polliwog

Yup, nothing like illness and weddings to make family members go apeshit.

That sucks. I hope you can find some way of getting a good meal into you more regularly. I feel so run down and gross when I'm living on cheap restaurant food and take out, though maybe I just have a wimpy constitution. I hope someone's taking care of you, too.

Some ravens were nesting down the street from where I work at Wellesley College and they set up a webcam. The baby fledged on graduation day. It was fascinating to watch this little family, and I hope they return next year. An article about corvid intelligence

I've had a seagull steal a sandwich out of my hand in mid-flight and been pursued by a herd of wild turkeys. Birds can be assholes. Still, I love crows:

I have no idea how many warehouses are that bad, but I'm guessing that Amazon and ModCloth aren't the only ones. It feels arbitrary and hypocritical to boycott ModCloth only because I know someone who was affected when there are undoubtedly tons of other places I buy stuff from that have bad labor practices, but I guess it's a start. It's frustrating, though, and I guess the solution is to become better at thrifting.

Oh my god, those are horrible. It kinda looks like you're wearing an anatomical illustration of ovaries. More seriously, my friend got a life-ruining, seemingly incurable case of carpal tunnel and god knows what else from working in the shipping dept. of ModCloth, so I don't buy from them now. I imagine a good deal of warehouses are as bad, though. (And H & M has its own set of serious problems. I hope one day to be able to buy ethically-sourced clothing without a hassle, but that's another discussion...)

Are we going to see a bigger picture of that Nina Blanca anytime? :) Apologies if I've missed it elsewhere.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but can we talk about something more exciting than money? Like, I dunno, baked goods? Sexy hairy man legs? (I love that almost every picture appearing in the widget right now is of hairy man legs.) It just seems like the topic of tipping has been exhausted. Perhaps it's not my place as a non-moderator to say this, though. Hair removal is actually one I've wondered about - if it's not a part of your body that's usually shaved, is it better or worse to shave beforehand?

Here's a Giger-inspired piece from Chad Chesko, if this helps: Instagram

It's going to be on my calf so maybe I should invest in some maxi skirts - though it's hard to find ones that don't swallow you when you're 5'1". I'll check out H & M too. Thanks everyone!

Good luck with cutting back on your Internet usage; I'm trying to do the same. This forum will be the poorer for your absence, but life is so much better when it doesn't involve hours in front of a screen.

I've had a relative in hospice recently too, and it is grim, despite everyone's best intentions. I hope she's being well cared-for. Best wishes to both of you.

A woman's psychotic overreaction to her son's tattoo - an old thread about this article I remember having a discussion with my friend who hates tattoos about how nuts this lady is when this article came out. As for the declining editorial standards of the Guardian, I'll put up with the fluff (and read some of it - Sali Hughes basically taught me how to do makeup) as long as they continue to break things like the Edward Snowden story. My mom dislikes tattoos ("too big and too colorful") but realises that she raised me to make my own decisions.

oh the huge manatee That would be just about the most tasteless tattoo imaginable...

I would absolutely get a manatee jumping over the moon. Manatee dirigible. A manatee dirigible with a giant cock and watermelon stripes...

I just grabbed one of the last spots with Chad K. in 2 weeks after a lot of dithering. Now I'm going to make a superfluous post on here because I'm happy about it. On one of my scheduled days off, no less. Thanks for the final nudge, @Graeme.

So I'm going to have a fresh leg wound in June, and I was wondering if anyone here could recommend some lightweight, work-appropriate (doesn't need to be too formal, I can wear jeans to work) pants that wouldn't irritate it. I wore leggings for my first calf tattoo, which worked out fine, but it'll probably be too hot for those. I'm having a hard time finding something like linen or bamboo pants that doesn't look awful and cost a hundred dollars. I'm a bit fashioned-challenged, though.

I wanted to resurrect this thread (because it's a great one, one of my favorites on this forum) to share these legs in progress by Mike Shea. I think they're gorgeous. I'm sure a lot of folks on here have seen these, but it hopefully it doesn't hurt to bump good old discussions to the top.

I've been seriously thinking about getting a Chad Koeplinger flash illustration of an owl with a flaming head. I saw it while I was getting tattooed in Ohio and immediately wanted it tattooed on me but felt conflicted because, well, it's an owl. But it's an owl with fire...

I read that. I just remembered that there's a Transformer that's a panther/car. Now I'm stuck with a terrible 80s tattoo in my mind. As you were.

More beer tonight, from a freebie "Comic Book Day" glass. It's Fuller's ESB. Next up I'm going to join the filking circle at the LARP convention. Love that beer, incidentally...it makes me sad when people assume Australian beer = Foster's

I'm sorry to say that it makes me think of Transformers... (sorry for me that is)

This is happening. That beer is Bee Tea from Night Shift. I don't usually go for spiced beers, but this is nice. Ignore my big stupid face; drinking it from a Wonder Woman tumbler makes it better

This solid baby sunscreen from Aveeno has been very helpful as the sun's gotten stronger. I always have one on me for emergencies. It's probably pretty useless if you're covered but works well for reapplying to small-to-medium sized tattoos in places that get a lot of sun exposure, and it doesn't stink/feel greasy.

Just sending good wishes and positivity to @MadeIndelible.