Safety
19 January 2026 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithScientists trace fertilizer microplastics from fields to beaches
Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.
Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.
That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.
Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.
Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.
That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.
Fandom Snowflake Challenge #10
19 January 2026 03:19 pmteaotter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
snowflake_challengeIntroduction Post * Meet the Mods Post * Challenge #1 * Challenge #2 * Challenge #3 * Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 * Challenge #8 * Challenge #9
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #10 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #10 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Dept. of Holy Days
19 January 2026 03:42 pmkaffy_rHe Had More Than a Dream
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had grit and determination, and strength and righteous anger that he controlled in the name of peaceful progress, and pride that he wanted Black Americans to recognize and adopt for themselves. He believed in this country - god knows why, given how much hell America put Black people through, all the way from 1615 to the then-current day - and he worked like hell to make it a better one.
He risked himself and his family, with constant death threats and a firebombing at his home in 1958. He almost died after being stabbed in the same year. He risked his reputation and his legacy, surviving several arrests and jailings. He risked those who believed in him and in what he had to say, because he knew those who hated him would hate those who believed in him.
He fought for what he shouldn't have had to fight for; true understanding of what Black Americans deserve, and what White America has resolutely refused to admit was required.
He fought against nasty, petty, and powerful men like J. Edgar Hoover, who spread filth and lies about Dr. King. Why? Because he was afraid of Dr. King. He hated what Dr. King stood for, so he tried to erase the man. He wasn't the only one.
After his stabbing, Dr. King had one more decade to shake the foundations of this country, to start the Poor People's Campaign and to oppose the Vietnam War. And then White America killed him.
Who called for the assassination? Did someone pay James Earl Ray? All of that kind of misses the point. Ultimately, the real conspiracy is what people in this country have insisted on doing ever since that April morning at the Lorraine Motel.
For more than 57 years America has worked tirelessly to erase his truth. America wants everyone to remember him only as he spoke during the March on Washington, choosing to turn those powerful words into an anodyne formula they want to speed the erasure of real history. Some of them manage to listen to Dr. King's "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech and cry tears about his unnervingly prophetic commentary.
But they don't like reading his letter from a Birmingham jail. They can't stand his anti-war stance. They loathe his pro-union beliefs, his support of poor people of all colors.
It's still White America that fears him the most; rich white Americans, anti-union white Americans, pro-capitalism white Americans, the people who understand that he had grown so much larger and more dangerous to their power than they'd thought he would be.
Let's remember him for what he was. A warrior.
And I'll try not to be part of the problem, but part of the solution, as difficult as that will be.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had grit and determination, and strength and righteous anger that he controlled in the name of peaceful progress, and pride that he wanted Black Americans to recognize and adopt for themselves. He believed in this country - god knows why, given how much hell America put Black people through, all the way from 1615 to the then-current day - and he worked like hell to make it a better one.
He risked himself and his family, with constant death threats and a firebombing at his home in 1958. He almost died after being stabbed in the same year. He risked his reputation and his legacy, surviving several arrests and jailings. He risked those who believed in him and in what he had to say, because he knew those who hated him would hate those who believed in him.
He fought for what he shouldn't have had to fight for; true understanding of what Black Americans deserve, and what White America has resolutely refused to admit was required.
He fought against nasty, petty, and powerful men like J. Edgar Hoover, who spread filth and lies about Dr. King. Why? Because he was afraid of Dr. King. He hated what Dr. King stood for, so he tried to erase the man. He wasn't the only one.
After his stabbing, Dr. King had one more decade to shake the foundations of this country, to start the Poor People's Campaign and to oppose the Vietnam War. And then White America killed him.
Who called for the assassination? Did someone pay James Earl Ray? All of that kind of misses the point. Ultimately, the real conspiracy is what people in this country have insisted on doing ever since that April morning at the Lorraine Motel.
For more than 57 years America has worked tirelessly to erase his truth. America wants everyone to remember him only as he spoke during the March on Washington, choosing to turn those powerful words into an anodyne formula they want to speed the erasure of real history. Some of them manage to listen to Dr. King's "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech and cry tears about his unnervingly prophetic commentary.
But they don't like reading his letter from a Birmingham jail. They can't stand his anti-war stance. They loathe his pro-union beliefs, his support of poor people of all colors.
It's still White America that fears him the most; rich white Americans, anti-union white Americans, pro-capitalism white Americans, the people who understand that he had grown so much larger and more dangerous to their power than they'd thought he would be.
Let's remember him for what he was. A warrior.
And I'll try not to be part of the problem, but part of the solution, as difficult as that will be.
More Buffy/Angel rewatch, among other things...
19 January 2026 03:40 pmshadowkatHad today off - since it's MLK's Birthday. (It's also a day of service, but alas, I'm being insanely lazy and resting my knees.)
Found out last night that my niece passed her EMT training and is a now a certified EMT. Also she may end up in Georgia at some point in May, with a course on how to prevent fires by setting them (burning off brush). My lovely niece is well on the way towards her goal of becoming a forest ranger. It's actually easier to protect trees than people. People are difficult. So, I'm glad she shifted from human rights to environmental protection and forestry.
I'm really enjoying my re-watch of Buffy and Angel. The later seasons hold up better than the earlier ones do - partly because the later seasons were done in the early 00s and not the late 1990s. So while there's still the errant - "I ran like a girl" - the other characters snort at it.
Season 7 and Season 4 Angel actually have some well-written episodes in there. Deep Down - S4 Angel, where Wes searches the ocean for Angel and rescues him, and Angel, Gunn and Fred confront Connor is a good episode. And Wes has become very interesting.
Also, the first episodes of S7 are really good. I find the series more entertaining now than I did when I initially watched it. Maybe because while I don't remember most of the details, I remember the final result, so don't have quite the same anticipation or worry that I had when I first watched it - when it aired for the first time in 1997-2003. Also, I'm not as invested in the romantic "ships"? I know they are all doomed. So, it's comforting in a way it wasn't back then. And, I'm not trying to figure out where it is going, or pulling it apart like a puzzle to figure out what will happen next. There's something to be said for not over-analyzing the plots of television shows?
Buffy S7 Takeaways?
( Lessons through Beneath ME )
And Angel S4 is more enjoyable than I remembered. It's kind of obvious though that the writers are writing out Cordelia.( Read more... )
Wes's arc is more enjoyable than Cordelia's. ( Read more... )
They brought in Gwen to chemistry test her against Angel and Gunn, as a potential replacement for Cordelia - I can tell. She got a back story and everything.
I don't remember most of this - or enjoying it nearly this much.
**
Outside of television watching - I did another watercolor. Not perfect. This is of a confrontation between a little old woman with a walker and big truck that I saw ages ago in Jamaica, but can still visualize.
Found out last night that my niece passed her EMT training and is a now a certified EMT. Also she may end up in Georgia at some point in May, with a course on how to prevent fires by setting them (burning off brush). My lovely niece is well on the way towards her goal of becoming a forest ranger. It's actually easier to protect trees than people. People are difficult. So, I'm glad she shifted from human rights to environmental protection and forestry.
I'm really enjoying my re-watch of Buffy and Angel. The later seasons hold up better than the earlier ones do - partly because the later seasons were done in the early 00s and not the late 1990s. So while there's still the errant - "I ran like a girl" - the other characters snort at it.
Season 7 and Season 4 Angel actually have some well-written episodes in there. Deep Down - S4 Angel, where Wes searches the ocean for Angel and rescues him, and Angel, Gunn and Fred confront Connor is a good episode. And Wes has become very interesting.
Also, the first episodes of S7 are really good. I find the series more entertaining now than I did when I initially watched it. Maybe because while I don't remember most of the details, I remember the final result, so don't have quite the same anticipation or worry that I had when I first watched it - when it aired for the first time in 1997-2003. Also, I'm not as invested in the romantic "ships"? I know they are all doomed. So, it's comforting in a way it wasn't back then. And, I'm not trying to figure out where it is going, or pulling it apart like a puzzle to figure out what will happen next. There's something to be said for not over-analyzing the plots of television shows?
Buffy S7 Takeaways?
( Lessons through Beneath ME )
And Angel S4 is more enjoyable than I remembered. It's kind of obvious though that the writers are writing out Cordelia.( Read more... )
Wes's arc is more enjoyable than Cordelia's. ( Read more... )
They brought in Gwen to chemistry test her against Angel and Gunn, as a potential replacement for Cordelia - I can tell. She got a back story and everything.
I don't remember most of this - or enjoying it nearly this much.
**
Outside of television watching - I did another watercolor. Not perfect. This is of a confrontation between a little old woman with a walker and big truck that I saw ages ago in Jamaica, but can still visualize.
Monday Word: Bristlecone
19 January 2026 05:11 pmstonepicnicking_okapi posting in 1word1daybristlecone [ˈbri-səl-ˌkōn-]
noun
a pine, Pinus aristata, of the southwestern U.S., bearing short needles crowded into long, thick bundles and cones having scales tipped with a slender, curved spine; one of the longest-lived trees, useful in radiocarbon dating
examples
1. Ultimately, it's the rising temperatures and droughts associated with global warming that will significantly impinge upon Nature's finest masterpiece -- the near-immortal Great Basin bristlecone pines. Dr. Reese Halter: Saving the Ancient Pines by Reducing our Global Footprints, 2010
2. "There is a bristlecone pine tree that's nearly five thousand years old."
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
origin
first recorded use of the word 1893
noun
a pine, Pinus aristata, of the southwestern U.S., bearing short needles crowded into long, thick bundles and cones having scales tipped with a slender, curved spine; one of the longest-lived trees, useful in radiocarbon dating
examples
1. Ultimately, it's the rising temperatures and droughts associated with global warming that will significantly impinge upon Nature's finest masterpiece -- the near-immortal Great Basin bristlecone pines. Dr. Reese Halter: Saving the Ancient Pines by Reducing our Global Footprints, 2010
2. "There is a bristlecone pine tree that's nearly five thousand years old."
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
origin
first recorded use of the word 1893
dental woes
19 January 2026 03:58 pmgreenI made a post about this on Tumblr, but not here yet. Here goes.
I started a GoFundMe for dental expenses.
Last year, I broke one of my teeth, and since it's a front tooth, there's more to it than just pulling it out the way my insurance wants (and that's the only way they will pay for it, just if I have them yank it out). I went to a dentist I'm comfortable with (big deal for my anxiety and agoraphobia) and had an exam and got a treatment plan, but I haven't been back since I couldn't actually afford it. I thought I had time to save up, but then there were holidays and I did not save at all. Except now the tooth is infected, and I need to get it taken care of very soon.
I've been having some very lean months. Everything is so expensive. I don't know what to do, really, except ask for help yet again.
The GFM is specifically for the tooth (which is going to cost me about $2600 over 3 visits), but I also have a cashapp ($beingagreenmother) and ko-fi for grocery and bill money.
Thank you for listening.
I started a GoFundMe for dental expenses.
Last year, I broke one of my teeth, and since it's a front tooth, there's more to it than just pulling it out the way my insurance wants (and that's the only way they will pay for it, just if I have them yank it out). I went to a dentist I'm comfortable with (big deal for my anxiety and agoraphobia) and had an exam and got a treatment plan, but I haven't been back since I couldn't actually afford it. I thought I had time to save up, but then there were holidays and I did not save at all. Except now the tooth is infected, and I need to get it taken care of very soon.
I've been having some very lean months. Everything is so expensive. I don't know what to do, really, except ask for help yet again.
The GFM is specifically for the tooth (which is going to cost me about $2600 over 3 visits), but I also have a cashapp ($beingagreenmother) and ko-fi for grocery and bill money.
Thank you for listening.
Snowflake Challenge: day 9
19 January 2026 07:34 pmshewhostaples
Talk about your favourite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)
Where to start? Let's start with swashbuckling. That's a nice easy one. Really, I think my fannish id was formed by The Prisoner of Zenda at an early age (I am still very fond of The Prisoner of Zenda).
See also: Ruritania. I love a good fictional society, and the deeper we go into the government departments and the transport infrastructure, the happier I am.
And love and duty. I don't necessarily mind which triumphs, so long as both are taken seriously. I also love it when one of the arts - or sports, or whatever - is the third party in a relationship, particularly when the partners are both very enthusiastic about that. Not to mention the creator. (This was why I enjoyed Yuri!!! on Ice so much: it was very much about the skating.)
I like relationships between women, romantic or otherwise. And friendships between men and women where it's never going to become romantic.
And then I always enjoy a good description:
Food. Chalet School breakfasts. The Marseille chapter in Madam Will You Talk.
Clothes. Annoyingly, I can't think of a good example at this moment. Probably Eva Ibbotson.
Landscape. A John Buchan evening. Can't beat an apple-green twilight.
Finally, something that I write more often than I read is the situation where you will never be able either to clean up Dodge or to get out of Dodge, you have to live in Dodge, but nevertheless you can find a way to carve out a happy and/or meaningful life there. And maybe you find you've made it slightly less grubby.
(no subject)
19 January 2026 09:55 pmbadfalcon I am feeling sad and frustrated and ridiculous tonight, and also not like myself, which is perhaps the most annoying part of all of this.
So. The planner.
I got a new planner. It’s good. The layout is right, the paper feels right, my brain went oh, yes, this will work. I’ve got a whole bunch of new planner stickers. I am, objectively, very close to planner peace. I even have more sticker orders arriving this week, because apparently hope is my dominant personality trait.
And the thing is — most of what I use fits fine.
I mostly plan with icon stickers. Script stickers. Little visual cues. Those are perfect. No issues. They sit exactly where they’re meant to. They behave. They understand the assignment.
But this week I had some big things going on. Capital-B Big. The kind of things where I wanted to block out space and make it very clear, at a glance, that Shit Was Going On Here.
So I used some flags and half boxes and quarter boxes from older kits.
And those are all just ever so slightly too wide.
Not unusably so. Just enough. Enough that my eye keeps snagging on them. Enough that I now know — with horrible clarity — that most sticker kits are designed for 1.5" columns, and my planner columns are 1.25".
Which means that the one time I don’t usually plan this way — the one time I actually need big, obvious visual space — is the time everything feels wrong.
And suddenly it feels like I’ve picked the wrong planner. Like I’ve broken some arbitrary but Very Important Planner Rule that everyone else somehow knows. Like I am Doing Planning Incorrectly™, despite the fact that this system works for me 90% of the time.
Never mind that icon and script planning is how I actually function. Never mind that I don’t usually need big boxes. Never mind that stickers are meant to be tools, not tests I can fail.
My brain has latched onto this tiny mismatch and decided it is Evidence.
I know this is not actually about stickers.
It’s about wanting space to acknowledge that things are hard. Wanting a system that can hold big days as well as small ones. Wanting one area of my life to feel contained and legible when the rest of it isn’t.
Tonight that has manifested as 0.25 inches of wrongness and the feeling that I’ve somehow messed up something that was meant to help me.
I’m aware this is absurd. I’m also aware that feelings don’t care about that.
Monday Media Musings: 01/19/26
19 January 2026 01:54 pmowlmooseThe Scavenger Door by Suzanne Palmer : The third book in The Finder Chronicles; as much fun as its predecessors, and the end had me immediately turning around to start book four. ( Spoilery thoughts. )
Non-spoilery thought: Suzanne Palmer sure knows what it's like to live with a cat.Um Actually live show: I don't subscribe to Dropout, so I'm sadly unfamiliar with most of their shows, but during high pandemic, they dropped a bunch of Um Actually episodes on YouTube, and T and I spent a lot of time watching them. So when we learned that there would a live show at this year's SF Sketchfest, we immediately decided to get tickets. The panel, which was not announced in advance, was Janet Varney, Marc Evan Jackson, and Tawny Newsome; they were an awesome group who played well off the hosts and each other, and we had a great time.
Birdfeeding
19 January 2026 03:09 pmysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and cold.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a lady cardinal.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen two starlings and a male cardinal.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night. 5:20 and I can still see light in the west. :D
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a lady cardinal.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen two starlings and a male cardinal.
EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night. 5:20 and I can still see light in the west. :D
A four-day weekend is so nice.
19 January 2026 02:12 pmnewredshoesI am sitting in Gingko's favorite chair, which is an immensely comfortable yellow wingback that perfectly takes advantage of the sunny south-facing windows, which are extra sunny today because it is hideously cold and will continue to be so and worse for a week at least. Gingko is also sitting in this chair, which is not large enough for both of us, but my smart girl is making it work. This is a day where I am finally, after three days of ~decompressing, interested in things other than screens. Maybe it was taking that Adderall this morning? But I've been cleaning the leather accessories I've been collecting, plus polishing up some wood that's desperately thirsty (including a nice little cigar box from the thrift store!).
I'm spending so much time trying to find the next living spare where I'll land that I haven't made much effort to make the most of this one. ( Spaces, pruning, money... many thoughts )
But, okay, activities I prioritize and treasure and would like spaces for:
I'm spending so much time trying to find the next living spare where I'll land that I haven't made much effort to make the most of this one. ( Spaces, pruning, money... many thoughts )
But, okay, activities I prioritize and treasure and would like spaces for:
- Crafting — printmaking, paper-mache, watercolor, comics, collage, tunnel books, dioramas, so much!
- Tea and tea display, not just this big glorious shelf but an actual tea ceremony kind of spot (not low enough to the ground that Gingko could destroy it, though; sorry to any coffee tables, I don't think you're really in my foreseeable future)
- Altar and tarot table + display — the presence of household altars was something I learned from shadesofbrixton and visiting Santa Fe, which I absolutely loved, alongside this phenomenal altered wall cabinet at
![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
chicagoprintmakers that I can't find a photo of but trust me, I really want to replicate it - Music — I need to mount my banjo, ukuleles, accordion and other assorted instruments where I will see and want to play them!
- Yes, I have a rowing machine which I love and which is collecting so much dust, but once my arm is better, I want to get it down again, I freaking love using it and I want a regular space for it in the next place
- Reading nook!!!! With lots of plants!! What if!!!!
Lord Peter Wimsey: My True Love Has My Heart by Nineveh_UK
19 January 2026 07:40 pmshewhostaples posting in fancakeFandom: Lord Peter Wimsey
Pairings/Characters: Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane (not requited - yet)
Rating: G
Length: 12,200
Creator Links:nineveh_uk
Theme: crack treated seriously
Summary: Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey have triumphantly solved the Wilvercombe murder, and only want to return to London. But first they must solve a new mystery: why they have woken up in one another's bodies, and what on earth are they going to do about it?
Reccer's notes Bodyswap is a pretty cracky trope, but herenineveh_uk uses it very effectively to explore the nuances of the complicated and touchy relationship between Peter and Harriet. As the summary suggests, it's set straight after Have His Carcase, where in canon they seem somehow simultaneously closer to and further away from resolving their relationship than ever. The bodyswap twist doesn't make things any less confusing. The voice is pitch perfect: if Dorothy L. Sayers had thought to write this premise, this is exactly what it would have sounded like.
Fanwork Links: My True Love Has My Heart
Pairings/Characters: Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane (not requited - yet)
Rating: G
Length: 12,200
Creator Links:
nineveh_ukTheme: crack treated seriously
Summary: Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey have triumphantly solved the Wilvercombe murder, and only want to return to London. But first they must solve a new mystery: why they have woken up in one another's bodies, and what on earth are they going to do about it?
Reccer's notes Bodyswap is a pretty cracky trope, but here
nineveh_uk uses it very effectively to explore the nuances of the complicated and touchy relationship between Peter and Harriet. As the summary suggests, it's set straight after Have His Carcase, where in canon they seem somehow simultaneously closer to and further away from resolving their relationship than ever. The bodyswap twist doesn't make things any less confusing. The voice is pitch perfect: if Dorothy L. Sayers had thought to write this premise, this is exactly what it would have sounded like.Fanwork Links: My True Love Has My Heart
Yesterday I went out and was social
19 January 2026 07:23 pmoursinI mentioned that I was reading Dream Count for an intended new in-person book group of fairly local people connected through being (mostly) women historians (most of) whom I already know.
The gathering to discuss Dream Count was yestere'en in Highgate, at a destination to which there is a bus service from the nearby main road, though on Sunday evenings the service is a little more sporadic than habitual and I arrived a bit early, even after some difficulty finding the house in question. (Serious FAIL by local residents to actually have house numbers visible, ahem, not helped by several houses actually being nos XX-YY which adds to the confusion and in fact I ended up going to the wrong house first.)
However, once I got there it was agreeable to see auld acquaintance and talk of how things had been going -
- I am not entirely persuaded that having a sit-down at a table supper was actually a great idea, or maybe that was just me who had not all that long ago had a large late lunch.
Discussion of actual book did not get started for some while. Everybody seemed to have a rather mixed response, though it did, at least, provide a basis for discussion along several directions.
Future plans to meet at 6 week intervals - not to have full dinner party (relief!)* - next book will be Anna Funder's Wifedom about Eileen Orwell (already have the ebook yay).
Kind lift not all the way home but to useful point with lots of buses from Our Hostess.
*Snacks instead - should I take foccacia and Famous Aubergine Dip? Y/N
Bundle of Holding: Sleepy Hollow
19 January 2026 02:08 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The tabletop fantasy roleplaying game of early 19th-Century folk horror.
Bundle of Holding: Sleepy Hollow
Aubrey-Maturin and The Dark is Rising donation thank-yous; Another soulmate drabble
19 January 2026 01:24 pmpetraThe great imponderable of toasted cheese (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: Drabble, Natural Philosophy, Baffle them with bullshit
Summary:
*
A cuppa (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Drew & The Lady (Dark is Rising)
Characters: Jane Drew (Dark is Rising), The Lady (Dark Is Rising)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Hope
Summary:
*
How to apply torture (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Characters: Leia Organa, Darth Vader
Additional Tags: Drabble, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 3 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: Drabble, Natural Philosophy, Baffle them with bullshit
Summary:
Jack engages in natural philosophy.
*
A cuppa (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Drew & The Lady (Dark is Rising)
Characters: Jane Drew (Dark is Rising), The Lady (Dark Is Rising)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Hope
Summary:
Jane has tea, not quite alone.
*
How to apply torture (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Characters: Leia Organa, Darth Vader
Additional Tags: Drabble, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 3 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
Common wisdom says everyone has one soulmate, but common wisdom has forgotten the Force.
Book 7, 2026
19 January 2026 12:15 pmchez_jae
Sugar and Spite by Carol J. PerryMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
I have today off, so I stayed up late to finish reading Sugar and Spite by Carol J Perry. It’s the 15th book in her “Witch City” mystery series featuring TV reporter, Lee Barrett Mondello.
With Halloween approaching, Lee is tasked with doing a series on local candy shops in Salem. Considering she’s eight months pregnant, she welcomes the easy nature of her assignment, although Lee sometimes finds herself missing the more serious investigative reporting she used to do. While touring Casa de Chocolatte, Lee stumbles upon the dead body of the owner’s ex-husband, Bernie Bingham. Shop owner Shirley Parker had divorced Bernie years ago, but she was still making palimony payments to him. The police naturally focus on Shirley. Lee, however, learns that Bernie had crossed plenty of shady characters in Salem. She tries to focus on her own assignments, but Lee keeps getting drawn back into the drama. She notices that both Shirley and her adult son, Hugh, seem to show up wherever she goes. Lee’s husband, Pete, becomes aggravated and even more protective, as does their cat, O’Ryan. Lee can’t wait for this case to be solved so she can concentrate on motherhood.
I enjoyed the first 70% of this story. Characters were real and relatable, the plot was fast-paced and exciting, and Bernie’s murder was truly confounding. Late in the book, however, things went completely off the rails. The author dropped her fudge, and the editor failed to clean it up.
( Spoilers and Bitching )
Since all of that ‘What-the-F*ckery’ happened late in the book, it gave the impression that the author had tired of it and was just trying to wrap things up quickly. It was sloppy. Even the resolution of the murder was just handed to them when one character came to the police to throw another under the bus, bringing the receipts along to prove it. It was disappointing. Another thing I found disappointing was the lack of the trademark paranormal element. Lee’s pregnancy seemed to have curtailed her ability to see visions in reflective surfaces. The author didn’t indicate this is the last book in the series, but with the way the final chapter ended, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Favorite lines:
♦ “The trailer says there’s a crazy cat lady in it.” We’re everywhere! Muahaha!
♦ “Cats are all kinds of magical, aren’t they?”
I truly enjoyed most of the book until it went tits up at the end. For that reason, it gets an average score of three, and I believe that’s being lenient.
Maggie Harris
19 January 2026 05:33 pmjazzy_daveMaggie Harris is a poet, prose writer, and visual artist. Originally from Guyana, South America, she recently re-located to Kent after 10 years in Wales. She attended Kent University as a mature student, achieving a BA and MA, and started her career performing, running workshops and teaching creative writing. She has worked for Kent Arts & Libraries, represented Kent in Europe and was International Teaching Fellow at Southampton University. I met her doing a talk and book signing at last years Faversham Literary Festival.
Maggie Harris pays homeage to the inspirational power of the poetry art form with this track titled, Not A Gospel Song. The sound fuses elements of Afrobeats, the Cumfa beat and the tabla strains of a Bhajan with the unmistakable Reggae vibe.
ENJOY.
Maggie Harris pays homeage to the inspirational power of the poetry art form with this track titled, Not A Gospel Song. The sound fuses elements of Afrobeats, the Cumfa beat and the tabla strains of a Bhajan with the unmistakable Reggae vibe.
ENJOY.
this is a post about sports that is not brought to you by dayquil
19 January 2026 11:20 amlannamichaelsOf all the sports I do not follow, american football is certainly up there as a sport I do not follow.
However, of all the sports I do not follow, american football is one where I think they are doing their post season completely correctly: as single elimination.
Can you win a game? No? Okay, season is over, bye bye.
Yes, yes, the season goes on way too long into weather not appropriate for the sport; american football makes sense as a summer or autumn sport, not so much when it's snowing.
But they pick the location of the super bowl years in advance, they hype the fuck out of it, they make it an event, and they know three years in advance what day it will be.
They have achieved marketing perfection and among the reasons they can do that is: SINGLE ELIMINATION PLAYOFFS.
H.R. 7013 - Greenland Sovereignty Protection Act
19 January 2026 11:57 amaurumcalendula posting in thisfinecrewH.R. 7013 (Greenland Sovereignty Protection Act) was introduced by Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) last week: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7013
It prohibits the use of Federal funding to facilitate the invasion, annexation, purchase, or other form of acquisition of Greenland.
It prohibits the use of Federal funding to facilitate the invasion, annexation, purchase, or other form of acquisition of Greenland.
Your Daily Laser Loon Art from the Resistance
19 January 2026 10:28 amlydamorehouse
Image: Laser-eyed loon flying away with the "Don't Tread on Me Snake" in her beak. The words "Don't Tread on US" appear in laser light trails around her head (by Cas Fern, local tattoo artist.)
I took a break on Sunday. The weather here in Minnesota has finally stepped up to join the resistance. Today we are expecting -20 F/ -29 C windchills and yesterday the windchills were around -11 F /-23 C. I won't lie. I let Mother Nature take my shift. There were things happening, including my singing group, but I spent the day baking hot cross buns and snuggling under blankets.
Rest is resistance, too.
If you are not from around here and/or would like to watch
naomikritzer talk about her experiences "commuting," and talk generally, along with Diana McCleery, about what things are like on the ground here in Minneapolis and St. Paul. My friend Cliff interviewed her on an SFF videocast:It's a good watch? I will say that the guy who opens and closes the video, Bob, is a bit of a character, but if you can get past that and some of the echo in Naomi's microphone, it's very informative. Naomi recently did a ride-along with the folks who are self-organizing to follow and harrass ICE vehicles and so it's fascinating to hear how it's being done.
I always feel that people don't quite talk enough about the mutual aid that folks are up to--but the truth is the quiet revolution just isn't splashy enough for the front page.
Macky D's
19 January 2026 04:45 pmpoliphilo Following on from the last post......
Mcdonald's opened its first British outlet in Woolwich in 1974.
Here's a picture of the event. The ribbon was cut by BBC DJ Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, accompanied by the Mayor of Woolwich, Len Squirrel.
On that first UK menu, a basic hamburger was priced at 15p. If you wanted to push the boat out a Big Mac would have set you back 45p. O, the extravagance!
(Yeah, but, I can vaguely remember when 45p did seem like a lot of money. )
This next fact surprised me. The first branch to open outside London was in Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986. Yes, a whole 12 years later.
I wonder what took them so long.....
Mcdonald's opened its first British outlet in Woolwich in 1974.
Here's a picture of the event. The ribbon was cut by BBC DJ Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, accompanied by the Mayor of Woolwich, Len Squirrel.
On that first UK menu, a basic hamburger was priced at 15p. If you wanted to push the boat out a Big Mac would have set you back 45p. O, the extravagance!
(Yeah, but, I can vaguely remember when 45p did seem like a lot of money. )
This next fact surprised me. The first branch to open outside London was in Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986. Yes, a whole 12 years later.
I wonder what took them so long.....
MLK jr day
19 January 2026 11:31 amlauradi7dwTweet from Rep Malcom Kenyatta
>>Your annual reminder that: today a bunch of MAGA politicians will bastardize a King quote and then spend the rest of the year opposing everything he fought for.<<
From classicist Sarah Bond, the link to a paper MLK jr wrote in divinity school about Mithraism. He was a well-rounded guy, just saying.
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/study-mithraism
>>Your annual reminder that: today a bunch of MAGA politicians will bastardize a King quote and then spend the rest of the year opposing everything he fought for.<<
From classicist Sarah Bond, the link to a paper MLK jr wrote in divinity school about Mithraism. He was a well-rounded guy, just saying.
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/study-mithraism
Recent walks
19 January 2026 04:19 pmheleninwalesWe managed two walks last week, both just 4 miles. I had a lot to do in the week, so on Thursday we just walked to Penmaenpool and back. The weather was dull, so I didn't take any photos worth sharing. Saturday, however, turned out quite nice. Again I didn't feel like doing too long a walk so I drove us to Penmaenpool, left the car there and walked along the Mawddach Trail to Abergwynant, headed inland and walked back the short way through the woods.
Looking across to the sunny side of the valley.
( More here... )
Heading back to Penmaenpool. I always used to call this the Long Boring Bit when walking alone, but if walking and talking with a companion in sunny weather, it doesn't seem so long.
In further news of spring, there was a song thrush singing loudly somewhere in the trees beyond our back garden this afternoon. That's the first time this year that I've heard it. I know the song of the thrush, blackbird and robin, and also wood pigeon, seagull and buzzard, but I want to learn more bird calls and have just downloaded the Merlin app which many friends have recommended.
Looking across to the sunny side of the valley.
( More here... )
Heading back to Penmaenpool. I always used to call this the Long Boring Bit when walking alone, but if walking and talking with a companion in sunny weather, it doesn't seem so long.
In further news of spring, there was a song thrush singing loudly somewhere in the trees beyond our back garden this afternoon. That's the first time this year that I've heard it. I know the song of the thrush, blackbird and robin, and also wood pigeon, seagull and buzzard, but I want to learn more bird calls and have just downloaded the Merlin app which many friends have recommended.
monday later
19 January 2026 11:05 amsummersgate
Snow Squall. We were just having a snow squall when I looked out the window so I tried to recreate what it looked like. I probably should have made the lines more diagonal. The wind was blowing really hard. A whiteout. Now it's perfectly clear.
Skye now has an appointment next Monday for some kind of better defining x-ray or scan (I can not remember what it's called) that will tell us if she is a good candidate for surgery. She'll need to be sedated for the scan.
Idioms
19 January 2026 03:58 pmheleninwalesIt's starting to be a little lighter in the mornings when I wake up. Not actually light, but no longer pitch dark. Someone mentioned this last week in the weekly Welsh chat and our tame native speaker said that day length increases each day now "fesul cam ceiliog" (by a cockerel's stride). We all thought this was a lovely idiom. I don't know whether all Welsh classes are the same, but we always like to collect idioms.
And speaking of idioms, I'm reading Still Waters by E. C. R. Lorac and one character used the idiom, "A Parthian shot". I vaguely recall seeing it before but these days it's normally, "a parting shot". Having looked it up. the original saying came from the habit of the Parthian light cavalry of, when they were retreating (or feigning retreat), they would suddenly turn in the saddle and shoot an arrow straight back at the soldiers chasing them. It seems that some people still have the riding and archery skills to be able to do it, though this chap has a modern saddle with stirrups. The original Parthians didn't have that help.
And speaking of idioms, I'm reading Still Waters by E. C. R. Lorac and one character used the idiom, "A Parthian shot". I vaguely recall seeing it before but these days it's normally, "a parting shot". Having looked it up. the original saying came from the habit of the Parthian light cavalry of, when they were retreating (or feigning retreat), they would suddenly turn in the saddle and shoot an arrow straight back at the soldiers chasing them. It seems that some people still have the riding and archery skills to be able to do it, though this chap has a modern saddle with stirrups. The original Parthians didn't have that help.
K-9: Volume 2 extras, with translation
19 January 2026 02:55 pmvriddyLots of bonus sketches in this volume! In order of appearance:
( Bonus sketch - Mother and child )
( Bonus sketch - Oboro and Kagari )
( Bonus sketch - Teasing Fujimaru )
( Bonus sketch - Eden heights )
( Bonus sketch - Kagari in boyhood )
( Kagari's profile )
( Sasakura and Domon short profiles )
( Oboro's clothing )
Snowflake Challenge #6
19 January 2026 07:51 amused_songsChallenge #6
Top 10 Challenge. The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the to 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.
10 happy times
1. Quiet mornings before my wife gets up when I can read, write and update my DW with Ella nearby.
2. Hammock time with Ella.
3. Browsing in a bookstore.
4. Cooking for my parents and/or wife.
5. When I'm in the midst of a solid piece of writing that is flowing.
6. Puttering around outside looking at trees and rocks.
7. Listening to music, discovering new-to-me music, talking to people about music.
8. Sending and receiving snail mail, whether it's Postcrossing or mail to/from people I know.
9. Figuring things out, making something new, having to work out how to put something together.
10. When you see something or hear something and it sparks an idea.
Top 10 Challenge. The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the to 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.
10 happy times
1. Quiet mornings before my wife gets up when I can read, write and update my DW with Ella nearby.
2. Hammock time with Ella.
3. Browsing in a bookstore.
4. Cooking for my parents and/or wife.
5. When I'm in the midst of a solid piece of writing that is flowing.
6. Puttering around outside looking at trees and rocks.
7. Listening to music, discovering new-to-me music, talking to people about music.
8. Sending and receiving snail mail, whether it's Postcrossing or mail to/from people I know.
9. Figuring things out, making something new, having to work out how to put something together.
10. When you see something or hear something and it sparks an idea.
Snowflake Challenge #7
19 January 2026 07:44 amused_songsChallenge #7
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
I like my ability to be all in and focused in a conversation with a student, especially when it comes to their writing.
I like how I can chain together random things and make something beautiful.
I like my purple glasses.
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
I like my ability to be all in and focused in a conversation with a student, especially when it comes to their writing.
I like how I can chain together random things and make something beautiful.
I like my purple glasses.
Snowflake Challenge #8
19 January 2026 07:22 amused_songsChallenge #8
Talk about your creative process.
I keep copious notes on my phone and in commonplace books of raw material for writing. I collect stories from people, interesting words, bits of poetry, images, etc. When I have an idea for something, I page randomly through all of that and see what if anything sticks. Then I do an enormous amount of research (my favorite part of the process) and start a google doc with research notes and chunks of writing. Sometimes I do a sketch to help visualize the motion of the plot. When I wrote a crossover that involved House of Leaves, I sketched the house I was using as my setting so I could keep the physical space in front of me.
Then I write from both ends and the middle in pieces that are gradually stitched together. I'm not great at plots; I let the imagery and characters do the heavy lifting.
Once I have a draft, I rewrite it obsessively until I'm happy with it.
( pics )
I also generally carry sticky notes and have a lot of things jotted on those. I've been keeping commonplace books since middle school (they were spirals back then), so I have a lot of material. Honestly, I never have used most of it directly in my writing, but I feel like the ideas I have tried out in those pages are like training for when I do write a completed pieces. And sometimes I just enjoy writing short pieces that no one else will ever see, just for me.
Talk about your creative process.
I keep copious notes on my phone and in commonplace books of raw material for writing. I collect stories from people, interesting words, bits of poetry, images, etc. When I have an idea for something, I page randomly through all of that and see what if anything sticks. Then I do an enormous amount of research (my favorite part of the process) and start a google doc with research notes and chunks of writing. Sometimes I do a sketch to help visualize the motion of the plot. When I wrote a crossover that involved House of Leaves, I sketched the house I was using as my setting so I could keep the physical space in front of me.
Then I write from both ends and the middle in pieces that are gradually stitched together. I'm not great at plots; I let the imagery and characters do the heavy lifting.
Once I have a draft, I rewrite it obsessively until I'm happy with it.
( pics )
I also generally carry sticky notes and have a lot of things jotted on those. I've been keeping commonplace books since middle school (they were spirals back then), so I have a lot of material. Honestly, I never have used most of it directly in my writing, but I feel like the ideas I have tried out in those pages are like training for when I do write a completed pieces. And sometimes I just enjoy writing short pieces that no one else will ever see, just for me.
I have decided to learn a football player's name
19 January 2026 08:28 amlauradi7dwIt's Azeez Al-Shaair. He plays for a team called the Houston Texans. 1
He was fined $11,593 2 for wearing a nose strip that said "Stop the genocide."
1. What a straightforward name. It would be harder for our local team. The Foxborough Massachusettsians doesn't trip lightly off the tongue.
2. It was for an alleged violation of uniform standards. That's a very precise, not rounded-off number of dollars. I am not going to bother finding out how it was calculated.
He was fined $11,593 2 for wearing a nose strip that said "Stop the genocide."
1. What a straightforward name. It would be harder for our local team. The Foxborough Massachusettsians doesn't trip lightly off the tongue.
2. It was for an alleged violation of uniform standards. That's a very precise, not rounded-off number of dollars. I am not going to bother finding out how it was calculated.