#so bc of restrictions we had to be outdoors

[saintbleeding]

oh and getting courthouse married rules btw

#i mean technically it wasn’t a courthouse bc we got married in 2020 #so bc of restrictions we had to be outdoors #but!!! #it was just us and my younger bro and my husbamb’s younger sister as our witnesses #and it was so sweet n simple n lovely #so. i recommend it for all ur jmart n real life marriage needs #not magnus content

[riberkerr62]

This Bc Heli

Runs are often nicely over 3000 toes in length, presenting dramatic alpine ridges, massive bowls and countless pillow fields to select from. The lodge also provides fast access to tree skiing, with many traditional traces less than a five minute flight from the lodge. With solely four skiers per group, your guides are able to handpick terrain and entry traces which may be best suited to the group’s specific skills and needs. Located between Revelstoke and Golden, Heather Mountain Lodge is among the world’s most accessible heli-skiing locations. In most cases, using an avalanche transceiver and the “rental” of powder fats skis is included within the price. For snowboards, it’s a hit and miss affair as as to if boards can be found by way of the operator. Mary is the Managing Editor of GearJunkie and relies in GearJunkie's Denver, Colo. workplace. She has a level in English and journalism, and has a background in each newspaper and journal writing. Her outdoor interests span from working to sport climbing, from panorama photography to skiing to pack-paddleboarding. Within the forests are playful rock gardens, fun for leaping when the snow is deep. According to the company's website, Bella Coola Heli Sports has entry to three.5 million acres of "untouched" slopes, and you may anticipate to ski down about one hundred twenty,000 vertical ft of snow in every week. On the fourth and ultimate morning, the information Troy Grant caught me flippantly sobbing within the boot room. My emotions got one of the best of me at a number of points during this journey, and I additionally felt it whereas in the high alpine terrain captivated by the sheer vastness of The North. Stunning alpine peaks, steep fall-line tree skiing & famous pillow runs accessed from our luxurious lakeside lodge in the Canadian Rockies. You don’t want to miss out on a day in the helicopter due to damage or a sore back. Being in good physical health is paramount to actually enjoying this trip and getting probably the most out of the experience. On web site sizzling tubs and massages turn out to be an essential part of your aprés ski as opposed to beer and shots! Preparing yourself for the next day is so necessary. Revelstoke has the longest skiable vertical descent in North America, with entry to 1,263 hectares of world class terrain. These often-overlooked hazards can be very dangerous to backcountry skiers. This article covers some practices for staying safe round tree wells. We create a small group of 4 by matching you with visitors who share your talent level and interests. Here’s the top two operators in northern British Columbia. But in 2020, Bella Coola took its offsets to the next stage. Rather than offsetting simply sufficient to cowl its emissions for 2019, Bella Coola offset 10% greater than what it emitted. heli skiing in bc There is not any higher time than now to plan your summer season or winter escape to Revelstoke, a mountain paradise. COVID journey restrictions all over the world proceed to be updated on a consistent basis. Prior to reserving your journey, please contact our Reservations Team to learn extra about current travel restrictions in Canada. Explore-share was easy to use and the workers and information w ere very responsive. The trip descriptions had been accurate and the pricing cheap. If you want to ski huge strains that will soil your skivvies, or possibly even nail a primary descent, get on an AStar with these guys. Packages listed right here are a la carte—it’s $125 a run—and you can count on to common about three,500- to 5,000-vertical toes per drop. The BLM closed down some old terrain and gave the corporate some new stuff off the Ferebee Glacier. That means there are still some un-skied traces to be had again in there.

#heli skiing bc #bc heli skiing #heli skiing in bc #best heli skiing in bc #heli skiing lodges bc #best heli skiing bc

[420pogpills]

feel free not to answer bc it'll be a bit negative!

but I've seen a lot of ppl saying oh you were annoyed at karl for his meet ups but excited for potential irl george content. and I just think it's hard to compare these situations???

because from what I've seen many ppl aren't taking into consideration the differing covid conditions in the us vs the uk. to my knowledge (im not from the uk), it seems like the restrictions are lessening and the conditions there are getting better. whereas in the us, there were spikes in cases nationwide around spring break, and certain states have not seen any improvement in cases.

I work in health care, so I personally don't condone unnecessary in person meet ups. but also I'm in the us and can't really comment on how safe/unsafe things are in other countries. plus, george and tommy haven't even met up yet! so it's all just speculation and it doesn't have to be an issue yet.

I guess tldr the us and the uk are two different countries and you can't always make direct companions

the difference with the uk i would say is that it is much much smaller than the usa. so in the uk you can travel anywhere by car, you don’t really have to fly or get a train or anything, and i know tommy has been travelling everywhere by car with either his parents or older friends who can drive. travelling by car greatly minimises contact with people! :) you can essentially get to and from a city without contacting anyone at all, except the people you were intending to meet. you are allowed to meet with people in groups of 6 or 2 diff households, you just have to be responsible by wearing a mask and stuff.

we’ve also got more than half the country who have received at least the 1st dose of the vaccine (it’s difficult due to demand, so i’ve got friends my age who have already received their 2nd dose and i myself haven’t even managed to get the 1st one yet lmao but the plan is for it to happen in the next few months) and because we’ve had non-essential retail and restaurants and pubs and clubs and everything actually closed, people have actually been staying home, or just meeting up outdoors. 

right now we’re about 30% down in positive cases compared to last week, so the numbers are dropping very steadily. we recorded days with 0 deaths last week, which is amazing too. there’s around a million tests done every day, and they’re rolling out the moderna vaccine now too which will hopefully speed up vaccine rates

with things starting to open now, hopefully people will continue to behave responsibly. whenever i’ve been going out to do a food shop, i always see 95%+ wearing masks (some rare exceptions of either idiots or people who people who are exempt). people are tired of this pandemic now, so they are putting in genuine effort to follow the guidelines and things so we can get some sense of normalcy :’) 

so yeah i think main difference is the size, it’s a bit easier to be a lot more responsible in the uk than it is the usa i think :’) so yeah that’s why i’m not as worried. especially knowing george who never leaves his house, he hardly ever has contact with people so i know if he does meet tommy, he’s gonna be v careful with it!

#ask #anon #cw negative #kind of? if you don't like covid talk haha #georgenotfound #tommyinnit

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

if you have a question about aussie slang, for a fic or whatevs, please just ask i don't know all of it, but we do have some fun words and sayings that are day to day statements

esp. the more rural you go

not everyone has the full accent though, because you do get a lot of pressure at work to come across... professional or whatever.

the only one i've never been sure of being an Actual Phrase, or if it Became A Phrase after popularisation on a tv show, is "Stone the Flaming Crows" bc a dude from Neighbours used to say it frequently.

examples of day to day stuff i can think of right now

mad as a frog in a sock (angry about something, went off, off the shits)

mad as a cut snake (usually means 'they're nuts', but can also mean they exploded with anger, usually contextual)

she'll be right (it's fine - can be a flippant statement, can be reassurance, etc)

drongo / galah - (idiot, not very smart, wanker, etc)

dunny = toilet

thunderbox/outhouse / long-drop - usually outdoor toilet

dry as a nun's nasty / dry as a dead dingo's donger (I am thirsty, or It Is Hot AF/we need rain so bad)

chuck a u-ey (do a u-turn)

Oi! (Hey I want your attention/i was surprised, general exclamation, stop that, you are in a lot of fucking trouble mate - depends on the tone of voice and volume) like "OI!" says aunty ruth has just found her dentures in jello and she knows you did it, etc

Bugger off (go away, or sometimes a statement of disbelief)

Yeah nah /Nah yeah (can mean yes, no or maybe depending on what was said directly before the statement)

you cant pull the wool over my eyes - you can't lie to me like that / i can see you are not telling the truth

shut your gob / put a sock in it / put a cork in it - (shut up / shut the FUCK up / close your mouth or i will shut it for you) depends on tone

Ya wally (you idiot)

Roo = kangaroo

o = can be affixed to anything to shorten it at the servo - gone to the service station, arvo - afternoon, smoko - morning tea, bottlo - where the grog is

goon/goonsack - wine in a box

grog - alcohol

stubbie - beer, ususally

boardies - board shorts

rashie - swimming shirt,

slip, slop, slap - ancient proverb for avoiding sunburn. singing pelican.

thongs - footwear

sheila = female / woman, don't hear this a lot at the moment tbh except in certain contexts or from specific people

'Getting rowdy' = things are heating up, people are riled up, a fight is about to/has just broken out, etc.

DJ's like a mad cunt = one very specific meme about a bad PM we had like 10 years ago. i can't tell you how many PM's ago, it's been game of thrones here lmao

Beyond the black stump / Out whoop-whoop / references to timbuktu (quite a distance away)

strewth!/crickey!/bloody hell - (exclamation of surprise, expletive replacement, etc)

flat out like a lizard drinking (tired / drunk / exhausted / sleeping)

pull a harry holt - (I've heard a dozens variations of this one, it means Go Missing / Disappear, often used as a joke. PM Holt went swimming one day and disappeared)

have a stickybeak (to poke your nose in/investigate/look around)

chuck a wobbly/throw a tanty/chuck a tanty/throw a wobbly (throw a tantrum, i have legit never seen anyone successfully deescalate a situation by telling someone not to chuck a wobbly or throw a tanty, go figure lmao)

bogan - (very specific kind of low-income, generally white, people. sort of like rednecks, but with more stereotypical aussie features like a mullet, singlet tops, sunnies, stubbies, etc. tend to fall under the liberal party ideology - who are our republicans... )

ankle-biters / rugrats / little takkers / gremlins / nippers - (kids, usually the littler ones)

tiff - argument, small fight (had a tiff, had a row)

pav = pavlova

piss/whizz/take a piss = going to pee

vegemite - delicious

Kiwi = New Zealander

Banana benders - the disrespectful bs that apparently other states call anyone living in Queensland, the wankers

station - farming areas that have sheep or livestock usually, have farmhands etc.

dole bludger(s) - (anyone on Centrelink, whether they want to be or not, with no other employment. but like, a lot of people on centrelink have a job that does not cover enough and need additional financial supports to meet a minimum wage, or are students or apprentices, etc. there are people who go on centrelink on and off to avoid engaging in the jobseeking stuff, they are the real dole bludgers, but a lot of richer people tend to call anyone on 'welfare' bludgers)

don't you come the raw prawn with me - (do not lie to me / don't try that shit with me, mate / I wasn't born yesterday /etc)

dak/dack - to dack someone is to come up behind them and yank their pants down (or skirts). Often taking out your boxers, too.)

budgie smugglers - (speedoes, male swimwear)

togs/toggs or cozzie (swimwear, any kind. cozzie = costume)

mozzie - (mosquito)

better than a kick up the backside /better than a kick in the arse - (pretty self explanatory, one of those phrases parents use to get slightly hurt kids to start laughing and/or coworkers to commisserate about new work rules, etc)

I wouldn't piss on (name) if they were on fire - (self-explanatory, you hate them, or they're a useless tit or an insufferable person /a suckup etc, and you would gladly hand them a match)

one for the road = getting a drink for the road, usually. can also make a joke of it like, "one last piss for the road" = I'm going to the bathroom before I leave

here's your handbag, what's your hurry - probs not an aussie phrase but a common joke in my family

----------------

So like, there's some words and items from Australian Indigenous culture that often get used wrong in stereotypical characters, like saying 'gone walkabout', using 'cooee', making digeridoo jokes, and making some really uncomfy 'savages' statements can be very disrespectful. You might want to go looking into Australia's fucked up policies and historical (and only recent) situations before starting any arguments about this stuff... in many ways it mirrors the cruelty of american colonisers to native american peoples, etc.

Avoid some phrases. Your character gone to cool their head? He's gone off on to soak his head, or he's on his bike (gone away) but he'll be back... You can use 'Oi, dickhead!'

Please don't mock the names of towns or places, they are often the names from the traditional custodians and inhabitants.

-----------------

Random things:

We drive on the left side of the road, driver's side reversed.

More of our cars are automatic than manual. Utes aren't atypical, but bigger vehicles are out in rural areas because more than a few of the rural roads are poorly maintained or dirt, with potholes that yoyo your soul into your body.

If you have a character on a long drive on a non-highway, or rural road: +if you are on a one-lane road and someone is comingthe other way, you both move half-on, half-off; for big vehicles or trucks, you can choose to pull off completely and stop. Just for safety, esp. in rain, fog, mist or late at night. +at one-lane bridges, you have a give way sign on one side. if you want your characters to have a moment of 'pause to look at each other while driving' or 'a quiet moment of reflection', have them wait for another car or truck to pass from the other side. These can be a few metres long, to like, a really long bridge. +They may pass markers that say 'flood level marker' with numbers of 2, 3 or 5 metres. Could be useful to remark on if your fic needs a reason for them to have a crisis. +Bushfire warning signs (from Low to Catastrophic) are frequent +Animal Crossing signs are very frequent, and often have a wildlife rescue number on them +Water restriction signs are in most small towns, they range from levels 1 to 6. This can change what the characters are allowed to do with water in little towns, etc. +You may occasionally find a small servo and one or two houses. +pubs don't open/won't serve alcohol until after 10am. the joke has always been, 'beer on your cornflakes' but you will never be able to actually get that unless you preplanned the night before in your hotel room. +Around dawn and dusk, a lot of animals like hares, kangaroos, wallabies, sometimes echidnas and koalas and little numbat things, and snakes and bushmice will be close to the road. Sometimes dashing across. They do not react logically to cars approaching, and will leap out at random. Hares do this zigzag nonsense. If you need the character to hit the brakes frantically, or swerve, this is a good reason. If you are ever driving here and see an animal on the side of the road, flip lights to low beam, slow down and watch to see how they react. If you can. If there's a truck blaring down on you, you may not be able to.

+Emus are in more rural areas. Echidnas sometimes appear on fringes of towns though.

+Kookaburras are a lovely creature, I have rescued a few and they are nice... but their laugh is very grating when it goes off super early in the morning. They eat snakes (good) and baby birds (not so good).

+Lots of snakes round here. LOTS. Carpet Snakes are pretty common, red-belly black snakes, eastern brown (big danger!!!), whip snakes have declined in my region, keelback snakes, this one black and white banded one we found deceased, etc. Snakes can climb, snakes can SWIM. Putting something that stinks around a campsite MAY help, but not always.

+Never go swimming in a dam you don't own, and that hasn't been checked, and if no one knows where you are. How deep is it? What's on the bottom? How stirred is the water? etc.

+Kangaroos CAN drown you. They have perfected this attack, and will do it to humans, dogs and other pursuers alike. They can also eviscerate you with their hind paws or shatter your ribs with a kick. The 'boxing' they do is exceptionally violent. This seems to surprise people, but like, giraffes can kill each other by slamming their heads into each other, you think a 7 ft swole motherfucking cryptid can't do harm? They can be lovely tho, if they trust you. But DO NOT GO PETTING WILDLIFE.

+Dropbears, austrilanicus vericanthus bitus, are real. We do make jokes about them, but they are a Problem. The pee on yourself thing won't ward them off, that's more about working out which tourists are the most gullible (and if they run with it, the moistest) lmao. Akubras and other thicker-layered headwear,

+We have wild dogs and feral pigs. Do not fuck with the feral pigs, some are HUGE, and no... they're not just pigs who escaped farms, these are MASSIVE motherfuckers who will Get You if they See You. Rustling in the night outside the tent? Good Luck.

+Koalas should not be picked up directly. They have claws, and a lot of them have chamydia. I mean if a character saves one in a fic that's fine I guess, but like... someone's getting antibiotics after that lmao. They are bigger than you think, dumber than you think, and sometimes they have to be chased across a highway with a windscreen cover bc they're not very bright and keep failing to climb metal fences, lmaoooo

+Towns of about 20-30k will have more shops (some franchise, some local owned), servos, fast food places and usually at least two to three shopping centres. Usually small level entertainments like a cinema, or local groups. +Towns with 10-20k, may have one or two major shopping centres, servos (tracks and RVs catered to), possibly a maccas, and the majority of stores will be local-owned. May have a cinema, but not one that has the newest releases. Local council may have more festivals, or 'that one thing they're known for'. +0-10k towns have a small local store, prices usually a bit higher. A servo, often with capacity for trucks. Local festivals. Characters can cop a bit of side-eye in these places, esp. if they don't fit the traditional ideas or are loud/violently american. +Grey nomads are a thing. Old people with fancy caravans who drive So Slow, and move all around aus. Several refused to stop during covid and it was like, WHO DO YOU THNK WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP ALIVE BY STOPPING YOU MOVING THROUGH MULTIPLE TOWNS???

+Some rural areas have legit red dirt, its always super cool to look at. Some places have light brown to dark brown, some have more chalky colours or yellowish dirt. Depends.

+Reminder: Australia has very specific gun laws, if your character/s have weapons then they may need to be sneaky or store them specifically in the vehicle. Although if you're talking about like, mad max type rules, then who cares. But if you have them get into a gun fight in a town, the police will come, etc.

Dunno, just ask if you have a question... just trying to think of random things to paint a picture if you have a character over here for a roadtrip or mission or whatever.

[sheerfreesia007]

I am so in love with Esme’s character. She is such a sweet little girl and you write her with such a lovely mix of confidence and vulnerability. Awesome work from you as always Siren! 🥰 Also, a little bird told us the beast has a birthday coming up soon x what is he doing for his birthday? Are you guys allowed to have a party? There’s still restrictions here but they are supposed to be announcing changes later today so we’ll see how it affects us. We’re gearing up for a 3rd wave in work 😬🥼

The beast does has a birthday coming up! This next weekend. The plan is to go to the big playground and splash pad in the morning. Then head to the zoo for a little bit before going out to dinner with the in laws. Scrubs do you have something that will just numb me from my in laws? I'm about ready to tell them all not to come at this point already.

Our numbers are going up again with the delta variant so I planned all outdoors stuff besides the dinner my mother in law wants and I'm iffy on that. The hubby and I were told we still can't vaccines til September bc we had covid so we've been extra careful. But Florida doesn't shut down, unfortunately the governor is not a good leader for our state and it's just a damn free for all out here.

I'm trying to play nice but it may not work out that way if she keeps pushing after being told no.

#sheer answers

[awanderingcanadian]

My Gilded Cage

Almost 2 weeks ago BC put in place a 3 week “circuit breaker”, taking us back to some of the restrictions we haven’t had since May, 2020, (so since the start of this pandemic). I reacted very badly and in a very Victorian type reaction, I ‘took to my bed’ for over an hour while I tried to process what I saw as a significant setback.

Doing everything asked of me, and after hearing since January that if we stayed the course, things would look better by Easter, and using that hope to get through the lonely winter months, to me these restrictions were devastating.

Looking at my pattern of behaviour, I have always used travel as a method of overcoming a negative event. A perfect example is my cancer event of 2004. Two weeks after radiation treatment ended, I was on a flight to the U.K. to see family and friends. I still felt like crap when I boarded the plane, but radiation symptoms waned and by the time we returned home I was back to my regular self, with a whole bunch of new and happy memories with me. That trip allowed me to return to my life with a much reduced cancer shadow over me. I’ve recommended to friends going through cancer treatment that they too plan something special for the end of their treatment as it really does re-calibrate your mental state. I guess it’s my own ‘circuit breaker.’

With the new restrictions I felt trapped in a cage, albeit it a gilded one. Yes, I am fortunate to live in a beautiful home, on a beautiful island, in a wonderful country. I know that, but I felt trapped. I felt I had no control over this, and I couldn’t escape.

I woke up the next day determined to put one foot in front of the other and get through this. Fortunately, my husband was willing to hook up the trailer and get away to a local campground for 5 nights. While there I slept 8-9 hours a night, saw a few small groups of friends and family outdoors, played cribbage, and hiked. We brought everything with us, and eating outside with family is normal when you’re camping, so psychologically it was a win.

This week it’s been mostly good news although our case number are still horrifically poopy, but several friends and family have either been recently vaccinated or have their appointments for vaccination. We have also booked 2 more local camping trips as mental getaways. Last week the tank is empty, and I was running on fumes: this week I was happy. Such is the Coronacoaster. Let’s see what this week brings and if I’m up to the challenge.

#awanderingcanadian #covidtimes #isitoveryet

[myersbriggsrefreshed]

sirius black is an ISFP; an essay

TLDR: Sirius is an ISFP because he predominantly uses Fi (is very passionate, very attached to his emotions as shown by his anger in POA & OOTP and his empathy for Harry in GOF), and Se (physical excitement is important to him & he manages surviving out in the wild). We also see a little bit of his tertiary Ni (he tends to brood a lot & think deeply when attempting to help Harry through his struggles). He’s introverted (lets James take the lead and serves more of a supplementary role in conversations). So Fi is his dominant function & Se his auxiliary. I also talk about why Sirius doesn’t use Ne, Ni, or Si as upper functions & why the other upper Se types (ESTP, ESFP, ISTP) don’t fit him. 

hey y’all i’m here to do some REAL myers briggs typing of harry potter characters. i’m doing this because i’m SO tired of mistypings that i can’t bear it!!! i have found 0 sites on this internet that accurately type harry potter characters & even if they get some right, it’s almost never 100%. 😢 obviously it’s easier to type people rather than characters bc people are ~REAL~ and also because authors can be inconsistent whilst writing characters, bla bla bla. But JK Rowling, for the most part, is pretty good at creating characters with developed, consistent personalities, and Sirius Black is one of them. 

I’ll begin with typing Sirius’s upper Perceiving function, which is undoubtedly Se, or extroverted Sensing. Se-users perceive the world through their five senses, and thus are very in-tune with their physical surroundings. Sirius is very into physical thrills; his vehicle of choice is a FLYING MOTORCYCLE, enough said. He is easily able to adapt to restrictive physical conditions; while living in Azkaban among the dementors, Sirius is able to transform into his animagus form and literally swim all the way to the mainland. If that isn’t Se, idk what is. Throughout Sirius’s time post-Azkaban and pre-Order, he lives a vagabond life both in Scotland and in other countries. He seems to be able to easily navigate living in the outdoors. That doesn’t mean he’s comfortable (i.e. him living off rats in a cave during GOF), but he manages to sustain himself while simultaneously evading capture by the Ministry. In Snape’s Worst Memory, Sirius is extremely bored after sitting through a long O.W.L. exam, and needs James to do something to stimulate him. And all through OOTP, Sirius’s biggest conflict is a feeling of restlessness due to being stuck in Grimmauld Place. 

One thing I've also noticed about Se’s is that they are very perceptive of people's physical habits, sometimes to the point of intense scrutiny. In Snape’s Worst Memory (SWM), Sirius says he was watching Snape during the O.W.L. and how Snape’s greasy nose was glued to the exam paper the entire time. You can’t get more typical Se bullying than pointing out other people’s unappealing physical habits. In Grimmauld Place, Sirius tells Kreacher off for sneaking away family heirlooms while everyone's cleaning out the house. Being observant enough to notice someone sneaking something is a very typical Se thing to do (I’ve experienced it! .-.).  

So why aren’t Sirius’s upper perceiving functions Si, Ne, or Ni? Ne will be the easiest to explain, because Sirius quite obviously does not use it. Ne’s are usually detached from their surroundings, living in a rich inner world full of spontaneous ideas. Sirius is very much in touch with the environment around him and doesn’t have the playfulness that Ne users have. When he’s speaking, he's very clear and to the point, while Ne’s are abstract thinkers who like to bounce ideas around just for fun.

Sirius is not not an upper Ni user, but as an ISFP, he uses tertiary Ni, which we do see. Again, Sirius is too much in touch with his surroundings to be an introverted intuitive. But he does have a brooding nature, and whenever Harry’s in trouble, like when he’s talking to Sirius in GOF before the first task and telling him about all the odd things happening around him, Sirius quietly absorbs all the information Harry gives him (“He had let Harry talk himself into silence without interruption”) and is thoughtful (though not for the long and generally stays to the point), while trying to figure out what’s going on at Hogwarts ("I don’t know,” said Sirius slowly. 'I just don’t know…Karkaroff doesn’t strike me as the type who’d go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him”). Though Sirius is generally a pretty brash person who doesn’t act with cautious and constant thoughtfulness as an Ni would, he knows how to utilize his Ni when he needs it. As Heidi Priebe’ says in her article How Each Cognitive Function Manifests Based On Its Position in Your Stacking, “As a tertiary function, Ni manifests as the desire to optimize or perfect upon one’s pre-existing talents or skills.”

Lastly, Sirius definitely does not use introverted Sensing (Si). Si is a past oriented function that stores exact details of past events. Si-users are relatively careful people who “get attached to past ways of doing things,” which is basically the exact opposite of Sirius. Adventure, thrill, and stimulation are his middle names!! 

So we’ve established that he’s an upper Se, which means Sirius could be an ESTP, ESFP, ISFP, or ISTP. 

Sirius is not an ESTP. This might be hard to believe since ESTP surface-level descriptions on the internet (thrill seeking/passionate/drama lovers) seem very much like Sirius. But Sirius isn’t an extrovert and as I’ll describe later on, he doesn’t use Ti. In the Pensieve during SWM, we see the Marauders interacting and James is pretty clearly the loud one, showing off his Quidditch skills to Wormtail and leading his and Sirius’s attack against Snape. James initiates the verbal attack (”All right, Snivellus?”) and James continues to initiate the provocations (”How’d the exam go, Snivelly?”) while Sirius only supplements the conversation (”I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment…”). Sirius is not the leader, at least not verbally. He attacks Snape physically and is verbally vicious to him, but he’s not initiating the conversation the way James is. It’s hard for me to imagine an ESTP being a side character during a social scene. And we see Sirius being a side character multiple times; in POA, Sirius is bent on attacking Peter, and Lupin is the one who has to explain the backstory of the Marauders to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Sirius is quieter, wanting to carry out the action and isn’t helping lead the conversation. Again, in OOTP, when we are with Sirius in Grimmauld Place, Sirius is relatively quiet. Yes, he gets angry at Dumbledore for forcing him to stay shut up in the house (honestly fuck Dumbledore), and at Molly for not filling in Harry about the work the Order’s doing. But otherwise, he’s not usually the center of attention. I concede, he’s most likely going through depression, but it still feels natural that he’s not super loud. I feel like an ESTP becoming quiet because of depression would mean that they were going through really severe depression, but it seems like Sirius’s case is more mild. He’s still pretty functional in plenty of other ways. 

Sirius is not an ESFP, and the reasons for this are very similar to those I gave for him not being an ESTP. He doesn’t lead actions and is relatively quiet. And all the ESFPs I’ve met— and I’ve met a variety of them (Most ESFPs I know are warm and ridiculously energetic, but I also know one who is more relaxed and blunt), but I’ve never met one who’s brooding. I just don’t think broody is a trait that can be ascribed to an ESFP, unless they are dangerously depressed. And again, I really don’t think this is the case with Sirius. (If you are or know a broody ESFPs, feel free to comment!) 

Sirius Black is not an ISTP. Sirius’s actions when he is passionate and angry do not mirror those of a dominant Ti and inferior Fe user. A dominant Ti would be unattached to conflict situations unlike a dominant Fi. A dominant Ti usually doesn’t like conflict, and I can only see them yelling or really losing their temper if their boundaries are invaded (i.e. if someone keeps trying to argue with them and won’t give them space). But otherwise, the ISTPs I know generally prefer to be alone when they’re angry. They might lash out by doing something more subtle; using their dominant Ti to bide their time & really plan something evil. Sirius is not like this at all. From the first time we meet him in POA, he is screaming at Pettigrew, ready to kill him without a second thought. He's completely raw in his anger at losing James and Lily to Wormtail's betrayal (“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED”). He’s completely immersed in his feelings the way a dominant Fi would be-- and I would know because I am one. 

All of Sirius's raw, pent up rage is flowing straight through his body and out of his mouth. As Fe users, ISTPs aren’t internally connected with their feelings enough to be able to express them so rawly. Fe is literally the function that expresses feelings in sync with the people around them. So the way Fe users express feelings always takes into consideration the people they are talking to and the environments they’re in. Sirius has no distance with his feelings at all. 

We see Sirius’s dominant Fi when he’s telling Harry that he “as good as” killed James and Lily. A dominant Fi is can be so deeply connected with their guilt that they equate facts to be on par with their feelings rather than the other way around. In other words, we change up facts a little bit (some people could say this is lying but I prefer to say passion-inspired inaccuracy), to match our feelings about a situation. Sirius is still deeply filled with remorse and sadness at Lily and James’ death and says “I don’t deny it,” when Harry accuses Sirius of killing his parents. 

When Harry recounts his meeting with Voldemort at the end of GOF in Dumbledore’s office, Sirius tightly grips Harry’s shoulders after he reports seeing his parents through Priori Incantatem. This is a gut reaction of intense empathy that is typical for a well-developed Fi. He’s also intent about Harry having rest after going through the ordeal (“We can leave that till morning, can’t we Dumbledore?” said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Let him have a sleep. Let him rest.”). Fi’s, especially Fi’s who are also Se users are deeply aware of human physio-emotional needs. 

We continue to see Sirius’s Fi when Harry goes to Sirius for advice. ISTPs give logical, concrete suggestions when you tell them your feelings. But ISFPs (especially ones who aren’t the most socially mature) absorb your feelings and give suggestions based on what they feel themselves (i.e. Sirius telling Harry in OOTP after H believes he attacked Mr. Weasley, that Harry simply needs to go to sleep because he’s in shock. Sirius isn’t using logic to help Harry, he’s worried about Harry’s mental health and immediately lectures him instead of giving a logical solution like an ISTP would). Later in OOTP, Sirius earnestly tells Harry, “Look, your father was the best friend I ever had, and he was a good person. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it.” I repeat, this isn't logic. But then again, we IXFPs aren’t exactly logical when we’re talking about the people we love. And thus, in conclusion, Sirius’s function stack is Fi-Se-Ni-Te...in other words he’s an ISFP through and throughout. 

#sirius #siriusblack #isfp #hp #marauders #poa #ootp #harrypotter #mbti #myersbriggs

[theseadagiodays]

May 4, 2020

This is Not a Performance

Irving H Bolano’s incredible repurposed newspaper fashion for the Met Gala Challenge on Twitter #HFMetGala2020

May the Fourth be With You as you reach the next chapter of this current sci-fi drama we seem to be living through.   As the saying goes, reality can be stranger than fiction.   But it just happens to be a many red-eyed virus rather than an evil, black-masked father that we’re fighting as we all walk around like Storm Troopers.  

There are so many aspects of our lives, during Covid, which make it feel like we are actors in a make-believe story.   First of all, we’ve all become movie stars, with our faces, homes, and even pets showcased on our own silver screens.  As isolated as we are, our private lives now play out in the public sphere more than ever - no paparazzi required.    For some, this invasion of privacy is unwelcomed. But for many people, it satisfies a secret longing to share themselves with a wider audience.  After all, deep down, everyone wants to be seen and heard (I guess, me included, since I have this blog, after all).  It’s why TikTok and YouTube and Facebook have become multi-billion dollar companies so quickly.  And now, while this pandemic is a harsh daily reminder of the impermanence of all things, it makes sense that these digital missives are an attempt to seek immortality, in some strange way.

As someone whose work responds to human’s need to have a voice, I truly get why this is the case.  And I love that this time has turned housewives into opera stars, and health care workers into hip hop dancers, and housepets into circus performers. But, at the same time, I have become very aware of the masks that we wear, even inside our homes, to portray a certain self to the world that may stray quite far from our authentic selves.  The expression “dance like no one is watching” acknowledges the fact that we all tend to perform when we have an audience, and perhaps we’re only truly ourselves when we don’t.   I understand that the way we “perform” ourselves online gives each of us a chance to reinvent the fictions we want our stories to have.   So, while I surely take some guilty pleasure from intimate glimpses into strangers’ lives, I also do so with a certain skepticism about the veracity of what I’m seeing.  

This became particularly true for me when I received a recent link from my friend and amazing singer/songwriter, Dominique Fricot. Capitalizing on this current trend of oversharing, he cleverly asked his fans to film their morning routines for the music video of his new song, Wake Up, by his duo, Flora Falls.  Dom’s warm tenor voice blended with his partner’s breathy tones feel just like a lazy morning in bed.  But I’ll leave it up to you to decide just how accurate these portrayals of people’s idyllic daytime rituals actually are.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbsqXou5FeY

May 5, 2020

Homeschool Heroes

About twenty years ago,  I was invited to adjudicate a youth music competition in the Yukon.  Travelling to one of the northernmost inhabited spots on earth, I imagined that my greatest surprise might have been a polar bear or Northern Lights sighting.  But it turned out to be something entirely different.  Among the 25,000 residents of the thriving metropolis of Whitehorse exists a treasure trove of talent.  I could not believe the incredibly honed skills and nuanced expression with which these 11-18 year-olds played.   Wondering why, I developed a theory that I now call SLoW: Sheltered Living Wonder.  When long, dark days, cold climates or pandemics force people indoors, they tend to spend inordinate amounts of time on creative endeavors and skill development.  In other words, they slow down and take time for wonder.

This theory has surely applied during these past few months of sheltering in place.   One of the most remarkable examples has been the inventiveness that many of my friends have brought to their first attempts with homeschooling.   So, I wanted to give a few shout outs to some of these Homeschool Heroes and the highly imaginative projects they’ve done with their kids.

Stunning Easter Eggs made from natural materials and dye, by my friend Jane Cox and her kids  (Botany lesson)

Candy Covid virus, made by Amelia, my friend Jen Sanke’s daughter, as she learned about the virus’ proteins (Biology lesson)

But perhaps the prize for most complex homeschool project has to go to my architect friend, Bryn Davidson, who upon returning from Australia, in late March, had to fully quarantine for 2-weeks.  So, with his 5-year old son Bei as helper, this Physics lesson allowed him to enjoy home delivery beer while in isolation.  Just brilliant!

https://youtu.be/FF9-2dWoUtc

May 6, 2020

Living in livestream

So today, 5 million British Columbian’s awaited our “sentence” with baited breath, as word spread that our provincial prime minister would deliver the Re-Open BC plan at 3 pm.   I have to admit, it felt a bit like when you were “grounded” as an adolescent and then your parents returned certain privileges to you.  Of course, I’m well aware that our province has already been far more licentious than many places around the globe.  We’ve been fortunate to maintain reasonably low numbers of infection (just over 2,000), with counts as low as 8 new cases per day, at this point. So, while our provincial parks closed, our beaches never did.  While we were encouraged, within a reasonable range of home, to be active outdoors, we were not restricted to walks only within the 100 metre radius of our house, as my Israeli friends were.  And while we could still shop at gardening and furniture stores, to make sheltering at home more enjoyable, New Zealanders had nothing but grocery stores and pharmacies open, for two months.  

I have sensed the gratitude my fellow Vancouverites have felt about these privileges.  But that does not mean that we aren’t still anxious to return to other aspects of living which we’ve missed.  When lockdown began, ominously on the Ides of March (the 15th), I’d harboured a secret hope that certain restrictions might be lifted on my birthday (exactly two months later).  And it turns out that Phase Two of the BC ReOpen plan will commence on May 19th, just 4 days later than I’d hoped.  What I most look forward to experiencing again are small gatherings with friends, (we’ll soon be allowed to socialize in public with up to 10 people); meals inside certain restaurants and pubs (those that are able to function within WorkPlace BC’s safety regulations); visits to registered massage therapists; and hugs with select people, (”using one’s own ‘risk assessment’.”)

But in the long-range plan, the harsh reality for artists has been laid out, as Phase Four (which includes resuming large-venue concerts, conventions, and international travel) can not occur until either a vaccine has been developed, an effective treatment plan is widely available, or herd immunity is achieved.  And this is not estimated to occur until mid-2021 or later.  So, the prospects are still bleak for symphony orchestras, opera and dance companies, artists who perform in crowded bars, or musicians who travel for arena shows and festivals.  This likely means that in order to satisfy audiences’ need to access live performance, and for artists to continue to share their creativity,  livestream formats will still have to persist for some time.  Therefore, I thought I’d share a few regular weekly livestream arts events here, both from Vancouver, LA & NY.

Canadian National Live Art Champion, Dmitri Sirenko, who we featured at our non-profit’s annual benefit on February 20th, 2020

Every Monday Night at 7 pm PST (Vancouver) Poetry Slam: https://www.facebook.com/Vancouverpoetryslam/

Every Thursday at 5 pm PST (LA): LIVE Art Battles - Watch painters do their magic in just 20 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJoWGVwzGtk99nTOCib9vg

Every Thursday at 8 pm EST (NY): Spotlight on Plays - famous actors perform readings of theatre pieces, online: https://www.broadwaysbestshows.com/post/the-best-of-series/

May 7, 2020

Collateral Blessings

So many thoughtful writers are adding to the discourse, as we all strive to make meaning from what can feel like a senseliess time.  I have so appreciated the abundance with which people are sharing these missives, right now.  Every day, bursts of inspiration or flickers of insight come my way, thru texts, emails and Facebook.  Like adventurers, traveling together thru the dark of night, we shine light on guideposts, anywhere we can find them, as we collectively quench each other’s thirst for wisdom.  

One of the most profound writings I‘ve recently discovered came from a stranger’s blog.  In The Examined Family, Courtney Martin, without ever diminishing the gravity of the havoc that this virus has wreaked, writes about some of the assets that have also come out of this time.  New friendships with neighbors.  A long-neglected puzzle completed with her kids.   The time to draw and truly notice an artichoke in her back garden. My good friend Juan calls these collateral blessings.  This reference to the accidental gifts that this cruel virus has given us, is a beautiful twist on “collateral damage”, a term coined to explain accidental friendly-fire deaths during the Gulf War.  Commenting on the anticipatory nostalgia that she projects she will feel about certain things, once this time has passed, Courtney writes:

“I instantly feel overwhelmed at the prospect of schedules and stuff. I don’t want to go back to our former accumulation or frenetic pace. I don’t want to stop texting (my neighbor) my little triumphs. I don’t want to forget about the artichokes in the garden. I don’t ever want to forget this happened--the grief and the beauty of it. I’m not even sure that will be possible, but if it were, I wouldn’t want it. I don’t want to vote like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to eat like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to consume like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to schedule like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to mother or daughter or befriend or neighbor like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to sit inside this little life, noticing and appreciating and breathing, like it didn’t happen. There is unnecessary suffering all around me, and inside of me, too, but there is also necessary meaning. May we hold on to that.”      

You can read her full entry here: https://courtney.substack.com/p/unnecessary-suffering-and-necessary?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3OTg0NDcyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozNzU1NDMsIl8iOiJCTnk2VyIsImlhdCI6MTU4NzA1MjgyMCwiZXhwIjoxNTg3MDU2NDIwLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjA5MjIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.puI9NMne-783ypInpvTkJ96T237WcrTo2ItDhqlkMiY

May 8, 2020

Nostalgia

I’m rarely one prone to nostalgia.  My childhood photo albums are in storage.  I have no family heirlooms displayed in my home.  My tendency is to revel in the present or dream about the future.  But this pandemic has strangely turned me into a sentimental fool.  Perhaps this return to simpler times, where we seldom shop, where we wander mostly by foot, or where we get to know our neighbors better, makes us long for the past in certain ways.  

For me, I’ve honored this by resurrecting my daily teenage Twizzler habit - a candy I’ve rarely eaten since then, but that now feels so satisfying during my Netflix & Chill evenings (while watching films almost as old like Groundhog Day & Anchorman).  

I’m also listening a lot to Old School Hip Hop, where the explative-free rhymes of the 90’s feel so strangely innocent.  It’s refreshing to listen to these musicians spit verses that merely celebrate the joys of dance and rap, rather than ranting about gun violence and other societal ills.  Run DMC It’s Tricky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-O5IHVhWj0) and Beastie Boys Body Movin’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRBUw_Ls2o) happen to be personal favorites.  

Last month, I was tickled by an old memory while planting a lilac bush in my backyard.  I suddenly remembered a story about my college boyfriend, whom I hadn’t thought of in 30 years.  Our relationship started a bit secretively, so as not to hurt his ex’s feelings.  So, one May afternoon, we snuck away to a distant park that was hosting a Lilac Festival.  Unfortunately, our ruse was quickly spoiled when a candid photo of our picnic under the purple blooms was plastered all over the front page of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle the next morning.  

Another sweet memory returned in culinary form. Every Tuesday, for 7 years, my mother selflessly drove me an hour from home and back, for my flute lesson.  And to break up the long drive, we regularly stopped at Bickford’s Pancake House for my favorite adolescent treat: breakfast for dinner. Their specialty was the Dutch Baby Apple.  And I finally made my first homemade attempt at this deceptively easy delicacy, last Tuesday.  

This has also been a time to return to bedtime stories (some I’ve read to friends’ kids, and others for adults to hear.)  The Great Realisation by British performance artist, Tom Foolery, has been making the social media rounds. But in case you missed this touching tale that looks back on this time as if the tale is being told in a not-so-distant future, it’s a wistful story about some aspects of modern life that we may never long for in the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4

[myeyesarebrighter]

We had a bad neighbor day yesterday. They started at 2pm. We left around 5pm. We got home at 10pm and they were still raging. Cops came etc etc. “Last guy that owned this place sold it bc of them...” yup.

So in thinking about selling... I mean, what it amounts to is our home is not conducive to our lifestyle. It doesn’t allow us the ability to live the life we want - it restricts us from enjoying the outdoors in ways we otherwise would (and have before), it doesn’t allow us a peaceful escape from daily life.... if it was anything else that caused these challenges in our home (small and not private yard, a train rattling windows, whatever else just generally causing havoc), we would just move and say we were moving somewhere else that better supported the needs of our family.

So I don’t know. Maybe I’ll drop an email to my realtor.

[blackwoolncrown]

About the walking flat footed, toe walking is actually bad for you and can lead to complications in the muscles,tendons, and/or ligaments in your legs and back and continued toe walking can cause a lot of pain and can get to the point where surgery is required to fix it

“I sent the other anon about this but it’s also more energy efficient to walk heel to toe humans developed that way of walking when we began moving over large distances on two feet and so it’s not the development of shoes that made us walk the way we do and our bodies are meant to move in a certain way so sometimes it’s more comfortable to move another way but our physical forms aren’t supposed to do that“

Okay yes, true, but also no, it’s more complicated than that.

Allow me to submit the fact that humans have gaits, probably more than just ‘walking, jogging, running’.

Walking long distances is one of our human superpowers, and for that it’s truly all about efficiency-

But if you’ll notice, you’re focusing on the dangers of toe walking (and assuming if one toe walked that they’d do it all the time– that is not the case with everyone for multiple reasons in this thought experiment) but also that toe-walking is the only alternative.

First of all, let me say, I walk ‘normally’ in ‘normal’ shoes and have developed pronated ankles, hip tensions, over-tight hamstrings, a compressed toe box, and bunions, the only fix for them by western medical standards is surgery. So your warnings about how dangerous toe walking is don’t really stick when traditional western foot management have already failed.

Back to my point about gaits, I do walking meditation every morning, dance, do qi gong, and go for walks all nearly every day. I spend a lot of time walking, and walking mindfully. And I have noticed that if I am walking at a ‘normal’ pace, it is very hard to set my foot properly heel first- I can do it, but it takes conscious effort with every step not to let my foot fall into a more lax pronated position. However, I also noticed that my ‘normal’ pace is somewhat faster than need be, a holdover from working, well, in america- where whether you are in a facility, an office, school or a restaurant, you have to kind of hustle- but no running!

To go from walking to a sustained, controlled, socially acceptable speedwalk (not an exercise speed walk, I’ll define why in a second, you have to sort of ‘clip in’ your muscle activity, adding in tension and restricting movement from the hips down and from the waist up into the shoulders to make the movement tight and fast without breaking stride or looking unacceptable. And it is this behavior, I believe, that heavily contributes to the chronic misalignment of the average westerner- it’s socially expected to hustle, but not to move too much.

–in an exercise speed walk, you’ll notice more hip and certainly more arm movement, because the person is likely outdoors and at any rate not restricted by social expectations of ‘indoor’ bodily movement.

Furthermore, I have noticed then that if you slow down- something anglo societies need to learn how to do in every area of life-  to what I’ll call an ‘even’ walk, then this problem is resolved. But what about a leisurely walk? This is the pace at which I am often moving when on a walk or when doing meditation- think of this as a ‘stroll’. I’m not trying to get anywhere fast. At this pace, the traditional fully flat gait is possible, but one that more fluidly rolls from heel to ball is better, and one that puts the ball of the foot down first is best- understand I am NOT talking about elevated toe walking here, but to walk with the foot forward and level instead of heel-down, placing the ball down first.

This walk is also the walk people legitimately had for a very long time before we started needing to hustle everywhere over hard surfaces.

Now to get to the toe walk, I would like to suggest that for some people when moving short distances at a mild pace- indoor walking from room to room perhaps- toe walking could be just fine. Personally I believe that our foot placement might actually reflect our pace ,rather than the idea that we are supposed to walk heel down all the time, always. When I am at home, and want to go, say, from the living room to the kitchen, it is actually easier and much more mentally and energetically efficient for me to walk on the balls of my feet without having to figure in how to walk flat footed without dropping my arch.

 Anglo society has a terrible track record medically with foot health (and body balance/activity overall), so I’m not really concerned with accepting as 100% legit the rules of a transient society with poor body connection that led to me having fucked up feet regardless*, and whose podiatrists, which I have visited, blame my problems on ‘high heels’ despite the fact that I do not dance OR walk in heels, ever.

Efficiency is my best friend- I’m a huge fan of energy conservation- but on the flipside just because something is more efficient doesn’t mean it’s better. We conserve energy to be able to use it later, not never. A lot of misguided thinking along these lines forget that the body’s muscles do need to get used, and there is benefit to that. This ‘efficient’ walking having become standard has robbed people of good foot control and proper balance. The foot muscles do need to get engaged, otherwise we’re just lazy and the muscles atrophy. Anglo culture is more concerned with having ‘good looking’ feet that fit into a triangular toe box than having feet that work well over different terrain (bc when are you ever in it) and actively.

*For the record, I was raised and lived my young adult life largely traditionally. Flat footed and in shoes- though around the age of 24 or so I started wearing thin sandals, vibrams or handmade huaraches sometimes, pretty inconsistently. Point being, I only recently started allowing myself to toe walk at all at home, or exercising with different gaits, and my current foot problems all occurred while  observing the ‘correct’ and socially acceptable foot care and behavior of this culture. My feet were fucked up by 8th grade.

#Anonymous #caveat: I walk barefoot outdoors from time to time and do yoga evvvvery day #i'm stretched #and have great balance now

[fire-emblem-drabbles]

Wh- why would anyone say outdoor cats are bad?? One of my cats is v outdoorsy and he’s a sweetheart!! When he does come inside he smells like pine trees he’s a very good boy (my other cat is also a good baby but she gets jealous easily if you spend too much time with the other lmao)

tw; animal death, I’ll tag it too!

It’s not bad to let your cat outside, in fact, its good for kitty enrichment, but outside cats are at danger from cars, other animals, and whatever weird factors may happen. They also hunt; Jax brings home stuff sometimes (he’s tried eating mice in front of us… twice) but outside cats often hunt more than they actually need to eat…  If you let your cat outside, please keep an eye on them.

Like, my cats, Max and Minx, were strictly inside kitties in Arkansas; our neighborhood had A Lot Of Dogs, and we lived in right off the highway, so it was just a bad idea. Moving here, they were allowed to be outside cats if they wanted, bc Jax was and the doors are usually open in the summer bc we don’t have ac.

Not this summer, but the previous summer when I first moved her, I let Minx outside; I didn’t have a bed yet, so I sat on the floor in my room with just my blankets, pillows, and whatever I could shove in one suitcase, a trunk, and two storage boxes, applying for jobs. In a freak accident, in our own front yard, a dog had gotten out and wandered up our cul de sac; this dog didn’t mean any harm, he just wanted to play with her, but my poor stupid cat has no survival skills because she had been an inside cat her whole life. 

Right in our own front yard, where I didn’t hear because I was playing music and own The Loudest Box Fan Ever, where my mom didn’t hear even though she was closer to that spot than my room in, that dog killed Minx. Recently, this summer, that dog got out again, he must be a crafty one. My mom met the dog again, and the dog’s owner; a very frazzled lady who was so upset her dog had come back to our yard. He was a very nice dog, my mom told me, loved people and kids and other pets, but because he accidentally killed my cat, he was pretty much restricted from doing a lot of things a normal dog could.

And this happened in my own front yard; Max even got into a fight once recently, but I think the culprit was the cat that lives across the cul de sac. It breaks my heart knowing Jax is out there, doing whatever, killing animals he’s not eating and exploring the neighborhoods… My uncle said he once saw him on the roof of the church that’s on the main road of my part of the city, and that scares me so much.

House cats weren’t made to be outside animals anymore; they’ve been too far domesticated for that to be a healthy lifestyle for them. Outside time should be restricted to only when you can keep an eye on them, for their safety and the safty of small animals/birds in the area. 

#ask #anon #sydney speaks #tw; animal death #animal death #sorry this is so long but That's The Tea

[blue-pincushion]

TAGGED BY: @intolerablestrength woah thanks so much!!! O: TAGGING: oh shit here we go ! @team-phantom / @greendrums69 , @crimsonxblur , @1110-01111011 , @diamondintherouge / @wishesareeternal , @mercenaries-for-hire , @terminalvelocityau (pick your fave muse rn!) , @rothotnik , @fishing-purple-cat , @blunderbots , @birdboyofbabylon !

[ throwing this under a read more because it got long OOPS ]

—    BASICS.

▸     IS    YOUR    MUSE    TALL    /    SHORT    /    AVERAGE ? SHORT. hes literally 3′3 he’s the size of a hecking toddler but that’s what you get for being a mobian hedgehog lmfao. by mobian standards i’d say he’s probably average i guess? some mobians are way bigger and some are smaller than him it kinda varies from species to species. by mobian hedgehog standards i’d say he’s probably still average, maybe a little bit taller than the average hedgehog but yeah lmao

▸      ARE    THEY    OKAY    WITH    THEIR    HEIGHT ? it doesn’t really bother him that much until he’s forced to be compared to humans tbh like, especially when it comes to height restrictions for certain human contraptions such as a roller coaster designed for humans that he’s too small to ride honestly that shit ticks him off so much LET HIM RIDE IT DAMN IT

▸      WHAT’S    THEIR    HAIR    LIKE ? long, pointy, and blue. LOL no but for real his fur texture is short and soft, a little fuzzy in some places, although where it nears his back his hair becomes very tough and pointy and it’s hard to see where his fur ends and his quills begin since the color makes them blend together so much. if you look closely you can see all the individual quills he’s got, they kinda just grow a certain way that makes them clump together in those spikes you see on his head and back. they can still be styled though although it’s not the most comfortable experience

▸     DO    THEY    SPEND    A    LOT    OF    TIME    ON    THEIR    HAIR     /    GROOMING ? the most grooming sonic does is a quick shower, scrub down with some soap, and maybe brush some knots out of his fur if it’s bugging him. he’s absolutely the worst with remembering to groom his quills though and Tails has had to pluck loose ones out of Sonic many times before because it was driving the hedgehog nuts

sonic doesn’t really style his quills, they just are naturally spiked that way

▸      DOES   YOUR   MUSE   CARE   ABOUT   THEIR   APPEARANCE   /   WHAT    OTHERS    THINK ? not really! he’s confident in his looks so he doesn’t really worry much, although admittedly he’s a lil insecure about the very thin patch of fur on his tummy where you see that tan circle because he’s got OTHER male hedgehog friends who’ve got floof. how come he didn’t inherent his dad’s floof?? :c not cool

does he care about what others think about his appearance? nope he gets constant validation all the time from adoring fans who consider him to be a dream boat so honestly he’s not worried. he’s got his own style and is comfortable with it

—    PREFERENCES.

▸     INDOORS    OR    OUTDOORS ? 

outdoors absolutely. this is sonic the freakin hedgehog come ON man. there’s no room to run inside! there’s no fresh air! no open space! where’s he gonna get his adventure fix if he’s just stuck inside all day? booooo!

▸     RAIN    OR    SUNSHINE ?   both! while sonic very much enjoys the sun and finding a warm patch of sunlight to nap in, rain is also one of his favorite types of weather too. while he may be afraid of deep water, any other forms of experiencing water is lovely and the rain is really refreshing to run and splash in ▸     FOREST    OR    BEACH ?   okay sonic admittedly loves the beach and grew up with one literally a 2 minute walk away from his house but since there’s not much really to do besides look at how pretty the beach is he’ll have to go with forests. more stuff to explore and what not tbh. ▸     PRECIOUS    METALS    OR    GEMS ?   Gems for sure. he’s had a lot of fun playing with precious gems 👀 ▸     FLOWERS    OR    PERFUMES ? Oh for sure flowers, Sonic’s a huge flower and nature enthusiast and he enjoys the natural floral scents that they produce, plus they’re very pretty! ▸     PERSONALITY    OR    APPEARANCE ?   Personality hands down. if the person just LOOKS nice but has no personality then whats the point ??  ▸     BEING    ALONE    OR    BEING    IN    A    CROWD ?   it kinda depends. sonic doesn’t mind being in the presence of a lot of people but he’d prefer if he didn’t have all their attention and wasn’t lost in the throng of it. he’d rather be off to the side where he can do his own thing but still enjoy the presence of others. he’s a weird extrovert like that LOL ▸     ORDER    OR    ANARCHY ?   While he understands that order is important and it’s good for people to have moral structure in their lives, sometimes he just can’t do with the rules set in stone. sonic may be a good guy but in his mind sometimes being the good guy means you gotta break the rules  ▸     PAINFUL    TRUTHS    OR    WHITE    LIES ?  It... depends, honestly. is the painful truth about him or someone/something else? is he the one lying or is he the one being lied to?

sonic has a really bad habit with compulsively lying about his own well being so that others don’t worry about him, but when others lie to him about something (if it’s a really important something, not like minor stuff--- minor stuff he can let slide) then he Can’t Stand That. Which makes him a pretty huge hypocrite for hating white lies from other people but in his mind’s eye he puts other people first before him because he’s so darn selfless so it’s not really a big deal he’s sacrificing his well being for other’s right? he’s saving lives and making people happy right ?

anyway as far as the painful truth goes, as long as it doesn’t revolve around his personal feelings then he can manage it. i guess he prefers the painful truth in that sense, considering he’s carefully optimistic 

▸     SCIENCE    OR    MAGIC ?   ....eh. honestly he’s seen it all. at this point sonic just kinda  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever man i can turn golden and super powerful with these magical rocks?? i can fight literal time gods with the rest of time space & reality crumbling around me and then re-set an entire timeline?? my brother can build a machine that can pinpoint my vital signature when i’m stuck in some weird void dimension??? aight. sounds fair. ▸     PEACE    OR    CONFLICT ?   Peace tbh, although after a while it does get a little boring if there’s no conflict for him to resolve--- being the hero he is. ▸     NIGHT    OR    DAY ?  

Either’s fine tbh, he doesn’t really have a preference. although sometimes night makes him feel a little on edge thanks to sonic unleashed ▸     DUSK    OR    DAWN ? 

he’s kinda indifferent about either, and isn’t really a fan of paying attention to the sun’s movements around these times of the day anyway bc it brings back unpleasant memories. thanks sonic unleashed

▸     WARMTH    OR    COLD  ? 

warmth pls he has short fur and was born on a tropical island, being cold sucks

▸     MANY   ACQUAINTANCES    OR    A    FEW    CLOSE    FRIENDS ? 

both ? sonic has a few close friends and many acquaintances tbh.

▸     READING    OR    PLAYING    A    GAME ?  

PLAYING A GAME ABSOLUTELY. reading just doesn’t cut it for this hedgehog’s overactive brain he needs something he can physically engage in somehow and while he may enjoy a good story he has to be receiving it in a way that keeps his attention and if he’s just stuck sitting there and staring at a page he will lose focus pretty quick.

—    QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    OF    YOUR    MUSE’S    BAD    HABITS ? -lying (about his well being) and hiding when he is hurt emotionally/physically -letting his selfless nature take control to the point where it’s damaging his own health -isolating himself with his problems so other people don’t have to deal with it -running away from situations when he can’t understand his feelings -making impulsive decisions that he doesn’t always think through  

▸      HAS    YOUR    MUSE    LOST    ANYONE    CLOSE    TO    THEM ?      HOW    HAS    IT    AFFECTED    THEM ? sonic’s first experience with losing a loved one was his own father, who unfortunately died saving sonic’s life from drowning in a tsunami. it was what  really kick started a lot of what you see in the blue hedgehog today, tbh. his drive to help and save others, his resolve over accepting that bad things happen and you can’t always control that no matter what you do... you can thank his mom for that btw. she helped sway him away from completely internalizing this event and taught him some very important life lessons.

since then Sonic has been no stranger to loss but he’s gotten good at handling it over the years, seeing as he’s had to say goodbye to many people in his life. it still hurts, though. he will do everything in his power to not lose those people who hold that place in his heart

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    FOND    MEMORIES    YOUR    MUSE    HAS ?  

flying in his grandpa’s plane for the first time, it was the coolest thing he’d ever experienced in his life at the time. 

another time would be soaring above the city tops of grand metropolis with his teammates (in sonic heroes), like honestly traveling as that trio for a while was such a thrill and he sometimes misses those days

▸     IS    IT    EASY    FOR    YOUR    MUSE    TO    KILL ? ....not really, no. sonic really doesn’t like killing and will do just about anything to avoid doing it unless it really, really comes down to the only option he has. and let me tell you, sonic takes no pride in being responsible for the death of someone else, no matter who that person is.

▸      WHAT’S    IT    LIKE    WHEN    YOUR    MUSE    BREAKS    DOWN ?

oh boy.

sonic’s breakdowns are honestly really subtle, and that’s because they’re a slow process that consists of him cracking and crumbling and then trying to hold it together and build himself back up because he can’t afford to break down and then cracking and crumbling again but never really allowing himself to have that moment where he actually snaps and falls apart.

the signs you’ll want to look out for will be him avoiding people way more often than usual, becoming irritable and his temper flaring up, exhaustion from lack of getting amounts proper sleep, he pretty much starts to self destruct a little bit and it’s not a pretty sight. it’s why he especially tries to avoid people when he gets like this because he doesn’t want them to see whats actually going on.

▸      IS    YOUR    MUSE    CAPABLE    OF    TRUSTING    SOMEONE    WITH    THEIR    LIFE ? there’s lots of people he’d trust with his life tbh

▸      WHAT’S    YOUR    MUSE    LIKE    WHEN    THEY’RE    IN    LOVE ?

,,,, man.

ok, sonic is such a huge sap and he hates it LOL. he’ll suddenly catch himself thinking all wistfully about the person he’s in love with and will be like “really?? right in front of my salad??” LMAO it’s just in his nature to be cheesy and sappy and do sweet things for the person of his affections because that’s exactly how his dad was but at the same time he’ll mentally take a second to point out how lame it is and he embarrasses himself over it ashdfkd

besides that, though, sonic is a real big sweet heart, and he’ll really want to try to express to that person how much he loves them but he’d also fear this whole romantic side of him coming out will interfere with his love of adventure. the idea of committing himself to one specific person in a way that makes them feel like his whole world to him is a bit scary to sonic, because he knows that he can’t really afford that when he’s out here saving lives and going on adventures. how could he possibly have the time for that, anyway? can this person keep up with him? would he be willing to slow down for that person? it just begs so many different questions and forces sonic to face possible changes to his entire way of living and it freaks him out a little bit.

which is why he tends to avoid romantic topics in general, and also why when he gets a crush on someone he goes straight into panic mode LOL. he’d honestly rather stay friends with the person and quietly adore them in his own time, maybe by sending them gifts or dropping by their place on occasion, DEFINITELY, AT LEAST making an effort to spend a little bit more time with that person than anyone else. 

#{ tagged. } 🌀 #{ headcanons. } i just only have a steadfast heart of gold! 🌀 #// i was shocked to see how similar my muse is to your's ! they seem like they'd get along! #// thanks so much for the tag btw!!!

[el-trotamundos]

Returning to Canada after Melbourne’s strict lockdown has been a shock (and not in the right way)

In mid-October I returned to Canada having spent the better part of 2020 under not one, but two lockdowns of increasing severity in Melbourne. Better acquainted with the four walls of my bedroom than the four corners of the vast Australian continent, my working holiday year had certainly not gone as planned. I’ve been back nearly 7 weeks but it still hasn’t quite sunk in. This house, this city is not where I grew up and they hold no more than holiday memories for me. In limbo, I can’t go back to where I was and yet I’m not sure how to move forward. I am frustrated and sad that the opportunity to live and travel in Australia just evaporated. I feel in some ways like I was never there, that it will go down in my life story as the ‘missing year’.

As the first wave of coronavirus swept the globe, I chose to stay in Melbourne. I’d only just arrived a few months previous and Australia seemed to have a better plan than Canada. The government closed its borders and sent all returning citizens into supervised mandatory quarantine at hotels. Community transmission - to the extent that it even existed - was quickly nipped in the bud and in May only a handful of cases were being reported each day. Things started reopening and although I had lost my job in March, I felt confident I had made the right decision in staying and would be able to find another. Australia, like New Zealand, was a rare success story. 

That sense of pride didn’t last long. In June case numbers in Melbourne started to creep upwards. News articles started appearing about breaches at the hotel quarantine sites which allowed the virus to gain a foothold in the community. The return to the restrictions of the first lockdown were gradual - targeting postcodes (mine included) with the highest number of cases. At the beginning of July, the rest of the state joined us. New cases were 100+ and climbing every day but a far cry from the numbers Canada was experiencing and deeming acceptable. But this time the lockdown didn’t work. In August, as case numbers hit the high of 700+ a day, the government implemented its strictest measures yet. There was a night time curfew. Only 1 hour of outdoor exercise per day was permitted and you had to be alone or with members of your immediate household only. Masks were mandatory even if you were just out to walk the dog and you couldn’t be further than 5km away from your home. Rules were enforced with large fines and police and Australian Defence Force personnel patrolled parks and other areas where people might try to gather. 

Draconian? Authoritarian? Critics and Twitter bots certainly thought so: the Premier was often referred to as ‘Dictator Dan’. I do not dispute that the economic and mental health cost of Melbourne’s lockdowns was enormous. But it was the only way Victoria could get to the zero or single digit cases that the rest of Australia was enjoying.

Victoria has gone 31 days without a single new COVID case. In contrast, British Columbia announced a record breaking 911 positive cases on 26 November. It’s been incredibly tough to see Instagram stories from friends in Melbourne: they are going to bars, the beach, meeting new people, planning Christmas vacations. Of course we can do all this too in Canada, with limits depending on where you live, but it comes with a COVID risk that does not exist in Australia. 

Coming back to BC’s fairly relaxed guidelines was terrifying. Any relief I felt over leaving the nearly 4 month lockdown was quickly replaced by anger and disbelief at how complacent provinces were as they stared a second wave in the face (I exclude the Atlantic bubble here). With cases in BC climbing to the same level that precipitated Melbourne’s harshest restrictions, I found myself wishing to be under those rules again.

It’s not ridiculous to look at Australia for guidance on how to deal with this second wave. The state of Victoria and the province of BC have comparable populations of 6.6 million and 5.1 million respectively. Both Australia and Canada have similar systems of government in which the premiers have much of the control over how they handle the pandemic response. Just like we are seeing in Vancouver and surrounding cities, the majority of sustained community transmission was in the greater Melbourne metropolitan area. What is different is the path that was chosen when the pandemic started. Australia, like New Zealand, aimed for elimination, even eradication of COVID-19. Canada was content to merely suppress it at levels that would not overwhelm hospitals. That choice may have worked the first time but it’s certainly not now.

“New modelling from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) shows the number of COVID-19 cases could reach 60,000 a day by the end of December if Canadians increase their current level of contact with other people. That number could be limited to 20,000 a day if Canadians maintain their current number of personal contacts, according to PHAC. But to drive that number under 10,000 cases a day by the end of the year, Canadians would need to limit their interactions to essential activities while maintaining physical distancing and adhering to other public health guidelines.” CBC 20 November 

The fact that we should just accept 20,000 cases a day with our current levels of restrictions is mind-boggling. Even 10,000 cases a day scares me. Much of what I take issue with in the following is BC specific but it goes for any province not doing enough to curb this second wave (cough, Alberta, cough).

When I returned I was shocked to discover that BC did not have a provincial mandatory mask mandate unlike many others. The official line was that the spread was mostly from social gatherings and masks wouldn’t be worn in those situations anyway. To this I yelled ‘then put more limits on gatherings” at the TV. On 19 November masks became mandatory in public indoor spaces. Even as she made the announcement, Dr. Bonnie Henry seemed to brush it off as something the government was only implementing to appease the growing public call for legislation; other than that, there was still no reason for it. Furthermore, the mask mandate does not apply to schools. Again the government maintained the position that there was not enough transmission in schools to warrant it. So now BC is in this ridiculous situation where a parent has to wear a mask in the grocery store for half an hour while their kid sits in a poorly ventilated building for 7 without one. With contradictory messaging like that it’s no wonder people don’t take it seriously. Wearing a mask is relatively low cost high reward but it must be enforced in all indoor public settings.

The other thing that seemed crazy to me was people eating in restaurants, going to the gym, and attending large weddings and funerals. Those events had not been allowed in Melbourne for months. A few weeks after I arrived the government talked a lot about sticking to your ‘safe six people bubble’. But it was never made clear that a bubble is only as strong as its weakest link and would never be completely COVID free. With people still going to restaurants, the gym, and cinemas, the chances of someone bringing COVID into your bubble only increased as cases numbers did. Now we’ve finally been told to socialize with our immediate households only, but we can still troop out to the bar or go to a gym (although high intensity activities like spin classes are no longer permitted). 

What could help monitor these social interactions is the federal COVID Alert app. Yet the BC government has consistently declined to activate it stating that it will hinder current contract tracing efforts and confuse people who receive alerts that they may have been exposed. Adopting the app will never replace track and trace investigations by human beings but it can complement it. Dr. Henry has admitted that the rising case numbers are causing delays in contact tracking. If the alert can tell me I’ve been potentially exposed before a public health official can, I’ll take it. It’s the same principle with mask wearing - it will never completely prevent you from picking up COVID but it sure helps your chances.

I want my normal life back as much as anyone but that is simply not possible. Leaving one lockdown for another is not my idea of fun but 7 weeks of being back in Canada has demonstrated that this country is only putting off the inevitable. Even after 9 months of this pandemic, the federal and many provincial governments would rather use words like ‘encourage’ or ‘recommend’ rather than ‘mandatory’. They put out confusing or contradictory information and then scold people for not following it. The longer we wait to enforce stricter rules, the harder it will be to flatten the curve, let alone force it downwards. It’s only the end of November; we have another four to five months of cold weather keeping us indoors to get through. I shudder to think at what our case numbers will be in January after the holidays.

The news of three promising vaccines provides cause for celebration but we should not resist implementing further restrictions simply because some people *may* start receiving the jab next spring. It will take time before it gets to the general population - our medical professionals and the vulnerable rightly need it first. We will still have to wear masks, limit gatherings, and socially distance as those around us slowly start receiving the vaccine. Yes that means throughout 2021 for Canadians, especially if we cannot get a handle on cases this winter. 

I can offer these thoughts only as someone who experienced an actual lockdown (make no mistake, Canada’s version is ‘lockdown-lite’). I won’t bother advocating for the harshest of Melbourne’s restrictions because the government isn’t willing or prepared to invest the manpower it will take to enforce such rules. But surely some watered down version could be implemented. At some point public health must take priority. You can’t have a thriving economy when your workforce is sick, isolating, or dead. As the Victorian government reminded me daily this year: ‘staying apart keeps us together’. 

#lockdowndiaries #coronavirus #covidcanada #covidbc #bcpoli #acanadiannolongerdownunder #melbourne #covidzero #wearamask