god i never told you guys but a couple weeks ago at work i heard a guy say, and i closely paraphrase, “So I was out with my partner–republicans hate it when i say that. My heterosexual partner Jessica–” and i was straight up crying before he finished his sentence. fully diegetic convergent linguistic evolution live in the workplace
Can’t go a day without seething in rage about how “Woke” was coined to discuss the pervasive nature of antiblack racism throughout all societies and got so fucking mangled by the white masses across all political spectrums that it practically doesn’t mean anything anymore. It’s almost a joke of itself.
During the height of the Ferguson protests, you’d see posts about how the system is designed to oppress the Black community and being unaware of how it operates is akin to being asleep, so you must stay Woke. (Woke as a term in the Black community actually has a long standing history but we’ll focus on this period of time for now). You have to keep your eyes open to the truth, that’s what it was about.
And now it’s used to discuss whether or not it’s woke for a brunette to wear jeans, or if using your turn signal is woke. It honestly makes me want to puke
“Woke” is believed to have been coined by the Blues singer known as Lead Belly. He sang in his song “Scottsboro Boys” (written about nine black teenagers falsely accused of sexual assault): “So I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there—best stay woke, keep their eyes open.” It also may have its origins in the “Wide Awakes,” a youth organization existing in the antebellum south.
Remember that wokeness is an awareness of the injustices constructed by the broken system we live under. Things cannot be woke, only people.
yorgos lanthimos is having a special screening of his movie where you can watch it if you shave your head. It’s called the bald screening. This isn’t a joke
Oh my god…. so was looking up cats eating corn and there are these old time looking photos of a cat eating corn on the cob and I don’t even know what to say
The thing is, even if you were lucky and your parents taught you how to clean, they probably didn’t teach you how to clean the stuff you clean stuff with, like brushes, mops, sponges, rags, and so on. Or how to clean your cleaning appliances, like a dish washer, clothes washing machine, and clothes dryer and its ducts (if you have a ducted dryer), or a carpet cleaner, vacuum, Or how to clean up clean messes, like spilled bleach or detergent.
My parents threw away all of these things (even the vacuum cleaners and the dryer) when they got too dirty to function, because no one even told them THAT they could be cleaned. Cost them thousands of dollars over the years.
All I’m saying is that cleaning is not intuitive, and not knowing how to clean is not a moral failing, but it is something you can learn.
I’m going to reblog this post with resources for learning how to clean things and how to clean cleaning things (I’m not at my desk at the moment). If you have any favorites, please feel free to add them in too!
I like this video because it does a great job of introducing the basic foundations of house cleaning (and because he doesn’t use bleach, which is a common allergy in addition to being awful to inhale). He also talks a little about how to clean a vacuum. And why you shouldn’t put grease from your pots and pans down the sink drain. I also love that he mentions that different houses and different people have different needs and different versions of what clean and cleaning looks like.
He doesn’t mention though that the toilet seat comes off. I take my toilet seat off to clean under the hinges and clean the seat more thoroughly once a quarter.
This is another video from the same guy about cleaning and depression. This advice, especially at the beginning, can feel really really difficult and oppressive to hear. However, I find that it’s generally pretty solid. But I’m autistic and so is he, so that gets a massive Your Mileage May Vary stamp on it.
I have a favorite part of this video. It’s from 10:52 to 12:36. I think we could all use to hear that. There’s a HEFTY pause after that one. I promise the narration does come back.
I’m also going to recommend KC Davis’ book “How To Keep House While Drowning”
This is a pair of videos about how to correctly load and use a dish washer.
The first one is a quick 1 minute 30 second overview on loading. I can’t find the exact video I’m looking for, so consider this a substitute for that. If I can find the one I’m looking for, I’ll swap it in.
The second is a half hour deep dive on dishwashers and detergents. The short form of that is you shouldn’t need to pre-rinse anything, detergent pods are overpriced and can cause problems, some dishwashers have a filter in the bottom that needs to be cleaned (but most don’t), run your sink until the water is HOT before starting your dish washer, and put a little detergent in the pre-rinse dispenser when you’re washing extra dirty dishes (or on the inside of the door if your dishwasher doesn’t have a pre-rinse dispenser).
How to clean a top loader (without the removable agitator thing). This should be done every 1-3 months depending on you unit, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.
How to clean a top loader (with the removable agitator thing). This should be done every month, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.
This video is for pet owners.
These carpet brushes are a LIFE SAVER if you have dogs. This thing allows me to go from vacuuming about 4 square feet before my vacuum is full to vacuuming half the living room (I don’t vacuum often enough. You should vacuum weekly, and I just can’t.). I have to unclog the vacuum less often. It fluffs up some of the flat spots in the carpet. And I also use the brush to shampoo my rugs in the spring.
A spot cleaner (or a carpet cleaner with a spot cleaner attachment) is another life saver, ESPECIALLY if you can afford to splurge on a heated one. I see them at Goodwill or at yard sales occasionally, and they’re worth picking up. The shark one in the video is great too.
This channel is gold. There’s tutorials for cleaning EVERYTHING on there. Just go subscribe!
Gonna throw another potential resource at the end of this very long list, which may be potentially helpful for others like me who loathe videos. It’s… the weirdest thing that has genuinely been helpful to me in housekeeping. Absolutely full of useful advice, and bizarrely still relevant in large part. (Though, caveat, research ANYTHING to do with chemicals or cleaning products more complicated than vinegar + lemon + water for modern information.)
It’s America’s Housekeeping Book (1941). Available for free download on the Internet Archive. (Large PDF file at the link here).
The LISTS y'all. The step by step lists. The emphasis on efficiency and arranging spaces for the least resistance possible. The basic concept of “take a tray or basket into a room when you are tidying up so you can put things that belong elsewhere on it and take them out LATER in ONE GO”.
“The axe forgets, but the tree remembers” is typically a very true statement. Unless, of course, you have moral ocd, in which case the axe has been haunted for weeks and the tree does not remember or care. In fact, many sources report that the axe, which is actually a plastic butter knife, has never been anywhere near a forest. And also there is no tree.
ALT
