Daily dose of cute

What's the difference between a Sierra Leonean child and a Palestinian Child? I don't mean this in a combative way. I just don't understand the cognitive dissonance.

I appreciate the question, and you not asking it in a combative way. I guess I don't think there is a cognitive dissonance. I condemn the bombing (and have publicly called for a ceasefire since October). I have helped raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for aid to Gaza through the Project for Awesome, and I have personally donated tens of thousands more to support Doctors without Borders' work in Gaza. Equally importantly from my perspective, I'm regularly reaching out to my congressional and senate representatives to let them know how I feel about the horror of my country sending bombs and other weapons to Netanyahu's government.

If you're asking why I don't talk about Gaza every day, there are a few reasons, but the biggest one is that when I do, it doesn't seem to push people toward more organized or effective activism; instead, it seems to lead to people yelling at each other and dehumanizing each other and also parsing my words in ways that seem unfair to me. There's a lot of, "Why did he say this or not say that," rather than my motivating more attention or resources to the cause of a free, safe, and secure Palestine. I'm sure that's a problem with how I'm talking about this, but I've tried talking about it in a variety of ways and in a variety of places and always with the same outcome.

I would also argue that it is not your job to talk about tuberculosis every day (which killed over 100,000 people needlessly last month), nor is it your job to talk about the crisis of maternal and infant mortality in Sierra Leone (which kills over 50,000 people needlessly each year). There is more than one problem in the world, and I feel that my time and resources are best focused on making long-term, open-ended investments into issues that are not receiving much attention in the rich world. That's my personal approach to making change. It is not meant in any way to diminish your approach to making change, which I think is also legitimate and effective.

Friendly reminder to not punish yourself for creating. 

Trail cam catching a deer fawn with the zoomies

What is the minimum number of stops you'll ride public transportation?

can I get a job as an editor but the only thing I do is correct when someone uses the word "prone" when they mean "supine"

HACKS (2021–) 1x01 | 3x01

There are a number of students in my GCSE class that have behavioural issues and if they feel uncomfortable they can do anything from storm out of the classroom to throwing chairs and punching their tables. They’re great kids, they just dont always see the light at the end of the tunnel and when they are in stressful situations they dont know what to do other than lash out sometimes. They are 10 months away from their final exams and the pressure is being mounted on them in every aspect of their school lives.

Last week one of the students saw me making little origami stars. Its something I do when I’m feeling anxious to help me focus on something else. He asked if I could show him how to make them. He had been clenching his fists all lesson, which I’ve noticed is a tell that he is struggling to retain composure. I gave him a strip of paper and talked it through with him. Soon half of the class were asking me to show them. They all picked it up really quickly.

After about five minutes and about 8 stars later, the student sat back down and was in a much calmer and motivated mood for the rest of the lesson. Our next lesson I placed a box of paper strips on my desk and when I saw anyone getting worked up about their work I silently placed a strip in front of them and let them get on with it. The lesson after I was amazed to see that students would go up to the box of their own accord, pick up a few strips and head back to their desks to continue working after calming down.

Yesterday I brought a large jar into the classroom and placed my anxiety stars in there. The boys put their strsss stars in there too. When they fill the jar I’m going to bring sweets into the lesson to celebrate them working hard and working through their problems in a positive manner. I know I’m not the teacher they deserve just yet but I feel like I’ve made a big breakthrough with them.

Me: I hate gossip

Also me:

There should be a fanfic writing game called the showrunners challenge where someone writes a story and partway through someone else can play things like "actor leaves after 4000 more words" or "topic now too politically sensitive due to unforeseen world events" or "lost rights to that reference"

When I read a fanfic I like, the author becomes a mini celebrity to me. So when an author with a work I like kudos’ or comments on my own fanfic I just-