Living ~400lbr

Step 310: There are very few perfect jobs. For now, look for a good one.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:32:11 -0700

A reader asks: 23 year old + A.A, B.F.A, A.A.S degrees = lack of job satisfaction. Just can’t seem to figure it out, what is one to do? Can’t reasonably be a fulltime student for the rest of my life. So, what should one do to ensure finding the right career that ensures job satisfaction most of all and a comfortable living?

Bad news first: the answer to your question will not be in this (or any!) blog entry. “How do I find a satisfying, lucrative career that suits my needs?” is akin to “Where will I encounter my soulmate?” Some false premises are at play.

Some people find their soulmate. And other people find jobs that pay them $150,000 a year to fight the good fight and still have time for rich and satisfying home lives.

But … that does not happen in your 20s. If ever. So for right now, the real question is what is most important to you? Is it money? Pursuing your passion? Doing something you’re uniquely good at? Something that pays the bills but doesn’t eat your life?

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Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:29:23 -0700

masteradept: sourcedumal: ultralaser: pastimperfection: Also, remember when Star Trek had a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:27:52 -0700

masteradept:

sourcedumal:

ultralaser:

pastimperfection:

Also, remember when Star Trek had a character who was two parts Timelord and one part River Song and they decided the best person for the job was Whoopi Goldberg? Remember how they were right? Remember how they went on to give her the best backstory of all time? And then used the best villain of all time to expand on her character and give her a whole bunch of cool world-saving stuff to do?

remember when everyone was all ‘we can’t really know if q is faking this ‘lost my powers’ schtick or just trolling us can we’ and guinan was all ‘the hell we can’t’ and //stabbed him in the hand with a fork// and then walked away casually?

But they ain’t tryin to hear you doe!

The only person to tell Picard he is wrong, and not in a nice way, take none of his shit and does it again, and again.

"You may not agree with a woman, but to criticize her appearance — as opposed to her ideas or actions..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:24:53 -0700

“You may not agree with a woman, but to criticize her appearance — as opposed to her ideas or actions — isn’t doing anyone any favors, least of all you. Insulting a woman’s looks when they have nothing to do with the issue at hand implies a lack of comprehension on your part, an inability to engage in high-level thinking. You may think she’s ugly, but everyone else thinks you’re an idiot.”

- Hillary Clinton (via prevarila)

jonathantoewsed: “you’ll scare guys off with that feminist crap” oh i’m sorry you’re right the kind...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:09:28 -0700

jonathantoewsed:

“you’ll scare guys off with that feminist crap”

oh i’m sorry

you’re right

the kind of guy who has problems with me demanding that i be treated as his equal is totally the kind of guy i want to be in a relationship with

my mistake

I sometimes get, “Does your husband know you’re a feminist?”

We’ve been married over 10 years. Hell yes.

tastefullyoffensive: [via]

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:54:28 -0700

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]

polyamorousmisanthrope: banesboner: “you cant have depression i saw you smile like five minutes...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:10:02 -0700

polyamorousmisanthrope:

banesboner:

“you cant have depression i saw you smile like five minutes ago stop crying”

I do have a problem with depression. As in, “been to the hospital, but I’m feeling much better now (with manic grin)” type of depression.

I find the idea that someone would blow off depression because someone smiled really weird. First of all, smiling at people we’ve paid to bring us food and stuff can’t count. Plenty of people were socialized to do that. Neither can it count if you did it professionally. (My professional persona is so ingrained there are people I work with who think I never swear. No, seriously).

But even in the face of that. When I was bloody well suicidal, the day I had planned to do it, something still made me laugh and I don’t mean in a bitter or ironic way.

Emotions and mood aren’t binary and there genuinely are people who have terrible problems with depression who experience blips of happiness even at their blackest. I would guess there are those that don’t as well, but I’m not claiming ever to have taken any sort of sample, other than knowing that people are messy and complex.

How Like Them.

"Male privilege is “I have a boyfriend” being the only thing that can actually stop someone from..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:49:42 -0700

“Male privilege is “I have a boyfriend” being the only thing that can actually stop someone from hitting on you because they respect another male-bodied person more than they respect your rejection/lack of interest.”

- The Sociological Cinema (via trimichaelceratops)

There was actually research that was done that found that women who used an “I have a boyfriend/husband” excuse to reject unwanted sexual attention and harassment by their bosses were more likely to be left alone than those who used any other excuse (including “I’m not interested”)

Not that it always works.

“You’re married? I’m better.”

“Oh baby you’re just saying that. Don’t lie to me.”

“He don’t have to know.”

What does seem to work is carpooling instead of transit. Carpooling with a 6ft tall man probably doesn’t hurt either.

dionthesocialist: Realistic Erotica: “Please don’t stop,” she moaned just as my fucking hand...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:24:12 -0700

dionthesocialist:

Realistic Erotica: “Please don’t stop,” she moaned just as my fucking hand started to really cramp.

letmebeasong: Jack’s Place - Seanan McGuireNorah Jones as the...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:35:54 -0700

letmebeasong:

Jack’s Place - Seanan McGuire
Norah Jones as the Little Mermaid

The little mermaid’s got not voice, but you should hear her play
She runs her hands across the ivories like the fog across the bay
She’ll play anything you ask for, what she doesn’t know she’ll fake
She’s the poster child for all the crazy chances that we take

hodgepodgeofablog: The Five Worst Places to Vomit...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:43:18 -0700

hodgepodgeofablog:

The Five Worst Places to Vomit (x)

Reminder that John’s probably getting puked on right now….sweet little Alice.

thelingerieaddict: I WANNA BE MAE WEST WHEN I GROW UP

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:35:49 -0700

thelingerieaddict:

I WANNA BE MAE WEST WHEN I GROW UP

dduane: petermorwood: cheshchick: 30 Day Sherlock Challenge...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:23:31 -0700

dduane:

petermorwood:

cheshchick:

30 Day Sherlock Challenge Day Six: Something That Tickles Your Fancy

This made me lol soooo hard!

Hah!

attn. #DDuane.

(snerk)

[Stitch with Lilo and Nani, saying, “This is my family. I...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:53:02 -0700

[Stitch with Lilo and Nani, saying, “This is my family. I found it all on my own. It’s little, and broken…but still good.”

pitchercries: rosieroti: anatsuno: navalenigma: shayvaalski...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:42:21 -0700

pitchercries:

rosieroti:

anatsuno:

navalenigma:

shayvaalski:

friendlycloud:

agewa:

“We went to Kineshma, that’s in Ivanovo region, to visit his parents. I went as a heroine and I never expected someone to welcome me, a front-line girl, like that. We’ve gone through so much, we’ve saved lives, lifes of mothers, wives. And then… I heard accusations, I was bad-mouthed. Before that I’ve only ever been “dear sister”… We had tea and my husband’s mother took him aside and started crying: “Who did you marry? A front-line girl… You have two younger sisters. Who’s going to marry them now?” When I think back to that moment I feel tears welling up. Imagine: I had a record, I loved it a lot. There was a song, it said: you have the right to wear the best shoes. That was about a front-line girl. I had it playing, and [his?] elder sister came up and broke it apart, saying: you have no rights. They destroyed all my photos from the war… We, front-line girls, went through so much during the war… and then we had another war. Another terrible war. The men left us, they didn’t cover our backs. Not like at the front.” from С.Алексеевич “У войны не женское лицо”

In the Soviet Union, women participating in WWII were erased from history, remaining as the occasional anecdote of a female sniper or simply as medical staff or, at best, radio specialists. The word “front-line girl” (frontovichka) became a terrible insult, synonimous to “whore”. Hundreds of thousands of girls who went to war to protect their homeland with their very lives, who came back injured or disabled, with medals for valor, had to hide it to protect themselves from public scorn.

This has always happened in history: Women do something important. Then they get shamed for it (so nobody will talk about it) and it gets erased from history.

And then certain men will say: “Women suck, they’ve never done anything important.”

Look into history and learn that women have played a far greater role then douches (present and past) wanted you to know.

Hey Will (and Jack) I got you something.

So this is important. Let me tell you a story.

All the time I spend debating about women in combat, I’ve picked up on a trend that disturbs me. Supporting or attacking, people are quick to draw on biology, psychology, law, but very rarely - almost never - do I hear about the history of women in combat, and the evidence their service lends to this debate.

Hundreds of thousands of women faced combat in WW2, and on both sides, and on all fronts, and it is a history that has been almost completely erased from contemporary awareness. I have been given arguments about how women can not psychologically handle combat. And about how women in mixed-gender combat units will automatically disrupt group cohesion - the brotherhood, if you will. Both of these assertions are erasure.

Women have not lived in a protective bubble untouched by combat for all of history. Women have been killed, wounded, and captured in combat, and tortured after. We are not living a world where these are hypothetical situations women have yet to prove they can handle. Unfortunately, they have, they can, in the future, they probably will, again and again. Soviet women served as partisans, snipers, tank drivers, fighter pilots, bombers. And more.

Both British and American women served in mixed-gender AA units. I could drag you through several examples of British women performing exemplarilyy despite being wounded, or seeing their comrades die. The Luftwaffe did not discriminate. Between the British and the Americans, it was determined that mixed gender units actually performed much better than all male units, because of teamwork. Because women are better and certain tasks, men are better at certain tasks, and at other tasks they are comparably efficient, and in a team, hopefully, in combat, you let the best do what they are best at. For the most part, they were proud to serve together.

German propaganda never commented on the British AA units, but they thoroughly smeared the Soviet fighting woman - flitenweiber. People often argue with me that women are a threat to group cohesion because men naturally give women preferential treatment. Which certainly explains why men are more likely to survive shipwrecks. And history shows us that Germans soldiers had no chivalrous compunction when it came to shooting captured Soviet women who were armed.

We’re fed a history of war that almost exclusively features white male figures, most of whom fit into this destructive constructed myth of the soldier that is somehow both chivalrous and charmingly womanizing and who’s sense of brotherhood is unshakably dependent on the band being all man. There is no history of woman at war, none. I hear a lot about how women have no upper body strength, I hear nothing about the Front-Line Female Comrade.

THE WORD FRONTOVICHKA BECAME A TERRIBLE INSULT - are you fucking kidding me? Fuck, that made me cry. At first when I started reading I thought I was reading alernate history fiction. I’m ashamed to be ignorant about this, and full of rage and much worse bitter shame that this history is constantly repressed, suppressed, hidden. WHAT THE FUCK. D: D: D:

i’d love to know more. any recommendations would be cherished.

So, I heard a lot of this growing up, being from the USSR, about women on the frontlines, but it was always isolated incidents or particular jobs that like radio communications, as the original text says. There was no context for the scope of it, even though you’d always hear about a woman who had medals of valor from WWII and things like that.

To echo the rest of the original text - I live in Israel where, in 1948 the Jewish (majority European) military was mixed, down to the fact that women served as commanders-in-combat of men. This was official and recognized and the military to this day in Israel is, I think, more gender-integrated than in any other country.

I remember reading memoirs of women who were combat commanders there, and it’s this exact, EXACT same story. After whatever happened on the frontlines happened, they came home and had to fight another war. They weren’t remembered, weren’t acknowledged, they were expected to adhere to norms of femininity that meant not talking about their combat record.

In fact, today the Israeli military offers fewer command positions, fewer frontline jobs to women than it did in the 40s and 50s. Which I just find… utterly mindblowing. Even in a country where less than 60 years ago women were filling these roles you still have discussions a la women will disrupt cohesion/women can’t handle combat/excuse excuse excuse. There’s just no way to get this right, is there?

panfans: Snow White [x]

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:37:31 -0700

panfans:

Snow White [x]

womenofcolorandsize: The desexualization of women of size,...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:32:56 -0700

womenofcolorandsize:

The desexualization of women of size, especially those of color, has been a part of American media for a long time. Her body is supposed to represent motherhood, but not sexual femininity, as if those things were not connected. Her size is a sign of her authority, so she is thought to be “masculine.” Though she holds authority, she is not to be seen as competition of the delicate white female. Her bosom is a place to rest not to caress. Her “excess” weight is supposedly an indication of her intelligence, adding a factor of ableism and sanism in the mix.

Curvy WoC are reclaming there bodies. They see neither thinness nor thickness as the definition of femininity or intellgence. Their bodies are rebelion against mainstream white culture. They embrace motherhood without questioning the existence of their sexuality.

Black Woman Gets 20 Years for Firing Shot at Wall; White Man Gets 0 Years for Shooting Man in the Back 3 Times, Killing Him

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:28:47 -0700

Black Woman Gets 20 Years for Firing Shot at Wall; White Man Gets 0 Years for Shooting Man in the Back 3 Times, Killing Him:

socialismartnature:

In an unequal society, there is no such thing as “equal protection under the law.” Though there may be only one set of written laws, these laws will always be interpreted and applied in ways that conform to the prevailing inequalities, prejudices, and power imbalances.

The question is not, what does the law say? The question is, who is writing, interpreting, executing, and enforcing the laws?

===

A white man in Florida shoots a man he finds having sex with his wife, killing him. A black woman in Florida shoots the wall to scare off an abusive husband, harming nobody. Guess which one was acquitted? Guess which one was convicted?

computerheroboy: Adult Swim making an unholy amount of...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:03:34 -0700

computerheroboy:

Adult Swim making an unholy amount of sense.

[Slideshow, white text on black background:

A recent report claims film piracy
costs the economy $20 billion annually
We say this is super misleading.
Film piracy may cost the film industry 20 billion
but that money still goes into the economy.
People will buy shoes or comic books
or cataract surgery or even baby formula instead
of spending that money on movie tickets.
We say film piracy feeds babies
[adult swim])

greencarnations: there are people who shit on deanna troi give...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:54:23 -0700

greencarnations:

there are people who shit on deanna troi

give me their names