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who turned off the summer?
Seems like the whole weather flipped a switch the other night. On Wednesday I had the windows open, computer sitting on ice packs to help it not overheat, and wasn’t layering up at all to go to work…Thursday, wham, I’m closing the windows, pulling out extra blankets, wearing a sweater and a coat to go out.
Nothing against sweaters, but oof, me and my two smelly cats are gonna miss having a fresh breeze going through the house.
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Just as I get comfortable with “Kickstarter’s not going anywhere with their Mystery Blockchain Protocol, at least not in the foreseeable future, it’s still safe to run a campaign there for now,” then Deviantart turns around and starts flirting with blockchain nonsense. Deviantart! You were the chosen one the only major site making an active effort to protect artists against blockchain fraud! What happened??
…okay, okay, we know what happened. Current holders of crypto can’t actually get money out of the system unless they can convince new suckers to put money in, which means “bribing sites like DA and KS to drag in new suckers” is a good long-term investment.
Still a nasty twist to wake up to.
I know no amount of comments that outline how NFTs are a predatory pit of scams is going to outweigh whatever check they’re cashing from the crypto industry, but I left one anyway.
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Spent the past week or so in a real downswing of low energy and high executive-dysfunction. I have all these small, relatively simple tasks to do, but getting over the hump to actually start each one? Gonna need to go take a nap first.
(The Fluff thinks this is a great deal. He loves an extra snooze. And Fiddlesticks doesn’t hang out on the bed, which makes it a nice safe territory where Fluff doesn’t have to worry about defending his honor as Top Cat.)
I’ve been trying to put “have a nap” higher on the coping-strategy list than “chug another energy drink.” Probably healthier! Not as good a deal for the to-do list.
…also, not a great state to be in when you’re gearing up for a crowdfunding campaign. But it’s not like I work better without a deadline. So we’re moving right along.
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True story, the one thing I can reliably-and-consistently focus on right now is “writing more Moon Knight fanfiction.”
Using incentives like “you can write another chapter of Fic X once you finish Task Y” has been…moderately effective.
(I like this show a normal amount, I swear.)
A “look, I agree that you did good, but you sure could do better” type of vent
So there’s this Disney series of shorts about Baymax (the healthbot from Big Hero 6), and this clip is going around, where Baymax goes through the “clueless non-period-having adult is dispatched to get emergency products for a teen/tween girl who’s trapped in a bathroom, oh no” gag.
Good: child-friendly media is acknowledging that periods exist!
Also good: one of the people who advises Baymax on period products is a guy in a giant unambiguous trans-flag shirt!
Still good: the stock joke in this scene is no longer “women treat the hapless shopper as some kind of suspicious pervert, because the idea that he might have a tween girl to shop for is totally unimaginable”!
All that is positive and I’m here for it.
But.
I’m still annoyed that the stock joke in this kind of scene is now “hapless shopper can’t figure out all these mysterious products, ends up buying one pack of each just to be safe.”
Why would you do that. Why??
If you were making an emergency run on somebody else’s behalf for tissues, you wouldn’t stand in the tissue aisle and go “oh my god, should I get 2-ply or 3-ply? Do they want the ones with lotion or aloe? Fragrance-free, chlorine-free? How much recycled content is acceptable?? I better bring back 20 boxes of tissues, that’s the only way to make sure my friend gets the correct nose-blowing experience.”
No, you would get one (1) box of tissues — probably the one that was cheapest! — and be done.
Just get one box of pads. That’s all.
If you want more details, I recommend looking for the words “basic”/”regular” and “unscented”/”plain”, but honestly? In the “helping a tween girl stuck in a bathroom” situation, you don’t need to track any of that. Just remember “pads” and you’re covered.
Your job here is not to get her the Perfect Menstrual Product Experience. All she needs is to get from the bathroom to a place where she can restock — maybe she has more supplies at home, maybe she’s going shopping too — without bleeding through her clothes along the way.
Literally any pads in the Feminine Hygiene aisle will handle that.
And, look, maybe the writers are trying to counteract humanity’s chronic “cis men making all kinds of stupid and dangerous laws based on wild misconceptions about how uteruses work, while being convinced that they know everything and are totally qualified” problem.
But I feel like “periods are an exotic and overwhelming mystery, anything period-related is automatically super-complicated and can’t possibly have a simple solution” is…just another strand of that same problem.
Some things have simple answers! It would not be impossible or overwhelming for a well-meaning cis man, and/or balloon robot who goes by “he” but has no biological organs of any kind, to learn a few basic pointers.
Granted, it’s harder than it should be, because a lot of the resources are made by people who think “this is impossible or overwhelming to learn, so we won’t even try to teach it.”
Resources like, ooh, let’s say…an educational cartoon where each episode is about a friendly robot nurse helping one of his neighbors with a health problem?
Crazy idea, I know, but it just might work.
Bonus: while writing this post, my browser spellcheck flagged “uteruses” as a word it doesn’t recognize. For comparison, it doesn’t flag “follicles” or “aortas” or “penises” or “kidneys” or “ventricles” or “testicles.” The mystique of “this topic is sooooo exotic and complicated that you shouldn’t even bother trying” is so widespread, it even affects which plural nouns someone thought were worth putting in a dictionary.
Meet the Cat challenge: Fiddlesticks
As of recently, I have two cats! Let’s get to know the other one.
My name is: (Chocolate) Fiddlesticks
My nicknames are: Fiddles, Fuzzy, Sneezy, little old lady
My breed is: domestic shorthair (black-and-brown tortoiseshell)
My age is: 10 and a half years
I have lived here for: 2 months
My favorite human food: none yet, but let me sniff it all anyway, just to be sure
My favorite things to do: nap, monitor the view out the window, ignore the Secondary Cat, steal the Secondary Cat’s food (until it was hidden somewhere I can’t find it), accept chin skritches, be admired like the queen I am
My favorite room in the house: the living room, it has my viewing window, multiple soft napping locations, and my tall carpeted throne
Do I snore?: no, but I have a chronic condition that means I sneeze A Lot
Meet the Cat challenge: Marshmallow Fluff
Not gonna get around to an updated About Me post with personal details any time soon, so instead, please enjoy some cat pictures.
My name is: Marshmallow Fluff
My nicknames are: Fluffy, Mister Fluff, Fluff’n’stuff, Fluffernutter, Troublemaker
My breed is: domestic longhair
My age is: 5 this past February
I have lived here for: 3 years and a few months
My favorite human food: none, give me cat treats please
My favorite things to do: eat, play with balls and stuffed mice, stare intently at bugs, get fur on everything, hide from strangers, cuddle, keep tabs on the Suspicious Intruder Cat
My favorite room in the house: the bedroom, with my food, my warm spot to lie on the floor where the radiator pipe runs under it, and my safe space under the bed where nobody can get me
Do I snore?: yes, and my nose whistles when I do
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