life & literary adventures

Samantha, any but she/her is fine Neurodivergent & Queer 💜🖤💚 Master’s Student Big fan of reading, I enjoy adventuring, and I use crafting to stim This blog was meant to be a diary-of-sorts for projects, but alas, I am not consistent. Maybe I’ll get to that one day. LGBTQ+ safe blog🌈

[tinytravels]

COMPLETED! Please scroll to most recent update for final info :)

*ahem* 🗣 Are you new to the LGBTQ/Queer Community or have experienced a recent shift – within the last 1-2 years – in gender or sexual identity?? Then I have a question for You!

Okay, so in seriousness, I’m working on a paper and research project for a class which centers Queer Identity, specifically that of Gender, Gender Expression, and Sexuality, and a girl could use some help!

After thinking about my own experiences and seeing some similar stories talked about here, I’m curious how many others may have re-evaluated any of these identity layers. I’d also be curious to see how these identities may have changed for others during the Pandemic, especially with the increase in time spent online! (I know I’ve been spending A Lot more time on here myself.)

If you are *18 or older and have 10-15 minutes & would be willing to help out by taking a survey I made, or you want to talk about your experiences over the the last 1-2 years, I would LOVE to hear from you! Not just for this project and class grade - which is also great, seriously - but to get to know about others going through this in the Community and have some of your stories heard.

All genders, non-genders, sexualities, and others are welcome! Don’t worry if you don’t live in the US or what part of the US you’re in, I’d love as many voices as are willing. :)) (Although some in other countries are not able to open it?? I’m sorry if this is you!)

PS The survey is desktop and mobile friendly, so you can do whichever. The first page is acknowledging consent and the main points are near the bottom. It’ll take you to the questions after if you agree.

Link, which is automatically anonymous: https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6eRbIG7r7VPgTqu

QR Code also works!

Survey Software, Enterprise Survey software for enterprise feedback management and CRM solutions. Enables high-quality data collection, pane

Feel free to message me if you have any questions or I need to explain something better. :)

*because of Official Consent Reasons I can’t use anyone’s work who is considered a minor in the US, I’m sorry!

[tinytravels]

UPDATE: January 14, 2022

If anyone who participated happens to still be following this, the project is finished and graded! (It was a success!)

I will be emailing everyone who left theirs, but for those who did not and would like to see it, send me a DM (with what name you did the survey under if you remember).

The final project ended up being a website to be showcase the data collected and add visuals, as well as making the reading of my process, analysis, conclusions & corrections more interesting.

I feel it turned out well and hope you all think so, too - I could not have done it without the generosity of y'all here on Tumblr. Thanks, fam, so so much <3

(I made this one so it's shorter than the last full reblog attempt rip)

[thedailypositivityblog]

Redditors crashed the website with donations over $25k and 0 wishes left. via /r/MadeMeSmile

Click here and follow to get more daily positivity on your dash!

[no-mere-mortals]

In response to this event, some redditors created r/charityraid, with the goal of concentrating the power of thousands of users into a single charity at a time to hopefully break a few more sites.

[thefitzandthegeralds]

As of 9/21/21, the site has updated with more wishes. The incredible spike in donations is amazing, but if you want to and are able to keep the momentum going, there are over 300 waiting to be filled at https://www.onesimplewish.org!

[daughter-of-sapph0]

we need to have a serious talk about antisemitism in America. yesterday, there was a hostage situation in a synagogue in Texas, where a gunman took for people including a rabbi hostage. he wanted to have someone released from prison. I forget who, but she was charged with 80 something years back in 2010. so what do you think this gunman does? does he contact the police or the president and demand the prisoner be released?

no. he tells the rabbi to call another rabbi in New York, and to have that rabbi release the prisoner. now, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that his plan was completely stupid. the rabbi in New York had no relation to with prisoner, the prison she was in, or even the justice system at all. so why did the gunman think that the new york rabbi would have the authority to release a random prisoner who was sentenced 12 years ago? one word. antisemitism

most antisemites have the insane belief that all Jews are secretly controlling the world, or the government, or the banks, or natural disasters, or... you get it. its entirely based on fake and antisemitic conspiracy theories, and it literally gets people killed. this gunman thought that a rabbi in New York had the authority and power and ability to release a prisoner who I'm pretty sure isn't even imprisoned in the state of New York (don't quote me on that though). (edit, she was imprisoned within Texas?! literally what is the logic here?!)

antisemitic conspiracy theories, even as jokes, literally get us Jews hurt or killed. those are your "lizard people". your "space lasers". your "new world order". your "George Soros money". all those insane baseless conspiracy theories, even as a joke, cause severe damage to Jews. because people will believe it.

I haven't seen any non-Jews talk about what happened yesterday. that's not surprising. very rarely will goyim care about Jews unless one of their close friends is Jewish. but it's still upsetting. there is still so much antisemitism and hate towards Jewish people in the world today.

[lastvalyrian]

Apparently the upcoming potter video game is going out of its way to say that JKR was not involved and even adds the option to create a trans character in a very transparent PR move

Just to be clear that still doesn't mean it's okay to buy and play it because the money and attention still goes directly to her

[shydreamyechoes-deactivated2023]

Yep. I've heard those claims (as far as her "not being involved" and "not getting the money") are bs. I know it's tempting to buy, since some of us have been wanting an epic Harry Potter game for years, but please reframe. It's better to hope another franchise does it better, write one yourself, or even support a fan game over giving her more money and attention.

[lastvalyrian]

Yeah. There are probably people trying to twist the facts and rationalise their decision to buy. They definitely had to buy the license to the franchise to make the game. That's money that went to her. Does she get royalties beyond that? We don't know. But even if not, if the game sells poorly, that will show publishers that licensing future games from her isn't worth it. If it succeeds, there will be more games, and more money into her pockets.

[unquietgravekeeper]

Hurts to see others living your dreams

[catasters]

[dagwolf]

Why the Hell Would You Want to Privatize Libraries?

In the pages of the New York Review of Books, author Sue Halpern recalled her time in a “remote mountain town” that was large in area but sm

One person who would disagree is Frank Pezzanite, co-founder of Library Systems and Services (LS&S), a company that runs privatized libraries. In his view, “a lot of libraries are atrocious.” For this, he blames not underfunding, but the librarians themselves. “Their policies are all about job security,” he told a reporter. “You can go to a library for 35 years and never have to do anything and then have your retirement.” Pezzanite seems to have made it his mission in life to whip these lazy librarians into shape. When his company takes over a library, the librarians who work there—the ones who aren’t laid off outright—become his employees, and he has a message for them: “We’re not running our company that way. You come to us, you’re going to have to work.”

LS&S started out as a software company. Now, after doubling in size over the last ten years, it has taken over 17 library systems in five states and runs over eighty branches. Through this growth, and the backing of the private venture firm Argosy Capital Group, it has become the nation’s fifth-largest library system. When LS&S takes over, it receives a set fee from a local government. The corporation gets control over the collection, services, and programs. Most important, it takes over staffing. Librarians at these facilities are no longer public servants; they serve at the pleasure of LS&S. Although it has been building its portfolio since the late 1990s, LS&S has met with little competition; its CEO likes to brag that it boldly goes “where angels fear to tread,” namely, into local fights with committed activists who love their libraries and librarians.

LS&S has developed a pitch that promises innovation, economies of scale, and cost savings. In reality, it hollows out everything that makes a local library a public good. The Maryland-based company’s leadership swaggers like true Silicon Valley disruptors, but those who know the field don’t see it pay much attention to real innovation. The president of the Connecticut Library Association came away from the company’s pitch with the comment that “everything that they’re talking about is standard practice.” An audit of one of its library systems puzzled over the glaring absence of subscription databases and ebook providers, especially given that LS&S, being the fifth-largest library system in America, should be able to get deep volume discounts. The same audit noted, “The absence of a written service plan, staffing plan, technology plan, a contemporary collection development and management plan, and the existence of many dated operational policies, is concerning. Why is this when LS&S has been operating the Library for 10 years?”

Rather than innovate and use its considerable bulk purchasing power to serve local needs, the corporation saves money by narrowing its collection: “They focus on the best sellers and pull the less popular books,” explained a librarian during testimony to the Escondido Library Board of Trustees. “This is at odds with what libraries do.” An independent investigation of the LS&S-run Jackson County, Oregon, library system found that while the county’s Latino population had tripled over a period of 24 years, the Spanish-language collection had grown hardly at all. There were no story times in Spanish, the book giveaway for kids included no Spanish titles, and the website was only in English. All this gave the investigators “the overall impression that Spanish speakers are not considered part of the community nor welcome at the Library.”

One thing LS&S is good at, however, is devaluing its staff. The company was penalized almost $70,000 for “wage and hour” violations by the Department of Labor in 2017. The company co-founder made clear his contempt for the allegedly lazy librarian doing nothing for 35 years, and his company brings this contempt into every contract it secures. The sales pitch made to local governments plays directly to their fiscal anxieties: “Pensions crushed General Motors, and it is crushing the governments in California,” Pezzanite claimed. This is a classic example of burdening public servants for leadership failures, and it’s deeply wrong. In California’s case, governments woefully and knowingly underfunded the pension fund, effectively stealing from their own employees (and it’s funny how no one mentions GM’s executive salaries and golden parachutes, which remained exorbitant even in the face of failure).

[zoobus]

As the city council heard protest after protest, the LS&S representative was largely silent, telling a reporter, “It’s an emotional issue and it always will be because libraries are the heart and soul of a community.”

...The city council, meanwhile, was growing weary of hearing from opposition. “I’m tired of this crap,” one council member blurted out, referring to the pleas of his own constituents. None of the citizens in the room spoke in favor of the LS&S plan.

And the city council adopted it anyway.

[blunderpuff]

When they take over, LS&S fires all the employees (killing any pensions they may have had), and then hires them back at retail worker wages. They rarely-- if ever-- hire back the actual LIBRARIANS who have Master’s Degrees in Library & Information Sciences.

So when you walk into a LS&S-owned library? It’s not a real library anymore. It’s a bookstore with its own agenda. Real libraries strive to be have materials with differing viewpoints. Real libraries have real librarians who read Library Journal and book reviews and make sure they’re buying the best materials for their community. We’re so fucking socialist, yo. Privatization is a plague. They’re not beholden to the community, to the municipal government, to anyone but their shareholders.

[thatwritererinoriordan]

I don't want to reblog the whole media accessibility post, so here's just the books part:

Books:

Library Genesis: a good all-in-one ebook finder. Has books, magazines, scientific papers, etc. Well organized and able to sort by Author, Genre, etc etc. Almost all books in .epub format

Calibre: Not piracy but a free software for reading said .epub files, and other ebook formats. Good for sorting your books.

Sci-Hub: Research papers, academic books, pdfs, etc. Helpful for collage students.

IT ebook: eBooks about learning programming languages.

audiobookbay: Audiobook downloads.

Booksonic: Audiobook streaming.

5e.tools: Dnd player’s manual, guide, etc.

Books on learning various languages.

Mangadex: Manga, Doujinshi.

Headspace sleep audio.

Various books and manuals.

[allineedistostudy]

Free textbooks

These are links to free ebooks because we’re broke from paying full tuition for online classes. Just search your textbooks in one of these links and you can download a free PDF version of your textbooks! We love to pirate textbooks and save hundreds of dollars. :D 

https://b-ok.cc

https://www.pdfdrive.com

http://gen.lib.rus.ec

http://www.gutenberg.org

http://slader.com (for textbook answers)

https://openstax.org/ (FREE textbooks on a variety of subjects groups)

Please share this with your fellow classmates because we love to save $$. Help a friend! This is totally legal. Happy studying!

Feel free to add new links to free textbooks :)

[teaboot]

I have one very simple political belief and that is 'if there is a thing that a person will suffer or die without, then they should have it, and they shouldn't have to earn or deserve it'

[floatingmirrorsdeactivated]

[aus-yeezus]

[omgislena-blog]

[pharah-airways]

@clown-of-madness had an important tag

[apas-95]

[apas-95]

not even a joke anymore

[tinytravels]

I am convinced this site only really updates for mobile now. Trying to do anything on desktop is the true hellsite experience

[favorite-aesthetic]

The Most Majestic Libraries In The World

[flamingdumpsterkittn]

@danipup these are absolutely magical!

[accidental-muse]

oh, they are indeed! 

[incorrect-trekk]

Kirk: How many kids do you have?

Pike: Biologically, emotionally, or legally

[liberalsarecool]

The strongest correlation to crime rates is the inverse correlation to income.