Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

Cat still stuck in neighbor's attic. Fire department was of no help though they did put forth a reasonable effort. See https://twitter.com/zebratron2084 for further information.

This is an all hands on deck situation. Please boost. If you know ANYONE in New Orleans area who might help, please let us know. If you have ANY practical advice (beyond "get a ladder," see twitter, it's too high & not safe) let us know.

Current Plan A: build a ramp out of lumber. Needs to be >20-30'. Advice VERY welcome.

@DrSagan Watching him do sketch comedy is pretty surreal too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Lu0dX0GTg&list=PL4Ss6TCig8hFipHXzxiBGQeghhQcN9JL5&index=1

@Austin_Dern @KinkyTurtle

@Leucrotta => "Dr Booty" from Sifl and Olly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obb8WmKCMUw

@JulieSqveakaroo @Oneironott She does have a point! Li'l bappypaws otter don't know etc etc. <3

Finally reconnected with my therapist. Big breakthroughs today... including finally getting up the nerve to discuss the accusations of abusiveness I got when Transliminal broke up.

We talked a LOT about what was really behind all that, how I long ago accepted my behavior was way unstable and my temper could be very scary to someone with Her background, but there was never ANY desire to control or manipulate behind any of the outbursts. It was all pure fear and self-hatred.

And she agreed. She said it just didn't sound like the usual warning signs at all-- and reassured me that Massive Temper Blowouts due to sheer sensory and emotional overload are really common among people with ADHD.

And I'd been TRYING to internalize that for years and move on, I suspected it's true, but... I guess I never felt morally qualified to be the one to turn off the alarm sensor. And FINALLY I can have a little peace there.

I wish you well, Orrery. I wish your whole family well. I don't think this was any more your fault than it was mine, and I DEFINITELY think a good chunk of it was my fault. I never wanted any of it, and to the last day, I cared so fucking much about you.

I hope we never see each other again, for both our sakes. I don't think the glitches that led us to fight can be fixed, only routed around. And Peggy has proven to be that route and I feel so much safer and more comfortable stuck otherwise-alone down here than I ever did "surrounded by friends" (true tho some of them proved to be <3 <3 ) in Seattle.

@Oneironott So much of Neptunian society has evolved to just be "Kurt Vonnegut's _Galapagos_ Was Right" and while it is So Not A Martian Scene I am so proud of y'all. :D

@Austin_Dern There's something very similar on AirBNB somewhere out west, and @anthracite and I keep pondering a vacation out there... I'll see if I can dig up the information.

have i mentioned lately that shemp is an absolute legend?

he didn't particularly do anything, just came in this morning and Shemped at us for a bit and then politely went outside when it was time for us to go out to the cafe

but dammit if that's not enough what more could you possibly want from him? hero in my book. *nod*

@JulieSqveakaroo @Austin_Dern That's it. That's the story. I feel like I could have ginned it up a little more, but... I dunno, I've just always loved the idea of an "antique" Tetris machine and am really sad nobody ever followed through. :D

@JulieSqveakaroo @Austin_Dern The plan was to build an analog version of Tetris, with little electromechanical split-flap displays for the blocks, bolt a brass plaque on it with the instructions in Cyrillic, put it in a wooden cabinet, hand-age the whole thing, and then try to pass it off as a genuine antique Tetris machine from 1933.

@JulieSqveakaroo @Austin_Dern So back in the day, I was on a Discordian mailing list run by a grad student at the University of Monash in Australia. His name was Andrew Bulhak, and his main claim to fame was a Markov-chain based algorithm for generating postmodernist academic papers, which he would then print out and distribute at random classes.

So. One day he proposed a prank.

@JulieSqveakaroo @anthracite Haha, that's exactly the video I'd run across that explained it! :D

@Austin_Dern @JulieSqveakaroo That reminds me... have I ever told either of you fine creatures the story of the Very First Tetris Machine hoax? It never actually got pulled off, but the story is still fun.

or you know i could just come up and beat jason rantz with a tire iron for you

it's not like i'd be there long enough for them to put together an investigation

@DifficultToTame @anthracite That is a fine question and I will ask my friend Liem next time we go to the Audubon. =n.n=

@001zlnv @anthracite Nope! We even have a local possum for comparison, though they've been scarce during the alleged winter. (That was another little lesson in NOT helicopter-parenting the cats, when I finally realized that the cute little buggers are near-zero rabies risk and really just not aggressive.)

I've probably been driving Peg crazy with my high anxiety levels lately, and while she's been EXTREMELY gracious about it for the most part, my self-esteem is in the shitter today and I'm just feeling super, super awkward.

Part of the issue is that I had a whole bunch of minor worries about the cats straight in a row, and I CAN. NOT. TURN. THE. ANXIETY. OFF. where their well-being is involved. I just CAN'T err on the side of calm with them. I am starting to really understand why parents can seem to go completely batshit crazy over child safety issues.

The other day it was hearing what sounded like a wounded animal noise. It didn't even sound catlike, and everybody was accounted for but Shemp-- who I don't think could make that high-pitched of a sound if he tried. But I still found a part of myself nervously keeping a vigil for him all day, even though, as I put it to Peg, "I'd bet a million dollars on Shemp, here." I KNEW he was fine. Didn't matter.

Anyhow, I'd been fretting over Ceejay pretty badly because he has this very prominent FLAP on his belly. And he's had to be treated for parasites in the past, so... yeah. I was getting worried he was in the advanced stage of something.

And then I noticed Artie and Shemp both have kind of a LUMPY FLOPPY BIT on their bellies in the same location. And I was like OH SHIT does the whole family have something nasty?

And then by pure coincidence I ran across a Youtube video about a little thing called the "primordial pouch." Cats apparently have kinda their own little camel hump under their bellies, to store fats and give their innards a little extra combat armor. In part maybe to give @anthracite a little reassurance I'm working on the crazy. <3

Why didn't anybody tell me this? I really need to RTFM one of these days. Anyhow, I just feel a lot better now and wanted to chronicle my little mh journey. :>

@xinjinmeng @anthracite I mean, Shadow does know how to enjoy a good pettin'.

@zx3 Right? It only dawned on me like 2/3rd of the way through the episode -- one of the SCREAMS struck me as very clearly Maria. :)