ask me about the other six karats!

[18kgold]

The beautiful hanging fuchsia I got on Mother's Day was decimated by the little bit of bad air that got into the kitchen. It was the only plant to visibly suffer, and it looks just awful, so many leaves gone throughout. I've cut a few sprigs to see if they'll form roots, but I'm considering cutting back the whole thing to see if it regenerates at all.

[18kgold]

It looks to be a lovely day, but I've been in a bad mood since I woke up!

Completely unrelated, I've been reluctant to lie down for Morning Nap.

[18kgold]

Well, that mood was nothing compared to what it is after the fucking dream I just had, oh my god. It wasn't so stressful to start with necessarily, in fact it looked like it was going to become good, but then it turned into a Mother Issues thing and oh my god, she's dead, why is this still happening???

[lostinhistory]

Meet the Canadian civil servant responsible for sending our wildfire smoke to the U.S.

With wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada into Michigan, New York and other states, numerous Americans have once again taken to social m

“I’m very fortunate to work with a passionate team of climatologists, ecologists and one guy named Mark who just fucking hates Americans,” said Keane. “And every year we work around the clock to ensure that we create the right circumstances to send thousands of litres of smoke across the Great Lakes and into the eyes and throats of people in the U.S.”

[18kgold]

It looks to be a lovely day, but I've been in a bad mood since I woke up!

Completely unrelated, I've been reluctant to lie down for Morning Nap.

[marithlizard]

(via bsky)

In case anyone hasn't heard, the cyclospora outbreak affecting tons of people in the US right now is coming from Taylor Farms produce. Best to stay away from bagged lettuce and prepared salads completely right now, but especially the ones mentioned in the screenshot:

Taylor Farms Earthbound Farms Little Salad Bar (Aldi) Marketside (Walmart) Kroger House Brand Target private label greens Costco salads and greens etc Trader Joe's chopped salad kits and fresh produce Fast food: McDonalds, Taco Bell, (Yum! Brands), Chipotle, Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC, Olive Garden, Top Golf, Red Lobster, Burger King, etc.

This is not the first time I've heard about a Taylor Farms foodborne illness outbreak. I stopped eating their salads after reading a description of the conditions in their facilities. Doesn't sound like they've improved anything.

We need a fully funded and staffed FDA, and regulations with teeth - and that's exactly what we don't have under Trump. To make things worse, the CDC is no longer tracking these outbreaks. We're on our own.

[bitchautism]

here's two articles about how JK Rowling just posted on X an upskirt photo of Freda Wallace, a transgender woman, after deadnaming her and misgendering her repeatedly online.

JK Rowling deadnamed and posted 'upskirt' photo of trans woman on X

The wealthy author escalated a social media spat that resulted in posting a photo from a 2023 event at the Institute of Economic Affairs in

JK Rowling posts upskirt image of trans woman while begging to debate her - LGBTQ Nation

Rowling posted the picture taken from below because the trans woman, she said, was "refusing to debate me."

[quichelotta]

Maps Show Where Tourists Go—and Where Locals Do

GEOGRAPHY If you want to find tourists snapping pictures, you probably know where to go—Times Square in New York City, the Embarcadero in Sa

This is cool. The one for DC seems pretty accurate, anyway:

More maps here.

[18kgold]

I like the NYC one:

Where do locals take photos? Wherever they are!

I also love that the water is yellow. Everyone's taking photos on the Staten Island Ferry, etc.

[lostinhistory]

‘The pigeon came to them seeking help’: California firefighters give oxygen to suffering bird

A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon ‘in distress’ after a vehicle fire

Heartwarming footage of California firefighters treating perhaps their smallest patient on record has captivated the internet.

A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon “in distress” earlier this week after a vehicle fire, and jumped into action to assist.

“The crew reported the pigeon came up to them seeking help. The pigeon seemed to have suffered some smoke inhalation from the vehicle fire,” said Oakland Firefighters Local 55 union in a post on social media.

As captured in footage posted online, a firefighter administered oxygen with a mask placed over the small bird’s face as it stood in the road. It flew away after “clearing out its lungs”.

[18kgold]

Dammit, I was precipitate. I opened up the bedroom window, but now I have horrifying reflux. So now back to recycling and 'purifying' the bedroom air, but I'm too tired to do anything with the kitchen.

[charl0ttan]

something i actually just realized on call w some friends recently is how crazey it is that your online friends are as many as thousands of feet above or below u right now. like if you teleported to their location without changing your height above sea level, well your fucked in some way basically

[charl0ttan]

How high above sea level are you right now?

0-250 feet

251-500 feet

501-750 feet

751-1000 feet

1001-2000 feet

2001-3000 feet

3001-4000 feet

4001-5000 feet

5001-6000 feet

6001-7000 feet

7001-8000 feet

8001+ feet

Voting ended onJul 19

[18kgold]

All three local monitors are now at 'poor' -- which is usual around here for the past 5-10 years, albeit not with PM2.5 -- and there was a little blue sky after the last (brief) downpour, so I took the plunge and opened the kitchen and bathroom windows and moved the kitchen plants back. Waiting to see the orange-radar parts of Jersey and Pennsylvania go past before daring the bedroom.

I thought I'd have to wait 'til tomorrow! There'd been improvement over the course of the day, but one monitor was at 'poor', another at 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' (I'm sensitive groups), and a third at 'unhealthy', so I wasn't feeling so secure.

[18kgold]

Expectation v. Reality: Van Cleef & Arpels

I've been bitching about how too many cool pieces from the Fascinating Egypt collection are being shown only as drawings, but I don't know now, maybe there's a good reason.

Based on the drawing of the Danseuse au Tambourin Brooch, I thought it would have a detailed, realistic (maybe even real!) tambourine:

Alas, it's just a barely-identifiable slab of gold. VCA can do much better than that!

[xylophonetangerine]

I didn't even know they had a category for that

[innerchildabortionclinic]

Hollywood really could have that category

[18kgold]

Two days this week I've fucked up Spelling Bee by having a pangram they don't count, but not realizing they don't count it until I can't get the word totals to work out right :/

[justsomepetermemes]

[chutzpahchesed]

this is so bizarre (and also inaccurate) that I can’t even decipher what they’re trying to say by putting it up there.

[chutzpahchesed]

an explanation of why he did this…it’s uh. not great

Lake Oswego theater marquee sparks outrage in Jewish community - Lake Oswego Review

Since it was placed earlier this week, community members have expressed anger about the Lake Theater and Cafe’s marquee advertising screenin

Since it was placed earlier this week, community members have expressed anger about the Lake Theater and Cafe’s marquee advertising screenings of Christopher Nolan’s new film “The Odyssey.”

The south-facing marquee reads “Before there were the Jews, there was… The Odyssey.”

The reference has concerned many in the local Jewish community, specifically because of the current political environment in which the Jewish community faces heightened criticism — and bigotry — following escalating violence in occupied Gaza, and many feel that the marquee is antisemetic and ahistorical.

Bob Horenstein, The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland chief community relations and public affairs officer, said the federation has received dozens of messages from concerned community members. The Review also received many emails expressing concerns and many people have posted on social media about it.

“There’s drawing attention, and then there’s being offensive … What I wrote to (Lake Theater) yesterday was, we’d received over three dozen (email and calls) at least that members of our community feel very unsettled by the sign and I said we do not know the reason behind the choice of language, nor are we suggesting that there is necessarily any ill intent,” he said. “But to understand that, given the current climate of rising anti-Semitism, any reference to ‘the Jews’ is immediately suspected, rightly or wrongly, of having nefarious intentions, and that we would respectfully urge you to remove the current language and simply promote the movie.”

Jordan Perry, the general manager of the Lake Theater, said the marquee text would be taken down.

In a text message, he said the point of the remark was to push back on what is constituted as antisemitism and said he was surprised by the negative reaction it has received.

“My intention is never to influence opinion or fan flames, but to say: it’s okay to raise eyebrows, though I hope my messages reflect a depth of understanding others find in themselves but not always in the world around them,” said Perry by text message. “Through the media I consume, I believe modern-day antisemitism is exaggerated, mostly as a defense for Israel’s actions in the Middle East and its involvement in our politics, and my intention in referencing Jewish people on the marquee was to prod at everything being seemingly antisemitic with a statement that couldn’t possibly be construed as antisemitic.”

He added: “My intention was not to offend anyone, but rather to push back culturally back on what constitutes antisemitism, to signal, in solidarity, that it’s not about ‘the Jews,’ that it’s about Israel, and Palestine, and Lebanon, and Iran, and AIPAC. This is my ‘humor,’ this was the point, intentionally subtle, of what I put on the marquee.”

Perry added that the marquees reflect his personal views, not those of the business, and are “meant to connect with open-minded members of the community on a personal level, not as a business, and anyone coming to the business should only expect good food and drink, a relaxing environment, friendly staff, with a sort-of cynical guy sometimes behind the register who also runs food and cleans toilets.”

Rabbi Eve Posen, of Congregation Nevah Shalom, connected the marquee with accusations by members of the U.S. Congress that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine and said that a member of the community’s car was recently vandalized with swastikas.

“None of the individual moments, taken on their own, would necessarily warrant a public reflection. We live in a world where people disagree. We debate policy. We challenge history. We confront acts of hatred. But when these moments come one after another, layering upon one another in the span of a single day, they tell a story that is impossible to ignore,” Posen wrote via social media.

She also felt that there was no good reason for the Lake Theater to bring up the Jewish community while advertising the new film.

“The statement is historically false. More importantly, it raises a painful question: why invoke Jews at all? A clever movie promotion could have celebrated one of the oldest stories ever told without unnecessarily positioning Judaism as an afterthought or a comparison. In a moment when antisemitism is already at historic levels, casually inserting Jews into a narrative where we do not belong doesn’t feel harmless. It feels like another reminder that our story is somehow expendable, that our history can be rewritten or diminished for the sake of a punchline,” she wrote.

The north-facing marquee also referenced the new movie with the message, “Do you watch TV w/ subtitles? We’ve got The Odyssey w/ subtitles! (Not always, but sometimes).”

Many people commented that the story of The Odyssey – Homer’s original Greek epic passed down through an oral tradition – isn’t definitively older than evidence of Israelite tribes in ancient Canaan.

“it’s not about the Jews,” says absolute jerk who put “the Jews” on his marquee. “I’m not antisemitic” says the fool denying modern antisemitism.

[18kgold]

Incredible, on every level.

[18kgold]

When I was gone I had one plant in the kitchen instead since it's usually on the windowsill in the bedroom and that's now occupied with AC stuff. It looked pretty sick when I got back and I couldn't understand why! WELL, this morning it suddenly looked bad again, and also my kitchen smells like bacon. So it was reacting to smoke, which was obviously not getting filtered out there.

The air purifier cannot do both rooms, so even though the AC can help with both, so I've closed the bedroom door and have the purifier on high too. The bedroom smells a little, but not as bad, and hopefully it will clear without too much trouble. Much worse out today then yesterday (although the three monitors near me range over 90 points, so who knows what to believe exactly); hopefully the predicted rain happens and ultimately helps clear stuff up.

I don't like existing in a little bubble.