How I Catch & Purify My Water!

No matter what else in going on, climate change should be your first priority.

America is absolutely disconnected to meat

I think I realized this when I had went to see my dad and stepmom one day and asked if I could place my hawk’s food. (A rabbit leg) in the freezer. My step mom was disgusted by the idea that a leg from an animal was in the freezer meanwhile an entire chicken was sitting in the fridge.

Your rotisserie chicken is an entire chicken.

Your pork chop is a hunk of pig.

Your rack of ribs are from a cow’s rib cage.

It’s like Americans view meat as colorful red and pink hued shapes that just exist and come into the world packaged.

You see so many people getting harassed or even having their content flagged for showing how to process or field dress meat when it’s at it’s freshest. Right after culling. For some reason this is considered “gore” by many folks when in reality it’s no more different from plucking a processed chicken after cull.

You also notice that Americans have an idea of what’s normal meat and what isn’t normal meat and there’s racist undertones that I’ve noticed in a lot of these comments left on foreign cooking videos

You have people that claim a video of a man in a different country preparing something like this is “eating a dog.” Meanwhile this is roasted goat.

You have people who’s only perception of an edible fish is in fillet or fish stick form and they call something like this nasty because “Eww there’s a head!” Yeah.. most animals have heads..

Some of ya’ll need to realize what your meat looks like prior to processing and that it’s prepared in different ways. We also need to erase the stigma behind non traditional meats.

when i was a teenager and i learned about how light pollution and a certain billionare’s satellites obscure the night sky and all of its glory that humans have looked up and admired for hundreds of thousands of years, i always kept the mantra ‘they would steal even the skies from you’ hidden deep in my gut like a warning

but now i’m in my 20s and in the midst of a plague, having to watch corporate entities like space x and jeff bezos scramble for a piece of the infinite vastness of our universe while we’re all down expected to toil for their gains, live in an age of widespread sickness where we can’t be granted healing or rest without a profit, have every single piece of our lives cut up and dressed for sale like a butchered animal, from basic human needs to human expression. and now that same mantra comes to mind, but now instead of a cautionary warning it sits in my chest and my throat bc it has gone from a warning to a certainty. they will steal even the skies from you.

Things I would like non-wheelchair people to know

Do not touch my chair. Unless I’ve lost control of my chair and am rolling into traffic, if I have not given you explicit permission, that is a huge violation of my personal space. Think of grabbing my push handles like grabbing someone’s shoulders. That’s not a thing you just do to people.

If I don’t know you, nothing about my chair, my body, my situation, or what I’m doing is any of your gods damned business. Think of commenting on these things to a stranger like catcalling. (If I know you it’s probably fine, as long as you’re respectful. Just like any other personal topic you might ask someone about.)

If I decline an offer of help, do not insist. I know what things I need help with a lot better than you do. (Nothing wrong with offering, help is definitely welcome sometimes, just respect my response.)

Okay, things that should be obvious out of the way, here’s what the post is actually about:

I still prefer the terms “walking” and “running” for the ways I get around. I might say “rolling” or “wheeling” if the distinction is relevant for some reason, since I am ambulatory some of the time, but in general I prefer the same words as you tall people.

I need a much wider space to turn, or especially to turn around, than I do just to pass through a space.

Ask me, rather than assuming you know whether or not I can do something. I would love to go hiking with you, actually, if the trail is light and friendly enough to wheels. No, I can’t ice skate, but I’d still rather you ask if I want to come along than assume I don’t want to be included.

Which activities are notably more difficult is often not obvious. Popping a wheelie to get over a small amount of difficult terrain or even climbing a single step (if I have something to pull myself up with) can actually be pretty easy. A long stretch of ground tilted slightly to the left or right takes a ton of effort. Carrying anything that fits in my lap is trivially easy, but transporting anything that doesn’t fit in my lap is quite hard (though I recently discovered my vacuum fits nicely on my footplate if I wrap my legs around it a little which is cool.) I am constantly surprised by little things that are or aren’t harder than I thought they’d be, or are actually easier than before because I’m sitting.

If you are in my path, you moving suddenly is actually really unpleasant for me. I know you’re there, I’m not going to run you over. If you’re in my way, please do move! But jerking suddenly makes you unpredictable and I might have to stop suddenly to be certain everyone is safe while I process the change, just like if I were driving a car. Also like driving a car, stopping suddenly is unpleasant and a lot of effort, but the small adjustment to my direction I was planning to make is very easy. (Same goes for bikes honestly, or any other vehicle. That’s what the chair is, a vehicle.)

If we’re walking around together and need to get past some stairs, it’s nice if you come with me on the ramp, especially if that ramp is out of the way. It can be really isolating to have to go a different way than everyone else.

If we need to walk close together for whatever reason, you walking directly in front of me is best avoided if possible. Bumping into your heel with my metal footplate is going to be a lot more unpleasant for both of us than it would be if I were on my feet.

In general, you should let me speak for myself. It’s my joints that don’t work, not my brain or my voice. But. If someone else is being disrespectful, your voice is likely much more impactful than mine in that situation. Use it.

I’m not expecting anyone to memorize these things; as long as you’re treating disabled people like people, that’s enough. And if you want to do more than that but don’t know how, respectful questions are generally welcome. I just wanted to share these thoughts, for people who don’t live with them all the time. There are a lot of little differences to being seated all the time that you just don’t think about until you’re there.

Also, while I think most of this is generally true for anyone in a wheelchair, obligatory reminder that I speak only for myself.

i love my bass guitar but i hate how much my fingertips ache for like, days afterwards? 😃

I think I actually like Harvey now..

but that's also hard because at the same time Sebastian is kind of fine too.

they're cheap for a reason, let them stay that way.

If you buy shit at goodwill with the intention of reselling it for twice what you initially paid for you are not a "sustainable depop girlie" or a "vintage shop" or a "thrift curator," you are a shark.

I hate when people feel the need to assign a mental illness to every bad person ever. "this serial killer/politician/abuser probably was a narcissist/had ASPD/schizophrenia/autism/whatever" maybe they weren't though. maybe harmful behavior doesn't always arise from some innate Wrongness. maybe sometimes healthy sane people do bad things on purpose. maybe emotional, empathetic people can be cruel. maybe sane people are fully capable of doing awful things. maybe your normality won't save you from culpability.

The beauty of National Parks are reminders of what the entire earth could look like if humans weren’t around .

SUSTAINABILITY HACKS THAT ANYONE CAN DO EASILY

- stop using paper towels. buy a swedish dishcloth instead and/or un-paper towels or just cut up old clothing to make rags if you can’t afford to buy those

- stop purchasing most cleaning products! i rarely buy cleaning products anymore. what i do is i dilute 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar and use that to clean most of my surfaces and floors and even the sink, toilet, and shower! i usually put that in a spray bottle and it makes life easier

- stop buying most things new, unless its absolutely essential: things like toothbrush, socks, and underwear usually have to be bought new and my advice for you is choose a more sustainable option meaning maybe invest in higher quality socks and undergarments that last longer, buy from a company that uses sustainable materials and pays their workers a living wage, etc. Bamboo toothbrushes are also an option, they are much better for the earth. but the most important thing is to use what you already have first!

- buy things in bulk when/if possible. for example, i buy bar shampoo and conditioner as well as bar dish soap from a specific company i adore online. what i do is i usually stock up on these items and buy multiple at once to last me 6 months - 1 year instead of ordering multiple times continuously. buying things in bulk is often also cheaper – especially items that are non perishable! it is less packaging waste a lot of the time and can be used to refill your containers for certain items. 

- if you need something specific, check facebook marketplace, thrift shops, depop, ebay, and see if you can find it secondhand first. even buying something brand new from a sustainable company isn’t always the most sustainable option. using something already made that someone else doesn’t need anymore is more sustainable than buying a brand new one

- do things digitally! send online invites, submit hw online (if its an option), buy digital copies of books instead of hardcopies, find required textbook PDFs online instead of buying the physical copy

- buy secondhand gifts! again, through thrift-shops or online, avoid one time gifts like balloons, maybe get a secondhand book from an online website or the thrift shop, if you know they collect (x) items, find them online if you can! or maybe they would appreciate a belt? perhaps a watch, or an antique clock? or even a nice pair of wool socks!

-invest in a bidet attachment. these can be attached to your current toilet and are around $40 online, and then you may even be able to install them yourself if you look at youtube videos (its not hard at all) or hire someone to install them! saves so much toilet paper

- FIX THINGS. REPAIR ITEMS AND CLOTHING. don’t throw things out when they’re broken or ripped. try fixing them first

- recycle your (worthless) electronics, you can do this at bestbuy, microcenter, and other places. things like smart watches that are dead, old/broken phones and computers, cords, reusable batteries etc. make sure to call ahead and ask if they will take that certain item – my microcenter store takes everything except for very old monitors and tvs and lithium batteries

- SELL YOUR CLOTHES/OTHER ITEMS! did you know most of the things donated at thrift shops end up in a landfill anyway? if you have stuff worth selling, you should sell them! if they aren’t worth selling, try seeing if a friend or family member would like them for free. posting on fb marketplace for free can also work – sometimes people will come pick it up on the same day! if all else fails, repurpose it into a rag for cleaning or something else!

- buy less overall. this is one sure way to be more sustainable. i care about each and every single item that i own and before buying something else, i ask myself if i truly would want it or if its just an impulse buy. i’ve gotten to the point now after many years where upwards of 50% of my closet is thrifted/secondhand, but this did not happen overnight!