Sleep, Food, Cats

I am the laziest person I know, fucking dorkface

[gameraboy]

Peanuts, July 22, 1952

[emilyvgordon-deactivated2019090]

Now what do we do?

I woke up this morning feeling helpless and powerless and angry and scraped out. I woke up feeling small. I sat outside for a few minutes, tried to find my own center, and decided that I needed to do something to both care for myself and feel less powerless. Here’s what I’ve done, if any of it helps you please take some and pass it on. 

1) SELF CARE

Decide how much of all this you want to consume. We sometimes forget that we have a choice about being glued to Twitter and the Internet/TV in general. It can make you feel less alone to be online, but it can also really heighten feelings of stress and terror. Reading think pieces and analysis and panic and gloating doesn’t feel productive to me right now. What feels productive is going to see movies, reading books, taking walks, talking to people, volunteering. I’d rather feel productive and have the ability to breathe than feel informed and miserable, right now. 

Stay connected to the people that give you strength. I have been texting with good friends and family constantly. I am lucky that my parents and sister and I are on the same page- the only time I really cried was when my dad texted me “god help us all”, because in his religiosity I see what we could be. But I digress. I’ve been texting both jokes and misery with my friends. I’ve been checking in with the people who will be most affected by this election. All of these are the people that give me strength. If there are people that give you strength, find them. Be with them. You can talk about it or not.  

Seek out hopeful things. Zoe just sent me this, and I loved reading it. Hope. Hope and positivity, which doesn’t mean putting our head in the sand, but remembering that we’re not at our best if we’re devoid of hope. I come from a state that went red this election, but has gone blue the last two. I find hope in the people I talk to from there. It reminds me to think of people individually, and not as a monolith.

Listen. Listen to others. Don’t think you have to have something to say immediately, or constantly. Don’t feel like you need to solve the world’s problems. Listen listen listen. We all have a point of view. 

2) DO SOMETHING

If you follow me regularly you know that I constantly yell at people to volunteer. Nothing has changed my life, made me smarter, or made me more empathetic than that. If you have money to spare, donate it. If you have no money, donate your time. You may think you don’t have time to volunteer, but I promise you do. Volunteering and donating helps stem the tide of helplessness so many people are feeling. Outside of actual organizations, don’t forget to be decent humans. I know this election has felt for so many like a betrayal- we thought we knew our country, we thought we knew the people in it, but it turns out that we didn’t. Or at least, we didn’t know how they would vote. But that can’t stop us from being decent humans to each other. 

Below are some places I have either worked with, been recommended, or know to be reputable. John Mulaney had some good resources on his Twitter account, and Jezebel did as well. I haven’t listed every resource, of course, and no one is left out on purpose. 

Advocacy for humans

Southern Poverty Law Center- monitoring hate groups, fighting for the rights of those too poor to defend themselves in the system, teaching tolerance

CAIR- Council on American-Islamic Relations- community outreach, workshops, volunteer opportunities

Muslim Advocates- countering stereotypes, raising awareness, working to end profiling

Black Youth Project- addressing systemic racism, sexism, trans oppression- volunteer opportunities

Showing Up for Racial Justice- organizing white people to be there for non-white people- volunteer opportunities

Boys and Girls Club of America- stable safe places for kids to be, volunteer opportunities

826LA- tutoring and creative exploration for kids that don’t have programs in their own schools, volunteer opportunities

Sow Much Good- in North Carolina- a program that provides fresh produce to inner cities neighborhoods and teaches them about healthy eating. Volunteer opportunities (if you’re in NC)

ACLU- American Civil Liberties Union- the big daddy. Always needs money to fight fights. 

Science

UCS- Union of Concerned Scientists- attacking environmental issues with science

Next Gen Climate- for environmental advocacy, volunteer opportunities 

Legal

KIND- Kids in Need of Defense- immigration help for kids

NILC- National Immigration Law Center

Esperanza Immigrant Law Project

Campaign Zero- ending police brutality, some volunteer opportunities

NAACP LDF- NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund to pay court costs for people unjustly targeted by the cops that can’t pay their own legal fees. 

Advocacy for women (really all humans but categories gotta category)

Planned Parenthood- women’s reproductive health care and rights

RAINN- fighting sexual violence, volunteer opportunities 

NOW- National Organization for Women- deals with reproductive rights, legal rights, violence against women, sexism- volunteer opportunities

NARAL- Pro-Choice America- volunteer opportunities

Advocacy for GLBT folk

The Trevor Project- crisis intervention and suicide prevention, volunteer opportunities 

Howard Brown Health- providing health services for GLBT folk in the midwest, volunteer opportunities 

GLAAD- GLAAD serves the LGBT community by shaping the media’s narrative. They’ve come a long way in serving the trans community as well. 

Trans Lifeline- for trans people, staffed by trans people, volunteer opportunities

Advocacy for animals (not related fully but I had to)

Ghetto Rescue- LA based and hands down the best animal rescue/advocacy group I’ve ever seen. They are full of empathy, love for people, and love for animals. Volunteer opportunities in LA. 

Patriots and Paws- pairing veterans with PTSD with rescued animals. Volunteer opportunities. 

Sante D’Or- the local cat shelter where I volunteer. It makes my life better to be there. 

Any suggestions for things you’re doing to care for yourself or organizations that you feel could use a little extra help, tell me? 

[shitroughdrafts-deactivated2021]

[loreleiwinter]

Hi guys! As you may have guessed from my photos, I had a blast at Disney World’s 24-hour “Show Your Disney Side” event as the Tightrope Girl from the Haunted Mansion! While it definitely wasn’t the smartest outfit choice for the 95+ degree Florida heat and humidity, I had an amazing time, and managed to last for 19 hours. Huge, huge thanks to the Haunted Mansion Cast Members who made it possible for me to get pictures with my portrait. It was really a magical day, and I hope to post more pictures from it soon! Also, check out my Facebook page (Lorelei Winter Cosplay, because I’m failing at embedding working links today) for progress photos!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorelei-Winter-Cosplay/1529823510625118

[persounas-deactivated20150507]

Hey, I wanted to give away the Nintendo New 3DS XL! I’ve been feeling good and I’m ready to do this, I hope you want to participate.

Prizes:

One New 3DS XL 

One 3DS game of your choice

Rules:

Don’t have to be following me but it’d be nice!

Only reblogs count.

That means like don’t count, sorry.

No giveaway blogs, please.

If this hits 1k+ notes, I’ll add another game.

Giveaway ends May 23rd, 2015.

Good luck!

[shakspeare]

whilst everyone’s getting pumped for season 5, I think we need to remember a couple of things

don’t forget lady stoneheart. don’t forget that the show runners actively decided to cut one of the most powerful character arcs of the book and force her, instead, into the nagging mother stereotype

don’t forget arianne martell. don’t forget that it looks like the show runners actively decided to cut a powerful, feminine, kick ass woman of colour, who was next in the line of succession

don’t forget that her storyline was all about liberating myrcella and crowning her under dornish law, where women have the same inheritance rights as men, and aren’t passed over in favour of their younger male siblings. don’t forget that her entire storyline focused on females empowering other females.

don’t forget that it looks like they’re giving that same storyline to her younger male sibling, who they have gone out of their way to age up so he fits the role, and the story will now probably be “dashing young prince-to-be kidnaps damsel in distress”

don’t forget the jamie/cersei rape scene. don’t forget that the show runners actively made the decision to change the story and make that scene include rape.

don’t forget that mance rayder had a wife called dalla, and that she had a sister called val and that they were both important leading characters in jon’s story. don’t forget that the show runners actively made the decision to cut them out.

don’t forget the totally unnecessary changes to bran’s storyline. don’t forget the fact that rape and abuse just became part of the background set for most of those scenes. don’t forget that the show runners were on set, actively deciding that those scenes needed a little more male on female violence in the background.

don’t forget that natalia tena wanted osha to have a pubic wig because when the fuck would a wildling women shave her vagina and the show runners actively told her that wasn’t allowed.

don’t forget that they created a female character just to serve as a frequently nude prostitute, and that when the actress, esme bianco, refused to do any more nude scenes, the show runners fired her

don’t forget that she was then killed off in the most sexually violent, brutal, and demeaning way possible

don’t forget chataya and alayaya, a mother and daughter who were strong, sexual, and unashamedly so, and ran their own brothel. don’t forget that the show runners cut them out, too. don’t forget that the show runners have no problem with sex and prostitution so long as it’s on a man’s terms, and as soon as women are making the decisions, they don’t like it.

don’t forget that this show we love and watch and support perpetually goes out of its way to instigate violence against women, to take away their agency, their character, their rights, and their abilities. don’t forget that the show runners consciously make the decisions to demean women and use them as a way to dress the set. don’t forget that they take stories from women and give them to the men. don’t forget that they do not support and respect women the way we support and respect their show.

[earwolf]

Joining Paul F. Tompkins this week are special guests Michael McMillian, Shulie Cowen, Marc Evan Jackson, Mark McConville, and as always, the wonderful Eban Schletter on piano on a new SPONTANEANATION!!

[zoebennson-deactivated20190603]

[bisexualbrucewayne-archive-deac]

i’d be a terrible superhero i’d be at home and see the signal calling me in the sky and be like “i literally just sat down”

[popculturebrain]

[nevver]

Calvin and Hobbes

[therealoctopimp]

ONE WEEK SINCE YOU LOOKED AT ME

[arcaneimages]

[joebagofdoughnuts]

Meanwhile, in your backyard….

[milotlc-deactivated20141029]

The one time I go on Facebook and I see this

[reginasworld]

A collaboration between photographer Brandon Voges, advertising agency The Marlin Network, and Strange Donuts has created a photo series called “Donut Doubles”for the National Restaurant Association’s annual food show.

[sandandglass]

[boxesfullofeden-blog]