Julia

🤣

A screenshot of a post by Heather Hogan: "My wife and I were walking down the sidewalk wearing gear from our favorite sports teams, pushing three cats in strollers, on the way to the vet (annual check-ups), and I could feel a level of lesbianism radiating off of us that was so powerful men were crossing the street. "

"Two asexuals sitting in a tree. S I T T I N G. Please call the fire department. We are stuck."

A photo of a bra on a store clothing rack. There are large googly eyes on the cups. The photo is captioned, "In my defense, I was left unattended."

"I thought the chair was broken." A photo of a white chair at a table. Two of the chair posts appear to be broken or missing, until you see yellow eyes peering out of the empty space. It's a black cat, sitting on the white chair.

Memes. Get your memes.

Completely unrelated, but my action for the day includes letting everyone know that Penzey's is having a sale on Chicken TACO Seasoning, and on rainbow spices.

😂

Cats in general self-tame a lot. People didn't do the work to domesticate house cats, cats just decided they would benefit from living with us.

Child, 8, yrs old, on the way to school this morning: "Why do cheetahs like eating meat?"

I explained cats, and obligate carnivores.

8: "Oh. People are made of meat. So we should stay away from cheetahs."

The interior of a small shed with a hanging light in the center and a ladder next to the wall. The drywall joints and taped and mudded, messily but thoroughly.

A photo of a hand holding two hardbound books, both by author TJ Klune who you should definitely look up. One is called "In the Lives of Puppets," and the other is titled "Under the Whispering Door."

A homemade wooden test tube rack holds clear plastic test tubes. Many of them have seedlings poking out the top with two leaves, but the one in the center has THREE leaves: a rare genetic mutation.

My joy this week:
I am learning to tape and mud walls by finally finishing the interior of the shed.
I took the Free Radical to HPB for a book they needed for school and found two TJ Klune books I didn't have.
My 4th graders' seed sprouting experiment got extra exciting with a rare mutation.

John Roberts, you up?

I follow cats, science, and BookSky. The science feed is pretty full of Doom at the moment, and the BookSky feed is too broad to keep my interest. Any recommendations?

I think so. My feed is full of terrible, horrible things, and I had a moment of feeling guilty for posting something "off topic."

And yes, I am aware that the US is currently a toxic dumpster fire of corruption, insider-trading, and idiocy. I'm still taking my little happinesses where I can find them.

A cluttered kitchen work surface containing a canning jar full of molten agar, hand made wooden test tube racks, and various types of seed packets.

Stand back, I'm going to try science!
This is my second year teaching a seed growth lab for 4th graders at my school. It went pretty well last year, and this year will be even better. If the kids don't want to take their seedlings home, I've arranged for them to go into the school garden.

I know a lot of people are boycotting Amazon, which is great, but it's hurting a lot of trans authors.

Trans authors: Drop links to your NON-AMAZON book listings/storefronts.

Cis people: Repost, boost, and, importantly, buy. Part of boycotting an evil corporation is supporting the alternatives.

A bowl of homemade buttercream frosting in the background of a photo of an anxiety-riddled mother who didn't make the birthday cake until the day of the party.

Nothing like waiting for the last possible second to get that burst of adrenaline 😬

I agree. I've been spending almost no time on meta, and significantly less time on social media in general, and find that I do not miss it.

I don't want them dead.
I want them stripped of their wealth and influence, and forced to live out their lives as lower middle class citizens.

Tuxedo black cat standing on two legs and stretching to view the fish in a tank on a cabinet.

My cat discovered the fish which have been there for a year.

A small white plate, decorated with pictures of oranges and leaves. On the plate are several small chunks of homemade sourdough bread, and a dollop of dip.

I made bread today, just to have something to go with this spinach & artichoke dip I got at Costco.

Context?

I'm happy they didn't fire people, but I'm pissed that they pulled product lines that were inclusive.

This is really satisfying to see. I haven't spent a cent at Target since they dropped DEI policies and canceled their inclusive lines. I'm happy to see it seems to be having an effect.

Not only did I get some candy, the staff did a potluck at lunch which I didn't know about, but they fed me anyway.

Oof. Three days in a row in the same 4th grade class, and apparently Valentine's Day is equivalent to Halloween for elementary school teachers. I got my 10k steps today, but Holy crap I am tired.

I actually have no idea. The tank looks like about a 20 gallon, but could be slightly larger. The shrimp are in the black/grey color family. Small, but large enough that the barbs don't eat them.

I accidentally became important at work, and it's ruining my life.

Weekend project: remove loft from child 1's room, shorten it by a couple feet, reassemble in the room of child 2.

A fish tank with lots of green plants and several small red fish. There is a green pothos rooted into the water near the filter and trailing along the lid of the aquarium.

I love your tank! We adopted ours last summer from a friend's kiddo who was off to college. He had it already set up with under-gravel filtration and live plants, shrimp, snails, and a clutch of cherry barb fry.

That's true. And it's certainly not equivalent, it's just the way I can try to understand. The point for me isn't equivalent struggles, but that you love the person who is, not the person you wish for. I could easily wish to be smarter, thinner, etc., but I'm much happier when I accept what is.

And there isn't anything WRONG with her. This is who she IS, and part of loving a person is loving who they actually are instead of who you thought or hopes they would be.