natalie's tumblr and stuff

If you asked in 2017: “I'm natalie, 21 years old, studying biology and neuroscience at sdsu, into fandoms, superheroes, feminism, cool stuff, funny stuff, and other stuff” -signed Natalie 8 years ago. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If you asked now: “a girl with a PhD and a husband and the best dog I’ve ever seen, Guiseppi (Giuseppe). Heavy into students rights, academia, circus arts, stained glass, pottery, mbmbam, hank and John green, but mostly reblog stuff I find funny or resonate with and post dog pics. Took a break from tumbling but make no mistake I was there when the deep magic was written”

[eilooxara]

Oat milk was discovered much more recently than you may have known. Like many now-familiar technologies, it was found by accident during the Apollo program when NASA learned what a zero-g environment does to goat milk.

[paranormal-taters]

hang on i need to review my entire post history from all time and make sure i haven't said anything embarrassing

[paranormal-taters]

awful news guys

[southernsolarpunk-deactivated20]

Original

[chicorystreetcoffee]

[buqbite]

sometimes i feel ive got to

[buqbite]

‎

[buqbite]

‎

[buqbite]

run away

[mf-dooom]

[yetanothergreyjedi]

that is the face of a man worried he will be next

[ashtraythief]

Good news, he was not next! In fact, she accepted him as her mate, he learned the crane mating dance and now every year, he artificially inseminates her with crane semen to expand the very endangered crane population. True story.

[luulapants]

Sorry, he WHAT? Imagine being this man's boss and having to sit him down like. Listen. Brian. We need you to fuck the bird. You have to act like you're excited about it.

[whetstonefires]

crane husband.....

[roach-works]

this is the diametric opposite of all those awful swan wife stories and i love it.

[alex51324]

(WalWaPo makes you jump through like three separate hoops before you can read the article, so I will share some of the highlights:

Walnut was born in a species-recovery breeding program in the 1980′s.  The program had crane chicks hand-raised by human volunteers, and at that time they did not fully understand the measures necessary make sure that the chicks do not imprint on humans and retain their identity as cranes.  

As a result, her keepers believe, Walnut does not recognize other cranes as members of her own species.  

It has not been proven that Walnut killed her previous suitors; however, there is a persistent rumor in the white-naped-crane-conservation community that she did.  

Because this species is highly endangered, and the gene pool of the captive population is small, it’s pretty important for the survival of her species that Walnut A) mate, and B) not kill a bunch of other cranes.  

The actual name of the keeper is Chris Crowe.

They both arrived at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2004.   

Walnut immediately began paying special attention to Chris--and ignoring the eligible male crane in a nearby enclosure.  

Walnut initiated their courtship, performing the opening moves of a mating dance.  

Chris realized that if he reciprocated the mating dance, it might be possible to artificially inseminate Walnut with her participation and consent.  (The process normally involves restraining the bird.)  

It worked!  

Chris and Walnut have had five children, who were raised by other crane couples at the facility--sometimes the biological dad and his mate--both because it’s unclear whether Walnut would accept the chicks as her own, and because Chris is not equipped to be a Crane Dad.  

However, the Institute provides her with artificial eggs to sit on, and Chris takes his turn looking after them.  (This would not work with real eggs because he can’t sit on them properly, but Walnut seems to feel that he is on the job if he just stands over them.)

Chris accepts that he is pretty much married to this bird.  White-naped cranes live to be about 60, and they mate for life, so he knows he can’t retire while Walnut is alive.  (At the time of the article, Walnut was 36, and Chris 42.)  

[thesylverlining]

Legit cannot pick the funniest part of this

she has not been PROVEN to have killed her exes, but there is a PERSISTENT RUMOR (really officers she's simply DEVASTATED, she sobs, wearing a new feather boa unfortunately resembling her most recent deceased husband)

His name is Chris CROWE. (Mrs. Walnut Crane-Crowe?)

the mental images of a whole human man learning and performing the crane mating dance, and "sitting" on artificial eggs so she thinks he's performing his duties as a husband and father (and apparently OBJECTS if he does not?)

"chris, buddy, you gotta marry the possibly-murderous crane lady for the GOOD OF THE SPECIES." (alternately: "chris, my man! good news! we found you a very interested lady! She's 36, she's very spirited and independent, she holds a very important and rare status in her society! ...Is there a downside? WELL...")

chris sits any potential human partners down, like "my love, you must understand before we wed,,, i am already... Attached" (camera drifts wistfully to the above photo) "Lady Walnut and I have an,, Understanding... the relationship is open, but very committed"

[anais-ninja-bitch]

just had to explain this post to my father bc he thought my stifled laughter was a signal of illness.

well done, everyone, good game. hit the showers.

[largishcat]

[eshlimoriarty]

[lazorsandparadox]

Not only is he 'married' to walnut, this has apparently happened SEVERAL times, so he has MULTIPLE crane wives, none of which know about any of his other crane wives. This man is, for some unknown reason, irresistible to cranes

[queersatanic]

the “this content has been removed for violating Tumblr’s Community Guidelines” notice really adds a lot of flavor to this post and somehow makes it MORE obscene than whatever that actually was

[worldheritageposts-official]

World Heritage Post

[kedreeva]

I regret being the bearer of bad news, but I thought it should be shared that Walnut passed away in January of this year (2024). There's a lot of mixed info about the lifespan of cranes (due to people misunderstanding what a median is...) but the average for most species I know of is 20-30 years (in the wild if nothing eats them/they don't die young), and 30-45 in captivity, with the oldest known white-naped crane having loved to be 46. Given that she was 42, this old gal did good, and I'm certain she will be missed by folks here.

[optimysticals]

Fly on forever Walnut Crane-Crowe

[json-derulo]

for sale: Baby Shoes Stylish Infant Boy Girl Unisex First Walker Shoes Toddler Walking Crib Shoes Lightweight Non-Slip Sneakers For 6 9 12 18 24 Months Baby Shoes New With Tags New In Box Excellent Condition Never Worn

[itsnicsalad]

brain grace,,, grain

[ryebreadgf]

once I snorted a fat line of nuance and everything started depending. watch out

[troublepunk-ldn]

me as a teenager: man it sucks to have no privacy or autonomy but i guess its for a good reason. when i turn 18 i will realise how young i was and understand why they did all that.

me as an adult: teenagers are an oppressed class, their abuse is normalised and systemic and they need to start killing people

[sardonyxlestrange]

Some last minute birthday pictures. I’m soo not used to being in front of a legitimate camera lol, I’ve gotten used to phone cameras.

I hope the nervous awkwardness isn’t apparent in my face😬

[chrisweedpiano]

one of my favorite posts of all time

[newsmutproject]

Studies show that approaching youth with a bystander-intervention model is actually a lot more effective for reducing sexual assault, and it is also more enthusiastically received than programs that bill themselves as anti-rape.

We can tell youth that they are basically “rapists waiting to happen” (anti-rape initiative), or we can tell them that we know they would intervene if they saw harm happening to someone and we want to help empower them to do that (bystander intervention). The kids jump in with both feet for the latter! It was amazing to see children (and young boys in particular) excited to do this work and engage their creativity with it. Also, studies show that not only do they go on to intervene, but they also do not go on to sexually assault people themselves. Bystander intervention also takes the onus off the person being targeted to deter rape and empowers the collective to do something about it. It answers the question in the room when giggling boys are carrying an unconscious young woman up the stairs at a house party, and people are not sure how to respond and are waiting for “someone” to say or do something.

Richard M. Wright, “Rehearsing Consent Culture: Revolutionary Playtime” in the anthology Ask: Building Consent Culture edited by Kitty Stryker

[beatrice-otter]

This is also, btw, how the US drastically reduced drunk driving in the US. Telling people they shouldn’t drive when intoxicated made absolutely zero difference. A slogan-and-ad-campaign for “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk!” changed drinking culture. Going after the bystanders is quite often the most effective thing to do in any social change.

[queenlua]

can someone come up with a good definition/rubric for what constitutes "Young Adult-y" writing so i can feel like less of a bitch when i use that to describe novels with those properties

actually, come to think of it: i need "YA-y (positive)" and "YA-y (negative)." so, y'know. if anyone's got something like that lying around—

[togglessymposium]

I can take a stab at it!

None of this is intended as criticism. The specific concerns of a young adult audience beget specific literary techniques.

--

YA writing is preoccupied with the identity of the lead characters, prior to their actions, social obligations, or personal history. It explores the characters' castes, categories, lineages, and innate powers. The protagonist may challenge or accept these categories, but they will invariably be framed as a social consensus despite being alien to the reader.

YA writing explores worlds of calcified shame, and shame is a secondary antagonist. The fantastical setting is defined by a prior conflict that was only partially resolved: the adults of the story are often veterans of this conflict. The setting has achieved a fragile stasis that codifies a degree of injustice, and enforces secrecy or propaganda concerning the nature of the conflict. The protagonist acts as the representative of a new generation that provides solutions to this dilemma.

YA protagonists are righteous. Their suffering is in most respects unfair or unjust, and moral clarity is a nearly universal factor in driving the plot forward. Changes in loyalty are precipitated by new information, especially about the moral depravity of governing bodies. Character development is established through a period of grueling physical or social exile, in which protagonists learn the virtue of persistence.

YA writing styles are straightforward. Sentences are simple without being sparse, while events are described literally and cinematically. Pacing and tropes are typically a pastiche of romance, murder mystery, and fantasy/sci-fi genres. They avoid challenging the reader at the level of structure or prose.

YA narratives are epics. Stakes rise from the personal to the universal over the course of the narrative. The protagonist will establish a circle of friends, and earn the attention of a powerful general or sage who will endow them with a grand destiny. Ultimately, characters end governments, determine the fate of wars, and ignite revolutions.

--

The genre is prolific, and I've only read a small portion. But exceptions to these five patterns are rare in what I've seen of it.

[ozempicofficial]

[theweirdwideweb]

[freebroccoli]

REGRET TO INFORM YOU YOUR SON HAS DIED FROM TRENCH FOOT LOL HE SERVED WITH COURAGE AND HONOR LOL PLEASE ACCEPT OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES LOL

[sapphireh3arts]

i know folks are gonna call me a pedo for this one, but i grew up seeing my mom and grandma naked. they had health issues and at times needed care and help showering. and i truly think more kids need to be shown the nonsexual reality of naked women at a young age. there is nothing sexual about my grandmothers breasts, they were simply body parts. more women die of heart attacks because people are too afraid of breasts to do real chest compressions, because they are scared to touch their breasts. the sexualization of our bodies literally kills us. i need people to be more normal about naked bodies and i'm 100% serious.

[scarsofmybliss]

I grew up around naked old people who weren't even my family! Gasp! And it was a good thing. I grew up around old-school hippies at a place called Lothlorien (in Indiana) and one of my friends dads held a sauna day every Sunday in the middle of the woods (like you cannot drive to their house, you park about a quarter mile away and walk into the woods kind of woods). All day random old people came to get naked, high (pot), and sweaty. Just random old peen and boobs swaying with the leaves. No big deal. These are things that I believe made me more at home in my body, made me more excited about aging, made me more willing to fight for my security and safety.

[dee-the-red-witch]

Bodies are just bodies. Nothing sacred and nothing inherently shameful or sinful either. The fact that we still can't get that through everyone in however many years it's been is just fucking idiotic.

[dogpuppy]