I got a sample of Titania at a Halloween party in the French Quarter many years ago, fell in love, and have been addicted ever since.

@nyctophiliac Yes. Yes absolutely. I cannot wear wool, no matter how 'soft' it is, it feels like a brillo pad to me. I tend to buy shirts that are pre-washed because that 'new shirt' stiffness irritates me. I have refused to wear tapered leg jeans for decades because it bothers me to have the excess fabric scrunched up around my ankles. If a tag is out I must must flip it in, having it against the back of my neck is unacceptable. There are more. SO many more. Soft washed cotton and chenille are about the only two things I know for certain I can tolerate at any time.

A few years ago, I had a sleep study done, because I don't sleep, and when I do sleep, it's shitty sleep.
They discovered I was waking up every 15 minutes, with something I was told was limb displacement disorder, and my sister the nurse calls Periodic limb movement disorder. - it is similar but separate from Restless leg syndrome. Apparently, you flex your ankles, hips, knees, etc. I know I tend to point my toes like I'm a ballerina.

It's getting worse. They put me on meds to help me sleep and it's worked pretty well for 3 years-ish. Once I fall asleep, I tend to sleep pretty well.. until recently. If I try to take a nap, etc, I wake up knowing I've been moving/am moving my legs.

So I checked into it - turns out that it is 'influenced' by caffeine, ADD, SSRIs or antidepressants, - all of which factor into my life. But I've actually been cutting /back/ on my caffeine, so I'm puzzled.

Sorry for the short story. I'm just tired, and I hurt, because I'm moving in my sleep in ways that do not help my other medical conditions.

Dang, I would give a kidney to have a therapy dog assigned to our school. For our kiddos suffering from trauma it would be SO AMAZING to have that where they could access it.

@tek said in Critters!:

I knitted Arlo a sweater. He disapproves.

Then he is objectively wrong because he looks his BEST.

@tinuviel I will stay up here in icy, snowy, no snake land. And toast you with my coffee and crackling fire.

@lifebird Oh lordy, I remember that one.

@roz said in Dead Celebrities 2021 Edition:

Mira Furlan from Babylon 5 😭😭😭😭

"In the place where no shadows fall."

No age at all, goddamn.

@kumakun I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for being the best parent to your furbaby that you could be, and for making Kai's life so comfortable and happy.

Hello friends! As someprobably a lot of you know (because I've whined about it in like every fucking thread, sorry) I contracted covid-19 over the holidays, then it gave me pneumonia, and now I've developed pleurisy because of it. It has been making it a little bit difficult for me to get back into work, I'm also having an insanely difficult time getting onto unemployment because of how the state I'm in is handling unemployment applications (you call after 5pm to try and get an appointment for the next day, but they only do 600 callbacks a day, and I've spent literally 30-minutes trying to get through with the phone failing to connect, telling me that they're experiencing too high call volume to call back later, and when I finally do connect all the appointments are taken. Every. Single. Time.)...

So, in general, I am having a very difficult time financially. So... I'm going to throw out a kinda tip-jar thing, and put my patreon out there for folks.

If you have a dollar ($1) that you can spare for a month for a few months, it would greatly help me out because it would show people that my writing is worth supporting cause I have patrons. If you don't, I 100% understand because times are really terrible right now. But if you could spare me a few minutes of your time to share my patreon around on twitter, facebook, and whatever social media you use? That would also help me out a great deal!

I have two one going stories that I aim to post mostly on.

One is about a young woman traveling across the country with a man posing as a cop kidnaps her and keeps her locked in the jail cell of a ghost town. You can read the first part of that story here. The first four parts of "Fever" are free to anyone to read. From the 5th part on it goes behind the $1 paywall.

The second story is about a woman exploring her old family home, looking for where her criminally insane father supposedly hid a bunch of a money, that she desperately needs. As she explores the house she finds that something is very, very wrong with it. You can read the first part of it here. This one is free for anyone to read, so even if you don't actively subscribe as a patron, you'd be able to follow this story to it's conclusion.

The main link to my patreon page is here.

Thank you so much for reading this, and giving me any of your time. <3

@goblin

Ahhhh! That's the most wholesome thing.

Queen's Gambit got me into chess.

Also, it's a good show and Anya Taylor-Joy is excellent.

@cobaltasaurus

I honestly asked because I didn’t know.

Now that I know, I wish I hadn’t asked.

I am very, very sorry.

If there’s anything I can do, you know where and how to find me.

@snackness GOOD TO KNOW. I paid through the nose for my last round of kitty insulin.

@mietze said in The Work Thread:

I'm just sad, angry, depressed, incredulous at how fucking selfish people are.

I've been feeling this for a while. Its something I've resigned myself to learning how to deal with on a daily basis. Both at my work and in everyday life.

@derp said in How are you coping with COVID (and other 2020 fun)?:

@aria said in How are you coping with COVID (and other 2020 fun)?:

I'm really curious how this applies in the case of medical marijuana. Is it still the same or, given some of the things that it's allowed for in my state are protected under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, would this now be considered a discriminatory act?
I dunno, but I would like to.

Given that it's still federally criminal, it would not be protected under any of the ADA Clauses.

ETA: If it were federally decriminalized, your employer could probably still end up being fairly discriminatory, especially if you are around machines / vehicles / anything at all wherein the effects of marijuana could present a hazard to yourself or those around you, the same as they can with opiate / opioid substances currently.

This is pretty much exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you!

In my case, TL;DR, I have major trouble sleeping as a result of some things it's approved for the use of in my state and have never reacted well to prescription sleeping medication. Smoking up in college right before bed is pretty much the best sleep I have ever gotten in my entire life and I would very much like to have that back. Alas.

@ganymede said in GoFundMe for WoD author:

@cobaltasaurus

I am so incredibly sad right now.

I'm sorry. :(

Uh oh need a new thread

@gamerngeek said in Food!:

@auspice Wait, wait. You never told us if the black garlic worked. This is need to know info!

It did!

Honestly it could've used even longer in the instantpot than recommended; some of them came out more v. dark brown than black... but I got impatient and wanted it NOW.

I gotta say: black garlic butter IS amazing on steak and it's also good just smeared (w/butter or w/out) on toast.

Highly highly recommend. Black garlic is expensive but if you have an instantpot and don't mind not being able to use it for a couple months.... this is totally worth it.