StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
This same relative also argued that cis men would go through transition just so they could be at the top of their sport (because they’d beat all the women) or so that they could get scholarships ear-marked for women (because they would be smarter than all the women and would win the scholarships). Somehow that seemed reasonable to them? How on earth!?!?
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
I got into a very strange argument with a relative (who doesn’t know any trans people -at least none they are aware of). They were absolutely convinced that ANY man is better than ALL women at all things. Athletic, intellectual, creative; men are inherently better at all of it.
Therefore, in their mind, anyone who was a man/boy at any point in their lives will be better at everything than a cis woman ever could be. So trans women will always dominate no matter what.
The profound misogyny at the base of their argument was flabbergasting.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Are you talking about internal hubs? There are many bikes with internal hubs available in the US, far more than bikes with Pinions. Even department/sports stores like REI sell bikes with internal hubs. I have 4 bikes with internal hubs, one is a CVT which is a hoot to shift but heavy as heck.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Good.
I worked in a fairly large clinic (office assistant type stuff) and always wondered why the top-surgery patients looked so much “better” than the mastectomy patients. Finally I asked one of the doctors, and he explained that top surgery is quite different than a mastectomy, with different protocols and goals and results.
Someone with training and experience performing mastectomies can’t just step in and do a top surgery.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Rental prices https://culdesac.com/tempe/apply/unit-selection/
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
So abused kids grow up to have smaller hippocampi, but not every person with a small hippocampus also has major depression?
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
I’m gonna be really shallow and judgmental and just say her picture is creepy, too. What a bizarre pose and expression.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Does the company that bought Osprey still honor the warranty?
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Keen Newports have the finger loops on tongue and heel. I think Blundstone boots do, too? I’m sure someone with Blundstones can confirm or refute that.
Those loops are so handy, I agree.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Bicycle. No gas expenses, no tabs, no loan, free parking. I understand how it works and can mostly fix it myself for very little money. I can take quiet side streets and arrive in a much better mood, plus my fat lazy ass gets some exercise.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
This is the cool part:
But histotripsy foils cancer’s cloaking efforts by destroying its cell walls, leaving the tumor antigens in plain sight for the body’s immune system.
This effect was detailed in a pair of papers published by the U-M research team between March 2022 and January 2023. They demonstrate that the sound waves used to break down cancerous tumors in rats also helped trigger the rats’ immune response. After histotripsy destroyed 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume, the rats’ immune systems cleared away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of animals.
That immune response occurred throughout the body, not just in areas targeted by the histotripsy treatment, resulting in the reduction of tumors far from the treated area.
The immune response is key. Without it, histotripsy is just yet another way to destroy a tumor without curing the cancer.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
There have been similar studies looking at “feeding” mannose to solid tumors. The starve-the-tumor-with-fake-nutrients option has a lot of potential.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Not sure I want my neighbor pawing through my mail, or “accidentally” losing my ballot, or borrowing” my packages.
Privacy and security in the mail is crucial.
People are people. Human nature isn’t going to change just because the culture shifts to solarpunk.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Coffee makes me incredibly hungry (any caffeine does). This would backfire on me soooooo bad.
I have to wonder if an extra cup of any liquid per day would help avoid weight gain. You hear so much about people misinterpreting thirst as hunger - they eat instead of drinking.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Something like the Forest Schools and outdoor schools/daycares now. Students outdoors and engaging with the real world and each other nearly all the time. Nothing stripped to dry and abstract isolated bits (and boring) but always learning concepts in context and seeing how they interact.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
I’m finding the opposite. Books that I loved when younger are even better as I re-read them now. Ursula le Guin, Terry Pratchett (their YA and their adult books) have so much more nuance and subtlety than I was aware of when I just read them for the adventure and story. There are some profound bits of wisdom and wry observation tucked in those books.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
The old “divide and conquer” works remarkably well.
Keep the poor fighting each other, so they don’t start toppling the extremely wealthy and powerful who are feeding off them.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
These are the same folks who think that the pinnacle of comedy is farting as you leave a crowded room.
Isn’t this against the US constitution? Razor wire along the state border and checkpoints on roads that cross the state border are kind of nuts. I read a comment joking that the wire and road checkpoints were to keep Texan women from escaping to New Mexico, which got a bitter laugh out of me.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
You can add pockets to the pants you buy, too. This video by Morgan Donner is adding several examples of types of pockets to skirts, but the process is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pE_nrHKd58
And there’s this one by Bernadette Banner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlzJj1EHiY
Thigh pockets are really great for phones. You can make visible patch pockets or subtle welt pockets and you can customize to the size of your phone.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Billy Connolly
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
300+ days a year of sunshine, all they need to do next is pop some solar panels up on those roofs!
You can rent a furnished studio short-term for 2 days minimum at $99/day, and you get the same transportation benefits as residents do during your stay. Honestly, I’m considering this for a vacation during the winter. This walkable community idea is fascinating to me and I want to check it out. https://culdesac.com/
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
And I am very grateful for that. I deeply appreciate this policy.
Thanks, all you awesome admins!
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
For t shirts I always sing the praises of Gettees. Tiny “factory” of half a dozen people making extraordinarily high quality and durable shirts in Detroit. Most of the people doing the sewing are former auto upholstery stitchers from the car factories. The quality is truly the best I’ve ever encountered. https://gettees.us/
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
Side note about pockets: Duluth Trading women’s pants have multiple ginormous pockets, and about half have crotch gussets or anterior inseams to avoid chub-rub destroying the pants.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
A “final solution”, as it were.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
My old Honda has a low and slanted front end (kind of like a wedge). At the time, Honda was crowing about enhanced pedestrian safety and how the wedge would scoop the pedestrian (or cyclist) up onto the hood rather than tossing them under the car.
Dunno about that, but I can say it is far easier to see over the nose of that old Honda than over the damn nose of newer cars I’ve driven.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
I read it as being at least one of the three.
That’s how I read the ol’ saying, too. Unless at least one of those things applies, maybe reconsider the post.
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
This is cool. I always wondered why I can instantly grasp 1 through 4, but 5 and up become abstract. Thank you for posting this!
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
And even when “right on red” is allowed, they will still lay on the horn when you stop. As if they don’t know you have to stop at the red and only proceed with your turn after a full stop and if the way is clear.
Actually, maybe they don’t know you have to come to a full stop before turning?
StringTheory 11 months ago • 100%
A good place to start on YouTube is Bernadette Banner’s channel. She is a clothing historian, so there’s a lot of historical and historical recreation stuff, but she also has a few basic repair and tailoring techniques videos. She wrote a mending book that I hear is much more in-depth than her videos (I haven’t read it). https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/make-sew-and-mend-bernadette-banner/1139915226
Patagonia Wornwear has a lot of repair instructions for outdoor gear (you don’t have to buy their repair materials). https://wornwear.patagonia.com/repairs
Reddit “visiblemending” and “invisiblemending” are also very good resources.
… ask yourself these three questions: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? Granted we’ve all heard this before, but sometimes we need reminding.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
There is a generation of little old ladies who are passionate about sewing, but have no-one to sew for. Their kids are grown, and their grandkids don’t want handmade clothes. Ask at a senior center or at a local (not chain) fabric shop, seek out one of these ladies and hire her to sew for you. Or barter: help her around the house or garden or drive her to appointments or to get groceries, and in exchange she sews clothes from fabrics and patterns you choose. Or tailors used clothes to make them fit you better, or mends your worn clothes, etc.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
And “run” the heels and ball of the foot so they felt down and last longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKKLOUNOHU
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
I did a deep-dive reading and watching videos learning about sturdy and long-lasting fabrics and materials. Learned a bit about tailoring for durability, too. (For example, Duluth Trading shifted the inseams on their Firehose pants forward. The forward seams don’t rub on each other when you walk, and so the inner thighs don’t self-destruct as quickly.)
There are also a ton of excellent resources on how to mend clothing and properly care for it. And it doesn’t take much effort, really.
So now I have a bunch of older clothes, with subtle repairs, still in good shape. Sure, I’d like some sexy new trendy disposable stuff so I can be one of the cool kids - but that’s how fast fashion gets its claws into you. Preying on our magpie-like desires for shiny new things makes somebody big bucks. (And creates huge waste and exploits desperate workers.)
Buy sturdy “classic” clothes. Keep them in good repair. Fight the system.
How can people be so incredibly and mindlessly opportunistic?
Why am I not surprised?
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
Why aren’t chain cases a thing in the U.S.?
Because they are seen as feminine and weak. Machismo requires shunning fenders and chain cases - serious riders can’t afford the weight and are too strong and powerful to be concerned with water, muck, and bike component longevity!
I’m being kind of sarcastic, but really that’s what it boils down to. Sort of the same reason you don’t see station wagons anymore, but truck cabs have expanded to the point that truck beds are minuscule and are pretty much decorative and can’t carry anything. Real Men don’t drive station wagons or minivans, that’s emasculating!
It’s been interesting watching the swing in attitude from ebikes being seen as only for wimps, to now they are powerful tools to assert dominance on the bike path. I would imagine we will see a similar swing with some of the old-school bike tech. (Ryan van Duzer is making internal hubs cool again, at least to a subset of adventure riders. Or people who want to be perceived as adventure riders…)
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
Yep, it will be free for California residents in need, and much cheaper for everyone else. Pharma corps have been running amok raising insulin costs insane amounts. California can make their own and provide it directly to residents for far less money than they spend buying it from the companies.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
You could learn to darn socks by hand. Adults and children have been doing it for thousands of years, and it’s very low impact. It’s not really feasible to patch socks with fabric from other socks - think of socks as a dynamic 3-D knit construct, patching disrupts that.
“A stitch in time saves nine.” If you know you wear out particular areas of your socks, you can reinforce them when they are new by “running” them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKKLOUNOHU
All you need to darn or run is yarn and a darning needle.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
I used to make big platters of deviled eggs for afternoon seminars. The grad students descended upon them like ravening wolves.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
Speaking of shade… This is pretty cool.
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
I’ve had good luck with the rechargeable “Superflash” lights. I assume you’ve already tried those? A back-up kept in my pannier, and one on the bike. (Charge both at work.)
StringTheory 12 months ago • 100%
Just give ‘em bus tickets to Seattle and Portland, like Idaho does.
/s, but not really. Seattle even has a program to give people free tickets back to their hometowns.
Less than one minute. The police weren’t even called there for her, they were in the parking lot for an “unrelated call.” And why was an officer standing in front of her car leaning on the hood holding a gun in her face in the first place? There are so many things wrong with this.
Even US organizations are warning against travel to some parts of the US. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Canada is, too.
This is disheartening, on so many levels. The 1-in-5 is bad enough, but then the breakdown of race and financial status is shameful. The US needs universal healthcare, and also lowered student loan rates so more doctors can afford to go to med school. The US needs more doctors.
Yeah, we’ve all known that for years. But does it matter anymore?
Climate change will be “mild and manageable”? Well, I guess that’s an improvement over Republicans saying climate change is a hoax. Maybe?
Yes, please! We need younger people running and getting involved. Don’t fall for the apathy and helplessness being shoved at us. (Who does it serve?)
The emphasis on fresh high-quality food made me wonder if that sort of food is more satisfying (and filling) than what the author sees in American food. Does eating poor quality food leave you hungry? (Also, consider people living in “grocery deserts” who subsist on large amounts of fast food. Their obesity rates are very high.)
Excellent book! You will need a low G, but an actual tenor is not required. (Just buy a Fremont low G on and slap it onto whatever you have)
“My channel spreads the message of Jesus and his love for us.” Bo Alford Yeah, sure….
I’m no economist, but even I can figure out that if they pass the bill capping wages for H-2A visa holders it’s going to make things worse.
Didn’t some red state governor just make it illegal for construction workers to have required rest-and-water breaks? Bad timing…
It gets weirder. One branch of the Christian charity takes children and has their parents put into jail, while another branch of the same Christian charity uses the parents’ unfair jailing as fundraisers for the charity, saying they will use the money to get the parents out of jail. (The parents they put into jail in the first place.). It’s just corruption and money-grubbing all the way down.
Caterpillar exercise using all four fingers to fret up and down the neck, working on coordinating both hands. [image description: man with short brown hair and beard holding a Kanile’a brand wooden tenor ukulele. Titled My favorite ukulele warm-up exercise for all levels.]
United States politics
A piece of history.
This isn’t something I’m doing, but it is something to keep in mind if you want to work designing or implementing emergency housing.
Audio only. This is one of my favorite pieces by The Hu. Maybe it’s my favorite.
So much good information! LLT is well worth a look. I would love it if she came to this community, she is a treasure.
There are a surprising number of ukulele clubs “in the wild”, some are quite tiny and difficult to find. If you’re not having luck, ask places that have community rooms (like the library or senior center or parks department) if they have a ukulele group that meets there.
Nicole Rudolph is a dress historian/historical costumer.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go make the Mochi Cake recipe topped with dried strawberries that was posted last week.
Someday, after I win the lottery!
Mesmerizing strange thing…
I suppose traveling with a uke is by definition “many bagging” if it’s in its own bag. I don’t bother with a hard case or padded gig bag, just a thin gig bag for my 20-year-old cheap no-name laminate concert sized uke. But… a plastic uke would be nice for those times when conditions are damp or for kayaking when it is downright soggy. Looking at Kala Waterman ukes right now, especially a soprano. (I don’t have a soprano, which is excuse #1 for getting one; and it will take up less space than my concert, which is excuse #2. I’m sure I can come up with more as needed.) What’s your traveling musical instrument?
Honoka (of Honoka + Azita “Wipeout” fame, if you haven’t seen a video, check it out) playing a nifty arrangement for 2 ukes.
Everybody plays it, you know you want to!
September 22-24
They have redesigned the website for safe browsing, made it generic looking and put a “quick exit” bar at the top that immediately changes the display to the Weather Channel. It’s still the same volunteer organization flying people out to other states to get gender care, abortions, birth control, etc.
My favorite strings at the moment, so I’m biased. Unlike Fremont Blackline, the Clears only come in one flavor. (And it’s a delicious flavor!). A set of high G strings is about $7. A single unwound low G is about $3. The moment I played a set was one of those cartoonishly “ah-ha! Eureka!” experiences. Everything felt and sounded perfect. The strings feel gentle and responsive under the fingers, unlike Aquilas which feel heavy and dull to me. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are so easy and clear. I can play with much more nuance than with Aquilas or heavier fluorocarbon. (Mind you I play quietly by myself, so I don’t know how these would sound where volume is required in a group or performing.) Try a set of the Fremonts if you have arthritis or strength issues in your hands, or neuropathy, or are just frustrated by strings that require pedal-to-the-metal amounts of power to play.
Colectomies, colostomies, ileostomies, j-pouches, colo-rectal cancers, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis - I searched but did not find! Where are all my gutless wonder peeps?
The fretboard is pretty wild. And if you are coming to the ukulele from wind instruments like I am, this video overview might be helpful.
This is only one festival calendar, I’m sure there are more to be added. (please add any you know of)