freckles make me strong.
Month
Last year on my birthday, I decided to start running. It went well for a while but then I got districted and I made excuses and I quit. At the beginning of June, I recommitted. I have been running a lot since then. I started with a run/walk interval program that I thought might kill me. Each milestone seemed incredibly far off and my goals felt pretty improbable. But I did it. This week a went for a 4 mile run. So here I stand, in the best shape I’ve been in my life. You’re welcome, heart and lungs. I’m sorry it took me so long. Twenty eight with a bullet - here’s to the next trip around the sun!
Anne Hathaway, Maria Eitel: What African Girls Fear More Than Drought - The Daily Beast (via apsies)
This doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves.
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? NYTimes.com (via somethingchanged)
Sorry, I’ve made all the decisions I had budgeted for today. Please schedule something for tomorrow. This is genius!
I have two people, who look virtually the same on paper, that want to be the new roommate. I looked all over the internet for a quiz of sorts that I could send them that would help me pick based on something more meaningful than the flip of a coin. I had very little luck finding the right stule quiz that would get the sort of information I wanted and so, I have been forced to write one myself. In the style of YM, Seventeen and all the other magazines I read in over a decade I present to you, the potential roommate quiz.
The Potential Roommate Quiz
Please rate yourself on a scale of 1-10
Cleanliness in my personal space
It’s bad, but not like rotting food bad It’s immaculate, all the time
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cleanliness in common spaces (ie: kitchen, bathroom, living room)
I leave a trail everywhere I go you may wonder if I still live here
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Chores (ie: cleaning of common spaces, taking out the trash)
A) Are you kidding me? What do I live with my parents? I am not interested in helping
B) I hate it, but I’ll do it
C) I don’t mind it
D) Occasionally I forget but I have good intentions and don’t mind a reminder
E) I am not the best but I make big comebacks. You know you slack off sometimes but today you cleaned the whole house including the inside of the refrigerator and made you all a pie.
F) I like a clean space but can we just pay someone to do it?
When my roommate is upset about something that does not directly concern me I will…
A) Ask what’s going on. Maybe venting will help.
B) Ignore it. If he/she wants to talk about it they can but I’m not initiating.
C) Actively avoid him/her. It not my issue, I prefer not to be involved.
When I am upset about something that does not directly concern my roommate, I expect my roommate to….
A) Ask what’s going on. I love the option to vent, even if I don’t always take you up on it.
B) Ignore it. I am trying to distract myself and I’d rather not invest more energy in a bad mood.
C) Actively avoid me. I am not saying flee the house but please just let me coexist for a bit and be anti-social.
When my roommate is upset about something that directly concerns me, I will…
A) Suggest we grab a beverage and hash it out
B) Leave him/her a note and or write an email explaining my side of the story
C) Wait for him/her to approach me. Maybe it will blow over. Either way I will wait for them to start the conversation.
When I am upset about something that directly concerns my roommate, I expect my roommate to…
A) Suggest we grab a beverage and hash it out
B) Leave me a note and or write an email explaining his/her side of the story
C) Wait for me to approach them. I might not be quite ready to talk about it yet
Your roommate has left a stack of dishes outside her/his room for a week and a half. Do you…
A) Ignore it. Doesn’t bother me that much. Besides, maybe someone else will say something.
B) Give him/her a mental deadline of Saturday before you say anything. Maybe he/she is having a crazy week.
C) Ask him/her nicely to please clean it up the next time you see him/her
D) Leave him her a note
E) Pretend it doesn’t bother you for another day and a half and then approach him/her, accidentally coming down on them a little hard in the heat of the moment. Whoops.
F) Wash the dishes yourself. It’s not that big of a deal. After all, he/she did pick you up from the airport last month.
The roommates are having a dance party on the Wii, you…
A) Join of course, you love dance parties
B) Hide in your room, dance parties bring back traumatic memories and/or conjure fears of public humiliation
C) Hang out for a bit, maybe dance one song. It’s not your thing but everyone is having fun
D) Avoid the first dance party but practice like crazy when no one is around so you’ll be ready for the next one. You want to join in theory but you hate games you’re not good at.
What are you favorite things to watch on TV?
Hummingbird - The Weepies
Always been like a hummingbird
And I can’t keep still
Listen up, lover listen up, I never will
This has been one of my anthems this year. I am really hoping they play it on Sunday!
Netflix knows me pretty well, so well in fact that sometimes I’m surprised. Recently I got some new categories. I saw TV Dramas Featuring a Strong Female Lead, Buddy Movies, Understated Foreign Coming-of-age Movies and I thought, “little algorithm you have impressed me with your insight”.
Today I saw two more new categories: Dark Movies about Marriage based on real life and Critically-acclaimed Foreign Mid-Life-Crisis Movies. I would not have described my interest as such but Netflix rarely lies to me. What does it all mean?Who am I? Why will I watch Shall We Dance when I scoff at Bucket List? Oh, the introspection.
Fox News radio host Tony Bruno recently pissed off baseball fans and immigration rights defenders alike when he went on a racist tirade against a Latino baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, Dominican-born relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez. After Ramirez hit the Philadelphia Phillies’ Shane Victorino in the back with a pitch and both teams got into a fight, Bruno tweeted the following: “gutless #!@%*# Giants. Bochy is a coward for having his illegal alien pitcher hit a guy since mighty Frisco boys …”
The moment proved to be an important opportunity for unsung heroes to speak candidly about racism.
Let’s be clear, the issue here is not that Bruno was mistaken because Ramirez has a P-1 VISA like most players from Latin America who play professional ball in the United States. It was wrong because it was racist, and it would be wrong for any human being to be labeled “illegal” in any form. This is how the i-word is used to dehumanize and demonize people of color and particularly Latinos, regardless of immigration status.
Big high five goes out to Bruce Bochy for taking a stand against the i-word and the racism and bigotry it connotes. This country has become far too casual is accepting the racist epitaphs used to make immigrants and visitors to this country feel unwelcome and less than. Thank you for standing up and calling Tony Bruce out.
via gaywrites:
President Obama released a proclamation this week barring people who engage in acts violating human rights from entering the United States.
This includes, but is not limited to, citizens in Uganda attempting to pass legislation legalizing the execution of LGBT people. The secretary of state will have the power to decide who cannot enter the United States. From the Washington Blade:
“The United States’ enduring commitment to respect for human rights and humanitarian law requires that its Government be able to ensure that the United States does not become a safe haven for serious violators of human rights and humanitarian law and those who engage in other related abuses,” Obama states.
Specific language in the proclamation explicitly states that those who persecute people based on their “sexual orientation and gender identity” are among the categories of those who won’t be able to enter the United States.
Mr. President, how I appreciate thee. I do hope something comes of this.
If, as I insisted, you’d read Tove Jansson’s elliptical, elegant Fair Play or her marvelous The Summer Book, you could perfectly envision the Norwegian island chain where married lesbians Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen [adidas] were eating at their campsite when they heard shots and screams across the water. Did they run and hide? No, they’re lesbians, so they jumped in their boat and sped toward the slaughter. The women pulled terrified teens from the water and the rocky coast as the insane far-right gunman shot through their vessel. Unfortunately, there were too many youth to fit in the boat. Hege and Toril ferried the group to safety, then hurried back to the massacre, rescuing another boatload. Then they did it yet again. And still again. Altogether in their four trips they saved forty people from the scene where seventy-six died.
Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen, you are absolutely remarkable. Thank you for you courage and humanity. Tusen takk!
‘Friday Night Lights’ movie? Exec producer Jason Katims talks plans | Inside TV | EW.com (via apsies)
Oh, wow! Oh, wow! I am really excited. Can’t lose.
heyitseva:
On Sunday, my visiting family and I saw Billy Elliot on Broadway.
During one very moving number, my brother, who was to the right of me, noticed that my dad, sitting on my left, was tearing up a bit. So my brother reaches over, punches my dad in the arm and whispers, “Dad. You’re a bitch.”
Oh, how I adore the Wongs.