I met a baby the other day who taught me that kids aren’t learning the thumb-and-pinky-out gesture for “phone” anymore. She puts her flat, open palm up to her ear and babbles into it, simulating a flat and rectangular smartphone.
It’s so interesting that a lot of seemingly obsolete hand motions still exist, though
very few people wear wristwatches, but tapping one’s wrist is still a nearly universal gesture for “what time is it?” or “hurry up”
I used classic corded phones for only a very brief time in my life (before we got those more rectangular-shaped cordless ones for my parents’ landline) and first saw a car without power windows when I was in college, and yet I’ve always used the pinky-and-thumb gesture for “call me” and the circling-fist gesture for “roll down your window.” I’m 24, so my childhood was the late 90s and early 2000s, but I still use gestures that indicate technology either gone or on its way out when I began forming reliable memories
it also makes me wonder how people indicated time or hurrying before wristwatches. did they somehow pantomime a pocket watch? what gestures have we lost as technology marches on? and since video didn’t exist for most of human history, how might we learn what they were? like the contents of the third Georgian spice jar or the location of Punt, nobody would think to write any of it down
I just love history so much
The ASL sign for phone is based on the pinky-and-thumb gesture. Presumably that will continue on for a while, with future generations seeing it as an arbitrary sign.
And then there are words like “rewind” that no longer make literal sense. Filmmakers still use “cut” long after actual physical film that can be cut fell out of use. We talk about cutting and pasting on computers and use a floppy disc icon for “save”.
On Instructables, DIYHacksAndHowTos has a great method for separating a
cheap stapler and sticking magnets on both halves, enabling you to
center-staple booklets and the like. Every year or two, I do something
zine-like that requires this sort of thing, and I always end up wasting
money on a long-reach stapler
that’s always lost by the time the next project rolls around. (Don’t
get me wrong, long-reach staplers are awesome, but if you only need to
do booklets once every year or two, they’re a lot of investment). This
is what I’ll do next time (and as a bonus, it’ll be great for kid craft
projects where we want to use a staple in th center of a large sheet of
paper).
New goddess idea: She’s an earth goddess of the new age who’s domain is spinning and weaving, but specifically spinning and weaving gigantic structural steel cables for construction and other industrial purposes. Her skin is steel grey and hard to the touch and her hair is like long dredlocks of woven steel. She laughs at shitty architecture deigns that will fall apart if actually built and protects well-made bridges and buildings she likes. She might warn you of unforseen danger if you always wear your proper PPE.
Okay now what do I name her
O’sha.
Obviously
THAT’S PERFECT
I AM ALWAYS HERE FOR QUALITY WORKPLACE SAFETY REGULATION PUNS
That’s my goddess. 👍🏻
May O’sha bless you with earplugs that are comfortable and respirators that fit perfectly.
the only divinity where you don’t take your hat off in the temple – you put your hat ON.
People who have never worked in the food/service/retail industry are clueless. My shift ends 30 minutes after we close. That 30 minutes is designated for me to clean up the entire retail space. I cannot begin until you leave and I cannot stay late to clean without getting yelled at for taking too long to do my job. I’m not being rude by asking you to take your coffee to go I’m prioritizing my job security.
Madagascar, Tsingy. These knife-like limestone formations stretch over 70 meters into the air. Known as The Forest Of Knives, these razor-sharp limestone points can slice through equipment and flesh easily, which makes traversing them extremely difficult and dangerous, some climbers have been known to get through over 15 pairs of boots! It is estimated that the Tsingy has the largest underground cave system in the world and many animals live among the endless maze of disorienting corridors, humid caves, and unforgiving razors at the ground level.
(Image one credit: Pierre-Yves Babelon)
WHOA!!!
Yeah it’s pretty sweet and for anyone who is about to ask, it’s a Sifaka lemur!
Tsingy is formed by mildly acidic rainwater dissolving into the softer strata of limestone from above, and carved it out from underneath, eroding the solid rock both vertically and horizontally, and wearing it away on every surface to a sponge-like, porous honeycomb of limestone cells.
So many of you are probably thinking “Wow I’d love to go and climb around it” and yeah I don’t blame you, it looks amazing. The Tsingy are located in the ANKARA geographic park.
However it’s also incredibly dangerous, due to the fact that those spires are literally razor-sharp. Seriously, most of the park is completely unexplored because it’s so dangerous and you will burn through shoes like anything. It’s not something to just have a walk around, it’s genuinely a feat.
GEEZ!!! That’s amazing!! Is it because it’s porous/spongy that it can support those large overhangs? Also, I assume that the tops of the ridges are sharp, but is it also razor sharp down the sides where it’s porous?
I imagine it has something to do with it as well as lucky balance.
In Malagasy (the native language), the word tsingy means “where one cannot walk barefoot.”
Tsingy formations started about 200 million years ago when a bed of porous limestone was deposited in a lagoon. Over time the land was lifted up and sea levels began to fall as well which exposed the limestone bed that had been protected under the salt water of the lagoon. After it was exposed, fresh ground water started the chemical erosion process that formed caves about 1.8 million years ago.
The calcium carbonate in limestone dissolves easily in the presence of water so the fault lines from the plate tectonic uplift were the first to erode and begin this amazing transformation.
I’ll be honest though, that’s about the full extent of my knowledge when it comes to the Tsingy. They’re cool as fuck though!
I’ve reblogged this so many times because I truly think every parent should involve themselves with what their child enjoys.
Not to mention this is an act of solidarity. He’s saying “even if the entire world is against you, I’m on your side.” Which I think is important for a kid to know. He’s refusing to be a bully to his child, even if he doesn’t understand.
I work at Hot Topic and we had a white suburban dad in who was buying matching heavy metal/screamo band shirts for him and his teenage daughter and said “To be honest, I think this stuff sounds like garbage, but she likes it so we listen to it together and we’re going to the concert for Christmas.” And it was just really heartwarming to see him so involved in his child’s life and validating her interests.
I WILL NEVER NOT REBLOG THIS.
“I don’t get it, but I love how you love it” is one of the best things anyone can say. My entire family asks questions about comics because they want to share my enthusiasm for them and support me, even though they otherwise wouldn’t pay attention to the industry at all.
I cried when I first saw this
This is amazing and really important
I went though a goth faze in my teens (like most) and I wanted more than anything to paint my room black. My mom was supportive of my personal expression in terms of my clothes and hair and accessories but she was genuinely concerned about the toll a black room would take on my mental health (I was already prone to recurring depression at that point and still am). I begged for months to repaint my room, but she wouldn’t budge.
One weekend i spent with my dad and when I came back she had repainted my room. A beautiful deep blue on three walls (my favourite colour), lovely sky blue on the ceiling,and one wall was black. The black wall had been sanded smooth and painted with several coats of chalkboard paint. She gave me a couple boxes of chalk and told me to have at it. I LOVED that black wall and wrote on it every day. I drew on it, I doodled, I wrote out my favourite emo song lyrics, wrote reminders for myself, anything I wanted. It was my favourite part of my room and was something that it would have never occurred to me to ask for. It was something only my very creative and clever mom could have come up with and I’m still grateful to her for it.
In retrospect, a room of black walls would indeed have been encouraging a reacurrence of my depression and my moms answer was the perfect compromise. That black wall ended up being the most colourful part of my room.
Wow this is really beautiful. You have a great mom
