m @semblanceoftouch - Tumblr Blog

i daydream about knowing 50+ languages fluently more than i should

love is stored in the kitchen

perhaps the world ends here - joy harjo // the world unseen (2007) - dir. shamim sarif // text post - @jacebeleren // daidai’s kitchen - @pakchoys // text post - @bicarusgf // in the kitchen - helena janecic // letter to donald windham - tennessee williams // お仕事 - @tomokohara // summer kitchen - donald hall // perhaps the world ends here - joy harjo

girloikawa

hey girl what pretentious tiny print new times roman homoerotic friendship book we reading today?

sweetlikeacherry

“The most dangerous thing a woman can possess is self-worth. Liking her own body, trusting her own instincts, valuing her own time and company, thinking she’s interesting and special, entering business and personal relationships based only on mutual benefit and respect. Sometimes this leads to advertisers having no idea how to corner us. If we don’t hate ourselves, how will we know what to buy? Sometimes self-worth leads to violence against us. Sometimes, though, self-worth sets us free.”

— Margaret Lyons, The Find Yourself Beauty of Shrill (via howtofightloneliness)

hedgehog-moss

Some warm poetry, for cold evenings:

Molly Fisk, “Winter Sun” (We can make do with so little / just the hint of warmth, the slanted light.)

Pat Schneider, “The Patience of Ordinary Things” (It is a kind of love, is it not? / how the cup holds the tea.)

Barbara Ras, “Bite Every Sorrow” (You can speak a foreign language, sometimes / and it can mean something.)

Jack Gilbert, “Failing and Flying” (Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.)

Lisel Mueller, “Things” (Even what was beyond us / was recast in our image; / we gave the country a heart, / the storm an eye)

Rabindranath Tagore, “On the Seashore” (The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach / On the seashore of endless worlds children meet)

John O’Donohue, “Matins” (May I live this day / Compassionate of heart / Gentle in word / Courageous in thought)

Wallace Stevens, “The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm” (The summer night is like a perfection of thought. / The house was quiet because it had to be)

Brian Patten, “Inessential Things” (Cats remember what is essential of days)

Emily Dickinson, “Simplicity” (How happy is the little stone / that rambles in the road, alone)

Yi Lu, “Valley’s Green” (flowers like tiny saucers — little bowls — little cups / filled to the brim with their own colors)

Jacques Prévert, “How to Paint a Bird’s Portrait” (When the bird comes / if it comes / observe the most profound silence)

Archibald MacLeish, “Eleven” (Happy as though he had no name, as though  / He had been no one: like a leaf, a stem,  / Like a root growing…)

Denise Levertov, “A Woman Alone” (Then / self-pity dries up, a joy / untainted by guilt lifts her. / She has fears, but not about loneliness)

Richard Brautigan, “Your Catfish Friend” (I’d love you and be your catfish / friend and drive such lonely / thoughts from your mind)

Linda Gregg, “The Letter” (I’m not feeling strong yet, but I am taking  / good care of myself)

Andrew Lang, “Ballade of True Wisdom” (And I’d leave all the hurry, the noise, and the fray, / For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers)

Ada Limón, “The Raincoat” (my whole life I’ve been under her / raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel / that I never got wet.)

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Just” (These people, unaware, are saving the world)

Wendell Berry, “The Peace of Wild Things” (I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.)

moonsofsappho

40 WLW BOOK RECCOMENDATIONS

Here's a list of wlw book reccomendations and their genres since it's extremely hard to find. I haven't read most of these!!

young adult / contemporary || romance || fantasy / fairytale || sci-fi / dystopia || mystery / thriller || horror / paranormal || historical || coming of age

[ 1 ] The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily Danforth (coming of age, young adult)

[ 2 ] Annie on my Mind - Nancy Garden (romance, young adult)

[ 3 ] Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst (fantasy, romance, young adult)

[ 4 ] The Abyss Surrounds Us - Emily Skrutskie (sci-fi, young adult)

[ 5 ] We Are Okay - Nina Lacour (young adult, contemporary)

[ 6 ] These Witches Don't Burn - Isabel Sterling (young adult, paranormal, contemporary, romance)

[ 7 ] The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 8 ] Queen of Coin and Whispers - Helen Corcoran (fantasy, romance, young adult)

[ 9 ] Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust (fairytale, fantasy, young adult)

[ 10 ] The Falling in Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (young adult, contemporary, romance, coming of age)

[ 11 ] Bleeding Earth - Kaitlin Ward (horror, young adult, dystopia, fantasy)

[ 12 ] Its Not Like its a Secret - Misa Sugiura (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 13 ] Criers War - Nina Varela (young adult, fantasy, romance)

[ 14 ] This is How you Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (sci-fi, romance)

[ 15 ] The Dark Tide - Alicia Jasinska (young adult, fantasy, romance)

[ 16 ] Tell Me How You Really Feel - Aminah Mae Safi (romance, young adult)

[ 17 ] The Difference Between Me and You - Madeleine George (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 18 ] Wilder Girls - Rory Power (young adult, mystery, thriller)

[ 19 ] Huntress - Kate Quinn (mystery, thriller, historical)

[ 20 ] Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan (fantasy, young adult)

[ 21 ] The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (fantasy)

[ 22 ] Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (historical, mystery, thriller)

[ 23 ] Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters (historical, romance)

[ 24 ] The Best Bad Things - Katrina Carrasco (mystery, thriller, historical)

[ 25 ] The Once and Future Witches - Alix E. Harrow (historical, fantasy)

[ 26 ] Wicked Saints - Emily A. Duncan (fairytale, young adult, fantasy)

[ 27 ] The Truth about Keeping Secrets - Savannah Brown (coming of age, young adult, contemporary, mystery, thriller)

[ 28 ] The Summer of Impossibilities - Rachael Allan (romance, contemporary, young adult)

[ 29 ] Youre Next - Kylie Schante (young adult, mystery, thriller)

[ 30 ] A Line in the Dark - Malinda Lo (mystery, thriller, young adult)

[ 31 ] High Desert - Kate Dalafield (mystery, romance)

[ 32 ] The Blind Goddess - Anne Holt (mystery)

[ 33 ] Ordinary Mayhem - Victoria A. Brownworth (mystery, thriller, horror, paranormal)

[ 34 ] The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson (horror)

[ 35 ] Into the Drowning Deep - Seanan Mcguire (sci-fi, hororr)

[ 36 ] The Red Tree - Caitlín R. Kiernan (fantasy, paranormal, horror, mystery)

[ 37 ] Sawkill Girls - Claire Legrand (coming of age, horror, young adult)

[ 38 ] As I Decended - Robin Talley (horror, young adult)

[ 39 ] Adaptation - Malinda Lo (sci-fi, young adult, thriller)

[ 40 ] The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (historical, romance, contemporary)

This took a very long time to make so I would love it if you could repost!!!

solarsyrup

Still blows my mind how quickly capitalism self-destructed streaming tv

Like netflix rejuvenated a dying market and made it way more afforadable and accessible, and then... everyone needed a slice of the pie and fucked the whole thing up

Incredible

solarsyrup

An actual genius: What if we made television convenient and inexpensive again?

Corporations: What if we milked this money cow until it fucking DIED

plaguedocboi

Here it is folks:

My definitive ranking of my least favorite bodies of water! These are ranked from least to most scary (1/10 is okay, 10/10 gives me nightmares). I’m sorry this post is long, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this.

The Great Blue Hole, Belize

I’ve been here! I have snorkeled over this thing! It is terrifying! The water around the hole is so shallow you can’t even swim over the coral without bumping it, and then there’s a little slope down, and then it just fucking drops off into the abyss! When you’re over the hole the water temperature drops like 10 degrees and it’s midnight blue even when you’re right by the surface. Anyway. The Great Blue Hole is a massive underwater cave, and its roughly 410 feet deep. Overall, it’s a relatively safe area to swim. It’s a popular tourist attraction and recreational divers can even go down and explore some of the caves. People do die at the Blue Hole, but it is generally from a lack of diving experience rather than anything sinister going on down in the depths. My rating for this one is 1/10 because I’ve been here and although it’s kinda freaky it’s really not that bad.

Lake Baikal, Russia

When I want to give myself a scare I look at the depth diagram of this lake. It’s so deep because it’s not a regular lake, it’s a Rift Valley, A massive crack in the earth’s crust where the continental plates are pulling apart. It’s over 5,000 feet deep and contains one-fifth of all freshwater on Earth. Luckily, its not any more deadly than a normal lake. It just happens to be very, very, freakishly deep. My rating for this lake is a 2/10 because I really hate looking at the depth charts but just looking at the lake itself isn’t that scary.

Jacob’s Well, Texas

This “well” is actually the opening to an underwater cave system. It’s roughly 120 feet deep, surrounded by very shallow water. This area is safe to swim in, but diving into the well can be deadly. The cave system below has false exits and narrow passages, resulting in multiple divers getting trapped and dying. My rating is a 3/10, because although I hate seeing that drop into the abyss it’s a pretty safe place to swim as long as you don’t go down into the cave (which I sure as shit won’t).

The Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota

This is an area in the Brule River where half the river just disappears. It literally falls into a hole and is never seen again. Scientists have dropped in dye, ping pong balls, and other things to try and figure out where it goes, and the things they drop in never resurface. Rating is 4/10 because Sometimes I worry I’m going to fall into it.

Flathead Lake, Montana

Everyone has probably seen this picture accompanied by a description about how this lake is actually hundreds of feet deep but just looks shallow because the water is so clear. If that were the case, this would definitely rank higher, but that claim is mostly bull. Look at the shadow of the raft. If it were hundreds of feet deep, the shadow would look like a tiny speck. Flathead lake does get very deep, but the spot the picture was taken in is fairly shallow. You can’t see the bottom in the deep parts. However, having freakishly clear water means you can see exactly where the sandy bottom drops off into blackness, so this still ranks a 5/10.

The Lower Congo River, multiple countries

Most of the Congo is a pretty normal, if large, River. In the lower section of it, however, lurks a disturbing surprise: massive underwater canyons that plunge down to 720 feet. The fish that live down there resemble cave fish, having no color, no eyes, and special sensory organs to find their way in the dark. These canyons are so sheer that they create massive rapids, wild currents and vortexes that can very easily kill you if you fall in. A solid 6/10, would not go there.

Little Crater Lake, Oregon

On first glance this lake doesn’t look too scary. It ranks this high because I really don’t like the sheer drop off and how clear it is (because it shows you exactly how deep it goes). This lake is about 100 feet across and 45 feet deep, and I strongly feel that this is too deep for such a small lake. Also, the water is freezing, and if you fall into the lake your muscles will seize up and you’ll sink and drown. I don’t like that either. 7/10.

Grand Turk 7,000 ft drop off

No. 8/10. I hate it.

Gulf of Corryvreckan, Scotland

Due to a quirk in the sea floor, there is a permanent whirlpool here. This isn’t one of those things that looks scary but actually won’t hurt you, either. It absolutely will suck you down if you get too close. Scientists threw a mannequin with a depth gauge into it and when it was recovered the gauge showed it went down to over 600 feet. If you fall into this whirlpool you will die. 9/10 because this seems like something that should only be in movies.

The Bolton Strid, England

This looks like an adorable little creek in the English countryside but it’s not. Its really not. Statistically speaking, this is the most deadly body of water in the world. It has a 100% mortality rate. There is no recorded case of anyone falling into this river and coming out alive. This is because, a little ways upstream, this isn’t a cute little creek. It’s the River Wharfe, a river approximately 30 feet wide. This river is forced through a tiny crack in the earth, essentially turning it on its side. Now, instead of being 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep, it’s 6 feet wide and 30 feet deep (estimated, because no one actually knows how deep the Strid is). The currents are deadly fast. The banks are extremely undercut and the river has created caves, tunnels and holes for things (like bodies) to get trapped in. The innocent appearance of the Strid makes this place a death trap, because people assume it’s only knee-deep and step in to never be seen again. I hate this river. I have nightmares about it. I will never go to England just because I don’t want to be in the same country as this people-swallowing stream. 10/10, I live in constant fear of this place.

Honorable mention: The Quarry, Pennsylvania

I don’t know if that’s it’s actual name. This lake gets an honorable mention not because it’s particularly deep or dangerous, but it’s where I almost drowned during a scuba diving accident.

Edit: I’ve looked up the name of the quarry, it’s called Crusty’s Quarry and is privately owned and only used for training purposes, not recreational diving.

curseworm

the inherent shame of beginning… dont look at me while i learn

garden-graveyard

“the inherent shame of beginning”

i admit, “don’t look at me while i learn” hits hard… but why is that so? when i was 7 years old i sang along to songs i had yet to fully learn by bumbling through sounds that half-resembled what i thought i heard, at full volume.

at 6, i would practice ballet moves–in which i had no instruction–outside the theater after a professional performance, in full view of the public.

at 5, i asked my teacher so many questions that she affectionately called me Bug–because i was always bugging her with my endless inquiry. i loved the nickname.

at 14, i was afraid to practice a song in my own room with no one home because, “what if my voice cracks? what if i can’t hit that note?”

at 15 i was afraid to dance in the garage with no one around because–i mean how embarrassing would it be to get the move wrong?

at 16, i forgo asking questions in class because god forbid i not understand.

what is this? “the shame of beginning”, we say. but not inherent, never was it inherent. the child loves to begin! they love making the silly mistake. the world tells us the mistake is fatal, or worse, shameful. what a tragedy. the world strangles our joy of beginning and when we’re old enough we add our own hands to the neck.

but the truth is we begin everyday and we are wrong and we’re dumb and we make silly mistakes and at the end of it all we are still the brilliant learners we’ve always been. there is no shame. it’s alright. i don’t know how to properly express that i wish upon everyone who’s reblogged this post to realize the shame is in our hands wrapped around the neck. we can let go. allow the self-kindess of your heart to soothe the bruises.

learning is no secret burden. we do it together :)

wonderful-language-sounds

Free Online Language Courses

Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos. You can always check the audit course or no certificate option so that you can learn for free.

American Sign Language

ASL University

Arabic

Arabic for Global Exchange (in the drop down menu)

Arabic Without Walls

Intro to Arabic

Madinah Arabic

Moroccan Arabic

Catalan Sign Language

Intro to Catalan Sign Language

Chinese

Beginner

Basic Chinese

Basic Chinese I. II, III, IV , V

Basic Mandarin Chinese I & II

Beginner’s Chinese

Chinese for Beginners

Chinese Characters

Chinese for HSK 1

First Year Chinese I & II

HSK Level 1

Mandarin Chinese I

Mandarin Chinese for Business

More Chinese for Beginners

Start Talking Mandarin Chinese

UT Gateway to Chinese

Chino Básico (Taught in Spanish)

Intermediate

Chinese Stories

Intermediate Business Chinese

Intermediate Chinese Grammar

Dutch

Introduction to Dutch

English

Online Courses here

Resources Here

Faroese

Faroese Course

Finnish

A Taste of Finnish

Basic Finnish

Finnish for Immigrants

Finnish for Medical Professionals

French

Beginner

AP French Language and Culture

Basic French Skills

Beginner’s French: Food & Drink

Diploma in French

Elementary French I & II

Français Interactif

French in Action

French for Beginners

French Language Studies I, II, III

French:Ouverture

Intermediate & Advanced

French: Le Quatorze Juillet

Passe Partout

La Cité des Sciences et de Industrie

Frisian

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in English)

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in Dutch)

German

Beginner

Beginner’s German: Food & Drink

Conversational German I, II, III, IV

Deutsch im Blick

Diploma in German

Rundblick-Beginner’s German

Advanced

German:Regionen Traditionen und Geschichte

Landschaftliche Vielfalt

Hebrew

Biblical Hebrew

Know the Hebrew Alphabet

Teach Me Hebrew

Hindi

A Door into Hindi

Business Hindi

Virtual Hindi

Icelandic

Icelandic 1-5

Indonesian

Learn Indonesian

Irish

Introduction to Irish

Italian

Beginner

Beginner’s Italian: Food & Drink

Beginner’s Italian I

Introduction to Italian

Italian for Beginners 1 , 2, 3 , 4 , 5, 6

Intermediate & Advaned

Intermediate Italian I

Advanced Italian I

La Commedia di Dante

Japanese

Genki

Japanese JOSHU

Japanese Pronunciation

Sing and Learn Japanese

Tufs JpLang

Kazakh

A1-B2 Kazakh (Taught in Russian)

Korean

Beginner

First Step Korean

How to Study Korean

Learn to Speak Korean

Pathway to Spoken Korean

Intermediate

Intermediate Korean

Nepali

Beginner’s Conversation and Grammar

Norwegian

Introduction to Norwegian

Norwegian on the Web

Portuguese

Curso de Português para Estrangeiros

Pluralidades em Português Brasileiro

Russian

Beginner

Easy Accelerated Learning for Russian

Advanced

Reading Master and Margarita

Russian as an Instrument of Communication

Siberia: Russian for Foreigners

Spanish

Beginner

AP Spanish Language & Culture

Basic Spanish for English Speakers

Beginner’s Spanish:Food & Drink

Fastbreak Spanish

Introduction to Spanish

Restaurants and Dining Out

Spanish for Beginners

Spanish for Beginners 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Spanish Vocabulary

Intermediate

Spanish:Ciudades con Historia

Spanish:Espacios Públicos

Advanced

Corrección, Estilo y Variaciones

Leer a Macondo

Spanish:Con Mis Propias Manos

Spanish: Perspectivas Porteñas

Swedish

Intro to Swedish

Swedish Made Easy 1, 2, & 3

Ukrainian

Read Ukrainian

Ukrainian Language for Beginners

Welsh

Beginner’s Welsh

Discovering Wales

Multiple Languages

Ancient Languages

More Language Learning Resources & Websites!

Last updated: March 1, 2017

doesthendnlive

0operson

[ tweet by Ruth H. Hopkins

As you celebrate thanksgiving, know that the Trump administration is taking away 321 acres of land from the Mashpee-Wampanoag, the tribe that helped the pilgrims survive and were present at the first thanksgiving. Tell legislators to support the Mashpee Reservation Reaffirmation Act. ]

cyborgoctopus

For those who don’t live in Massachusetts, that is literally ALL THE LAND THEY HAVE! All of it. The state aims to make the entire ~3000 person tribe homeless.

nerielle

If you want more information the tribe themselves have a website for you to look at! Please spread the word and reach out to your networks so people are feeling specifically asked to act upon this… it is incumbent upon all of us to stand up for our Mashpee-Wampanoag siblings at this time. We MUST be their allies. We MUST uplift their voices and support what their asks are.

We owe all Indigenous peoples in this country so much more than this… but this is a start.

chaandajaan-moved

Video essays worth a watch:

The Mouse utopia experiment

The throne of James Hampton

The author of my immortal messaged me, and then it got worse

A Monstress Comes of Age: Horror & Girlhood

Why Cosmic Horror is Hard To Make

The Nightmare Artist

The Most Disturbing Painting

manbiteshog

thanksgiving is a holiday based on a falsified narrative full of white guilt and the erasure of history so what are some good native organizations to donate to this coming thursday

manbiteshog

organizations recommended by @loneghostkid

native american rights fund

heyday berkely roundhouse

news from native california magazine

national indian child welfare association

california indian legal services

the national indigenous women’s resource center

meshkwahkihaki

please also consider looking into funding native/tribal food sovereignty projects if you have food to donate or money to spare. friends, please add more if you know of them and have links to provide:

native american food sovereignty alliance

meskwaki food sovereignty initiative

friends of pine ridge reservation

first nations development institute

you can also buy food/gifts from indigenous sellers or donate to gofundme fundraisers made by indigenous people who need help getting groceries, paying medical bills, or paying rent. do something to help us and our communities.

britomartis

try water projects too, like the navajo water project: https://www.navajowaterproject.org/

Help DigDeep bring clean, running water to hundreds of American families. Nearly 40% of Navajo don't have a tap or toilet at home. We can fi

a lot of reservations are fucked over on water by illegal oil drilling, pipelines, or other breaches, like in the navajo rez’s case: contaminated by illegal uranium mining.

mango-habanero-autism-deactivat

I would like to put my endorsement to the Sovereign Bodies Institute, home of the database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The database is trans-inclusive, the data protocols follow the desires of the families of MMIW, and this holiday season, they are collecting donations to buy gifts for the families, especially the children, of missing and murdered women.

qaigulik-deactivated20251021

I’d like to add Feeding Nunavut, the cost of living in the isolated north for Inuit is up to and sometimes over 5x the prices the rest of Canada is used to.