sasquapossum

[sasquapossum]

Well, it was Anya Taylor Joy, so nice to look at I guess, but also the character was a professional assassin so 😬.

[sasquapossum]

If I had to address groups of people as often as I used to, I'd probably go with D&D classes. Rogues and wizards. Bards and barbarians.

people keep trying to make "ladies and gentlemen" more inclusive.

I think we should go the other way around.

make more and more weird false dichotomies in greetings. "gamers and pianists". "oil painters and swordsmen". "vexillologists and entomologists". "chess masters and diamond artificers". "accountants and gendered individuals".

we need to be dropping shit into formal meetings to make people say "wait what? which one am I?"

[sasquapossum]

Rating the birds in my backyard by tendency toward violence

Northern Cardinal, 4/10

I'm sometimes worried the male is sexually harassing the female but I'm pretty sure they're just doing some elaborate public pickup roleplay. The rest of us didn't agree to participate in your kink, guys.

American Robin, 1/10

Literally just some dude hanging out. Never bothered anyone but worms. Big fan of the way you just stand there in the middle of the grass like you forgot what you were supposed to be doing.

House Sparrow, 10/10

You're a gang. You're participating in gang violence. There's ten billion of you living in a single wood pile and it's been civil war for three years now. When will the bloodshed end?

Tufted Titmouse, 1/10

A shy baby. A pretty little guy. I saw you on the neighbor's garage roof and time stopped. There were anime sparkles around you. Come back.

European Starling, 9/10

Why is it always you? Listen, I know, I KNOW the sparrows are the problem, and YET. When the fighting starts, it's always you in the middle of it, provoking them and then screaming like you're an innocent bystander defending yourself. I'm onto you.

Carolina Wren, 3/10

This rating is not for physical violence, which you don't engage in, but for your role as an incurable narc. A tattle tale. I know they're fighting again, okay? I see it. Our yard has been a warzone for years, you don't have to make a big announcement every time someone misbehaves.

Eastern Wood-Peewee, 0/10

If this were "birds who think they're better than everyone else," you'd get 10/10.

Red-bellied Woodpecker, 6/10

It's a utility pole. It's not a tree. You're surrounded by trees that are full of bugs. But there you are, on the utility pole. Committing vandalism.

American Crow, unrated

For who am I to cast judgment on the actions of La Famiglia? I assume you are doing what is best for the neighborhood. If I could, though, without criticism, make a single observation. That when large numbers of you gather in the ominous dead cottonwood - no? No, you're right. None of my business.

Great Crested Flycatcher, 5/10

Frankly, I think you could be doing more. I think your name implies a great potential. I think you should massacre the insects. I think your beak should drip with viscera.

Stay tuned for more criminal activity!

[sasquapossum]

Skill issue. Get better balls.

Urgent care is a very funny name for it because they do not treat you with any urgency nor do they care

[sasquapossum]

what are your favorite lichens in each color of the rainbow? Are there any purple lichens?

I am happy you asked:

Red: Lasallia rubignosa

Orange: Teloschistes capensis

Yellow: Candelariella rosulans

Green: Sticta canariensis

Blue: Lobarina scorbiculata

Purple: Peltigera hymenina

[sasquapossum]

It is hugely important to let kids apply the scientific method for themselves, to things that already interest them. Besides the direct learning, it associates the process with positive feelings - including the positive feelings about themselves that figuring things out "on their own" can provide. That's how we get adults who can engage in critical thinking, instead of (what we have now) too many who just absorb whatever conspiracy theory the loudest podcasters and influencers are promoting that day.

i taught a baking class for 12 year olds today and we made your garden variety chocolate chip cookies, but i’m a big believer in Questioning Everything and the who/what/where/why/when/how behind things, so the first part of the class was purposely letting the kids do things the wrong way, to show and explain why we do things the way we do.

“why do we bake cookies at 180 for 9 minutes when we could do 400 for 2 minutes?” -enter the godawful lump of coal with a still gross wet and uncooked inside

“why do we have to scoop out little cookies instead of doing the whole tray?” -ok well that one you can technically do if the spread is even. you just end up with one giant, structurally unsound cookie. “PLEASE CAN WE MAKE GIANT COOKIES” (we did make 1 giant tray cookie)

we talked a lot about why consistency is important, but i don’t think it really hammered home until i said “okay everyone gets ONE cookie, that’s fair, right?” and then handed out cookies of hugely varying sizes. + baked one fat lump of a cookie that still wasn’t done at the 9 minutes, vs the regular one i put in that came out charred by the time the first was actually done.

we also made a row of cookies where each one had one single differing ingredient omitted, like a cookie with no flour, or a cookie with no butter, and laid them all out on a single tray to bake together to see how each ingredient affects the outcome.

two of the little girls added cocoa to their cookie doughs until it matched the colour of each others skin to make best friend cookies, and that almost made me tear up a bit 🥺

got briefly distracted (…for over half an hour…) talking about how eggs form when someone cracked an egg and it had 2 yolks

expertly tolerated being asked how old i am (just turned 31 the other day) which was immediately followed by asking if i watched the moon landing live on tv

was so focused on keeping track of all the kids that in the end i forgot to make a cookie for myself, but it’s ok because one of the girls gave me this

tiny……….

[sasquapossum]

Description: [A video of a woman riding a galloping horse bareback while holding a large rainbow flag.]

[sasquapossum]

Considering that a decent SSD costs about $50/TB, this game costs an extra $15 or so on top of the purchase price. Who the hell do they think they are, indeed.

they should make games 8 gb again

[sasquapossum]

A ship-shipping ship. Some of the ships stacked on the right look like ship-shipping ships themselves, which would make the bigger one a ship-shipping ship shipping ship. And if we had another one, we could do a ship-shipping ship shipping ship ship.

[sasquapossum]

Baby piercing?

[sasquapossum]

Gotta try...

When you order, grill to we smash that fresh ball of beef sear on a hot-buttered the burger you can taste and delicious burger.

This must be what having a stroke is like.

[sasquapossum]

Looks like a wizard hat to me. A squizard.

[sasquapossum]

[sasquapossum]

Never underestimate the power of showing that you have legal representation, and the determination to pursue such avenues. I haven't done it in this particular situation, but I've done it in others and it's amazing how quickly employers or landlords or whatever will back off. Sure, they might have enough lawyers to bury you, but seeing that you're willing and able to fight changes their calculation. It simply becomes easier (or cheaper) for them to do what they should have done all along. They don't need to be sorry, and almost certainly won't be. They're just cheap and lazy. When appeals to honor have already failed, appeals to self interest can be very effective.

Hi Everyone,

If you're considering your options after experiencing harassment at work, there's a tool I wanted to shine some light on that your employer probably doesn't want you to know about. An option that doesn't involve HR or signing over your soul to a company lawyer.

It’s called a demand letter.

It’s lowkey the legal system’s quiet little power move. If something happened and HR made it worse or did nothing you don’t have to go quietly. You can go strategic and legal - with a demand letter.

What is it? It’s a letter your lawyer (or legal clinic) sends to your employer. It outlines what happened, how the company failed you, and what you want them to do about it -like money, a reference letter, or changes to your file.

Why it works Because employers hate lawsuits. They cost time, money, and PR cleanup. A demand letter signals you know your rights, and you’re ready to take action without asking for permission from HR or your manager’s manager’s manager.

Why no one talks about it Because it's not in your company handbook. Or mentioned in your harassment training. And it's a threat to the structure the company benefits from.Will I have to pay a lawyer?

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Community legal clinics exist. Some lawyers work on contingency. Some do free consults. Ask anyway. You might be surprised what support is out there.

Will I have to pay a lawyer? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Community legal clinics exist. Some lawyers work on contingency. Some do free consults. Ask anyway. You might be surprised what support is out there.

What if I just want to move on? That’s totally valid. But sometimes moving on is easier with a severance, or a reference letter. Or just a little bit of control back.

NOTE: This post isn’t legal advice. It’s “you deserve to know your options” advice!

Thank you for reading. Stay safe out there.

[sasquapossum]

Blocking is rarely as uncivil as the act that provoked it. It's just that people like to play around with arbitrary definitions of "civility" so that they're always on the good side and others are on the bad side. One might think it would be better to consider which actions actually give offense (or even cause harm), and define civility as avoidance of those, but that's too much mental effort for most people. It's easier to make up a game you'll always win.

it’s so crazy that people treat blocking as “uncivil” 😭 girl i just don’t have time for you & you annoy me

[sasquapossum]

Also, Giant Gippsland (Australia) Earthworm.

Is it wrong to wonder how they'd taste?

Have you ever seen a giant worm? 👀🪱 While there are thousands of earthworm species known across the planet, only a handful are supersized. Members of the genus Martiodrilus can grow up to an incredible 4.9 ft (1.5 m) in length and weigh up to 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)! Inhabiting underground burrows in parts of South America such as Colombia and Ecuador, these worms are rarely seen above ground—but can sometimes be heard as they move through the soil. 

Photo: OWP / oliverpatrick, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

[sasquapossum]

I love all the stickyfrogs, but Beverley is quickly becoming my favorite. Such personality!

Delicious Dinner Faces with Beverley!