I'm just trying to become someone who the child inside me will not hate. I'm trying to be everything she needed and did not receive. She is so lonely still. It's not fair that she is so lonely still.

Nikita Gill

The "If you were over 6 feet tall and living in Wellington in 2001 you didn't have a choice my dude" is killing me, like I'm just picturing the LOTR casting directors running around Wellington with a measuring tape, black-bagging tall guys and shoving them into vans.

"You're a Lord of the Rings extra now."

"No! Please! I have a family! I'm supposed to work the closing shift at the Pita Pit tonight!"

"You serve at the pleasure of the Steward of Gondor now."

So, I really like doing Picrews but I’m also Black, SO! I decided to compile a list of picrews and dolls that had a wide range of skin tones, option for Black facial features and Black hair options THAT MAKE SENSE. If you find anymore please add on! These are my favs to go back to 😁

Djarn Charater maker

Smile Maker

Icon Maker-Star Wars

Icon Maker by Magenta Girl

Adorable Character

Vintage Western Girl

BAYDEWS AVATER MAKER

Specs Maker

Hummm Girl

Girl Maker

Poicon Maker

Aloha! Sushicore Icon

Space Princess

Watched a Muppet Christmas Carol again this year and...

I just want to say the story of parents with a child they can barely afford health care for is still resonant even to this day and that’s… wow. 

So good job 90s Muppets and Charles Dickens?  But I also love the way Michael Caine played Scrooge. He really creates this character who is so malicious and cold but at the same time has a soft spot. He delivered on that performance. He bought in all the way.  I also want to notice the way that Scrooge totally changes his tone after the Ghost of Christmas present. This is especially important because the Ghost of Christmas present comes off as incredibly dumb at first, kind of loopy. But he uses humor to break the ice with Scrooge and they end up joking together. Finally, he treats Scrooge like a friend. (While being honest with him and not taking his shit) This makes such a profound difference for Scrooge.  The Ghost of Christmas past points out his mistakes which hurts because Scrooge is forced to face the mistakes he’s made. The Ghost of Christmas present functions like a balm for that hurt but he also shows Scrooge the reality of what IS - that if he doesn’t change his ways, not only has he hurt himself and his own life (losing the woman he loved) but he’s also going to hurt other people with his choices (Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit).  The result is that when Scrooge encounters the Ghost of Christmas Future, he actually tries to empathize with the ghost, even expresses being willing to learn and be led.  The funny thing is I’ve found this reminds me of how I relate to students at times and what I recently realized. It sounds cliche when people say ‘relationship is important’ and that you have to establish a rapport with your students but the more I teach the more I realize how true that is.  More to the point, my recent epiphany was that I often just try to start class without stopping to actually chat with the kids first. I’ve noticed that more experienced teachers will kind of ‘hang out’ at the front of the class while kids do their bell work and chat with them. And that’s the important thing - the chatting.  You won’t need all these silly little ways of getting your students’ attention - hand clapping and stuff - if you actually just engage with them.  And it’s funny because I’ve learned this from working at Starbucks too. It sounds cliche and corporate but engaging with customers, chatting to them and being friendly, really does change the nature of the exchange. You go from just being a place people buy coffee to a place people feel at home. You become a part of their routine and they feel more special when you remember their name and how they like their drink.  It’s really the same with students. Like when I felt nervous about starting a new long term substitute teaching position, I just thought of my manager at Starbucks. She’s very hard working and efficient and she shows how she cares about people in the way she speaks to us. She’s respectful, she doesn’t use an accusing or demanding tone. She talks to us like our feelings matter to her. (Which makes her one of the best bosses I’ve ever had).  I started thinking ‘What would she do? How would she be a teacher? How would she talk to these kids?’ So when I approached the students about things, I just tried talking the way I thought she would. The result was that I actually felt better about teaching. Because I viewed these kids almost like adults in a working place rather than kids whose behavior I had to manage.  Though to be able to sit around during bellwork you have to have it together as a teacher and I think that’s the issue. I was often trying to do grading during class. Like I gave them something to work on and then focused on powering through grading. I think my mistake was that I wasn’t more of a presence in the class during my four weeks there. The times I did talk to the students and engage wtih them, I think it made it clear that I cared - and that is what motivates kids to do their work. If they feel like the teacher cares.  They can’t appreciate that you’re grading stuff - even if they complain about it not being graded ‘on time’ or ‘soon’ or whatever. But when you talk to them and ask them if they understand or what you can help them with it makes it more clear to them that you’re invested in their learning. If it looks like you’re ignoring them, they think ‘Well she doesn’t care so why should I?’ 

In my most recent session I learned that I am an INTERNAL PROCESSOR. And I need people I’m in relationships with to understand that I need to step away from a situation in order to process my emotions! Neat right?! 

Three sessions with my first ever therapist under my belt, can I get a heck yeah for mental healthcare??

I laughed way too hard at this

Three sessions with my first ever therapist under my belt, can I get a heck yeah for mental healthcare??

its not recent but I had to read The Talking Earth by Joyce Carol Oates in 6th grade (i only recently found out what it was called again) and I hated the end of that book so much that it still fills me with rage 15 years later. 

Note that this is not Joyce Carol Oates hate necessarily, I love her creepy short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, but the The Talking Earth can trip on a stick for all I care. 

Book Hater Club where we talk about whatever book we read recently that we hated

gynecologist offices and women’s clinics are for people who have uteruses and vaginas and ovaries and breasts. even if those people are not women. even if those people are men with facial hair and deep voices and adams apples. im a man with sideburns and a baritone voice and I’ve had an abortion, surgery for endometriosis and an ovarian cystectomy. restricting access to these spaces based on gender would kill me lol

So apparently the Animorphs cover artist also made that amazing series of wizard pictures?? And he sells prints of both? His Etsy store is here and the other link is here.

this video was made by the devil

[image ID: The first image is a photo of Brent Spiner in the makeup chair on the set of The Next Generation. Second image is the same photo edited to resemble a Renaissance painting, with a gold halo behind Spiner’s head. The third and fourth images are cropped close-up shots on the edited images’ details. End ID]

thought this old behind the scenes pic had some crazy good framing so i did some weird science to it and made it into a (fake) painting

Pointless LOTR headcanon of the day: Frodo & Merry both take after their mothers, meaning Frodo looks more like a Brandybuck than a Baggins and Merry looks more like a Took. This is a constant source of petty contention.

I used to drink sparkling water when traveling because I thought it would help my stomach. It certainly did not and now I feel this way about it. The only time your water should be fizzy is when it's mixed with gin and fruit juice.