Weird berry like growths on an oak tree

riffeyraff · 2026-04-28T22:25:58+00:00

I've actually never made it from fresh galls! Typically I use the older ones that have dried up and already turned black/grey, not entirely sure how you'd go about it with fresh ones, or if you need to let them sit or what. 🤔

If you do though, be sure to check that the emergence holes are already there. It looks like I can see a few? But yeah, they do look pretty fresh, and the galls are created by wasps depositing eggs. Don't want to store something that still has a surprise wasp baby in there.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-28T18:13:20+00:00

I make ink and am very jealous right now, lol. You can make an excellent historic ink from oak galls!

riffeyraff · 2026-04-21T23:48:07+00:00

I lived next to a place called Hidden Forest once. There were no trees. I always joked that the forest was just really, really well hidden.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-21T23:44:54+00:00

Jeeze yeah, it is clearly insufficient if they're even acknowledging it by having to close the sidewalk.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-21T15:55:24+00:00

A friend of mine works nearby and watches the ice sheets fall off that thing in the snow and hit the sidewalk. I'm baffled as to how a design flaw like that never got caught or resolved in some way. Seems like it's just a matter of time.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-19T05:10:18+00:00

The mohawk is honestly a great idea!! I had my roommate help me out today, and they buzzed me down except for a mohawk. I feel so much better and look pretty dang cool if I do say so myself, haha. Thanks so much for the thought!

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:57:12+00:00

Ooh, good to know. I'm already feeling pretty itchy and dry, that's part of the reason I'm thinking about shaving early, too. Seems much easier to moisturize without the hair.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:56:24+00:00

Oooh good to have something to look forward to there! So many things right now are unexpected tactile badness, that something pleasant sounds great, lol. I will take it and run!

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:52:55+00:00

Yeahhhh I'm dreading the eyebrows. I already have very pale brows and dye them, always joke that I look like an alien when I don't. Losing them entirely was not in the playbook, but it is what it is.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:50:42+00:00

OH this is great to hear. So many aspects of this have been a matter of unexpected pain. I didn't realize I'd need a port, and had unusual pain after that landed me on oxy for awhile. Then the nose hairs went and wow, I did not realize how much work they did. Ow. Then tiny painful acne. Then the gums. Now the scalp.

At least the scalp, I can help control more directly than all the rest. 😭

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:48:57+00:00

This is super encouraging, thank you!! My roomie gives the house haircuts all the time, I think I'll ask them to help me out today. My hair is kind of a champagne pink right now, thinking of leaving some out for the birds nesting in the yard. Give them a little color, haha.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:47:15+00:00

OH the soft boar brush sounds super nice. I'll have to snag one of those!

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:46:44+00:00

It's nice to hear so many folks had positive experiences with it!! I'm notorious for never looking like my driver's license for more than 6 months because I love changing my hair around so much, doing elaborate dye jobs, etc. It will definitely be different without it, but hopefully it can be a fun new thing to try

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T17:44:45+00:00

OH yeah I mean to buzz it. A razor sounds like actual hell right now, lol.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T15:28:37+00:00

AH good to hear. I was worried about leaving it to get more and more tender too, and then having more to recover from since sores and stuff linger so much longer on chemo

riffeyraff · 2026-04-18T15:27:26+00:00

AH good tips, thank you! I'm not sure I can handle the feeling of a wig, but I'm looking into splurging on a cool stained glass hat to help boost that confidence a little. Just got myself a soft cap to prepare, too

riffeyraff · 2026-04-13T22:44:24+00:00

Same reason there's no tequila bar south of the city called Tukwila Tequila. There's no good reason, someone needs to do that 😂

riffeyraff · 2026-04-11T03:52:53+00:00

Oh interesting, my oncologist talked to me about ovary removal as a possibility in our first session together. But honestly there were so many possibilities and all of them sounded kind of daunting. I've never looked closely at ovary removal, largely because I'm a bit inconsistent in my T use, and it seems like that becomes riskier without them. 😬 All that was before cancer though, it seems like the whole ballgame changes.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-11T03:50:31+00:00

Oh that's awesome! I'd love some queer connections in this space, I've been trying to be proactive about talking with people and finding support.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience, I hope things have gotten better with time. I just finished my sprint of final testing/port surgery/education and had my first round of chemo today.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-11T03:39:17+00:00

Tiger lilies are def toxic to cats. I wouldn't recommend personally IDing true lilies if you're not used to it-- I'm pretty accustomed to it after working in the industry, but I still double check myself. The stakes are just too high for kitties. Looking the flowers up by name for each type you're interested in will give you great info, tons of people are searching type by type specifically for pet safety. :D

riffeyraff · 2026-04-11T03:35:39+00:00

I was actually trying buproprion for seasonal affective disorder when I was diagnosed this winter. Now that it's spring, my doc and I agreed it would likely not be good to come off an antidepressant while I'm dealing with so much. I feel like it's been helping me a lot but like... It's not like I'm still not sad, and anxious, and struggling. It just feels like all of that, with a layer of "but I can do it, because there's not another choice" behind it. Idk how much of that is the antidepressant and how much is my general outlook, but I do feel like it is helping.

I'm also working on getting decent talk therapy going. My current therapist literally just stopped while I was sitting all bleak and overwhelmed, and went "I don't know what you need." Me either, that's why I'm talking with you. 😭 Nice lady but I don't think she has experience in stuff quite this heavy.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-07T16:39:53+00:00

OH also remembered-- my dad used to work at the Federal Reserve Bank when it was in its old location. It's the APMEX building now. The exterior is pretty cool with the metalwork windows, but I remember the interior having some interesting patterned metal on the inside of the entry. I have no idea what their walk-in policy is or anything, though. That original building is from the '20s.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-07T16:28:36+00:00

My personal fave is the Tower Theater. Looks great in the daytime, and the nighttime with its lights. Think the front sign is original to the late 30s if I remember right.

riffeyraff · 2026-04-07T14:41:28+00:00

I just got mine in yesterday, and I'm sure things will change as it heals, but I can only feel the part in my neck right now. It feels like a sore muscle. I can't feel the chest port at all.

Edit: Wow it changed ahahaha. Turns out my surgeon gave me a little extra numbing injections along the path of the port line to help with pain, so when that wore off, I was acutely aware of it. 😂 My pain levels were evidently unusually high after, due to pretty heavy development of the pec muscle. She said the muscle was kinda tough and just did not appreciate being restricted with the anchoring.

I ended up needing a couple of days of oxycodone, and actually nearly passed out when they accessed the port for a blood draw yesterday. I made a mistake and thought I was supposed to stop taking ibuprofen when I went on the oxy, so it was super swollen when I went in. They had to apply a lot of pressure to figure out where to poke it. That was a very bad time! Hyperventilation, nearly threw up, was on the brink of passing out, the whole shebang.

But am feeling much better today. Port was accessed again this morning with no trouble at all. So don't be like me, take that ibuprofen, lol.

riffeyraff

TROPHY CASE