Welcome to 5 Quick Things that I saw since last month that I thought were interesting enough to share with you. None of them are particularly timely so feel free to just enjoy 🙂

>Number One<

Society and Family

I had this article in my “share with everyone” folder long before there was pandemic that would be able to highlight the problems with only relying on a very small version of family but woo boy, this article aged like a fast action vintage wine. As a person whose nuclear family was “broken” and who had to weather all the problems that created this article gave me pause since it both seems to want to bring back a more traditional structure while also wanting to add found family and extended family. Like most things in life one single crutch isn’t enough to keep you standing and we need many structures in our life to help us be the best we can be.

I think a huge unfortunately side effect of this pandemic will be revealing just how vulnerable people are without each other. Without strong, local “families” and support.

>Number Two<

The State of Tumbling

I know that you thought that once Tumblr banned boobs there was an immediate ghost town effect. Well son, you’d be pretty surprised. The thing is that Tumblr is one of the few communities on the internet that isn’t organized by what’s hot and what’s new. Tumblr lets you reblog and share anything across your dash and there’s no private groups or locked content making it a unique space. The truth is that my dashboard is no less full of content after the ban but my dashboard is merely full of different content. There is something to be said about the resiliency of the human spirit. Or maybe it’s just that porn isn’t all anyone goes on the internet for?

>Number Three<

Masculinity, a Discussion through Film

What is a man but a miserable pile of secrets? In this video from ColdCrash Pictures he seeks to break down what it means to be masculine (at least in a general context). Using four roles from four very different movies he moves through some the stereotypes and ideas we have in our society and how we might use counter examples to show what is and isn’t essential. I’d suggest watching some of his other great videos also especially the two part series about if we should still be watching Gone With The Wind and how to put that in its historical and social context.

>Number Four<

Special Characters, Ordinary People

I think people have the desire to view computers are neutral. That technology is neutral but technology didn’t spring fully formed from the Earth, instead it was created by people! And most of those people were (at least at first) English speakers who did not really consider the ins and outs of writing in non-English languages. This has caused…issues. Until recently websites could only be types using Latin characters, Unicode has been lacking in many symbols from many languages for most of its existence and continues to do so today because it’s controlled by and used by only a small sliver of rich people from specific areas of the globe. When Unicode isn’t equipped to express your language adequately it doesn’t send any good messages about your place in the world.

>Number Five<

The Past Was Better (Except it Wasn’t)

I’m still on my bullshit. I’m not getting off my bullshit any time soon but I need people to know that Avengers: End Game and Star Wars Rise of Skywalker are bad in the same way. Just because they’re different degrees of bad doesn’t make them any less similar. They both focus excessively on nostalgia, they throw out character development and themes for high fiving the audiences remembrance of movies they liked previously, and they glorify the past and the legacy of things that should definitely not be glorified. Like many Disney movies they move away from struggles and villains towards a more action-based ride feeling as well and honestly I couldn’t be more disheartened. I have had an uphill battle trying to talk to people about this so at least someone out there agrees with me. Until then this will continue to be the subject of many rants. Good luck out there friends!

This was a weird month so I tried to keep it on the positive side but I’m not sure I succeeded. There’s always next month!