Learning Things is Fun

In an attempt to remember things, I am deciding to post them on the internet. Also, I like to know things.

[learningthingsisfun]

A Leap of Faith

I’ve never had to take a leap of faith. Or I suppose I do it all the time? Because I know that the worst of the worst cannot happen. I will never go hungry. I will never be homeless. I will never stop being loved. I am insanely lucky. 

But I am going back to school after nearly a decade of working too much at jobs I either give my whole heart to or complete robotically... or both... somehow. 

I start classes this summer. I just paid for them. That was terrifying. 

But what’s more terrifying is the idea that I continue this path of mediocrity, that I become person who can’t be in leadership but also can’t be led. That I keep working my way up just to fall back down, punished like Sisyphus for something I can’t describe.

I saw this tweet the other week when I was spiraling about how old I’ll be when I finish the program... if I ever get in... and it hit home: 

[art-no]

[moodsandmatters]

[disordered]

[politijohn]

Being shortsighted isn’t a good look.

1972 - Bernie wrote a letter in support of abolishing all laws dealing with abortion, sexual behavior (adultery, homosexuality, etc.), and drugs

1983 - Sanders signed the first proclamation to create the first Gay & Lesbian Pride Day in Burlington, VT

1985 - Burlington passes proclamation protecting LGBTQ people from housing and employment discrimination

1993 - When Congress members attacked non-discrimination in DC, Sanders voted “no”

1993 - Voted “no” on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

1995 - Sanders rebuked Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham for using the word “homos” when talking about gay people in the military

1996 - Voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

1999 - When Congress tried to keep domestic partners from adopting children in DC, Sanders voted “no”

2001 - When Congress tried to keep domestic partners from receiving health benefits, Sanders challenged it

2004 - Voted against the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage

2007 - Voted to expand and strengthen penalties for violent crimes committed in the basis of sexual orientation

2009 - Voted to expand federal hate crimes to cover offenses motivated by gender identity and sexual orientation

2009 - Supported Vermont’s first-in-the-country law legalizing gay marriage

2010 - Voted to overturn “don’t ask, don’t tell”

2011 - Called on President Obama to support marriage equality

2013 - Co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

2013 - Co-sponsored the United Families Act to allow LGBTQ Americans to bring their partners to the Us

2014 - Co-sponsored the International Human Rights Defense Act

2015 - Co-sponsored Civil Rights to include sexual orientation and gender identity protected categories

2016 - Co-sponsored Bill to designate June 26, 2016 as LGBTQ Equality Day

2016 - Bernie condemned conversion therapy

2017 - Co-sponsored the Every Child Deserves a Family Act which prohibits foster care entities from receiving federal assistance if they discriminate against prospective LGBTQ parents

2018 - Committed to passing the Equality Act

2019 - Has proposed a comprehensive housing plan that addresses societal homelessness, which disproportionately impacts the LGBTQ community

2019 - Committed to advancing policies that ensure fair treatment for transgender people who are targeted by police unfairly

But yeah, Bernie Sanders “skipping” a forum on LGBTQ rights to host campaign rallies is breaking news

[variks-the-warden]

This is the exact same propaganda that got spread to get people to not vote for Hillary. Don’t buy into it and start thinking people like Bernie or Warren are bad choices because they’re still the best options for your votes right now

[learningthingsisfun]

My initial reaction (and upheld by all those receipts) was why should he fit it in if he’s shown up for decades? He has nothing to prove to the LGTBQ community.

[thesoutherngentlemanworld]

[the-kxpx-deactivated20201015]

Preach

[oldshows]

[ithelpstodream]

[dadhopper-deactivated20171203]

Titanic where everything is the same but winona ryder plays Jack and we get to see her and Kate winslet fall in love

[learningthingsisfun]

Except contemporary: Kristen Stewart and Emma Stone.

[queenundomiel-blog]

[kyrafic]

“Never did like that much,” is a baller and superb way to express your irritation with the way the patriarchy refuses to acknowledge how badass you are.

[lisa-maxwell]

Word.

[johnskylar]

Before World War I, she shot a cigarette out of the mouth of the Kaiser of Germany at his request.

After the war started she sent him a letter asking for another chance, as she was afraid her aim might’ve been a little off.

[certified-p0ser]

Annie Fucking Oakley everyone

[spoookyscary]

After succumbing to a fever of some sort in 1705, Irish woman Margorie McCall was hastily buried to prevent the spread of whatever had done her in. Margorie was buried with a valuable ring, which her husband had been unable to remove due to swelling. This made her an even better target for body snatchers, who could cash in on both the corpse and the ring.

The evening after Margorie was buried, before the soil had even settled, the grave-robbers showed up and started digging. Unable to pry the ring off the finger, they decided to cut the finger off. As soon as blood was drawn, Margorie awoke from her coma, sat straight up and screamed.

The fate of the grave-robbers remains unknown. One story says the men dropped dead on the spot, while another claims they fled and never returned to their chosen profession.

Margorie climbed out of the hole and made her way back to her home.

Her husband John, a doctor, was at home with the children when he heard a knock at the door. He told the children, “If your mother were still alive, I’d swear that was her knock.”

When he opened the door to find his wife standing there, dressed in her burial clothes, blood dripping from her finger but very much alive, he dropped dead to the floor. He was buried in the plot Margorie had vacated.

Margorie went on to re-marry and have several children. When she did finally die, she was returned to Shankill Cemetery in Lurgan, Ireland, where her gravestone still stands. It bears the inscription “Lived Once, Buried Twice.”

[lindeloffspring]

what did i just read

[harokissmile]

Irish women are strong as fuck

[lord-kitschener]

“I lived, bitch” irl

[wizened-beanie-baby-moved]

I don’t have a train of thought I have seven trains on 4 tracks that narrowly avoid each other when the paths cross and all the conductors are screaming

[helpmequitmydayjob]

[sandandglass]

[freakinmilkonthatshizz]

llamas gone wild

[dangerouslycleverflower]

“You expect the same person who pushed you into the water to be the same person who keeps you from drowning and that’s the fucking problem.”

— r.h. Sin (via queenjsxo)

[holdtightposts]

I wish Robin Williams was still with us. We could’ve witness him and his daughter, Zelda, awesomely geeking out over the new Zelda game together.

I miss him.

[welele]

Mientras tanto en un proceso de selección de Podemos…

[starwarsgraphictee]

H…how does it know?

[clarulitas]

[manticoreimaginary]

Watching this (and fearing broken ankles with each loop) I can’t helping thinking about that old quote Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.

[aprilsvigil-deactivated20140416]

But no, if you watch closely you’ll see she doesn’t even step on the last chair. That means she had to trust that fucker to lift her gently to the ground while he was spinning down onto that chair. That takes major guts. I’d be pissing myself and fearing a broken neck if I were in her place. Kudos to her. 

[tiny-detective-agency]

I can’t stop watching this. 

[sassy-hook]

#I watched this for too long to not reblog

[freshprincemomma]

Whoa.

[crossedbeams]

Okay so this is true, but a tiny part of a wider truth. 

Ginger Rogers was a FUCKING BADASS. Ignore for a sec the rampant sexism in Hollywood (they once bleached  her hair blonde in wardrobe without telling her beforehand), the fact that she fought her whole career against typecasting and stereotyping from fellow actors (Katharine Hepburn famously said of the Astaire/Rogers partnership “she gave him sex. He gave her class” ) for starting out in musicals, and went on to have a career lasting over fifty years, winning a Best Actress Oscar (Kitty Foyle, 1940). But… JUST focusing on the Astaire movies…

Not only did she dance “backwards” in high heels, the dances were a task in themselves. Astaire was an absolute perfectionist and choreographed for himself, so as a younger, less experienced dancer Rogers came in at a disadvantage and worked her ass off to match him. 

Then there’s the filming complications… these numbers were filmed in ONE TAKE. So one thing goes wrong and you have to start over. Maybe you make a mistake or maybe your dress flies up because…

Ginger had to contend with her wardrobe. Dancing in heels is the norm at this time, but dancing in a dress designed for cinema cameras… not so much. They were heavy, embellished, uncomfortable, restrictive and cumbersome and essentially a third member of the dance, strapped to the body of one partner.Not only did she have to dance and look good, she had to control the dress too!

Take this routine from Swing Time… (it gets going proper at 1:30ish)

This dress has weights, YES WEIGHTS, sewn in to the hem to make it fly out and create a visual effect. So it’s heavy, it hurts if it hits you, and your partner gets mad if it hits him. So you gotta control it. 

Well it turns out all these factors on this set, this particular day aren’t going so well. So you’re doing take after take, here’s no labour laws, so at 4am after 18 hours you’re still going, even though part of the routine requires you to spin up those curved stairs with no rail at high speed….

Okay so now back to those high heels. In Ginger’s autobiography she vividly remembers this night as the night she bled though her shoes. They did so many takes, her feet blistered, bled, and the white satin high heels she was wearing finished he night pink because they were literally full of blood. And still they keep shooting. She keeps dancing.

The take they use in the film is the last. Early hours. Bloody feet. And she spins, acts and bosses out until that last second. Because she was that professional, talented and bloody minded. This is the last set of spins… 

So I say once again. Ginger Rogers was a badass.

She did everything Fred Astaire did backwards, in high heels, wearing a 20 pound dress, exhausted, injured and standing in a pool of her own blood. And watching her perform, you would never know.

[mysticalcoffeequeen]

Cut off your dead ends for growth and I’m not just talking about your hair