Shindig

But the only place I’ve had someone physically try to remove me from a bathroom was in London.

Some random middle aged woman thought that she had the right to put her hands on me simply because I don’t match her ideas of what femininity is, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this happened in a place where transphobia is running rampant. Of all the weird stuff that’s happened to me in pretty conservative parts of the US, they simply are not as emboldened here as they currently are in the UK; but don’t think for a moment that they don’t intend to get there.

Trans people are reason enough to fight these bigots. It’s a good enough reason. Trans people deserve respect, dignity, compassion, and protection. But if you think they’ll be satisfied with only pushing trans people back into the closet, you’re utterly deluded. They want absolute conformity, simple as that, and they’re increasing their push here too.

Y’all, Y’ALL. This bird is consciously deciding to put itself in danger in order to save the life of a very stupid creature. A creature which, if the bird did nothing, could be free food. 

Why do all TV cops, even the good ones, hate Internal Affairs? Isn’t the job of Internal Affairs to root out the “bad cops”? Isn’t their job to make sure police follow the rules? Why is that presented as inherently evil or antagonistic? 

Why do all TV cops, even the good ones, hate defense attorneys? Isn’t the defense attorney’s job to protect the rights of all citizens? Isn’t it their job to make sure police follow the law? Isn’t it their job to make sure everyone is treated fairly under the system? Why is that presented as inherently evil or antagonistic? 

Why do all TV cops, even the good ones, get upset when citizens invoke their constitutional rights? Don’t those rights exist to ensure all citizens are treated fairly? Don’t they exist to ensure innocent people are not wrongfully incriminated? Why are citizens who invoke their rights presented as dishonest, untrustworthy, or antagonistic? 

To be clear, I’ve watched Brooklyn 99 and enjoyed it. I was watching Elementary the other day. But even when I watch shows I like, I make a mental note every time a cop lies, breaks the law, subverts someone’s basic rights, or just generally acts like an asshole to the people the are meant to serve and protect. 

How often are they called out on their behavior? How often are they punished for it? How often is it reinforced as correct by the narrative?

Every dang kid I knew waited for their Hogwarts acceptance letter. Reading the books and seeing it on screen gave you this warm, fuzzy feeling and a feeling of longing, even when they were in danger and fighting monsters and evil wizards, you want to be there.

You want to go to Middle Earth, see hobbits and elves and dwarves and run through this land of incredible beauty, mysticism and magic.

You want to be in the TARDIS, seeing the universe.

The more recent trend of fantasy is this gritty, dark realism and places where you would just never want to go. I don’t want to go to Westeros. I don’t want to be in The Hunger Games, I don’t particularly want to be in The Witcher universe. I’m living in the world of Black Mirror and I hate it.

Fantasy used to say “hey our world kinda sucks but here’s a cooler one”, but now it says “hey our world kinda sucks, but here’s an even worse one.”

That isn’t to say that the above are bad. They’re not. 

J.R.R. Tolkien

“[M]y friend Professor Tolkien asked me the very simple question, ‘What class of men would you expect to be most preoccupied with, and most hostile to, the idea of escape?’ and gave the obvious answer: jailers.”

I’m not telling you how to relate to parents who were shitty/abusive to you, obviously, but given a relatively healthy relationship or the ATTEMPT to build one as adults, you’ve genuinely got to let your older relatives talk to you in their own way about the things they’re interested in. Yes, sometimes it is painfully boring, yes, sometimes they do it in a slow or round-about manner or tell you way too much, but sometimes it’s boring listening to a twelve year old talk about fortnite. I still do it, because people, adult or child, need and want people to talk to about their interests. 

My dad is into the cringiest possible anime. I am halfway to dissociation every time he spends 30-60 minutes walking me through the entire plot of an anime, one episode at a time. One time we had an eight hour car ride and that was the ENTIRE trip and by the end I wanted to DIE. But I still let him do it! Because he needs someone to talk to his passions about, and I care about him and know that being that person for him makes him happy and improves our relationship. Because of that, we spent the SECOND eight hour car ride talking about the history of unions, something I spent 27 years not even knowing my father had an interest in! 

Australia is no longer on fire

U-Haul is offering free 30 day storage for displaced college students and discounted rates on moving services

The second person in the world was just cured of HIV!

There's going to be a new Dr. Seuss book this fall, published from a manuscript he wrote that was discovered 21 years after his death

Student loan payments are being halted with no interest until the pandemic clears

A zoo in Indiana recently announced the birth of two Chacoan Peccaries, an animal that is currently endangered (and also adorable)

On that train, two cheetah cubs were recently born in an Ohio zoo via vitro fertilization, which could seriously boost efforts to help endangered species survive

One more about animals - a komodo dragon in a Tennessee zoo just gave birth without male involvement! Which isn't something new, but it is rare and cool.

The state of Virginia has banned conversion therapy for minors recently, and is the first Southern state to do so

Scotland has created the worlds first Carbon Positive Gin made from peas instead of wheat, which reduces the carbon footprint created by normal gin making. Without wheat....it might also be a gluten free alternative (not certain on that one, you'd have to reach out to the creators). You can buy it here

The worlds first 3D printed houses were just created in Mexico, with the hopes to combat homelessness. They are designed to withstand seismic activity and come with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

Disneyland is donating all acceptable food to food banks in Orange County during their closure

The Olympic Games are hoping to become "climate positive" by the year 2030, and by next year they plan to start planting an "Olympic Forest" in Africa in an effort to combat desertification

Hopefully I can add more day to day, but even the small stuff makes you smile sometimes. Yesterday at my coffee shop, a woman tipped me five dollars because, and I quote, "Just because there's a virus doesn't mean I can't tip you for my coffee."

Cleveland Clinic has found a way to make the Corona Virus test go from a 5+ day waiting time for results down to 8 hours, which helps speed up treatment and quarantine and slows the spread of the virus

You've definitely heard about this one, but citizens in Italy (including famous opera singers) have been singing with and playing music with each other during their quarantine

Hundreds of local restaurants (and some chain restaurants) are offering free meals for kids who rely on school lunches as their primary source of nutrition.

On this note, hundreds of teachers across the country are pulling from their pantries to make their less fortunate kids care packages (I know, they shouldn't have to, but they are, so let's celebrate the kindness)

Students of a school in Pembroke got together for the 13th year in a row to shave their heads for cancer research, earning more than 100,000 dollars

Woolworths has dedicated a set period of time for letting only elderly clients shop so they can stock up on supplies with less risk of catching covid19

A customer at a bar in Columbus tipped the staff $2500 on a $30 bill because of the shutdown of in house service for all bars and restaurants in Ohio, which will severely impact servers wages and tips

The last patient with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was just released with a full bill of health

Scholastic is offering free courses for kids stuck at home during school closings

Reporters Without Borders have opened an uncensored library.....in MINECRAFT. In countries where a lot of books or articles are banned, Minecraft is still available, and they have made these books and articles readable through the platform. You can download it here

Today is National Panda Day!!!!! Here's a picture of a Floof Panda looking wistfully to their left:

Michael Symon is hosting free online cooking videos during the Corona Virus on Facebook

Ballet Nova Center for Dance is live streaming classes for all levels (beginner adult included!) on Facebook for the next week for anyone who might be interested in learning

Uber Eats is waiving the delivery fee for all local businesses so that you can keep supporting your mom and pop shops without risking getting sick or getting others sick. They're also offering contactless deliveries, giving affected drivers financial aid, and are donating meals to first responders and healthcare workers in the US and Canada

Its a struggle y'all, but there's good shit happening out there. Keep trucking, tip your delivery drivers and servers because they're making nothing now, and stay inside unless you absolutely can't. And please remember to wash your hands.

(Image ID: Black and white photo of Fred Rogers smiling. Quote reads: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" End ID)

A favorite baking blog of mine, Hummingbird High, by Michelle Lopez, is creating recipes people can make during quarantine for less servings and without some ingredients that are hard to find right now like butter, eggs, milk, etc.

Some school districts are giving kids who don’t have any devices or internet connection a laptop and/or a hotspot so they can do online learning too

They’re also allowing families who rely on school lunch to come in and get meals from the cafeteria throughout the day

Restaurants who are closing down are allowing employees to take the extra produce/food the restaurant has that will spoil during the quarantine that they might need or want and can’t get at the store

Since many people are panic shopping, stores like Trader Joe’s are monitoring how many people are going into their stores (they only were allowing 50 I think) and telling everyone to use the sanitary wipes for their hands and carts before going in

And it’s Saint Patrick’s day so here’s an aesthetic pic of some four leaf clovers:

Also here are some really cute animal pictures:

Happy thiccie boi corgi

And

First of all, big thanks to all the kind comments and asks I’ve gotten!! I seriously never expected this to blow up so hard (it was the panda, wasn’t it?) but I’m really glad that it did, given how much people seem to enjoy it. 

Quick notes: Yes, a few things are incorrect (mainly that student loans aren’t paused, just the interest on them). That comes from trying to find good news right now and having to really dig deep into the internet.  

Also, if it wasn’t clear: TERFs, racists, homophobes, transphobes, and the like are not welcome here. Negative and bigoted comments will be deleted and the users blocked. If you see someone saying nasty stuff, and I haven’t seen it, please message me so I can get rid of it. This is a place of positivity in a world that feels like it’s going to shit. 

Now, without further ado, my list - actually, your list. I’ve gone through the comments to pull out some really great things I’ve seen you guys posting about, because I know there’s a million different versions of this post now, and I want as much good to spread as possible. 

First, from anon: 

(Image ID: Anon message on tumblr that says, “For your good things: around noon today [3/17/2020], medical students nationwide [in America, presumably] were suspended from their clinical rotations for their safety. Before they had even been officially notified of this, students were contacting hospitals and asking our school for ways they could volunteer to help instead.” End ID)

~ @cryauto13​ : The Cincinnati Zoo is offering daily digital Home Safaris that are gonna be great for children to still see zoo animals and learn while the zoo is closed to the public. They are live every day of the week starting 3pm EST. Yesterday featured Fiona the hippo! 

~ @mallorymaedke​: Children’s author Mo Willems is doing a free class online for kids to learn to draw. You can find the first episode on YouTube here

~ @zaera-d​: Gail Simone is doing a free comic writing class on Twitter. Anyone can join, and they also have a Discord server. First thread is here

~ @itsdrarrybaby: Comcast is giving free internet for students without it for 60 days throughout America

~ @maytheskitty​: Some Canadian service providers like Bell and Videotron are lifting the data caps on phone plans so people don’t worry about going over their limit while in isolation

~ @woahzaina​: Sixty LAUSD schools are giving meals to students who live in the LA area. You can visit their site here to find out more

~ @jenroses​: Ireland just announced a test for C19 that takes only 15 minutes!

~ @nightsshadow1: The worlds fattest parrot species (located in New Zealand) was just saved from the brink of extinction against a rare fungus! Here’s a picture of the fat boi!! He is green and speckly and LARGE:

~ @khunagueroagneswifey​: Country music star Hunter Hayes, after having to cancel his tour, filmed his entire concert in a warehouse and uploaded the video to YouTube so people could still see the show for free! You can find it by searching his name in YouTube

~ @paperuniverse​: A man in Toronto is buying hand sanitizer and giving it out to people for free so they don’t have to pay for it

~ @fantabulisticity​: The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming a new opera every night during the C19 shutdown, starting as of yesterday (3/16/2020) on their website

There were a lot more that I didn’t touch on in the comments, so if you want to smile a little more, take a scroll through. 

Since you guys did all the hard work for me today, I just want to give a couple shout outs to a few small, personal happy things that happened to me today:

~ Nearly everyone tipped $2-$3 at my coffee shop, which meant that myself and my coworkers actually went home with a reasonable amount of money despite the severe lack of business

~ Every single person in my supermarket was delightfully pleasant to each other - the fighting over product has stopped, and instead, people are helping each other find scarce products, complimenting outfits, and I even heard two people exchanging cookie recipes while they waited in line. 

~ A ton of you guys have shouted me out in the notes or messaged me directly saying such incredibly nice things, and it means so much to me. I’m glad this has reached so many people, and I’m looking forward to keeping it going (though I might have to drop to only one or two things a day, otherwise this is going to get absurdly long lol)

I hope you guys have a safe night (or morning or afternoon, depending on where you are!). Wash your hands, text your friends and family, and try to smile. We’re gonna get through this shit. 

As a parting gift, here’s a platypus sitting on a person’s hand and looking soft and fluffy and precious: