gosh but like we spent hundreds of years looking up at the stars and wondering “is there anybody out there” and hoping and guessing and imagining
because we as a species were so lonely and we wanted friends so bad, we wanted to meet other species and we wanted to talk to them and we wanted to learn from them and to stop being the only people in the universe
and we started realizing that things were maybe not going so good for us– we got scared that we were going to blow each other up, we got scared that we were going to break our planet permanently, we got scared that in a hundred years we were all going to be dead and gone and even if there were other people out there, we’d never get to meet them
and then
we built robots?
and we gave them names and we gave them brains made out of silicon and we pretended they were people and we told them hey you wanna go exploring, and of course they did, because we had made them in our own image
and maybe in a hundred years we won’t be around any more, maybe yeah the planet will be a mess and we’ll all be dead, and if other people come from the stars we won’t be around to meet them and say hi! how are you! we’re people, too! you’re not alone any more!, maybe we’ll be gone
but we built robots, who have beat-up hulls and metal brains, and who have names; and if the other people come and say, who were these people? what were they like?
the robots can say, when they made us, they called us discovery; they called us curiosity; they called us explorer; they called us spirit. they must have thought that was important.
and they told us to tell you hello.
this is far and away the most popular post i ever made on tumblr. people have asked me if they could illustrate it, people have asked me if they could turn it into a novella, people just messaged me to say it made them cry. that means more to me than i can say.
you probably heard that the mars opportunity rover died today.
it was hard news to hear. i cried at my desk at work. it doesn’t make it easier that it was only supposed to run for 90 days at all; it doesn’t make it easier that it lived 14 years longer than it expected to. it lived a full life. it lived a very good life. it was the first set of eyes on miles and miles of mars. it was an explorer, it was tough, it was very, very brave. and none of that makes it easier, none of that makes it okay that it is not going to sing happy birthday to itself again.
about a year ago, my childhood cat died. i loved her more than anything. i don’t live near my family any more, and i wasn’t there for it, but my parents were, and they held her while her body gave out, and they say she knew she was with them, she knew she was loved.
i know opportunity was a computer inside a movable body, and not a person, or even an animal. still, i wish it had had people to hold it. i wish it had been with the people who cared for it. it seems very hard to me, to die so far from home.
but i think - to the extent to which we can say computers “know” things, which i think is a great deal; i think knowing is most of what computers do; i think if they have a consciousness, knowledge must be nearly all of it-
i think opportunity knew it was loved.
every couple of months i dream that i’ve gone home and my cat’s there. even now, even though my grieving is over and done with, i visit her in my dreams, and i hold her, and every time, she purrs. she missed me. she’s so happy to be with me again.
that’s a very human thing, dreaming of what we’ve loved. what we’ve lost. dreaming things that outlast death. like robots, and singing.
“A Facebook user recently commented that the Eagles had “played like they were wearing tutus!!!”
Our response:
“With all due respect to the Eagles, let’s take a minute to look at what our tutu wearing women have done this month:
By tomorrow afternoon, the ballerinas that wear tutus at Pennsylvania Ballet will have performed The Nutcracker 27 times in 21 days. Some of those women have performed the Snow scene and the Waltz of the Flowers without an understudy or second cast. No ‘second string’ to come in and spell them when they needed a break. When they have been sick they have come to the theater, put on make up and costume, smiled and performed. When they have felt an injury in the middle of a show there have been no injury timeouts. They have kept smiling, finished their job, bowed, left the stage, and then dealt with what hurts. Some of these tutu wearers have been tossed into a new position with only a moments notice. That’s like a cornerback being told at halftime that they’re going to play wide receiver for the second half, but they need to make sure that no one can tell they’ve never played wide receiver before. They have done all of this with such artistry and grace that audience after audience has clapped and cheered (no Boo Birds at the Academy) and the Philadelphia Inquirer has said this production looks “better than ever”.
So no, the Eagles have not played like they were wearing tutus. If they had, Chip Kelly would still be a head coach and we’d all be looking forward to the playoffs.“
my aunt talking about her outdoor cats: if they die a few years early because I let them out, so be it
me: -_____________________________-
“the safety of this tiny soft bastard who happens to love me is entirely under my control, but fuck that I guess”
ppl reblogging this post: “but my cats love going outside! I don’t provide any mental stimulation indoors, so they’re MISERABLE when not playing in the street - can’t you see there’s no painfully obvious solution?”
this makes me profoundly stressed cats are living things who absolutely want and should be allowed to go outside if your living situation allows it
me chucking my canary out the window: “you are a living thing who absolutely wants and should be allowed to go outside if my living situation allows it”
Me throwing open my doors: be free, dogs!! May your profound stress be eased!!!!! for my living situation allows you to do so!!!!!!!
Ah yes, let’s let this species cause mass extinctions of local birds in areas they’re not from while letting them drink antifreeze from puddles and climb into car engines and frolic with coyotes, that’ll make them happy
>mass extinction of local birds
Fucking lol
I cannot fathom why you would find it ridiculous that introducing millions of non-native, invasive predators into almost every single country when they have no natural predators just might have an impact on local animals. It is common sense, and conservationists have been telling us for years that cats are one of the leading drivers of extinction in wild birds and small fauna. On the list of predators posing the highest risk to native species, cats rank second, contributing towards the extinction of 63 separate species. You may find it funny that cute, fuzzy little cats pose a threat to wild animals, but the problems they cause for native species is well documented.
why limit yourself between choosing between a pretty feminine aesthetic or a dark one? if persephone can be the goddess of spring & queen of the underworld at the same time so can you
doctors: GOOD NEWS EVERYONE we have found a treatment for diabetes it’s called insulin! people won’t die from this illness anymore if we just give them insulin isn’t this great news?
united states of america: how about we make it so poor people have either limited to zero access to this insulin?
doctors: but don’t we have enough resources to provide for everyone in need of such a medication?
the united states of america: yes!
doctors: isn’t that genocide
united states of america: YES
united states of america fist pumping and chanting ‘U’ ‘S’ ‘A’:
capitalism is genocide
i usually don’t add to posts i reblog but as a type 1 diabetic this makes me so fucking angry.
i have an insulin pump. each time i change the port (basically what connects it to my body, similar to an iv) i use about a third of a bottle refilling the cartridge. i change it every three days, so one single, 10ml bottle of insulin lasts me around nine days.
i had to look this up because my parents don’t like to tell me how much my supplies cost. (for reasons like this. i feel guilty for my t1d. i shouldn’t have to feel guilty about an autoimmune disorder i was born with.)
you know how much it is for that one, single 10ml bottle of insulin, for those without any insurance?
$328.
for nine days.
$328 for a nine days supply of the medicine that i literally need to survive. the medicine that once i become an adult and have to take care of myself, i will have to pay for. the medicine that unless, by some miracle, they find a cure, i will need to take for the rest of my life. $328 for nine days of my life.
Near and dear to my non functional pancreas
Fam, I am also type 1 diabetic. I also use a pump. I am preparing to go do fieldwork in Europe for nine months and insulin is perishable. I use a brand that’s available in Europe. The same vial that costs $300+ in the US without insurance costs €22 ($25.60) in one country and $10-15 in the other. Not with insurance! Cash. Roll up to the pharmacy and explain that you have diabetes cash price.
It doesn’t have to be like this. The US needs to start negotiating better pharmaceutical prices like every other country. Get some socialism up in this bitch.
DEATH BY CAPITALISM.
>_> Pretty much.
You want to get really annoyed? It used to be a fraction of the cost even in the US. I work in the veterinary field, so nearly all my clients pay for their pet’s medication out of pocket. Maybe 10-15 years ago, you could get a bottle of Humulin N for about $12. Now that amount of Humilin N costs more like $300.
Tip: Ask your MD if you can replace your current insulin with a Novolin insulin would work for you. A 10 ml bottle costs more like $25. DON’T CHANGE INSULINS WITHOUT CHECKING WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN.
Your purpose in life is not to love yourself but to love being yourself.
If you goal is to love yourself, then your focus is directed inward toward yourself, and you end up constantly watching yourself from the outside, disconnected, trying to summon the “correct” feelings towards yourself or fashion yourself into something you can approve of.
If your goal is to love being yourself, then your focus is directed outward towards life, on living and making decisions based on what brings you pleasure and fulfillment.
Be the subject, not the object. It doesn’t matter what you think of yourself. You are experiencing life. Life is not experiencing you.
Thank you this is the first post about self love that hasn’t made me want to throw things
