There are really not words for how over this school year I am.
In general, I am pretty good at being a friend. My friendships have always been the primary relationships in my life, so they’re always social and emotional priorities. I’m intentional and loyal and communicative with my friends; it’s critical to me that they all understand how much I care about them because I’m scared of losing them. And I’m affectionate and sentimental by nature.
So I try to do little things. Every close friend of mine has a handful of novella-length cards or letters from me that detail stuff I like about them and great things about our friendship and stuff for us to do together in the future. I give good hugs. When I can manage it, I treat to beers or dinner. I help pack boxes or move furniture. I send money for our Thanksgiving dinner. I make a point to drive five hours and visit about once every six weeks. When I lived with my college roommates, I would get up early to clean the snow off of E’s truck. I’d cook breakfast for privilegedwhitegirl on Sunday morning. I’d pick up cupcakes for everyone while I was at the laundromat. I lent out my car.
I did all of those things because, every day, they were also doing things for me. Cooking me dinner nearly every night. Doing the grocery shopping. Taking care of me when I was sick or stressed. Coaxing me out of my shell.
And the stuff we all did together—the holiday decorating and celebrations, shopping trips, fancy dinners out, afternoons in the park…when we lived together, we could remind each other every day that we cared about each other. And we pretty much did.
Enough years like that and you really do feel like family. There’s deep history and love that feels rock solid and well-established. It feels less urgent to reinforce my affection. We’ve been through so much together, seen each other through so many years, said so much to each other, that it’s easy to just trust the foundation and get on with other day-to-day things.
Maybe I’ve gotten complacent. I miss being able to say “I love you” by making a cup of tea or helping shovel snow or washing a work uniform or working through a new recipe together or washing dishes. And that’s probably exactly why I should make more of an effort to communicate it explicitly and on a regular basis with the friends I no longer get to share daily life with.
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American Students time to get out the red felt squares..
(via treelet)
“The way we try to recruit girls into STEM fields is all wrong. We typically compare them to some great woman or someone that has gone before them. We are saying, “Hey, you can be like Madam Curie or Sally Ride.” It is recruiting by intimidation. We need to change that message. We need to recruit by appealing to WHY we need them in STEM. We NEED you to help make the world a better place We NEED you to help discover the cure for cancer. We NEED you because you have the ability to change the course of humanity for the better.” —
Tim Holt on why we still see the number of females in STEM fields fall way behind their male counterparts. Also see how geography paved the way for women in science.
(Source: explore-blog, via jtotheizzoe)
tjuefem said: Get a Cabrera. GO ALL OUT. Also, PLEASE tell me you’re getting the actual Tigers colors and not pink.
I am actually a little insulted that you would even be a little concerned that I would get a fucking pink Tigers jersey.
I wouldn’t wear a pink Tigers jersey if it were free. Fuck that noise. I cannot with people who wear pink team gear. It’s gross and obnoxious.
Especially because, if I want to buy a jersey that will fit my body properly, I can buy something pink, but I can’t buy the actual team road jersey. What. The. Fuck.
I have a little bit of extra money right now, and very shortly I will be in summer pay mode (I make more money over the summer than during the school year), so I am going to treat myself to a Detroit Tigers jersey. I’ve wanted one for years.
But damn, they’re expensive.
My first choice would be a road jersey, but I can’t find any of those in women’s sizes. I guess I could get a men’s small but if I am going to spend ~$75 I want to look good in what I’m buying.
EDIT: They have road jerseys in kids’ sizes but not women’s sizes? Ugh.
So now I am trying to decide whether to get a generic home jersey or spend the extra $15 to get a Cabrera jersey (because, really, if I’m going to throw $65 at something, does an extra $15 matter?). Decisions.
Cabin Living
I want this one!
(via mb24jg)
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