Groupthink

 Hello! For those of us in the US who had off for the holiday yesterday, my condolences on returning to work today. Yesterday I drove completely around my lake, an 80 mile loop. First stop was my massage. It was so hot that I arrived all sweaty and yucky. After the massage I stopped at a creamery for a veggie burger and ice cream. Then I stopped for a few items at the grocery store but ended up getting everything for the week. Then I got to watch the sun setting over the lake as I drove home. I still have yet to actually go swimming. The water is still incredibly cold, according to friends who have tried it. I still have the rest of the summer, I suppose. 

Good morning folks. It's a holiday here in the US. Though "Happy Memorial Day" doesn't seem quite appropriate, I do hope that if you've got the day off you enjoy it. And if you're working, may your day be lovely and short. Young Finn is commemorating the day by wrestling me for his teddy as I type one handed. Since this is the only thing that will keep him from dragging my desk chair around (with me on it), I'm viewing it as an acceptable compromise. Sigh. What's doing with y'all today?

Good moring, GT, and happy Sunday! It's 4am and I'm wide awake. I got up to use the restroom and had every intention of going back to sleep, but, the sleepiness just isn't there. Since it's too early to do anything I'm shopping for rugs and curtains.  Once it hits 5:30am I'm going to take a shower and get in an early morning grocery and coffee run. I'm going to barbecue later so I need to pick up a few things. I'm thinking about doing veggie kabobs, macaroni salad, and grilled corn. I'm also tempted to make some vegan ribs which I haven't made in ages. It's a little more time consuming, but, isn't that what long weekends are made for?   Ok, enough about my plans. How are y'all doing today? How's your weekend shaping up?

  Good morning, groupthink! Sorry for the double post, but HoneyHeart is vacationing in Hawaii. I suggest we all take a moment to imagine we're on a beach with soothing waves & a nice breeze--it's been a stressful week. Hence, kittens & light sabers, lol.  For video game fans, here's an aptly named kitten up for adoption at the rescue I volunteer with. She's adorable & fierce. :) Aloy - named after the protagonist of Horizon. She is toy crazy, and loves anything that makes a noise. Aloy came to us with an injured back leg. She had to have it amputated but she gets around just fine on 3 legs. She’s ready to star in your home! https://t.co/LFNJ7b8Wpk pic.twitter.com/uotsuyIgtm — Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue (@TNProverbs1210) May 16, 2022 How about some otter snoots? Random Otter Snoots that you weren't expecting. pic.twitter.com/l9kkUeuWaK — In Otter News.... (@In_Otter_News2) May 28, 2022 Next, a whole thread of baby animals.  Since everyone is showin...

  Our post is up, stop by and say hi to the fur faces! https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2022/05/fur-face-friday_0709206691.html

Good morning & I hope I'm not stepping on TCIW's shoes. Fuck it Friday feels especially necessary after this past week. We need to vent. The internet is awash with bullshit & it's been tough to balance bearing witness with our own limits, certainly for me.  Fuck Fox & their bullshit. -24 hours at the Fox Bullshit Factory -50 “solutions” -None involve regulating weapons of war It would almost be impressive if it wasn’t so sadistic. (Salute to whoever made this) pic.twitter.com/xS5yTHvQEk — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) May 26, 2022 Fuck every single member of Uvalde's police department, too. ACAB. Defund the police. This tiny town spends 40% of its budget on useless cops for nothing except harassment. Tearful Uvalde Residents Thank Police For Protecting Parking Lot From Gunman https://t.co/nngdJBrsN1 pic.twitter.com/t9ajmIhgmo — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 26, 2022 My heart is broken & I'm tired. I keep saying I can't imagine because, ...

 Hi All! I thought I’d throw up today’s OT while I’ve got a quick moment this morning. I won’t be able to respond until later. Yesterday I had my annual mammogram and breast ultrasound, for the first time in three years after multiple reschedulings due to the pandemic and staffing shortages. I’m glad that is done! The weather looks to be glorious this long holiday weekend and I’m here for it! Have at it!

  Good morning, groupthink! Oh how I wish it was a better one here in the States & I hope you're doing okay. I woke up before dawn after a restless night & plan to head to my local state park after breakfast to disconnect with a long, long hike.  pic.twitter.com/SVtlCUGHOc — Devin Nunes’ cow 🐮 (@DevinCow) May 25, 2022 It's hard to find words, but this resonated. I am sad about the children that woke up today and lost their lives. I am sad for the 10 Black people that have already been forgotten. I am sad we basically have to disassociate to simply exist in this world right now. — simi (@simimoonlight) May 24, 2022 Finally, the urge to punt each politician offering prayers today is strong. This is better.  If our kids matter, repeal Guns Everywhere. If our parents matter, repeal #CriminalCarry . If Georgians matter, close the Domestic Violence loophole & expand Medicaid for true mental health insurance parity. The time for platitudes is over. It’s our time...

  Good morning, GT, and happy Tuesday! This week has gotten off to a busy start and I'm glad I'll be working from home the rest of the week. I really do like my new office but I get just as much done at home so I don't see a point in going into a empty office more than once a week. I also don't want to waste the gas with how high gas prices are right now.  Anyway, today I need to take my car into the shop to get repairs done and I still don't know how long they are going to need to keep it. It could be up to 3-4 days which is a bummer. Thankfully, I have access to another car so if I do need to go anywhere it shouldn't be an issue. I just hope they get it done quickly and no surprise issues come up.  How are y'all doing? 

  Greetings, groupthink! It's the start of a new week & I hope it's going well so far. We got a late start after a really nice weekend. It was great to see my oldest group of friends. We all met at summer camp as kids in the late 80's & that's a long, long, time. :) I value my relationship with those gals a ton. Unfortunately, our meet up was part of send-off celebration for friends who are moving to San Francisco to protect their trans child. I could rant about that for days, but I'm grateful they have the abilty to leave for a safe locale.  One thing I'm super happy about is the cool cloudy weather today. If you were trapped in the hot, humid temps, I hope it's reached you, too. I'm wearing a hoodie. :) Another nice thing is, yesterday a pair of birds were swooping our front door, & we eventually figured out they were attacking a wee little wasp nest above it we hadn't spotted yet. Our bird pals killed them, had a snack, & knocked i...

  Hey, folks--it's about time to be compiling summer reading lists. And tons of places have their summer reading recs out. What are you most looking forward to reading this summer? A thriller? A celeb memoir? A juicy romance? That essay book you've been meaning to get to, and now you finally have the time? Come tell us all about it. If you need help, BookRiot's always a great place to start: https://bookriot.com/best-summer-reads-2022/  And, of course, as always, be sure to tell us: 1) What book did you most recently finish? 2) What are you currently reading? 3) What's next on your TBR list? 4) Do you need any book recs? Let us know! Do you have any book recs? Share 'em! (P.S. Sorry if the formatting is weird on this one, y'all. I've been fighting with the stupid formatting for a dang minute. :/)

  Hello everybody, happy Sunday! I'm getting off to a slow start this morning so apologies for the late post. My body is sore from moving around furniture yesterday and I'm trying to amp myself up to take a shower and get ready for brunch. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, but I'm not thrilled that we are going to a very popular chain restaurant that gets very busy. I'm not made for crowds.  Anyway, how is everyone doing today? What's your Sunday looking like? 

        Happy Sat. and happy weekend, GT! We are getting a cold snap this weekend, which is perfect--I am going to stay inside and clean. Tonight, I'm making a lentil bolognese for dinner. Tomorrow, one bestie is coming over for breakfast and then my other bestie and I are going to a new-to-us soap shop in the afternoon. Buff City Soaps--anyone here familiar with it? Any suggestions? And what's up with you this weekend? Anything fun?

  Friday is here and so are the Fur Faces! Stop by and say and share your own: https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2022/05/fur-face-friday_0912322049.html

Good morning! I'm so grateful today is Friday. This week has taken forever with lots of extra stress on top around here. I hope today finds you well! This is going to be a short post because I actually have plans with people this afternoon, lol. Outside because Covid, but I'm very excited to head out to a local bier garden with some friends & catch up & relax. I'm ubering there so Pal can swing by & pick me up after work because I plan on sampling many different types, too. ;)  pic.twitter.com/fipCrNXU8Y — Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) May 20, 2022 Can we start a petition for this?  This is a space for any fuck its as well. Mine is for Oklahoma's Republicans. Okay, I've got to run, but the floor is yours & I hope your Friday is shaping up nicely! Tipsy me will check back in later. 😂

Good morning, GT, and happy Th. :) We got home from visiting my grandpa yesterday. The poor guy--my grandma passed away a month ago and, about two weeks after that, he had COVID. During that hospital stay, a doctor QUADRUPLED his blood pressure medicine. So, Grandpa got home from the hospital, then got up in the middle of the night to pee, got up and his blood pressure crashed, leaving him in a heap on the floor. Now, he's in a rehabilitation center for the fall.  He seemed pretty sore and tired and down when we first got there but, even over the few days we were there, we saw a lot of improvement is his abilities and attitude. Hopefully, he can get back to his own place soon. My aunt is planning to fly out and spend all of June with him, then my mom will go back in July, and my brother in August. I will go out for Thanksgiving. Poor guy hasn't even really had time to grieve the loss of his partner yet.  Anyway! Things are looking better for him, so that's the really good ...

 Good morning, everyone! How is everyone doing today? I woke up earlier than I wanted, but I slept well and feel pretty good. I've taken my shower and now I'm just loafing around until it's time to head to the office. I have a couple meetings today and I'm hoping to finally get full access to some programs I need as a supervisor. It is taking much longer than anticipated so I'm getting a little antsy since there are things I know I need to learn but can't because I don't have access! The director has told me not to worry about it so I'm trying not to stress it too much. Other than that, things are going pretty good around here. Things have settled quite a bit and this week is shaping up to be much better than last week. I have an appointment to get my car fixed next week and things with my cousin have settled. I'm also having lunch with all the women on my moms side of the family this weekend and I'm so excited to see them. It's been way too ...

  Good morning, GT! Happy Tuesday.  My day has gotten off to a rocky start. I really need to learn that some people are hard headed and refuse to listen to the opinions of others and I should just not even bother engaging. It puts me in a bad mood and I don't need that. I'm about to listen to some music and take a walk to reset my mood.  What's going on if your world? How are you doing today?

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend and that the week ahead holds good things too. It continues to be hot and sticky here. And my air conditioner is working only sporadically so there's more at play here than I'd hoped. Today will be some cooking and cleaning in anticipation of bestie's arrival. If it's too hot it will be takeout pizza and a salad. If anyone has a go-to hot weather lunch or dinner recipe I'm all ears. Anyway, tell me what your week has in store.

  Hello, GT! Happy Sunday! So sorry for the delay in getting this post up. I did not get enough sleep so my brain is not functioning at full capacity and I've been in a bit of a fog all morning. I'm about to hop in the shower and hopefully that will help clear my head and get the energy flowing. How is everyone doing today?

Good morning & happy Saturday! HoneyHeart is traveling today so here's a quick open thread. I just woke up & am sipping coffee & slightly regretting not grocery shopping yesterday. Maybe I should wait one more day, lol. I'm not feeling very motivated right now & it's so crowded on Saturdays. Here's something that made me lol & shake my head.  What in the fuck is even happening in Nashville?! (This photo is real. It’s not photoshopped.) pic.twitter.com/GIiQTKrbje — Cari Wade Gervin (@carigervin) May 7, 2022 It's like the trapper keeper of homes. Also, we have tornadoes here.  And here's a cool photo from the ISS.   Amazing picture of Chicago at night taken by crew aboard the International Space Station. (Credit: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center) pic.twitter.com/v01V5MfYV9 — World and Science (@WorldAndScience) May 7, 2022 Finally, Disqus has been erroneously marking some comments as spam. I'm not sure why...

  Good evening, everyone! I'm posting this one a little earlier & will try to make this a regular thing. Happy Friday the 13th--I hope the only luck you had was the good kind. 🤞 Today, I did half of my paperwork, gave up, took Ruby to the park, & then we grabbed curly fries & a milkshake for lunch. That was followed up with a nap where I successfully interrupted a bout of sleep paralysis before things got weird & creepy. All in all, it was a pretty good day, especially after waking up in a funk. Pal's bestie is visiting from Minneapolis this weekend so the house is mine tonight. I'm going to shower, make an epic amount of popcorn, & watch an old Hammer Horror film, Twins of Evil.  Right now, I'm listening to the New Florence + The Machine album. This song is my first favorite & may resonate with you if you have anxiety. Plus, it's catchy.  Tell us what you're getting up to on this Friday eve. :)

  It's Friday the 13th so ward yourselves with Fur Faces! Our post is up at Backtalk so stop by and say hi and share your own! https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2022/05/fur-face-friday_02038288515.html

  Happy Friday, ya'll! How has your week been?  I'm SO glad it's the weekennnnnd (well I say it is lol) even though I have to work today.  Again a second FUCK IT to people trying to take away women's body rights! Yep! Fuuuuuuuck ya'll! Biggest hypocrite brats screaming about government mandated mask wearing to um - help slow the spread of a virus (which clearly to them is made by politics) but are allllllll about Govt. telling women what they can do with their own bodies. I mean can you just imagine if this were men? This wouldn't even BE an issue - it's just so fucking moronic how their stupid brains work who are trying to pass this. Also and added Fuck You! to our governor, DeSantis, with his ill-fitted Men's Warehouse suits. Bleh. Moron.  How are you guys doing? 

  Good morning, GT, and happy Th.! It's going to be another day in the 90s here (guh) so I am starting my day out with the iciest of coffees. Today, for me, will be finishing up work for the semester (woot!), getting a haircut (woot!), and meeting with our catsitter. Speaking of which, can someone please post a Weekend Vagenda on Sat.? I'll be driving to see my grandpa (or, as we call him in our family, our grr-pa).  How about you? Are you keeping cool or melting along with me? Whatever the case, I hope you have a fabulous day. 🤗 Oh, and I posted this in a comment last night but, in case you missed it, PP is hosting nationwide Bans Off Our Bodies rallies on Sat.; you can find yours here: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/rightfully-ours/bans-off-our-bodies#events

  Good morning, groupthink! It's the halfway point of the week & I hope y'all are doing well. It's going to be our first truly hot, humid, sunny day here. It's a little early for this but the sunshine is quite nice after an incredibly dreary & cold spring. Here's an otter & her baby being cute to help you enjoy your coffee. :) pic.twitter.com/zEkG4PFKXb — In Otter News.... (@In_Otter_News2) May 11, 2022 And here's a tweet that made me laugh. The generation "wars" are dumb & pointless, but this is hilarious. Shout out to my fellow latch key kids who could run an entire house by middle school. It's the most Gen X thing ever for a Boomer to just forget about them. 😂🤣 https://t.co/iN2qcyfnt7 pic.twitter.com/9xvSmtL1hT — C.Gary didn't fumble (@Cane303) May 11, 2022 I'll save my bad stuff (no shortage of that lately) for the replies. My partner in crime is home today to rest his foot again & he's teaching me to use ...

 Good morning, GT! How is everyone doing today? Yesterday was my first day of my new position and it went well. I didn't have much to do so I was able to finish a training and delete a bunch of old emails and files. It feels nice to have a cleaned up computer. Later in the afternoon I received a ton of emails about topics related to the job and that was a bit overwhelming at first. It turned out not to be too bad and most of it was just stuff to reference.  The director did let me know that I can work from home as much as I'd like but would encourage me to stop by the office once a week. I was planning to do 2-3 days at the office but with his go ahead I think I'll keep it to 1-2 days. I met one of my new team members and she was nice. I'm excited to meet the rest tomorrow. So far things are looking good.  Anyway, what's up with all of you? What's going on in your world? 

Good morning gang. I'm sitting here finishing my coffee and dusting myself off for the week ahead. Good, bad and indifferent, last week seems to have been a big one for lots of us here. Sometimes you just gotta surrender so I spent most of the weekend loafing and digesting. I am resolved to be productive now though. Today's agenda is a good and much needed cleaning, some paperwork and a whole lotta pup wrangling. How about you guys? Did you get some down time in this weekend? What's coming up this week for you?

  Happy Sunday, everyone!  I don't know about y'all but I am not ready for this weekend to be over. I need at least another day to just relax after spending time with family yesterday. It went fine, but I'm exhausted from the socializing.  Before I forget, happy Mother's Day to all the lovely moms of GT! How are y'all celebrating or not celebrating today? Unfortunately, I will not be seeing my mom today but we have plans to get together next weekend. I'm planning to give her a call later and we can chat a bit. Other than that my day is going to be pretty chill. Loafing around watching tv and snuggling with Cosmo. I'm trying not to think too much about tomorrow being my first day in the new position and I'm feeling surprisingly relaxed about it. I'm sure the anxiousness will hit once I learn all my new responsibilities but for now I'm enjoying the lack of nerves.  Anyway, how are y'all doing today?

  Happy Saturday, GT--what are y'all up to today?  I'm going to spend today cleaning and, later, my bestie is coming over for dinner, so that'll be nice. It's actually spring-y today (sunny and a high of 69)! The flowers and trees are all blossoming. Heaven! I'm going to spend the day catching up on some cleaning, then my bestie is coming over for dinner tonight.  How about you? What's in store for you this weekend?

Good evening everybody! It seems to be a consensus that we can use more frequent posts so here we go. :) I am home after running a bunch of errands in tons of Friday traffic & thunderstorms. It feels great & I'm not leaving until Sunday if I can help it, lol. Current mode is sitting on my porch with a joint listening to some Willie Nelson. After this, it's dinner & deciding what to watch. My brain is exhausted & making more choices sounds terrible, lol.  What are you up to this evening? Cooking, going out, ordering in? We're all ears. Please mention what you're watching so I can copy. 😂 One last thing because we can all use more content like this. Clever, happy pup.  "Theifery" is the harsh term, dog will prefer "self service" pic.twitter.com/fxka283AMa — Dog Solution (@DogSolutions) May 5, 2022

Our post is up at Backtalk, stop by and say hi to the Fur Faces and share your own! https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2022/05/fur-face-friday.html

  Hey guys! How are you doing this week?  Allow me to start an everloving resounding FUCK YOU to this Roe nonsense and all of the states that are pushing/will ban immediately. Fuck off to the white men at the top who feel they have the authority/place to dictate what a woman can or cannot do with her body BUT support people not being pushed to get a fucking vaccine that can help others not get sick and die. Fuck Repubs who also are that blatantly hypocritical in screaming all over the place about "Mah Freedoms! You can't make me wear masks or get the shot that will give me 5G or give me all the side effects that don't exist and I can't really explain why I don't want it anways!" Yeah, FUCK you guys. For all of the sudden being JUST FINE with Mr. Government telling us what we can or cannot do with our own bodies but when it comes to you, you throw a toddler brat attack. This cannot pass. How are we even IN this right now in this year? How?!  And a special FUCK ...

  Good morning, everyone! How is everybody doing today? I woke up too early but it's ok. Today I only have two appointment and a bit of paperwork so I should be done with work by about 2pm if things go as planned. I've transitioned all but 4 clients so my workload has dropped significantly.  Yesterday was a very emotional day. My team had a potluck at a local park to celebrate my promotion and my other colleagues departure and it was so nice. Everyone had such lovely and supportive things to say and I cried. I'm going to miss this team so much. I can't tell you how nice it has been to work on a team that genuinely loves and supports each other. It made a really challenging job so much easier to do.  A few of my colleagues and clients gave me some artwork, plants, and random things to decorate my new office with and I'm so excited to put things up. I've always held on to cards and artwork that clients have given me so having an office will be the perfect way to d...

  Good morning, GT! How is everyone doing today?  Yesterday was very busy and I'm feeling it today. I didn't get home until close to 7pm and I was tired. I ended up crashing around 9pm and slept through the night without waking up once. It was nice to get a lot of sleep. Today is another busy day but tomorrow things will slow down significantly. I'm looking forward to it.  I'm not going to be around much today but I'll be checking in from time to time to read what's going on with all of you lovely people.  How about y'all? What's going on in your world? 

At Al's excellent suggestion, here's an open thread for more mundane things today. Sometimes we need a little of both. What's going on in your world today?

  Good morning. We knew it was coming & it still feels awful. Especially leaking the news to attempt to diminish our anger. Think about how angry you are now. Try and keep this energy through June. This leak helps conservatives. It softens the upcoming blow. I find it absolutely hard to believe that any of the clerks for the liberal justices would leak a draft like this. Unprecedented. — ⚓️Imani Two-Kitchens Gandy⚓️  (@AngryBlackLady) May 3, 2022 If you're able, please consider a donation to your state's abortion fund today. The fight doesn't stop here. They're coming for marriage equality & birth control next.  Take care. It's going to be a tough one, methinks. ❤

Happy Monday beautiful people and Happy May! Somehow it totally escaped my notice that yesterday was the first so happy May Day as well! Spring weather has got to be here soon, right? I've got to do some very important insurance paperwork today. Stuff like that is so yuck and I am not in the headspace to do it. Why is is so hard to get started on that stuff sometimes? Ugh. For good stuff, I got some planting done. My petunia sprouts are doing terribly. That'll teach me to use dollar store dirt. I repotted them yesterday so we'll see how many survive. Enough about me. What's doing with you this week and for this brand new month?

Hey, folks! Yesterday was Independent Bookstore Day. I figured we could share some favorite indie bookstores for people to shop. So, do you have a great indie bookstore near you, or have you visited one while traveling? Is there an indie bookstore you've always wanted to visit? Here's the place to tell us!   This is a picture of President Obama (although, he was just a candidate at the time of the photo) visiting Prairie Lights, an iconic indie that I grew up near. It's in the heart of Iowa City, a block or two away from the University of Iowa, home of the Writers' Workshop. Anyone who's anyone has had a reading there, and they host all kinds of up-and-comers, too. They also have a nice cafe upstairs. ;) How about your favorite indie? And, as usual, be sure to tell us: 1) What book did you most recently finish? 2) What book are you currently reading? 3) What's next on your "to be read" list? 4) Are you looking for any book recommendations? Do you have ...

  Good morning, GT! Happy Sunday! I went to bed pretty early so it's no surprise that I'm up ridiculously early for a Sunday. I was hoping to make an early Home Depot run, but the location I need to go to doesn't open until 8am on Sundays. Womp womp. That is still early, but it also happens to be the same time the VERY popular bakery opens which means there will be zero parking and I'm not up for dealing with that today. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Did anyone else not realize Mother's day is next week? I thought it was still a couple weeks away so I was very surprised when I received my aunts text inviting me over for next weekend. I still need to buy gifts! Hopefully I'll figure that out today.  Anyway, I do need to run to the bank for my grandmother so I think I'm going to take Cosmo with me and we can stop and get a pastry and coffee after. Not too bad for a Sunday morning.   How are y'all doing today?