@margaspalvis

Hello.
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satanpositive

Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple, not fucking blue.

I have been waiting for this post all my life.

They are indeed purple, But one thing you’ve missed: The concept of “purple” Didn’t always exist.

Some cultures lack names For a color, you see. Hence good old Homer And his “wine-dark sea.”

A usage so quaint, A phrasing so old, For verses of romance Is sheer fucking gold.

So roses are red. Violets once were called blue. I’m hugely pedantic But what else is new?

My friend you’re not wrong About Homer’s wine-ey sea! Colours are a matter Of cultural contingency;

Words are in flux And meanings they drift But the word purple You’ve given short shrift.

The concept of purple, My friends, is old And refers to a pigment once precious as gold.

By crushing up molluscs From the wine-dark sea You make a dye: Imperial decree

Meant that in Rome, to wear purpura was a privilege reserved

For only the emperor!

The word ‘purple’, for clothes so fancy, Entered English By the ninth century

.

Why then are voilets Not purple in song? The dye from this mollusc, known for so long

Is almost magenta; More red than blue. The concept of purple is old, and yet new.

The dye is red, So this might be true: Roses are purple And violets are blue

.

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While this song makes me merry, Tyrian purple dyes many a hue From magenta to berry And a true purple too.

But fun as it is to watch this poetic race The answer is staring you right in the face: Roses are red and violets are blue Because nothing fucking rhymes with purple.

IT GOT SO MUCH BETTER.

My reaction, only with coffee.

Hang on, need to send this to my literature prof

Source: katelizabeth
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Stop. Drop. And Apply to #BeAnAstronaut!

Feel like your place is in the stars? Are you an adventure seeker, an explorer, a person passionate about science and space? We need you!!

Applications are OPEN for our newest class of #Artemis astronauts. Once chosen, you could be the next person to step foot on the Moon and eventually embark on missions to Mars!

Do you have a friend who should apply? Tag them. Do you know someone who’s still in school? Encourage them to follow their dreams and aim high.

To give you a sneak peak of what life will be like if you decide to #BeAnAstronaut, we’re taking you behind-the-scenes of astronaut life over the course of March. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Wish I had the citizenship to be eligible.

Etsy is somehow being even worse, do not click etsy ads

Etsy is now forcing shop owners to be part of their ads. We can not opt out.

To anyone who buys from etsy: DO NOT EVER CLICK THEIR ADS

They are rolling out a program where if you get a sale from an ad they put out, they’re taking 12-15% of the profit(probably on top of the like, 5%ish+ they already take). Even worse, if you have clicked an Etsy ad in the last 30 days ANYONE YOU BUY FROM ON ETSY IN THAT PERIOD WILL BE BILLED THAT FEE. 

So please, if you see an ad for something you like off etsy, do not click it. Just go on etsy and search for it.

This is somehow worse than what storenvy used to pull. 

Please go directly through an artist or see if they have their own storefront (I use bigcartel) instead of purchasing off etsy. And if you must, just please, please, never click an etsy ad.

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👆This is from another take for shops that made 10,000 and can’t opt out

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Oh for fuck’s sake.

Yeah, this is gross. Especially how it’s mandatory if you make over $10k in any 1 year period then you’re locked in for the life of your shop.

Bonus, the fee is calculated to include shipping. Which isn’t income. Which is fucked up.

Also, if you click over from an ad and buy a bunch of things not advertised, the 12-15% is taken from the total and not just the advertised item.

I was reading about writing, how to write, what successful writers do, all in short, excellent explanations by well-known authors. And I realized: I can’t be a writer. I don’t write. I read. I absorb, collect, research even, sometimes, but reading how to write is not teaching me how to do it whatsoever.

It’s not that I couldn’t be a writer. It’s that I am not, and my aspirations be damned, if I don’t string words together on a page or on a screen, I’m not writing.

It’s funny. SO obvious, I’m aware. But let me tell you: I have had these moments of Understanding, on the most mundane of things, several times now. It’s hilarious. I agree. I will be reading about how writers write and realize that, since I’m a reader, and am not writing, that is completely pointless. If I started writing, and stopped reading, it would remain pointless, because I’d learn how to write while writing. It’s not that that knowledge was somehow hidden. In fact, I have read this nugget of obviousness probably more than 100 times. It just never hit right. I have a storage container instead of a brain. And then one day, it boots up, picks up whatever information has been rolling around right on the top and consumes it. Bam, here you go, now you Understand.

If I tried to tell you the distinction between knowing and Understanding, I’m sure I would stumble over my own words. Let’s try it like this: you like a song, listen to it many times over, you enjoy it, but can’t quite make out, let’s say, 3 separate lines of the lyrics. And then one day, you happen to somehow learn what those lyrics are. Sometimes, you stop liking the song. Sometimes, you start enjoying it more.

That’s not Understanding.

If you like the song the exact same amount, but now have a moment of glee every time you hear a certain line because it is just So Good (or a pun. Or a reference. Anything, really.), that moment of glee is the Understanding. It shines a little but ultimately, changes nothing. It has been there all along.

I told you I can’t explain it. And now I don’t feel like further talking about it, but I shall, because too often I distract myself away from my original point. And it was this: I Understood that I am not a writer. And having done that, I can now choose to change it.

“it’s just a parking lot”

exactly. there’s nothing there. not a statue. not a plaque. nothing.

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[drives over hitler’s death site]

Bloody amazing.

And you know what’s right next to it?

That’s right, the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden, which translates to the Memorial for the murdered jews.

So if you wanna go have a look at the monument commemorating the victims of Hitler’s regime, you can park your car right on the spot he died and walk there.

Makes ya think, doesn’t it?

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gtfomulder

Germany: *has a literal parking lot over Hitler’s death site and has the memorial for the murdered Jews right next to it*

America: *has statues and museums dedicated to people who believed slavery was so amazing and good they decided to make their own country and murder anyone who disagreed*

Women, the streets near the car park are named after:

Gertrud Kolmar - German Jewish poet murdered in Auschwitz

Hannah Arendt - famous German Jewish philosopher and author, her works on totalitarianism, authority and the nature of power, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933

Cora Berliner - German Jewish economist and social scientist murdered in Trostinets extermination camp

reblog this forever 

It’s funny too cause people argue that you “can’t erase history” and that’s true. You can, however; choose how you commemorate it.