I'll Tumble 4 Ya

Having a cafe night. (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:56:47 -0700

Having a cafe night. (Taken with instagram)

Arena Trek! on Flickr.Arena Trek! Amazing drawing of the...

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:06:43 -0700

Arena Trek! on Flickr.

Arena Trek! Amazing drawing of the ArenaNet Business Team pod by @daviddcampbell !

Citrus Mint Cooler - Lemon, Orange, Mint, Ginger Ale (Taken with...

Sat, 05 May 2012 19:28:14 -0700

Citrus Mint Cooler - Lemon, Orange, Mint, Ginger Ale (Taken with instagram)

Last portal to Tyria.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:01:55 -0700

Last portal to Tyria.:

alisdee:

Dee tries very hard to hate Guild Wars 2. Results are not as expected.

Eating a Tiny Cupcake (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:55:21 -0700

Eating a Tiny Cupcake (Taken with instagram)

wrench-wench: dredsina: blacknoise0410: steamlord313: ananagi...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:51:25 -0700

wrench-wench:

dredsina:

blacknoise0410:

steamlord313:

ananagirl:

inthelightofthepast:

rabelde-sin-causa:

I love National Geographic so much.

(Click the picture for the article in question)

lol. like.

Brilliant.

PERFECT

LMFAO Nat Geo bein’ all FUCK YOU

NO.

Nat Geo, trolling all the creationists since 2004.

Field Notes COLORS Spring 2012 - National Crop Edition (Taken...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:06:53 -0700

Field Notes COLORS Spring 2012 - National Crop Edition (Taken with instagram)

"Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It..."

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:05:57 -0700

“Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It privileges, inter alia, the interests of boys and men over the bodily integrity, autonomy, and dignity of girls and women. It is subtle, insidious, and never more dangerous than when women passionately deny that they themselves are engaging in it. This abnormal obsession with women’s faces and bodies has become so normal that we (I include myself at times—I absolutely fall for it still) have internalized patriarchy almost seamlessly. We are unable at times to identify ourselves as our own denigrating abusers, or as abusing other girls and women.”

- Ashley Judd (The Daily Beast)

Sitting in the Queue Room (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:59:21 -0700

Sitting in the Queue Room (Taken with instagram)

Back Bay Station - Boston, MA (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:53:30 -0700

Back Bay Station - Boston, MA (Taken with instagram)

My New Wheels (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:11:25 -0700

My New Wheels (Taken with instagram)

Nerf Rules of Engagement (Taken with instagram) Regina is me. I...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:21:00 -0700

Nerf Rules of Engagement (Taken with instagram)

Regina is me. I did not write any of those rules. XD

Photo

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

Esoterica: Actual, slightly-to-totally racist reactions I've heard to hunger games casting:

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

Esoterica: Actual, slightly-to-totally racist reactions I've heard to hunger games casting::

raptorific:

These are, for the sake of space, paraphrased versions of the original arguments that I’ve seen floating around the internet, and some have been reworded to make them clearer. Included is my own commentary on why exactly each is racist, although most of them don’t need much explanation.

I talk about a couple character deaths in here, but I don’t think that really needs spoiler warning for a book that warns you on the BOOK JACKET that pretty much everyone dies. If you’re still worried about spoilers, don’t read ahead!

Here’s the thing. Rue and Thresh were made black for a very specific reason. Even though the books are not about race, they are there to show that race is still very much an issue in this world. Almost the entirety of District 11 is black, and they’re forced to do all agricultural duties (which mirrors some of the most evil parts of America’s history). So in this case, it doesn’t really matter whether you PICTURED the characters as black, because they were all-but-explicitly described as such, and there was a REASON for it. The difference between casting Rue and Thresh as black and casting a traditionally white character like Sgt. Nick Fury as black is that there is no reason Nick Fury CAN’T be played by Samuel L. Jackson. There’s no reason the character SHOULDN’T be black. Rue and Thresh, however, have EVERY reason to be cast as black, because their race has a message behind it. If you whitewash these characters, you’re losing one of the major points behind District 11, which is to show that the Capitol isn’t above that kind of racism. And the fact is, the casting of this movie isn’t done to please you. It’s done to tell the story the way the author intended it, and if you whitewash those roles, you’re removing part of her story.

And yet, from the same people:

So when the actor in question is black, playing a black character, you should have instead cast a white actor to “please more people,” but when the actor is white, playing a non-white character, the actor’s race doesn’t matter as long as they’re a good actor? This isn’t Lawrence Olivier playing Othello, people. This is trying to whitewash roles in which it is important to the story for them to be black, just because you personally didn’t pick up on the way they were described.

I already did a long post on this one, explaining how it’s a bit racist to think a black guy with an afro CAN’T be charming and handsome, and very prejudicial to say that with an Afro, he doesn’t look “Normal” enough to play Cinna, even though an Afro is the normal, natural way his hair grows.

It doesn’t, though, is the thing. “White” is not the default race for all people. Collins went out of her way to make sure Cinna could be perceived as any race. In his case, it doesn’t matter what race he is. He’s the catalyst for the entire revolution, arguably the most important character in the entire series, and it’s good that you don’t know what race he is, because that’s not what matters about him.

However, in a movie form, it’s impossible to make someone completely racially ambiguous unless you hide them completely (think V for Vendetta), because you have to have an actual actor stand in there, and that associates the actor’s race with the character’s. Which brings me back to the original point, “racially ambiguous” does not mean the same thing as “white.” A white person isn’t raceless, and so a raceless character should not NECESSARILY be cast as white. I’m not saying you CAN’T cast a white actor in the role, it just shouldn’t be taken as read that if you don’t know what race a character is, they should automatically be white. If you don’t know what race a character is, it shouldn’t matter what race the actor is.

First, I would like to direct everyone to something called the “Clark Doll experiment.” For those of you who don’t know, the Doll Test was a psychological experiment done in the 1940s in which children, both black and white, were seated at a table with two baby dolls, identical in every way except one: one was black and one was white. The children were then asked which doll they would like to play with (and why), and which doll was “the good doll” and “the bad doll” (again, and why). The children almost always selected the white doll to play with, labeled it the good doll, and called the black doll “the bad doll.” When asked why, the answers were almost all racial: the good doll was good because it was white, and the bad doll was bad because it was black. The test was repeated in 2006 with the exact same results.

However, some of you may be thinking “maybe the girl actually does look devious. Some little kids are mischievous trouble-makers, and that doesn’t have anything to do with race, that’s just kids being playful. Let’s make sure by taking a look at the girl in question:

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Christ! That is the sweetest little girl I have ever seen. “Devious” may be in the bottom 10 words I would use to describe this girl. She looks like she’d feel guilty if she took two candies out of a halloween bucket that said “take one.” If you asked me to describe this girl in three words, it would be “sweet,” “innocent,” and “Rue.” It is tearing me up inside right now knowing that I am going to have to watch this little angel die. I just don’t see how anyone could look at that little girl and think “devious” without some kind of discriminatory component. That just baffles my mind.

I do want to point out that these are all actual reactions I’ve seen people have to this casting. Sure, I rephrased them to make sure they fit on the picture, but they haven’t really been altered all that much.

By the way, I can totally understand if people don’t like Lenny Kravitz because of his acting skill. That’s a fair objection to have, not everyone likes every actor. However, when you more or less come out and say “I am against it because he is black,” you lose the right to complain when someone calls you racist.

Esoterica: thegoddamazon: aijin: This is something little, but I think it really...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

Esoterica: thegoddamazon: aijin: This is something little, but I think it really...:

thegoddamazon:

aijin:

This is something little, but I think it really highlights how people think. Whether you’re intentionally racist or not, you’re still racist.

When I started playing Maple Story again in 2009, I made a new character and started from scratch. Instead of choosing the lightest hue for my skin, I chose tan. I liked it because it was darker, different, and a lot cuter than being light in my opinion. But as I started to play and meet new people on there, I got called “nigger” a lot and if someone were to somehow end up in an argument with me I got dismissed because they assumed I was black.

“Ew, you’re black”

“Darkie!”

“Why are you black?”

Really?

Even people who were well meaning asked “Why are you black?” when they found out I was Asian. I was told I should change my skin color and that I’d look better lighter— if it was that easy to change your skin color in the real world, would people have told me that too? I was also treated better when they found out I wasn’t actually black. This was JUST a game and people were so judgmental based on the looks of an avatar. I liked my character the way she was. I got to choose the way I wanted to look on there. My character was always cute to me. I changed everything on her from her eyes, hair, outfits, but her skin color I would never change because I preferred it.

Not only that, but I noticed that light skinned characters were treated a lot nicer, while those of darker skin weren’t treated as kindly. I only noticed this because I was considered minority in the game. People shrug it off and think it’s no big deal because it’s only Maple Story, but what about when you log off? Would you care more about a racist remark? And it’s sad that even though people don’t realize what they’re doing and saying, it reflects how the real world is too.

Racism, whether intentional or not, is still racism. AND IT’S WRONG.

Bless this post.

fuckyeahcoolblackgirls: newwavefeminism: corycorybobory: Oklah...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

fuckyeahcoolblackgirls:

newwavefeminism:

corycorybobory:

Oklahoma Senator Proposes Making It Illegal For Men To Ejaculate Except Into A Woman’s Sexual Organs

Life imitating art aka Legally Blonde:

Don’t worry, she’s joking. But she’s joking to make a really good point.

The controversial Senate Bill 1433, which is one of the “personhood laws” cropping up in conservative states is seeking to define life as begining at conception, and that “the unborn child at every stage of development (has) all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.”

That makes it really hard to get an abortion.

Perhaps inspired by the Virgina State senator who proposed a mandatory rectal exam for men looking to recieve erectile dysfunction drugs, if women had to have an ultrasound to receive an abortion, Oklahoma Senator Constance Johnson– our new hero – added an “Every Sperm Is Sacred” amendment claiming that:

Any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.

High five, lady.

all the awards

Constance Johnson y’all!!!

Photo

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

fastcompany: The cold of your fridge is actually ruining a lot...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0800

fastcompany:

The cold of your fridge is actually ruining a lot of your (expensive, local, bought at the farmer’s market) produce. An artist’s project finds ways to use the way fruits and vegetables spoil to keep them fresh, the old-fashioned way.

Read on->

"In fact, the core problem is the idea that somehow the site has less value or is inherently..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:30:06 -0800

“In fact, the core problem is the idea that somehow the site has less value or is inherently confusing because women are using it. Ask yourself these questions: Was Reddit’s rise covered by tech bloggers and journalists with aside paragraphs like: ‘If you want to know what men like, go check out Reddit!’? Did snarky bloggers make pie-charts like this one when Tumblr was growing that pointed to gender stereotypes about men? Did tech analysts write blog posts about the ‘manliness’ of any given tech startup? Did tech experts ever go out of their way to explain the appeal of a new social media site to women by stressing that it really wasn’t overtly manly? If you answered ‘no’ to all these questions, I’m not surprised.”

- Elizabeth Giorgi at the Mary Sue explains why the media coverage of Pinterest sucks. Also - I like Pinterest lots. (via jenmyers)

twyst: hookedoncrochet: 5minutesalone: Morning...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:32:11 -0800

twyst:

hookedoncrochet:

5minutesalone:

Morning cuteness

Poor lion cub, grabbed by the skill instead of the scruff!