The Unfinished Library

wyverntark: I like how the last picture is both majestic and...

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:38:54 -0400

I like how the last picture is both majestic and derpy at the same time.

littlebookthings: I was asked to make this rebloggable, so here...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:24:03 -0400

I was asked to make this rebloggable, so here you go lovely followers!

I just want to think each and everyone of you that have messaged me and replied to the post supporting me and agreeing with me and telling me your own stories! I’m going to try to reply to as many of you as I can, but I just wanted to say here that I love you all and I’m grateful for all of my followers.

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:53:39 -0400

“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.”

- Bill Watterson (via mikekarnell)

Why aren't more people freaking out about the new Venezuelan labor law?

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:33:36 -0400

dancepunksnotdead:

You know, the one that gives housewives/full-time mothers a pension— wages for housework?

It’s ONLY A HUGE VICTORY FOR FEMINISM, SOCIALISM, AND WOMEN OF COLOR. Not a big deal or anything. Tumblr is mysteriously silent about this.

http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift

“‘We Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative” by Kameron Hurley â A Dribble of Ink

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:28:09 -0400

“‘We Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative” by Kameron Hurley â A Dribble of Ink:

terribleminds:

“Half the world is full of women, but it’s rare to hear a narrative that doesn’t speak of women as the people who have things done to them instead of the people who do things. More often, women are talked about as a man’s daughter. A man’s wife.”

A must-read for any writer of fiction. And for anyone, y’know, existing in this world. Kameron Hurley wrote an incredible piece here.

OMG, everyone needs to read this. Especially everyone who ever penned so much as a narrative poem or piece of flash-fiction.

sobercompanion: every emotion, even the bad ones: Fairy tales are NOT all straight white heroes and...

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:34:07 -0400

sobercompanion:

every emotion, even the bad ones: Fairy tales are NOT all straight white heroes and women sans agency! I swear!

seananmcguire:

I re-blogged a picture of a little girl, dressed as Tiana, hugging the face actress who plays Tiana at one of the Disney Parks, and noted that everyone should have their princess. And a few people have now contacted me basically going “no, only straight white people can have princesses if you stick with the classics.”

Um.

No.

I am a folklorist, and it’s time for some Fun With Folklore.

First off, very few Princesses/fairy tale heroines who are going to become Princesses because that’s what you do are actually defined by specific physical attributes. You have Snow White, who yes, requires the “skin as white as snow” etc, but that’s to make her an alien beauty and justify the actions of her stepmother. She belongs to the Aarne-Thompson tale type 709, which is commonly referred to as “Snow White,” but which contains a hell of a lot more, including “Bella Venezia”, “Myrsina”, “Nourie Hadig” and “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.” All those links will take you to Wikipedia. Click them. Note that NOT ONE of those girls is defined by her appearance, beyond “incredibly beautiful.” “Nourie Hadig” is Armenian in origin; you can bet that girl was not white as snow. (Note that I do not actually care for the “Nourie Hadig” 709 variant, due to using a Roma girl as the main adversary, but that’s another story.) Any story you want to tell is going to have variants where the heroines are never described! You know why?

BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TELLING THESE STORIES UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN TO SEE THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR OF THE TALE.

There are fairy tales about people with disabilities, ranging from the physical (missing limbs, missing eyes, missing tongues) to the emotional (girls who cannot smile, boys who cannot feel fear). There are fairy tales that end in same-sex marriage. There’s even an excellent fairy tale about gender identity, “The Princess Who Became A Prince,” in which our hero has always felt he was a boy, but tried to be a dutiful daughter, until a dragon stole a neighbor princess and he had to ride to rescue the girl in order to save the kingdom. One misaimed curse later, and wham, our new-minted prince is finally outwardly as he had been all along on the inside.

THIS IS JUST AS OLD AND TRUE AND SCHOLASTIC AS CINDERELLA AND THE OTHERS.

The “big fairy tales” of today are the ones that someone seized on as marketable. We have the power, as drivers of media, to say that we want more diversity. We want Princesses of every race, creed, and religion, and we have the folklore and fairy tales to make them real. We want our transgender Princess (although wow would the marketing be problematic). Saying “the classics” are 100% about straight white people reduces the past to a place where only straight whiteness existed, and where no other children ever needed stories. And that’s not what the past was.

Once upon a time has never stopped being right now.

Fascinating

lirillith: “Adult Sayaka-san and Kyoko-san” by Ninety-nine

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:35:45 -0400

lirillith:

“Adult Sayaka-san and Kyoko-san” by Ninety-nine

For my birthday today I got the second Neil Gaiman Sandman comic (The Doll’s House) and a new...

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:24:48 -0400

For my birthday today I got the second Neil Gaiman Sandman comic (The Doll’s House) and a new set of D&D dice (a new edition calls for new dice, right?) and a Boba tea. It was a good night! ^_^

At the End

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:54:01 -0400

At the End:

Sunday evening. Mother’s Day. I come home to a call that Grandpa has gone to the emergency room. We fear his aortic aneurism has burst. I wait for news, for this fear to be confirmed. We’ve always …

"The fact that you’re struggling doesn’t make you a burden. It doesn’t make you unloveable or..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:40:57 -0400

“The fact that you’re struggling doesn’t make you a burden. It doesn’t make you unloveable or undesirable or undeserving of care. It doesn’t make you too much or too sensitive or too needy. It makes you human. Everyone struggles. Everyone has a difficult time coping, and at times, we all fall apart. During these times, we aren’t always easy to be around — and that’s okay. No one is easy to be around one hundred percent of the time. Yes, you may sometimes be unpleasant or difficult. And yes, you may sometimes do or say things that make the people around you feel helpless or sad. But those things aren’t all of who you are and they certainly don’t discount your worth as a human being. The truth is that you can be struggling and still be loved. You can be difficult and still be cared for. You can be less than perfect, and still be deserving of compassion and kindness.”

-
Daniell Koepke (via internal-acceptance-movement)

This is reblogged from an amazing woman who is managing to keep things going for herself and her wonderful family under adverse circumstances. She humbles me every time I read her blog and see what she’s dealing with, and witness the grace and kindness she shows through her words.

(via exploringinside)

Just beautiful. So very true.

(via lovesexandhumor)

soarry: I will know my life is successful when I have a library with a rolling ladder

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:48:11 -0400

soarry:

I will know my life is successful when I have a library with a rolling ladder

rosalarian: littlefroggies: bisexual-community: Common Myths...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:06:15 -0400

Common Myths About Bisexuality 1

Common Myths About Bisexuality 2

Common Myths About Bisexuality 3

Common Myths About Bisexuality 4

rosalarian:

littlefroggies:

bisexual-community:

Common Myths About Bisexuality from the lovely Webcomic “Jesus Loves Lesbians, Too” by bi blogger & author Maria Burnham (writer/memoirist) and Maggie Siegel-Berele (comic artist).

I usually don’t reblog stuff like this because this is my art blog but this hit close to home and reminded me of so many conversations that made me feel like garbage.

It always makes me see red when I see lesbians (and gay men) treating bisexuals this way. I don’t think I can even type too much more without quickly reaching a point where I just smash my head into the keyboard.

kateordie: cerebus92: What happen when Pepper Ann tries to buy...

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:34:02 -0400

kateordie:

cerebus92:

What happen when Pepper Ann tries to buy a comic book?

Wow!

"I believe wholeheartedly, and without apology, that we have a collective responsibility to the..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:23:49 -0400

“I believe wholeheartedly, and without apology, that we have a collective responsibility to the children of our communities even if we did not conceive and bear them. Of course, parents can and should raise their children with their own values. But they should be able to do so in a community that provides safe places to play, quality food to eat, terrific schools to attend, and economic opportunities to support them. No individual household can do that alone. We have to build that world together.”

- - Melissa Harris-Perry, Why caring for children is not just a parent’s job (via msnbc)

True, and based on my experience and my readings, this attitude of “caring for children is everybody’s job” is considered normal in much of the non-Western world. Certainly in China, where extended clans and communities dote over babies and help educate toddlers without a second thought and mothers feel perfectly comfortable handing off their babies to a relative or friend or neighbor while conducting some other business for the afternoon.

What’s ironic is that simultaneously in Asian culture, Buddhist monks and nuns and renunciates and mendicants and sages — who make a life commitment to not have children — are well-respected by society and by their communities, rather than being considered eccentric bachelors or crazy cat ladies for such a choice. Many of our most important historical figures and folk heroes and martial arts legends are people who have renounced marriage and children. Yet it’s traditional for children to spend time playing with monks and nuns in their communities, especially during certain festivities. Children refer to monks and nuns as “uncle” and “auntie” and the nuns and monks pass on to those children certain knowledge and values, how to make an offering with your whole heart, how to bow, managing your energy and emotion, patience, self-cultivation, humility, discipline, wisdom. It’s a whole different system.

(via zuky)

Familial love isn’t restricted to just parent-child relationships, and it really bothers me that that’s how people seem to think it ought to be =/

(via jhameia)

bemusedlybespectacled: if you ever think mythology is boring or serious business or whatever...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:42:28 -0400

bemusedlybespectacled:

if you ever think mythology is boring or serious business or whatever shit

just remember that cerberus, the hell-hound and guard dog of the underworld, comes from the root indo-european word ḱerberos, which evolved into the greek word kerberos, which got changed to cerberus when it went from greek to latin

ḱerberos means “spotted”

that’s right

hades, lord of the dead, literally fucking named his pet dog spot

Photo

Sun, 12 May 2013 08:19:49 -0400

"Why Society Still Needs Feminism Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women,..."

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:28:07 -0400

“

Why Society Still Needs Feminism

Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women, it’s a weapon we hold between our fingers when we’re walking alone at night.

Because the biggest insult for a guy is to be called a “pussy,” a “little bitch” or a “girl.” From here on out, being called a “pussy” is an effing badge of honor.

Because last month, my politics professor asked the class if women should have equal representation in the Supreme Court, and only three out of 42 people raised their hands.

Because rape jokes are still a thing.

Because despite being equally broke college kids, guys are still expected to pay for dates, drinks and flowers.

Because as a legit student group, Campus Fellowship does not allow women to lead anything involving men. Look, I know Eve was dumb about the whole apple and snake thing, but I think we can agree having a vagina does not directly impact your ability to lead a
college organization.

Because it’s assumed that if you are nice to a girl, she owes you sex — therefore, if she turns you down, she’s a bitch who’s put you in the “friend zone.” Sorry, bro, women are not machines you put kindness coins into until sex falls out.

Because only 29 percent of American women identify as feminist, and in the words of author Caitlin Moran, “What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? Did all that good shit get on your nerves? Or were you just drunk at the time
of the survey?”

Because when people hear the term feminist, they honestly think of women burning bras. Dude, have you ever bought a bra? No one would burn them because they’re freaking
expensive.

Because Rush Limbaugh.

Because we now have a record number of women in the Senate … which is a measly 20 out of 100. Congrats, USA, we’ve gone up to 78th place for women’s political representation, still below China, Rwanda and Iraq.

Because recently I had a discussion with a couple of well-meaning Drake University guys, and they literally could not fathom how catcalling a woman walking down University Avenue is creepy and sexist.
Could. Not. Fathom.

Because on average, the tenured male professors at Drake make more than the tenured female professors.

Because more people on campus complain about chalked statistics regarding sexual assault than complain about the existence of sexual assault. Priorities? Have them.

Because 138 House Republicans voted against the Violence Against Women Act. All 138 felt it shouldn’t provide support for Native women, LGBT people or immigrant women. I’m kind of confused by this, because I thought LGBT people and women of color were also human beings.
Weird, right?

Because a girl was roofied last semester at a local campus bar, and I heard someone say they think she should have been more careful. Being drugged is her fault, not the fault of the person who put drugs in her drink?

Because Chris Brown beat Rihanna so badly she was hospitalized, yet he still has fans and bestselling songs and a tattoo of an abused woman on his neck.

Because out of 7 billion people on the planet, more than 1 billion women will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. Women and girls have their clitorises cut out, acid thrown on them and broken bottles shoved up them as an act of war. Every second of every day. Every corner of the Earth.

Because the other day, another friend of mine told me she was raped, and I can no longer count on both my hands the number of friends who have told me they’ve been sexually assaulted. Words can’t express how scared I am that I’m getting used to this.

Because a brief survey of reality will tell you that we do not live in a world that values all people equally and that sucks in real, very scary ways. Because you know we live in a sexist world when an awesome thing with the name “feminism” has a weird connotation. Because if I have kids someday, I want my son to be able to have emotions and play dress up, and I want my daughter to climb trees and care more about what’s in her head than what’s on it. Because I don’t want her to carry keys between her fingers at night to
protect herself.

Because feminism is for everybody, and this is your official invitation.

”

- Caitlin O’Donnell, Drake University. (via on-another-note)

infinitenap: and plane tickets are not cheap

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:33:40 -0400

infinitenap:

and plane tickets are not cheap

steady-beating-drum: True

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:43:50 -0400

steady-beating-drum:

True

tr4pdoor: daydreamer-kay-em: “This is an alternate universe...

Sat, 04 May 2013 21:30:36 -0400

tr4pdoor:

daydreamer-kay-em:

“This is an alternate universe where Bruce Wayne died instead of his parents. Causing His father Thomas Wayne to become Batman and his mother Martha to go insane and become the Joker. “

hold the phone.