the garden

Still in pursuit, we followed the ball toward a small lake in Motor World that had been earmarked for a fleet of tiny bumper boats for children. The area wasn’t open yet, but the empty boats were being tested and floated on the surface. The ball soared over the grass and smashed into several of them, scattering the others with rippling waves from the impact, which launched some of the boats several feet in the air.

Charlie and Ken waded into the water looking for the hatch. After some difficulty, they got it open. Charlie pulled Frank out by grabbing him under his armpits like a baby. Frank crawled up the bank, coughing and sputtering. He splayed across the grass as we all stared at the ball, which bobbed in the water like it was attached to a fishing lure.

We did not ask for the inspector’s report, nor did we ever hear of one being filed. Ken Bailey returned to Canada. The snow-makers cleared away the PVC. Told to dispose of the Bailey Ball, they rolled it into the woods, where it remained for many years."

Black History Month: Simon Nkoli

“I am black, and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts of me into secondary and primary struggle. They will all be one struggle.”

Simon Nkoli was born in the late 1950s in the Black township of Soweto in South Africa. He grew up under apartheid, and first became involved with anti-apartheid activism as a student, despite negative reactions within the movement to his homosexuality.

In 1984, Simon was arrested along with 21 other men while protesting rent increases in the township of Delmas, a group which became known as the Delmas 22. While in prison awaiting trial, Simon was outed, and faced backlash from the rest of the group, many who feared that pulic knowledge of his sexuality would negatively impact the outcome of the trial. To the surprise of his co-accused, Simon received an outpouring of support from the international queer community, which in turn led to greater international support for the Delmas 22 and anti-apartheid work.

Simon was ultimately acquitted, and began work as a founding member of a new group, GLOW - the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of Witwatersrand - fighting for the rights of queer people in Johannesburg’s Black townships. Simon was diagnosed with HIV while in prison, and focussed especially on HIV/AIDS activism in Black communities. With GLOW, Simon went on to organise Johannesburg’s first Pride march in 1990.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president, marking the end of apartheid. Simon met and negotiated with government officials to ensure the rights of gay and lesbian people would be enshrined in the country’s new constitution - the first country in the world to do so.

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we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

Thank you for helping with this data collection. Please rb for as big a sample as possible!

I do too. But it lives its whole life. So you have to take it seriously eventually, right? And be respectful and shit.

Reblogging this with these tags because oh my goodness

To the person I reblogged this from THANK YOU i am now going to stick this on my pinboard where I’m gonna see it every single day