ACA Open Enrollment Starts Soon!

Pride bees! They're so cute!!

I have no idea if anyone feels the need for more pride flag colored bees, but here is a few more.

UPDATE: i guess there was a need so MORE BEES.

National Poetry Month continues!  I saw this recently, and it seemed like the perfect companion piece to Shel Silverstein's Invitation.  Here is a Monstrous Manifesto by Catherynne M. Valente.  Stand up!

Pride desserts -- yum!

pride desserts and sweet drinks

click here for individual posts with flavour descriptions

That is very cool!  It’s on beyond Madison (Google says about 2 hours total from our place), so I don’t know if we’ll get there.  It’s a great design though!

Trilobite. Corn. Maze. Geoscientists, if you’re anywhere near the US State of Wisconsin; you have a corn maze to visit. In fact, based on the response of the family that owns the farm when I asked for an image, I think they almost insist we show up! The trilobite Calymene celebra is the state fossil of Wisconsin and they are found in Cambrian and Ordovician rocks throughout the state. The maze also features cubic Galena – the state mineral of Wisconsin, a fossil ammonite and nautiloid, a microscope, a tool, an empty jar, and a couple insects. The link to the maze’s website is below. Anyone who is there, do feel free to comment on this post while you’re lost inside! -JBB Image credit: http://treinenfarm.com/2017maze

I'm continuing on with more monster poetry for National Poetry Month.  Sometimes you need to drag the terrible voices in your head out so you can really get to know them.  my therapist says make friends with your monsters by José Olivarez 

Seriously, if you live in the US, make a plan NOW so that you are ready to vote.

Make sure you are registered to vote.  Many states are “cleaning up” voter rolls, so double-check.

Decide what you are willing to compromise on and what is a deal-breaker for you.  You probably won’t find someone who is a perfect fit, but you can definitely find candidates that are better or worse.

If you aren’t sure whether voting in person will be safe for you by November, find out what you need to do to vote by mail.  Check your state and local requirements for voting by mail or voting early (when it might be less crowded) if you can’t vote by mail.  You may need to request the ballot in advance or send in some form of identification.  Some areas require a witness’ signature on mail-in ballots, which can be hard if you’re are quarantined alone.  Some areas require mail-in ballots to be received or postmarked by a certain date; some have drop-off locations in addition to accepting ballots by mail.  Make a plan NOW so you are ready by November.

While you are voting for (or against) a presidential candidate, remember to look at the rest of your ballot!  Even if you aren’t voting for a presidential candidate, look at the rest of the ballot!  The president has a lot of power, but the senators and representatives can do a lot to support or block the president.  Your state, county, city, and other local governments can also have a big impact on your life.  Most of their decisions will have an immediate effect on you.  Plus, in many cases, this is where presidents and congress-critters get started.  If you don’t like the choices at the top level, start changing the people closer to you.

Every vote counts!  Yes, even at the presidential level.  However, the farther down the ballot you go, the more your vote is going to count.  This applies even more on local primaries and elections that don’t affect national positions.  The pool of voters is smaller in local elections, and many people who can vote won’t bother.  Take a little time to find out as much as you can about your local candidates, and vote for the ones who support most of your values.  

It’s easier to take time to check out candidates and issues if you are voting by mail.  However, even if you are voting on election day, you can frequently see what is on the ballot in advance, so you can do your research.  Make sure you understand those awkwardly worded (”Do you support removing the proposition that opposes...?”) questions and convoluted propositions, so that you’re voting for what you really want.

Plan ahead and vote!

Yo Biden just announced an infrastructure devolopment/clean energy/environmental justice plan and it's honesty pretty fucking amazing and much more ambitious than I ever would have expected from him, goddamn. He's trying to Eisenhower/New Deal our way out of the economic collapse.

Some notable points addressed by this plan:

Expanding American railway systems

Fixing the crumbling roads, bridges, dams, etc. that haven't been kept up

Capping abandoned oil wells

Undoing Trump's financial bailout policies for unclean energy companies

Reinvesting in American-made automotive companies

Getting America to 100% clean energy by 2035

Fixing air, water, and ground pollution issues that disproportionately affect poc

Getting justice for victims of environmental racism

Reinstating a bunch of environmental and medical jobs Trump had cut

Getting the US back on the Paris Agreement/Climate Accord

I like the video (especially the puppies!), and I can definitely see where they’re going with emulating sexy girl videos.  However, in addition to having a much wider variety of cuteness, most of these guys are waaaaay overdressed for a sexy girl video.

This post on the desexualisation of men made me think of this Charli XCX video.

Charli XCX directed this with Sarah McColgan, and asked the boys in question to do “all the sexy things that girls usually do in videos”. They include Riz Ahmed (this is the source of those gifs of him with a big pink teddy bear), Stormzy, Josh Ostrovsky (aka thefatjewish), Tom Daley, Jay Park and more - full list here. It is pink and fluffy and female gaze-y, and everybody looks happy.

It also has a much, much more inclusive idea of cuteness than sexy girl videos, and doesn’t dehumanise its subjects. Which is lovely, but underlines that when men are treated as objects of desire, they’re much more likely to keep a sense of agency.

No, they broke the chalice from the palace.  Now the pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon.  The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!

(I love this movie.  Danny Kaye does amazing slapstick, and some of the dialogue is just incredible!)

 - Very good. 

@supervillainny (who is also super awesome!) asked for positive reblogs today, so have some fluffy Cauldron Paws shorts.

Cauldron Paws: A collection of short exploratory comics about my little magical mouse and demon cat characters and the world they inhabit.

They were in one of the first silent comics I ever posted  - Calling up a friend

Believe the beautiful snow leopard!

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