A Side Of Fries

Step two: dig out stash of old seed catalogues saved for this purpose. Get super crabby because you can't find the Mod Podge anywhere. Give up, then have daughter find it immediately, in the "glue box" you forgot you created.

Step three: decide on a color scheme, and start cutting. I asked @phantomtheraccoon if we should coordinate or contrast and she cleverly said both.

Step four: collect your flowers and fiddle with layout.

Step five: paint item with Mod Podge, place your images, and paint them again. Leave to dry, which honestly doesn't take long.

Step six: trim edges add cut out holes. I didn't actually cut out the screw holes; I just cut little X's there for the screws to go through. Worked fine to put it up, we'll see someday how it survives taking it apart again.

Step seven: coat everything with Mod Podge at least one more time, paying special attention to edges. Dry elevated on something (say, the top of the Mod Podge bottle) so it doesn't stick down.

Step eight: okay, wow, that's awesomer than expected!

🎶whiiiiiiiite gluuuuuuuuue aaaaaand waaaaaaateeerrrrr and aaaaaaaaaastrobrights!🎵

OP: My brush control practice for Chinese shufa/calligraphy (cr以君赋)

To 2025:

Hell, they even cover the devastating heaviness of MASS SHOOTINGS without censoring or watering anything down.

They've been doing this for YEARS, and it's ALWAYS handled with dignity, respect, seriousness, understanding, and love.

Or how about when someone is put into the foster care system because their home isn't safe anymore and their needs aren't being met?

Maybe some discussions about group therapy/getting help and support?

Hey look! Here's a segment about gender expression vs taught expectation, including unlearning harmful biases and what to do when you hurt someone on accident because you didn't know it was wrong!

Look! The topic of race and diversity! The importance of unity and equity!

They even also have a more allegorical take on discrimination and being looked down on for who you are, featuring Big Bird. The conflict is about how he's not being let into a club because the one bird running the club personally decided he didn't want someone like Big Bird there.

Big Bird goes out of his way to keep changing parts of himself in order to "prove" he can fit into this club if he just changed enough. The truth comes out though, and there's nothing he can do to gain the approval of that bird. He will never be good enough in his eyes, and Big Bird starts to hate himself. His real friends see this finally put their feet down, emphasizing that you should never change yourself just to fit into one singular narrow idea someone else has.

There's A LOT of different situations this can be an allegory for. Racism, sexism, homophobia, basically ANY form of exclusion is put on full blast in this 15 minute clip. Sesame Street can be both blunt and allegorical when approaching difficult topics, and it NEVER misses or looses the point.

It does an exceptional job in both styles of representation WITHOUT watering anything down. The more sanitized everything gets, the more radical Sesame Street is suddenly considered, hence why so many "particular groups" want it gone. Hmmm! I can only imagine why that could be, in this current political climate! (I'm being sarcastic)

When Sesame Street is suddenly labeled as "questionable" or "politically/agenda motivated" content...it says A LOT about where we currently are and who gets to decide what's "best" for kids or not. Don't fall for the censorship and topic-dodging excuses that are covered by the "But think of the children!!!" movement. Never fall for it, because you know which side you're on if you do.

Sesame Street proves kids can be taught and trusted with learning about these topics when it's handled with the right amount of understanding and care. It shows what all this "controversy" is all really about. What it's always been about, actually.

And I clutch the little warm tubes of blood and feel this sick person warming my hands and I think about how kind you might be and how I wish I could hold your hand and how badly, how really really badly, I want you to get better and stay warm and hold someone’s hand again.

And anyway sometimes it’s better to not think so vividly about the people I’m doing tests for. I’m a good little cog in a vast machine of people all trying to heal and cure, and my cog feels so fucking small sometimes. But I hope the blood I prepare for you helps you breathe better and laugh and wake up feeling well rested.

Hunshu婚书 (Chinese calligraphic marriage certificate scroll)

The traditional Chinese marriage certificate, known as hunshu (婚书), originated as a ceremonial contract within the Zhou Dynasty’s “Six Rites (Matchmaking Proposal, Name Inquiry, Divination Approval, Betrothal Gifts, Wedding Date Selection, and the Wedding Procession)” (c. 1046–256 BCE) and gained formal legal standing after the Tang (618–907 CE) and Song (960–1279 CE) periods. Typically handwritten on vermilion paper accented with gold, it recorded astrological details, betrothal gifts, and poetic vows, and was often decorated with symbolic motifs such as dragons, phoenixes, and the double happiness character. More than a record of marital alliance, it was an artistic heirloom embodying the promise to “grow old together.” Though largely replaced by state-issued marriage certificates in the modern era, the handwritten hunshu has seen a revival in recent years as a meaningful cultural practice within traditional-style weddings.

Traditional hunshu contained extensive details, whereas modern hunshu are greatly simplified — typically stating who is marrying whom, the wedding date (Nongli农历, the traditional Chinese calendar), and offering classical poetic blessings for the couple. While no longer legally binding today, these hunshu still carry deep ceremonial significance. Many now choose to handwrite them again, both for the sense of ritual and to preserve this old-fashioned romance, often treasuring hunshu as a work of calligraphy art.

Here's a bit from the above hunshu. The original is beautiful, full of rhythm and poetic lines. It reads like light shimmering down a flowing river— really hard to capture in English. Hope this still gives you a feel for it.

两姓聯姻 一堂缔约 良缘永结 匹配同稱 看此日桃花灼灼 宜室宜家 卜他年瓜瓞绵绵 爾昌爾炽 謹以白頭之約 書向鴻箋 好将紅葉之盟 載明鴛譜