Stripes Off the Zebra

River | 20 | Ask Anything!

[scissorspider]

i was about to joke about how my political stance is “end lawnmower culture” but then it occurred to me that i actually Am against lawns as suburban status symbols and wastes of land that Could be used to sustain native flora & fauna and grow food for people, but no, instead they are these huge useless swaths of land that need Constant maintenance, the process of which is not only destructive, but Incredibly Loud

[turtletot43-deactivated20180723]

You know that actually is the purpose of a lawn? They started as a trend of the French monarchy - the ones revolutionaries beheaded for being self indulgent assholes.

It exists purely as a status symbol that says, “I have land but I don’t have to use it for anything productive. I can invest time, money and resources in maintaining an entirely useless crop on land I’m not farming just because it looks pretty.”

Lawns offend me.

[bigwordsandsharpedges]

Why have that stunted golf course in front of your suburban house if you can’t even water it? Get one of these instead.

[pollymol-deactivated20181115]

Unite Against the Lawn

[vikingofficial-deactivated20241]

Pro tiny house, anti grass lawn. Prioritize practicality.

[whitefriartuck]

This is actually really interesting because back in the 1950s and 60s in Australia when we started getting large waves of Southern European migrants one thing the Italians and others would often so is buy a little suburban home, then tear out the ornamental flower beds and lawn and useless trees and plant fruits, vegetables, grapes and even olives. It was considered completely scandalous by their Anglo-Saxon neighbours because lawn was considered an aspirational thing and the ideal was to go from not needing a kitchen garden and having an ornamental garden to show how well you were doing.

[ireallyluvdogs]

This is great. All of it. Not to derail this too much, but “Lawnmower” culture also reminds me of aggressively heterosexual men. Men ALWAYS will use mowing the lawn as a way to get out of doing all the other household chores – having a lawn that a man mows somehow makes maintaining everything else inside a house the women’s responsibility. Down with lawnmower culture.

[hestiasroom]

i’ve actually read a whole book on lawns and lawn culture (yes, really) it’s called lawn people by paul robbins check it out and let’s all boycott lawn culture together!!!

[madsciences]

@hoaxtumbles I want a vegetable lawn 

[ayyymagician-deactivated2017012]

Agriburb!

[zohbugg]

I have never really thought about how lawns came to be like a standard thing but wow this makes sense. I hate mowing the lawn boycott all lawns

[lepidosaurs]

lawns actually cause a lot of habitat fragmentation for local wildlife and plants so fuck lawns

[missingrache]

Article about biodiversity and how lawns are Not Good and plants you can grow to help

Video about the same!

[goldenheartedrose]

This is so great.

[drinkpisspissblood]

loving this concept

[catastrophiccharlie-deactivated]

Oooo I want this so bad but plants hate me. Maybe I could just have a bunch of trees and a little reading nook.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

Wow. This is amazing.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

My wife and I want to get into going to cons and such, and I would really love some suggestions on how to incorporate my crutches into a costume. Not just use them with a normal costume, but make it part of the costume.

[the-fairy-squad-mother]

I’d like to introduce you to….

The pangolin

It walks on its two hind legs

Nicknamed the Walking Artichoke

or the Anteater Pinecones

They look utterly ridiculous and they are my favourite thing you’re welcome and goodbye

[dapurinthos]

That’s a fucking Sandshrew.

[bh-flint]

It’s a small dragon.

[ari-nemera]

They’re so hunchbacked that even though they walk on two legs their front feet are almost always scraping the ground.

BONUS! Tree-dwelling version!!!

Also bonus, There’s a fuckton of different kinds!

Enjoy.

Also! they’re going extinct due to poaching because people love their golden scaley pelts! These are the only mammals in existence to grow actual scales, created from fused fur, like rhino horns! If you would like to donate to their conservation fund, or find out more about Pangolins in general, go here!

http://savepangolins.org/

[fuckyeah-nerdery]

They look like small dinosaurs that didn’t get the memo about the extinction because their email was down that day.

[aritheantblogger-deactivated201]

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this thing lives in Australia

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

I need one

[slimeandsensitive]

I showed my therapist all the screenshots and pictures of aufvvachen and she told me that if aufvvachen’s school saw them they’d expel her right away because she’s going against ethical standards and various other things. She told me that they would have no choice but to expel her because she literally attacked minors, posted graphic suicide jokes, posted abusive comments, and various other things. So yeah…

[slimeandsensitive]

I know the school she goes to and her first and last name… I’m scared though because I have severe paranoia.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

There is always the option of anonymity

[chronicillnesshelp]

when you were having a good time but you overexerted yourself and triggered a flare

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

So often this

[m3nrtrash]

if you’re a psych major and you’re not mentally ill and/or disabled in some shape or form I actually really fucking hate u

[mattressfucker]

If you’re a geology major and you’re not a rock and/or a non-living form I actually really fucking hate u

[steven-universe-official-deacti]

If you’re not a quadratic equation don’t even start with me fam

[thetallblacknerd]

If you’re a historian and haven’t been alive since recorded history get out my face fam

[son-of-a-shepherd7-deactivated2]

If you’re a reading teacher and you’re not even a read book sit the entire fuck down fam

[saku-uruhas-deactivated20180413]

If ur an art major and ur not a drawing u should stay in ur lane 😂😂😂✌✌✌

[oldspaghettifactory]

if you aint a self evolving ai you really have no business programming

[saku-uruhas-deactivated20180413]

If ur a music major u better be a goddamn fucking violin or else ur ablesit

[papayapom]

If you’re not a biology major you better stop dividing your cells right now.

[xubbs-deactivated20160209]

if you’re a programming major and you’ve never made your own basic line of html code back in the myspace days then get outta my face

[soma-prime-incarnon]

So how much does everyone tagging on their condescending,smartass shit here hate victims of psychiatric abuse and fetishization?

Unlike music or geology or math or programming majors,psych majors are expected to deal with vulnerable and suffering people.

And a lot of neurotypical/non-mentally ill people just “study” psych because they find the mentally ill so “broken and fascinating”,and fetishize asylums and straitjackets as part of their “twisted mind” aesthetic.

Not to mention denying symptoms and imposing their preconceptions on patients and other sufferers who might actually know more about what they’re actually suffering from.

[decodethefallenmoon]

I’m with Nell on this. It’s really, honestly, not funny. The amount of ableism I’ve gotten from not only neurotypical classmates of mine, but professors AND the people I see for my medical care has been absolutely ridiculous. It’s a really fucking valid hatred to not trust neurotypical doctors. I don’t trust neurotypical doctors for this exact reason: because I’ve repeatedly been talked over or treated like garbage, had my symptoms ignored, or treated like a “fascinating” research subject by classmates. Psych majors can literally be some of the grossest fucking people on the planet and the thought of 75% of them 1, being totally able-bodied and 2, going into either research fields or clinical care is horrifying.  Stop turning something as serious as literal regular medical mistreatment and malpractice into a fucking joke.

[riotrite-deactivated20171226]

Normally I wouldn’t reblog something with jokes this disgusting on it but as a neuroatypical person (probably) going into psych for other neuroatypical people and our dignity and rights, I want to demonstrate how far people will go to objectify us. Look at that first joke. It assumes that neuroatypical people and rocks are analogous enough to be funny. That’s fucked, and that’s exactly what I intend to confront.

[warriorsdebt]

It’s not a fucking coincidence that nearly every single one of those “jokes” based its humour on the absurdity of inanimate and/or sub-human objects performing tasks. It’s not a fucking coincidence that nearly every single one of these “jokes” based its humour on the idea that having expertise on disabled people is the equivalent of having expertise on inanimate, sub-human objects. This is what they think of us, folks. Whether performing tasks or receiving care, we are close enough to rocks and equations and bits of wood so as to make no difference to these people. Keep abled NTs out of disability fields 2kforever

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

So my Axolotl's water is really murky and foamy. Anyone know what's wrong?

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

So the right front wheel of my chair has always had issues, but now I can't get it to stay in position at all :( I guess I have to get a new front set, but can't afford it whatsoever. And there is no way I can work the rest of my shift without my chair. Great

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

That moment you realize you have 13 pets o.0 Michælangelo (29) Cuddles (12) Rosalie (4) Sara (3) Magnus (2) Dorian (1.5) Gloria (1.5) Zerubbabella (>1) Smaug (2wks) Toothless (2wks) Norbert (2wks) Puff (2wks) Alduin (2wks)

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

Meet the newest member of my menagerie! This is Magnus, he is an axolotl, and cute!!! Any suggestions on care, feeding, ect is welcome

[zzdigital]

What if someone got bitten by a vampire, but didn’t realize it. So then they go around and keep misidentifying all the symptoms, like

“Dude, you haven’t gone outside in a while.” “Yeah, last time I went out I got this wicked sunburn.”

“Are you still up?” “Yeah, I started bing watching this show on Netflix.”

“Dude, I’m seriously craving something right now.” “Like what?” “I dunno. Pizza rolls?”

[adriofthedead]

“Why is it that you never come into my house unless I invite you?” “Um, it’s called ‘being polite’…?”

[paulichu]

“I tried cooking with garlic the other night and got this serious burn on my hand. I think I’m allergic, but all I’m getting on Google is vampire bullshit.”

[samarajournal]

“Dude can a mirror like… stop working or something?”

[espeoradar]

“Dude, why do you keep posting pictures of the floor?” “…Those are meant to be selfies, I guess my camera must be broken.”

“Dude, I am all for you expressing your religious beliefs, but could you not wear your crucifix when I’m around? It really bugs me for some reason.”

[recondite-room]

“Have you ever noticed how cute bats are? like really noticed? sweet lil balls of fluff with wings man.”

[nickthepigeon]

“I want to sleep in a coffin…ya kno, for like… aesthetic”

[therightprometheanfire]

“What’s with your thing about necks lately?”

“MUST YOU KINKSHAME ME IN MY OWN HOME”

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

The perfect story!

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

So I tried smoking. Gross and just not my thing. $10 wasted, but the curiosity is over with :) Remember - Smoking kills

[sarahconnorjr]

I’m glad you guys are taking an interest in issues of disability, so I want to bring up something else that is actually a huge issue

In America it is actually illegal to pay disabled people “slave wages” and in some places stores like Goodwill employ disabled people for as low as $0.22 an hour

In most states people living off of disability only receive $700–$2000 a month. I live in California which is very expensive and I receive a little over $900 a month to live on. That is an impossible amount to live on here and on top of that people on disability are only ever allowed to have $2000 in savings at any one time. Let me explain what that means: at the beginning of each month the government gives me about $900 that I have to pay all my bills with and buy a months worth of food with but what people don’t realize is I also have to use it to pay for menstruation products, medications, any physical therapy I might need, a lot of disability equipment, etc.

Yes, we do get health insurance which helps pay for this but it doesn’t pay for everything and it is notoriously horrible to work with. I’m very seriously physically disabled and need an electric wheelchair and every few years the battery and/or the battery charger needs to be replaced which is what is happening right now. I can’t use my wheelchair because it won’t move so I can either lay in bed or sit next to my bed in the broken wheelchair (which I am now) and my insurance will pay for the battery charger replacement but it can take at least half a year to approve which means I would be forced to be bedridden for at least half a year. I don’t have the option of that right now, I need to be able to move not only to get groceries and go to the doctor but also to actually just move so I can get to my electricity bill and pay it. If I can’t move, I can’t pay the bills and if I can’t pay the bills the money the government gives me sits in the bank and after a month it goes over the $2000 which means I would be in violation and it would be removed… And to top that off I just got a letter that this year instead of $2000 my limit is $1,500.

So, I’m paying for the replacement with a credit card and all types of disabled equipment are extremely overpriced because companies are a monopoly (despite the fact that that’s supposed to be a illegal)

People also don’t seem to realize about this is that although most of us somehow managed to survive on this system not being able to have any savings means that any major expenses are completely out of the question. My car is completely broken and I have no way of convincingly getting a new one (remember, I wouldn’t just be able to buy a car off the lot, it would have to be retrofitted for my wheelchair) or replacing any of the parts to get it working because they are simply too expensive and it’s illegal for me to save money.

One more thing, we aren’t actually allowed to own any property. My family was lucky enough to buy the house I live in with my grandparent’s life insurance so the only reason I’m not homeless is because my mother lets me live in the house for free but if she dies I can’t inherit it. Worse, my mother’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and now to get her disability help she is not allowed to keep the house so we’ve literally had to give it to my cousin, hoping that she allows us to stay here as long as we continue to pay the property taxes which, no surprise, is far more than I’m allowed to keep in the savings.

[cant-even-fly-straight]

What the hell this is just fucked up! How come you are not allowed to have savings and property. Who even thought it’s a good system? I can see the government concern about people “”“"taking advantage”“”“ and getting money without actually needing it, but… Again, what the hell? They expect you to survive with that amount of money and not being ALLOWED to save anything? And you can’t even inherit a property from your parent - not even as in, ONE HOUSE for you to live? What they expect you to do if you need to spent a larger amount of money? Like the situations with your car and your chair. They really just expect you to use credit cards? (but doesn’t these like, have taxes or something, doesn’t credit cards make a bigger debt?) Seriously, this it’s fucked up. I had no idea this was a thing. I know disabled people often don’t get treated right by the government in most countries, here as well, but I didn’t know how bad it could get.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

This is really legitimate, and California helps to show just how bad it is. $900 a month is about what I make with a full time job, and it is fine to pay all the bills, but I live in North Carolina. Most people on disability here make about $600 or so, which is pretty shitty. If you want to really think about this, when my grandfather was on disability, he still qualified for food stamps. Just let that sink in. Now, most people make just a couple dollars to much for food stamps, and that's all. One day, I will be in need of disability aid, but I won't be getting much. Being disabled sucks, and so does the system.

[allieinarden]

I’ve noticed this revisionist Greek myth is common wherein Persephone loves Hades and eats the pomegranate seeds in order to evade her overbearing mother, and that’s all well and good. You know, sometimes I’m in the mood for it and sometimes I’m not. But hear this: as long as we’re doing this, why is no one wondering whether Aphrodite might really love Hephaestus? 

Think about it. All the gods in their immortal splendor are lining up to marry her, doing everything in their power to impress her, the goddess of love and beauty, and she choses…that guy. A god in technical terms only, a social reject who’s ugly and malformed and um, no fun. Always slaving away in his workshop when everyone else is quaffing nectar and having their eternal beach party up on Mount Olympus. They can’t believe she’d give up all of them for that. 

So, because the gods do not take rejection well (looking at you Apollo), eventually they start to say to each other, well, we all know Zeus made her do it anyway. He’s gotta feel guilty for throwing Hephaestus off Mount Olympus that one time. And it quickly becomes that poor girl, stuck in that workshop full of sweat and dirt and cyclopses when she could have had one of us. Because of course they’ve got love all figured out; it’s entirely technical and dependent on who’s the most charming and good-looking and not at all variable and strange and notoriously unpredictable, right?

Meanwhile Ares, only the most arrogant and brainless of the crew, can’t take a hint and is still showing up wherever Aphrodite goes trying to hit on her, so eventually she and Hephaestus decide to rig up an elaborate mechanical trap for him, using her as bait. When all the gods have laughed at him for getting caught he huffily attempts to regain his dignity by telling them, whatever, guys, you want to know the truth, I was meeting her for an assignation. And they all kind of know he’s full of it but they just accept it as the unvarnished truth from thereon in, because they’d love to believe she’d cheat on Hephaestus with Ares. They’d love it. Come on, Aphrodite, get off your high horse and admit you’re just as shallow as the rest of us. 

So they talk, but Aphrodite doesn’t really care about their collective jealousy because she dotes on her misshapen genius of a husband with his sooty hands and his sweaty brow who always takes her seriously and is always so hard at work inventing astonishing new things to make her happy, and she loves the volcano they live in with its internal pressures so conducive to the formation of precious stones and its passages lit with glowing lava that so gorgeously offsets her cheekbones, and all the cyclopses worship her because even with one eye apiece they’ve still got more depth perception than most men do where she’s concerned. True it is that as a couple the two develop a reputation for not getting out much, because all those Olympian parties bore them to death and they’d rather spend time with each other (poor Aphrodite, she’s such a vivacious young thing and her husband is so grasping and insecure that he won’t let her go out and have fun), but they do all right. 

[battlescarmentality]

THIS IS THE KIND OF CONTENT I’M LOOKING FOR

[hollowedskin]

love <3

[marisolinspades]

Ok, ok, wait, but it doesn’t end there. Because Aphrodite features pretty heavily in the story of Eros and Psyche. She’s painted as the villain, her jealousy causing her to send her son to curse the girl, but that’s just not true. She knows what it’s like to be clamored over for your beauty, knows the lies that are spread, the way it sets you up as a target and discredits your mind. Aphrodite hears the mortals whisper that this human girl rivals her in beauty, and one day she gets around to seeing what the fuss is about.

She finds Psyche’s home all but besieged by suitors, but she notices the girl isn’t falling for their flattery, that she is still kind, no matter who she’s dealing with. She sees a bit of herself in this girl who aches to be spoken to, not at, and who wants most of all to be heard.

When she sends her son to the girl, she is less than truthful about her motivations. She knows if she tells him she hopes he will fall for this mortal girl it will make things awkward for him, that true love must be discovered on its own and cannot be forced. When he comes away from the encounter with her name on his lips, searching for excuses to talk to her again, Aphrodite whispers into the soothsayer’s ear to tell Psyche’s father that she is loved by a god. Frees her from the hoards of shallow admirers and gives her son the opportunity he needs to see her again. 

When a year of late-night conversations fails to convince her son that it’s time to reveal himself to his beloved, she puts a bug in Psysche’s ear to ask for her sisters to visit, whispers in their ears to convince Psyche to take matters into her own hands, ensures the two can finally meet face to face. She is saddened when Eros flees, believing Psyche had betrayed him.

The four tasks Psyche must overcome to be reunited with her son aren’t laid forth out of spite, but rather to help the girl find herself. Aphrodite knows this girl hasn’t had a choice in the path her life has taken up until this point. Knows that everything was in the hands of her father, and of Aphrodite herself. She wants to make sure Psyche means it, wants Psyche to know what she’s getting into when dealing with the Olympians. Wants, most of all, for Psyche to question her own motivations, fully evaluate the situation, and then make her own choice.

Her frustration at the Olympians aiding the girl isn’t because she hates being tricked. No, she wants Psyche to break out of her shell, wants her to have the option to decide this isn’t worth it and walk away. 

When the final task ends in Psyche laying unconscious on the roadway, Aphrodite searches the girl’s heart and knows her intentions are true. Knows she is ready to join the family. She kicks Eros out of the house to ensure he would find Psyche, to ensure he would come to his senses and forgive her, realize that he had been unfair to her and to ask her forgiveness in turn.

They say Aphrodite was sour about the whole ordeal until her  granddaughter was born, but the truth was she hadn’t stopped smiling from the moment her son had first come home, whispering the girls name in reverence.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

Y'all need to rewrite the Iliad and Odessy

[faithhopeloveandtherapy]

a question I'd like to ask my therapist

Is it strange to think so many people (clients) are thinking about you and holding their lives together because they’re holding you in their heads?

Doesn’t that feel somehow intrusive or overwhelming or too much responsibility?

(If anyone has thoughts on this, feel free to share)

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

So I'm in a human services program, and the teacher for some of the classes basically told us that after a while, you stop caring about the individual opinions, just about the job. This seems so insane to me, but it works for her.

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

Why the lizards????

[stripesoffthezebra-blog]

I feel like my legs have been run over. And they clipped my shoulder too