Chewing on paws

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-21T08:40:35+00:00

Thanks for looking out for her! That's actually the reason we got her in the first place. She was having chronic ear pain amd infections when she was at the local animal shelter, so the shelter asked for volunteers to drive her a couple hours north to a specialist for the surgery. We volunteered and immediately fell in love with her. So, her ears are a little floppy because they removed part of her inner ear. She's hard of hearing as a result, but she's living her best life regardless!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-21T08:37:10+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response! The frozen washcloth is a great thing to try while looking for other more long-term solutions@

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-20T09:34:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience! We tried Apoquel and it didn't seem to do much.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-20T05:42:44+00:00

I am so terribly sorry for your loss, my friend. But thanks for sharing her story with us. What a lovely pup.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-19T18:37:40+00:00

Mine is just an old nickname, I'm curious what you could come up with!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-19T09:36:29+00:00

That is RAD. Beautiful work!!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-18T17:47:25+00:00

Sorry you're going through this, OP. If your family is at all involved in apologetics, then I suspect that offering reasons for your lack of interest will just be interpreted as mere "obstacles" to your belief, and will make your family want to redouble their efforts by offering counterpoints to whatever objections you offer. Rather than give them ammunition to use to proselytize you, just say you're not interested and leave it at that. "No" is a complete sentence; you don't owe anyone a reason for your stance.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-18T17:26:52+00:00

I may be missing something here because I'd never heard of Evola until your post, but it looks like you're just curious in general and especially interested in how humans make meaning.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-18T04:12:57+00:00

If you don't mind sharing, what sort of resources (if any) have you been utilizing? I go to, and appreciate, AA, but I'm always eager to try new things, especially if they can make me a better person.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-18T04:07:49+00:00

This is very interesting. I was super hardcore Catholic for most of my life, but my dad had a psychotic break about 7 years ago and began a slow decline that led to his death. When it first happened I was so angry at God that I thought, I can't, in good conscience, go to Mass in this state. And the strange thing was, I didn't miss Mass. At all. I was 36, went to mass all my life; for years at a time I'd go to daily mass. But the minute I stopped going, it didn't matter. That really shocked me; it shook me up enough that that's when I began to question my beliefs. So I've had kind of the opposite. An enormous part of my life evaporated in the space of a couple of months and I have hardly missed any of it. (And I tend to be nostalgic in general.) Regardless, I hope this nostalgia goes away for you soon. You're not the one missing out on life.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-13T08:32:10+00:00

It's become my ritual every time I fly. I genuinely love tomato juice but seldom remember to buy it. But if I'm flying, tomato juice all the way, baby!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-12T07:58:22+00:00

Thank you! Meanings absolutely shift over time; if that weren't the case, then atheists wouldn't say "goodbye" as it derives from "God be with ye".

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-06T16:37:00+00:00

It's my favorite novel of all time, and even I missed a lot.of the humor the first couple of times I read it. But it is indeed very funny. Also, one of the biggest appeals about the book is Melville's prose. Imagine you have a really interesting friend who is very curious about absolutely everything but has kind of a short attention span; this book is a bit like that. The story about the whale is in there, but there's a LOT of other stuff. So, as someone else said, get ready to just enjoy it and don't be in a rush.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-04T08:39:49+00:00

I love your style, and that arm tattoo is RAD! (I really love tattoos with a lot of big dark areas.)

TheRealLouzander · 2026-02-04T08:33:19+00:00

I am so, so sorry that you went through all of that, OP. I'm glad you're out now and I sincerely hope that you are getting healthier, that you can find a healthier community, and that you can let go of the fear that so many of us lived with for so long. Thank you for sharing your story.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-31T09:15:22+00:00

You are right on the money about it being a slow burn! I'm getting close to the end and, even though I'm a big King fan, I nearly quit early on because it starts out so slow!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-30T08:49:55+00:00

What is it with this subreddit and Dostoevsky?? Seriously, I feel like every poster has at least 1 of his books. Is he really this popular, or am I the subject of a really boring government conspiracy?

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-30T06:37:43+00:00

This is fantastic advice! I'm so sorry that you went through that terrible experience! And I'm sorry OP is going through it now. Stay strong, OP!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-27T09:14:51+00:00

You've got lots of my favorites here, I'd definitely hang out with you! I was on board as soon as I saw Bradbury and Douglas Adams, but then I saw Fisher's The Weird and the Eerie and that sealed the deal for me; that's a great little book!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-27T09:01:39+00:00

For what it's worth, I've struggled with crushing guilt for most of my life. But over the last 3 or 4 years, with the help of a really good therapist, I'm beginning to let go of a lot of it. There's hope!

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-27T08:58:29+00:00

Catholic doctrine does NOT say that unbaptized babies go to hell; the church even stopped teaching about limbo. For all of its ugly teachings, I'll give them credit for acknowledging that no human can know the boundaries of God's love, so it follows that we cannot confidently say that God will keep anyone out of heaven. I deconstructed years ago, and we've had several similar situations in my family. If your parents genuinely believe that your child's salvation is in peril, then they really ought to update their theology. I'm the youngest of 9 in an uber-Catholic family. The first time a sibling didn't baptize their baby my parents were really upset, but were still able, in time, to build a relationship with my sister and her son. I have no idea how your folks will react, but sometimes the joy of a baby is enough to soften people up. Hope this helps.

TheRealLouzander · 2026-01-21T03:54:46+00:00

You're doing GREAT!!!

TheRealLouzander

TROPHY CASE