The Shortest Day. Words by Susan Cooper, illustrations by Carson Ellis.
Month: December 2021
laura's mathom house 2021-12-21 16:14:39
For everyone with social anxiety, this is a reminder that you don’t have to be perfect in your interactions with others; you just have to be kind and that’s literally it. That’s all that’s necessary of you. You don’t need to say the perfect thing or anticipate what they would want you to say or even exude confidence if you can’t.
Social anxiety tells us that we have to be perfect in in our social interactions, but no one is. Social anxiety sets us up for a level of expectation in our social interactions that we have no choice but to fail at, and then fall into a cycle of self-hate for failing and striving even harder for perfection.
“Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know that books about…”
“Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books.”
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction.
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction.
pigcatapult:A kind person whose social justice vocabulary is outdated or inadequate for the concepts…
A kind person whose social justice vocabulary is outdated or inadequate for the concepts they’re trying to communicate is a better person than anyone who’d rip them down as a bigot for not keeping up with the euphemism treadmill. Morality is measured by how you treat people, not how well you’ve memorized a continuously evolving set of shibboleths.
laura's mathom house 2021-12-21 16:07:16
tea isn’t just a drink it’s a handwarmer it’s an experience it’s a love language it’s a friend it’s
Photo
laura's mathom house 2021-12-19 09:26:13
The dominant culture lies about aging. Losing my youth is one of the best things that’s happened to me. In spite of some devastating personal and global circumstances, my brief time in my 40s has been fucking wonderful.
I’m kinder, wiser, and more present than I’ve ever been. Grandiose narratives that always led to disappointment are being replaced by a compassionate engagement with what is. I know and love myself and other people and the earth better. I have less to prove and more to appreciate. I’m less objectified and this is freeing up my subjective experience. I do work that has meaning to me and I’m respected in it. I’m increasingly connected to my ancestors.
The human life course can be very hard, and we live in a world that makes it much harder than it ought to be. But clinging to youth isn’t the answer. So much more becomes available to us when we loosen our grip on what we think we should be and open ourselves to what we are: creatures who need care and are here, miraculously, for only a brief time.
middle-earth-mythopoeia:The case against Finrod revisionism I’ve always been frustrated by what I…
The case against Finrod revisionism
I’ve always been frustrated by what I see as bad-faith interpretations of Finrod’s character. You don’t have to like him or find him interesting, but it bothers me when people make claims about him that don’t make sense. When it comes to Finrod, they usually follow a similar pattern, something like: ‘I thought Finrod was good the first time I read the Silmarillion, but now I think he’s bad.’ ‘I thought Finrod was a friend of Men at first, but now I think he actually looked down on the Edain and treated them poorly.’ ‘Finrod comes across as a perfect good guy in the Silmarillion, but what if he’s secretly manipulative and evil?’ That’s what I’m calling Finrod revisionism. This is not a callout post; I’m just giving my reasons why ‘Finrod is actually evil and the Silmarillion is lying to you’ is not a take that does it for me. I think it’s entirely fair to criticize Finrod. He’s not perfect and if he were I think he would be less interesting (more on that later). I just do not vibe with interpretations of his character that paint him as someone who intentionally sacrificed the Edain in battle, someone who committed genocide against the Petty-dwarves, or someone who held prejudiced views, and I think those interpretations are unsupported by canon. This is a long post, so I’ll put it under the cut.
laura's mathom house 2021-12-19 09:07:14
I honestly feel that working in a little old bookstore would solve all of my problems.
visual laurel 2021-12-19 03:03:03
Planned Reuse
I love this spaghetti sauce which comes in real Mason Jars. All you need is snap lids and jar rings and they’re suitable for canning fruit or veg or whatever.
If you soak the bottle in water, the paper lable just slides off, no scrubbing or chemicals necessary.
If you want to use them as food storage you can reuse the screw on lids they come with, which seal well enough to store dry goods.
The tempered glass makes them suitable for freezing, too (but make sure there’s at least an inch or two empty, to allow room for expansion of the contents.
Not only does all this makevfor zero waste packaging, but the spaghetti sauce is excellent!
