Eat Cookies, Help the Gulf

A woman on Twitter who goes by the name Salome Strangelove recently went viral for discussing the importance of female body autonomy.

Here's how it started.

She continued talking about how her mother had a difficult pregnancy.

Her mother asked her doctor about the possibility of sterilization.

As was typical of the times, she was chastised by her male, Catholic doctor.

Her mother was made to feel guilty about simply exploring the medical options about her own body. But later on, a new doctor made her feel more comfortable about her situation.

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Once her mother had the courage to speak up, her own family members supported her.

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Amen.

This article originally appeared on 6.20.21.

Check out this slideshow of photos collected on Reddit by Distractify, featuring bad parkers “Who Got A Swift Visit From Karma."

This article originally appeared on 10.23.17

1. How many seasons was “Full House" on the air?

2. Complete the verse... “I been in the game for ten years makin' rap tunes..."

3. What color pants does Jake from State Farm wear?

4. Okay, this one's going to be tough for you.

“Yesterday, during my lecture, I quickly mentioned that only a pink pen will save you tomorrow. Draw a stick figure below in that pink pen."

5. Describe the dumbest conversation you overheard recently.

Guy: Do you like Bon Jovi?
Girl: No thanks, I don't eat Italian Food.

6. Including “The Revenant," how many times has Leo DiCaprio been nominated for an Academy Award?

7. And this one's a true test of your reading strategy.

First person to read this, stand up proudly on your chair, and yell at the top of your lungs, “Oh Captain, My Captain!" will receive a 95% on this exam.
…
...
...
*Just kidding. Name the drummer for The Beatles.

This article originally appeared on 05.01.19

But today, this accent is all but nonexistent, prompting the question: Did Americans speak differently before the advent of television?

The video below, “Why Do People in Old Movies Talk Weird?," reveals the secret of this distinct inflection known as the Mid-Atlantic accent and why it was so prominent in early 20th-century American media.

This article originally appeared on 09.06.17

“We now have a case confirmed of what species we can plant and in what conditions," Irina Fedorenko, co-founder of Biocarbon Engineering, told Fast Company. “We are now ready to scale up our planting and replicate this success."

According to Fedoranko, just two operators could send out a mini-fleet of seed missile planting drones that could plant 400,000 trees a day -- a number that quite possibly could make massive headway in combating the effects of manmade climate change.

The drones were designed by an ex-NASA engineer. And with a pressing need to reseed an area in Myanmar equal to the size of Rhode Island, the challenge is massive but suddenly within reach. Bremley Lyngdoh, founder and CEO of World Impact, says reseeding that area could theoretically house as many as 1 billion new trees.

“Obviously, planting a billion trees will take a long time without the help of drones," Lyngdoh told Fast Company.

But they've now got a powerful new ally in their corner. For context, it took the Worldview Foundation 7 years to plant 6 million trees in Myanmar. Now, with the help of the drones, they hope to plant another 4 million before the end of 2019.

Myanmar is a great case study for the project. In addition to the available land for the drone project, the nation has been particularly hit by the early effects of climate change in recent years. Rising sea levels are having a measurable impact on the population. In addition to their ability to clear CO2 from the atmosphere, healthy trees can also help solidify the soil, which can reduce the kind of soil erosion that has been affecting local populations in Myanmar.

Going forward, technologies like seed-planting drones could help stem the tide of catastrophic climate change while our governments and societies work to change the habits of consumers and corporations that are driving the problem. Our endless hunger for new technology may be the driving force behind climate change and deforestation but it could also end up being the solution to a problem.

This article originally appeared on April 17, 2019.

I miss the days when I could simply answer, "I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" It wasn't always true, of course—we all go through things sometimes—but the question itself was a pleasantry far less loaded than it is now. Under normal circumstances, there's a baseline of okay-ness that we assume of ourselves and others. Unless we're going through a particularly rough patch, we normally can say "I'm fine" and basically mean it.

Looking at my friend in her mask at the bottom of our front steps, I don't know what to say. After years of pandemic life and political and social unrest, I'm not fine. Nobody is. Even those of us who aren't struggling financially, who are in good physical health, who have a network of supportive friends and loved ones really aren't fine. And we all know it.

It's been a year, to say the least. Far more intensely than usual, things are very much not okay in our country and the world in general, so how can we expect ourselves to be? Saying "I'm fine" under these circumstances makes you sound like a psychopath. When so many people are suffering and the country has been through so much upheaval and nothing is normal and everything is wonky, "fine" is just not a word that fits.

Even if you actually are doing well on a personal level somehow, you can't really say that without feeling kind of guilty, right? "The world is on fire, but I'm great!" just doesn't land well. And again, even if we're doing okay ourselves, empathy for others who are dealing with the loss of loved ones, financial hardship, severe illness, kid struggles, etc. is a lot to handle. Maybe others aren't as bothered by it, but the weight of other people's struggles weighs heavily on me, even on days when I'm technically "fine."

So do you tell the truth? "Physically I'm okay, but mentally I'm drowning, and emotionally I'm a wreck, and I'd give my right pinky finger to sit in a crowded coffee shop without worrying about killing anyone" doesn't land all that well either. We don't want to burden other people with our problems, we don't want to complain when there are people that have it worse, and we don't want to bring other people down. But at least an answer like that would be honest.

The one silver lining to all of this is that we're all experiencing the heaviness of the world on some level, so that kind of raw honesty can actually bring us together. We're not supposed to be fine during a global pandemic and attempted overthrow of our government. We're not supposed to be fine when we have to choose between bonding in person with friends and saving the lives of the vulnerable. We're not supposed to be fine, so we certainly don't have to pretend to be.

Unlike normal times, when "fine" is an expected and accepted answer to the "How are you?" question, right now it's expected and accepted that we're not. And that's a relief in a way. We all know we're not fine, so why put up the pretense? Let's just acknowledge that we're all going through a rough period as a people, be ready to lend a listening ear if someone needs it, and share whatever we're experiencing ourselves.

Personally, I'm past the point of even wanting to vent. My go-to response has become, "All things considered, I'm hanging in there." Most days, that's the truth. Most days, that's about all we can reasonably expect of ourselves. With vaccines being rolled out and a shift in political leadership, there is some much-needed light on the horizon, but we still have a ways to go and it looks like a pretty treacherous landscape between here and there. So we hang in there.

Maybe instead of figuring out how to answer the "How are you?" question, we can just change the question to reflect reality. "You hanging in there?" seems like a better question right now than "How are you?" The latter is just too loaded, and few of us have the energy for more than a basic yes or no answer.

We're all starting from a baseline of not-okayness now, and we can find solidarity in that. Let's just acknowledge that truth, embrace the fact that we're all not fine, and do our best to be helpful and stay hopeful however we can together.

This article originally appeared on 01.30.20.

“I was observing other fathers with their daughters and so loved each tender moment they had together. I think I drew what I lacked and very much wanted — to feel loved and protected by my big papa." Her paintings do a beautiful job at celebrating a wonderful relationship and showing the tender side of masculinity.

See more of Snezhana Soosh's artwork on her Instagram page.

This article originally appeared on 09.25.17

“Mom was never boring," Hicks' daughter, Barb Drummond, told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Mom lived large. She would do anything for anyone. It was rare for Mom not to have a smile on her face. Mom was always ready for a laugh."

The obituary begins with a shot at her husband, Ron. “It hurts me to admit it, but I, Mrs. Ron Hicks from Baysville, have passed away," they wrote. “I leave behind my loving husband, Ron Hicks, whom I often affectionately referred to as a 'Horse's Ass.'"

She then goes on to roast her own children.

“I also left behind my children whom I tolerated over the years; Bob (with Carol) my oldest son and also my favourite. Brian (with Ginette) who was the Oreo cookie favourite, Brenda AKA 'Hazel' who would run to clean the bathrooms when she heard company was coming," they continued. “Barbara (with Gordon) the ever Miss Perfect and finally Baby Bruce who wouldn't eat homemade turkey soup because he didn't want to be alert looking for bones while he ate."

The piece ends with a great zinger and a bit of a mystery: “I finally have the smoking hot body I have always wanted… having been cremated. Please come say goodbye and celebrate my wonderful life with my husband and his special friend Dorothy who is now lovingly taking care of my horse's ass."

Did her husband have a side piece or are they talking about the dog?

The viral obituary has done more than just spread a few much needed laughs across the world, it's helped the family heal after Hicks' long battle with Alzheimer's disease. The disorder may have stolen Hicks' quick wit sharp tongue; but, in a way, the obituary, has given voice to a woman who was long silenced.

“We just thought that when she passed, we really didn't want to have this sort of boilerplate template obituary," Brian Hicks, the second eldest of Hick's five children, told the CBC.

“We wanted to do something that kind of celebrated who she was and to give us an opportunity to basically have one last conversation with her, and have some laughs at the same time," he said.

The Hicks family hopes that those who are moved by their mother's story will consider donating to their local Alzheimer's charity.

Read the entire obituary at The Hamilton Spectator.

This article originally appeared on 02.11.19.