We got word that kiddo’s parents appeal was denied. I am happy but also… so freaking sad. And mad? Like, how the hell can her parents not move mountains to get this amazing little girl (and her equally amazing siblings) back? She is my whole world right now. I love her beyond words. I can not wait to have her open to adopt so she know she will have a stable home for absolutely forever. I don’t care we still have times where she hits and kicks me. That is trauma and why we have family and individual therapy.

I also found out I owe my sister-in-law. Husband comes from a dysfunctional family. His father was a casualty of the opioid epidemic, and they went through a ton because of it. He never believed he could be a father which led to his reluctance to start this process. She sat him down and said that he could have me and get on the boat of fostering, or I would find some other way without him. He got on board and now he and kiddo have the best bond. She adores him and they giggle and play.

So peeve, that I’m still mad at parents, but also joy because I get to be in this girl’s life.

Sam Niell

@Pavel Okay, so I didn’t invent her presence on that one whole cloth. Whew.

Going to have to check this out.

@RightMeow said in Real life happy:

As my return to school isn’t a big deal to anyone in my actual life, I just wanted to share because I can. I am about halfway through my estimated timetable on my degree. I am double majoring with 18 credit semesters while working management for 40+ hours. I’m in accelerated courses to achieve the goal faster. I just got my certificates to say that I have again maintained my dean list holding that I’ve had the whole time and a merit award for taking part in the student insight committee.

That is all. I return you back to the game opens, closes, and dramas.

Thank you for reading.

From someone who was also an adult student carrying a full-time course load while working a full-time job for something like seven years over two degrees:

What you’re doing is incredibly hard. Anyone who doesn’t think it’s a big deal doesn’t know what they’re talking about. You should be enormously proud of yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pjzRJstARnE

@Wizz what a handsome

@Faraday CUTE!!

Because this is topical for me today with the final part of Wind and Truth coming out (yay, finally, I can start it!) …

Cannot possibly recommend the company Graphic Audio enough as an audiobook experience. It was my gateway drug back into reading after an embarrassingly long stretch of fractured attention span. Their tagline is ‘A Movie in Your Mind’, which it pretty well succeeds at. They make everything a full Radio Play experience, with sound effects and music and a sprawling cast of voice actors for each book.

The only downside is that they do tend to retain the same voice talent, so if you bounce around between some series, you’ll be like, “Hey wait, why’s Wit here? Oh, no, he’s not. Just the same voice.”

Either way, cannot recommend it highly enough. The actors really swing for the fences, and when it lands, it lands so well.

I got my only accusation of racism as a school counselor over schedule changes, and upon investigation, realized where it came from. I was denying schedule changes according to the written policy, but certain students (mostly wealthy and white) appealed over my head to a vice principal who made the schedule changes they requested, so it very much looked like some students were receiving favorable treatment (which they were, just not from me).

Unfortunately, there was no denying that the school and district had issues with systemic racism, which made it understandable that parents would become frustrated.

@Roz obvs so nothing dethrones the AoA thread post count.

@Rathenhope said in AI Megathread:

two potential clients (the biggest we’d have) both went “we consider any use of AI to be high risk and we don’t want client information anywhere near it”

Just casually send me the names of these clients so I can get our CEO to try and sell to them, I really want to see that metaphorical ice bucket tipped all over him when he hears that.

Ashkuri’s doodles are awesome. Characters, postcards, random drawing from an offhand comment I made as a joke. Good stuff if you get a chance to take them up on it.

@Cobalt I’ve asked. I’ll message you privately if I get a bite. 😉

I think we all know where we should go

edit: wow that’s a big image

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@MisterBoring said in FAT BEAR WEEK 2025:

Chunk is the winner. Also, I found out he’s got a broken jaw, so the injured contender story probably pushed a lot of votes his way.

“His face looks sad and that makes me sad” versus “his belly is very round and that makes me happy” definitely came into play in a few of my votes for Chunk. The broken jaw is going to be a permanent issue for him, so I hope he continues to have several more years of being a very fat bear despite it.

Arguable, but the Teshigahara film Woman in the Dunes is based on The Castle by Franz Kafka, specifically the first part and the reaction by the villages. Also, please watch Woman in the Dunes, it is beautiful.

@Third-Eye shhhhh they were beautiful and I loved your poems

Not at all related to @dvoraen’s work, but here’s my latest. I have a hard time resisting t-shirts and this one was $3.80 on Temu, and is awesome.

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