larryhammer | Network

We won hockey, against a team we expected to lose against.

I scored the goal - short corner, it got passed around several times in the circle, and I was on the left post when the ball crossed the goal and I tapped it in. Whew! I don't often get it in, but I was there and it worked.

They were a good team - solid, some older experienced players, some younger ones with more energy and legs. And they were a pleasant team to play against, which was great. Some teams just leave you with a bad taste in the mouth. This one didn't. We tussled over the ball, but it wasn't bitchy.

We expected to lose against them because the whispers before the game were that they beat a team we'd beaten in the first round - by 10-0. We beat the team they thrashed by 2-0 back in the first round though. I mean, I could point out that they didn't have me playing, but in spite of scoring the goal, I would hardly say I was instrumental in this game. Our midfielders were on point for this one - intercepting, tackling, getting the ball away... All three '3-2-1' points for team MVP this week went to midfielders.

Anyway, I am super-sore, and will be seeing the physio this afternoon. Oof. I kind of wish I could have scored a massage beforehand to loosen everything up, but...couldn't manage otherwise.

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is spillover from the February 1, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from

mama_kestrel,

see_also_friend, and

kelkyag. It also fills the "Forgive" square in my 2-1-22 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by

fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

billroper

Julie suggested that we could watch a movie for my birthday since we had watched one for hers. This seemed like a fine idea, but yesterday got away from us, so we planned this for tonight.

The problem is that a great many of the movies that I might want to watch were not available on streaming or would cost an annoying amount to rent. (Not that much, just annoying.) But I bought the Indiana Jones box set a while back on DVD, so we could watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

At least, we could watch it if the disk was in the case. It was not. Nor did it turn up on cursory searches of places where it should have been. I am annoyed.

Gretchen suggested "1776" and the copy that we had of that was available -- which is good, because we would have had to subscribe to Starz to get it otherwise. The kids liked it a lot.

And, of course, so did Gretchen and I.

dialecticdreamer

After Hours Meeting
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 1017
[Monday evening, 13 November of 2017]

:: Jules and Jaliy surprise Blainn and Bennett with the kitten. Part of the Lodestar story arc in Polychrome Heroics. ::

On to part two

Jules petted the silvery kitten as Jalliya braked in front of the house. “It’s okay, we’re here,” he soothed the kitten. The wings, nearly the same color as the kitten’s fur, fluttered once, then again, before tucking away almost unnoticeably.

Jaliya grinned at him. “You are so gone on that kitten,” she teased.

“I haven’t named her,” the young man insisted, shaking his head vigorously.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: annoyed

austin_dern

Am I busy? Yes, still. So are you going to get more photo dump of our Silver Beach photos? Yes, still. Will you enjoy? I don't know, that's on you.

Around the carousel are a couple of ride or ride pieces, possibly merely from things like the amusement park used to have, and since it was October, they had skeletons.

This was once a ticket booth but they'd set a robot witch up in it as though a fortune teller.

Bumper car that's lost its skeleton.

And a decoration on the side that bunnyhugger tolerated but didn't care for.

Now to the main part of the day, which was enjoying the beach. I didn't start taking pictures until late in the day.

I remember playing this album like four times a day in college.

bunnyhugger trying to get her dragon kite to fly; it would get up a little bit but never really caught the upper winds.

Still, it always makes for great eye-catching ribbons of light and color.

I liked the way the shadow of the fence and the shadow of footprints interacted here.

I don't know how this happened. I think I was trying to get a picture of the guy occluding the sun and somehow my camera made it into a weird double exposure moment.

One of the historical plaques in the area, this one explaining the park. And why do I say 'one of'? You'll see.

``Why do photographers call this the Golden Hour?''

Trivia: Russian Empress Catherine the Great proclaimed the League of Armed Neutrality in February 1780 in response to Spain --- recently joined the American Revolution --- seizing and auctioning off a Dutch ship carrying cargo for Russia, and then the similar seizing of a Russian ship. Source: The Diplomacy of the American Revolution, Samuel Flagg Bemis. Spain had pronounced a broader range of cargos and shipping activity to be bringing war materials to the enemy than France or the United Kingdom did.

Currently Reading: Walt Kelly's Pogo and Albert: At the Mercy of the Elephants, Walt Kelly. Editor Mark Burstein.

olivermoss

More context on why I couldn't spot the stairs on gmaps:

Stairs:

Up on the sidewalk:

There are some cool potential shots up there. Like with the last shoot, really need to go back on a rainy / misty day.

ysabetwordsmith

These are the notes for "Your Emotional Abilities."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

alchemicink

Happy Sunday! I have safely returned from my weekend anime convention trip! I'll write separate posts about that later. Instead, here's what I have to share from the past week (which feels like a million years ago now)

( Read more... )

hannah

I know I set my alarm last night, and I don't remember turning it off this morning, but I must have because when I got out of bed, it was almost 9:30. I didn't panic because I prepared for this with canned coffee in the fridge and protein bars in the cupboard. I didn't panic when I got pretty well soaked by the rain, either, since I knew I'd be coming back to my place to strip off the wet clothes and do laundry.

Similarly, I've got sauteed zucchini in the fridge for upcoming breakfasts, and I'll soon put some beans on to soak to cook tomorrow. It's a bit of a domino effect and a commitment to a given outcome, and it's more of the same planning and anticipating. I don't know how much I'll be able to get done this week on assorted projects and tasks, but I'll be ready to get rid of excuses.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: Strangers - The Kinks

shadowkat

It's a cool rainy day. Been raining for the last three days with no end in sight - to the extent that the days have kind of blurred together, with work wedged in at the front of them. Gloomy. Perfect weather for watching horror television shows. ;-)

I took a brief walk today - stretched the legs, through the drizzle, to pick up groceries. Then cleaned out a portion of the fridge - in order to insert them, along with a portion of the cabinet. All the while listening to an audio book. Then made dinner. Which was comprised of broccoli rabe, zuccini squash, summer squash, and carrots, with chicken on kebob sticks.
Peppermint ice cream, berries, chocolate and whipped cream for desert.

Saw the horror flick Send Help on Hulu, which stars Rachel McAdams, and Dylan O'Brien (the standout from Teen Wolf) - and directed by Sam Rami.
I was curious to see where it went. It surprised me. They didn't follow any of the standard tropes, and kind of skewered a few along the way. There is a hilarious scene that is almost reminiscent of a scene from Misery, but far more twisted. The director does a surprisingly good job of misleading the audience, and allows the audience's imagination to fill in the blanks - to great effect. Not something I'd expect from Sam Rami, who has matured since Evil Dead.

Think Castaway meets Misery by way of Survivor and Office Space?

It's better to go in blind on this one, so I won't say more than that? Except it's a two character piece, and both O'Brien and McAdams sell it.

I have to say horror has gotten a lot more interesting in the last several years? We've slowly moved away from the redundant slasher flicks and serial killers, and into more mischievous territory - with darkly comedic ventures. Mike Flanagan, Sam Rami, Emerald Ferrel, Noah Hawlely, Guillermo Del Torro, The Duffer Brothers, Blumehouse and A24 have managed to revitalize the genre. Inserting humor and focusing on character - also a touch of satire.

Also watched a bit more of Firefly - eh, it doesn't hold up well? I liked it better when it first aired. I loved it when it initially aired - I had the DVDs, and saw the film in theaters. But it doesn't hold up well.
Has anyone else rewatched this recently? ( Read more... )

Binged all of the current episodes of Widow's Bay on Apple Tv. It's worth a look. Although my favorite character is the sheriff, who is definitely supporting. ( Read more... )
Also some nice jump scars. It's not violent though. And doesn't result in nightmares. I'd say mildly scary? It's not like Alien: Earth - which I couldn't get through, it was too violent and too gory and too scary for me.
(I admittedly can't do body horror. And Alien:Earth is heavy on body horror and parasites, two things that I don't handle well. I'll leave it to the true horror aficionados on my correspondence list.)

Then I jumped over to a contemporary romance movie on Prime entitled "Regretting You" - I think it's adapted from a Collen Hoover novel (?) - and it's horrible. I made it a quarter of the way in and gave up out of boredom. You know the movie has issues - when two major characters are killed off and you do not care. Worse? You can't really tell the difference between the four major characters because they all look alike.
Do they just hire people from models inc for these sorts of movies?
One actress isn't bad, the rest, sigh. It's about a woman who discovers her sister and her husband were having affair, after they die in a car accident, and she rebuilds her life, with her sister's fiance/baby daddy.
It's poorly paced, drags, and has bad dialogue.

Skippable.

I gave up on it. And will most likely go back to watching either Midnight Mass or Citadel. There is a zillion television shows and movies on. Honestly, I feel the same way about activities in NYC or things to do (which unfortunately all require a subway ride or car ride or ferry ride or bike ride). I feel overwhelmed and in sensory overload? Anyone else feel this way?

Maybe I need a life coach to keep from shutting down.

I've moseyed back to the science fiction novel I wrote. Which I may write the prequel to. Dumped the contemporary romance novel - which I couldn't make work. Too problematic. Some stories just don't work no matter what you do. Best to let them lie dormant. [And, it's just possible that I'm not cut out to be a contemporary romance writer? I don't even really like the genre? And barely read it? So it's kind of hard to write a genre that you don't like. I like horror better, actually. I could write horror. Every time I try to write contemporary romance it turns into horror or a thriller, with a convoluted plot - because I get bored easily.]

And, I'm considering taking a sketch book with me when I do jury duty (whenever that is - I postponed it to August, and they told me it could be any time after August depending on need...so I've no idea.) and just sketch people. Maybe my travel watercolor book? They may take exception to that?

ranalore

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: hot
Current Location: it's a scorcher of things to come today

olivermoss

I decided to knock out the Linnton neighborhood stairs. There are ten or so, ranging from 10-180 steps. I'd spent a frustrating night trying to plot where the stairs where in my stairs book on an actual map. I creeped google street view, nada. I googled for info, and got broken links and broken images.

So, I just tossed myself at Linnton to see if I could find them. I found the problem - the stairs start/end at the sidewalk and the sidewalk is not at street level:

The location info in the book was a bit obtuse, but the reason why street view was no help was because it's street view, the stairs were out of the shots.

Real photo post later, but for now a cell phone shot from my lunch spot. I do love an overgrown staircase, but this was a lot:

If I found them all, and I think I did, that was ~850 steps up and also the same number down.

On the way home I hooped off the bus early because there's a coffee shop on the edge of residential Portland in a converted space. Real cute outdoor area, always wanted to try it. They had big pictures of iced coffee and iced tea in the windows so I went in to order an iced coffee. Sounded great after tromping up and down hundreds of stairs in the heat. They had no iced coffee. No tea either. So, I looked at their menu and saw drip coffee and I saw oatmilk as a creamer option. So I asked for drip coffee with oatmilk. Lady said they didn't serve drip coffee either, but she could make me a latte? I just turned around and left, leaving her to yell 'ma'am... MA'AM!' after me. But like... they don't have the drinks they have pictures of in the windows... the barista gave me a weird look for asking for an item on the menu? I just was not in the mood for whatever was going on there.

ysabetwordsmith

Silk can be transformed into a super-material stronger than bone

Now, researchers have found a way to turn silk into something much stronger than fabric.

In fact, the new material can compete with some advanced industrial composites and even comes close to Kevlar in toughness.

It can also survive ballistic impacts better than carbon fiber reinforced plastics. That puts silk in a very different category than scarves and dresses.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is spillover from the December 3, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from

goatgodschild and

wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "Flannel" square in my 11-1-24 card for the Sleepytime Bear Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by

fuzzyred. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "Your Own Blissful Path" so read that first or this won't make as much sense.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

athenais

Ted White's daughter Kit has notified his friends that he died today from multiple medical issues at the age of 88. It's been some months since I last spoke to him at the little Zoom meeting I drop in on a few times a year. He really didn't look good, but he seemed more or less his normal self with lots of opinions about the world. I had several opportunities to talk to him via Zoom over the last two years and saw him at the Las Vegas Corflu in 2024. But it is still a shock and I'm very sorry we'll never have another chat about music or fandom again.

He was a good friend to me over many years. I told him more than once how important my three month stay with him in 1983 was. I went to a party at his house after the Baltimore Worldcon and had so much fun I simply didn't go home. He invited me to rent his Green Room (it was painted a very bright green indeed) and get a job in Falls Church (I was a temp worker so that was doable) so we could keep talking about fandom and music. And we did, often with Dan and Lynn Steffan who lived next door. I know he enjoyed having me there, he always liked to have people around for late night smoke sessions, a favorite jazz record on the turntable, a drink in hand and fan history to impart to a relative fanzine newbie.

He was generous, kind, funny, and also cranky, held grudges, and was in a constant low key competition with Terry Carr which dated back to the 50s at least. He was an accomplished author, editor, musician and music critic, well known worldwide. He was quite a character.

Man, that was a fun time. I loved having Ted as a fancestor. It's awful thinking that he's gone. But he contributed a lot to his communities while he was here and that's a great legacy.

lucymonster

Ready or Not (2019): On her wedding night, Grace's obscenely rich new in-laws rope her into a family ritual: she must play a game with them, chosen at random by drawing a card from a black box. All but one of the games are harmless; the "but one" is a murderous game of hide-and-seek, where the family has until sunrise to hunt down the target and ritually slaughter them. Guess which card Grace draws.

This was so much fun! Between this and Jennifer's Body, I've started feeling like Adam Brody should be some kind of Big Deal in last decade's horror movies, though Wikipedia tells me he hasn't actually appeared in much else. More to the point, Samara Weaving put on a truly fantastic performance. Grace had a grit and a will to live that were incredible to watch; all she was doing was trying to survive, but she quickly made herself a terror to the rest of the family, and I very much enjoyed her journey to becoming as much of a threat to them as they were to her. Her husband was the kind of spineless sack of shit it feels truly good to hate. I have a little while to wait before the sequel comes down to a sensible rental price on streaming platforms (it is very new and currently costs a full movie ticket amount to watch, but that won't last) and then I'm very much looking forward to seeing the continuation of her adventures.

Hush (2016): Maddie, a deaf woman and successful author, lives alone in the woods to work in peace on her next novel. One night she becomes the target of a sadistic serial killer. This was so damn good. Scary as fuck, sparing but VERY effective with its gore (the hand scene alskjhfalsjffd owwwwww) and has another wonderful female protagonist who never wanted any of this but, since she can't escape it, throws herself into the fight harder than her tormentor could ever have predicted. It is pure chance that I watched this and Ready or Not back to back, but between the fierce table-turning heroines and the hand gore, they make an unexpectedly good pairing, lol. The killer also put in a fantastic performance. I feel like he's going to stick in my head as a memorable villain for exactly how UNmemorable he is: normal dude, personable, casually chatty, utterly sick fuck. He is not the brightest spark, and there more than a few "dude how are you fucking this up so bad" moments, but I don't necessarily have a problem with that; there's no law that says killers all have to be ultracompetent masterminds!

Apparently there's also a TV show called Midnight Mass that is supposed to be an adaptation of Maddie's fictional bestseller. I'm finding TV shows harder to commit to than movies at the moment, but it has good reviews and I'd like to give it a go at some point.

hamsterwoman

Hugo homework continues. I'm posting about it real time on the sync read post, but also posting here as I finish things I consider stand-alone books (novellas and longer) and complete categories:

6. Annalee Newitz, Automatic Noodle – Hm. I don’t think I’ve read anything by Annalee Newitz prior to this, but I've read them and other people talking about their books, which set my expectations pretty low. And then

cyanmnemosyne finished this novella and described it as, “If I had been asked to blurb it, my blurb would be ‘Great for fans of the Monk and Robot books’” – and since I HATED the first Monk and Robot book – well, OK, I strongly disliked the book itself and HATED that it won the Hugo – that further lowered my expectations.

But actually I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book, where it’s all getting to know our plucky band of misfit robots, making noodles (I do want some noodles now), and traipsing around future!San Francisco, and getting to hear what NorCal is like post ?the war of secession?. So, I was pleasantly surprised for the first part of my reading journey. But then I got to the parts where there are supposed to be, like, emotional arcs? and maybe themes more serious than “yum, noodles!”, and from here the book worked considerably less well for me. ( More, with spoilers )

7. Naomi Novik, The Summer War – this isn’t new ground for Novik, but she’s doing a thing she does well, and that I enjoy her doing, so, like, no complaints from me. This hasn’t got, for me, the iddy appeal of Uprooted’s central relationship, or the poignancy of Miryem the well-realized Jewish protagonist of Spinning Silver, but I do really enjoy Novik’s fairytales as a baseline, and her fey, with their alien morality that makes them at once laughable and compelling, which is a neat trick. And Novik also just writes prose in a way I really enjoy, which is on display here, and which was a big part of how much I liked this novella. ( Spoilers from here )

Short stories: ( Tia Tashiro, Isabel J. Kim, Thomas Ha, J.R.Dawson, Samantha Mills, Effie Sieberg )

Short stories (6/6): Missing Helen > Wire Mother > In My Country > 10 Visions > Laser Eyes > No Award > Revise You

Novelettes:

( Never Eaten Vegetables, H.H.Pak )
( The Millay Illusion, Sarah Pinsker )
( When He Calls Your Name, Cat Valente )
( Rapport, Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy, Martha Wells )
( The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For, Cameron Reed )
( Kaiju Agonistes, Scott Lynch )

Novelettes: (6/6) Never Eaten Vegetables >> The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For > When He Calls Your Name / Kaiju / Millay Illusion (I keep fiddling with the order... I think the Valente one has more of a point, under the thicket of words, though admittedly I found 'Kaiju' more fun and 'Illusion' less of a slog > the ART one (I liked the additional ART canon, I love ART, but in no way is that worth a Hugo).

*

Taskmaster also continues:

Taskmaster s21e07 – Amy looks really cute in her patterned dress and her boots and with her hair like that! ( Spoilers from here )

John Kearns was the Taskmaster Podcast guest and, wow, I really do find him unlistenable. I multi-tasked through most of the episode, because otherwise I would’ve turned it off, and I did want to hear Ed’s thoughts on the episode, which I don’t think I got any of, just pause-ridden unrelated rambling from Kearns, and fell asleep during the last bit, which I’m not going to attempt to repeat. Ah well.

Taskmaster Australia s5e03 – I keep looking forward to Anisa’s outfits and she keeps not disappointing! ( Spoilers )

damninteresting_link_feed

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/24/la-brea-tar-pits-museum?utm_source=DamnInteresting

‘Pompeii, but in the middle of a massive city’: the ice age fossil site hidden in Los Angeles (from theguardian.com)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/24/la-brea-tar-pits-museum?utm_source=DamnInteresting

damninteresting_link_feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDJtCYRRsew&utm_source=DamnInteresting

Video: Dressing for the Little Ice Age: Five Centuries of Frigid Fashions [32:54] (from youtube.com)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDJtCYRRsew&utm_source=DamnInteresting

musesfool

Frequently when we reschedule something because of a bad weather forecast, the weather turns out to not be that bad after all, but this weekend, it was the smart move. It seems to have finally stopped raining for bit after it rained heavily for most of yesterday and all of today. It's been a real chilly and kind of gray spring, tbh, those few days of high 80s/low 90s notwithstanding.

Anyway, I've taken the chance to try out some recipes - yesterday, I made chicken meatballs with garlic butter orzo, which is good and I have some leftover, but I would say that the meatballs are sort of unnecessary? And the garlic butter needs a little more seasoning imo - some rosemary and oregano and basil would not go amiss - but the orzo in garlic butter is good stuff.

I also made Ina Garten's shortbread, though I kept the teaspoon of almond extract from the pecan shortbread and covered them with chocolate sprinkles - I made the dough yesterday and then baked them off this morning. 20 minutes was probably a minute or 2 too long in the oven, but they still taste good.

I also baked a loaf of bread, on which I might make French bread pizza tomorrow. We'll see. I might also bake some kind of lemon cake, since I have a bunch of lemons, but maybe not. Again, I'll see how I feel. But for dinner tonight, I made these ricotta and breadcrumb balls. Which again, I seasoned to my own taste rather than following the instructions. They're pretty good if you like ricotta.

I think that's one of the most important things you can do when you learn to cook - learn to make things taste the way you like them. I save a ton of recipes and have a bunch of cookbooks, but mainly I need them for measurements and techniques, not flavorings. I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes they will come up with a combination that would never have occurred to me which is delicious! But a lot of the time, I'm going, I'll swap in X for Y and I will like it better. If there are too many of these in one recipe, then it's not really that recipe (not that I would comment to say so!), but the technique might be useful just the same.

*

Current Mood: full
Current Music: who's gonna ride your wild horses? - u2

petra

Anybody who wants a drabble or poem about Discworld or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, please hit me up before midnight tomorrow.

Crossovers with all and sundry welcome. Weird pairings welcome. No Good Omens or Harry Potter for creator-related reasons, thanks.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Love like the yellow daffodil is lord of all I know

kaberett

Reading. I managed a bit more of Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish before it got autoreturned to the library; I do not regret the outdoor activities I was doing instead of finishing it up but I am also mildly disgruntled that it's likely to be around another month before I get it back from the library. (Yes, it has won me over from my initial grumbles about Intro To Phylogeny.)

I have managed to reread approximately, generously, a chapter and a half of Wicked Problems (Max Gladstone), which I still want to complete before I have another go at Dead Hand Rule, because I absolutely do not have adequate recollection of how WP finished. And yet: my brain it goes eeeeeeeeeenh.

Watching. Apparently it has been a week in which I was willing to do audiovisual processing, and not just on my special interest?

In NOT my special interest news (see also Exploring), I appreciated this very short documentary on the piece of artwork at the centre of the Kerdroya labyrinth.

On Friday I hit the point of going "okay, this is ridiculous, what the hell is going on that I am managing to move that much weight in what is nominally a barbell row", tried to get the internet to tell me how I should expect row vs bench weights to look, and found a Renaissance Periodization video on 11 Barbell Row Mistakes (content note: masturbation jokes in questionable taste). RP are a source that Casey Johnston trusts, and I trust Casey Johnston sufficient to take that rec (though, to be clear, not on all things), so I watched it! And I now think I know some things I'm doing suboptimally and for that matter some things Johnston recommends doing suboptimally or unclearly! So obviously I am impatient to wave a stick around and see how it feels, and I am next scheduled to do this with barbell rows on... Wednesday.

I have three other videos from that sequence open in tabs.

Listening. Tragically we did NOT listen to a bunch of Hidden Almanac on the way down to Cornwall and then back up again, because it would not have been to my mum's taste and we did not wish to ensadden her on the journey.

Playing. Have replayed Tukoni: Prologue on my own machine for the purposes of getting the Steam achievements (incidental to wishlisting the full game as and when it gets released). Also a couple of rounds of Scrabble.

Cooking. Uh. Let's see. There was... quiche? There was a quiche, and also cheese straws. A questionable stirfry that did broadly achieve the goal of delivering protein.

Eating. ASPARAGUS incl purple. Birthday cake. A sampler of commercially available Greek and Greek-style yoghurts. The LENTIL MOUSSAKA of my mother (second portion). Bean burgers also of my mother. ALPINE STRAWBERRIES from the garden!

Exploring. Helston Sports Centre and associated environs (involving BUSES).

Kerdroya!!! We wanted somewhere to stop and eat our Gear Farm pasties on our way back upcountry, due to divers alarums and excursions we wound up on Bodmin Moor at lunchtime (i.e. well behind schedule), so we sat on some grass and watched cows wade in and out of the lake and then while A was eating their Cornetto we went to see how long a walk it was to this labyrinth. WE ARE IN LOVE WITH THIS LABYRINTH. In addition to showcasing the various kinds of rock found around Cornwall and their accompanying styles of hedging we also got to see an excellent variety of foxgloves (white to very deep pink), a thing my mother called "whispering grass" that is not Stipa tenuissima that I am not going to finish looking up properly right now (short, seed heads bow over, fascinating sort of inverted-teardrop-shaped white-to-pink scaled situation?), scarlet pimpernels cascading down the vertical faces, ...

Growing. The at-home plants have not all died while I was away, despite the nightmares about the lemongrass! Indeed the poblano has NEW FRUIT on it!!!

Meanwhile, in Cornwall I Actually Did Some Weeding.

Observing. Goldfinches! Stonechats! Cormorants! Choughs!!! Barn swallows! Cows In Water; many calves and lambs; so so many Excellent Flowers.

The waves.

Goodness it's been an excellent week for spending time quietly outdoors.

trobadora

Still reading the 520 Day collection, but I'm also writing!

Among other things (which I can't talk about because exchanges), I'm currently working on an original thing, and I'm having trouble with a character that won't quite come together. I know rather a lot about them, but I don't have a real feel for them as a character yet.

Now, part of the reason is no doubt that I haven't fully settled on a name - characters never entirely come together for me until I've found the "right" name for them - but maybe some outside inspiration would help, too. Sometimes it does help to think about similar characters/archetypes, and where the differences lie!

To that end: if you know any good mentor characters who remain in the story after their "student" surpassed them or no longer needs them, please tell me about them! I'd really appreciate it. ♥

goddess47

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

aurumcalendula posting in

vidding

Title: My Redemption
Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery & Star Trek: Section 31
Music: My Redemption by Halestorm
Summary: 'don't need saving to save myself/ don't need forgiveness to bless my guilt'
Notes: Premiered at

wiscon_vidparty 2026!
Warnings: quick cuts, flashing lights, blood, violence

AO3 | bsky | DW | tumblr | YouTube

ysabetwordsmith

DEMOCRACY REPORT 2026: Unraveling The Democratic Era?

1. Democracy in the World 2025
* Democracy is back to 1978 levels for the average global citizen. The gains of the “third wave of democratization”, starting 1974 in Portugal, are almost eradicated.
* The level of democracy for the average citizen in Western Europe and North America is at its lowest level in over 50 years, primarily due to ongoing autocratization in the USA.
* The USA loses its long-term status as a liberal democracy – for the first time in over 50 years.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: frustrated

longficmod posting in

fandom5k

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stardust_rifle posting in

little_details

My Extremely Square ass is writing a scene where a character does LSD, and they (AMAB NB) hallucinate seeing and fusing with a female version of themself- for the rest of the trip, their proprioception/body map is altered so that they feel as though they have a more "female" body shape (eg, breasts, wider hips).

My question is in the title- is fucking with the body's proprioception/body map/sense of touch in this way something LSD can do? Also, the contents of the trip are kind of plot-relevant, so if LSD can't actually do this, are there any hallucinogens that can (and that people take recreationally/Actually Enjoy Tripping On)?

Thanks!

goddess47

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ysabetwordsmith

These are the notes for "A Proper Community Is a Commonwealth."

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Current Mood: busy

damninteresting_link_feed

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/18th-century-britain-reform/687221/?gift=bvuTbSP0DiE7IfOqMxT7BIyiL2vcxJyBmX16252aEhU&utm_source=DamnInteresting

What the 18th Century Can Teach the 21st (from theatlantic.com)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/18th-century-britain-reform/687221/?gift=bvuTbSP0DiE7IfOqMxT7BIyiL2vcxJyBmX16252aEhU&utm_source=DamnInteresting

damninteresting_link_feed

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-group-says-starbucks-plastic-cups-marked-recyclable-end-up-trash-2026-05-20/?utm_source=DamnInteresting

US group says Starbucks plastic cups marked recyclable end up in trash (from reuters.com)

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-group-says-starbucks-plastic-cups-marked-recyclable-end-up-trash-2026-05-20/?utm_source=DamnInteresting

myrmidon posting in

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Resident Evil Requiem (2026)
[ leon s. kennedy ]

[ here @

axisandallies ]

shipperslist

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schneefink

I'm going through all my things in anticipation of my move, including my bookshelves. I've already given away over a dozen books (some to my mom, some to a friend, some to the open bookshelf around the corner), but there's several more I'm not sure about. So I thought I'd try to write down my thoughts in the hope it'll help me decide.

Night Watch; Day Watch; and Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukianenko (in German): Over two decades ago this was some of the first urban fantasy I read, and I was fascinated by it. I remember being very impressed by so many of the abilities and magic, and the "light and dark need to co-exist" set-up.
I started a reread once, also many years ago, and I was much less impressed that time, especially by the writing. I don't think I'm going to ever read it again. The author's political stances are another reason.
Most likely going to get rid of these.

Empire of Ivory (Temeraire #4); Victory of Eagles (Temeraire #5) by Naomi Novik: I enjoyed this series while reading, but there were plenty of elements I rolled my eyes at, and I'm definitely not going to reread the whole thing. But I think #4 and #5 were some of my favorites? It's been a long time. I still have very fond feelings for the fandom in particular, there's some great fics.
I think I might keep these for now.

Side Jobs, Ghost Story, Cold Days, Skin Game (Dresden Files #12.5 - #15) by Jim Butcher: I was a big fan of the series at one point, but gradually lost interest; I haven't even read "Twelve Months" yet, though I might at some point if they get it at the library.
I asked LB if he wants them since he was also a fan at one point, that would be ideal, but I suspect he won't. In that case I think I might keep them a little longer.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: it was okay, but I didn't like it so much that I'd want to keep it. I had a vague thought at some point that I should reread it eventually because I think I would enjoy it more without the high expectations, but that's not likely to happen any time soon.
Most likely going to the open bookshelf.

The others I was thinking about I think I talked myself into keeping already, but for completeness' sake: Black Wolves by Kate Elliott (I barely remember anything about it but my review said I loved it so I might read it again one day), A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (I gave away books #1 + #3 because I didn't find them very interesting but I remember really enjoying the second one), The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan (one of my favorites of the whole series), Heaven's Net is Wide (Tales of the Otori 0.5) by Lian Hearn (I'm emotionally attached to the other four books in the series and I think I'll keep the prequel for completeness' sake because it has a sufficiently pretty spine), Myriad Lands #1 + #2 by David R. Stokes (ed.) (I got those at my first Worldcon and while I barely remember the stories - though according to my reviews I liked them - the covers and spines are just so very pretty.)

This helped with decision-making, mission success.

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is spillover from the March 17, 2026 Bonus Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

readera. It also fills the "Woodworking" square in my 3-1-26 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by

fuzzyred. It belongs to the Broken Angels thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "Preserving the Quality and Character," so read that first or this won't make much sense.

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Current Mood: busy

twistedchick

Open Office has eaten the files for my book -- again.

*loud scream*

I have written close to 30,000 words in the past six months or so for a book, a nonfiction book on working with and connecting to the energies of Earth. At this point it's about 10 chapters and there are several more that need to be added.

And when I went to open it today I was informed that it was unable to recover the files. These are files it *wasn't* working with, that weren't open. Somehow it ate them while the computer was uploading an op sys upgrade.

This is on a MacBookPro. I checked; there isn't a native Mac writing ap similar to MS Office that came with the computer when I got it six or seven years ago.

So, friends, what do you suggest for a writing program? Do I sink the money for the latest version of MSWord, which I'm not fond of, or something else? I was working before that in Libre Writer, which never ate my files, but the op sys upgrade killed it.

AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

elisheva_m posting in

little_details

Context for this wee scene - shift handover between bodyguards, 1st speaker has drugged their boss because his gambling was out of control. Can't find the right search string to get around medical advice on mild sleeping pill sedatives etc, but I think diazepam probably isn't strong enough? Or maybe it is, or maybe only if enough is administered it would cause other problems. Not that anyone is particularly worried about an overdose but the scene is rather early in the novel for that to happen.

“You’re in for a rough day once he wakes up.”
“How bad did he lose?”
“I spiked his drink at 750,000 bhat.”
Pod shakes his head.
“We could just not let him wake up. Keep feeding him diazepam until we’re ready to deal with him again.”
“Is that what you gave him?”
“Rohypnol first, and GHB to mess with his memory. Diazepam cause we got home at 4 and I wanted the rest of the night off.”