A friend once told me that when they are struggling with getting laundry done, she pretends it is her sworn duty to smuggle the young prince out of the castle to safety, disguised in a laundry hamper.
Now, when I am struggling with hygiene, I pretend I am part of a village with an annual festival, and I get one day a year to spend luxuriously at a bathhouse in preparation.
What my friend imparted on me was the skill of turning mundane tasks into fantastical adventures to make them more compelling and bearable.
So next time you need to go on a mental health walk, maybe consider doing reconnaissance for a secret underground organisation.
Next time cooking is too much of a chore, consider you ability to turn space station rations into a feast to the delight of your crewmates.
I will say, one thing I absolutely love about Midnight Burger is that the science fiction makes sense.
Yes, there's things that are left unexplained for wacky reasons, and yes, it's science fiction for a reason. But there's usually an explanation for whatever weird thing that Midnight Burger comes into contact with or creates, and they tend to actually make logical sense. Ava's almost always got a cool obscure physics theory to apply to the situation, Leif's almost always got an encyclopedic knowledge of advanced tech and the spacing life, and between the two of them, they provide so much worldbuilding and immersion through infodumps that feel natural. Because, well, they're smart people who ramble about the things they're smart about! They know exactly how to look at something insane and ground it in reality!
And usually, any sci-fi that has all this detailed explanation for how things work is one of those gritty, hard sci-fi stories that are devoid of the whimsy that this genre should have, but that's not the case with Midnight Burger! It's fun! It's colorful! It's retro! It's madcap! It's got crazy situations and vibrant locations and dynamic characters who bounce off of each other perfectly!
Science fiction can be rooted in real science and still be fun! And this podcast perfectly encapsulates that!
So the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) (which the gov't passed last year, Bill C-22), which was passed with the intent of "lifting people with disabilities out of poverty," finally got funded in the budget that was released today - and it's such fucking bullshit.
It's a maximum amount of $200/month ($2400/year)
You have to be approved for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to be eligible - something that advocates were specifically saying should not happen because it's so fucking difficult to get on. The CDB should be barrier-free.
Doesn't start until July 2025
It's such fucking bullshit. $200 a month? And not for another fucking year? Not to mention the DTC requirement? Are you fucking kidding me?? I'm so mad.
This CBC article about it can contains this quote - "Khedr estimates that roughly 1.6 million Canadians with disabilities are living below the poverty line. But Tuesday's budget says only 600,000 would be eligible for the new national benefit." This is because of the DTC requirement. Jesus Christ.
Anyway, Canadian folks, please for the love of god contact your MPs and tell them how awful this is. It needs to be more money, it needs to be enough to actually have an impact, and it needs to not require DTC eligibility.
[Image ID: a series of six cartoon illustrations depicting how to hand wash a kufiya, titled “How to wash your kufiya & deliberate care for delicate things. Each step reads as follows: Add cold water and half a teaspoon of detergent to a large wash basin. Completely soak your kufiya for 10-20 minutes. Gently wring out the water without squeezing too hard. Lay your kufiya on a dry towel and roll it up, pressing gently. let it dry for 20-30 minutes. Unroll and air dry out of direct sun to maintain colour vibrancy. End ID]
There's a bunch of adhd advice out there that's like "people with adhd tend to work better under deadlines due to the anxiety so here are ways to artificially induce a stress response in order to get you to get work done" and it's like well what if I don't want to be stressed out all the time in order to function
People who are starved out of conversation will approach it as if it was sacred, people who are starved out of touch experience any touch given to them as the highest form of intimacy, people starved out of gentleness will react to it as if it’s an invasion, an attempt to break them down, and people starved out of a community will approach it as if it was a minefield.
Get dazzled by the true spectrum of solar beauty. From fiery reds to cool blues, explore the vibrant hues of the Sun in a mesmerizing color order. The images used to make this gradient come from our Solar Dynamics Observatory. Taken in a variety of wavelengths, they give scientists a wealth of data about the Sun.
Don't miss the total solar eclipse crossing North America on April 8, 2024. (It's the last one for 20 years!) Set a reminder to watch with us.