Watched some eps of a documentary show on abandoned places last night. It's unsettling to see how many of them are associated with WWII, & with the Nazis in particular. Seeing that again & again really underscores how hard all of Europe was hit by WWII & all that came with it.

We don't have a clue in the US, really.

& here's a fun article from the American Chemical Society on some of the important molecules that make roses smell like roses: https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/c/citronellol.html

Here's more chemical info on citronellol: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3_7-dimethyloct-6-en-1-ol

So hey, #TIL about citronellol too. Here's the Wikipedia article on it - yeah, it's Wikipedia, check the bibliography. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citronellol

Geraniol isn't the only compound that makes roses smell as they do; there's a whole bunch of others, particularly citronellol. See some info here on what's in a rose: https://books.google.com/books

Here's a paper on recent developments in the use of monoterpenes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7582973/

It's also produced by honeybees to mark the location of their hives & nectar-bearing plants. It's part of a group of terpenes called 'monoterpenes', all of which have both medical & cosmetic applications, & generally smell pretty damn awesome.

#TIL what makes a rose smell like a rose: geraniol, a monoterpenoid found in a bazillion different fragrant plants. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Geraniol

Just learned a great quote regarding toxic families: "the more flying monkeys, the more wicked the witch."

Ok there's a family of... some kind of bird, I haven't been able to see what, they're too quick - making a nest on the gutter pipe just outside my window. I can hear them fluttering & chirping every time they add more to the nest.

@singlemaltgirl Same. I'll report if need be too.

The moral of the story is: don't be an asshole.

Actually I think the moral of just about every Aesop's fable can be summed up as "don't be an asshole"... in this case it is, of course, a lesson about self-importance.

It reminds me of the Aesop's fable about the gnat & the bull: a gnat alighted on the horn of a bull & stayed for a time. Before flying away, the gnat said to the bull, "I'm leaving now; I hope I've been no burden to you while I rest."

The bull replied: "Do as you will; I didn't notice when you landed, & will not notice when you fly away."

I don't get ppl who announce that they're blocking you.

It's like, who cares? Don't want to see someone's timeline, no problem, just block & move on.

Trying to love my plump chin today.

It's not easy.

@JolieSaboteuse OMG I'm imagining these as all one person now.... :O

Time for me to pack it in today & go have dinner, do a couple of chores, & relax for the evening. Later gators!

& sometimes (not so often these days), a "good" day means I woke up alive the next morning.

"Productive" is a good sign because it means my energy levels & mood are doing really well.

On other days, a "good" day means I was able to avoid crashing, or I ate enough to keep my mood going, or I took a shower.

I have to admit it's hard to think of a "good" day as something other than "doing lots of things". Having depression means I've had to adjust that way of thinking, & while I do love having a productive day, these days it's a measure of how depression is impacting me, more than my worth as a human being.