BRB, changing my name to BelladonnaLeek

[st_aurafina]

My little sister gives me life - she asked me about the acceptance ring, which is put out by AirBnB in support of marriage equality in Australia. I said I thought it was a good idea (apart from AirBnB being a super sketchy company) but that the debate was starting to hurt me when it used to energise me.

Me: Honestly, I've kind of given up hope on it going through.
Her: Don't worry. I'll buy one and carry your hope for you.
Her: I'll buy a few and wear them on my fingers and toes
Her: And nipples.

I'm taking her up on it, though. The debate is ugly and unnecessary and so fucking stressful at this point that I just don't read about it anymore. But she will carry my hope. On her nipples. Lovely girl. Best sister.


The temperature got into the negatives last night. (Negative 2C is 24 F, for you Fahrenheit types.) That doesn't happen! Also, the oak tree finally dropped all its leaves, like, FOOMP! It always goes last, and I always wonder if it's actually going to happen, because I don't get deciduous trees. It's so weird to have bare, wintry looking branches in the middle of all this green.

We're in that bit of winter where it's too cold to sow anything or start seeds, and nothing that technically can grow through cold weather is actually growing very much. My baby lettuces are chugging along in the greenhouse but at a rate of millimetres/week which makes salads a long-distant prospect. I miss summer salads! I miss 'throw a whole cucumber on that' salads. I still eat winter cucumbers, but they're nothing like summer.

Not that I miss the heat. Not one bit. Neither do the cats. They are so very loving right now. It's definitely our strong family bond and nothing to do with draining our body heat.


Tiny linkspam:
- multifandomdrabble is open for writing treats: Request summary. It's for 100 word ficlets - yay for the proper use of the term 'drabble'! (I will fight you over this, btw), and they're due on Tuesday.
ETA: I should have mentioned that treats go in the treats collection, not the main collection. So, here: Multifandomdrabble treats 2017

- equinox_exchange is open for nominations until the 8th: Fall Equinox 2017 begins July 2nd!

I messaged the person responsible for the floral dinosaurs made by the neural network to ask if they were okay with their designs being used for tattoos and got the okay. So, that's the first step, omg. I really, really want a dinosaur tattoo designed by a neural network. I didn't know until now. Now I have to decide if I want floral dinosaur, a sailing ship one, or one of the Escher-esque ones made of stairs. Chris, the person who runs (cares for?) the neural network offered to try some other designs - I wonder what would work? I wonder if using text would work? (This was the link in question from my last post: A Neural Network Turned A Book Of Flowers Into Shockingly Lovely Dinosaur Art There's fruit, flowers, ships and staircases)

- Free crochet pattern: Ragdoll Fox crochet pattern.
I shouldn't like foxes - they're an introduced species and they're eating all the bilbies, but this is pretty darn cute.

- more neural network fun: Harry Potter and the Neural Network fan fiction. Neural network learns about ships! Neural network learns ALL ABOUT CAPSLOCK HARRY! Neural network generates strangely plausible user names, like desire_at_the_malfoy or siriusly_harry. BelladonnaLeek! I think this is my favourite neural network thing yet. It invented the word 'hugulate' and now I want to hugulate the world.

- 'Parks And Rec' Star Natalie Morales Comes Out As Queer. My Little Pony, Dubby! (I'm sad it doesn't say "Middleman Star Natalie Morales" but then, why would it?)

- Things I Found Out: What A Swell Party This Isn’t. Thanks Pia Zadora. (I literally just figured out that Pickfair is a smooshname like Bennifer or Brangelina. Only from the olden days.)

Now I have to go home from this very weird day at work and write drabbles.

Comments

[vass]

Your little sister is awesome.

I messaged the person responsible for the floral dinosaurs made by the neural network to ask if they were okay with their designs being used for tattoos and got the okay.

So excited for you, omg! Is this your first?

I've been thinking of getting my second one. There's a place in Melbourne that has an artist who does watercolour/botanical ones.

[st_aurafina]

She's bloody brilliant, my sister. I can't explain to her how amazing it was to have someone say 'It's okay, I'll hope for you.' There aren't words.

It will be my first tattoo - I've been looking and looking for ages for the right design and something that had meaning. I think neural network/great honking dinosaur/watercoloured flowers is what I want my body to day. I was thinking of the brachiosaur on my brachialis, like this:
(Brachiosaur line tattoo on the brachialis muscle)
Or maybe biceps brachii, but definitely arms because my arms are a part of my body that I don't hate, and that I'm proud of making stronger. So, kind of a body positive/'I'm fat and I like exercise so fuck you' kind of thing, only with flowers.

There's a place in Melbourne that has an artist who does watercolour/botanical ones.
I'm following a couple on facebook: Alchemy Studio in Ormond, and The Piercing Urge in Prahran, but I will happily take recs. Or even vague recs.

So excited!!

[vass]

So, kind of a body positive/'I'm fat and I like exercise so fuck you' kind of thing, only with flowers.

Oh, that's excellent. The flowers make the fuck you more powerful too.

The one I'm thinking about is Fox Body Art in Collingwood. I don't know Alchemy Studio, but I have heard very good things about The Piercing Urge.

[dhampyresa]

I was thinking of the brachiosaur on my brachialis, like this

That is an AWESOME idea!

[fosfomifira]

your sister is an amazing sister. good luck.

I wish the weather would drop below zero once again. we had a few good, properly cold days and then we got a bunch of mild ones and I don't like that at all. it's winter! let it be winter - cold and rainy.

My cord-slaying cat has taken to sleeping on top of me (my lap, my legs, my ribcage if I'm laying on my side) all the time. I refuse to entertain the idea she doesn't love me and is simply leeching off my body heat. Nope. It's cat love.

[thisbluespirit]

Aww, your sister is great! :-)

[st_aurafina]

She's wonderful - I tell her this often, but now I can say that the internet thinks she's wonderful too.

Thanks! <3

[lilysea]

I messaged the person responsible for the floral dinosaurs made by the neural network to ask if they were okay with their designs being used for tattoos and got the okay. So, that's the first step, omg. I really, really want a dinosaur tattoo designed by a neural network. I didn't know until now. Now I have to decide if I want floral dinosaur, a sailing ship one, or one of the Escher-esque ones made of stairs. Chris, the person who runs (cares for?) the neural network offered to try some other designs - I wonder what would work? I wonder if using text would work? (This was the link in question from my last post: A Neural Network Turned A Book Of Flowers Into Shockingly Lovely Dinosaur Art There's fruit, flowers, ships and staircases)

I love those neural net floral dinosaurs! ^_^

and what a GREAT design for a tattoo!!!

[st_aurafina]

I know, right? I love the source of the images, I love the images themselves, and I love that they have a kind of fat-positive vibe, too. I was thinking of maybe getting a whale, but a dinosaur is awesome. I'm really excited!

[china_shop]

*hugs and hugs, and hooray for your sister*

What an awesome tattoo idea!

*trots off to look at the drabble requests*

♥

[st_aurafina]

My sister is the best. I love her so much.

I hope it's a feasible idea for a tattoo, anyway. I'm excited!

[lurkingcat]

Bestest sister - that's an amazing and lovely thing to do.

Hugulate is my new favourite word now.

[st_aurafina]

Best of sisters, that one. She's so great.

I am hugulating a cat right now!

[copracat]

I misread and thought you wrote the foxes were eating all the bibles. I thought, well, what's wrong with that?

Your sister is a most excellent sister. Hope appears to be in good hands.

[st_aurafina]

I misread and thought you wrote the foxes were eating all the bibles

I am right on board with bible-eating marsupials, actually.

My sister is amazing and so are her friends - the future is definitely in good hands.

[hibernate]

Your winter is so strange and foreign to me. Things growing through winter what what?? :P (We are in the height of summer here with 19 degrees C. It's so hot.)

Those floral dinosaurs are gorgeous and would make great tats! I'm too cowardly to get a tattoo, but I've wanted a dinosaur one for ages (because dinosaurs!!!) so I could not be more in favour of this. Dinosaurs!!!!!!!!!!

I... really should learn how to crochet. THE CUTE.

[st_aurafina]

Things grow in winter! Things that would perish in summer, like spinach and broccoli and celery and apparently lettuce but mine is not. Damn it.

You should learn to crochet! It's not very hard and the rewards are very cute.

[musesfool]

HUGULATE!

Your sister is awesome!

And I did not know that about that cover of "Well Did You Evah?" Fascinting.

[st_aurafina]

Hugulate! It's so perfect.

And I did not know that about that cover of "Well Did You Evah?"

Me either! (I guess we're both of an age that we know Red Hot and Blue pretty well.)

[springviolets]

aw, your sister sounds really sweet!

the flower dinosaurs are amazing and would definitely make a great tattoo. (i've wanted a flower-filled cat for a while, though not prompted by any of the recent neural network stuff.)

[st_aurafina]

My sister is a sweetheart, she deserves all the hugs.

I am looking forward to the flower dino! I hope it's something the artists can work with.

[teigh_corvus]

I had considered Belladonna Leek as well. It's an excellent wizarding name. AND OH BOY THOSE DINOS! I've only seen the fruit and flower illustrations, and hadn't gotten as far as thinking about tattoos. Eee!

[st_aurafina]

Right? The dinos are great! I love the Escher stairs dinos, too, and I think they'd look great as a line work tattoo or something.

[out_there]

I'm with you on the marriage equality thing. I can support it from afar, but caring too much or reading about the ongoing roadblocks just makes me sad and/or angry.

It's so weird to have bare, wintry looking branches in the middle of all this green.

We have a few baby deciduous trees in the backyard. (They're a few years old and not much taller than me, hence baby.) Every time they start dropping leaves I think of that Monty Python sketch with one leaf suicidally jumping, and the rest all following. 😉

[st_aurafina]

Aha, I do the same! Whomp! All the other leaves going at once.

Deciduous trees are weeeeird, man.

[adafrog]

{{{hugs}}}

Is your greenhouse heated?

That is so cool about the tattoo permission.

Cute fox!

That house looks crazy. Definitely mod. I wonder if new owners just rip it all out not caring for the history, or sometimes leave some of it.

[st_aurafina]

No, the greenhouse isn't heated - that would be awesome, though! But I don't think we get cold enough for that to be a common thing over here.

But if it was heated, I could have salads all year! Whee!

[adafrog]

But if it was heated, I could have salads all year! Whee!
hee!

[lyssie]

Hurrah for sisters. =D

[community profile] multifandomdrabble is open for writing treats: Request summary. It's for 100 word ficlets - yay for the proper use of the term 'drabble'! (I will fight you over this, btw), and they're due on Tuesday.

....you are an awful purveyor of fic ideas that don't require long plots.

Argh. Oh well. I needed to flex my brain a bit.

[st_aurafina]

She is best sister, definitely.

...you are an awful purveyor of fic ideas that don't require long plots.

SO ADDICTIVE!

[batmarg]

Your sister sounds amazing.

(apart from AirBnB being a super sketchy company)
The entire concept of AirBnB sounds sketchy to me. :/

We're the opposite atm: heat index of 100 Fahrenheit and a ludicrous humidity

Your tattoo idea is awesome. :)

[st_aurafina]

She is pretty darn amazing.

Oof, that's too hot! Even for here. Though, I'm so cold right now, I probably wouldn't complain. (Yes, I would.)

[laurenthemself]

I feel like I knew that about Dub-Dub? Like... I saw a story at some point?

[st_aurafina]

IDK? But it's great!!