The Orchid Show never disappoints. It's always a breath of air and a flash of bright light to remind you to hold on until springtime finally arrives. I went today with a friend, and while it was the reason we tromped up there, it was also excuse for the tromping at the same time - mostly to see each other. Spending time with another adult in a social setting is a welcome feeling.
Getting there wasn't hard, just time consuming. Walking around was made easier by sticking to paths that were already plowed, so while I missed going into the forest, we saw a lot of it just by looking over and taking in what we could from the outside. As for the exhibit, this year it was New York City themed, done by a regional artist with a charming sense of humor - in addition to the big installations, which were themselves things like a pizza parlor, a fire escape, a brownstone covered in flowers, there were smaller constructions scattered throughout, like a steam vent that was accompanied by a bit of how-to on orchid care.
There were a fair number of small birds, a decent murder of crows, and no small number of all-black stealth mode squirrels. I kept having to point out the squirrels and birds to people, who were perpetually delighted to see them - so I can't be that upset they didn't notice, since they got to see them just the same.
The February Poetry Fishbowl made its $300 goal, so there will be a half-price sale in Not Quite Kansas from Monday 16-Sunday 27. Mark your calendars accordingly, and I hope to see you then!
This series has about half a dozen poems available. Here are a few previously posted poems:
A ten-year friendship started with a stray who refused to take no for an answer.
Almost ten years ago, a tiny stray cat basically adopted her human first. Sabriel started showing up every evening, skinny and impossibly small, the kind of little creature you can't stop worrying about. A few days later her rescuer appeared and asked if anyone wanted to adopt a cat. It turned out to be the same cat who'd been visiting. At that point it felt less like a decision and more like Sabriel had already filed the paperwork herself.
Her rescuer explained that Sabriel and her kittens had come from a bad situation. The kittens had homes, but mama cat was stuck living outside. One rainy afternoon made everything clear. Seeing her curled up in straw, cold and trying to stay dry, was enough to settle it. Sabriel came home and started her next chapter.
Since then she's been there for every version of life that followed. New homes, new jobs, changing routines, and the quiet growing pains that come with time. Through all of it, she stayed steady. The tiny stray who once showed up hungry turned into a constant source of comfort, padding around like she'd always belonged there. Nearly a decade later she's older, healthy, and still going strong, proof that sometimes the best family members are the ones who choose you first.
The Valentine's Day mascot is officially a cat with a heart on its fur.
Some cats look like they came predecorated for Valentine's Day. A tiny heart tucked into their fur feels less like a coincidence and more like intentional design. The second you notice it, the cat stops being a regular cat and becomes a walking holiday decoration. Every cuddle suddenly feels themed. Every nap looks staged for a Valentine photo shoot.
Those heart markings turn normal moments into something extra soft. A cat curling up beside you is already comforting, but when that little heart patch presses against your arm, it feels like the holiday signed off on the moment. They have no idea they're carrying built-in Valentine branding. They're just there to nap and purr, completely unaware they are representing the entire aesthetic.
Cats like that don't need costumes or props. They are already dressed for the occasion. While people buy cards and flowers, these cats are walking around with permanent decorations stitched into their coats. They exist in a constant state of festive readiness.
At that point it feels obvious they are the unofficial mascots of Valentine's Day. No training required. No ceremony needed. Just a sleepy cat with a tiny heart patch sitting there, doing nothing, and somehow embodying the whole holiday better than anything else in the room.
A couple weeks ago I got an email from Knott's saying they were having their Peanuts Celebration special event in February, and there were a lot of good looking things on the menu, so I've been wanting to check it out but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Then last week we realized we hadn't put in a reservation for Disneyland this week and there were none available (combination of Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend, I guess), so rather than keep refreshing the site to see if we could get a reservation, we just decided to go to Knott's this weekend.
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Editor's note: Because of the high posting volume and the quantity of information linked in each newsletter, doctor_who_sonic will no longer link fanfiction that does not have a header. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Cat's Cradle isn't just a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut or a string game – it's also a list of hissterical cat memes!
Cats are everywhere and everything – from the name of a famous novel, a finger game of string shapes, to an internet sensation. Cat's Cradle as a novel was first published in 1963. It's sort of a science fiction anthem of classic literature, where dark humor and philosophy blend with truth, technology, and meaning, all before the world of artificial intelligence. The harsh themes juxtapose the light tone of the detached narrator. People in the novel are careless, easily distracted, and prone to self-deception. Apocalypse can arrive alongside absurdity. And just like the novel's absurdity, the list of absurd cat memes below mirrors that lightness, silliness, and pawsitivity in spite of everything going on in the world.
Feeling down and out isn't a problem when you have the privilege of cat memes to cheer you right back up. Whether you're out of a breakup, fired from your job, or simply feeling the cold winter blues, you have every right to try and lift those shaken spirits with the spirit of cat memes. Let their innocence guide you, their joy teach you, and their catness give you a different purrspective on life.
Cats and robots don't really get along – except when the cat sits on top of it!
This cat saw a family he wanted, and he went for it. This cat was snooping around the family since before Christmas. They took him in, TNR'd him, and to their surprise he came back. He wandered around looking for their attention, and on Christmas day they finally took him in. Now that he's a steady member of their home, they decided to buy him lots of toys. Seeing him playing around with catnip, stuffed animals, and even robot cleaners. It's heartwarming to see that the cat got his furrever home.
The New England Science Fiction Association honored the winners of two annual awards at Boskone 63 on February 13. SKYLARK AWARD NESFA presented the Skylark Award for 2026 at the Friday night awards ceremony. 2026: Keith A. DeCandido The Edward E. Smith … Continue reading →
Today was a very exciting landmark: I went to the TIP. Miss H agreed to take me, because she is a wonderful person. We are now I think fourteen months into our bin strike, and while various people have very kindly taken my recycling for me during that period, my usual volunteer has been busy lately and I've accumulated rather a lot (mostly cardboard - the packaging for the new IKEA bookcase was particularly bulky) since mid-November. I also keep a box of "things to take to the tip" that aren't the standard recycling - electrical cables, lightbulbs, hard plastic, etc, which are a bit unfair to dump on other people, so that was a year or more of accumulation. My spare room is so nice now!!
One of my university friends used to celebrate "Bins Clear Eve", which was the day before the first rubbish collection after New Year, and it feels rather like that.
Otherwise there seems to be rather a lot of terrible things happening to my acquaintances; in the last week, deaths include one friend's brother, a second friend's stepmother, and the very unexpected death of an distant internet acquaintance. Also a swimming friend has had a bad prognosis for a while but now sounds to be likely in his last few weeks. I would like it if someone I know had a sudden and unexpected nice thing happen next week, please.
I keep trying to play computer games and then getting bored and wandering off. On the other hand, I have read a lot of books (most of them very frivolous). Partly it may be because it's so much nicer in bed than anywhere else, what with the cold spells so far this year. I did manage twenty minutes of Dave the Diver today; isis, I don't know if you ever did play it after you recced it to me, but so far it's both quite fun and making me feeling very concerned that he's being exploited by his "friend" Cobra *g* (the set-up is that he's on holiday when his friend calls him up with promises of fancy sushi that turn out to be an "opportunity" for him to spend his days diving for fish to turn into sushi and nights serving the sushi to customers... his "profits" go into repairing the bar, which appears to be co-owned by Cobra and the sushi chef). However, I am only one day in, so it could all change.
This has been a fantastically expensive month so far. Aside from purely frivolous expenditures (my 99p ebook habit does add up!! but not all that quickly) I renewed my passport on Thursday (they already sent me two emails to tell me to send the old one in! cool your beans, people, it was less than 24 hours! I posted it on Friday anyway!) and then bought a bunch of clothes today - hopefully replacements for things which are getting rather tatty. I wanted to get a hoodie from the Florence gig but I couldn't try it on and I wasn't sure it would fit, and £85 was too much to gamble on! So now I have ordered a less cool one from M&S but on the other hand it wasn't nearly as expensive. And if it's too small, I can return it.
Oh, but what is nice: I've been given the keys to my new garage! I should go and check I can actually open it (after first looking up the deeds to check which one it is, now I can't identify it by the combination of hardware around the lock...) before I get swept up in next week's choir-all-the-time and next weekend's exciting visit from shreena and quizcustodet. Today would have been a good time to do it, since it's actually not raining for once, but, well.
The public comment period is open until 2/17/26 on two regulations. One would prohibit use of public funds for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors, and the other would prohibit the use of Medicaid or CHIP funds for gender-affirming care for minors.
As people of conscience, we should speak out in defense of the young people who cannot vote against this.
In this co-op ARPG, you and three friends battle your way through timed dungeon runs, collecting gear and gaining new abilities. As your power grows, you unlock higher difficulties that put new twists on what you've seen before. Enemies learn new attacks, bosses hit like trucks, and new mechanics like falling meteors and exploding ice will require you to adapt your strategies. The game doesn't end, it just keeps scaling up forever until you either reach the limit of your skills, get bored, or the game season resets and everyone goes back to square one. Wraithtide Vault, aka Freehold If You Squint In other words, this is the Mythic+ game mode from World of Warcraft, without the rest of the MMO. I think for people to whom that means something, the reaction tends to be pretty polarized, either "That sounds terrible" or "This is the game I've been wanting for ten years, TAKE MY MONEY!!" I definitely fall into the latter camp, and having now played the first season of early access, I am pleased to say that I'm having a great time.
Fellowship is on Steam for $24.99 USD. The second season of early access starts on February 19th, so that would be a convenient time to jump in since we'll all be starting from scratch again.
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ysabetwordsmith) wrote2026-02-14 08:51 pm
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bookclub_dw has posted the poll for choosing the March book. 
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icanhascheezburger_feed) wrote2026-02-14 04:00 pm
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