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You need to draw and make art or else all the images will stay in your head and you'll get sick

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I was going to embroider a rose or something in the corner of this handkerchief, but then I realized I could do a wizard, so obviously I did a wizard.

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I reblogged a comic the other day about a doctor watching House, MD and diagnosing toxoplasmosis, tagging it with "you're more likely to get toxoplasmosis from a salad than a cat". There's a story behind that.

I used to work in the kennel at a vet clinic. One day one of the vet techs came into the kennel in a tearing hurry, handed me two cat carriers, and said, "Find a cage for these two. Don't know how long, but you can put them together." And then she left.

This was not how that was supposed to happen. I had no cage cards--no names, no feeding instructions, no health information--they weren't on the schedule, and techs didn't usually intake boarders. Medical cases had a separate kennel, so a tech shouldn't be bringing me an animal in during office visit hours. But I had a cage in the cat room, so I tucked them in--two adult females, very friendly, apparently healthy.

Half an hour later the tech came back--with cage cards--and said, "It's okay, they're staying overnight and going home tomorrow." She slumped against the kennel wall and told the cats' story.

They had been brought to the clinic to be euthanized, to die.

These healthy, friendly, beloved cats had been brought in to be killed, because a woman's doctor, her obstetrician, had told her that they had killed her unborn baby. He told her if she ever wanted a child she had to get rid of the cats. He told her they should be euthanized before they killed any other woman's unborn child.

He said, with no evidence, that they had toxoplasmosis. He said that toxoplasmosis caused her miscarriage.

The woman was distraught. She had just lost her baby, she was dealing with the hormonal changes of the pregnancy loss, and now she had to euthanize her beloved cats. Fortunately no vet I've ever worked for will euthanize healthy animals brought in by a sobbing client without asking why!

The vet spent almost an hour talking to the woman, educating her on toxoplasmosis, telling her all the reasons her doctor was wrong.

Not all cats have toxoplasmosis, and even when they do they only shed the oocytes in their feces--they're only infectious--for the first few weeks. Most cats are infected as kittens and are no longer infectious as adults. According to Wikipedia, "Numerous studies have shown living in a household with a cat is not a significant risk factor for T. gondii infection,[61][63][64] though living with several kittens has some significance.[65]"

Most people get toxoplasmosis from raw vegetables, especially salad greens that grow close to the soil and are hard to clean. Raw or rare meat, raw seafood, and unpasteurized milk are also a risk.

Toxoplasmosis can be a soil-borne disease from feces in the soil. Gardening is a greater risk than cat cohabitation.

Toxoplasmosis infection is dangerous to the fetus in pregnancy, yes, causing birth defects and miscarriages. But only the first time the person is infected. If this this woman had lost her first pregnancy to toxoplasmosis--and the vet said it really didn't fit the symptoms--she would be at low risk in a subsequent pregnancy.

So basically the vet told the woman that 1) her miscarriage probably wasn't toxoplasmosis, 2) even if it was, she probably didn't get it from her cats, 3) even if her cats had given her toxoplasmosis, they weren't infectious anymore.

The woman kept her cats and got a new obstetrician.

Human doctors get a few lectures on zoonotic diseases--diseases transmitted from animals to humans or vice versa. Veterinarians get semesters. If a doctor ever tells you your animals have given you a disease, get a second opinion from your vet!

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The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

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I couldn't have said it better myself.

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Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018), dir. Arwen Curry

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I bought this and I was not disappointed. Some glorious patterns.

Hey y'all!! I'm so incredibly proud to announce I'm a part of Spellbound Stitched Vol. 3: The Bookmark Book!

My pattern, the botanical bookmark, is one of 27 absolutely gorgeous designs by various amazing designers in the cross-stitch community. 🖤

You can get your hands on this amazing collection starting now until the 17th of November, by donating $15 USD to one of the 5 chosen literacy charities.

The link below has more info on where to donate and how to get the patterns. Just know that you're getting 27 kickass patterns AND are supporting amazing charities at the same time. 🥹

https://bit.ly/4fiQEcO

BIG thanks to @badstitched for pulling this whole project together, and appreciate you for inviting me to contribute!

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And, as always... the floriography of the flowers in my design explained:

🌻 Osmunda Regalis: dreams, wisdom

🌻 Papaver Orientale: imagination

🌻 Anthemis Nobilis: ingenuity, wisdom

🌻 Aquilegia: wisdom

🌻 Prunus Rainier: good education

🌻 Helianthus: warmth, wisdom

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they call me the nuance lover because I love nuance

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they are back

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Braceletes I've been making 🤘

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I have a folder called Time is a Flat Circle in which I collect evidence of humanity. Here is most of them.

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Ursula K. Le Guin

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they should invent a hobby that doesn't require potentially destroying your wrists