Turn back now while you still can

when it's on cable, they've timed the commercial breaks in a way that generally isn't as disruptive. someone took the time to "reformat" the movie for tv.

ads on poob always KNOW that they're on poob and want me to interact with them or click them. the number of QR codes or ads-in-separate-ad-framing/window are infuriating and jarring.

cable commercials are just stupid little skits i can mute to go use the bathroom.

ads on poob are less than 2 minutes--not enough time to do anything, but enough time to piss me off.

cable commercials are 2-5 minutes, which is enough time to go do something/bathroom or snack break, or talk to whoever you're watching with.

ads on poob are the same 3-4 commercials over and over and over and over again, often cutting to them immediately with no warning, and poob struggles to like, catch up to the fact that it's having to show a different progress bar, or a different timer.

cable commercials, esp during primetime, generally cycle through like 10-15 minimum, so you can go an ad break or two without seeing the same commercial. and they usually only pop up during quiet moments, at regular intervals, so you can see them coming--and there isn't a weird lag/loading time.

in both cases i am being accosted by advertisements and treated like a consumer to manipulate and exploit. the volume changes on cable and poob, the brightness level is eye-searing in both cases.

but poob doesn't respect that i'm here for the MOVIE. cable, thanks to preexisting, decades-old norms around broadcast television, still kind of does. kind of. it's easier to ignore those commercials than the ones on poob.

congrats! Now you have a motif! A recurring theme! A focus for your art! Something to haunt you!

Seventeen still lives of dandelions? Three hundred poems about grief? A sketchbook dedicated to your grandmother’s house? Two books trying to unravel the complexities of familial relationships?

An early exploration of the themes Hokusai would keep coming back to is Spring in Enoshima, done in 1793 when he was 33. The wave is small and there are no boats, but Mt Fuji is clear in the background, and Enoshima is in Kanagawa, so we are clearly beginning to work towards something here.

A second pass, eleven years later in 1803 when he was 44. The title of this one begins to get more familiar: The View of Honmoku Off Kanazawa. It has a towering wave over a smaller boat, but Mt Fuji is not present, and the boat is considerably larger and has a sail. But the feeling of danger in the wave and the smallness of the boat are here, and of course the general composition is definitely recognizable.

This is A View Of Express Delivery Boats, done in 1805, merely two years later at age 46. Here we find the wave and the boats almost exactly as we'll find them in The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, though Mt Fuji isn't present, and the location is uncertain. And it's a good picture! The wave is threatening, the boats are small -- but the feeling of "ocean" isn't really there yet, is it? It's unlikely this picture would have become a classic for the ages. But that's okay, there's still time.

And here we have it, a full 26 years later, done by Hokusai in 1831 at the age of 72. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. The boats are there, the mountain is there, the wave is there, and the FEELING is there. He did it! He reached the apex of his ongoing motif and theme!

Or did he? Because the whole point of a motif is not that you're striving to get to the perfect version of it, the one idealized image you carried in your head all along, and when it is done, you are also done. Hokusai is on record at the age of 73 saying he'd only just begun to feel like he was learning how to draw things properly, and that "if I keep up my efforts, I will have even a better understanding when I was 80 and by 90 will have penetrated to the heart of things. At 100, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live decades beyond that, everything I paint — dot and line — will be alive." He had drawn The Great Wave, but he didn't believe he was finished -- he thought that he was still just beginning to get started.

And he wasn't finished with his ocean motif, either. Please check out his Mt Fuji At Sea, done in 1834 at the age of 75.

This little girl has developed a painful skin disease after months of living in a tent under extremely harsh conditions. The intense heat, dust, humidity, and lack of proper hygiene and medical care have caused her condition to worsen. Her small body is now covered with painful rashes, and she suffers from constant itching and discomfort, day and night.

Doctors have warned that she needs urgent medical treatment before the infection becomes more severe. Sadly, her family cannot afford the cost of the medication or the care she desperately needs while struggling to survive.

We still have a chance to help—but time is running out.

⏳ Deadline: August 10

Your kindness can change her life. Every donation, no matter the amount, brings her one step closer to the treatment she urgently needs and gives her hope for a future free from pain.

Please don't wait. Help us give this little girl the chance to heal and smile again before it's too late

My grandmother needs €60 every day (€420 per week) because the medicine warehouses were bombed. The medicines are extremely expensive because they are in very limited supply.

My grandmother suffers from kidney problems. If she does not take her medication regularly, it could lead to kidney failure and she could lose her life.💔😭

Please, I don't want to lose her… She has raised me since I was little.

Donation link

🟢 Multiple vetted

✅ @/gazavetter – List Number #14

✅ @/90-ghost

✅ @/gaza-evacuation-funds – List Number #451

I don’t know how I am still holding on...

My name is Najah, and I am a mother of six children, including newborn twins 👶👶 who need urgent care every single moment.

We are living through extremely difficult days filled with fear, hunger, and the lack of basic necessities 🥺🍞

Sometimes my children go to sleep without enough food, and I stand helpless before their tears because I cannot provide milk, diapers, or medicine for them.

My newborn twins are still so fragile, and their tiny bodies need constant nutrition and care 🍼💔

But our situation has become far beyond my ability to handle, while my other children face hunger, cold, and fear every day.

For many days, we have not received any donations or help, and our situation keeps getting worse with every passing hour.

I try to stay strong for my children, but my heart breaks every night when I see them suffering and I have nothing to protect them with.

Every second now is precious ⏳

Every act of kindness could be the reason my children survive 🙏

I am not asking for the impossible — only for a chance for my children to live safely, stay together, and have hope for another tomorrow.

Please, from the bottom of my heart, do not ignore our suffering 💔

Any small donation could help me buy milk, diapers, food, and medicine for my children.

I am Najah, living with my twin children in a tent. As the tanks approached the area where we are staying, my fear was no longer for myself, but for my two little children who need safety more than anything else. All I hope for is that this danger passes peacefully and that I can protect them from being displaced once again.

Please donate $25, $50, $100, or any amount you can give 🤲

Every contribution, no matter how small, can make a real difference in my children’s lives.

And if you cannot donate, please share our story everywhere you can 📢

Your compassion may reach someone who can save my children before it is too late.

I beg you — stop here, donate, share, and choose kindness before this silence becomes another tragedy for my family.

Thank you to everyone who listened to our pain 🌸

Your kindness today could give my children another chance at life and safety.

Donation link

Campaign verified: @gazavetters (629) @90-ghost @el-shab-hussein

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Every donation or share can make a real difference in their lives.

Donate now and give them hope and a chance for a better future. ❤️

Please, don’t ignore this message. 💔

Donate if you can, and share it with others so it reaches someone who can help.

My family now lives in a tent with no stable shelter, my sister Jana has no school, and I have no steady job. My brother Kamal carries the burden of the entire family, working every day to secure just enough food, while I search for any work, no matter how difficult or dangerous, just to survive.

My mother, the beautiful dream we once cherished, wished for a calm and happy life for us, but the war tore us apart and shattered our hopes. As for Jana, my innocent sister, she lost her school, her books, and even her sense of hope, yet she still writes her dreams on small pieces of paper, hiding them in her torn clothes so they won’t get lost like everything else.

We are not asking for the impossible, only what keeps us alive with dignity and gives us a chance to rebuild our lives. Every donation, no matter how small, means so much to us. Your support will give us hope to keep going and try again. 🙏❤️

Hello my friend 👋

My name is Mohammed, I live in Gaza City and I am 19 years old. I have lived through the full horrors of war — hunger, displacement, fear, relentless bombings, destruction, and so many other painful experiences 🥹😭.I never created a donation link before, and I haven’t received any kind of help throughout this devastating war 🥲💔.

I was so happy when the ceasefire was announced, and I dreamed of starting a small shop to earn a living. But sadly, the war returned — even more violent and destructive than before 😭.Our area has now been declared a dangerous combat zone, and we lost our home — the only shelter we had 💔.

Worst of all, my father was seriously injured: he tragically lost one of his hands and an eye, and he is now completely unable to work or support our family 🥲😭.

Prices have skyrocketed, and we have no source of income. I’m launching this donation campaign now with a broken heart but a little hope 🥲.

Please, for the sake of humanity and for the sake of my family, consider making a donation to help us survive 🙏💔.

I just created the donation link, hoping that someone out there might lend a helping hand.

My name is Sahar. Like any young woman, I dreamed of a stable and happy life. I was engaged to Mohammad, and together, we dreamed of building a warm little home where we could start our life. We spent years preparing our house, but just before our wedding, everything was destroyed in an instant by the war.

I was faced with a choice: to leave Mohammad in the midst of this chaos or to stand by him and begin our journey together, no matter how difficult it might be. I chose him. We got married, not in the dream wedding I had envisioned, but under the harsh reality of war. Our new home became a fragile tent, offering neither comfort nor security.

After we got married, I received the news that I was pregnant with my daughter, and I live in constant fear for my unborn child. I am terrified of the world she will be born into—a world of poverty, hunger, and bitter cold. We have been displaced from our home more than nine times, carrying with us nothing but the burden of loss and the hope of survival. The house we dreamed of is now rubble, and the tent we live in barely protects us from the rain and cold.How will I protect my daughter? We struggle to find enough food. Basic necessities like milk, blankets, and clothing feel impossibly out of reach. The cost of survival has become unbearable. Every night, I am haunted by the thought: how can I bring her into this world, knowing I cannot keep her safe?

After a long pregnancy filled with pain and fear, after nights without sleep, I finally gave birth to my baby girl. She was born in the middle of bombing, surrounded by destruction and poverty—not in a warm room, not in a safe place. Her first cry mixed with the sound of explosions, as if she was announcing her arrival into a cruel world she never chose.

I gave birth to her with nothing but my heart. I cannot promise her anything. Poverty surrounds us from every side, and the cold reaches her tiny body before night even comes. My baby and I are suffering deeply, not because we ask for much, but because I am unable to provide her with the most basic needs: milk, warmth, and safety.

When I look into her eyes, I feel strength. When I look at my empty hands, I break down in tears. I am a mother trying to save her child from hunger and fear, in a world that has shown no mercy even to the dreams of children.😢🥹

To donate or support us, here is the link 👇🙏

My mother is in the ICU and her life is on the line. We need $503 TODAY not tomorrow, not later.

No more time. No more chances. If people act NOW, she can still be saved.

Donate or reblog right now.

Just 5 people at $25 can reach the goal and save my mother right now.

We can't stand idly by while this innocent child is in pain. The burden is very heavy on his family, and your solidarity is their last hope. Whether by direct donation, bank transfer, or even publishing the campaign to reach every compassionate heart; your contribution means a new opportunity for life. Participate now and be part of his survival

Please help my daughter's sweetheart alleviate her suffering.

Because of the tent life and the spread of infectious diseases and many epidemics, she deserves a better life like other children; she has the right to play and study.

We cannot afford to buy medicine due to our difficult living conditions. Please save my daughter; every donation makes a difference in Habiba's life.

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@gazavetters

My mother is sick, and my sister Mira is also sick. They both urgently need medicine and medical care, but we cannot afford it. I feel helpless watching them suffer while we have no food and no way to help them.

If you are able to help, your d.o.n.a.t.i.o.n can provide food for my family and medicine for my mother and my sister Mira. If you cannot donate, please share our story with others. Your kindness and support could give my family hope during this heartbreaking time. Thank you for reading my story.

Donation link