#blairprovence

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blairprovence

(Con)fit For a King

This was my second choice! It was a working title for a while but he doesn’t actually make confit at any point, so I felt it wasn’t truth in advertising. :D 

gargelyfloof118

Taverns, Inns, Country Houses, and Castles

LOL I love this and also it’s basically also the alternative description of the Two Fat Ladies cooking show. 

digitaldiscipline

I see your "Fete for a King" and raise you "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Divine Rights"

Funnily enough, the prince (soon to be king) in the story doesn’t actually rule by divine right! 

"Power doesn't automatically pass from father to son. The king has to be confirmed by a popular vote. The kind of personality who wants to be king tends to run in families, so it's convenient that I'm the king's child and wanted the job, but if I hadn't we'd just have held a general election."

"Wait, so you're elected?" Eddie asked, disbelieving. "That's beyond wild."

"It's not really different from electing a president, although the scale is smaller, of course," Gregory said. He'd developed a little patter for this explanation years ago, around the time he had seriously started considering election to kingship when his father retired. "We had a traditional monarchy, but one of our recent kings -- Gregory II, actually, I'm named for him -- saw what was happening in Russia just before the Revolution. He decided some pre-emptive democracy might be in order. A small country like ours needs stability and wants one person in office long-term, so generally rule is a life term once elected. But if the people don't like the king, it's possible to call a vote of no-confidence and a new election." 

"Has a king ever actually been voted out?" 

"Gregory II's son was voted out," Gregory said. "He lost to my grandfather." 

"He lost to...so you're named for a guy you're not related to?" Eddie asked. 

"Our sense of tradition is strong. He's a spiritual ancestor, anyway. Reminder to be a good king." 

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invisiblespork replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

Oh man, Pennsylvania I'd have said a primenti brothers sandwich, but maybe that's too Pittsburgh based (though they seemed to be laser focused on Philly so like, whatever lol)

Oh those are SO GOOD. Whenever I’m in PGH we usually go out for one. (This year my visit is very short, so we may not get to it this time around, but I will be eating Primanti’s in my heart.)

concernedcatlady replied to your photo “�� Sometimes I feel like...somebody is waaaatching...”

�� !!!!! I really want that cat tree!!!! It's so wonderful!!!

Thank you! It was built for me by @figtreeandvine, who sells them on their etsy shop! Polkadot likes to be Up High so she loves the top hammock. 

blairprovence replied to your post “arvethli mentioned you on a post “Me: “I love this fic! Can’t wait...”

The fried onions in the Oklahoma version are heavily caramelized and then cooked into the burger. I once had to wash a sweater three times to get the onion smell out after eating at one restaurant. It also impregnates y our hair with a lovely onion cloud til you can shampoo it. Now I get em to go. Super tasty!

I mean, it sounds AMAZING, but also yes like it would make a square mile around it smell of onion :D 

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Hoovers and Movies

terrie01 replied to your post “This is what happens when you move in January, your vacuum breaks in...”

What did you get for a vacuum?

I got a Black & Decker Airswivel pet vacuum -- it’s very lightweight, has a super long cord, and was about at the price point I wanted. It’s been great so far; pretty quiet as vacuums go, relatively cheap, and you can see it pulled up A LOT of dirt on the first run through. And I just don’t have enough carpet to really bother with anything more powerful. 

excaliburss replied to your post “This is what happens when you move in January, your vacuum breaks in...”

I have almost full carpet (other than kitchen and bathroom) and this is my vacuum once a week D:

I mean, I would imagine I didn’t get it all, but I got up enough that I no longer feel like I’m walking around in my own filth :D 

ranuel replied to your post “This is what happens when you move in January,your vacuum breaks in...”

If you had a replicator you could prolly feed that in and get a third cat out.

Honestly! It was probably at least a kitten’s worth of dirt and hair. Though the babies don’t shed much yet, so it was probably mostly me. 

blairprovence replied to your post “Just curious, do you as a Chicagoian have any feels for Blues Brothers...”

The Fugitive!!

“They dye the river green once a year, you’d think they could dye it blue the other 364.” 

Man, I haven’t seen The Fugitive in a dog’s age, I should watch that this weekend. 

larryby replied to your post “Just curious, do you as a Chicagoian have any feels for Blues Brothers...”

Ferris Belueler's Day Off. Must see Chicago movie

You know, I think it’s one of those films you had to have seen as a kid, to have some nostalgic attachment to. I tried to watch it because I’d never seen it and it is THE Chicago movie, but I couldn’t get through it. Everyone in it is so annoying! But I think that’s me, and maybe not the movie. I dunno. I should give it another shot.

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Answers About Cats Part 3, Where I Am Almost Murdered

tienriu replied to your photoset “They’ve figured out...”

Dear Sam, please tell us how you chose them and why today (or was this planned for today)!

Well, the turnover at the shelter is pretty high (a good thing!) but it was evident that most of the adoptions happened on the weekend, and then the new cats came in on Tuesday or Wednesday. So Thursday or Friday, I’d get more or less my pick before the weekend came, and I really wanted it to be this weekend because I’d have that extra day on Monday (we get Monday off for Memorial Day) to bond with them before leaving for work. Thursday just worked out. 

I had a couple of cats I wanted to look at, and Dearborn was among them. I thought she didn’t have any littermates, so I wanted to adopt her and another cat that had no littermates, but it turns out she had a sister. And when I arrived they were both sleeping curled up together in their litterbox like GOOBERS. 

Dearborn was timid, which I had anticipated from her photos, but Polk was very playful and got Dearborn to play as well, and they seemed like such a good pair I knew they’d be fun. 

The process you go through is you meet the cats, you make your choice, and they take the cards off the cats’ display cage but leave them in the cage while you fill out the paperwork. Then they process the paperwork while you shop for anything you might need (they give you coupons for free food and the like). After you’re done shopping and they’re done with the paperwork, you come back and they bring out a carrier, take the cats out of the display cage, and put them in the carrier for you, and off you go.

So I’ve got this backpack full of cat food and we get to the display cages and there’s this woman there like “Oh good, an attendant! I want THIS ONE” and points to either Dearborn or Polk, I think Dearborn. 

And the attendant gave her a bit of sass because like, there is a process and a screening, and also that cat is spoken for. So then the lady turns to me and is like YOU TOOK MY CAT, and not in a funny way exactly, in that kind of “Haha this is a joke but I might follow you home and murder you for this cat” kind of a way. 

Fortunately the shelter folks distracted her while I ducked out with my cat carrier, but all the way home I was looking over my shoulder. 

tomboyluce replied to your photoset “They’ve figured out...”

you did not call one of you cats Dearborn... btw, have you read the Unadulterated Cat?

I have not! I’ll have to take a look at it. 

dignitywhatdignity replied to your post “annechen-melo replied to your post...”

*Does* Dearborn run into Polk?

It does, it actually dead-ends into Polk at the old train station :D

whenflowersfade reblogged your photoset and added:

I feel like you still need a feathers dangling...

You can’t see it from that angle, but there is a little catnip mouse that dangles down on an elastic cord! Given how much they like the mouse I suspect it is not long for this world. 

blairprovence replied to your photo “Update from last night:...”

If you want to entertain them without taking up floor space catastrophic creations has amazing wall shelving that could turn Murder wall into Kitten Murder wall in a very entertaining way. I got my cat 6 shelves to go up to the top of my built ins and she loves it! And you can DIY some of it.

Oh, thanks for the recommendation! I do need some kind of jungle gym for them eventually, though I’m finding mounting anything heavier than a picture frame on the wall is being a bit problematic. I’ll keep an eye on it though! 

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kathgrr replied to your post “kathgrr replied to your post “nightsgrow replied to your...”

Thank you so much for the explanation! I was just having a discussion with a family member about that! Unfortunately he then brought out the temple thing & it went downhill from there because a lot of religious institutions are not exactly straightforward. But then I used the example of the center for repro rights (I interned there in my youth) & it's definitely a top place. Can I quote u to spread your "soapbox" talk by the way? I think it is very valuable insight.

Faith is its own thing, for sure; religious protections in this country mean that faith-based orgs don’t have to release their 990s, which I kind of get in terms of faiths which are persecuted, but which can also lead to abuses. 

I think part of it is that there’s a difference between being a nonprofit and being a charitable organization -- religious institutions are nonprofit, but that’s a financial distinction. They aren’t actually obliged to provide services to the wider community, as long as they provide a certain percentage of their money in service of their adherents. (This is where Scientology ran into trouble for a while.) The government can still see their 990s, after all, it’s just the public that can’t. 

And I mean like...yes, some religious groups can be sketch about money, as with any group, but does your family member think no money from their giving should be given to upkeep of the building, salary for their rabbi/pastor/etc, or the operation of the clerical side? Most religious institutions have a newsletter or a printed service program or songbooks or texts made available to the congregation, a directory of members, teaching materials for children...do they think those just appear? If they aren’t paid for by the institution, they’re still given by someone, and that’s an outlay the same as a cash donation. 

You’re welcome to quote me if it’ll help! I believe more people should be aware that good infrastructure equals better service, and that good infrastructure is an ongoing cost. 

blairprovence replied to your post “Copperbadge Archival Project”

Fire of the Crystal Elven Magesword -part 1, the Moonwand Cycle!!!!

Ahahaha oh my god I had forgotten about Fire of the Crystal Elven Magesword. That whole tag gives me so much nostalgia. 

noahthekestrel replied to your post “hey sam, will your superb owl stream have subtitles?”

Is there any possiblity you could link those somewhere, privately maybe? I've never seen the Phantom Edit, and I'm going to miss it because of work. :(

Yeah, I’ve had other requests -- drop me an email at copperbadge at gmail to remind me and so that I have your email address, and I’ll make them available after this weekend. 

shirokou replied to your post “Copperbadge Archival Project”

I would vote to keep Sam Runs, Your workout ethic always inspires me. Plus your playlist/little stories during your time out are cute. HOW ELSE WOULD WE HAVE BIRD PUNCH? 8D!

LOL! Well, I can’t keep the whole tag -- I suppose I could but it’d be a pain -- but I may go through and cherry-pick some. Definitely the pigeon punching incident will go in there. 

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mysweetetc replied to your post “I appreciate the steady daily output of kitten photos even when you're...”

au contraire, the link to your dearborn-and-polk tag has become one of the pages I open every time I start Chrome.

Aw! That’s nice to know. I know some people do like just having some spare kittens on hand, so I’m glad I can provide :D 

dreamwaffles replied to your post “RFM heads up”

definitely read that as 'due to time travel'

Oh man, the tumblr of a time-traveler would be AMAZING. What an aesthetic. 

queerlullaby replied to your post “This is what happens when you move in January, your vacuum breaks in...”

do you vacuum your non-carpet flooring too or just sweep/mop it?

Well, theoretically the vacuum cleaner works on it, but I would mop it anyway so it seems sort of wasteful. Probably what I will do is continue to sweep the really messy parts (kitchen, around the cat dish, bathroom) and then mop the whole non-carpet floor; that’s what I’ve been doing. I think probably the proper order is to vacuum, sweep, mop. 

lizardlicks reblogged your post and added:

I never named mine and now i feel bad about that….

It’s not too late! You could name it a suitably retro name like Sir Mix-A-Lot! 

kink-tomato replied to your post “THIS WEEKEND...WE BAKE. My early birthday present has arrived! I am...”

Wow that mixer is just CRYING OUT for decals... https://www.storenvy.com/products/11450520-kitchenaid-marvel-iron-man-vinyl-decals

I thought about it! I’m still deciding how I’m going to detail it. I love Alton Brown’s flame job, of course, but as a white mixer I don’t think the flames would work as well. I’m thinking a delft blue painted pattern or a corningware pattern of some kind. 

blairprovence replied to your post “THIS WEEKEND...WE BAKE. My early birthday present has arrived! I am...”

https://gizmodo.com/museum-visitor-falls-into-giant-hole-that-looks-like-a-1828462859 Your favorite artist in the news!

I have long nursed the conspiracy theory that the fight between Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple was all an act, with Kapoor engaging in a long-term performance art piece as a cartoon supervillain, and this only adds support to my supervillain theory.