I went to the observatory a couple months ago, and saw a show in the planetarium.
In that show, the narrator started talking about how oh by the way the sun is dying. Because that’s how shit goes, kittens. Energy moves around, chaos and decay rule the world and everything around it.
The sun. Is dying.
Which of course means that one day, all of this will be gone. Everything we know.
Which of course means that nothing you ever do will last forever, or matter infinitely.
I had thought about this before, and never cared. Because I was young and lived nachos to nachos.
But this time I cared. It struck me how unimportant everything is. How tiny my life is. How close I am to not even existing at all.
And I left that show and stood out on the roof looking over Los Angeles. And I wondered what, then, mattered at all about my life.
And what I decided was this:
I am here to make things and love people.
Because the things I make let me love this life in the way I was made to love it.
And love is the only thing that stands when everything else falls or fails or decays or dies or burns out.
And all of this makes me way happier than sad.
Because hell, I can do that.
He’s right, of course.
I don’t think I could wear this to host karaoke, and it’s too hot in my KJ corner to dress in layers anyway. But I want it anyway.
Disco Stu doesn’t advertise.
Probably my favourite moment in the entire history of the show. I even use this line in my bio. If you met me, you’d get it.
(Source: eyeonspringfield)
![thedailywhat:
Dear Ann Coulter of the Day: After Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a retard in a tweet during Monday night’s presidential debate, Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens penned her this open letter:
Dear Ann Coulter, Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult? I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night. I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have. Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next. Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift. Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more. After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV. I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash. Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor. No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much. Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged. A friend you haven’t made yet, John Franklin Stephens Global Messenger Special Olympics Virginia
[specialolympicsblog]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mceq34XHBY1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Dear Ann Coulter of the Day: After Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a retard in a tweet during Monday night’s presidential debate, Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens penned her this open letter:
Dear Ann Coulter,
Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?
I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.
I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have.
Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next.
Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift.
Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more.
After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV.
I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash.
Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor.
No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much.
Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged.
A friend you haven’t made yet, John Franklin Stephens Global Messenger Special Olympics Virginia
Let’s be crystal fucking clear here: if you don’t believe that all people deserve the absolute same rights - including marriage - then I’m not being an asshole when I call you bigoted; I’m being accurate.
One of us believes it’s perfectly acceptable to separate people out as worthy or unworthy based on their perceived or actual sexual orientation, that some people deserve more or less “rights” as human beings, and that certain types of people have “chosen” to be denied some of the most basic aspects of the human experience.
The other one’s me.
- to Phil Smith (S3/E04)
The Daily Tucker is a thing I am now doing because I am THAT dedicated to my love of profanity.
OH, CHILD. DO YOU THINK FASHION IS ABOUT CLOTHING?
IS POLITICS ABOUT PUBLIC SERVICE? IS SUCCESS ABOUT ARTISTIC INTEGRITY?
EVERYTHING IS A GAME, SWEET THING. AN ATTITUDE. A GLORIOUS AND WONDERFUL SHOW.
ACT THE PART, OR YOU’LL BE WAITING FOREVER FOR A CALLBACK THAT NEVER COMES.
Welp, I’ve found my new toast!
(Source: likeneelyohara)
People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
”| — | (via honeyisafashionaddict) |
| — | Danielle LaPorte, The Positivity of Pride (via jennabee) [Your girl Hez here might have a few things that get rounder and softer as the years go by, but y’all motherfuckers know my edge ain’t goin nowhere.] (Source: jennabee) |
There are people in your life who are going to love you for all of the wrong reasons. They will love you for the best part of your face, the best part of you naked, the best mood on your best day, the best story you ever wrote, the best outfit you ever wore.
They are going to miss the scar on the underside of your nose from the time your older brothers dared you to run across a pile of logs. They won’t know that you fell on a hidden nail just as you completed the challenge. They’ll miss the scar on your finger, too from the time you were seven and closed a swiss army knife on it. They won’t understand that these are two of only a handful of things you can remember about your childhood. They’ll notice that you have great tits, but they’ll miss that your thumb tucks into their palm when you’re walking together and that your eyes have darker circles when a migraine is coming. They won’t know you get migraines. They won’t ask where the story you wrote came from, so they’ll never know that it was true. They’ll love it because it feels real to them. They’ll miss knowing the sweatshirt full of holes that they criticized you for wearing was your dads. You might tell them some of these things along the way, but they will remember the best things instead.
They will love your good moods, your energy, your sense of humor, but miss that you never turn to them, but rather to a shower or a pillow or the back of your throat to shed tears. They won’t ever consider you strong.
When the parts that aren’t your best come out, some people will shield their eyes as if you have just forced them to look directly into the sun for hours until their irises burn. They’ll silently make you promise to never show them that again. Those things are not to be shown. Be at your best so I can love you. I would love you more if only you never show me those things.
And you do not marry those people. You do not sit and sleepily drink coffee with those people. You leave those people and you remind yourself that they missed the better parts of you.
”| — | Give me a job, please.: (via alisonagosti) … I needed to read this today. |
Chris Gethard will be on HuffPost Live this afternoon to talk about using comedy as therapy. Last week, he reached out on Tumblr to an anonymous, suicidal fan to talk about his own battles with depression, and it was a damn beautiful thing full of humanity and generosity.
He’ll be joined via webcam by comedian/writer Gabe Delahaye of the blog Videogum, as well as a professor of comedy rhetoric from Texas A&M and a fan or two.
Tune in today at 1:20 p.m. EST.
Wow. I just read the post linked up there, and it is a thing of raw, emotional beauty that deserves to be shared, especially with anyone feeling fragile, disconnected or hopeless. Pass it on.
