--And so we all decided which we wanted to be. Just because scum treats you like scum, doing the same makes you no better. If the only two paths are to die fighting the Legion or to die giving up, we’ll survive to the last moment and go down fighting. That’s the reason we fight. That’s the source of our pride. If that means protecting the white pigs, well, that’s not ideal, but it’s fine with me.
--Even if you know that at the end, you’ll die?
--Is there anybody stupid enough to hang themselves because they know they’ll die tomorrow? Even if you know you’re going to the gallows, you can choose how you’re going to climb up there. We’ve made our choice. All we have to do now is survive.
one thing that's great about the song of ice and fire books is the way nobody ever knows what the fuck is going on. like somebody in a bar will be like "long live good king renly!" and somebody else will be like "oh he died. like a month ago. yeah lady catelyn stark stabbed him" and somebody else will be like "actually I heard he was stabbed by a shadow his brother fathered on a priestess" and a fourth person will be like "wait didn't renly literally just win the battle of king's landing last week" and then they're all like "well, whatever. long live good king whoever it is now. next round's on me"
For those that aren't in Australia right now, we have the funniest scandal going on.
Firstly let us introduce you to the eye of the storm: Sam Kerr. Sam is a women's soccer player who has in the last year become one of the most famous and beloved athletes in Australia. Captain of the women's national team, Sam became something of a cult figure after the last Women's Soccer World Cup became a complete unpredicted sensation in Australia, with the whole country getting behind the team.
Sam, up until now, has had probably one of the most squeaky clean images in sport. Generally in Australia it is not uncommon for our sports stars to be caught up in scandals involving drugs:
violence:
drinking their own urine:
or if you're cricket legend Shane Warne, probably all three at once.
Contrasting all this, Sam's image as the squeaky clean saviour for sport made it all the more shocking this last week, when it was announced that Kerr was to face trial after having been charged by the UK police of a "racially aggravated offence" involving a taxi driver.
This was shocking news. Nobody knew what to make of it. Sam was a model for young girls everywhere and a national treasure. "This is why we can't have nice things" screamed the nation. It seemed like all hope was lost.
That is, until, yesterday, when the UK police finally revealed the full details of the case, in which Sam Kerr, sporting legend, was arrested for vomiting in a cab, and then telling an intervening police officer that he was a “stupid white bastard”.
Now we probably don't need to point out that in Australia, vomiting in a taxi and then calling a cop a bastard is about as close to a national culture as we have.
You could not have come up with a better headline to make someone a national hero.
Needless to say, Sam in now being hailed down under as the greatest legend that ever lived, and a petition has already been started to have her picture added to the $5 note.
The tide has swung so far that not one, but TWO, state Premiers have spoken out in support of Kerr, and the Prime Minister has even gone on the record describing her as "a delight".
And so ends the racial abuse saga of our greatest sports hero of all time, and the very first reverse milkshake duck to ever exist.
Some proof that there ARE elected officials out there, like Vice Mayor Sean Cummings in Oklahoma, who are standing up for LGBTQ+ youth like Nex Benedict and calling out the fact that our words and rhetoric DO matter.
[Context: In this video, Sean Cummings is seen speaking to Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters referring to the death of student Nex Benedict].
I always get really annoyed when people complain that saying some dinosaurs had feathers makes them less "scary". First of all, they're real animals, not monsters. No one is making them look like anything, we're just getting better at determining what they actually looked like when they were alive.
One of the most life-changing things I ever learned came from Mythbusters, where they tested and proved (with cognitive testing puzzles and reaction time tests) that lying down and resting with the intention to sleep STILL provided significant mental benefits over just staying awake, even if a person couldn’t fall asleep in the amount of time they had.
It helps me to actually sleep to know that just lying down with my eyes closed is still doing me some good, and helps me to not freak out/beat myself up when I stay up later than intended. Any amount of rest is better than no rest!