enthusiasm and existential dread

alysha • 22 • she/her or they/them

[heyepiphora]

Masturbation memories: A SEX TOY GIVEAWAY!

It’s been 14 years since I sat in my college dorm room and typed up my very first sex toy review. My blog is now a teen, the same age I was when I fell in love with a girl for the first time. Should I be asking my blog about its sexuality? Honey, you know you can come to me with anything.

I could yammer on about how different everything was back in 2007, because BOY WAS IT, but there are more pressing matters here, such as getting free sex toys into your hands! I’ve gathered 50 prizes for this giveaway, and I can’t wait to bestow them upon you.

Enter to win now! (ends 10/27) 

[heyepiphora]

GIVEAWAY: sex toy survival kits for the apocalypse

Fight your existential dread with orgasms. Enter to win one of 10 sex toy survival kits to get you through this dystopian nightmare, each worth $400+! 

Every kit is stocked with 4-5 outstanding items: legendary vibrators, hand-poured dildos, perfect butt plugs, thrusting toys, porn, my favorite lube, and more. These highly-curated kits contain only toys I know and love, and most are available to my international readers!

Giveaway ends 10/30. Enter to win on my blog — and don’t forget to pack your bug-out bag for extra entries! 

[chrisflemingfleming]

if you ever wanna have a good panic listen to elton john trying to end bennie and the jets

[fuchsiamae]

an incomplete list of unsettling short stories I read in textbooks

the scarlet ibis

marigolds

the diamond necklace

the monkey’s paw

the open boat

the lady and the tiger

the minister’s black veil

an occurrence at owl creek bridge

a rose for emily

(I found that one by googling “short story corpse in the house,” first result)

the cask of amontillado

the yellow wallpaper

the most dangerous game

a good man is hard to find

some are well-known, some obscure, some I enjoy as an adult, all made me uncomfortable between the ages of 11-15

add your own weird shit, I wanna be literary and disturbed

[repulsion-gel]

The Tell-Tale Heart, The Gift of the Magi, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County, Thank You Ma'am

[allyitis]

the box social by james reaney. i remember we all had to silently read it in class, and you would hear the moment everyone reached the Part because some people would audibly go “what”

[fuchsiamae]

wHat did I just put my eyes on

[schrodingers-rufus]

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury

Not quite a short story, but read in class: “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” from The Twilight Zone

[w3rewolf-th3rewolf]

Harrison Bergeron, Cat and the Coffee Drinkers

[rebel-against-reality]

“Where are you going and where have you been” by Joyce carol oates

[actuallyapathy]

“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury

[asexualzoro]

the lottery by shirley jackson

[eccentwrit]

i can’t believe Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” wasn’t already mentioned and also it’s not so much unsettling as more absurdist but “The Leader” by Eugene Ionesco definitely made me go wtf

[idlewildly]

Ett halvt ark papper. I cried so much.

[bravinto]

Ночь у мазара, А. Шалимов

[siderealsandman]

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

[insanitysbloomings]

I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

[felderwin]

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury 

[was-once-somewhere-else]

Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby, by Donald Barthelme

[jeaniefranklins]

I read Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer In A Day” in seventh grade (it wasn’t assigned, I was just going through my textbook for new stuff to read) and as a bullied kid with SAD, it Fucked Me Up.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

An Ordinary Day with Peanuts, by Shirley Jackson

[real-faker]

Eh, this was more like community college, but The Star by Arthur C. Clarke

[scarlettaagni]

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

and this story that I can’t remember the name of and can’t find, though it might be by O. Henry? it’s about a bunch of demons who want to stop Santa Claus from going through with Christmas, and he must travel through the mountains they inhabit to escape their vices? (good christ I can’t remember the name for the life of me)

[ghostloner]

Ok but the laughing man and a good day for bananafish but j.d. Salinger

[nitrosplicer]

The City (195) Ray Bradbury. An intense commentary on colonialism and space exploration. I read it for a sci fi survey class.

Another short story I read in that sci fi class was Vaster than Empires and More Slow (1971) by Ursula K. Le Guin. A commentary on humanity and how human we believe ourselves to be. Also, an interesting commentary on mental health.

In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom, written in 1947 by Ango Sakaguchi. It made my skin crawl the first time I read it.

Also going to recommend For A Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny, a commentary on whether AI can become human in a future without humans: http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/ZELQZNY/forbreat.txt

[cryingalonewithfrankenstein]

whoever posted “The Laughing Man” and “A Good Day For Bananafish” is Correct

[fluffmugger]

the scarlet ibis

marigolds

the diamond necklace

the monkey’s paw

the open boat

the lady and the tiger (I assume you meant Stockton’s The lady or the  tiger?)

the minister’s black veil

an occurrence at owl creek bridge

a rose for emily

the cask of amontillado

the yellow wallpaper

the most dangerous game

a good man is hard to find

The Tell-Tale Heart

 The Gift of the Magi

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County

 Thank You Ma'am

The box social 

The Veldt

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Harrison Bergeron

Cat and the Coffee Drinkers

Where are you going and where have you been

The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury

The lottery by shirley jackson

The Landlady

The Leader

Ett halvt ark papper.

Ночь у мазара, А. Шалимов

A Sound of Thunder 

I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream 

All Summer in a Day 

Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby

An Ordinary Day with Peanuts

The Star 

Lamb to the Slaughter

The laughing man 

A perfect day for bananafish

The City (link goes to compendium of short stories)

Vaster than Empires and More Slow (1971) by Ursula K. Le Guin.

In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom 

For A Breath I Tarry 

[the-prince-of-tides]

All of Flannery O'Connor’s shorts.

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

I didn’t read it in a text book, but “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” haunted me for life.

[papalseagull-deactivated2020082]

There’s links 🙌🙌🙌

[imjackdotcom]

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings isn’t creepy it’s just a little odd and it’s absolutely my favorite thing I’ve ever read in schools.

The Story Of An Hour isn’t creepy either but it’s tragic that’s for sure

[saturnsocoolioyep]

I’m so glad people have added The Lottery cause I had to read that for class when I was twelve and it fucked me right up

[thatspooniefeel]

Executive Dysfunction

The more I find myself having to explain executive dysfunction to people the more I realise it’s near impossible. There’s a thing. I wanna do that thing, I really do. But no matter how hard I try to tell my brain to do the thing, it won’t do the thing. I can’t tell you the amount of hours I’ve spent scrolling mindlessly through social media wanting more than anything to stop, but I can’t. This concept is so ridiculously alien to abled/neurotypical people and makes awareness/acceptance for it so hard to achieve. If an abled/nt person wants to, say, have a shower, or get some food, they just up and do it, no second thought. But the amount of mental exhaustion that goes into getting myself to get up and do one of those things can honestly be disabling in itself. It’s not laziness, or not caring. It’s a total mental block between wanting something and doing something about it. I really wish the concept of this was more widely acknowledged. We are not lazy.

[maltedmilkchocolate]

Time blindness is the weirdest aspect of executive dysfunction and so weird as an experience to live with. It’s like you see the clock, the clock says 3pm, you look at the clock again and it’s 3:02, then 3:05, and then you look again and it’s 8pm and WHAT THE FUCK.

You don’t even need hyperfocus. But hyperfocus is like the Warp Speed:tm: version cause when that hits, it’s 3pm and then it’s the next day and why is the sun rising and when did i last eat and oh god i need to use the bathroom. And oh, also, you’re EXHAUSTED. The act of your brain tunnel visioning on something drains you (but that’s another topic).

Time blindness is…. having the general knowledge that today is Wednesday, and you need to do something on Thursday. Thursday is logically tomorrow, but the mysterious void of time is like ‘that’s like next week or something.’  It’s knowing you have to do something in three weeks on the 21st. And as the days creep closer, the 21st is stuck in a constant state of still being 3 weeks away, despite the fact it’s now tomorrow.

It’s wild. ADHD is literally living in a constant state of “There is Now. And there is Later.” and there’s no in between; no dates, no times; no hours, weeks, or months. It’s just Now and Later, and oh god why is is X o’clock already!? Edit: I added some links to info and a bit more explanation here!

[prokopetz]

It’s probably not surprising that folks with executive dysfunction often have little difficulty getting stuff done when there’s someone around to tell us what to do and supervise us doing it. What’s perhaps more surprising is that it’s not necessarily due to fear of punishment: having a supervisor is effective even if the supervisor in question has no ability to actually compel obedience. Basically, “following direct orders” seems to be a totally separate executive pathway from “self-motivating”, and having trouble with the one doesn’t necessarily mean having trouble with the other.

Which, of course, is why you can end up with situations where your own self-care is garbage, but caring for your pet is totally fine: the benefit of having a supervisor ordering you around can be realised even if the party giving the orders is a cat.

[coverspy]

The Agents’ Friday Reads, April 2018…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look Alive Out There, Sloane Crosley (Agent Ampersand, Washington DC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman (Agent Bathwater, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though I Get Home, YZ Chin (Agent Blackwood, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word by Word, Kory Stamper (Agent Bridge, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look Alive Out There, Sloane Crosley (Agent Brooklina, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman (Agent Eyre, Chicago)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Priestdaddy, Patricia Lockwood (Agent Interrobang, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante (Agent Laundry, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, Jefferson Cowie (Agent Pineapple, Boston)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo (Agent Prefect, NYC) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 Educated, Tara Westover (Agent Saurus, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The South Side, Natalie Y Moore (Agent Southpaw, Chicago) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bel Canto, Ann Patchett (Agent Sunshine, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, Denis Johnson (Agent Touchdown, Portland)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, Michelle McNamara (Agent Velocipede, NYC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward (Agent Woollysocks, NYC)

[withapencilinhand]

[ultrafacts]

Source

Video of Tama

Follow Ultrafacts for more facts

[majikkant-deactivated20180504]

The picture in the background of the second one

[pizzaismylifepizzaisking]

Tama is boss

[ultrafacts]

[cat-fandom]

THE TRAINS HAVE CARTOON TAMAS ON THEM

[ultrafacts]

Sad update everyone, Tama recently passed away… An estimated 3,000 people, including railway officials, attended Tama the cat’s funeral on Sunday, days after she died of heart failure aged 16. [x]

[retro-geek-deactivated20220412]

For those who haven’t read articles about it, the local shrine elevated her to a god. She’s now the Eternal Stationmaster and patron god of the station.

[karinanotcinerina]

Beautiful.

[system-fail-ure-deactivated2021]

Now I’m crying thanks

[sapphic-matriarchy]

and a new cat was hired right?

[clarenecessities]

yep! her name is Nitama (essentially ”second tama” or “tama II”) and she served under Tama as an apprentice before being appointed her deputy

she works very hard

[beasti]

Everytime this crosses my dash, I reblog. It is the law.

[lafayettelabaguette]

Law

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

How is Nitama doing?

I hope she is finding the job very lovely and rewarding :)

[busket]

where is that cat with the kind and reassuring face

[charllahan]

he?

[busket]

thank you…..

[babyanimalgifs]

[effington]

[theycantalk]

fruit bat

[carudamon119]

[ohgod-awesome-posts]

Cozy

[64bitwar]

this is stomp dog it shows up to stomp away sadness

[momsjeans]

my moms at their commitment ceremony on july 18, 1992. they were legally married on july 18, 2014, twenty-two years later. ♡