US people with disabilities in the supplemental security income (SSI) program can't have a penny over $2K in their bank account at any time in order to keep their benefits.

You know this economy. That amount is completely unlivable & makes it hard for people with disability to save for the future or have a safety net for emergencies.

A new bill would raise the max to $10K (or $20K for married couples). It would make a world of difference.

Show support, sign this petition.

The SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act is in the Senate RIGHT NOW. Contact your elected officials and tell them they must support it!

You know the Grimm version of Snow White makes more sense than most versions if only because in that version Snow White was like 7 years old.

Like imagine you find a 7 year old in the woods and she’s like my mom is gonna kill me because I’m prettier than her and she’s not kidding. You know this queen is that sort of person. So you and your roommates adopt the kid and tell her don’t talk to strangers. And she keeps talking to strangers and getting poison combs stuck in her hair and whatnot.

Like yeah that’s kinda stupid but also she’s seven. She likes apples.

Also imagine it from the hunter’s perspective. The queen tells you this bitch is prettier than me I need you to take her out in the woods and kill her. And then you see who you’re supposed to kill and it’s a 2nd grader. Like how are you supposed to react to that sort of situation? Kill a human child? No. Because you’re not a brainless evil minion you’re just some guy dealing with a cartoonishly evil monarch. Of course you let her go.

Bad look for the Prince of course. Even if she did age while she was in that glass case. He saw a dead woman and just decided to keep her. And once she stopped being dead he was like we’re married now

He did cause the evil queen to dance to death in red hot shoes though. That was kinda cool.

With the acknowledgement that I'm grasping at straws, is it ever directly confirmed that the Prince wasn't also 7?

See, I think that still works.

You are the guardsman assigned to protect the eight-year-old Prince. You are currently in the middle of the forest because he absolutely had his heart set on "going hunting", and the royal second-grader should definitely not be traipsing around the woods on his own. You let him go a little on ahead and he comes running back talking about how there's a dead girl in the clearing and there's no-one else around and he wants to take her home because she's really pretty, Hans, and she's all alone!

You let him drag you to said clearing and okay, that is one angelic-looking dead child alright, and on the one hand the quality of her clothes and the craftsmanship on the coffin (who builds a see-through coffin?) speak to potential Consequences if you simply carry her off, but also for the amount of vines that have grown on the coffin she looks extraordinarily un-decayed, so you should probably get the court alchemist's opinion on that, and there's no way he's going to come all the way out here in his embroidered velvet curly-shoes. And also this kid is technically assigned by God as your natural superior, or something.

So fine. You hoist the coffin onto your shoulder (it's not like the Prince can do it. He's eight.) and head back toward the castle, Prince chattering blithely all the way. And then you turn your ankle on a rock and suddenly there's a thump and a cough and a lot of shouting from inside the coffin and you have now become a key player in a tense political incident with the next kingdom over.

You should probably ask for a raise.

We are in favor of just about any fairy tale ending with "you should probably ask for a raise."

STORY TIME:

I work in a decent sized, local, indie bookstore. It’s a great job 99% of the time and a lot of our customers are pretty neat people. Any who, middle of the day this little old lady comes up. She’s lovably kooky. She effuses how much she loves the store and how she wishes she could spend more time in it but her husband is waiting in the car (OH! I BETTER BUY HIM SOME CHOCOLATE!), she piles a bunch of art supplies on the counter and then stops and tells me how my bangs are beautiful and remind her of the ocean (“Wooooosh” she says, making a wave gesture with her hand)

Ok. I think to myself. Awesomely happy, weird little old ladies are my favorite kind of customer. They’re thrilled about everything and they’re comfortably bananas. I can have a good time with this one. So we chat and it’s nice.

Then this kid, who’s been up my counter a few times to gather his school textbooks, comes up in line behind her (we’re connected to a major university in the city so we have a lot of harried students pass through). She turns around to him and, out of nowhere, demands that he put his textbooks on the counter. He’s confused but she explains that she’s going to buy his textbooks.

He goes sheetrock white. He refuses and adamantly insists that she can’t do that. It’s like, $400 worth of textbooks. She, this tiny old woman, bodily takes them out of her hands, throws them on the counter and turns to me with a intense stare and tells me to put them on her bill. The kid at this point is practically in tears. He’s confused and shocked and grateful. Then she turns to him and says “you need chocolate.” She starts grabbing handfuls of chocolates and putting them in her pile.

He keeps asking her “why are you doing this?” She responds “Do you like Harry Potter?“ and throws a copy of the new Cursed Child on the pile too.

Finally she’s done and I ring her up for a crazy amount of money. She pays and asks me to please give the kid a few bags for his stuff. While I’m bagging up her merchandise the kid hugs her. We’re both telling her how amazing she is and what an awesome thing she’s done. She turns to both of us and says probably one of the most profound, unscripted things I’ve ever had someone say:

“It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind. Be kind.”

The kid thanks her again and leaves. I tell her again how awesome she is. She’s staring out the door after him and says to me: “My son is a homeless meth addict. I don’t know what I did. I see that boy and I see the man my son could have been if someone had chosen to be kind to him at just the right time.”

I’ve bagged up all her stuff and at this point am super awkward and feel like I should say something but I don’t know what. Then she turns to me and says: I wish I could have bangs like that but my darn hair is just too curly.“ And leaves.

And that is the story of the best customer I’ve ever had. Be kind to somebody today.

cellars. obviously.

Can't. The cellar is full of Amontillado.

Where? I don't see it

Just down here. Come this way and I'll show you.

on a serious note regarding the wga strike and (as of 1:50 AM PST 7/13) upcoming sag-aftra strike, dsa-la has a fundraiser called The Snacklist which provides snacks and water on the picket lines here in LA. right now the funds they have will not last through the end of the summer, especially given the current and upcoming heatwaves necessitating more supplies. if you have a couple of dollars to spare it's a great way to directly support the writers (and potentially the actors) during this difficult time!

happy first sag-aftra strike in 60 years to all who celebrate.

if you are an enjoyer of media (which i will guess based on your presence on tumblr that you are) please consider donating to the snacklist (linked above) or to any of the following mutual aid funds that directly support striking actors/writers, IATSE and teamster union members who are also out of work and by and large refusing to cross the picket lines, and nonunion PAs and assistants (like yours truly) who are directly impacted by the work stoppage. everyone in this industry works unbelievably hard to bring you the shows, movies, webseries, and variety programs that you enjoy and every worker deserves a fair contract. any support you can give is extremely meaningful.

The Entertainment Community Fund provides emergency financial assistance to anyone in the entertainment industry who is unable to pay their immediate basic living expenses such as housing, food, bills, and healthcare.

The Union Solidarity Coalition has been formed by members of the wga, sag, and the dga to help cover the cost of healthcare for IATSE and teamsters who will not get enough work hours to qualify for their coverage this year due to their refusal to cross a picket line.

The Hollywood Support Staff Relief Fund (also run by the Entertainment Community Fund but separate from the above link which supports all film and tv workers) offers assistance to tv and film support staff and assistants who are not protected by a union and have been displaced from low or entry level positions.

Drive 4 Solidarity is an IATSE organized event in August raising funds for all union and guild members. Tickets are available for those in socal but donations are being taken as well.

Humanitas Groceries for Writers fund provides WGA members with grocery gift cards.

Green Envelope Grocery is a grocery fund for all workers in the entertainment industry regardless of union status.

Friends! Country folk! Science nerds! Lend me your ears (ok not literally, put those back on)!

You’ve probably seen my face at this point and know that if there’s one thing I will consistently spam you about, it’s the Mütter museum.

The Mütter houses some of my fave people in the world- permanently- and it fully changed my life.

Recently the Mütter removed all of its online content, citing ethics and respect as their reasoning. However, the current leadership of the college of physicians of Philadelphia (who owns the museum) have made it abundantly clear that they do not like the museum at all. It makes them uncomfortable.

But it’s deeper than that. The current CEO has been heard saying that her life “would be so much easier if only physicians were allowed in the museum”. She has said that she hates walking through the museum. She said that “infotainment” was not a good reason for video content by the museum.

The current executive director of the museum has caused 13 staff to leave since she was hired in September 2022. She has done this at other museums (the Michener, for one). She really is pushing an accreditation for the museum. This would require the Mütter to rid itself of all of its original cabinetry- yes, the cabinets dating from the turn of the 20th century- and make more than $1 million in changes. But here’s the kicker! The fellows of the college of physicians of Philadelphia have actually discussed this at length in the past, and decided that it was not worth the time and money to do, because the Mütter is NOT suffering from a lack of visitors. In fact, there are so many visitors that you need to have a timed ticket to go now.

Neither one of these folks knew that the museum had an audio tour, nor that they had accessible mornings for folks with sensory issues, and “please touch” tours with amazing replicas of the remains and objects within the museum, so that as many people as possible could access the knowledge at the museum.

These people hate the museum and cite accessibility and ethics as their reasoning for content removal. However, if you talk to anyone who has ever watched any videos produced by the Mütter, they’d tell ya (and have told me on insta, and written full ass dissertations on the topic in one case, wherein they compared Mütter content with the content of the British museum and found that the Mütter was the only one that came out equal in terms of content and quality) that every person and artefact were treated with the utmost respect in them.

This is not a museum that highlights and praises colonial practices. This is a museum that helps folks with different disabilities, conditions, and experiences feel seen and respected. It teaches us about the history of medicine, in all of its nitty gritty detail, and let’s us discuss the issues inherent within it. This is a museum that celebrates the birthdays of its residents, when they are known- or at least it did, before the new leadership took over.

And the leadership want to change that. They want to gut the museum because THEY don’t like it, and assume that everyone feels just like they do.

So many of you have shared and commented on my previous posts, and I’m hoping that that will translate into you signing this change.org petition my colleagues and I created.

Remember with change.org that you have to click through the email they send you to confirm the signature. You do NOT need to donate, and in fact, please don’t. We don’t want your money. We want to show the board of trustees and the leadership of the museum that the public cares for the place they want to destroy.

For more info (and so you don’t just take my word for it), see https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-mutter-museum-online-exhibits-taken-down-why/

Thank you for listening to me yell from my soapbox. Please share this widely, and please sign.

Absolutely losing it at this Reddit post

And the update

She buttered Jorts

The outrage summed in a perfect Tweet:

FINALLY

I’ve been collecting the best Jorts tweets and waiting until the moment he showed up on my dash to post them. So here you are, the curated best of the past, oh, day or so:

Some additional quality memes from the past 24 hours:

Meanwhile, OP has continued tracking trash can mishaps on twitter:

And a quality photo of this sweet potato:

An update for those not following Jorts’ twitter account, starting with a transcription of the Wellerman cover:

Link to the lovely video

Additional quality memes:

A recipe for Buttered Jorts:

Recent Jorts activities:

And some very wise words from the cat himself:

This is the largest Jorts post I found before I decided to stop, and combines a lot of memes in one convenient package.

Along with cats, of course. Smartly done!

The person running the Jorts Twitter is using it to promote unions, which is awesome.

FNALLY! All the premium Jorts content in one place!

You guys just have to trust me on this one and click here okay?

OH MY GOD I NEEDED THIS

For the chronically anxious and/or otherwise mentally ill:

This is not a screamer, jumpscare, or any other kind of horror link I don’t know the name of. It will not cause you to question reality and as far as I’m aware, there is no reason it should cause any kind of hallucinations or psychosis. I don’t want to spoil the surprise because it’s DELIGHTFUL but I am happy to tell you it’s very sweet and gentle and also great lowkey stress relief. This is a cinnamon roll link appropriate for all ages (yes, all the way down to babies) and you will enjoy it if you click it. ❤️

Desperately cute. :)

Opal Chrysalis by Firefly Path couture

this is stunning, clothes

For the holidays: get Diane Duane’s whole (ebook) store for $44!

With the Shortest Day upon us (in the northern hemisphere anyway), and the festive season in full swing, we thought it’d be nice to give folks a year’s-end chance to grab a whole pile of ebooks—more than two million words’ worth*—for not a whole lot of money.

Maybe you want to give somebody a gift of lots of reading. Or maybe you want to give yourself a present. (And why shouldn’t you? After the last couple of years everybody’s had, you certainly deserve something nice!) There’s a list at the Ebooks Direct “I Want Everything You’ve Got” page of all the goodies you’ll get… including the updated/revised New Millennium editions of DD’s award-winning Young Wizards series, and the groundbreaking (and also award-winning) Middle Kingdoms LGBTQ-centered fantasy series.  

As always, all our books are DRM-free and can be moved from device to device at your pleasure. If your computer or e-reader crashes, if you change platforms, or if you just plain lose your ebook files, we’re happy to replace them for you free. (And why not? You’ve already paid for them once. It’s not like we’ve got  a space program to support or anything…) And if you want to send one of these packages as a gift, just email our support address and we’ll sort that out for you.

This offer will last only 72 hours, starting at 1700/5 PM GMT on Tuesday, 20 December 2022. So if you want to take advantage of it and get our whole ebook store for $44, here’s all you need to do.

Go to the following page and follow the directions—

https://bit.ly/HolidayEBDWholeStore

(Our apologies in advance to our UK friends, whom we can’t include in this offer due to Brexit. More info about that over here.)

Meanwhile, thanks for your interest! (And to those who decide to avail of this offer, thanks in advance for your support of small independent online book businesses.**  It’s much appreciated.)

*Oh, all right. 2,685,698 words…

**Especially from the author who’s going to have to go have a spinal MRI right after the New Year. Looks like a few decades spent in a typing chair can take their toll…

doooo itttttttt….

This is such a great deal; the Wizard series is s particular favorite of mine, one of those comfort reads where you go back and visit, and it’s like hanging out with old friends. Neil had the right idea: doooo itttttttt…

Once again, the librarian and graphic design squad at BiblioBoard have teamed up to deliver you Valentines! 

Happy Valentine’s Day from us! Enjoy, book lovers. 

Print them out and share the love here! 

Adorbs

By Andrew Kanounov

This is The Name of The Wind. Buy it.

The Name of The Wind is my book suggestion of the year. I read it about six months ago and I’m still thinking about it. It is the best book I have read in years, fantasy or otherwise. 

The Name of The Wind needs to be the next book you read. And the next book after that, I can guarantee, will be the second in the Kingkiller Chronicles “The Wise Man’s Fear.”

I am a Harry Potter fan, you probably are a Harry Potter fan as well. But, in the years since you read Harry Potter, you’ve grown up a bit. This is the book that Harry Potter fans have been looking for. It’s not a book for Harry Potter fans…it’s just a book that I think people who loved Harry Potter and are now in their 20s or 30s would REALLY REALLY ENJOY.

I bought this book because I was in the book store and I tweeted “BOOK SUGGESTIONS PLEASE” and about 12 people suggested it. I am so thankful to those 12 people. 

The world is so deep, the stakes are so high, the characters so real, the mysteries so magical, the magic so mysterious, the plot so twisty…every day you haven’t read it is a day in your life that could be better. 

I do not take this review lightly…buy this book. Buy it now. On Amazon or, preferably, at your local book store.

If you love The Name of The Wind, reblog.

Ten of the Best Storybook Cottage Homes Around the World

These 10 fairy tale inspired cottages with their hand-made details call to mind the tales of the Brothers Grimm and other fantasy stories. All of these cottages are real-life homes from around the world. From stunning cottage houses to mystical stone dwellings, these 10 storybook cottage homes provide inspiration and inspire the imagination.

8-foot giant squid pillow.

You’ll need:

You can find many of these things down at the many places on Fabric Row, on 4th Street between Bainbridge and Catherine. Pearl, at 417 South Street, sometimes has stuffing if you can’t find any.

First, you need to draw out your patterns. Here’s a basic template to get you started, although most of the measurements are reasonably fudgeable. If in the likely event you don’t have any four-foot-long pieces of paper lying around, just tape a few pieces together.

Once you’ve drawn out your eight patterns, it’s time to cut the fabric. Pin the pattern to the fabric, laid flat, and cut out the following, leaving a half an inch or so of extra fabric around the edge of the pattern:

FOR THE ARMS: 8 felt and 8 fabric cutouts of piece 1

FOR THE, UH, LONGER ARMS: 2 felt and 2 fabric cutouts of piece 2

FOR THE BODY: 2 felt cutouts of piece 3

FOR THE FIN: 4 felt cutouts of piece 4

FOR THE HEAD: 1 felt cutouts of piece 6

FOR THE EYES: 2 white felt cutouts of piece 7 and 2 black felt cutouts of piece 8

So now you’ve got all your pieces ready, it’s time to start sewing them together. I did mine by hand because my sewing machine is busted and I get a kind of Zen buzz from sewing by hand, but if you have a non-busted one I recommend that you use it as it will be MUCH EASIER. You’re going to be sewing everything with the nice side of the fabric facing in, then turning it inside out to stuff it.

THE ARMS: Pin together one patterned fabric piece 1 and one felt piece 1 (with the nice sides facing the inside). Sew down around the U-shape and back up, leaving the top open. Then turn the arm inside out, stuff it (it’s easiest to do both of these things if you sort of scrunch it up like you’re trying to put on a pair of tights, excuse the non-dude-friendly reference) and sew the top closed. Do the same for the other seven arms and rejoice in the fact that this is the most tedious part. Same deal with the two long arms, they’re just harder to stuff.

THE FINS: Pin together two of your piece 4s and sew together the curvy outer edge. Turn the piece inside out, so the seam you just sewed is on the inside, and start sewing up the other side, stuffing gradually as you go along. You should end up with a triangle-ish puffy thing. Repeat for the other two piece 4s.

THE BODY: Put down one piece 3, then place the two fins you have down with the point up and the curvy side pointing in, then make a sandwich by putting the other piece 3 down on top. Pin it all together and sew around the edges with the two fins still inside, as shown. Turn it inside out and move on to…

THE HEAD: So take piece 6 and the ten arms you’ve already done. Lay the arms, fabric side facing you, out with the arms’ top seams in a line half an inch from the top of piece 6. The order should be arm arm arm arm BIG ARM arm arm arm arm BIG ARM. The legs should be almost entirely covering piece 6. Pin them in place and sew a straight line through the individual legs seams to attach the legs to piece 6.

When you pick up the other side of piece 6, you now have something resembling a really weird untied hula skirt. Sew together the two 9-inch ends of piece 6 with the fabric side of the arms on the outside, and keep it inside out for the moment.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: Fit the open end of the body through the arms (still fabric side facing out) and pull the edge all the way through the felt cylinder so it’s even with the edge that DOESN’T have arms attached to it. Sew around the diameters of the head cylinder and the body cylinder to attach them, then pull the legs down over the head and you’re almost done!

Stuff the body, then seal it off by sewing piece 5 over the open end (even if you do have a functional sewing machine, you’ll probably have to do this part by hand).

THE EYES: Sew the black circles on the white circles and whipstitch the eyes onto the head. You do this last because you can’t tell where they’re going to end up on the end product if you put them on before stuffing the body.

For anyone who wants their own.

Love this!