conuly

Awaking in New York by Maya Angelou

2026-04-05T19:14:47Z

Curtains forcing their will
against the wind,
children sleep,
exchanging dreams with
seraphim. The city
drags itself awake on
subway straps; and
I, an alarm, awake as a
rumor of war,
lie stretching into dawn,
unasked and unheeded.

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I swear, there is something about living in suburbs that rots people's brains and risk assessment

2026-04-05T19:05:36Z

Neighbors fretted that the garden was a security issue: “I am worried about normalizing the presence of many different people in front yards during potentially all hours of the day without any kind of restrictions put on access.”

Oh, the horrors, people in front yards!

This isn't quite as absurd as the time an entire LJ comm told me that they'd be "scared" if they got a piece of mail in their mailboxes that hadn't been postmarked (I suggested hand-delivering a late-sent birthday invitation to the home rather than risking it not arriving at the house until after the party date, apparently this was very frightening), but it's more absurd than the time a whole community of people joined in to tell somebody with a stalking history that rubber duckies showing up at her daughter's college dorm were something to be alarmed over rather than reassuring her that it was probably just her friends playing a prank. (The latter was my suggestion, and I was right. I really chewed them out over that one too, pointing out that they had regular monthly freakouts over "somebody is parked in front of my house and I'm scared" or "somebody turned up my driveway and then backed out and drove off and I'm scared" and yet, nothing bad ever happened to anybody!)

This sort of nonsense is what gets people shot in America. Well, that and access to guns, but people buy guns because they are quite irrationally scared of their neighbors. Your neighbors aren't gonna kill you in your own home! If anybody kills you, it'll be a family member or maybe yourself. The worst thing that will happen if your neighbors have a vegetable garden is that they'll dump a load of zucchini on your porch. Believe me, you'd rather they give it away to people who want it!

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Oops!

2026-04-04T03:05:11Z

I forgot to mention that Young Sherlock went to Constantinople. Naturally, I was legally mandated to recite all the words.

So sorry, I should've posted this when we finished watching the first season.

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The Pond by Amy Lowell

2026-04-02T18:15:17Z

Cold, wet leaves
Floating on moss-coloured water
And the croaking of frogs—
Cracked bell-notes in the twilight.

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I don't know why I didn't expect it

2026-04-02T18:12:31Z

but I did not expect this audiodrama to have a random jab at Robert Moses five minutes into the first episode.

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Welp, we've finished the first season of Young Sherlock

2026-03-31T03:12:22Z

And I have some thoughts.

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Okay, is there a searchable TV / movies corpus?

2026-03-28T18:07:30Z

Or several corpuses? (Corpora?)

I’m just getting tired of people claiming that “nobody” says things that I’m certain I’ve recently heard on contemporary lowbrow media. But I just can’t prove it! And I can’t make them prove it either!

Even fansites with searchable scripts would be something.

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I finally caught up on Only Murders in the Building

2026-03-27T20:35:38Z

( Minor season 5 spoiler )

I actually have a similar thought about the most recent episode I watched of Young Sherlock, ( Read more... )

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And my Robert Moses counter increments up yet again!

2026-03-27T17:32:27Z

In a random reddit thread this time.

Truly, people will never, ever stop complaining about the man.

Also on reddit: "This is an old book" but also "snapchat was mentioned". Uh....

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I really need to wash my window

2026-03-25T13:10:13Z

before I put in the A/C for the summer.

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After we got to the end of Starfleet Academy we let the TV autoselect what's next

2026-03-24T23:11:57Z

(E: It's like watching TV in the olden days!)

and ended up with Young Sherlock.

Let me make my position on Young Sherlock absolutely clear: If Sherlock and Moriarty do not kiss and/or fuck by the end of this series, I will not be responsible for my actions.

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Finished Starfleet Academy

2026-03-24T21:58:30Z

The moral of the last two episodes can be summed up as "never air live when you can air on a delay instead". Though I did find those chyrons for the show trial pretty amusing!

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So here's this thread

2026-03-22T15:31:56Z

In which this teacher earnestly wants a word to substitute for "chink" in Midsummer Night's Dream, and one person suggests kink which doesn't mean the same thing.

And on the one hand, I'm sure they all have their hearts in the right place, but on the other hand, maybe they should collectively teach a different play instead. Shakespeare wrote plenty of comedies, just pick a different one off the shelf.

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There sure is a lot of Heated Rivalry fic being recommended every day

2026-03-20T12:48:14Z

And every one of those recs is better than the books. Well, I've shared my opinion on the books, the problems and characterization are insufficiently balanced for dual viewpoints.

But anyway, that's not what I'm thinking about. What I'm thinking about is Fabian and his generically shitty parents who clearly don't care about him very much. ( Read more... )

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gingicat has posted links to the obituary and charitable donation information

2026-03-20T10:20:02Z

For minoanmiss

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conuly @ 2026-03-19T12:29:00

2026-03-17T16:31:13Z

Them: Go look at any official communication from a company. Have you ever received a ConEd bill that says, “Ya should of paid ya bill on time, now we gonna haveta cut off ya powa”? Of course not. Why? Because that is not standard English, and it would reflect poorly on the company.

Me: I take it you've never called ConEd on the phone in NYC? Because, whew, that'd disabuse you of this fiction pretty quick. Them and National Grid, wow. And I'm not even talking about their representatives, I'm talking about their recordings! Never heard such a thick NYC accent in my life, and I grew up here!

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conuly @ 2026-03-18T08:54:00

2026-03-17T13:49:18Z

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Things!
Look upon my Works, ye Mighty, and Repair!"
Everything inside remains. Round the tools
Of that colossal Bench, all arranged
The shiny level and sander are neatly put away.

This is the best comment in that thread, nothing will top it.

"The best have strong convictions, while the worst / Are full of resignation and are sad.
[...]
And if a lion slouches toward Bethlehem, / That's 'cause it's native to the Levant."

Gosh, I wish.

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[And isn’t everything risk?] by Gregory Orr

2026-03-16T10:52:53Z

And isn’t everything risk?

The beloved lives
Then dies,
Then (if we’re lucky)
Rises again
Into a poem or song

Or into the world
In some other form
Impossible to predict.

Simplest story, oldest tale:

Sparrows sing it
From every hedge;

And swallows, also,
From their nests on the ledge.

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conuly @ 2026-03-16T00:04:00

2026-03-16T04:06:37Z

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This is the yearly reminder

2026-03-16T04:01:37Z

that the Roman calendar was batshit.

Today is the Ides, okay, and yesterday was pridie Ides, so far so good, and the day before that was three days before the Ides, because the Romans a. counted backwards and b. did this weird inclusive counting, so Friday, Saturday, Ides = three days.

(Which is also how Good Friday is three days before the Resurrection, when it blatantly isn't.)

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Accidentally took a butter knife home from work

2026-03-16T02:07:09Z

Not to worry, I'll return it. We have plenty enough as it is.

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I've been so tired these past few days that I wonder if I'm actually sick

2026-03-15T07:47:16Z

Seriously, asleep more than I've been awake. And I never did manage to work out the logistics to get to the memorial, which halfway sucks but halfway is "Welp, social anxiety" so....

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OMG

2026-03-12T21:52:14Z

So, yesterday I go to catch the bus to get to work. As I'm waiting, the bus disappears off the app and then actually disappears, it never shows. So I say "Okay, I'll catch the other bus route. Sure, I've never taken this before, but it's a short walk and it's only a little drizzly out, how bad can it be?"

Welp, I stepped off the bus, the heavens opened up, I got totally drenched. I also got turned around, twice. What ought to have been an 8 minute walk was closer to 20, and the whole way I said "It's okay, I'll get there, go to the laundry room, strip naked, and spend half an hour drying my clothes. Nobody can fault me for this!"

I show up, and the first thing that L says to me when she answers the door is "The dryer is gone".

I'm not proud, but I cursed her out. And then apologized. And then cursed some more.

I found the ironing board but no iron, so I ended up spending half an hour using a hair dryer on my socks just to get them slightly less drenched.

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Separation by W. S. Merwin

2026-03-12T02:18:40Z

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.

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Apparently Moonpie had a rough night last night and wouldn't stop barking

2026-03-12T02:01:11Z

Jenn related everybody's lack of sleep, ending with a hopeful "So, you're not working tonight, right?"

Ah, no, I am working, and under no circumstances will I call out on the grounds that my dog is crazy.

Other than dementia, which she shows no signs of (the dog, not my sister... I mean, not her either, but that's not what I'm talking about), what could cause this sudden barking spree in an otherwise pretty quiet doggie?

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