Catty Fantastic

Superhero in disguise

[rrrick]

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Land of Froud - art by Brian Froud (1976)

[beyondthisdarkhouse]

Half-ass this. Half... half that half an ass. Take some ass back. Put even less pressure on yourself right now. Don't give 110%. Please, phone this in.

[cattyfantastic]

I think this is a huge part of why so many organizations are pushing return to office policies. It has little to do with the party line, “synergy!” or “those spontaneous hallway convos!” and everything to do with the fact that most jobs do not require even 60% of your effort 100% of the time.

But somehow forcing people to congregate under terrible lighting and very little privacy gives the illusion of work.

Thanks, I hate it.

[cattyfantastic]

Glen Hansard, Irish songwriter and 'Once' star, dies at 56

Glen Hansard, the Irish singer who won an Oscar for the musical movie Once and the led the bands The Frames and The Swell Season, died on We

😭😭😭

[cattyfantastic]

Truthful Tuesday

Turns out that my crowns for my implants are waaaaaay more expensive than I thought they'd be. Long story but I will have the equivalent of an early aughts Honda Civic in my mouth once this is all said and done. Of course, insurance covers none of it.

Got a text from my manager this morning, letting me know that she wasn't coming in today and since two people are on vacation and the other two were working off-site "don't worry about going to the office!" I got that text while sitting in my cubicle. She very nicely gave me permission to work from home on Thursday instead. I'll take it!

Mixed news about mom. She had PT today and physical therapist thinks she should be in her sling for another 6 weeks. But she can "drive occasionally!" PT also said it's up to the surgeon, who she sees on Thursday. He might say she can be out of the sling now, next week or agree with the PT. Good news: she can get herself in and out of the sling — which, fucking PHEW! Goodish news: if surgeon does want her to keep wearing sling, possible she'll be able to ditch the kidney pillow, which is a colossal pain in the ass. Mom, of course, bummed at possibility of more weeks in the sling and even if she's out of it, still not allowed to sleep in her bed, so another month renting a recliner.

Next week begins the month of Summer Fridays. CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!

[cattyfantastic]

Sunday

Wanted to sleep in but Marple had other ideas. I guess 5:45 am is an ok time to be standing outside with my dog.

Bed clothes washed — from the mattress cover to the blanket.

Much needed catch-up phone call with my bestie.

Crockpot pork ribs and potato salad. I made the potato salad yesterday because everyone knows it’s better the next day.

We heard a noise from our kitchen earlier. Like a pop? Thought dishes had shifted in the drainer but that didn’t seem to be the case. Then Matt noticed a crack in our counter. Greät.

Sent an email with photos to countertop company. September will make 3 years since install. We shall see what they say.

We have ice cream.

[echofades]

OCTAVIA SPENCER & HANNAH WADDINGHAM in RIDE OR DIE (Season 1)

[cosmonautroger]

[mia-down-under]

[cattyfantastic]

People You Would Like to Know Better

Tagged by @apatosaurus! Here goes:

Last song: The new Phoebe Bridgers song, “Lost Boys.”

Favorite color: Purple.

Currently watching: Between shows. Just finished “Ride or Die” — so fun! I think we’re gonna watch first ep of new season of Strange New Worlds tonight.

Current obsession: purging excess crap from house.

Currently reading; “Drop of Corruption,” by Robert Jackson Bennet

Currently working on: laundry

Currently wearing: work out leggings and a tee shirt.

Last Internet Search: The Royal Standard of England. It’s supposedly the oldest free house in England and I want to go to there.

Favorite flower: I like tulips, zinnias, dahlias and peonies.

Tagging: anyone who’d like to play along.

[partywithponies]

Do me a favour and reblog this with a show you like that was cancelled after only one season. I don't mean shows that were always meant to be miniseries or shows that work perfectly well as a standalone story, or shows that might still get renewed. I mean shows that are and will forever remain unfinished. The more obscure the better.

[cattyfantastic]

Friday Five

Yeah, we don't need a shred company to pick up our stuff. I went through what I wanted to purge and turns out it's a handful of things I can easily slip into the shred box at work. Also, rediscovered some jewelry that I used to wear all the time. I cleaned it up so that I can put it back into rotation. I stopped wearing necklaces for a while but I've gotten back into the habit. Turns out I have rather a lot of nice ones.

I found a letter of recommendation from one of my college professors -- as a graduation gift, she wrote me a letter of recommendation for grad school so that if/when I wanted to pursue an MA or PhD I'd already have it. It's a glowing letter that's a reminder of how hard I worked and that people recognized something in me. Talk about affirming! I never went to grad school but I'm holding on to that letter for the rest of my life.

Also came across the first chapter of a book I was writing back when I thought I might write books for Silhouette or another dime store romance novel company. It's been over 20 years and it holds up pretty well! Gave it to @painedbrain to critique. He had some notes, including pointing out that I changed the names of a character's dogs towards the end but otherwise he thought it was great and that I should keep writing it! But I'm not going to do that for two reasons: 1) I don't think those companies are around anymore, it's all self publishing and 2) realized that I am mimicking the style of one of my favorite romance authors! Not saying it's up to her quality but yeah, definitely Nora Roberts-flavored. Oh, a third reason: dogs names changed because I did the thing they tell you not to do: I kept writing and rewriting the prologue and first chapter. You're supposed to keep writing, but I kept rewriting 10-15 pages in pursuit of perfection. I'm keeping it, though.

Getting burritos for dinner but going to alternate taco shop so as to avoid Comic Con traffic.

Happy Friday, babies!

[cattyfantastic]

Caption this photo:

I’ll start: Maybe I shoulda stopped at two glasses of wine.

[cattyfantastic]

Thursday Thoughts

I got a survey from Tumblr. Best believe I took every opportunity to rant about the (often misapplied) "Mature" label and the lack of support from Support. You're welcome!

Marple did not eat yesterday. She gets like this when it gets hot but also, hello, you have IBD! You can't not eat! Gave her Entyce this morning — it's an appetite booster for pets — and just got a text from @painedbrain that she finally (finally!) ate some food. You're killing me, Smalls.

Despite team members debating whether or not to work from home today as our manager is out and traffic has been extra this week, I came into the office. My inner Responsibility Gene(TM) would not allow me to work from home as I didn't clear it first. Note to self: the next time you notice that both your manager and head of department are out, get permission to work from home before they are out of the office!

Next week is last 5-day work week for awhile. August is the month of Summer Fridays: took each one as a vacation day. I'll probably ask for the first Friday in September off, too so I can have a longer Labor Day weekend.

Broke one of two remaining bowls from a much-beloved set yesterday. They're the perfect bowl for chips, ice cream, cereal and they just feel good in your hands — you know how something mundane just has that certain je ne sais quois? When Matt got home from work and I told him I broke a bowl his response was, "well, we need to get new ones!" I'd already found similar set online so that was easy. They should be arriving on Tuesday of next week. From Anthropologie, no less!

I see my dentist on Monday. Finally, finally coming to the end of this implant process. I was telling my chiropractor about my saga — it was relevant to not having been in for an adjustment in a while — and he told me how he lost a tooth years ago and had run out of insurance and now his teeth are starting to collapse because he didn't get an implant. So yes, it is better that I got two implants instead of just one. But damn, I'm ready to be able to chew on my right side, to taste food on both sides of my mouth and to be done with this expense.

Have started the fourth book from my birthday book bonanza. Off to a slow start but I haven't given it much time. Once I have an hour (or two!) to devote to it I'm sure it will be off to the races.

Am on a "we need to get rid of stuff!" tear. I got a quote from a shredding company for pick-up option. Not at all sure we have enough stuff to warrant the cost, though. It's not expensive, per se it's just that I don't think we even have one banker's box worth of stuff to shred, which would make it very expensive indeed. ($150 for up to 10 standard banker's boxes = reasonable. $150 for less than one would be like lighting money on fire.) Might just bring hands-full of stuff to discretely drop into one of the shred boxes at my office. We shall see.

Here endeth the lesson.

[vintageandroid]

i made a post like this before but I can't find it now. so. I'll just redo it.

What's the first "big news story" you remember from when you were a kid?

It's something I love to ask mixed-aged groups sometimes because I think it's really interesting to see the responses. I've gotten answers from the Olympics of [whatever year] to Watergate to more recent stuff from my niblings.

My first news thing I remember is the OJ Simpson trial. I vaguely remember watching the news with my grandparents before that, but that's the first story I remember, in part because my second grade teacher had us go play so she could watch the verdict 😂

[absolutelynotclassicusernam-blog]

I remember walking down the street and seeing a sign protesting George W. Bush’s war on Iraq, so I think that.

[neitherducknorpenguin]

I don't remember much from 1967 or earlier (some flashes, but they could be fill-in-the-blanks retrieval from old pictures) but I remember MUCH of 1968. Holy crap. So much of what happened in 1968 molded the world we're suffering through today. I remember seeing news about the Tet offensive and how people suddenly realized that 'we' were not invincible and how this made some people irrationally scared and lash out. Side note: every night on the national news the networks put up a scorecard for the Vietnam war: how many American and RVN soldiers were killed and wounded that day, and how many NVA and Viet Cong soldiers they reported killing; the civilians killed and wounded were never counted. I remember going to see 2001 at the Century dome and coming home and laboriously counting how old I would be in 2001 and was depressed to find I would be almost 40 and too old to be an astronaut. I remember the primary election season (I had a Eugene McCarthy for President bumper sticker on my Radio Flyer). I remember Bobby Kennedy's assassination and now wonder what Jr. would have been like if he'd grown up with a father. I remember the Democratic convention and being excited that Hubert H. Humphrey, fellow Minnesotan, would be the nominee (my parents were considerably less thrilled). But mostly I remember Apollo 8 and seeing the first closeup pictures of the Moon from human presence. And how everything seemed possible and everything would be okay.

[cattyfantastic]

The one that I remember was the oil shortages, mostly because I remember waiting in line with my dad to get gas for our car. So remember standing in line for groceries during height of COVID pandemic? Now imagine doing that that with your car. And a gas station attendant walking down the line — which wrapped around 2 blocks — writing a number on your windshield denoting how many gallons of gas allowed based on the car.

And when the hostages were taken. A neighbor across the street from us lit luminaries every night that they were in captivity — one for each hostage.

[divorcedwife]

look at the republican calendar and see which animal/plant/item is associated with your birthday ok. if you're born january 14 you get the day of the cat

[divorcedwife]

solidarity for everyone who was born on the day of the cistern or the watering can or something like that

[cattyfantastic]