saturday mornings

"Forget what it sounds like for a minute, let’s consider the spirit of rock and roll: Rebellious...."

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:52:14 -0400

“Forget what it sounds like for a minute, let’s consider the spirit of rock and roll: Rebellious. Energetic. Vocal. Independent. Driven. Unapologetic. Powerful. They’re characteristics I could attribute to damn-near every sister I know.

In fact, my personal Who’s Who of Rock and Roll is stacked with bomb Black women. Betty Davis. Grace Jones. Tina Turner. Aretha Franklin. Nona Hendryx. Poly Styrene. Joan Armatrading. Joyce Kennedy… and that’s just 1976-77.

So why do so many people go out of their way to marginalize or flat-out disregard Black women as both pioneers and torchbearers of rock? Why are we so indifferent to the fact that more than a few African-American women strapped an instrument to their back and helped carry the genre from the fields to the church to the juke joint to the charts to a multimillion-dollar industry?

Probably because someone told us it wasn’t ours and we chose to believe it. They said it was devil’s music, so we cast it out. We let it go because someone gave it white skin, a penis, and the green light to cross boundaries that Black people couldn’t. And in so doing, they convinced the world that our pioneers didn’t deserve equal recognition, equal exposure or equal ownership.

Damn shame.”

- Black Women In Rock: If Sister Rosetta Tharpe is too old school for you, then maybe Santigold flips your wig. Either way, sisters have been part of rock music for as long as guitar feedback’s been loud (via blackrockandrollmusic)

LOVE Aretha Franklin. Been listening to her since the 70’s.

Racism in a restaurant.

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:44:53 -0400

We ate at Olive Garden tonight. My daughter and I. Girls night out. I’m a people watcher. Two African American women sat a few booths away. Our service was great, as it was at the other nearby tables. Except theirs. They got menus and then got ignored. Finally, they got up and left. On the way out, I asked the hostess. She was very quick with an answer. Too quick. Oh, they didn’t see anything on the menu they liked. I questioned that. It seemed like they didn’t get any service. No, they didn’t like the menu. Yeah right. I looked at her for a moment. Then we left.

I’m sure they lost the business of those other two women on a girls night out. They lost ours too.

Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a wolf at all, nor is...

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:03:25 -0400

Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a wolf at all, nor is it a fox, coyote, or dog. It is the only member of the Chrysocyon genus, making it a truly unique animal, not closely related to any other living canid. One hypothesis for this is that the maned wolf is the last surviving species of the Pleistocene Extinction, which wiped out all other large canids from the continent.

"There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers...."

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:08:48 -0400

“There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers. Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of schools. But teaching is a creative profession. Teaching, properly conceived, is not a delivery system. You know, you’re not there just to pass on received information. Great teachers do that, but what great teachers also do is mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage.”

- Sir Ken Robinson, on education and great teachers (via hithertokt)

Ah yes. But there are forces trying to shove us into delivery systems. Some are allowing themselves to be shoved. Others are kicking and screaming. Some of us, though, smile, say that’s nice, and go back to our classrooms and teach. Just teach. Have fun. Don’t turn into ~~cybermen~~ robot teachers.

"Each time I’m asked to tell about myself, I find myself starting the same way: “My name is Kelsey..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:03:24 -0400

“

Each time I’m asked to tell about myself, I find myself starting the same way: “My name is Kelsey and I’m nineteen..”
but what I’d really like to say is:
“My name means island of the ships but once
I found a translation that said I’m a burning shipwreck-
not a burning ship but a ship that has caught fire
after the wreckage and well, I’d say that’s more fitting.”

I’ve learned that people don’t have time for about me’s.
They need two things: a name and an indication you’re someone special.

The doctors, they want facts not details.
“I broke my leg when I was three, it’s a funny story actually-“
The right or the left?
Conversation over.

The teachers, they want interests, hobbies.
You’re sad, yes, but what do you like to do?

The adults are a spew of questions.
What school do you go to? What classes are you taking?
What do you plan on becoming? Got a boyfriend?
No, stop.

People my own age are the worst.
“I’m planning on an English degree with a concentration in creative writing.”
Yeah, aren’t we all. So how many times have you, you know,
done it?

I’m pulled apart, my interests travelling highway 2
my goals at a stop light at traffic hour,
my medical history on a billboard for the world to see.
But what about me?

Where’s the chance to say,
“I hang on to fistfuls of poetry like loose change in my pockets,
and I keep waiting for the day that the world turns upside down
so I can swim with the stars.
I’m not afraid of darkness, it’s a loneliness I can empathize with it.
It’s the blackholes like cigarette burns inside of me that get troublesome.
I walk through graveyards and read the dashes between years,
each a story I’ll never know. Sometimes I create my own.”

No wonder none of us know who we are anymore.

”

- Kelsey Danielle, “I Was Told to Write an About Me and This is What Happened” (via commovente)

theimprobablefiction: fishingboatproceeds: Hey, bro, cool...

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:20:04 -0400

theimprobablefiction:

fishingboatproceeds:

Hey, bro, cool story.

DFTBA sells a bunch of shirts, and we market to ugly people and nerdy people and small people and big people and pretty people and we’re doing okay and plus we don’t need physical stores with LITERALLY THE WORST MUSIC EVER CREATED BY HUMANS PLAYING AT EAR-BLEEDING VOLUME SO THAT ALL OF YOUR PURPORTEDLY COOL AND BEAUTIFUL EMPLOYEES ARE MADE DEAF BY THEIR WORKING CONDITIONS.

So that’s another way of doing it.

Also I hate your jeans.

John Green, everybody.

There is an assumption in this that “cool” and “good looking” are synonymous. Many cool people are not magazine-model types. Many model-type good looking people are assholes. They are elevating the high school jock clique to a marketing status.

Actually, the cool people I know don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying this much about how they look, or whether or not others admire their coolness. Guess we don’t agree on what “cool” means.

wryer: This is my final art A2 piece, responding to the theme...

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:10:27 -0400

wryer:

This is my final art A2 piece, responding to the theme ‘Storyteller’.

I decided to tell my own story of self harm/food problems through visual means: a self portrait/collage in which I am trying to show that I have now recovered and moved on from what was a really horrible time in my life.

I think I took a risk by including torn-out diary pages from my second relapse in 2010, as a lot of people at school (and now the internet) will see this, and after all it is a very personal thing, when I wrote this I never intended it to be read by anyone other than myself. I decided to include the pages because it is my own way of coming to terms with the fact that this is how I once felt, despite being so far from those feelings now. I think it is better for me to face up to these pages, rather than pretending these feelings never existed. The diary in which they were stored was still sat in the box by my bed, and these words were lying stagnant in the air in my room, and I decided it was time to put them to use or at least get them out of my room as they are no longer relevant of helpful to me in any way. It was very satisfying, almost therapeutic, to tear them to pieces, I felt as though I was killing those thoughts so that they could never return. I stared at them in disbelief as I stuck them down - I can’t believe it was my hand that wrote these words, they seem alien to me now.

The collage coming from my mouth - the story - might not be as aesthetically pleasing or as nicely arranged as I had hoped it would be, but for the first time ever I realised I cared more about the message and meaning in my piece than how it was visually presented or how ‘pretty’ it looked. I hoped that it wouldn’t look too contrived, but I just wanted to portray self injury through small objects and items, where before long butterflies - hope, recovery, redemption, safety - start to emerge, and then take over. I wanted it to represent how I was once so caught up in self hatred and self denial that I thought I would never recover or never even want to recover, but then after much time I did see the light and everything started to fall into place, and I got my life back. Today as I assembled the piece, I realised the last time I had opened a box of razors had been in 2010, and the fact that I have come so far made me feel proud. I included such graphic items and horrible words because they are still a part of me and my story, but I have since risen above that and since realised that I am better than that.

I don’t know if anyone will have read this long description, but if you have done and you are also struggling with self-harm or an eating disorder or know someone who is, know that there is still hope yet. For years I was so low and so hopeless and remember thinking that I would never get better so I might as well take my own life. I am so glad I didn’t. I am admitting all this now because I have transformed and now see all the beauty in life and I am truly, truly happy. When I was 13 I didn’t see how I could ever not want to hurt myself, and at the age of 17 I know that recovery is possible, and recovery is beautiful. I don’t know exactly how to go about recovering, but I do know there is always the possibility of finding a way out. You just have to find it.

“Storyteller: Recovery” by Kate Powell
facebook

Amazing.

explore-blog: Now that the numbers are in on same-sex...

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:06:34 -0400

explore-blog:

Now that the numbers are in on same-sex marriage, many Republicans are falling like dominos all over themselves to express their support for something that only a few months ago they steadfastly claimed to stand against. They’ll probably soon claim that this is how they felt all along, and they were simply too hamstrung by politics to be able to say what they really meant. Well, okay. In the spirit of openheartedness and what life is really all about, I’ll go so far as to say that the fear of others may mask some deep-seated desire to understand, and maybe even to love. Because really, what is there to be afraid of?

For Mother’s Day, the New Yorker celebrates marriage equality with this heart-warming cover of a two-mom family by cartoonist extraordinaire Chris Ware.

slutsneverdie: caliiforniabound: belleandwhistle: breyanarae: ...

Mon, 06 May 2013 06:11:20 -0400

slutsneverdie:

caliiforniabound:

belleandwhistle:

breyanarae:

elegantlytasteless:

Underwater sculpture, in Grenada, in honor of our African ancestors thrown overboard.

I couldnt not reblog this, it’s so powerful to me.

oh my god.

I want to see this

trIpPy

This is so powerful. It made me cry.

mikerickson: clearscience: We talked about frets on a guitar...

Sun, 05 May 2013 10:22:39 -0400

mikerickson:

clearscience:

We talked about frets on a guitar and how when you push the string into the fret board it raises the pitch on the note by changing the length of the standing wave on the string. Another interesting thing you can do is this: after plucking the open string, just lightly touch the string with your finger at the 12th fret. A sound like a bell or flute will result, as you create the second harmonic of the original standing wave.

Here’s what happens: by touching the string lightly while it’s vibrating, you cause it to come to rest at that point you’re touching. This results in another node, as shown above with the second harmonic. Touching the string at the 7th or 5th fret can make the third and fourth harmonics, with higher numbers of nodes.

But if you touch the string someplace that does not result in equal segments between nodes, no harmonic is produced and the string stops. This is simply math. Guitar players can tell you all the spots where harmonics can be produced, even if they don’t care too much about the math and physics behind it. (Some of them care though!)

Fun Fact: If you’re in tune, hitting the 5th fret harmonic on a lower string will produce the same note as the 7th fret harmonic on the next higher string. The only exception to this is with the G and B strings because they’re not separated by a perfect fourth. Still, it’s a cool trick that looks impressive to your non-musically-inclined friends.

Reblogging for Andrew. Cool.

thatscienceguy: Simple house hold science trick: Orange...

Sat, 04 May 2013 16:43:45 -0400

thatscienceguy:

Simple house hold science trick: Orange Candle

All you need is;

Orange

Knife

Kitchen Oil (Olive oil, vegetable oil, etc.)

Method:

Carefully cut the orange in half, be careful to ensure you do not cut the middle stem. Remove/eat the flesh, but save half of the skin (or all of it) with the stem intact - as shown in the second picture.

Fill it up about half way with the oil, as you’re pouring the oil in make sure you soak the stem on the way down.

light the stem on fire and it will keep burning for a while to come!

*Bonus* with the other half of the orange peel you can cover up the candle, giving it an eerie glow, or you could cut out any shape you wanted.

Need to do this. Cool.

Photo

Sat, 04 May 2013 16:26:29 -0400

(this could be a ) self portrait. :-)

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:20:11 -0400

(this could be a ) self portrait.

:-)

Oh my.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:19:04 -0400

Oh my.

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of..."

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:44:15 -0400

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.”

- Bessie Anderson Stanley (via paperimages)

Great quote, but it’s Emerson.

"A List of “Men’s Rights” Issues That Feminism Is Already Working On Feminists do not want you to..."

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:48:03 -0400

“

A List of “Men’s Rights” Issues That Feminism Is Already Working On

Feminists do not want you to lose custody of your children. The assumption that women are naturally better caregivers is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not like commercials in which bumbling dads mess up the laundry and competent wives have to bustle in and fix it. The assumption that women are naturally better housekeepers is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to have to make alimony payments. Alimony is set up to combat the fact that women have been historically expected to prioritize domestic duties over professional goals, thus minimizing their earning potential if their “traditional” marriages end. The assumption that wives should make babies instead of money is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want anyone to get raped in prison. Permissiveness and jokes about prison rape are part of rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want anyone to be falsely accused of rape. False rape accusations discredit rape victims, which reinforces rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be lonely and we do not hate “nice guys.” The idea that certain people are inherently more valuable than other people because of superficial physical attributes is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to have to pay for dinner. We want the opportunity to achieve financial success on par with men in any field we choose (and are qualified for), and the fact that we currently don’t is part of patriarchy. The idea that men should coddle and provide for women, and/or purchase their affections in romantic contexts, is condescending and damaging and part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be maimed or killed in industrial accidents, or toil in coal mines while we do cushy secretarial work and various yarn-themed activities. The fact that women have long been shut out of dangerous industrial jobs (by men, by the way) is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to commit suicide. Any pressures and expectations that lower the quality of life of either gender are part of patriarchy. The fact that depression is characterized as an effeminate weakness, making men less likely to seek treatment, is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be viewed with suspicion when you take your child to the park (men frequently insist that this is a serious issue, so I will take them at their word). The assumption that men are insatiable sexual animals, combined with the idea that it’s unnatural for men to care for children, is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be drafted and then die in a war while we stay home and iron stuff. The idea that women are too weak to fight or too delicate to function in a military setting is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want women to escape prosecution on legitimate domestic violence charges, nor do we want men to be ridiculed for being raped or abused. The idea that women are naturally gentle and compliant and that victimhood is inherently feminine is part of patriarchy.

Feminists hate patriarchy. We do not hate you.

If you really care about those issues as passionately as you say you do, you should be thanking feminists, because feminism is a social movement actively dedicated to dismantling every single one of them. The fact that you blame feminists—your allies—for problems against which they have been struggling for decades suggests that supporting men isn’t nearly as important to you as resenting women. We care about your problems a lot. Could you try caring about ours?

”

- Autostraddle (via notaprincessdestinedtobeawitch)

Guys. You need to read this.

(via abaldwin360)

Dear Friends of all genders: please read.

Photo

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:15:03 -0400

im-on-the-night-train: pocketsfullof—stones: wheelbarrow-full-o...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:11:28 -0400

im-on-the-night-train:

pocketsfullof—stones:

wheelbarrow-full-of-deutschmarks:

artist-confessions:

My grade 4 teacher took my desk away because I would draw on it. I was to sit on the floor for months as my punishment. (Deserved or not, to an 8 year old this was really embarrassing.)

My grade 7 teacher went into my desk to go through my folder of (admittedly angsty) art without my permission, then went to my mother. Because of her I was forced to see the school psychiatrist regularly.

My grade 8 teacher told me art could never be a career and that I would end up without any worth, working somewhere trashy for my whole life.

My grade 9 teacher ripped up my entire art folder because I was drawing in class, after bawling in front of everyone she then chased me into the washroom to lecture me while I hid to cry in a stall.

My grade 10 teacher didn’t believe I had painted something by myself, she told me it was plagiarism and gave me zero. When it was in fact 100% mine.

This is just few of many.

Thirteen years have passed and I am ashamed to admit that any of this still affects me. These instances for which I am sure are insignificant to any of you shook my confidence, sucked the passion out of my only escape, and made me feel as if my hobby was wrong, worthless, and should be hidden; and for that I will never forgive them.

submitted by -Anonymous

I was threatened by a teacher to have my drawings thrown out the window. My friend’s drawings were actually tossed into the hallway. We were both publicly humiliated in front of our classmates. I nearly cried and had to hold back my tears the entire class period. This happened with the same teacher. A teacher who at the beginning of the year told us it was okay to draw in his class. Apparently he suddenly changed his point of view. This happened last year and I still haven’t forgiven the teacher. Fuck teachers who try to shit on you just because you’re a doodler, or someone passionate about drawing. Just fuck them.

Im so sick of the fact that teachers cant accept people drawing in their classrooms. I mean, its not hurting anyone? I always draw down the “working out” space on the sides of test papers because drawing helps me think. It really does! Some people write out the question, or underline the keywords, but i draw while I’m thinking, is that so bad? Ive been drawing my whole life, so its almost compulsive, if i have a piece of paper in front of me i WILL draw on it. Im sick of teachers taking off marks for my doodling down the pages, or writing on my report cards “If natasha stopped drawing she would get better marks”.

Im sorry, but drawing is my escape. I can’t not draw!!!!!! Argh!

Im so sorry wheelbarrow-full-of-deutschmarks and artist-confessions that you had such terrible experiences.

First, as a teacher, I want to say “I’m sorry”. No teacher had the right to do those things to do you. I hate teachers who are bullies, and there are far too many of them.

Second, tell them all, everyone of them, to go to hell. Imagine yourself getting to tell them how wrong they were. Give yourself permission to be an artist.

This is what I do when I see a student drawing in class (in my case, I teach science) - if it is during down time (passing out papers, etc.) I ignore it; if they are missing instruction (and only then), I gently ask them to put it away - one student has two papers on his desk, one for classwork and one for drawing and as long as he is getting the science done I let the drawing go; on very rare occasions, when it is interfering with them learning, I will take it and give it back at the end of class. In those cases, I tell the student that the art is good, but I don’t want them failing science. I NEVER destroy a student’s work. I do not have that right. Neither does anyone else.

When I can, I encourage them to use their art as part of class. Many assignments the students have a choice of writing or drawing to show what they know.

Lastly, again, I am sorry for how you were abused by your teachers. Draw. Go after your passion. If you are that passionate and driven, then you are good at it. Go for it.

Love your art, love yourself.

Schools and teachers as a whole don’t understand creative people very well. I am sorry for how you were treated. Don’t stop believing in yourself. By the way, drawing isn’t a just a hobby - it is your art, your passion and yourself.

futurist-foresight: A brilliant and innovative solar powered...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:18:12 -0400

futurist-foresight:

A brilliant and innovative solar powered device charger!

astrotastic:

expectations-n-reality:

timgspears:

Window Socket - Kyuho Song & Boa Oh

So this is an absolutley brilliant idea! Just attach the plug on to a window and it will harness solar energy. A small converter will convert it into electricity which can be freely used as a plug when you are in the car, on a plane or outside.

Love this design and I really think it has a great potential.

You look at stuff like this and you know it’s designed by a designer not an engineer. Because it’s almost always impractical. You can never generate enough energy to power anything with such a tiny solar panel.

Plus. 1000mAh. That’s not even enough to charge your iPhone.

The first computer ever made was bigger than a small house. Now you have one that not only fits in your pocket, but also does countless other things with even more efficiency. There are plenty of practical designs out there that could be improved upon and improved upon over and over, so who says these types of things can’t work?

Brilliant! I want a few of these.

Photo

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:17:21 -0400