Had a bad dream

wherein I hadn't rehomed the kittens, but had simply forgotten to take care of them. Every time I've ever had to rehome an animal, I have some variation on this dream, so it was a good thing that I woke up to a text notification - a new picture of the kittens!

They have clearly grown since leaving my care. Well, that's what kittens do. Also, they're apparently friendlier, though Kid Blink is still skittish.

You know, I keep thinking it's a pity about the eye - but it really isn't. You can't save every kitten, and if you try, you really just do them harm. If it weren't for that eye, I would've tsked when I saw them, and possibly TNR'd them, but that's about it. I would not have over-exerted myself over them. There's always another kitten out there. Can't get them all.

But with that eye, I worried, and because I worried, I nabbed them both. And they're really doing better off than they would've been. So really, that bad eye is a stroke of luck for them. I don't know that it saved their lives, but it certainly made them longer, happier, and healthier lives - and they won't add to the kitten population.

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Even Trump Is Surprised by Australia's Cynical Migrant Policy (Surprised, but approving, because he's Trump.)

(no subject)

A woman with a broken AC unit in Los Angeles invents a clever way to prevent under-boob sweat, and the women advertising it are larger breasted than average runway models.

Thanks, MetaFilter. Let me tell you, a whole new world opened up to me the day I realized that despite the dire warnings on my antiperspirant, I probably would not die instantly if I dared smear some under my breasts. And now I can come home from walking the dogs and my bra isn't gross and icky.

I've been re-reading the Young Wizards series...

NEW MILLENNIUM EDITIONS!

Which I haven't actually had a chance to read yet, despite telling everybody else to read them. (Because after receiving complaints from autistic readers, Diane Duane dramatically re-did A Wizard Alone in order to be less out-of-touch. Which never happens, so yes, I've been telling everybody to read the newer versions.)

Just got through High Wizardry, which was definitely the original trilogy book in most need of revision - it all has to do with Dairine and her new computer, and omg it was so dated. Which wouldn't be so bad except that the next book took place in comic book time - several years later in terms of tech and culture, but only a few months later in terms of everybody's age. And young readers couldn't relate to the primitive computer talk at all, which makes sense.

So it was updated in 2013 to take place in the year 2008, and it's... already slightly dated again, though not so badly. Nita goes up to the moon to listen to music on her new MP3 player. (Originally it was a Walkman) Given her family's income it wouldn't be reasonable for her to have gotten a brand new iPhone, but we were clearly headed that way. I think it would've made more sense for Diane Duane to reset the entire beginning of the series a little later and then have her get a coveted hand-me-down iPhone rather than a brand-new MP3 player. (No explanation is given for the fact that Nita still is very fond of Journey songs from the 1980s. Well, she's not the first teen to have amazingly retro tastes.)

But what I thought was interesting was the cultural update, and the lack thereof. There's one scene where in the original, Dairine snarks that her parents can't punish her copy (sorta a clone) - what're they gonna do, spank it? She considers whether or not she'd feel it. That's been edited to a grounding. Makes sense.

A short time later, Kit (13 years) has a headache and when an adult goes to give him aspirin he says he's allergic, so they get him Tylenol. This hasn't been updated, which makes me think that Diane Duane must not spend much time around parents of middle schoolers and younger, all of whom seem to me to be terrified of the idea of Reyes syndrome striking their kids. Consequently, they'd sooner give their children arsenic than aspirin. There's no reason for Kit to even know he's allergic to the stuff. And his mother's supposed to be a nurse! (Well, maybe nurses take a different view?)

Oh. My. God.

So, I was reading this article on things people have actually sent in the mail, and one item mentioned was "potatoes". As in: stick a stamp on a potato, shove it in a mailbox.

The article erroneously stated that one company will do that for you if you can't be bothered to obtain your own spuds. This is incorrect. There are not one, but two companies devoted to mailing potatoes, Mail-a-Spud and Potato Parcel.

Wait, I was wrong. There are at least three of them, including Mystery Potato. Dear god. I think I've found my new form of protest. My congresscritters might ignore my emails, and my phone calls, and my letters, and my clever cosplay + sign - but I'm damn sure they won't ignore a potato.

It may be pricier than the other options, but it's worth it.