I'm sorry, dad. You know I would never have tried to save River's life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk.

Simon ,'Safe'


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.


Laura - Sep 17, 2026 7:44:42 am PDT #14000 of 14045
Our wings are not tired.

Ugh, I'm sorry, Hil. That is a downside of working in a petri dish. I sincerely hope if positive it is a mild case. My doctor has told me that between the vaccines, and acquired immunity from having the dang thing 3 times already I should be okay this year.

My niece is a high school teacher, and she managed to get through the entire school year last year while undergoing chemo and radiation, and for the very first time, she didn't end up with the flu or bronchitis, or any of her usual illnesses over the winter season. She was super careful because she has asthma and takes these things seriously. She teaches Spanish, so she wasn't masked in front of the class, but she was always masked in the hallways and in the car to and from school with her teenage son. She slept in a separate room and kept her distance from everyone. It was a lot of effort, but it worked. She is back to being more relaxed now, and we all collected our backlog of hugs.


-t - Sep 17, 2026 8:37:27 am PDT #14001 of 14045
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

{{{Hil}}} I hope it's not too bad this time.

I am at the office. So tired, for no particular reason - I didn't sleep well but I never sleep well. No one seems to have noticed that I was out for a week which is weird. Kind of a lot of people are out on vacation, so maybe they just assumed I was too...


-t - Sep 17, 2026 8:46:06 am PDT #14002 of 14045
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Dear self

You cannot move your cursor from your monitor to your phone. You do not want that. Come on, now, be reasonable.

Love, -t


Hil R. - Sep 17, 2026 10:49:06 am PDT #14003 of 14045
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

So far, I'm still testing negative for Covid and flu on the home test. I slept until almost 2 and feel a little bit better, though still not great.


-t - Sep 17, 2026 11:10:19 am PDT #14004 of 14045
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Continuing feeling better ~ma


NoiseDesign - Sep 17, 2026 11:42:16 am PDT #14005 of 14045
Our wings are not tired

I hope you feel better quickly Hil.

Somehow I still have never gotten Covid.


-t - Sep 17, 2026 12:10:12 pm PDT #14006 of 14045
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Wow, that's great!


Jessica - Sep 17, 2026 12:13:43 pm PDT #14007 of 14045
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

A bunch of people on my team have Covid, fortunately for me they are in Seattle. Unfortunately for me, Ethan came home from TIFF with cron crud so I might get Covid anyway.

That old apartment has so many collective Buffista memories, Hec! I hope whoever owns it next understand what a treasure they're getting.


Jessica - Sep 17, 2026 12:17:51 pm PDT #14008 of 14045
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Also, I started weight training yesterday and now everything hurts. But I did not die and the trainer said my form was good so I guess I'll keep going back because it's good to have, like, muscles and stamina or whatever. (I did have to keep emphasizing to this man that when I said beginner I meant BEGINNER. He kept asking me if I knew how do do each exercise in the circuit and after about the third one I just said "Look assume the answer is always no. Even if it turns out I do recognize the exercise I do not know what anything is called, you will need to show me every time.)


DavidS - Sep 17, 2026 2:25:18 pm PDT #14009 of 14045
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

(I did have to keep emphasizing to this man that when I said beginner I meant BEGINNER. He kept asking me if I knew how do do each exercise in the circuit and after about the third one I just said "Look assume the answer is always no. Even if it turns out I do recognize the exercise I do not know what anything is called, you will need to show me every time.)

The largest part of the ramp-up with Pilates is learning the names for all the exercises they are directing you to do. It's a mix of generic sounding variations which could mean anything (long stretch and short stretch are nothing alike) and cutesy yoga-ish names (frog legs, swan, hug a tree).

Well, actually the largest part is learning how to isolate specific muscle groups when they say things like "knit your corset together" and "slide your scapula down your back" and "I want you to imagine pushing your asshole all the way to the street."

Now that I've done the exciting/terrifying part of buying a house in five days, I have the arduous tedious part of refinancing. I would like a break. Also I need more homeowner's insurance what with the more home owning.