A gentle reminder that the “last lynchings” were between 1981-1991, so
it’s less than 40. The CRA act was passed 54 years ago. Not enough
people want to hear or remember that.
y’all should remember that lynching is the extralegal murder for an alleged offense without a legal trial. Of course these cases of people dying at the hands of police is a lynching.
Imagine, for a moment, that the last six years of your life have pretty much been this:
[Star Wars: Princess Leia’s “Help Me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” holo on repeat.]
And the person you’re talking to has understood your plea for help. They really have! They’ve been sympathetic, and tried to help with things about the house and with the kids and with Adulting…but they haven’t really understood yet why you keep repeating the same thing over and over again. When you’ve said that you’re depressed because you can’t go outside (allergies, hives, difficulty breathing) and masks aren’t an answer (I tend to freak out with things strapped to my face, long story, but it also involves Maine). They don’t get why you’re so anxiety-ridden/stressed about having to wear long pants and long sleeves and layers 12 months out of the year now, as your immune system is so utterly worn down that it can’t regulate body temperature, so if I go sleeveless, I get chilled, even if it’s 90 degrees F. When I break out in hives indoors, when I get horrific inflammation from what should be safe foods (which causes brain issues as well as intensely painful ulceric issues), when I’m losing my vision, when I have to take all of these supplements because I can’t eat local food, when I do everything possible to live here and I’m still slowly suffocating…yep, Princess Leia is still on repeat. Then it become discussions about how I’m borderline suicidal because of all this but I’ve been sitting on it (displacement, not dissociation) because I have kids and a mate who need me. That I’m actually in a state of constant despair that I also displace because Podlings. That I want to cry all the time but I’m so used to feeling this way that I can’t. Obi-Wan Kenobi the Mate nods, but he still doesn’t get it, even though he wants to fix it and make it better. He does! He just doesn’t actually do anything that would make it better.
Saturday morning on July 8th, the Mate woke up to the sudden realization that he is watching me die. Not only that, but it would be a slow and utterly miserable death. And he was just twiddling his thumbs and letting it happen.
Suddenly the “You’re my only hope” track repeat became
[Star Wars, Princess Leia’s hologram: “This is our most desperate hour.”]
The Mate went from “I know we need to leave but for Reasons we can’t right now” to “We are getting the absolute fuck out of Maine because I will not let this place kill you.” And he is entirely serious. Intense and driven. The escape dates are set and not to be changed because to change them means that he might keep finding excuses to stay, and he will no longer allow that to happen.
[Rose, Doctor Who: “You don’t just give up, you don’t just let things happen. You make a stand, you say no!”]
We’re going to St. Augustine, Florida. That’s home for me, and the Mate didn’t hate it (despite hating heat) and the kids fell in love and wanted to be outside in a way that they don’t want here. (I’ve always found it odd that they don’t like being outside here, but…maybe not so odd, given that it’s starting to drag their health down, too.)
Our set leaving date is July 21st. Yes, this July 21st. Thirteen days from now. We are seriously on the fucking move to move. He really means it, and I’m right there with him because I wanted to go home years ago.
Of course, escape is not cheap. This really is our most desperate hour: we need your help.
We need a full-size moving truck (omg 26′ fuuuuck) to be able to move everything, even compactly packed. No stuff gets left behind!
We have to cover the cost of four different hotel stays: Here, because the mattresses will all be packed and two of us have back injuries, the sort where if you sleep on the floor and try to drive the next day, you just want to whimper; Trenton, NJ as the first stop; Fayetteville, NC as the second stop, and at least one night in St. Augustine on arrival because Must Fall Down and Sleep because by the timing needed, the moving truck has to be unloaded the next day.
We need a post office box in St. Augustine to be able to get our mail transferred. (If they make me drive down there in person to do this, I will scream, because how can I change my address without a fucking address??)
We will need at least one month’s rental on grabbing a vacation rental (waaayyyyyy cheaper than a hotel) until we are sitting in a proper rental property that accepts cats, because we’re not leaving them behind, either.
Even with all the free boxes I’ve been scoring after making friends with the Pet Department Manager at Wal-Mart, packing supplies are expensive. SO much tape. So much bubble wrap. Oh hey I need a special box for Micah’s dresser mirror. Mattress covers! Fuck a doodle.
This is sort of why I’ve been trying to sell posters and what shinies I could make when not utterly flattened, because…we need to go. We need out, and I hit desperation several years ago.
Without help, this might well describe out success rate:
[Cat missing a jump]
I don’t want to miss. I need to go home because I’d like to live. Please. I will get down on my hands and knees and literally beg. Please.
[Simpsons: ”I need you to take care of me, to put up with me…”]
We’re trying to raise enough money to survive, to get out, because that
way we can thrive. Right now, this isn’t thriving. This is barely
surviving, and it’s pain.
I’d give you guys the world in return for helping us, but mostly what I have to give to you is words. I have stories that I can give you like pouring rubies from a golden vase. I’ll grant you all the words I have within me, to the best of my ability, to tell the stories you want to read because they make you feel like you’ve come home.
The current house is going on the market. Buyers will have a second floor that is now structurally rebuilt, but they can customize it however they like.* (Yes, that is all we could afford to do after you guys were so helpful in February. We were able to get the structural repairs done…and that was it. Depressing shit, yo.)
Some detail about the medical stuff below. Let’s just say that @thebibliosphere and I call each other our beloved Clone Sister for many, many reasons. Tags #thedeadcat speaks or #state of the deadcat will grant you more info.
Wishlist updated with forgotten things, sort by Priority Highest to Lowest to find out what (fortunately it is not a bad list, because I have moved a lot and forgot very little…except for the effing tool boxes. FFS, self.) The band-aids, however, are not my fault. …Except they kind of are because I can only use one kind without adhesive or latex burns, and I didn’t know we only had 1 left. 😀
Panicking also updated: I still do not have a weeklong furnished rental nailed down for after our first night’s arrival. Am waiting on this one place to get back to me. I’d tell the dude my cats would give him a blow job for letting us stay if the cats wouldn’t be offended. (I did tell him I’d have the vet CAP THE CAT’S CLAWS, and have them hate me for months, if it would be enough for him to say Yes. Wits’ end here, I need to be busy panicking about other things aside from this. The weeklong short-term rental is so that I can go long-term rental hunting in person. Online, I keep running across scam-listings even in the pro-realty listings. The scam listings were more amusing three days ago.
At least we have all the packing supplies we need, and after crunching the numbers and realizing it was going to come out the fuckin’ same, we switched from using the 26′ truck (Fuck and Nope) to U-Haul’s U-Box System (think Pods). Hallelujah, no one has to drive that 26′ fucker through northern Bronx traffic and we can take the tunnels instead of just the GWB if we wanna. (But we’ll probably go the GWB, the views aren’t so bad if you like Permanent Construction. I fucking love NYC. I’d be stopping by @amireal2u‘s place now that we’re free of the truck but I have non-refundable hotel stays. Balls.
I will keep you guys as updated as possible, oh, and I’ll be throwing up the “Hey look at my bathroom floor rot!” and the “finished” photos from what rehab was able to be finished on the 2nd floor before money ran out and allergies ran in. Because I know some of you have been curious, but I’ve been busy pouring out words and there is no time for posting photographs when there are WORDS! (There probably is, but WORDS!)
Also on my To-Do list is: “Seriously what the fuck do I do with this
printer”
What is Autistic Burnout?
a guide from Autism Women’s Network
Signs:
• Lack of motivation (hard to care about goals when everyday life is overwhelming)
• Loss of executive functioning abilities (decision-making, organization, etc.)
• Difficulty with self-care
• Easier to reach overload or meltdown
• Loss of speech, selective mutism
• Lethargy, exhaustion
• Illness, digestive issues
• Memory loss
• Inability to maintain masks or use social skills
• Overall seeming “more autistic” or stereotypical
• May have period of high energy before collapse
Causes:
• Passing as neurotypical / suppressing autistic traits
• Doing ‘too much’, too much stress
• Aging: needing more downtime, having less energy
• Changes, good or bad (relationships, jobs, living arrangements, belongings, environment, routines…)
• Sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, dehydration
• Illness
• Sensory or emotional overload
Strategies:
• Time
• Scheduling breaks, managing spoons
• Leave of absence
• Stimming, sensory diet
• Exercise
• Massage
• Reminders and supports
• Routines
• Better environment/job/etc.
• Boundaries, saying ‘no’
• Dropping the mask/façade
• Solitude
• Absolute quiet
• Creative projects, passions, special interests
• Paying attention to reactions and your body
I am 20. I came out on Facebook to my family and friends. My parents immediately switched names and went from saying I was their daughter to that I was their child. It wasn’t easy, but it got done.
My partner is the same age as me and they work with teens. Their pronouns change, and even though they live in the middle of the Bible Belt, they explained their identity and the teens were curious about their gender identity and listened when they were told not to use slurs. They changed their label a few times, worried what I would think, but I told them that exploring your identity should be an adventure.
My good friend is in the same class as me, and she uses either she/her or they/them. Sometimes she binds, sometimes she doesn’t. 24/7, she makes jokes about being the biggest Lesbian to walk the planet.
My manager at work is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Our coworkers respect their pronouns, and they are a fantastic boss. They’re in their early 30s approximately.
My newest university professor introduced themself and stated immediately that their pronouns are they/them. They are sweet and a successful artist, and they’re 5 years into teaching at my university. They’re also in their 30s.
Being nonbinary isn’t a thing “for teenagers on tumblr”.
Being nonbinary doesn’t mean that you have to keep it a secret.
Being nonbinary doesn’t mean that you have to limit your success or your identity.
Being nonbinary is for anyone who identifies that way.
There is no one way to be nonbinary, there is only the way you want to be nonbinary.
I hope that your coming out goes smoothly, and I hope it happens when you’re ready and you want it.
May you all find love, success, and joy during the summer months ❤
tumblr is massively wrong about the Amazon strike and there are a few key people trying to get the right information out and y’all are too focused on sticking it to Amazon to bother getting it right. @brainstatic started noticing yesterday that the dates people were posting were funky and @janothar started posting that even the Spanish strike isn’t starting on the 10th and yet y’all are still spreading this like it’s fact. I honestly have not seen a damn thing about the strike literally ANYWHERE but tumbr so I decided to use our good friend google and here’s what I’ve found.
There are a handful of other sites reporting that the strike started on the 10th and that other EU countries are participating; however, as @brainstatic pointed out already, these all link back to the same .info site that is not reliable and is not backed by reliable news sources (unlike Reuters, which is a reliable news source). The .info site is also only a CALL to strike – it is NOT a statement of that anywhere other than Spain is striking. The Observer article that links to the .info site above also literally uses tumblr’s “the boycott starts on the 10th” as a source for the boycott starting on the 10th… meaning that TUMBLR started those rumors, not the Observer article, and there is no reliable source for the boycott starting on the 10th other than the fact that y’all made that shit up and some online news source picked it up and ran with it. You can’t use an article that sites you as the source as a source for your bullshit. Got it?
If you want to support the striking workers, know when they are striking and what they want from you. Know what the actual activists involved are calling for. Know when and where the strike is taking place. As of right now, the strike is ONLY in Spain, it is 3 days long starting on the 16th, and it is ONLY focused around Prime Day. It did not start yesterday on the 10th. It is primarily about raising wages and other similar issues in Spanish factories, which are unionized already. It is not about people dying in American Amazon factories. Having half-assed, half-researched boycotts here and there that do not correspond to the strikes and are not well coordinated is not going to make a point. Having an organized, well-informed, large movement is what gets your point across. So stop what you’ve been doing and do this right. Boycott Prime Day and stop spreading misinformation.
where! has! my! passion! gone! I had it abundantly when I was a child, and I must have dropped it along the way, but I cannot figure where!
oh hey folks fun update, i found my passion again? i just had to find my right outlet, get to a place where I have aspirations, dispel apathy and pursue what I love, it’s all good and swell!
reblog this to find the right outlet, get to a place where you have aspirations, dispel apathy and pursue what you love, and rediscover your passion.
willowfoot 