My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Fountain Pens
If you’ve been here for a while, you know I like to keep this space as positive as possible. But, every once in a while, I let in some snark. Today is one of those posts, which you probably already knew from the title.
I’m sure some, or all, of these will be unpopular opinions. However, I have valid-to-me reasons for my opinions. So, I hope you enjoy the honesty and sprinkles of snark I chose to indulge in for this post.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s most of it.
Posted in Book Blogger
by Ruth Goodman
Series: How to Be
Genres: History, Non Fiction, Victorian, English History
Release Date: October 6, 2014
Pages: 473
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★★☆
☆☆☆☆☆ – Did not finish
★☆☆☆☆ – Hated it
★★☆☆☆ – Disliked it
★★★☆☆ – Okay
★★★★☆ – Liked it
★★★★★ – Loved it
Read the full explanation of my book rating system.
Lauded by critics, How to Be a Victorian is an enchanting manual for the insatiably curious, the “the cheapest time-travel machine you’ll find” (NPR). Readers have fallen in love with Ruth Goodman, an historian who believes in getting her hands dirty. Drawing on her own firsthand adventures living in re-created Victorian conditions, Goodman serves as our bustling guide to nineteenth-century life. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work “imagines the Victorians as intrepid survivors” (New Republic) of the most perennially fascinating era of British history. From lacing into a corset after a round of calisthenics to slipping opium to the little ones, Goodman’s account of Victorian life “makes you feel as if you could pass as a native” (The New Yorker).
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for pen envy or impulse purchases resulting from viewing this post.
Per usual, you can click on the images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉
When we backed the Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) crowdfunder last year, I ordered two pens, and Jim ordered one. Imagine my surprise when Jim’s pen arrived with a stowaway! I’m honored to have been gifted one of the Intwana Kitten models with Brandon Lodewyk‘s art on it. Thank you so much to Di, Dave, and Brandon.
Not only is it a great fit for me — as a cat-themed pen — but it also means I have a pen with Brandon’s art now, putting me one step closer to having a pen with each partner artist’s work.
Before I get started, I want to make sure you know that, while the Koi and Seahorse designs are not currently listed on the SPS website, the Chameleon, Dragon, Giraffe, Kitten, Llama, Penguins, and Phoenix designs are all still available.
Posted in Cat
After Ritz was so sick at the start of the year, I thought it would be good to follow up.
As I mentioned in my BWIPS post, Ritz, almost miraculously, got better, possibly aided by antibiotics, but likely on his own. It was a huge relief after how sick he had been, as I’m sure you can imagine.
4 months on, Ritz is strong and healthy. He’s still a walking stomach, always trying to steal food from the future. He sticks a paw up the automated feeder chutes and jiggles the mechanism that turns. Since the “wings” that separate each feeding are bendy, he can often get a few kibble to drop from the next feeding.
Posted in Cat
Today, Jim and I are celebrating another anniversary of a momentous occasion. Two years ago, Athena was declared cured of FIP. Our little goddess is still living the good life.
Let’s get the “business” out of the way first. Her most recent standard vet visit — May 15 — went fairly well. Beyond the standard check-up items, she was also having some eye infection problems, which have continued. At the time of her appointment, her left eye was on a second infection, just two weeks after finishing medicine to get rid of a previous infection.
She only had one eye test this time, the Schirmer Tear Test to follow up on her past eye issues. Her tear production was very low on both eyes again, 8mm on the left and 9mm on the right. However, it’s likely that the decrease was because she had an infection in her left eye.
Posted in Fountain Pens
After how slowly the first quarter of the year went by, it’s almost incomprehensible to me that we’re already half-way through 2025. But, here we are on day 183 of 2025, and that means it’s time for a mid-year check-in on my purchasing resolutions and wish list.
My rules for this year are:
So, how am I doing?
