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Reading Wednesday
May. 6th, 2026 07:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyJust finished: Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story Of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple. God this is amazing. I don't know what to add; I think iI get a similar thrill with the sense of political and cultural recognition that other people get when they see a character like themselves in fiction for the first time (who knew representation was important???). This is one of those "read this book if you want to better understand me" type things for me. Obviously it's not just therapy for curmudgeonly anti-Zionist anarch-ish middle-aged Jewish women—the history is important, knowing about the strategy and failures are important, the narrative of fighting in the face of defeat is important. But it also helped reset some of my despair.
BTW it's a long slog but about halfway through when they hit the end of WWII I was like, huh, half the book is left??? half the book is footnotes.
Wake Up! (Seasons, Book Winter) by Ryszard I. Merey. Ah, let's read something short after the big, detailed history book—oh no this one is fairly brutal too. This is the third book in the Seasons project (the first two are a + e 4ever and Read and then Burn This, which I also highly recommend), all of which have to do with toxic relationships and gender fuckery, if you like that kind of thing. I do. This is about Tian, a down-on-her-luck tattoo artist. Her fiancée has left her after she's come out as trans, and she's left with an apartment she can't afford. Al, a man she rescues one night, has rent money, but that's because he's a high-stakes mahjong player in deep with some sketchy characters. It's a hallucinogenic fever dream with an unreliable narrator and a shifting, capricious timeline. Beautifully written, absolutely tragic, and if you want you can get a special German edition on sparkly paper that's tiny.
Currently reading: Nothing, starting Five Points On an Invisible Line by Su J Sokol next.
BTW it's a long slog but about halfway through when they hit the end of WWII I was like, huh, half the book is left??? half the book is footnotes.
Wake Up! (Seasons, Book Winter) by Ryszard I. Merey. Ah, let's read something short after the big, detailed history book—oh no this one is fairly brutal too. This is the third book in the Seasons project (the first two are a + e 4ever and Read and then Burn This, which I also highly recommend), all of which have to do with toxic relationships and gender fuckery, if you like that kind of thing. I do. This is about Tian, a down-on-her-luck tattoo artist. Her fiancée has left her after she's come out as trans, and she's left with an apartment she can't afford. Al, a man she rescues one night, has rent money, but that's because he's a high-stakes mahjong player in deep with some sketchy characters. It's a hallucinogenic fever dream with an unreliable narrator and a shifting, capricious timeline. Beautifully written, absolutely tragic, and if you want you can get a special German edition on sparkly paper that's tiny.
Currently reading: Nothing, starting Five Points On an Invisible Line by Su J Sokol next.
I did NOT forget my wallet!
May. 6th, 2026 02:51 amthe_shoshannaMonday Me put it in a secure inner pocket of my backpack that At The Airport Me forgot even existed, but On The Plane Me found it! Hurrah for my health card, my British currency, my backup credit card, and my faith in myself. Also my UK eSIM is working.
Unfortunately, Geoff's phone is completely refusing to boot. Whee!
ETA: Also, while Geoff's checked bag made the transfer at Heathrow and arrived in Jersey with us, mine did not. They promise to deliver it to our B&B, maaaaaybe this evening, probably tomorrow, hopefully not later than that? Good thing this isn't the kind of trip where we're moving every day.
Now off to the nearest thing to an Apple store so Geoff can have them poke at his phone...
EATA: They prodded his phone with a secret special boot sequence and it started up fine. Yay! Now to hope my luggage arrives. Baggage assistance at the airport said it would arrive on the four pm flight, and I've received automated email saying it's being sent, but they missed a whole lot of bags, and they also admitted at the airport that until they knew exactly how many bags they had to deliver to what places on the island, they couldn't have any real idea just how long delivery would take. I think they have only one van for it.
Unfortunately, Geoff's phone is completely refusing to boot. Whee!
ETA: Also, while Geoff's checked bag made the transfer at Heathrow and arrived in Jersey with us, mine did not. They promise to deliver it to our B&B, maaaaaybe this evening, probably tomorrow, hopefully not later than that? Good thing this isn't the kind of trip where we're moving every day.
Now off to the nearest thing to an Apple store so Geoff can have them poke at his phone...
EATA: They prodded his phone with a secret special boot sequence and it started up fine. Yay! Now to hope my luggage arrives. Baggage assistance at the airport said it would arrive on the four pm flight, and I've received automated email saying it's being sent, but they missed a whole lot of bags, and they also admitted at the airport that until they knew exactly how many bags they had to deliver to what places on the island, they couldn't have any real idea just how long delivery would take. I think they have only one van for it.
Daily Happiness
May. 5th, 2026 08:14 pmtorachan1. I got a call from the vet this afternoon and Jasper has a clean bill of health. No crystals in his urine and kidney function is good, so she agreed that it's almost certainly just stress related and we'll continue to try and avoid any possible triggers for him.
2. I actually had a chance to bring up my work decision totally naturally with my former supervisor, as we were talking and he was wondering how much longer I was going to be on this project, so I was like, the thing is, after the project is over, I don't want to go back to being area manager, and explained my decision. He was bummed, but very supportive. I didn't talk to my current supervisor about it because frankly I don't really like him that much and it doesn't really concern him, since once the project is over I would not be in his department anymore anyway (though technically he is now sort of acting vice president so it all concerns him but still). Anyway, I continue to feel good about verbalizing it and making it more real, since having that to look forward to does help to reduce the current stress.
Also last week I felt really stressed and directionless about work, even though it was nice to work from home, but today I had several productive discussions with people and am generally feeling better about the project overall.
3. Yesterday Ollie found (and ate) two spiders! Lucky boy! One of them was under the shoe rack, apparently.
2. I actually had a chance to bring up my work decision totally naturally with my former supervisor, as we were talking and he was wondering how much longer I was going to be on this project, so I was like, the thing is, after the project is over, I don't want to go back to being area manager, and explained my decision. He was bummed, but very supportive. I didn't talk to my current supervisor about it because frankly I don't really like him that much and it doesn't really concern him, since once the project is over I would not be in his department anymore anyway (though technically he is now sort of acting vice president so it all concerns him but still). Anyway, I continue to feel good about verbalizing it and making it more real, since having that to look forward to does help to reduce the current stress.
Also last week I felt really stressed and directionless about work, even though it was nice to work from home, but today I had several productive discussions with people and am generally feeling better about the project overall.
3. Yesterday Ollie found (and ate) two spiders! Lucky boy! One of them was under the shoe rack, apparently.
5/4/2026 Lower Packrat & Jewel Lake Trail
May. 4th, 2026 05:06 pmmrkinchIt was just me this morning under partly cloudy skies. I would have been happier with more sun but there was a lot of activity, many Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warblers, and more Swainson's Thrushes and Western Flycatchers than last time. I walked North on Lower Packrat through several pockets of Wilson's Warblers, possibly families, and sat by Jewel Lake for a while. No ducks today, but I did hear an Olive-sided Flycatcher "pipping" in the distance. I returned by walking a bit up Loop Road and turning down Jewel Lake Trail back towards the Little Farm in hopes of finding a Northern House Wren in that area as I did recently, but no luck. ( The list: )
So no terrific excitement, but I did hear a California Scrub-jay in that area for the first time in a while.:)
So no terrific excitement, but I did hear a California Scrub-jay in that area for the first time in a while.:)
(no subject)
May. 5th, 2026 04:06 pmysobelI keep wanting to do art of, or at least inspired by, the greenbelt by my place -- basically a long green area with paved bicycle/pedestrian paths and lots of grassy areas and trees of different types -- but I keep dithering on specifics.
Small scale, like focusing on a single tree, or more broad? Realistic or stylized? How much detail? Which season? Habitated (a few dog walkers, a bicyclist or two, maybe a family walking together) or not? More people-built stuff (lampposts, benches, etc) or less?
...obviously I'm not limited to just one, but even with multiple projects there's stuff to decide. Same scene in different seasons? (in which case do I make it into an animation?) Same scene but different styles? Related images, like close up of a tree with more detail and also a bigger picture incorporating that tree but with less detail and broader context? Different images altogether? Multiple images worked to a point and then pick my favorite to finalize? Sketch out a few quick drafts and have my inner critic decide they're all irredeemably stupid?)
hmm...
Small scale, like focusing on a single tree, or more broad? Realistic or stylized? How much detail? Which season? Habitated (a few dog walkers, a bicyclist or two, maybe a family walking together) or not? More people-built stuff (lampposts, benches, etc) or less?
...obviously I'm not limited to just one, but even with multiple projects there's stuff to decide. Same scene in different seasons? (in which case do I make it into an animation?) Same scene but different styles? Related images, like close up of a tree with more detail and also a bigger picture incorporating that tree but with less detail and broader context? Different images altogether? Multiple images worked to a point and then pick my favorite to finalize? Sketch out a few quick drafts and have my inner critic decide they're all irredeemably stupid?)
hmm...
kaberettThe other highlight of the day was my ongoing experiments on myself with respect to movement, which I had intended to witter about, but (1) it got late and (2) when I came to actually look up "neuromuscular/movement patterning" as terms for That Thing about The Process Of Learning Physical Skills I could... only find a bunch of people selling movement coaching services. Working out what the academic terminology for this is: now on my infinite todo list.
(tl;dr I made a back muscle very unhappy a few years ago now; ever since it has been prone to Twinges but not actual dysfunction, which I've been interpreting as Nerves Primed To Go AAAAH; managed to push it past twinge into persistent unhappiness on Saturday, and have spent the past few days playing around with how it responds to various kinds of movement in terms of better/worse/about the same...)
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fail_feedThe lawn next to your driveway isn't an extension of your parking space. Somebody's private property shouldn't be treated as a public road.
Someone can cut across your lawn once, maybe twice. You let it go because they'll probably realize and stop. Everybody makes mistakes. But if it keeps happening, it's actually not a mistake but a mindful decision. And if it goes as far as blocking access, it shows a clear lack of respect for your space and your property.
fail_feedThe way that this neighbor "trimmed" their neighbors trees (with 0 permission granted!) has to be seen to be believed
Nobody wants their neighbors snooping around on their property, and yet so many people do it! They truly seem to believe that if they can see something wrong with their neighbor's home, that that gives them the permission to fix it according to their own desires.
For example, some people will decide they don't like a neighbors hedges, so they'll trim it themselves to improve their view. They truly think that they're entitled to fix up their neighbors property just because! And that is simply not how anything works.
This All Come Back Now, ed. Mykaela Saunders (2022) [part 2]
May. 5th, 2026 04:57 pmpauraqueThis is part 2 of my book club notes on This All Come Back Now. (Here's part 1.)
"In His Father's Footsteps" by Kalem Murray (2022)
( A father and son trying awkwardly to bond on a hunting trip are threatened by a monster. )
"Myth This!" by Lisa Fuller (2022)
( A mother and her three kids encounter a supernatural being and try to warn outsiders of the threat. )
"Jacaranda Street" by Jasmin McGaughey (2019)
( A family gains the ability to manifest apparitions with their thoughts. )
Excerpt from The Kadaitcha Sung by Samuel William Watson (1990)
( A guy hooks up with a girl and then goes and talks to some spirits. )
"In His Father's Footsteps" by Kalem Murray (2022)
( A father and son trying awkwardly to bond on a hunting trip are threatened by a monster. )
"Myth This!" by Lisa Fuller (2022)
( A mother and her three kids encounter a supernatural being and try to warn outsiders of the threat. )
"Jacaranda Street" by Jasmin McGaughey (2019)
( A family gains the ability to manifest apparitions with their thoughts. )
Excerpt from The Kadaitcha Sung by Samuel William Watson (1990)
( A guy hooks up with a girl and then goes and talks to some spirits. )
fail_feedWhen 50/50 stops being fair and starts being a financial spiral.
A man earning $52k has been splitting discretionary expenses down the middle with his partner making $114k, trips, activities, concerts, until the debt hit $11.5k and his savings account landed at $6. He finally said something. And it turns out his partner had no idea any of this was happening.
fail_feedHere's a comprehensive list of all the things you shouldn't do on your first date
On date #1, you'd think most people would be on their very best behavior.
You would think they would show up clean and smelling good, dressed nicely, and ready to make the other person feel comfortable.
That's like, the very barest minimum, right?
But no, as you'll read about here, a lot of people seem to self-sabotage their first dates.
Maybe it's because they're nervous… And in some cases, they're just not very nice people.
It's truly shocking how quickly these dates went downhill.
Sometimes a single sentence ended the date! In some cases, one person literally stood up and left!
fail_feedWho knew that sharing your grocery list with all your coworkers could end up feeling like the biggest overshare?
This overwhelmed employee was in the midst of compiling a grocery list to send to her partner, but she decided to embellish her note with a series of personal details and inside jokes. Apparently, this choice to inject a bit of levity into such a mundane life task would end up backfiring big time.
That's because when she was making her list, the employee was interrupted with a rather immediate email from a manager to the entire company. It was the kind of email that required a short response, so she went ahead and replied immediately without thinking too much about it.
Well, it turns out that she probably should have thought about it a little more because instead of sending the response she intended to submit, she accidentally copied and pasted that full grocery list, complete with all those personal details, to the entire company… including the CEO.
jfc
May. 5th, 2026 04:36 pmthe_shoshannaWe left the house at 10 am, and at goddamn four in the afternoon, after we've gone through airport security, I realize that I left my wallet at home!
I have my passport (or we couldn't have gotten this far) and the one credit card I had tucked in with it for easy access. But nothing else.
I am basically in charge of logistics for our trips, and in general I do it very well, but sometimes I REALLY FUCK UP.
Sigh. Nothing to be done about it now. But I feel like an idiot.
ETA: On the other hand, ee have a row of three to ourselves, so that's pretty great!
I have my passport (or we couldn't have gotten this far) and the one credit card I had tucked in with it for easy access. But nothing else.
I am basically in charge of logistics for our trips, and in general I do it very well, but sometimes I REALLY FUCK UP.
Sigh. Nothing to be done about it now. But I feel like an idiot.
ETA: On the other hand, ee have a row of three to ourselves, so that's pretty great!
FANFIC: tease (The Good Place)
May. 5th, 2026 09:30 pmqueenslayerbeeMore 2018 stories! This one is a short ficlet set in one of the maaaany "AUs" of The Good Place in season 2, when Michael kept trying to find the right way to torture the group.
-
Vicky knew Michael had only done it to placate her, but she was planning on making the most of it anyway.
First of all, she made sure to construct her character as everything Tahani could've possibly wanted in a soulmate: she was classy, charming, she'd been adventurous… and she was just a little too good for her, the right ingredient to make her feel inadequate next to a partner. And then, of course, she'd played the But I'm Actually Straight! card.
(Total bullshit. Why did humans get hung up on that kind of stuff?)
"So maybe we are meant to be... platonic soulmates? That can't be unheard of, right?"
Tahani's mouth said of course! but her eyes spoke of a life paved with insecurities.
She was still coming up with a convincing way of sneaking into conversation how pretty her sister was, maybe even imply she was Vicky's Gay Exception. And she couldn't wait until the epic, hypocritically jealous fit she was going to throw later down the road, after Eleanor made one of her occasional passes at Tahani. That is, if Michael managed not to screw everything up before her relationship with Tahani could progress organically to that point!
But for now, she was having a lot of fun thinking of ways to drive Tahani to the edge, both by being incredibly tempting (easy) and by continuing to interrupt Tahani's Me Time while pretending to be a hundred percent oblivious.
That day, she was sitting in their living room, watching Tahani paint a vase with calculated strokes. She was trying to decide what would be her move for the afternoon, when Tahani rolled her shoulders, the loud cracking noise of her joints shining a lightbulb in Vicky's head.
"That sounds bad," she said standing up, "want me to help? I did a year of physiotherapy, before I decided to get into genetic engineering."
"To prevent diseases, I know," Tahani finished for her, her smile a little too tight.
She positioned herself behind Tahani, sitting before the canvas, and slowly pushed her dress straps down her shoulders. She started massaging the area, with soft touches alternated with pushing on the knots just right —she was a torture expert, so of course she knew a thing or two about massages.
"Oh, don't let me distract you," she said, realizing Tahani had stopped painting. "Keep going, it's beautiful."
Tahani obeyed, raising her brush with a slightly trembling hand, adding some light to the flowers on the canvas.
Vicky started with her neck, with deliberate, slow caresses that made Tahani swallow (humans were so easy to turn on sometimes). She carefully laid down the brush, turning in her chair and looking up at her, appearing half determined and half panicked.
Vicky made a little victory dance inside her head; she knew that moment would come, when Tahani would try to make some sort of move. She let her eyes drop to Tahani's mouth for a second, biting her lip and faking a cloudy expression —not too difficult; Tahani was probably the least unappealing human she'd ever met.
She immediately straightened up, loudly clearing her throat and fixing the non-existent wrinkles in her own clothes.
"I was thinking I should go look for some yogurt?" she spoke, a little too loudly, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "Do you want some? I should get you some."
"That would be nice."
"Okay. See you in a minute!"
She left in a hurry, not before delighting in Tahani's little smug smile, knowing it'd be much more amusing when she got to crush that little ray of hope.
She couldn't help the spring in her step as she went to the store. This was almost as fun as torturing Chidi had been!
Speaking of Chidi, there he was, clearly having a minor stroke while trying to discreetly talk to Jason (technically still pretending to uphold his vow of silence). Hmm. Maybe she could go off script and try to orchestrate some love triangle there?
That was a thought.
Title: tease.
Fandom: The Good Place.
Character/Pairing: Tahani Al-Jamil/Vicky.
Rating/Warnings: T, none.
Summary: Attempt 333 was one of Vicky's favourites. Eleanor's soulmate was a dog, Chidi was stuck with Jason, and she got to play the star: Tahani's soulmate.
Word count: ~600-700.
read more
-
Vicky knew Michael had only done it to placate her, but she was planning on making the most of it anyway.
First of all, she made sure to construct her character as everything Tahani could've possibly wanted in a soulmate: she was classy, charming, she'd been adventurous… and she was just a little too good for her, the right ingredient to make her feel inadequate next to a partner. And then, of course, she'd played the But I'm Actually Straight! card.
(Total bullshit. Why did humans get hung up on that kind of stuff?)
"So maybe we are meant to be... platonic soulmates? That can't be unheard of, right?"
Tahani's mouth said of course! but her eyes spoke of a life paved with insecurities.
She was still coming up with a convincing way of sneaking into conversation how pretty her sister was, maybe even imply she was Vicky's Gay Exception. And she couldn't wait until the epic, hypocritically jealous fit she was going to throw later down the road, after Eleanor made one of her occasional passes at Tahani. That is, if Michael managed not to screw everything up before her relationship with Tahani could progress organically to that point!
But for now, she was having a lot of fun thinking of ways to drive Tahani to the edge, both by being incredibly tempting (easy) and by continuing to interrupt Tahani's Me Time while pretending to be a hundred percent oblivious.
That day, she was sitting in their living room, watching Tahani paint a vase with calculated strokes. She was trying to decide what would be her move for the afternoon, when Tahani rolled her shoulders, the loud cracking noise of her joints shining a lightbulb in Vicky's head.
"That sounds bad," she said standing up, "want me to help? I did a year of physiotherapy, before I decided to get into genetic engineering."
"To prevent diseases, I know," Tahani finished for her, her smile a little too tight.
She positioned herself behind Tahani, sitting before the canvas, and slowly pushed her dress straps down her shoulders. She started massaging the area, with soft touches alternated with pushing on the knots just right —she was a torture expert, so of course she knew a thing or two about massages.
"Oh, don't let me distract you," she said, realizing Tahani had stopped painting. "Keep going, it's beautiful."
Tahani obeyed, raising her brush with a slightly trembling hand, adding some light to the flowers on the canvas.
Vicky started with her neck, with deliberate, slow caresses that made Tahani swallow (humans were so easy to turn on sometimes). She carefully laid down the brush, turning in her chair and looking up at her, appearing half determined and half panicked.
Vicky made a little victory dance inside her head; she knew that moment would come, when Tahani would try to make some sort of move. She let her eyes drop to Tahani's mouth for a second, biting her lip and faking a cloudy expression —not too difficult; Tahani was probably the least unappealing human she'd ever met.
She immediately straightened up, loudly clearing her throat and fixing the non-existent wrinkles in her own clothes.
"I was thinking I should go look for some yogurt?" she spoke, a little too loudly, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "Do you want some? I should get you some."
"That would be nice."
"Okay. See you in a minute!"
She left in a hurry, not before delighting in Tahani's little smug smile, knowing it'd be much more amusing when she got to crush that little ray of hope.
She couldn't help the spring in her step as she went to the store. This was almost as fun as torturing Chidi had been!
Speaking of Chidi, there he was, clearly having a minor stroke while trying to discreetly talk to Jason (technically still pretending to uphold his vow of silence). Hmm. Maybe she could go off script and try to orchestrate some love triangle there?
That was a thought.