The Bluestocking: All You Need to Know About Risk Assessments, Jazz Hands, Battenberg and Sourdough (But Were Afraid to Ask) - and gerbils. Lots and lots of gerbils.

[MyrtleLion]

Welcome to The Bluestocking, the perfectly overblown, gloriously chaotic all-women’s pub where you can have a bit of a lie down if you need it.

Expect serious debates on musicals, cake and knitting, and whimsical musings on women’s rights and why the world’s on fire (again), all under the calm supervision of our support staff: gerbils, capybaras, and the occasional quokka on secondment.

The alcohol won’t get you drunk, the pastries won’t make you fat, but the conversation will digress, and that’s the point.

Remember to namechange before posting if you’re sometimes someone else.

So it was Swashy who turned me into a punk angel? That makes it even special-er💙

I'm OK with the iguana thing, but Deano - a bit more decorum please, can I go back to declaiming odes instead of getting tipsy and making holy show of myself?

I put 'Goodnight all' into the anagram maker for a funny sign-off, and one of the suggestions was ............ All goodnight!
Just imagine all the processing power it took to come up with that😏

So just plain, unscrambled 'Goodnight all' from me🌛

eeee anagram fun .... tittled honks
knotted hilts
slotted think
nth idlest tok
honest kit ltd

then there's 🐞Bibelot de eel
to bee libeled
ebb toed Ellie
Beebe Lilt Ode
Edible eel bot

and 🦁Lily Mentor
Milly Notre
Romney Till
Romy Lentil
Merlot Liny

and for Marie: Amandie Roguery
Eugenio Yardarm
Adriane Ergo Yum
Mona Derry Aguie
Dreamier A Young

then Deano: Dear nerdy rebel
Rare dye blender
Deerdre Blarney
Yr beard needler
Derry bred Elena

The AI is having a lot of trouble trying to make the pictures I asked for.

I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for it

You haven't lost me. I'm the mysterious (boring!) type who sits in a corner and soaks up the madness.

As you were...

Hang on in there @VeraAtkins

hoooray for anagrams

I much prefer being a dear nerdy rebel to being a barrel-eyed nerd.

I'm still Dean Volecape at heart, though there are some threads where it wears very thin.

I can’t remember if I’ve ever asked what the significance of ‘Dean Volecape’ is, it’s eluded me.

meanwhile we’ve been having the power off overnight due to a leaky roof dripping into the garage very near the electric consumer unit, yesterday we turned off at about midday because of the storm, and we’ve poor 4/5G phone signal so I had limited internet access. The temporary partial repair has held but the roofer who was going to come back today is sick.

anyway meanwhile you lot generated 92 posts last night!

I doubt there will be any anagrams which are an improvement on my current name - one which came up is ‘longer earth rod’. Fortunately I don’t believe the universe sends coded advice about electrical safety.

this is the week of the a n a g r a m

Ah right I think you may have explained this before.
🕊️and ❤️

Hello VeraAtkins, sitting in a corner soaking up the madness is 100% OK here, not boring at all. A bit mysterious, in a nice intriguing way.

Although this is a virtual space and youse are all usernames and I obviously don't know who you really are, I can't help feeling as concerned about anyone feeling excluded or not noticed, as I would in real life. I can't help it🙄

Obviously, while the rest of the social conditioning - clothes, toys, career choices, sexual orientation - didn't work on me as a little girl, the concern about how other people are feeling worked extremely well😏

So thank you for letting me know you're still here, and off you go back to your quiet corner to observe the Bluestocking goings-ons. Enjoy!

I'm sending bar-gerbil over to bring you a large helping of whatever you fancy

Dear 🐲, there could not be an improvement but some of the names are quite funny:
Dr Regnal Hooter
Gran Hero Retold
Roger de la North
HR Rodent Gaoler
Theodorrr Angel

As I’ve got thick bite proof skin, I guess I could accept the position of HR rodent gaoler - hopefully my services as such will never be required as our lassies all such a lovely helpful bunch so custodial sentences are unlikely to be required. Unless we get a persistent interloper from the Staunch Ally, of course.

Thank you for my wonderful anagram names, knittedsloth!
Amandie Roguery
Eugenio Yardarm
Adriane Ergo Yum
Mona Derry Aguie
Dreamier A Young

I love them. If I ever decide to become a Drag King, I will definitely use the name Eugenio Yardarm - I'm practising the moustache-twirl even as we speak😁

Drag queens are awful [bar the occasional theatrical performance context ones] but drag kings ...

I once saw a drag king act which involved a woman - make up, fancy hairdo, dress, high heels etc - removing it all piece by piece , taking off the wig and make up, putting on a suit and tie, and gradually changing her stance and movements until she looked and acted like a man.
Nothing sexualised about it at all, it was a demonstration of how gender is signalled through externals. It was also a very entertaining theatrical performance.

Another one was a Flamenco dancer [woman] who gradually and subtly changed dress and performance so it appeared to be a man dancing at the end.

This was years before genderwoo came along, but 'gender critical' was already A Thing for these performers, and their acts were powerful demonstrations of t how superficial 'gender identity' is, it can be put on and taken off at will. And to music
I had no idea I was going to post about drag kings at all - blame it all on Eugenio Yardarm
ps Having read Errol's anagrams - 'Theordorrr Angel' would be a great drag king name too. But our latest little arrival is looking very worried about 'HR Rodent Gaoler'😧

I need the laugh emoji back for all of your funnyisms.
🤣🤣

I’m sure - did we ever decide on her name? Harriatty is what has stuck in my somewhat sleep deprived brain though I’m not sure anyone actually suggested it - has nothing to fear, being a rodent of excellent character.

Harriatty is a good name.

I think Hariatty Ratty is perfect.

Rosy however, has sloped off to bed with a few forgotten quokkas. She feels no one needs her cuddles any more. We should throw a " thank you" party for all our furry workers.

I will cuddle Rosy!

It is sunny but very, very cold here, so could someone send the hot chocolate bowser my way, please.

Well, after attempts at images followed by a discussion with the AI about AI limitations & abilities, this is the best I can do for @VeraAtkins .

It wouldn't put the SOE Vera Atkins in because she's real; & 'I understand your frustration with the difficulty in accurately rendering spatial relationships like "inside/outside" and "behind/in front of" in the images. This is a known limitation in current generative AI models, and you've hit on a key area of active development.' I gave up & used the prompt it suggested for me, & here we are.

Welcome to the well-appointed madhouse, Vera! And will a gerbil please light that fire (with due regard to Health & Safety, of course) & make the place a bit cheerier? Thanks.

Afternoon all, I've just got back from work (yes, at the weekend - open event).
The first picture is what Gemini thinks I was doing. The first picture is also what Gemini gave me as a second attempt, when I told it to set the scene in a classroom with casually clothed people and teenagers. The second picture is what I got from a completely rewritten prompt. I gave up at that point!

Gemini seems very reluctant to concede that people might be female.

Yes, a thank you party would be wonderful!🍾🍰🍸🎉
You are right to bee concerned about Rosy, Fuzzy, she's looking a bit down, isn't she? But I'm sure as soon as she gets to know Harriatty Ratty, she'll love her too

I always cast on about 30 stitches depending on the pattern and 4 stitches at either end were a border. Then I knit about 50 rows. I haven't sewn them together, but wet blocking could be done to make them the same size.

'Ooooh great, a party! I hope there'll be cake..'