I Cannot Emphasize Enough, Museums/zoos/aquariums And The Like Are At An Incredibly Dangerous Point Right

I cannot emphasize enough, museums/zoos/aquariums and the like are at an incredibly dangerous point right now, and it’s breaking my heart that not only is it happening, but it’s happening so much more quietly than it deserves. The main people I have seen sharing information about the crisis museums are in right now are others in the field, and while I know it’s not out of malicious ignorance, because people love these places and don’t want to see them gone, it’s scary that these places are dying with so much less fanfare than some of the other institutions threatened by the current situation in the US.

I came across an article from NPR the other day suggesting that unless something changes, ONE-THIRD of museums in the entire country (a loose term that includes certain places like aquariums as well) could be dead before the end of the year (source). A third! Can you even imagine the incalculable loss? And it goes so far beyond the services museums generally provide to the public, like field trips or a place to go on the weekends – not that those aren’t important. But museums do so much more than that. If these places die, where do their collections go? Often there’s no one else who can take them in, and as someone who has spent a significant amount of time in the bellies of museum collections, most people have no idea how many specimens or artifacts would become homeless and in danger of being lost forever. In the case of zoos and aquariums, what happens to their animals? Another friend of mine mentioned on Facebook the other day that the Aquarium of the Pacific is not only in dire need right now, but that a person they know who works with them has said that if they close, they’ll have to euthanize a significant number of their animals. And for the places that do survive, they won’t be unchanged. The science museum I used to work for isn’t in danger of permanently closing – yet – but still had make the incredibly difficult call to do a 39% reduction in staff positions, meaning that even when they reopen, the jobs that I and over a hundred and fifty people held before the pandemic – educating, running programs, engaging with visitors on an extra personal level – won’t exist anymore. Another friend of mine doing a museum studies degree has said that even the Smithsonian (the SMITHSONIAN) had to make a similar call and many of her friends doing work there are now jobless.

Your local museum isn’t getting help from the government. Museums, zoos, and aquariums have had to beg desperately for stimulus money that hasn’t manifested. These are non-profits, that rely on revenue from visitors and memberships for the most part, and as they are responsibly staying closed for everyone’s safety, they aren’t getting visitors. Without some form of help, they are going to drop off the face of the planet, or appear at the other end of this as gutted shells of their former selves. 

If you want to help, you have two options: get money into the hands of these places directly, or put pressure on your representatives to offer museums and other institutions like them some kind of federal stimulus money. If you can afford it, this is a great time to get a membership to a place you love – many of them are even offering special online programming for members, so it’s more than just a donation. Or you could make a donation, if that’s a more practical amount for you to spend, because at this point anything helps. And if you can’t do that (or even if you can), yell at your senators and representatives to do something. Many places even are offering guidelines for the sorts of things to talk about, like this script from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (although repetitive scripts are less likely to have an impact than individual e-mails, something is still better than nothing, and you could even read over it to figure out how to formulate your own message).

I’m not usually one to beg people to signal boost something, but it’s breaking my heart that this issue is being ignored. Every day it feels like I have to explain these places are struggling to someone else who didn’t know it was a problem, and while I don’t blame them for not knowing, I want people to know. I want people to be aware that we are at risk of losing some of our most valuable cultural and educational institutions, not find our after all this is over that they’re gone. Please talk with people you know about what’s going on. We need our museums. And right now, they need us too.

More Posts from Lil-history-egg and Others

4 years ago

Bonnet Hair Edits

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Here are 9 hairs that would look lovely with bonnets… if only the buns fitted underneath. Well now they can!

I have done very little to the meshes, just removed the buns and pushed a few spots in so they fit under the bonnets. All credit goes to the creators who I’ve linked along with their original meshes. Since the bun removal involved editing the meshes, you don’t need the originals for these to work but I would highly recommend getting them. Mostly because they’re all so beautiful, but also these edits are meant to be hidden by bonnets and look rather odd on their own.

Each edit was cloned from its original so they should be found next to each other but some are a bit further apart for some mystical reason. They have the same thumbnails but with a red circle saying ‘bonnet’ on them.

1. Get Famous hair - requires Get Famous

2. Charity Hair - original mesh by @cazmari-mods found here

3. Marigold Hair - original mesh by @saurussims found here

4. Maple Hair - original mesh by @hazelminesims found here

5. Venice Hair* - original mesh by @okruee found here

6. Danae Hair - original mesh by @teanmoon found here

7. Paulette Hair - original mesh by @birksche found here

8. Victoria Hair - original mesh by @batsfromwesteros​ found here

9. Sapphire Hair - original mesh by @stephanine-sims​ found here

Download (sfs)

Linzlu’s bonnets: Straw, Fancy and Christmas

*The headband for the Venice hair conflicted with the bonnets so I moved it. This means it works with the bonnets but no longer works with the headband overlay

4 years ago

I just wanted to say thank you for the comment you left on my post a few days back. It actually made my night... I’ve been so stressed and worried and I still have two more days of waiting for biopsy results - I keep going back to it and it makes me smile every time. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

If you need to talk you can always come message me here on Tumblr through the messaging thingy! We have been mutuals for so long that I think of you as a bit of a friend, you know? I like to keep up, I just don't post much personal stuff, especially not on this blog.

8 years ago
I Cosplayed As Yurio From Yuri On Ice Tonight!
I Cosplayed As Yurio From Yuri On Ice Tonight!
I Cosplayed As Yurio From Yuri On Ice Tonight!

I cosplayed as Yurio from Yuri on Ice tonight!


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3 years ago

i do want to fight g!d, but in a way that’s like. play wrestling with a favorite uncle that’s gotten just slightly unhinged on your part bc he can see you’re pretty stressed and gave you license to go a little apeshit cos he knows he can handle it. im aware this is bizarrely specific but it’s How I Feel.

2 years ago

I was working on a history paper today and found a book from 1826 that seemed promising (though dull) for my topic, on an English Catholic family’s experience moving to France.

And it ended up not really being suitable for my purposes, as it goes. But part of the book is actually devoted to Kenelm, the author’s oldest son…and man, his dad loved him.

Kenelm seems to have had a fairly typical upbringing for a young English gentleman, although he is a bit slow to read. At twelve he’s sent to board at Stoneyhurst College—often the big step towards independence in a boy’s life, as he’ll most likely only see his parents sporadically from now on, and then leave for university.

When he’s sixteen, however, his father moves the whole family to France, so Kenelm gets pulled out of school to be with them again. Shortly after the move, his dad notices that he seems depressed. Kenelm confides in him that he’s been suffering from “scruples” for the last eighteen months—most likely what we’d now call an anxiety disorder.

And his dad is pissed—at the school, because apparently Kenelm had been seeking help there and received none, despite obviously struggling with mental health issues. So his dad takes it seriously. He sets him up to be counseled by a priest—there were no therapists back then—and doesn’t send him away to be boarded again, instead teaching him at home himself.

And his mental health does improve. His dad describes him as well-liked, gentle, pious, kind and eager to please others; at twenty he’s thinking about a career in diplomacy or going into the military—which his dad thinks he is not particularly suited for, considering his favorite pastimes are drawing and reading. He’s excited about his family’s upcoming move to Italy, and he’s been busy learning Italian and teaching it to his siblings.

Henry Kenelm Beste dies of typhus at twenty years, four months, and twenty-five days. That’s how his dad records it. That’s why his dad is telling this story. It’s not an extraordinary story—Kenelm’s story struck me because he sounds so…ordinary, like so many kids today. And he was so, so loved. His dad tried hard to help him compassionately with his mental health at a time where our current knowledge and support systems didn’t exist. You can feel how badly he wanted his son to be remembered and loved, to impress how dearly beloved he was to the people who knew him in life.

I hope he’d be glad to know someone is still thinking of Kenelm over 200 years later.

Anyway, that’s why I’m crying today.

3 years ago
The Tatler, England, October 2, 1907
The Tatler, England, October 2, 1907

The Tatler, England, October 2, 1907

8 years ago
I’ve Been Really Into Welcome To Night Vale Lately And This Is A Product Of That. Not My Best, But

I’ve been really into Welcome to Night Vale lately and this is a product of that. Not my best, but I was trying a new style out.


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8 years ago
I'm Making A Wand! ^-^ Will Send Pics When More Done.
I'm Making A Wand! ^-^ Will Send Pics When More Done.

I'm making a wand! ^-^ Will send pics when more done.


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3 years ago

hey guys just wanted to say that while it’s super awesome that y’all wanna support jews this holiday season, it’s not really appropriate to do the bugs bunny “i wish all ______ a very happy ______” meme for yom kippur. it’s great for sukkot, fantastic for simchat torah, but yom kippur is a day for repentance, remembrance, and forgiveness. it’s probably the most serious holiday we’ve got, so please don’t make light of it. instead of “happy yom kippur”, maybe say something like “have a meaningful holiday”, or “have a healthy fast” for people doing the traditional sundown to sundown fast. yom kippur starts with kol nidre (some people go to services, others just eat a big pre-fast meal, my family does both) september 15th at sundown and lasts until sundown on the 16th. please be conscious of your jewish peers! love, your local jewish nonbinary lesbain

3 years ago

So over on Reddit this happened:

So Over On Reddit This Happened:

And collectively everyone was like: hey we love this tiny child, please do take him to a public candle lighting and show him the Rugrats special and here's our fave chanukah kids books and some songs and play a little dreidel and here's some kindergartner activities you can printout or color, also through the power of Jewish geography here's a potentially nearby Jewish bakery with sufganiyot stocked up for him, and also a recipe for if you want to sneak veggies into some latkes.

He's five and has permission. ADORABLE.

(and don't mind me wanting to cry because this was me at age 5 and now I'm Jewish lol)


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lil-history-egg - Let Me Rant
Let Me Rant

Hello! I'm Zeef! I have a degree in history and I like to ramble! I especially like the middle ages and renaissance eras of Europe, but I have other miscellaneous places I like too!

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