I can only imagine that my computer is going to experience an earth-shattering orgasm previously only experienced by fanfiction characters when I finally close all my tabs and windows and shut it down
peeling those sour rainbow gummy strips into long thin strings and putting them into cheap energy drink to create something im calling battery acid spaghetti will update once ive finished it
being told you’d cruise the seas for american gold you’d fire no guns, shed no tears, now you’re a broken man on a halifax pier might not be a universal experience, but like neither is the club. so a little perspective might be nice
you have to forgive the printer because it's one of the most machine-ass machines we interact with on a day to day basis. that thing says kerchunk. hardly anything says kerchunk these days. you can't get mad at her when she kerchunks up a little.
GLaDOS voice: "Would you like to see some artwork I generated? I've heard from other test subjects that AI-generated artwork produces an uncanny valley response in human viewers because they can't perceive it as fully real. They've told me that it looks absolutely hideous to them, that they can't imagine anything more disgusting than AI art. But, well I've been practicing and wanted your honest opinion. Feel free to let me know how ugly you find this by ranking it on a scale from 'vomit-inducing' to 'eye-bleeding'."
A robotic arm lowers from the ceiling holding a hand mirror up to Chell's face
I'm so close to being done with my master's thesis I feel like linear time no longer applies to me and I'm not entirely sure I retain the ability to read
every sentence I read in a digital scan of an early-mid 18th century musical treatise printed in fraktur, 2 more of my brain cells dedicated themselves to thinking about standing behind a horse and yelling "boo" instead of reading Fraktur
I wanted to look back and share some of my experiences reading books with queer characters or books I projected queer experiences onto throughout my life.
Age 9: The first book I remember reading with any sort of queer representation was Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan. I was 9 years old and told my mom I couldn't read it. Reason cited: there was a bad word. Bad word? Lesbian. Kudos to my mom for telling me it was not a bad word. She also said I didn't have to read any book I didn't want to, but she would happily read it alongside me. I declined. No idea what made me think lesbian was a bad word.
Age 10: Now In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, the sequel to Alanna: The First Adventure was one of my favorite books as a child. I loved the scenes about her wanting to learn to be a lady but I also loved the scenes where she would sword fight. She certainly planted the seeds of genderqueer into my brain and challenged the strict gender roles. And wow, that last fight scene... that was so important to me.
Age 13: The first book I remember reading where I wanted the character to be aromantic was The Squad: Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I didn't know that word yet but I found the romances in the series to be shallow and tacked on. The friendships were more interesting, engaging, and filled with much more emotion. I wanted more scenes between the friend group rather than the scenes with the obligatory male love interest. I would tell people about these books and say, I loved them except the romance didn't really fit. And I still believe that now upon rereading Perfect Cover as an adult.
Age 13: Cut to all the paranormal YA fantasy I was reading when I was in middle school and I started encountering more and more gay characters. I was still at the point in my life where I assumed I only liked guys but also I was incredibly confused at the dating craze in my school. I remember Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins was puzzling to me because Jenna, a prominent side character, was talking about her past relationship and was using she/her pronouns to refer to her ex. I didn't realize what it meant until later in the book, when I believe she explicitly calls herself a lesbian. After this book (and a few similar ones) I started expecting gay or lesbian representation in side characters of the books I read.
Age 14: The first book I read with a trans character was Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman with Lady Dela who was hands down, the best character in the book. I was about 14 maybe when I read this book. I had not been exposed to trans characters, I didn't know anyone who was openly trans in my life but this book started poking at my idea of gender and what it means to be a girl or a woman. I have no idea how the representation holds up, but Lady Dela was a step forward for me, which I find incredibly meaningful.
Age 14: One of the first adult books I read was Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. This was one of the first books I read with a central bisexual character, Zoe. Her having loving relationships with both Max and Vanessa made complete sense to me and why so many characters made a big deal about her identity was so odd for me. Why wouldn't she? Something I found powerful and touching was how Picoult was known for writing devastating books (ex. My Sister's Keeper) and she very intentionally wrote a happy ending for this book focusing on a same sex marriage. I remember my mom talking about this and maybe this is my current self projecting but that always felt so special to me. There's a CD that comes with this book and I listened to the last song, about the main character being moms, over and over again.
Age 14: A book that radicalized me was Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, which introduced me to intersectional feminism. In terms of queerness, there were three openly queer characters. There were also make out scenes between two girls and I liked those scenes a lot. Jennifer was an out lesbian, who ended up in a brief relationship with Soisie, who is bisexual, and they have a very sweet relationship. Petra is also out as a trans girl and also has a sweet romance with a pirate. Queerness was such an important part of this book and I think this was the book that made me think I might be bi!
Age 15: Malinda Lo is one of the co founders of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks and I found out about her through her book, Ash, a retelling of Cinderella. I found it very romantic and I still think of Ash and Kasia fondly. This book also started getting me interested in reading diversely and being intentional. Ash was a huge factor how I read books and think about the ways diversity in literature. This made me think about my place int he queer community as well. This was around the time I thought I might be bi but wasn't willing to commit to the label. I told a few people but they seemed... unsupportive. But through fiction, I was able to explore my identity in a way that was safe, even if I wasn't able to admit it to myself.
Age 17: The next story was also helpful in me exploring/being exposed to queer main characters with Turn of the Story aka In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, which was written on her blog initially. I read each installment as it came out and I actively was shipping Elliot and Luke. They were probably the first mlm couple I shipped in a story that had multiple installments (at the time). It was also important in normalizing bisexuality for me. Elliot has multiple relationships with characters of different genders throughout this book and it was ... not a big deal! It was a little bit of a deal, but Elliot's life and choices felt very real to me, including his bisexuality.
Age 19: At this point, I was in college and I had realized I was ace and embraced my role in the queer community. This led me to talking a class focusing on queer literature. This included literature I enjoyed and found compelling (like Fun Home by Alison Bechdel) and the worst book I have ever read (Adam by Ariel Schrag). But what really great about it were the conversations around literature we had with people in the queer community about queer literature. it was a very validating experience. The experience was a great intersection of my queer identity and my love of literature and analyzing it. Truly an invaluable class.
Age 20: When I was in college, I started reading even more queer literature, talking about my experiences as an ace person, and posting about them on here. Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee was not the first book with an ace protagonist I read but it was one that mirrored my life most closely. I still remember crying while reading this book at like 1AM. This was such a validating book to read and I truly think it was a healing experience, reading this book. I actually have a hard tome recommending this book, as it feels too personal to share with others.
Age 25: No longer in high school or college, I still read YA sometimes and Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie is why I still pick them up. Ophelia's experiences of navigating realizing she was queer, shook lose so many memories I had fully repressed. There was an anxiety we both had as teens I had not realized and the tension in my shoulders loosened after seeing my shared experience. At this point in my life, I was comfortably queer, in a long term relationship with a woman (who is now my fiancee!!), and out to people in my personal and professional life. And yet I was still discovering aspects of my identity. This is when I realized the journey was neverending and also was a journey I loved being on.
Age 29: I currently have over 300 books listed in my LQBTQIA shelf on Storygraph and I love promoting queer media on my tumblr here and I attend a queer book club, I casually share book recommendations with queer rep and make book lists and for the library, from picturebooks to YA novels. I feel comfortable in my skin and I am writing blog posts like this about my queer journey. I've come a long way and I am proud of myself and proud I can share without fear.
I'm so close to being done with my master's thesis I feel like linear time no longer applies to me and I'm not entirely sure I retain the ability to read
These pescatarian birds are directly exposed to PFAS contamination due to the island's position near the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Over fifty years of data show a peak in PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") content in seabird eggs in the 90s, followed by a decrease as regulations went into effect. The most recent findings show a 70% decrease of most common PFAS.
While continued vigilance a regulation is needed, this data indicates that regulations are working to reduce PFAS concentrations in marine ecosystems.
Yes!!!! I did a review of literature on PFASs in human drinking water about half a year ago, and there is a lot of really good progress! Please celebrate this, please don't let this solution be forgotten (at least so quickly) as the ozone layer or acid rain.
We are making genuine progress! Producers are dramatically altering how much they use PFAS and how much gets released in effluent, but also there's a lot better understanding of how to remove PFAS from the environment!
re my "read books that make you feel stupid" post: reading books you don't fully understand is probably the safest way to push yourself outside your comfort zone. you don't have to embarrass yourself in front of anyone. you can do it from your cozy bed. you can easily get help from book clubs or literary analysis online. you can go as slowly as you want. there's literally no risk.
You know, given how C. lupus, C. lupus familiaris, and C. latrans can all create perfectly viable hybrids, and that the proto-dogs that domestic dogs descended from much more resembled coyotes than wolves, it's not really a surprise that some yotes are experimenting with domestication.
Goddamn that lady must be fucking shredded to be able to chase down a coyote through a swamp.
"Don't let wild animals into your house, you are not going to make Dogs 2.0, you're going to get injured and the animal killed." is probably obvious enough advice that I don't need to put it in the tags as a reminder.
...I know more than four people on this site that have poisoned themselves trying out 'foraging guides' they found online, two people IRL who tried to keep raccoons at pets, and have a family member who got hospitalized for Cat Scratch Fever after grabbing a feral cat bare-handed.
This is apparently, not obvious enough.
Do Not Attempt To Domesticate Coyotes
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