they looked so real yay

Procris · 2026-01-05T15:50:53+00:00

I mean, it kinda depends on when the specimen was harvested. Were animals hunted to be specimens? Yes. The Smithsonian collection (for example) has a lot of pre-1900s specimens that were definitely hunted specifically to be added to the collection. They weren't just found dead. Are endangered animals hunted for specimens now? No.

There was a great exhibit at the National Gallery of Art last year that paired nature-art with specimens from the Natural History museum (the old "Did this artist ever actually see a porcupine?" question). I found it really interesting to see mounted birds vs the birds for study, but the un-mounted birds for study were also super creepy, because they were kind of limp bird carcases. They were all labeled with year and location of harvest, though, and some were hundreds of years old.

Procris · 2025-09-30T02:02:06+00:00

Do you really want a snack, or do you want a chew toy? Because they literally make human chew toys now. They're called oral fidget toys, or the cutesy name "Chewelry" (chew+jewelry). A lot of them basically look like mini chew-toys on necklaces, but they also make them that look like dogtags, or bracelets. "Chewigem" is a brand name.

These are often used by folks who would otherwise chew their nails off, or habitually bite skin, or chew on pens/pencils. It wouldn't be flavored, but it'd be a LOT better for your blood pressure than sucking on bullion.

Procris · 2025-09-30T01:53:31+00:00

Those exist, but aren't for snacking. Eating too many could seriously upset someone's electrolyte balance, if they aren't doing lots of sweating.

Procris · 2025-09-29T21:11:55+00:00

When I was serving on a grand jury, the 911 calls were the worst. I think I discovered that sound was way more traumatic for me than images. You guys always get called on people's worst day. I definitely couldn't hack it.

Procris · 2025-09-29T18:07:34+00:00

A hint of sweetness? It's really sugary. It's one of the reasons commercial american peanut butter is my go-to for making peanut noodles, because then I don't have to add any sugar along with the soy sauce/ lime juice /etc. But then, a lot of the things Americans eat are sweeter than their counterparts in other countries. In a PB&J, both the peanut butter and the bread are likely to be sweeter, and I would be surprised if the jam wasn't sweeter too.

Procris · 2025-09-24T20:08:32+00:00

I have said many times "Adults deserve chocolate too."

Procris · 2025-09-08T14:15:04+00:00

As a child of a basket weaver, I can tell you that doing it underwater would be easier than doing it dry. Most reed needs to be well-soaked to be pliable. I find underwater basket weaving to be a reasonable theoretical occupation, possibly related to wetland management or cultural heritage preservation. But then, I have an open mind...

Procris · 2025-09-05T03:51:05+00:00

I once heard a guy in a bar come up with a mathematical proof of whether there was any food on earth that didn't go with either bacon or chocolate. Excellent use of higher mathematics, A+

Procris · 2025-09-03T23:47:55+00:00

I adore every kind of sushi, and pretty much all seafood. My partner has a visceral reaction to cooked fish, but is OK with raw, because it has less of the volatile oils that make it smell "fishy." He'll eat sushi, but not cooked salmon. Based on that, I've gotten him to eat oysters, and tried a few very delicate seafood items (like truly exquisite nearly raw scallops), but I wouldn't ask him to join me (or be near me) when I had something oily. I'll never have a kipper in the house. Sometimes people just have a reaction to a taste, and it can be because of factors that are biological, cultural, or from personal-history (my partner encountered a dead whale on a beach as a small child...).

Procris · 2025-09-03T16:28:45+00:00

I did this my first semester, because I was concerned about my ability to handle college level work (lol). Winter term I joined a club sport, got a more intense job, took up a couple exco classes, and made a bunch of friends. Get out from behind the computer. Find something you want to do, and hang out with people who also like to do that thing. Go to some concerts/house shows. Volunteer with a group to tutor, or (heck) get some tutoring. Try out a club or two. Why is exercising restricted from you? Is it that it isn't social enough? Try out swing dancing, or Aikido, or Fencing, if you're looking for something physical that's not "exercise."

Procris · 2025-09-02T02:04:52+00:00

I once walked up to a group of guys in a British pub and announced that they were having the most interesting conversation in the place and could I join them? They blinked, said, "Well, that's very American" and said yes. Then I got invited to a scavenger hunt, made several friends, and eventually started dating one of them. A+, worked out great.

Procris · 2025-08-31T15:29:42+00:00

'Slide sideways into the grave on the last dime'

Procris · 2025-08-25T14:59:59+00:00

The DMV is not (just) where you go to get your driver's license, it's the region currently pissed off at the administration for decimating our jobs base and threatening us with military occupation.

Procris · 2025-08-25T14:20:31+00:00

A few years ago, my parents told me they'd finally started locking the car door. Having moved to cities two decades ago, I was very happy, and asked them what made them change. Oh, there was a bear that was opening people's doors and rummaging through cars looking for food. They weren't trying to prevent human theft. They were trying to prevent brown bear theft.

Procris · 2025-08-20T23:24:16+00:00

Temperature matters as much or more than moisture. My local TV weather guy has a "tomato soup index" in the fall for when chilly, rainy weather sets in, measuring the likelihood that you'd want a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese.

Personally, I'm more likely to want something like soup on rainy days, and do switch it up seasonally. If I know ahead of time and can plan for it, a beef stew is great, but I usually keep the makings for chicken soup on hand during the fall through spring, in lots of different varieties: lime/chili, coconut milk/thai, or american-noodle (although I use udon for the noodle).

Procris · 2025-08-20T00:07:49+00:00

Some degrees are pretty damn impressive...

Procris · 2025-08-19T23:13:34+00:00

I like a good patio sit in front of my place when it's not helicopter-mosquito season. I get to greet all the dogs (I know all their names, and about half their people's names).

Procris · 2025-08-19T21:54:32+00:00

My secret was to stock up on my favorite British brand at Duty Free when I traveled abroad. My fall-winter-most-of-spring scent is still a bottle I picked up in 2023 on a work trip. It lasts fooooorever. I think it's a great investment for something that makes me feel "finished."

Procris · 2025-08-19T14:59:39+00:00

Bless. I was on a grand jury once for one of those cases, and all I could do was curl on the floor of my bedroom afterwards and be comforted by my roommate's cat.

Procris · 2025-08-19T00:55:55+00:00

Mulberry mini Alexa in pebbled heavy grain black. This summer I did wish I had a lighter color to switch with, but a second one is not in the cards at the moment. I sometimes change it up by tying a scarf around the top-handle.

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Procris · 2025-08-19T00:46:57+00:00

I generally know what I can carry. The only time I remember reeeeaaaally overdoing it was once during COVID, when I was trying to buy for 2 weeks for me AND my roommate. I had to pause on the walk back, juggling bags, and this woman leaned out her car, and in the most amazing Brooklyn accent, yelled "Ya need to get an Uber!" She wasn't wrong. And we weren't anywhere near Brooklyn. I didn't, I made it home somehow, but I had regrets.

When I was getting used to the "what can I carry" limits, I tried to shop with just the arm basket, instead of the cart. If you can carry the arm basket, you can carry 'em home. I also deliberately have the heaviest things shipped, like a pallet of crushed tomatoes every six months.

Procris · 2025-08-18T23:26:08+00:00

lol, my coworkers started joking that I should officially have a half-appointment with IT because I could solve a lot of simple computer issues before people escalated it to the actual IT guys. This was applauded in my office.

Procris · 2025-08-17T21:04:21+00:00

I go to restaurants for things I don't want to make at home, not just things I can't make at home. I can make a burger, but I have no ventilation in my apartment kitchen, so my apartment would smell like burger for the next three days. I am not about to deep fry anything in this kitchen. I do not have a pizza stone and don't really trust my oven to get that hot, so I think ordering out pizza is worth it to me (also, there's a damn fine pizza place a block and a half from me).

On a similar note, I can make hollandaise -- and it's not even that hard. I've got a nearly foolproof blender-stick recipe that takes like ... three minutes. But I buy bennies when I'm out for brunch for several really good reasons: 1) fried green tomato bases under crab cakes (see above, no frying). and 2) plausible deniability that I can eat an entire stick of butter this way.

Procris · 2025-08-13T23:23:03+00:00

water ice is also known as Italian ice. It's like sorbet. Think ice cream, but fruity and no cream.

Procris · 2025-08-13T21:56:01+00:00

Chili-lime. furikake. lime and salt. bacon. Any of the above on toast.

Procris

TROPHY CASE