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A lot of teachers will go on about not using wikipedia as a source.

“It’s bad,” they say. “I will deduct points if you do it.”

Well wikipedia is actually a great source of information and fuck what your teacher said, you absolutely can use it.

The key though is knowing

A.How to use it.

B. How to source it.

and

C. whether it is good info or trash.

NowFirst Lets look up something on wikipedia. Say your writing a paper on Gregor Mendel and Mendelian Inheritance.

So you zoom over to the Wikipedia page on Mendelian Inheritance.

Now there is a lot of information here. Not all of it is strictly necessary for that essay you are writing. So you read through and suddenly you see something that is good info for your essay.

Boy oh boy this information is useful. To bad your teacher said No Wikipedia Ever.

However there is a loophole.

It’s right there.

No. Go closer.

You see that little four? Its a citation number. Think of wikipedia as it’s own essay. It got it’s information from other sources out there. Just like you are trying to right now. And since there is a citation, it’s going to be listed at the end of the wikipedia article.

Look at citation number 4

Look at that you have your first citation. From Wikipedia.

And look. Do you see it. There is a link. It’s the blue words with the boxy arrow thingamajig.

That thing. Click it.

Why did you leave wikipedia you ask? Wikipedia is great. You have several sources from there. But There is more than what the put in to that wiki article. Those sources Wikipedia gave you are helpful. And now that you are at the source, you can utilize it.

But what if its a book that’s the source.

You can either head to your local library and see if they have it, order it, or avoid the book source. Online sources are just as valuable.

Also do not quote directly from the wikipedia. Quote from the source and then use quote citation.

And MLA citation. Use MLA citation. Since you are linked to the sources cite them. Not the wikipedia.

Your teacher will never know. And now you can finish that sweet essay you got planned.

New lesbian flag proposal by my little sister

Earlier today, I served as the “young woman’s voice” in a panel of local experts at a Girl Scouts speaking event. One question for the panel was something to the effect of, “Should parents read their daughter’s texts or monitor her online activity for bad language and inappropriate content?”

I was surprised when the first panelist answered the question as if it were about cyberbullying. The adult audience nodded sagely as she spoke about the importance of protecting children online.

I reached for the microphone next. I said, “As far as reading your child’s texts or logging into their social media profiles, I would say 99.9% of the time, do not do that.”

Looks of total shock answered me. I actually saw heads jerk back in surprise. Even some of my fellow panelists blinked.

Everyone stared as I explained that going behind a child’s back in such a way severs the bond of trust with the parent. When I said, “This is the most effective way to ensure that your child never tells you anything,” it was like I’d delivered a revelation.

It’s easy to talk about the disconnect between the old and the young, but I don’t think I’d ever been so slapped in the face by the reality of it. It was clear that for most of the parents I spoke to, the idea of such actions as a violation had never occurred to them at all.

Around age 13, I tried to express to my mother that I thought I might have clinical depression, and she snapped at me “not to joke about things like that.” I stopped telling my mother when I felt depressed.

Around age 15, I caught my mother reading my diary. She confessed that any time she saw me write in my diary, she would sneak into my room and read it, because I only wrote when I was upset. I stopped keeping a diary.

Around age 18, I had an emotional breakdown while on vacation because I didn’t want to go to college. I ended up seeing a therapist for - surprise surprise - depression.

Around age 21, I spoke on this panel with my mother in the audience, and afterwards I mentioned the diary incident to her with respect to this particular Q&A. Her eyes welled up, and she said, “You know I read those because I was worried you were depressed and going to hurt yourself, right?”

TL;DR: When you invade your child’s privacy, you communicate three things:

You do not respect their rights as an individual.

You do not trust them to navigate problems or seek help on their own.

You probably haven’t been listening to them.

I’m going to be a teeny bit obnoxious and not put this answer under a Read More because I NEED as many people as possible to appreciate Kazuma’s Ennoshita with me.  Especially after seeing tonight’s show.

And I’m gonna build up to it from the first show, because for me, Engeki has built up to this moment for Ennoshita in a way that the anime/manga never could.  Stage shows have the ability to make sure someone is always there, always visible, always around, no matter how minor the character.  In anime and manga, camera views get shifted to give focus to speaking characters; if you don’t get lines, you’re simply not seen as often.  We don’t see as much of Ennoshita in the anime/manga the way we see him on-stage as a constant presence from day one, even if he was the butt of a lot of jokes and always comic relief, slapped around.  

To me, because we didn’t see much of Ennoshita in the anime/manga prior to the moment where he gets swapped in for Daichi, I didn’t have much of an impression of him.  It was easier for me to transplant the idea of “future captain” onto someone who was a little more of a blank slate.  But stage Ennoshita has always had a lot more going on, so it’s a much bigger shift to see him go from sidelined minor character (visible, but aside) to center stage, and it’s a much more poignant change.  In the anime/manga medium, there have been Nekoma and Seijoh characters who’ve gotten more screen-time than Ennoshita, so I think it’s a little bit harder to remember that he’s always been there, putting in the work in the sidelines.  Kazuma we’ve always seen, always felt, starting from three years ago going now into his SIXTH show as this character, and the build-up to his shining moments give them so much more weight.  

Now I saw tonight’s show, the evening performance of June 16th.  Not the last show, that’s tomorrow, but Kenta and Kage-chan have always pulled out an extra person to give a little curtain call message for these shows (with full cast curtain call messages reserved for the final show).  Tonight, they pulled out Kazuma.  And Kazuma shared with us a very personal story, and started by saying that he thinks everyone can relate with Ennoshita.  Maybe at one point you’ve quit something, maybe you’ve felt like quitting something because it was too hard, maybe you’ve regretted it.  

Around four years ago, Kazuma seriously considered quitting acting.  It was hard, he wasn’t sure about it anymore, and he was on the verge of leaving it behind him.  This was around the time that they were holding auditions for Engeki Haikyuu, and he decided, why not give it a shot?  And obviously, he got the part, and has continued acting, Engeki has kept him in it.  At the very beginning, nobody is ever sure if the show would become a success and whether they’d be able to keep doing more shows.  He’d had no idea if he’d be able to continue playing Ennoshita long enough so that he could act out this part of his story.  But three years and six shows later, here he is, and it’s so important to him, and he’s so grateful that he could make it this far with this character in these productions, and he cried as he shared this story (most of the audience cried too).

Engeki Haikyuu doesn’t have the characters Kinoshita and Narita.  They’ve never even alluded to them in the way that they alluded to Kiyoko in earlier shows before they actually cast her.  Meaning: Ennoshita’s character is the ONLY member to have quit the team at any time, which makes his shame and regret all the more intense in the stage version.  

They highlight this heavily in Ennoshita’s doubts and concerns, and it hits hard.  

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The Tokyo Battle (Spring 2019)

Nohebi Cast List

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The Tokyo Battle

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The Tokyo Battle

Engeki Haikyuu announces their Spring 2019 play, focusing on the Tokyo Spring High qualifiers, featuring the matches of Nekoma versus Fukurodani and Nekoma versus Nohebi!

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The Strongest Team

Karasuno graduation curtain call!

As mentioned from my curtain call summary, this footage is only made available to us because the live viewing stream was cut halfway through Ryoutarou’s message, and this is to make up for that mishap.  

The plan for the 17th, when the adult content ban comes in, is to protest.

To do that, we are making as much noise either side of the 17th as possible, and using the site as normal.

On the 17th, dead silence.

People are saying log off but what they really mean is don’t open the site or the app.

But, on the 17th make as much noise as possible on every other platform. Tweet about it and post on facebook and instagram and everywhere else.

What this does is causes a massive dip in ad revenue for one single day. That does not make staff think ‘oh everyone’s gone let’s shut down.’ What it actually makes them think is ‘oh shit people aren’t happy and if people don’t keep using our site we’re out of money and out of jobs.’

A boycott reminds a company that the users (consumers) have the power to make their site (business) worthless with one single coordinated decision.

If you want to join in, here’s what to do:

Do:

Close all open instances of the app and site on all your devices before the 17th

Make posts before and after the 17th on tumblr and other platforms, talking about why this ban is bad

Make posts on other sites during the 17th. Flood the official tumblr staff twitter and facebook with your anger and your opinion

Come back on the 18th and check in

Don’t:

Delete the app from your phone (this doesn’t affect their revenue and since it’s off the store at the moment it’ll be hard to get back)

Delete your account. I mean you can if you want to, but if you keep your account and don’t use it you’re saying to staff that there’s still time to save it. If you delete it’s hard work to come back.

Open the app or website (including specific blogs)

Make any posts (turn down/off your queue and make sure nothing is scheduled)

Go quiet elsewhere. Make it clear that this is just about tumblr, not a mass move away from all social media.

Remember: the execs don’t care about anything but money. Shutting down the site means there’s $0 further income from it. That’s their last possible course of action. If we make it clear we’re not happy, they’ll have to do something or we can do more and more until it becomes too expensive.

If you are considering meeting up with someone online use this trick identify who really are who they claim to be:

1. Ask them to Skype 2. If they refuse or can’t for some reason ask for a current selfie 3. If they also refuse or can’t do not meet up with them 4. If they provide one ask them to send another with them holding 3 fingers up 5. If they refuse read step 3 6. If they provide a selfie where they show 3 fingers they are probably for real

(If you’re still unconvinced try again with them drawing something in their hand)

“My [fill in trusted adult here] wants to come too. [pronoun] said we can do our own thing and [pronoun] will just sort of grab [pronoun] own table, but I wanted to let you know. Hey, if you have an adult coming too they could sit together!”

If hearing this freaks the other person out and they decline, TERMINATE ALL CONTACT. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to block. I’m 26 years old and if you tell me you’re coming with a friend or parent for your own safety, I will automatically say “hey, cool. Y’know, if you’re nervous we can just do Starbucks or something, I’m okay meeting in a busy place. That way your [adult/friend] can hang out, too, and they don’t have to pay for [admission, a movie ticket, whatever].” Your safety and comfort is important to me, and is important to any good person you meet online who wants to meet up IRL. In the early 2000s when I first started seeing online safety PSAs, this was a widely-spread tip. Use it.

And for the record, you can use this over the age of 18, too. I still won’t meet people from online except in public places. You never know–that person holding up three fingers and drawing a Pokemon on their palm could be some pervert’s child, niece, nephew, family friend’s kid who was encouraged to take some silly pictures. Always voice-verify and always meet in public, with another person if possible. 

In a public place.

With members of her family there.

You’re never too old for this kind of basic safety stuff. Don’t be too casual about it. I knew her for 12 years before we met in person and I was absolutely not insulted that she still wanted that extra layer of protection.

I want to live in a world that punishes these childish adults as you punish a toddler throwing a tantrum. No candy for you, Jimmy; you’re going home to bed if you can’t mind yourself in public.

Throw a hissy fit because your cashier isn’t moving as fast as you’d like? Find yourself gently escorted from the store until you can show some basic compassion and patience.

Hurl a pen across the table at your signing agent? You’ve just forfeited your right to refinance your mortgage this week. Try again when your temper is managed.

Scream obscenities at the Taco Bell rep because you know it’ll earn you a free soft shell? Here’s your money back; please feel free to play again when you’ve realized fast food is not worth more than the price of human dignity.

I am so sick of accepting–and, in truth, rewarding–these callous behavior patterns in customer service industries. The fact is, the customer is not always right. The customer is often just testing to see what he can get away with. Stop pandering to spoiled children, and show your employees they have more value than their red polo, or how much abuse they can withstand in a 40-hour week.

We are here to provide a service and to make a living.