I'm Continuing On With More Monster Poetry For National Poetry Month.  Sometimes You Need To Drag The

On Halloween, I’m happy to give candy to trick-or-treaters, regardless of their age, as long as they’re wearing costumes.  I don’t care if they’re little kids, teenagers, babies being carried by their parents, or the parents themselves.  If you come to my door on Halloween in costume, I’ll offer you whatever treats I have.

However, if you don’t have an obvious costume, be prepared to justify what you’re wearing.  This isn’t begging strangers for candy, it’s trick-or-treating -- some sort of costume is required at my house.  Now, if you can come up with a creative explanation of why your costume is a T-shirt and jeans, that’s great!  If your “costume” is “um, uh, I’m a high school student?” then you’re out of luck.  That’s not a costume; that’s your clothes.  I don’t care how old you are, either come up with something to wear or come up with a creative idea -- I’m good either way.

if a teenager is at your door and they are wearing a costume!! please give them candy!! they are still in it for the halloween spirit and it honestly no different from a little kid in a costume. they are just as excited and happy as all the other lil tykes and dont you dare tell them they are “too old for trick-or-treating” because that will literally break their hearts and that’s not cool.

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 was well over 20 when I *started* reading fan fiction.  One of my best friends finally convinced me to try it, and I’ve been addicted ever since.  I’ve been active in science-fiction/fantasy/gaming/furry and various other fandoms for decades.  I have seen everyone from infants to senior citizens having fun at conventions.  The idea that fandom could have a use-by date or age range is laughable.

Reblog if you’re over 20 and still read/write fan fiction.

I’m curious!

Please vote! Even if it feels like you are only voting against the worse candidate or voting for the Less Bad candidate -- we need those votes to make sure we don't get the worse candidate.

Also, vote in all of your local elections if you can. Those are the people who decide whether books get banned in your community's schools and libraries. They decide whether your local police department gets training on de-escalation procedures or bigger guns. They are behind your community's social safety nets (or lack thereof), what types of community events are held, what's in your local parks, and much more.

Voting for Democrats is the "leaving the house, getting some exercise, and drinking more water is good for your mental health" of societal change. Everyone keeps telling you to do it, worst of all your mom keeps telling you to do it, and it's not a magical cure-all, but it actually works and rotting in your room shitposting does not help in either scenario.

My most popular tweet right now is about welcoming intersex, nb, and ace/aro people into pride. Let’s get it going on here, too.

REBLOG IF YOU FEEL THAT INTERSEX, NB, AND ACE/ARO PEOPLE SHOULD BE WELCOMED AT PRIDE, BELONG AT PRIDE, ETC

Love to all my sweeties!

Polyamory Appreciation

Reblog if you’re polyamorous or support healthy polyamorous relationships!

Tell your senators to follow the precedent Mitch McConnell set in 2016 and wait until after the inauguration to select a new Supreme Court Justice.

Vote.  Vote your entire ballot.  Vote to protect yourself, your family and friends, your community, and your country.  Yes, it’s that important.

People need to fully understand what RGB’s death means. It’s not just a vacancy on the supreme court that could be potentially filled by a conservative Justice - that’s an awful thought, but that’s not the main problem. 

The problem, is that this is EXACTLY the opportunity Republicans have been looking for for decades. If a conservative nominee is pushed through before the election, and I’m hoping it won’t but if it does, that will lead to a Republican majority in the Supreme Court. And you can bet your life, literally, that they will work to roll back every progressive law they can. 

The concept of a separation of church and state is already a joke in this country, but it will get so much worse. 

But more than that? Even if a nominee isn’t pushed through… 

The vacancy RGB left behind will motivate Republicans to come out to vote in droves. 

THAT is what everyone needs to understand. This is a once in a life time opportunity for the Republicans. You think you don’t want to vote for Biden because he’s not exactly who you want? Because he’s not progressive enough or liberal enough? 

What about all the Republicans who may not support Trump, but want a Republican majority on the Supreme Court? The ones who may not like him, but would be willing to deal with him for four more years if it means controlling the Supreme Court for the next 40?

It’s awful and unfortunate that RGB died so close to the election. Throughout her life she worked tirelessly to fight for equality. Don’t let her life be in vain. 

Now more than ever, it’s important to vote. Everyone. Down the entire ballot. 

I’m lucky enough to live in California, a historically Blue state. But those of my followers who live in Red states, you especially need to call your representatives in the Senate and tell them to postpone any nomination. Cite Mitch McConnell’s own actions in 2016. Anything you can do to add pressure. Remind them who they really work for: you, their constituents. 

We cannot give up the fight. We can’t. Your vote matters. If it didn’t, why would the GOP be trying so hard to take it away? Make sure you’re registered. If you want to mail in your ballot then drop it off at designated polling stations instead of the post office to ensure it’s counted in time. 

I don’t have many followers so I don’t know who will see this, but please, reblog this. Spread the information. RBG’s death will galvanize Republicans out to vote en masse. We can’t afford to be apathetic or disenfranchised. We can make a difference, but not if we don’t bother to try. 

@one-time-i-dreamt @thebibliosphere

If you’re in the US, see if your local library has Hoopla!  They carry all five seasons of Leverage with no ads.

Hoopla is an online service libraries can provide.  The library pays for each thing people check out on Hoopla, so there is a limit to how much you can check out each month.  It’s completely free to you with no ads though.  You can watch on your browser or through Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, or a bunch of other devices.

If you’re willing to go with physical media, your local library may have Leverage DVDs that you can check out, if they don’t have Hoopla or you want to binge faster.

Any chance you know where I can watch the first season of leverage? i know its on hulu but i really cant afford to drop the money it wants for the subscription, and im having no luck finding working streams for some reason. I really want to get into it

It used to be on Netflix but then it disappeared... It is on Amazon, but it’s only free with ads if you have Amazon Prime. And there are...captioning issues... But! If captioning isn’t a concern and you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it on there, which is what I did (though captions were definitely a concern and I sent a lot of peeved complaints in).

Aside from that, tubi appears to have Leverage available to watch free? I swear I saw a post going around a while ago where folks could watch Leverage free and with bonus stuff from the creators... But I don’t know where I saw it and who reblogged it...

Anyone else have advice as to where to watch Leverage? Help an anon get into this absolutely amazing show!!

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.