Emma the Curious 🧐

Avatar image: a chameleon choosing a book from a shelf in a library.

I’m Emma (she/her). Currently the Head Librarian of a cosy magical library, with a pet dragon and eccentric staff.

IRL, I'm a freelance writer. I spend my days #writing (mainly science), and as @OrbitalGardens I talk about growing plants in space. Yes, really.

Based in Oxfordshire, UK.

#ActuallyAutistic

Public Key

npub14ezpmas4y596j6qrzd2zz6gfevjv6cr0nr3f6qcegyg3kdx9xq9su68f8l

NIP-05 Address

UnconventionalEmma_at_spore.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs2u3qa7c2j2zafdqp3x4ppdyyukfxdvphe3c5aqvv5zygmxnznqzcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qys9mnc

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

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npub14ezpmas4y596j6qrzd2zz6gfevjv6cr0nr3f6qcegyg3kdx9xq9su68f8l

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Last Notes

2024-10-23 08:14:37

I don't think the entire world's annual production of chocolate will be enough to help me survive this week 🙀

2024-10-18 08:09:43

"Despite all the de-gendering work over the last half-century, there remains a prevailing taboo which prevents boys (and men) from taking too much interest in whatever kinds of culture girls (and women) are interested in. It doesn’t apply in the reverse – for instance, to women who become interested in space and superheroes and dinosaurs."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/18/as-a-middle-aged-man-i-wouldve-saved-loads-on-therapy-if-id-read-baby-sitters-club-books-as-a-kid

2024-09-11 15:17:44

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Day 3. Rage level = 3, expected to rise rapidly later.
Ryan and I had a lovely morning exploring Wheal Martyn Clay Works, a clay mining museum with lovely views and wooded walks. The in-laws did their own thing.
However, we are joining them for dinner, which is usually painful.

2024-09-10 08:40:28

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Rage level = 8/10 and rising.

2024-09-10 06:48:50

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Day 2. This fountain, right outside my bedroom window, is not only fugly, but fiendishly loud. Imagine sleeping next to a giant toilet cistern that is constantly refilling…
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/111/902/517/816/696/original/78427ef9ab321bf2.jpeg

2024-09-04 08:34:07

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@npub14eu…t8q0 Oh, did you go to Brum? I did!

2024-09-04 08:29:03

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@npub14eu…t8q0 Sounds like New Street 🤣

2024-09-04 08:13:22

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@npub14eu…t8q0 It's all fine, the drama was yesterday. It turned out not to pose a threat.
It's also what you get for building on an old RAF base... 😀

2024-09-04 07:54:10

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Now see, this is the kind of fun I miss because I work from home.

2024-09-04 07:53:46

"Dear Colleagues,
The bomb disposal unit have now confirmed that that the ordnance poses no threat and the site is safe .
Thank you all for your patience."
I look forward to reading the rest of that email thread!

2024-09-03 13:46:22

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In the same vein, my parents, who now call Ryan ‘Son’ (and clearly like him better than me), insist on telling ME when they need his IT help, even though they have his contact details.
I am not a secretary!

2024-09-03 13:43:22

Ryan and I have been together for about 13 years. He has two parents. I have two parents. They have net a few times, but only while we were both present.
The last time, they spent the evening ignoring us, and actually carried it on together after Ryan and I left. They got on like a house on fire, they said. (It was like 4 Furbies set on chat, it was disturbing.)
They have exchanged contact details and Christmas cards.
They still insist on using me as a go-between, which I find annoying. 😖

2024-08-31 15:21:23

I spent my morning shooting arrows at targets.
I will spend my evening unable to raise my arms.

2024-07-05 11:51:12

OK, then.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/733/730/513/763/502/original/88195d0f53f9360d.jpg

2024-06-27 10:22:18

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@npub14eu…t8q0 I'm getting new contact lenses, and it's so I can put the new contact lenses in before the appt. But they knew all that when I made the appt.

2024-06-27 09:58:35

Specsavers called to confirm my appointment.
Which is fine, but they asked me if I could possible arrive 10 mins early.
And I'm like - if you wanted me there 10 mins early, WHY DIDN'T YOU MAKE THE APPOINTMENT FOR 10 MINS EARLIER?
I don't understand why you wouldn't just make the appt for the time when you wanted someone to show up.

2024-05-24 17:33:33

We got out the little bucket bbq for the first time in over a year, and made a hobo dinner - burgers and veggies cooked in a foil packet. Took 40 minutes over hot coals, and worked really well 😀
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/497/259/027/215/628/original/3e92d628d676553c.jpeg

2024-05-18 06:41:22

What’s the most interesting books you’ve ever found on the shelf in a holiday cottage, or inside a little free library?
#books

2024-04-23 06:35:32

Jesus. In The Spectator, Lloyd Evans talks about being distracted by the beauty of a female academic giving a lecture... and then toddling off to arrange himself a 'happy ending' massage.
Professor Lea Ypi (named in his article) is understandby pissed.
Paywall-avoidant version available via Archive.is:
https://archive.is/7eu9S

2024-04-09 13:59:02

Ok, Mastodon - I have a question I need help with.
What are some classic stories (novels, poems, anything really) set in libraries, or about books? 📚
Is there anything really famous?
Please RT to boost my reach!
Thanking you kindly.
#books #bookstodon

2024-04-08 07:12:12

I think I have finally worked out conservative logic.
1. Bad things happen to bad people, so
2. If something bad happens to you, you are a bad person, unless
3. You can blame it on someone else. Then you’re fine and they’re bad.
4. Good things happen to good people, so
5. If something good happens to you, it’s because you’re a good person, and you deserve it.

2024-04-06 20:45:23

I have now spent 10 hours with my parents, and have retired injured (ate/drank too much), and from the sounds of it Ryan is having to endure something Abba-related.
😱

2024-03-27 10:09:35

Being an unsophisticated British lout, every time I see the word "aurochs", my brain immediately responds:
"Yeah, aurochs to you too, mate!"
🤦

2024-03-22 09:30:35

Ryan has given me a most remarkable gift.
#bookbinding
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/138/627/649/816/071/original/50daf35445df81aa.jpeg

2024-03-21 08:30:00

“the museum's posse left as conspicuously as it came in - dancing out of the building in a conga line as one woman played 'Simply Irresistible' by Robert Palmer off her iPhone.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-68572280

2024-03-16 16:26:27

I used to play this game where I would imagine the perfect shopping centre. At the time, it would have had a garden centre, a large bookshop with a cafe, a Chinese takeaway and an arthouse cinema.
These days I would swap the garden centre for a really nice bakery.
What would you choose?
This isn’t entirely random. I am thinking about what the town surrounding my cosy library would be like.

2024-03-15 13:32:51

Just realised that if aquatic mammals went to university, it would be on the Hippo Campus.
🤣

2024-03-15 09:45:23

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The left hand side is Nebulous Ideas. The right hand side is more screaming angst.😱

2024-03-15 09:43:57

I got out the A3 clipboard with the old jotter I used for Big Thoughts. Or in this case, Nebulous Ideas.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/099/045/946/849/404/original/d20b0fbd4d531de4.jpeg

2024-03-15 07:20:01

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@npub1v45…s6le 🤣

2024-03-15 07:17:42

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@npub1v45…s6le Ryan is the kind of person who has band aids to hand*.
It's just a small cut, it's all good, but I didn't want to get blood on the embroidery.
*He's also the kind of person to glue wounds shut if a band aid is not to hand.

2024-03-15 07:11:45

I picked up my abandoned embroidery project last night (don't get excited, it's not some highly skilled, carefully crafted masterpiece), and within half an hour I'd cut my finger with my embroidery scissors and had to stop.

2024-03-14 16:00:16

The internet took all the fun out of Lewis Carroll's 'The Hunting of the Snark' for me.
Open any social media app and.. yep there's the snark. Right there.
A little snark with clogs on, well I declare, going snark snarkity snark on the stairs.

2024-03-14 11:39:55

"As a long-term project, post-scarcity is more of a question than an answer, widening the scope of what sorts of human beings we might wish to become, and organizing our resources so that everyone can participate in the eternal work of figuring it out."
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24065976/economists-post-scarcity-abundance-industrial-revolution-socialism-capitalism

2024-03-14 10:22:28

Ryan would happily make my lunch and serve it to me on a tray. But it would be beans on toast.
https://www.gq.com/story/stay-at-home-boyfriend-william-conrad

2024-03-13 10:09:58

Good news: I have been able to sign up for the restart of my acting class.
Bad news: It's 5 weeks away.

2024-03-13 09:51:01

Current frame of mind:
"Bugger Wednesday!"

2024-03-07 10:02:31

I was finally able to refill the Emergency Chocolate supplies yesterday.
EC was instantly consumed.
The world is a better place today.
I do not believe these two events to be coincidental.

2024-02-27 15:37:06

Someone (we didn't see who) has just pushed some leaflets through our door that are the most egregious misinformation I've ever seen printed out.
They talk about burning fossil fuels as the only solution to the serious fall in CO2 levels that threatens to starve all plants.
Shredding is too good for it. Actually, I may feed it to the composting worms.

2024-02-09 17:03:16

Fluffy? That thing has a name?
Bit of a Harry Potter moment in #Cumbria, as a Parish councillor fishes a fantastic beast out of a lake with a shopping basket.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-68250382

2024-02-07 13:47:34

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@npub19ec…fxlk Not grow out of reading per se, but stop being bookish and transition into a more adult reading habit, i.e. reading on vacations.

2024-02-07 10:05:48

For me, shelving my (admittedly considerable) book collection in the living room was a purely practical choice.
My mum thought "having them on display" was the height of intellectual vanity.
She's been pretty mean about my love of books. Apparently it was a good thing when I was a child, but I should have grown out of it.
https://reactormag.com/why-are-we-talking-about-books-like-this/

2024-01-04 11:36:25

Just been (belatedly) handed a Christmas card designed by my eight-year-old niece Rosie.
I’m a massive Grinch, but she has impressed me with her efforts!
(Although I’n not sure about… what is that, do you think - a squirrel?)
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/697/465/664/045/397/original/e7c926e4ce4d217e.jpeg

2023-12-30 07:24:15

A reflective exercise encouraged me to ask how my childhood inspired my #imagination.
My family is largely devoid of imagination. They are solid folk, focused on tradition, convention, status and appearances.
Imagination, for me, is partly the life raft that allowed me to breathe through a stifling upbringing.
But mostly an act of rebellion.

2023-12-24 16:50:27

I have been at my parents’ house for 4 hours. Can Christmas be over now, please?

2023-11-12 10:22:27

Ryan thinks it makes perfect sense to keep the radiator key in the key press with the keys that unlock things,
I think it’s weird.

2023-10-31 11:42:37

The USS Kidd is the only navy warship authorized to fly a pirate flag at sea.
https://www.military.com/history/only-navy-warship-authorized-fly-pirate-flag-sea.html

2023-10-30 09:08:05

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@npub10aw…5egs Two days, possibly 3 😱

2023-10-30 08:49:18

We have people painting the house windows (outside) today. This means:
⭐ Our routine has gone to pot
⭐ It's going to be noisy and disruptive
⭐ There's nowhere in this house without windows I can hide.
Not a good day to be #ActuallyAutistic

2023-10-26 08:59:34

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@npub19ec…fxlk I can still hear those 🤨

2023-10-26 08:54:53

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@npub19ec…fxlk I meant they're screaming works on me like that, not that I was going to start blasting bat sonar at the neighbours!

2023-10-26 08:30:29

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There's this scene in one of the earlier Buffy episodes where she defeats a demon praying mantis by playing bat sonar, as that "disables it's central nervous system", and that's exactly how I feel about children screaming.

2023-10-26 08:29:19

There's a small child screaming outside of my office window (again) and I really need to move somewhere that doesn't happen.

2023-10-25 08:33:09

Well, that's a new twist on Snail Mail.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqq71y6399eo

2023-10-21 05:15:56

Conservationists are racing to protect rare flora, fauna and funga clinging to survival in the UK's last temperate rainforests.
These lush, humid woodlands, mostly along the UK's western coasts, are home to weird and wonderful lichens not found anywhere else on Earth.
#rainforest #lichen
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66989115

2023-10-20 06:27:18

Experimental archaeologists Theresa Emmerich Kamper and Sarah Day paddled 219km of the Thames with handcrafted canoes, equipment and food that mimicked – as closely as they could practically and legally manage it – those made by Stone Age peoples.
#archaeology
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20231019-the-women-paddling-the-thames-in-animal-skin-boats

2023-10-05 10:13:26

I'm having a clear out in my old Evernote notebooks, and I'm coming across the occasional gem.
https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home/reconstructing-aztec-super-glues

2023-10-03 07:13:03

Oh. That’s going to cause an issue with our food waste collections, I suspect.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66991876

2023-10-02 09:13:47

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@npub19ec…fxlk I have yet to find an algorithm that understands me.
And as soon as I did, I would change.
🤣

2023-10-02 08:51:39

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@npub19ec…fxlk "Predictive Demographics is key to discovering podcasts with the right audiences for any campaign goals. And for the first time, we're able to make these accurate predictions based solely on the spoken word of the podcasts. This helps advertisers to discover podcasts with untapped potential, which in turn enables more podcasters to make more money from their craft."
So now we know.

2023-10-01 11:00:32

How to live forever
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/be_kind

2023-09-28 10:05:52

Podchasers new "Predictive Demographics feature uses AI to enhance podcast audience targeting based on episode language."
Pardon, what?

2023-09-27 14:36:39

A few years back now, I lived next to the drummer in a rock band. Delighted to see that Prisoners of Katrina have got a new EP out.
Ruby Sun has three tracks, available via DistroKid, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Bandcamp.
https://prisonersofkatrina.bandcamp.com/album/ruby-sun
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/137/609/454/437/742/original/687c7133cee3a900.jpg

2023-09-24 13:33:19

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@npub1q6u…jtel My experience is they’re more likely to fill it with their own stuff!

2023-09-24 10:32:42

Ryan and I have decided (not lightly) to start a new adventure, and move to a different part of the country. This means that we have to get rid of everything we don’t want to take with us.
I hate the logistics of getting rid of stuff. It usually involves dealing with Other People, and experience tells me they are usually a PITA.
#ActuallyAutistic

2023-09-22 12:26:30

Just been talking with a landscaper about dismantling our garden and putting it back to lawn.
It's depressing, but we just can't cope with gardening in the summer (too hot) and the whole thing has become an untameable jungle of weeds.

2023-09-22 10:58:16

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@npub1kl5…ptfd Looks like the simplest option is to vote for the 5 candidates the nomination committee recommends.
(Which is no doubt why the anti-wokers are trying to get that option removed from the ballot paper.)

2023-09-22 10:53:57

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@npub1kl5…ptfd "Children’s actual sex must be known by everyone in the school environment."
God, that's creepy.

2023-09-22 10:49:38

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@npub1kl5…ptfd They very helpfully list themselves on their website: https://www.restoretrust.org.uk/agm-2023

2023-09-22 10:48:36

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@npub1kl5…ptfd Good, thanks

2023-09-22 10:44:55

Someone here said something about voting in the National Trust AGM this year, to ensure the anti-woke brigade don't get their way.
I have lost the post and need to know who/what I'm supposed to be voting for/against.
Do you know?

2023-09-21 15:31:24

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@npub19ec…fxlk I think it's the second one. He was on remand, and plead not guilty to the original charges, so this extra charge is being added onto the same trial.

2023-09-21 10:20:26

"Former soldier Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty to escaping from Wandsworth prison on 6 September."
Since he was arrested after escaping from prison, I am curious as to what he means by "not guilty".
"I accidentlly clung on the bottom of a van as it exited the prison yard. After that I got lost and hit my head and got amnesia and totally forgot I was supposed to be in prison, while simultaneoulsy avoiding pursuit for several days."

2023-09-20 13:42:40

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OK, brain is tired of loud music now.

2023-09-20 13:42:02

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@npub1hc6…k5kx I see yours as well, and it's great that HRH is on board with this, because he will convince a lot of people who would otherwise not be on board.
But he could have done it from here, is what I'm saying.

2023-09-20 13:24:20

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@npub1hc6…k5kx
A billionaire emits a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person.
If rich people walked the walk, they wouldn't need to talk the talk.
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/billionaire-emits-million-times-more-greenhouse-gases-average-person

2023-09-20 13:05:19

When I'm talking to people normally, I'm pretty quiet and restrained.
But I interview scientists for a living, and quite often they're really excited about their work, and if we get a vibe going then I find it fun.
And after an interview like that I'm hyped up and bouncing off the walls and chatting nineteen to the dozen.
And Ryan doesn't mind, but after a while I just want my brain to settle down again.
Like now.
So... hot tea, chocolate and loud music for me!
#ActuallyAutistic

2023-09-20 13:00:02

Rich entitled white guy who literally lives in a palace flies across the Atlantic to tell us we don't have to be all doom and gloom about climate change
🤨
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66859080

2023-09-20 08:48:15

This morning, I will mostly be... refreshing my Radiation Safety training.
☢️

2023-09-20 05:37:56

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I don’t usually read horoscopes, but something made me look at one today, and it is a bit eerie:
“If you’re sorting out your home, this might mean making purchases that will help you get things in order. As Mars aligns with Jupiter, this is a good time to declutter and to be quite ruthless about getting rid of old junk. Fresh and revitalizing energies will flow through your property and whatever you buy will reflect your forward-thinking ideas and future intentions.“

2023-09-19 15:47:31

Bakewell the Book Dragon is settling in and making new friends. As you can see, he's a hugger!
Bakewell is currently overseeing efforts to redistribute some of my books to new homes, to leave me with a core library of books I actually read/refer to.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/092/584/324/556/327/original/940dae77d183ec4b.jpeg

2023-09-18 07:37:44

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@npub1sk0…gddk My parents are widely travelled and think that travel broadens the mind.
Travel might. Tick box tourism clearly doesn’t.
My parents come home convinced none of “those people” know what they’re doing.

2023-09-18 06:52:56

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@npub1437…ranm I don’t have (or want) any. Ryan doesn’t have any either, although he occasionally thinks about getting one.

2023-09-18 06:50:08

Bakewell says good morning everyone!
He’s looking forward to going to his new home today, and meeting his new found family.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/084/811/944/472/647/original/455003bca1613754.jpeg

2023-09-18 06:47:05

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@npub1437…ranm Some of it you can put down to their generation, but they are also hideously dull, which is 100% on them.

2023-09-18 06:36:57

My parents are white, middle class, racist, sexist and homophobic Conservative Christian climate-change deniers.
But they will accept any vaccine they are offered. As long as it is free.

2023-09-17 19:19:56

I tried to explain to my mum that I was exhausted by being surrounded by people all weekend.
She said “but it’s just us now”.
She has been talking non-stop since Friday afternoon. They’ve now got the tv on so loud there’s nowhere in this flat I find the volume comfortable.
🙉

2023-09-17 19:15:42

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@npub1mtr…q9vt Well… I have considered it, but they’re both quite happy to lie and manipulate, so I don’t think so.

2023-09-17 19:12:46

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@npub1mgl…9vjq I know. I am a thoroughly selfish individual, and a terrible daughter.

2023-09-17 17:58:07

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She’s also completely ignoring the fact that we can’t afford a 4-bedroom house anywhere we would like to live.

2023-09-17 17:48:58

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And then my dad was talking (from his entire lack of experience) about the small army of adults who are autistic and have never been diagnosed, and could be walking among us!
If only they also could also be diagnosed and fixed and become productive members of society.
(And this is why I will never tell them I am #ActuallyAutistic).

2023-09-17 17:46:26

My parents were talking about autism yesterday evening, because a friend of theirs has a daughter who is autistic.
And it sounds like she is a savant - very artistic and a talented musician. And she’s got a job, with a theatre company. Which is brilliant for her.
But the conversation was very much about the great lengths the medical profession had gone to, to fix this poor girl and turn her into a functioning member of society.
🧵

2023-09-17 17:43:08

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She’s very focused on the fact that our current house isn’t setup to look nice for guests.
Ignoring the fact that we don’t have any.

2023-09-17 17:41:51

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She’s still p*ssed that my brother now works from home and uses their 4th bedroom as his office, meaning my parents can no longer stay with them.
She takes it very personally, like it’s all done to deprive her of a guest room.
(Ryan and I are adamant we don’t want a guest room, because it would be a waste of space, and we don’t want my parents to visit.)

2023-09-17 17:39:13

We told my parents we were hoping to move house, and my mum is now doing what we predicted she would - telling us exactly what we need in the next house.
Remarkably, this always sounds exactly like what she needs us to have - four bedrooms, so we can each have an office and there will still be a guest bedroom.
Or, if needs must, a 3 bedroom house with a room downstairs that could be used as an office, leaving us with… a guest bedroom!

2023-09-17 08:03:06

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(Officially, he is a Wilberry “Misty”)
https://www.wilberrytoys.com/misty-dragon-wilberry-eco-cuddlies?search=Dragon

2023-09-17 07:56:46

Time for my mother’s ultra-loving morning ritual, whereby she reminds me that hairdryers exist, and one is a available for my use.

2023-09-17 07:35:12

News flash: my parents don’t think a certain celebrity’s reported sexual indiscretions should be front-page news. There are MORE IMPORTANT things to cover, dammit!
(They’re watching tv. They are loud. It’s like a bat shit version of Gogglebox.)

2023-09-17 07:33:41

This is Bakewell, by the way, my new book dragon.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/079/321/748/219/303/original/f2e73eb55c7a005c.jpeg

2023-09-17 07:29:46

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@npub1agh…43s9 They like windfall apples, though, so they can be bribed.