hello, internet.

kateskute: my first tattoo. it’s in arabic and it means “my...

Wed, 19 May 2010 05:54:00 -0400

my first tattoo. it’s in arabic and it means “my best days are with you” which is a quote from the song with you by the subway. we used to listen to the song all the time when we first met and i love it as much today as i did the first day i got it.

Sorry! That’s not how someone who knows Arabic would write it!

First, the letters in each word are supposed to connect. You’ve written جيدة properly but in the other words you’re doing the equivalent of writing in children’s all-caps.

Second, in the words that you have failed to connect, the letters are in the wrong order. The words are all spelled backwards. Which means that your children’s all-caps spell out absolute gibberish.

Finally, the translation you attempted is… questionable. Not as questionable as when I was trying to translate the gibberish, but still not excellent. جيدة means “good,” not “best,” and the phrase “with me” is actually supposed to be (kindasorta) a contraction. And it’s not supposed to use the form of “you” which is used to directly address people.

Tentatively, I would translate “my best days are with you” to “ايامي احسن معك”. I am tentative because I’m actually not a native Arabic speaker— I’ve just studied the language for a few semesters. My translation is, to the best of my knowledge, grammatically correct, but there may be more idiomatic phrasings.

This is not to say that it would not be an improvement. Your version, I would translate as “HEY,YOU-WITH good MY DAYS.” Only worse.

People of the world: please do not tattoo yourself with messages in languages you do not know. Failing that, consult with native speakers to ensure that your tattoo— which you will not understand— is at least comprehensible to others. Failing that, ask some white chick on the internet, or do a basic google search, and try not to write like a dyslexic two year old.

TWO SLICES OF PIZZA in the LAST TWO WEEKS, you guys!!! OK, maybe...

Fri, 07 May 2010 18:50:00 -0400

TWO SLICES OF PIZZA in the LAST TWO WEEKS, you guys!!!

OK, maybe if I actually drank more, that would be a “scary” number. But seriously- the best way they can find to shame me out of drinking is to invoke CALORIES BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!!!

Oh wait, nevermind, this is the second-best… I already had to go through the whole “you could be sexually assaulted!!!” rigamarole. Newsflash: I was! It had nothing to do with drinking!

Greek Life Edu, folks. I have to sit through the whole thing so my fraternity’s insurance payments go down. Blergh.

ilykadamen: so-treu: notemily: novazembla:...

Thu, 06 May 2010 04:22:10 -0400

ilykadamen:

so-treu: notemily: novazembla: ihatethismess:

Google Maps Gains “Avoid Arizona” Option

Oh dang.

Thank you, Google, every so often you get a thing right.

AWESOME. But also, sadly, not true; the original poster says it’s a joke.

But man, if only. What a message to send.

Dorianisms: Requesting advice

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:22:37 -0400

Dorianisms: Requesting advice:

So, I’ve been having trouble breathing for the last couple of days—this is something that crops up occasionally. It just feels like the upper portion of my chest (like, ribcage up) won’t expand fully. It’s not really harmful (I’m in no danger of actually being unable to breathe, just restricted…

Reblog for long answer— That sounds a lot like my asthma, actually. I don’t do any of the typical wheezing, though I do cough. If you can afford it, you might visit a pulmonologist. If you want to self-diagnose a little, see if you can bum a few puffs of albuterol from someone next time you feel constricted, and see if it does anything. It’s my understanding that albuterol is very safe; unlike my other asthma meds, which have important daily limits, I can use my inhaler every fifteen minutes if I need to (with the caveat that I will also need to see my pulmonologist right away if it’s that bad!)

I hope you feel better!

SHOES

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:18:03 -0400

rhionna:

About:
My name is Rhionna. I’m a tattoo artist that was recently diagnosed with a condition known as brittle diabetes. It has caused a lot of stress on my body, and at the age of 27 I am in stage two kidney failure. In addition to being quite ill, I do not have health insurance. I am unable to work because of dangerous blood sugar and keytones in my blood stream which both causes illness and changes in vision. While some days my vision is good, other days it is quite difficult to see clearly and in the tattoo industry, this is not a good thing.

To try and make some sort of income, I am making shoes. I will explain in this update the types of shoes that are available and the prices as well as my contact information for ordering your shoes.

TRADITIONAL SHOES
What I mean by ‘traditional’ is the way in which they are created. They are physically made by me with physical media. (Markers, paint, inks, etc.) They are first sketched in pencils and then inked and colored. After that process, they are sealed with a medium gloss varnish. This seals the canvas and protects the color. HOWEVER, I have to stress that these shoes are for daily walking and not hiking in mountains. (I would hope you had more comfortable shoes for that, anyhow!) The varnish will protect the color and canvas from light water. But they cannot be submerged completely. They cannot be subjected to excessive water deluges or waterlogged conditions. Please keep that in mind when ordering shoes, as the non-traditional shoe may be a better fit for you. (Haha! And there’s a pun.)

Timeframe: As of right now, from the time I get the shoe it takes one week to create, confirm design, finish, varnish and seal and ship. Rush orders are available in some circumstances for an additional fee of $10.

Warranty: A lot of people have asked me about this, so I wanted to discuss the warranty of traditional shoes. First of all, they are a craft item. While I can promise you that I will work diligently on them, I cannot promise that they will last forever so that you may bequeath them to your next-of-kin. As I have said before, they are sealed with a varnish and the inside can be sprayed with Scotch Guard to keep water out as well. But ultimately, it’s canvas with marker and paint. Please be aware of that. If things spill on them, the varnish will protect them and you can easily wipe them. I have tested this myself. It works just fine, so no worries there!

Subject Matter: This is negotiable. I won’t do anything slanderous or hateful, but I highly doubt that I’ll get requests for those sorts of things. The subject of your shoes is up to you. I cannot pick what you want to put on them, but I will be more than happy to help you brainstorm to figure out what might suit you!

Shoe Type: As pictured above, the slip-in is the only shoe that I have available for traditional media as of right now. It is not in my budget to buy other shoes. If you want to buy your own shoes and send them, I will be more than happy to design them as long as they are canvas. (More information on this is found in the pricing section)

Non-Traditional Shoes

These shoes are provided by a website and printed by Keds. The styles of shoes are the following:

Men’s Hightop and Men’s Lowtop

Women’s lace, Women’s slip-in and Women’s slip-in mini

Kid’s lace, Kid’s slip-in

PRICING

Traditional: $60 - $70, depending on style. If you provide your own shoes, the cost is discounted by $20. There is no haggling and there is no group/multiple order specials.

Non-Traditional: $60 - $90, depending on the style.

These prices include shipping. Please take into consideration that it takes me all day to put the designs on the shoes. That doesn’t include the time it takes me to sketch and work with clients to make sure it is exactly what they want. I am willing to work with people, but I apologize in advance that I cannot accept payments or good-will gestures. I cannot barter or trade goods for shoes.

I appreciate your business more than I can say. Every pair of shoes that you commission for me goes directly towards medication, food and doctor’s visits. So thank you, in advance, for the opportunity to provide a service and I hope to continue doing this more often in the future.

-Rhi

CONTACT INFORMATION:

email: sylvadine@gmail.com / rhionna@gmail.com
Google Messenger: rhionna@gmail.com
MSN: sylvadine@live.com
AIM: sylvadine
Twitter: sylvadine

(Haha do you see the trend?)

Dumblr Bumblr Tumblr: Spokeo.com Has Info on You. Posted. Publicly

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:57:00 -0400

Dumblr Bumblr Tumblr: Spokeo.com Has Info on You. Posted. Publicly:

And it’s probably more than you’re comfortable having out there:
…
This is why I do not use my real name online unless it’s absolutely necessary, i.e. in making a purchase. And even with that? Even with my legendary extreme paranoia?—Yeah. They got me. They got me good.

Haah. It’s only a matter of time, obvs, but I was hugely relieved by my own results. They had my house address and my house phone number (terrible!!!) but not my cell. They knew my parents, and knew my parents were in their 50s… but think I’m in my 80s. Also I’m married with kids, like sports and don’t care about politics. They also think my mom “has elderly parents” when in reality she was orphaned in 1977.

But… they know how much our house is worth. They know we have a pool. And they know that my mom loves reading. In fact, except for the “elderly parents” (which may, bizarrely, be me— since I’m apparently eighty)… they know a lot. An awful lot.

I think I’m going to tell my mom to ask to be removed, too.

dorianisms: captaincadet: fuckyeahprettynails: attackedastoria...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:11:39 -0400

dorianisms:

captaincadet:

fuckyeahprettynails:

attackedastoria:

boldly going where no nail has gone before..

homg, she did what i was going to do! she really did boldy go.

I was about to say “wow, those are stellar!”, but then I realized what a TERRIBLE PUN THAT WOULD BE.

They’re really cool though!

LIKE. LIKE SO HARD OMG.

"No baseball fan has to explain his mania to any other baseball fan. They are a fraternity. …"

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:05:46 -0400

“No baseball fan has to explain his mania to any other baseball fan. They are a fraternity. …”

- John K. Hutchens (via randomsox)

So, all baseball fans are axiomatically dudes? Good to know.

"so if i want to drink alone dressed like a pirate or look like a dyke or wear high heels and..."

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:57:30 -0400

“

so if i want to drink alone dressed like a pirate
or look like a dyke
or wear high heels and lipstick
or hide in a convent
or try to be mayor
or marry a writer
smoke crack and slash tires
make jokes you don’t like
or paint ducks and retire

YOU CAN BET YOUR BLACK ASS THAT I’M GOING TO

[shouted] That’s right, bitchez!

”

- lauredhel | Posted without comment, new song by Amanda Palmer (via lauredhel)

I … what … she just … NO.

Huh. That’s the first time she’s managed to appropriate me (a queer person), rather than my friends (POC, PWD, etc.)

I don’t think you get to use that one, AFP. I’m pretty sure “dyke” is just for, you know, dykes to reclaim. Women who live that every day. Not women who “look like” them, when they choose to, when they’re not endangered by it.

And holy fuck does it bother me to have to write that— both the word and the explanation. I didn’t think I could get angrier at AFP, but then it got personal. How did you folks at FWD possibly survive Evelyn Evelyn?!

I've been writing for twelve hours... time for a self-confidence crisis!

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:59:26 -0400

Is this too informal??

It’s impossible to read about cyperpunk without encountering Cartesian dualism and the (in?)separability of body and mind—I’m pleased to have discharged my obligatory mention of the term so early in the paper.

Honestly I’m as nervous about the (in?)separability as I am about the quip. It’s fast, it’s accurate, it’s easy, surely I can’t get away with it!

Also, I am only halfway done, and the damn thing is due at 8am. AUGH.

annaoverseas: ihatethismess: rubbingtheimpossibletoburst: seaponies: 1. Grab the nearest book....

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:04:14 -0400

annaoverseas:

ihatethismess:

rubbingtheimpossibletoburst:

seaponies:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

“And a jay bird lands there on the head of the flower.” - Doris: An Anthology of Zines and Other Stuff 1991-2001

“Would you say the impression Murillo gives of the boys is positive or negative?” Realidades 1 textbook. haha, I’m lesson planning.

Motivation also has an impact. My AP Psychology book. What a boring sentence.

“Additional loyalty was displayed by the thirty-seven servants who remained: Cartwright armed them with guns, sticks, and stones and laid in ambush when he suspected - mistakenly - that the privateers had returned later in September.” - The Creative Misunderstandings of George Cartwright: A Popular Culture in Cartwright’s Labrador, 1770 - 1786, by Stephen Hay. It’s his MA thesis, and I’m referencing it in something I’m writing.

I mean, I’m not on Tumblr right now, my computer wrote this post itself.

“Trouble laughed softly, not entirely displeased by the image.” Trouble and Her Friends, by Melissa Scott.

However, if you had asked me for page 305, the page I was actually reading, the fifth sentence would have been, “Trouble closed her eyes, giving herself up to the sensations, the too-slow touch, easing between her labia, thumb circling her clit while a finger pressed and entered her.” A far superior sentence.

Also, this is why I love my life: I’m reading kickass lesbian cyberpunk for class. I’m writing about marginalized bodies and cyberspace, and debating whether I want to compare/contrast the in-person sex on p. 305 with some virtual sex earlier in the novel; the in-person sex is described as totally superior specifically because it involves the actual body, which ties into my overall thesis about how the book rejects the disembodiment of typical cyberpunk.

Also, I am not on tumblr either. My computer is having the same problem as Anna’s. I swear.

Oh yeeeeeah!

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:50:10 -0400

A friend of mine has been going out of his way to give super-long, super-cuddly hugs lately, or to say a heartfelt hello every time he saw me. I noticed the uptick in affection and was feeling all warm and fuzzy about it, but also kind of confused. They were definitely correlated with a good, deep conversation we’d had, but he’d seemed OK after that— and these weren’t “please comfort me” hugs, they were “let me comfort you” hugs.

Then I remembered: I came out to him last week!

I’m kind of glad that it’s so NOT a big deal any more that I can actually forget about it.

And I’m even more glad that his response has been so sweet. This epiphany has totally brightened my evening.

kaninchenzero: I daydream about a time when asking “Is it a boy or a girl?” would be an enormous...

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:34:09 -0400

kaninchenzero:

I daydream about a time when asking “Is it a boy or a girl?” would be an enormous social blunder that draws stares and murmured opprobrium from passers-by. One could respond, in a suitably chill tone, “We don’t know yet; xe hasn’t said.”

Leaving aside the rest… what a beautiful daydream!

How to Make American Teens Smarter

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:52:56 -0400

How to Make American Teens Smarter:

dorianisms:

ouyangdan:

dorianisms:

notemily:

bringmethathorizon: obsessionful: infoneer-pulse:

What do American kids read? From middle school through 12th grade, the answer is consistent: the Twilight and Harry Potter series, with a little bit of Romeo and Juliet and Holocaust literature sprinkled in. The average reading level of the top 20 books read by U.S. high school students is 5.3—two and a half grade levels easier than a front-page article in The New York Times or Washington Post. In no grade do students typically read nonfiction, beyond memoirs like the The Diary of Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel’s Night—even though success on standardized tests, in college, and in many jobs requires the ability to comprehend dense nonfiction texts.

Those findings are from one of the only surveys available of the reading habits of American young people, conducted by the educational technology firm Renaissance Learning. The survey includes both books read for pleasure and those assigned in class, tracking which e-books 4.6 million students downloaded from Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader software during the 2008-09 academic year. The reading lists—in many ways unimpressive—are significant in light of the release last week of the nation’s fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores, which were dismal.

» via The Daily Beast

BLAH BLAH BLAH TWILIGHT AND HARRY POTTER ARE MAKING OUR KIDS DUMB SLIPPERY SLOPECAKES

Okay, look. Teenagers? Are people. With their own preferences, opinions, and reading habits. Sure, they might be in the process of forming those, more so than we are in our crotchety adulthood, but that does not make them less valid. Do you remember being a teenager? Do you remember being told what to read by adults who thought they knew what was good for you better than you did?

Did it work?

We can talk on and on about what we think kids “should” be reading, and I’m all for giving them access to a wide range of materials and introducing them to new kinds of books, but forcing them to read things is a great way to take the pleasure out of reading them. Also, dude, everyone reads Harry Potter. Some of those kids are going to grow up to be avid readers of all sorts of things, and some of them aren’t. Demonizing Harry Potter isn’t going to change that.

What Sophie said, pretty much.

Also, those are some pretty blanket assumptions, there, oh pal of assumption. No one else read Emmerson or was forced to trudge through Homer? No one else read any Vonnegut or met Kerouac before college?

You mean Every Single Teenage is a mindless drone who has no reading preference of their own? I had a penchant for Russian Histories…not Tolstoy or anything, but actual history books about the Romanovs and further back. Here I thought they were people, almost adults who were making opinions and learning how to assert themselves in the world as such because in just a short amount of time we will be expecting it of them (and how the fuck else are they going to learn how if we don’t treat them like we expect it of them?), but I am full of whacky notions about how kids are actually people…

Blanket assumptions are fun! Wheee!

I didn’t read Harry Potter until I was learning my third fucking language. At 25.

Also very good points! I mean, yes, I was reading Harry Potter. And Diane Duane, and YA Fiction more generally. And I was also reading all sorts of Eccentric Nonfiction Books (not gender/feminist theory or theatre stuff until I started university, but biographies, science books, books about music…lots of things). Even if the latter wasn’t true, it’d still be okay, but it’s a really good point that kids & teens are not some kind of monolith.

I don’t know. My two younger brothers are in public school in Arkansas right now. For 11th grade English, the older brother had to read two books. Any two. He could pick. Two books a year— with no proper discussion, since everyone read different books!— is just not an adequate English education.

I mean, the books that teens choose to read— those are their choice. “ZOMG HARRY POTTER AND TWILIGHT” is a pretty bullshit argument. But… the stuff on the curriculum? The stuff that’s not their choice? I’d rather we push them to read the hard stuff. Harry Potter is awesome pleasure reading, but it shouldn’t count for English class.

I’ve had a stellar English education. Because my teachers picked books that were long, or old, or complicated, or from a minority perspective — and then they showed us why these books were famous. That’s the point, to me; you take a book that isn’t accessible, and you make it accessible by teaching students to close-read and to notice the themes and allegories. It’s not really honest for me to say I enjoyed Black Boy— but I sure as hell appreciated it.

Anyway, I haven’t read the original article, but I just wanted to say: Teens should read whatever they want on their own time, and more power to them if they want to read the books that tell them that teens can have fantastic lives of their own making. But in school, we absolutely should be keeping an eye on what they study. Because only a teacher can make Shakespeare fun and valuable to a 7th-grader, but Harry Potter can be read any time.

for the record

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:54:00 -0400

The things I cleaned out of the common room:

a brown coffee mug
a hand-painted white coffee mug
seven plastic forks
a can of polycrilic, whatever that is
a small blue dorm hoodie
a large black dorm hoodie
three and a half bagels
a Celestine Reef magic card
a large square of fuzzy pink fabric
an empty photo album
a blunt pencil with no eraser
a paperback entitled “Humanity at Stake”
a small spool of black thread
three candies that I cannot identify, and may be cough drops
a white plastic container with a lid
my sense of humour

OK, I still haven’t found that last one. Let me know if you see it anywhere. I’ll be over here, scrubbing what may be Elmer’s glue and cake crumbs.

for cereal?

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:50:47 -0400

I think my least favourite part of everybody else having time to hang out and have fun while I am at the library working, is the part where I come back from the library at 1:30am and the common room is a total mess and I am clearly the only one to clean it up.

Seriously, everyone I know is camping tonight, and I am the only one present on this floor of the dorm tonight. Only I can clean! I turned them down for camping, but I wasn’t even invited to/ informed of whatever gathering caused the mysterious stains on the table, which I just spent half an hour cleaning up. The baffling-containers-of-water full of wilted plants to which I am allergic were a nice touch, too. For each one, I had to make a trip to the bathroom to dump out the water and a trip to the trash room! And of course I now have a tub of assorted college student-y belongings sitting in my room, to be redistributed to their owners later. I guess I didn’t have to wash the dishes. I could have just put them in the tub dirty. But then they might have gotten everything else dirty, and you know, clearly these belongings are very important to their owners.

And they wondered why I was excited about not living with them any more next year. It is because of this! Tonight was going to be the first night that antics in the common room didn’t keep me from sleeping, since nobody would be there to make noise— but all they did was get creative about it! They can keep me awake even from miles away! I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so pissed about that half hour of sleep that I kind of needed!

I guess I shouldn’t exacerbate it by wasting even more of my time on it, even in so stress-relieve-y a venue as tumblr, so I’ll leave it there. But really, folks… for cereal?!

why?

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:53:05 -0400

kaninchenzero:

eloriane:

tumblr, why, when I click “reblog” on a post, do you never reblog the actual text I am trying to reply to? I guess it’s my fault for only reblogging long things, but I always end up copy-pasting. Why not just reblog everything and let me cut it down myself? Your computer brain can’t tell what’s important in a conversation! It is not as smart as my tipsy but human brain!

Also, the presentation of names in a string of reblogs makes it hard to follow who said what. Why isn’t the name on the same level of indentation as the stuff that person said? Or… find a different system altogether!

ALSO! There is no way for everyone to see my amusing string of tags! The dashboard cuts them off, and my tumblr itself doesn’t show them at all! This at least should be easy to fix… just show all the tags on the dashboard!

TUMBLR I KNOW YOU CAN CHANGE. I trust you. So… please do so!

There is a way to get all the text back. When you click Reblog there should be a grey rectangle at the top with “as …” in it. Click on that and more grey rectangles will pop up; one of them should say “Text.” Click on that and poof, text!

I reblog this in full simply to show I can!

Thank you SO much. I also figured out that the tags on my tumblr itself were just a factor of the theme, so I’ve found a theme that DOES show the tags and I’m much happier.

I still wish there was a way to get them all to show on my dashboard, though, because I’m not the only one who sometimes uses amusing/long/amusingly-long tags. Ah well!

ALSO

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:14:59 -0400

Why is it that the “real games” for “real gamers” seem to have WANTON MURDER as a requirement?! Oh wait, I know why! It’s because “real gamers” is code for “dude gamers”! And only dudes can enjoy WANTON MURDER for fun. That is dudes! WANTON MURDER! Masculinity! Why do dudes put up with it!

Sadybusiness: For the record!

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:11:00 -0400

Sadybusiness: For the record!:

I was not specifically calling for comics submissions! Because like now we have LOTS of those. (And: People who read Tiger Beatdown and/or my Tumblr really like comics, POINT CONFIRMED.) I was just illustrating a point, which is: Write in about something that is (a) of interest to our readers, and…

“International issues” - I can talk about how pissy it makes me to be a Canadian citizen who still has to put up with America’s political bullshit! It’s like, gay marriage: seriously? This is where are conversation is? Will people start fucking horses and ducks and shit if we allow gay marriage? Um, why not… ask some people who actually did all this already? Oh, but you can’t do that, because it turns out that in Canada people don’t fuck livestock or marry their couches or burn down straight people’s houses. Sorry, I can’t talk to you about this any more!

Also, I know enough about fashion to recognize some of “who you’re wearing” and also to be really sad when McQueen died (SO SAD!) but not to… write about it intelligently. I really just think what Tom and Lorenzo tell me to think.

I do, however, know a decent amount about video games. I only personally play games that don’t require WANTON MURDER so I’m not a “real gamer” but my brothers are “real gamers” and I read guides online and watch them play so I can talk about the mainstream stuff. And honestly it would be pretty fun to write about why I love the games I do. Harvest Moon! Cooking Mama! Phoenix Wright! All problematic, but ultimately fun, in interesting ways!

Also, I’m in a fraternity. That makes for some fun stories. Like: it turns out, you can have co-ed bathrooms, with multiple stalls and showers, and nobody rapes anybody! You just… pee!

ALSO I had two glasses where maybe I should have had one? WHATEVS. Tonight is a GOOD NIGHT.

why?

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:57:40 -0400

tumblr, why, when I click “reblog” on a post, do you never reblog the actual text I am trying to reply to? I guess it’s my fault for only reblogging long things, but I always end up copy-pasting. Why not just reblog everything and let me cut it down myself? Your computer brain can’t tell what’s important in a conversation! It is not as smart as my tipsy but human brain!

Also, the presentation of names in a string of reblogs makes it hard to follow who said what. Why isn’t the name on the same level of indentation as the stuff that person said? Or… find a different system altogether!

ALSO! There is no way for everyone to see my amusing string of tags! The dashboard cuts them off, and my tumblr itself doesn’t show them at all! This at least should be easy to fix… just show all the tags on the dashboard!

TUMBLR I KNOW YOU CAN CHANGE. I trust you. So… please do so!