Some words that describe me: Scientist. Environmentalist. Herbalist. Spoonie. Queer. Agender. 26. I care a lot about queer/trans activism, intersectional feminism, anti-fascist work, destigmatizing mental illness... basically pushing back against all sorts of coercive power structures and harmful societal expectations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a million interests... hiking, plants, science fiction, comics, zines, horror, vibrant colors, interesting textures, intentional and alternative communities, chaos magic, druidry, punk, dancing, mindfulness, drawing, writing music, cats, snails, games, tattoos, foraging, and on and on...
The idea that housecats are baby-talking at humans when they meow is based on a misunderstanding.
Yes, it’s true that, amongst themselves, adult housecats generally only vocalise to communicate with kittens, but the particular set of vocalisations that adult cats use to communicate with humans is distinct from, and largely non-overlapping with, the set of vocalisations that they use to communicate with kittens.
Your average adult housecat has anywhere from twenty to fifty distinct vocalisations that are basically only used to communicate with humans.
Cats meowing at humans is less baby-talk and more your cat learning a whole second language.
Can confirm. Between themselves, cats usually use body language which is very subtle. Meowing is very unsubtle—- it’s obnoxious, in the cat world. It attracts far too much attention, which isn’t ideal for small predators.
but they know that we don’t get their body language, so they meow instead.
it’s more akin to cats learning a second language which is comprised of yelling.
So it’s like they are learning German
Even cooler, it’s basically a secret code between cat and owner. Studies were conducted where owners would listen to recordings of cats vocalizations and try to determine what the meow meant. Owners could identify what their own cat wanted (food, attention, help) based on the meow they heard, but couldn’t for other cats.
Your cats aren’t just learning a new language, they straight up invent a secret code that only you understand.
I don’t usually post while tipsy but my mind is fixating on how ever-present but invisible the Mcelroy family is and it is so confusing
So it’s mostly the three brothers at the core that get memed to death, and to some extent their dad as well, but it’s not just Justin, Travis, and Griffin (and Clint) involved in this thing. That’s just mbmbam and taz. There’s also Sydnee, Teresa, and Rachael (the wives) Sydnee’s siblings Rileigh and Teylor. Arguably Sydnee, Rileigh, and Teylor’s dad and uncle.
And these people, this little mass of people scattered over the eastern half of the United States, are like running this giant international podcasting and to some extent YouTube phenomenon based on nothing but their personalities and weird impulse to keep starting new projects constantly. And they’re everywhere. But if you asked a random person on the street who the Mcelroys are they’ll tell you to go away.
Everything about these weirdos is spread by word of mouth. They know Lin Manuel Miranda, Liz Gilbert, and Jimmy Buffet personally. Those are actual celebrities. They had someone from America’s Test Kitchen on their show. I see their faces everywhere on the internet and one of them was in Forbes Magazine one time. But it seems like you’ve either been swallowed completely by their weird little media empire with no hope for escape or you have no idea what the hell anyone is talking about. There is no in between. I’m not even convinced that everyone that follows these people on twitter knows who they are.
And yes I have been in their grip for quite some time now. They’re really freaking charming. But that family collectively has the most weird cryptid energy when it comes to internet presence that I have ever seen.
The Mcelroy family has such weird energy around them. I honestly have no idea what their demographic is. Do I fit in their demographic? They somehow convinced me to buy a copy of their pocasting book. What’s up with that? Where did that come from? When and why did I buy it?
And somehow every single one of them has weird wizard energy but completely different kinds. And yes I’m including the wives in this.
I’m awake and sober now, and another thing. They usually never show video of themselves even in YouTube videos. So on the occasion that you do see video of them, these real human beings start to fall into the uncanny valley somehow. Like when the morning DJs from my local pop station did a commercial for the movies and I freaked out.
I’m uncomfortable with the energy we’ve created in the studio today, I think dogs should vote, put the tiger on the table and yell at it, abrakafuckyou, I don’t understand this meme and at this point I’m too afraid to ask, shrimp heaven now, I forgot my boy, eight foot vertical leap. That’s just a taste of the things I’ve seen people who have no idea who the Mcelroys are reference and they’re all from Mcelroy products.
