I also got several humidifiers (penguins!) which proved useful over the years.

I have a penguin humidifier sitting next to me right now. (AIFG)

JZ, that was beautiful.

Ondine’s curse: very cool.

Vermouth is an under-utilized cooking ingredient, I think. My upstairs neighbor made a grapefruit and red vermouth marmalade that was phenomenal. I was sad when I finished the jar.

That was a great piece of writing, JZ, thanks for sharing it. AND I've just had someone's name in my work whose middle name is Ondine! (Not sure how to phrase that, but I have nothing to do with her personally, just her name.)

I would like a penguin humidifier and a weighted blanket, if anyone's shopping?

Hmm, I may have do add vermouth to my pantry. I've been cooking so much and love trying new things. And I have not used vermouth cooking yet.

Surprise in the mailbox. My wonderful county sent a package with 4 Covid masks. I expect they sent them to everyone. Blue, red, maroon, and black. How cool is that? Also a bunch of information on testing and precautions and so forth.

I have a vague memory of having read about Ondine's Curse a long time ago. The name stuck with me, since I had heard of Ondine (although I tend to confuse her with Melusine).

I used to work with a man who had sleep apnea - he once fell asleep in the middle of a phone call - I spotted him sitting at his desk, head on fist, other hand holding the phone receiver. He got treated and improved.

For people with kitties, I once saw a book by a vet called "All My Patients Are Under The Bed".

I’d never heard of Ondine’s curse. How sad!

I love my weighted blanket and highly recommend.

Dog made it to 530am. And then after we went out, until about 630. Sigh. Why must I have a morning dog? (He doesn’t need to go out at 630–he just wants to be awake and have me be awake with him—if I’m brushing my teeth he will chill and wait, but if I’m still in bed he barks and whines and pokes his head on the bed until I’m up)

JZ's spicy brains are spicy!

Inanna seems to be fully recovered, but now she has discovered that we could be hand-feeding her broth from a dropper, so the expensive wet food is no longer good enough. Still, we are so very relieved.

If FSA covers weighted blankets, I believe everyone should have one.

Just got word a beloved high school teacher has died. No info on cause. He was 81 and a longtime smoker, so it is not as much of a gut punch as others, but still a punch. He was not on social media, so I had had no contact in years.

Awww, thanks for the kind words! It just entranced me how much all these doctors and scientists were entranced by it. I love that we are an animal that tells itself stories and comes to understand itself through the stories it tells.

For people with kitties, I once saw a book by a vet called "All My Patients Are Under The Bed".

I found an animal behavior consultant service in Reno for my mom and her cat; they've started doing all their consults via Zoom, and they noted on the info page that for cats their consults are more productive than ever, because back when they did home visits most of the time their clients would hide until they went away so they never got to see the behavior they were consulting on. Now, all the cats are totally used to their humans talking to the shiny pictures in their phones or laptops, so the cats just carry on as usual and the behaviorist gets to see the bad behavior in real time.

Because it deserves a separate post: msbelle, I am so sorry. Even when it's not a surprise, it's always sudden. And our most beloved teachers hold such a particular place in our hearts and our lives and who we become in all the years after.