Notes and links from 9 Aug

Great-neph M’s 10th birthday tea party today with his cousins and older family, which includes me. The theme was monster trucks, hence the last-minute cake decoration (above) made by his mum which I thought was magnificent. Accommodations were made for the autistic members of the family, which includes me, but I didn’t really need them as the adults and kids tended to separate and I just hung with the kids in the garden. While they might be louder I deal with it pretty well. I think it’s a bit like how I find being in a country where I don’t really understand the culture or language and so can’t engage on a cognitive level. Engaging with the adults, however, would involve unavoidable comprehension which can quickly get exhausting. I sent M a joke I saw on Mastodon. ‌If you sneeze and fart at the same time… Your body takes a screenshot. “I am so glad you are my uncle” he replied. [heart melts] ‌The Strange World Of… The Cramps “Ten points of entry for novices and converts alike”.…