Dawn breaks
And blossoms open
Like the gates of paradise.
-Saimu
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| Utagawe Hiroshige |
Backtalk: A Medium Place
Featured Post
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday OT the Third of the Day Probably But Maybe Only the Second Depending on Whether Rooo Finds a Topic for Parlez Vous and Finds Time in Her Busy Schedule to Compose It
That look you get when you announce you're going to talk about a weird dream you had last night. Like, OMFG I hate you so much right now Boredom ahoy arrr ye mateys Calgon take me away. We've all been there right? Your dreams are fascinating to yourself and only yourself, and you cringe when someone tells you theirs.
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| '80s Brother HQ-220 listed on eBay. "OUT OF STOCK," apparently. Pish. |
Sunday, April 28, 2024
The Gallery
It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.
They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024
Friday Evening Post
Good evening.
It is Friday, April 26th, 2024. "William Gaines’ Trophy Room by Christian Slade".
Fur Face Friday
Friday Morning Open Thread
On April 26, 1954, the Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia
I think the Salk vaccine was injected and Sabin was the oral one but you get the idea.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday Ratatoskr OT, I guess.
I had to take spouse and older daughter to Roscoe Village last weekend, had about an hour to kill whilst some specialist attended to certain womanly issues. Don't ask. About four blocks from the location of their appointment is the Chicago Rat Hole. I sauntered over and took a peek.
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| Image found on WMAQ site, no credits |
Blaurgh!Talk
Hello! Everything is too hard and it sucks!
What's getting up your craw today? Is it up or in? and wtf is a craw anyways? BLAURGH!
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Wednesday OT BB Not Back?
Assuming Bertolt is snubbing BT for Passover. Or maybe forever. Or maybe he just forgot.
Or he's just needing extra comfort from his community, what with antisemitism on the rise. (Anti-everything is on the rise, really) In any case, I hope he returns after the 30th at the latest, and I can go back to typing up the two OTs I post a week. I don't see a blaurgh post for tomorrow either, if anyone cares to post something.
Wednesday Morning or Something Like It
Spouse injured her foot and has been home all week. Coupled with certain scheduled days off from school for the kids, I haven't had much time to myself.
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| George C. Scott, Patton, 1970, dir. Franklin J. Schaffner |
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday purposely misspelled
Whither BB? Here's a spring photo of budding oaks in the backyard. I was looking for an injured baby squirrel. I hope it's okay
Tuesday Haiku
Don’t weep- insects,
Lovers, the stars themselves-
Must part.
-Kobayashi Issa
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| Gyoshu Hayami |
Monday, April 22, 2024
In the Blue Monday Zone
As of the 11th of April, I'd only watched nine movies. Only four were ones I hadn't already seen. I sought to rectify that. I was feeling like garbage so I watched Road House ('89). The story is basically every cowboy movie ever made – Good guy cleans up the town bar (but ends up cleaning the town along the way), flat out murders the bad guys, gets the girl – and every single 80s revenge film. The eighties... hot sweaty man-on-man action and topless women galore. Joel Silver is the EP, so you know it's a quality product and not the least bit gross.
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The Stranger: I like your style, Dude. Dude: Well, I dig your style too, man. Got the whole cowboy thing goin'. The Stranger: Thankee. |
Sunday, April 21, 2024
The Gallery
It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.
They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
Fur Face Friday
Hello and welcome to Fur Face Friday, where we spend the end of the week re-upping our cute endorphins. Last week, the cute eclipsed our gloom as usual. Though Kiltedpadre’s Edgar may have appeared to be experiencing some feline ennui.
I am one with the floor.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Thursday evening open thread
It's been said that having people over to visit is good motivation for cleaning, so I've been puttering today, doing some deep cleaning; the tops of kitchen cupboards, the cupboard doors, ornaments on open shelves, and shredding some more papers. If I do just a bit every day, it should be in some kind of decent shape when my friends visit next week.
Blaurgh!Talk
Thursday Morning Open Thread
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Wednesday Evening OT
International Haiku Poetry Day
We cannot see the moon
And yet
The waves still rise…
-Masaoka Shiki
This world of dew
Is a world of dew
And yet… and yet…
- Kobayashi Issa
It's Time for the Wednesday Morning Open Thread
A couple of years ago: A brindle boxer on a crowded corner stopped in his tracks, singled me out, and dragged his tiny owner away from crossing the street so he could get some scritches from me. Rolled around and showed me his belly. Owner was apologetic, some passersby were like AWWW but more were like I've got places to be do you know who I am get off the street ya dog lovin' bums.
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| This is a dog |
Late aughts: I was at the local video store, crouched down to peruse the lower shelves, when a greyhound stopped in his tracks and stuck his head under my arm. He was stressed out. The owner fostered rescue greyhounds, and this guy wasn't used to being surrounded by so many people and wanted to hide. Petted him for a while and forgot what I was doing. First daughter was around two, and my brain was broken, so I checked out Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the third time, thinking we hadn't seen it before. I could blame the dog, but he was sweet and without sin, a very good dog doing his very best. God, I hate that movie. That movie that I've watched four times now but only once on purpose.
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| This is a dog |
Early nineties: At a club called Red Dawg or Redd Dogg or Dead Rog, whatever it's called, probably something else the very next week. I stepped outside to get some air (i.e. smoke a cigarette) and discreetly dispose of a phone number. It was a harrowing night, but then every night at a club is. This was way worse than usual though. I was escaping from someone I'd accidentally felt up. I was reaching for the booth behind me and didn't know she was there. So there I was, looking at a small blond who's looking at my right hand cupping her left boob. I stammered my apologies, but she just laughed and said, "Aw, that's all right, honey!" and danced suggestive grinding dances a couple feet from me for a very long time. Outside I sat on the steps trying to erase the last thirty minutes of my life when a woman with a bulldog walked by. The dog stopped and laid his head on my feet and wouldn't budge. I proceeded to squish that adorable monster face while he licked my hands until his owner decided it was time to go. Lovely consensual petting for what ails ya, and doggy slobber made the phone digits illegible*. Good dog.
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| This is a dog |
Late nineties: On Inishmore off the coast of Galway. Ireland hadn't had a case of rabies in decades so dogs and cats roam free. There we met Ollie, a medium black and white mutt, as soon as we disembarked from the ferry and he walked with us like we were old friends to our hostel (Mainistir House but it sounded like "Monster House" to my ears and elicited an enthusiastic "Yes! I want to go to the hostile monster house please," from me), but looked back at us impatiently when we started unloading our gear. We said thanks and good night to him and he growled at us and his edges started to shimmer. He snorted as his shape changed to that of a large black horse with glowing blue eyes. He became more indistinct, into something shadowy and manlike, his eyes catching fire, like fwoosh! fwoosh! sizzle crackle!
He said, "Aye. And this is how ye thank me, eh, gasol! Know that to offend me, ye offend the Queen of all the Fae and her minions also!"
"We're American!" I yelled as he rose into the air and vanished, fireflies and oak leaves swirling although it was too cold for fireflies and there were no oak trees there, the smell of a cookfire nearby. Mainistir House was gone. We had passed it miles ago, in fact, and were terribly close to the edge of a roiling, roaring sea. Where Ollie had been were the cliffs at Dun Aengus, and had we followed him, we would have fallen to our certain deaths!
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| This is Dún Aonghasa, the Bronze Age fort falling into the sea |
But my spouse doesn't remember it that way at all. She says we had a lovely time, but I wouldn't trust her. She hits the crack pipe pretty hard.
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| This is Sparta |
*****
⭐️GOOD MORNING, BACKTALK⭐️
*****
* Yes, she gave me her number which I hadn't asked for. Ugh. Can you imagine being known as that guy who pretends to grope women accidentally as a pickup move? I can, and think about it way too often. I wasn't a club kid but many of my friends were so I went to lots of clubs and parties. Would have reminded me of Party Girl, had that movie existed at the time, minus the Hot Lebanese Falafel Vendor of course, and I've always had a deep respect for the Dewey Decimal System. Had a book with me most of the time but strobing lights and thumping bass made it difficult to read. Also, I had short platinum blond hair at the time, if you can picture it. Say, I'm beginning to suspect maybe this post wasn't about dogs at all...
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| This is Parker Posey |
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
2zday Evening Open Thread
Tuesday Haiku
The spring ocean rising
And falling, rising
And falling all day.
-Yosa Buson
| Katsushika Hokusai |
Monday, April 15, 2024
Monday PM (USofA) OT – Seven Cats and One Dog
Polly the calico, as you already know, will reach up and catch your hand between her paws, draw you down to her level to pet her cheek, roll over and let you pet her belly.
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| Lumi the whatever cat in her tent |
Lumi the whatever cat, likes to crawl under the bedsheets with a polite "Please prop up a tent with your knees, okay thanks bye," and fall asleep in the tepee you made. If your hands are under the covers, she will lick them all over.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Bun🐇day later 🐰T
The eclipse cover photo for the Gallery is so moody and beautiful I almost didn't want to post and knock it from its top billing. That said, who doesn't love a good Pin/Insta fail?
Anyone have any favourite recipes for spring? I picked up a few cookbooks at the library to switch things up a bit. I might make some fresh rolls later this week. They're easy and a great, packable no-cook lunch. how-to-make-summer/fresh-rolls
Should I give the peeps cake a try?
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