Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

There's more to life than a little money, ya know. Don'tcha know that? And here I am. And it's a beautiful day.

And I wonder if just maybe I'm doing something right for having chosen love and following this weird dragon to this weird doomed fae swamptown, and if maybe Officer Gunderson* might smile on me for it.

(*one of the Three Canonical Good Cops, alongside Dale Cooper and Frank Columbo, not counting Marge's earthly avatar Molly Solverson)

@001zlnv Haha, I was JUST watching my coworkers bitch about WebEx. Did they screw up an update or something?

the thing is i love her but i know she'd do it

@anthracite Like the one you're married to? *laugh* But see adjacent rant: it's like the musical equivalent of Naked Lunch. Between the fact the creator is such a COMPROMISED ASSHOLE and the fact it JUST RESISTS ALL REASONABLE ATTEMPTS TO PERCEIVE IT LET ALONE LIKE IT, it can never possibly be canon. It's like the extreme comedy I like, too: if you can endure it, great, but Jesus, don't inflict it on anybody else unless you're deliberately trying to annoy them for fun.

<3 <3<

@Phorm I mean, I would defend the poignance and essential quality of "Orange Claw Hammer" in a debate. It is a hill I would be tempted to die on.

But I've also read enough about Van Vliet to be absolutely, completely, positively on board with the idea that he was a self-absorbed, narcissistic, abusive, self-indulgent piece of shit with a very questionable WIS score to back up all that musical whatever-it-was.

Same with Zappa, and it leaves me ashamed sometimes to admire his work so much, even though I have to filter so much adolescent, misogynistic, appropriative bullshit out of it AND shoulder the knowledge all those perfect chords and warped time signature trickery were the product of willfully induced human suffering. -______-

I have a hunch that (a) these two facts are not going to go well together (b) we're never gonna hear a goddamn thing about it in Western news:

[1] Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghani civilians.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/australian-special-forces-killed-39-afghan-civilians-unlawfully-inquiry-finds-11605780498

[2] The number 39 is a widely reviled and insulting cultural trope in Afghanistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_39

I mean, I only knew about this because, well, I'm me. I have a lot of spare time on my hands and a lifelong borderline-mystic obsession with numbers. And I'm sure it's a coincidence. But this is a BIG DEAL in Afghanistan and it's weird not seeing anyone else be shocked at seeing that big ol' 39 popping up in this potentially disastrous context...

@Leucrotta you know i've got a soft spot for salukis <3

@anthracite thanks for showing the people how we live XD

we really need to scrub the whole house down once the kittens are adopted...

@anthracite Heh. The line "As long as you can log in to your PayPal account, your crypto will always be at your fingertips" in their promotional material probably wasn't *meant* to sound like a threat, but...

@anthracite Ah, that was it: YOU DON'T GET THE PRIVATE KEYS. Paypal kindly holds on to them for you so you don't have to worry your pretty little consumer head about it.

@anthracite Yeah, I saw an article about this. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE. There are a whole bunch of weird restrictions on it which you do NOT want Paypal, of all people, to be able to wield.

@chimerror Wow, that is some good energy. Not just one of the best icons I've ever seen... but inspiration for living.

We may now also celebrate the triumphant return of Prince Shempington Shompmondeley the Shempty-Shompth to the Imperial Domain Of Empress Shadow!

His Highness graciously accepted scritch and fishy treat from his humble servants.

@kobi_lacroix Which is Alex Hirsch?

Which is one is Alex Rieger from Taxi?

Which one was Alex Trebek?

I feel this is an important line of research you've opened here.

THEY'RE BACK <3 <3 <3

Apparently they were all dropped off from the spay/neuter clinic this morning and we missed the text. Everyone's accounted for and visible OK (if a little skittish) but Shemp and they did say they returned four cats so I assume poor guy's just napping it off somewhere and we'll see him soon.

I'm so relieved. And except for a slight misappropriated poopie, Sugarfoot and the kittens seem to be doing great? So all is well enough in Catville today.

And of course I worry with every waking moment that I'm doing something horribly wrong with the kittens -- some part of their litter training, missing something in the kittenproofing, something I should be doing for their health...

But they look so damn robust. And that feels really good. Maybe we'll actually get through this. Only four to six weeks to go, then they'll be ready to adopt out.

I'll hate to see them go, but I'll also be really relieved. We can't have two indoor cats AND six outdoor ones. And this is a much better life for them than leaving them out on the street. The others are used to it, they'll be fine, but maybe we can do better for Liv and Snowy.

Or something terrible will happen and my heart will be completely broken like I've been braced for from the moment I met these friggin' cats. I dunno. Being me is being ready for the blow at every... single... moment... and honestly having porch cat friends, let alone "pets," is kind of a fucking nightmare for me.

But damn it, I love them so much. And that scares the shit out of me.

Meanwhile, everybody else except for CJ (who adamantly refused to go into any carrier) is off at the trap/neuter/release charity.

And I am worried out of my wits for them. And I know this is ridiculous. I've been looking over the surgery success rates... constantly... for days... and they're really high. All my horrible visions are of things like a car accident or a carrier escape in a bad place.

I guess I just miss the little bastards, too, and still worry they're not going to trust us afterwards. And I worry about CJ all alone out there tonight.

I'm okay, but I won't be completely okay until everybody's home and safe plus maybe an extra week.

(apologies for grody old socks, it's been a rough day and it's not worth wearing anything nice through the Kittenarium...)

"Liv? Snowy? My name is AUNTIE Tigress. Not MOUNT Tigress. No climbing."

I spent my teenage years absolutely convinced I had Charlie Brown karma.

I spent my twenties absolutely convinced I had Linus karma.

I spent my thirties absolutely convinced I had Snooy karma.

I think I'm going to spent most of my fortiest wondering if I might not actually have Lucy karma.

I do REALLY enjoy pulling the football away from my "debate partners" no matter how many times the same scenario plays out.