#it's like a cultural holiday to me

[sybaritick]

also!! happy SMALLPOX ERADICATION (it was today, December 9th, in 1979!)

with so many other health interventions i am excited about in progress-- development of a malaria vaccine and improved access to tuberculosis testing are the ones i think of but there are many people who know way more about this than me-- take a moment to think about this one today.

During the eighth plenary meeting of the Thirty-third World Health Assembly, the president of the assembly, Dr A-R. A. Al-Awadi, signed resolution WHA 33.3. The first two sentences of the resolution read: “Having considered the development and results of the global programme on smallpox eradication initiated by WHO in 1958 and intensified since 1967 … Declares solemnly that the world and its peoples have won freedom from smallpox, which was a most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest time, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake and which only a decade ago was rampant in Africa, Asia and South America.”

it's incredible how much human suffering and how many deaths we were able to prevent through research and public policy (and making money available for these extensive vaccination campaigns in the developing world.) and if you really do only care about the money... eradicating smallpox has paid for itself many times over in terms of what governments no longer spend treating it.

and be proud!

[itty-bitty-sunshine]

Happy holidays <3

They are fine. Probably

[elodieunderglass]

I’m glad to be included in gender, and it’s an honor to trans your gender, but gender is astrology to me. “Girl sun boy moon.” You don’t agree, but now you get me better. Send post

[brazilspill]

It absolutely sets my teeth on edge when gringos refer to Carnaval as "Carnival".

It's not a carnival, it's one of the holidays in my culture (which has nothing to do with carnivals), and it has a name.

You don't get to make up another name for it because you feel like it.

[starlene]

I've been seeing a post on my dash where some USAmerican tumblrina feels sorry for the rest of the world because we don't have Halloween, and that we should steal it for ourselves, too.

I just... uuuugggghhh. Dear worried USAmerican tumblrina: please do not feel sorry for us, at least not about that particular issue.

Like. As far as Finland goes (but I'm 100% certain this applies to a bunch of other countries all over the globe too), our supermarkets and our shopping centres are trying their absolute hardest to shove Halloween down our throats. They really, really try. From Halloween themed doughnuts to Halloween balls and Halloween garlands (for our Halloween trees?? I really have no idea), it's all over the place. It may not actually be celebrated to the extent it is in the US, but it certainly cannot be escaped, and as long as there's plastic crap to sell, it's not going away.

If I could, I'd shove all that nonsense into a cargo container and return it to where it came from. But I can't! You'll catch me dead before you'll catch me buying a Halloween themed Runeberg torte, though.

[edenfenixblogs]

Every year I ask myself, “Why do I never think of Sukkot as my favorite holiday? It seems like it should be.”

And every year I emerge covered in mosquito bites thinking, “ah yes. This is why.”

[ghostlightfic]

A question for everyone! What are your favourite holidays?

[Loop and Siffrin seem about ready to sit this one out.]

Isabeau: I really like the Change festivals! They're just fun!

Odile: New year celebrations are always entertaining.

Mirabelle: I like Neighbors' Day!

[The non-Vaugardian half of the party regard her blankly. She flusters.]

Mirabelle: I-it's, um! It's an evening where you're supposed to get together with your neighbors! It's kind of like a potluck? I don't know if it actually counts as a holiday, but. I like it!

Bonnie: Well, I like the... eh-kwi... um. Ee-kwe...

[They huff, frustrated.]

Bonnie: When it changes seasons!! There's always big harvest festivals and stuff!!!

[Loop and Siffrin perk up.]

Siffrin: Equinoxes?

Bonnie: Yeah!! That!!

Loop: I've always been a midwinter enjoyer, myself. That's a solstice, not an equinox.

Siffrin: Really? I thought you'd like midsummer.

[Loop hums.]

Loop: Midsummer's too many people. Midwinter is just... relaxing. Nothing like sitting around with a hot drink with family. Don't you agree?

Siffrin: I like midwinter. I don't know, though, midwinter doesn't have the lanterns. I like the lanterns. And the food!

Loop: Of course you do. I suppose I can understand that. The lanterns are fun. I remember every year we'd go up on that one big hill to watch them fly.

Siffrin: Yeah! We'd always make a picnic out of it! That was nice. Remember that one year we spent hours just rolling down the hill and running back up, and then... then...

[Loop and Siffrin both blank. Loop recovers first, looking distinctly peeved. Siffrin just looks perturbed.]

Loop: Blinding Stars-damned son of a--

[They say a few more choice words that shall not be repeated. Isabeau holds up a little notebook.]

Isabeau: Don't worry, I got it!

Siffrin: ...Thanks, Isa.

[mintbecrazy]

favorite word?

So, after some thinking, i actually have quite a few favourite words.

The first three words are - opportunity, curiosity and voyage. Those are the names of space crafts and they sound really fucking cool. Another one of my favourites is a word SCRUMPTIOUS.(I learnt it from one of my mutuals. I can't find this mutual at the moment. I am afraid i might have blocked him on accident D:)

Now, the most favourite word in my native language is this joke-compound word that was created somewhere around year 2010:

Quasi-anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eater-maniacs

Here is a translated explanation of this done by me for you:

Those who dance in circles - are circle-dance-leaders. Those who study the work of circle-dance-leaders - are circle-dance-leader-experts. Those who read the work of circle-dance-leader-experts - are circle-dance-leader-expert-philes. Those who hate circle-dance-leader-expert-philes - are circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobes. Those who eat circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobes - are circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters. Those who fight circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters - are anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters. Those who pose as anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters - are quasi-anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters. Those who love quasi-anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eaters - are quasi-anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eater-maniacs.

Quasi-anti-circle-dance-leader-expert-phile-phobe-eater-maniacs - are those, who love those, who pretend to be those, who fight against those, who eat those, who hate those, who love to read those, who study the works of those, who dance in circles.

Original is under the cut:

Те, кто водят хороводы — хороводоводы. Те, кто изучают творчество хороводоводов — хороводоводоведы. Те, кто любят читать хороводоводоведов — хороводоводоведофилы. Те, кто ненавидит хороводоводоведофилов — хороводоводоведофилофобы. Те, кто поедает хороводоводоведофилофобов — хороводоводоведофилофобофаги. Те, кто ведет борьбу c хороводоводоведофилофобофагами — антихороводоводоведофилофобофаги. Те, кто выдает себя за антихороводоводоведофилофобофагов — квазиантихороводоводоведофилофобофаги. Те кто любят квазиантихороводоводоведофилофобофагов - квазиантихороводоводоведофилофобофагоманы

Квазиантихороводоводоведофилофобофагоманы — это те, кто любят тех, кто выдают себя за тех, кто ведет борьбу с теми, кто поедает тех, кто ненавидит тех, кто любит читать тех, кто изучает творчество тех, кто водят хороводы.

[hindahoney]

Thank you for your post about the word shiksa. I'd seen similar posts in the past - that you shouldn't call yourself that and it's not a term worth reclaiming - but none of those posts ever properly explained WHY. The best I could ever find was that it's often used to insultingly refer to converts that were married to or planning to marry Jewish men before their conversion as a way to imply their reasoning for becoming a Jew wasn't genuine enough. I didn't understand why that would be something that shouldn't be reclaimed. Knowing that it's a term meant to refer to people that fetishize Jews puts it in an ENTIRELY different light. At least, in my brain, it does. So, yeah, thanks for actually explaining your point.

"Shiksa" cannot be "reclaimed." It's not as if that word has a widely-known history or is used by a hegemonic population to oppress people. There's no need or use for reclamation. A gentile woman calling themselves a shiksa, knowing what it means, seriously makes me feel disgusted. It's the same as someone who fetishizes Asians proudly saying they have "Yellow Fever."

I've never heard that phrase in reference to converts, only towards gentile women who seek out Jewish men specifically. It's more common than people would think. I once invited a Christian friend to a Purim party, where she told me she was just trying to take home one of the men there. This same friend told me she broke up with her Jewish boyfriend because he had been to Israel. Suffice to say we aren't friends anymore. It's incredibly common for (white) Christians specifically to fetishize Jews. It's just expected that all of the Jewish dating apps are unusable because they're full of WASPs looking for Jews.

While there isn't a widely used term for gentile men who fixate on Jewish women, I have seen the term "bagel chasers." I don't like it, because it makes it seem more cutesy and funny than it actually is in real life. It's deeply unsettling and uncomfortable when I'm working and men approach me saying they'd convert for me, or think that saying "shabbat shalom" to me on a Tuesday will make me believe they're also Jewish (and thus someone I should date). There's not a single part of me that thinks it's funny. They see Jews as a novelty and not as people. It's less because they are interested in us, they're interested in conquering us.

[butchfaith]

this is the fourth day in a row ive made myself a pumpkin spice latte with my new moka pot... thriving living experiencing joy and the wonders of life

[e-adlirez]

Hot take, but I feel like the star / supersister artstyle has a much better taste in fashion compare to the rest. Idk something about the way they style the clothes for the sisters just hit right to me and I even dare to say it is a bit better compare to the older artstyles (including the 1 - 4 comics artstyle). Like, don't get me wrong the old artsyles has good fashion, but for me personally, the star artstyle fashion choice for the girls felt like something they would actually wear u know?

It is a hot take in the fandom, but I do agree with said take :D

You can hate on the snouts and the lips, sure

But the girls’ fashion sense?

Let’s be real the girls’ fashion sense in the previous artstyle was very general white person fashion sense, enough so that you can swap the color palettes of one of their outfits and you’d think it was for one of the other girls. Which isn’t a good thing when you think about it :D

Like seriously their fashion sense can be summarized thusly:

For all of them in general: if they’re not in a tropical climate, they can and will have sleeves. Usually long sleeves.

Colette: roll a d20. If the result is under 15, then she wears a skirt or a dress. Ironically she’s the one with the most hit-or-miss outfits of the five, either through color palette or just skirts being used when they shouldn’t be.

Nicky: if it doesn’t fulfill any of the given conditions: a variant of her old standard outfit, has a collar, is a green shirt paired with brown pants/shorts, is a jacket, is a jacket/coat with upturned collars, has green in it somewhere or everywhere, has orange in a strange spot meant to emulate the old outfit; then who the hell are you talking to that’s not Nicky

Pam: either it’s a shadow of her original red and olive palette, or it has the most heinous shade of lime green paired with her usual red or just have green where it legally shouldn’t be. If it can sweater, it will sweater. She’s been gaining drip lately in the Italian books tho I’ll give her that—

Paulina: she does go for a bit of cozy retro vibes in her fashion style, but I think 60% of them at least have some sort of scarf variant. I dunno, she’s doing fine but her fashion sense is nothing to write home about. If it can sweater, it will sweater.

Violet: Violet, I love you, you’re my blorbo but I’m sorry, you wear so much purple that sometimes I think your wardrobe just looks like Robin’s wardrobe in Teen Titans with the hundred copies of the exact same color palette. Bit classy, fluctuates from sweater child to absolute queen on a dime /pos. If she’s in a temperamental climate, roll a d20; any score below 15 means she wears long sleeves. Flip a coin; if you win, skirt, and if you lose, no skirt. IF IT CAN SWEATER, IT WILL SWEATER. Tho I will say I don’t think I’ve seen a single wardrobe L from Vi that wasn’t out of pure personal taste or the artstyle being weird (i.e. frills and/or lace), so that’s a dub for her :D also in-character but also good on Vi’s sense of judgment because apparently according to some extra Italian content, Vi’s the most experimental with her wardrobe. Minus the purple. God woman has so much purple—

With the newer style, at least the girls have more drip :D drip that actually looks like something they’d wear as opposed to being restrained to color palettes :D

THEY GAVE PAULINA GLASSES AND NICKY MULTIPLE EAR PIERCINGS LIKE WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN WHY IS IT SO THEM AND HOW CAN I GET MO—

[doedipus]

a large amount of time I've been spending on -untitled undefined scope original fiction project- since the last time I posted about it has been trying to develop the protagonist concept I came up with last summer or whatever into like, a character that would feel real and era appropriate.

it's fun research to do. naturally a lot of the details I assigned to her are things that I already think are cool, so it's been a lot of fun trying to trace her traits back through the relatively recent past, getting reminded of how much things have changed, or where the gaps in my intuition are, and then doing a flurry of reading to get a sense for exactly how someone like her and the people around her could have happened and what her life was probably like leading up to her present day. hopefully this results in some good good verisimilitude.

[squirreltastrophe]

some rawr x3 Noelles for the soul :33333

man I love projecting my interests onto characters I heavily relate to then going "wow they're just like me that's so cool what a coincidink!!!!! :3c"

[chloelouygo]

Today my 65 year old coworker learnt the word weeb and I had to spend a good 5 minutes cringing at work as she kept trying to use it in sentences and then proceed to call ME a weeb

[llinstarr]

Being non-Christian but loving Christians symbols is a hard challenge