Fred: It's the pictures in my mind that are getting me. It's like being stuck in a really bad movie with those Clockwork Orange clampy things on my eyeballs. Wesley: Why imagine? Reality's disturbing enough.

'Shells'


Natter 78: I might need to watch some Buffy for inspiration

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


DavidS - Mar 17, 2026 1:54:10 pm PDT #11996 of 12006
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

The immovable ladder alone... [link]

I did not know the lore of the ladder!

It's going to be a record high of 83 in SF today.

I found a green t-shirt and green cords to wear. So the odds of me being pinched went from 0.0% to -67.00%.

I gather from the news that some of you are getting snow blasted, which always seems like a dirty trick so close to the spring equinox.

Matilda is on break this week and we have breakfast plans for Thursday, and I'm looking forward to that.


Laura - Mar 17, 2026 2:01:36 pm PDT #11997 of 12006
Our wings are not tired.

The immovable ladder alone... [link]

And I get to check off my learn something new every day requirement

It's going to be a record high of 83 in SF today.

We were chilly today! Only 68 when I went to the dog park. I was only wearing a T-shirt, while the other pet parents were in jackets and sweatshirts. We are wimpy when it comes to temperature.

Having a chill day. Corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker. We didn't go anywhere this year for our anniversary as we both have been so hectic and overwhelmed that we just wanted to stay home and maybe watch one of the movies we haven't seen from those nominated, which would be all of them.


JenP - Mar 17, 2026 3:43:28 pm PDT #11998 of 12006

Completely forgot it was the 17th, but I wouldn't have done anything about it, so no worries there.

Just discussed with DH that the Instant Pot was the best investment in a kitchen appliance that we ever made. It has saved me from "needing" to order food (because we haven't been shopping in a while) more times than I can count as long as I have at least part of a bag of frozen chicken breasts from Aldi or Lidl, which I always do, and some random jarred or canned sauce or something lying around. And let us not forget the perfect "boiled" eggs (thank you, Laura)! It's a keeper, I tell you what.


DavidS - Mar 17, 2026 5:23:40 pm PDT #11999 of 12006
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Dag, I was looking at a list of Oscar winners over the last 20 years and there was one I'd never even heard of.

I mean, there were a bunch I haven't seen because I'm usually not a big fan of self serious Oscar-baity prestige movies because my tastes are weirder than that. But I knew all the other titles and what they were about even if I hadn't seen them.

My brain somehow skipped over 2022 winner Coda. Admittedly we were very busy in March of 2022 buying the house but still keeping track of pop culture is basically what my brain does. At the very least I have the overview. But nope. Nothing on Coda.

A clear case of accelerating old fartism.


Susan W. - Mar 17, 2026 7:18:06 pm PDT #12000 of 12006
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

Dipping in after catching up on 300 or so posts because I'm at my biweekly coffeehouse writing meetup. Having finished my first goal, 500 words on a short story I'm trying to finish for a submission call that closes 3/31, I'm procrastinating starting on my next goal, which is finishing the draft of the sermon I'm preaching this Sunday.

We're all mostly OK, except Dylan is still looking for work because the market is such a nightmare right now if you're a 50-something manager in a tech field (UX Design, to be specific). He's up to 208 applications, last I checked. When he hit 206 I joked that he'd just passed my childhood area code and hit our current one, so now we hope and pray we don't get anywhere near HIS childhood one, which is 918. Alex just has one more quarter left before he'll have his Associate's in Fine Arts, and he wants to get some work experience before going for his BFA. He'll be 22 next month! I hope he can actually find something at least arts-adjacent. I told him there's nothing wrong with having a mundane day job and doing your art outside of work (Exhibit A, me), but he's worried he wouldn't have the time and focus he needs to do both. Which I am also Exhibit A for, more often than I'd like.

Speaking of, this sermon won't write itself...


P.M. Marc - Mar 17, 2026 7:39:10 pm PDT #12001 of 12006
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

I am not laughing at you, Susan, I am laughing with you.

Also, WRITE THAT SERMON! (And you should pop down to coffee hour after the 10 AM!)


P.M. Marc - Mar 17, 2026 7:41:47 pm PDT #12002 of 12006
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

(Cereal)

It remains hilarious to me that we are attending the same church, but at different services. We clearly need a third Buffista to join so we have coverage on the first Sunday of the month for contemplative worship.


Susan W. - Mar 17, 2026 8:01:37 pm PDT #12003 of 12006
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

Totally! And I'll definitely at least put in an appearance at the 10 AM coffee hour, but I can't linger because I'm in the Phinney Neighborhood Chorus and we've got a concert at 2 PM. (And once that's over I'm going to come home, flop in the recliner with a nice hot drink followed by some cough drops, and order pizza unless Dylan and/or Alex cooks dinner.)


P.M. Marc - Mar 17, 2026 8:04:52 pm PDT #12004 of 12006
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

Yay! (I did my first Feeding on the Thirds sandwich duty this week! My 1990s fast food training came in handy.)


aurelia - Mar 17, 2026 9:39:04 pm PDT #12005 of 12006
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.

My brain somehow skipped over 2022 winner Coda.

I didn't see Coda until it was streaming, but I enjoyed it. It's kinda funny, kinda sweet... it doesn't feel like it's trying to be a big important movie.