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Happy New Year

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For everyone’s information:

The plan for the 17th, when the adult content ban comes in, is to protest.

To do that, we are making as much noise either side of the 17th as possible, and using the site as normal.

On the 17th, dead silence.

People are saying log off but what they really mean is don’t open the site or the app.

But, on the 17th make as much noise as possible on every other platform. Tweet about it and post on facebook and instagram and everywhere else.

What this does is causes a massive dip in ad revenue for one single day. That does not make staff think ‘oh everyone’s gone let’s shut down.’ What it actually makes them think is ‘oh shit people aren’t happy and if people don’t keep using our site we’re out of money and out of jobs.’

A boycott reminds a company that the users (consumers) have the power to make their site (business) worthless with one single coordinated decision.

If you want to join in, here’s what to do:

Do:

Close all open instances of the app and site on all your devices before the 17th

Make posts before and after the 17th on tumblr and other platforms, talking about why this ban is bad

Make posts on other sites during the 17th. Flood the official tumblr staff twitter and facebook with your anger and your opinion

Come back on the 18th and check in

Don’t:

Delete the app from your phone (this doesn’t affect their revenue and since it’s off the store at the moment it’ll be hard to get back)

Delete your account. I mean you can if you want to, but if you keep your account and don’t use it you’re saying to staff that there’s still time to save it. If you delete it’s hard work to come back.

Open the app or website (including specific blogs)

Make any posts (turn down/off your queue and make sure nothing is scheduled)

Go quiet elsewhere. Make it clear that this is just about tumblr, not a mass move away from all social media.

Remember: the execs don’t care about anything but money. Shutting down the site means there’s $0 further income from it. That’s their last possible course of action. If we make it clear we’re not happy, they’ll have to do something or we can do more and more until it becomes too expensive.

Protests take commitment. They’re a defiant action against a business that is doing something wrong. They will try to scare you into not participating, because they’re scared. We hold all the power here, sometimes the execs just need to be reminded of that.

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A brief and ugly summary of surviving cold climates

For visitors and writers alike.

You were never meant to be here. Never forget this. You are an ape of the equator, built to run the savannah and swim in tropical waters. Whatever terms and conditions your body has, they are void here. Mother nature never certified to function in a Death World.

Enduring the cold is never a matter of “how much” as much at it is “how long”. Think of it as the water levels of the vieogames you have played. No matter what equipment enables you to remain longer, you can’t stay there indefinitely. The coat that keeps you warm and toasty for three hours in -15 is enough to keep you functional for an hour of -40.

Whatever the locals say, listen to them. Err to the side of caution if you must. You may not endure what they can endure, but you SURE AS FUCKING NOT cannot survive what they say cannot be endured.

That being said, alcohol is a filthy fucking liar and so is anyone who offers it to you. The warmth it gives is an illusion, and a sign of damage. You are worse off feeling comfortable with a mouthful of whiskey as you are freezing your gonads off stone cold sober.

Winter tires. Studded winter tiers are a MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH when you drive on a frozen road. That being said, whatever the locals tell you that your car will need to run as theirs do, take it. Taking the risk of being pranked is worth survival, and you can always stab their tires in the spring if they were shitting you.

Eat. For the love of god, make sure that you eat. Heavier meals might be unpalatable at first for someone used to lighter nutrition, but maintaining bodily warmth in a cold climate takes up a lot of energy, and you will feel tired and drowsy for a long while shile your metabolism adjusts to producing more heat than Mother Nature ever intended. The skinny people in your party are especially vulnerable, ensure their well-being on a regular basis.

If you have a smartphone/other essential technology on your body, keep them close to your body to keep them warm. They were not designed to be frozen any more than you were.

Sleep is death. SLEEP IS DEATH. Never, ever stop to rest in the cold, if you do not have the means to make a fire/otherwise produce heat. The cold tires you out because keeping warm takes energy, but taking a rest will not return your energy. If you feel the need to sit down and rest because you are tired because of the cold, call for help. This is not a hyperbole, if you feel like you are too tired to go on in a cold climate, CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE. If you fall asleep in the snow, you will not wake up. Hypothermia can and will literally kill you.

Avoid skin-to-snow-contact if you can. It hurts because you were not supposed to do it. Consider ice to be like acid. Touching is bad for you.

Feel free to add to the list if you feel like I missed something.

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“Just because you took longer than others doesn’t mean you failed. Remember that.”

— Unknown

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"BuyMyButter.com" -my roommate

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Cold

When I'm cold at night I will either wake up every forty-five minutes with stiff joints or I will sleep deeply enough to not hear my alarm. There is no in-between.

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I figure

that if I make a salad straight in the tupperware, I can eat some now and then slap the lid on that bad boy and wait for it to rot in the fridge.

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“I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.”

— Maya Angelou

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Time

I wish I had the time, money, and energy to do something fun. I fill up my summers working to make money to go to school so I can get a stable job so I can make money to live. It's like, I just want to do some of the activities that other "kids" my age are doing (I'm 20). There's someone right now taking an art class, some of my friends are chilling with animals, getting their lives together, and I'm here with no time, budgeting my money so that I can make it through the school year.

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Listening to the Radio

My roommate has left for the summer, I'm writing a paper due at five. and listening to some congress woman on the radio talking about where “most taxpayers” don’t want their money going. Excuse me, but I am a taxpayer.

Give me a goddam menu and I will tell you where I want my taxes to go.

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Debate

I went to my school's SGA debate. Too many hours were spent there.

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Platypus

"The platypus secretes milk from it's skin....what does it taste like?!" - my roommate

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Egg

Well, my roomie and I were chatting late at night and I told her about how my sister and Itried making up new color descriptions based on a theme. The theme my sister chose was "ghetto" for some reason and we came up with various colors and corresponding adjectives like "prostitute pink" and "projects purple." My roommate thought it was a funny activity, so we started doing "college colors." "Money maroon", "professor pink", and "Student Union Scarlet" were just a few. Then we got off track as far as college colors are concerned and we started on other types. Then she said, "What if we made 'egg' a color?" I said, "Eggshell is a color." She said, "No, just egg." Then she went off on a tangent about all the ways you could use egg, like rather than turning white with fear, you turn egg. She thought that was hilarious, so she laughed until she started hiccuping.

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My Bear

I brought with me to college 3 stuffed animals. Two bears and a dog. One bear already has a name. The other bear was graciously named Lord Mister Baron Barry Montpelier by my roommate. She could not stop laughing.

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Squilk

My roommate, in her near sleep delirium, had this fantastic idea to start calling squid ink “squilk.” Then she spent half an hour laughing and using it in different phrases. “A glass of cold squilk.” “Chocolate squilk.” “Squilk chocolate.” “Buttersquilk” and “buttersquilk biscuits.” Anywhere “milk” is used, “squilk” can be used.

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Profile Pic Explanation

So, I think it's worth an explanation. I named this guy Perfect Student and I did make him myself. Basically, he's everything a teacher wants in a student; he's wide-eyed and attentive, always comes in with a smile and he never breaks the dress code because they took out the parts of the brain that would put up any resistance, which also works in favor in the class. He'll never speak out of turn or to another classmate...or at all because they removed his vocal chords. The headphones mean nothing, I just made his head too big and to correct it I gave him those.

Yes, he is the perfect student.