Supportourgoddesses - Avere Grilli Per La Testa - Tumblr Blog

“My body, my choice” only makes sense when someone else’s life isn’t at stake.

I often forget that there ARE ace/aro celebs out there - that’s how isolated I feel most of the time. We stan Moses Sumney for calling out capitalism as making money on amatonormativity.

Being this way is rlly hard but this post is a blessing. Shout out to all my ace and/or aro peeps living their best lives. That’s the best and most original form of resistance

Since it’s aro awareness week and black history month this seems like a fitting time to shout out and express my appreciation to the black aros making history. 

Moses Sumney

Moses Sumney is perhaps the most public and well known aro person out there. He create a whole album (yes! a whole album) titled Aromanticism that was released in 2017. Not only is the album stunningly gorgeous it features very aro lines such as “Am I vital/ If my heart is idle/ Am I doomed?“ and “If lovelessness is godlessness/ Will you cast me to the wayside?”

He has a deeply anti-opression and anti-capitalist perspective that informs and is informed by his aromanticism. 

“I think that romance is very obviously a political tool, and a capitalist device. I’ve even thought recently, it’s quite good for the economy: the amount people spend on weddings and gifts. Also, [romance] just can’t be separated from a patriarchal structure — like the idea that in a homosexual couple, one person is the masculine, and the other is the feminine. Ultimately we keep going back to those two figures on the wedding cake as the archetype, even for alternative relationships.“ (https://www.thefader.com/2017/09/04/moses-sumney-aromanticism-interview)

Michaela Coel

Michaela Coel is a writer, actor, poet and director. She wrote and stars in Chewing Gum, acted in an episode of Black Mirror and plays the lead character in Black Earth Rising. 

She came out as aro on twitter in 2017. She hasn’t talked about it much since then but it looks like she learned about aromanticism through Moses Sumney. 

Here’s a quote of her talking about seeing his concert. 

“He’s a beautiful artist and I’ve read some interviews of his about romanticism and capitalism, and it was really refreshing to see views that I share but are also very taboo. Just about what exactly is romance, aside from lust and love, what is this other thing and do I really have that? It’s nice that there’s this guy out there who makes those albums.“(https://www.wmagazine.com/story/michaela-coel-black-mirror-season-4-star-trek-space-episode-netflix)

There’s not much aro history out there, but these black aros are paving a path for the future. 

the moon is a lesbian and she hates terfs

lgbt terms listed by date of first use in writing

according to merriam-webster:

-lesbian - 1732

-bisexual - 1793

-nonbinary - 1863

-homosexual - 1891

-intersex - 1908

-hypersexual - 1915 (not inherently lgbt ofc)

-pansexual - 1926

-hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - 1945

-gay - 1953

-transsexual - 1957

-omnisexual - 1960

-gender dysphoria - 1973

-transgender - 1974

-asexual - 1975

-gender identity disorder - 1978

-queer theory - 1988

-top surgery - 1992

-polyamory - 1992

-gender confirmation surgery - 1993

-trans man - 1996

-trans woman - 1996

-aromantic - 2004

-agender - 2006

there are probably more, but i couldn’t find them!

Okay non-European tumblr, I’m gonna explain to you why ‘white’ isn’t as simple here as it is in the rest of the world

- Shades of white in Europe range from ‘freshly fallen snow’ to ‘I am frequently mistaken as being from the Middle East’

- White European is a thing. When you fill out a form, under ethnicity, there are several options for white; white British, white European, white other. Because people make that distinction

- There are Europeans who don’t class their ethnicity as their skin colour, but as their nationality. I have family who don’t think of themselves as white, they just think of themselves as Italian and don’t really give much thought to their skin colour

- People here in Britain always question if darker skinned white Europeans are ‘actually white’. I get it a lot myself. My response is always ‘well I’m not anything else, so obviously I must be’

- Despite being white, a lot of Europeans from Italy, Greece, Spain etc, don’t feel white in the traditional sense. We’re not white like white British people. We’re not white like white Americans. We’re our own white. White British is one thing. White Italian is another thing. White Greek is another, etc

- Which is why we have this notion here in Europe of ‘nationality over race’. Being white isn’t as important as where you’re from

- So this really only becomes an issue if you’re an immigrant

- So being white in Europe doesn’t save you from racial discrimination, because sure, you’re technically white, but you’re not white white. Not the right white

- Here in England, Europeans with really blatantly foreign names, such as myself, find it more difficult to get job interviews, because they take one look at our name and don’t bother reading the rest of the CV. A guy I know was actually told by his boss to reduce the pile of CVs he had by ‘chucking away any with a name you can’t fucking pronounce’

- And then even when you do get an interview, half the time you walk into the joint several shades darker than everyone else and feel like you’ve walked into the ‘Swedish supermodel’ clubhouse and you just know you’re not getting hired

This is all basic stuff and it’s very much taken for granted here. Race and ethnicity are not as clear cut, so it can be very confusing for non-Europeans to wrap their heads around. Which is fine. But I implore you to stay in your lane, because when you say things like ‘no white person anywhere in the world ever knows what it’s like to face racial discrimination’, it’s really fucking offensive to all of the European immigrants who are denied jobs, harassed by the police and beaten by racists, because foreign is foreign to these people, and they don’t give a shit if you’re technically white. So when you mean white American, say white American. 

Between 1650 and 1900, the global population went up by a billion. Between 1900 and 1950, that number went up another billion. And from 2010 up to today, yet another billion. As many people were born in fifty years as they were in 400. Today, as many people have been born in nine years as in fifty. 

The more people there are in an area, the more resources are needed to sustain them. In one town, there must be enough water, food, and other energy sources to allow everyone to live comfortably. If there are not enough resources for everyone in that town, the town cannot sustain all its inhabitants. This has consequences for the environment. To try and meet everyone’s needs, the town will take more and more from the land - more water from the rivers, more timber from the forest, more animals and plants for food. If these resources are taken at a faster rate than they can be replenished, the environment suffers. This happening world-wide. The higher the global population, the harder it is to sustain life on earth. Habitat destruction and deforestation are occurring at higher and higher rates to make room for farms, roads, and houses. Encroachment on an ecosystem harms the plants and animals that call it home. And the waste expelled by these actions pollute rivers and the atmosphere.

We must fulfill the three laws of sustainability. Say them with me now: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Who should worry most about climate change? 

a) Poor people. They’re the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change, including natural disasters and disease. Some people benefit from practices that exacerbate climate change - if those people were at risk, they’d be actively fighting those practices. My teacher drew a diagram on the board; poor people live in one area and rich people live in the other. If the rich people want to build a big yucky factory, they’ll build it where the poor people live, because they don’t have any money for lawyers. This is the way it’s been all over the world. 

b) People who live by the sea. Rising sea levels, flooding, and storms won’t treat those places will. A lot of property will be damaged, people displaced, and coastal cities could be underwater before the century is out. Boston is my home. I don’t want my people or my family to be uprooted by water. I don’t want the history, art, and architecture of my city to go underwater - it’s too beautiful for that.

The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s saw a boom in manufacturing and technological achievement. Products as diverse as car parts to cleaning supplies were being assembled, built, woven, or otherwise created on a scale never before seen. But this renaissance required workers - lots of them. In capitalist countries in the West, business tycoons made profit off of the cheap labor of thousands of men, women and children. Most of them worked up to 16 hours a day, in insanely dangerous conditions. But where there is oppression there is resistance, and in the 1880s, worker’s unions across the United States began to fight for their rights.   

Many members of the movement at this time were communists and anarchists, who believed that the capitalist system exploited members of the working class. They demonstrated for an 8-hour day, as well as better wages and working conditions. 

In 1886, in the first days of May, thousands of Chicago’s working class went on strike.  In Haymarket Square, a meeting of up to 3,000 radicals gathered to protest the conditions they worked in. When the Chicago police came to disperse the demonstrators, someone threw a bomb. At least 8 people died, and more than a hundred were wounded. 

Three years later, in commemoration of what was called the Haymarket affair, the International Socialist Conference declared May first an international holiday for the world’s workers. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (now know as the American Federation of Labor) declared that “eight hours shall now constitute a legal day’s labor.” 

But the US no longer celebrates Labor Day on May first, or May Day. During the Cold War, May first became associated with the socialist and communist movements that it had been born from. President Eisenhower signed a resolution renaming May Day as ‘Loyalty Day’, a holiday dedicated to American patriotism. We now celebrate Labor Day on September second.   

But hey, in recognition of global celebrations and the industrious working class, here’s a shout out to May Day. Equality and vacation days for all! 

The 49th Earth Day is today! This year’s theme is Protect Our Species, so here’s an essay about 3 of the most endangered species in the world.

#1: Pangolins These little guys are the best. They eat insects with tongues longer than their bodies, and roll up into little scaly balls when afraid. In Malay, the word ‘penggulung’ fittingly means ‘one that rolls up’. There are 8 different species of pangolin; four are native to east Asia, and four to Africa. Every species is labeled either ‘vulnerable’ or ‘endangered’. In Africa, pangolin scales are used to attract potential lovers, and as medicine in China and other parts of Asia. The meat is considered a delicacy. These beliefs have created a vast illicit trade network of pangolin parts; the creatures themselves are being captured, killed, and cooked almost to extinction. Mother pangolins wrap themselves around their babies to protect them. But greater steps must be taken to save these mammals.

#2: Coral Reefs Not gonna lie: for the longest time, I thought coral reefs were big rocks at the bottom of the ocean, with maybe a few plants here and there. Turns out, corals, ancient organisms that are related to sea anemones, are a vital part of our oceans. An individual coral is called a pylop. A pylop will grow a calcium-based exoskeleton; when a colony of thousands of pylops do this together, it forms a coral reef. Coral reefs exist all over the world, and are home to thousands of underwater species. Fish, algae, plants and invertebrates all feed and shelter on reefs. They protect coastlines and contribute billions to ecotourism and fishing industries. But these homes are dying out. As the earth warms, so do the oceans. Changes in temperature and pH levels kill pylop by the thousands, leaving entire ecosystems bleached and dead. This leaves millions of other organisms homeless and with little food. Without coral reefs, the oceans would never be the same. And since 75% of the earth is covered in water, I think we should be worried about that.

#3: Bees Can’t really emphasize this enough guys: we need bees to live. These insects live all over the world in diverse climates, from African deserts to the Arctic Circle, but their hives and habitats are under attack. Bees pollinate plants, which helps them grow. Pollinated plants go on to produce food, medicine, and other natural wonders we use everyday. And we’re not the only ones; birds, bears, and dozens of other species rely on the bees’ work. Our use of pesticides make bees and other creatures sick. Invading bees’ habitats  leave less space for hives and less plants for them to pollinate. Climate change is, as always, a threat. Without bees, there would be no us. Let’s freaking save the bees y’all.

What you can do:

Reach out to organizations working to protect these species. Donate, volunteer, or simply read up!

Make sure to buy produce that wasn’t grown with pesticides.

Plant some flowers… Adopt a hive…

Reduce your carbon footprint: save the ozone and the reefs!

Always practice the rules of sustainably: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Thanks for reading, everybody. Happy Earth Day!

Small Steps #3: Tea Edition

Here’s a few extra tips for your morning routine, if you’re a tea-drinking environmentalist like me:

Use a ceramic mug rather than a paper or styrofoam cup.

Rinse and reuse mugs, rather than sending them right to the dishwasher

Try to use tea bags that aren’t attached to string and paper. A little less material going into the trash.

Compost tea bags after use (not the string and paper - cut those off). Ripping the bag helps the decomposition process.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the smallest habits build a greater impact than we think. If we keep at them day after day, it adds up, the same way a short drive to the supermarket contributes to the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

Some people look down on the environmentally friendly actions we can take, especially when they appear too small to matter. “You just want to feel like you’re doing something” - but I am. We tend to discredit small acts of conservation, because they don’t seem to make a dent. But such an assumption is dangerously arrogant. Each of us can do something, and we must.

Snake: a poem

A snake is coiled, lying in wait.  He is buying his time with the coins he stole from dead men's pockets. A snake is vicious, his little fangs biting off what he can chew only with a spoonful of shamelessness.  He has learned to be soft and secret until the time is ripe to speak his bloated mind.

A snake has thick skin - until someone flips him belly up, and he wails like a child, and sends out his fangs like a thing gone wild.

Pablo Neruda said, "Hatred grows scale on scale..." And the snake has scales as sharp as slate. He rattles his tail, but by then it's too late.

Madness rules, and the snake is free. 

Here’s the thing fam-

You have to decide if you want to be one of the best, or the best. 

The fact is, there’s gonna be a lot of people in you’re life who will get the same grades and credit and praise and points, but who aren’t the best people. They can be rude, vapid, inconsiderate, myopic, or just not very nice; plenty of people like that will get the credit you deserve. But they’re not the best - you are. You are a person with a big, beautiful heart. You’re hardworking, talented, conscientious, and kind; it’s people like you who should get the best in life. But you’re the only one who can make that happen. You, for the sake of everyone, need to commit to being one tough cookie: don’t let them get the best of you, get the best of yourself. Be the best version of yourself that you can be. Make sure that you get everything other people get, that you do everything other people do, and more. Don’t cheat yourself.  

And the people I mentioned above? The one’s who don’t hold a candle to you? The goal isn’t to stop them; it’s to not let them stop you.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for 200 followers! I’m so grateful for the support; it’s really encouraging to se that so many people are interested in my writing, in my thoughts and musings and ideas. This means so much - thank you.

Keep shining, beauties. Have a lovely day. :)

Should 16 year olds be allowed to vote?

Pros:

young ppl will have a voice earlier on

they’ll be empowered + encouraged to change their communities

the voices with the most knowledge about what people need will be elevated.

foster responsibility

Cons:

teens are too young to understand impact of their actions.

aren’t knowledgable or aware of political issues

too much pressure put on young shoulders.

those who are too immature could misrepresent people’s needs.

I say yes! More 16-year-olds than you would think, myself included, are ready and willing to make a difference. Some kids might be too immature for the vote, but frankly, so are some adults. We’re smart; we can handle it.  After all, we’ve only got a couple more years before adulthood comes along, so why not start preparing in the meantime? If we’re properly informed and coached by adults, we will make the right choices. Age doesn’t determine a person’s intelligence, maturity, or sense of responsibility. 

I really, really want to do something, something more than join a few clubs or run a blog. I want to help my community. I want to have an impact on the legislation that determines my future, to make the adults sitting indoors deciding my fate hear me. Adults don’t realize how much power they have - if I could vote.… man, you have no idea the things I’d make happen.

I’m here for photography, beach days, and my favorite flower. Yes. 

Sunflowers are the perfect flowers

Lioness: a poem

A lioness is cool, watchful for her cubs. She is responsible, open; she cares for the orphans and works with the others. She is a fighter for the ties that bind her pack together,  the ties that keep them safe.

She holds the savannah in her clean paws - or, at least, paws that are clean only when she steps in a puddle. Smart, collected; she knows her high-up place as one who belongs. She belongs because her job is to control her own fate. She does it well.

The lioness is part of the power, demos, and one of the people, kratos.  The lioness is fair, free, and roars as she pleases, because all are protected, all are loved, in her savannah home.

Or at least, that's what she strives for. 

Prompt 1 February 17&18: Discovery 

I started questioning my sexuality two and half years ago, and for a while I was experimenting with different labels and words to describe myself. Figuring out I was asexual was pretty easy, but my romantic orientation continued to confuse me - sometimes it still does. I knew for certain I fell on the aromantic spectrum when a close friend of mine developed a crush on me, and we started to ‘date’. It became pretty clear to me that there was a problem, and it wasn’t my friend. Two weeks into our relationship, I had to break it off, and I explained all my feelings and discomforts to my friend. Ever since then, I’ve been exploring my aromantic-ness and finding new ways to describe and express it. 

I don’t ever want to date someone, or even kiss them - like a real kiss. I don’t know how I know this for certain, but I do. I never want to say about my relationship with someone “we’re an item. don’t touch us.” Staying single is what works for me. I’m a really affectionate, emotionally open person, but I’ve learned that it’s hard for me to show love for someone without leading them on. I’ve been aware of people developing feelings for me that they think I might reciprocate, but I don’t. It has hurt some friendships and my own way of expressing myself. But I’m just gonna focus on being me, and loving people exactly the way I want to.

So, today’s Valentine’s Day, and I asked myself, what do I want my fellow aromantic kids to know? 

I want them to know that there’s nothing wrong with who they are. They’ve been told that there’s only one way to love, but that’s a lie. So they don’t fit inside a box, a box of flowers and pink hearts and stuffed teddy bears? So what? They’ve got broader feelings in their hearts, feelings that don’t have to be limited, or cookie-cutter perfect, or as recognizable as holding hands. I want them to know that you don’t need to date someone to show them you care. You don’t need to date anyone, in fact: you can just love everyone equally, and that’s OK. We’re told that we need someone to be complete, but here’s a secret: we don’t need other people. We want people, maybe, but we don’t need them. Not in that way.   

I want them to know that their color is green. On the color wheel, green is the opposite of red; red is the color of romance, and we are aromantic.   

I want them to know that they aren’t ‘missing out.’ All forms of love are beautiful, vibrant, exquisite, and kind. They’re kind.   

I’m writing from the heart, guys, from this small green heart that didn’t feel whole until I realized there was nothing wrong with me. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just a kid who wants to be me, to be free and love freely. Freely, in colors that aren’t just pink and red and ‘we’re an item’ colored. I want all of you to feel that same love; just shout it from the rooftops. You’re valid. You’re beautiful. I know it’s complicated, I know it’s not all clean edges and perfect form. But we’re gonna be okay. I just know it. We’re gonna be okay. 

Green hearts, everybody. Peace.

The queer community is it’s own worst enemy.   

It’s gay men and lesbians against bisexual people, who “just need to choose.” Angry spitfires who say asexual people aren’t really part of the community, aren’t really human. Cisgendered queers who degrade and dehumanize trans and non binary people.   

We put each other in boxes. We tell one another that there’s something false about that person’s LGBTQ+ identity. We say “you don’t belong, you have to fit into this cookie cutter. You can’t be that one, or none at all.” There’s always something wrong with you, but if you were to be something else, then you’ll be part of the community. We’ll finally get equal rights, if only you change. 

Get married, adopt kids. Don’t be poor, don’t be disabled, don’t be a person of color. You can be queer, but not too much, because then they won’t help us. You’ll scare them away. You can come under the umbrella, but if you’re this-or-that, we’ll push you out into the rain. 

This is what assimilation does to people. It pits them against each other, because everyone is holding themselves to a standard of a people that is not their own. And it isn’t just the LGBTQ+ community that does it. 

 ~ “You’re dark skinned - you’re not as good, not as clean, as people with light skin.”   ~ “You’re light skinned - you’re not black enough. Who do you think you are?” 

 ~ “You speak Spanish, so you’re living in the past; you aren’t ‘American’ enough.”  ~ “You don’t speak Spanish, so you aren’t in touch with you’re Latinx roots.” 

And round and round in circles. No one is safe, no one is free. There are too many eyes, too many boxes, and so an identity is scattered like loose change. A people forgets that they are all the same blood, in an effort to dilute it. This is what assimilation does to a people. Society hurts the community, which hurts the individual. All people, vs. your people, vs. you. 

To be queer is to be gifted with an eye-opening experience that never truly ends. It’s a life-long journey of discovery, about who you are and how you want to express that. It’s a description, not a definition. The LGBTQ+ community is vibrant, diverse, and all-encompassing. To be a part of it is to belong, to learn, and to gain friendship. It spans the globe, it brings out the best in people. Your never really stop seeing it’s beauty.   

But it’s made to be something else. It’s told it must be a set of easily identified categories. Queer people are told that they must fit one of these categories, and stick to it. Their identity must be a tight package to fit into. It must be easily understood and easily explained, because God forbid we confuse anyone! And so the queer individual suffers. 

And when the person suffers, so does the community.

Women belong to every minority; raise women up, and you raise up those minorities.

Today is the 3rd annual Women’s March, an international movement advocating for gender equality and human rights. The quote above is what my poster said at the first one two years ago. 

And it’s true: women are members of every community on the planet (unless you count fraternities, which I don’t). Religious, ethnic, racial, sexual -  you name it, women are a part of it. Unfortunately, lots of these groups often face discrimination and prejudice in any number of ways, for any number of reasons. Anywhere in the world, someone is always getting crap for being who they are. And regardless of their cultural identity, women often have it much worse.   

So let’s stop the hate against hijabis. Let’s stop underestimating women of color. Let’s stop the neglect of transgender woman, and the objectification of girls who like girls. 

Raise up the women, and you raise up the world. 

You’ve probably wondered what the title of this blog means. I probably should’ve gotten around to explaining it to you a while ago.   

“Avere grill per la testa” literally translates to “to have a head full of crickets” in Italian. 

Sometime in the late spring of 2017, I was in a gift shop somewhere. I found a small, rectangular book called “The Illustrated Book of Sayings: Curious Expressions from around the World.” It was published by Ella Frances Sanders, in 2016. I really wanted this book, because it was around this time I was developing a passion for linguistics, words, and the all-around coolness of language. Either way, the book was charming, and I borrowed some money from my dad. 

“Avere grilli per la testa.” To have a head full of crickets. 

What struck me about this phrase, when I stumbled upon its entry, was it’s compelling word choice. Apparently, whoever came up with it didn’t think it was enough to say that someone is dreamy, or has a short attention span. Nope - there are jumpy insects inside their head, and that’s what makes them so imaginative. Welcome to Italy, m-effers.   

This describes me perfectly: dreamy, distracted, creative, semi-ADD. I’m prone to flights of fancy, so much that I struggle to cool down or get myself organized. There’s a whole lot of fluff and bulls*t in my head (f you’ll pardon my French); my thoughts jump all over the place. Maybe that explains the boxes of filled notebooks in my closet. Good traits, since I strive to be a good writer; bad traits, since I have a mother.   

In another way, it captures the content on this blog - my endless thoughts, opinions, and ideas, all thrown together in one place. My varied interests and passions, channeled into the mini-essays you see here. There are many things I’d like to talk and write about, to organize in a constructive way. After all, if there’s that much going on up here, why not share it with all of you?   

Also, it’s linguistic trivia. I love me some linguistic trivia.

What I want in 2019 - a prevention plan for climate change. preferably involving lots of solar panels and immigrant employees. - an end to world hunger. preferably involving sustainable agriculture and lots of international aid. - for everyone to have access to clean water. See my ‘World Water Day’ post for details. 

And hey, @ my classmates - stop using ‘gay’ as an insult. It ain’t cute. 

ooh, y’know what would be even better!? Let’s have everyone stop saying “he or she” or “his or hers” to refer to someone who’s gender we don’t know. Doesn’t matter the context - its unnecessary and cis-normative and hard on the tongue. If you wanna be fancy and impress your friends, try saying “guys, gals, and non-binary pals,” (as coined by Thomas Sanders). Or just use “they”. “They” is fine, guys. 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

OK. It’s time to get this done.

Hi everyone. It’s been a while. 

I started this blog in September of 2017. I stopped posting in March 2018. Now i’m back, after 9-odd months of figuring stuff out. 

I guess I needed to get myself together, to eliminate some pressure from my life. I’ll say it, last spring was a really rough time for me, and I just couldn’t keep this blog up anymore. I took the summer to recollect myself, and the autumn to enjoy my new life. And it is pretty new - new school, new friends, new schedule. I’m glad to say I’m doing much, much better. 

And during this time, I didn’t think much about this blog and its purpose at all. I was still writing all the time. I was still thinking about the same things I’ve written about here. But last year, the pressure was getting to me - to be clear, pressure I was putting on myself. I wanted to put my all into this blog - and I genuinely enjoyed doing so - but I guess it just became too much.   

This is a long post. It’s written by someone you don’t know and have never met, so you probably won’t spend 10 minutes of your time reading it. I don’t really mind. But I’m writing this for three reasons: to explain myself, to advise you, and to make a super rough draft of a mission statement for this blog. That sounds a little dramatic. But I think it fits the goal here, actually: To explain, to advise, and make some super rough drafts of crap.

If you are reading this, you’re probably one of my much beloved followers. Thank you so much for all your support and (dare I say it) interest. I didn’t forget about you these past nine months, but I also learned not to forget about myself. It takes guts to put yourself out there on the Scary InternetTM, and I’ve learned that if I wanna do it right, I’ve gotta be thinking about my own well-being. I only have to do this if I want to, not for the sake of strangers. No shade - it’s just me being honest. 

And I guess that’s where the advice come in: if you want to put yourself and your work out there, whether that’s here or anywhere else, it shouldn’t be just for others. It has to be for you, too.   

And now for the mission statement part, or a very rough draft of it: the purpose of this blog is to share with you my opinions, ideas, values, and writing. That’s why I do it for me. What I do for you (hopefully) is inform and teach, about issues I care about and that I hope you care about too. Social justice, environmentalism, history, sociocultural issues; sometimes just poems or stories. 

Someone, upon hearing about my blog, told me I was a social critic. I prefer the term ’social observer’. I think that, in a way, that is my responsibility as a writer. It’s also my responsibility as an activist. Your craft, gift, passion, whatever you want to call it should be shared. It deserves to be shared. So have at it. 

There will be more posts coming up in the next few weeks. But for now, thank you, everybody. Happy (almost) New Year!

World Water Day is celebrated internationally on March 22. Declared by the UN 25 years ago, this day annually focuses on our most important resource: water. But damaged ecosystems, water pollution, and climate change are hurting the supply. The 2018 theme for World Water Day is how we can use natural solutions to solve modern-day challenges. Replanting forests and protecting water-based ecosystems will balance the water cycle. Recycling and reusing wastewater can provide energy and water to urban areas. Solutions are everywhere, and its time we started looking for them.

We use water in our homes to drink, cook, and clean with. But 95% of water is used outside the home, for agriculture, industry, and textiles. The rising population in our developing world requires more water than ever. In a decade, we might need twice as much water as Earth can supply.

In places like Cape Town, South Africa, droughts are breaking records held for over a century. The city awaits “Day Zero,” when, likely this summer, it will shut off it’s taps. My youth choir has the chance to travel on international goodwill tours every other summer. Last August, we traveled to South Africa, spending two out of our three weeks in Cape Town. The drought had been going on for years at that point; shower times were limited to two minutes, and every public building we performed in had signs reminding us to conserve water. When “Day Zero” comes, Cape Town’s schools, libraries, and homes won’t have running water. Until it rains, residents will have to get their water by other means. I don’t want to think about such a catastrophe happening here in Boston.

So what can you do? Water woes are endless, and go way beyond a few plastic bottles. But here’s some small steps (shameless plug lol) to help you conserve our most important resource.

Buy less. As goods travel around the world, so does the water that made them (metaphorically, of course). Buying one less shirt or cooking pot can save up to 700 gallons on another continent. By changing your habits, you can have a global impact.

Flip the Switch. Water is used to prepare coal, extract oil, and build solar panels. The energy that lights your homes is the top user of water, after agriculture. So conserving electricity is a double pat-on-the-back for you.

Go (Part-time) Vegetarian. A single burger uses up to 600 gallons of water. Taking meat off the menu one or two days a week will cut down on your water footprint (so to speak). So if you’ve grown up in an Italian household like mine where vegetarianism will get you disowned, no problem: a part-time no-meat diet will do.

& Now the Basics… Turn off the faucet overtime you brush. I know you’ve heard it before, but you can save up to 4 gallons every time you brush. Thats almost 3,000 gallons a year.

Today, over 2 billion people are living without clean drinking water at home, and over half of them draw from contaminated sources. 663 million people spend countless hours each day trekking and queuing to distant sources, effecting their health and education. Since our actions have a direct impact on the global supply, celebrate your World Water Day by spreading the word about these issues and the many ways to solve them.