MONEY. WE WANT MONEY. MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY. WE CAN DO SO MUCH WITH IT. WE HAVE ACCESS TO DEALS YOU COULD NEVER. MONEY
That aside.
I’m only going to talk about food items but if your food bank takes personal items, a lot of times diapers, feminine hygiene products, etc, are very very welcome.
1) Canned chicken and beef
looooooove this stuff. It’s expensive, it lasts forever, it tastes good and it can be used a variety of ways. This stuff is fucking catnip to food banks, it’s so hard for us to provide proteins.
2) Fancy nut butters
Peanut butter is a standby for food banks as a shelf-stable inexpensive protein, but if we have a family with a kid with a peanut allergy that’s not going to work. Non-peanut butters are expensive and it’s something we hardly ever see donated. (we also like peanut butter, but that’s easier for us to buy ourselves than non-peanut butters)
3) Canned or packaged tuna
You may notice a trend here in shelf-stable proteins. And yeah. That’s basically it, so I’m not going to keep harping on it. But this stuff is a godsend.
4) Easy breakfast things for kids (Granola bars, instant oatmeal, and the like)
Whatever Donald Trump tells you, most people who get food from food banks are actually working their asses off and so they have to leave Obama to raise their baby or whatever, and they don’t have a lot of time in the morning. Things like this that kids can make for themselves are expensive. (Another trend you may be noticing–donate shit that costs a lot of money. That helps us more than all the shitty green bean cans in the world) But they are so helpful for busy working families where the parents may not have a set schedule and sometimes little Amanda is making her own breakfast before she runs off to school. Don’t let kids go to school hungry.
5) Shelf-stable juice
This is one people never think of! But if you show up with a bunch of (preferably reduced sugar stuff) bottles of juice at my door, oh man, you are gonna get so many check mark and okay hand emoticons. This stuff is great for kids, and it doesn’t require refrigeration until it’s opened, so it works great for food drives.
But seriously, give money
And it’s way better food, too, anything you get prepackaged has A TON of sugar and/or salt in it…collecting cans may be more exciting than writing a check, but if the point is to help people, the check is going to get a lot more done
Yoooooo heads up for those of you with kids, I know this time of year schools start holding canned food drives so keep this in mind if you’re able to give.
collecting cans may be more exciting than writing a check, but if the point is to help people, the check is going to get a lot more done .
more on writing muslim characters from a hijabi muslim girl
– hijabis get really excited over pretty scarves – they also like to collect pins and brooches – we get asked a lot of questions and it can be annoying or it can be amusing, just depends on our mood and personality and how the question is phrased – common questions include: – “not even water?” (referring to fasting) – hijabis hear a lot of “do you sleep in that?” (we don’t) and “where is your hair?” (in a bun or a braid, usually) – “is it mooze-slim or mozzlem?” (the answer is neither, it’s muslim, with a soft s and accent on the first syllable) – “ee-slam or iz-lamb?” (it’s iss-laam, accent on the first syllable) – “hee-job?” (heh-jahb, accent on the second syllable)
– “kor-an?” (no. quran. say it like koor-annn, accent on the second syllable) – people tend to mess up our names really badly and you just get a sigh and a resigned nod or an awkward smile, maybe a nickname instead – long hair is easy to hide, short hair is harder to wrap up – hijab isn’t just covering hair, it’s also showing as little skin as possible with the exception of face, hands, and feet, and not wearing tight/sheer clothing – that applies to men too, people just don’t like to mention it ( i wonder why) – henna/mehendi isn’t just for special occasions, you’ll see people wearing it for fun – henna/mehendi isn’t just for muslims, either, it’s not a religious thing – henna/mehendi is not just for women, men also wear it, especially on their weddings – there are big mehendi parties in the couple of nights before eid where people (usually just women and kids) gather and do each other’s mehendi, usually just hands and feet – five daily prayers – most muslim kids can stutter through a couple verses of quran in the original arabic text by the age of seven or eight, it does not matter where they live or where they’re from or what language they speak natively – muslim families tend to have multiple copies of the quran – there are no “versions” of the quran, there has only ever been one. all muslims follow the exact same book – muslims have no concept of taking God’s name in vain, we call on God at every little inconvenience – don’t use islamic phrases if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. we use them often, inside and outside of religious settings. in islam, it is encouraged to mention God often and we say these things very casually, but we take them very seriously – Allahu Akbar means “God is Greatest” (often said when something shocks or surprises us, or if we’re scared or daunted, or when something amazing happens, whether it be good or bad; it’s like saying “oh my god”) – Subhan Allah means “Glory be to God” (i say subhan Allah at the sky, at babies, at trees, whatever strikes me as pleasant, especially if it’s in nature) – Bismillah means “in the name of God” and it’s just something you say before you start something like eating or doing your homework – In Shaa Allah means “if God wills” (example: you’ll be famous, in shaa Allah) (it’s a reminder that the future is in God’s hands, so be humble and be hopeful)
– Astaghfirullah means “i seek forgiveness from Allah” and it’s like “god forgive me” – Alhamdulillah means “all thanks and praise belong to God” and it’s just a little bit more serious than saying “thank god” (example: i passed my exams, alhamdulillah; i made it home okay, alhamdulillah) – when i say we use them casually, i really mean it – teacher forgot to assign homework? Alhamdulillah – our version of “amen” is “ameen” – muslims greet each other with “assalamu alaikum” which just means “peace be on you” and it’s like saying hi – the proper response is “walaikum assalam” which means “and on you be peace” and it’s like saying “you too”
As a Muslim this post is so very important and it makes me so happy that it gives the small facts and details that one might be unaware of or confused about.
I’ve reblogged it before but honestly this fucking post touches me so much. To see how intrinsic Allah is to followers of Islam and how ingrained He is in their daily lives is so beautiful.
Also, can we just talk about the fact that there aren’t like 100 different versions of the Quran? Because I didn’t know that and that legit AMAZES me.
i’m watching this documentary about halloween and there’s a part where they’re explaining that ghost stories got really popular around the civil war no one could really deal with how many people went off and died and
the narrator just said
“the first ghost stories were really about coming home”
IIRC, the Civil War also played a huge part in forming the modern American conception of heaven as this nice, domestic place where you’re reunited with your loved ones. People (particularly mothers) responded to the trauma of brother-killing-brother by imagining an afterlife in which families would once again be happy together.
(also not doing this in the correct tag-style, because I wanna KNOW— )What documentary is this? Or is there more than one? Any books on the subject? THIS IS FASCINATING.
cool (ghost) story, bro.
reblogging because, as a us history phd student, i want to say YAY for how much of this is totally on point. i also want to rec the book where a lot of this is covered very, very well, which is Drew Gilpin Faust’s “This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.”
a lot of books on the Civil War are deadly dull because they’re about battles and shit, but as a transformative moment in mindset and ideology, it becomes *fascinating*
the other book I’d even more highly rec is David W. Blight’s “Race and Reunion,” which is about how the “(white) brother against (white) brother” image of the war was invented and how throwing African Americans to the merciless viciousness of post-Reconstruction racist whites was part of constructing this “oh everybody was white men and everybody was noble let’s celebrate them all” approach to Civil War remembrance
very good stuff
Thank you! This looks like exactly the sort of reading I’m after! *adds to wish list*
Also, look for David Blights recordings of his Yale lecture series on The Civil War. 21 hours of class lectures, and its FASCINATING. He barely touches on the battles other than to use them as timestamps as to what was going on. Most of it focuses on what the mindset of everyone was going into the war, and what happened on the way out. It’s an amazing series that will change your entire perception of the war – how it happened, and how it wasn’t going to be possible to avoid it, because of the inherent evil of slavery and how it was destroying damn near *everyone* except rich white people.
Yes! The Republic of Suffering also talks a lot about the Civil War as the start of prevalence of the “noble death” in battle thing. I had to read it for my internship at a battle site last year
@dananetro These book recommendations might interest you
In the box, enter whatever email address you connected in IFTTT. For your pin, go crazy but note that DW doesn’t save capital letters in the pin.
Then string together your account name with your pint in the following form: username+pin@post.dreamwidth.org.
Now head back to your IFTTT recipe box:
And enter in that username+pin@post.dreamwidth.org into your address bar.
YOU’RE SET TO CROSSPOST.
A word of caution: This recipe will crosspost EVERYTHING on Tumblr, both your new content and all your reblogs. You can turn off the automatic push in the recipe’s top right-hand corner:
And then turn it on just before you make a super-important post. Like this one.
You can also cross-post just those posts with a specific tag. Draft workflows are
For when you want some variety for your tabletop RPG. These events will also give your players a chance to use character skills they don’t often have opportunities for.
Natural Disaster – Have the town the PCs are in catch on fire and see what they do! Do they cut their losses and run? Do they heroically try to save trapped townspeople? What do they do about the aftermath? Natural disasters are an interesting challenge because there can be lots of danger and drama without necessarily having a villain. It may also get your PCs to use skills they don’t commonly have a chance to. You could also try floods, earthquakes, raging storms while at sea, etc.
Powerful Fortress – Put one of your party’s goals in a location where they won’t be able to prevail through combat alone (Example: a fortress where they are vastly outnumbered). Your players will have to rely on either stealth or guile (or both) to accomplish their goal. The pacing of such events can be frustrating to some players, but few sessions are as rewarding as a creatively executed heist or infiltration.
Dangerous Crossing – Give them a dangerous physical obstacle to overcome. A canyon, or a raging river, or quicksand or an old battleground littered with traps and mines.
Festival – Have the PCs encounter a festival or tournament! With lots of contests! This could be a good opportunity for them to build their fame and fortune (especially if you allow gambling). Some of my favorite sessions have involved festivals.
Entertainment – Put the PCs in a situation where they have to entertain someone. What do they come up with?
Letter – Have one of the PCs receive a letter, either from an NPC they’ve dealt with before or from someone involved with their backstory. This is a good way to make the consequences of their actions seem more real. You can also use it to introduce new plotlines/sidequests.
Crafting Challenge – Put the PCs in a situation where they need to craft something in order to accomplish their goal. Maybe they need to make something in order to fix a mechanism? Or in order to satisfy some local gift-giving custom? Or they need a forgery? Maybe as part of an exchange for something else they need?
Lost and Found – Have your PCs discover someone or something that is clearly lost. Maybe they find an infant in the wilderness. Or a key with a strange inscription, or some kind of talisman. Throw in a clue or two to present your players with a tantalizing mystery.
Inhospitable Wilderness – Have the PCs go somewhere it’s an effort just to survive. A barren desert, a treacherous swamp with poison gasses, a forest so dense the ground never sees the sun, or even the bottom of the ocean. Test their endurance and survival skills!
Dinner Party – Have the PCs be summoned to a formal event! Test them on the battlegrounds of social grace and etiquette! Even better if it’s in a dangerous environment or an alien culture.
Thief – Have something important stolen from the PCs. See how they handle it.
Needle in a Haystack – Give the PCs something very difficult to find. Like a single specific housecat in a sprawling metropolis, or a legendary weapon of which there are many fakes/copies.
Really, if you need any more inspiration, look at your player’s character sheets and see if they’ve invested any points in a skill they haven’t gotten to use much. Then invent a challenge they could feasibly use that skill for. If you can’t think of a situation that could be helped by an Appraise, Craft: Calligraphy or Handle Animal check, you need to practice your own creative problem solving skills!
I would love to move back to Dreamwidth, but my primary internet device is my phone. I have a very long, cramped commute so I do everything handheld.
Dreamwidth SUUUUUUCKS on mobile. Font too small, doesn’t scale, etc etc. Does anyone have any tricks to make it usable? Suggestion of browsers?
My username is “basingstoke” btw. I’ll try to post more.
As someone who’s spent a lot of time on Dreamwidth on her phone, I’ve found that turning it sideways makes everything a very reasonable size again. I know some people hate browsing sideways so much they have their phones locked to always stay upright, but give it a try.
I also think you can change your site skin to make it better for mobile: looking just now, there’s one called Lynx that says it’s better for mobile users. I haven’t personally tried this (I like the purple one too much!) but now I’m curious how it goes!
Site Title 