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elemental's profile
elemental

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following: 19
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hubskier for: 3212 days

recent comments, posts, and shares:
elemental  ·  3199 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Explaining white privilege to a broke white person

I think this simple message will really help folks to get it: "It's not your fault, except if you pretend it isn't happening."

elemental  ·  3205 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Spilled Coffee on my DELL - and here's the happy story!

And some back pockets aren't even holding phones these days. Forget keys or a wallet. Siiiiigh.

elemental  ·  3205 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Spilled Coffee on my DELL - and here's the happy story!

For some of us it's less that we drop it in the toilet and more that we are oppressed with inadequate pockets-- our pants are designed to cling to our bodies rather than function as pants-- so we have to put our phones in our back pockets and they don't really stay there when we have to slide out pants down to pee.

I've also cracked an iPod when I fell on my ass. This could have also been solved by real front pockets.

Ahem. Excuse the rantpage.

elemental  ·  3206 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Spilled Coffee on my DELL - and here's the happy story!

Years ago I killed my old iBook with wine. My daughter killed my husband's MacBook Air with herbal tea. I've had several water spills. I also kill keyboards.

Once when I was very tired, very very tired, I pushed the laptop away to the left side of the bed, but it turned out I was already on the left side of the bed and had just shoved it over the edge. Shattered the screen.

I love great customer service.

elemental  ·  3208 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans

His advice is absolutely relevant. The story he tells to support this advice is not relevant. It's not even complete and the parallels he draws between himself and the students of today are false. I find it crass to couple his choice to pursue three ivy league degrees thirty years ago with the impossible task of pursuing one degree today.

elemental  ·  3208 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans

I think the thing that makes me the craziest is the way this guy hopped on the current movement in our culture of sympathy toward students that is galvanizing a review of tuition and new policies.

When our collective moral outrage on this issue doesn't even apply to him.

Thirty years ago the proportion of tuition to earnings wasn't near what it is now. He could, actually, have paid off one degree.

This guy reminds me of those people who make their kids sick so they can tell everyone they have cancer. He's lying about what his circumstances actually are to garner our sympathy and justify his abhorrent moral code.

elemental  ·  3208 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dry cleaning isn't dry!

So much of camping is attitude and a rough night of sleep will turn all of the charms of camping into irritants. Good gear is the difference between skeezy motels and luxury suites.

elemental  ·  3209 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dry cleaning isn't dry!

Because I only dry clean things that are expensive and valuable I had assumed the process was very gentle, slow and careful. To see a pile of laundry tossed in a washing machine was a crazy visual.

Yes. My sleeping bag is expensive and valuable.

elemental  ·  3209 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Micro self care

Thanks, I'll check it out. I have to be careful with self-improvement stuff. I'm prone to set a ton of ambitious arbitrary goals for myself and then succumb to self-loathing when I'm distracted by Netflix and naps.

elemental  ·  3209 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Chef Who Saved My Life

This is a beautiful reminder that our routines and chores-- meals and even cleaning-- can be sacred rituals of active caring for ourselves and others.

So this stuck with me for a few days and I think that I'm turned off by the reference to skin color. However, I would love if the racial equality movement caught a little more fire and I'm sure a flag to rally about would help. I think that a flag that references Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech would be awesome, perhaps with mountainsides somehow. I have no design skills whatever, but the idea of everyone changing their Facebook profile photos to a symbol of mountains and a status update of "Let it ring" would be awesome. Sure it's "armchair activism" but it's also cultural change and that leads places.

elemental  ·  3210 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is your favorite national/state park? Why should I go there?

Hammocks Beach State Park in North Carolina. You can kayak or take a 15 minute ferry ride across the waterway (watch for dolphins) to the uninhabited Bear Island. There's a half mile hike from the ferry across the island to the ocean. There's a bath house and life guard and then camp sites are every tenth of a mile down. Sites are in the dunes and each has a picnic table. The day trippers leave around 5:30p or so, then it's just you and the ocean. Occasionally you'll see a neighbor camper but it's a beautiful trip full of lagoon sunsets and moonlit ocean. If it's a good summer you'll see turtle nests marked by the rangers on your walks.

elemental  ·  3211 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Lame Jokes

What do you call a fly with no wings?

A walk.

Two drums and a cymbal fell off a cliff.

Ba-dum-chhh.

elemental  ·  3211 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Lame Jokes

This is one of my all time faves, though I've always heard it, "Where does George Washington keep his armies?"

elemental  ·  3211 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The hands of Hubski

This thread is awesome and reminds me of a Mythbusters episode where they tested the phrase "know it as well as the back of my hand" by having people pick a photo of their hand out of a dozen of photos on a wall with the same lighting and positioning. I remember being shocked at the high numbers of folks who immediately recognized their hand. I'm not sure I've ever looked at the back of my hand with any concentration but I guess it's extremely familiar.

elemental  ·  3212 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski, Tell Me About Your Bike

My husband bought a bike a year ago and it wasn't long before I ended up with one. I have a Giant Liv Alight named Coriander Pedals-- I felt like the price was great for my level of commitment. The two of us have been able to ride together and it's definitely my favorite part of owning a bike.

elemental  ·  3212 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What has someone said to you that dramatically changed your outlook on life?

I was nervous about applying for a new job and a friend said, "You are your own best advocate."

I suffer from the worst impostor syndrome, so it's tough to do the self-promotion involved in a career. Everything from resume lines to applications to interviews to performance reviews fills me with anxiety. Being told this one short sentence made me realize that it's no one else's job to magically recognize or accidentally discover that I'm doing well or suited for new projects, it's my job to tell them.

Additionally, this gives me permission to more fully own my achievements. Even if they aren't the greatest accomplishments ever seen in the history of humankind, if I'm going to accept the role of my own agent, I'd better buy into the hype.