(Mix and shake that metaphor and pour it over ice and serve it up with a wee paper umbrella!)

Somebody today on Another Site was mourning the Old Days on LJ which made me think of:

All the various Old Days in my life on and offline which were by their nature transient -

- but that transient didn't mean that they didn't have lasting effects/influence.

(I will spare dr rdrz accounts of various short-lived initiatives I encountered among the archives and in the course of Mi Researchez which nonetheless echoed down the years.)

Also that even had things not fallen out the way things did with LJ (hiss, boo, etc) by now it would almost certainly not be the same experience as it was in the 00s - people would have come, people would have gone, our interests and energies would have changed....

So we would probably be nostalgically regetting the glory days before [whenever].

I've just had a cute, kinda meta conversation about psychological safety at work.

I mentioned it offhandedly in the big team meeting this morning and just now a colleague called me just to ask about it. He said he hadn't heard of it before but he was interested. I'm no expert but I tried to explain that it's about feeling safe to challenge people, to be unpopular, to be more of your whole self at work.

It was nice that I could use an example where he once asked me about a new colleague he started working with who uses they/them pronouns; he wasn't sure what that meant or how to use them so he asked me.

And of course him asking me this is itself an example of psychological safety. Something that he noticed himself at the end of the conversation. He's cool, I really like him.

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/wedding-missed-marks-vol-458-2026

Ever seen Cornelli lace? It's this pretty icing technique Jennifer wanted on her wedding cake:

But instead, her baker got a little really drunk and had a silly string party:

Bottom Tier: "Hey, I think I'm actually better after a few drinks!"

Middle Tier: "MOAR BEER MOAR STRINGY THINGS WHEEEE"

Top Tier: [face down on the counter, blindly spraying icing all over the room]

Meanwhile...

Kimberly decided on something a little more rustic for her wedding:

...but this really goes against the grain:

And Brittany T. ordered this loveliness for her wedding cake:

You must admit, her baker did a crackin' job:

o.0

Also, if you watch those embedded BBs long enough, I'm pretty sure they'll slowly sink into the cake and disappear, ala the La Brea Tar Pits.

Who's hungry?

Thanks to Jennifer H., Kimberly W., & Brittany T. for fueling bride-to-be nightmares everywhere.

*****

P.S. In case this post wasn't painful enough:

Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes

There are a lot of "dad joke" books out there, but this one has awesome ratings AND the word "spiffing" on the cover, so it's a clear winner.

Good news, there's a Volume 2!

Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes, Vol II

This one has the word "spiffing" in the title AND comes with a lovely green-and-gold cover, so folks will recognize your sophisticated taste while begging you to stop telling these terrible, TERRIBLE jokes.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/wedding-missed-marks-vol-458-2026

Posted by Daily Otter

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/5/12/never-underestimate-the-importance-of-aunties

Via Monterey Bay Aquarium, which writes:

Ivy helps Willow grow to new heights. 🌿☀️

Before new otters Suri and Willow joined our exhibit, the pair spent several weeks settling in behind-the-scenes with the help of our animal care team.

While Suri proved to be a bit more confident, cautious Willow was slower to warm up to her new home. But the moment she met Ivy, Willow’s confidence bloomed! 💚🌷

At 14, Ivy is currently our oldest (and blondest!) exhibit otter. Her mature, mellow presence helped Willow relax and we saw her confidence grow! Ivy was instrumental in helping her acclimate to her new home.

Willow’s already branched out after her first few weeks on exhibit. She’s spending more time with lively youngster Opal, while Suri’s totally captivated by our confident and clever Selka. Their care team has even noticed Suri mimicking her new mentor!

In the wild, southern sea otters like ours live in social groups called rafts, floating through the waves with fellow female companions of many different ages and temperaments. 🦦 The ever-changing relationships between our non-releasable otters give us humans a rare and precious peek at the unique social dynamics of this beloved species.

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/5/12/never-underestimate-the-importance-of-aunties

1. Gaining or losing a Prime Minister between general elections in the norm and not the exception

(tags:politics uk history )

2. Why a slice of Edinburgh is being bought up by overseas owners

(tags:housing edinburgh scotland migration )

https://xkcd.com/3244/

https://xkcd.com/3244/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260511.html

These people are not in danger.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260511.html

Not only did diffrentcolours greet me this morning with "Happy Minnesota statehood day," this evening he got me blueberry muffins.

Because the other day when he looked up Minnesota's state soil (when the polycule was talking about gardening and V and I were waxing poetic about how amazing soil is, as we do) he saw that a) this date was coming up and b) the state muffin is blueberry!

(Of course states are bullshit, the United States doubly so. Land back! But blueberries are tasty.)

Having spent a fair amount of time last week finally doing some prep for forthcoming talk on condomz - well, at least pulling together existing visuals from former presentations and digging up a few fresh items to create suitable slides - get message that advance bookings are being very laggardly (apparently a problem with event programme generally?) and they may have to cancel.

SIGH, though I feel this is not lost work and may very well come in useful at some time.

And of course they may not have to cancel, bookings may pick up I suppose.

In rather more cheery news, a little while ago I bopped off an enquiry to The Academic Press with which I published The Co-authored Volume, since I have not heard from them for many a year, and in spite of the fact that lo, 'tis over twenty years now since it burst upon the world, it is still in print. (And still getting cited, yay.)

And I must say their website was a bit of a nightmare to navigate and I ended up sending a plaintive message to a very generic enquiry email as I could not find any other relevant one to apply to.

Behold, I have heard from an Accounts person that they sent a cheque to Former Workplace in 2020 (hah!) which was never cashed, surprise - what between lockdown and the various staff upheavals I was not at all astonished to hear this - but they have now sent me a statement of the royalties accruing (a very modest sum) and asking for my bank details.

Which is better than a bat in the eye with a burnt stick, do admit.

(I am not sure whether the royalties match up to the amounts earned for the same work via the Authors' Licensing and Copyright Society over the same period, but I am not sure that I am massively motivated to check.)

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/passive-aggressive-cakes-2026

Everybody loves getting a cake, right?

Well, unless it's one of these.

Hah! Wait, you are joking, right? Uh, yeah, I think maybe I'll pass - thanks, though. Really.

No, seriously; now you just seem too eager. Keep your stinkin' cake, alright?

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Back off, Chucky-boy!

No!

Well, I should think so! You're supposed to be sweet little confections, not all threatening and...

...eek! Uh, no problem, mister Cake, sir - not a word from me, nuh-uh!

Kelly, Moxie, Michele H., Ashley C., and Nikki P., I've been trying to cut down on sugar lately, and I think it's getting to me. If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go lay down for a spell...

*****

P.S. For folks who appreciate a good linguistics lol:

"Synonym Rolls" T-Shirt

"Just like grammar used to make," hehehe. More colors at the link.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/passive-aggressive-cakes-2026

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4469

archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

← previous	May 11th, 2026	next
May 11th, 2026: Unrelated, but I just saw one, so: shout out to birds! You sound nice and look pretty. Very solid animal, in my considered opinion. – Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4469

Posted by Daily Otter

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/5/11/snacking-in-the-bath

Photos by Erin Lundy via Aquarium of the Pacific

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/5/11/snacking-in-the-bath

1. Pressure Mounts in European Parliament to Curb Alumina Exports to Russia

(tags:russian trade Ireland materials )

2. LLMs prefer CVs they wrote themselves the majority of the time, regardless of quality

(tags:cv ai )

3. Iran mulls taking full control of all 7 undersea internet cables passing through Strait of Hormuz

(tags:Iran internet doom cable )

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260510.html

Orion never had a sword like this.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260510.html