go back to sleep puppy *holds chlorophyll over your face*
haha yay! *starts making sugars*
i love this post and always reblog it because it reminds me of a game i used to play in the bath tub as a child which was called “plant sugars” and the premise was that i was a plant organism and i had to produce starches to store in my tuber
I think “slop” is a strong contender for world of the year 2025, as it seems to be universally recognizable as a description for the majority of output produced in the name of Return on Investment.
Sure it means algorithmically generative slop now, but look at housing construction, durable appliances, food, automobiles, you name it and tell me it’s not just more slop. If enshittification is the process, slop is the result.
Its significantly cheaper to travel long distances compared to other options like flying or driving. In a lot of cases it may even be faster than flying, and even when its slower, its not slower by a large amount.
Its better for the environment, and trains are just cool.
I have rode the High Speed Trains in Europe.
Once you’ve experienced them, you will understand the hype. They are also very comfortable and very scenic.
You can go from Amsterdam to Paris in about 3 hours. This would be like going from Mississauga to Ottawa in 3 hours instead of almost 5.
I think “comfortable and scenic” is accurate, but undersells it.
Being in high speed rail is far more comfortable than a plane. The seats are good, the ride is very smooth (no turbulence! no take off and landing! none of anything like that!), and you can get up to find the restroom whenever you want, no seatbelt sign or any of that.
It is so much faster than many other forms of transport not just because of its own speed, but because train stations can be centrally located and easy to get to (unlike most airports), and don’t have the excess security theatre of airports that slows down the process. So the entire experience feels quicker and easier from start to finish.
trains are better for the environment by a huge margin than flight and than driving as well. and the scenic element is indeed much nicer – you get to watch the landscape go by and change, without the stress of driving.
trains are incredibly efficient at moving large volumes of people. there’s a reason that much of europe and asia has invested in them, and a reason that we had railroads across north america until the truck and car lobbies essentially ruined investment in this mode of transport.
autism is not a horrible disease that ruins lives and tears apart families. elon musk, who is autistic and an evil billionaire who doesn’t pay taxes, has ruined thousands of lives, and whose family hates him, is a statistical outlier adn should not have been counted
My mamaw has the book right now so I won’t be able to read it for a little bit but my mom read The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan which is about the Dust Bowl and it puts in perspective all the environmental books I was reading from the 1940’s and 1950’s and the sense of agitation and intensity in them.
Everyone is like yeah yeah the dust bowl we’ve all heard of it, but the Dust Bowl was apocalyptic. The USA practically eliminated the bison—we are talking thousands of square miles of land littered with bones, enormous pyramids of skulls—and committed genocide against their caretakers, and then settlers ripped up the prairie grasses (which protected meters of top soil) with plows
And what happened was, half the country became in engulfed in horrific dirt storms that turned the sky black and reduced visibility to a few feet. Even indoor environments were full of deep drifts of dirt. When it rained, it rained mud instead of water. In ENGLAND the snow was RED because of DIRT. People died from pneumonia because they were breathing the dirt into their lungs.
Even before mom started reading this book, I was reading American books about the environment from the mid 20th century, and they are animated with the zeal and terror of people who have realized that human mismanagement could make the USA literally uninhabitable. I realized, “Oh. This is right after the Dust Bowl.” cause of how they talk about erosion, and I realized just how formative the Dust Bowl was in terms of environmental policy.
Reading about various wildlife species, I realized also how utterly apocalyptic the conditions of the past were for animals. Deer were almost eliminated from my state. Deer.
Why do we have the Migratory Bird Treaty Act? Because just about every large bird species almost went extinct from uncontrolled commercial hunting. We almost had no swans, no cranes, no egrets, no storks. We lost the passenger pigeons and Carolina parakeets, but we could have lost Basically Everything.
So many of the ill-conceived decisions to introduce species to this continent are easily explained by how apocalyptic this period of time was. Why did we think it was a good idea to introduce Kudzu? Because in the 1950’s, erosion sparked a visceral apprehension of CERTAIN DOOM, and logging had made the whole southeast start washing away! Why were so many exotic antelopes introduced to Texas? Because every native large animal was almost wiped out!
From my other readings on the subject (Changes in the Land by William Cronon is a good one) devastating environmental destruction started just about as soon as Europeans started controlling the land, and I am guessing that if you examined the timeline of environmental disaster alongside the migrations west, it would support the argument that settlers started pushing west more and more rapidly because of land degradation and environmental disaster.
I wish this was commoner knowledge, getting to where we are now has been a journey. Environmental history doesn’t start in 1970’s.
It is not the case that things have steadily gotten worse over time and recently are becoming extremely bad, rather, different parts of the environment have become both better and worse in steps forward and backward, and many seemingly unremarkable things around us were earned by a vicious fight, which we can learn from and continue…
my grandparents lived through the Dust Bowl. the story that sticks with me, from Western KS:
there was a storm blowing, so my great grandpa tied a string around his waist and tied it to the house so he could check on the cows without getting lost in the dust.
inside the house, my great grandma was making milk bump soup - a little milk from those cows, with flour and water balls cooked in. Poverty food for sure.
There was so much dust in the air that when she stirred the soup, it turned into mud.
They didn’t have anything else, so no dinner for them or their 3 boys.
They slept with wet cloths over their faces to keep from suffocating.
One of those boys became a farmer, one of the first in the county to adopt conservation practices.
It sometimes feels like the end of the world, these days. It helps me to remember that the world has ended before - whole communities, lives buried under blowing dust, families uprooted, reliant on government handouts to keep from starving.
The world ends, sometimes. the secret is, we keep living anyway.
Hmmm it’s like we can do something to prevent more climate disasters @isuggestlandback
Here’s a thing that happened to one of my friends. I was there.
Basically, we were walking down the sidewalk, talking about something meaningless. I think it had to do with a movie. Then this bus screeches up, stops next to us, and a bunch of people with “Down with Cis” shirts climbed out and started beating him up. I was punched and kicked a bit too, but I managed to avoid brutalization by going for their faces. After figuring out what’s happening, I started attacking them back, getting them off of him. He was quite injured but I called 911 and he made a full recovery at the hospital. I was fine, with only a cut on my arm that they patched up.
today i found out that when monarch butterflies migrate south for the winter, all the ones that go across the middle of lake superior suddenly stop going south and go west for five miles and then continue south. which really freaked scientists out cos like What is in the Middle of Lake Superior what do Butterflies know that We Dont Is This The End Times etc. anyway turns out about a hundred million years ago there was a mountain there and the butterflies still think they gotta fly around it. classic butterflies
Y’all, unfortunately, this is just not true. A few months ago, I urged people on this site to be skeptical specifically about ecology & wildlife biology posts with no sources. This is a perfect example.
This post has made its rounds for ten years (originally posted in 2015), and the earliest source I have ever been able to find for this claim is an article posted in 2013, which says:
“Biologists, and certain geologists, believe that something was blocking the monarchs’ path. They believe that that part of Lake Superior might have once been one of the highest mountains ever to loom over North America.”
Who these “biologists” and “certain geologists” are is a mystery. The article links two sources:
Dillard is an acclaimed author and nature writer, but she is not a biologist or geologist and cannot be referenced as such. The referenced excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:
Dillard credits this claim to nameless entomologists and a book with no title. It’s a dead end. Bear in mind, the entomologists and books who may have made this claim, which Dillard later read, would have done so pre-1974.
The truth about monarch butterfly migrations may lack the sci-fi/fantasy allure of a mountain range that exists only in a butterfly’s primordial memory, but it’s still incredible.
These creatures with magnificently intelligent and fragile bodies are believed to use internal solar and magnetic compasses to traverse mountains and lakes:
But as far as I can find, there is no Monarchs’ memories of a long-lost mountain which dictates their modern-day migration route.
If anyone has more insight on this, I would appreciate it, because I am not an entomologist. I specialize in marine science and scientific interpretation, and I only used those skills to find and present what I believe is the best available information on this topic. Thank you!
people keep calling this “a net zero information post.” you should click any of the links I shared about butterflies and the lake and learn something new and exciting! : )
Tumblr is ruled by fandoms, but which fandoms rule the hardest?
This week and every week hereafter, we’ll be figuring it out by tallying all the searches, tags, reblogs, and likes that go rumbling through our corridors. The result? Fandometrics. A pleasingly scientific ranking of the fandoms on Tumblr.
Here’s a little preview of the #2 fandoms for each category of fandom we’re studying. Why #2? So you can enjoy the suspense of clicking through to find out #1.
Find out the #1’s (and #3’s through #20’s) over at Fandometrics.
Last week, the entire editorial staff at Tumblr (my shiniest unicorns, my untamed rabbits, my very good amazing talented brilliant wonderful friends) were laid off bringing a very unceremonious end to the proudest moment of my career, @fandom fka The Fandometrics.
I just got an email repeating last week’s Week in Review (and i guess will continue to receive it forever because there’s no one to turn it off?) and i wanted to pour one out for the thing that brought me the most joy in my career and continued life after I moved on from Tumblr. I’ve been in deep mourning for everything this layoff has meant for Tumblr in general but today the reality of it really hit me. The radar (maybe one of the last human-curated things on the internet?) will just repeat the same 5 posts forever. There will be no more big weeks on Tumblr. Just silence on that blog I fought so hard for for so many years. The blog that my team went on to nourish and grow and do amazing things with in the past four years. That’s it. No goodbyes.
So here’s the first staff post about it. Tumblr, thank you for letting me do weird library science with my little spreadsheets and terminal scripts and all the ships that ever passed through anyone’s dash. Thank you to every person who ever touched the TagCat and made magic happen on that blog.
Fandometrics you will always be famous.
update - it looks like at least Week in Review will be continuing (shoutout to the one unicorn left standing) <3
saying “you are a burden on society” is just such a weird framing of priorities
It’s like saying “wow, think how much better gas mileage your car would get if you weren’t sitting in it” or “think how dry that umbrella would be if you weren’t holding it in between you and the rainstorm”.
the things we create? they’re for us. they are meant to carry us. they are meant to protect us. we are meant to hold them up to keep us dry.
why do we even have a society if not to take care of each other?
I’m holding out for a Bozo ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta make jokes, entertain all the folks, and never cause no one a fright I need a Bozo I’m holding out for a Bozo with a big bow tie And party balloons and a big pair of shoes and a good throwing arm with a pie
Somewhere after midnight, at the circus of my dreams Somewhere out beyond the crowd, there’s someone making jokes at me Racing on a small trike, flying by on a trapeze It’s gonna take a funnyman to put my mind at ease
I NEED A BOZO
Up where the tent-poles meet the canvas above Out where the strongman lifts the tree I could swear there is someone, somewhere Pranking me
Through the lions and dancers and stilts and the smoke and the light I can hear his nose honk like a horn in the night
feminism never taught me to hate men but it did help me realize that i shouldn’t prioritize them over women & it turns out that alot of men consider that to be hatred lmao.
So if you were in a room with two prisoners; a man and a woman, you’d never met, and the gender neutral soldier with the big gun told you to kill one of them, you’d automatically shoot the man?
tag yourselves I’m the gender neutral soldier with the big gun
im the completely off the wall reaction to a fairly mundane post
internet politics and real-world politics have gotten so separated, and pretty soon all this internet weirdness is gonna come crashing into real life and politicians are gonna start throwing around words like “SJW” and “anime communist” and “dark enlightenment” and it’s just gonna be the most ridiculous fucking thing
date of origin: 13th of april, 2015.
happy 10 year anniversary!
This post.
This fucking post.
It is in some ways, the only piece of evidence I have that there was a time Before.
i was trying to make my friend a bday cake but the dye on the decorative icing started leaking and dripping everywhere so it accidentally became the most ominous and violent looking baked good ive ever seen…… i slapped on some sprinkles to try and make it less threatening looking. it worked a little bit.
You know what my favorite thing about the Pokemon TCG is? The attack names:
And my all-time favorite:
Pokemon Heritage Post
WAIT I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW
I collect fake pokemon cards, badly translated to Spanish… I have this excadrill card with the attack “straight slash”. Well. That’s the original name anyways.
crabs are so gentle, they can be so kind. their claws? precise little things, so careful in the sand, so careful with food. they do what they must to live and wave their claws to express their joy to the world for giving so much to them, for giving such kindness to these creatures known as crabs. please be gentle to crabs
elon musk is like if you distilled the essence of 2010 “you, sir, win the most epic of upvotes” reddit and put it into the body of a wealthy peanut factory owner from 1835 london who exclusively employed 5 year old orphans
Things I like about this decal on a restaurant window:
-the insane orange waiter
-that he’s carrying his plates in the air like a strongman
-the couple looks like this isn’t the first time he’s done this, but it’s easier to just let it happen at this point.
-the sign says PASTA as if he’s screaming it like a frankenstein
-but he’s holding a plate of an entire chicken and a plate of wine glasses
-there’s three wine glasses
-one’s for him.
i just did the BOFA thing to my mum and she goes “that’s very rude” and I said “i’m sorry, i meant it as a parody” and she said “of what?” then i said “a parod-eez nuts” and i heard my dad laugh from the other room
If you don’t let go of your prejudices and past grudges, your heart won’t blossom. 2013 is coming, let’s make a change. We only have one planet so let’s show each other some kindness.
that in the Chinese version of Disney’s Mulan, the fake name she gives is “Ping”, but her family name “Fa” in English is “Hua” in Chinese, therefore her full name is “Hua Ping”, which is literally “Flower Vase”, and that’s why Shang is so bewildered because it’s a silly name.
but OP how could you not tell them the best part
“hua ping”/flower vase is chinese slang for “camp gay”
I—
Mulan, introducing her soldiersona: Hello yes it is me, a twink
its mind boggling that someone reblogged this, nearly a year after benedict stood down, nearly a year after the joke made sense, months since the last reblog
sees art with thick smooth line art: ah yes i want my art to look like that
sees art with sketchy thin line art: ah yes i want my art to look like that
sees lineless art: ah yes i want my art to
…… this isn’t my post. i didnt makethis post. why does it say i made this post
not to be boring and solve the fun mystery but it says that bc it’s a “chat” post, not a text post. which used to not include the OP’s username, so tumblr assigned you op I Guess (source: i made this post in 2014)
thank you for giving me custody of this post 🙏 i just picked it up from elementary school and tomorrow it has soccer practice
And speaking of pronouns, flat-out my favorite part of the LOTR Appendices is when it’s revealed that the Gondorian dialect of the Common Speech differentiates between formal and informal second-person pronouns but the distinction’s been lost in the Hobbit’s dialect, so Pippin’s blithely been using familiar terms of address with the Lord of the City, and thus helps to explain both why the Gondorians are so ready to assume he’s a prince and why Denethor finds him so amusing to have around.
not what i expected from a post that began with “speaking of pronouns,” but an a++ show of the versatility and surprise daily available on tumblr dot com
Art Critic: the skull in the corner is artfully placed on the periphery of vision to symbolise the omnipresence of death, important thematically to the artist’s conception of life and mortality.
Actual Artist: aw shit, I got all this negative space, guess I’ll stick a skull there that looks pretty rad.
I painted a copy of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring for a class in college, and when I displayed it for review the professor was like, “Are you making a statement about materialism by not painting her wearing the actual earring?”
And that, kids, was the first time I ever cursed in front of a teacher.
The painting is called The Girl with the Pearl Earring, and I forgot. To paint. The damned. EARRING.
And that, kids, was the
first time I ever cursed in
front of a teacher.
Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.
My parents HATE overwatch because it takes up our entire wifi whenever my brother goes online and when I bought myself the new Zelda my mom was like “can I watch Netflix? or are you playing” and I was like no, no don’t worry it doesn’t take up internet. and she was so relieved and started walking towards the TV in her room and I was like “you want to watch it out here? I can switch to the handheld mode” and she was so impressed that she could watch Master Chef next to me while I played my game. Nintendo is truly the family system.
nintendo paid for this post
blizzard payed for that reply
I paid for my lunch today (one of sandwich, meat ball sub)
did it taste good?
it was very good. thank you for asking :) i hope you have a good lunch tomorrow
“average person eats 3 spiders a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted
Numbers don’t lie but people can sure as fuck pick and choose the numbers they give you and phrase things to make them sound like they mean things they don’t
learn fucking stats or at least how they can hurt
As a wise man once said: There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
