Xander: Am I right, Giles? Giles: I'm almost certain you're not. Though, to be fair, I haven't been listening.

'Sleeper'


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.


erikaj - Oct 18, 2026 2:51:52 pm PDT #14431 of 14502
"Somewhere in this building is our talent." Toby Ziegler, my spirit animal

Buffets aren't worth it for me. getting through the line in my chair is too hard--somebody bringing back two plates is too hard. (and sometimes, even in my most benign posting, I feel like a refugee from the planet Frustration, like, trying to explain why the natives aren't any fun...not that I'm counteracting it that much spending my Sundays as Harriet the Spy Learns Art History. meh.) But that is why it annoys me when TV shows decide including disabled characters is, like, "They do all the same things, but he just sits in a chair all the time." There might be someone living that, but mostly not, right? I'm annoyed with my brother because I feel like he is not being emotionally honest, and yeah, as a writer, maybe there is a part of me that has...I don't know, Hugging and Learning blue balls cause I thought we were gonna have a Moment of some sort and we didn't, and I do have to watch out for the part of me that's always thinking "In the movie, we'd do this," even given the way disability gets portrayed in movies. But I hate that he comes to my house, braindumps heavy old shit on me and in the time it takes for me to process it, he's over it and trying to move on. but he's the normal one and doesn't need a counselor. Sure. He's the easy one. I mean, we're night and day; I don't expect to truly be his confidant very often, but it's plain to me that he needs one...I'm not even sure about what, really. But he hints around like my dad till you go "what?" and then treats me like I'm delving.


NoiseDesign - Oct 18, 2026 3:08:04 pm PDT #14432 of 14502
Our wings are not tired

We're all going to be made of replacement parts by 2030!

Brings to mind the Ship of Theseus.


askye - Oct 18, 2026 4:58:11 pm PDT #14433 of 14502
Thrive to spite them

Asheville is a cool town..Mom lives about an hour from there and oddly enough I also live about an hour but that is going on the highway vs having to go small towns. So different directions but not so different time wise

M and I are going on vacation on the 26th. Dad is helping pay for a rental. Which I have to book tomorrow I guess. And we are going to Fl and the beach. M would like to go somewhere else some time for vacation and maybe next year but I am going home damnit and going to be lazy. Also we don't have to pay for a place to stay

And god help us but we are taking both cats again. Duchess I'm not worried about but Penny I am. She has thyroid disease, she's on meds but doesn't seem to be doing that great. She pees all the time. But we can't leave her here because she won't get her medicine . My plan is to get a plastic tub, line it wiht puppy pads, put her carrrier (also wiht puppy pads in it ) in that to hopefully contain any spillage. Even withholding water I'm not sure how well she will do because she always pees in the car


meara - Oct 18, 2026 6:50:30 pm PDT #14434 of 14502

A ten hour drive is a long time even if you haven’t recently had surgery, Teppy!!

I had a somewhat annoying day—had a date and then a trainer appointment. Made plans for the date up north like 30 min from here because the trainer is north. Only I fucked up the appointment on my calendar and she was texting me asking if I was coming, three hours before I thought the appointment was. Doh! And then still drove north for the date…and she canceled just as I was walking in, four minutes early. Booooo.


Laura - Oct 19, 2026 5:36:21 am PDT #14435 of 14502
This too shall pass.

It's a great day to celebrate Calli! Happiest birthday wishes. May the day bring joy and spoils, and may this year be all you hope for and more.

Very annoying to waste a day that way, meara. Boooo indeed.


JenP - Oct 19, 2026 9:23:22 am PDT #14436 of 14502

Happy Birthday, Calli!!

Great to see you, Sophia, and smooth recovery and continued very best outcome vibes your way.

Ooh, a flea sighting back there. Hi!

We had a lovely trip to Pittsburgh -- really cool town. Much museuming, a Pitt student theater production which was great, lots of good food, and DH had a really great night catching up with his old friend from college and beyond days, which, frankly, was worth the whole trip. Five stars. Would go back.

Wishing you all good vacations, healthy outcomes, and general positive vibes your way.


-t - Oct 19, 2026 9:26:40 am PDT #14437 of 14502
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Oh, bummer, meara! I hate days like that

Good luck with the cat, askye, have fun on vacation!

I'm heading to my 40th HS reunion on Thursday. It will probably be fine but I have a bit of dread because I don't have any tidy answers to "so what have you been doing for the last 40 years" at all. I have not kept up with any of these people, really - a few on FB but just if the algorithm decides we should see each other, y'know? I do have a dress I am happy to wear to the "gala" on Saturday, and a blue fleece jacket (from work) that is pretty much the right blue to wear to the homecoming football game on Friday.

This'll be the longest my parents will have gone without a supporting relative in the house since my mom's fall, too. Mom is doing really well, she can pick up light things with her right hand already, but she can't write or carry anything upstairs unless it's in a pocket or pour hot water for tea, stuff like that. My dad wasn't feeling well yesterday and pretty much slept all day and if that happens while I'm gone they'll be really limited. Hopefully he'll stay relatively healthy.


Laura - Oct 19, 2026 10:23:34 am PDT #14438 of 14502
This too shall pass.

Oh, we need to come up with some spectacular tales of your adventures the last few decades.

I'm flying to FL on Wednesday and back again on Saturday, before driving home a week later. My sister is in the hospital, likely to have surgery for a large kidney stone today or tomorrow. She is in pretty bad shape. Bad infection, and other concerns. My hope is to be there for her transition home after surgery. It's the only window I could come up with so close to my return. Her daughter has excuses for not going, as usual.


Steph L. - Oct 19, 2026 12:00:46 pm PDT #14439 of 14502
It's actually been a really hard year, when you stop and do the math. Eliot would cry, too, if it didn't take him seventy minutes of therapy, two cocktails, and a Sondheim medley before he can experience a human emotion through the haze of his PTSD.

Happy Birthday, Calli!

Laura, I hope everything goes well with your sister.


erikaj - Oct 19, 2026 2:25:36 pm PDT #14440 of 14502
"Somewhere in this building is our talent." Toby Ziegler, my spirit animal

Happy birthday, Calli! They say you learn something new every day, but mine are usually not as big as this. Edited because I should summarize a bit...I wrote about "Grace", which is a Midwestern art staple, and, indeed, State Photo of Minnesota, but not in the way you might expect. Or at least, I didn't, and I'm sure Grandma wouldn't. [link]