The Lost Boy

Things I like.

[bluescluesposting]

I’M SORRY I’M JUST SWEATING FROM MY EYES

[cisarovna]

[archaeo-geek]

I’ve read that Agatha said she loved being married to an archaeologist because the older she got, the more interesting he found her. And I think that is one of the best quotes about love that I have ever heard.

[thatfunkyopossum]

Nobody ever talk to me about the catholics going off with stained glass again because not one window of jesus has ANYTHING on the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque

Click through this link i’m losing my mind its gorgeous

[royalhandmaidens]

i absolutely love seeing people’s reactions to the pink mosque 😂

the style is called “orsi” and is unique to iran

and stained glass traces its roots to south west and west asia, developed in ancient times and well before the europeans and the roman empire saw it and said “hey i like that, i’ll be leaving with it”

[royalhandmaidens]

and while we’re talking about mosques in iran, may i present persian mirror work?

yes, these are real places! it’s a different mosque in the same city as the first picture (the shah cheragh mosque in shiraz)

every time someone tries to talk to me about western churches and architecture and their superiority to that of “third world countries” i have to laugh a little at the ignorance, especially when our mosques look like this

[beefmutual]

[harryshouse]

so

we have this app called toogoodtogo where restaurants/cafes/bakeries/hotels and so on sell their leftovers for really cheap to reduce foodwaste

i got all of this for €4 from starbucks

bless

[frompawntoqueen]

The America version is called FoodForAll

[somecunttookmyurl]

I love TooGoodToGo all of this sushi cost me £3.50 (the chinese food cost me £3.59)

[korben600]

YOOOOOOO, they’re formalizing this?!?!

I used to do community service at a community breakfast, we’d go to the local Safeway and get all their stale bread, the local bakery for their stale baked goods and whatnot.

They throw away so much food it’s ridiculous, I’m glad someone finally created a program like this!

[askawelfarecaseworker]

The American app isn’t available everywhere but if you’re broke in NY or Boston, check it out!

[tundrakatiebean]

The US app logo currently looks like this and was last updated 3 weeks ago (as of January 25th 2020)

[sissikuk]

TooGoodToGo is available in many European countries, including the UK, much of Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy and the Iberian peninsula. 

[unzip-your-guts]

In Canada we have flash food, I dont know if it’s just confined to loblaw stores but you can get food that stores have to throw out for dirt cheap

[defira85]

I know I reblogged this once already but I’m back to say there’s an Australian version!

YWaste has been around since 2017 apparently, so they’re quite well established if you’re Australian and in need of options

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

This is a compiled list of some of my favorite pieces of short horror fiction, ranging from classics to modern-day horror, and includes links to where the full story can be read for free. Please be aware that any of these stories may contain subject matter you find disturbing, offensive, or otherwise distressing. Exercise caution when reading. Image art is from Scarecrow: Year One.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: tense, dread-inducing horror that preys upon the human psyche and aims to frighten on a mental or emotional level. 

“The Frolic” by Thomas Ligotti, 1989

“Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, 1970

“89.1 FM” by Jimmy Juliano, 2015

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892

“Death at 421 Stockholm Street“ by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973

“An Empty Prison” by Matt Dymerski, 2018

“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood, 1906

CURSED: stories concerning characters afflicted with a curse, either by procuring a plagued object or as punishment for their own nefarious actions.

“How Spoilers Bleed” by Clive Barker, 1991

“A Warning to the Curious” by M.R. James, 1925

“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files, 2010

“The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King, 1999

“Ring Once for Death” by Robert Arthur, 1954

“The Mary Hillenbrand Cassette“ by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, 1902

MONSTERS: tales of ghouls, creeps, and everything in between.

“The Curse of Yig” by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, 1929 

“The Oddkids” by S.M. Piper, 2015

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

“The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner, 1936

“Tall Man” by C.K. Walker, 2016 

“The Quest for Blank Claveringi“ by Patricia Highsmith, 1967

“The Showers” by Dylan Sindelar, 2012

CLASSICS: terrifying fiction written by innovators of literary horror. 

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

“The Interlopers” by Saki, 1919 

“The Statement of Randolph Carter“ by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Pierce, 1893

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, 1820 

“August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, 1910

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

SUPERNATURAL: stories varying from spooky to sober, featuring lurking specters, wandering souls, and those haunted by ghosts and grief. 

“Nora’s Visitor” by Russell R. James, 2011

“The Pale Man” by Julius Long, 1934

“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson, 2013

“The Jigsaw Puzzle” by J.B. Stamper, 1977 

“The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions” by David Nickle, 2013

“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold, 1926 

“Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben, 2016

UNSETTLING: fiction that explores particularly disturbing topics, such as mutilation, violence, and body horror. Not recommended for readers who may be offended or upset by graphic content.  

“Survivor Type” by Stephen King, 1982

“I’m On My Deathbed So I’m Coming Clean…” by M.J. Pack, 2018

“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker, 1984

“The New Fish” by T.W. Grim, 2013

“The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon, 1977

“In the Darkness of the Fields” by Ho_Jun, 2015 

“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, 1948

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison, 1967 

HAPPY READING, HORROR FANS!

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

I’ve been doing some reading and have more stories to add: 

PSYCHOLOGICAL: 

“Paradise Pine” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Suffer the Little Children” by Stephen King, 1972 

“Rocking Horse Creek” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ledge” by Stephen King, 1978

“Ted the Caver” by Ted, 2001

“The Fly-paper” by Elizabeth Taylor, 1969

CURSED:

“The Reaper’s Image” by Stephen King, 1969

“Correspondence” by Bloodstains, 2011

“Casting the Runes” by M.R. James, 1911 

“The Dionaea House” by Eric Heisserer, 2004

“1408″ by Stephen King, 1999

“Stinson Beach” by Walter Smith, 2011

MONSTERS:

“The Crawlers” by Jimmy Juliano, 2014 

“Pickman’s Model” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1927

“Dollhouse” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“I Love My Grandparents’ Fireplace” by Rona Vaselaar, 2016

“Click-clack the Rattlebag“ by Neil Gaiman, 2015

CLASSICS:

“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James, 1904 

“The Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson, 1907 

“The Cask of Amontillado“ by Edgar Allan Poe, 1847

“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, 1952

“Cool Air” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1928

SUPERNATURAL:

“It Was a Different Time” by Cymoril Melnibone, 2018

“The Testament of Magdalen Blair” by Aleister Crowley, 1929 

“Instructions for the Babysitter” by CR Jones, 2018

“The Hand” by Guy de Maupassant, 1880 

“63 Years Ago” by Jake Healey, 2016

UNSETTLING:

“Window” by Bob Leman, 1980 

“No Matter Which Way We Turned” by Brian Evenson, 2016

“The M Show Fan Club” by lenalona, 2013

“The Dune” by Stephen King, 2011

“Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament“ by Clive Barker, 1984

“The Judge” by Rona Vaselaar, 2015

ENJOY!

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

Here’s some more stories I’ve enjoyed, bringing the list total to 125 scary tales:

PSYCHOLOGICAL:

“Nightcrawlers” by Robert R.  Mccammon, 1984

“Burn” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Examination Day” by Henry Slesar, 1958

“Miriam” by Truman Capote, 1945

“To See the Invisible Man” by Robert Silverberg, 1979 

“A Conversation with a Stranger on the Bus” by C.M., 2019

“The Man Who Loved Flowers” by Stephen King, 1977

“Paleontologists Were We” by C.K. Walker, 2016

CURSED:

“The Hourglass Tattoo” by The Dead Canary, 2019

“I Uncovered the Disturbing Truth Behind a Haunted Film…” by Joel Farrelly, 2015

“Moomaw’s Curses” by Pippinacious, 2017

“A Curse is Killing My Friends and I’m Next” by Zamil Akhtar, 2017

“The Cat From Hell” by Stephen King, 1977

“I’ve Been Getting Strange Letters from the St. Louis Prison” by Andrew Harmon, 2015

“The Ash-tree” by M.R. James, 1904

MONSTERS:

“The Midnight Meat Train” by Clive Barker, 1984

“Recluse” by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Raft” by Stephen King, 1982

“Mr. Widemouth” by perfectcircle35, 2010

“The Beast of Averoigne” by Clark Ashton Smith, 1932

“Graveyard Shift” by Stephen King, 1970

“The Puppet in the Tree” by Dopabeane, 2018

“The Autopsy” by Michael Shea, 1980

CLASSICS: 

“The Triumph of Night” by Edith Wharton, 1914

“Specialty of the House” by Stanley Ellin, 1956

“The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1842

“The Mezzotint” by M.R. James, 1904

“The Occupant of the Room” by Algernon Blackwood, 1917

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, 1966

“The Waxwork” by A.M. Burrage, 1931

“The Terrible Old Man” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

SUPERNATURAL:

“The Stillwood King” by Kris Straub, 2008

“She’s Gotten One Step Closer Every Night…” by Nick Botic, 2018

“Beauty” by Robert R. Mccammon, 1990

“My Girlfriend Talks in Her Sleep…” by Ryan Matthews, 2018

“The Everlasting Club” by Arthur Gray, 1910

“Char” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The River Styx Runs Upstream” by Dan Simmons, 1981 

“Lemon Blossom Girl” by Kris Straub, 2008

“How to Summon the Butter Street Hitchhiker” by Chris Hicks, 2018

UNSETTLING:

“Soft” by F. Paul Wilson, 1984

“The Taxidermied Child” by Tobias Wade, 2019

“It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby, 1953

“Magnum Opus” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Something Passed By” by Robert R. McCammon, 1990

“The Stretching Party” by Nick Botic, 2018

“Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” by Joe R. Lansdale, 1991

“Other People” by Neil Gaiman, 2001

HAVE FUN!

[narcym-noesis]

Reza Mohtashami - 2020

Concept,New York,USA_

[gaylienz]

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-nurse-didnt-just-create-a-replacement-n95-mask-hers-filters-more/

Tommye Austin has created a new better mask!

This Nurse Didn’t Just Create a Replacement N95 Mask – Hers Filters More

A Texas "nurse scientist" created a better face mask, in case her nursing staff ever ran out—and Tommye Austin’s TM 2020 is a better one by

The name N95 comes from the fact the masks filter 95% of airborne particles, such as viruses. Lab results show Tommye’s masks block 96.5%.

N95s weren’t intended for all-day use, so they tend to carve painful, unsightly marks into noses, cheeks and chins. Hers don’t.

With nowhere for exhaled carbon dioxide to escape, N95 wearers sometimes suffer dizziness or headaches. Hers have an air pocket so the C02 floats more easily away

[drek-odradek-deactivated2022031]

She even provided her instructions for free, what an amazing woman

[sixpenceee]

“Smoke Horns” by Butch Locsin

[beautys-grace-deactivated202407]

Wicked cool

[humanityinahandbag]

I’M ABOUT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER, BOOK NERDS

Do you like books!?

OF COURSE YOU DO

Do you like reading books?

DUUUUUH!

Do you collect books and let them sit on your shelf!?

WHAT IS THIS!? AMATEUR hOUR? OF FUCKING COURSE! 

Do you spend WAAAAAAY too much money on books even though they’re totally worth it but holy fucking shit fifteen dollars is the median and why is the world so effortlessly cruel?

Who’s got two thumbs and an empty wallet! Yes yes and yes!

WELL HAVE I GOT A SOLUTION FOR YOU

Thriftbooks is an amazing online site that sells used books! These books are, for the most part, in great condition. I’ve used this website for everything from textbooks to fiction to everything else in between! It has a wide selection with an even wider selection of options per book!

You want softcover? They’ve got it! Hardcover? Of course! Audio? Why not!

Hell! They even sell the books in other languages!

You might say to me, humanity, why are you telling us this? We already have barnes and noble!

Because, my poor, naive friend, thriftbooks sells the majority of it’s books for under four dollars.

That’s right. You heard me. Under. Four. Dollars.

And right now, they’re having a huge deal!

2 books for $7

3 books for $10

4 books for $12

But wait! There’s more!

If you leave a book in your cart for long enough, chances are you’ll be alerted when a seller nearby, for a cheaper price, has the same book! You’ll get it cheaper and faster, with less waste of paper and time!

And prices change! That book that would have cost you $3.79 one day might be $3.45 the next, and man oh man isn’t that the best thing to see when you check up on your cart.

So what are you waiting for, book lovers! Go! Go shop!

Go and rule the world!

Be the book lovers I know you can be!

[humanityinahandbag]

DID I MENTION THAT THERE’S FREE SHIPPING OVER 10 DOLLARS

[humanityinahandbag]

DID I MENTION THAT THERE’S ALSO A COUPON CODE YOU CAN USE FOR A LIMITED TIME

type in the word “welcome” when you get to checkout and you’ll get 15% off!

[humanityinahandbag]

DID I ALSO MENTION THAT THERE ARE READING REWARDS

AND THAT EVER $50 YOU SPEND THEY GIVE YOU $5 BACK.

guys

five dollars

on this site

is a book

that is the cost of an entire book

you’re literally getting a free book

[humanityinahandbag]

I NEED Y’ALL TO SEE THIS SIDE BY SIDE THOUGH

So to prove my very real point, I went to Barnes and Noble and picked out some of my favorites books that I already have on my shelves

(also, fyi, y’all should read these they’re bangin)

AND BECAUSE THE SHIPPING IS SO INSANE, IT WAS MEAN TO COME OUT TO $47.85 (and that’s at an online price, which discounts by a few dollars)

But with shipping, handling, and the extreme cost of books, my total came to this:

$72.30

Okay. Then I went onto thriftbooks and chose the same books in the same formats (hardcover, softcover, etc.)

Keep in mind that not all books are under $4 due to size, availability, how new they are to the world yada yadayada

But this was the final shopping cart.

Look.

Look at those lovely books.

My final check out price?

$21.86

AND THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE ANY OF THE AMAZING DISCOUNTS, DEALS, AND/OR PROMO CODES.

If you do the math, I saved $50.44.

And even if Barnes and Noble had given me that free shipping, I still would have saved $25.99. Do you know what that could buy you? That could buy you four more books on thriftbooks!

Thriftbooks fucking saved my broke college ass. And I’d encourage you all to use it if you can. Shipping may take 4-14 days, but I swear to god it’s worth every dollar that I would have burned. 

THIS IS IN NO WAY AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO STOP SHOPPING AT BOOKSTORES. PLEASE DON’T. LOCAL BOOKSTORES ARE IMPORTANT AND VITAL AND SHOULD BE SUPPORTED!

I’m mostly making jabs at the big name companies, and honestly, my broke bookworm ass needs a break.

[humanityinahandbag]

NOW YOU MAY ASK ME

HOW

HOW CAN IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!?

It can’t. There’s no way!

WELL YES IT FUCKING CAN, BOOK NERDS!

Did you ever think to yourself; I love to read. But I sure wish there was a way to read my own books while I multi-task by helping the environment, the economy, and the seemingly never-ending and growing gap between low-income schools and libraries and their availability to reading material all at the same time…

Well, there is.

It’s called shopping at Thriftbooks

And what’s more:

Boom.

Right there.

This place is fucking amazing as hell and you should use it as often as you possibly can.

Save the environment. Keep your mind running. Shop Thriftbooks.

[1-tin-soldier]

Thank you, Tumblr Billy Mays

[divebombmod]

@arlothia, I think my wallet is about to spontaneously combust.

[arlothia]

@divebombmod I know, right?! I LOVE thriftbooks!! I actually got an old KCLS book before, which is cool! Didn’t know about the WELCOME promocode, though, and you can only use one code at a time. I checked. But that just means that you can order books or batches of books seperately so you can reap the benefits of all those codes! OH!! They also have a promocode now called SAVEMORE and it’s another 15% off option!

[theblackship]

Do they ship to other countries too? like in asia? if so, how much will it cost?

[gardencorekid]

With all the talk about telling people to start planting and growing crops to feed themselves and their communities during this time of crisis, I’m surprised I haven’t seen much about HOW MUCH to plant to feed people. Here’s a good article to serve as a jumping-off point, to give people an idea of when to plant and how much to plant to keep people fed. Keep in mind that unless you live on a fairly sizeable plot of land that has ideal growing conditions, you probably won’t be able to completely feed a family of four, at least with traditional gardening methods. However, you can still heavily supplement your diet with homegrown food if you plot your garden carefully.

How Much to Plant per Person in the Vegetable Garden

It's time to plan the vegetable garden, but how much should you plant per person to feed your family?

Some things you can do to save space include growing plants in stackable towers rather than flat rows. Not everything can grow this way, but growing herbs or even strawberries or some kinds of tomatoes in them can save a lot of space. Bonus points if you can get some vertical vining plants like beans or tomatoes to grow up the sides of them to maximize the space used.

Hanging planters can also be used for things like tomatoes, herbs, some berries, etc. The people who grew up watching TV in the 2000s may remember ads for the topsy-turvy tomato planter. I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of them, but it may be good inspiration for creative DIY hanging planters.

Many people don’t seem to know this (to be fair, it’s not very intuitive), but small melons and gourds can be grown vertically on a trellis. You will need pantyhose or something else that can act like a sling for when the fruit gets large enough, and you’ll also want to make sure the trellis is very sturdy. Here is an example of a watermelon growing on a trellis, with squash growing in the background:

Other good options that require a bit more DIY are hydroponics towers and walls. It’s basically just a series of pipes with holes for plants to grow out of. The only downside is they will require very regular fertilization and supplementation with other micronutrients that are essential for plant growth, because the plants are typically grown in either a non-nutritious medium like coconut coir or nothing at all.

Planter walls are the next step down, basically just building shelves with pots in them to fill with soil. Put these on a wall that gets good morning sun and some afternoon sunlight for best results. These and hydroponics both also have the advantage of being able to hook up to your gutters so that rainwater will go towards watering your plants rather than just being wasted.

If you want to get really fancy, aquaponics is the next step up. With aquaponics, you create a system that circulates water between plants and a tank full of fish. The fish waste provides fertilizer for the plants, and the plants help filter out the waste so the water stays cleaner. I’ve heard they’re a bit tricky to establish, but once you find the right balance, all you’ll need to do is feed the fish. This has the added bonus of providing a source of fish for people who can’t eat things like nuts and legumes but need protein. Here is a link to an article explaining what aquaponics is, how it works, and how it differs from hydroponics.

What is Aquaponics? | The Aquaponic Source

WHAT IS AQUAPONICS? What is Aquaponics? Many definitions of aquaponics recognize the ‘ponics’ part of this word for hydroponics which is gro

I also want to add that if you don’t have the space or ability to maintain a large garden, there are other options. Find or create a group with access to enough food to supplement or completely fulfill your diet, and offer another service. If you have space for a vermicompost bin or tower, that can still help contribute to the garden. Learning other skills like soap making, cooking, sewing/knitting/crocheting, electrical skills like wiring and soldering, welding, woodworking/carpentry, etc. means you will still have valuable skills to contribute towards the group, and this will set up the basis for a larger mutual aid network within your community.

[blackness-by-your-side]

The sign of high quality is the fact the book was banned by the government. Trash literature NEVER EVER had any troubles with the law.

[cuntybearjamboree]

FARENHEIT 451 IS ON THE BANNED BOOKS LIST??? IT’S LITERALLY ABOUT THE SOCIETAL DANGERS OF BANNING/OUTLAWING/BURNING BOOKS ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

[dancing-coyote]

That’s the reason it’s on the bloody list.

BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT HOW BANNING AND BURNING BOOKS IS WRONG.

[unlimitedgamesbutnogames]

HERE’S ALL THE PDF VERSIONS I COULD FIND SINCE WE’RE ALL IN QUARANTINE AND WE CAN’T PHYSICALLY GET THE BOOKS WE DON’T HAVE

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Beloved

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (this was the only free version I could find, and it’s a downloadable thing, so do so with caution)

The Call of the Wild

Catch-22 (it was either this version or one where the entire thing was in comic sans font)

The Catcher in the Rye

Fahrenheit 451

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Gone With the Wind

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Gatsby

Howl

In Cold Blood

Invisible Man

The Jungle (personally I don’t like this formatting, but the site doesn’t look sketchy so…) - there’s also this which is the proper book format in a pdf, but it’s directly photocopied so it might be hard to read some of the print

Leaves of Grass

Moby Dick

Native Son

Our Bodies, Ourselves (we learned about this one in APUSH!)

The Red Badge of Courage

The Scarlet Letter

COULD NOT FIND Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (the ebook is 47 fucking dollars??? and i can’t even find sketchy websites that’ll let me download a pdf. if anyone manages to find a link, lmk please)

Stranger in a Strange Land

A Streetcar Named Desire

Their Eyes Were Watching God

To Kill a Mockingbird

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Where the Wild Things Are (this is a slideshow!!!! how fun)

COULD NOT FIND The Words of Cesar Chavez (however I did manage to download the first 71 pages of the book from EBSCO and I put it here but I couldn’t get the rest. sorry y’all)

[ceevee5]

US healthcare, ladies and gentlemen.

[wherda-cat]

Wait, what????? This should not be happening and certainly not if the non-medical board members, executives, etc. haven't already taken cuts.

[positivemotivation]

The hospital where my bff works, all the board members and executive staff took a 50% pay cut and pushed it to increase the wages of everyone else. So it’s not everywhere. Yes it’s a for profit hospital too. 

[theliteraryarchitect]

My mom’s a nurse and I can vouch for this, too. And her hospital is supposedly a non-profit :(

[kyletwebster]

The Ultimate Megapack cheat sheets are officially updated and complete. These are the same brushes used every day by artists at Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Google (Google Doodles!), Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon.

[spndxjck-deactivated20230506]

[afronerdism]

Why you should never buy sex toys on Amazon.

I see people on here all the time talking about buying sex toys on Amazon so it’s time to run through this again. I know it may seem like you’re saving money but when something seems too good to be true it usually is.

The main reason you shouldn’t buy sex toys on Amazon is that, unlike buying from reputable retailers, you have absolutely no garuntee that the product you’re buying hasn’t been used, returned, and resold. The sex you industy in America is almost completely unregulated so really can’t trust amazon to hold better business practices than legally required. People have found bodily fluid and pubic hair on toys purchased from Amazon.

America Has an Extremely Disturbing Sex Toy Problem

'Some had bodily fluids on them, and some even had pubic hairs."

The second biggest reason is that you’re more than likely buying an expensive knock off labeled as a brand name item. The way the amazon marketplace works is by sorting items with the same bar code name into the same catagory. So let’s say you want a wi vibe so you pay for one but what happens is that amazon doesn’t log a difference between a brand name Wi-vibe and a knock off from China. They’re both just labeled “wi-vibe” so you pay for a quality item and get a cheap knock off. So you may think you’re getting a high quality item for $50 but instead you’re getting a $10 look alike that will die and malfunction quickly. Imagine paying for a Lelo (the most luxury sex toy brand) and getting something nothing like that.

Why Buying Sex Toys from Amazon is a Risky Gamble — Dangerous Lilly

Buying sex toys from Amazon is risky. I get a lot of complaints about counterfeit sex toys, misrepresentation in brand/materials and even us

And lastly, it’s not safe for you! Because the chances of you getting a knock off are so high, it’s very likely that you’ll get something made out of harmful materials. A lot of the sex toys made cheaply in China and places like that have no body safe regulations on materials so not only could you pay for a brand name item and not get it , but you might actually get something that could make you sick or even poison you. Some toys will even leak oils and chemicals when exposed to water or fluids.

Why You Should Be Very Careful About Buying Sex Toys on Amazon

Amazon's Sexual Wellness section is chock-full of sex toys, but it's a mixed bag, with ple

In summation, buying from Amazon is NOT safe for you, will most likely rip you off, and you could even be getting used products.

Below I’m listing Dangerous Lily’s list of best places to buy. I recommend reading her reviews before purchasing anything expensive.

Where to buy:

SheVibe

Early to bed

Smitten Kitten

Good Vibes

Come as you are

Be vibrant

HotOctopuss

And directly from the brand retailor like we-vibe, Lelo, body wand, etc.

[afronerdism]

Apparently the sale of sex toys on amazon have spiked since everyone is stuck at home so I’m bringing this back as a PSA.

[sometimeswegetlonely]

The fabric mask thing...

So I have seen a lot of posts on Facebook and reddit and Tumblr from people making their own face masks out of fabric (or crochet, or knit)

Yes, I know some countries are enforc8ng mask wearing among their citizens when they leave the house. And that some hospital in America are so short on PPE that they are appealing to their communities for fabric masks.

But.

The evidence for these masks is bad.

This study shows that the rate of flu like illnesses was higher in those wearing a fabric mask for an entire shift than in those that followed normal protocol about mask wearing.

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of cloth masks to medical masks in hospital healthcare workers (HCWs). The null

What does this mean? Wearing a fabric mask the entire time you are outside your home could increase your risk of infection.

Something fabric masks can do is make you less likely to touch your face which is good, but is unlikely to outweigh the increased infection risk.

If you still want to make your own mask, this study shows the best material to make it from. They co pared multiple common household materials. The best materials and tea towels, pillowcases and t shirts.

(PDF) Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?

PDF | This study examined homemade masks as an alternative to commercial face masks. Several household materials were evaluated for the capa

For making your own mask, the below link is to a good pattern, that references the materials study, and uses multiple layers of fabric.

How to Sew a Surgical Face Mask for Hospitals - Free Pattern

Many makers have asked for a pattern to sew homemade surgical masks for hospitals. The DIY pattern in this post will teach you to make a sta

An important thing if you are going to use a fabric mask - WASH IT FREQUENTLY! If you leave the house three times in one day then ideally use a different mask each time. Wash it as hot as you can and dry it very well (moisture is not your friend with a facemask)

In a toss up at work between no mask or a fabric mask, I would chose the fabric mask. Outside of work? I'd chose no mask.

Masks made out of yarn, be it knit or crochet, will have gaps too big to stop getting anything getting through. Again, they might help stop you touching your face, but will likely be more difficult to wash than a fabric mask. You could line your knit/crochet mask but at that point, you're putting a lot of effort into something that isn't going to help you much.

TL;DR - homemade masks aren't great, but depending on situation can be better than nothing, follow your government's guidance for whether to wear one

Hopefully this will be helpful to somebody!

[thebibliosphere]

This is all excellent info, and I’d just like to add this is also why wearing vogmasks to prevent contagion is not a good idea because vogmasks cannot be washed due to the nature of the built in filter. If you do need to wear a vogmask to protect you from contagion, you need to be prepared to throw it away immediately after use, and considering they’re $30+ that’s an expensive waste of money and resources people with chronic health issues require.

So when they do come back on the market: please do not buy them unless you suffer from allergies/fragrance disabilities or live in an area where the air quality is poor due to things like smoke, pollen or pollution and need to protect yourself from these things. They will not help you fight COVID-19, and some of us need them to breathe, even in our own homes.

Side note: masks are good to wear if YOU are sick, as it will help you not spread your sickness around, so while they won’t prevent you from getting ill, they can substantially help reduce the spread of contagion, but they do need to be handled with care and sanitized regularly.

(Also read the notes, there’s some good info in there about what the articles actually say, on masks vs no masks at all.)