Okay I have things I should be seeing to but I couldn't help myself. In case you, like me, have not read all of these stories and would like to be amongst the lucky 10,000 today:
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers*
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson**
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard O'Connell
The Nameless City by HP Lovecraft
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K LeGuin
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Veldt by Ray Bradbury
Honorable Mention from the comments/reblogs:
All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
*note: this is actually a collection of short stories and clocks in at about 72k words
**Originally published in the New Yorker in 1948; interestingly, the New Yorker still has this story archived on their website BEHIND A PAYWALL. CAN YOU IMAGINE.
The recent hot VS cold polls have made me realise that a lot of people have no idea how to cool down.
As someone from a hot country that's regularly on fire, here's some tips:
WATER IS YOUR FRIEND! WATER! IS! YOUR! FRIEND! You can transfer SO much heat into this bad boy! You cannot cool down without water!
Wrists under the cold tap. Splash your face and the back of your neck. Fan yourself.
In some countries you can buy a little handeld fan with a water sprayer.
Damp tea towel around the neck. Stick an ice pack in there on hotter days.
Half fill a water bottle with water, stick in freezer. If you use a bottle with a straw, make sure it's lying on its side with the straw side up and out of the water. When frozen top up the rest of the way with tap water and off you go.
Desperate to cool off? Wet T-shirt. Sit in front of a fan. This will nuke it, just don't get hypothermia and don't fall asleep like this.
Cold showers are also your friend in summer. Some people get psyched up by these. Personally, I sleep like a baby, so I'm good to have them before bed. Just keep in mind that it takes a bit of time for the cool to circulate, so your body will tell you that you're colder than you actually are. I find that when I have cold showers I need to step out of the spray when I think I'm cold... I'll just wait, and thirty seconds later the temperature has evened out and I actually need to step under again. Rinse and repeat until you maintain coolness even after stepping out for a bit.
If you can't do cold showers, turn the cold shower on anyway and just stick your arms under. When they're cold, lift your arms up above your head. The sensation of cool blood draining into your body is fucking weird and kinda unpleasant but less unpleasant than being hot.
Feet in a tub of water with ice. Blood naturally flows to your extremities when hot, so take advantage of this. If you don't have a tub of ice water, sticking a wet rag on your feet in front of the fan works too, it's the less powerful version of the wet T-shirt.
Drinks lots of water but make sure that water has electrolytes as well. Stay in the shade.
Keep air circulating. Fans don't actually cool rooms down, they just help transfer heat from your body to the moisture on your skin or the air via evaporative cooling.
Block north facing windows early in the morning so the sun doesn't get in. If you're in the northern hemisphere, this is opposite for you. Keep in mind that if your home is brick, the bricks will still heat up and slowly release heat into your home even after the sun goes down so this will only do so much.
If it's hotter inside than outside, close all your windows but two, making sure they're on opposite sides of the house/unit you're in. Point a fan out of one window, making sure that the doors between the rooms with the open windows are all open. This will help create a mini pressure system in your home, pulling cooler air in and pushing the hotter air out via the fan. Bonus points if you can get that fan high up where the hot air rises; even within a single room the top is much hotter than the air by the floor. Adjust the amount of open windows based on how many fans you have, but generally you want more windows with fans open than windows without fans to keep the pressure correct.
Obviously, use your common sense for these. Not everything WILL work for you, just use the stuff that does and adjust what needs to be adjusted. Some of these will be impossible to use in the workplace but others you can still use. Others are best used at home. If humidity impacts your ability to use any of these, get a dehumidifier if that's an option, or use more ice instead of evaporation.
Also keep in mind that the skinnier you are, the faster these will work. More fat means more insulation, means more heat, so you may need to be more patient with some of these or use them in combination.
Sharing a cool library resource! There's a site called reciprocard where you can put in which library card you have and it will tell you if you're eligible to get a card from any other libraries in your area
So for instance I already had cards for my city and my county. But I’m actually eligible to get cards from a couple neighboring cities and counties!
Once I sign up I can add them to libby and start browsing. More cards = a bigger catalog of books to choose from and access to the shortest possible wait times. Neat!
I recently reorganized my podcasts in pocket cast and realized I don't always talk about what I'm listening to! So I wanted to share my favorites and talk about them in hope of helping someone else find a cool new podcast
My Brother My Brother and Me - three comedy dudes talking for an hour. Cozy and familiar and easy to listen to.
Reading Glasses - queer book lovers talking about reading as a hobby. Focuses on the hobby itself, not on reviewing specific books.
Reading Smut - same hosts as above but they talk about erotic romance novels. Lots of monsterfucking!
The Dildorks - queer sex nerds talking about sex, kink, and poly! Genuinely very funny and insightful. Big back-catalog of topics if you have specific topics you're curious about.
Betwixt the Sheets - stories of sex and scandal throughout history. Very European focused but very fun and interesting.
Loving BDSM - an older married couple in a 24/7 power exchange relationship talk about life and relationships as kinky individuals. I find them very kind and healing to listen to.
Wonderful - Griffin and Rachel Mcelroy talk about things they enjoy! Soothing and positive vibes, and I often get good recommendations from it.
Shmanners - Travis and Teresa Mcelroy talk about etiquette, history, and navigating social environments. Insightful and kind.
The Empty Bowl - meditative podcast about cereal, great for when I’m winding down for bed or stuck in the nausea dimension.
Vibe Check - discussion of culture and recent events. Outspoken and deeply kind. My favorite news source that doesn't make me feel hopeless, even when discussing extremely difficult issues.
Maintenance Phase - nutrition and diet science that actually calls out phony fad diets and scam artists!! Reasonable, science-based info about weight and health!! A breath of fresh air!!!! Also 2 fantastic episodes about debunking "rapid onset gender dysphoria."
The Sporkful - just a dude talking about good food, hell fucking yeah my man.
Judge John Hodgman - silly faux-court cases about interpersonal conflicts. I expected the comedy aspect, but I didn't anticipate how genuinely kind and thoughtful Judge Hodgman would be in his rulings. Kind of blows me away sometimes.
Secretly Incredibly Fascinating - every episode focuses on a niche thing you've probably never cared about, and discusses cool things about it. I still think about the paperclips episode often.
Black People Love Paramore - discussing the interests, joy, and nostalgia of Black culture. Funny and kind, I love seeing the hosts' friendship.
The Adventure Zone - Mcelroy actual-play podcast. My favorite seasons post-Balance are Steeplechase and TAZ vs Dracula.
Dungeons and Daddies - DND actual-play podcast, if you liked the raunchy joke-joke-dildo humor + genuinely heartfelt storytelling of TAZ Balance, this is a good fit.
Tales from the Stinky Dragon - DND actual-play podcast, I'm still getting the vibes of this one but it is fun and there's a drag queen.
Starship Iris - sci-fi space fugitives trying to survive the warmongering emperialist regime. Heartfelt and queer as hell.
Midnight Burger - idk what to tell you other than it's good as hell. Just trust me this podcast is a whole world that's worth getting to know.
Welcome to Night Vale - did you know you can jump back into night vale whenever you want? You don't have to "catch up." You can just jump in. There will be parts that confuse you, but honestly that's just the night vale experience.
These podcasts are not currently updating but I love them!
Off the Cuffs - interviews with people into kink and BDSM, grungy vibe that I’m into. Great if you're trying to understand what appeals to people in various kinks.
Making Magic - the history, legacy, and impact of the Magic Wand, the most well known vibrator in the world. It's 10 episodes and it is SUCH a fantastic series. 10000/10
Why Are People Into That - the podcast that eventually led to the book by the same name. Like Off the Cuffs, it's a fantastic way to learn about Why People Are Into That.
If you read this far, first of all holy shit, but second of all please let me know if you plan to check any of these out!
(Also let me know if you have recs based on my recs 👀)
to anyone in the areas impacted by the wildfire smoke, my #1 biggest piece of advice as someone whos been dealing with wildfire smoke in the NW united states for years, is build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal Cube
they perform as well as expensive HEPA air cleaners, and are comparatively VERY inexpensive. all you need is a box fan, 4 air filters, a piece of cardboard, and some duct tape!!!!
i think it took us maybe a half hour to put ours together, if that, and we replace the filters every 3 months. it's really made a HUGE difference, both when the air quality is bad, but also with our allergies
I found an extremely dope disability survival guide for those who are homebound, bedbound, in need of disability accommodations, or would otherwise like resources for how to manage your life as a disabled person. (Link is safe)
How to have a great, disabled life.
It has some great articles and resources and while written by people with ME/CFS, it keeps all disabilities in mind. A lot of it is specific to the USA but even if you're from somewhere else, there are many guides that can still help you. Some really good ones are:
How to live a great disabled life- A guide full of resources to make your life easier and probably the best place to start (including links to some of the below resources). Everything from applying for good quality affordable housing to getting free transportation, affordable medication, how to get enough food stamps, how to get a free phone that doesn't suck, how to find housemates and caregivers, how to be homebound, support groups and Facebook pages (including for specific illnesses), how to help with social change from home, and so many more.
Turning a "no" into a "yes"- A guide on what to say when denied for disability aid/accommodations of many types, particularly over the phone. "Never take no for an answer over the phone. If you have not been turned down in writing, you have not been turned down. Period."
How to be poor in America- A very expansive and helpful guide including things from a directory to find your nearest food bank to resources for getting free home modifications, how to get cheap or free eye and dental care, extremely cheap internet, and financial assistance with vet bills
How to be homebound- This is pretty helpful even if you're not homebound. It includes guides on how to save spoons, getting free and low cost transportation, disability resources in your area, home meals, how to have fun/keep busy while in bed, and a severe bedbound activity master list which includes a link to an audio version of the list on Soundcloud
Master List of Disability Accommodation Letters For Housing- Guides on how to request accommodations and housing as well as your rights, laws, and prewritten sample letters to help you get whatever you need. Includes information on how to request additional bedrooms, stop evictions, request meetings via phone, mail, and email if you can't in person, what you can do if a request is denied, and many other helpful guides
Special Laws to Help Domestic Violence Survivors (Vouchers & Low Income Housing)- Protections, laws, and housing rights for survivors of DV (any gender), and how to get support and protection under the VAWA laws to help you and/or loved ones receive housing and assistance
Dealing With Debt & Disability- Information to assist with debt including student loans, medical debt, how to deal with debt collectors as well as an article with a step by step guide that helped the author cut her overwhelming medical bills by 80%!
There are so many more articles, guides, and tools here that have helped a lot of people. And there are a lot of rights, resources, and protections that people don't know they have and guides that can help you manage your life as a disabled person regardless of income, energy levels, and other factors.
He owns Dreamhaven Books and Comics in Minneapolis and has done since the late 70s. Well worth the visit if you're local.
Their website is currently down from the sheer amount of traffic hitting it and Greg has said after they catch up with the online orders he's going to rest up for a bit before they get things back online, but for anyone outside of Twin Cities who wants to have a browse, their ABE books and Ebay where they post rare/collector items are still up.
Can't find the video at the moment, but this elderly badass was standing in tear gas yelling FUCK YOU, STOP, I'M 70 YEARS OLD AND I'M FUCKIN' PISSED!!! at ICE goons after Alex Pretti's killing.
I imagine, as noted, his website is completely slammed, but I will keep checking back to see if I can get an online order at some point.
There are people in the notes worried about Greg’s safety and that his identity was outed against his will.
Greg has willingly given interviews and been loudly active in the local community. He is one of many people making the choice to do so to expose the levels of cruelty and inhumanity taking place, this is not the same as taking pictures of non-consenting protestors—but thank you for being worried about him.
Please know Greg and other booksellers in the area who have becomes hubs of local activity and resistance are being looked after by the community. They are making themselves visible so people have rallying points.
Also, did you know if you shop through Bookshop.org you can choose which independent book seller to buy from, directly increasing their visibility and sales? And that bookshop.org gives a large portion of their profit to supporting independent book sellers across the country?
hi sex witch! i just wanted to say that one of the stores you recommend for sex toys, smitten kitten, is based in minneapolis and has been doing a TON of work with community support and resources for everyone affected by ice
just another win!!
Smitten Kitten is GREAT, they've always done a ton of great community work and I'm not surprised at all that they've kept it up during this crisis. seeing them turn into a hub of mutual aid and donations has been really incredible :)
you're not going to get your order fast because of the active terror campaign currently being waged on Minneapolis, but if you've been thinking of getting yourself a sex toy, bdsm gear, vaginal dilators, or even just some lube, balms, or wipes to clean yourself up, now's a great time to do so. Smitten Kitten is turning a lot of that money right around to go straight back into helping their neighbors and community.
A trans-owned minneapolis-based adult store for EVERY.BODY. Bringing high quality adult toys and sex education to our community since 2003
My personal goal is to try and make fanfic binding as accessible to everyone as possible, so here are some resources on how to make a fanfic hardcover for under $25.
This is a barebones bind for the broke college students and such. Happy to field questions, too!
Here's a proposed budget breakdown:
Loosely organized thoughts:
Fanfic bookbinders often share typesets amongst each other. Never pay for a typeset for a fanfic.
You'll hear a lot about grain direction for your printer paper, but as a newbie on a budget without your own printer, settle for some nice 92 bright paper. If you like the hobby, splurge after but expect to pay at least 2-3x more for short grain paper.
Printing is a pain because some copy shops won't let you print intellectual property smut, and it's very expensive. You are better off bartering instead or looking for a free printer on Buy Nothing.
You know the thick paper wrapping that comes with online orders? It's a good weight for endpapers if you need to scrounge. Paper grocery bags or gift bags (birthday presents) might work, too.
Ask your local library to give you covers from books they are throwing out. Ask for outdated textbooks (those covers are built like tanks) or three-ring binders that are too busted to be binders anymore.
Obtain a used book that was mass produced (so your destruction of it does not impede anyone's access) and maybe even become a little vindictive with it.
If you can afford it, I recommend the Olfa SVR knife (~$10)
If you can afford it, upgrade your ruler to a t-square.
I really hope this resource is helpful! I want to stress how possible this is and encourage people to cherish what they love through art.
If you are interested in fanfic binding and have a little more disposable income, I have an affordable Fan Fiction Bookbinding Starter Pack that I carry on my site. I pack them myself and drop them 1x/month on the 15th.
No joke, go read The Open Veins of Latin America before even trying to send me a political ask. Mandatory reading.
It's a cliché that every Latin American leftist has read it and quotes it, but that's because it's written in such a clear language with undeniable strenght on its facts. It presents the history of Latin America solidly just in the first few pages, and it only gets more engrossing the more it goes on. While it is now a bit outdated in the sense that it was first published in 1971, the historical, social and political issues presented are -in an unfortunate way- still current. It is a relatively short book, passionate and in a clear, poetic language.
Sometimes it's good to return to the basics, and this is THE basic book if you want to understand the effects of imperialism in Latin America, and our struggle for freedom and identity.
Instead of losing your time with half baked twitteroid takes, go read it. Here you go, for free, in Spanish, Portuguese and English:
disco elysium being free on epic games today is evil as fuck. i beg of you guys just pirate it, the amount of claims on the free game will still tell the assholes who stole the game from the devs that Oh We're Still Relevant :). just pirate it. my christmas gift to you! pirate disco elysium
white people please just purchase native artwork and jewelry from native people i keep seeing idiot white people be like “waaah i wish i could support native creators but its cultural appropriation” girl why would beaders sell you their earrings then. just dont get a medicine wheel or a thunderbird then like damn it is that easy
If Native folks are making it to sell to white people with the approval of their tribe, it’s not “appropriation”–its support and appreciation! So yes, buy that native-made dream catcher, but not the mass produced fakes made by white people. Like, you can go to a pow wow and buy native crafts there, too.
I'll always talk up internet radio stations because I don't think the average person is aware that they're free, can run in your browser (or in any program that can connect to them), work on your phone, run better than a youtube tab, and give you a much better selection of music than you could get from a general algorithmic playlist
(also lots of them have live shows which you can tune into for free)
if u like folk and/or roots music: wumb.org !!! it is AD-FREE it has ZERO MORNING TALK SHOWS it is on air at 91.9 FM in the BOSTON AREA but streams WORLDWIDE on the WEB it is perfect.
Maybe niche but for any Irish speakers or learners out there, Radio na Gaeltachta streams online and is a great way to listen to some Gaeilge without YouTube.
All of these resources are fantastic, but I wanna give a specific shoutout to Raidió na Gaeltachta streaming online - and I say this as a person who works in Irish-language visual media - if you wanna gainna better grasp of spoken Irish and how the language is used in casual settings, Raidió na Gaeltachta is the way to go, not visual media 😬📻😁
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