As someone that has grown up surrounded by beaches and done surf life saving, I know how the sea works. Lots of people dont. Every summer multiple tourists die here because they don’t respect the sea, if you’re going to the coast, here’s a thing I saw on Facebook.
Listen to lifeguards, swim and surf between the correct flags, respect the sea
Okay non-European tumblr, I’m gonna explain to you why ‘white’ isn’t as simple here as it is in the rest of the world
- Shades of white in Europe range from ‘freshly fallen snow’ to ‘I am frequently mistaken as being from the Middle East’
- White European is a thing. When you fill out a form, under ethnicity, there are several options for white; white British, white European, white other. Because people make that distinction
- There are Europeans who don’t class their ethnicity as their skin colour, but as their nationality. I have family who don’t think of themselves as white, they just think of themselves as Italian and don’t really give much thought to their skin colour
- People here in Britain always question if darker skinned white Europeans are ‘actually white’. I get it a lot myself. My response is always ‘well I’m not anything else, so obviously I must be’
- Despite being white, a lot of Europeans from Italy, Greece, Spain etc, don’t feel white in the traditional sense. We’re not white like white British people. We’re not white like white Americans. We’re our own white. White British is one thing. White Italian is another thing. White Greek is another, etc
- Which is why we have this notion here in Europe of ‘nationality over race’. Being white isn’t as important as where you’re from
- So this really only becomes an issue if you’re an immigrant
- So being white in Europe doesn’t save you from racial discrimination, because sure, you’re technically white, but you’re not white white. Not the right white
- Here in England, Europeans with really blatantly foreign names, such as myself, find it more difficult to get job interviews, because they take one look at our name and don’t bother reading the rest of the CV. A guy I know was actually told by his boss to reduce the pile of CVs he had by ‘chucking away any with a name you can’t fucking pronounce’
- And then even when you do get an interview, half the time you walk into the joint several shades darker than everyone else and feel like you’ve walked into the ‘Swedish supermodel’ clubhouse and you just know you’re not getting hired
This is all basic stuff and it’s very much taken for granted here. Race and ethnicity are not as clear cut, so it can be very confusing for non-Europeans to wrap their heads around. Which is fine. But I implore you to stay in your lane, because when you say things like ‘no white person anywhere in the world ever knows what it’s like to face racial discrimination’, it’s really fucking offensive to all of the European immigrants who are denied jobs, harassed by the police and beaten by racists, because foreign is foreign to these people, and they don’t give a shit if you’re technically white. So when you mean white American, say white American.
This doesn’t just apply to “darker skin” Europeans either (which I’m sure some Americans would argue are POC for some reason or other). Try being slavic in Western Europe. Hell, try being Sinti or Roma in any part of Europe.
Especially in the UK you can be as white as you like but if you aren’t from Britain (or in some cases just England) then you face discrimination. It really isn’t that clear cut in Europe and it drives me mad when people say white people can’t experience racism because that’s such a US-centric idea.
And if you’re from anywhere in South-East Europe then you should prepare for your country to be slandered in every UK paper. Seriously, you can’t turn on the news, go on the internet, read a newspaper, without being told how Romanian, Ukrainian, Polish people are a drain on the UK’s resources and they should be banned from the country. And guess what?
(That’s Mila Kunis. She was born in the Ukraine.)
(Sebastian Stan. From Constanta, Romania.)
(Mia Wasikowska, from Poland)
(Nina Dobrev, who was born in Bulgaria.)
They are white! Just because they are white, it doesn’t mean people from their countries cannot face horrible discrimination, and it doesn’t mean that they can’t be constantly told that they don’t work as hard as people from Western Europe, and that they don’t deserve basic human rights.
So just before you force your ignorance onto people who don’t hold the same views as you due to where they live operating in a different way, just remember that not everybody lives in America.
Here it is guys, the post that finally puts what I’ve been trying to say for far too long into words!
…I didn’t know Sebastian Stan was Romanian.
But as somebody who has lived in England and the US, I can vouch for all of this. The race issues in Europe and the race issues in the US are not the same.
For the last few years, there has been an awful backlash against immigrants from Poland, with some of the same language used that Americans use about “Mexicans” (By which, half the time, they mean anyone from south of the US/Mexico border).
It’s worth understanding that
1. Racism and discrimination are everywhere.
2. They don’t take the same form everywhere.
I have lived in England for over 10 years now, and can confirm all of the above. As soon as I open my mouth people can tell, of course, that I was not born and raised British.
I was yelled at in the street because a lady thought I was Polish. People have pushed their chairs into my parents and insulted them in a restaurant because they were recognised as Germans.
Being white is not that cut and dry over here.
And being “socially” white as opposed to just pale skinned evolves over time. I mean, there have been times in America when Irish and Italian people have not been considered “white”.
READ THIS POST IF YOURE AMERICAN
I’m American and this is the FIRST time I’ve ever heard any of this. I always think I’m up to date on world issues but wow I am not. Thank you to everyone for sharing!
About discrimination between nations in Europe, speaking Finnish and Sami languages in schools in Sweden was forbidden from students because Finns and Sami people were considered to be the lower race.
Of course Europe has racism against black people, but yes, thinking about Europeans being “white” as whole is weird because a white Finn and a white Greek person couldn’t be more apart with their cultures.
Yes, all of this, and let’s not forget people like the Finnish speaking Finns have historically and from some cultural standpoints a lot more common with native Americans and the Asians and Blacks in America than white Americans, despite our recent “rise” in the social rank of race.
Less than 100 years ago we were considered mongoloid (and while it’s not entirely wrong, though Uralic or North-West Asian and Caucasian mix would be lot more accurate), and were oppressed by another nation (Russia) that tried to enforce cultural and linguistic genocide on us, and before that we were oppressed and practically enslaved by Sweden, not all that differently as in any other colonized nation–which we were for 800 years.
For all intents and purposes, our “whites” are the Swedish-speaking Finns, who to this day continue to be a lot more privileged than the Finnish-speaking Finns, on average.
In Italy, Southern people are considered less than Northern people and I, as a Northern people, can assure you sometimes it’s pretty bad. Mostly thanks to an idiotic right wing party that thinks that Italy should be divided in two: over the Po and below the Po (our longest river). They even think our ancestors are Celts lmao. Also a lot of people from the South are “less white” (again it’s stupid but whatever it’s just to make you understand), because they have ancestors from Africa so they are mixed, therefore their skin isn’t white as snow.
Also in Italy people from slavic countries are often victim to xenophobia, people are always ready to see romanians/albanian/russians…etc as culprits for everything, and it’s not unusual to hear someone says “this hairstyle makes you look like an albanian!” or “why are you going out dressed as a romanian” yeah they use slavic people as an insult bc people are led to think that they come here just to steal everything from us. And guess what most of them are white as snowflakes!
I’d like to point out that also italian people have faced discrimination from other european countries. We were, and sadly often still are, always seen as part of the mafia and therefore dangerous, or inferior and poor (y’all can find signs saying pretty nasty stuff online, and i’m leaving this here even tho it’s in Italian), i’ve heard a lady telling his son to stay away from me and my family because we were speaking italian and so we could do “bad things” to him and there were times when in shops we were made feel not welcome because we are italian…..and guess what my family is white.
So please when you are outside the us don’t try to apply your “racial standards” bc they are not valid in europe.
Even in terms of England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland it’s bad; you can be white as a fucking sheet but as soon as you open your mouth and the wrong accent in wherever you are or the wrong football team, the wrong political party or opinion comes out - you are in trouble. Take a look at the troubles in Ireland; it was nothing to do with race, it was religion. Catholics and protestants alike killed brutally, no matter what colour they were.
IF IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG DAY, YOU ARE ‘WEARY’. IF SOMEONE IS ACTING IN A WAY THAT MAKES YOU SUSPICIOUS, YOU ARE ‘WARY’.
ALL IN ‘DUE’ TIME, NOT ‘DO’ TIME
‘PER SE’ NOT ‘PER SAY’
THANK YOU
BREATHE - THE VERB FORM IN PRESENT TENSE
BREATH - THE NOUN FORM
THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE
WANDER - TO WALK ABOUT AIMLESSLY
WONDER - TO THINK OF IN A DREAMLIKE AND/OR WISTFUL MANNER
THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE (but one’s mind can wander)
DEFIANT - RESISTANT DEFINITE - CERTAIN
WANTON - DELIBERATE AND UNPROVOKED ACTION (ALSO AN ARCHAIC TERM FOR A PROMISCUOUS WOMAN)
WONTON - IT’S A DUMPLING THAT’S ALL IT IS IT’S A FUCKING DUMPLING
BAWL- TO SOB/CRY
BALL- A FUCKING BALL
YOU CANNOT “BALL” YOUR EYES OUT
AND FOR FUCK’S SAKE, IT’S NOT “SIKE”; IT’S “PSYCH”. AS IN “I PSYCHED YOU OUT”; BECAUSE YOU MOMENTARILY MADE SOMEONE BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT WASN’T TRUE.
THANK YOU.
*slams reblog*
IT’S ‘MIGHT AS WELL’. ‘MIND AS WELL’ DOES NOT MAKE GRAMMATICAL SENSE.
A SNEAK PEAK WOULD BE A MOUNTAIN ENGAGED IN ESPIONAGE
THEY ARE VERY LARGE AND WOULD FIND THIS GENERALLY DIFFICULT
THANK
(OH AND ONE OTHER THING
BULLION = PRECIOUS METAL
BOUILLON = STOCK, FROM THE FRENCH “BOUILLER,” TO BOIL)
SHUDDER:
SHUTTER:
NOT SAME NOT SAME
sleight of hand: magic tricks
slight of hand: President-Elect
I love this post so much oh my god 😂
“A MOUNTAIN ENGAGED IN ESPIONAGE” I’m losing my shit
To my followers who speak & write in English as a second language: the caps locks and the frustration might come across as scary or even personally pointed, but all the information is valuable, even (and lbr ESPECIALLY) to native English speakers & writers!
Break= To shatter, stop working, be made to fall apart; the verb and noun form of “broken”
Brake= To attempt to stop; the part of a vehicle that allows one to stop
I do editing and proofreading semi-professionally, so believe me when I say that this is something a lot of native English speakers could learn something from. *pointed look*
The caps lock is a bit off putting, but as a native speaker (who actually isn’t too bad at the language and was testing far above her grade level all through school) that these are common mistakes and it’s okay if you make them- work on not doing it, but don’t beat yourself up if you make these mistakes. Especially if English isn’t your first language.
Listen. I’m an English Major who’s planning to go into editing professionally, and just this month I learned that Commiserate and Commensurate are not spelled the same way. If I can fuck this up, and learn from it, so can you. No judgement, just opportunities!
File this under “super obvious yet I always seem to forget it.”
I don’t write romance (I totally respect people who do, though!) but this is also great writing advice in general! What is preventing the protagonist from achieving their goal?
Why can’t these two people be together now?
Why can’t the mystery be solved now?
Why can’t they overthrow the evil overlord now?
If you don’t have a solid answer for these questions, that’s a good indicator that the plot could use some more work.
Also test your answer a little bit. If it’s as thin as they’re just refusing to sit down and have a simple conversation, you might want to re-think how things are going.
As a beta reader/editor, I tend to ask this question a lot: “Why are they doing it this way when there’s a much easier path available?” That’s not to say that they should take the easier path, because that would usually be boring. Instead, the point is that the question needs an answer–either eliminate the easier path or give them a very clear reason for not taking it. (And if I’m asking the question, that reason isn’t as clear as you think it might be.)
I find it very difficult to root for characters who have a sensible option available and just don’t take it. If the only reason is “Because there wouldn’t be a story otherwise,” you haven’t actually found the story yet.
I made this today as I find it’s a helpful tool when I make characters. I call it the 1-2-3 method.
1 value: Their core belief.
2 flaws: The limitations of the character. Things that can affect their actions and abilities.
3 traits: What makes them, them. the aspects of their behaviour and attitude.
It’s important that you justify their personality through their backstory and home life, however, and it’s good to have conflicting flaws/traits within a group which will help create tension and drama.
I’m using this today to create characters for my campnanowrimo WIP and thought I’d share.
FUCK THIS I SPERFECT, IT SHOWS THE ARM PRONATING AND ALL THE MUSCLES SHIFTING ALONG WITH THE WRIST
IT EVEN HIGHLIGHTS THE ULNA BONE
HEY THIS IS THE ULTIMATE ANATOMY REF, FUCK THOSE MISLEADING TERRIBLE FUCKING “ANATOMY” TUTORIALS THAT GOEAS AROUND TUMBLR, THIS IS ALL OYU NEED, LOOK AT THE LATISIMUS STRETCHING OVER THE SERRATUS, THE PECTORAL MUSCLE MOVESUPWARDS AND OVER THE BICEP AND EXTENDS ALONG WITH THE ARM THERES EVEN THE CORACOBRACHIALIS;. AAAA OMFG I’M SO HAPPYYYYYY
Okay so personally, I do not live in the desert. But let’s say I’d like to write about someone who does one day… and lets say that I don’t have the time/money to go to the desert for a bit and feel out the environment.
What do I do? Scour the internet trying to put the pieces together. I have done this. And, picking out & putting together various sources of information (including forums) I have put this together to share. So please keep in mind, these are other people’s experiences and opinions on living in desert conditions (and also general facts/information). Thank you :)
I also figured we could use this information to apply to possible extraterrestrial desert-like environments.
Enjoy!
—-
—“All the plants seem to have stickers and poison and thorns. I’m injured by everything I touch.”
—“While in AZ the skin on my face actually began to crack in the winter.”
—“Not a drop of rain in the four months that I have lived here and back home they are getting rain and thunderstorms often. I miss the rain and thunderstorms and the green! Even when there is a breeze out here in the desert, it feels like a hair dryer blowing in your face. And the sandstorms suck, too.”
—“I’ve heard it described as 10 months of Paradise and 2 months of Hell (summer rainy season). It’s a great place to escape allergies and many people love it. Deserts can be cold (Gobi) or hot (Sahara). They do get rain (most do, anyway), some of it very heavy, and cars of the unwary can get swept away. The only thing they have in common is that they effectively get less than 10” of rain per year, on the average.”
“The temperature fluctuates enormously between the heat of the day and the coldness at night. Rainfall is low and water is found deep below ground. Small communities live in the area and life in the desert is slow and tough.” [x]
—-
In truth, the deserts are some of the most intact and biodiverse ecosystems North America has to offer. New desert species are discovered all the time, and our arid lands have suffered relatively little of the human disruption that has so thoroughly changed places dearer to the typical Green’s heart, like San Francisco Bay or Yosemite Valley. North America’s deserts are one of our last remaining large repositories of wild lands. So why the disdain? [x]
—-
The burning sun, set in a cloudless sky, beats down relentlessly on a dreary expanse of sand, gravel and clay, broken only by the seared walls of barren desert ranges. The picture is made more weird and the way fraught with greater danger by the mirage-breeding alkali beds that warn the experienced traveller of impending danger; but hundreds of venturesome explorers, pushing on until crazed with thirst, have been overtaken by despair and death… [x]
Saguaro cactus The saguaro cactus only grows in the Sonoran desert, and the blossom of this desert plant is the state flower of Arizona. Some of these plants grow for over 150 years.
Burroweed It grows to around 3 feet tall and features grey and green leaves with a yellow flower. It contains a chemical called tremetol that makes this desert plant poisonous to horses, livestock and humans. Occasionally, humans become sick after drinking the milk made from a cow who fed on burroweed.
Creosote bush The young plants struggle to survive in any drought conditions, but mature plants thrive by stealing water from neighboring plants. You can find creosote bush growing in large clusters and rings throughout the Arizona desert. Recognize it by its small yellow flowers and distinctive aroma.
Velvet mesquite Because it is hardy and needs little water to thrive, it grows easily in the Sonoran desert. Arizona residents often choose it as an ornamental tree to grow in their yards because of its attractive appearance and simple maintenance. It drops mesquite pods from its branches, which can be toasted, dried and ground into mesquite flour for cooking and baking.
—-
—“I live in the upper Mojave desert. Low humidity most of the year. 347 days of sunshine a year. I had breakfast on my patio this morning, while admiring my swimming pool. The view from my front lawn, to the east, is one of Frenchman’s Peak and Sunrise Mountain. The view to the west is that of the Spring Mountains. To the north lies the Sheep Range. Nevada is the state of basins and ranges. We have over 300 mountain ranges in the state. The most of any state in the Union. About a week before Easter I will make my annual “pilgramage” south of Boulder City to the town of Nelson on the Colorado River. In the box canyons one can view an absolute riot of color from the desert wild flowers. There is life in the desert and there is beauty. Wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”
—“I like the way the sunlight play’s on the Mountains, and you can see for miles and miles. I love the Sunsets against the Mountains also. I love the Cacti. And I love the open spaces that allow you to look up and see all the stars at night without any light from cities interfering . I love it during a lightning storm and you can watch the bolts flash across the sky. The high heat is a bummer, as are the dust storms But pretty neat otherwise. “
—“We spent about a month in Arizona when my daughter husband was in the service. I had never seen a real Cati and I truly enjoyed it. He also took us up on a mountain over Phoenix at Xmas time. It was so beautiful. Yes it was very dry but not humid. Loved everything about the visit but no I wouldn’t want to live there all the time.”
There are different types of deserts ranging from hot and dry deserts to cold deserts.
Deserts have wide variations of plant and animal life from desert to desert.
One of the main characteristics of a desert is that a desert receives very little precipitation throughout the year.
Deserts will often be extremely hot during the day and at night the temperature will fall 40 - 50 degrees or more. The reason for this is that there is little evaporation in the atmosphere to block sunlight during the day and at night allows heat to escape easily.
I hope this was somewhat informative and put a more ‘realistic’ perspective of what desert life is probably actually like, as opposed to looking at a bunch of charts and climate information sheets and trying to make it up from there! Happy writing!
Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr’s office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.
If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.
This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage.
If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won’t stick around. After a few seconds, all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.
I don’t care what your blog theme is, this can save someone’s life and needs to be spread
