Claura/19/Gemini

then my sister helped me make a really strong password that i still use and i was surprised when she stole my computer time

“1450 italy? does it look like I have the time to dye you wool? nO. YOU’RE GOING TO THE 1980s”

“Upper middle class?!?!? You told me upper class! FUCK YEAH THERE’S A DIFFERENCE!!!”

“How about kimoNO.”

“Look me in the eyes. I do not care what you want. This is the 1500s. You absolutely cannot wear trousers.”

“Another court gown?? Here’s a novel idea: go as a peasant for once in your life. Why do you do this to me? You’re fucking sadists that’s why.”

“Don’t mind me, I’ll just be up all night hand painting silk.”

1. Never cross a picket line of striking workers.

2. Never purchase or take free goods from a company who’s workers are striking

3. Honk to support strikers if you drive by a picket line.

4. Join strikers on the picket line even if it’s not your strike, but follow their directions and defer to them while there.

Several years ago I volunteered at an aquarium. What most people don’t know is that for most of the rare and unique specimens, the aquarium usually has a second one down in the wet lab, so that the animals can get switched out if they are stressed or sick or just want a break from being on display.

My job was to clean the lobster tanks down in the wet lab. So I don’t know if you know much about lobsters, but they can be quite aggressive and will kill (and eat) each other. They will, however, don’t mind sharing a large tank if they are separated by dividers, or if their claws are clamped shut with rubber bands.

So all morning I am grabbing lobsters, banding them, putting them in coolers, and scrubbing tanks, and throughout this whole time I am being watched.

In a tank near the entrance way is a massive lobster–we’re talking over four feet long and nearly twenty pounds. It was his turn to get some rest while his “twin” (who is actually a good foot shorter than he is) was on display in the tanks upstairs in the aquarium. This guy is so big he has his own tank, which was actually a modified plastic horse trough with salt water circulation through it. He was happy as a clam (er, lobster) in there and the aquarium has learned over the years that he likes to be the center of attention, so his tank is right by the entrance way so he can keep his eyes on us.

His favorite game is to lunge and snap his claws at anyone who gets close to him. His claws are bigger than oven mitts, and his crusher claw has definitely seen some action because it is dented and pitted like a well-worn suit of armor. Since he’s alone in his tank, there’s no need to band his claws, which he loves to wave and snap in the most ferocious way.

However, as vicious and mean as he is, his claws are too heavy for him to lift above the surface of the water.

Look at her in the photo. She doesn’t even look like glamorous. She looks like… a thirty-ish year old mom who sits down and watches Ed O’Neill on TV every week after helping her kids do homework. Perfectly average.