#(for visbility elsewhere) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mx-nightingale · 4 years

Text

I was debating on posting this, but I've decided to go ahead and do so.

It's currently Ace Awareness Week and I thought I'd post my own thoughts and experience on identifying as asexual, and realizing I'm ace.

For a long while I was confused and questioning myself before I discovered what ace was. To me, I had no label and I thought something was wrong. While others around me were going on about how they found some guy/girl attractive I was just confused. I didn't see whatever it was they found attractive about that person. Yes I thought some of them were pretty, much like one would find the sunset or northern lights to be, but I didn't experience the same kinda attraction my friends were experiencing.

Over time I started to feel awful, like something was wrong with me or I was broken mentally, it made me feel like less of a person. That mental state persisted for a while and it hurt, till one day during a brief conversation with my friend during Spanish class right when it was ending and we were about to leave she, after hearing me talking about how I was feeling, said maybe I'm asexual. I didn't have time to register that because we were quickly rushed out into the hallway to head to our next class.

Since I never had time to think about what she said the thought slipped from my mind and I never looked further into asexuality, until a couple months later. I was at home and bored, then got hit with the memory of that conversation. I decided it was time I finally looked further into it and did some research. I eventually came across AVEN (The Asexual Visibility and Education Network, which I'm including a link to below), a site dedicated to asexuality and explaining what it is. After reading through I was hit with the realization that I am indeed asexual. And realizing that and reading more about the experiences of others I became more comfortable in realizing I'm ace.

Learning all this was a huge relief for me. It made me realize I'm not alone, and I'm not broken and there's nothing wrong with me. I'm me, whole and perfectly content with who I am.

So happy ace week to all my fellow aces, remember that there's nothing wrong with being ace and that you're perfect just the way you are. 💜

And to anyone that feels like gatekeeping or attacking aces this week, go suck an egg and take your negative bullshit elsewhere.

Everyone else, have a safe and happy Halloween, Samhain, or whatever it is you're celebrating this October.

#ace week #ace week 2020 #ace positivity #ace awareness week #ace experience #asexual pride #asexual positivity #text post #long post #gale's ramblings #i'd put this under a read more but sadly mobile can't do that

1 note · View note

dansnaturepictures · 4 years

Photo

04/09/2020-Photos at home and Lakeside walks: 9 of these pictures are different to the ones I just tweeted

I took the first two pictures in this photoset early this morning of a Woodpigeon out the back and view with it rather more sunny than yesterday at that time. Beautiful to see and it turned into a memorable morning for wildlife and views seen from the window as it turned into another largely overcast affair, as I saw two lovely Buzzards soaring over in my binoculars from the room. It gave me an interestingly warm feeling remembering back to when I saw a Buzzard on a Friday I had off 20th March when I knew at that point I’d be working from home for the foreseeable and the sort of strange delight at knowing its not a situation I wanted to happen obviously but I was in a position it still in winter back then when I could be around the house during the day and be immersed in the local wildlife a little and also I felt whilst Buzzard has been a key bird for me to see through all the phases of me working from home quite nostalgic as in the strict lockdown days I saw them so often from home or on a daily exercise walk. I also seemed to photograph a lot of the garden birds this morning and this evening today.

My ever high daily photo yields started to go down this week, or the 2020 version of it with 14 a frequent figure on the days. But as I got out on my lunch time exercise walk and walked along the hedges on the green out the front and in the front garden I saw signs that this was to be a usual high photo yielding Friday locally as a result of the fact since lockdown restrictions lifted to allow unlimited outdoor exercise in a day I have a lunch time and evening social distancing walk usually at Lakeside that day. As I just started taking so many photos with my macro lens, all of which I tweeted on Dans_Pictures and I took so many pictures today I only tweeted some and the other nine are in this photoset. This included photos of the berries and buddleia in the front garden, a spider in a nice web very visble and dandelion on the green area and my first ever known sighting of a cyrphus ribesii a fantastic bright black and yellow hoverfly I was delighted to see it a great insect moment. I spotted insects on flower and berry pictures which I tweeted on my way and back home.

You may recall last week on Friday in the rain here at lunch time I only had my macro lens and got pretty close to the Stock Doves I am regularly seeing at Lakeside which I’d have loved to have photographed but my macro lens for closeups didn’t allow me to so without my big lens or bridge camera on me I couldn’t. I posted about this here: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/627733873762172928/28082020-common-green-lacewing-stock-doves Today with my macro lens on my camera as I entered Lakeside I walked the exact same route down the path between the fenced off areas to the lakes and I was thrilled to see the Stock Doves. About four of the about five of them around flew off soon, but one stayed put as I managed to get my big lens on. I then finally managed to photograph a Stock Dove at Lakeside a picture I also tweeted. I was so thrilled this happened its a bird I do admire quite a lot and am proud of having so locally to see them is fantastic but I craved a photo and I got it today which I liked. This made it rather a day of pigeons and doves with both feral and wood photographed this morning I photographed the regular Feral Pigeons we’ve nicknamed ‘Violet and Rex’ which I tweeted. This also added to after a few months of insects taking centre stage most of the time other than when watching the Great Crested Grebe chicks I guess a week where I have had some brilliant bird experiences on exercise walks at Lakeside perhaps one of my best weeks for it and alongside that photograph so many of them I have missed certain insects with that quietening down and seen great ones too this week but its been a week of birds for sure at home and elsewhere on Sunday and Monday over the bank holiday weekend and I have loved it.

As I walked on towards the main lake beach lake I saw another special bird sight at lunch time when I noticed both Mute Swans there occasionally shaking their feathers and splashing in the water this looked great to see very dramatic. I instantly wanted to take a photo and was delighted to get two ultimately including the third in this photoset. A great moment. I would go on to take the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh pictures in this photoset of Moorhen, a nice view over concorde lake, a Mallard pair on the other lake and berries on the way home. My Mum had told me there were mushrooms which I love photographing in autumn outside on the green I enjoyed seeing the shaggy inkcaps and other spring up there last year and got photos. So my evening walk always intended as a shorter Lakeside walk tonight before this took in the perimeter of the green area and I was delighted to find the mushrooms a nice group in grass below trees I took the eighth picture in this photoset of one. On the walk at Lakeside tonight I took the ninth a nice view and when home I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset of another nice yellow flower on the balcony I am wondering if its a little sunflower its quite tall and sticks out of a more ornamental basket thing with little flowers on it. It sits directly underneath the bird feeders so there is every chance a sunflower seed was scattered there by the birds but I am not sure and time should tell us more. The Lakeside evening walk was headlined by a Buzzard, I heard one calling as I inspected trees south of the picnic area at Monks Brook halt steam railway station when I spectacularly saw Spotted Flycatchers yesterday which was nice. I then, with my macro lens on at that time in terms of photos quite ironically again but admittedly it flew really fast saw a Buzzard fly right over my head. I have had so many occasions this year where one of my favourite birds the Buzzard has flown right over my head here, locally and elsewhere though which has been exceptional and I’ve taken photos I’ve been proud of of these too. Another fantastic Friday, wishing you all a great and safe weekend!

Wildlife Sightings Summary: Two of my favourite birds the Buzzard and Great Crested Grebe, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Starling, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Robin, Long-tailed Tit, House Martin, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Large White, Speckled Wood, cyrphus ribesii hoverfly, spider and other insects it was a good insect day.

1 note · View note

owensrhodes · 6 years

Text

The Secret to Small Space Design? Go Big!

A small living room featuring unexpectedly large elements that work, visually and functionally. Image: Bhavin Taylor Design

Just because you have a tiny space doesn’t mean you should have tiny furniture. One of the biggest design mistakes for a room of any size is cluttering it with small pieces. But the secret to successful small space design is just the opposite: choose the largest pieces possible.

First, buy big

It may sound counterproductive, but, when shopping for small space furnishings and decor, buy your choice of the following items in the largest size that will fit:

Chandelier or pendant

Area rug

Wall art

Sofa or sectional

Ottoman (that can double as a coffee table)

Bed

You won’t be able to fit as many items into your room as you initially envisioned, but that’s good thing. Fewer pieces, in a larger scale, will make the space look bigger and feel more functional.

Next, hang a giant mirror

A small galley kitchen looks twice as big, thanks to a mirror wall. Image: Domus Nova

A mirror works its magic in a small space by reflecting light and doubling the sense of space. Add the largest mirror you can fit. You can either stand a mirror on the floor and lean it against a wall, or create a mirrored wall, as in the kitchen pictured above.

Then, find the biggest bed you can fit through the door

With a big bed as a centerpiece, a small bedroom appears larger than it actually is. Image: Thorp

A bedroom is where you go for rest, so do you really need a desk, TV, sitting area, or even a dresser? Maybe not. Prioritize your furnishing with the most important element of the bedroom: a bed. If you have any space left, consider adding a nightstand or a wall-mounted shelf to double as nightstand. Don’t forget a lamp!

Another way to maximize space is by pushing the bed up against the wall, as shown below.

Minimal furnishings are used in this bedroom. Notice the large art canvas on the wall, which expands the visual feel of the room. Image: Norden & Klingstedt

Forget about negative space and add build-ins

A small dining nook with built-in banquettes, allowing up to 10 people to dine together. Image: Aflux Designs

Having space around your furnishings is nice — if you live in a large home or apartment. But all that nice negative space does nothing for you when you have guests over. Make best friends with your walls and add furnishings to the size and length of the space itself, such the custom banquette built-ins in this tiny dining room.

Lay down the biggest rug possible

A small living room cuts the clutter. Add a large sectional, and a large, patterned rug that defines the space. Image: Entrance Makleri

One of the first things the eye notices is what’s on the floor. Want to make your tiny space look larger? Add the biggest rug you can fit. The best way to find a perfectly fitting rug is to measure the open area your buying your rug for, and purchasing a rug just 2-3 inches smaller, all around. That way, you create a visual border that doesn’t look like carpeting. Go with a bold pattern — the larger-scale the pattern, the better.

Go big on decorative elements

A small, narrow dining space is overshadowed by the stunning, large wall canvas and ceiling pendants. Image: Christopher Elliot Design

What’s the first thing you notice about the dining room pictured above? It’s probably not the impossibly narrow dimensions of the room. The large, dramatic pendant lamps and wall-to-wall canvas make this small, narrow space look far bigger (and way more awesome!).

Fill the living room with a sectional

The sectional is the main (and most used) feature in this small London apartment. Image: Paul Craig

What do you use the living room most for? Sitting and lounging, with friends and family, or by yourself. Designate the majority of the space to seating, and skip the side tables and smaller sofas and chairs. A larger sectional, as shown in the image above, is extremely versatile. There are some great apartment sectionals similar to the one above, designed just for tiny living.

Use a big ottoman (or 2) instead of tables in the living room

A small, contemporary living room is very functional (and modular) with just a single, arm-less sofa and 2 large ottomans. Image: Kelly Deck Design

There’s a good reason to skip the coffee table and go with a big ottoman: you’ll use it more! An extremely versatile piece, an ottoman works like a coffee table if you place a tray on top. Or, cozy it up to your sofa or sectional to create a large daybed or lounge. As yet another alternative, move it elsewhere, your dining area, for example, and use as a bench or spare dining seat.

If you’re planning to move the ottoman around, pick an ottoman with wheels to make your life easier. And go with a storage style that opens up to hold blankets, magazines and other items.

Now that you know the secret to expanding the feel of your small space, give it a shot. Start by de-cluttering and getting rid of excess furnishings. Reintroduce the most essential elements, in the largest size possible. And enjoy!

The post The Secret to Small Space Design? Go Big! appeared first on Freshome.com.

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-26942-5ab107d8160a2', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '26942', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-114160-5ab107d8160d9', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '114160', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

0 notes

lindamiler · 6 years

Text

This Week in Bitcoin: Time to Build

If there’s one thing a crypto recession’s good for, it’s rebuilding. It’s debatable whether we’re in a full-blown recession admittedly, but whatever you wanna call it, the charts ain’t looking too pretty. The upside to that is it’s a great time for looking elsewhere. With Easter imminent, it seems fitting that some of crypto’s biggest […]

The blog post This Week in Bitcoin: Time to Build is courtesy of: JUST BITCOIN NEWS

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot(‘atatags-26942-5aaf241c0435c’, { collapseEmpty: ‘before’, sectionId: ‘26942’, width: 300, height: 250 }); });

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot(‘atatags-114160-5aaf241c04395’, { collapseEmpty: ‘before’, sectionId: ‘114160’, width: 300, height: 250 }); });

This Week in Bitcoin: Time to Build syndicated from https://www.justbitcoinnews.com/

0 notes

kansascityhappenings · 6 years

Text

Putin overwhelmingly wins another 6 years as Russian leader

Watch Video

MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin rolled to a crushing re-election victory Sunday for six more years as Russia’s president, and he told cheering supporters in a triumphant but brief speech that “we are bound for success.”

There had been no doubt that Putin would win in his fourth electoral contest; he faced seven minor candidates and his most prominent foe was blocked from the ballot.

People listen to presidential candidate, President Vladimir Putin during a rally and a concert celebrating the fourth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea at Manezhnaya Square in Moscow on March 18, 2018. (MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images)

His only real challenge was to run up the tally so high that he could claim an indisputable mandate.

With ballots from 80 percent of Russia’s precincts counted by early Monday, Putin had amassed 76 percent of the vote. Observers and individual voters reported widespread violations including ballot-box stuffing and forced voting, but the claims are unlikely to dilute the power of Russia’s longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin.

As the embodiment of Russia’s resurgent power on the world stage, Putin commands immense loyalty among Russians. More than 30,000 crowded into Manezh Square adjacent to the Kremlin in temperatures of minus-10 degrees (15-degrees F) for a victory concert and to await his words.

Putin extolled them for their support — “I am a member of your team” — and he promised them that “we are bound for success.”

Then he left the stage after speaking for less than two minutes, a seemingly perfunctory appearance that encapsulated the election’s predictability.

Since he took the helm in Russia on New Year’s Eve 1999 after Boris Yeltsin’s surprise resignation, Putin’s electoral power has centered on stability, a quality cherished by Russians after the chaotic breakup of the Soviet Union and the “wild capitalism” of the Yeltsin years.

But that stability has been bolstered by a suppression of dissent, the withering of independent media and the top-down control of politics called “managed democracy.”

There were widespread reports of forced voting Sunday, efforts to make Russia appear to be a robust democracy.

Among them were two election observers in Gorny Shchit, a rural district of Yekaterinburg, who told The Associated Press they saw an unusually high influx of people going to the polls between noon and 2 p.m. A doctor at a hospital in the Ural mountains city told the AP that 2 p.m. was the deadline for health officials to report to their superiors that they had voted.

“People were coming in all at once, (they) were entering in groups as if a tram has arrived at a stop,” said one of the observers, Sergei Krivonogov . The voters were taking pictures of the pocket calendars or leaflets that poll workers distributed, seemingly as proof of voting, he said.

Other examples from observers and social media included ballot boxes being stuffed with extra ballots in multiple regions; an election official assaulting an observer; CCTV cameras obscured by flags or nets from watching ballot boxes; discrepancies in ballot numbers; last-minute voter registration changes likely designed to boost turnout; and a huge pro-Putin sign in one polling station.

Presidential candidate, President Vladimir Putin addresses the crowd during a rally and a concert celebrating the fourth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea at Manezhnaya Square in Moscow on March 18, 2018. (ALEXEI DRUZHININ/AFP/Getty Images)

Election officials moved quickly to respond to some of the violations. They suspended the chief of a polling station near Moscow where a ballot-stuffing incident was reported and sealed the ballot box. A man accused of tossing multiple ballots into a box in the far eastern town of Artyom was arrested.

Overall national turnout was expected to be a little more than 60 percent, which would be several points below turnout in Putin’s electoral wins in 2000, 2004 and 2012. He did not run in 2008 because of term limits, but was appointed prime minister, a role in which he was widely seen as leader.

Putin’s most vehement foe, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, was barred from running Sunday because he was convicted of fraud in a case widely regarded as politically motivated. Navalny and his supporters had called for an election boycott but the extent of its success could not immediately be gauged.

The election came amid escalating tensions with the West, with reports that Moscow was behind the nerve-agent poisoning this month of a former Russian double agent in Britain and that its internet trolls had waged an extensive campaign to undermine the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Britain and Russia last week announced expulsions of diplomats over the spy case and the U.S. issued new sanctions.

In his first public comments on the poisoning, Putin on Sunday referred to the allegations against Russia as “nonsense.”

Moscow has denounced both cases as efforts to interfere in the Russian election. But the disputes likely worked in Putin’s favor, reinforcing the official stance that the West is infected with “Russophobia” and determined to undermine both Putin and traditional Russian values.

The election took place on the fourth anniversary of the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, one of the most dramatic manifestations of Putin’s drive to reassert Russia’s power.

Crimea and Russia’s subsequent support of separatists in eastern Ukraine led to an array of U.S. and European sanctions that, along with falling oil prices, damaged the Russian economy and slashed the ruble’s value by half. But Putin’s popularity remained strong, apparently buttressed by nationalist pride.

In his next six years, Putin is likely to assert Russia’s power abroad even more strongly. Just weeks ago, he announced that Russia has developed advanced nuclear weapons capable of evading missile defenses. The Russian military campaign that bolsters the Syrian government is clearly aimed at strengthening Moscow’s foothold in the Middle East, and Russia eagerly eyes any reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula as an economic opportunity.

At home, Putin must face how to groom a successor or devise a strategy to circumvent term limits, how to diversify an economy still dependent on oil and gas, and how to improve medical care and social services in regions far removed from the cosmopolitan glitter of Moscow.

Authorities struggled against voter apathy, putting many of Russia’s nearly 111 million voters under intense pressure to cast ballots.

Yevgeny, a 43-year-old mechanic voting in central Moscow, said he briefly wondered whether it was worth voting.

“But the answer was easy … if I want to keep working, I vote,” he said, speaking on condition that his last name not be used out of fear his employer — the Moscow city government — would find out.

First-time voters in Moscow were given free tickets for pop concerts and health authorities were offering free cancer screenings.

Voters appeared to be turning in out in larger numbers Sunday than in the last presidential election in 2012, when Putin faced a serious opposition movement and there were instances of multiple voting, ballot stuffing and coercion.

Navalny, whose group also monitored the vote, dismissed Putin’s challengers on Sunday’s ballot as “puppets.” He urged a boycott of the vote and vowed to continue defying the Kremlin with street protests.

Ukraine, insulted by the decision to hold the election on the anniversary of Crimea’s annexation, refused to let ordinary Russians vote. Ukraine security forces blocked the Russian Embassy in Kiev and consulates elsewhere as the government protested the voting in Crimea, whose annexation is still not internationally recognized.

Ukrainian leaders are also angry over Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed at least 10,000 people since 2014.

Polls show that most Russians view the takeover of the Black Sea peninsula as a major achievement despite subsequent Western sanctions.

“Who am I voting for? Who else?” said Putin supporter Andrei Borisov, 70, a retired engineer in Moscow. “The others, it’s a circus.”

The Central Election Commission also claimed it had been the target of a hacking attempt from 15 unidentified nations that was deterred by authorities.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2018/03/18/putin-overwhelmingly-wins-another-6-years-as-russian-leader/

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-26942-5aaef4b0ace36', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '26942', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-114160-5aaef4b0ace74', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '114160', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/putin-overwhelmingly-wins-another-6-years-as-russian-leader/

0 notes

tuesdayblogworld · 6 years

Text

No good reason for Congress to roll DACA into the omnibus

If the immigration debate does not take place in Congress, it will not take place elsewhere. There is no alternative space today—not in the press, not on university campuses, not on TV. We are told that the more mass and social media we have, the more “connected” we are, as though being connected is …

from Google Alert – immigration http://ift.tt/2poXO7V via IFTTT

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-26942-5aaee8ee3c776', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '26942', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-114160-5aaee8ee3c7ac', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '114160', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2GE0jve via BloggerTuesdays

#DNA Test #AABB

0 notes