On Journaling

I met this nice girl through my college friend. She's my friend's childhood best friend and I had heard so much about her so I was really excited to finally meet her. The three of us hung out at a stupid school-sponsored event into the late hours of the night, drinking soda and eating pizza and getting to know each other. At the end of it, she entered into a raffle and ended up winning free tickets to Disneyland. We celebrated and parted ways. It was the highlight of that semester.

A few months later, Israel began dropping bombs on her family home. I watched from afar as her entire life fell apart and her family was displaced and killed. Every time I asked how she was doing, she was doing bad.

In Palestine, as in a lot of places in the world, it is shameful to ask for money. A little bit after the war began, I passed a message along to her family offering to help raise funds for their evacuation, but they declined saying that they didn't want pity from anyone. Now it seems like they're running out of options.

My friend has already lost so much so please spare her the additional indignity of asking for help and not receiving it. I can't imagine how soul crushing it would be to do something you believe to be shameful and for your effort to go to waste.

Their goal is only $5000 and they've already raised ~$820, I don't see why we can't raise the full amount within the next week.

gofundme.com

Donate to Help 12 People in my Family Survive in Gaza, organized by Noura Elkhatib

For nearly a year, my family in Gaza has been forced to move from one place… Noura Elkhatib needs your support for Help 12 People in my Fami

Verified by the fact that this is literally my IRL. DM me if u wanna see her Instagram or other contact info proving she's real. Tumblr is a rather unsafe place for Palestinians so I'd rather not publicize all her personal info but I've been pretty careful with the fundraisers I boost on this blog so I hope you can trust me here.

@timetravellingkitty @deathlonging @briarhips @mazzikah @mahoushojoe 

@rhubarbspring @schoolhater @pcktknife @transmutationisms @sawasawako 

@feluka @terroristiraqis @irhabiya @commissions4aid-international @wellwaterhysteria 

@deepspaceboytoy @post-brahminism @junglejim4322 @kibumkim @neechees 

@mangocheesecakes @kyra45-helping-others @marnota @7bitter @tortiefrancis 

@toiletpotato @fromjannah @omegaversereloaded @vague-humanoid @evillesbianvillain

@aristotels @komsomolka @neptunerings @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @heritageposts 

@ot3 @amygdalae @ankle-beez @communistchilchuck @dykesbat 

@watermotif @stuckinapril @violentrevolution @mavigator @lacecap 

@socalgal @chilewithcarnage @ghelgheli @sayruq @northgazaupdates2

@papenathys @slicedblackolives @heliopixels @nimbooz @hiveswap 

@irhabiya @feluka @anneemay @tumkaafiho @fleshdyk3 

@balaclava-trismegistus @heritageposts @ripley-stark @paandaan 

@itsfookingloosah @rooh-afza @shesnake @akajustmerry @himejoshikaeya

@rainbowsnowflake @saint-oleander @f4rfields @cassandragemini

@fitzfunnymoments @skunkes @asharestupid @jonpertwee

Thousands of Pro-Palestine voters are rallying in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza near the United Center in Chicago where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is currently underway.

(📸: AFP, MEE/@ azad.essa)

the entire the edge of sleep situation is so disappointing. I know it's been talked to death but the fact they credited him as "markiplier" and not his actual name at all is so telling, along with all of the other very very obvious issues with the way the entire release is being handled.

This is all to say I'm so excited to watch it !!! I'm waiting (and hoping) it will be released in canada on the 18th, and I can spend my Friday night well

i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out

brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad

sorry i'm being an absent friend i'm being an absent self too

absolutely criminal how falling into bad habits is the easiest thing in the world while developing positive habits feels like fighting a literal war

great question. while a lot of these gofundmes started to fund evacuations, since the border will not open they have shifted to covering the costs of daily survival in gaza

the cost of food alone in gaza right now has been reported by journalists on the ground (including @siraj2024) to be 20 times the normal price.

and it varies based on location. the north is currently being starved by the IOF so food prices are higher

and there is a lot of evidence on tumblr that proves that these fundraisers do help

@ma7moudgaza2 was able to buy a tent for his family and is currently trying to pay for a solar panel

@siraj2024 was able to secure rent for a (bombed out, but still) apartment for his family over the winter

@mohdiwais was able to fund medical care for his sister after she was shot by the IOF using funds he raised on tumblr

a gaza-based charity called care for gaza has also been directly assisting families with funds used from their gofundme. they even post videos of themselves giving out food

and those are just a few examples. hope this helped!

Free MIT online courses that sound interesting

Arts & Literature

Introduction to World Music

Reading Fiction

Literary Interpretation: Virginia Woolf's Shakespeare

Introduction to Photography

Foundations of Western Culture II: Renaissance to Modernity

Studies in Poetry - Briths Poetry and the Sciences of the Mind

Studies in Literary History: Modernism: From Nietzsche to Fellini

Screen Women: Body Narratives in Popular American Film

Studies in Poetry: "What's the Use of Beauty"

Queer Cinema and Visual Culture

Monteverdi to Mozart: 1600 - 1800

Writing and Experience: Reading and Writing Autobiography

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Arthurian Literature and Celtic Colonization

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Studies in Poetry: 20th Century Irish Poetry: The Shadow of W. B. Yeats

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The Middle East in the 20th Century

Africa and the Politics of Knowledge

The Rise of Modern Science

European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th Century

Philosophy of Love

Human Rights: At Home and Abroad

The Nature of Creativity

Introduction to Comparative Politics

Riots, Rebellions, Revolutions

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Ancient Philosophy

Youth Political Participation

do you ever feel like you're being left behind?

rapidly approaching my mid twenties has made me think of my position in this life. still living at home, still single, still working in a job that requires no real skill, all these things I've done in my teenage years of studying hard, getting good grades to get myself out there, get an upper hand and here I am.

having a place on my own is too expensive, not feeling like anyone is capable of loving you for who you are, not feeling like I can take the plunge and go for a job I'd be passionate about.

there's nothing in my life that spurs interest, I wake up, go to work, come home, sleep. day in, day out. its a never ending cycle that I can't seem to break out of.

I've been finding myself falling into longer disassociative episodes more often, because I simply can't find any reason to be in my own body and mind because life is so mind numbingly boring.

maybe I should move out, maybe I should date, maybe I should change jobs, maybe I should get back into my old hobbies... maybe.

Sometimes things don’t work out. It’s ok I don’t need to catastrophise. The world will keep turning. Dinner needs to be made. I get to tuck myself into bed. I am feeling vulnerable tonight and that’s okay .