Good feelings
Tag: good things
š»amazing, pt.1
Always need good news stories
Just some positivity, because we could all use some more of this in our lives.
Man eating rice, China, 1901-1904
this is an extremely important picture
Ive never seen someone from 1904 having fun omg
He has a nice face
No but the history behind this picture is really interesting
The reason that everyone always looked miserable in old photos wasnāt that they took too long to take. Once photography became widespread it took only seconds to take a picture.
It was because getting your photo taken was treated the same as getting your portrait painted. A very serious occasion meant so thst your descendants would know that ypu existed and what you looked like.
But one time some British dudes went to china to go on an anthropological expedition, and they met some rural Chinese farmers and decided to take their pictures. Now, these people werenāt exposed to the weird culture of the time around getting your photo taken, so this guy just flashed a big grin during the photo because he was told to strike a pose and thatās the pose he wanted to strike.
I think painted portraits and old photos give us the idea that in general people were just really unhappy because those are the visuals we have. This is so refreshing.
Hey, look; āMan Laughing Alone With Riceā is back on my dash.
always reblog Happy Rice Guy. once upon a time, he really enjoyed his lunch, and thatās beautiful.
To all of my california friends who canāt miss fireflies because they havenāt ever seen them.
^ what? do they not have fireflies in CA??????????
Nope! They donāt really live west of the rockies.Ā The first time I saw them in Ohio, I thought I was hallucinating.
The fireflies were the most fantastic part of my first visit to America. I was with my BF and my roller derby team and we were in one of those yellow schooll buses being taken back from the tournament venue. I spotted some lights in the bushes and pointed it outā¦ then we all lost our minds!!! As it got darker we saw there were SO MANY! Our American hosts couldnāt believe how crazy we were for themā¦ but there is nothing even remotely like this in Scotland, it was like being in a fantasy movie or something. Iāll never forget them.
I love them so much! They come out part-way through my Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop (now taking applications! Pat Cadigan returns as special guest author this year!) each year, and itās such a joy to introduce these little delights to people from parts of the world where they canāt see them.
PS: In Minnesota, we called them ālightning bugs.ā
We had them in Norfolk, Virginia when I was a kid. Same time of year as the junebugs, but those are in the daytime.
Ok but imagine being an Irish immigrant coming to America for the first time having never heard of them and justā¦nope nope nope Donāt Go In Those Fields The Fairies Fucking Followed US I Thought We Would Be Free Of This Nonsense
fireflies are so sweet and harmless and gentle. theyāre not afraid of you, and will perch on you if you happen to be where they are when they feel like sitting down. when itās hot out, i take my daily walk in the evening just as itās getting dark, which is prime firefly time. sometimes several of them land on my hat and get a ride.
every year we get a few coming into the house through the air conditioner vents, and they hang out in my room and twinkle for me as i fall asleep. then in the morning i try to find them and put them outside. theyāre usually in the curtains. they look like slender little drab beetles with cute dot eye faces in the daylight. turn the lights out and theyāre like PARTY TIME? and start blinking their little rave light butts.
i love fireflies. i love them so much.
(Source: https://www.instagram.com/)
One of the most powerful moments I experienced as an ancient history student was when I was teaching cuneiform to visitors at a fair. A father and his two little children came up to the table where I was working. I recognised them from an interfaith ceremony Iād attended several months before: the father had said a prayer for his homeland, Syria, and for his hometown, Aleppo.
All three of them were soft-spoken, kind and curious. I taught the little girl how to press wedges into the clay, and I taught the little boy that his name meantĀ āsunā and that there was an ancient Mesopotamian God with the same name. I told them they were about the same age as scribes were when they started their training. As they worked, their father said to them gently:Ā āSee, this is how your ancestors used to write.ā
And I thought of how the Ancient City of Aleppo is almost entirely destroyed now, and how the Citadel was shelled and used as a military base, and how Palmyran temples were blown up and such a wealth of culture and history has been lost forever. And there I was with these children, two small pieces of the future of a broken country, and I was teaching them cuneiform. They were smiling and chatting to each other about Mesopotamia andĀ ācan you imagine, our great-great-great-grandparents used to write like this four thousand years ago!ā For them and their father, it was more than a fun weekend activity. It was a way of connecting, despite everything and thousands of kilometres away from home, with their own history.
This moment showed me, in a concrete way, why ancient studies matter. They may not seem important now, not to many people at least. But history represents so much of our cultural identity: it teaches us where we come from, explains who we are, and guides us as we go forward. Lose it, and we lose a part of ourselves. As historians, our role is to preserve this knowledge as best we can and pass it on to future generations who will need it. I helped pass it on to two little Syrian children that day. They learnt that their country isnāt just blood and bombs, itās also scribes and powerful kings and Sun-Gods and stories about immortality and tablets that make your hands sticky. And that matters.
A group of rough looking boys walked past me today and all I heard of their conversation was āheās got that anxiety disorder bro so I went with him so heād be more comfortableā and it made me realise the world isnāt all that bad
The pet store I worked at had a pen with rabbits near the front door. On every side of the pen were huge signs saying āYou can pet me, but donāt pick me up!ā
One day two absolutely huge guys came in and one immediately reaches into the pen to grab a rabbit. Before i could say anything his friend grabbed his arm and asked him ādid you see the sign?ā
He said āyeah! it says that you can pick them up but donāt pet them!ā
Then he went quiet for a moment and softly said āI didnāt read it right did I?ā
And his friend just puts his arm on his shoulder and said āits ok, i know youāve got that thing where words get mixed up. Let just pet these cute lil shitsā
And I still havenāt gotten over that interaction.I was walking my dog through Boston bc he likes the likes car rides. Heās a little thing tbh we call him short and long.
So this huge scary man with a full beard approaches me like āhey can my buddy and I pet your dog? He gets nervous around dogs but yourās is so small I think itās a good place to start.ā
Ofc I was like āyes heās very friendly!ā So this guy brings his equally big friend over and they sit on the floor while this man looks terrified of my tiny dog so big man number one asks ācan I pick him up?ā And i say yes so he picks him up and puts him on man number twoās lap and man number two is abt to freak out and his friend straight up just goes āhey man, itās okay just relax Iād never let anything hurt you. Heās a good boy.ā Iāll never forget it ever bc I know that man looked at me (5’3 , glasses, probably wearing a sweater vest) and my dog (kinda goofy looking little thing) and was like āah yes the two least intimidating living things Iāve seen in Boston all day heāll feel relaxed around themā and went out of his way to help his friend. It makes me so happyA good post, pure.
Another adorable story has been added.
can I have these posted right under the politics section in the newspaper? I feel like we need that kinda positivity rn.
hahahaha best prank iāve seen in a while
This is singlehandedly one of the funniest and cutest things Iāve ever seen. Relationship goals.
bye i love this
Man: Siri, what is 1 trillion to the tenth power?
Siri: Calculation. The answer is one zero zero zero zero zero [continuing]
Man: *starts beatboxing to the rhythm.
Woman 1: *joins in*
Woman 2: *starts singing to the rhythm*This is sO GOOD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOL8fFO6pUo
Someone kindly posted a link to a longer version of it in the comments, so Iām pulling it out if you need more!
So last night was my first welding class and the second i walked through the door the teacher saidĀ āhey youāre zoe rightā and I started to panic because how does the teacher immediately know who I am fuck did I have this teacher before how come i donāt recognize him fuck fuck iām a terrible person
turns out iām just the youngest person in the class by about 30 years so the deduction wasnāt that hard
anyways, apparently people keep taking the welding class over and over again and the wait list is like 100 people long and so it was by some act of providence of pure dumb luck that I managed to get a spot. This also means I was the only person there who hadnāt welded before.
Iām stationed at a big center table where the teacher can keep an eye on me, and everyone else is in booths on the surrounding walls each making their own projects. And these are impressive looking projects. One guy is making a side table, a woman is making a giant metal rocking chair, and another guy was making a wind chime out of old compressed air canisters.Ā
The elderly gentlemen in the booth right behind me introduces himself to me as Jim and asks me if this is my first time and I say yeah and he smiles at me and tells me Iām gonna love it and how this class is so fun.
Immediately Jim becomes my new best friend. He comes over whenever I stop to take a break and asks how Iām doing and even helps me take the welding mask off when I couldnāt figure out how to do it myself.Ā
at one point i see Jim and another old guy talking to the teacher and i catch the old guy pointing at me. now being pointed at is usually never a good thing. the teacher has had me welding edges of scrap metal together so I can get a feel for the equipment. The teacher comes to check on me and I jokingly as him if those seasoned guys were making fun of me.Ā
Turns out Iām super good at welding and the old guy didnāt believe it was my first time welding ever and Jim was trying to convince him I was a newbie. š
So for the entire 3 hour long class, like 15 middle aged and elderly people would periodically come by my table and check in with me, making sure Iām having fun and asking me questions about my life, and things like, do you know where the drinking fountain is, making sure Iām taking breaks, looking out for me and that kind of thing,Ā all while being completely kind and supporting and complimenting me on my welding skills.Ā
and thatās how a community center welding class gave me 15 new grandparents. i love them all and this class is going to be amazing
this is so pure
I want this
just moving along like everyone else 