My Former Foster Kitty Mavis (née Duchess) Was Incredibly Cruel With Her Affections. Every Time I Would

The Four Millennial Horsemen of Things Not Yet Identified:

- a Jigglypuff as seen from above

- loss

- not lupus

- Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up

Is it just me or have people suddenly started using "the x of y" instead of "y's x" more? It comes off as so stilted to me.

the virgin mainstream anglophone pop artist: DO NOT do things to ur appearance that I can notice, girl. I do not like it (:

the chad timeless bollywood crooner: the tinkle of your anklets and perfection of your eyeliner is sublime, oh love of my life. use your dupatta to lasso me in so that I can inhale the sweetness of your perfume

Hot Relationship Tip: Be kind.

That's it. That's the post.

Kindness is seemingly such a simple concept, but I think it's underrated. In established relationships, it can be too easy to drown in layers of sarcasm, irony, and cynicism to the point where genuine affection isn't really expressed. Not good.

These days, when I want to explain my divorce without getting into too many details, I'll say that being in 2020 lockdown made me see just how mean he was treating me all the time. It's the truth, and it's interesting (and maybe sad) to see how many people genuinely nod and get it. Like yeah, who wants to be around someone who is just plain old mean to them all the time?

Praxis starts at home. Concepts like axes of oppression exist to describe social issues, not to justify interpersonal cruelty. Being awful to your partner isn't "punching up". Kindness isn't ever too big of a priority.

I never understood why the Hindi word for brother-in-law, "saalaa", doubles as a casual, not quite swearing insult. I thought maybe it was because there's codified hatred for in-laws in many cultures.

I just figured out a much more plausible theory. The Hindi swear word equivalent for "mother****er" is "bhenchod". Sister-****er.

ಠ_ಠ

(If you know better, please correct me!)

Diogenes, throwing unshelled peas at Joe Rogan's studio: "Behold, a podcast!"

[ toxic positivity, allusions to CSA/religious abuse ]

Inspirational speaker at work event, singing a song called It's a Gift: "All the people, in the prisons and cathedrals, we're all the saaaame."

My brain, immediately: "Definitely not the same. One place is full of thieves and abusers, and the other is a prison."

Real talk re calling yourself an atheist vs. saying you're agnostic:

If you're willing to have believers preach at you because they think you're open minded and indecisive, say you're agnostic.

If you'd like to skip the preaching and go straight to the anger at you for daring to so shamelessly exist without belief in a deity, say you're an atheist.

Either way, they're going to be mad at you. I prefer to save myself the trouble, personally.

(For the record, I'm technically an agnostic atheist, but that is a concept almost no one gets, so I say one or the other when I'm not in the mood or place for giving a big philosophy lesson.)

I've long owned a very old copy of The Age of Chivalry; Or, Legends of King Arthur by Thomas Bulfinch. It's got an 1898 copyright date, a preface dated as 1900, and a title page illustration marked 1908. Its cover is extremely worn, but the insides are intact and still pretty.

Today, I decided to look up the person whose name is on the bookplate. I found him in an ad in the San Bernardino Sun, Volume 62, Number 140, 18 July 1928.

He was a butt doctor.

I am not special. I deserve the same grace, rights, and consideration that everyone else does.