Hey tumblr, I’m Wren. I’m a millennial who works outdoors. Sometimes I post pictures of the animals that I get to work with. I also post art, comics, and weird dreams. Here's some FAQ.
Common Tags art, comic, dreams, nature center, park ranger, poll, ripley parrot, cheese bird, snake, cockatiel, video, me, music, bug, bird, dragon, vulture, the fair folk, puppet
Ponder my orb
Baltimore. Who is going to Frog Prom this year.
frog?!?! Prom?!?! I must know more!
It's a frog-themed dance party in Baltimore City whose proceeds benefit Baltimore Abortion Fund. This is its third year and the theme is "frogs in space."
Baltimore. Who is going to Frog Prom this year.
Vernal pool ASMR (90 decibels)
Do you ever get the urge to delete all your social media and go live in a hole in the ground
Just so you know we didn’t live in holes before social media. Like you can just do that part it’s okay
Good point. Does anybody else want to go live in a hole in the ground that has wi-fi.
Last night when I was at poker night, one of the attendees kindly offered to teach me Argentine tango. He's a retired ballet dancer who recently turned eighty.
He and his wife are both very talented dancers, and when you see them in action it's obvious they've been doing this for decades. But the most notable thing to me was that when they dance, they absolutely glow with how much they love one another.
No way could I capture what they have on paper! The footwork was much too fancy, for one thing.
I genuinely can't stand pop psychology I'm not an expert on this stuff but the damage it has done to the general public's understanding of mental health and psychology must be notable. People with low empathy are evil. NPD is The Abuser Disorder. here's how your partner is subconsciously manipulating you. OCD is when you like cleaning. If you ask him a question and he looks away for one second he's lying to you and abusing you. Follow for more dark psychology tips. Letting my intrusive thoughts win and dyeing my hair. I thought this guy was into me I'm so delulu. Anyone who comes to you with their problems is traumadumping and abusive. Anyone who gives you gifts is lovebombing and abusive. Being neurodivergent means Liking Things. Neurotypicals don't like things. They are empty shells without feelings. Neurodivergent means ADHD or ASD. What, BPD? Schizophrenia?? That's not very quirky or fun. And that's what neurodivergent means. That's just weird. Being mentally ill isn't an excuse to be weird. Only Evil People manipulate and abuse. There are certain people who Are Evil by nature (people with NPD) and they Will abuse you. Loving someone means it's impossible to abuse them only Evil People Who Hate You are abusive. Have I mentioned that people with NPD are evil. I really want to drive that home
I've been so pleasantly surprised by all my friends and even my mom immediately adapting to calling me by my new name. I've had so many nicknames and attempted nicknames over the years and they never really stuck or felt right until now. It feels like a name I should have chosen decades ago.
I spent yesterday walking around town with my friends and hearing them call me by my new name all day. It felt natural to respond when they addressed me by it. When we got back to my house, we had some time to watch a show, and since we had just been talking about 90s nostalgia, I decided to introduce them to my favorite cartoon from my childhood, Pirates of Dark Water.
This is a show that was basically created in a lab to appeal to me as a kid. It has high seas adventure, alien monsters, magic that lets you reverse ecological disasters, the voice of Tim Curry, and a sufficient variety of cartoon peril to make for endless playground roleplay fodder. I've made everyone in my house watch it with me. I have convinced several of my friends to read the RPG lorebook and engage in play-by-post Pirates of Dark Water roleplay. And as soon as the main character of this show I've seen a hundred times was introduced onscreen I suddenly realized: oh. OHHH.
I accidentally named myself after him.
Went to a free showing of Footloose this morning, a show that I have performed onstage, which I had also forgotten has a main character that shares my name. Despite having had this script memorized at one point, once again I heard the characters onscreen say my name and went
painting in the theater again
My new coworker and I were just talking about our most dreaded Bad Texture Experiences and I mentioned that touching microfiber fabric makes me want to take off my hands and put them in the dishwasher, but that the next best thing is touching something else with a radically different texture, and that sometimes this makes me Weird in stores.
"Do you have a rock?" they asked, and then looked sort of embarrassed. "Or--not necessarily a rock, just, like--"
"Yeah, of course I have a rock," I said, and took my rock out of my pocket.
With relief, they said, "Oh, good. Me, too," and presented their own rock.
The other day I opened up the Animal Food freezer and saw that someone had put a clamshell of cherry tomatoes that had started to get kind of squishy in there. This is not something I would ever have considered doing with my personal cherry tomatoes and my personal freezer, but it makes sense to do with a limited supply of produce purchased on a departmental budget for turtles who will eat them even if their texture has been somewhat debased by freezing and defrosting.
So I had never before encountered the sound that half a dozen completely frozen cherry tomatoes makes when they rattle and clack together in a plastic clamshell.
I mentioned this to a different coworker, saying "thanks for saving those tomatoes by putting them in the freezer. Did you know they make a really nice sound when you shake the box?"
And she immediately replied "I know!! They sound so beautiful."
I know we're on the 'tism website, but OP, have you ever considered getting a diagnostic?
Nah. While growing up as a Weird Kid was hard, I don't really need accommodations as an adult in my thirties. I don't score particularly high on the RAADS (around 65 - 70) or other evaluation tools.
As a kid, I definitely would have scored higher. I couldn't stand wearing socks. I infodumped about birds at every opportunity. I talked like I had eaten a thesaurus. I couldn't switch tasks to save my life. I ate the same food every day (Lipton instant soup) for years. But I scored really high on standardized tests so nobody really saw the need to ask why I was such a strange kid. I lived with my grandparents and spent most of my time around old people who enjoyed my odd mannerisms and willingness to read them the newspaper.
Sure, I still find some textures and sounds gross. I love listening to the same song for two hours in a row. I cannot tell when people are lying to me out of politeness. But I also have a lot more control over my day to day life than I did as a kid. I don't have to wear clothes or do tasks I find uncomfortable. Infodumping is a key part of my job. Many of my friends are neurodivergent and those who aren't understand my quirks.
It wouldn't really change anything about my life if a doctor told me I am or am not autistic, so I don't really see a need for documentation or diagnosis. Sometimes people are also just kind of weird and it doesn't require categorization. Even if I'm not autistic, I believe in their beliefs (clear communication, pursuit of special interests, sensory seeking and sensitivity, etc).
Yeah I don't think I need a diagnosis, actually
My new coworker and I were just talking about our most dreaded Bad Texture Experiences and I mentioned that touching microfiber fabric makes me want to take off my hands and put them in the dishwasher, but that the next best thing is touching something else with a radically different texture, and that sometimes this makes me Weird in stores.
"Do you have a rock?" they asked, and then looked sort of embarrassed. "Or--not necessarily a rock, just, like--"
"Yeah, of course I have a rock," I said, and took my rock out of my pocket.
With relief, they said, "Oh, good. Me, too," and presented their own rock.
The other day I opened up the Animal Food freezer and saw that someone had put a clamshell of cherry tomatoes that had started to get kind of squishy in there. This is not something I would ever have considered doing with my personal cherry tomatoes and my personal freezer, but it makes sense to do with a limited supply of produce purchased on a departmental budget for turtles who will eat them even if their texture has been somewhat debased by freezing and defrosting.
So I had never before encountered the sound that half a dozen completely frozen cherry tomatoes makes when they rattle and clack together in a plastic clamshell.
I mentioned this to a different coworker, saying "thanks for saving those tomatoes by putting them in the freezer. Did you know they make a really nice sound when you shake the box?"
And she immediately replied "I know!! They sound so beautiful."
I know we're on the 'tism website, but OP, have you ever considered getting a diagnostic?
Nah. While growing up as a Weird Kid was hard, I don't really need accommodations as an adult in my thirties. I don't score particularly high on the RAADS (around 65 - 70) or other evaluation tools.
As a kid, I definitely would have scored higher. I couldn't stand wearing socks. I infodumped about birds at every opportunity. I talked like I had eaten a thesaurus. I couldn't switch tasks to save my life. I ate the same food every day (Lipton instant soup) for years. But I scored really high on standardized tests so nobody really saw the need to ask why I was such a strange kid. I lived with my grandparents and spent most of my time around old people who enjoyed my odd mannerisms and willingness to read them the newspaper.
Sure, I still find some textures and sounds gross. I love listening to the same song for two hours in a row. I cannot tell when people are lying to me out of politeness. But I also have a lot more control over my day to day life than I did as a kid. I don't have to wear clothes or do tasks I find uncomfortable. Infodumping is a key part of my job. Many of my friends are neurodivergent and those who aren't understand my quirks.
It wouldn't really change anything about my life if a doctor told me I am or am not autistic, so I don't really see a need for documentation or diagnosis. Sometimes people are also just kind of weird and it doesn't require categorization. Even if I'm not autistic, I believe in their beliefs (clear communication, pursuit of special interests, sensory seeking and sensitivity, etc).
Do you ever get the urge to delete all your social media and go live in a hole in the ground
The children's show villain is a figure who sadly is not seen outside the children's show. There are few stock characters who as succinctly declare, from sheer stage presence, "the world is unloveable and it is painful to live here; that which delights mankind is like ash on my tongue" without being too fucking whiny about it.
maladaptive suicidal ideation: "i'm going to kill myself"
productive, growth mindset: "i'm going to steal all the instruments from Musictown!"
My elderly neighbor joked the other day that he needed a lawn flamingo like the ones in my yard. Little did he know my housemate and I would buy a matching pair of very large flamingos for both our lawns.
I'm gonna put one on his lawn and see how long it takes him to notice.
He has noticed the mingo
He called me on the phone to ask if I knew where the beautiful pink swan that was in his yard this morning had gone. I was working in the garden at the time and I looked over into his yard and informed him that it was still there but the wind had blown it over. He came outside and wanted to pay me for it but I said he had to pay me in pancakes.
