New icon: a link rot / broken link / fixing broken links icon, via the Noun Project. Attribution in the note, but I have in fact altered it somewhat: flipped everything, unflipped the text, colored some things in

catescates.com.au is at least somewhat backed up by archive.org (did I cry? yes, I cried when I had to go to the archive to find the recipe I referenced for JD)

It's not the Unicorn Latte but it tastes like pink:
vanilla instant breakfast
unflavored collagen protein powder
near-boiling water
half and half
unwise whipping with the milk vibrator
a little bit of rose syrup (in the rose & raspberry blend)
some raspberry syrup (Torani Red Raspberry, because milk)
a little more than that of strawberry (sno-cone) syrup
FUCK NOT THAT MUCH
*slurp slurp slurp*
spiced chai concentrate & more half and half
(repeat until Less Pink)
Eventually it seemed Edible.

I liberated one of my less-favorite pill organizers for Steph
I explained why so many pill organizers were Rong

Yet again, I am Le Tired.
Duolingo streak continues, despite my best efforts. On principle, I refuse to stretch to meet a more-than-30 item monthly goal, but I am not above getting two items done in one day to absorb the days when I forget completely.

Book: progressing in uneven lumps.

Thumb: still sometimes clicky and painful, but responding to Voltaren and splinting and rest.

Toe: left little toe had Sudden No Visible Bruise pain. I thought it was neuropathy but then realized that it was real pain, no idea what from. Thanks, lidocaine/prilocaine cream! I only had to use that for a few days before it started feeling like it could touch a surface without endless woe.

Partner: reading to them a Tumblr post about Fox News demonizing libraries, real librarians coming in to talk about how they would (theoretically) approach a program that was, you know, drug-fuelled orgies: with snacks and appropriate readings
Punch line: my addition to the post: "And some librarians know how to make tacos!" had my partner (already on the floor) turning pink and slapping the floor while laughing

Bodies in general: it's possible that I may need to adjust my blood pressure medication downwards but I'm going to wait on that for my new provider, probably

brains: going to talk to psych about reducing primary antidepressant, given that the reason for increasing it was ADHD, and the worst of the cancer stuff seems to be behind me for now (I can hope) -- that may give me a little more room for some other stuff going on

New:


Icon: Alaska Nanooks logo, which is a chiaroscuro image of a stalking polar bear (Nanook) in front of a giant blue and gold letter A.

Keywords: hockey, nooks.

The Nanooks are my home team, and I've been reading a lot more Check Please! which satisfies my need for a sports fandom with lovely queer characters and romance, without the risk of faves who irl turn out to be suuuuuuuuuuuper problematic.


Keyword updates:


Icon: text: "I have banned people from my journal for commenting in purple"
Text is mostly tiny black computery font, except for "in purple" which is magnified and purple.

Previous keywords: bitch, purple

General uses: when I'm being very and possibly irrationally cranky/picky about something, and when other people's way of doing things brushes up against my boundaries, I tell them, and they keep doing the thing

Current keywords: bitch, your font is problematic



Icon: a photo of a polished piece of rainbow fluorite. The central stripe is a very pastel lavender with a hint of blue-green, the top stripe is light purple, and the bottom stripe is a rich sweet blueberry purple.

Previous keywords: fluorite, huggy rock
Current keywords: fluorite, huggy rock, purple

rydra_wong asked me about these icons:




The decision process behind choosing the capybara as the mascot for the complex network of interrelations between liberty, that state of desperation when one realizes that one really doesn't have anywhere to go but up (but only if one claws and fights and yells in order to get there), activism, and ill-advised pasting of Janis Joplin lyrics onto CC-licensed images, is one that is best not examined at hours that aren't 3am, but I assure you, it made *perfect sense at the time*. This icon represents the struggle for one's liberties, rock bottom and nowhere else to go, and drunken decisions made on the internet at well past one's bedtime.




The phrase "As useful as a chocolate teapot" delighted me. This icon is equally well-suited for tea parties and rants about software.




Like many small children, I had been given a stuffed sheep shortly after I was born. Concerned that if something happened to the sheep, I'd be completely inconsolable, my parents attempted to dilute my attention by introducing a stuffed cat, which I immediately clung to twice as hard. When I was 11, my bedtime preparations included sleeping with one baby blanket worn like a scarf over my head, one on top of my other blankets, holding my cat tightly. Within the next year or so, I had acquired a boyfriend. He gave me a cute little piece of carved soapstone. It fit nicely in my hand, so I added it to my nighttime-keep-the-evil-away setup.

When I went off to sleepaway camp, the cat and blankets stayed home, but the soapstone bear came with me. I wound up getting a pretty little piece of rose quartz between the sessions of camp. It was nice and felt friendly. Since the bear was a bit fragile, the rose quartz was the newest symbol of safety while sleeping. I tragically lost it the following Thanksgiving, and had to replace it with another, lesser, piece of rose quartz. Since then, I've been holding various rocks in my hands when I sleep off and on. They're collectively known as my "huggy rocks", and are picked for appearance, shape to fit in my hand, and friendly feel. This is not actually one of my rocks, but the appearance is not dissimilar. I like fluorite.




I had a hilarious conversation a while ago. A youngish friend was relaying some of the history of one of their other friends, an older man. He mentioned that the fellow's affiliations included Raven.
"Ah," I said. "Would you tell him, 'Hello, cousin,' for me?"
The message was relayed, though my friend was deeply confused.
"I was born in Alaska," I explained.
This was also relayed, and the fellow and I shared a moment of understanding. My friend was, however, out of the loop.

Sometimes, when a young Lunatic is born in Alaska, Grandfather Raven claims her as one of his many own. Sometimes, when a young Lunatic is coming into adulthood, Eris smiles and says hello.




So in December '09, along with all of the other things that were going on then, my aunt asked if I wanted to come to a clicker-training workshop with her. She didn't want to go alone, and the practical bits of the course were to be on chickens. I agreed to come along. I had a lovely time, bar all the other stress I was under, and had great fun with the chickens. They had White Leghorns, Brown Leghorns, and a few very beautiful, very soft, very talkative, very pecky Black Star hens. This was the first hen I got to use in the training. She was soft and somewhat tentative, but got more confident after she figured out what I was asking her to do. The White Leghorns were all rescues; they were retired laying hens who would have otherwise been in deep trouble. I dubbed her Miss Puffy ButtMeringue FancyPants, "Butt Meringue" for short, the entirely possibly urban legend being fresh, if that's the word, in my mind. (Chickens have a feathered rump; on white chickens, it does look rather meringue-ish.) Not quite the sweetest hen ever, but close.


If you'd like me to look at your icons and pick ~5 that I'd like you to talk about, please include the word 'sigilism' in your comment.

Shutting the door Dept. of Mysteries veil with heavy snark