Happy Thanksgiving! Here's some stuff that doesn't have anything to do with Horse or Horse Words! · 5:44am Nov 27th, 2015
I had a happy one. It was quiet. It was me and the cats. I am thankful for naps, which I don't get to take enough of. I've got lots of grading to do, but today I actually spent some time on the couch just letting my cats use me as furniture and petting them. It was great, except that my girl is so affectionate that she has to pat me on the face with her paw, which contains a punch of dirty hypodermics, so I had to get up and get Neosporin and trim her claws, and then we resumed.
Miscellaneous, including cat pictures, under the break. Image heavy!
Bookish Delight just posted a blog in which she described her favorite and least favorite kinds of blog posts:
finally clicked my feed (the globe button). After digesting 750 alerts (and opening a bunch up in other windows to read in greater detail at my leisure), I realized a thing.
- Favorite types of blog posts: The ones that talk about the posters' lives, or other fandoms, or hobbies, or just jokey stuff in general. Because you're all awesome.
- Least favorite types of blogposts: Episode reviews. Because you're all wrong.
I felt rather bad about that, because mostly my blog posts are Pony or at least writing-related. I figured, hey, Pony site, no one really cares about anything except for Pony, right? Right ?????
Well, we're going to fix this right now.
First, some pictures.
Ok, I lied: there's SOME Horse content. This is what's over my desk. Note the software container for ten year old stuff (if you throw it away, the chain breaks and evil gremlins come to break your computer), the Power Ponies, Earthsong9405's Pinkie Pie, and a little drawing of bunnies by my aunt.
And here's a dash of what my Facebook page usually looks like.
Cat pictures.
Marbles. 
I just got lucky and snapped her mid-yawn.
I think Marko is concerned about the fact that I've started making him wear bow ties.
But it makes him look soooo cute.
A LOT of the stuff I re-share on Facebook is cat-related. Sometimes they're things from The Paw Project, which is trying to end the practice of declawing, and Shambala, which houses big cats after stupid people decide that they don't make good pets after all. I try not to be TOO annoying about it, but my EG Fluttershy contains a bit of self-parody. I imagine her coming up to people at CHS, lifting those big, long-lashed eyes, and saying, "Do you know that seventy percent of all kitties taken to shelters are euthanized?", and large guys from the CHS soccer team knock each other down trying to get away because they cannot stand it. And then she wonders why nobody likes her.
But I try not to make it all downer stuff. Some of it is links to Canopy Cat Rescue. These guys are based in the Pacific Northwest, and they rescue cats out of fifty to a hundred foot trees. They are hard-core. They had a show called Treetop Cat Rescue, but it got cancelled, presumably because watching guys climb trees to rescue cats isn't enough drama for a reality show. And of course there is the great classic An Engineer's Guide to Cats.
There's also a link to Hot Chocolate French Toast and My Delight Cupcakery, a place where I often do cupcake-related "research," and I Like Pie, a place for pie-related "research." Actually, I did learn a lot by going to both of these places and they figure a bit in The Looking Glass World of Cheese And Pie, but I also just like dessert. BTW, I am a bit outraged that suddenly everyone is all excited by the "piecaken" and they seem to know nothing about the Cherpumple, a dessert engineered by Charles Phoenix, involving three pre-made frozen pies, three boxed cake mixes, and a ton of canned frosting. Give the man his just desserts credit. After all, he did invent the seven layer soda pops rock cake.
Stuff that isn't related to cats or sugar is usually connected with the Harry Potter fandom. I'm pretty tied in with that. So I'm able to keep my Harry Potter class up to date on the latest news about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them or the Hollywood theme park or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Anyway, that's a good glimpse at (some of) my non-Pony and non-academic life, and now I'm off to eat some pecan pie from I Like Pie. Happy Thanksgiving!
That bit 'bout blog posts makes me worry, too, 'cause my last blog post a few days ago was a joint episode review.
Yay for kitties and bow ties!
I don't suppose you have little top hats for them?
--Sweetie Belle
3571145 No. I can get away with the bow ties because they slip onto their regular collars, which I make them wear at all times, just in case they get out. Marko doesn't even notice it's there. Top hats would press on their ears and they would hate it. But maybe someone could 'shop one on his picture.
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I guess that would irritate them, though it'd look cute. He'd much rather have his ears skritched, I'm sure.
i.imgur.com/uoeZxup.png
--Sweetie Belle
3571220 MY GOD THAT'S AWESOME
I'm actually opposite of Bookish, in terms of blog posts. I'll read pretty much anything, and I love folks around here and all, but I'm more interested in reading an essay-style post on pretty much any subject, including pony and episode reviews (even if you're wrong.
) I'm really only into personal style posts when there's big news, or if something is going on that someone has interesting things to say about.
That said, your cats are adorable. And declawing is evil, I had a cat once who was declawed (I got him from a roommate who got him from someone else. He happened to like me better than the roommate) and he was terrified of everything. I think it was partially the declawing, and partially that he was neutered too early (he was smaller than a lot of female cats I've had, and had a tiny little meow.)
I'm currently kind of in the market for a cat (we have a huge mouse problem around here, and the only reliable way any of the neighbors have found to combat it is cats) but the problem is my dog: he's fine with cats, he goes up and sniffs them and wants to be their bestest friend... until they hiss at him (which they usually do, because there's a dog in their face.) Then they are the spawn of Satan and he never forgets it, and every time we go near the cat he has to let us know it is evil and we shouldn't go near it. So, we need a very special cat.
That's a lot of cat stuff. You'd get along with my cousin, since she's a major cat person.
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He does look pretty cute in a top hat, especially in a library. I changed the bow tie color to go with the hat. I probably should've gone around the hat more, but I think it looks pretty good. I like to think he's gonna change into a human in a minute, still wearing the top hat and bow tie.
--Sweetie Belle
I am glad to hear you had a pleasant holiday.
This is probably deeply unfair to Earthsong9405, but I can't see that pic with being reminded of a dreadful Pinkie Cheese Sandwich fic, which, I believe, you reviewed. The one with the creepy, creepy Carrot Cake.
Also, cute kitties. I'd pet them, given the opportunity, but cats usually instinctively hate me. I'm a lot better with dogs. I'm not sure a cat would get along with my macaw either.
It makes me strangely happy when I hear about people enjoying peace, and the simple things in life.
Lumie is quite overjoyed to hear you had a good holiday.
You have a cozy looking home, too. The ultimate in home traits.
So I guess I rather agree with you and Bookish. These sorts of blogs are very much the best!
I too saw Bookish's blog, but honestly, I'm not comfortable with sharing personal details over the Internet, even in a community as friendly as this one.
Still, thanks for the glimpses into the Scoots2 Experience®. Though I have to say, Charles Phoenix's work terrifies me and my pancreas.
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Anyway.
So I just meant I enjoy reading more blogs that aren't episode reviews than blogs which are. This is mostly because after like three years here the episode review discussions are the ones that are the least fun for me to witness or take part in. Mainly because there are precious few people here who are on my wavelength about them.* (You're one of them, scoots.) But that doesn't mean don't post about ponies! I LOVE ponies! You love ponies! This is mainly a pony site! That's why we're here! I just happen to barely like blogging about episodes myself (I'm not a story analyst. I'm just a hipster!) Heck, post anything! I'll read anything. I just have a very miniscule list out of the people I follow whose ep reviews I'll click on nowadays, is all.
Within what you're comfortable with, anyway. I share like 5% of the "personal info" that people share on their facebooks every day. Scoots is waaaaaaaay braver than I am.
This blog is poofing fantastic, and a great example of what I enjoy seeing (not all the time, it's just variety being spice of life and all that). Seriously, cute as all get out and I love all your kitties and the decorations and that cake WHAT (my mouth is still agape watering). My horizons have been expanded a little bit by this and I've got some links to fully digest now. And hey, look, it's an annotated essay, which is beyond just fine by me.
I guess what I'm saying is, thanks for this blog, 'cause it's great, and sure I'd like to see more, but really, please don't do these out of some sense of obligation or anything?
If it's just something you wanna do, though, that's okay. That's what it should be.
*This isn't the same as "agreeing with my viewpoint" -- a lot of people just come to the show for markedly different things than I do in terms of values and purpose, to the point where reading the episode stuff just loses less of its usefulness.
Cute kitty pics are cute!
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Make stuff up.
Did you know I'm eighth in line for the throne of Andorra? 
3572666 Are you planning to join the Roman Catholic priesthood and work your way up to being bishop in a country whose language you don't speak, or are you banking on eventually becoming the President of France?
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I was shooting for being named ruler of New Zealand out of gratitude after I help them eliminate their orc infestation.
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Don't you usually have to go on missions to wipe out orcs from four or five different places before you get to that point? And there's always the village of cute, cuddly friendly orcs that makes you wonder if you should really be wiping them out...
Make sure to swipe all the duct tape you find while you're on those missions, in any case.
--Sweetie Belle
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I was planning on fire-bombing them. It's not an option that the Dúnedain had available to them, but it should be pretty effective.
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Well, be careful, then. When I do stuff like that, I usually end up respawning from my last save point after dropping one a little too close...
--Sweetie Belle