The Relief Of Being Free To Interact With People And Content Online Without Being Tied Down To My Offline

Reblog if you understand that disability is not a monolith and two people with the same disability do not have identical experiences ✨

Ada Limón, “To Be Made Whole”, On Being with Krista Tippett

I think so many people forget making the world a better place isn’t just about having all the ‘correct’ sociopolitical opinions and beliefs and knowing all the theory it’s also hugely about actually being a good person… everyday acts of kindness and empathy, going out of your way to help others, small moments of connection in a cold world, loving thy neighbour all that

Surgical masks are ineffective at protecting you and others from respiratory illnesses. That said, any mask is better than no mask and some people just don't have easy access to KN95 or better. Here's how you can improve the efficacy of the protection a surgical mask offers you and others in four simple steps.

fold mask in half (hot dog style)

Tie a knot close to the mask's edge with the ear loop.

Expand the nose and chin area (it should be concave, coming to a point where you tied the knot)

push the outer surface of the mask inward under the knot (to form a better seal)

Beatrix Potter

Writer, illustrator, conservationist, natural scientist

For the inaugural Arcade Feature, I'm excited to tell you about Beatrix Potter. Most people (including me) know her best for her picture books-

-which have sold over 250 million copies since they were published in the early 1900s.

Fun fact: In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.

But what really caught my attention is the work she was doing before Peter Rabbit came along.

Beatrix Potter had a scientific eye for detail, and was able to faithfully depict the world around her. In particular, she was interested in mycology.

In 1897, she put forward a paper to the Linnean Society in London... but as a woman was not allowed to be a member of the society nor attend the meeting when her paper was read. When the society's members did not pay much attention to her work, and fearing her samples to be contaminated, Potter withdrew her paper, which became lost. Only after Potter left hundreds of mycological artworks to a museum in the Lake District, UK, on her death in 1943, were her scientific talents recognized... Potter's precise and beautiful paintings and drawings of fungi are now helping modern mycologists in their efforts to identify species.*

Potter eventually moved away from books in favor of land management and farming. She was a prize-winning sheep breeder and a prosperous farmer, and bought several farms surrounding her own to preserve the unique hill country landscape. Much of that land now constitutes the Lake District National Park.

Keep an eye out for more Beatrix Potter throughout the month of February.

All Arcade Feature Posts

* Fry, C., & Wayland, E. (2024). Introduction. In The Botanists’ Library, The Most Important Botanical Books in History (1st ed., pp. 9–10). introduction, Ivy Press.

Moss and lichen inspired repairs on my jacket. Some of my oldest and newest work lives on this thing.

Indonesia Plans to Retire All Coal Plants Within 15 Years

Read Bloomberg article here

From the article:

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said the government plans to retire all the nation’s coal power plants within 15 years to help stem global warming. The country will also retire all other fossil fuel plants and add more than 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity over the same time frame, Prabowo said during the G-20 Summit in Brazil, according to a video statement on Wednesday. He also said Indonesia was optimistic it could achieve net zero emissions before 2050, a decade earlier than its existing target.

Plot twist for all the "I'd kill myself if I was as disabled as you" crowd:

If you were in my position, you wouldn't BE spending all day in bed. You'd be abusing your body by forcing yourself to work a job and just "tough it out" when you make yourself sicker. If you had to put up with the level of medical abuse that I do, you'd just swear off the medical field entirely and claim "big pharma" is good for nothing and only wants your money and to keep people sick.

No one actually tells you to stay in bed and rest when you're disabled. Overcoming internalized ableism comes in many phases, one of which is making the radical decision to stay in bed and rest if you're disabled.

You wouldn't kill yourself if you were me, because with your attitude, you could never BE me, and that's really fucking pathetic.

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet