┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐

Yeah, this feels weird. But hey, everything starts somewhere. Even new beginnings.

So, for those of you who don’t know who I am (or have forgotten that I exist, both are valid). I’m Michael. I’m 23 and I first joined this website nearly 10 years ago. Jesus, when I saw/see it like that it’s terrifying. A near decade on this hellscape of a website (and I’m only partially joking with that). I grew up on this website, which included a lot of cringe posting and questionable choices in themes.

But I’ve also done a LOT of growing off this webiste as well. Let’s see, what’s changed since I first came on here? Well, for one thing, I have found someone who I love and who loves me and ugh it’s jsut the best. We match each other so well and have such similar interests and support & help each other so much and ugh I just love them so so much. We’ve been dating for over a year now and it’s honestly been the best year+ of my life. They’re not on here and I’m a private person on the best of days so I’ll avoid being too cheesy with posts about them but yeah. They’re the love of my life and I can’t wait for the next step in our relationship with them <3

Next thing is that I’ve fully embraced and accepted that I am Bisexual. I’ve been feeling like this for a few years (even while I was on here) but because of some extrnal factors, as well as some internal stuff, I never felt comfortable or sure about myself or SAYING it. But, through a lot of self-reflection (as well as a lot of help from my partner), I fully came to terms with it in my heart. I’ve not said it a lot to people IRL but it does feel nice to be open to some extent with people. 

I’ve finished University with a Masters in Chemical Engineering! The main thing I learned from that is this: I was not meant to do Chemical Engineering job. But luckily, I met some lovely people and learned a lot of skills that I was able to adapt into another job! And it’s decently paying as well! Disposable income is great. And it was weird, the last year I had a slight aura of zen? I ended up trying to be supprotive to the third year students in the university with all the shit they’re going through now too.

In terms of more ancillary stuff, my interests have shifted over time from when I was last majorly on. I’m watching less TV and trying to focus more on reading and sleeping (it’s not going well but what can you do?) I’ve gotten MAJORLY into D&D/CR/TAZ as well so hey, if you like that, follow me! We can chat and cry over everything! I’ve even got a D&D game on that I’m DMing! (That’s fucknig terrifying but shout out to the Cleric Crew!) Also, I’ve majorly gotten more into politics and am a bit of a socialist rn (I’m a bad one, still need to read more thoery but hey, baby steps). Still Disney/Star Wars/Marvel trash (even have a Captain America Tattoo) but the other fandoms have died down a lttile. Plus, I’ve finally watch Lord Of The Rings and I’m reading it too! Shoutout to my partner, they’re the sole reason and I’m enternally grateful again

So yeah, that’s it really. It’s been a rollercoaster of time and I’ve changed a lot. But, like we all do eventually, I’ve returned to see what y’all are doing and feel really old and inadequate as all of y’all fuckers are so talented and are still in fucking school like fucking wow. Follow me on this if you like my content!

Hannibal: If you’re feeling brave it can be all of them at once

this looks so fake. this horses skull is bigger than the dudes entire torso. this horses NECK is thicker than the dudes entire BODY.

and then at the opposite end of the spectrum you have shit like this shetland pony which ALSO looks fake

you look at this and think “wow that’s a horse i bet I could ride that” but you’d be wrong because this is an american shetty and it’s the size of a large dog

also fun fact, this is the world’s smallest horse, thumbelina

and this is the largest horse ever, brooklyn supreme

taako: yes

davenport: what is your last name?

lup: um, we wrote it on the application?? can you read or like

davenport: i can read it just fine. i just don’t think your last names are actually “from tv” or “you know”, the latter of which is followed by a semicolon and closed parenthesis.

lup: it’s a winky face

lucretia: that’s a unique surname. where is it from?

taako: e…elf.

barry: bluejeans. it;s just,, uh,, just bluejeans,,, i panicked.?

Relatable. 

Office Job vs Retail Job by @noobtheloser

Best selling author and scriptwriter Neil Gaiman:

Because yeah, you know what? Everyone should be allowed to use Wolfram Alpha on their exams. Everyone should be allowed to type “12 lightyears in kilometers” into Google during a test.  

Because yes, this software exists, and this fake “well you won’t have a calculator with you everywhere you go!” garbage is getting old, tbh.  This idea that you need to be able to do stuff the old-fashioned way or it “doesn’t count” is… to what purpose, exactly?

But you know what’s even more important than that????

A large number - an enormous number– of people cannot figure out what to plug into Excel in order to get the right answer.  And that is the most damning failure of our mathematics educational system.

Talk to me all you want about how students have to do the calculations by hand or they won’t understand the impact.  Sure, yes, you’re very clever – I’ve read Asimov’s The Feeling Of Power too, you know – but your argument is BULLSHIT unless you can demonstrate that students actually do understand the impact and import of the calculations as a result of them doing hundreds of calculations by hand.

Can you demonstrate that?  Because I can bloody well demonstrate the opposite.

I don’t care if you can do the calculations. No one does calculations by hand anymore, because humans suck at calculations. So let the robots do it. The robots do it well, and quickly. I care if you can tell the robot what to calculate. And most people can’t.

I actually made this deal with one of my algebra students: I will tell you how to set up the problem, and then you can do it by hand. OR you can set up the problem, and then you can ask Siri to do it.  I don’t care; it’s up to you.  But the student always chose to use Siri (because Siri is cool, and because he thought it was easier and he was “getting away” with something), and that is fan-fucking-tastic because you know what? Knowing how to turn a word problem into something that Siri can solve is so much more useful than knowing how to multiply fractions.

Because word problems are what we face.  Turning a project proposal into a set of numbers that Excel can calculate for you is an ACTUAL thing that you will ACTUALLY have to do in your ACTUAL life.  And it’s all very well to know that subtracting a negative means you turn it into a positive and add it. But if my coworker doesn’t understand why subtracting the loss from the project budget results in a number higher than the project budget, then you have failed. *

How much money do you need to have by May in order to get to Comic Con and cover food and shelter and entrance fees while you’re there? How much money do you need to save per month in order to get that total?  How many commissions will you need in order to earn that much per month? Yes, software can help with the calculations, but you need to know what to ask the software to do. And if my coworker can never remember whether to add or subtract trading fees from the dollar amount traded, then you have failed.*

Algebra is fucking everywhere – every if-then scenario when you don’t have all the information you’d like to – but no one will ever walk up to you and ask you to find x.  You have to figure out what x is, and how to set up the equation around it, and then the software can help you.  

So fuck calculations. Fuck subtracting fractions and memorizing the unit circle and the definition of derivative. What if we tried actually teaching some fucking mathematics?