Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let’s finish the job.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

People are complicated. Love is not.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Everybody saw this coming.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos

Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos

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Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos

It took Sully a few months to understand Scout. I don’t think he was around dogs before – and clearly not huge dogs. But every night around 9 pm, he takes over my lap (bye-bye any work I might be doing) and snuggles up to Scout. Unfortunately, this dynamic is going to be challenged in the next month. I’m hoping he’ll adjust once again. His need to be velcro seems to eventually overcome his suspicion of change.

Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos 1

This girl is now 90% turkey, for sure. I believe she’s eaten her weight in turkey since Tuesday when I made the turkey broth from the backbone, neck and giblets of the Thanksgiving bird. She may be small, but she can eat the big boys under the table. I have no idea where she stashes it all.

Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos 3

The cheesecloth soaked in bourbon and maple syrup turkey turned out amazing. I can’t imagine doing it another way going forward – changing up the flavors, but always wrapping it in cheesecloth. Foolproof bird.

Respite Open Thread: One Week To Chaos 2

And finally – I completed my Christmas decorating yesterday. Yup, this is it. I’m not insane enough to put up a tree when chaos is arriving in a week. As you can see, Scout is nonplussed by it all. Not sure how she’s going to take not being the baby anymore.

Stay tuned…

This is an open thread.

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  4. 4.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Spanky: I’ve been kinda vague about it… LOL Think of it like a wrapped Christmas present – you can make guesses, but until the big day she’s under wraps. ?

    ETA: The size of the crate might give you Paws…

  5. 5.

    RepubAnon

    It’s all a conspiracy! (If you like IT-related jokes, you’ll love this)

    BOFH: What if International Bad Actors designed the vaccine to make us watch more Steven Seagal movies?

    I’ve got nothing against conspiracy theories in general because if they didn’t exist the PFY would probably have to join a book club or a sewing circle. Bbut even the PFY will admit there’s a limit, and at lunch today we think we’ve found it …

    “So let me get this straight,” I say. “The vaccine contains tiny … robots …”

    “Nanobots,” the bloke across the table from me chips in.

    “Nanobots. Right,” I say, “and these nanobots are …”

    “What size are they?” the PFY asks. “The nanobots? Only the needle they use for the vax was pretty small.”

    “They’re tiny. They’re almost invisible to the naked eye,” he says.

    “Right,” the PFY nods. “Who manufactures them?”

    “Big Data,” the bloke responds all-knowingly

    …

    “OK, I think we’re getting there. So you’re saying that governments – like the ones that can’t agree on a trade tariff system, a single currency or even a measurement system – are behind all this?

    …

  7. 7.

    HeleninEire

    I’M BOOSTED!! The only appointment I could find online was for December. I just walked into a pharmacy by work!! And viola. BULLET PROOF, I am!!

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    Thanks for sharing your joy with us TaMara.  We are all sharing your loss quietly behind the scenes, and this universe is crazy so maybe that helps in some way.

    Can’t wait for your ‘surprise’ next week.  :-

    edit: I had never realized how beautiful Emma is, maybe I missed some pics along the way.

  14. 14.

    Sure Lurkalot

    We haven’t cooked turkey for ages…no one particularly likes it or dislikes it, just meh, but this spatchcock recipe looks like a good reintroduction. My sister braises turkey legs and I’d like to try that too. I may be coming around!

  15. 15.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Super pissed right now because my sister hosted Turkey Day in Denver yesterday  (about 15 people) and allowed my Dad and cousin, both unvaccinated to attend.  I wasn’t gonna be there either way and everyone else is vaccinated but I’m just pissed about the principle and the fact that my sister so easily caves.  Told sister and Dad that we won’t be visiting if he’s there unless he gets vaccinated.  They both said they understand and nothing more.  It’s really fucking frustrating trying to talk sense, trying to use some familial leverage to help keep other family members safe but having it achieve absolutely nothing.  Tbh, I also really resent the whole damn group for the fact that all the adults (Sister, her ex, Dad, Cousin etc.) have all just sat by the last 5 years and nobody has raised a peep (or did anything about) the threat to Democracy and erosion of rights for marginalized groups.  They are all just blissfully immune in their Suburban lives.  Even the ones who aren’t shitty Libertarians, have been totally silent and unengaged.  Some days I really hate my family.  And it’s crazy because I don’t even have any open MAGA in it (like I know many of y’all have to deal with).  Anyways it’s just wild that my Dad would rather not see us (maybe for the rest of his 78 year life) than get a simple fucking shot.  Fucking White People ??

    Sorry, I needed to vent.  This shit’s been building up and weighing heavy on me for the past several years.

  16. 16.

    Benw

    That first image: Sully looks like a black cat facing the camera, but if you look again, he looks like a black dog with a white snout and black nose curled away from the camera (towards Scout).

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    @UncleEbeneezer: That’s frustrating as hell.  We did a small family (6 + 2 kids) get-together instead of going to my brother in law’s aunt’s because his aunt (different aunt) and uncle refuse to get the shots.

    One of my sister’s friends came over too.  Apparently my sister’s friend’s mom is unvaccinated too, and is deep down the rabbit hole of conspiracy bullshit.  It’s so sad.

  23. 23.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @TaMara (HFG): Thanks.  One of the hardest parts of waking up on issues of social justice and becoming very civically engaged has been looking around and seeing how many of my friends and family just “ain’t shit” to quote Black Twitter.  If they were hardcore MAGA it would almost be less upsetting, but I’m talking people who are mostly oblivious and generally decent people.  I expect more/better from them than Deplorables.  Also, they all think of themselves and posture as highly intelligent (part of the problem) but I’ve seen more and more that they really aren’t.  Sadly they are probably a pretty good window into the majority of US voters and people who don’t even bother to vote (but vote GOP or 3rd Party if they do).

  26. 26.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @mrmoshpotato: We live far away and don’t visit often and honestly I’m not very close with my family (like we talk on the phone a couple times a year and that’s it) so it’s not like we planned to visit them alot.  But this creates an even bigger rift.

    Oh well.  Honestly, once travel is more safe, we have way better places to go (Mexico, UK, Iceland, Vietnam) but it still sucks and is annoying that so much of our society including our own family will coddle these selfish assholes at risk to everyone else.  My sister could have said “No shot, no grandkids” and I bet that woulda worked.  But I doubt she even tried.

  28. 28.

    Brachiator

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Super pissed right now because my sister hosted Turkey Day in Denver yesterday  (about 15 people) and allowed my Dad and cousin, both unvaccinated to attend.  I wasn’t gonna be there either way and everyone else is vaccinated but I’m just pissed about the principle…

    If everyone else was vaccinated, they were protected from the most serious effects of the virus. Your dad and cousin were more at risk, but being in a room full of vaccinated people was probably good for them as well in terms of danger.

    But yeah, not the optimum situation.

  32. 32.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Brachiator: Yeah, I know.

    I’m just really pissed about the fucking obstinate bullshit, even after 3/4’s of a Million deaths in the US alone.  It just disgusts me.  Also, not sure if my nephew is vaccinated yet (he’s right around 12 years old I think).

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    My goddaughter sent me great pics of her podenco mix Dubi, and I’ve sent them to WaterGirl. That, and a very nice in-person Thanksgiving yesterday, are buoying my mood despite Repubs and variants.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @UncleEbeneezer: I feel exactly as you describe, only about my family.  It’s frustrating, maddening, enraging.  And it’s hurtful knowing that a couple of people care more about not being vaccinated than they care about me.

    There’s nothing to be done about it, they are what they are.  ?‍♀️

    But it’s still hurtful.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @UncleEbeneezer: My sister refuses to be vaccinated, and I believe only one of her 3 children has been vaccinated, and none of the grandchildren.

    In most other ways, anyone would think of my sister as a wonderful person.  Loving. Caring.  Empathetic.

    Except when I was horrified and shared the information about Charleston (that was happening in real time, the family was all together that summer 3 years ago?) – her only response was to mention the millions of babies that are murdered by abortions.

    She doesn’t care about any social justice stuff and she gets her news from the right-wing sites.  It’s just heartbreaking.  We used to be very close and now what I mostly feel toward her is cold as ice, even as I know that I still love her.

    It’s a terrible thing happening to this country.  I can finally understand brother fighting against brother in the civil war.

    shorter: you are not alone in this.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Do you actually believe the new variant is going to kill us all?  Or are you mocking the people who are concerned about the new variant?

    It’s impossible to tell from the comment you made.

  46. 46.

    sab

    @raven: Eventually she will learn to like it, and stand for long periods halfway in and halfway out, letting all the bugs in and out.

  47. 47.

    greenergood

    Zander is so handsome! And Sully! Do you have a recent photo of Emma? Who sounds like she could be a grand old lady by now. I still miss pics of the Gabe – stole my heart, but looking forward to the new four-legged and hope it integrates into the pack with few problems and lots of pics! Happy post-Thanksgiving!

  48. 48.

    sab

    Dobby the Demon Cat, who is lately just an adorable friendly little guy, just came into the bedroom doing that proud mewing that cats do when the bring you a dead animal. And what he brought was a three inch strip of the tie that attaches one of the chair pads to the chair seat. He is so proud of his capture.

  50. 50.

    Madeleine

    @WaterGirl: Your sister sounds very much like mine. She and her relatively new husband won’t get vaccinated and she’s made it clear that if I bring it up things will get nasty fast. She’s become religiously fundamentalist thanks to new husband—told me she’d been protesting at an abortion clinic. Just not the person I thought she was snd it’s being a difficult adjustment. It’s such a loss.

    But, enough. Count me as number 3 Uncle Eb.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack

    @sab:

    Dobby—I love that guy! He has integrated well from hiding in the basement. Is he still terrorizing your husband?

  53. 53.

    Miss Bianca

    So it’s now official, what you teased us with on your blog? There’s gonna be a puppyyyyyy in the mix again chez TaMara? Yay!

  54. 54.

    MazeDancer

    @Benw:

    Not only is Sully a Black Cat, but is a Bombay Cat.

    Which I learned about from TaMara at her blog.

    And was quite excited for the knowledge, because I have one, too. Kai Luna McDunnett. Have wondered why Kai, a shelter kitty, looks so expensively exotic.

    (Not trying to usurp TaMara, at all. And truly celebrating the upcoming arrival. But since she said she was off to work, thought she wouldn’t mind the sharing.}

  56. 56.

    sab

    @Steeplejack: Naw. They box a lot. When Dobbs gets tired he releases his claws. Often he sits on my husband’s chest to snuggle. Under his chin, snuggling. Throws my husband, who is used to pets who pretend that they like sports on tv.

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