Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
You know how canaries were historically brought into coal mines, because if the mine was full of carbon monoxide the canary would die first and the miners would be able to escape before they died too?
I just found the greatest thing.
This is a canary resuscitator.
When the miners notice the canary getting sick with carbon monoxide poisoning, they can close that circular hatch so no more gas gets into the canary cage, and open the valve on that oxygen tank to keep the canary breathing. In other words, they made a spacesuit for birds.
By immediately giving the canary access to clean air, the miners can save it from the poison. The bird lives. To be clear, this is not for economic purposes, this was specifically created because the miners felt bad and wanted to save the bird.
Isn’t that just the perfect demonstration of what humans are like? We started sacrificing small creatures to save ourselves, and then felt bad and spent our valuable resources on saving the critters too. Because yeah the canary was the only way to test for CO, but it’s a living creature too, dammit!
Do you ever think about languages? Do you ever think about how humans all over the world formed such complex and intricate and unique ways of communicating with each other? The ways that so many languages formed alongside each other or formed from one another but still ended up being so distinct? How languages aren’t just noises but an incredible reflection of the values and priorities and relationships in a community and culture?
Sorry, I’m just getting emotional over humanity rn.
i’m walkin home but there was a baseball game tonight and i got sucked into a group of guys who were pretty drunk and one of them proclaimed his love for his friend then goes “i know it doesn’t make sense but there’s a random person walking with us and i love them just as much” and everyone was like hey don’t listen to him he’s just drunk but i was like “wait no takebacks” and drunk guy was like “no. i’d never take it back. i love you”
was apparently looking androgynous enough tonight to make a group of drunk guys commit to gender neutral language
you know what i love? that we personify. we name pets like we name children. we tell moral tales about rabbits and turtles and snakes and crows. we imagine what the moon sees. we wonder how trees feel. we name planets after gods with human flaws. we’re always projecting, always looking for humanity, searching for family and familiarity. we fear the unknown because we value connection. we bestow personhood because we want to be together. to be close.
This is what hozier meant when he says he falls a little bit in love everyday with someone new
I once watched a girl in the produce aisle pick up a bushel of bananas that were precariously perched on the edge and move them farther back and under her breath she said “there you go sweeties - that will be more comfortable” before shuffling off and… I think about her often.
« Silent lovers » is such a sweet way to put it.
I was driving on the highway and passed a dude absolutely JAMMING alone in his car, doing those little half dance moves you do when you’re stuck sitting down in a small space, bellowing unheard lyrics at the top of his lungs, and my instant reaction was to think “I love you.” And then to pray he had a good day, or whatever, because those fleeting moments of connection are so incredible.
How does anyone hate kids they are so funny I sold tickets to incredibles to this little girl and her mom and she’s like mom are we sitting next to each other and the moms like ya and the kid screamed YES so loud it broke my ears
The other day I was bringing an older gentleman up the hill in a golf cart and we drove past this huge YMCA group of kids like 100 kids
and driving past the first chunk like 10 of them yelled out “let me on” in unison and then since I’m driving so slowly to be safe, halfway in some kid leaned up and said “do you play fortnite” and I told him I played a little and he just pointed and shouted “THIS GUY PLAYS FORTNITE” and then like 20 kids started talking to me all at once about fortnite
A kid asked me if I lived in the ambulance. I said yes.
The hero we deserve
When I was on register at Kohl’s a little girl came through with her grandma and she was so very excited to tell me the meaning of her name (I think it was like warrior of god) and she begged her grandma for her phone so she could google to find out what my name means too
i wear two spinner rings on one finger and one time at my last job a young girl (probably 6-8) said “your ring is very pretty” and when i showed her it was two rings she GASPED and said “does that mean you’re marrying two people?!”
I have this necklace with a mermaid on it that I wear to work a lot and I got asked by a kid if it gave me magic powers. I leaned in real close and told her in a low voice it gave me magical girl powers but it was a secret. She got this real serious look on her face and said to her mom “that lady has superpowers, don’t tell anyone or the government will take her away”.
The other day i had to give a speech at my school despite my horrific fear of public speaking and afterwards i had kid come up to me and say well done to me. It was so cute.
god I love tiny kids
there was a kid in one of our science camps and he spent the whole week in a lab coat and goggles screaming “CHEMICALS” at the top of his lungs. he wouldn’t even tell us his name for the first two days just screamed CHEMICALS instead.
I was watching these kids at church today and one of them screamed and threw a toy car into the wall and it broke and the other one looked over calmly and said “does your insurance cover that?”
Ah that reminds me of something I said once! When I was little I once asked my great grandma who she was married to bc she had a ring where one would usually wear a wedding ring, but it was a ring of an octopus holding a pearl, so I was confused (I hadn’t heard about divorce yet). She said she was married to the octopus, and I was like SICC I didn’t know you could do that!!
When she died a few years ago, I was given a lot of her jewelry, and I just had to laugh when, at the very bottom of the box, there sat the octopus ring (it wasn’t left to me in her will or anything; I think my grandma was simply sorting great grandma’s things and thought I’d like that ring. It’s a good coincidence). Every time I see that ring it reminds me of that moment and makes me smile again
the best thing in the entire goddamn world is the fact that human beings have hands perfectly capable of giving amazing scritches and there are hundreds of animals out there who just love being scritched
