This Is A Rough Time For A Lot Of People.  Please Take Care Of Yourselves!

This is great advice if you are able to travel to the ballot drop-off location or have someone you trust deliver it for you.

Also, check the requirements on your absentee ballot carefully!  In Wisconsin, the envelope for an absentee ballot needs to be signed on the outside by both the voter and a witness.  I think it needs the witness’ address, too.  If that information is missing, the ballot is NOT counted.  Check the requirements as soon as possible after you get your ballot so you have time to make arrangements, if necessary.

OK So with the shit with the USPS going on:

1. Check your Voter registration to make sure everything is up to date.  If you can, request a Mail-In Ballot.  I live in CO, where all elections are Mail-In only now, so I get one anyway.

2. Fill out your ballot per the instructions on your Ballot.  Some Notes:

Read Instructions thoroughly, and fill out your Ballot in private.

Do NOT post pictures of your Ballot as this may invalidate it.  DO Post pictures of your “I Voted” sticker.

Make sure to vote for all the offices up for election- as important as the presidential election is, your mayor, governer, local school board and sherrif have a MUCH bigger impact on your immediate safety and quality of life.  Google your candidates, look up the Leauge of Women Voter’s Guides for a reliably Impartial rundown of your local candidates. 

Remember also that it is better to have someone in office that is only moderately incompotent, than it is to have someone that actively wants you dead.  It is the first step to having someone worthwhile next time.

If you wanted a third party option, your local elections are the best place to do this- my own city council has several Green Party members and it got me city-sponsored single-stream recycling! Its also moving the state legislature significantly farther left.

3. INSTEAD OF MAILING IT- LOOK UP WHERE YOUR BALLOT DROP-OFF LOCATIONS ARE. 

They’re boxes you drive or walk or bus or bike or whatever up to and drop your ballot in, and the elections officials will have it that evening. Pros of Ballot Drop-Off:

Can be turned in the same day you reccive your ballot, if you want to get this over with ASAP

Open 24/7, so you can drop it off whenever

Absolutely guaranteed to get your vote counted, regardless of what Donald does with the Post Office.

No waiting in line

No exposing yourself to the coronavirus

Most cities will have several ballot Drop-Off locations, at places like the grocery store, the county courthouse, city hall, at high schools etc.  Google your town or county name and “Ballot Drop Off Locations” and it’ll give you directions even.

Absolutely Save the USPS, but this is the BEST way to make sure your vote gets counted this

Woo-hoo!

A Pride Month comic about quietly being proud to be queer 

Yay for pride variety!

so I did pretty much this last year, but I really wanted to remake it so it was larger, better done and included the lesbian flag because I forgot it last year

anyone who starts discourse on this will be blocked.

Make sure you have an active library card!  If you don’t have a card or haven’t used yours in a few years and your library is still open, get a card or have it renewed. (Check what ID you’ll need before you go.)  While you’re in the library, check out that book you’ve been meaning to read, the audiobook or music CD you’ve been meaning to listen to, the movie you want to watch, and whatever else catches your fancy!

You can ask about the library’s online resources while you’re there or look on the website when you get home.  Libraries can give you access to a lot of different resources, in addition to what’s listed above.  They may have downloadable or streaming e-books, e-audiobooks, music, movies, and TV shows.  Your library could give you access to classes on just about any subject, homework help for your kids, car repair guides, programs to help you learn a new language, and lots more.  If you go through the library’s website, they probably have information about what you will need to access all of these resources.

If you didn’t get your library card before they had to close to protect people, here are a few free resources you might enjoy.

Jim C. Hines started a Twitter thread where authors can link to free, lighthearted stories (both print and audio): https://twitter.com/jimchines/status/1238486764525948928

The Metropolitan Opera is offering a free streaming opera every night while they are closed: https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/

Some great artists are making coloring pages available for anyone to download and print: https://seananmcguire.tumblr.com/post/612756347442937856/catbatart-so-i-saw-a-great-post-by

Scholastic is offering day-by-day projects for kids in Pre-K through grade 6+: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

The Library of Congress is crowd-sourcing transcription of historical documents: https://crowd.loc.gov/

If you find that you’re having trouble thinking of things to do in the moment, make a list of stuff you want to try or keep meaning to do when you have time.  That craft you bought the supplies for but never started, the time-consuming recipe you want to try, a nagging minor home repair you haven’t gotten around to doing -- put them all on the list!  Make sure to get a good mix of fun things and chores.  You can either check the list when you get stuck or put ideas on slips of paper to pull from a bowl.

Look for ways to volunteer online or by phone!  I linked to the Library of Congress above, but there are tons of other crowd-sourcing initiatives you can do.  If you want something closer to home and like talking with people, an organization you belong to may need someone who can call members to make sure they’re ok or just chat with people who are lonely.

If the news is making you stressed, take breaks from it or limit how much time you spend reading/watching it.  If people are freaking out on social media, it’s ok to stop following them or not check those accounts as often.  Look for people who are posting fun things or links to free stuff you can try.  (Check your library’s website for those, too!)

Stuck at home? Here’s an isolation survival post:

(Everything here is free to use! Feel free to add on. Links were purposefully broken to avoid Tumblr’s spam prevention.)

Social:

discordapp.com/ - Like Skype but better, more accessible, smoother, and with more features. Call, play games, and chat with friends.

twitch.tv/ - Watch and chat with people doing everything from gaming to cooking to teaching.

Reading:

whichbook.net/ - helps you find what book to read

overdrive.com/ - Free audiobooks through your public library

standardebooks.org/ebooks/ - Free ebooks

rbdigital.com/ - Free audiobooks and ebooks through your public library

Movies:

www.kanopy.com/ - Free movies through your public library

www.ted.com/ - Watch lots of educational and inspiring talks

Hobbies:

join.skillshare.com/ - Learn how to do virtually anything with 2 free months of premium

scratch.mit.edu/ - Make a game or movie, super easy to use, good introductory programming “language”

gimp.org/downloads/ - Free photoshop-like program.

twinery.org/ - Make a text-based game

pixologic.com/sculptris/ - make 3D models

unity.com/ - Make a 3D game

yoyogames.com/gamemaker - make a 2D game

spotify.com/us/ - Listen to music

travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours - Museums with virtual tours

Dungeons and Dragons: (play over Discord!) (DM me if you want PDFs of the Handbooks)

probablybadrpgideas.tumblr.com/post/612459866001391616/basic-rules-for-dungeons-dragons-dungeons - The Basics

entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/beginners-guide-dungeons-and-dragons.htm - Learn to play

roll20.net/ - Make maps/play online

Video Games:

itch.io/ - play hundreds of games

freegameplanet.com/ - Even more free games!

dolphin-emu.org/ - Play Gamecube and Wii games

Phone Apps:

sourceforge.net/projects/gameboid/ - Play gameboy games

smartphones.gadgethacks.com/how-to/10-must-play-free-puzzle-games-for-iphone-android-0178848/ - list of puzzle games

Cooking:

fridgetotable.com/ - Input ingredients you have and get recipes you can make.

youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking - Learn how to cook with limited ingredients from a lovely old woman who lived during the Great Depression

butterwithasideofbread.com/homemade-bread/ - Make bread with yeast

letsdishrecipes.com/traditional-irish-soda-bread/ - Make bread without yeast

Other tips:

Take care of yourself (eat well, shower often, wear clean clothes, exercise, clean your space)

Talk with people

Do what makes you happy

Take time away from screens

Play – with your pets, your kids, your friends. Keep yourself active and busy and happy.

I’m quite sure that the handful of people who follow me already know this, but please help spread the word!

this is your yearly reminder that animals are not toys. they are a huge commitment. even small pets like hamsters and fish can be expensive and require a lot of work. if you’re planning to get someone a pet as a gift this holiday season, please only do so if you’re 100% sure that they are willing and able to take responsibility for the well-being of a living thing, potentially for years or even decades.

So cute!

Transparent Jellyfish Pride! 

You can buy these as shirts or stickers without the watermark on my Redbubble! 

EDIT: I forgot to add the Pan Jellyfish!! It’s added ;v;)b

If you don’t think this makes a difference, look at what the Minnesota legislature accomplished so far this year:

Set up free breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students

Implemented automatic voter registration and a number of other reforms to increase voter access

Made abortion access and reproductive care a fundamental right

Provided up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave

Banned conversion therapy and made Minnesota a safe state for trans people

Indexed school funding to inflation

And much, much more

Our cities, our states, our country -- they can do this, too!  The Minnesota legislature isn’t filled with perfect people, but it has enough people who are willing to work together to get things accomplished.  

Vote for people who will make progress.  If you don’t have that option, vote for people who won’t push us farther back!

We are not going to let that fuckwad DeSantis gain a foothold in the 2024 election.

You are going to fucking vote for Joe Biden, and you are going to give us a fucking chance to save our country from fascism, and you aren't going to fucking complain about it, because there is literally no other choice.

We will not let another election be a close call. Are you listening?

Vote for Biden. Vote for whatever Democrat is most popular in your local elections. Our system sucks, but this is what we're working with. Just fucking vote.

I forgot to reblog this when @awfulhorrid originally posted it!  We came home one day to find a flier for a Republican political candidate on our door.  Apparently, the “We’re Glad You’re Our Neighbor” yard sign was too subtle.  I hope this gets the point across because it’s going to be a little while before we can afford to paint the whole house in rainbow stripes.

Our Flag Proudly Flying

Slowly, but surely, we’re making this house our home. Today I installed a new pride flag (Philadelphia version) on the front of the house. This makes me happy! There’s also a smaller “shadow heart” garden flag with the six color pride rainbow out in the yard.

Ace cupcakes!

this took forever, but I think it’s worth it

for all of my ace folks out there <3

What they really need is some small dogs.  A pack of IGs could take care of that problem easily!