I Just Can't Walk Away

Yikes on bikes, nail polish edition

2026-04-28T02:29:13Z

Who likes niche hobby drama? It's you, I know it's you! Please join me as once more the nail polish world continues to baffle. It's just never-ending. I'll be honest though, it doesn't hit the same spot as doll drama but here we are.

Little things before we get to the main event:

A brand I'd only briefly heard of, and then forgot, Gearshift Glam was using car paint in their nail polish and only stopped once people rightfully squawked in protest. But it still took awhile and gave us these assorted gems:
Posting about trying these formulas on themselves and having itching/burning without a basecoat.
Making a gel formula. (For those who don't know, if you get an allergy to whatever the fuck [HEMA? Acrylates?], it'll fuck you up for dental work and other medically important things you might actually NEED since you're now allergic to the ingredient(s) in those possibly necessary treatments.) With car paint.
Admitting to not doing research on why you don't use FUCKING CAR PAINT in nail polish, despite being able to use the same pigments. Not really doing much research at all, really.
Freaking out because people were being 'mean' to them over their political beliefs. Yeah, the wife at least is MAGA. I saw the Reddit posts; they were being dragged to hell and back for the safety shit well before the political leaning cropped up.
They also use generative AI. Poorly.
*Linked to one of the Reddit posts which should give you more detail if you're interested. Linry on youtube has a video about this as well, if you'd rather listen than read.

Speaking of GenAI, people were waiting to see what Zoya's Earth Day sale would be this year. There was genuine excitement because in this hellscape, pretty polish can do wonders for your daily dose of dopamine. Prior to it, some of us noticed that at least one of their posts was giving serious AI vibes. (Upon closer inspection, it was all but proven to be AI, btw.) BUT they quadrupled down for their Earth Day post and used the most headache inducing wavy/watery/melted bottle looking AI images and when they got called out for it, they ignored all the AI comments and focused on the few people who were all, "ew, this endorsement of overconsumption is not it" for the sale aspect.

To those people, I must ask: are you new to the sale? I'm pretty sure they have always had a minimum for how many polishes you've gotta purchase for the sale to kick in. I don't actually blame them for that because it would be even WORSE for the environment to ship a thousand orders of just one or two polishes at whatever the discount was.
That said, the way the post was worded/set up was also a dumpster fire anyway, so it was courting a bad faith take on the sale itself. People were also missing the part where Zoya was doing their trade-in, which is... weird since that's the second image in the post? It's the image that gives me an actual headache if I even think about the picture, it's so poorly done.

Nope, my issue, and a lot of other people's issue, was that they used AI for the thing in the first place. It was even WORSE because later they post a short of polishes people have sent in for trade-in and like... just fucking use that? Who the fuck uses genAI on EARTH DAY when they're a brand whose biggest sale in consumer's memories is their Earth Day sale? WHY? Who is this fucking stupid? Zoya, apparently. They did try and show how the first image in their post was done, but it just proves that at best they took an image and ran it through really shitty AI and it's actually worse that way since... they could've just.. not done that. (first link is to the Reddit post about it, second is to the brand's IG post. They also have a FB one if you'd rather go there but FB hates me and I don't feel like spending another half an hour trying to get it to work/find the right post.)

But our main event is the return of Mooncat's shitty bottles and the culture of stan wars on the internet. Ooh, ahh.

I've mentioned MC before, and I think I even mentioned their exploding bottles a couple of years ago. If you don't remember, or I'm misremembering, here's the ~~very~~ short version:
Mooncat's bottles are unusual. They aren't the standard square bottles (think Essie) or round (OPI); they're rectangular. But they also have a weird cap on top and they're unique to the brand. Other brands do use this shape but it's usually one they move away from eventually. A couple of years ago they had a big release and afterwards, people got their orders and there were reports of the bottles exploding. Not because someone dropped them. People would be opening them and they'd explode, cutting them and ruining their furniture/rugs/whatever. People did go to the hospital. They'd also explode in their boxes, unprovoked, so it wasn't even just trying to use them that was the issue. I think the general consensus was that either they switched bottle factories and the new one's recipe was shit, or that their old factory changed their recipe and it was shit. Add to that the fact that MC would overfill their bottles (they promise a certain ML and would fill past that) and the combo created glass bombs.
MC went radio silent on this and people noticed. Their behind closed door reactions to the people who needed medical attention was not universal- one person had their medical bills paid and another was hung out to dry. Overall, this was unusual since MC's customer service is really highly spoken of. People were not happy about how the company basically didn't do a damn thing or say anything for far too long and then tried to victim blame a bit before backpeddling and then promising to change the bottles again. Only I think the non-stan side of fandom was wary that they were just going to sell through the old bottles and not switch until the old stock was sold via their twice yearly sales. Warnings were issued by the fans and it's possible the company really did take the bad batches off the warehouse shelves since the exploding bottles did stop.

Last year, MC pissed everyone but the die hards off by jacking their prices up to insane levels that only the truly die hard can claim aren't luxury prices. (I mean, yeah, they aren't Hermes prices, but $18 for a nail polish is bonkers.) They misrepresented the price increase by saying that prices would go up $1 or $2 and then it turned out that the buck increase wasn't even for polish, I think? Most, if not all the polish, which is what most are there for, went up $2. People were NOT happy. MC stans continued to overcompensate, as is their way. But to this day, even after most brands have raised their prices or altered their sale models, people hold MC up as the example of what NOT to do.

Okay, background out of the way! MC dropped their new Deadly By Nature collection recently and it's actually one that if not for the prices, I might've been tempted by. Hell, if not for what's about to happen, I'd still be tempted for a sale price. Their moodier 'swiped this straight from the Black Moon arc of Sailormoon' aesthetic is my jam.
Once more, orders come in... and there's an issue. On Reddit, someone posts shots of their Deadly Nightshade and Black Widow and the bottles have what could be hairline cracks or pigment lines. OP mentions they shook the bejesus outta their bottles and the lines didn't move. Other people chime in that their DN has this same issue and for awhile it's just people going, yeah, multichromes/shimmers have this issue. Black Widow is left entirely out of this conversation for the most part, which is fascinating for me but whatever. Someone, possibly OP, chimes in that they went into the bottle with something (later some will use toothpicks or metal blackhead scrapers) and they were, in fact, scratches/cracks.
Everyone proceeds to lose their minds because, remember, MC has a history of their bottles being fucked up. Only now it's $2 more for this shit! The stans are like, you guys are being ridiculous, why is everyone so upset? It's just pigment lines! Ignoring the people who did scratch away (dafuq) at these lines and did report back they didn't budge. Some people did have good luck and theirs were just pigment lines. But others did not have the same luck, and honestly, some of the pictures shared really did look less like pigment lines and more like really fine cracks. There are a few starburst ones that are pretty damning.

I don't frequent the MC sub, but I did peek in and I can get why people probably got really tired of a thousand and one posts flooding in asking if their bottle was okay or not. But, y'know, when the brand has a history of SENDING PEOPLE TO THE HOSPITAL, maybe accept that when bottles start looking sketchy, there's gonna be an influx of panic that this is possibly happening again. (To be clear, to my knowledge, no bottles have exploded/broken fully this time around.)

I did miss this next one as it happened, but the internet doesn't forget quite that fast. Someone posts a new PSA about how they also were worried about their bottle of DN, but they shook the absolute shit out of it and it's fine and THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT AT ALL, GUYS. People react... nicer than I would've thought but basically it's like, "everyone who has had this issue and shared about it has said step one was shaking it up. That doesn't fix it. Even those with vortex shakers had said it didn't fix all the bottles that were affected. It's the polish version of "have you tried opening your eyes to see?" OP is all offended that they were not greeted with welcome arms. This post is eventually deleted, but Reddit's funny about deletions so it lives on and is linked.

After someone else scrolls back far enough in their posting history (or searches the name) and realizes that this OP either used to or does work for MC. They definitely used to when MC was Live, Love, Polish, and if you told me we'd found Michelle's alt account, I'd believe you. Michelle is the owner, btw. So an employee, or former employee, is trying to minimize things while not disclosing their affiliation (and you do have to disclose former affiliations) with the brand. Great. That doesn't look at alllllllllllllllllll suspicious.

Someone else posts about creases in MC's glass bottles and cross posts to the MC subreddit and I swear, my first thought was the Ghost "you in danger, girl" gif/line. I've included the link to this one because it goes about as well as you'd think, with people who claim to have backgrounds in manufacturing and the like chiming in on both sides (some are like this is no big deal and others are like, why is a brand that charges $18 for polish selling factory seconds?) and it's just... a cluster that devolves into three camps:
-MC stans. Everyone is being too mean, they're just picking on this poor little baby small business (whose owners appeared on Top 30 Under 30 lists and are um, stupidly well off), nothing MC does is ever going to be right for SOME people, and the MC hate is SO OLD.
- The hypercritical of MC people who are, well... you get the idea. I gather there was (is?) someone who is taking this to the extreme and being racist, but I didn't see those comments before they were deleted. I don't doubt it though since people are awful. This group also has the people who hate MC and will gleefully chime in anytime MC so much as breathes.
- The few, the proud, the middle ground who are pointing out that there's a history here that explains the raised concern, and who are we to tell people what their own bottles do or don't have (cracks vs pigment lines)? It's also not unreasonable to expect your bottles to not look weird when it's a brand new release and you're paying MC's prices. This group does tend to include those who like and might even have bought MC but aren't brainwashed into thinking the brand can do no wrong and yes, yes I do fall into this one.

The stans pushing back about the joke (and it was mostly a joke except maybe from the one person who deleted their account) that if you're not careful, a MC employee will swing by to tell you to shake your bottle and that'll fix everything is wild. Even more wild was at some point, and I don't remember which thread, someone got SO FUCKING BUTTHURT about someone maybe calling or insinuating that MC stans were weird. My good person of the interwebs, that is MC's ENTIRE SHTICK. They are the embodiment, in their own mind anyway, of the Craft's "We are the weirdos, mister." They are at their absolute best when they're embracing this and it's something fandom has long acknowledged. What the fuck are you on about crying about it? God I wish I weren't too tired to look it up right now because that bugged me and I couldn't figure out why until later.

Oh, cheese, another bottle breaking in someone's hand. Not from the new collection either. From the new collection, we have a new crack.

Well. I'd say it's officially safe to call this Bottlegate 2.0. What's even more wild to me is that these are days old so... the fuck.

Clearly I went ahead and linked things for your entertainment and because I do enjoy falling down rabbit holes. If you need me, I've got 537 tabs open and I should do something about that.

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impy @ 2026-04-27T11:46:00

2026-04-27T16:02:34Z

Got a hobby drama post for later but I'm trying to decide if I care enough to include links or to look up specifics.

I finally went digging through the polishes to see if I could isolate my thermal polishes and I'm missing ~~two~~ one. I don't think they're officially ~missing~ as I think after awhile my eyes just probably glazed over when looking dead at them. (I know damn well I did that when trying to find a gold polish I KNEW was in one of the two shoeboxes I have at the top of my non-Bisley storage, and when I say knew, I mean I'd opened the box, ooohed over it and then 40 minutes later could not find it in the same damn box. I found it again at the end when I was trying to put the various half full top coats in the shoe box.) I also found one that I'd forgotten to put on the ~official~ list, so I'll consider this a win since I have meant to do this all month long. Depending on how I feel, I might give it one more look through to see if I can find them. I also remembered to look at the only polish I've ever swatched on a stick and had the color change completely. The bottle has also changed, but from a bright, almost neon turquoise to a dusty sort of blue. It's pretty but it's not the color I bought. Meh. Better than the swatch stick color though.

Went to K's yesterday and it was fine (we finished a room!) until maybe the last 15-20 minutes when I very quickly started feeling like absolute shit. I *think* it's because she was showing off her game (and trying, until the wave of oh-god, very successfully to get me to consider buying/playing) and I got motion sick. It could also have been a combo of a little of that and just it being awhile since I ate and I didn't keep up with my water intake as much as I should've. Also, her house is warmer than I'm used to in parts so that likely didn't help.

Came home, admired the sun and wind, wondered why I don't spend more time outside, and then sneezed myself upstairs. That's why, self. Showered, laundry, went down to eat something small since Widget was supposed to make ribs. Hours pass. I went upstairs to nap, he comes home with his friend and at some point he pops his head in to tell me he's relearned the hard lesson of pork going off really quick if you don't pay attention. Oops. Instead he and his friend made chicken and it was pretty tasty. Tried sleep again. Woke up to my least favorite leg cramp threatening me, but pacing around my room fought it off. Huzzah? Slept some more. I really wish I could figure out what's causing my backpain when I lie down. :/

And because I was considering putting my colder weather clothes away, it's now 58 degrees. I am not complaining about the colder weather, btw.

As an update to the room: other than the clothes needing to swap seasons making things a little... special, I've managed to not make a mess of things thus far. For me, especially since two or so weeks (or more, really) had me wiped the fuck out? That's a freakin' miracle.

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impy @ 2026-04-23T13:12:00

2026-04-23T17:17:17Z

Eragon hath arrived. I'm torn. On the one hand, the worm (wyrm?) aspect doesn't bother me like I feared it would. Huzzah! On the other hand? The face... ehhhhhhh. But it's not so much the face as it is the fact that the way she's made, the head looks down. Like all the time.

BUT everyone who says she's super soft is absolutely right. And I do get a kick out of using her front paws to wash her face like a cat. :p Also, carrying her around like a puppet/evil kingpin's pet is decidedly fun.

I do wonder if Mums is going to invoke her right of dragons and claim her. I waffled on just flat out keeping her for Mums for Mother's Day but wasn't sure how the wyrm end would go over with her. We shall see since Mum did light up when I mentioned that I thought she'd just steal my new baby. "I can do that?" Yes, ma'am.

I would like my period to stop now. Like, forever. Pack it in, boys, we're done for the rest of forever!

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impy @ 2026-04-22T04:06:00

2026-04-22T08:12:00Z

Ugh. Much as I love getting to be home, I loathe having to leave work early due to period shenanigans. Booooooo. I should've known the weekend wasn't all mother nature had in store for me, particularly once I woke up to my brain feeling like someone took an icecream scoop to my head. ;_;

Since I'm trying to keep at least some of my schedule on track, I'm sitting here trying to decide if I want to partake in the ILNP retirement sale or not. I do find it a little funny that as soon as people started getting really vocal about the things they liked most about the brand, we've had two examples going against those very things.
1) ILNP's pretty anti FOMO and until just recently they didn't seem to do *anything* that was limited edition. Every other brand gets hit with FOMO accusations (some deserve it more than others) and people would point to ILNP as the one brand that didn't ever do LE drops... and then they did a LE sticker drop for their first collection this year. It was just the one thing but still made me side-eye them just a smidge.

2) Their catalog/selection is HUGE. They almost never get rid of their polishes. Like it's years and years between retirements to the point that some people don't even realize they EVER do. Sooooooooo... naturally they're retiring 73 shades right now. :P

To be fair, a good chunk of them do seem to the the scattered holo variants of their multichromes, which makes sense since you can just get the non-holo versions and put holo over them if you want. Hell, I'm hardpressed to remember any of the H versions that people recommend over their non-H counterparts. I know Eclipse especially is one where the general consensus is get the non-holo version. (Got sidetracked on my swatch hunt and yeah, nearly every time someone asks whether they should get the holo version or not, everyone says non-holo for sure.)

Other collections seem to be going, or being culled, but I get the feeling it's a case of them having other variations that are still available, or ones that simply never sold well. It has been interesting seeing reviews on the retiring polishes that are a few years old (and still on the front page so probably why they're getting the axe) about how this is someone's favorite polish and they'll be heartbroken if it's ever discontinued.

Alas, they also seem to be gutting their multichrome flakie toppers and that's what's got my attention. Since there are only so many multichrome shifts to be found in the polish world, I'm trying not to dupe any in the same order (or any that are close enough) but I also really don't want to look back and think "shit! why didn't I grab ___?" Especially since apparently flakie polishes are about to be harder to source? Black flakies have been going out of stock at the suppliers which means the polishes made with them are being discontinued and this breaks my little Halloween loving heart. I wonder if the same reason is behind the culling here, or if they're getting ahead of it because it is going to happen at some point? I also noticed that some of the other polishes that are disappearing have flakies mixed in. *dons tinfoil hat*

Anyway, there are also a lot of pretty teals that keep calling my name but I am TRYING to be good here.

Huh. This is dangerous info to have, but it seems there's a 10% off code and I have nearly $20 in points I could use. *plots*

eta:
I went ahead and made my order. I've been plotting for about a week (the sale ends/the polishes get yoinked this Friday) and decided fuck it, with the point redemption, I'd go ahead and buy most of the multichrome flakies.

I went ahead and picked up:
Supernova, Kaleidoscope, Electric Carnival, Neon Rosebud, Open Fields, Mayfield, and Glory from the flakies.

This means I opted out of *checks list* Paradox (H), Ferris Wheel, & Brilliance. I figured Brilliance and Open Fields were probably close enough and I liked Open Fields more, even if it doesn't have as much shiftiness. Kinda ditto to Ferris Wheel, but I figured I'd use that one even less. I waffled on Paradox (H) the longest but it seemed pretty similar to Mayfield. Did I really *need* the others? Enh, probably not, but I wanted Supernova as a backup for one of my Holo Tacos and I'm very fond of wearing flakies in one coat on their own so I'm pretty excited.

I also picked up Time in a Bottle because my use of points dipped me under free shipping and it was close enough that I could either pay shipping or grab another bottle of polish and pay like, three bucks. The teals, the teals were calling!

Seriously though, at least half these retiring polishes have flakies of some sort, and that's just based off memory and not necessarily including the holo flakies in the ones not explicitly labeled H.

My order has also already shipped, or at least been given a shipping label.

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impy @ 2026-04-18T10:21:00

2026-04-18T15:31:19Z

Remind me that I'd rather not go through another CB preorder direct from them again unless I absolutely fucking have to. Doing the initial preorder was fab and easy. Trying to pay for the goddamn thing took TWO FUCKING HOURS.

Look, at this point I'm used to the company treating the US like redheaded stepchildren. It's not fine but I expect it. Given how checked out they seem by this side of the pond, I've likewise been a little checked out on what's going on with them, but given that the "please pay us" link came from the UK side, I'm assuming my memory of the US warehouse basically being converted to being just that is correct. So why the FUCK would you wait until the end of your business day (in the UK, not the US) to send out the preorder links? After 40 minutes of losing my goddamn mind, I tried emailing them back to ask for help because I couldn't give them my money for love or, well, money. Yeah, I still haven't heard anything at all from them. Imagine the absolute JOY I felt when I got the "hey, Eragon is ready for EVERYONE!" email. Like if I hadn't managed to somehow broker a deal with a devil (professional courtesy?) and gotten one of my 137 attempts to finally work, I'd be so beyond fucking pissed that instead of dealing with the orders in limbo, they were actively courting new orders instead.

Actually, no, I am obviously pissed at this. I loathe when companies do shit like having a launch outside of what would be considered normal hours and then when things go sideways, as they frequently do on launches, too bad, so sad, not normal hours. Well, who chose to do things outside normal fucking hours?

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impy @ 2026-03-31T11:36:00

2026-03-31T15:39:08Z

Mums and I started watching Scarpetta last week and finished it this week.

It's... something?

( Spoilers. Duh. )

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Peri, you suuuuuuuck

2026-03-23T11:27:00Z

I should preface this with the fact that I don't know for sure that this is peri's fault, but it is apparently a known thing so...
Saturday I felt pretty bad at dinner. My right hip hurt like crazy and I had cramping, but not in my usual way. Took some meds, bemoaning my inability to take the benadryl I was pretty sure would do the trick, and hoped for the best. Had my little after dinner nap before work and while lying down I felt pretty good. Walking wasn't terrible. Sitting wasn't a good time. Still, I had hope based on the fact that I don't really sit much at work. Alas, I forgot to factor in the sitting in the car on the way to work.

I made it pretty much exactly two hours before having to go home because I was about to cry from the pain. Had it been an A Saturday, I might have lasted longer because I would have been walking around and not standing up front but it wasn't, so I didn't.
I get home and take my benadryl because now sleep is on the docket. I'm still up for awhile but feel better in longer waves. I eventually go to sleep and while I do wake up a few times, the pain has receded a lot.

My body gave me an inch, I took a mile. I didn't get up soon enough for pain meds round 2 and paid dearly for that. I also got confirmation that it was period shenanigans. Joy. The Shining reenactment. I messaged my friend I had plans with to cancel and went about my day, trying various ways to feel better. Mostly sleep and meds, honestly. The fluffy boys were not helpful with the sleep but they did give purrs. Heating pad also helped. Hip still hurts, period is still cropping up to make me want to cry in frustration. I don't like this escalated pain thing, peri. It's not cool.

Typing this on my phone and will fix shit later when sitting isn't annoying.

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room update of sorts

2026-03-17T12:20:48Z

Yesterday the contractor for the HOA came by to look at my balcony that's been looking rough since *checks notes* September. But yesterday morning it was also POURING for maybe half an hour or so and I heard something strange, like water inside. Yes indeedy, the front door has a leak from the roof above it. Luckily, that's something also covered by the HOA, so I fired off an email to the management company and he added it to the contractor's list of things to check. Not super looking forward to the balcony work as that'll literally be right outside my room (ugh!) but I would like having use of my balcony at some point. He said that they'd be building the wall with a gap at the bottom so the leaves could be more easily swept off the balcony which is nice, because as it is, it involves me having to peer over the side to make sure no one's down there, and then scoop up armfulls of leaves and stuff. Or, y'know, use a dustpan to do the same thing. He also confirmed my thought that the floor was solid, so I don't have to worry as much about that, assuming they fix it sooner rather than later.

Since I mentioned the room, let's look at the chaos that is my ongoing room revamp as I have a thought pinging in my brain but I need to work it out.
( Pics or it didn't happen? )

Some people are minimalists. I... clearly am not.

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impy @ 2026-03-14T12:07:00

2026-03-14T16:24:40Z

Will try to catch up with things this weekend, but until then, have some quick bits:

Feb's Friday the 13th was chill. March's was not. Work was slammed despite pharmacy being closed (pretty sure one of our 2 overnight pharmacists finally rage quit) because it was Friday, taxes have been rolling in so people have fun money, two of the colleges are on spring break, and oh yeah, it's the weekend before St. Patrick's Day.

There was a police chase that started at work, went up the highway I use to get to work (like, 30 minutes away, though probably 20-ish if you're leading a police chase), went all over the place apparently (fuck the news for not covering ANYTHING interesting local when I need to know shit), then came flying back by work with at least ten cops behind him (on my way to work when we first passed him, I lost count at 7), as he headed towards the beach. When I tell you this road dead ends in the ocean, I mean technically I think you'd hit the hotel first, but you get the idea. Then, maybe half an hour later if that, they come flying back by, possibly having picked up yet another cop on the way.

Hours later, when we called the cops on a shoplifter who finally pissed LP off bad enough to break their usual shoplifting stance, M asked about the earlier chase. Yeah, dude managed to get away since he was on a motorcycle and they couldn't do anything to stop him because at that speed he'd die.

The fuck you need ten damn cop cars following him for? I NEED a news story on this so I know what started this nonsense. But I cackled at him getting away.

(I will always be wary of cops responding to shit and speeding ever since Megan's death. It's just baked into my system now.)

Unrelated to work, but I find it funny that I've managed to win two books written by members of Hole in my time. I hope the new one is better than the last, but I have hope.

The weather is full on cuckoo, and I tire of sneezing my head off.

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Spring? ugh

2026-03-10T10:29:30Z

I went out on Sunday to help a friend with an ongoing project and it was quite nice, other than being a little warm inside... but outside was lovely with a breeze. So sunny. Such pretty clouds in the sky and leaves blowing around. I imagine all the gardens and parks and even the beaches were probably fairly well populated, as a lovely, perfect spring day.

Except it's technically still winter and I just KNEW as soon as I got home I'd need to throw myself into the shower because POLLEN. Gods, of all the things I miss about childhood, not being bothered by pollen is right up there. I did get a giggle out of someone in the comments of some random short being all, "why would pollen and humidity keep people from drying their clothes outside? I live in the tropics and it's always breezy, so the clothes get dry no problem. Won't the pollen just fly away?" The immediate onslaught of people, NICELY, pointing out that pollen and dry clothes are bad enough, but pollen and wet clothes? You're never getting that shit out. I stopped reading before anyone had pointed out that pollen can stain, but oh, it was glorious seeing all the comments about itchiness and the aforementioned pollen would now be baked into that clothing item. Glorious.

I should look up the bridge run to see when that particular hellscape will descend. Oh, goodie. The 28th.

Not sure if I spent the rest of my weekend in bed because the allergies/pollen required a Benadryl coma or if period was playing vampire. I suspect both, honestly.

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Nyergh?

2026-03-03T08:00:03Z

SO.

I don't know how I feel about my Sunday shenanigans. I went ahead and began work on my room revamp. I was ready. I was semi-pumped. I had a can of Rockstar in my fridge and a salad waiting for my first break, and Poptarts for any smaller breaks. I even had the foresight to have an audiobook at the ready. (I'd originally planned music but well, fuck commercials.)

I began. I cleared out the piles of crap in front of the hopechest. I cleared out the area by my bed. I cleared out UNDER my bed. I took a few "take pictures of cats" breaks. I reasoned with the cats when I was putting stuff in the hallway and then right before I went down for my salad/Rockstar break. It even seemed to work, since none of them really bothered me when I was putting the bookcases together. I'd worried I'd have to lock the boys up and nope, even DD was chill about it. Bed was moved and nearly immediately I realized that in ALL my calculations, I'd forgotten that my newer bed weighs so much more than my old bed. My old bed, once you got it dislodged from the carpet, was pretty easy to move around. New bed? Either I am far weaker than I used to be, or it weighs a goddamn ton. ;_; I eventually got it moved across the room, sorta, and set up so it wasn't blocking the door to the room (but was making it more difficult to get to the door to the bathroom/vanity, but that's fine since you can get to those from the hall), but this is where I also realized, on some level, that my lack of spatial awareness was going to definitely be biting me on the ass sooner rather than later.

Plus side, putting the first bookcase together was relatively easy. I did fuck up the back a bit because they have two sets of little screws and I didn't really put that together until I did the second one, but it's fine. It was still easier than trying to hammer in 28 bitty baby nails like my bigger/older bookcases.

Problem is, when I checked the depth dimensions, I didn't fully realize it wasn't the full depth of the shelf. So while I realized, when I bought them, that they'd be smaller in width than my original two, I didn't calculate that they'd also be more shallow? Is that what I'm trying to say? I dunno. They remind me of fancier versions of the bookcases my family has had since before I existed that were made by Mum's family (maybe Mums herself?) and are great for the hallway or the nook right by the kitchen. But they are less great for putting my plush army.

And will also not really hold books two deep, so moving things from the old to the new might not even work. *muse*

Also, though this one I had kind of realized beforehand, there's room for a third one. Sorta.

I say sorta because, since I went with the shelves that weren't adjustable, they won't hold any regular AG dolls. Which I told myself was fine because I was just gonna put them on one shelf (each?) anyway and without it, eh, no big. Then the shallow shelves made the plush arrangement not work quite as well, and now I've got two shelves that need to be properly filled instead of just "grab n go because I'm fucking done with this shit right now", and a tower of AG stuff that has a few dolls on top right now.

I keep waffling on how I feel. Because yesterday when I got up, I went ahead and put all the other stuff away under the bed, or threw stuff away or whatever needed to be done. At this point my new shelves are assembled and have some stuff on them, including books on the bottom to anchor them in case the cats get ideas, but aren't filled the way they should be.

I did move my bed to what's going to be it's home for now and we'll see how I feel about it. I realize part of my ambivalence towards all this is that I do not do well with change that doesn't go exactly how I want/expect it to go, and part of it is that I also spent a good chunk of Sunday having my period knock the wind out of my sails. Didn't take me out at any part, so there's that, but it definitely played a part in my emotions then and now. Which is another reason I didn't just go ahead and order bookcase #3.

Plus side once more is that bookcase 2 went by so quick and I did the back relatively properly and that was much easier.

So now I'm at the having to sit and think stage and I didn't really factor this stage into my original plans.

In other news, why the fuck do we never have clear skies when there are fun things to look at? Of COURSE the blood moon is covered by clouds so thick that it's not until you remember full moon and stars should be visible do you realize that the sky is all clouds.

Head, meet desk.

Also tired as hell. Thanks, period.

Might share pics once I get the bookcases sorted. As it is, the project is unfinished. But they do look nice all set up.

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impy @ 2026-02-28T11:59:00

2026-02-28T17:08:07Z

Brain is mush but update I will. Ordered new shoes after Cass mentioned doing the same, though mine is more "wore the last pair out" and hers was "lost so much weight that now my shoe size has changed." But new shoes are on the way.

Work's been interesting. Spent the last two nights resetting the deo/shave aisle and I think Z was trying to get me to either shit talk A or justify my chaos gremlin idea to start on the hardest part of that section (deo) instead of on page 1. My good dude, the idea was mine and A went along with it because it made sense to do the hard part first, especially on a night when, in theory, we'd have more time to work on it since it shouldn't have been as busy as it wound up being. What I did not mention was that I also wanted to make sure the shelves FINALLY got moved (to be fair, we didn't move them last year but that's because we were two bays in before we realized they should've been moved and um, no, not happening at that point and also there was a reset between then and now and no one moved them then either) and the only way to do that was to do it ourselves.

Was it unorthodox? Duh, obviously. Did things move faster than they have in years for that reset? YUP. Every other time it's been a three day affair, bare minimum, and that included having two people who were really good at resets working on it at some point during those days. So I'm calling it a win.

This was also the first time in known history that when I attempted to move shelves, they did so with minimal fuss on my end. On A's end? Ehhhhhh, not so much with the easy, which is weird since I normally tag her in when I hit a shelf that fucking hates me.

Anyway, got a text from boss lady saying the aisle looks great.

Brother is stressing me out. Boo.

One more night.

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impy @ 2026-02-26T10:04:00

2026-02-26T15:07:45Z

Bookcases arrived yesterday. Figures, the one time I wasn't waiting impatiently for something, it showed up early. The boxes are standing in my hallway waiting for the weekend. They're freakin' heavy.

In things that do not make sense land, I finally finally got a "hey, you left something in your cart so here's a coupon code to make it cheaper!" from AG only the things I left in my cart? Are excluded from the code.

And even my backup items are on the no-go list.

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impy @ 2026-02-25T08:57:00

2026-02-25T14:54:09Z

Still need to buy the latest SVT graphic novel, but I did read it via Libby. As per usual, it included a preview of the next one. WHY DO ALL THE ONES I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO FOR THE STORY HAVE THE SHITTY ARTIST? Ahem. Sorry. Not shitty but the one whose SV work is... ehhhhh.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?

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impy @ 2026-02-24T12:53:00

2026-02-24T17:54:18Z

After eons of waffling, and making an actual pro/con list, I went ahead and ordered two bookcases for my room revamp this coming weekend. I'd like to say there was a great reason for all the hemming and hawing, but it was really just not wanting to commit to something and then regret it, which is still a valid fear.

For a moment I thought I'd found two options of success and then realized reality is cruel. IKEA's back on its not shipping for free BS (and so my lack of IKEA furniture continues), and despite finally remembering I could just fucking look at Walmart, where I know at least one of the two bookcases in my room came from... I read the reviews and realized they shrank the width of the bookcase and to say the reviews were mixed would be a massive understatement. One of the things I didn't want to fuck around with was an ugly back of the shelf if I didn't have to, and once I decided I wasn't rolling the dice on Walmart even for the adjustable shelves, I *think* I chose a set that has a prettier back. (You might think, "isn't the whole point to fill these suckers up so who is gonna see it?" and you wouldn't be wrong, but it's also been like 20 years and I'm still less than thrilled with my white bookcase's backing because it looks like ass.)

Anyway, we'll see how it actually shakes out. My other issue, and this actually kicked in a bit more than the terrible Walmart reviews, was that I'd dragged my feet to the point that a lot of options would either not show up until my weekend was already half over or even after my time off was over.

From an outside perspective, it's funny how after I made my pro/con list and decided yeah, Walmart's okay, I'll just check the reviews and had to immediately change course. Then once I decided maybe I'd go with white this go round, the universe said, "nope, black or the world's ugliest brown." Hi-larious, universe.

If it turns out I absolutely hate them in my room (I'm sure they'll be fine in general), I can always just put them in the hallway. So there's my backup to the backup plan.

Also, I finally realized (or realized again?) that my white and black bookcases do not have the same number of shelves. I'm guessing it's re-realizing because now I have a vague memory of this the last time I moved this massively around on them. But one has 6 shelves and the other has 5... and I keep forgetting that. Which helped free up my decision on what to buy since they weren't going to line up anyway.

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impy @ 2026-02-19T11:04:00

2026-02-19T16:07:01Z

I've been putting off talking about this because I feared a certain situation had gone one way and it turns out that it did. And I wanted to hold out hope, however foolish, for as long as possible. Tuesday night those hopes went down in flames.

Drama queen? Me? Perish the thought.

Years ago, before Dad died, I worked with a lady named Donna. Not to be confused with the lady I work with now named Donna. First Donna went by Donnajo, though I'm not sure if she did that with everyone or just me or what. Doesn't matter. Loved her. She was the type to get on the intercom and tell the drunk idiots to stop horseplaying in the house, and when they'd stop in the aisle and look confused, she'd say, "that means no running in the store, and yes this means you." She had zero fucks to give and she was funny as hell. She could also be mean when she needed to be and I'd absolutely not want to be on her bad side. But she was the coworker who would get off work at 2am and then come back at 8am to give me a ride home because the truck was fucked again. She never made me feel bad about it and always showed up on time, making sure that I'd get off the clock when I was supposed to instead of having to basically trick someone into doing their job and letting me leave.

When my dad died and I had to call and tell work, I got her on the phone and in my haze I remember saying it really weird and she rolled with it because she realized I was still obviously in shock.

I cried so hard when she moved away, partly because she was one of the only coworkers I had who had met my dad (and for whatever reason, probably because it was that same year, or within 12 months of him dying, that felt really important to me at the time) and partly because for her flaws, I adored her. Again, this woman was no saint, but I felt cheated out of getting more time with her. But she and her mama moved to Arizona, possibly because her mom's health? I don't really remember now, but it's also possible that her mother wanted to be closer to other members of the family. In any case, they moved out to AZ and we kept in touch, by writing letters/cards and phone calls, despite the fact that Donna was absolutely terrible with tech. Like I'd gone to her house to help her set up her gmail and facebook accounts and she almost promptly lost access to both. :P

Then her mama died, and there was a family rift growing wider amongst her older relatives, and then there was a kerfuffle between Donna and her granddaughters which basically resulted in them taking her mother's stuff, their house, and kicking Donna out. Donna went to Texas to live with her son. Again, we kept in touch. Maybe not as much as either would've liked, but it was very rare to go past big holidays without at least a happy _whatever holiday_ or birthday text. During the summer, I'd send her messages from the pool because when she lived here, she spent a lot of time at the pool at her complex and I know if she'd still been living here, she'd have come to hang out with me so I wouldn't be alone at the pool.

Annnnnnnnnnd I know you all know where this is going to end up because of the tense being used, but we'll get there shortly.

I'd like to say we had super deep text messages and whatnot, but a lot of it was the weather and little updates, like her gardening or how the dog was doing, or my frustration with work or me getting my permit finally. A lot of weather talk (her part of Texas has INSANE weather shifts) with little life updates thrown in.

When Hal (Cass's stepfather) died and I came back from his celebration of life brunch, I tried calling but she didn't answer. Not really a thing to worry about since she was probably busy and she did text later. A little before Christmas she sent me a text letting me know my card had been sent late, but would get there hopefully soon. Went back and looked and we wished each other a happy solstice and had a little "hope yours was nice/ it was" exchange, and then I wished her a Merry Christmas Eve. No reply. But not terribly unusual since I had just heard from her and, like me, she was very good at thinking she'd replied only to realize a couple of weeks later that no, she had not hit send. I was a little startled when I realized she hadn't replied to my NY's text but again, it's a busy time of the year. I sent her a text on the 12th saying I missed her, and she got/read that one... but no reply. I'm fairly certain I called around then a couple of times but I won't swear to that. I sent her a "I hope you're okay" text on the 21st, and it wasn't read. I sent a miss you text on the 30th. Also not read.

So, I figured there were a couple of scenarios.
1) Donna was in the hospital and didn't have access to her phone for whatever reason.
2) She got a new phone and given her tech history, was unable to move all her old contacts over and also had a new number and it hadn't occurred to her to just send me a letter telling me so. I figured that last bit because it took me too long to realize I really could just send her a card/letter.
3) She died and no one had let me know, possibly (probably?) because they either had no way or didn't know I existed and would want to know.

I admit I dragged my feet a little once I realized I could send a card. Partly because stamps are fucking expensive and we'd used the last of ours for the January rent check and partly because I really, really did not want it to be door number three and once I sent that card, there was a very high probability that I would find out my answer... and two of those three options were not good.

Eventually got stamps and I picked out a card and, with my Valentines, I sent her a card letting her know I missed her and hoped the long time of radio silence was because she'd gotten a new phone and just couldn't get my info from her old one. So I left my number and made sure my address and name were legible just in case.

And then I waited.

Tuesday, after dinner, I went upstairs for my nap before work and noticed I had a call from a number I didn't know. Which isn't unusual as I get a fair amount of spam. But I had a text. From her son. Asking me to call back at my earliest convenience.

And I knew. I'd known for awhile, honestly, but I really fucking wanted to be wrong. I checked my voicemails just to see if he'd left one, but he hadn't. Maybe ten minutes later, after I'd called him back but didn't get an answer, he called back.

She died January 26th around 4:30am. They'd both gotten sick over Christmas, and at first he thought it was just a cold, and that's all it was... for him. But she didn't get better, so he took her to the ER before NYE and she never came home. She bounced around four hospitals, including a really fantastic one, but due to other health issues, things snowballed and she wasn't a candidate for a transplant.

She and her daughter made up before the illness knocked her for a loop mentally, which is good. (I will say that prior to sending the card, I did a little snooping and nothing on her social media, or the grands' made mention of Donna's death, which was the only hope I could cling to and even that was basically me pretending it meant anything at all.)

The reason he hadn't contacted me before, despite knowing she had a friend she talked to in SC, was because in her haze towards the end, she'd get her phone out and think she was calling people, but in reality she was deleting their numbers. He had to re-do his own number multiple times. I told you she was tech challenged.

So I was last to know simply because I was on the list of people she'd cared enough to try and get in touch with. Honestly, I hope she thought she did get ahold of me and had a wonderful conversation with me in her mind because I really wish I'd gotten to say goodbye.

I am absolutely heartbroken and have been for awhile, even before the call. It's just now it's confirmed. Part of me wants to dig through my pile of mail to find her card because I don't even remember if I opened it or not (I'd been saving it to have something to look forward to whatever day it came because holiday fuckery) and part of me cannot handle the idea of that right now. It's not like I hadn't known this day would (likely) come at some point since she wasn't that much younger than my parents but still.

And in the "it's a small, small world" category, my brother currently lives in her old apartment complex.

At some point soon, I'm gonna try and head out to the beach to hunt for shells, as that's something she and her mama did a lot when they lived here, and something I know she missed doing.

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Give me validation

2026-02-16T16:49:24Z

Last week I finally got around to cleaning the pile of rubble I call my room. It's not 100% clean or anything, but I had a solid goal in mind and despite trying to tackle it for eons now, I managed to actually get the job done much quicker than I originally thought. It still took multiple episodes of Murder, She Wrote to actually finish, but I got there in the end.

More importantly... it's still clean. I need to pick up a couple of things right by my bed that have fallen because, y'know, life with cats, but still. STILL. CLEAN.

The upside/downside of this is that I did all that in order to get ready for me buying two new bookcases for my room. I'm not quite as gung-ho about it as I was when I did my cleaning frenzy, partly because Widget was baffled by my double-checking to see if he was still sent to anchor them to the wall once I got them and got them up, and not in that "duh, why are you asking again" way, but legit didn't remember agreeing and then concluding he was likely high when he said yes. Um... my good sir, what? I'm not asking you to bolt these down with chains and whatnot, just the simple little anchor thingie they include. o_O

So I had to pivot since having two non-anchored bookcases behind my bed seems like a Very Bad Idea indeed. And I actually really do like my pivot idea even more, in theory. But I worry I'm gonna hate it in practice and it's not something that can really get shuffled around otherwise.

It doesn't help that I can't find a bookcase I really like. When did adjustable shelves (maybe not the middle one in a five/six shelf bookcase, but at least two of the others) become impossible to find? It used to be the standard. Now I can only find them in metal bookcases or weirdly shaped ones that are less for books and more for showing off collectibles. Which, y'know, fair since these two aren't going to be FILLED with just books, but I need some height, dammit. I guess I could just use my current two that do have adjustable shelves for the plush and doll armies (and the books I have accrued over the last however many years) and then put the books from those bookcases on the new ones. *muse* We shall see.

I'd wanted to be able to order them in time to have them for my next three day weekend, and that could still happen since I just looked and it turns out I still have no idea what day it is. (Don't work third shift, kids, you will never again have any grasp of what day it is. Moreso than the COVID lack of of days.)

And now, back to my games.

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impy @ 2026-02-11T09:43:00

2026-02-11T15:04:11Z

New AG stuff dropped for preorder today but I'm too tired to do it justice today, so quickly it's going to have to be.

https://www.americangirl.com/collections/modern-era-dolls

Wellie Wisher sized historical dolls, kinda. Re-imagined for today.

~~We'll edit pics in later when I have time, but for now, links will do, maybe?~~
( Now with pics and more commentary! You're uh, welcome? I'm sorry? )

All the dolls have Preorder Ship Date of May 1st, btw.

Samantha: The Next Chapter Hardcover Book // $30
Item#JNR10
Adult fans can continue Samantha Parkington’s story in this historical-fiction novel set in 1920 New York City. Now 25 years old, Samantha is working hard to educate women in New York about suffrage and encourage them to vote in their first presidential election that fall. But when Samantha’s large inheritance, including her childhood Mount Bedford home, is stolen in a shocking scheme, she goes from socialite to shop girl overnight and experiences a very different side of New York City living in a boarding house. Searching for clues regarding the theft of her inheritance, she infiltrates the business of a notorious criminal in New York City. Determined as ever, Samantha will do whatever it takes to find answers and save her family’s legacy. 256 pages. Hardcover. Author: Fiona Davis.
Please note:
The images depicted on the book-cover artwork are preliminary. Final designs and color may vary.
Ships by October 13
New book, new book! Sam as an adult! Well, 25. Still!!! Excited and fully expecting it to fail to live up to my own expectations but NEW BOOK. Can't be as bad as Sweet Valley Confidential, right?
Right?
eta: Yeah, I still have misgivings about how this is going to go, specifically given how this feels a bit like a retread on some of Nellie's arc. But there is a vast difference between children and adults and their experiences, so I'm willing to be cautiously optimistic. Or whatever I actually am, where I'm thrilled at a new historical book with an actual story but also not totally sure about the content of such story. Whatever that is, that's where I am.
I very much hope this does well, and is done well, so we get more Legacy books.

Okay, this one was announced earlier, but since we're discussing Anniversary things, I feel like it'll slot in nicely here. Coming May 12, we've got this book:

The Making of American Girl Hardcover Book // $40
Item#JNP35
Enjoy an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the early days of American Girl with this beautifully crafted hardcover book. Drawing on an unprecedented exploration of our archives, it traces the brand’s evolution chronologically, beginning with the first historical characters—Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly.
Turn the pages to discover the origins of American Girl magazine, the development of additional characters, and the debut of the first American Girl Place in Chicago. Examine never-before-seen product designs and original catalogue pages. Explore early character concepts, historical research references, and illustration sketches.
Following the company from founder Pleasant Rowland’s handwritten business plan on a yellow legal pad to the realization of her vision, this book offers an intimate look at the creative journey that shaped American Girl. 288 pages. Hardcover.
This sounds right up my nerdy little heart's alley, so I should probably get around to preordering it ASAP.

There are other things I've missed in the last however long, and depending on my weekend, we might loop back and get as many of them as I can, or I might just hit the ones that spark my own interest.

But overall, I actually think this is a really cute idea and that it was done pretty well based on what we can see right now. A lot of fandom does not agree, but AG fandom has long been a toxic cesspool that would make its own characters cry out in frustration so... it is what it is, I suppose. For the most part, I think the dolls are cute and that the outfits were given more than a passing glance at their history in their re-imagining. The lower than a regular AG doll price point means that there's a higher chance someone can buy these, or buy multiple, and they're not just yet another re-release of the same dolls.

I wouldn't be mad if they released the outfits/accessories in the 18inch size, but I also understand why they wouldn't, since the size of the dolls has varied so much over the last 40-freakin'-years and it would be opening themselves up to a whole host of complaints. I hope there's more in store for their anniversary year because I am a greedy, greedy girl who needs little wisps of happy to keep me from burning the universe down around me.

Please excuse the numerous typos before, but I was doing all of that on my phone, so we're all lucky it was at all close to something you could read and understand.

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impy @ 2026-01-31T19:47:00

2026-02-01T00:50:07Z

SNOW DAY!

(for those who placed their bets on work, surprise twist: they closed AND DIDN'T TELL ME. I only knew because I called once bridges started closing and got the "we're temp closed" message.)

SNOW!

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

2026-01-31T13:31:51Z

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! SNOW IS COMING!!

I need you to understand my level of excitement. It's on par with a third grader who is just about to experience their first snowfall and cannot wait. They BELIEVE like that belief alone will bring the snow and dammit, it's gonna.

That's me. But amplified by the power of someone who really doesn't fucking wanna go to work tonight. :P

I'm quite sure that if I moved somewhere where snow was a more regular occurance, I'd be less giddy about the prospect, but dude, I've been anticipating this snowfall for two weeks. The sheer number of people who have said it's not gonna snow has been just mind boggling. I get it, our part of the ice storm last week never materialized but they've (forecasters) never wavered on today's snow happening. It's only been a question of when and on this, I choose to believe. I NEED a snow day.

Now, I need to nap because otherwise I will be too tired to enjoy my wintry mix before it turns into a gale. Anyone wanna bet on whether or not work calls me or I have to call them? And if I do have to call, will anyone answer?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee!

(to anyone getting snow who doesn't want it, I'm so very sorry.)

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impy @ 2026-01-27T13:39:00

2026-01-27T18:40:20Z

SOMEONE TALK ME OUT OF A HUNTR/X AG DOLL NOW.

Or don't and just tell me I absolutely do fucking need them.

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impy @ 2026-01-26T05:02:00

2026-01-26T10:17:12Z

So, Icepocalypse '26 didn't do anything here. For days they were calling for freezing rain overnight Saturday into Sunday, but then maybe midweek they walked that back saying models had shifted it just enough that the coast *should* be fine, but anything further inland than _they'd keep moving the goalpost here_ should probably stay the fuck home. Thing is, one of those goalposts is basically a hop, skip, and a jump away from my place. And I cross *counts* three bridges and a couple of overpasses to get to work, and I know the one on the island freezes over before everything else due to the snowstorm back in, uh... fuck, I dunno, 2018? Did that year have one? Whatever year it snowed before I got off work and everything froze over in record time and I got to be told for the second time in my life that no, it wasn't snowing/going to snow when I could see the snow falling as they assured me that no, it wasn't.

Anyway, it didn't help that every time I checked, the forecast had changed yet again and basically just seemed to be "we don't fucking know, man."

To be clear, I was not expecting anything big, but freezing rain + a city that is not accustomed to anything remotely involving winter means my ass would be staying home and enjoying chips and cheese.

I did not stay home and enjoy chips and cheese. It did rain, apparently pretty hard, on this side of the city, but at work? Maybe the faintest whisper of drizzle at some point. Luckily nothing froze and people did stay home just in case (though lord, did they send the third party shoppers out in full force).

It's currently cool and foggy as fuck. I'm going to go peek outside for a bit to stretch my legs but since I can't find my blue sweatshirt, I'm gonna keep it short.

Saturday is still calling for snow. :D I just need it to figure out if that means Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun. It's supposed to be fuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking cold all week overnight, too.

I hope the Icepocalypse was kind to you!

Future!me, next time you've volunteered to make dinner, don't go home and pass out. It seems like a very smart idea, but you always wake up and feel like absolute SHIT and this does not go away.

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BSC 40th anniversary news

2026-01-22T23:54:03Z

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/99513-scholastic-celebrates-baby-sitters-club-40th-anniversary-with-all-new-projects.html

New book, new book alert!

also, we're getting a super special graphic novel with Raina! :D

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I should sleep but instead I'll be watching someone stream for way too long

2026-01-10T14:26:23Z

I feel like there are productive things I could or should be doing, but instead I've decided to finally go through the HT site and see which polishes are on my wishlist and which ones I might allow myself to buy if they get the axe this Saturday. I guess it's a bit of an assumption that just because this Saturday is the data stream that they'll do what they've done before and announce retiring shades, but it seems pretty plausible.

--- So I wrote the above uh... Tuesday morning? And then promptly did fuck all with this, even though I spent HOURS poking around in between the cats demanding attention. :p So I'm gonna go back through and add people's guesses from the teaser photo about what's either getting the axe or is in the bottom sellers list; I haven't gone to the source to see which it is, but everyone's just treating it like the retirement shades so that's what we'll do. ----

So, let's go through the polishes by color and see what's what. Colors that pop up under multiple categories only get mentioned the first time they appear.

( I talk. A lot. About nail polish. )

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impy @ 2026-01-01T12:13:00

2026-01-01T17:13:54Z

I think I've been spoiled by not having to work a ton of NYEs because holy fuck did I want to deck people last night. Who. The. Fuck. comes in right before midnight just to buy cereal, and then keeps coming back? Ma'am, some of us would like to be outside watching the VFW try not to burn the house down with their firework display, mmkay? I was not pleased when I realized that of my THREE coworkers, they'd all disappeared right before midnight. Sooooo... I went outside and hid for three minutes and said fuck it til I got to see some fireworks. And then almost immediately had to go ring cereal lady up.

If 2025 taught me nothing else, it's that I'm beyond burned out at work... and probably in general, if I'm being honest.

But it didn't help that apparently I caught the December Ick for a second time because I've spent this week coughing and having a stuffy and runny nose all at the same time. Initially I chalked it up to allergies since last week was so damn warm that the pollen indexes were friggin' insane (I think the 29th was the hottest on record?), and then at some point the cough moved in and I realized fucknuggets, nope. I really wish when the ick would appear, it'd give me some obvious warning it's on the way so I don't spend what little grocery money I have on stuff I'm not even going to be able to enjoy and can just get soup or something. Boo and bullfrogs.

Oh! Speaking of burning the place down! On the way to work, while stopped at the light down the road from my old high school, I noticed a fire at the base of some trees (right by the road) at the church that used to have cars hit it all the time. Luckily (?) it's just down the road from the firehouse, too. Initially I thought maybe they were just doing some firepit thing and didn't fully think things through, but now I'm guessing that duh, firework/firecracker, especially given this is also right across the highway from one of the fireworks places.

Didn't do a great job with last year's resolutions, so I'm going back to being vague. I did start the new list for the polishes worn this year, and before I slacked off on last year's, I'd documented about a hundred (would've been if I counted what was on my nails this morning), and set my GR book goal.

If nothing else, people did notice the glitter last night. Huzzah!

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