61below

[61below]

Being a young adult is so strange. You enter a coffee shop. The 20 year old girl waiting behind you cried all night because she just came to a new city for university and she feels so alone. That 27 year old guy over there works a job he is overqualified for, he lives with his parents and wants to move out but doesn't know what to do about it. That one 24 year old dude already has a car, a house, and a job waiting for him once he graduates thanks to his dad's connections. The 26 year old barista couldn't complete his higher education because he has to work and take care of his family. The 28 year old girl sitting next to you has no friends to go out with so she is texting her mother. That couple (both 25 years old) are married and the girl is pregnant. The 29 year old writing something on her laptop has realized that she chose the wrong major so she is trying to start all over. We are not alone in this, but we are actually so alone. Do you feel me

#when I graduated in ‘09 it was the height of the impact of the 08 crisis #I also graduated with a soc degree that I had shoehorned into a ‘business’ degree bc the initial plan was for me to help mr61below run shop #… that wasn’t an option #so I ended up working as a florist. then in direct support. then I got in with local government #(not even human services work initially. my first job was literally clerical 1 #I did not plan to end up in human services especially in a position that ‘didn’t need a degree’ technically but you know what?? holy hell #having a degree helps ME do my job a LOT. bc at its heart my degree is as much #‘how to ask a question how to find the info how to piece that info into an answer and how to communicate that answer’ #part of why I get pissy about those who cry that liberal arts degrees are soft and useless is that those same people have -media literacy #it’s like they think all college is is regurgitation of facts (((like how no child left behind turned high school into))) #and imo it’s the main root of the whole anti intellectualism driving the ‘go into a trade instead’ movement

[61below]

if you don‘t personally own one but your roommates/parents do and you are allowed to use it, that counts as yes

#iron exists for sEWING #bc I’m the elder millennial with grandma hobbies

[61below]

Hell Gate, as usual, has the best coverage, + now it’s basically the only fair coverage of campus protests. im a couple days late to this one but I was backreading news today and it stood out to me.

[61below]

YOU’RE TELLING ME THIS IS A 1 TO 2 YEAR OLD DOG??? YEARS??? THIS THING??? YEARS????

(SOURCE)

#irl Pokémon #fennic dog

[61below]

the fact that “the vibes here are rancid” is a power that the jedi actually have is insane to me

#Empath #with a side of Impending Sense of Doom thrown in with my occasional migraine #is this a trauma symptom or a super power? idk! both?? both! #((do I have a heightened sense for others’ emotional states bc I’ve HAD to learn? or bc I’m autistic and oversensitive to gd EVERYTHING? #*glares bc I can hear a fucking lightbulb* #**glares harder bc i have smelled sickness that no one else can smell and then that person shortly after ended up in the hospital** #sometimes the vibes ARE rancid #hypersensitivity is fucking exhausting

[61below]

there’s absolutely nothing better than reading a 100k word fanfic, that is until you remember you have a body that is starving, thirsty and incredibly sleep deprived and hasn’t used the bathroom since the sun set 8 hours ago

#entire work ::unless:: it’s more than 75k #it’s not so much about finishing it in one sitting it’s ‘my phone is old and likes to crash’ and it’s annoying trying to #scroll like I’m diving into the Mariana Trench #also I pay attention to the ratio of chapters to word count bc short chapters break my concentration too easily #(not a crit. not at all. this is me kicking MY brain for being once again unreasonable about little shit)

[61below]

[61below]

Gfdi there’s something really fucked about having two periods one month and then having your new cycle line up DIRECTLY with the full moon.

At least make me a werewolf. I’d take that any day over being grumpy in pain AND having to deal with a public who also goes noticeably more bonkers with the full moon.

#meanwhile in minnesota #period bullshit #the fact that this cycle cycling has happened twice in the last 12 months is just annoying. I used to have slow drifts dammit.

[61below]

My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.

I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think “Well, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot more” so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that “10” is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said “6” because I thought “Well, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.”

#pro tip: this ‘how my symptoms IMPACT my ability to function’ framework is how I got my tism dx in four months

[61below]

#taller thank heck bc she’s 4’10 #listen I MAY BE ONLY 5’2 BUT I GREW UP IN A FAMILY WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE UNDER 5 FT #but that was only on my mom’s side. the OTHER branch of the family are all over 6ft so walking through funerals and weddings is always like #~this is a sea of elbows~ #hobbits unite life is much better down here 🤗

[61below]

outcast of the village

#beauty #(beauty is the Beast and the beast is beautiful)

[61below]

CJ The X on Perfectionism

[61below]

#I’d like to offer a caveat: my library offers printing at like 25¢ per page but like when I was a snap worker we’d tell people to use the #library to print verifications and that can be a fucking burden especially if you’re trying to print multiple pages #our librarian has a secret coin stash: people can pay it forward so if someone else needs it there’s a jar of quarters #(you can always ask for waived fees if it’s for a public assistance application but idk if they’ll waive it also you should not have to #disclose if you’re applying for benefits) #fuck printers fuck ink cartridges the three times I’ve needed to print last year have meant that even taking into account the gas to get to #town (and I was already getting groceries) then it has MORE than made sense to use the library vs getting my own printer) #this is also why I’ll ask people ‘do you have access to a printer?’ bc it’s not just ‘do you HAVE one?’ it’s ‘can you get to a library? #((and when I deal with a fucking massive geographical mostly rural area that doesn’t really have public transit? it IS a valid ass question

[61below]

#one of life’s true delights is ‘dogs raised by cats’ every single time it is just WONDERFUL 😍

[61below]

My philosophy for queer labels goes like this

1. Anyone who in good faith uses a label is fine to use it for themselves

2. There is no way to always tell who is using it in good faith

3. Act like everyone is using it in good faith.

4. …including assholes clearly IDing to be an ass. Treating them like they mean it is a quick way to make an asshole get yuckied out and knock it off. If they seem to be committed to the bit, maybe they really mean it

[61below]

It’s been almost three years since I got diagnosed and I’ve managed to build a life where I’ve accommodated so many of my sensory issues that I start thinking ‘It’s not that bad, and it’s not bothering me now, so maybe I was overreacting the entire time??’

NO.

Then I went the mall for the first time in… three years? (Has it been that long already? I can’t remember if it was before or after the lyme) IT WAS HORRIBLE. I got so far as where Victoria’s Secret faced off against Bath & Body Works and the clashing stank was so bad it physically hurt. I already did my time in the trenches of the Axe Wars, so no gd thank you. And THEN I went to ULTA bc I wanted to try a vamp lip but that store was like getting attacked, too. So yeah, nope, I am going to once again tell myself to stop doubting my diagnosis just bc I’m finally able to live my life in such a way that I rarely, rarely even edge close to a meltdown anymore.

#as if I’m not hand flapping intrusive thoughts or flashbacks away on a multiple times a day basis #but I was hoping the SPD shit was getting tamed down 😭 #autism brain screeches like a gremlin #keep me in your prayers bc I bought a new pair of hiking shoes which means ~laces~ (hiss)

[61below]

In one of my film classes last semester we had to tell a story in 3 pictures for a mini assignment so my friend and I did this

#gardening is metal af #composting is literally just decomposition done in a controlled manner