rahaeli
@rahaeli.bsky.social
Cofounder @dreamwidth.org / disabled queer cat lady / running social media since before it was "social media" and Trust & Safety since the dawn of time / do not cite the deep magic to me, I wrote it / no, I'm allergic to that, too
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rahaeli
@rahaeli.bsky.social
· Sep 21
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synecdochic.dreamwidth.org
The updated COVID/histamine link thread because people keep tagging me in to explain it and I keep intending to update the post from 2023 (synecdochic.dreamwidth.org/805203.html) and just not having the capacity because of my own health shit so here is a thread I can pin
Rosie is very mad that Sarah and I are eating cookies in bed
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Rosie is very mad that Sarah and I are eating cookies in bed
I have a medical quiz for you all! It is very hard, but I know you all have learned a lot about MCAS from me and can probably get the answer eventually: if you look really hard, can you eventually see the spot I had the scopolamine patch five days ago?
November 29, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I have a medical quiz for you all! It is very hard, but I know you all have learned a lot about MCAS from me and can probably get the answer eventually: if you look really hard, can you eventually see the spot I had the scopolamine patch five days ago?
Discovered when Sarah went to cook dinner that HelloFresh managed to screw up all 3 of our meals this week (it's very rare they make mistakes; I'm blaming it on the Thanksgiving volume): two completely wrong meals, one with wrong ingredients in the bag.
November 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Discovered when Sarah went to cook dinner that HelloFresh managed to screw up all 3 of our meals this week (it's very rare they make mistakes; I'm blaming it on the Thanksgiving volume): two completely wrong meals, one with wrong ingredients in the bag.
This will never stop amazing me
It's wild to me that this guy has reinvented himself as a resist grifter on this website
Senate candidate has history of sending racist, misogynist messages | Arizona Mirror
Arizona U.S. Senate hopeful Craig Brittain made headlines yesterday after he sent racist text messages to a potential campaign vendor.
azmirror.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:21 AM
This will never stop amazing me
I'm not the first to say it, but I think we should absolutely start a campaign to convince all the worst people that K2 is a *much* more impressive mountain to climb than Everest and we would all be much more impressed by that achievement
People should stop climbing mt everest
November 27, 2025 at 4:04 AM
I'm not the first to say it, but I think we should absolutely start a campaign to convince all the worst people that K2 is a *much* more impressive mountain to climb than Everest and we would all be much more impressed by that achievement
This is an excellent summary of how "the author getting paid" works for traditional publishing! To which I'll add: it is super common for books (especially genre fiction) to not "earn out" the advance, so a lot of writers learn to not count on royalty money ever happening.
I'm going to do a little thread on how the money from books works for traditionally published authors because people have questions, and this is always useful info to share IMO. First, a big disclaimer that every contract is different, and there are a million factors that can change things. 1/
November 27, 2025 at 3:24 AM
This is an excellent summary of how "the author getting paid" works for traditional publishing! To which I'll add: it is super common for books (especially genre fiction) to not "earn out" the advance, so a lot of writers learn to not count on royalty money ever happening.
Embodiment update: I got some sleep, finally (hilariously, the naproxen DID work enough to let me doze until I could take the next dose of something stronger) and everything still hurts but it's not AS dire
November 27, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Embodiment update: I got some sleep, finally (hilariously, the naproxen DID work enough to let me doze until I could take the next dose of something stronger) and everything still hurts but it's not AS dire
Ah, that moment when you realize you have gone past multiple soft limits of "what drugs you can take for this specific pain and how many of them" and are staring down an approaching hard limit of "options you can combine" and are still in 90% of the pain, sigh deeply,
November 26, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Ah, that moment when you realize you have gone past multiple soft limits of "what drugs you can take for this specific pain and how many of them" and are staring down an approaching hard limit of "options you can combine" and are still in 90% of the pain, sigh deeply,
This is a very interesting set of insights into Chotiner's thought process and approach
Some of his Q&As sound vaguely familiar, but before today I don't think the name Isaac Chotiner would have rung any bells for me. The torrent of posts today led me to read some of this.
The Interview Assassin: Why Isaac Chotiner doesn’t mind the “gotcha” label.
Why Isaac Chotiner doesn’t mind the “gotcha” label.
www.cjr.org
November 26, 2025 at 9:04 AM
This is a very interesting set of insights into Chotiner's thought process and approach
Periodic reminder: the vaccine efficacy of the pertussis vaccine drops below 50% at 4.5 years. You should be getting a Tdap booster every 5 years, not every 10. It is especially vital if you have contact with pregnant people or infants too young to be vaccinated.
After two infants died, the Louisiana Dept of Health under the leadership of the new incoming deputy director of the CDC, delayed notifying the public for months of a whooping cough outbreak. Instead, he ordered DOH to stop promoting vaccines. Pertussis is currently a national health crisis.
Louisiana officials waited months to warn public of whooping cough outbreak
After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach. That's not the typical public health response.
www.npr.org
November 26, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Periodic reminder: the vaccine efficacy of the pertussis vaccine drops below 50% at 4.5 years. You should be getting a Tdap booster every 5 years, not every 10. It is especially vital if you have contact with pregnant people or infants too young to be vaccinated.
a certain subset of the internet needs regular reminders of why centuries of engineering knowledge > one highly confident dude going "trust me, bro" and my only prayer each time is that there are no casualties except the highly confident dude's wallet
Right now on reddit there's a guy inventing a new kind of brick to build his home with and it's going about as well as you can imagine
November 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
a certain subset of the internet needs regular reminders of why centuries of engineering knowledge > one highly confident dude going "trust me, bro" and my only prayer each time is that there are no casualties except the highly confident dude's wallet
Living with cats 🤝 babysitting the niblings = not asking questions about that loud thumping noise from the other room
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Living with cats 🤝 babysitting the niblings = not asking questions about that loud thumping noise from the other room
Legal concepts we have introduced to the niblings today while seated as the judges for the Sibling Court:
November 26, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Legal concepts we have introduced to the niblings today while seated as the judges for the Sibling Court:
Just dropped this elsewhere, so boosting, since the illegal-orders discussion is back in the news: there's some great GI Rights Hotline postcards and leaflets for printing and distributing, but here's one with the absolute basic message and phone number as a label template.
I've seen a bunch of people sharing leaflet and postcard-sized versions of the GI Rights Hotline info, but I haven't seen any templates designed for label printing, so 30 seconds with the Avery template maker made the simplest possible version with the absolute basics (to be seen from a distance).
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Just dropped this elsewhere, so boosting, since the illegal-orders discussion is back in the news: there's some great GI Rights Hotline postcards and leaflets for printing and distributing, but here's one with the absolute basic message and phone number as a label template.
Minnesota-St Paul, urgent cat relocation need! Get these sweet babies!
Urgent MSP #Caturday 🧵: these two handsome boys need a loving home as circumstances sadly force their person to part with them.
Bones & Basil are a bonded pair and need to stay together. Both are vaxxed, neutered, and very sociable. 1/
Bones & Basil are a bonded pair and need to stay together. Both are vaxxed, neutered, and very sociable. 1/
November 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Minnesota-St Paul, urgent cat relocation need! Get these sweet babies!
One of you really wants this uranium glass pendant, I feel it in my bones
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 AM
One of you really wants this uranium glass pendant, I feel it in my bones
I want to roll over in bed to make a different thing hurt instead but I am propping up the covers so Rosie can be under the covers without them touching her in an unapproved fashion
November 25, 2025 at 5:23 AM
I want to roll over in bed to make a different thing hurt instead but I am propping up the covers so Rosie can be under the covers without them touching her in an unapproved fashion
The Chotiner
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The Chotiner is out
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The Chotiner is out
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
November 25, 2025 at 4:51 AM
The Chotiner
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The Chotiner is out
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The Chotiner is out
In yet more meatsack shenanigans, I am currently experiencing a set of symptoms for which "sleeping in compression socks" is the best treatment available to me. Guess what also pisses off my mast cells
November 25, 2025 at 3:13 AM
In yet more meatsack shenanigans, I am currently experiencing a set of symptoms for which "sleeping in compression socks" is the best treatment available to me. Guess what also pisses off my mast cells
Youngest Niece is negotiating with Sarah to take them to Popmart in the mall tomorrow and Sarah is valiantly trying to suggest outings that do not involve the mall during Thanksgiving week, heh
November 25, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Youngest Niece is negotiating with Sarah to take them to Popmart in the mall tomorrow and Sarah is valiantly trying to suggest outings that do not involve the mall during Thanksgiving week, heh
tfw you are sensitized enough to start reacting to the adhesive of "the one bandaid I don't react to the adhesive of", sigh
November 24, 2025 at 11:53 PM
tfw you are sensitized enough to start reacting to the adhesive of "the one bandaid I don't react to the adhesive of", sigh
The nieces are staying over for two nights and the piss terrorist cat has already hissed at them. Now taking bets on how much piss terrorism there will be when she realizes they're staying in Sarah's usual bedroom
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The nieces are staying over for two nights and the piss terrorist cat has already hissed at them. Now taking bets on how much piss terrorism there will be when she realizes they're staying in Sarah's usual bedroom
Does anyone in Baltimore need (or could use) a 20 lb turkey? Because reasons, we have acquired one, and while we can come up with uses for it, it's A Problem for my allergy issues and if someone needs it more, Sarah is happy to deliver anywhere in Baltimore
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Does anyone in Baltimore need (or could use) a 20 lb turkey? Because reasons, we have acquired one, and while we can come up with uses for it, it's A Problem for my allergy issues and if someone needs it more, Sarah is happy to deliver anywhere in Baltimore
THIS
It saves a tremendous amount of overhead (money) and time (money) and complications (people who are eligible dropping out because they can't prove they are), but mostly it forecloses an extremely common form of fiscal parental abuse.
It saves a tremendous amount of overhead (money) and time (money) and complications (people who are eligible dropping out because they can't prove they are), but mostly it forecloses an extremely common form of fiscal parental abuse.
Periodically I see people justifying means-testing to ensure The Rich don't get stuff for free when they can afford it.
I see the logic, but we can just tax them more.
Plus, the BIGGEST thing not means-testing solves is
*deep breath*
IT STOPS RICH PEOPLE FINANCIALLY-ABUSING THEIR KIDS ANYMORE.
I see the logic, but we can just tax them more.
Plus, the BIGGEST thing not means-testing solves is
*deep breath*
IT STOPS RICH PEOPLE FINANCIALLY-ABUSING THEIR KIDS ANYMORE.
November 24, 2025 at 7:19 AM
THIS
It saves a tremendous amount of overhead (money) and time (money) and complications (people who are eligible dropping out because they can't prove they are), but mostly it forecloses an extremely common form of fiscal parental abuse.
It saves a tremendous amount of overhead (money) and time (money) and complications (people who are eligible dropping out because they can't prove they are), but mostly it forecloses an extremely common form of fiscal parental abuse.