Interesting Stuff - Blog Posts

hobbies masterpost!

a really excellent way to reduce anxiety is to pick up a new hobby. find something you’re interested in, learn it, then use it as a healthy and productive way to cope.

learn to play guitar

learn how to make interactive stories with the free program Twine

learn how to make pixel art

learn another language

learn how to build a ship in a bottle

learn how to develop your own film

learn how to embroider

learn how to make chiptunes (8-bit music)

learn how to make origami (the art of paper folding)

learn how to make tumblr themes

learn how to make jewelry 

learn how to make candy

learn how to make terrariums

learn how to make your own perfume

learn how to make your own tea

learn how to build birdhouses

learn how to read tarot cards

learn how to make zines

learn how to code

learn how to whittle (wood carving)

learn how to make candles

learn how to make clay figurines

learn how to knit scarves

learn how to become an amateur astronomer

learn some yoyo tricks

learn how to start a collection

learn how to start body building

learn how to edit wikipedia articles

learn how to decorate iphone cases

learn how to do freelance writing

learn how to make your own cards and

learn how to make your own envelopes

learn how to play the ukulele 

learn how to make gifs

learn how to play chess

learn how to juggle

learn how to guerrilla garden

learn how to chart your family history

learn how to keep chickens

learn how to do yoga

learn how to do magic tricks

learn how to raise and breed butterflies

learn how to play dungeons & dragons

learn how to skateboard

learn how to do parkour

learn how to surf

learn how to arrange flowers

learn how to make stuffed animals

Crime Scene Science: The Modern Methods for Solving Crimes

(via themostgirlishotakuever)

The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s saw a boom in manufacturing and technological achievement. Products as diverse as car parts to cleaning supplies were being assembled, built, woven, or otherwise created on a scale never before seen. But this renaissance required workers - lots of them. In capitalist countries in the West, business tycoons made profit off of the cheap labor of thousands of men, women and children. Most of them worked up to 16 hours a day, in insanely dangerous conditions. But where there is oppression there is resistance, and in the 1880s, worker’s unions across the United States began to fight for their rights.   

Many members of the movement at this time were communists and anarchists, who believed that the capitalist system exploited members of the working class. They demonstrated for an 8-hour day, as well as better wages and working conditions. 

In 1886, in the first days of May, thousands of Chicago’s working class went on strike.  In Haymarket Square, a meeting of up to 3,000 radicals gathered to protest the conditions they worked in. When the Chicago police came to disperse the demonstrators, someone threw a bomb. At least 8 people died, and more than a hundred were wounded. 

Three years later, in commemoration of what was called the Haymarket affair, the International Socialist Conference declared May first an international holiday for the world’s workers. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (now know as the American Federation of Labor) declared that “eight hours shall now constitute a legal day’s labor.” 

But the US no longer celebrates Labor Day on May first, or May Day. During the Cold War, May first became associated with the socialist and communist movements that it had been born from. President Eisenhower signed a resolution renaming May Day as ‘Loyalty Day’, a holiday dedicated to American patriotism. We now celebrate Labor Day on September second.   

But hey, in recognition of global celebrations and the industrious working class, here’s a shout out to May Day. Equality and vacation days for all! 

Snake: a poem

A snake is coiled, lying in wait.  He is buying his time with the coins he stole from dead men's pockets. A snake is vicious, his little fangs biting off what he can chew only with a spoonful of shamelessness.  He has learned to be soft and secret until the time is ripe to speak his bloated mind.

A snake has thick skin - until someone flips him belly up, and he wails like a child, and sends out his fangs like a thing gone wild.

Pablo Neruda said, "Hatred grows scale on scale..." And the snake has scales as sharp as slate. He rattles his tail, but by then it's too late.

Madness rules, and the snake is free. 

Here’s the thing fam-

You have to decide if you want to be one of the best, or the best. 

The fact is, there’s gonna be a lot of people in you’re life who will get the same grades and credit and praise and points, but who aren’t the best people. They can be rude, vapid, inconsiderate, myopic, or just not very nice; plenty of people like that will get the credit you deserve. But they’re not the best - you are. You are a person with a big, beautiful heart. You’re hardworking, talented, conscientious, and kind; it’s people like you who should get the best in life. But you’re the only one who can make that happen. You, for the sake of everyone, need to commit to being one tough cookie: don’t let them get the best of you, get the best of yourself. Be the best version of yourself that you can be. Make sure that you get everything other people get, that you do everything other people do, and more. Don’t cheat yourself.  

And the people I mentioned above? The one’s who don’t hold a candle to you? The goal isn’t to stop them; it’s to not let them stop you.

Lioness: a poem

A lioness is cool, watchful for her cubs. She is responsible, open; she cares for the orphans and works with the others. She is a fighter for the ties that bind her pack together,  the ties that keep them safe.

She holds the savannah in her clean paws - or, at least, paws that are clean only when she steps in a puddle. Smart, collected; she knows her high-up place as one who belongs. She belongs because her job is to control her own fate. She does it well.

The lioness is part of the power, demos, and one of the people, kratos.  The lioness is fair, free, and roars as she pleases, because all are protected, all are loved, in her savannah home.

Or at least, that's what she strives for. 

You’ve probably wondered what the title of this blog means. I probably should’ve gotten around to explaining it to you a while ago.   

“Avere grill per la testa” literally translates to “to have a head full of crickets” in Italian. 

Sometime in the late spring of 2017, I was in a gift shop somewhere. I found a small, rectangular book called “The Illustrated Book of Sayings: Curious Expressions from around the World.” It was published by Ella Frances Sanders, in 2016. I really wanted this book, because it was around this time I was developing a passion for linguistics, words, and the all-around coolness of language. Either way, the book was charming, and I borrowed some money from my dad. 

“Avere grilli per la testa.” To have a head full of crickets. 

What struck me about this phrase, when I stumbled upon its entry, was it’s compelling word choice. Apparently, whoever came up with it didn’t think it was enough to say that someone is dreamy, or has a short attention span. Nope - there are jumpy insects inside their head, and that’s what makes them so imaginative. Welcome to Italy, m-effers.   

This describes me perfectly: dreamy, distracted, creative, semi-ADD. I’m prone to flights of fancy, so much that I struggle to cool down or get myself organized. There’s a whole lot of fluff and bulls*t in my head (f you’ll pardon my French); my thoughts jump all over the place. Maybe that explains the boxes of filled notebooks in my closet. Good traits, since I strive to be a good writer; bad traits, since I have a mother.   

In another way, it captures the content on this blog - my endless thoughts, opinions, and ideas, all thrown together in one place. My varied interests and passions, channeled into the mini-essays you see here. There are many things I’d like to talk and write about, to organize in a constructive way. After all, if there’s that much going on up here, why not share it with all of you?   

Also, it’s linguistic trivia. I love me some linguistic trivia.

This summer I vacationed my granny in the village. I went to the forest to pick mushrooms and berries, and took a lot of photos of nature. it was wonderful! I also ended up in the abandoned house of my relatives, which is more than a hundred years old. I want to share photos of interesting curiosities that were everywhere! 💕 pt 1