To Begin With, Everything

This is my more (or less?) private blog. Content is varied but mostly about the annoyances of my life. I love avocado toast and drinks with friends.

[did-you-know]

A painter in Los Angeles kept missing his exit for the I-5 on the 110 highway, so he did his research, climbed up the overhead sign, and changed it himself without anyone noticing.

This is Richard Ankrom. He couldn’t find his damn exit, cuz it wasn’t properly labelled.  

So he took life by the balls, like any self-respecting Californian would do, and used his sign-painting expertise to fix it himself.

He called it ‘guerilla public service.’ Even got himself an outfit to look official. It worked, obvi.

Caltrans investigated, but the sign was actually up to code. They left it there for 8 years before they made an updated sign.

Source Source 2

[amarettosweet]

[asgardreid-deactivated20180407]

You can do anything if you’re wearing a hi-vis vest and hard hat.

[eclipsebykimlipmp3-deactivated2]

chaotic good

[graceinmyheart]

was wondering if @asuperfluousman would recognize who i was talking about then he liked that post so i’m assuming he knows...............

[winterbloemen-deactivated201310]

Women pet a shy sheep on a hillside overlooking a green valley in Denbighshire, Wales, 1953.

[grayskymorning]

Kassandra Stockton

[graceinmyheart]

so this guy who was in YAL circles i floating among in undergrad made some dramatic post about deleting his Facebook because of the haters~

immediately was skeptical. while he was helpful in guiding my crew as we started our own chapter at our university he was painfully condescending.

he’s one of the most condescending people i’ve met and fulfills stereotype of the southern rich elitist school: conservative/libertarian, wears seersucker proudly, spends money extravagantly (or appears to), travels constantly, econ major, condescending toward us peasants, still uses reputation of his undergrad in regular conversation years after graduating lol

several folks from my uni org were in the business school and literally he would just be politely~ talking shit on our school and on their degrees for like 15-30 minutes after meetings. he’d say, “well our school doesn’t have a business school. our econ department is in the philosophical social sciences-not business. and when we graduate, people will hire me over you because of the name of my university anyway. people will hire a __ grad over a __ grad any day.”

he clearly didn’t consider some folks are financially limited, have an interest in business, and enjoyed the atmosphere of our campus thus choosing it instead.

naturally people didn’t take kindly to him and we stopped inviting him to events.

which leads to dramatic Facebook post. turns out people called him a fraud because he is now in flight school (really putting that econ degree to work!) and apparently is really excelling. they didn’t believe he could achieve his level in such a short period of time.

i’d believe it. he’s talented and intelligent and has a passion for flight. but i’m also like, how was he talking about it. he acts like such a victim but if he was being a condescending asshole about how well he’s doing so quickly, i can’t really blame them.

/rant.

[graceinmyheart]

i thought jansport backpacks were things i could buy at walmart for $20 but turns out they’re like $$$

i wanted a new backpack because the one i had in undergrad is falling apart and the one i got last year ended up too small for long days on campus and there was a piece of metal that cut me on the regular. lol. it was very cute but not super practical.

idk what i’m gonna do this year.

[graceinmyheart]

my new roommate is pretty great but she’s uh v hands on?

idk. like i come home and there are new stuff every where haha.

it’s nice that it feels so homey and obviously very kind that she’s wiling to sew these things for our home, but like, it’s overwhelming to come into the space i’ve lived in for three years and suddenly there are new rugs, curtains, wall decorations, pillows.

but all the furniture is mine and i told her it’s okay to decorate because i want her to feel at home too.

i tend to like simple pieces neutral colors but she’s into rustic stuff with colorful prints and idk our styles are just very different but i’m also not home much so whatever.

[graceinmyheart]

?question?

sorry it’s long bear with me if you can?

someone who i would call an acquaintance, if not friend, has been saying some kind of surprising things politically.

he’s libertarian (and leans heavily to the ayn rand&objectivist camp). despite areas of strong political difference, he is usually really great to talk with and is usually very reasonable (doesn’t resort to name calling, keeps up with news and is factually correct even if i don’t ethically or politically agree, engages in conversations on practical and philosophical levels)

however, recently he’s just been saying wrong things. even factually like BLM hasn’t spoken out against police shootings, BLM is racist, BLM is violent, Trump supporters aren’t violent as violent as minorities, third parties have a chance this time, etc he often follows with some comment about how he’s an individualist and won’t join collectivist movements (except 3rd parties?)

when i’ve pointed out that he is wrong on facts he’ll just ghost or be like “whoa a lot of information” and it takes all of me to be like, you have a bachelors degree, you can handle a paragraph of text with a link? when he disapproves of my involvement in BLM or women’s rights orgs because they’re “collectivist not individualist,” i asked what he is doing to pursue justice and peace then (i clarified i wasn’t trying to be facetious but that is how i see a path to change and i’d like to know what he thinks will lead to change). he never responded.

normally i let these people be after giving my opinion and/or facts of the situation. but considering i know him better and he tends to engage in conversations more, i kind of want answers. like you can’t act like you didn’t say those things?

i’m not about proving someone wrong, being right, getting the last word. but i’m extremely bothered, esp in this election, that someone who is usually up to engage and be level headed is acting like a child is :/ is there a decent way for me to privately message him and be like, hey, i’ve been thinking about what you’ve been saying and i’m not getting it?

[currentsinbiology]

Aliens are probably involved.

America’s pungent corpse flowers are all mysteriously blooming at once

Botanists across the US are trying to figure out why so many titan arums – better known as corpse flowers – are blooming simultaneously around the country this year.

This is super weird, because there have only been 157 recorded blooms ever between 1889 and 2008. But this year in the US alone, at least seven flowers have bloomed.

[pandavalkyrie]

2016 continues

[lesfleursetlasouris]

ANASTASIA / Sofia Bonati

[jainz-deactivated20240619]

Woman speaks out against misogynistic abuse and is met with misogynistic abuse from men who believe misogynistic abuse doesn’t exist and that she should stop making them look bad.

[graceinmyheart]

tomorrow:

-work job 1 -work job 2 -work job 1 -phone appointment w/counselor -gym to run -shower -cook dinner -watch movie and edit pictures

i have so little free time i don’t know when i’m even eating lunch? it’s not even in my schedule for work because work is split between two jobs :(((

[graceinmyheart]

honestly i have so many friends who don’t doubt much. their faith is so strong and genuine.

but it makes it hard to communicate. they’re just like, why don’t you see what i do?! God is GREAT ALL THE TIME even when shit sucks!!!!!! (80% of them probably wouldn’t say shit probz)

and i’m just like, i literally can’t fathom having that kind of faith though i used to pray for it.

i don’t understand how they don’t struggle with deep doubt or how they were at some point seemingly able to overcome it.

interestingly a lot of their strengths finder results had belief as a top strength. meanwhile i’m a “loyal skeptic” enneagram. hahahahaha.

ah well.

[graceinmyheart]

i think my biggest struggle with my faith is the Cross rn.

i used to be so into atonement theory, but recently i’m just like, why.

like i’ve struggled with the divinity of Jesus. but i realized it is very important to me that “God with us” not only dwelling among us but being* among us is very important to me. that Jesus ate, cried, got hangry, told jokes, hugged, peed, sweat, listened, and had some kind of human experience, interacting with other people.

my faith is very sensory. feeling water of baptism. the taste and smell of communion. touching someone on the hand or back or head during prayer. certain movements or scents during a worship gathering. visual art and/or icons. gardening as stewardship of creation. certain colors with certain seasons liturgically. etc. that Jesus was someone who could be touched by humans and whose feet touched the earth and whose hands touched the sea is important to me.

but i don’t have a low view of people being the “first adam” needing to be saved by the second. people, who uniquely bear God’s image, could be reconciled before and could have sins forgiven or erased or paid back or whatever.

related- the idea of jesus descending to hell? like there are lots of ideas of the afterlife in the bible??? does hell exist or was it developed? and if God exists out of time, what does it mean for jesus to descend and free people or to save people at all? before a certain time or for all time? from what to what? and what about that eschaton thing? what does that have to do with all of this? everything it seems, yet maybe fairly little?

idk. as usual i’m the local heretic/heathen.

[graceinmyheart]

“violence is only hitting people and damaging property!!!” claims someone who sees no nuance and apparently doesn’t see consider someone shouting “burn that motherfucker” to be a form of violence because they didn’t literally* burn someone.

omfg.

[graceinmyheart]

new august schedule means i get off early on wednesdays.

watching stranger things, painting my fingers n toes, emailing financial aid, doing dishes, trying to figure out my schedule, working on biblical greek.

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