Determined to Rise

After setting up a rudimentary website for CARP, the satirical, but still real company was offered a $15 million package of medical debt for $60,000.

Oliver explained that the debt was out of statute, which means it is the kind of debt that a collector can only continue to collect, but not sue the debtor for.

RIP Medical Debt is a charity (and therefore takes donations). They buy the rights to medical debt and then forgive them. So far they’ve forgiven over 1B in medical debt.

Genuinely the most gorgeous dress ever LINK

- it gets corrected

- you get a letter in the mail either asking for some additional information or a letter showing the adjustment

- you pay the amount (there’s options for payment plans too!) or get a refund

Things that do not happen

- you’re “in trouble”

- you are charged with fraud

- you go to jail

love every moment in an museum where you can whisper it's just so lovely! and hear a stranger say i know, i was just thinking the same thing! the swelling, pink-bright cheer that you get when you're in a car full of people loudly singing the song badly. the unchoregraphed dancing-jumping of your friends around your room at 2:30 in the morning.

how even after a somber symphony - you lock eyes with someone and they give you this little smile and nod like i know, this cut through me too. we go see a musical where the characters all die, and afterwards, in the bathroom, the women hand each other tissues, laughing self-consciously, saying i cried too! we go to see a musical where the characters all live and make fast friends with strangers, everyone stunned because how do they dance in those shoes?

there are ways that art is personal. that is unbelievably lovely. i will never really understand what something means to you, nor can you understand for me.

but it's cold out and i see her breath in the air as she bounces through her favorite lines, half-laughing, magic-tinged and happy.

Medical diagnoses - this is nobody's business but yours. You don't owe anyone an explanation for why you are the way that you are

Trauma - same reason as above

Triggers - people can use these against you! Don't give people tools to hurt you. No one has to know what tags you block. Just block tags to stay safe!

Age - age is okay for adults to include but is iffy when you're a teen. Predators want this information, don't give people more than they need. Just state that you're a minor, that's all that anyone needs to know.

In general: stay safe. If you're not comfortable with every stranger out there having access to this information, you shouldn't post it on the internet.

The golden rule of information sharing on the internet is: What would happen if someone saw this who wanted to hurt me?

“E-books are too expensive” -> GET A LIBRARY CARD!!!

“Audiobooks are too expensive” -> GET A LIBRARY CARD!!!

“Video games are too expensive” -> GET A LIBRARY CARD!!!

“Subscriptions to magazines/newspapers are too expensive” -> GET A LIBRARY CARD!!!

For real, get a library card for your local public library and you will have almost unlimited access to all kinds of media for free. Libraries also often have many different kinds of classes you can take, often for free or very cheap. Oh, and don’t forget the computers and internet access you can also use for free.

In conclusion, yet a library card.