![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
her blood's runnin' like a raging river
Mar. 7th, 2026 01:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mickeymCountdown is holding at ~three weeks.
Tonight, Donnie and Megan decided they needed to light the fire pit. But rather than do a couple things up front (like move the chair(s) outside before going crazy with lighter fluid, and close the windows that were open) they waited until the fire was going.
My whole house smells like lighter fluid and wood smoke. I have a monster headache, and breathing while sitting back in my chair is proving a little trickier than I'd thought it would be. I'm sitting up now, and I've used my inhaler. But the back of my throat is sore now, and my chest hurts, and is it really that difficult to think of someone else before doing something? There's no one in this apartment who isn't aware that I have asthma, plus allergy season has already started for me.
Matthew is still struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, and he's not the only one who kind of wants out of this life. We're also still struggling with money -- I thought everything got paid, and it didn't, and now my checking account is overdrawn, and I just would like to catch a break. Not even a big break. Just a little one.
But now I need to go scoop out the litterboxes. Joy.
X-posted to Dreamwidth and Livejournal. Read/comment where you prefer.
Tonight, Donnie and Megan decided they needed to light the fire pit. But rather than do a couple things up front (like move the chair(s) outside before going crazy with lighter fluid, and close the windows that were open) they waited until the fire was going.
My whole house smells like lighter fluid and wood smoke. I have a monster headache, and breathing while sitting back in my chair is proving a little trickier than I'd thought it would be. I'm sitting up now, and I've used my inhaler. But the back of my throat is sore now, and my chest hurts, and is it really that difficult to think of someone else before doing something? There's no one in this apartment who isn't aware that I have asthma, plus allergy season has already started for me.
Matthew is still struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, and he's not the only one who kind of wants out of this life. We're also still struggling with money -- I thought everything got paid, and it didn't, and now my checking account is overdrawn, and I just would like to catch a break. Not even a big break. Just a little one.
But now I need to go scoop out the litterboxes. Joy.
X-posted to Dreamwidth and Livejournal. Read/comment where you prefer.
Philosophical Questions: Civilization
Mar. 7th, 2026 12:07 amysabetwordsmithPeople have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
Was the agricultural revolution and the explosion of civilizations that came from it an overall good thing for humans or a negative? In other words, would it have been better or worse for people to stay in small tribes?
( Read more... )
Was the agricultural revolution and the explosion of civilizations that came from it an overall good thing for humans or a negative? In other words, would it have been better or worse for people to stay in small tribes?
( Read more... )
Photos: Savanna
Mar. 6th, 2026 11:15 pmysabetwordsmithI took some pictures around the yard today. These are from the savanna. (See the house yard.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
As one of life's petty problems goes
Mar. 6th, 2026 09:15 pmconulyI'm worried I lost my kindle when I misplaced my red bag in which everything is. Well, not everything, but perhaps my kindle. Or maybe not. My kindle might be under my bed. If it's not under my bed, I'll have to replace it sooner or later. I'm a bit wary of looking and finding out one way or another.
******************
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Photos: House Yard
Mar. 6th, 2026 09:24 pmysabetwordsmithToday was unseasonably warm and sunny, so I took pictures around the yard. The first few are from indoors, then the rest are the house yard. (See the savanna.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
(no subject)
Mar. 6th, 2026 08:16 pmamycles posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
addmei used to be super active on livejournal, mainly in the icon community. i made a dreamwidth account as livejournal was fading, but i didn't really connect to the site and with irl changes i ended up leaving this part of the internet altogether. i've been reminiscing and have wanted to get back into "journaling", so i'm giving dreamwidth a proper go this time around.
name: laura
age: 30
i mostly post about: life updates and the occasional book review. i dealt with a lot of changes last year and a major loss at the end of january, so i'm navigating this new chapter (that sounds so corny) and just want to document the ups & downs as i experience them.
my posting schedule tends to be: for now, i'd say sporadic, maybe a few times a week.
my interests: reading, bookish content (new/upcoming releases, challenges, etc), horror, thanatology (see: Caitlin Doughty), arts/crafts, trying new recipes/cooking, hockey (nhl & pwhl), the sims 4, historical facts, theatre, concerts, cleaning/weekend reset videos (specific fandoms) lord of the rings, the boys, sailor moon, three days grace, prison break, jujutsu kaisen, tokyo revengers, schitts creek, supernatural, gundam seed, mcu
my dealbreakers are: aggressive or continuous political content; i'm well aware of what's happening in the world and i have no problem with people who want to discuss or vent, but i have no desire in befriending anyone who is consumed by politics (especially whatever trump is up to). anti-lgbt, conservatives/traditionalists, ableists.
before adding me, you should know: i have social anxiety; i have good days and bad days. i might come off as standoffish, but i promise i'm not. i love reading/hearing about other people's experiences and getting a glimpse into their lives. i'm just too nervous to approach them lol
name: laura
age: 30
i mostly post about: life updates and the occasional book review. i dealt with a lot of changes last year and a major loss at the end of january, so i'm navigating this new chapter (that sounds so corny) and just want to document the ups & downs as i experience them.
my posting schedule tends to be: for now, i'd say sporadic, maybe a few times a week.
my interests: reading, bookish content (new/upcoming releases, challenges, etc), horror, thanatology (see: Caitlin Doughty), arts/crafts, trying new recipes/cooking, hockey (nhl & pwhl), the sims 4, historical facts, theatre, concerts, cleaning/weekend reset videos (specific fandoms) lord of the rings, the boys, sailor moon, three days grace, prison break, jujutsu kaisen, tokyo revengers, schitts creek, supernatural, gundam seed, mcu
my dealbreakers are: aggressive or continuous political content; i'm well aware of what's happening in the world and i have no problem with people who want to discuss or vent, but i have no desire in befriending anyone who is consumed by politics (especially whatever trump is up to). anti-lgbt, conservatives/traditionalists, ableists.
before adding me, you should know: i have social anxiety; i have good days and bad days. i might come off as standoffish, but i promise i'm not. i love reading/hearing about other people's experiences and getting a glimpse into their lives. i'm just too nervous to approach them lol
Wildlife
Mar. 6th, 2026 01:48 pmysabetwordsmithWater bears on Mars: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy?
Tardigrades – also known as water bears – are tiny animals about 1 mm or less in size. They’re known for being able to survive in extreme environments.
Tardigrades can survive in simulated Martian regolith, researchers found … if you rinse it with water first.
Future astronauts could use tardigrades to help grow plants and survive in habitats on Mars.
Tardigrades are interesting little extremophiles. They can survive a wide array of harsh conditions, such as radiation and starvation. Some live in desolate conditions; others live in warm, green places hence their nickname "moss bears." This implies that they excel at colonizing harsh terrain, but they can also take advantage of better conditions. They're about as close to indestructible as life on Earth has gotten. So it makes sense to take them along for space exploration.
Tardigrades – also known as water bears – are tiny animals about 1 mm or less in size. They’re known for being able to survive in extreme environments.
Tardigrades can survive in simulated Martian regolith, researchers found … if you rinse it with water first.
Future astronauts could use tardigrades to help grow plants and survive in habitats on Mars.
Tardigrades are interesting little extremophiles. They can survive a wide array of harsh conditions, such as radiation and starvation. Some live in desolate conditions; others live in warm, green places hence their nickname "moss bears." This implies that they excel at colonizing harsh terrain, but they can also take advantage of better conditions. They're about as close to indestructible as life on Earth has gotten. So it makes sense to take them along for space exploration.
Birdfeeding
Mar. 6th, 2026 01:32 pmysabetwordsmithToday is mostly sunny, unseasonably warm, and windy. It drizzled on and off yesterday and last night. Today the wind is drying things out some.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen any yet.
I put out water for the birds.
Lots of flowers are blooming -- the crocuses are open and I spotted a winter aconite.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.
I saw a turkey vulture wheeling overhead. I've also seen a small flock of house finches and some sparrows at the hopper feeder.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted volunteer snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I tried using a pruning saw on one of the remaining saplings in the parking lot. I managed to make a small cut, but clearly this method is too inefficient to bring down a sapling. *sigh*
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted more snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.
The first Ginger Gold apple seedling has appeared in the milk jug, and indoors, one of the apple seeds has also sprouted. :D 3q3q3q!!! All my willow cuttings are leafed out. Last night the lower stems had tiny white dots; today they have distinct little root buds. Their speed is impressive.
The first peony shoots are appearing in the tulip bed and under the apricot tree.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I started trimming brush along the north edge of the house.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen any yet.
I put out water for the birds.
Lots of flowers are blooming -- the crocuses are open and I spotted a winter aconite.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.
I saw a turkey vulture wheeling overhead. I've also seen a small flock of house finches and some sparrows at the hopper feeder.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted volunteer snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I tried using a pruning saw on one of the remaining saplings in the parking lot. I managed to make a small cut, but clearly this method is too inefficient to bring down a sapling. *sigh*
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted more snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.
The first Ginger Gold apple seedling has appeared in the milk jug, and indoors, one of the apple seeds has also sprouted. :D 3q3q3q!!! All my willow cuttings are leafed out. Last night the lower stems had tiny white dots; today they have distinct little root buds. Their speed is impressive.
The first peony shoots are appearing in the tulip bed and under the apricot tree.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 3/6/26 -- I started trimming brush along the north edge of the house.
I am done for the night.
Friday open thread: overheard on public transport
Mar. 6th, 2026 05:24 pmdolorosa_12I had to catch the bus home after work on Tuesday, instead of my regular train, but this longer, more frustrating journey was made somewhat enjoyable by the conversation two teenage boys were having behind me. They began the trip updating their respective mothers over the phone that they were going to be late home (with many repeated 'love you Mum! Yeah, love you Mum!' and so on), then pivoted to the epic online sleuthing they had undertaken when one of their friends claimed to have a new girlfriend but only provided photographic evidence of this ('It was so easy! All I had to do was reverse image-search the photo and it was obvious he'd just taken photos of a random girl on Instagram and Pinterest!'), then pivoted to the sort of inane philosophising that teenagers think is deep ('Religion is obviously just a tool for social control ... all wars in history were started because of religion — apart from economic wars'), and finally, having exhausted all other lines of conversation, started talking about how much they loved cheese and just naming different types of cheese ('Halloumi!' 'Gouda!' 'Do you know you can make your own mozzarella?' and so on).
I found the whole thing kind of endearing, and it certainly provided entertainment over the course of the 50-minute bus ride.
I never use headphones in public spaces as I like to stay alert, so I have overheard the most ridiculous things over the years, including:
A woman updating one of her friends about a family member who had just been released from prison
A guy spending the entire hour-long train ride from Cambridge to London instructing his letting agent on how to make a legal case for evicting a tenant from his property
A guy spending the entire Cambridge-London train ride talking through various complex financial market trades he was making
A young guy explaining to his girlfriend (I was sitting across from them on one of those sets of four seats around a table) that his afternoon had involved a) stealing a car, b) being chased by police as he attempted to steal said car, c) crashing the car in the police car chase and getting injured, d) the police attempting to take him to the emergency department at the hospital but refusing to go ('The car owner decided not to press charges, so I said to the police that if they weren't arresting me I didn't want to go with them to hospital') — all at absolute top volume such that the entire crowded carriage could hear every single word
I have also overheard so many specialist doctors call up their colleagues and convey huge amounts of sensitive patient information over the phone, in the reception area of our library, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a person sitting at a reception desk is actually a human being with functioning ears.
I find it absolutely excruciating to talk over the phone in public — anything more than arranging meeting times/places or letting someone know I'm running late and I'll basically immediately tell the person that I'll call them back when I'm at home — so it's always mind-boggling to me the amount of highly personal stuff that some people feel comfortable discussing at top volume in crowded public transport.
So, my question for this week's open thread: what is the strangest thing you've ever overheard on public transport?
I found the whole thing kind of endearing, and it certainly provided entertainment over the course of the 50-minute bus ride.
I never use headphones in public spaces as I like to stay alert, so I have overheard the most ridiculous things over the years, including:
I have also overheard so many specialist doctors call up their colleagues and convey huge amounts of sensitive patient information over the phone, in the reception area of our library, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a person sitting at a reception desk is actually a human being with functioning ears.
I find it absolutely excruciating to talk over the phone in public — anything more than arranging meeting times/places or letting someone know I'm running late and I'll basically immediately tell the person that I'll call them back when I'm at home — so it's always mind-boggling to me the amount of highly personal stuff that some people feel comfortable discussing at top volume in crowded public transport.
So, my question for this week's open thread: what is the strangest thing you've ever overheard on public transport?
(no subject)
Mar. 6th, 2026 07:26 amskygiantsSometimes you read a book at exactly the wrong time, and you're like 'god this stupid big fat fantasy novel. Why are you six hundred pages. Why is everybody Sexy. What's the point of you. I'm tired' and sometimes you read a book at exactly the right time and you're like 'thank god! actual worldbuilding!! somebody had a good time getting weird with this! please tell me more about how weird you're getting!!' and I think I could easily have gone either way on Tessa Gratton's The Mercy Makers depending on the four books I'd read just previous as well as the time of the moon. But as it happened, at the point I read it I was really hungering for something, ANYTHING that felt like it actually cared about depicting a unique and distinctive society with characters that felt like they actually belonged in that society, and The Mercy Makers gave me that in spades, so I ended up really high on it! I had a great time! Please understand that I mean it lovingly when I say that it felt like a visual novel high fantasy dating sim!
-- this is a bit disingenuous for me to say, I haven't actually played more than a bit of any of the long visual novel high fantasy dating sims I'm thinking of, but I have read extensively throughalias_sqbr's write-ups of them and the book profoundly reminded me of something like [alias_sqbr's description of] My Vow To My Liege, where a player character has to play a lot of really dramatic political games to decide the fate of the kingdom, while surrounded by Hot People, and different elements of the plot will play out depending on which Hot Person she's closest to --
Okay, so we are in a fantasy empire that is built around a central religion that values Balance and forbids Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery and Medical Techniques. Our heroine Iriset, of course, is an atheist who's wildly gifted with Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery and Medical Techniques, and is also the daughter of a criminal mastermind. Iriset and her father have carefully crafted a secret identity illusion so that everyone thinks that someone else is the Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery Mad Scientist Genius and that the famous criminal mastermind's daughter is just a nice girl who's not really involved, so that when her father eventually gets arrested -- as indeed is the inciting incident of this book -- Iriset can hopefully stay free and rescue him instead of also getting arrested herself as a famous magical heretic.
For some reason, however, after her father's arrest, Iriset -- whom everyone knows is a criminal heiress but, once again, thinks is a nice and sweet criminal heiress who's not really involved, rather than an amoral heretic mad scientist -- is sort of non-consensually invited to become one of the handmaidens of the Emperor's hot sister as part of complex political schemes, so she spends the rest of the book in the palace, where she meets the following hot people:
- the Emperor, an earnest and well-intentioned young man who is really devoutly religiously dedicated to maintaining the Balance of the Status Quo
- the Emperor's sister, Iriset's boss, whose job as per official tradition for the Emperor's sibling is to be a priestess who placates the religion's divine devil-figure by going and being really sexy at a shrine every day, but has political visions and ambitions for the Empire far beyond her Sexy Role
- the Emperor's fiancee, a very sweet princess from neighboring island kingdom, who is a fundamental element of the Emperor's sister's overarching plans for an empire that expands through marriage alliance instead of conquest
- a mysterious, suffering, untrustworthy fairy sort of creature who has been publicly imprisoned behind the Emperor's throne for the past several hundred years and is now just sort of a standard part of the decor
In addition to these obviously romanceable characters, Iriset also has an existing criminal boyfriend on the outside of the palace who she's attempting to get in touch with and coordinate with about Operation Rescue Her Dad, and she also meets a palace maid and a fantasy-nonbinary magical architect (uses one of several archaic gender forms) who in the dating sim version of this would probably be secret or hidden routes.
The first, like, two hundred pages or so of this six hundred page book are mostly just Iriset wandering around the palace, trying not to be too obviously a heretical mad scientist, building various schemes for father-rescue and trying not to get distracted by much she would quite like to bang any or all of these hot people. And, again, at another time I might have gotten bored, but at this point in time I was really just enjoying the slow rich worldbuilding. It's weird! It's interesting! Everyone always wears elaborate masks and facepaint except for the foreign princess who's confused by the whole system, and we've reinvented a different kind of four humors system so everybody's like 'well of course she would act this way, she's got too much ecstatic force in her system', and the political conversation about marriage reform refers to the law that forbids conquered peoples within the Empire from marrying within their own ethnic group for a certain number of generations, and there are several archaic genders that are no longer used and people have chat about how actually we should bring them back because two is an imbalanced number and four would be much more balanced -- what I'm trying to get at is that it feels like the people in this book think in ways that are shaped by their world, and not by ours. The plot in its actual happenings is constantly contriving itself so that Iriset will be pushed into a position where, eventually, she'll have to Rebel Against Empire, but the thought patterns that get us there feel distinctive and grounded in the world and setting that Gratton has built.
But eventually, of course, we are going to have to get some plot and it is obviously going to have to involve Chekhov's Heretical Plastic Surgery and messy identity porn. ( the rest is spoilers )
-- this is a bit disingenuous for me to say, I haven't actually played more than a bit of any of the long visual novel high fantasy dating sims I'm thinking of, but I have read extensively through
alias_sqbr's write-ups of them and the book profoundly reminded me of something like [alias_sqbr's description of] My Vow To My Liege, where a player character has to play a lot of really dramatic political games to decide the fate of the kingdom, while surrounded by Hot People, and different elements of the plot will play out depending on which Hot Person she's closest to --Okay, so we are in a fantasy empire that is built around a central religion that values Balance and forbids Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery and Medical Techniques. Our heroine Iriset, of course, is an atheist who's wildly gifted with Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery and Medical Techniques, and is also the daughter of a criminal mastermind. Iriset and her father have carefully crafted a secret identity illusion so that everyone thinks that someone else is the Heretical Magical Plastic Surgery Mad Scientist Genius and that the famous criminal mastermind's daughter is just a nice girl who's not really involved, so that when her father eventually gets arrested -- as indeed is the inciting incident of this book -- Iriset can hopefully stay free and rescue him instead of also getting arrested herself as a famous magical heretic.
For some reason, however, after her father's arrest, Iriset -- whom everyone knows is a criminal heiress but, once again, thinks is a nice and sweet criminal heiress who's not really involved, rather than an amoral heretic mad scientist -- is sort of non-consensually invited to become one of the handmaidens of the Emperor's hot sister as part of complex political schemes, so she spends the rest of the book in the palace, where she meets the following hot people:
- the Emperor, an earnest and well-intentioned young man who is really devoutly religiously dedicated to maintaining the Balance of the Status Quo
- the Emperor's sister, Iriset's boss, whose job as per official tradition for the Emperor's sibling is to be a priestess who placates the religion's divine devil-figure by going and being really sexy at a shrine every day, but has political visions and ambitions for the Empire far beyond her Sexy Role
- the Emperor's fiancee, a very sweet princess from neighboring island kingdom, who is a fundamental element of the Emperor's sister's overarching plans for an empire that expands through marriage alliance instead of conquest
- a mysterious, suffering, untrustworthy fairy sort of creature who has been publicly imprisoned behind the Emperor's throne for the past several hundred years and is now just sort of a standard part of the decor
In addition to these obviously romanceable characters, Iriset also has an existing criminal boyfriend on the outside of the palace who she's attempting to get in touch with and coordinate with about Operation Rescue Her Dad, and she also meets a palace maid and a fantasy-nonbinary magical architect (uses one of several archaic gender forms) who in the dating sim version of this would probably be secret or hidden routes.
The first, like, two hundred pages or so of this six hundred page book are mostly just Iriset wandering around the palace, trying not to be too obviously a heretical mad scientist, building various schemes for father-rescue and trying not to get distracted by much she would quite like to bang any or all of these hot people. And, again, at another time I might have gotten bored, but at this point in time I was really just enjoying the slow rich worldbuilding. It's weird! It's interesting! Everyone always wears elaborate masks and facepaint except for the foreign princess who's confused by the whole system, and we've reinvented a different kind of four humors system so everybody's like 'well of course she would act this way, she's got too much ecstatic force in her system', and the political conversation about marriage reform refers to the law that forbids conquered peoples within the Empire from marrying within their own ethnic group for a certain number of generations, and there are several archaic genders that are no longer used and people have chat about how actually we should bring them back because two is an imbalanced number and four would be much more balanced -- what I'm trying to get at is that it feels like the people in this book think in ways that are shaped by their world, and not by ours. The plot in its actual happenings is constantly contriving itself so that Iriset will be pushed into a position where, eventually, she'll have to Rebel Against Empire, but the thought patterns that get us there feel distinctive and grounded in the world and setting that Gratton has built.
But eventually, of course, we are going to have to get some plot and it is obviously going to have to involve Chekhov's Heretical Plastic Surgery and messy identity porn. ( the rest is spoilers )
Firefox for Android
Mar. 7th, 2026 12:26 amvassAnyone know why Private Mode might be failing to clear cookies when I close the browser?
(Saving this draft then closing the app to see whether I can reproduce it on Dreamwidth. Yup.)
That's the bug.
(Saving this draft then closing the app to see whether I can reproduce it on Dreamwidth. Yup.)
That's the bug.
Follow Friday 3-6-36: Meta
Mar. 6th, 2026 12:07 amysabetwordsmithThis month is the marchmetamatterschallenge, where folks are encouraged to archive their old meta so it doesn't get lost and/or post new meta. In honor of that, today's theme is Meta. So this month, save your meta, make some new meta, and crosspost to meta communities to keep them active. \o/ See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.
( Read more... )
marchmetamatterschallenge, where folks are encouraged to archive their old meta so it doesn't get lost and/or post new meta. In honor of that, today's theme is Meta. So this month, save your meta, make some new meta, and crosspost to meta communities to keep them active. \o/ See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.( Read more... )