today’s mood is steve harrington realizing his girlfriend will never love him back and deciding to redirect his overflowing care and affection by aggressively mothering a bunch of middle schoolers

The Evening News, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1927

fucked up how cooking and baking from scratch is viewed as a luxury…..like baking a loaf of bread or whatever is seen as something that only people with money/time can do. I’m not sure why capitalism decided to sell us the idea that we can’t make our own damn food bc it’s a special expensive thing that’s exclusive to wealthy retirees but it’s stupid as hell and it makes me angry

bread takes like max 4 ingredients counting water and sure it takes a couple hours but 80% of that is just waiting around while it does the thing and you can do other things while it’s rising/baking plus im not gonna say baking cured my depression bc it didn’t but man is it hard to feel down when you’re eating slices of fresh bread you just made yourself. feels like everything’s gonna be a little more ok than you thought. it’s good.

bread is amazing and it’s also been sold to us as something really hard to make? Every time I tell someone I made a loaf of bread I get reactions like “you made it yourself???” and “do you have a bread machine then?” I haven’t touched a bread machine in probably 10 years. You CAN make your own bread, folks, and it’s actually pretty cheap to do so. I believe the most expensive thing I needed for it was the jar of yeast. It was about $6 at the grocery store and lasted me MONTHS (just keep it in the fridge.) The packets are even cheaper. destroy capitalism. bake your own bread.

You can also make your own yeast by making a sourdough starter, so that cuts cost even more.

But you have to feed the starter daily/weekly and that means it grows quickly, but there are tons of recipes online for what to do with your excess starter. Cookies, pretzels, crackers, pancakes, waffles, you name it!!

Here’s a link to The Home Baking Association’s site. It has recipes and tips.

So I went for a quick walk to the corner store near me to pick up a couple of things. 

The person who owns the store is an older Muslim man. He’s always been nothing but friendly, to the point of letting me take the stuff I had planned to buy with the promise of paying him back once when my card didn’t work. 

Today I walked in and got my stuff, stepped up to the counter, and started to say hi. Then he turned around, motioned for me to wait a moment, and continued with what he was doing. It was only then I realized he was in the middle of his prayers. 

So I waited at the counter for a few minutes. Then he picked up his mat and put it away, came over, and gave me a free corny dog to thank me for my patience (and because we’re pals).

This is My America, or at least the way I want it to be.

Diversity. Acceptance. Friendship. And bonding over unhealthy fried food.

this is so amazing thank you

This is what America should be. Thank you for sharing this, it’s a nice reminder that there is still good in this world.

Fun animal facts I have learned being a zoo docent

1. There are several ways to classify the large cats, one of the more useful ones is into the roaring cats (tigers, lions) and the purring cats (bobcats, lynxes). The puma (also known as the mountain lion) is the largest cat that purrs. I’ve heard it up close, it’s amazing. A cheetah’s purr sounds like an idling motorcycle engine.

2. Kangaroos cannot move their legs independently of each other, they have to move them in sync - when they’re on land. When they’re swimming, they can move them separately. Hopping is their most efficient way to move - a walking kangaroo is awkward as hell. They swing both legs forward using their tail as a third leg to prop up while their legs swing.

3. People often think that flamingoes’ knees bend the wrong way. They don’t - the joint you’re seeing in the middle of their leg isn’t their knee, it’s their ankle. Their knee is up by their body, and it bends the same way ours does.

4. Giraffes only sleep 1-2 hours a day.

5. Bald eagles’ vocalizations are not what you expect. When you see a flying bald eagle in the movies and hear that majestic caw sound? That isn’t an eagle, it’s been dubbed over with another bird, usually a red-tailed hawk. Bald eagles actually sound…not majestic. Kind of like if a kitten could be a bird.

6. Elephants are one of only a handful of animals that can pass the mirror test - in other words, they can recognize their own reflection (and not think it’s another animal, as dogs and cats usually do). They tested this by placing a chalk mark on an elephant’s forehead and then showing it a mirror. The elephant investigated the mark on its own forehead, indicating it knew that it was looking at itself.  The only animals that pass this test are the higher primates, the higher cetaceans (orcas, dolphines), elephants, and weirdly, magpies.

7. One-fifth of all the known mammal species are bats.

8. A kangaroo mother can have three joeys simultaneously at different stages of development: an embryo in her womb (kangaroos can do what’s called embryonic diapause which means sort of putting the development on pause until she’s ready for it to develop further), a joey in her pouch attached to one nipple, and a joey out of the pouch on the ground who nurses from the other one. The amazing thing? Each of her nipples make different formulations of milk for each joey’s different nutritional needs.

9. Bonobos, our closest genetic relative (they are more closely related to us than they are to either chimps or gorillas) are almost entirely non-aggressive, matriarchal, and use sex to solve all their problems. They engage in both same and opposite sex interactions, non-penetrative sex (oral, rubbing, manual) and with any age. That’s an interesting area to work in, lemme tell you.

10. Tortoises have super loud sex. Like, really loud.

11. All grizzlies are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzlies (grizzlies are a sub-categorization of the brown bear).

12. Reindeer are the only deer species where both males and females grow antlers. The males shed theirs the beginning of December, the females shed theirs in the spring. So all of Santa’s reindeer are girls, heh. I love telling little kids that.

13. If a rhinoceros knocks off its horn, it grows back faster than you’d expect. One of ours, Rosie, has knocked hers off twice.

14. Gorillas get crushes on each other. And on the humans that take care of them. Male gorillas also masturbate. I don’t know if the females do, I’ve never seen it. Sometimes it’s like a soap opera up in there.

15. Langur monkeys are silvery-gray in color - their babies are bright orange. Like Cheeto orange, I do not exaggerate.

16. Polar bear fur is not white, it’s transparent, like fiber optics. Also, their skin is black.

This is all excellent and awesome and I am a happier, better person for this knowledge.

Also, you go badass lady reindeer. Sleigh.

This was really cool to read actually.

Cheeto babies confirmed.

tips on starting a studyblr

yass im back at it again with another tutorial post!

okay so recently ive been getting quite a lot of requests from new studyblrs [like @fioha13 , @studyoflife , @tammyslittlestudyblr + many more anons] on how to start up a new studyblr. so instead of replying to everyone individually, ive decided to just compile everything into one huge post! 

i did get some questions about taking good pcitures, but im not the best at that, so i advise leaving a message in @studyquill ‘s ask box- Jasmine is so nice- and amazing a taking pics, just peep her studygram and you’ll see.  

i really hope you guys like this, and that it is useful to you- if you do have any more questions, or post requests, please contact me through my ask :D

Despite how horrifying horses are they don’t have the requisite dexterity to play league of legends and therefore they will never be as disgusting as us

horses don’t need limbs to play video games their brains are wired right into the mainfr

they fucking killed her

*in a horse accent* no i’m fine!

What the fuck is a horse accent

Oh You Know

Can I just… talk for a moment… about how much I love how, if you know them well, words don’t have synonyms?

English, for example, is a fantastic disaster. It has so many words for things that are basically the same, and I find there’s few joys in writing like finding the right word for a sentence. Hunting down that peculiar word with particular meaning that fits in seamlessly in a structure, so the story flows on by without any bumps or leaks.

Like how a shout is typically about volume, while a yell carries an angry edge and a holler carries a mocking one. A scream has shrillness, a roar has ferocity, and a screech has outrage. 

This is not to say that a yell cannot be happy or a holler cannot be complimentary, or that they cannot share these traits, but they are different words with different connotations. I love choosing the right one for a sentence, not only for its meanings but for how it sounds when read aloud. (Do I want sounds that slide together, peaceful and seamless, or something that jolts the reader with its contrast? Snap!)

I love how many words for human habitats there are. I love how cottage sounds quaint and cabin sounds rustic. I love steadiness of house, the elegance of residence, the stateliness of manor, and tired stubbornness of shack. I love how a dwelling is different to a den.

And I love how none of them can really touch the possessive warmness of all the connotations of home.

Words are great.

I did not expect to cry by the end of this, but I did. Which proves the point, no?

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and the lightning.” - Mark Twain (and one of my favorites, since I happen to agree with everything the OP said!)

It’s very common for imperialistic states to use the term “dialect” instead of “language” to refer to the local languages of the territory. For them, the term “language” is reserved only for the one language that they want to replace all the others with (commonly the one used by the elites and spoken in the capital city), while the term “dialect” enforces the other languages as subordinates of “the good one”, and reinforces the idea that they are not speaking a different but equally good language as the elites but that they just “don’t know how to speak the language well”.

While actual dialects have to be respected and protected (losing a dialectal variant and replacing it with the standard also means losing valuable and beautiful diversity) we have to recognise when a language is language, and call it so!

I totally agree with this and want to add the two stages of “dialect-calling-avoidance”:

1. Especially when languages are similar because they belong to the same language family, people tend to call them a dialect of the majority language (dachsprache). Being that might be one thing, but what is worse is that people always apply negative connotations to dialects as being inferior to their “mother language”. You can easily see that when we speak about ‘Scots’. People who disagree with its linguistic status as a language mostly regard it as being less than Standard English, too. Those that speak of it as an own language will also attribute it with better connotations. It wasn’t such a long time ago when the term ‘dialect’ didn’t even have something to do with relationship but rather than with social status. Even a language isolate would’ve been called ‘dialect’ when it was looked bad upon. The bad thing that goes hand in hand with this is the language stigmatisation the speakers of the so-called dialects experience. It’s always about the speakers, no feelings are hurt when we say that Hittite was an ugly language (even if it is linguistically unscientific). In Germany, we often experience dialect stigmatisation when people speak a regional variety or when they use vernacular grammar structures that are deemed ungrammatical in Standard German. (People like Bastian Sick even make money out of that.) So: At this first stage, dialects have their very own right for existence and shouldn’t be stigmatised, negatively connotated and looked bad upon. They are historically grown, bear a lot of interesting linguistical insights and are as worth as cultural diversity is.

2. The more linguistical point of view is that the folk’s terms “language” and “dialect” are hard to apply in linguistics and are rather substitute terms for social dominance and ignorance for cultural appreciation. There is and cannot be a real difference between dialects and languages. Whatever definition frame you apply, there is a wide grey range of ‘languoids’ that wouldn’t fall in any direction. That is why one should rather use the word ‘variety’ for both terms, so no (possibly negative) judgmental evaluation has to be made. All varieties are complete systems of communication and are set at almost every point along the spectrum of possible language variables. There is no distinct border on that spectrum where we could speak of a dialect or a language. American English and British English are two varieties where surely nobody would make the distinction as ‘languages’ because they separated quite recently in time. The case with Scots is more difficult as it is separate and independent since Middle English times, thus, longer - reason enough for a big discussion about its status. The case becomes clearer the more time goes by, Low Saxon, being of the next relatives to English, is independent long enough that no one would call it a dialect of English or vice versa. One would argue that the mutual intelligibility would/should play the major role for a distinction. But varieties always vary gradually. Some varieties might be mutually comprehensible at 90% or 80% of its information transfer, some just to 70% or 60% and others less. A border on that spectrum would be just as arbitrary as any other distinction. And keep in mind that most of the Scandinavian varieties are mutually intelligible whilst being considered separate languages.

So, after all, one should avoid the term ‘dialect’ out of several reasons, mostly because it is stigmatising, negatively connotated and linguistically unscientific. It puts a hierarchy on varieties where actually none exists. 

ok no offence but the worst thing u can do is waste someone’s time, lead them on, make them wait around for u. be real with people and let them go if u can’t give them what they deserve.

ok no offence but you sound like a boring person. that is far more fun than you make it out to be.

okay! you’re wrong though.

GORGEOUS. 10/10. OMFG.

ATTENTION FELLOW WHITE PEOPLE

I just keep seeing this, and often from people who are otherwise well educated and informed!

AAVE (African American Vernacular English) is not for us to use. Using AAVE is appropriative. Some words and phrases that white people have been throwing around and need to stop using:

And for fuck’s sake, stop making jokes about twerking and stop trying to twerk. This is not for you.

These are just off the top of my head but I will add more if anyone has suggestions.

And, of course, if I ever use a word or term that is AAVE please feel free to call me out.

My favourite part of that Buzzfeed shit was about ‘nigga’. Like 'Ugh, other Black people are so stupid and horrible for wanting to use that word.’

Well, lemme tell yall, I’m a sociolinguist specialising in AAVE and writing my Master’s Thesis on why nigga happened and its social implication.

AAVE is known for semantic bleaching of obscene words so that they can be reappropriated for different purposes. This is why, for example, we add -ass to the end of things, including adjectives and gerunds, to make them more emphatic (e.g. Her long hair havin-ass took 20 minutes to get ready). This is also why we have certain social contexts where it’s okay to use 'bitch’ and 'ho’ and some where it isn’t (à la @katblaque, I thought about this from your video). This has its roots in West Africa, where obscenity is more context based and less lexically linked (a word isn’t always intrinsically a cuss word, but who, how and when someone says it may make it offensive).

It wasn’t until the post-Civil War era when assimilationist Black people decided that using words the white man found offensive was not going to help the cause. Sadly, this ideology persists today.

Nigga has also undergone semantic bleaching, but in a much different way. Black people calling each other nigga is not new, and in fact may even date to slavery. However, in the Africanist way, rarely have Black people as a group taken offence to intragroup usage of the word. There have been individuals who have (and sometimes, these individuals are the most outspoken), but generally it has had a very neutral tone in the AAVE and Black world. However, as recently as the late 80’s and early 90’s the usage of nigga has been politicised, especially through the use of early hip hop, where it was again given new meaning. While nigga had always had nuances of negative, neutral and positive lexical meanings, this was when it was explicity stated on a mainstream stage that Black people can say nigga, white people cannot, and it is because of the usurpation of power. Black power does not entail antiwhiteness, but it does include usurping power from the institution of whiteness. This happens at the linguistic level as much as anywhere else. And in the same way that the LGBTQIA community decided to reclaim 'Queer’, so did the Black community choose to reclaim 'nigga’. Neither. Of course, was a unanimous decision, but they were both generally accepted decisions. What’s more, Black people added an African twist to their reclamation: just as in Africa words are vulgarised by context, so was nigga. In this case, nigga is vulgarised when spoken by a non-Black person.

The social implication then is an anti-assimilationist and Africanist approach to intragroup semantics. It demonstrated unity, power and linguistic pride in the African American speech tradition.

So, @buzzfeed, if you don’t want to participate, that’s fine. Every Black person is allowed to be individual and have their own opinions. But I and many other Black linguists have been pro- (or at least neutral-)nigga for some time. Just wanted to clear it all up for yall.

(about the possibility that malia was smoking weed)

facts

Dad kept hiding pine nuts in the pages of this magazine and letting Edgar root around for them.

(Edgar cannot be released to the wild due to an injury. He now works as an ambassador bird and general household nuisance.)

Edgar has added to his vocalizations since I last saw him! He used to only say “oh wow” in a really sarcastic voice and to mimic the trill of a screech owl. Now he also screams “WHAT?!” and mumbles “what a WHOPPER!”

It was hysterically funny discussing politics with him in the room. We’d mention some new scandal and he’d randomly interject with cries of astonishment.

Please let Edgar know that I love him

Edgar has graced my dash twice today and I learned something new each time. I too love him.

I love everything about this, most of all the fact that you named him Edgar because it makes me think of Poe’s “The Raven” immediately

His full name is Edgar Allen Crow.

At this point I just assume every story on tumblr is fake but I reblog it anyway because who cares we’re all dying and who am I to deprive myself of a tepid chortle