[scaryscarecrows]

A Tale of Self-Discovery...

…or, how an awkward date led me discovering something very important about myself.

BUCKLE UP, BITCHES.

Okay. Backstory time. From the ages of 12-16, I attended a teeny private school. And by teeny, I mean ‘freshman class had six people in it’. Between you, me, and What About Bob?, it sucked. But this isn’t about that.

One of my handful of friends left to go to a bigger school when we were fifteen, and at some point she convinced me to go on a blind date with some classmate of hers. Whatever, I say, because again, my school is tiny and getting any sort of date is just not going to happen. And because I did want to have SOME kind of Traditional Teenage Experience, I figure, what the heck? I’ll go. Why not.

So Friend’s Friend (FF) and I text a bit for the few weeks before this happens (read: I get the nerve to tell my parents that I WANT A LIFE so can I see a movie with a stranger). So he was only, like, a bit of a stranger. Eh.

We go to the movies, he’s all, ‘wanna make out?’ and I go (inwardly, because I’m not THAT much of a disaster), ‘THIS IS MY ONE CHANCE, IMMA DO IT’.

It. I. I was not impressed. It was actually sort of awful. So I did learn a lesson on how to be all, ‘it was great, we gotta do this again!’ with no intention of doing this again. But anyways. I go home feeling a little confused because making out is a thing, right, people are obsessive about it? Do I suck? Did FF suck? What’s going on? Disney lied to me! Disney, how could you? I was promised joy, not, ‘your tongue is gross and why are you breathing like at all’.

I Google ‘hate kissing’. Because what is Google for if not soothing confused teenage girls.

…

And that’s how I discovered that asexuality is a thing and it is me. So. FF, wherever you are, I’m sorry. But, uh, that movie theater makeout made me realize that I am really, really not into kissing anyone ever again. :/ 

[scaryscarecrows]

Reblogging this because honestly, even after realizing...uh...a lot, I still had fucking hangups. It took me YEARS to be comfortable dressing in anything that might be described on a listicle as 'cute' or 'flirty', and yeah, some of that was probably the Girl Pushback a lot of us go through (hands up if you had a 'fuck pink shit' phase), but a lot of it was definitely 'I don't want to be perceived this way'. It wasn't a trauma thing. I'm still extremely uncomfortable with the idea that people might have X-rated thoughts about me specifically, but I'm not the thought police. I just finally got over it enough to go, 'what little boobs I possess look like they were drawn by a classical artist in this dress, let's gooooooo'.

Just for the love of Christ do not hit on me. I'll probably miss it...but if I don't, we'll both cry at the end.

[fwizard]

[scaryscarecrows]

-.- One minor issue of having a passing interest in disease of both the mental and physical variety is that books on these subjects often come with such titles as Living in the Shadow of Death (haven't read this yet, but give me a few months!). This is all very well until Google's stupid AI starts preaching about getting therapy.

Google.

Google.

I literally just wanted a book on tuberculosis, I need therapy but not for that. STAY IN YOUR LANE.

[scaryscarecrows]

Trying new stuff from Costco is always high risk, high reward. Either you hate it and are now stuck with a giant box of something foul, or it's delicious but they stopped carrying it with no warning and you're left with memories of that really good imported whatever that is now virtually ungettable in your area.

Anyway, not sure if I'm hoping to like this soju or not. It looks good. It sounds good. But if they quit carrying it and it's delicious, I have to pay like seven dollars for a small bottle at Total Wine and I'll have to be sad forever.

[scaryscarecrows]

Update: the soju was a delicious mistake and I hope they continue to carry it at least through the summer, because that shit's NICE.

[ororium-z]

Happy Pride!

[rootbeergoddess]

Every pride, you must reblog this. No exceptions

[thesaltofcarthage]

I love that four different people on my feed scheduled this joyous person to reblog by 8am on June 1. I look forward to seeing this a dozen more times today.

[nattousan]

ok so, I approached my local library with a proposal to donate a mural as a way to A: build portfolio/gain practical experience and B: give back to a beloved public institution. The director was very enthusiastic about it and i've been working on it since the beginning of March. Come with me as I endeavor to paint what is in all honesty an excessive amount of birds

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

and that was a whole week on it's own so next comes the paintin' >:)

[nattousan]

and now, the birds

Birds 1 and 2/14: Red Winged Blackbird, Male and female, Agelaius phoeniceus

[nattousan]

Bird 3/14, American Robin, Turdus migratorius

[nattousan]

hoo boy, ok *out of breath*

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

this guy took me about 4 days to completely finish, all of those freakingk coverts were a bear to render

[nattousan]

speaking of obnoxious coverts:

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

the friggin stripes almost got me chat, i may not make it

[nattousan]

Madam....

[nattousan]

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

pleasantly simple to paint! next is the flickerrrrr

[nattousan]

*melts into goo*

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

nothing but pain and suffering, i'm sure hope the next bird will be much easier and with FAR less barring :)

[nattousan]

in other news, I am losing my mind hairline

[nattousan]

SHE'S DONE!!

Bird number 9: Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on

this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏

[nattousan]

*does a little jig*

BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos

the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise

ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!

Also thank you everyone for your kind words and support throughout this whole process, it's been a genuine treat thinking there are potentially thousands of you out there cheering me on while I paint this 🥹

[nattousan]

aaaand another one bites the duck,

we're movin right along with bird numero 11!! The lady Mallard!! Anas platyrhyncos

the 16th is looming in the distance so i'm trying to get thru these as quickly as i can so i can have as much time for the GBH as possible. i still need to do the names next to all of them so i've got about a week and a half to finish everything which is GREAT because i have adhd and nothing gets my ass in gear like a fuckin deadline, let me tell you

[nattousan]

power couple that they are, here's bird number 12 and 13,

the Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis

and NOW that they are complete, ITS GO TIME, in the next five days (library's closed for mother's day 😭😭) i need to have the GBH fully rendered, the names of the birds vectored, weeded, masked, applied to the wall, and then painted, plus additional cattails throughout. I may be able to get away with just getting the GBH done in time for the unveiling and then just have the names and cattails added later, but i'm gonna really try to get it all done in time. BUT, i have a plan. Part of why i take so long on these is because i really am just figuring it out as I do it lmao. there have been many a time where i am sitting on top of the ladder googling "how to paint birds" but I think if i take the time tomorro to do all that figuring out how to approach it beforehand, this will go a lot faster. I may also recruit some of my artist friends to help with the placing of the names... hrmm we'll see.

Anyways, shout out to the librarian who tracked down exactly the thing i needed so i could figure out where to place the highlights in my birds eyes, ur the real mvp

[nattousan]

thanks for the reminder, kid

[nattousan]

at long last, we've reached the end...

Bird number 14 out of 14,

The Great blue heron, Ardea herodius

thank you to everyone who reached out or got excited about this project, it genuinely gave me the fuel i needed to keep going. In total, the 480+ total hrs it took me to cover this wall pales in comparison to how long its expected to spend on there, hopefully imparting a sense of beauty and love for the natural world to the next generation and here's hoping i'm only getting started with these.

i'll see y'all soon :')

[scaryscarecrows]

So I'm on a staycation, and while it's lovely not to have to get up and go to work, my schedule's a little disrupted and I gotta be honest: there is one big thing I'll be glad to have upon my return.

Reading Hour.

Reading Hour is at the end of the day, when I've gotten nice and comfy and there's no one making any demands on my time or mental energy, and I get to settle on the couch in SILENCE with a cold drink of some kind and a nice soft paperback and just be. Easily most peaceful part of my day. No work, but also no family nonsense, the dogs are quiet so they're not up my ass (Ramses loves reading hour). It's so nice. No phone calls, no alert noises (Teams is great and helpful until there's a Situation), my neighbors are usually either not home or inside, so no thumping radio or shrieking kids in the background...it's so beautiful. The sun's at that optimum spot to have a Golden Glow rather than a burning death ray, so I can enjoy the open window. And nobody bugs me, because nobody is home, I've logged off, and if I don't look at my phone they can't get to me. :)

Current S-Tier Afternoon:

-short pyjamas, for heat defense

-light blanket, for A/C defense (optimum positioning: blanket on legs, one foot out for temperature regulation. dog under blanket is optional)

-ice cold soju in ice cold shot glass (personal favourite: peach. I'd die for the peach)

-softback book, not too big and not too small, the kind that just falls open in your hands like it's never wanted to be anywhere else (currently reading: The Trial of Lizzie Borden)

-comfy big pillow, for that back support

-Plague Nurse, for moral support and also as a dog blocker: can't get my drink if Nurse B is in the way!

[scaryscarecrows]

Me to Me, in the Barnes & Noble: you get three books. That's your limit. You can have a cheat IF and ONLY IF there's something good on the clearance/bargain rack.

Also Me to Me: okay, so this fourth book is not on the clearance/bargain rack, but c'mon, how do I not take Human History On Drugs home?

[ravioliet]

"why can't they just be friends?" not in the homophobic sense, but in the "in your need to center romance in everything you are missing the whole point of the media in question" sense

[airlocksandaviariesarchive]

2 genres of fanfiction:

1) put that guy into situations

2) take that guy OUT of situations for the love of GOD let them REST 

[ckret2]

#you put the sad guy in #you take the sad guy out #you put the sad guy in and you shake him all about

[nightmaresyrup]

I feel like Leopard Seals are the closest thing to a horror movie mermaid?

[duckbunny]

don't infantilise yourself. you are not a child who needs an adult to make your decisions for you. you are a splendid and magnificent autocrat and you are consulting your trusted advisors. you are exercising great wisdom by inviting an expert to give their opinion before making your ruling. often the path of wisdom is to say "good morning, I'm trying to [perform task] and I have a question about [aspect], can you tell me who I should speak to for advice?" before you do it. sometimes the path of wisdom is to hire a plumber. there are times when you cannot do things for yourself but that doesn't mean you are not an adult. you don't need a grown-up. you need a specialist.

[duckbunny]

this has come up a couple of times so let me be really really clear:

the path of wisdom is sometimes to hire a plumber.

the path of wisdom is always to hire an electrician.

[corvidcall]

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

[o0fyuu0o]

Saw these easy to read instructions on Twitter. Stay safe 💚

[tinyyellowflowers-blog]

Great time to start pricing this out by the way, fire season starts… on the summer solstice this year, that’s fun. Signs point to it being a doozy.

[scaryscarecrows]

Books--

--rated by reading comfort level and overal Experience

4. Hardbacks. Looks great on a shelf, but they're weighty, so bad for carpal tunnel. They also have stabby corners that WILL seek out soft spots. And heaven help you if you drop one on your face...especially one like IT. Buyer Beware.

3. Ebooks. Great for convenience and being able to carry a lot of them with you (vacations were rough as a kid because the risk of Running Out of Reading Material hung heavy), but rather impersonal. Also, screen time. If you're reading on your phone, the blue light is still getting to you. :/

2. Mass Market Paperbacks. Great for travel--they fit everywhere!--and a lovely budget choice, but sometimes they feel creepy. They're also small enough to make them bad for carpal tunnel, but differently. On the bright side, these have more character than the other two. Used paperbacks have Seen Some Shit.

Softcover books. The supreme choice. These babies are never so heavy or sharp as to maim, and you don't have to fight to open them: they fall open in your hands like they've never wanted to be anywhere else. A+ experience.

[charlesoberonn]

[virtu-typhoon]

[scifikimmi]

[captain-starskull]

[charlesoberonn]

[emperorpenguin]

These two fire extinguishers at my work

[edge-complains-and-loves-art]

Had to draw them

[charlesoberonn]

They share the highs and the lows.

[my0clonic-jerk]

[cardassiangoodreads]

Genuinely, one of the measures that's stopped book banning the most when districts implement it, is having the would-be banners fill out a form that demonstrates if they've read the book or not. Like where they have the summarize the plot and characters and do a mini book report and give a review. It stops them in their tracks. This is why in my high school, every time someone wanted to ban a book it ended up going nowhere. There was one where a conservative student wanted to ban the manga "Legal Drug" for having a marijuana leaf on the cover, then got the form that required them to actually read and either balked, or read it and realized it was not pro-drug at all. (The other one that reduces book bans even further is "requiring the would-be banner to be affiliated with this actual school in some way, either by being a student, faculty/staff or a parent of a child at the school" because the vast majority of bans are "activists" with no affiliation with the school who just travel around trying to do this in districts all over the U.S. IIRC a few years ago someone crunched the numbers and just 51 parents were responsible for all the book bans that year nationally. 51! In a country with 50 states, with over 300 million people total!)

[preserving-tiktok]