This weekend’s open thread is hosted by a sundrenched river otter, courtesy of Garrett LeSage who shared the photo on flickr.
Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Is there anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Reading a good book (or a bad one)? Anything in the news that you’d like to discuss? What have you created lately? Commiserations, felicitations, temptations, contemplations, speculations?
Categories: Life
Soggy here, innit? 
In memoriam: Diana Rigg 
Getting out the ‘yes’ 
100 books by women in 2016 
Hoyden About Town 
Discussions on racism on FB with dudebros saying ‘yeah but they aen’t [insert relevant minority group here] so I won’t take that as seriously. Because minority groups can’t recognise institutionalised racism unless it is directed at them. Or something.
On a lighter note: a book review on children’s book Ping. H/T to the always wonderful George Takei (via Nerdgasm) on FB.
Celebrating 22 years of being married to the bloke I took home from a party one time by maybe going out for coffee at some point this afternoon. If we can be bothered.
I believe I am going to very much enjoy having an extra hour to myself on school days. With all 3 kids in high school now no one gets home till after 4pm.
Not quite sure what to feel upon discovering that a reality show called Extreme Doomsday Preppers is a thing that exists in the world.
p.s. congrats to Mim and bloke! Happy anniversary!
I’ve been wandering the archives of http://www.babynamewizard.com/blog, found via an xkcd blog post. All sorts of interesting stuff.
Oh, how awesome is this curious penguin?
”Hello. Yes, I would like to science please.”
[image description: scientists in dayglo orange Antarctic gear on the ice/snow pause from setting up their equipment to enjoy the visit from a small penguin who is clearly intrigued by what they are doing]
Ohhh Mim, what have you done to me??!! I am a total name-nerd from way back, when 8 year old me used to keep lists of potential names for story characters or drawings in all my notebooks. Goodbye, Sunday morning!
The Tiny Tyrant starts “Big School” tomorrow. I am equal parts excitement, nostalgia, shock and amazement.
Our internet has been down since Thursday. Himself is definitely of the variety of person who cannot cope with internet outages.
Read the saga at my Dreamwidth journal.
Current mood: somewhere between exasperated and relieved.
I’m actually surprised today to see our morning TV news devoting coverage to Dylan Farrow’s open letter regarding her memories of molestation as a child by Woody Allen and how they still affect her now, especially when she sees him celebrated by an industry full of people who knew her when she was that child. I expected it to not gather this much mainstream attention.
Sadly they’re not giving it much nuance – “Allen denied it then and now, he was never charged”.
Thank FSM for @LaTrioli – she made the point that a Connecticut court did rule that there was ‘probable cause’ for a case against Allen to proceed, but that given the unlikelihood of a jury verdict against Allen it was deemed best not to proceed in order to spare young Dylan the trauma of testifying.
I’m finding is strange how Woody can be given the benefit of the doubt (innocent until proven guilty) but Cate Blanchett is an awful person for acting in one of his movies because she should have ??? in the interests of the sisterhood or something? The less said about the crap some people are spouting about Dylan Farrow the better. I’m glad she has strong family support behind her.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/uproar-over-school-curriculum-experts-sex-comments-20140202-31v5i.html
Just because some parents find something decidedly unnatural isn’t a reason not to teach it, but that could be construed as a matter of opinion.
What is a matter of fact, and where Donnelly is clearly wrong, is on STD and HIV rates amongst lesbians.
Potterschism! J.K. Rowling questions Ron and Hermione’s relationship
@tigtog I’m finding it odd the number of places I’m seeing that framed as if she said Hermione should have ended up with Harry, which she didn’t at all. Why the assumption that if a girl isn’t with one central male character, she must be with the other?
Orlando: This! I kinda ship Hermione/Luna.
I’m right now rather enjoying the fact that school has gone back this week. Might even find a spoon or two lying about here somewhere soon.
In other news, a brief (and thoroughly unpaid) plug for a Margaret River gin that’s new to us, “West Winds” The Sabre. They’ve combined traditional gin botanicals with some more local botanicals (lemon myrtle, wattleseed), and the result is a very tasty dry gin which goes well in a G&T. Recommended for a splurge. (They also make a higher-alcohol, heavier-flavoured gin called The Cutlass, but I haven’t tried that.)
There is no way to avoid loving gin named after swords.
I shall pass your recommendation onto the G&T drinker, thanks 🙂