Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

i feel like the nightly runs of the fox/chicken/corn puzzle we have do solve in order to get both sugarfoot and the kittens in the kittenarium are making me very good at psychology, or at least cat psychology -- it's amazing how much more effective shaking an already full food dish at them is than trying to pick them up and move them physically

also shadow surprised the hell out of me by coming up and snuggling and kneading for like 30 minutes -- she's been such a grump to the other cats and pretty aloof towards us, so it was nice to be reminded of old times, even though i have a bit of a hopefully irrational fear it's some symptom of something and she's getting in her goodbyes. (i have no reason to think this; she seems reasonably comfortable, limber, well-fed, and energetic for a cat that's had 4+ litters -- i figure she probably just missed snuggles)

this is the nerdiest thing i've ever been excited about, huge huge list of postal abbreviations

tbh i'd probably be a little excited about this even if i didn't do this for a living

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Name_finder:Abbreviations

"on the edge of seventeen" with the lyric "just like a mewmewbutt... got a butt... and she's singing... mew, mew, mew" sung repeatedly to liv and snow and extremely close range

there are no other lyrics

@Leucrotta we didn't realize just how rough Seattle is as a SAD trigger until we got the fuck out of there -- another of those winters would probably have been the end of peggy tbh. hang in there hun and TAKE YOUR VITAMIN D <3

@chimerror (haha, and apparently my own RL given name keeps tying with "Chad" for top douchebag names -- hint, I share it with an Offerman, a Frost, and a Kroll...)

@chimerror

On Travis! On Kevin!
On Brodie! On Chad!
On Brandon! On Brendan!
On Tyler! On Brad!

I did the most sensible indirectly confrontational thing I could think of: I went to Yelp and left the cafe a five-star review thanking them for dealing with a customer who did not respect my safety.

If she goes there (as she threatened) to slander the cafe, there's an account of how people ACTUALLY behaved waiting there for her.

(Say what you will about the last five years, it's been a grand education in psyops. The secret is to get in there first...)

What do you to do stop a rampaging Karen if she's black and you're white?

I just saw a hell of a tantrum thrown in my favorite cafe, by a woman who apparently was a serial mask-flouter. She was screaming accusations of racism, but it sure sounded to me like she wasn't denying ignoring the signs and getting aggressive when asked to respect the rules.

I hate that it feels like an unbeatable strategy. I hate that it involves nakedly exploiting other people's suffering to justify doing something irresponsible. And I really, really hate the fact that this woman probably has some entirely legitimate background trauma that would explain why she resorts to this.

Hell, she's probably *right* that there's some degree of racism involved here. The cafe owners are discussing whether to call the cops, and... would they be that fast to do so with a white woman the same age? (Christ, I hope so, because Karen vs. Cop is one of the few scenarios where I'd root for the cop. -_- )

I can't pretend that it's not true that *every* commercial interaction between white owners and black customers is a bit racially charged. But it still seems absurd to me to leap into accusations of racism over a mask.

I just honestly don't think there was anything I could do to defuse the situation that wouldn't have just left this feeling *more* racially charged, and I'm really curious if anybody has any insights.

@kistaro been there hun <3

@anthracite Oh, I dunno. Trump certainly didn't fail. He set America back decades and now he's just scoring bonus points. Daddy V is probably very pleased.

@Phorm Fun fact: Have you ever seen the teen comedy Real Genius? Gadget was apparently based on Jordan Cochran, the "hyperkinetic" gal... who was in turn based on a real student at Caltech.

Gadget Is Real.

One of our neighbors has reaffirmed that he might be interested in adopting Olivia and Snowshoe! He was originally only seeking to adopt one, but the woman he was talking to on his porch (not sure if neighbor or partner) good-natured nagged him into considering both. :)

He seems like a super nice guy, and had a very chill old grey porch cat who seemed quite happy and well-fed, plus it means the kids will literally be three minutes away. Cross your fingers (or closest anatomical equivalent) and pray to Bastet! We're not sure exactly how to go about introducing him to the kids what with COVID and their lack of outdoor training, but this could be a real good resolution to the whole thing...

@anthracite @AutumnWyvern These are adorable, great work Autumn!

@anthracite you told her your husband is a jealous monster, right? *flomps and licks self indifferently 🐯*​

look into this guy

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

@Soreth (and no, you can't have any of my TEHWA, ERCI, and NCRO, either *hangs up*)

@Soreth

[two days later]

"..."

*puts down her fishwich and glowers at some random stranger on the phone*

"how the hell did you get this number?!" 🐯​

🖼

@chimerror it's just so fucking good

kim is the only cop in the multiverse i might take a bullet for