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so it turns out robaxin doesn't do anything for nerve pain, just makes me a limp exhausted noodle. Woke up and had to almost crawl to the kitchen because the pain had gotten so bad. Took advil and tylenol on top of each other again, and it helps a little, but I already know I'm spending the entire weekend in bed.

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oh?! as someone who stopped eating chocolate for the most part 5 or 6 years ago, I might actually get one of these and see if it agrees with me 👀

They finally started selling this in sizes I feel comfortable actually being able to finish and was anyone gonna tell me this is the best fucking chocolate you can buy in the US???

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The Iron Sheik (RIP)

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i haven't taken a muscle relaxant in years so taking robaxin for the first time has me. so. damn. drowsy.

"see your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following... [several side effects], sleepiness,"

"be aware of other more common side effects, such as: drowsiness,"

um. fuck the internet. why are you like this.

anyway time for a nap see you in 5 hours

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how old were u in 2004 just askin >_<

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So I was at SDCC this year, and I passed a stall in the ladies' and heard someone sobbing inside. Just bawling, fully melting down. My-dog-just-died levels of crying. And I've spent a lot of time in therapy trying to learn better boundaries around helping people, but I'm not made of stone, so I stopped outside the stall door and asked, "Are you okay?"

The woman's breath caught, and she said, "Yeah, I'm fine," in the least fine voice I have ever heard.

So I walked away. Made it all the way to the sinks. Washed my hands. And turned around and went back because nope, not fine, not okay.

"Look, I don't want to be a dick, and you don't have to tell me what's going on, but is there anything that would help? I've got water, ibuprofen, and safety pins, and I could find other stuff."

"No, no, it's fine. I have those too."

"...okay."

I made it to the sinks again. She went back to sobbing like her heart was being torn out one strand of muscle at a time.

An older woman sidled up to me. "Did she tell you anything?"

"Nope. I offered her water and ibuprofen, too."

"Oh! I've got snacks. Maybe that'll help."

"Worth a shot. Oh, hey, I think I have some of my business cards for my Etsy shop in here—I could write my number on one if she needs help later."

"I've got a pen!"

We hurried back to the stall, offered the snacks, and were rebuffed. Finally we slid the card and the pen under the stall door, explained that we were both mom friends/teachers/etc. and trying to help-not-creep, and reluctantly fucked off. I personally felt like shit about it, but I had places to be and I felt like I was close to overstepping the crying woman's boundaries if I hadn't already done so. And if I'd made her feel unsafe, well, she could toss the card.

The following morning, I got a text from an unknown number.

She identified herself as "Rose from the bathroom" and explained that she'd had a hell of a day, with multiple people being cruel to her, seemingly for no good reason. She'd hit her breaking point and fled to the bathroom to cry it out ... at which point two strangers had rocked up, checked on her multiple times, and generally done the dance of most social mammals when a member of their group is in unexplained distress. The two of us had, more or less accidentally, restored her faith in humanity by being worried apes at her. 18 hours later, she was having a much better time, and a lot of it was due to the two of us shoving things under her door.

Anyway, turns out we live about 20 minutes apart, and we're going to meet up for tea after we've recovered from con exhaustion.

So if you ever feel like humans in general and/or fandom humans in particular are irredeemable shits, remember that sometimes the same species who'll ruin your con day will try to slide trail mix and ibuprofen under your stall door in case it helps.

I still don't know what Rose looks like, btw (although apparently she knows what I look like—I mentioned I was in cosplay and she said she'd seen me around). I don't know whether she's cis or trans. So next time you hear someone bitching about trans women in the ladies', feel free to tell them that it never once crossed anybody's mind to ask. If you're crying in the bathroom, you're my sister.

Maybe take the trail mix, though. We apes worry about one another.

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I'm 70% in agreement with you here - I personally think American cheese and cheez whiz are FOUL - but steak and good Italian provolone cheese are a fantastic pair, especially on toasted Italian bread. Salty, smoky, gooey.

this is the most confused you've ever made me. what's wrong with roast beef fried with cheese? it's delicious.

Some things are better without frying or cheese

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I think the confusion is the definition of "fried." Here in the states, frying something often means just putting a little oil or butter (somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15g) in the bottom of a shallow pan or on a griddle, and tossing something around on top until it's cooked through. This is technically sautée or stir fry, but most Americans would rather call it frying. (Mostly because people associate stir fry with Chinese American food, and sautée with French food, and nationalism is insidious. I digress.)

Deep frying is what you're thinking of, when something is dipped in batter and dunked in ~2kg of boiling oil. Cheesesteaks aren't that. Maybe someone at a county fair has done this as a stunt, because booth runners at county fairs are notorious for deep-frying things that shouldn't be.

Case in point: Here, fried onions can be three different things: stir fried, french fried or "frizzled" (deep fried without breading), and deep fried (onion rings or onion blossoms).

The onions, (sometimes) bell peppers, and roast beef in cheesesteaks are stir fried on a flat griddle, just long enough to be cooked through and with a little bit of char on the edges. The veggies are piled onto the meat, provolone or american cheese slices are laid on top, and the pile is covered with a pan lid so the heat from the griddle will finish searing the meat and melt the cheese. Then all that is scooped into a bun. Some people don't use sliced cheese; Instead they stir fry everything, put it in the bun, and spray cheez whiz on top. The original Philadelphia cheesesteak is still at Pat's Famous Cheesesteaks, at the corner of 9th and Passyunk, in South Philly. Gino's Steaks (across the street at the same intersection) insists theirs is the better sandwich, but apparently they use the same suppliers for their ingredients. I've never been to Philadelphia myself, so I have no opinion either way. Ive had knockoff cheesesteaks, though, and they're pretty good. See below: American, Provolone, and Whiz cheesesteaks.

Anyway after doing an hour of research to find helpful images I've made myself ravenously hungry. I hope this clears up any confusion!

this is the most confused you've ever made me. what's wrong with roast beef fried with cheese? it's delicious.

Some things are better without frying or cheese

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Y'know, I would care a lot less about the memeification of male pregnancy if there wasn't such a massive overlap between people who memeify it and people who throw a massive tantrum when trans men and mascs ask for even the bare minimum of inclusion in reproductive rights.

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Guys, it got so much freaking worse. KOSA is bad, but SCREEN is even worse, somehow.

"Sen. Mike Lee has introduced the SCREEN ACT, a bill that applies the "harmful to minors" standard used to ban LGBTQ+ books and resources in schools and libraries and apply it nationally to the internet.

Any site that has any amount of material "harmful to minors" would be forced to employ surveillance tech (biometric scans, ID uploads, background checks) to prevent minors from accessing "pornography."

You will not be surprised to learn that this is backed by the Heritage Foundation.

Unlike some of the state age-verification laws, many of which are being challenged in court, SC will be enforced by the FTC, which has the ability to levy fines, raid business and freeze bank accounts. Yes, meaning that even non-for-profits like Ao3 will suffer.

This is something for all US users to keep on their radar. Call your reps, call your senators, and spread the word to protect our archive!"

- When talking with Republicans play up the fact that this would force Elon to implement age verification systems on X (yes do call it X during the call). Elon's been threatening to primary Republicans who stand in his way so there's fear of him. Also play up concerns about "Liberals" doxxing people or Chinese hackers.

- When talking with Democrats, play up the connections to Project 2025 and suggest voters will not be happy to see Democrats siding with it.

Republicans:

Ted Cruz, Texas (Chairman) - Phone: (202) 224-5922

John Thune, South Dakota - Phone: (202) 224-2321

Roger Wicker, Mississippi - Phone: (202) 224-6253

Deb Fischer, Nebraska - Phone: (202) 224-6551

Jerry Moran, Kansas - Phone: (202) 224-6521

Dan Sullivan, Alaska - Phone: (202) 224-3004

Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee - Phone: (202) 224-3344

Todd Young, Indiana - Phone: (202) 224-5623

Ted Budd, North Carolina - (202) 224-3154

Eric Schmitt, Missouri - (202) 224-5721

John Curtis, Utah - Phone: (202) 224-5251

Bernie Moreno, Ohio - Phone: 202-224-2315

Tim Sheehy, Montana - Phone: (202) 224-2644

Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia - Phone: (202) 224-6472

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming - Phone: (202) 224-3424

Democrats:

Maria Cantwell, Washington (Ranking Member) - Phone: (202) 224-3441

Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota - Phone: (202) 224-3244

Brian Schatz, Hawaii - Phone: (202) 224-3934

Ed Markey, Massachusetts - Phone: (202) 224-2742

Gary Peters, Michigan - Phone: (202) 224-6221

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin - Phone: (202) 224-5653

Tammy Duckworth, Illinois - Phone: (202) 224-2854

Jacky Rosen, Nevada - Phone: (202) 224-6244

Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico - Phone: (202) 224-6621

John Hickenlooper, Colorado - Phone: (202) 224-5941

John Fetterman, Pennsylvania - Phone: (202) 224-4254

Andy Kim, New Jersey - Phone: (202) 224-4744

Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware - Phone: (202) 224-2441

SCRIPT

Hi, my name is [], and I am one of Senator []’s constituents. I live in [city, zip code - leave your full address if leaving a voicemail].

I am calling in regards to a bill that was recently introduced in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transport: the SCREEN act.

I am asking Senator [] to either take no action or vote against this bill because of its implications for freedom of speech. [insert one of the other concerns listed above]. Thank you for your time and for listening to my concerns.

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Beyond the Door.

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Working on my Inner Growth 😉 This one took way longer than it should 😞 I wanted to try out a new style in Procreate but the brushes didn't want to cooperate so I ended up with my old style, except it looks kinda off. I will have to repaint this on properly in Paint Tool SAI one day.

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I love playing in gboard's emoji kitchen.

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COSIGNED. Not quite the same, I fell asleep during an episode of D20 Starstruck once and whooo boy. Surreal scifi dreamscape on neon kublacaine. RiGhT oN 💤🔫👾

Oh pro-tip do NOT put on Make Some Noise when you're falling asleep and sick you'll have some catastrophically weird dreams.

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Today’s advice from your Goth Auntie

Stop slouching, drink some water, take your meds.

Of course you’re tired, there’s a lot going on. Let’s all try to rest. 

The Lurking Horror refuses to get out of its blanket nest. I don’t blame them.

❤️ Auntie Jilli