out of my vocabulary and going back to 'look it up'. fuck you youve lost your generic trademark privileges

[theprofessional-amateur]

link to bluesky post

[theprofessional-amateur]

In addition to how to turn various things, it includes:

Other useful AI Removal/Detection links

How to spot AI Hallucinations like a Reference Librarian (originally on Substack)

Library Freedom Project has a lot of handouts about AI on their Resources page