@copperbadge @naamahdarling et al I have just found out about cross stitching temperature charts, as in repeating pattern (stars, leaves, etc.) with the colors = daily temperature highs and lows.
i am foaming at the mouth. never been more tempted to return to stitchery
Oh yes! I have a friend who did it for the Panthers hockey win-lose-draw season last year, and I know various people who have done it for other stuff I can't recall off the top of my head.
I'm not a stringwitch (can't knit or crochet, I've tried, it's just not within me) but it looks like a super cool idea. I've thought about doing some kind of cross-stitch version where you just do lines of colors, but I have so many other projects...
Not officially -- I came up with it a few years ago as a genre-neutral term for people who Do Things with yarn, since it's faster than typing out Knitters And Crocheters. But it has proved useful so I keep it around. Feel free to make use, my offering to the coven :)
I think it's so funny how we bred JOBS into dogs. I have two shih tzus and they were bred to be lap dogs. All they care about is looking cute and cuddling with people. Meanwhile my grandma has a border collie and that dog needs to feel so useful all the time, he acts like he will pass away if he doesn't have a job to do constantly
On one hand this is extremely fucking funny, but on the other hand, it really boggles my mind how many people punish their dogs for just… doing the thing they were bred to do.
Your husky isn’t “hyperactive”, it’s bred to pull sleds for 8 hours straight and you have it in a 400 sq ft yard.
Your English sheepdog isn’t “pushy”, it’s bred to herd sheep, and you have neither to space nor the herd to allow it.
Your terrier isn’t “nippy”, it’s bred to kill rats and your hamster looks a hell of a lot like one.
Your Catahoula isn’t “mean to animals”, it’s bred to hunt any and all animals smaller than it, and you didn’t acclimate it to your cat.
Your Lhasa Apso isn’t “yappy”, it’s bred to bark at any tiny noise and alert watchmen to intruders
Like Jesus Christ, if you can’t provide an environment where your dog can’t fulfill its literal life purpose, maybe?? Don’t get that dog??? And if you do, maybe know the breed characteristics so you can redirect those traits into more constructive outlets????
Both your most common doodle's parts (labra and golden) want to hunt and retrieve water birds so the best suggestion I can give y'all is congratulations on your new duck hunting hobby.
Any time someone sees Herschel and says "AWWW I want a Corgi <3" (because he is Very Cute (TM)), I immediately reply:
"Do not get a Corgi unless you have a job for it to do. They were bred to bully livestock across the hills of Wales. This is basically a Border Collie that knows he is cute enough to get away with murder. If you get one and it doesn't have a job, it will apply its livestock-bullying instincts to YOU. Herschel's job specifically is to help manage my crippling ADHD, because I don't have a bull for him to micromanage."
This gets me odd looks at the home depot but it does get the point across.
1. Hobby books are often written by the same people who think you can caramelize onions in 5 minutes
2. Hobby books are even more often written by people who don't have or are actively neglecting their partners/full-time jobs/pets/children/household maintenance.
3. Hobby books are often written by people with ADHD, and an hour in ADHD hyperspace is like 2-7 hours for everyone else, including other ADHD people who are not currently in the zone.
4. Hobby books are written by people who, when told by an editor to add in how long it will take, just make shit up
5. If you're doing something for the first time, you're going to take way, way longer to do it than someone who's had years of practice. Maybe it does only take an hour IF YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR TEN YEARS. Think about how long it took you to make idk your first excel spreadsheet vs how long it takes now
To actually answer your question: proud. You should feel proud, because you made something, AND you did so while learning a brand-new skill! Go you!!
May I ask what the Allegedly-One-Hour project was? Both because I like hearing about what my friends are doing and I want to see how wildly inaccurate the listed time scope is.
"His grace, his excellency, the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes," the herald called.
King Gregory III, by birthright prince and election king of Askazer-Shivadlakia, bowed as low as his husband (King Theophile "Eddie" Rambler, dux a l'orange) had ever seen. He followed Greg's example, and heard a sardonic snort from the duke.
"If you don't stand up this minute, your majesty, I'll give you a walloping you haven't earned since the puffin incident," Sir Samuel said. He was a tough, weatherbeaten-looking man in a helmet, armor, leather trousers, and scuffed boots. Gregory laughed, straightened, and embraced the strange foreign duke in a hug.
"It's always a delight, Sam," Greg said. "My husband, by the way. King Theophile for formal occasions, but Eddie when he's at home."
"Eddie," Sir Samuel echoed. His handshake was strong, but not weirdly so.
"Sam's one of Dad's best friends. He keeps us out of trouble with Ankh-Morpork and he hates the monarchy with unbridled passion," Greg continued.
"Can I confess I've never heard of Ankh-Morpork?" Eddie said cautiously.
"Few have," Sir Samuel said with a grin. "Just as well. I don't hate you, Greg. You're elected. That's the proper way to go about things. Don't love that crown of yours though."
"It's decorative," Gregory said defensively.
"See that it stays that way. Where is the old bastard emeritus anyhow?" Sam asked.
"SIR SAMUEL!" came a shout across the ballroom, and Michaelis charged forward, meeting the duke in a hug.
"Retired, eh? Cowardly move," Sir Samuel said. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Vetinari won the bet," Michaelis said cryptically. Eddie watched in fascination. "It's all right. The youngsters can have some fun for now."
"Fun, you call it," Sir Samuel replied, as Michaelis led him away.
"Come meet my grandchildren. How's Young Sam?" Michaelis asked, as their voices faded into the crowd at the ball.
"Sir Samuel is the worst diplomat who ever got the job," Gregory said to Eddie. "He's probably Dad's favorite politician in the world."
"He seems...." Eddie groped for words.
"He sure does," Gregory agreed. "But...he's important, Ed. He helped raise me. Everyone here -- me, Ger, Al...even Dad I think...we are who we are because of him. He believes in people and in the stupidity of people. He loves democracy. He understands imperfection."
"Sounds like a solid dude, as my parents would say," Eddie observed.
"None more solid," Gregory agreed, as the commander lifted Serafina out of Alanna's arm and tossed her up, catching her a second later. The lilacs in the palace garden, lightly disturbed by the movement, swayed back and forth, releasing their scent.
"Who's that Vetinari guy?" Eddie asked, as the party went on around them. Near the doorway to the palace, a man took a broad-brimmed hat from the rack and doffed it to Gregory before slipping away. Simon, nearby, continued to mix banana daiquiris for the waiting diplomats.
"Oh, you are in no way ready for Vetinari yet," Gregory assured him. "Come along. Time you met Lady Sybil."
Oh hey, it's Skype a Scientist again, here to fund science education projects with COOL ART.
Introducing SHRIMP CITY!
Look cool as hell in while talking about shrimp science with your friends.
For example:
🦐 Mantis Shrimp (who punch so fast they create pressure voids in the water that collapse to produce shockwaves, heat, and even a flash of light!)
🦐 Pistol Shrimp (Instead of a punch, pistol shrimp create their shockwaves using the snap of their claws!)
🦐 Hermit Crabs (who aren't "true" crabs, but Shrimp City is an inclusive town)
🦐Yeti Crabs (who live in Shrimp City's sister city, Hydrothermal Ventopolis, where they grow bacteria on their hairy arms that they lick off for a snack!)
🦐 Insects (who are not shrimps per se, but did you know recent research suggests that insects group with the crustaceans?? You may have heard that shrimps is bugs, but nay… bugs is shrimp).
These shirts were designed by Philly designer The 666 Cat!
What kind of science education are you funding by buying a shirt, you ask? Well, lots of stuff, but here's a recent example:
Here's a mural all about local biodiversity that we painted in collaboration with a Philly public elementary school with local artist NDA!
We got the kids from the school to help us paint it and everything! These projects are educational and cute as hell.
UPDATE: as of Sunday morning, we've sold 271 shirts. To fully fund our fall mural series we need to sell 1100. Each mural costs about 330 shirts (this is a goofy way to fund good projects, but hey, that's life in the 2026 hellscape babbyyy).
This means we are 60 shirts away from our first Philly Bug mural being funded. So whaddya waiting for?? Get a shrimp shirt!
'You took an oath to uphold the law and defend the citizens without fear or favour,' said Vimes. 'And to protect the innocent. That's all they put in. Maybe they thought those were the important things. Nothing in there about orders, even from me. You're an officer of the law, not a soldier of the government.'
If you are young and fit and healthy, get a hobby you can do while ill. Something that brings you joy and you can still enjoy while laid out with flu or whatever.
Future you will thank you for not pinning your ability to enjoy and get any sense of achievement on having the base energy levels of a teenager.
Sure, you might still be dancing and playing tennis and running marathons in your 80s. Or you might be walking short distances with a cane between breath stops in your 30s, and really glad past-you found those breath stops were so much more enjoyable if you brought a pencil and some paper to draw the pigeons you were sharing a bench with.
This is such a good idea and I can't believe I've never seen anybody say anything about it before. I recommend jigsaw puzzles and cross stitch. I thought my eyesight was too bad for cross stitch but then I bought a pair of cheap 3x magnification glasses from Walmart and they're even more helpful than my prescription pair.
Imagine you're coming home after a long day of hunting, and the first thing you hear is your seven shitty kids screeching at you for no reason, how pissed off would you be, I'd immediately fly away too
Imagine you're the oldest of seven and a fucking HOA member broke into your HOUSE and SHIT AN EGG and is BITING at your siblings, but your dad shows so you try to tell him the problem but you're very little and you don't speak English and he doesn't speak English either so you can't communicate that a fucking GOBLIN is in your HOUSE and the only reason he doesn't know is cause his ASS was on that bitch's HEAD and he must've assumed it was one of your brothers and sisters but it was actually that FREAK WOMAN who got in, and now your dad is flying away 'cause he has no idea what's going on
Imagine you're a parent and you've calmed down and gone to get McDonald's for your seven kids, and you come home expecting to get cheers because you know the D's are always a winner, but when you fly back in through the door the kids are all still screaming, and it's not even excited screams but you don't know what's wrong so you just look into the camera like you're Jim from the Office
Imagine you're one of the small middle children and probably the one that this HOA WITCH was BITING after she broke into YOUR HOUSE and SHIT an EGG and you tried to be a good host by cuddling with her to congratulate her on her egg but then she started BITING and taking over your ROOM and threw out all your GOOSEBUMPS books and your eldest sibling couldn't call dad so you all just had to wait, and then dad comes home but your STUPID FAMILY won't stop SCREECHING to explain what's going on so your dad leaves but then comes back and he's brought McDonald's which is like yay but there is an INTRUDER, and finally your dad looks around the house and notices BITCH BIRD KAREN IN YOUR BEAN BAG CHAIR, and you're like ok dad can handle this but then you learn he's more scared than you?????
Imagine you're a dad and you just got home with McDonald's and WHO THE FUCK IS THAT IN MY HOUSE but luckily you have seven children and the mean one is willing to fight this bitch and you're just gonna chill in this corner until this problem is resolved even if your other kids are straight-up judging you
Imagine you're Kevin McCallister and you're doing Home Alone except you're not home alone 'cause your dad is home too but he's not helping, he's just holding a bag of McDonald's, so you have to be the head of this house at eight years old 'cause you're home alone emotionally but this FREAK ON AN EGG isn't leaving so you decide to screech at your dad and he's more scared of you than she is
Imagine you're a dad and your child has publicly shamed you in front of your other kids and this ASSHOLE KAREN and you decide you're not gonna take this shit anymore so you tell your kids that you paid for this McDonald's with your hard-earned bird money and they're gonna damn well eat this, so everybody stop looking at that side of the house and just eat your fucking french fries but then that fucking MONSTER starts BITING your only child willing to go into battle so you recognize this is a lost cause and throw the burgers on the counter and you remember you're an ADULT so you grab your car keys and fly the fuck away
Imagine you're all seven children and dad left you with the pigeon again
You're leaving out the best part: Mom turns up with her first mouse of the night, and immediately starts kicking that asshole pigeon. The asshole pigeon tries to use the nestlings as owl shields. Mother Owl is undeterred. She does not stop kicking the asshole pigeon until the asshole pigeon finally leaves.
