33 Silly Slides of Felines to Fill Your Sunny Sunday Meowrning With a Litter Box of Laughs
Feb. 22nd, 2026 08:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
icanhascheezburger_feedThis is one litter box we don't mind cleaning out!
Having cats isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It's being woken up by the sound of a lamp crashing to the floor at 2 AM, it's constantly sweeping up cat litter and yelling "Don't eat that trash!" from across the room. The worst part, though, is cleaning their litter box. It's the closest thing we have that connects us to dog people, and we don't understand how they do with their bare hands every day. But there is one litter box that we don't mind cleaning out, especially on the weekends, and that is the litter box of laughs.
This one doesn't smell at all, in fact, it has an adorable aroma of hissterical giggles and the finest feline funnies on this side of the internet. We've got memes, tweets, threads, and pics aplenty to keep your cat-centered brain engaged and feline pawsitive all weekend! We hope that pawsitivity will last all the way through Meownday, but we can only do so much. We may be self-proclaimed meme wizards, but that doesn't make us meowgicians.
But in all seriousness, we love ending our weekends with a wholesome scroll of some purely funny cats. It's a way for us to rest and reset before we start yet another work week. It's our little pocket of joy that helps us stay sane in this crazy world we live in. It's healthy to have something to help you escape, and cats seem like a pretty harmless one to us, all things considered. So enjoy these silly slides of funny felines and we wish you a purrfectly pawsitive end of your weekend!
icanhascheezburger_feedBonded pairs of cats should never be separated.
People who say that cats are solitary creatures who don't feel the need to bond with anyone don't even know how wrong they are. When cats bond with someone, they bond hard. It could be us that they bond with. Cats love their humans in ways that words could never express, but their actions show it. Or it could be cats bonding with other animals, specifically other cats. In fact, such bonds are common enough that the internet has given them a name: bonded pairs.
Bonded pairs of cats are something special. They are connected with one another on levels that we could probably never understand. But we see it - when they are together, they thrive, and when they are not, they are lethargic, sad and irritable. They need each other. And it is our duty to make sure that they stick together. Some shelters even go as far as to reject applications to adopt if the adopter is looking to separate one bonded kitty from another, even if it means that both cats stay in the shelter longer. Because it's better to be in the shelter together than anywhere else apart.
Sunshine on my window
Feb. 22nd, 2026 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12Matthias and I saw Marty Supreme at the community cinema earlier this week, and we'll be heading out to see Hamnet tonight, so it's definitely been a film-heavy time by our standards. I'm anticipating a lot of cathartic crying tonight.
I've continued to make my way through mythology/fairytale/folktale retellings recommended by you on a previous post. This week it was Girl Meets Boy (Ali Smith), a slim little novella in conversation with Ovid's Metamorphoses, concerned with fluidity in gender, gender presentation, sexuality, and so on. It felt very, very, very of its time and place (the UK in the 2000s), but that's not to say that its specificity was a bad thing.
I also read The Swan's Daughter (Roshani Chokshi), a lush, surreal fairytale of a book in which the titular daughter (one of seven sisters born to a power-hungry wizard and his swanmaiden wife) finds herself caught up in a competition to win the hand of the kingdom's prince in marriage. Chokshi's previous books have been very melodramatic and earnest, and she's relished the opportunity here to shift the tone to something much more humorous and knowing, while still digging into her favourite big themes: the tension between love and vulnerability, genuine love requiring an embrace of uncertainty, and the interplay of love and monstrosity made literal.
It reminded me so much of one of my very favourite books — The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (Patricia McKillip) — although the latter is portentous and serious where Chokshi is whimsical and humorous that I picked up the McKillip for yet another reread. I've written about it here before, so suffice it to say now that it remains an incredible book — sharp and perceptive, devastating and beautiful.
I'll leave you with this fantastic link to a Shrove Tuesday tradition in which contestants dressed in costumes race through central London while flipping pancakes in pans. It's as delightful as you might imagine.
(no subject)
Feb. 18th, 2026 10:32 amconulyAlso, gotta love the one dude, BostonSportsBro69, who posts in both /r/relationship_advice and /r/hockey going around in /r/hockey saying "Uh, no, it's just normal sportsbro rival stuff, you're all reading way too much into this"
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Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:33 amjames_davis_nicoll
Can America's well-financed, highly-experienced, heavily-armed war machine hope to prevail against a numerically insignificant, poorly-armed, American teen movement?
Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy
The ancient Near Eastern origin of Chinese birthday celebrations
Feb. 22nd, 2026 12:39 pmlanguagelog_feedTalk in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania:
"The Calendarized Onomasticon and the Arrival of Birthday Celebration from the Ancient Near East to China", by Sanping Chen, author of Multicultural China in the Early Middle Ages
Dr. Chen's talk will be Wednesday, February 25th from 12:00 – 2:00pm in the Wolf Humanities Conference Room (WILL 623).
Abstract
Today most Chinese celebrate the annual return of their birthday just like people elsewhere. However, this was not the case prior to the medieval era. There were insurmountable obstacles, both technical and ideological, to this practice in ancient China, some of which remains true to this day. We then discuss the religious and political elements of birthday celebration in the Ancient Near East starting with the Book of Genesis, especially the notion that it was an occasion to highlight the relationship to one’s guardian deity, and that it became an important part of royal cults, most prominently in the Roman Empire. As observed by Herodotus and Plato, the ancient Iranians had apparently inherited this tradition after their conquests in the ANE.
In the early medieval era, the old Chinese heartlands were conquered by various nomadic groups, culminating in the final domination of the Tuoba Northern dynasties and attracting a large number of “assistant conquerors,” mostly Iranian-speaking, from Central Asia and beyond. The new masters of northern China were quick to pick up birthday celebration in their royal cult. Meanwhile, the Chinese nomenclature underwent a process of “Iranization,” introducing heavy religious elements to an originally secular onomasticon. An important component of this transformation was the calendarization of personal names, which in the pre-Islamic, largely Zoroastrian, Iranian cultural world symbolized the religious importance of one’s birthday. These calendric onomastic data help reveal how the general Chinese population adopted the arguably ANE institution of birthday celebration. The Taoist notion of benming 本命, “natal destiny,” roughly the equivalent of the ancient Greek daemon and the Roman genius, was an associated outcome. The whole process was facilitated in no small scale by the loss of cultural dominance of the traditional Confucian elite under the Tuoba and their Sui and Tang heirs.
Selected readings
- "'Happy Birthday' melody formed from tones" (11/5/22)
- "Dunhuang mania nominum" (1/3/26)
icanhascheezburger_feedSometimes cats enter a full house, and that's no less wholesome than them being your first pets.
You see, adopting your first cat can happen in a multitude of ways. Whether it's a childhood cat, a weird case of finding a cat in an unexpected place (usually the courtesy of the Cat Distribution System), or planning on adopting a cute little fluffball to add to your domestic zoo of pets you have at home. But sometimes it's a surprising, unexpected CDS delivery, even if you're a self-declared dog person.
This one woman already has two dogs - and that's got to be a handful. Two doggos running the show, borking and wagging, excited and happy. But then a neighbor alerts her that, hey, you have a crying kitten under your tire! She might be a dog person, but it doesn't mean she's going to skip helping a purrfect little void in need. And, you know what? We're so proud of her. We're all cat people here, but we have a very special corner in our hearts dedicated to non-cat people who still lend a hand, give from themselves to help a cat, and maybe even turn into a cat person in the process.
34 Immaculate Images of Felines Fully Embracing the Derp Within
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:00 amicanhascheezburger_feedCats love to play the "cool and disconnected" character, but deep down, we know that they're all secretly derpy divas. It's our job as cat owners to reveal their inner truth for the whole internet to see!
We're convinced that cameras were invented for the sole purrpose of exposing cats' true nature. We know that there are lots of other things to take pictures of, but literally none of them interest us except for cats. And if you're reading this too, we think there's a good chance that you probably agree with us. And since the invention of cameras, people have been taking pictures of their cats (amongst other things, of course). Since then, cat lovers have been on a purrsonal vendetta to show people that cats aren't as cool, calm, and collected as they like to be purrceived as.
What do you think of when you think of cats? You think of sleek, fluffy creatures that always land on their feetsies. Of cute creatures that nap all day, swat at you if you pet them too many times, and are hesitant around other hoomans. But, cats are quite the opposite! They're actually the silliest creatures we let live in our houses, and these purrfectly documented pics below are our proof.
The immaculate images below show felines fully embracing the derp within, and believe us, they have more derp inside than you could ever imagine. If we had to give you one example, it would be that we've caught our cat trying to chew on the hanging metal switch on our lamp than we can count. It's not edible, nor is it remotely tasty (we tried). And yet, it's still their furvorite pastime.
This is just one of many things we can tell you, but it's easier to show you, which is why we've collected all these hilariously funny felines caught on camera. They can't hide it anymore, these purrfect pictures are furrever immortalized on the internet, and now their secret it out. We only hope we don't come home to find something in all of our shoes when we get home.
24 Ridiculously Silly Cat Memes Serving Pure Nonsense on a Fuzzy Platter
Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:00 amicanhascheezburger_feedIn a world full of seriousness and chaos, what we need is a serving of pure silly nonsense.
We really do mean that. We are the kind of people who try to find joy in the little things. And although some days it is harder than other days, we still make an effort. And we make an effort to bring that joy to you as well. Of course, you might find that joy in friends, in family, in doing your favorite activities and working on your hobbies, but these things are not always available right away. What is always right there for us though - the one thing that never fails to make us smile - are hilarious cat memes.
All it takes for a frown to be turned upside down is a few minutes of scrolling through silly cat memes. Or at least, that is how it works for us. It's why we keep collecting these funny cat memes for all of you guys. Because we love knowing that we're helping bring you the thing that will make you smile. And also because we just love doing it. Hey, we're allowed to get two birds with one stone, right?
foray
Feb. 22nd, 2026 12:00 ammerriamwebster_feedMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2026 is:
foray • \FOR-ay\ • noun
A foray is an initial and often hesitant attempt to do something in a new or different field or area of activity, as in “the novelist’s foray into nonfiction.” In martial contexts, foray means “a sudden or irregular invasion or attack for war or spoils.”
// The professional wrestler’s surprise foray into ballet was at first met with skepticism, but he eventually proved himself a dancer of grace and poise.
Examples:
“Bryan Escareño’s foray into fashion was the result of happenstance. In 2018, the designer, who was born and raised in Venice, California, bought a green vintage Singer sewing machine at a garage sale determined to learn to make the perfect pair of denim pants. … He began honing his sewing skills, eventually crafting cut-and-sew flannel shirts that caught the eye of his colleagues at LA’s Wasteland, a high-end resale boutique.” — Celia San Miguel, USA Today, 3 Dec. 2025
Did you know?
For centuries, foray referred only to a sudden or irregular invasion or attack, but in the late 19th century it began to venture into gentler semantic territory. While the newer sense of foray still involves a trek into a foreign territory, the travel is figurative: when you make this kind of foray, you dabble in an area, occupation, or pastime that’s new to you. Take the particularly apt example (stay tuned) of mushroom hunting. The likely ancestor of foray is an Anglo-French word referring to the violent sort who do invasion forays, but that word could also refer to a forager—that is, one who wanders in search of food. (Forage has the same etymological source.) Interestingly, foray has seen a resurgence of use connected to its foraging roots, as evidenced by the growing popularity of mycophile-led mushroom “forays” that have been lately popping up like toadstools.
(no subject)
Feb. 21st, 2026 03:51 pmconuly posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
agonyauntWhen I confronted my mother-in-law, she claimed her method was helpful because Melody behaved afterward. And she said Melody was “never in any danger” because she kept her in sight at all times. After this, I no longer feel safe with Darlene going places with the kids without my husband present or me. Sadly, my husband is no help. He agrees that this was a good “lesson” in behaving for our daughter and that his mother used to do it to him and his sister when they were kids! Please tell me I’m right in telling Darlene her days of taking the kids solo are over.
—Pissed
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#86 Fresh Morning AIr (part 1b of 1, complete)
Feb. 21st, 2026 10:06 pmdialecticdreamerBy Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1b of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1075
[Friday, May 15, 2020, 9 am]
:: On Friday morning, Ed prepares to discuss something serious with Vic and Aidan, but Garegin and Leto arrive with a surprise for the Teagues. Part of the Edison’s Mirror (Teague Family) story arc. ::
Back to Fresh Morning Air part 1a
To the Edison's Mirror Landing Page
On to
Ed leaned back, surprised. “Of course. I’m planning to start very small.” He sniffed, blinking several times. “I miss…” His voice faded.
Aidan put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, then pulled him close. The arm shifted to snug Ed closer. “That’s understandable.”
( Read more... )
Book review: Our Share of Night
Feb. 21st, 2026 06:16 pmrocky41_7 posting in booknookAuthor: Mariana Enriquez
Translator: Megan McDowell
Genre: Fantasy horror, fiction, family drama
If Mexican Gothic left you craving more South American fantasy horror, Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez of Argentina (translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell) has you covered. This is a family epic intertwined with the dark machinations of a macabre cult and its impact. It's also a splendid allegory for the evils of colonialism and generational trauma. This book was #15 from the "Women in Translation" rec list.
The book begins with Juan, a powerful but ill man who acts as a "medium" for the cult to commune with its dark god. Juan, struggling with the health of his defective heart, the wear-and-tear of years as the medium, and the grief and rage of his wife's recent death (he suspects, at the orders of the cult he serves) is desperate to keep his son Gaspar from stepping into his shoes, as the cult wants. Juan's opening segment of the book is about his efforts to protect Gaspar.
From there, the book branches off into other perspectives which give background to both the cult and the family. This is a great way of giving us a holistic and generational view of the cult, but it does drag occasionally. Gaspar's sections--in his childhood and then later in his teens/young adulthood--together make up the majority of the book, and while enjoyable, do amble off into great detail about his and his friends' day-to-day lives, such that I did wonder sometimes when we were getting back to the plot. I don't like to cite pacing issues, because I think that gets thrown around a lot whenever someone didn't vibe with a book, but the drawn-out length of these quotidian sections doesn't fit well with how quickly the climax of the book passes and is wrapped up. I would have liked to have spent less time with Gaspar at soccer games and more on his plans for addressing the cult.
However, on the whole, the book is a fun, if very dark read. It also serves well as a critique of Argentina's moneyed class and of colonialism in general, and how money sticks with money even across borders. Here, Argentina's wealthy have more in common with English money than with the Argentine lower classes (and that's how they want it). The cult, populated at its upper echelons by the privileged, is an almost literal blight on the land, willing to sacrifice an endless amount of blood, local and otherwise, to beg power off a hungry and unknown supernatural entity.
It brutalizes its mediums, which it often plucks from poverty to wring for power and then discard. Juan was adopted away from his own poor family at six, under the insistence his parents would not be able to pay for the medical care he needed, and he is the least-abused of the cult's line of mediums. As soon as the cult sets their eye on his son, Juan must begin scheming how to keep Gaspar away from them.
Although he acts out of love of his son, Juan is also a deeply flawed person. He is secretive, moody, lies constantly (there is actual gaslighting here) and doesn't hesitate to knock Gaspar around to make him obey. The more he deteriorates--a common problem with all cult mediums--the less human he becomes. Part of this is his work, but much of it is also attributable to years of being used by the cult for its ends and the accumulated emotional trauma. This, of course, is then inflicted on Gaspar through his father's tempers and secrets.
Similarly flawed are the other members of the immediate family. Juan's wife Rosario, despite a better nature than her parents, still supports this cult and is eager for Gaspar to follow in his father's footsteps as a cult medium, in part for the prestige it will bring her as his mother. Gaspar, although far more empathetic and gentle than either of his parents, eventually grows up with his father's temper. Watching him grow from a sweet-natured little boy into the troubled young adult he becomes after years of his father's abuse and neglect is painful, but realistic.
The book is also unexpectedly queer. It's not often a book surprises me with its queerness, because that's usually what landed it on my radar in the first place, but this one did. Juan and Rosario are both bisexual and later in the book we spend some active time in Argentina's queer scene, including during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The translation was great! It read very naturally, even the dialogue, and it never felt stilted or awkward in its phrasing.
An ambitious novel that for the most part, pulls off what it's trying to do. As mentioned, I wish the ending had gotten more room to breathe, and I would not have minded this coming at the cost of some of the middle bits of navel-gazing, but I still felt the story was satisfying.
it would be so fine to see your face at my door
Feb. 21st, 2026 09:15 pmmusesfoolI also made dressing for coleslaw, which I've never done before - always just bought the pre-made deli version - and it's ok, not great. Not tangy enough, tbh. I wonder if replacing some of the mayo with buttermilk is the way to go. I ate some with a steak I pan-fried for dinner and that was nice. I don't have steak very often, but sometimes it goes on sale and I get it.
We're supposed to be getting between 12"-18" of snow tomorrow/Monday (wait, I just checked, and the current forecast is 39% likelihood of at least 18" if not more, wow), and I'm supposed to go into the office on Tuesday, so I guess we'll see what actually materializes, whether the streets are cleaned, and how I feel on Tuesday morning. Supposedly we're getting a free lunch, but I don't know when the consultant who is supposed to be buying it for our in person meeting is flying in, idk what is going to happen. There was some back and forth on Teams today about the storm and they are notifying everyone to be remote on Monday, which is the smart choice.
Anyway, my menu is not very cozy - I was planning on making that lemony macaroni salad for lunches, and some baked oatmeal with cherries and chocolate chips for breakfast. I do have bread, milk, and eggs, so there could always be French toast! Though I did make that on Wednesday when I realized it was Ash Wednesday (and that I'd completely forgotten Shrove Tuesday). I'll probably have pasta for dinner tomorrow regardless, since it's Sunday.
Today, I watched Batman Ninja, which features the Batfamily time traveling back to feudal Japan (but so much Joker and I am so tired of Joker), and then its sequel, Batman vs. the Yakuza League, which I enjoyed more because it has Wonder Woman in it and she's fantastic as always. It also features ( I guess this is a spoiler ) It was weird to me though that we got 4 Batboys (Jason's feudal Japan headgear is HILARIOUS), but no Cass or Babs at all, and I didn't love the art for Selina. Someday we'll get an animated version of Wayne Family Adventures and the girls and Duke will get their due!
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