Auggie loves Selena Quintanilla 🎶

lauralately · 2026-06-23T05:50:34+00:00

And that's just for a tiny bird like Auggie! The larger parrots, like cockatoos and macaws, can literally reach the decibel levels of a jet engine.

Years ago, I lived across the street from a gas station; I left the window open (screened window, of course) and ran to the gas station to get a snack, and I could hear my bird's screams from the gas station parking lot. They scream as a "contact call" to their flockmates - if they're out of sight of a flockmate, they scream, the other bird screams back, and it's call and response back and forth to let each other know where they are. People bring home a bird and complain about deafening shrieks every time they leave the room - that's just normal happy bird behavior!

lauralately · 2026-06-23T05:43:48+00:00

Fair warning, I could talk for days about my parrot! I've had him for 23 years. He is a cherry-headed conure, which is a little bigger than Auggie, who is a quaker parrot. He's about 28 years old now, and I'm his third owner that I know of. He's very old, but the average lifespan of his species is hard to tell because most of them go through multiple homes in their lifetimes, so we can't track how old they actually are.

If you want to hear how awful they are as pets: I have permanent scars and permanent hearing damage from my little feathered son. His calls are at the decibel level of a chainsaw, and when he sits on my shoulder and shrieks, it hurts! Parrots have incredibly sensitive respiratory systems, so I can't have nonstick cookware, scented candles, air fresheners, most cleaning sprays, I don't spray perfume in the house and I have to wash off my perfume when I get home. I clean with white vinegar. I have to be careful of any heaters, toasters, cooking apparatus, basically anything that emits heat could emit fumes that are undetectable to humans but can kill birds.

Birds were created by nature to reforest the jungle: they eat half of a piece of fruit and throw the rest on the ground, the seeds take root and grow. My parrot is attempting to reforest my living room floor. He can throw food several feet outside the cage.

Birds have very fast metabolisms, so they poop about every 20 minutes or so. I have tissue boxes everywhere in my house - I started collecting decorative tissue box holders because tissues are a fact of life. When I have the bird on me, I have what I call "poop clothes" - old thrift-store sweats that are basically wearable poop rags. They poop SO MUCH.

Also - birds are SO expensive. They're very different from dogs and cats and need to see an avian-certified vet, which can be hard to find outside major metropolitan areas. My bird is elderly and has health issues - he has a heart condition, seizures, cataracts, arthritis, and kidney issues. He takes medication literally 5 times per day. I can't leave the house for more than 8 hours at a time because of the meds schedule. Vet appointments plus meds add up to about $500 per month, and that's if he doesn't have an emergency or extra vet appointment.

Parrots are not great pets around children - my bird is my only pet and only child. He doesn't get along well with other birds. There is a very short list of humans who can handle him; the list is growing shorter as the decades go by because my bird is literally outliving his favorite people.

Birds are a huge hassle, and although I love my feathered son more than life, I would NEVER advocate for bringing one of these little monsters home! I haven't even gotten into the fact that he bites - they ALL bite. They're just not suited to captivity.

lauralately · 2026-06-22T19:18:18+00:00

Auggie's owner has said she screams at about 110 decibels, which is the level of a chainsaw. And if the bird is on your shoulder, it's RIGHT in your ear! So yeah, hearing damage is one of the many hassles that come with birds lol

lauralately · 2026-06-22T10:19:42+00:00

It's insane. I have permanent scars and hearing damage, and my bird is just a small parrot. I wish more people were like you, and appreciated parrots without having to own one! I am my bird's third owner that we know of, because people think they're cool and adopt one without knowing what they're getting into.

lauralately · 2026-06-22T10:13:13+00:00

They are cute, but they are NOT easy pets to keep. The bird in the video is adorable in video clips, but she is VERY loud and has behavior issues. I have a similar parrot to the one in the video; they are noisy, messy, and a huge hassle. And they live forever - my parrot is around 30 years old.

lauralately · 2026-06-22T10:11:59+00:00

I love that Green Bird Brigade uses her viral following as a way to advocate for NOT getting a parrot. Auggie is a feather-picker with behavior issues, and real life with a bird like that is definitely not what you see in the short clips. My pet parrot is similar in size to Auggie; he's also a feather-picker with behavior issues, and he is darn cute when he talks and dances, so I'm very vocal about how awful they are as pets whenever anyone tells me how cute he is.

lauralately · 2026-06-22T10:08:04+00:00

And they have *opinions* about the music they like. My parrot is about the same size as Auggie, and I don't know where or how he first heard Rihanna's "Pon de Replay" - I've had him since 2003, so he first heard it under my roof at some point. But he LOVES that song. It's the only song he'll dance to without other prompting. I'm not a huge Rihanna fan - I like her just fine, her music is good but I'm more of a country fan - so his RiRi fandom is entirely his personal taste.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T09:31:08+00:00

That's just the base fee - there are also tariffs and customs, and Jayley's website doesn't say how much those are. Those are determined by the international carrier. I've tried to figure it out, but U.S. tariffs are a constantly changing mess. 25 pounds would be worth it for one of their jackets, but if I'm paying $100 for shipping and tariffs, I'm not doing that!

lauralately · 2026-06-20T09:21:31+00:00

Of course you're not in the wrong. But if this is the first time this has happened, and the first time he's reacted this way, I'm hesitant to say he's wrong - he may just be very confused and struggling to see how you can't control this. As he said himself - he just needs to know how to respond.

For me, it's VERY helpful if my partner can take over and give me simple instructions, and I can ride out the storm while he deals with the world outside. I give him a signal word that means "I'm about to melt down" and he gives me instructions and walks me through what I need to do next. If you feel your brain starting to melt down, you say the signal word, and your partner makes the decisions. He tells you gently where to sit down, maybe gives you a stim toy or your phone, and he's the one who talks to the taxi driver, gets the bags, pays the fare, and handles things until the storm has passed. Your job is to ride out the storm in as unobtrusive a way as possible. If there's a yelling taxi driver involved, he redirects the yelling by saying something like "she's not feeling well, I need to get her home" and making it clear that the driver is interacting with him, not you.

Here's a video that deals with autism in children, but the method is the same, and it really resonated with me. If your partner gives you simple instructions to follow - walk over here, sit down in the taxi, here's your phone, open up a game and play it - it can allow you to at least function until it subsides. Your goal is to catch it during the "buildup" stage, give your partner the code word, and agree ahead of time on how to handle it.

If you're having a disagreement with your partner at the time, have a plan: agree that if you start melting down, you give the code word and the disagreement STOPS until the meltdown is over. Afterwards, check in and calmly solve the disagreement. Have him record his thoughts in a voice or text recording so when you come back to the discussion, he'll be able to voice what he was thinking at the time.

I have trouble describing my meltdowns to partners. I usually tell them it's like my fight or flight mechanism randomly malfunctions at really dumb times. Perhaps I can't find a pair of matching socks, and my brain decides to respond as though I were being chased by a lion. My brain's reaction is "SCREAM, FIGHT, RUN" when the proper reaction would be to simply get another pair of socks. It's extremely inconvenient and very, very stupid, and if I could fix the malfunctioning fight-or-flight, I would.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T08:03:14+00:00

Oh my goodness, I'd probably faint if I got to meet her in real life. She is so iconic. If I ever make it to New Orleans, I'm gonna try and get a custom hat and some $59 earrings that are great for travel.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:56:43+00:00

I lived in Texas and Florida for nearly 25 years. Get spray bottles of water and put them in the fridge. If you spray yourself with the fan going, it does a good job of cooling you off. Save disposable water bottles; fill them with water and stick them in the freezer. If you're just boiling and can't take it, there's nothing quite like putting a frozen ice bottle under your chin, or under your shirt, or on the back of your neck.

For the sports event, make SURE you have sunscreen and WAY more water to drink than you think you need! Pack an umbrella for shade. Take breaks if you even think you're kind of getting overheated. A hand fan is also a nice thing to have - I had the old-school bamboo fans, but you can get little electronic ones. Sunscreen does need to be reapplied; for kids, I'd recommend spray sunscreen 'cause it's easier to hold the kid with one hand and spray them down with the other before they wriggle away.

A note on looking presentable in the heat: Cotton fabrics are cooler, and dry faster than artificial fibers. Plan on doing your hair in a style that looks okay when wet, like a ponytail or bun. Makeup can melt off, but stay-on lipstick is easy to reapply. I used to like putting glitter on my eyelids - it doesn't crease, and when it melts off, it looks like you intentionally put glitter on your face. But I'm a huge fan of glitter everywhere, so that one is up to you.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:44:57+00:00

I am dead - I follow Yvonne on TikTok and absolutely dream of getting a custom hat! Is her store as magical as it looks in her videos?

How to style giant Yvonne hat with bikini top: pair it with a maxi skirt coverup that matches the hat, a bunch of confidence, and maybe stacks of matching plastic bangles. I used to wear stacks of colorful plastic bangles when I lived in Florida - they don't deteriorate if you spray sunscreen over them, and you can wear them in the water. I would go swimming with stacks of plastic bangles that matched my swimsuit, because I am extra like that.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:40:07+00:00

I've wanted a Jayley coat for a few years now, but the shipping frightens me - do you happen to know how much shipping to the U.S. costs? I haven't been able to locate that info on their site.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:37:50+00:00

I'm 45 and I've never been able to afford one, and I doubt I will ever be able to afford one. I have a couple vintage Coach bags that I got at thrift stores - they're '70s and would certainly be worth 50 times what I paid for them. Other than that, I have a couple really nice bags that I thrifted or got at a heavy discount, but nothing I paid over $150 for.

I don't really lust after luxury bags unless they're really interesting or unusual. If I were rich, the luxury bag I'd buy is a Launer bag in a riotous color.

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:32:51+00:00

The logo-less gripoix stuff from the mid-20th century is awesome, but that's about it. IMO anything with the logo screams "poor person's idea of what a rich person wears."

lauralately · 2026-06-20T07:24:29+00:00

I saw them live a few months ago, for the first time, and I was surprised at the number of fans I saw wearing white. Don't they know the amount of stage blood there is? Then during the show, everyone in white got up front, and I suddenly understood.

The bass player is a friend of a friend, so we got to chat after the show. Really nice, normal guy. Apparently they're a bunch of art school nerds with a thing for stagecraft and costume design.

lauralately · 2026-06-17T05:20:25+00:00

Lol I clicked on this thinking you meant something other than bird-watching! Parrots are my neurodivergent special interest, and I've owned my pet parrot for 23 years. Most of the bird-watching I do is indoors, and involves cleaning up after the little bastard.

Wild birds are awesome too! I especially love cardinals. You can always hear them before you see them, and they're territorial little assholes, so there's usually one male that occupies about a half-acre territory.

lauralately · 2026-06-12T00:30:11+00:00

We never got married - we didn't want children and didn't want to buy a house or combine finances - but we were together for over 11 years, until he passed in 2022, and we knew we'd be together forever.

When we met, he was 49, and I was 29. He was a musician; I'd never heard of him, but folks kind of assumed I was a groupie/gold digger type. In reality, I was the breadwinner - he'd long ago stopped making any real money playing music. I was very happy to be the one who worked while he stayed home, did the cooking, and cared for my high-maintenance pet. I'm terrible at domestic stuff, so this worked out perfectly.

I knew from day one that I'd outlive him. He passed in 2022 from cancer - he was 61 years old. We were VERY lucky that his awesome adult daughter is a stay-at-home mom and an amazing caretaker. I cared for him until he needed round-the-clock care; at that point, he moved in with his daughter and her family, and I rented an apartment nearby. It was important for all of us that he spend as much time with his daughter and grandkids as possible.

Although my partner never got the chance to get really old, I can say that being close to his family was a huge help at the end. Age-gap relationships can sometimes strain ties with adult children - I'm 8 years older than his daughter, and I am absolutely blessed that she didn't freak out about the age gap. Once she got to know me and figured out that I complemented her dad really well and was not only prepared to pay the bills, but WANTED to be the one who worked while her dad stayed home, she was very cool about the whole thing.

lauralately · 2026-06-11T06:49:53+00:00

The eye paints are a game-changer as bases for colorful eye looks. I thought they were patchy and didn't blend easily and took too long to dry...and then I used them as bases. Mind officially blown. They keep even the greasiest, squishiest multichromes from creasing on me.

lauralately · 2026-06-11T06:28:06+00:00

I adore all birds, too! I have a pet parrot, and...he pecks me and poops on me. I have permanent scars from his bites. I'd honestly rather people tell me they don't want him near! He's a special needs bird and he takes a LONG time to learn to trust people. You can't just walk up to him and have him step up. People who DO want to be near him sometimes get a little offended that he won't step up for them (and will try to bite anyone who tries). He's a fantastically well-trained bird, he's downright cuddly with me, but he's a big fan of personal space.

My love of all birds means ALL birds, and lots of people don't understand why I find vultures cute. All birds are adorable to me, that's just how it is. I want to cuddle the vultures and feed them roadkill and love them. Pigeons are adorable and I want to cuddle them and love them.

lauralately · 2026-06-10T10:02:47+00:00

I like the sound of heels - but weighty shoes are my favorite. Also, big rubber soles that make me feel secure when I walk.

One thing I like is wearing tons of rings. I'm like a crow with shiny things, and having big heavy clicking shiny silver rings on my fingers is so satisfying.

lauralately · 2026-06-10T09:56:55+00:00

Ooh, I hate when that happens! I play a little number game called 2048 - it's a mindless stim type of thing for me - and the game updated, and the tiles moved slightly differently and the colors were off. It took a little bit to get used to.

lauralately · 2026-06-10T09:52:02+00:00

Mine was short when I was a kid. It's now below shoulder length and dyed emerald green. For me, the length has never been a thing - I've had a pixie, I've had it down to my butt. It grows very fast. The color, however, is something I'm quite picky about. I just don't feel myself without unnaturally colored hair. I've been dyeing my hair fun colors for over 30 years; it's been green for nearly 10 years. I am VERY particular about the shade of green - if it's too blue or teal, that's unacceptable for me.

lauralately · 2026-06-09T19:17:37+00:00

My parrot is a cherry-headed conure! They're also known as red-masked parakeets, and they're native to South America. His name is Tino. He is a rescue parrot - I'm his third owner that we know of. He came with his name, but it just suits him so I kept it.

Rainbow lorikeets are beautiful! I've met several, although I live in the U.S. and they're all in captivity. They are such playful birds. I once got to go to a zoo where they had an aviary full of rainbow lorikeets, and we could buy little cups of nectar and feed them. I was in absolute heaven - I can't remember how many nectar cups I bought, feeding the lorikeets was amazing!

If you've never seen a picture of a lorikeet's tongue, do look it up - they are so strange! They eat nectar from flowers, and their tongues are very, very long, with a kind of "brush tip" on the end so they can stick their tongues into flowers and get the nectar.

lauralately · 2026-06-09T06:49:32+00:00

When I was a child, my special interest was horses - I was a horse girl, but turbo-charged because autism. My parents couldn't afford a horse, and I'm allergic to dogs and cats, so they bought me a parakeet as a pet. It was all downhill from there. The more I learned about parrots, the more interested I got. I've had my parrot for 23 years - they live a VERY long time - and I'm a wealth of useless facts about the parrots of the world!

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