“i don’t like either candidate so i won’t vote” what are you thinking, if enough people wuss out we’re going to have President None Of The Above? hey we’re counting the votes and ten percent of voters stayed home and jerked it to their own ideological purity, guess we just won’t have a president and all the executive level decisions will be made by a magic 8-ball for the next 4 years

Still crying over you sucks

My home will be a home with no loud anger, no explosive rage, no slamming doors or breaking glass, no name calling, shaming or blackmail. My home will be gentle, it will be warm. It will keep my loved ones safe. No fear, no hurt and no worries.

I thought I was going to stop crying over men

dealing with the worst case scenario

your condom breaks

you feel a lump on your breast

your friends are ignoring you

you’re stranded on an island 

you got rejected by a crush

you get into a car accident

you got stung by a bee/wasp

you got fired from your job

you’re in an earthquake

your tattoo gets infected

your house is on fire

you’re lost in the woods

you get arrested abroad

you get robbed

your partner cheated on you

you’re on a ship that’s sinking

you fall into ice

you’re stuck in an elevator

you hit a deer with your car

you have food poisoning

your pet passed away

you fall off of a horse

you or your friend has alcohol poisoning

you have toxic shock syndrome

your house has a gas leak

Moss Graffiti: A How To Guide

A reminder for the girls with big plans

To all the girls with big dreams, who have been told that they are ‘too preoccupied with success’, or that they are ‘too selfish’ or ‘too ambitious’ - do not listen to the people who speak those words. If you love something that much, and will pursue it to the ends of the earth, do not give it up for anyone. Hold it close to your heart and understand that you are not obligated to dim your sparkle for anybody. In your life, there will always be people who tell you that you are too much or too little. They will say a woman is too assertive, or too reserved. They will say she feels too little or too much, that ambition is selfish. They may even be hurt or offended that you do not think the same. Yet at the end of the day, know in your heart that you are the only one who will ever know whether you are truly enough and that is what’s important. Go out there and smash the glass ceiling to pieces.

Wondering how to “induce a miscarriage?” Here are the facts.

Someone asked us:

How would one go about safely (and affordably) inducing a miscarriage?

If by “inducing a miscarriage,” you mean ending a pregnancy that would otherwise continue, what you’re talking about is having an abortion. A miscarriage is the loss of pregnancy in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. In fact, the medical terminology for a miscarriage is “spontaneous abortion.” 

Abortion is a safe, legal, and common way of ending a pregnancy. Your abortion options depend on where you live and how far along in your pregnancy you are. If your pregnancy is fewer than 10 weeks along, you can take the abortion pill. Your doctor or nurse will give you medicines and detailed instructions about where, when, and how to take the medicines. The process is very similar to an early miscarriage, and you have the option to end the pregnancy in private, in your own home or at another place of your choosing. 

If you’re further than 10 weeks into your pregnancy, you can have an in-clinic abortion. 

If you’re asking this question because you’ve been diagnosed with a pregnancy that won’t continue — like if there’s an embryo without a heartbeat, or there is an empty pregnancy sac without an embryo, talk with your doctor or nurse about your options. This tissue usually passes on its own, but treatment similar to the abortion pill or in-clinic abortion procedures is sometimes necessary or preferred. 

Many Planned Parenthood health centers provide this kind of care, and they provide or can connect you with financial assistance so it can be affordable. If you have insurance, it may cover some or all of the cost. Contact your nearest Planned Parenthood health center to learn more and make an appointment. 

-Emily at Planned Parenthood 

How you make a 30 second masterpiece about grilled cheese.

The other day I watched a little boy get knocked to the ground by an older kid who was running by. He burst into tears as his mother hurried over.

“Here’s a bandaid for ya,” I said, producing one from my vest pocket.

“Oh, he’s not bleeding, thank you though!”

I lowered my voice and leaned in. “Kids think bandaids are health magic,” I said. “Ask him where it hurts and exploit that placebo effect.”

She did just that, and instantly the kid stopped crying and thanked her. “I’ll have to remember that,” she said.

Children: #HACKED

When people tell stories about how their parents beat them, it’s always interesting to see their face change because they expected me to say “me too lol” but I instead say “I’m really sorry. You didn’t deserve that” Last time a co worker who also has West Indian parents was telling me in a joking way how he remembers being beaten with a belt because lied about his report card. As he was laughing it off and saying he deserved it, I just said “wow that’s awful hun. You didn’t deserve that.” And his whole face changed. Like it hadn’t occurred to him that it’s messed up that a part of remembering his childhood is remembering how badly it hurt to be beaten so badly at such a young age. Another time I had a friend, non West Indian parents, who talked about how she made a mess on a dress that her parents got her. It was really expensive apparently and she spilled red juice on it. She talked about how she was ordered to take the dress of and was beaten with a belt too without any clothes on. And she was laughing and said “I was a bad ass kid lol” and I said “no hun you were just a kid”. And she looked at me and immediately stopped laughing and just sat there like “yea…I was just a kid. I don’t know why they did that to me” My mom was raised in a household where she was beaten so badly….I just don’t understand how she is so loving now growing up in a home where she got so little love. They called it discipline, but once she became a social worker she began to see that it was abuse. That she grew up terrified of her parents, although they thought it was respect that my mom felt. It was fear. We have to get comfortable challenging what is often seen as cultural norms. We have to be a generation of people who are not ashamed to say “I would never beat my child”.

Really wish we could go back to a time when movies were worth something as long as they were fun to watch

Like I mentioned the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot (the all-female one) to someone bc i had a lot of fun watching that movie!! And they were like “that movie wasn’t that good it was just a comedy… It didn’t win anything did it?” like bitch …. The first Ghostbusters movie wasn’t fucking good either but I’m still sitting here watching some dudes chase a ghost through a library to some weird synth music so maybe movies don’t have to win awards to be worth watching

someone: do u want to go do this thing w me

me: ……………in theory

i’m mentally ill too but fucking listen to me here. you need to take responsibility for your actions regardless of whether or not they’re a product of your mental illness. you don’t get to manipulate, gaslight, take advantage of, or straight up abuse people because you’re mentally ill! you don’t! what the fuck! why are some of you still thinking it’s okay to say things like “manipulation is okay because i have _____ and need attention from my significant other” oh my god. Don’t fucking do that

you can always squeeze in a 10 minute study session and you can always afford a 10 minute break

In all seriousness I took a death and dying course in college for fun and that’s when I fell in love with, and began to seriously study, spontaneous or “street shrines”. These are the organic, unplanned placements of items when someone is killed, generally, and the community almost descends on a spot. I am fascinated by that interfaith, inter-spirit moment of connection fostered. What drives someone to leave the first item? Who guides them there? What do we, as humans, seek from the leaving of a memorial on a place that now hallowed? And we know it is, to some extent, even if we’re not spirit-workers. We have this human need to bear witness, no matter who we are, and over and over again it manifests as this need to build some space, some monument that says “they were here, and now they aren’t here, and we, collectively, of all faiths and walks of life, strangers to each other, will remember them”

We take comfort in, and protect to some measure, that space we create with tea-light candles and stuffed bears and flowers and it just feels like the Right Thing to Do. We rebuild these spaces when they are torn down by authority and we keep building them up and that’s beautiful

Street shrines are TRULY universal, too. They are largely non-verbal but it’s like we just KNOW what to do, like something moves inside all of us and it doesn’t fucking matter if we can’t understand anyone else standing at the site, it’s just a Knowing. It’s phenomenal 

I am a completely different woman than I was this time last year. And I’ll be a completely new woman by this time next year. I can’t wait to learn who I’ll be. I can’t wait to see who I am tomorrow.