Oh Wow. This Is Really Antisemitic, @iblewrichardspeck

i’m a little anxious to send this not on anon but i saw one of your posts where a comment mentioned jewish conversion and you seemed to support it. my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism but a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion. i know everyone has different beliefs about this but i worry i won’t be accepted

Hello tyblackthornsheadphones, welcome!

"my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism"

Oooh! Mozel tov! I'm always so happy to meet new people who want to join the Jewish community! <3

"a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion"

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that! D: There's so much misinformation being passed around online. :( Thankfully, I'm happy to report that those sources are incorrect: It IS possible to convert to Judaism. ^_^

Like any group, though, how friendly any given Jew is to potential Jewish converts depends on the individual and/or the group they belong in. Just as there's elitism and gatekeeping in every group of people ever (like high school cliques and video game circles--"you're not a REAL gamer unless X"), unfortunately you'll also find some snobbery, elitism, and gatekeeping in Judaism. :(

Though I think Rabbi Friedman has a very loving and accepting view of Jews by conversion. ^_^

The way I see it, the differing experiences of a "Jew-by-birth vs a Jew-by-conversion" can be comparable to an American citizen who was just born on American soil vs an American immigrant who had to go through a long and rigorous bureaucratic process to become an American citizen--they have to learn everything there is to know about American history, presidents, laws, customs, the legal system; spend a "probational period" living in America to become a naturalized citizen, etc.

(The Jewish religion used to be very conversion friendly, but that came to an end when Christianity and Islam became huge world powers who outlawed the Jewish community "tempting" good Christians or Muslims away from the One True Faith.

Jewish identity also used to be passed down from father to children in ancient times--as you'll see in the Torah--but that was changed by Hillel the Elder during the tyrannical reign of King Herod--yes, THAT King Herod! Hillel did this partly to give the children of Jewish mothers who were abandoned by their non-Jewish fathers a place in Jewish society, and he did this partly as a big old political "fuck you!" to King Herod, whose father was only nominally Jewish and his mother was a foreign gentile woman.)

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish organization.

chabad.org

How to Convert to Judaism - What to Expect at a Conversion

I’m planning to convert to Judaism. This has been something I’ve been considering and mulling over for years, and I’ve made my decision. Wha

Reform Judaism

Choosing Judaism: Learn the Basics

People convert to Judaism for many reasons. Learn the basic facts about converting to Judaism, and how to take the first steps.

And here's a link from a Reform Judaism POV. ^_^

In my experience, Reform Jewish synagogues and organizations tend to be more accepting of and friendly to Jewish converts. (Though it's not universal! Sadly, there are snobs everywhere. D:)

So if I were you, I would just start with checking out some books on Judaism from your local library, attend Friday night or Saturday morning Shabbat services with your boyfriend (that's usually a time when non-Jewish guests attend).

If your local college has a Hillel or Chabad Jewish student organization, I would visit that too! They usually host fun events that are free and open to to all, especially students who're just interested in connecting with other Jewish students, and learning about Jewish identity. ^_^

In the meantime, I'd just take time to study and learn about Jewish history and culture just for fun.

I think Sam Aranow's "Jewish History" Youtube series is a very entertaining way to learn about Jewish history, from ancient to modern.

Unfortunately I have to go to work now, but if you have ANY other questions, please reach out to me! I LOVE sharing knowledge and resources about Judaism, especially to potential converts who show a genuine interest and curiosity.

(Jewish culture can be, in my opinion, not as accepting and welcoming of potential Jewish converts as they should be, and I want to make up the difference. ^_^ )

8 useful websites & apps for writers

Notion

Desktop app for organizing your notes with tons of views and functions - works like a mini personal website.

Ommwriter

A peaceful writing program with focus options and ambience settings - complete with typing sound effects!

Reedsy

A massive website for writers with tools, generators, prompts, programs, tips and services.

Figma

A free-form editable and collaborative mind-map interface, for laying all your notes out visually.

Novlr

Free online writing software with goal setting and thorough tracking options, now with in-app courses as well.

Freedom

Distraction-muting app that blocks attention-sucking websites for a set period of time.

Milanote

Another visual board organizer for your notes and plans.

Wordtune

Editing app to rephrase your sentences depending on length or tone.

Do you need help getting your WIP organized?

Pick up my 3 extensive workbooks for writers, with dozens of fully-customisable templates. These are my first ever original E-books and templates available outside of my coaching programs!

The Writer’s ToolBoox contains: The Character Bible, The Plotter’s Almanac, and The World-Builder’s Chronicle

Grab it through the [link here] or below!

the-plottery.mykajabi.com

Writer's ToolBoox

The Writer's ToolBoox is a pack of 3 extensive E-books that cover the areas of: character craft, world building, and plotting. It comes with

I’d think they’d get along ❤️🤭

Please idk how to draw turtle hands asdfghjkl

Technically, 500,000 might last you 7ish years in usa because, according to incharge.org, the mean of age groups in average annual spending is $71,210.33. And 1 million dollars would last you 14ish years. Also, a life expectancy in the US is 77ish years, so that means around 6 million dollars for a lifetime.

1 billion dollars are around 14,000ish years. For "50,000" years is $3,560,516,500. So yes a billion dollars is fuck ton of money, but it wouldn't last 50,000 years. It's closer to generational wealth, not holy shit that is too much for any person/ family to hold. Bernard Arnault, or the person that owns Louis Vitton on the other hand, better be forking over some cash because that man has enough money for 3,271,997 years, or 42,493 lifetimes, or everyone in a small town.

P.s. I got the mean by adding the age groups together and dividing by the number of groups. Or 427,262 (all the age groups) divided by 6 ( the number of age groups), which equals 71,210.3 repeating, or just $71,210.33 because with money we just need the tenths and oneths place after the decimal.

https://www.incharge.org/financial-literacy/budgeting-saving/average-monthly-expenses/

people will be like "so if you were a billionaire, you'd donate all your money?? every last penny?? you wouldn't do anything fun for yourself??" do you understand how much money a billion dollars is

I'm new so I don't know what is going on but I am afraid to ask.

My friend just got struck by lightning (not predicted by the weather wheel). VIKING FUNERAL!

Fun fact vikings didn't actually put their dead on boats in water and set it on fire. The fire has to be REALLY hot in order to cremate a body (which is why we have special furnaces for cremating people instead of just chucking them on your ol camp fire pit) so if they did that, there's just be flaming boats of half burned corpses washing up, because water is also cold and puts out fire.

What they ACTUALLY did was preserve the body in a mixture of alcohol and other chemicals to preserve them until they could bury them in mounds, because frozen ground is annoying to dig in. If you're rich you get a literal ship in your grave, but most people just got the outline of a ship made with rocks. They thought that was good enough to manifest a ship in death to take them to the afterlife for them, if they didn't get Valhalla.

I can't remember sources off the top of my head, but if you google it, you'll find plenty of articles about it.

Change.org

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

City of Phoenix, Let Our Ancestors Rest.

https://chng.it/HGkzFt6Nc8

I'm currently trying to world build a magical school for my fantasy realm. I'm having a hard time finding sources online. Any general advice for fantasy schools?

For starters, you want to have your magic system fleshed out really thoroughly. What good is teaching a bunch of kids how to use a magic system that you, the author, don't really know how it works, right!? If you haven't done this, you might check out my Brainstorming posts Here (Part 1) and Here (Part 2) to get started.

Beyond that, you need to think about some school basics:

Are all children educated in magic? Or only the most talented, the richest, or the poorest?

How does society at large feel about magic education and how does that impact the freedom and funds of the school?

(Related:) What kind of teachers are employed at the school? The best and brightest or the shlufs who couldn't make it in a "real" school? How does that affect the education of the students?

How does general education play into the lives of the students? Do they go to primary school first where they learn to read and write etc. or is that part of the their magic school curriculum?

How much danger is there in the day-to-day of the school? Is the magic difficult to use and therefore generally not a risk? Is it ubiquitous and therefore maintains some inherent balance? Is it difficult to use and therefore volatile and unpredictable?

What is the purpose of receiving a magic education and what do its students aspire to do after completing school?

I hope these help you out little bit. :)

Happy building!

They start war, we win war, they complain, we get human rights allegations, repeat.

Turn your handwriting into a font

I discovered this by accident and I thought it was really funny and cute:

1. Download the template from MyScriptFont website

2. Write out the alphabet and numbers in your style, using a black marker (felt pen). This is mine:

3. Scan the template  4. Upload to the MyScriptFont website, name it, set the format and click “send file” 5. Download it to your computer and install

And check out my result!