#vr-trakowski

Hey Sam - are you talking about "If you believe" from Prince of Egypt? Cause I searched and couldn't find a song called "There can be miracles" and am desperately curious.

Yeah, it’s tehcnically When You Believe, I went back and changed it -- I always mistake the title (both lyrics are in the chorus) because I haev a ukulele tab version that calls it There Can Be Miracles. 

vr-trakowski replied to your photoset “liho907lilo: momoiro-megane: ♡ Creative Garlic Shape Pet Bed ♡  ...”

Sulk clove!

For when you’re feeling extra smelly about sulking! :D 

kimmiesue13 replied to your video “doctorwhoarchiveofrandomness: My six-year-old (who has recently...”

Damn, Six year olds sure learn different stuff than I did when I was six. This is so cute!

When I was six I was obsessed with stop motion animation and other monster-movie special effects, but when I was six home movie cameras were still a bit of a luxury, so I just had books and Wil Vinton movies -- I’m so glad that kids now have access to so much I didn’t and can make little animations like this! 

airmidcelt replied to your post “Good [time of day] Mr. Badge! I have a lot of knitting and crocheting...”

May I ask why post-apocalypse are a hard no? There are definitely some genres that I look at once and back away from at high speed.

I did an essay about it here on tumblr a while ago that I can’t find now, when I was getting about one recommendation a month for Zombies Run, but the short answer is personal taste, really. Part of it is that very few apocalypse or post-apocalypse stories are built on hope; most seem to be a kind of voyeuristic exploration of people being awful to each other, which is not only something I’m not interested in but also sort of contradictory to how we know people react in disasters. Rebecca Solnit wrote a great nonfiction study of this called A Paradise Built In Hell, but the book also sort of proved to me that I didn’t want to read postapocalyptic literature regardless of its levels of hope, because I had a really hard time with the nonfiction book. So yeah, I could talk about the flaws in the genre, but I also make exceptions on occasion (Snowpiercer comes to mind) and it boils down to basically “It’s not my bag.” 

elladoraevans replied to your post “elladoraevans replied to your photo “Monster is IMMEDIATELY IN THE...”

This sounds counterintuitive, but try a fine sawtooth edge. It's what we use at the library and if you get a dedicated cardboard cutter, you can even cut circles out for the cryptids to jump in or peer out.

Yeah, someone in asks suggested to me a cardboard knife with a serrated safety edge, and apparently they run about $8 at hardware stores, so I’m going to pick one up and try one of those. 

mycatchphraseisgoddamnit replied to your photo “I have a brief statement to make and will not be taking questions”

Please inform your cat that they are baby

2/ Oh, and I forgot: posit that whatever medication etc. you use here can be found there, or some kind of in-universe equivalent. 

Oh my god, this is one of those terrible questions that always gives me the cold sweats, because EVERY fictional universe has something dreadfully wrong with it, sometimes just because it’s set before modern technology and thus there are no flush toilets or PlayStation, and sometimes it’s built ugly, like The Hunger Games.  Also, a huge question is whether or not I would be one of the people who had magic, was a noble, knew about fairies, had superpowers, etc., or whether I’d occupy a similar social station.

I would probably go to an alternate earth, if I could.  Like the setting for Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye books would be a good candidate.  Not much would change except maybe Raleigh would be Cait Sidhe.  Or, like, the generally-benign but superheroic world of Sky High.  There are supervillains, but it’s not a scary world.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?“How do you sit?” he asked before he could stop himself. “How do you lie down?”Because I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT. Lying down, I can see. I guess. But even if her wings are 90% feathers sitting would pose a challenge.

Shouldn't it be "Pratchettarian?"

No, Pratchettarians are people who only read Terry Pratchett books :D 

rionsanura replied to your post “rionsanura replied to your post: It’s time. ...”

O U SO RITE, I did think you were talking about the churchbird. This falcon escaped me and you win

I thought you might be thinking of the church bird! Which is also a delightful touch, don’t get me wrong. 

kink-tomato replied to your post “memprime replied to your post “It’s time.” I...”

I too was like “is the implication that Aziraphale doing the ‘bad thing’ was giving humanity the MEANS FOR WAR in the book and been going over my head for 20 years??” So I looked it up and it sure enough, after War is defeated Azi picks it up and says “gosh, it’s been years since I used this.”

Yeah, I’m feelin’ real poor at reading comprehension right now :D Several people have pointed out he even SAYS IT’S HIS in the book. 

tienriu replied to your post “It’s time.”

Sam Sam Sam, please explain the Petronius joke. I still don't get it.

For context, Petronius wrote the Satyricon, which is one of the more infamously filthy works of ancient fiction -- it’s most well known for the scene of Trumalchio’s Feast, which describes the extravagant hedonism of a long Roman meal among what we would consider the noveau riche (it’s a satire of pretension but that’s not relevant here). So on one level it’s just very apt that Aziraphale, a lover of fine food, has found a guy who really appreciates hedonism. 

But also, the Satyricon is CHOCK FULL of LOUD GAY DRAMA, including a lot of gay sex, so it’s in keeping with Aziraphale constantly ending up hanging around the gay clubs. :D And in this instance, with him saying that Petronius does wonderful things with oysters (an aphrodesiac since classical times), it’s a bit like Aziraphale is suggesting that he will definitely put out if Crowley comes to dinner with him. 

greaseonmymouth replied to your post “It’s time.”

consider that Crowley put together a heist - in soho, where Aziraphale lives - as a ploy to get Aziraphale's attention :DDD

I mean. Considering the food industry, the specific oil/fat is probably just partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

The ingredients list says soybean and palm, so six of one, half dozen of the other I suppose, but it’s pre-melted into the bread in a way that I’ve found difficult to duplicate. I should watch a How It’s Made or ask Bon Appetite to help or something. :D 

bears-official replied to your post “Sam you mentioned frozen garlic bread was a splurge for you. Have you...”

I LOVE THAT GARBAGE SO MUCH

A) Sometimes you just want garbage food! and B) NEVER HAS A COMMENT BEEN MORE ON BRAND FOR A USERNAME

Also I had no idea how many people loved shitty freezer garlic bread. Truly I am among my own kind. 

docbeeski replied to your post “The Vanishing Of Schultheis”

I'm so keen for the Tamam Shud story to be solved one day. It's got everything - the Cold War links, the missing labels on the clothes, the mystery numbers and texts in the book, the state of his shoes, all the clues being found and tracked down and leading to nothing...

Not to mention one of the main investigators on it now married the granddaughter of the nurse they’re pretty sure was involved with the dead man! 

 musegaarid replied to your post “niennanir replied to your post “The Vanishing Of Schultheis” ...”

Just because I know you like trivia and language: the word "Mayan" refers only to the language that the Maya speak. It's a really common error. (Is there a word for something that is said incorrectly more often than it's said correctly?) Anyway, there's your fun fact for the day. ;)

I had no idea! Thanks for the info. I couldn’t find a term for a word used incorrectly more than correctly, but I would like to suggest mallitera which has the added bonus of sounding like one of the most wrongly used words in English, “Literally” :D

vr-trakowski replied to your post “The Vanishing Of Schultheis”

I read "sorry about the bananas formatting" as the bananas were doing the formatting, and something like the Muppet Show instantly formed in my head. Now I want felt bananas formatting. Something.

I can picture a felt muppet banana at a typewriter SO CLEARLY

kink-tomato replied to your post “niennanir replied to your post “The Vanishing Of Schultheis” ...”

I found one source claiming his remains were found in November 1956 but there’s no citation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Interesting regardless! Lay a link on me if you got one still! 

themarchrabbit replied to your post “niennanir replied to your post “The Vanishing Of Schultheis” ...”

I meant he was a spy for the United States. The US was...very horrifically involved in politics in that general area at the time. So my thought was that he got 'disappeared' and everyone in both governments was just kind of...."who?"

It's tiered! I've never seen one like that, that's neat!

It’s pretty cool! I was looking for the one-level trackball one that comes with a scratching bit in the center when I stumbled across them. 

vr-trakowski replied to your video “Life feels pretty terrible right now in general so I offer all of you...”

I can see her zipper!

LOL yes. She does appear to have a seam where the spite was sewn into her. :D 

thewittiestpartition replied to your post “Okay, so I did go to Target, which is very nearby, since I needed...”

The idea of needing to take a shopping cart up to another floor is just so alien??? Even in malls with stores that need an escalator, its just a normal one and you're expected to either carry stuff (Its just clothing stores) or buy it on that floor. This seems so strange and unnecessary.

Well, that’s the thing. With Target, there are no purchase points in the departments -- there’s just the one row of cashiers, the way there is in a grocery store. And if you’re, say, buying five pounds of flour and a two-liter of diet coke and a bunch of bananas and a 12-pack of toilet paper, expecting you to carry those upstairs, to then add three t-shirts, a box of baby formula, and some legos for your toddler, then carry them back downstairs to the purchase point, is a bit on the unfair side, or at the very least it’s consumer-unfriendly. Even if you start out on the upper floor, imagine having to cram all that shit into a hand basket and then carry it around a shop about twice the size of a grocery store, especially while minding a child or three. 

I guess...think of it as if a mall only had one exit and you could only pay for stuff at that exit. Now imagine you had to hand-carry everything in the mall you wanted to buy to that one checkout point. You’d want to be able to load up a cart, especially if you were shopping for a family. And now imagine that you had your cart full of goods, but the last thing you needed was in a shop on the second floor. 

Hence, cart escalators. Especially since it keeps the elevators from jamming up constantly.  

akatonbo replied to your post “Okay, so I did go to Target, which is very nearby, since I needed...”

Maybe in Chicago most Targets have two floors (although I'm pretty sure I've been to a Chicagoland Target and it didn't; could be wrong tho since as traveling Michiganders we usually stuck to Meijer), but I have never been to a two story Target in any of the... idk, half dozen states I've been to a Target in. If there's room for a strip mall, there's no need for two stories.

Yep, that’s why I mentioned specifically urban area Target stores in this configuration -- that doesn’t include areas like Chicagoland, which are considered suburbs of the urban district. In urban Chicago, you know...there isn’t room for a strip mall. Of the three Chicago Targets I normally shop at, none are in a strip mall. Only one even has significant parking available. 

You should have gotten a couple of mustardy packages from the Vermont Country store, too. (One apparently only just mailed, but the other should have been there a while.) :/

Oh noes D: If it’s any consolation I haven’t checked in like two weeks, so I will keep an eye out for it! 

batbetbitbotbut replied to your photoset “Post Office Bounty part two! E from San Antonio sent me a “Sage...”

someday you're gonna get a nap gourd for yourself

Oh man. I dream of the day I sleep in a giant felted orb of comfort. 

thewittiestpartition replied to your photoset “Post Office Bounty part two! E from San Antonio sent me a “Sage...”

I have a cat that doesn't enjoy stepping on soft things either. She rarely ever makes biscuits and even then it's just for a moment.

Mine don’t make biscuits either! I wonder if the two things are related. 

tyrannosaurus-trainwreck replied to your photoset “Post Office Bounty part two! E from San Antonio sent me a “Sage...”

Such Spartan babies. You take such good care of them!

I do my best! They really just don’t seem to be into soft things or warm things. I thought they’d love the electric blanket but they won’t go near it, and they don’t give a crap one way or another about the electric heating pad. 

junker5 replied to your photoset “POST OFFICE BOUNTY! You guys, I have to apologize. Some of your cards...”

Yay! I was afraid the post office lost tgem...but I didn't want to ask and make you feel sad! :D

Aw, I’m glad the package arrived safely!

codenamezinc replied to your photo “EXTREME BEANS”

Her foot is reminding me of a dinosaur... is your cat part dinosaur?!

It would honestly explain so much. 

winds-wanderer replied to your photo “EXTREME BEANS”

That's some awesome stretchy beans. Took me a while to figure out her pose though. All pretzel shape

She’s a bendy child :D 

scifigrl47 replied to your photo “EXTREME BEANS”

I think someone's giving you a subtle warning about further vet visits.

“See these? It’d be a shame if they ended up in your skin.” 

vr-trakowski replied to your post “OK, so there's a question: Why don't iPhones etc. sing a little song...”

Er...what iPhone are you using? Mine has the pushbutton tones.

Ages ago I read a cat guide that designed homemade food on the principle of "let's build a mouse", which included small amounts of grains/vegetables because that would be what the mouse hadn't finished digesting. It seemed fairly logical to me.