MrsDoyle

You're obviously not from round here... (Gesturing vaguely at shuffling hordes of very plain people in my town. Self included. I fit right in.)

Seriously though, comparing yourself with strangers is a terrible idea. That said, if you do want to smarten up a bit, I'd suggest going to a menswear store and asking an assistant to assist. Explain your dilemma, ask them to help you put together one outfit, "smart casual" would be a good start. Good luck!

A fair old chunk of the crowd were in bright red frocks and silly hats.

Lemur.

In my experience the people in the back have their fingers in their ears and are going "lalalalalala".

Extra info you didn't ask for but might help: the doctor gave me a sheet to record my BP for a week. Two readings in the morning, a few minutes apart, two readings in the afternoon, a few minutes apart. Once I'd done that he added and divided the results to get the average. Too high, so now I'm on meds.

I was a bit blasé about it at first - pfft, I feel fine! But he explained that high BP can cause a stroke. You can recover just fine from a heart attack, but a stroke can be devastating, if you even survive it. You will feel absolutely fine until suddenly you're on the floor, unable to move one side of your body or speak coherently. Scared me into taking it seriously!

For example Caoimhe, pronounced Keeva.

Yes. Pupae are fed a mix of pollen and nectar/honey called "bee bread". (Honey is nectar that has its water content reduced to 20% and is sealed, to prevent fermentation.)

I've been reading up on the front-runners for Pope and some of them are super old school illiberal. Though the fellow from Ghana does apparently concede that the laws on homosexuality in some African countries are a bit harsh.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/who-next-pope-francis-potential-candidates-succeed

Meanwhile no-one mentioned Valentina Tereshkova, who orbited Earth 48 times on her own back in 1963. Sigh.

Latte is an Italian drink. In France it's café au lait (or café crème in the south), which is generally a breakfast drink, served in a bowl-like cup.

I don't block much stuff, but I only subscribe to things that don't generally feature US politics. So I essentially have two feeds: All and Subscribed. Scrolling All can be exhausting...

Revelation 9:20: "The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk."

The fundies must be wetting themselves with excitement, rapture any day now!