getinmymailbox

I knit and spin and stuff. Sometimes on Twitch. twitch.tv/getinmymailbox

[millennial-review-deactivated20]

[drunkenhills]

I was waiting for the night bus at 1am the other night, eating fries, when a dude, high as fuck, tried to harass me. It took several “I don’t want to talk to you, please go away” for him to finally move, but I think it helped that another man was giving him the death stare and clicking his tongue at him. He then checked I was okay and whether I knew the guy or not. Good dude.

Shout out also the man who silently switched places with me on another night bus to be a buffer between me and a guy who had threatened me. Thank you

[dancinginthecenteroftheworld]

Men: this here? This here is what you need to be doing as allies. The men who harass and insult women are not likely to take our complaints about it seriously. But you, another man, they will listen to. 

[glass-kirin]

I was pumping gas at like 10 PM one night, and these bunch of drunk guys came walking up to the gas station, and one of them yelled over to me if I wanted to see his dick.  His friend says to him, “You don’t have anything she wants to see.” and apologized.  It was pretty awesome.

[bringmethehorizonandpizza-deact]

this is all we want from men. to recognize the wrongs done by other men, and acknowledge it. not give us shitass defense like, “not all men do that”

[pusheen]

[gentle-reminder]

gentle reminder

you deserve to be happy, you deserve to live a life you are excited about - please try your best to not forget that

[birlinterrupted]

I forget where it was but I saw jeans for sale and like they were labeled as “girlfriend cut” instead of ‘boyfriend’ and like the irony to me is that the term “boyfriend style jeans” was originally done as this weird way to heterosexualize the dangerous idea of women wearing slightly loose pants so you knew you weren’t a dyke but like apparently the use of the term “boyfriend” was like too much of a gender confusion crisis for the buyer so they had to change it *again* as opposed to just calling it “loose fitting” to begin w and now it has fully no-homo’d itself into a corner and it just sounds like yr stealing yr jeans from some butch girl yr dating

[the-transfeminine-mystique]

My fave quirk w boyfriend jeans is that time the gap didn’t realize that having jeans that were “boyfriend” cut and “pegged” style would turn out greater than the sum of its parts

[goawfma]

this is an insult

[blame-my-muses]

I once applied and interviewed at a bookstore cafe for a barista position. It was way closer to my home, and I had almost a decade of experience working in a coffee shop at that point. 

Got to the interview, and it turned out they didn’t want a barista, they wanted someone to spearhead their new cafe, as the cafe that had been in the store before didn’t want to resign their lease with the bookshop. They wanted to put their own cafe in its place, all new menus etc. They needed someone experienced to train their new staff, to handle window displays, to communicate with the bookstore owners about changes and needs of the cafe, to be able to handle inventory and ordering.

Okay, I had basically done most of that stuff at my previous job. I asked if cafe positions would also be required/trained to work the bookstore. They would. They would be required to run the book sale counter, stock and reshelf books, and help bookshop customers find things. They would also–despite having an outside cleaning company–have to help maintain bathroom cleanliness. They’d have to take out trash, and clean spills, and vacuum.  Wow, that’s a lot, I said. Is this a manager’s position, then?

No, I was told, it wasn’t, but there was a chance that after a training period it might become one. And that made me pause, because I’d been working as the front-of-house manager at my cafe, and I knew how much work that entailed, and what kind of money I was making, and it was only the commute that had me looking for a new job. So I asked what the job paid. $8. E I G H T  D O L L A R S. Per hour. Barely above minimum. For all of that work. For someone they expected to get an entirely new cafe up and running, and then also do the work of the bookstore and the cleaning company as well.  I thanked the woman for the interview, said I’d have to talk to my significant other about the impact a four dollar pay cut would have on our finances, and that I wasn’t sure it was the job for me. She asked me to sleep on it, and she’d call me the next day.  This is a job I was way more than qualified for. I had years of experience doing exactly the things they wanted. It was a convenient location, close to my home–I could walk there if I absolutely had to. I did not go home and talk about that four dollar pay cut and what it would do to our finances. I knew as soon as she told me that not only was it not feasible for us, it was downright insulting. That little money? For a frankly ridiculous list of responsibilities and expectations? She called back the next day. I thanked her again, and told her in no uncertain terms that my time was worth way more than what they were offering. And whenever people bitch about Millennials being lazy, not spending money, not buying houses…whatever the complaint of the month is…I think about the very nice lady who conducted this interview, and how confused she was that I didn’t want the job. 

[hobbular]

@getinmymailbox

[getinmymailbox]

TIMELY POST IS TIMELY

[ampervadasz]

[bunjywunjy]

sippy

[speciesofleastconcern]

[soft-capricorn]

[theconcealedweapon]

An action being “punishable by a fine” basically means “legal for rich people”.

[gnotknormal]

Oh wow. That’s…

[nonsense-choir]

This is why all fines should be income based. They should carry the EXACT same weight of punishment to anyone who commits the act. That way poor folk aren’t bankrupted into desperation or jail by a minor offense and rich people can’t get away with shit.

[gehayi]

Like they do in, for example, Finland.

Finland, Home of the $103,000 Speeding Ticket

Reima Kuisla, a Finnish businessman, was recently caught going 65 miles per hour in a 50 zone in his home country—an offense that would typically come with a fine of a couple hundred dollars, at most, in the U.S. But after Finnish police pulled Kuisla over, they pinged a federal taxpayer database to determine his income, consulted their handbook, and arrived at the amount that he was required to pay: €54,000.

The fine was so extreme because in Finland, some traffic fines, as well as fines for shoplifting and violating securities-exchange laws, are assessed based on earnings—and Kuisla’s declared income was €6.5 million per year. Exorbitant fines like this are infrequent, but not unheard of: In 2002, a Nokia executive was fined the equivalent of $103,000 for going 45 in a 30 zone on his motorcycle, and the NHL player Teemu Selanne incurred a $39,000 fine two years earlier.

“This is no constitutionally governed state,” one Finn who was fined nearly $50,000 moaned to The Wall Street Journal, “This is a land of rhinos!” Outrage among the rich—especially nonsensical, safari-invoking outrage—might be a sign that something fair is at work.

[getinmymailbox]

Finally started on my Speckled Space mini KAL with @slapyourllama and got through the first repeat this morning! This is my first time using a speckled yarn and it's so much fun! I didn't get the hype before but I definitely think it shines in certain applications. This one looks like confetti cake! 😄 . . #sockknitting #socks #knitting #knitstagram #igknitters #lsgravelry #redditknitters #knitpickshawthorne #knitpicks #speckledyarn #speckledyarnissohotrightnow #sockyarn

[madqueensarah]

If you’re an adult, do the stuff you couldn’t as a kid.

Like, me and my sister went to a museum, and they had an extra exhibit of butterflies. But it cost £3. So we sighed, walked past, then stopped. We each had £3. We could see the butterflies. And we did it was great. We followed it up with an ice-cream as well because Mum and Dad weren’t there to say no.

I was driving back from a work trip with 2 other people in their early 20s, and we drove past a MacDonalds. One of the others went “Aww man, I’d love a McFlurry.” And the guy driving pulled in to the drive through. It was wild. But it was great.

I went to a park over the weekend and I was thinking “Man, I’d love to hire one of those bikes and cycle round the park.” It took me a few minutes to go “Wait, I can hire one of those bikes!”

I guess what I’m saying is, those impulsive things you wanted to do as a kid - see the dinosaur exhibit, play in the fountains with the other kids, lie in the shade for 2 hours - you can do when you’re an adult. You have to deal with a whole lot of other bull, but at least you can indulge your inner 8 year-old.

[flowerinaflame]

[hallogallo]

Smug face of a free man

[moonblossom]

My nayme is cow I am not pup. And seems my luck, Is looking up! I not need leash For outside play. I laff at dog, And run away.

[sunrisenebula]

@geekhyena

[wheretheeternalare]

Why do people still say “this doesn’t fit my blog theme but I had to reblog anyway”? It’s almost 2018. Who gives a fuck. Who even has a coherent blog anymore

[pamisleyphd]

Reblog if you’ve never had a coherent blog and got no intention of starting that shit now

[broadwayz-deactivated20171002]

a midsummer night’s meme

[daughter-of-prospero]

my name is Puck and wen its nite or faerie-kind is in a fite the humans run i shout wyth glee “lord what fools these mortals be”

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

This is what Shakespeare would have wanted.

[bunjywunjy]

LET US PREY

guess what, it’s time for an all-new exciting episode of Weird Biology! today we’re investigating this lovely flower that I just found. it was just sitting innocently on a tree branch and it’s a lovely shade of pink, so I-

hang on, it just moved. 

what the fuck. lemme just…

aaand it just stabbed me in the finger. sorry folks, turns out we aren’t dealing with a flower at all! it’s the frilly, fashionable master of disguise,

AHA! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG! STAB!

the first westerner to describe the Orchid Mantis in 1879 (a journalist from Australia) thought he was seeing a moving, carnivorous flower! obviously he was wrong, as flowers absolutely don’t do that! ha ha! (the point is, it’s an easy mistake to make. especially if you’re a journalist from 1879.)

the Orchid Mantis is a perfect flower mimic, with a dazzlingly sinister sense of fashion.

SO sinister.

the Orchid Mantis is found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, from Malaysia to Thailand. they are small and delicate, covered with High Femme pastel frills that conceal their deadly mantid forelegs. (mostly. it’s like seeing the outline of a switchblade under a fancy skirt.) 

females grow to be about 3 inches long, while males barely reach half that. they range in color from delicate pinks to lacy purples to eggshell white to that obnoxious pale yellow you only see in Easter decorations.

and except for the giant alarming eyeballs, they look exactly like, well. orchids.

THE BETTER TO SEE YOU WITH, MY DEAR.

like all praying mantids, the Orchid Mantis is a carnivore who feasts on the flesh and possibly souls of lesser insects. but with their fantastically flamboyant fashions, how are they supposed to hunt? well, the answer probably won’t surprise you! 

because the Orchid Mantis looks so much like a flower, the pollinators come to it. butterflies, bees, moths, you name it. they buzz in, thinking they’ll get a mouthful of nectar and some pollen like good buggy citizens. and what does the Mantis do when these well-meaning helpful friends show up?

why, they prey.

THE BETTER TO STAB YOU WITH, MY DEAR.

also like all praying mantids, the Orchid Mantis worships the silent gods of Slice n’ Dice. when a delicious butterfly or bee bumbles too close, the Mantis promptly stabs the fuck out of it with a lightning-fast strike, and chows down.

in other words, they’re three inches of Death Metal contained under a thin veneer of tea party.

maybe a tea party where the hostess stabs you in the chest.

when they aren’t victimizing kind and helpful insects who only wanted to see a cool flower, the Orchid Mantis goes about the business of continuing the species. since adults only live about 8 months in the wild, this is more of an urgent matter than you would expect.

because Orchid Mantises are pretty rare and not studied often, we’re not actually sure how the deed is done in the wild. (I’M FINE WITH THAT.) if it’s anything like captive breeding programs, most of the dudes just get straight-up eaten. the Orchid Mantis lady is in complete and terrifying control of the situation, and often prefers a snack to the gentle embrace of a lover.

mantids are just kind of like that.

role model?

if the dude mantis is successful in his efforts, the lady mantis will then go off and lay 50-100 eggs clustered on a stem surrounded by a gross protective foam. in 5 to 6 weeks, the baby mantises will emerge and begin eating each other immediately.

(mantises are HARDCORE.)

seriously though, the babies (which look like itty-bitty adults) are red and black when they hatch. they disperse rapidly into the underbrush, at least the ones who don’t get cannibalized by a sibling. (that was real. did you think that wasn’t real?)

in a few weeks, the babies will molt and grow out of their Goth phase, emerging in the true High Femme style of their parents.

WE WILL NEVER SLEEP! ‘CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!

because Orchid Mantises are so rarely seen, we’re not actually sure how they’re doing in the wild. it is believed that they are under threat from habitat destruction, as many of the rain forests they live in are plowed over. these frilly creatures need protection and support if we want them to still lurk stabbily in the wild.

however, the Orchid Mantis is extensively bred in captivity for the pet trade. it is the most popular kind of Mantis in the pet trade (for very good reasons), and its beauty and stabby nature will likely be around for a long time yet.

whether you like it or not.

–

thanks for reading! you can find the rest of the Weird Biology series here.

if you enjoy my work, maybe buy me a coffee or check out my Patreon to see extra content and support Weird Biology.

–

IMAGE SOURCES

img1- Discover Magazine img2- Science Friday img3- Wannabe Entomologist img4- featuredcreature img5- Entonation img6- NPR img7- US Mantis img8- Discover magazine

[gh0sthugs]

happy pride to everyone who’s still closeted

happy pride to everyone who’s been kicked out

happy pride to everyone who lives somewhere where it is illegal to love who they love

happy fucking pride to all of you, i love you with my whole heart and i promise you it will get better

[quilavastudy]

I get really confused when americans, when talking about universal health care are like ‘yeh but it’s not free sweaty :) :) you have to pay it through taxes :) so gotcha!!’

and I’m like ….???? That’s the whole point??? Everyone pays their fair share so that no one has to be turned away because they don’t have insurance??? And no one has to set up a Fundraiser page just so that they DONT DIE???? So people don’t put off going to the doctor because they’re scared of going bankrupt?? Because healthcare is a RIGHT and should be free at the point of access?!?

[peccatopotpourri]

“So no one has to be turned away” she says hahaha go to a universal health care country and get a necessary operation in less than a few years and come back and talk shit.

Look at the cure rates compared to mortality rates in universal health care countries and compare them to ours, then talk shit.

Tear your ACL in a universal health care country and see what the people say if you should go to their hospitals or go to an American hospital, then talk shit.

[fluffmugger]

2010. I’d been feeling a bit ill. Work was going nuts, so I figured it was stress.  Pretty good call considering a week later work fired their entire IT department (of which I was part).    

But then I got sicker.  And it turned out I had cancer.

Burkitt’s lymphoma, stage 4a. It had spread into my brain and spinal column. 90% cure rate, but I needed nine months of chemo - and not the outpatient chemo, nope, talking multiple week stays per round of the magrath protocol.  Drugs were about 10k an IV bag.  I was unemployed.  And there were complications.

Thankfully I live in a country with universal healthcare.   And it didn’t cost me a goddamn cent to save my life.  I’m now officially past the five year mark to move me from “remission” to “Cured”.

I’ve lived in a universal healthcare country my entire life. And I’ve seen the US system in action.  Your system is fucked. Straight up fucked. You’ve got fucking Dickensian shit going on there, people dying on streets from preventable causes or ending up broke for breaking a hip.   Your health insurance companies have you by the balls and people like you are begging them to squeeze harder.  What the actual fuck is wrong with you? 

“But but but TAXESSSSSSSSS”

yeah no shit. That story above? Happened when I was 32.  I’d spent 14 years of my life paying those fucking taxes that funded the system that saved my life.    And guess what?   Now I’m cured, I’m…Back..at work..And have been for several years…earning waaaay more money and paying back into the system. This shit doesn’t exist in a vacuum, dickhead.  You’re not feeding some imaginary pack of leeches, you’re paying forward on your own damned healthcare so you don’t have to argue with an insurance company while trying to heal. 

[yyyyddmmsupremacy-deactivated20]

i also don’t get why americans can’t wrap their heads around the fact that universal healthcare is actually cheaper

like yeah your taxes might go up (hell, take a chunk out of the military budget, they might not even change) but you won’t have to pay ridiculous health insurance premiums. it’s a net saving, dumbasses. 

[casanova-lives]

Also I care about people that aren’t me

[birdsnestbegone]

Also I care about people that aren’t me