This is a spadefoot, specifically I think this is probably Spea bombifrons, though a confident ID would probably require examination of the feet and a different view of the head.
Spadefoots (Spadefeet!) are often referred to as toads, but they are not bufonids, and therefore are not true toads. Instead American spadefoots belong to the family Scaphiopodidae—a relatively ancient lineage that was probably doing the ‘toad’ thing almost 100 million years before true toads evolved.
Trying to keep your footprint as low as possible is a great way to self-destruct.
And I’m not saying this to people who take two hour showers during international flights while shoving red meat into their mouth. I’m saying this to my fellow activists who feel conflicted about heating their home on fossil fuels even though they don’t have any other options (and struggle to afford it).
Like, we can talk about how ‘consumer choice’ is never going to save the planet and stuff, but more importantly: You are not a sin. Your basic needs deserve to be met. You deserve to be warm and filled with food that satisfies you and you deserve to see your friends.
We are not fighting to save 'the planet’, that’s a piece of rock. We want to save ecosystems and plants and animals, including people. You are part of that. Don’t leave yourself out of the list of creatures that deserve to thrive.
walk around in nature contemplating Things. start hiking, swimming, sailing, rowing, shooting, riding, etc. for inspiration
be obsessed with the french revolution and related enlightenment-era figures like rousseau, voltaire, mary wollstonecraft, and madame de staël. be more disappointed by napoleon bonaparte than you are by your own father.
speaking of fathers, your parents and most of your other relatives are all either dying or dead or emotionally abusive. if you have any siblings (full, half, step, or adopted) who DIDN’T die tragically already, then you may choose to be close to them. you also may end up being much TOO close to them. various circumstances may also ban you from seeing them.
be at least slightly touched by madness and/or some other severe illness(es) including but not limited to: consumption, horrors, syphilis, deformities, lameness, terrors, piles, boils, pox, allergies, coughing, sleep abnormalities, gonorrhea, etc. — for which you must take frequent bed rest and copious amounts of Laudanum (opium derivation)
consider foregoing meat and adopting a vegetable diet instead to purify the spirits. you may also abstain from alcohol for the same reasons. alternatively, you may attempt the veggie diet, end up rejecting it, and becoming a rampant alcoholic instead. in romanticism there is no healthy medium between abstinence and excess.
reject, or at least heavily criticize, christianity. refuse to get married in a church and consider becoming a fervent champion of atheism. alternatively, you may embrace catholicism, but only on an aesthetic basis. eastern religions and minority religions are also acceptable, only because they piss off the christians.
if you’re not a self-hating member of the aristocracy and instead have to work for a living, do something that allows you to benefit society, be creative, and/or contemplate life. viable options include, but are not limited to: apothecarist, doctor, teacher, preacher, lawyer, farmer, printmaker, publisher, editor. there is also the possibility of earning a few coins from your art. if you were cursed to be born a She, no worries. we believe in equality. you may choose from these occupations: wife, nanny, housekeeper, spinster, amanuensis (copy writer for a man), lady’s companion, divorced wife, singer/actress/escort, widow, regular escort, tutor, or housewife.
speaking of sexist institutions, try rejecting marriage entirely. Declare your eternal devotion to your lover by having sex with them on your mother’s grave instead.
if you do get married — elope, and only let it be for necessary financial reasons, or to try and save a teenage girl from her controlling family, or out of true love with someone you view as your intellectual equal, or because your life is so racked with scandals and debt that you can only clear your name by matrimony to a wealthy religious woman as your last resort before fleeing the country.
After marriage, quickly assert your belief in the powers of free love and bisexuality by taking extramarital lovers and suggesting your spouse follow suit. If they cannot keep up with your intellectual escapades then consider leaving them. Later on, propose a platonic friendship with them following the separation, or beg them for reconciliation.
If your marriage is happy, try moving in with another bohemian couple to shake things up. Alternatively, you may die before the wedding for dramatic effect.
If you beget children (whether in or out of marriage, makes no matter), do society a favor by choosing to raise them with your beliefs. Consider adopting orphan children, or even non-orphan children. If their parents are poor enough they probably won’t mind. Try kidnapp— I mean adopting — children off the side of the road if you can.
DIE but do it creatively. ideally young. ideas: prophecy your own death, lead an army into war and then die right before your first battle and on your deathbed curse everyone and demand to see a witch, write a will leaving money to your mistresses or some random young man you have an unrequited romantic obsession with, carry a copy of your dead friend’s poetry and read it right before you drown so that your washed up corpse can only be identified by his book in your pocket, die while staring at your lover’s shriveled up heart that you keep wrapped up in a copy of his own poetry and then be buried with it, die of the poet’s illness (consumption) while your artist friend draws you and then be buried with your lover’s writing, get mysteriously poisoned (by yourself) after a series of scandals and accidents and then have your family announce that you were killed by god, die from romanticizing poverty or receiving bad reviews from literary critics, die from walking or horseback riding in the cold and the rain while poeticizing, etc.
In case the esim process confuses you or you aren’t able to buy them yourself for any other reason, crips for esims for Gaza is collecting donations, they’ve almost met their goal of $150,000 raised. Donating allows them to buy esims in bulk which allows them to obtain more than individuals would be able to. I just donated and it was super easy as you can use paypal.
I just did this! As someone who is easily overwhelmed and confused even in life or death matters, this is extremely handy and rewarding. Get at it!
They’ve raised their goal to $500,000 so there’s still plenty of room to donate! Please, if you’ve tried to donate esims and had trouble with the other processes, check this donation drive out, it really is so much simpler and the same donation!
i just feel like “what if the trauma we go through is usually not noble but purposeless and terrible and the things we develop to keep us alive often change us for the worse” is one of the most important realizations you can come to in terms of like. empathizing with your fellow man and yet whenever that theme shows up in fiction so many people are immediately like its either PERFECT VICTIM OR IRREDEEMABLY EVIL. open the door and walk out of the dichotomy
“On March 2, millions across the world will march for Gaza! The Israeli government is planning to have a full-scale invasion of Rafah one week later, on March 9, one day before the start of Ramadan. Today, the United States vetoed a UN resolution that insisted that Israel immediately cease its mass killing spree in Gaza.
Now is the time to act! People around the world are going into the streets in cities and towns, including in the United States, as part of the global day of protest on Saturday, March 2.
Gaza is facing famine, its hospitals are besieged, threats of ground invasion in Rafah loom near, and Israel continues its onslaught on the over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The mass movement for Palestine has led to the isolation of the US and Israel on the world stage. With growing internal divisions and heightened political pressure on Israel and the United States, it’s time to push even harder. Our mobilizations at this moment can be more decisive than ever, and we must show our full strength now to ensure a lasting ceasefire and an end to the siege on Gaza.
Act now, and mobilize in your communities and institutions, everyone must be on the streets on March 2nd! All out for Rafah! All out for Gaza! Stop the genocide!”
Locations by state/country in alphabetical order pasted directly from the above (please go to the link for specific times & check for frequent updates!):
His current plan is to boost Florida’s economy by investing in city infrastructure and green energy, to give back to the middle class that, he believes, kept Florida running, and wishes to further protect from climate change by investing in both state wide and country wide green policies. Russell also wishes to dismantle discrimination in his state and country, protect families and workers through affordable housing and wages, to address gun reform and the use the new bipartisan background check act, and, finally, wishes to institute reproductive rights for all and focus on women’s issues in the state.
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