sillybilly yodlemania

If there is ONE PIECE of hygiene you can do, one rote activity that you can muster the spoons for in the evening, make it your teeth.

Shower? You can skip a shower for one night and just wipe yourself down with a damp towel. Brush your teeth.

Skincare? You can pare down the steps, and your skin can heal from a bit of acne. Enamel can't. Brush your teeth.

Brushing your hair? Fuck it, get a buzz cut! Get a protective style! Your hair will grow back, but your teeth won't! Brush your teeth.

Flossing would be good. Mouthwash would be good. But if you can muster up the energy for just one task, brush your teeth.

And if you can't even manage that, chew some sugar-free gum. If nothing else, it will scrub away a bit of the bacteria and catch some stray food that's loose enough to get with the sticky stuff.

But your enamel doesn't grow back and cavities are a bitch.

(I once had seventeen, during my senior(?) year of college. I know. I know. I have been there. The dentistry was hell. Still is; I consider myself lucky if I have less than three fillings that need repair, and a miracle when it's none. I am not talking at you from my high horse: I am a crab in the bucket with you, but I'm trying to pull you out with me.)

Today, I told my sister to prioritize teeth over skincare because skin heals and enamel doesn't, and she said "really?"

So yeah, this is the PSA: really. Your enamel doesn't grow back.*

Brush your teeth.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

Following the ridiculous and inhumane news out of the UK yesterday, two out of the top 3 petitions on the UK parliament petition site relate to trans rights:

Let me point you in the right direction!

1. Legally enshrine the right of adults to physically transition using NHS services

Sign here

See graph of signatures here

Deadline: 28 July 2025

Signatures so far: 24,709 of 100,000

2. Allow transgender people to self-identify their legal gender

Sign here

See graph of signatures here

Deadline: 12 June 2025

Signatures so far: 22,107 of 100,000

Who can sign?

Anyone living in the UK, regardless of citizenship

Sign here

Deadline: 28 July 2025

Signatures so far: 49,862 of 100,000

Graph of signatures:

~

2. Allow transgender people to self-identify their legal gender

Sign here

Deadline: 12 June 2025

Signatures so far: 51,970 of 100,000

Graph of signatures:

~

Who can sign?

Anyone living in the UK, regardless of citizenship.

UK citizens living anywhere in the world.

It is NOT helpful to fake signatures. Please do NOT sign unless you meet the above criteria.

~

And these two petitions are dominating the competition, this is from the front page of the petitions site showing the most popular petitions right now:

The self-definition one is getting a signature every 4 seconds.

~

It is worth bearing in mind that over 6 million people signed the UK parliament petition to revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU (about 9% of the UK population), and we still left the EU. 100,000 signatures gets you a debate in parliament, but it's not the kind where anyone can make a law, it just raises the profile of the issue in parliament itself.

Having said that, the EU petition was a very, very big issue and they might have listened if it approached half the population. The bar is probably lower with trans rights petitions for taking-it-seriously. If these petitions could get a few million signatures it would probably prompt a significant change in law.

Black Menswear modelled by Black Men

Sound on

The Battle of Blair Mountain took place in August and September of 1921. Just a few months prior to that, on May 31 and June 1, planes were also used to help destroy the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a prosperous black neighborhood nicknamed The Black Wall Street. At least 39 people died during the event, which is known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. Hundreds were wounded, and 6,000 black people lost their homes. 

Both of these events were hugely important moments in American history.