spiced cookie

a clown and a coward

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

hearing rumors that this too shall pass. huge if true

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

that's Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp guy

[Ave @SebastianAvenue]

Is that Topanga ?

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

could someone please explain to me how he landed. like actually how did he land. how

[Tom Cruise @TomCruise]

Light the fuse.

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

this is how @JoeSantagato talks about (huggable) animals

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

so disingenuous to behave as though principled objection to the price of cheap goods is about the literal price, & not the material conditions of exploitation that enable those purchases. Global South workers would also like things to be affordable! but not at their own expense!

[Kelsey Piper @KelseyTuoc]

I dislike having to plead with the public to make the case for the worthiness of the things I want to spend my money on; it's a free country, and it should be sufficient that it's my money.

But I keep having conversations in which I say 'yeah I like cheap low quality goods and they make my life better' and people express incredulity at the very idea, or insist that I'm rationalizing what is obviously a deep void of meaninglessness, so let me describe what cheap goods mean to me.

The first thing it means is that I can try things. If a hobby requires gear or supplies or books or whatever else, and there's no cheap version of those things, I know myself - I simply never dip my toes in the water in the first place.

It's not worth spending $1000 to figure out whether my kids like camping. But if camping gear is cheap, we'll try it. We did some camping with cheap gear, we liked it, now maybe we'll upgrade and get good, long-lasting stuff.

I started playing D&D with a $5 bag of dice. I've spent an embarrassing amount on gorgeous metal dice now, but if it'd cost that much to get started I would never have tried at all.

5yo developed an enthusiasm for armored knights and swordfighting, so we tried out some SCA events. Because it's easy to get cheap Viking tunics, I now own one. I was never going to spend hundreds of dollars on the nice version. (I was also never, realistically, going to find something that niche on the local buy nothing groups which I participate in.)

When consumer goods are expensive, it's not worth taking risks and trying things you might end up disliking, or might not have the skill to execute on. We had an awful landing on our stairs where the door to the yard opened and the wood was badly damaged by six years of people tracking in water and mud. I wanted to try putting down vinyl tile flooring there, but I'd never laid vinyl flooring before and I'm not exactly a home improvement pro. I wouldn't have tried it if it was expensive, but it was $20, so I was willing to take the leap. It turns out to be very easy to install and it looks so much better now. With greater confidence in my DIY skills I've ordered wallpaper for the kids' rooms.

The fact that consumer goods are cheap also lets me try out companies I don't already know and trust. If something costs $200, I'm only going to buy from a company that has a good reputation, where I trust the warranty, which has been around a while. For cheaper products, I'm willing to take a chance on new entrants just off seeing an ad and some credible good reviews.

The second thing it means is that I can do crafts and experiments and activities at the microschool. It has ten kids now; buying ten of anything will start to pinch the pocketbook. But because consumer goods are cheap, I can buy the things we need for papermaking when we're learning about how papermaking works, or model city kits when we're talking about urban design, or play money for practice making change and running a business. I can buy a gumball machine so we can take it apart and look at the mechanism. I can buy so, so many books. Do you have any idea how expensive books used to be? Do you have any idea how many our microschool library now has? My children will never run out of good books to read because consumer goods are cheap.

Or they were cheap, last week.

I keep talking to people who have in mind huge swathes of the consumer economy that they're sure we don't really need. Big TVs, someone said to me last week. Surely you can admit we don't really need big TVs.

I do not admit this. Sometimes six or eight kids want to crowd around downstairs in my home and watch a movie or play Smash together and they need a big TV.

4-cent bouncy balls, surely we don't need those.

I do not admit this; I bought a bunch for a civics lesson last week.

Would it be such a big deal if toasters were $100?

Yes, because I would never buy one to disassemble and learn how it works.

How about Shein clothes, surely no one needs those?

Actually, I kind of like that I can attend costume parties! I have a cheap Victorian ballgown with an absurd hoopskirt my children like to hide under, and it makes my life better!

I would not pay four times more for a better version of any of these things. I would just do without them; they are not important enough to break the bank for. But my life would be worse without them. It would have less spontaneity in it, less curiosity, less whim, less exploration.

If you find that cheap consumer goods cause you depression, my condolences. I think that's a skill issue. Cheap consumer goods make it easier for me to live the life I want to live, surrounded by the people I want to live it with, while donating to charity and saving for retirement and living within my means. You can raise my taxes, but don't pretend you're really truly doing me a favor while you do it.

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

do we call out injured athletes for playing sports 'unnecessarily' ? tu bukan susahkan orang? you want to whack your smoker dads/brothers/friends on social media each time they cough? come let's bully every person who makes different choices than we do, that'll improve things

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

the purpose of our lives isn't to make ourselves as unburdensome as possible; it's to extend kindness & grace as much & as often as we can. we don't know the circumstances of others. I pray none of the nasty QTs find themselves in a position of having to justify deserving help

[Faiz Fayeshz 🇲🇾 @faizfayeshz]

Aku baru tahu kalau orang gemuk kena buat ct scan dekat zoo 😭

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

maybe the most odious thing to me about AI obsessives is the unabashed glee with which they herald the end of craft & skilled work (even though that will never happen). I had no idea people took the talent & hard work of others as a personal affront like this. miserable existence

[kitze the 🐐 @thekitze]

I’m sad to announce that interior designer is not a profession anymore

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

that clip being from an Academy Award-winning short film by an Israeli director is perhaps the least surprising thing I've ever heard

[GoliathFan1952 @ByYourLogic]

I think there’s a series of scenes being created specifically to prompt trauma responses and combat readiness in America’s stupids. I don’t think this is from a show or a movie. This was shot at Fort Bragg as part of a project called like Operation Suggestion

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

quite enjoying Paradise, or as I like to call it, James Marsden and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

"so it's bad to be healthy? 🙄" one person's getting out of bed is another's walking for 10 mins is another's benching 180lbs is another's marathon. our lives are vast & myriad! don't pretend that fat people, of varying fitness, aren't being singled out solely because of our size

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

precisely this. obvious point but there are many thin people who don't work/have health issues (a normal part of being alive) & they're never the targets of leftist-larping edtwt. arbitrary standards of fitness (how fast is the fastest fascist? how strong?) aren't gonna save us

[Mouthy Hooker @MouthyHooker]

@BagelMemeCheese Stop being deliberately obtuse. NO ONE is saying “exercising is fatphobic.” In fact plenty of fat people do exercise! What’s fatphobic and ableist is saying “Fascists work out so if you don’t work out too you’ll die a humiliating death.”

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

loud and wrong

[patrick. @imPatrickT]

i don't care when your story takes place - smartphones almost always suck the sauce out of a scene.

use a landline.

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

this is a lot of waffle to say women's overwork is their own fault. what kind of "protector", apparently so attuned to his wife's needs, can't grasp that childcare is tiring and mothers need help? not sure we should be turning to anyone so thickheaded for ~leadership

[AZZURA | Parenting and Family Psychology @n_azzurajafri]

Memang ada kajian kenapa lelaki tak bangun walaupun anak menangis malam.

Basically dapatan kajian kata their brain are not wired for that. Lelaki akan terbangun kalau dengar bunyi pintu kena masuk, atau hal-hal melibatkan KESELAMATAN keluarga.

Perempuan pula memang kita akan terbangun kalau anak nangis. Our brain are wired for that. In fact, dengar bunyi baby nangis, badan kita akan keluarkan susu banyak. Our body is amazing like that.

In a way, my own theory is that lelaki rasa tenang tidur tu bila ada isteri yang jaga anak. Byk je mak-mak ngadu suami memang tido mati. And memang kadang sakit hati😅

TAPIII, on serious note, kalau rasa kena kejut suami, KEJUT JE DIA untuk tolong. Suami yg ada kasihan, memang akan bangun. Tapi jangan expect dia bangun sendiri. Kena KEJUTTT.

I NEED HELP ABANG. Dah tak larat dah. Please tengok baby tu.

Biasanya, lelaki ni lebih concern dengan isteri berbanding anak. Especially anak baby. Sebab kalau baby, usually the comfort dapat dari mak. So mak perlukan comfort dari bapak.

P/s: memang the phase could be frustrating sbb memang kita rasa kita je yang function. Dah la penat fasa bersalin dan menyusu ni. So better nak minta tolong, cakap je. Moga mak-mak direzekikan suami yg ada ihsan 🤲

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

this is Twitter so no surprise but it still makes me sad when I see young women speak this way. basic tenets of pop feminism are being decimated daily by modern fan culture

[mary @theoceanblooms]

No fucking way are these disgusting children talking about Sarah Michelle Gellar like this.

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

disingenuous dogshit take

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

desperately sad how many people insist this woman should've died with her son to prove she loved him. foolish to act like we can be insulated from nightmare situations caused by structural failures. a dearth of empathy to show off your own moral unimpeachability won't save you

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

what's the point of saying this lol

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

Being an American must be insane. Your cultural consumption is just a series of your own experiences mirrored back to you. In terms of cognitive impairment it's probably like being kicked in the head by a horse every day

[samanthamcfarland @SailorSammy93]

What part of we don’t know who the fuck he is are y’all not getting

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

I thought this was @jewelssparkles_

[best of margaret qualley @bestofmargaret]

our girl❤️ #GoldenGlobes

[spiced cookie @yungdialectics]

(Malay guy unhooking your bra) you open-minded kan?

[sayonara buttface @dangpankoozie]

(singaporean guy unhooking your bra) wah damn chiobu sial