Applesforthis - You Can't Get There From Here

Abandoned buildings reclaimed by the desert sands ➤ Kolmanskop, a ghost town frozen in time. ph. Mark Daniel

I love this picture so much! Post it whenever I come across it.

The amount of shitty news coming out this week made me feel like this needed to be said, so.

For all the boys and young men currently afraid that being male means some kind of moral death sentence: the same world that produced Neil Gaiman and Donald Trump also produced Levar Burton, Steve from Blues Clues, and my (step)dad, who isn't famous but did look at a deeply traumatized child with a bunch of mental health issues and said "is anybody going to support that?" and then didn't wait for an answer. There are good men out there doing good work in ways both big and small. Choose to use your strength to help rather than hurt, your voice to speak for those who must be silent, and you can be one of them.

Be the man Mister Rogers knew you could be. He wasn't wrong very often, and he believed you could do wonderful things. I do too.

(Anyone clowning on here will summarily get their ass kicked and their blog blocked. Pain is pain and I know there are a lot of scared teenagers right now.)

Some closeups of the best graffiti I've ever seen

Mogens Trolle, photographer

Proboscis monkey, Borneo (July 2018)

[Image description: a facebook post reads Bobby Easley is at High Caliber Tattoo... followed by I'm very proud to have been able to cover up a tattoo for a client and new friend who has changed his way of thinking about people. I'm happy I was able to make him feel better about himself and the skin he lives in. The post includes four images showing a large swastika tattoo on the back of someone's calf. The person's skin is white and the tattoo includes an American flag motif. In the subsequent images the swastika is drawn over in purple ink and finally tattooed over with a gorgeous dark red carnation. /End image description.]

Reminder: you can always just stop hating and being an asshole. You'll probably even feel better about yourself.

[Image description: a picture of actor Pedro Pascal with the quote, "I can't think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist." /End image description.]

I'm thinking a lot about the subject of racism and fandom recently because I'm about to publish a fic that's written from the perspective of a character of color and I'm white. I feel a lot of caution around that and I want to explicitly invite any BIPOC readers to let me know how my fic lands with you. Your experiences in particular of it are really important to me. <3 (I'm planning to post in about a week, leaving this here in case any readers look me up after/while reading)

Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾 you contain multitudes of value and I'm sorry that the color of your skin and the power of your voice makes people not want to acknowledge that.

[Image description: a wheelchair made from lumber, screws, front caster wheels, big rear wheelchair wheels, a thin firm-looking seat cushion, duct tape, and a few other hardware odds and ends. The chair appears handmade with a solid but DIY vibe, and many of the parts look like they could have come from a neighborhood hardware store.]

In case anyone finds it helpful because mobility aids are horrifically expensive and inaccessible…

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

He also is working on cheap, open source, accessible designs for beach chairs, off road chairs, motorized attachments (think smart drive), and so on. Plus he skateboards in his wheelchair. Cool dude, helpful info, pass it on.

[“When we are able to access our “body memories” through the felt sense, then we can begin to discharge the instinctive survival energy that we did not have a chance to use at the time of an event. Regardless of what your particular situation is, you can learn to discharge and transform this energy. The discharge can be dramatic and visible, or subtle and quiet. It can be an intense shivering or the slightest sense of inner trembling; or it may be a changing of temperature between hot and cold, between warmth and coolness. Afterwards, you might notice that things fall into place a little easier, or that you’re calmer and more relaxed. Perhaps things that once upset you won’t seem to bother you as much, and you are significantly less critical of yourself. Or, you might experience a subtle deepening of your sense of well-being. It’s also entirely possible that the change may be more profound. Chronic pain may disappear. You might be able to do things that you’ve never before attempted. Your relationships with loved ones and others might become freer and easier. You might experience a surge in your feelings of passion and personal power. When trauma is healed, shift happens.”]

peter levine, from healing trauma, 2008