delighted to report that once again someone has run into my parked car.

what in the whole fuck man

car is still safe/drivable but the cosmetic damage is bad enough i'll get it fixed which is an enormous pain.

we'll see, maybe that is what i'll wind up using my tax money for.

however abigail is a delight!! let's look at that abigail!!

anyway in better news i am starting ballet again (the class was cancelled last term) and also i've been taking a small french class through the local community college.

i went ahead and registered for the most advanced class and it's not that advanced but just practicing at all is helpful.

Oh gosh that pic of her on her back. And good news about French!

someone has stolen abigail's cat food

it comes in a shipment every two months and i saw it in the mailroom when I was leaving for work but now, in the morrow, it is gone!

who would deprive abigail of dindins?

devastating crimes

she's starving!!

this is the second time this has happened and her catfood box is like, obviously cat food. it has cats on it.

also restarting ballet means my hips are now screaming at me.

finally, the time has come for me as a west coaster to be smug and experienced about natural disasters, after melting down and closing everything at the first sign of snow.

LMAO

anyway i have work early today because tonight i am going to a drag show with hadal!

it's a tswift theme and i think i am going to wear something loosely reputation inspired.

the apartment complex is going to investigate the case of the missing cat food.

reminder to self: you are not good enough at makeup to do a "quick" smokey eye look

should i do something with my hair beyond literally just brush it?? maybe but i don't think i will.

it was fun!!

reputation very well represented as an era.

happy bab in the sun!!

also cat food update: the cat food company will send a replacement shipment.

Oh good

excellent

had a dentist appointment this morning, now homework

very hungry babbigail.

have you considered that you have the most perfect cat?

she considers it often.

as she should

I am… so tired.

here to cuddle.

my first day off since last saturday

i am trying to do the basic self-care tasks that will let me feel like a person.

maybe strangely this includes cleaning my apartment, i feel discombobulated when my space is discombobulated.

big same

a day after the replacement cat food shipment was delivered and received someone broke the door on the mailroom.

looking for cat food??

have some new throw pillows and abigail is profiting.

captivatingly cozy

at the theater to see monkey man

my special treat for working 6 days this week.

ooh, enjoy!! it looks real good

report: it was really good

i saw some critique that the criticism of hindutva was a bit muddled by being a hyperviolent john wick style action film and i can see that but otoh fuck modi???

and the john wick style action bits were fun.

jordan peele was right, worth seeing in theaters.

anyway at the last minute:

OH I just remembered I wanted to watch that

it's absurdly violent but quite pretty.

also now that i'm done with taxes i keep walking up to my cat and saying "meow meow meow"

does she have thoughts on your feline bilingualism

she is unimpressed

made this pasta for dinner and it was so good.

also watched the subtly named "brandy hellville" documentary.

Did you enjoy it? Was it a one size fits all film?

(This is me, mocking the sizing at Brandy Melville.)

one size fits most.

So, a movie for 12 year olds, huh

there's a lot that's like, not new, but the cult angle was both interesting. i mean, it's not really a cult, they only use the term in the title in the commonplace casual way.

but the way the brand preys specifically on a teen girl's desire to fit in (literally) and be cool.

i've obviously never shopped there because i'm too fat, but i probably would have when i was a skinnier teenager.

I'll have to check it out -- I think it's becoming harder and harder to do that as more shopping moves online (yet I still covet Fable bags and dresses from Foxblood and Lively Ghosts), but if anyone is gonna be susceptible, it's probably teen girls

both the VSCO Girl and the Brandy Melville Girl are just Girls From My High School, but I went to high school when Express was still trying to be vaguely French/Euro and that's what I wore. And Esprit and Benetton and occasionally The Limited, and Target.

so there was like, the beach girl way to fit in, but there was also the vaguely European, vaguely alt, probably read Sassy when Sassy was a thing way.

I got a few shirts there in high school, it was really not different from buying an expensive shirt somewhere else

it has surprised me that both of those beach girl aesthetics from the 90s rose again with those particular niche subcultures, but it really shouldn't have.

yeah, obviously there are wide swaths of girls who do not shop at brandy melville either because they can't or they wouldn't want to. but i do believe that there are definitely girls who want to be cool/thin/pretty enough to shop there.

it was kind of exciting as like a 16 year old who read gossip girl on a family trip to la but ultimately the actual store was kind of underwhelming!!

I'm looking at the site now -- they're still doing "everything is only xs/s" thing but the prices are more reasonable than they used to be

the teen girls are also the staff at the store, and they're also clearly exploited.

woof

detectivefiction: random interruption but I just wanted to say that foxblood stuff is lovely and really nice quality for the price

I had a friend who worked at Contempo Casuals in high school and they were super exploitative too. And had a lot of strict rules.

the have to take a picture of themselves before every shift, these pictures are texted to the ceo and his top crony, and if they are found to be ugly, they are fired.

endtransmission: agreed! I have a few things, I just always want more.

Okay that's... much worse than what I recall of the Contempo stuff

so the ceo just has these folders of all the teen girls wearing a crop top he keeps saved on his computer.

great! and because they hire teen girls for their looks they aren't the kind of people that know how to say "hey that's illegal"

also yes standard abercrombie playbook of forcing the poc into the stock room never to be seen by customers.

and yeah the incriminating corporate group chat is way way worse than i would have expected.

even from a company with a private spinoff brand called "john galt"

I just left Columbus after living there for almost 20 years and it was wild to me that it was like... the location of Les Wexner, the location of A&F and Mike Jeffries, etc.

in potentially happier news, if anyone is looking for it, there's a big interesting book on Agnès B. being sold in places like HomeGoods.

very very French Casual Style

agnès b. Styliste | agnès b.

sunshine girl.

local witch shop is having a birthday so i went with hadal

Oh she looks so resplendent in the sun

she is thriving.

oh to be a perfect kitty who gets to spend all of her time in the sun

niiice

we had fun mocktails and a v beautiful cake

you can shop online, they have a 15% off code if you see something you like 9YEARSMAGIC

anyway i'm also thinking about buying some compression socks. i am having some minor swelling issues and i am on my feet a lot so i figure it can't hurt to try

Doctor Motion ones are good but there are also ok multipacks on Amazon. they won't be clinical levels of compression! but you probably don't need that. (You know: "foot prison.")

(They actually are usually looser in the toes though.)

yeah this is an experiment in "would this be comfy" vs "i'm recovering from surgery"

I think the relatively light compression ones will be comfy (they are still quite squeezy if you're not used to compression socks. a lot of mine are Dr Motion brand. Unicorns, llamas, stripes, flowers, etc.)

I had some p low-key ones for pots, let me see if I can find them

Here's Dr Motion, I think I mostly get them at Kohl's.Everyday Compression Socks for Women & Men | Dr. Mot...

I know there is another newish internet-only brand that has cute prints/weaves.

I think I need these:Wildflowers | Knee-High Compression Socks For Women

Pretty Compression Socksaha

Ah cute (heyyyyy this is just a reboot of Victorian Trading Co. GOOD!)

yes!!! it's the same people!!!

this might be the internet brand I was thinking of? But if not the brand is probably Dr. Comfort.Graduated Compression Socks | Sockwell USA

they have some hella cute prints at Sockwell

in worse news, it seems my manager's had complications from his surgery. he's okay now but instead of two weeks off it will be a month off.

normally this would be a time of for mice to play but i have to cover some of his shifts

made a telehealth appointment about my ankle, which hurts.

update: i don't have a bloodflow problem, i have a ligament injury

i have to wear a brace on my ankle for 6 weeks and i'm grumpy about it. it hurts more this way!!

however: oregon sent me an impressive looking tax correction because they want to give me $8oo more dollars.

thank you oregon.

o nO

i have been working for close to 40 hours a week on my feet with a sprained ankle for two and a half weeks

ohhhh noooo

and my foot is so swollen that the brace is hard to fit on i am suffering please witness.

this morning abigail came to wake me up by sitting on top of me and purring very much. (she meowed first to make sure i was paying attention.)

you must listen to her song