#Affordable Coffee

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[jamaicamocha]

A Free Coffee Sample Turns Into A One-way Ticket To The Throne

Reminiscing about a mishap with a free sample of Starbucks’ Oleato coffee. The outcome was a bit harsh and a valuable lesson was learned.A Free Coffee Sample Turns Into A One-way Ticket To The Throne

[tinyintoronto]

January Favourites 2024

I know it’s pretty close to being too late to post this, but let’s try to do 12 of these this year, shall we? I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, “I love writing my monthly favourites posts!” (Even though this one took almost all of February to publish lol) These posts are more for me than anything. I mean, my other posts are for me as well, but these ones are probably loved more by me…

[rebellum]

Not to be all "I have a degree and I know more than you" but it really bothers me how the people on tumblr who are against the word transandrophobia being coined talk about feminism because they're all just like. So wrong. It's like half the time they're doing 1970s radical feminism and half the time they're just making shit up. Like jfc read a book watch a YouTube video feminism isn't what it's your heart it refers to several theories you have to LEARN ABOUT if you've never read or listened to anything about feminism then this is what you get. People who think the patriarchy doesn't harm men, and people who think "system of oppression" just means "people in power doing things to people without power" etc. Like words have meanings. You have to learn those meanings. You aren't engaging with feminist theory, you're just making shit up. If you don't know what Foucaultian discourse is, which is part of THE basic theories of contemporary feminism, if you don't know what performativity is (no, it's not performance), then you need to learn those before you engage with the theories. Like, fuck, man, I totally get being too tired from work or too disabled or whatever to engage with learning theory, but if that's the case then you should just say "I don't know much about the theory" instead of "I know that 'intersectionality' means people have more than 1 marginalised identity because my heart says it's true". Like, we aren't just saying random shit here, established theories arise from meaningful conversation and engagement with philosophy, lived experience, and research. You can at least put a video about feminism on in the background while you fucking video game.

[why-the-heck-not]

20.12.23, wednesday

My main hobby is just procrastinating in any way I can. The plan was to make a cup of coffee and then start working. What actually happened is that I watched a 3 part video series (by james hoffmann ofc) on Aeropress coffee and made a few cups with different variables. Still not sure if I found The Recipe for me, but it’s getting better (tho I don’t love the coffee beans I have)

[kingscourthouse]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if it works for you, don't let anyone shame you. Whatever it may be.

I've been shamed before because I have to microwave my drinks to make tea and coffee. I've boiled noodles in a rice cooker and someone just said to buy a pot. I only have 1 plate, 1 cup and 1 set of silverware for myself. I don't have a functional dishwasher. I've been shamed for using water for hot cocoa instead of milk when I couldn't afford it. I've had one pair of shoes for the past 7 years because they're not comepltley fallen apart yet.

Don't let someone shame you for the things that work for you. Don't let someone shame you for things that make you happy. They don't know your life.

Wheather you can't afford something, are homeless, just don't have the "normal" household items, the ability to get help, broken or worn down items, don't let anyone shame you for it.

If it's working for you, then it works. If it's not harming anyone, then it works. If you're still living your life finding ways around problems, then it works. You're making it work and that's all that matters.

Don't let anyone shame you for just trying to live.

[charmwasjess]

the thing I do occasionally in my fics that is privately hilarious to me and probably to no one else is let Sifo-Dyas occasionally drop an subtle earth literary allusion or reference, like who knows, he clearly has streamed the Prequels on his mental Disney + and the limits of his visions aren't really explained, why not? None of the other characters notice; everyone else just thinks he's being cryptic and mystical.

[bauliya]

so like we're supposed to crowdfund to get Palestinians out of the war zone into egypt, pay a ridiculously high fee - nobody in egypt or neighborhood countries are doing anything to accept more Palestinians, open borders, end the fee scam - and then we are also supposed to keep financing refugees until when? like you cannot in good faith expect that we are going to be able to crowdfund out of this, jesus fucking christ. where are the demands by egypt citizens to let more Palestinians in? to cut off the taxes? lebanon? jordan? iraq? syria? where is the outrage from citizens of those countries? why is the responsibility for a billions of years conflict put on the shoulders of your average joe? why is it only the job of westerns to protest and fix this? what are other mena countries doing for palestine? saudi is still lining Israel pockets, turkey the same shit.

i think we should help people to whatever extent we can. it’s not that deep.

[heardatmedschool]

Intern: Shit, I need coffee.

Doctor: Why? You said you were well-rested.

Intern: Because caffeine abstinence triggers my migraines. Do you know how hard is that when you don’t like coffee?

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

the thing is. the thing is. staying in Australia is literally just the path of least resistance. like it'd be one thing to have to do All That to come here all over again; if I was making this decision now and I was already in America I would probably just stay in America. but the fact that I am actively HERE and not wanting to leave fully, and then ALSO having to take actual complicated (and financially taxing) steps to go away is just,,,,,, the picture he's painted of our lives when I get home is so beautiful and I do want it so bad like that's my person and an attachment of myself but also every time I think about the Mountain of Tasks related to unlocking all of that I'm like mmmm that seems like A Lot to go back to a country that sucks ass where I have no social life, I don't wanna do it

[fandomssaremysoul]

Hahaha Taako waited every morning for 12 years for someone to wake him up by talking loudly or jumping on him, but never experiencing it until he met a fucking weird ass tiny dwarf dude who always woke up wayyy too early and made tea that he completely fucked up with an insane amount of sugar but always also made a cup for Taako that was made like he liked it and then they waited for the giant brickshithouse of a human fighter to eventually shamble out of bed.

And it was peaceful but painful, familiar like an old pair of shoes but they were just a bit too loose to be comfortable something was missing but what what what,,,

who?

W̷̢̨̖̯̯͔̭̥̹̰̭̩̟̣͓̬̱̦͛̄̃͆͘͜ͅh̶̢̨͓̣̙̳̝̯̥̘̥̞͚̤̰̓̀̊͗̈́́͂̈͝ͅo̸̡̡̨̨͚͉̦̣͓̠̻̬̙͇̙͍̪̜̎̔̿͐͂̆̂͋̇͠͝͝?

[queeriboh]

this is going to sound so stupid, but does anyone have any suggestions whatsoever about how to come up with about $300-400 in a month? I'm. open to anything except taking an actual second job. like does anyone know anything about making/promoting an onlyfans or something? I can't. just keep begging and begging and begging for donations. I want to open commissions again, and I should be able to in about a week, but I know my art doesn't sell well enough to make any real impact. I know it's my fault that I'm in so much debt and can't even afford to just break even on bills/groceries. it's all my fault and I can admit that. but I cam also admot that I'm literally so fucking tired and desperate. I have to go further and further into debt just to be able to drink a cup of coffee every morning. I haven't been eating anything but my sandwiches at work, and either spaghetti or plain chicken breasts, potatoes, and cheap mixed veggies at home, and now I'm at the point I have to reduce that to half a chicken breast. I haven't had a functional windshield wiper in a year. I'm tired and I don't feel like anything will ever ever ever ever get better. I don't want to keep begging for handouts. but I don't really know what to do at all either.

[cosmogyros]

Literally can't pay my rent until I get paid for September, which hasn't happened yet. Today is Friday, and Monday is the last day of the month. I'm so tired of being poor.

[ferronickel]

I am begging artists to charge more for their commissions. Pleading. If you are charging anything less than $20/hour you are undercutting the market and making it harder for working artists to earn a livable wage. (And really, truly, you should be aiming at something like $50/hour). Why would anyone want to pay artists what they're worth when there are artists out there asking for pennies for the same thing?

I understand that it's difficult finding commissioners willing to pay higher prices (because they've seen artists charging nothing for art, that's why), but that's something we can fix together if we normalize charging what our work is actually worth!

[ryoalouette]

Machi's #16 DP x DC idea

Can also be found in Ao3

Imagine Dick and Jazz trying to have a romantic dinner at home only to have their door suddenly busted by several people.

'Richard! Tell Nightingale that protocols are there for a reason!'

'Jazz! Tell the twarp that I don't care about your stupid protocols.'

'I don't want anybody to panic but I can't find Danny or Tim.'

'Steph! It was your turn to chaperone them.'

'No-oh, it was Sam's turn.'

'I switched places with Duke so I could go with Cass to the botanical gardens.'

'I'm sorry, when did I agree to that?'

'So daddy and dad are lost? I'm an orphan now?!'

Explosions are heard near the Dockers.

'They are exploding stuff without me?! They are the worst parents in the world, I'd rather be an orphan.'

'I just want you to know that I still think a winter wedding is a bad idea. Spring is more romantic.'

'Oracle and I already hacked the place they wanted to book so they could skip the waiting list so shut up.'

'You shut up, I'm the one organizing the wedding.'

'Since when?'

'Since now, none of you have any taste in anything.'

Or, two parents with too many kids can't have a quiet day for themselves.

[cappurrccino]

i was gonna say "i shouldn't have to go to work when my brain feels like a depression slushie" and then i was like "wait but then i'd basically never ever go to work" and i'm actually doubling down on the first part now bc my god how am i supposed to heal my brain from burning out 5 years ago if i can never get an actual break