ungemmed

[ungemmed]

not everything is about algorithm points, sometimes things are allowed to be about "connecting" or "expressing appreciation" or, heaven forfend, just liking the fucking things you like

remmeber that period of time when ppl on tumblr were rlly adamant that likes did nothing and we’re pointless and the only way to support their art was to reblog. like that was so fucking stupid, im not liking ur post to increase ur engagement, im liking ur post cuz i like the fucking post

[ungemmed]

What have you done today to increase the amount of knowledge in the world?

The amount of beauty?

The amount of care?

[ungemmed]

two truths and a lie, random TLT facts that you probably haven't osmosised yet edition:

1. One of the nine Houses of the universe has essentially a military/diplomatic cohort dedicated solely to having sex with necromancers from other Houses.

2. Participants in the Lyctoral trials are given keys. In a cast full of lesbians, the only character to explicitly carry them on a carabiner is not a lesbian.

3. Ortus's father is named Mortus.

[ungemmed]

Diversifying DNA origami: Generative design tool relies on grammar rules for finding best shape

Just as the name suggests, DNA origami is a fabrication technique wherein researchers fold DNA strands to create precisely shaped 2- and 3-dimensional nanostructures. These highly programmable structures have the potential to transform drug delivery, diagnostic medicine, nanomaterials formation and molecular computing, but much like crafting paper origami, scientists are limited to the designs they can conceptualize. To overcome creative blocks, researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a generative design tool that can produce optimally-driven wireframe DNA origami nanostructures conforming to designer-defined constraints. "Scientists can now generate hundreds of nanostructures that fit their specific needs in minutes," said A.J. Vetturini, mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate.

Read more.

[ungemmed]

What is the work you are meant to do to repair the world?

What actions can you take now for the sake of that work? (Preparation counts.)

Doing the work is one of the few reliable consolations in dark times.

[ungemmed]

[ungemmed]

the need to make everything a side hustle or a main hustle turns art into something that needs to be earned by doing capitalism well enough

instead of just something you do as part of the rest of your life

ok ive realised my main issue when it comes to talking about work is that sometimes i say "i dont want a job, i want to make art" and inevitably people will respond with "you can make art your job!" and like. theyre not wrong! that is my goal currently. but its not the same thing, you know? art as a job isn't just about making art, it's about networking and finding jobs and building a portfolio and promoting yourself and staying on top of trends and communicating with clients and market appeal and scheduling. and sometimes u just sit there and go man. i dont wanna do all that. i just wanna make art.

[ungemmed]

ok ive realised my main issue when it comes to talking about work is that sometimes i say "i dont want a job, i want to make art" and inevitably people will respond with "you can make art your job!" and like. theyre not wrong! that is my goal currently. but its not the same thing, you know? art as a job isn't just about making art, it's about networking and finding jobs and building a portfolio and promoting yourself and staying on top of trends and communicating with clients and market appeal and scheduling. and sometimes u just sit there and go man. i dont wanna do all that. i just wanna make art.

[ungemmed]

! Important!

"The death of an Oregon house cat and a pet food recall are raising questions about the ongoing outbreak of bird flu and how people can protect their pets. Bird flu has been spreading for years in wild birds, chickens, turkeys and many other animals. It was first confirmed in U.S. dairy cattle in March. The virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people in the U.S., and nearly all of those infected worked on dairy or poultry farms. When the virus is found, every bird on a farm is killed to limit the spread of the disease. Oregon health officials traced the cat’s illness to frozen cat food that contained raw turkey. Virus recovered from the recalled pet food and the infected cat matched. Some pet owners feed their animals raw meat, but that can be dangerous, even fatal for the animals, said Dr. Michael Q. Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Cooking meat or pasteurizing raw milk destroys the bird flu virus and other disease-causing germs. 'Raw milk, raw meat products can be and are a vector for carrying this virus,' he said.

Are pets in danger of getting bird flu?

Though cases of infection are rare, cats seem especially susceptible to the bird flu virus, or Type A H5N1. Even before the cattle outbreak, there were feline cases linked to wild birds or poultry. Since March, dozens of cats have caught the virus. These include barn and feral cats, indoor cats, and big cats in zoos and in the wild. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating the deaths of four house cats that drank recalled raw milk. Dogs seem to be less vulnerable than cats, but they should eat only thoroughly cooked foods, Bailey said.

How can I protect my cat from bird flu?

Cats should not drink unpasteurized dairy products or eat raw meat. Pet owners should keep cats away from wild birds, livestock and poultry. Don’t let them wander freely in the outdoors, Bailey said, 'because you don’t know what they’re getting into. Cats are natural hunters, and one of the animals they love to hunt are birds.' Avoid touching sick or dead birds yourself. Thoroughly wash your hands after handling poultry or animals.

What are the symptoms of bird flu in cats?

Cats sick with bird flu might experience loss of appetite, lethargy and fever. If your cat is usually playful and likes to look out the window, but instead has been sleeping all the time or hiding from you, take note, Bailey said. 'There’s something wrong,' he said. They could have reddened or inflamed eyes and discharge from the eyes and nose. They might have difficulty breathing or have tremors or seizures. If your cat is sick, call your veterinary clinic and keep the cat away from anyone with a weakened immune system.

What pet food was recalled?

Northwest Naturals, a pet food company in Portland, Oregon, announced a voluntary recall Tuesday of one batch of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the virus. The product was sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as Canada’s British Columbia. The recalled food has 'best if used by' dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. Consumers should throw it away and contact the place of purchase for a refund."

[ungemmed]

so the US government might enter a shutdown tomorrow and I am here to remind you why government shutdowns make me so upset. When the US government shuts down, all the employees are furloughed, which means they are not paid during that time period, but normally they eventually receive their back pay. However, there is one notable exception to this, a group of people who continue to be paid. Congress, the group of people who usually cause the shutdown, continue to be paid throughout. Meanwhile rank and file government employees who have rent and mortgage and bills to pay are not being paid until the shutdown ends. So yeah, whenever people use government shutdowns as a political tool, it really pisses me off

[ungemmed]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[ungemmed]

This woman is a MENACE.

[ungemmed]

Being taught sentence diagramming in Catholic school as part of formal grammar and writing education (which was treated SEPARATELY than our "reading"/literature class) was revolutionary for my writing ability.

Apparently "studies showed" that it has no effect for most kids. I don't want to dismiss that research, which I have never seen, out of hand. HOWEVER, basically whenever I've seen someone say that "studies show" this, they've done so in the context of the politicized debate about language-instruction pedagogy. The abandonment of sentence diagramming is hard to anthropologically separate from the whole-language movement, or the idea that ninth-graders can only read Romeo and Juliet in translation.

If I let myself start ranting about this I'll write a novel, and I don't have time. I will confine myself to:

A tool that helped my neurodiverse ass has been systematically stigmatized, not merely abandoned. It was politicized out of existence in the name of "inclusion," and I will never stop being bitter about this irony.

I’ve never in my life seen or been taught sentence structure like this. It seems incredibly interesting, though. Do any of my followers know anything about this or were taught this?

(Source: satrayreads on threads)

[ungemmed]

the thing that strikes me about callouts, and the realization that made me realize "oh these are worse than useless in 99% of cases," is that they are - in essence - a form of "justice" that relies entirely on popularity and the first mover advantage

[ungemmed]

It's a thousand little things, too. It's not just body-consciousness in the pool; it's body-consciousness in the lockers after.

It's, for my trans sisters, finding a swimsuit that lets them tuck without being too obviously a Swimsuit That Lets Them Tuck.

It's upper leg hair, the kind that is basically an extension of pubic hair, and the no-win decision to just let it show and worry about people inappropriately sexualizing it, to draw attention to That Area by wearing a suit that hides the upper thigh, or to shave it and be doomed to ingrown-hair zits right near your damn vulva.

Etcetera.

I swim anyway, but there are times in my life when I haven't.

It's honestly such a shame that we've made such a huge thing out of swimming and swimsuits and looking good in swimsuits and fat people not looking good in swimsuits. Swimming is actually the perfect exercise for fat people because it puts zero pressure on the joints, which is a much bigger concern for us than it is for skinny people, and lets you exercise basically every muscle group without straining too much and risking injury. Yet somehow this is one of the least accessible exercises to fat people due to nothing more than a culture of body shaming. The work to unlearn all the shame to be comfortable in a bathing suit in front of strangers is huge even for conventionally attractive people, but I could probably count on one hand the number of fat people I've met who were confident enough to get in a bathing suit and go swimming in public.

And what is the exercise that somehow everyone thinks they should do instead? Jogging. It's more accessible, sure, it's easy and costs nothing to go outside and run. But I need you to understand telling a fat person to go running is basically telling them to go destroy their knees. Not to mention it's probably one of the most physically uncomfortable exercises to do when you have a body that jiggles even with compression garments.

Imagine a world where everyone had the ability and equal access to whatever exercise fit them best and helped them be happy and healthiest. Imagine a world where fat people go swimming.

[ungemmed]

Someone shredded my copy of Have His Carcase, wonder if Wimsey could figure out the culprit