Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

Want to learn something new in 2023??

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Beekeeping 101

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

Video on learning to read music that actually helped me??

How to use and sew with a sewing machine

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

How to garden

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Ukrainian

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)

Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)

Want to learn something new in 2024??

Beginner-oriented video on how to sail

This guy has so many videos on baking different types of bread. SO very many.

Coding in Python - one of the most flexible and adaptable high-level programming languages out there - explained through projects making video games

Learn to swim! (for adult learners. I don’t care if you live in Kansas or Mali or wherever. LEARN TO SWIM.)

Learn how quantum mechanics works. Then read some more about it

[Learn about quantum mechanics again, but in a more advanced engineering/mathematics class. Then read more about the math and physics of it]

Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver

Something I learned this year: how to sew a quilt (Here’s a very easy beginning pattern that looks amazing and can be done with pre-cut fabric!)

How to hit the ball in softball

Tutorial video on what is under the hood of most (gas) cars + weird engine sounds and what they mean

Lecture series on architecture design through study of buildings

How (American income) taxes & tax law work (choose “audit course” at checkout for free class)

Pickleball for beginners (so you can finally join your neighbor/friend/distant cousin who is always insisting you join their team)

+ Para-Pickleball for beginners (for mobility aid users!)

School is so much more fun when there’s no tests:

American Law - Contracts

Shakespeare’s Life and Plays

Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals

Modern Poetry

World History [Part 1, Part 2]

Learn a language:

Arabic + Resource Guide compiled from Reddit (includes info on different dialects)

Chinese (Cantonese) (audio)

Urdu (frequently recommended course on Reddit) + Resource Guide

Yucatec Maya

I don't care how old you are, this is RELEVENT TO YOU.

REBLOG IF THIS RELATES TO YOU:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

마법소녀 마도카 마기카

Book 2 au with Zuko and Katara Lee and Huamei

Katara is separated from her friends, and so she's left to travel the earth kingdom on her own. She stumbles across Zuko, who is similarly travelling on his own. They decide that pairing up and travelling together would be best

If anyone wants a fic with this vibe Uncharted Waters by the-badger-mole on tumblr is literally this

It starts as a castaway forced proximity fic that turns very very sweet/dramatic

Here’s the Ao3 link 👍🏽

Solar eclipse shadows

seeing anybody tag one of my posts as #fav is such an insane compliment. me? you chose me and my shitty little post? you've archived it?? I made it, up there with the big boys me and my stupid idiot post?? I love you

Us in 50 years

original post

@helooproto's tags lol

So that's why there's just one kitty... it's a sacrifice :o

I swear I get sad if I wake up and one is on the floor

They are exploring under the bed! This is normal stuffed animal behavior, as they are trained to protect you from monsters and shadow creatures, so it's natural that they want to keep an eye out. Don't be sad, thank your friend for doing such a good job.

they have little adventures with the dust bunnys under there

SEASON 3 ROUND 4

NOTE: […] Green Tea Bitch contains suggestive scenes and references to BDSM, as well as blackmail, homophobia, and one scene referencing attempted csa. I Married My Best Friend […] contains suggestive scenes as well as homophobia and some misogyny.

I really can’t stress enough how important it is to talk to your friends, family members, and partners regularly about their right to set boundaries, even ones that inconvenience you.

We absolutely live in a hierarchial abuse culture where people can and do impose their will on each other in a million tiny ways. A lot of people just expect it - they’ll make choices according to the assumption that you, too, are invested in controlling them to whatever degree - because unless you consciously make a point not to be, it’s possible that you are.

In a healthy relationship people ask for consent often - “Do you want to do this? Are you comfortable with this? Is there anything you think we should change about this plan?” And then, they clarify that negative answers are totally normal and okay.

Checking in can sound like, “Hey, you know I love doing X but if you ever don’t want to you know that’s okay, right?” It’s paying attention to nonverbal cues that someone is uncomfortable and giving them an out - “You don’t seem excited about this party, I want you to know it totally won’t be a big deal if you’d rather not.”

In a healthy relationship there’s a huge difference between “no” and “you shouldn’t have asked”. “No” is normal and expected and it’s assumed that sometimes it will be the response. There’s an intentional effort not to punish each other for not always giving each other what you want.

Normalize “no” in all your relationships. Seek it out! Give people extra opportunities to say no! And accept it. Recognise that it’s a good sign when your loved ones feel safe enough to not agree to things they don’t want out of fear of your reaction.

Just - check in. I don’t care what kind of relationship it is, don’t assume people know it’s safe to say no to you unless you remind them and show them regularly. Making space for healthy boundaries is one of the most important things to communicate with the people that you care about.

A very personal comic about ADHD

I figure out I had ADHD last year, but I didn’t seek an official diagnosis and medication until this year. I’m 30 years old, my school days are long behind me. I slipped through the cracks because I have predominately inattentive type and I was a quiet little girl. Having ADHD does not mean you have to be hyperactive and loud, it means you have a processing problem in your brain that doesn’t allow you to regulate your focus or emotions. 

Mental health even now is still taboo to talk about. People are more open now than ever about it however and that gives me hope. 

This is a profoundly personal comic and it only reflects my own experience with ADHD. It is on a spectrum with a wide range of personalities. But if my story connects with someone else and helps them, that would mean the world to me.

Thanks you so much! This is a beautiful comic!

Medication doesn’t work for everyone but everyone should have the access, knowledge, and support to choose and figure out if it works for them. There is no shame in taking medication. 

I’m so glad I live in a time where there is medication because otherwise I wouldn’t have the skills and knowledge my education has helped be get. I would have been labeled as stupid, lazy, hyper, and impulsive. The sad thing is there are still people today who don’t have access to medication or (because it’s not a silver bullet) the other ways of treating it.

I love this addition. I’m still new to medication and I still don’t know if I want to use it regularly or just as a way to get through the extra tough stuff. Everyone is different and has different experiences with meds, but access to all of the options should be given to everyone. 

[Comic description, broken into panels:

Panel 1: Black text over a background of a sky over dark blue water. It reads: “I had no idea how much I struggled with ADHD until I took medication…

Panel 2: “I thought life was like walking through water that’s up to your waist with a constant current pushing against everything you do.” A purple person with long hair and glasses is wading through waist-deep water with a determined expression. She is carrying three apple-shaped objects in one arm that read “shower,” “laundry,” and “ate oatmeal.”

Panel 3: “Sometimes the water level is lower and it’s a bit easier.” The purple person is walking through water at knee-height, smiling and carrying four apples in her arms. Two trees in the background are labeled “pay off credit card” and “cleaning the house.”

Panel 4: “But sometimes it’s much higher…” The purple person is up to her shoulders in dark blue water, looking upward with a sad expression.

Panel 5: “…Or worse, intense stress has turned the water to mud and it’s even harder.” The purple person is up to her chest in mud, straining to reach a branch with a hanging apple labeled “simple homework.”

Panel 6: “A lot of things were hard to get to.” The purple person is standing in a large pool of waist-deep water, looking toward a distant apple tree.

Panel 7: “Some even impossible.” An apple tree is shown on top of a mountain, with a waterfall with two levels and a roaring dragon curling around the mountainside.

Panel 8: “It was easier to go with the current to where my brain decided to lead me.” The purple person is riding a current of water to a tree, where a fruit labeled “Art” hangs withing reach. Next to the tree is a bush with flowers labeled “new hobby,” “new video game,” and “obsessing over the plot of Kingdom Hearts for no reason.”

Panel 9: “I learned to prioritize over the years…” The purple person is glaring at a map featuring landmarks labeled “Minefield of social interaction,” “Mountain of homework,” “Swamp of forgotten tasks,” and “Forest of daily chores.” Her thought bubble reads: “OK, if I wake up at 5 every day I should have extra time for homework.”

Panel 10: “I thought I chose what was worth the energy, but there never seemed to be enough time.” A green person wearing a backpack is talking to the purple person, also wearing a backpack. The green person’s dialogue is partially buried, but begins, “Hey! What did you do for your presentation? I’m doing…” The purple person’s thought bubble reads: “Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no no no no no I forgot I forgot.”

Panel 11: “I was baffled by people who were able to get so much done in a day.” The purple person is looking uncomfortably at a sparkling yellow person, who is carrying ten multicolored fruits in one hand almost above their head.

Panel 12: “I didn’t know what they did differently.” The yellow person has turned their head to the purple person with a smile and is saying, “I dunno, you just do it.” Question marks surround the purple person’s head.

Panel 13: “Maybe I just wasn’t trying hard enough.” The purple person is frowning as she puts a hand to her heart.

Panel 12: “The morning I took my first pill, I went about my day expecting that normal current…only to discover it wasn’t there.” Three panels show the purple person preparing to move against something, nearly falling, and then down at her feet with confusion.

Panel 13: “I was walking on the water, and reaching for things felt almost effortless. Then it hit me…” The purple person is standing on top of the water, looking surprised as she starts to reach for an apple labeled “That chore you hate.”

Panel 14: “Neurotypical people don’t have to walk against a current at all.” The purple person is shown in a pond in a forest, holding one apple, and looking up at a yellow person on land. The yellow person is carrying a basket of fruits on their back, looking down at the purple person and saying, “I dunno, you just do it.”

Panel 15: “The realization filled me with grief.” The purple person starts to cry.

Panel 16: “I spent my whole life thinking I was lazy and stupid, that I wasn’t trying hard enough.” The purple person stands chest-deep in a pond, surrounded by trees labeled “Retake class you’ve failed twice before,” “Watch another teacher get more and more frustrated with you,” “Panic write paper at 3 AM,” “Go to extra tutoring,” and “Get a new set of keys since you lost them again.”

Panel 17: “I cried for my past self, for the struggles she faced alone.” The purple person is wiping tears from her eyes.

Panel 18: “If only she’d known that she wasn’t lazy. She wasn’t stupid. She was pushing as hard as she could in a world that wasn’t built for her. A fish trying to climb a tree.” A fish is shown leaping out of a pond, in front of a tree on land.

End comic description.]

Eclipse of the Sun in Venice in July 8, 1842 by Ippolito Caffi.

Clouds over sunset in Lazise on July 13, 2017 by me Only 175 years, 5 days and 124 km apart