andie, she/her, 26, united states. this blog is full of Tolkien. also other art, photos, fandoms, and big-eyes-emoji stuff, but mostly Tolkien. i tag! my girlfriend is bright ivanaskye, who is a lot, but not too much
People don’t often look back on the early 1900’s for advice, but what if we could actually learn something from the Lost Generation? The New York Public Library has digitized 100 “how to do it” cards found in cigarette boxes over 100 years ago, and the tips they give are so practical that millennials reading this might want to take notes.
Back in the day, cigarette cards were popular collectibles included in every pack, and displayed photos of celebrities, advertisements, and more. Gallaher cigarettes, a UK-founded tobacco company that was once the largest in the world, decided to print a series of helpful how-to’s on their cards, which ranged from mundane tasks (boiling potatoes) to unlikely scenarios (stopping a runaway horse). Most of them are insanely clever, though, like how to make a fire extinguisher at home. Who even knew you could do that?
The entire set of life hacks is now part of the NYPL’s George Arents Collection. Check out some of the cleverest ones we could find below. You never know when you’ll have to clean real lace!
Roundhouses were the standard form of housing built in [the British Isles] from the Bronze Age throughout the Iron Age and well into the Sub Roman period. They used walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof.
Most of you are aware now that Bird – also known as @thulimo – is having a major surgery on October 12th, to remove an 11 inch tumor and possibly an entire hysterectomy. It’s scary, mostly because we don’t know yet if it’s cancerous or not, and the oncologist is gong to have to take the tumor to pathology during the surgery to find out.
Because of the ongoing uphill battle with our insurance, the only place that would accept our plan was in a different city, so the medical bills and expenses are piling up fast.
This is to help with the expenses and bills from the surgery as well as knock out some of the older bills that are still hanging over our heads. Every time I think we have it paid down, a new bill arrives for bloodwork or tests or another appointment copay. The GoFundMe will probably not cover the cost of the surgery, with our deductible, but it is a start.
Bird deserves a chance to get better without having to live in a constant and perpetual state of stress because of money. She’s going to be out of work for a week before surgery and six weeks after. I’m going to be taking off a few days to be there for her surgery, and for a few days after to make sure she’s got everything she needs to recover. An 11 inch tumor is nothing to sneeze at; it’s attached itself to her uterus and her bowel. This is a major surgery, and the recovery process is going to be rough. There is also waiting to hear if it’s cancerous or not, and dealing with that answer when it comes.
So yes, I am asking for help. I don’t like asking for help. I know we all need help in one way or another, and like Bird, I prefer to be the one helping. But here I am, begging you to help me take care of my wife. She deserves a chance to get better, to feel better, to recover from this and go back to being the beautiful, bouncy, lively Bird we all know and love. This entire ordeal is taking a serious toll on her. She’s going to need 24 hour constant care during the weeks after her surgery, and every single cent helps me to provide that care for her.
If you want options other than GoFundMe, I have a ko-fi, and we have a shared Paypal that you can contribute to, if you’re not crazy about GoFundMe.
I’m also offering tarot readings from my Marigold Tarot deck (with pictures!) if you donate $10 or more. I’m open for fic commissions as well, $1 per 100 words.
Look, everything helps. If you can kick in $1, that helps, and I am immensely grateful that you’ve bothered to even read this far. If you can’t help, consider reblogging this. You can read more about Bird on the GoFundMe page, and maybe consider sharing it on twitter if you have one (or FB, I won’t judge).
Thank you.
UPDATE 9/28
This morning we hit the halfway mark for the GFM goal, which is absolutely incredible. I do not have the words to properly express my gratitude, or how much I have been crying about all of the love and support and generosity from everyone so far after only two days. I’ve posted an update on the GFM page itself but I thought I would repeat it here: in the event that we exceed the goal – because I really do not know how much the surgery is going to cost out of pocket yet but we do have a $7,000 deductible — all leftover funds will go to @thulimo’s aftercare expenses, making sure that she gets to follow-up appointments, medications, and whatever else she will need post-surgery. I intend to keep everyone updated as everything happens.
Also, I wanted to share something with everyone:
I’ve been trying to compose a proper thank you for hours now, to everyone, and all I can come up with is: people are good. People are inherently good, and every bit of support, from encouragement to donations to reblogs and retweets is proof of that and more. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything so far, and everything to come. When this is over, hopefully I’ll have found the words to truly express how much I love all of you, how much Bird loves all of you.
ephal ephalak idon hi-akallabeth 