Cat Wendt 🏳️‍🌈

This is why I got a “when aren’t you sick?!” award in high school, and my ballet teacher would audibly sigh when I approached with yet another doctor note. I AM NOT DOING THIS ON PURPOSE, I TOO WANT TO NOT HURT FOR A DAY.

Even when I try and honor my body and its cues, this thing just confuses the heck out of me by moving the goalposts. A month ago my ankle arthritis flared so bad I couldn’t sleep. A week ago my traps froze up and my upper back was in agony.

There has been no change in my routine or activity level.

Meat suits are terrible.

Today my “good” knee hurts because 1) it hyperextended for no reason at all as I took a step with my other leg. 2) I was sitting still and suddenly a tendon on the inside of it twitched?! Anyway, it’s stiff and achy now and I’m working on the emotional energy needed to hobble to an ice pack.

I'm hoping to raise $100 to get bus fare, food, and a pair of pants that don't have a hole in the seat

Too many losses this year. I hope she’s reunited with Jennell.

Oh hey guess who had undiagnosed SLEEP APNEA.

Cat’s face edited multiple times onto a photo of the band, Twisted Sister. They are seated in a classroom at school desks, with 80s hair, lots of torn denim, cowboy boots, and some red delicious apples in hand. And an extra large helping of attitude.

It’s the 10 year anniversary of terrifying my friends with my rad photo editing skills. Might be time to plan another karaoke birthday, too.

*Huge crash from the direction of my partner’s office*

My partner: (quietly) “That was not ideal.”

My partner accidentally kind of sort of became my personal animes to-watch curator recently. Anyway, first it was Ascendance of a Bookworm, then Apothecary Diaries, now Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and... well... 3 for 3.

Without Ollie's prompting, I'm one of those people who doesn't realize they've been sitting & working for six hours straight without breaks. He's very good at his job.

A yellow dog with pointed ears lays in elegant repose in a sun dappled living room. A cream sofa, green patterned rug, and sliding glass door leading to a grassy yard are in the background. A glimpse of his fuzzy dog sibling is in the foreground.

Somewhere along the way, Ollie appointed himself our Chief Health Officer.

He:

- Enforces mental health breaks 1x/ hour.
- Paws at me to note when I’m working past 5 pm.
- Denotes bedtime with a pillow and a whimper.
- Notices every sigh and sniffle, and immediately races over to offer comfort.

Games Curator and Writer - Jobs - Careers at Apple Apply for a Games Curator and Writer job at Apple. Read about the role and find out if it’s right for you.

Pretty rare (and awesome) opportunity here. Come work with me!

*Tendonosis

Today it’s ankle arthritis in two joints and degenerative Achilles tendonsis.🥳

The hardest part of getting older is collecting diagnoses like Pokémon.

To proceed to the survey, please check off the box and click the button below.

Alright everyone, one last push.

If you or anyone you know is:
- LGBTQ+
- 13-24 years old
- In the US

Trevor Project is recruiting responses for their survey on LGBTQ+ mental health.

It has HUGE impacts on policy, please take it and share widely if you can :)

trvr.org/survey2025

Took a useful screenshot

Somewhere where the original creator of the flag design also gets a cut or has otherwise actually licensed the design for use.

a drawing of a cat holding a rainbow flag with the name bluvelvet art written below it Alt: A lovely line drawing of a grey with dark grey striped cat waving a rainbow flag with the name bluvelvet art written below it. The background is a solid pinkish purple.

Where's the best place to get a Pride flag -- where proceeds go to an especially spectacular org?

A beautiful portrait of a truly lovely human under the worst possible circumstances. I’d had the pleasure of working with Leif the last few years and he was talented, invariably eager to help others, and incredibly kind.

Been a hell of a rough week. He’ll be missed.

A hand drawn card featuring Ollie and Teddy at attention while their departed siblings look on from the heavens (guinea pigs: Guinea, Little One, and Cissy, dog: Cheeto, cats: Buffy and Turtle). Little hearts float about. The messy text reads “DABA! Happiest of birthdays (heart emoji). Luff! (the letters of the name Cat drawn to actually look like a cat’s face).

Birthdaying hard for my partner today. 14 hours making French onion soup from scratch over a few days (including the beef stock). Homemade lasagna. Also made caprese bites. And there was an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Not a bad dinner/day in an otherwise challenging week. 🥳

What actor's expression in a movie will stay with you the rest of your life?

Before committing myself to a grocery run and the exhausted grocery put away, I remembered the flapjacks.

So I made them, ate them, and I'm putting off groceries until tomorrow. The flapjacks were *perfect*.

I woke up, wanted to make myself some flapjacks, and then got waylaid by a thousand different chores screaming for attention. I tidied the sink, worked on a grocery list, researched some recipes for my partner's upcoming birthday (and their mother's impending stay with us), cleared out the pantry...

I try not to listen in on my partner's therapy appointments, but they just trotted by my office while ranting about Plato and I have questions. 😅

ALSO:

- Cleaning up after brunch. I count that as a separate chore, dagnabbit.

I also worked out, snuggled with my dogs, and chatted with my wonderful mom, but those weren't chores per se. 🥰

AND:

- Too many dishes
- Breaking down boxes
- Laundry
- Making chicken stock
- Making a nice brunch of popovers & preserves, and cooking up some bacon we needed to finish off
- Made really fussy pour over coffee with steamed milk and it was so tasty but why is the yummiest coffee so much work?!?!

Chores included:

- Changing out batteries that needed it on too many things
- Hanging up art in Mark's office
- Moving a dresser
- Cleaning out the drawer of shame in the fridge
- Changing some lightbulbs (it just took one of me!)
- Swapping out a duvet cover
- Organizing the bottom of a closet

Two dishes of food sit in the foreground on a beech wood veneer desk. A pink and white LED mechanical keyboard glows in the background. On the left is a sweet potato curry over rice in a grey bowl with a rainbow metal spoon, on the right are fresh strawberries in a glass bowl.

It was one of those rare Caturdays where I managed to do most of the things I wanted to do. I shouldn't think about how much I could accomplish if I had more than one day a month with this particular intoxicating combo of time + energy + minimal ouchiness... but alas.