conuly | Reading

I think I've solved a mystery. It's a mystery about my childhood / adolescent memories of visiting Minneapolis, and something I've wondered about for several decades.

What I remembered was this: while driving on Minnehaha Parkway to or from picnics at Minnehaha Falls, or the Mendota Bridge, we'd drive past a pretty large motel. This wasn't on the parkway itself, but on a street running north - close to the intersection, however. My sense was that it could be a place where people would stay if they were visiting the Veteran's Home, since that was nearby.

No one I mentioned this to remembered a motel, let alone what street it was on.

In good weather I drive along Minnehaha Parkway to cross the river to St. Paul, on the way to lunch with catsman. Each time I wonder where the motel used to be.

Today I finally...ok, googled: old motel near Minnehaha Parkway Minneapolis, and as far as I can tell, I found it.

It was called the Parkway, and it was on Hiawatha Avenue very near the parkway. Oh, hence the name. :-). Hiawatha is also highway 55, which goes under Minnehaha Parkway at this point. The underpass was constructed much later than my memories of the motel.

Parkway Motor Court

I remember it as a classic two-story motel, so ignore the picture at the top and scroll down to the postcards.

A Facebook comment says that this was where stewardesses in training stayed. That's possible, as the airport is not too far away.

-

senmut

AO3 Link | The Right Bait: Vierna's Tale (3352 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

A priestess vanished before Do'Urden fell...

The Right Bait: Vierna's Tale

Vierna Do'Urden, saved from the death of her House by her questioning that had brought her to Vhaeraun's closer attention, was still in the process of regaining her abilities — in divine spell-craft.

Her physical capabilities remained sharp, now that Lolth's Sickness had been purged from her for abandoning the Church of her childhood. Jarlaxle saw that now, as she reacted to something she had placed as wrong about him, despite him having adopted the local clothes and the lack of his distinctive hat.

The eye patch was still in place, which clicked for her as she settled back from facing him with her dagger in hand, just off the main thoroughfare with markets and vendor carts.

"Far from your usual grounds?" Vierna questioned, the dagger disappearing once more. Jarlaxle had no doubt that she was more than ready to defend herself even yet, a true tribute to the legacy of the man he was here to converse with her over.

"They're a bit messy right now, what with the chaos of two upper Houses dying in such recent years," he said gamely enough. "I am quite pleased to see you were as smart as the Weapon Master intimated over the years, and got out ahead of time."

She scowled… but was it over the mention of his lost lover, or the other news?

"Oh do settle, priestess," he said, managing to inflect the tone just as Zak always had when referring to her, and then Jarlaxle knew, because the anger was riding high. "After all, he spoke of you quite fondly, up until the night your former Matron took the Tenth position in the city."

It was a calculated risk… and the anger shifted briefly to regret before masking into polite interest only.

"Why are you here? If you'd been sent to fetch me back, this is not the approach your people would have taken," she reasoned.

"I had a chat with Dinin, the night that those who went with Briza and Tsinda Duskrym into the wilds returned — empty handed, and minus both clerics. It seems your wean-son is truly as elusive as the Ghost that sired him.

"And you."

Vierna took a very slow breath, and Jarlaxle wondered just what she thought of the boy, let alone her complicated feelings about Zaknafein.

"And?" she drawled, hinting at impatience with him.

"He purchased his way into my merry little band of mercenaries by retrieving a certain body from your ancestral crypt. Unfortunately for me, I do not currently possess a cleric of high enough standing that I could trust with the small matter of breathing life into that corpse."

Her eyes searched him fiercely over that.

"I have not — yet — attained that proficiency with my new place," she admitted.

"But you will." Jarlaxle smiled at her. "Care to commit to the deed now, or should I fish for another?"

"I do not know that he would even listen to me," Vierna admitted. "As I did not listen to him for far too long, despite his attempts to show me better."

Jarlaxle nodded. "He will listen, if you speak the right words. Do we have a deal?"

Vierna set her jaw and spine in a way that was all the best of Zaknafein and the unlamented Malice in one. "Yes."

"You can send to me, when you feel you have the mastery of the ritual again." He gave her a short bow, mocking in some ways, before turning off to go his own way. He rather doubted it would take her long to rise to the occasion. A decade, at most, if he had to wager on it.

While Vierna had initially been guided to Rilauven, her need for experience had been a factor in sending her to one of Vhaeraun's enclaves above the faerzress line, in a city that held two very different factions of His followers. His belief that her cunning, honed by keeping herself alive in that spider hole for so long despite having a zealot for a sister and a very dangerous Matron would serve Him well was strong.

She proved Him correct, when she managed to have the city powers bring down the head of the rival faction, keeping drow hands clean.

None of them expected the choice to move her there to have personal complications, even with her now able to freely communicate with the mercenaries of Menzoberranzan, to keep Jarlaxle aware of her progress in skill and acquiring the offerings necessary.

Drizzt, a full half decade after settling into the rhythm of life among goodly drow, had gotten to where he was willing to leave his son with Rylla and accompany Shana on her trade runs, finally. The pair of women had adopted them into their household, once Shana realized that Drizzt eagerly wanted to properly parent… and had no idea how. The trader had minded young ones frequently over the decades, always willing to foster without any urge to have one of her own.

Rylla appreciated that approach to family, and accepted it as part of her wife's ways.

This was the first run they had made to Skullport since he began going with them, and Drizzt had found the trip here exhilarating in some ways, using his skills to end threats in the passages of Undermountain.

His trip above, wearing a ring of glamour had not, in any way, prepared him for Skullport. This city was in perpetual shadow, rising up within its cavern, everything from well-buttressed (magical) dwellings to stick-built shanties looking forever on the verge of crumbling apart. There was a distinctly present sense of furtiveness and evil-doing that crackled along Drizzt's senses, but he betrayed none of his distaste for it.

The party of four drow swaggering their way, clothing and weapons gaudy with poor taste and too many coins, caught his attention immediately. He stayed loose and easy in his skin, not even shifting his body language to make the swords more visible.

Behind him, the rest of their people were staying just as relaxed, confident in the youngest fighter to ever hold Rylla to a draw, repeatedly.

"Gotta pay the toll if you want to do the trade," the foremost one said, leering at Drizzt in a way that struck fire along Drizzt's memories of graduation.

"No." Drizzt said the one word casually. When it led to the quartet blustering, he steadily walked toward the first speaker, eyes boring into that one with a promise of danger.

"You think you can bring your goodly little prats in here and not pay for the privilege?" the speaker snapped as his nerves led to a bit of sweat on his brow.

"I do not think it. I know it." Drizzt stopped at what would be easy lunging distance for himself… or them, if they knew how to use the gaudy basket hilt cutlasses.

It wasn't the talker that tried first, playing directly into Drizzt's hands. The clumsy lunge, with a dirk, had Drizzt spin away, catch the back of tunic and breeches in the man's passing, and then redirect his momentum into the other three.

The bullies didn't take the hint that this was no ordinary drow they were trying to intimidate.

Drizzt handed each one a cut across their dominant hand, a barely there poke in the wrist of their off hands, and in two cases, a punch with a hilt to the face.

The four took off running, yelling invectives back at them, but retreating nonetheless.

"Cousin," Shana said with amusement, "you had too much fun doing that."

"We'll need to keep a solid watch, for retaliation, but yes," he answered her unrepentantly.

"Silk Cutter," one of the guards said, facing Vierna with more respect than she'd seen on first arriving here. Something about applying her craft to removing a dangerous target had definitely changed attitudes. "You asked to be told when the Dancers returned to the marketplace."

Vierna nodded to that. "Thank you, Chaurah."

Her use of the woman's name gave her another psychological edge, and the guard actually meant the inclined head her way before going off to her post. That let Vierna go and change into robes that would afford her some protections from the threats outside the Temple, to go learn if the ridiculously good followers of Eilistraee were trading a specific component at less costly a price than most who traded in Waterdeep wanted.

The High Cleric had suggested that they were more fair in dealings with the drow of the Temple… while avoiding Nisstyre's Dragon Hoard company most of the time.

She had her mask on beneath the hood of her cloak, obscuring more of who she was on the off-chance someone of the Dragon Hoard came seeking revenge. They would not, in fact, find that too simple a task to accomplish, she swore in her soul. She had found a mission, in the chance to restore her father to life, and a purpose, in helping the Temple here rise to be the dominant faction for the god she had accepted.

It did not take her long to reach the marketplace, and make out where the Dancers had set their wares. She still found it strange that there were more drow who were soft and kind like her wean-son/little brother had been.

That thought was high in her mind as she came to the stall being run by … Shana. That was the name she had been given for the drow woman that ran trade for the Dancers. It was as she looked over the assembled band, six in total, that her entire world narrowed down to a singular focus, because resting against the wagon behind this stall, keeping it from being open to both alleys, was a young drow fighter with his hair unbound.

Two swords hung from the belt, on either side of the stool he was perched on, and Vierna knew that face like she knew her own.

Only her long experience at never betraying her emotion (despite Drizzt being one who could, sometimes, push her past that) kept her from doing more than flicking her eyes back to the wares on display.

"No storax resin?" she finally asked, forcing her voice to be slightly higher than usual, and mimicking the dialect of Rilauven instead of Menzoberranzan.

"Not this trip, Priestess, but if I know there's a guaranteed sale, we could have it on the next run," Shana said, polite and honest in her words.

"I am running low, and prefer it for the incense I make." Vierna made a considering noise. "Bring a full crock, and I would be willing to trade you a painter's cup of pure ormu powder. I hear your community makes numerous pieces of art."

Shana did some conversions, and then settled to haggle, treating the Masked God's cleric as she would any other customer. Vierna wondered at that on one level. No adherent of Lloth would ever do business with a 'heretic' after all. She had to work at maintaining the vocal pretense, and a careful look toward her brother indicated that he was… apparently… remaining at rest while the other four kept watch.

When she had finished her deal, with the resin slated to come to her the next trading trip down in three months, Vierna made herself walk away, pondering just how to approach the fact her brother was in the same city as she was.

Drizzt waited several long minutes before moving to just behind Shana.

"Did you know her?"

"No. Last trip here we heard rumor that the temple had gotten a priestess, but we hadn't verified." Shana kept her voice at the same level his was.

"I'll be away; please stay close to the wagon and no one wander off," Drizzt said, in that tone of protective concern he was far too young to have mastered. The other fighters nodded at him, and Shana didn't say anything else, before he vanished into the city. Even being unfamiliar with the layout, he could calculate where the best pathways were, having been told the rough placement of Vhaeraun's temple in regards to the marketplace.

He stepped out on the walkway ahead of the priestess several blocks from the temple itself.

She stopped, hood up, robes masking her body, and that mask hiding her face.

"Sister."

"How?!" she demanded, having been certain she had cloaked her voice well enough.

"Height, way you move, the ease of using both hands as you touched the merchandise, and the pronunciation of certain words."

"I was trying for Rilauven's dialect," she grumbled, but she did take a step toward him.

He did not flinch or move.

"Drizzt."

"Vierna."

He tipped his chin up after he said her name, and she reached up to take the mask off, slipping it into a secure pocket. They stood that way a long moment before he sighed.

"At least you're with the reasonable half of His people here, from all the tales I've heard. But I am very curious, and the streets are no place to talk. Given I humiliated the others, I do not want to be far from the wagon. If I come in two weeks, will you be willing to meet with me under truce at the place they call the Dimmed Lantern?"

"I would almost return with you to that stall to talk now, but I too have humiliated the Dragon Hoard recently," Vierna admitted. "Two weeks, my wean-son, my brother… son of our father."

His chest felt tight to hear her admit the truth of their ties, and he inclined his head, stepping aside so she could pass. She paused in his space, hands finding his to squeeze tightly.

"Keep yourself alive, little brother!" she said fiercely.

"It is what I excel in," he promised her, squeezing back, before they parted, so many questions hanging between them that would have to wait for the next time.

Vierna entered the Dimmed Lantern without any guards, her mask put away, even her hood down from her robes. She made eye contact with her little brother by the staircase, having just been standing there, waiting.

At least her informants had been prompt, if he was being that obtrusive still.

She joined him, and in silence, they went up the stairs, both having had too many days and nights to think about what should be shared now that each knew the other was still alive.

In the room, with the door shut and locked, Vierna didn't hesitate to just reach for and pull Drizzt into her arms, despite his initial resistance. He did relax, though, and that settled her nerves further.

"The leader of Bregan D'aerthe said you eluded the Matron's attempt to find you, but I was already gone from the House by then," she said at last, pulling back, holding onto his shoulders to study him. "You look well, and those clothes are surface-made, but well-worn. Is that how you escaped? Going above so young?"

He half-smiled, shaking his head, then drew her with him to the couch.

"I was still in the wilds, when Briza led a party to find me," he said. "They baited me… and I killed her, the cleric with her, some of the soldiers. After that, I had reason to turn to Blingdenstone, and eventually, with their aid, I did go above."

Baited. What kind of baiting would have made Drizzt turn so violent? She knew there was more, but did not press.

"I grew sick of the attrition," Vierna said, lacing her fingers with his, "as the two Houses warred for so long. I had begun to question, that night you left, because it hurt to not have the Weapon Master there, or to know how you fared when I had seen you were injured in that confrontation."

His eyes sparked for the memory, but he stayed silent, letting her continue.

"My questions found answers from Vhaeraun… and I crafted my disappearance not long after, so He could help me reach His people before the illness of that Spider Bitch abandoning me could make it impossible to travel. A small enclave in Mantol-Derith, who passed me along their routes to Rilauven."

"The city under the Neverwinter Wood," Drizzt said. "I know a cleric from there, among Eilistraee's people."

"Not yours?" Vierna questioned, curious, and concerned, because being godless was sometimes a difficult thing.

He shook his head. "I will aid Her people, but I only live among them for necessity, at this point. I prefer the freedom of the surface."

He was still so very strange.

She would chase down 'necessity' in a moment, as he obviously had freedom of movement, so he wasn't enslaved.

"The leader of Bregan D'aerthe found me there," she continued. "He'd suborned Dinin, giving him freedom to live in the mercenaries for one small task." Vierna met Drizzt's eyes then. "He has Father's body. I accepted the posting here to learn faster, become stronger, so that I may perform the resurrection. I am not yet… there. But I will get there."

Drizzt's eyes had blown wide open, then narrowed… and finally accepted this as fact. "If he has the body, is he planning on producing the diamonds needed?"

"I am not leaving it to his vagaries," she told him firmly.

"Then I will bring you what treasure they insist I keep, from my forays into Undermountain and the ruins above that I keep finding when I scout for them."

Unasked. He just… unasked! Offered her a faster way to accrue the material cost!

"You could come here to stay, my word that you would be left alone by the others, and aid me more directly?" Vierna probed, wanting him closer, wanting to forge an actual bond with this man she had cared for and nurtured.

"No." He shook his head, and his free hand came up to her cheek to gentle the refusal. "I cannot leave the ones I aid now, not for some time, not at length."

"Why?" she demanded, her heart pricked with anger and sadness alike at his answer.

He shifted, then let go entirely of her to rise and pace the room a bit.

"The other cleric was the woman from graduation," he said at last, his back to her. "The bait was the son she bore."

Vierna rose, and went to press along his back, as understanding clicked into place. He'd been so badly wounded in his attitude after that night, and she'd never understood why.

"You're certain the boy is yours, I take it?"

"Two handed, questions everything, could hear the call of Eilistraee his whole life, something I'd been blocked from by Her… he is very much my son, and starting to favor our father in his jawline.

"He's only fourteen, maybe fifteen years old now? I don't like to leave him for more than a handful of days at a time, even with the help I have to raise him."

She slipped her arms around him and held him, pleased when he relaxed back into her, his head on her shoulder.

"Then… I will accept what aid you can give, and the visits you manage. In time, I would like to meet him, but he is still young. He should not be risking the passage between there and here, just to meet me."

"His name is Kastan, and I do want you to know him, for him to know we have more family," Drizzt agreed. "When he's older."

Vierna had understood, when Drizzt only stayed the two days. Before he returned, she intended to have sending stones readied, to let one of the temple wizards attune for them. She had even more reason to grow stronger in this place, though, to have her brother, and nephew, so close.

They might well get Zaknafein back before the boy was of an age to travel, but in time, they would be a family of three generations, despite their morality and end goals.

Somehow, she thought this suited her god even more than just her concern for her father had.

halfshellvenus

We got back from San Diego on Tuesday night. It was a great trip overall, and wonderful to spend so much time with our daughter. But it got off to a rocky start.

There's a lesson in here about touching bases with your hotel early, though I don't think it would have helped us. When we got to our hotel at 10:00 on Friday night, the desk clerk informed me that they had cancelled our reservation. This was because they had overbooked by 6 rooms, and the manager told her to cancel anything that wasn't pre-paid. Late at night in a strange city is not the time to find yourself without a hotel! The clerk suggested the next hotel over, which fortunately had a room. But ugh. More than the price of my carefully arranged lodging, and we were hit with the smell of mildew smell as soon as we opened the door to our room. By 11:30pm, I was searching for another place to stay for the remaining 3 nights of our trip.

I found one, which was listed as having breakfast and a fitness room. Yay! But no. When we got there on Saturday, a sign noted that they no longer served breakfast and the desk clerk informed me that the fitness room was being renovated. I could not win for losing. Also? More mildew smell when we entered THAT room.

Friday night was also when I realized that I had somehow forgotten to pack my meds. They were all in the 7-day organizer, ready to go, but it was still sitting on the bathroom shelf at home. /o\ It wasn't worth it to hunt down replacements for just 4 days, so I went without instead, but what a stupid mistake. I was also envisioning being ragingly hungry for the duration, since one of the meds and a supplement both suppress appetite and I am otherwise always hungry, so I was dreading that.

Surprise! That didn't happen. Instead, I spent each day feeling swimmy between the ears (vague-headed and with a sensation almost like having my ears randomly pop) and riding the border between nausea and hunger. My blood pressure was also low for 3-4 hours each morning, and it was like I couldn't fully wake up. I wondered what I was taking that normally addressed that-- thyroid meds? Antidepressants? It wasn't until a couple of days in that it occurred to me that those might be withdrawal symptoms, rather than part of my base unmedicated state. IDK. But the lack of hotel breakfast also meant I had no coffee! I had to make up the difference with caffeinated diet soda, which... Ullllhhhh. On the plus side, we got to try Blackberry Dr. Pepper! On the minus side, I also stopped enjoying it by the second day.

More on the actual trip in a separate post. I've been busy with work and trying to get caught up with my friends-list now that we're back.

jesse_the_k

Short update on our new dog Shadow, who’s getting really really bored. He’s starting to move quickly around corners — there’s an energetic pup in there who has been healing all this time. Hasn’t tried zooming yet, and we’ll be screwed if he takes off inside. I hope that if he has the urge to zoom it’s proof he’s well.

He came with an (ugly) collar, and MyGuy found a very spiffy hot red collar with retroflective threads, a sliding D-ring that can be opposite where the tags depend, and white reflector. But because he’s so wary of things happening on top of him, we’ve needed to making snapping on the leash less traumatic.

Today I’ve gone through this routine four times:

get a handful of treats, shake the container
call his name
treat 1 when I can reach my hand to his mouth
pull back my hand and come! plus kiss-kiss to get him closer, with a treat for each stop along the way.
when I can readily reach the D-ring, I snap on the leash and dispense 2 treats
I rotate the collar around his neck clockwise and counter-clockwise a few times.
another treat
unsnap the lead
2 more treats
speak all done! & ASLsign FINISH

MyGuy’s leash always leads somewhere very high-value: today he's been taken around the block twice and for three backyard excursions.

Eleven days left until FREEDOM where he can run in the back yard.

cosmolinguist

I've found the most me thing ever: Baseball Scores, a website that procedurally generates ambient music during MLB games, based on the game situation - the score, count, runners on base, how many outs there are...

It ends up kinda musique concrète, which I also love.

Last night I was watching my Twinkies with this in one ear, and it was so fun to notice the sound change every time the game state does (and it's still fun during commercial breaks).

The creator of this said "I grew up listening to baseball on the radio, that was the first ambient music I ever heard"...and, I just, yes, I love this so much. I love baseball, I love listening to baseball, and I love ambient music; I never thought about these things as related but of course they are.

musesfool

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Go! by Santigold feat. Karen O

Today's poem:

After After
by Kristi Maxwell

This was after we moved into pencil drawings of tree houses on stilts, but before the cows grazed in the diminishing field of the freckle signifying our face.

This was after a refusal of berries too close to rotting, but before self-consciousness about metaphor.

This was after the butter-soaked collard greens, but before we deflated the ache as if it were something reusable and easily stowed.

This was after the pimple you mistook for jam and, obviously, failed to wipe off, but before the last comma, which we obstinately misplaced.

This was after the bite mark, but before the tongue.

This was after the nosegay protecting the nose from the plague-stench, but before the video of the autopsy of the woman with a bra and panties matching your own.

This was after lushness, but before lushness.

This was after the ghosts caught fire and after their flimsy collage of light, but before the building conceived space and before the hard labor and before the dead men.

This was after the green shoe busted and the wool shoe, but before the description of a bus-struck owl.

This was after we knew, but long before saying.

*

missizzy

When I first prepared to make my second attempt at streaming this afternoon, fate continued to throw things at me. The OBS acted up and the game capture stopped capturing, though thankfully the display capture ultimately showed it would do. And it was a very good thing that the links I posted in a couple of discords did get me a watcher, since otherwise I might never have noticed the microphone had turned itself off! Some other people came in too, though unfortunately they were all trying to scam me or hit on me. (Actually conversed with the first of them, until the one proper viewer told me not to. I suppose I was still naive enough to assume even the not-bot scammers would make themselves more obvious more quickly.) I need to locate the ban hammer at some point. But all in all, I think things went quite well. The sound seemed fine, I think I kept that one good viewer throughout(which was one more than I honestly thought there would be!), and I think I did well enough at talking for my first time.
Now I just have to find a new video editor, one at least good enough to trip the VOD and edit together the highlights from my test recordings to go up on YouTube, since I can no longer find my code for the video editor I had on the old computer, and I can't seem to find where to buy a new version of it. I may or may not end up paying for whatever I use, but I'd have to think it at least as good as that one.

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: busy

Ancient bees found nesting inside fossil bones in rare cave discovery

Ancient bees pulled off a bizarre survival trick—turning fossilized bones in a cave into their own ready-made homes.

Thousands of years ago in a cave on Hispaniola, an unusual chain of events left behind a rare scientific treasure: bees nesting inside fossilized bones. After giant barn owls repeatedly brought prey like hutias into the cave, their remains accumulated in silt-rich chambers—creating a strange underground environment. Later, burrowing bees took advantage of the soft sediment and even reused tiny cavities in fossilized jaws and bones as ready-made nests, coating them with a smooth, waterproof lining.

flemmings

Yesterday achieved the dizzy heights of 22C, which means patio weather in TO, so after voting I went and sat on a patio and watched the great white clouds of summer lumber overhead. Evidently no matter the restaurant, fish and chips in this here burg means a great slab of deepfried something. Maybe I'm just confused by the fish fingers of my childhood because I always expect something more dainty. However Pour Boy's is better than Paupers' and the servings as ever were generous enough that they sufficed for lunch today.

When I went out to the polls I half expected rain shortly, just from the grey-banded clouds and the fretful wind. But those were presumably the last hurrah of the overnight rain that flooded all the street corners. I still ached and was abominably stiff all through yesterday so my 5600+ steps were accomplished in misery and wanhope. Today, with temps back to seasonable cold, I'm much more limber. Still not venturing outside because, sun or not, the weather pages are saying heavy rain. Am indoors with vodka and beanbags, trying not to spend the whole day on tiktok and failing miserably.

l33tminion

Current Mood: busy

Haven't written for a while, so writing about a variety of things this time:

Last weekend, I went back to PAX East for the first time in a long time. I stopped going some years ago when tickets started selling out almost immediately. That seems to no longer be the case, though the event was still pretty busy day-of. It was fun, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some times in the past. I have little tolerance for standing in line for things. At the Magic booth I played an apples-to-apples-style game with packs of Strixhaven, promotion for the upcoming set returning to that setting. I didn't find a lot of indie video games that really jumped to the top of my play-next list. The demo that I found most striking was for Of the Devil a Phoenix Wright type game of high stakes legal defense with a cyberpunk dystopia setting, Persona-esque aesthetics, and heavy leaning on card games and gambling as inspiration for its mechanics and metaphors. I played a demo (and wound up getting a copy) of Duat, which was a beautiful and interesting little board game. It's one of those games that gets surprising complexity from simple rules, it's quick and pretty fun. The openings are quite constrained, so I wonder if it will continue to hold interest as I play it more, but it definitely seems pretty neat. The craziest tech demo was for immersive-scent peripheral OVR. (Credit for trying, and it works well enough. Who knows, maybe in the future this will be an obvious key component of interactive experiences that produce heretofore unseen depths of emotional resonance and immersion.) Erica played a game of Lanternlight, a simplified tabletop roleplaying system designed to be easy for kids to learn and play, designed by game designer Andrew Harris in collaboration with his daughter, Anika.

I had to take Erica to the doctor for a blood draw this week, and boy oh boy was the pre-suffering much worse than the actual getting the thing done. Proud of her for being able to master herself eventually. The ancestral lizard brain has a long history of keeping humans safe, but it has a real lack of chill and a poor understanding of modern medicine.

We went to my Aunt Milly's house for the first Passover Seder this year. Always nice to see my Boston extended family.

We saw the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie this weekend. Most of the criticism of it that's going around is objectively correct, it's not that connected to the Mario Galaxy games specifically, and it's real simple, thrown-together, and shallow. It kind of feels more like a theme-park-ride than a movie, but I found it fun.

Japan trip is rapidly approaching, and the pre-trip logistics are done but my travel stress is high.

A favorite link from this week: My journey to the microwave alternate timeline - An essay centering on the book Microwave Cooking for One, a bit of history-of-technology, history-of-cooking, culinary-alternate-futurism that makes me (a bit) want to get a Corningwear Pyroceram microwave browning dish.

ozma914

Current Mood: amused

The branch of humor called punning has roots planted much further back in history than wood normally be guessed. John Pollack peels back the leaves of history to ...

That's enough. It's a book about puns, okay?

John Pollack has the credentials: He was an actual world pun champion, and also a political speechwriter, so he knows silly when he sees it. I'm talking about the political thing--it turns out puns were sometimes taken much more seriously than we take them these days.

Pollack traces puns back to the very formation of language itself, showing us examples from the earliest writing, and how they were used to assist communication, and later as a way to avoid censorship and undermine the status quo. Along the way, wordplay led to fatal duels, academic arguments, and a whole lot of groans and forehead slapping.

https://www.amazon.com/Pun-Also-Rises-Revolutionized-Language/dp/1592406750

Pollack's writing can sometimes be a bit dense, as he tackles entomology--no, wait, etymology. My aunt used to study entomology. Anyway, he dives into history, politics, language, and all the ways puns have been used and misused throughout history. Despite a heavy dose of--wait for it--puns, it's not always a bedtime read, unless you suffer from insomnia.

Of course, if you don't like puns you might want to stay away.

“That’s what they call a sanity clause.” “You can’t fool me, there ain’t no Sanity Claus.”

But for those of us who have even a passing interest in how language has evolved over the centuries and how it affected everything else, it's a fascinating read. Check it out. I mean, if you're in the library--otherwise, buy it.

Take a look at our books; and if you’re a particular fan of wordplay, try The Notorious Ian Grant or Hoosier Hysterical: How the West Became the Midwest Without Moving at All.

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: To play on words can be painful, especially if you land on an X.

starandrea

Pictures!

♥ Whinnie, Queen
Reported Breed ID: Cairn Terrier
What I told people she was: Cairn Terrier
How I licensed her: Cairn Terrier

( Queen Whinnie )

♥ Mimi, Angel
Reported Breed ID: Cairn Terrier
DNA Breed ID: Chow Chow/Shetland Sheepdog/Shih Tzu
What I told people she was: Cairn/Pomeranian/Chihuahua
How I licensed her: Terrier Mix

( Angel Mimi )

♥ Daphne, Princess
Reported Breed ID: Cairn/Chihuahua
DNA Breed ID: TBD
What I tell people she is: Border Terrier
What other people tell me she is: Brussels Griffon
How I license her: Terrier Mix

( Princess Daphne )

rivkat

Michael Sfard, The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine, and the Legal Battle for Human Rights. ( yikes )

Daniel A. Bell, The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University:( Who goes Party? )

Fashion and Intellectual Property, ed. David Tan, Jeanne C. Fromer, & Dev S. Gangjee: ( around the world )

Rebecca Solnit, The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change: ( hope in the ashes )

Nicholas Buccola, One Man’s Freedom: Goldwater, King, and the Struggle over an American Ideal: ( one of them was right )
Blake Scott Ball, Charlie Brown’s America: ( Peanuts )
John J. Sullivan, Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia’s War Against the West: ( we lost )

Greg Grandin, America, América: A New History of the New World: ( recommended )

Srdja Popovic with Sophia A. McClennen, Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why Dilemma Actions Advance Nonviolent Activism: ( thinking about resistance )

neonvincent

Current Mood: full
Current Location: House in the woods at the edge of town
Current Music: rain

Watch on YouTube

amado1

March 06: There Will Be Blood
March 11: If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?
March 13: Hamilton
March 13: Little Shop of Horrors
March 20: Drop Dead Gorgeous
March 21: See No Evil, Hear No Evil
March 22: Wicked: For Good
March 22: Zootopia 2
March 23: Zootopia 1
March 30: The Talented Mr. Ripley

Thoughts on each movie, in order

There Will Be Blood: Liked it deeply up until the end. Felt like the end kind of warped the obvious anti-capitalist anti-greed message of the movie. Or undermined it. Wish it had focused harder on the destruction of HW's relationship with his father, rather than his father's feud with Eli. At the same time I loved Eli and would have been sad if he never came back.

If Footmen Tire You: Very funny Christian propaganda piece I watched with the boys. Grindhouse schlock.

Hamilton: Don't come for me. I genuinely enjoy Hamilton. I hate Lin-Manuel's voice but I love this musical.

Little Shop of Horrors: Absolute banger, fucking love it. I've had people tell me, "You need to watch this movie, you'll LOVE it" since I was a kid but I never get around to it. Periodically people show me clips (like, after I got my wisdom teeth removed by the military in a torturous no-meds dentist visit, my friend Lopez showed me "I'm a Dentist") and it's gotten to the point where I think I've seen the whole damn movie, just out of order. Watched it with Rich and adored it.

Drop Dead Gorgeous: Madelgard recommended this one. Dark comedy about small-town beauty pageants. Favorite joke was at the very beginning: Home of the World's Oldest Living Lutheran.

See No Evil: Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder buddy comedy that reads as very gay. One of Rich's favorites since he was a kid.

Wicked: For Good - yeah, no, I had fun.

Zootopia 2: I thought this was awful until I rewatched Zootopia 1. Then I realized they're both awful, but Zootopia 2 wins because it actually made me laugh several times.

The Talented Mr. Ripley: Finally succeeded in watching this. I've tried before and was so turned off by Matt Damon's and Jude Law's performances that I couldn't finish it. The performances didn't seem as bad to me this time (but they did seem bad to Rich, who's never tried to watch this before) -- and I was able to watch it the whole way through. Enjoyed it a lot. Very different from the book, but in ways that don't really change the story, and DO help adapt it from book to film. Biggest difference is Ripley's personality/motives. The movie rehabs him a little, makes him less dark ... up until the end, at least.

amado1

Total: 11 books

- The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler;
- This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff;
- The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell;
- In the Garden of the North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff;
- The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes;
- The Trial of Charles I by C.V. Wedgwood;
- Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid;
- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith;
- A Light Amongst Shadows by Kelley York;
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad;
- The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

The worst book was easily "A Light Amongst Shadows," but that feels almost unfair to say. It's a Kindle Unlimited gay romance. It comes very close to being ... like, built for me. Historical gay romance? Love it. Creepy boarding school, incest, CSA -- FUCK yes. Ghost children? Favorite horror trope. Yes please.

But no, it didn't work. Biggest problem was with the character voice. It's told in first-person by an upper-class teen living in 1870-1880, but he speaks like a modern-day teen who happens to be a teaboo and is desperate for his classmates to think he really spent the summer in London. Other big problem was that it didn't really work either as a romance or as a horror. Like, the horror element definitely took the backseat to the romance, but the romance itself was insta-love, so it wasn't interesting enough to justify side-lining the horror so much. (At one point, the main character casually tells us that he's been seeing ghosts every day and just didn't think to mention it).

Tobias Wolff really dominated my month. Really love his books. I downloaded a third book of his, a novel, but got distracted by a sudden strong desire to read about British kings. So James I and his son Charles took over the rest of my month. The thrillers and mystery novels are for my Detective & Mystery Lit class, and I enjoyed most of them, but couldn't really get into Raymond Chandler (I like his writing on a sentence/paragraph level, but I think structurally he struggles).

Annie John was excellent. Definitely the strongest novel I read all month. The Ox-Bow Incident was fun, but dragged BADLY in several spots. It follows a cowboy in 1885 who gets swept up in a lynch mob, and goes along with it despite his conscience screaming not to; much of the book concerns the men who DO speak up, and why they do it, and how they fail. The actual lynching scene is long -- detailed enough to be deeply uncomfortable but not gory. And there's a mean, depressing twist at the end that crushes one of the few good men even further. But it's a twist that feels necessary. Because right away, the characters with consciences start blaming the lynching on a scapegoat, a very easy scapegoat -- a wealthy rancher and ex-Confederate named Tetley. They convince themselves they had no way of stopping the mob because Tetley is just a monster; he loves cruelty and violence; he has no feelings. Then they find out Tetley has killed himself, and their excuses and justifications are swept away.

It feels cruel, like the author's decision to do this feels cruel, because the character most affected by Tetley's death is also the only guy who actively tried to stop the lynch mob. But I do think it's necessary, because that character might have done more than anyone else, but he still allowed it to happen. He admits he thought of ways to stop the mob and refused to take them. And three innocent men died as a result.

Anyway. Very fun book. Haven't seen the movie yet.

starandrea

I was wrong about the Embark Breed & Health DNA test. There is a place on their website that addresses the question, "Why did my sample fail?" which says the two most likely reasons are 1) insufficient DNA on the swab (this might be us, we'll know in a few weeks) and 2) contamination, usually with DNA from another pet via shared food or drink. Embark says if either of these is the case they'll know right away and they can send a free replacement kit by request. So that's nice.

In researching this I learned more about how the test works, and according to reddit (source of all wisdom), Embark acknowledges that breeds are not a science, but rather (like human race or the definition of a continent*) something that a bunch of people agree is true without consistently delineable and replicable evidence. Therefore, Embark asks the people in charge of gatekeeping breeds to provide DNA from animals those people agree are representative, and Embark uses that as their standard.

So now I'm much more interested in what Embark thinks about Daphne's DNA, because apparently it's really based on something. (Does the something matter? Only as much as you want it to. I appreciate it when people trying to convince me of something (in this case by offering their service in exchange for money) acknowledge this and are straightforward about limitations as well as strengths.)

Also, reportedly people with purebred dogs often get a "100%" result on DNA tests, which I was skeptical of prior to my reddit investigation. I don't have a DNA test for Whinnie (supposedly a purebred Cairn despite her size and color), but I have one for Mimi and it looks like this: Chow, Shetland Sheepdog, Shih Tzu, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed. I mean, fair, right? But in her lifetime I met two other dogs who looked very similar like her and heard of a third, unlike Whinnie, who remains entirely unique in my experience. (I get that you can't tell by looking. But I hear phenotype is still a 20-30% indicator, which isn't much but it isn't nothing either.)

...This was going to be like a three-sentence post, so that's typical.

*The continent thing is really funny though; if you're bored you should definitely google "why isn't Greenland a continent?" (Don't ask AI; the synthesized LLM answer is boring. This is a great discussion, though: Why Greenland is an Island and Australia is a Continent, by Emily Upton, which includes a variety of post-scripts with comments including, "The truest part of the article is the implication that the whole concept of continents is borderline incoherent.")

Anyway, as I was about to say, almost half of the winter sowing containers have germinated seeds! Here they are on the porch, getting some air. (Just the containers, the seeds are basically invisible. You might have to take my word that sprouts exist. The lupines are big though, and the gay feathers are red, so it's neat to see some variety even when they're tiny.)

( pictures )

And down the hill by the dogwood garden, we have: dogs! Sometimes you decide to clean out a garden and dogs show up; it's so great. Especially when they entertain your dog and keep her from wandering off.

( pictures )

chez_jae

Current Mood: good
Current Music: "I Love It" ~ Icona Pop

Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries, #7)

Seven Secret Spellcasters by Lynn Cahoon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

In the early morning hours I finished reading Seven Secret Spellcasters by Lynn Cahoon. It’s the seventh book in her “Kitchen Witch” series of cozy paranormal mysteries.

Mia is busy with her job at the Lodge, her own business (Mia’s Morsels), preparing for her witch test, and helping her friends, Christina and Levi, get ready for their wedding. The last thing she needs is for an investigator from the National Office of Magical Creatures to show up, wanting to check into Cerby, the adorable Maltese familiar the Goddess gifted to Mia’s boyfriend, Trent. The problem is two-fold: since Trent abdicated his powers to his brother, he shouldn’t have a familiar, and Cerby is no ordinary familiar. He’s a hellhound. Before the investigation officially begins, the investigator himself is found dead on Trent’s property. Now Mia is invested in clearing Trent’s name. Just another week in the life of a kitchen witch.

These books usually have a lot going on, as did this one. The author manages to keep it all going smoothly, however. Characterizations are good, from familiar figures to new characters. There were a few things that did not sit well with me:
( Spoilers )

Favorite lines:
♦ “Come into my office, and we can plot a mutiny while we’re eating.”
♦ “Humans don’t notice magical creatures.”
♦ “Physical presence tops call returning. It’s a basic rule of customer service.”
♦ “We all need a little magic we keep to ourselves.”
♦ “I don’t do much lately but read, sleep, and work.”

Very good overall, with an exciting, fast-paced plot. Four stars.

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: busy

Today is cloudy, cool, breezy, and wet. It rained again this morning.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I raked a section of the east path, so that I can sow grass seed later.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I started sowing grass and clover seed along the east path.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I finished sowing grass and clover seed along the east path. But the new grass seed is bad, so covered in chemicals that it's blue. >_< Local selection is poor, but we'll have to try to find something different when this runs out.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/4/26 -- I checked the new picnic table garden. Peas, carrots, bok choy, and lettuce are sprouting. I replaced a few peas that didn't show up.

I am done for the night.

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: busy

April 2026 is National Native Plant Month

Please help to spread the word that the month of April is Native Plant Month and plan activities in your community to make a real difference by planting native plants, removing invasive plants, and teaching others about the importance of native plants as a source of food and habitat for wildlife.

( Read more... )

petra

Current Mood: heartachy
Current Music: We live our lives one breath at a time

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0448A8A62BA6FBC34-63233152-nys/196228856#/ -- Via zoom, 4/12, 1pm EDT. Sign up to speak or attend.

hunningham

Last year, my father-in-law's eyesight went phooey and he was no longer an old man living very happily on his own in a house full of books, but an old man who couldn't see anything, couldn't read, couldn't cope. He's going to move into a flat down the road, but this is very much a work-in-progress.

This week he's staying with my in-laws (to give me a break), so we decided that this was a good time to deal with some of the books. Father-in-law was an avid reader, a collector and a lover of 2nd-hand bookshops. There were a lot of books. He's taken a small selection to keep, and asked us to depose of the rest.

An antiquarian bookseller from Chorley has taken a lot of them, and some have been sold to specialist dealers. The rest will go to Oxfam, but Oxfam do not want all the books all at once (limited storage space), so I am to store them in my attic and take a bag a week into the local Oxfam over the next 3 - 4 months.

So I spent Thursday clearing up and organising my attic. And then going to storage unit with brother-in-law, and unpacking crates, and finding boxes of books, and transporting boxes of books, and carrying boxes of books upstairs to the flat. The boxes are too heavy to carry up the ladder into the attic, so I had to unpack, haul books up the ladder in ikea bags, repack into boxes in the attic. (Brother-in-law gone home by this stage). About halfway through, I worked out that once a box was two-thirds empty I could lift it up on top of my head, balance it there with one hand and get it up the ladder that way. That helped.

Oddly satisfying day. Physical work, lifting things and moving things, which I just don't do very much. I ended the day in a very good mood.

(I also found that the attic has an infestation of carpet moths which may require professional aid. I carried a lot of carpet remnants & two chewed-up rugs down the ladder and out to the yard. I need to make a trip to the town dump sometime very soon.)

gwydion

* "General Strike to Take Place Nationwide on April 5: Here’s What Is Impacted:" https://www.newsweek.com/general-strike-nationwide-april-5-affected-11767415

* Once again I'm having to cut it off early because Action Items.

* "Feuding French Socialists leave presidential prospects in disarray:" https://www.politico.eu/article/french-socialists-party-divisions-2027-election/

* "‘Racist ideology lodges itself amid austerity politics’: newly elected French mayor on tackling far right:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/04/bally-bagayoko-austerity-politics-french-mayor-tackling-far-right

* Normally I try to do a big sampling of protests from around the country, but given my situation and just how bad last week was in incredibly time consuming ways, I'm going to have to limit my No Kings Coverage. About 8 million people showed up, and there were huge gains in red parts of the country. Stay strong. Stay noisy!

* "No Kings protests draw large crowds to rally against Donald Trump:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq8wy7g1gd1o

* "‘The more they come down on us, the more we come together’: 14 No Kings protesters on where to go from here:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/mar/30/no-kings-protest-crowds

* "'No Kings' rallies draw crowds across U.S. and Europe as Springsteen headlines Minnesota demonstration:" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/no-kings-rallies-draw-crowds-across-u-s-and-europe-as-springsteen-headlines-minnesota-demonstration

* "‘No Kings’ protests held to rally against Trump administration, in photos:" https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-minnesota-springsteen-immigration-war-b4ce14b0ab16d148f4fdbe642c20fdb2?

* "No Kings: Vast Throngs Say No to Trump:" https://archive.ph/CN0Gh

* "Photos: 'No Kings' protests across the country:" https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2026/03/28/g-s1-115637/photos-no-kings-protests-across-the-country

* "5 Takeaways From the ‘No Kings’ Rallies as the Midterms Heat Up:" https://archive.ph/L2yAK

* Transgender activists rally in D.C. as nationwide protests bring out millions:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/transgender-support-rally-no-kings

* "Trump Stronghold Holds Largest Ever ‘No Kings’ Protest:" https://www.newsweek.com/trump-stronghold-holds-largest-ever-no-kings-protest-11752730

* "Macon No Kings event ends abruptly when sheriff tries to address concerns about cooperation with ICE:" https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/03/28/macon-no-kings-event-ends-abruptly-when-sheriff-tries-to-address-concerns-about-cooperation-with-ice/

* "Seattle police estimate at least 75K 'No Kings' protesters marched through downtown Seattle:" https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/protests/where-no-kings-protests-are-happening-this-weekend-western-washington/281-7c1c6f6a-0367-43b5-8538-abf637568c88

* "Thousands turn out — again — as third ‘No Kings’ rallies take over Maryland streets:" https://marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/thousands-turn-out-again-as-third-no-kings-rallies-take-over-maryland-streets/

* "So you went to a No Kings protest. Now what?:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/mar/29/no-kings-protest-next-steps-activism

* "Nationwide General Strike Planned for May 1: No Kings Organizer:" https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-kings-general-strike

* "Why all campus workers should join the May Day 2026 General Strike:" https://higheredlaborunited.org/2026/03/26/why-all-campus-workers-should-join-the-may-day-2026-general-strike/

* "Trump warns US will hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ over next two to three weeks:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/01/trump-warns-u-s-will-hit-iran-extremely-hard-over-next-two-to-three-weeks-00855071

* "Trump fails to reassure investors on Iran war:" https://www.semafor.com/article/04/02/2026/trump-fails-to-reassure-investors-on-iran-war

* "‘Massive political failure’: Hayes, Wallace react to Trump prime-time address:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/massive-political-failure-hayes-wallace-react-to-trump-prime-time-address-2494802499623

* "Trump Says There’s No Money for Daycare Because We Have to Fight Wars:" https://newrepublic.com/post/208523/trump-no-money-daycare-medicare-fight-wars-military

* "White House denigrates non-cisgender people on Trans Day of Visibility:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/white-house-trans-day-visibility

* "Over her short tenure as Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi terrorized LGBTQ+ Americans:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pam-bondi-lgbtq-attacks-tenure

* "Trump fires staunch defender Pam Bondi:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pam-bondi-fired-attorney-general

* "Once again, a woman takes the fall for an unpopular president:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/pam-bondi-trump-women-trend

* "Thank goodness Pam Bondi’s abhorrent tenure as AG is over:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/pam-bondi-out

* "Top Oversight Democrat says fired AG Pam Bondi ‘must answer’ for Epstein files:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/robert-garcia-pam-bondi-fired

* "Swalwell denies Bondi leaked to him, says Trump is ‘seeing ghosts’:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/trump-seeing-ghosts-swalwell-denies-bondi-was-fired-over-leaks-to-him-2494971971554

* "The Trump Administration Admits to Medically Experimenting on Trans People in Prisons:" https://transitics.substack.com/p/the-trump-administration-admits-to

* CW: Child Abuse. "Kids can be subjected to harmful 'conversion therapy,’ U.S. Supreme Court rules:" https://www.advocate.com/news/scotus-rejects-conversion-therapy-bans

Child Abuse is now legal as the 1st Amendment right for adults to harm children all they want trumps the right to life and to not be abused for children.

* CW: Child Abuse. "The Supreme Court just handed conversion therapy a new license for violence:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/conversion-therapy-scotus-violence

* "Kentucky governor condemns Supreme Court conversion therapy ruling:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/andy-beshear-scotus-conversion-therapy

* "Outrage at Stonewall after Supreme Court voids Colorado's conversion therapy ban:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/stonewall-conversion-therapy-protest

* "Republicans Flirt With Kicking Americans Off Health Care to Fund Iran War:" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/republicans-health-care-cuts-fund-iran-war-1235538768/

* "Congress eyes DHS shutdown endgame:" https://www.semafor.com/article/04/02/2026/congress-eyes-dhs-shutdown-endgame

* "Trump says he’ll sign order to resume pay for Homeland Security. His move bypasses Congress:" https://apnews.com/article/senate-funding-homeland-security-shutdown-4a3e4a3e77bd33213b98888e79a81f51

* "Lindsey Graham seen dining at Disney World, as airport lines grow:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/lindsey-graham-disney-shutdown-photographs

Please call your Senators and encourage them to stay firm.

* "Only some driver’s licenses usable for voter registration under the SAVE America Act:" https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-save-act-identification-register-vote-d11d41b59f943bb72bcdca2d781293b7

I beg you to fight hard against the SAVE America Act because it's likely game over for American Democracy and absolutely deadly for trans people if they win this one.

* The goal of the SAVE Act is to make it illegal on a federal level for married women and trans people and people who can't afford expensive ID to vote.

I am really alarmed I am about to be stripped of my right to vote, that a large portion of Americans are about to be stripped of their right to vote.

Resistance in the Senate is Weakening. Please contact your Senators!

Please contact your US Senators to tell them to vote AGAINST the SAVE ACT

* Here is a model email: https://amaebi.dreamwidth.org/2767709.html

* Our until Midterms is to survive, to build grassroots resistance, to do all in our power to slow the republican Christo-fascist agenda, and to prepare for 2026 in case there is still Democracy.

"Take action with Indivisible:" https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

Trump 2.0 Indivisible Guide. https://indivisible.org/resource/guide

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Snail Mail Campaigns: https://conuly.dreamwidth.org/3622760.html

"Congress. gov:" https://www.congress.gov/

White house (Possibly Dangerous): https://www.whitehouse.gov/

ACLU advice for writing to your Critters: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

This tracks legislation: https://www.govtrack.us/

"The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments):" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/781844516804149248?source=share

"Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

Run for Something: https://runforsomething.net/

"Vote Smart:" https://justfacts.votesmart.org/

Protests: "50501 Events:" https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events

"ICE Raids Toolkit: Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests:" https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

Contains a raid tip hotline amoung other things. "Know Your Rights
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY:" https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/

* We are in primary season now. States vote at different times, so I beg ALL of you to check when your state is voting. If you are in an in-person vote state, research ahead of time so you can vote for the candidate with views closest to your own. If you vote by mail, take the time to look them up when your ballot comes.

THIS is how you move the party further LEFT.

PLAN YOUR VOTE!!!

Primary schedule here:

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

I don't know where you live, so I can't link this for you, but I find the Progressive Voter Guide online very helpful in narrowing down candidates in the often packed primaries where I live.

I also suggest looking at things like volunteer work and endorsements, because it really, really helps with things like sheriff and judicial elections, but can be useful in all sorts of primaries when you have multiple good options.

REMEMBER: Don't just vote for the big things like US Congress. Vote in every State and local race down to the smallest and on all the referendums.

State and local elections have a massive impact on your quality of life.

* Indiana! Ohio! Don't forget to vote in the Primaries May 5!

* "Idaho governor signs law making transgender bathroom use a felony:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/idaho-trans-bathroom-bill-signed

The goal of this is to make it a felony for trans people to exist in public as trans people can't do things like work or go to school as they need to go home every few hours to pee.

* "The Idaho legislature isn’t governing. It’s hunting transgender people:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/idaho-bathoom-hunting-transgender-people

* "The Idaho legislature isn’t governing. It’s hunting transgender people:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/idaho-bathoom-hunting-transgender-people

* "Idaho’s bathroom bill isn’t just about bathrooms. It never was:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/idaho-bathroom-bill-oped

* "Tennessee House passes de facto transgender registry bill:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/tennessee-house-transgender-registry

There is no non-genocide reason to do this.

* "Rabbi banned from state senate gallery after protesting anti-trans bill: “I’m doing what God wants”:" https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/03/rabbi-banned-from-state-gallery-after-protesting-anti-trans-bill-im-doing-what-god-wants/

* "The Real Origins of the Religious Right:" https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133/

* CW: CSA. "The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science:" https://www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-billionaires-eugenics-project-harvard-academia-john-brockman

* "Diversity Is Our Strength:" https://campaign-trails.ghost.io/diversity-is-our-strength/

* "The Incredible Shrinking CPAC:" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/the-incredible-shrinking-cpac/

* "CPAC crowd humiliates Trump with cheers for impeachment:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/cpac-crowd-humiliates-trump-with-cheers-for-impeachment-2494170691504

* "Shots fired at Myrtle Beach gay nightclub, one detained:" https://www.advocate.com/news/shooting-myrtle-beach-gay-club

* "Prosecutor Reacts to Afroman Trial:"

( Embed: )

* "Hundreds of corrections being issued for Texas’ Bible-infused curriculum:" https://apnews.com/article/bible-texas-school-curriculum-97c62dba31ea9c68e496a24085b60759

They should not be doing this at all.

* "‘BLOCKADE’: The Right Is Using AI Content Scanners to Try to Supercharge Book Banning:" https://www.404media.co/blockade-the-right-is-using-ai-content-scanners-to-try-to-supercharge-book-banning/

They should not be doing this at all.

* "Fired for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ books, Tennessee librarian says she’d do it again:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/fired-tn-library-director-speaks

* "I have major ethical concerns about the Adolescent and Young Adult Gender Dysphoria Outcomes Study (AYAGDOS):" https://queersciencelab.beehiiv.com/p/i-have-major-ethical-concerns-about-the-adolescent-and-young-adult-gender-dysphoria-outcomes-study-a

* "Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds:" https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/black-trans-women-modern-lynching

* "As gender-affirming care gets harder to access under Trump, trans people turn to GoFundMe:" https://www.advocate.com/news/people/gofundme-transgender-care-tdov

* "This Trans Day of Visibility, help these 5 trans people afford gender-affirming surgery costs:" https://www.advocate.com/health/transgender-health/transgender-health-gofundme

* Fuck the IOC! "Olympics cave to Trump, banning transgender women from competition:" https://www.advocate.com/news/olympics-ban-transgender-women

They should not be holding games here. It's not safe for the athletes, coaches, and families.

* "The Olympics Has a New Sex Testing Policy. The Evidence Doesn’t Add Up:" https://www.coyotemedia.org/the-olympics-has-a-new-sex-testing-policy-the-evidence-doesnt-add-up/

* "The Ugly History Behind the Olympics’ New Gender Test:" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/olympics-gender-testing-anti-trans-genetic-chromosomes-caster-semenya-nazis/

* "A New, Fungal STI Is Quietly Emerging: Everything You Should Know About TMVII:" https://www.them.us/story/new-fungal-sti-quietly-emerging-what-is-tmvii

* "Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me:" https://www.theverge.com/podcast/898715/superhuman-grammarly-expert-review-shishir-mehrotra-interview-ai-impersonation

* "OpenAI Will Shut Down Sora Video App; Disney Drops Plans for $1 Billion Investment:" https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/openai-shutting-down-sora-video-disney-1236698277/

* CW: Suicide. "Jury finds Meta and Google negligent in social media harms trial:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5746125/meta-youtube-social-media-trial-verdict

* CW: CSA. "Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury rules:" https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/03/24/jury-reaches-verdict-in-meta-child-safety-trial-in-new-mexico.html

* "I Decompiled the White House's New App:" https://blog.thereallo.dev/blog/decompiling-the-white-house-app?ICID=ref_fark

* "Witness Caught Using Smartglasses in Court Blames it all on ChatGPT:" https://www.404media.co/witness-caught-using-smartglasses-in-court-blames-it-all-on-chatgpt/

* "FCC bans import of new consumer routers made overseas, citing security risks:" https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/fcc-bans-import-of-new-consumer-routers-made-overseas-citing-security-risks/

* "NASA launches Artemis II astronauts on mission around the moon:" https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/live-blog/nasa-artemis-ii-launch-time-watch-moon-mission-live-updates-rcna257132

* "See the 'amazing' photos of Earth taken on historic Artemis II moon mission:" https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/photos-artemis-moon-earth-space-rcna266665

* "An Artemis 2 astronaut took a 'bath' on camera on the way to the moon. Mission Control's reaction was priceless (video):" https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/an-artemis-2-astronaut-took-a-bath-on-camera-on-the-way-to-the-moon-mission-controls-reaction-was-priceless-video

* I ended up staying up super late last Saturday to finish fixing things after the catastrophic Firefox link loss. Really I should have put it aside for the next day, but it was really annoying me. I have things rough sorted again, and the work I put into fine sorting for Thursday lost. Sigh. Also lost was most of the Weaponized Judiciary/Push back section, the Trump-Epstein, and I think about half of SCOTUS and some things from categories usually lower on the aggregate page. Sigh.

And we are getting biannually inspected again mid April. At least my part of the Apartment is still mostly clean from one of the annual inspections in March. If it feels like I get inspected a lot, you are correct, as multiple agencies do separate annual inspections, plus the two fire/vent/etc. ones..

I still haven't done the stupid housing bureaucracy. I still need to do that one desk that's been a mess and half in boxes since the Great Contractor Disaster. Once fire inspection is over, I need to migrate the things we tucked in my room for annual inspection back out to the main room. The garden needs a big reorganization before things start growing in earnest. We already have some early lettuce and the neighborhood cherry trees are in bud. The ones out where they get the most sun on the street further towards the main road have started blooming. It's time.

I tried putting the scratchy thing Tavy was using as a chaise lounge on the living room window bench off and on for most of the last year of his life (A gift from Art and Techie Millennials) On my bed in hopes of Livia taking an interest in it. It's not her size. she like scratch boxes best, but it likely still has his scent and I was hoping maybe she'd take an interest in scratchy things again. It just upset her, so I took it away again.

* Monday: I finished the Housing paperwork. I am concerned I did it wrong, but there is nothing to do but turn it in and hope.

In related news, I've four errands to do downtown.

Update: Disabled parking was full again, but at least there was something a block away without a slope and I could sit in a chair to wait my turn, the line being literally one guy. I HAD done the paperwork wrong because the directions weren't clear, and they were just as clearly used to it, as she had one of those cool white out rollers right there. Asked several clarifying questions, whited out the wrong answers and write in correct ones herself. You have to be elderly or disabled to be in this program, so I bet most paperwork needs revision given the wording and complete lack of clarifying directions attached.

Anyway, I had inevitably turned up with Dramatically More Documentation than required. I always bring anything they could possibly want to bureaucracy, because if you turn up without something it's a big delay and maybe you can't get benefits or the like as a result. In this case ambiguous wording ended up with me bringing a thick packet when a couple pieces of paper would have done. Better safe than sorry though. (I vaguely remember this happening each re-up. They needed a lot of paper in the beginning when I first applied, but re-up they really only need the application plus a couple of things).

Anyway, I got rubber stamped and it'll be fine most like. This is one of those things, like federal income taxes where my complete lack of taxable income streamlines the shit out of things. It means no special deductions and the like because I'm already at the lowest possible income level so why bother.

I managed the other items fine. I should be able to pay housing tax end of week if nothing monstrous happens to social security and I've a leg up on document organizing for two exhausting bits of expected April bureaucracy.

I hate this. It is exhausting and stressful and time consuming.

In other news, I found a bunch of bad inter-collations after browser recovery. Sigh.

* I have had so much bureaucracy. Phone mostly after I turned Monday's papers in, and I basically had to give up on physio most nights as there were simply not enough spoons. Probably not enough to complete physio in any case, as just bare minimum is taking everything I've got. So many things to do, not enough time or energy to do them, plus bonus connectivity and website issues. I expect two more big bureaucracy packets to arrive this month. *facepalm*

* "Viktor Orbán: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):"

( Embed: )

* "Denmark Sweats the Vote, Hittler Runs for Mayor & Kim Jong Un Is a Nuclear Girl Dad | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Melania Brings a Robot to the White House & RFK Jr. Did What to a Dead Raccoon? | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Trump Bulls**ts About Iran Negotiations & Throws ICE Into Airport Chaos Mix | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "No Kings Rallies Can’t Stop CPAC's Trump Glazing & Iran War Hits One Month | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Trump Gets Mystery Gift from Iran & Sends ICE Into Airports to Force the SAVE Act | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Trump Claims Iran War Is Won, But Hegseth’s New Recruitment Standards Say Otherwise | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Kristi Noem's Husband Gets Busty & Lindsey Graham Spotted at Disney World | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "PeaceHealth Recruiting:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Qh3FY_7GxG8

* "One Fetish After Another: PTA Exploits Black Women and Averts Revolution:" https://blackgirlwatching.substack.com/p/one-battle-after-another-review

* "Julio Torres - “Color Theories” | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Hozier - The Humours of Whiskey (Traditional, a cappella):"

( Embed: )

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

The help links are at the bottom under the cut.

* "Transcontinental Pipeline:" https://tcpipeline.org/steps/

* "Donate to Kansas ACLU:" https://action.aclu.org/give/support-aclu-kansas

* "Project Salt Box:" https://projectsaltbox.substack.com/

* "When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE :" https://crimethinc.com/2025/12/03/when-the-feds-come-to-your-city-standing-up-to-ice-a-guide-from-chicago-organizers

* "MASTER LIST OF WAYS TO HELP IN MINNEAPOLIS:" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807223113540599808?source=share

* "Here are Minnesota groups that need your help organizing against ICE and DHS operations:" https://www.advocate.com/news/minnesota-mutual-aid-groups-ice

* Links to Help organize in advance of ICE Occupation: https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807226885129060352?source=share

* "Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

* Contains link to trans girl sales pages. "Trans Girl Scouts On Cookie List Sell 71,000 Boxes Of Cookies And Growing:" https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-girl-scouts-on-cookie-list

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

* "The List of Shame: People frequently ask us about whether their specific US state is trying to enact a social media age verification law so they can call their state representatives and yell at them about it!:" https://dw-advocacy.dreamwidth.org/1493.html

* "Keep Android Open:" https://keepandroidopen.org/

* "Taking action against AI harms:" https://www.anildash.com/2026/02/23/taking-action-ai-harms/

* "Resist and Unsubscribe:" https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/

( More )

maju

I've almost finished the second granny square for my first crochet chicken. It was harder than it should have been because it turned out the crochet hook I chose was too small for the suggested yarn size, even though the suggested hook in the pattern was smaller than the one I was using. I ordered some stuffing which was delivered earlier, and to my surprise it was packed completely flat, I mean not much thicker than a piece of thin cardboard. It reminded me of when S and I bought some new rubber pillows several years ago which also arrived flat and had to be left to expand for a few days before they were usable. This stuffing puffed up as soon as I opened the sealed bag it was packed in, but it still doesn't look as puffy as I think it should be. There should be enough for three chickens though, even if it doesn't inflate as much as I hope.

S's son (J) arrived last night after I'd gone to bed (just after 9 pm). His train was due in just after 8 pm but was about 45 minutes late. He has been at the beck and call of the girls all day, which luckily he seems to enjoy.

Our weather seems to be in a pattern now of one or two quite warm days (in the high 60s/around 20C) followed by several days of cooler weather in the 50s or high 40s (single digits to low double digits C) so we we have cooler (and rainy) days coming over the next few days.

After the damp cold yesterday, today it's warm and sunny (and also humid). I went for a run just after 9 for about 50 minutes, and when I got back there were no cars behind mine in the driveway so on the spur of the moment I took my car out for a short drive around the neighbourhood just to make sure I still remember how to drive, since the last time I drove it was probably very early in January. (I have started it up regularly and moved it slightly back and forth in the meantime.) Anyway, I was sweating so much from my run that sweat was running into my eyes while I was driving, and it was stinging so much that I had to pull over and wipe the sweat out of my eyes.

profiterole_reads

The first episode of Akane-banashi was exciting. It's a new rakugo anime.

You can watch it on ADN in France or on YouTube in the US.

giandujakiss

I've been hosting my vids at Sendspace for download for many years. And even though it's been more than 10 years since I last made a vid, I still want them to be available!

Lately, though, I can't log in - and they are not responding to emails or requests for a new login.

I think the download links are still working (for now), though I suspect this is a harbinger of a platform about to die.

So, I guess I have a question for the ether - anyone else having a similar problem? And anyone have recs for a platform, reasonably priced, where I can host downloads that won't infect people with malware or ads?

stonepicnicking_okapi

B-1: Non Fiction: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. This was recommended by Ryder Carroll, the founder of the Bullet Journal method. I listened to the audiobook version (6 hours, read by the author, who is British). Interesting but too long. The gist is to re-think to-do list and expectations around productivity. It could've been a pamphlet. If I find a text version in the library, I will photocopy the actionable items in the appendix and that might've been enough.

I-1: Main Character Over the Age of 30: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. This is the latest installment of the Thursday Murder Club, a group of four residents of a retirement village who solve crimes. I love them. I listened to the audiobook version and loved that too.

N-1: Set in a Country Other Than Your Own: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny. This is the latest in the Inspector Gamache series which is set in Quebec. I listened to the audiobook version. Penny from the previous book (The Grey Wolf) is using a narrator from Quebec and I appreciate the change. This book is a continuation of the previous books, a lot of conspiracy at the highest level of government.

I-4: Female Author: The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) This was for the DW book club.

bookclub_dw A horror story which begins with a woman reeling from a husband's infidelity moves to North Carolina and help her ailing uncle with a small town museum of oddities. There's a hole in the wall which leads to a supernatural world.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE THIS BOOK, SEND ME A MESSAGE. I AM GOING TO GET RID OF IT SOON. IT WAS A FUN EASY READ BUT I DON'T NEED TO KEEP IT.

G-5: YA/Children's: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti. This book came to me by way of Minisculus. He won a contest at school and the prize was getting to take this book home. He was nonplussed so he passed it to me. It is a Black-Eyed Susan award winner (which is a prize the State of Maryland gives to children's books) and this copy was signed by the author. A bunch of kids and a grandfather investigate a crime in Miami.

sabotabby

Listen it's a long weekend, what even is time? I was around, I just fully forgot. As a mea culpa here are two wildly different podcasts I listened to this week.

No Gods No Mayors' "Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov" is about a gay Romanov failson who sucked and eventually got blown up (spoilers), and it's very funny for everyone except maybe the thousands of peasants who got trampled to death at Tsar Nicholas II's coronation. It's worth listening in particular for the intro, which talks about mayoral candidate Shayne McKinney, who is running in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is also a vampire. And a landlord. And look, he is not a good guy but a great deal of fun can be had.

On a lighter note, a new-to-me podcast is Bill & Frank's Guilt-Free Pleasures, which is a music podcast that takes deep dives into earwormy songs that are actually great and you don't need to feel bad if you like them. Because of the ages of the hosts, their musical touchstones are more or less the same as mine, and they're also Canadian, so their radio and MuchMusic experience is roughly similar to what I listened to at the same age. I listened to a few of their episodes recently, starting with the one about "Fairy Tale of New York" to just make sure they had good opinions, but the one I just finished was "Crowded House: "Don't Dream It's Over" (with Dave Kitchen)" It's one of those songs that I don't often think about and yet the second I hear the opening notes, I'm like, oh, this is a banger. I really love the analysis of the little details of the music, which is not something that I really pick out on my own but the second they explain it, I realize why it works as well as it does. They have a bunch of episodes with overly emotional power ballads, which I am a sucker for, so I'm excited about working through the backlist.

lightreads

Testimony of Mute Things

3/5. I picked this up because A meal of Thorns had a great episode on Paladin of Souls, and I was like ‘oh yeah, damn, that book did slap.’ And then like a fool I picked up this recent novella instead of rereading PoS.

This is fine. It’s a capsule story set much earlier in the timeline, which means a much younger and less seasoned Pen is solving a murder. A perfectly serviceable hour of entertainment, well-observed and characterized, but not much more than that. Kind of made me sad, actually. You could get an interesting podcast episode out of the Penric stories as a whole. There is some theology stuff to chew on there, and some gender stuff and some parenting stuff. But most of the entries on their own? No.

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: busy

"Why people think I'm weird!"

Hey remember this? "Don't forget to like and subscribe and follow"

I wanted to share some thoughts on the current state of
social media and human connection.

People think I'm weird because I am weird -- that is, I differ in many ways from conventional people, and much of that is obvious very quickly. I was the kid who could read before kindergarten, learned anatomy by dissecting roadkill, talked about violent historical mayhem over the dinner table and didn't care about fashion, famous people, or other mundane trivia. Many of the things I like are rare interests; most common interests bore me. However, I learned to say "If you're normal, I'm glad I'm not" very young and this has remained true. It's the normies who are wrecking the world, not the weirdos.

( Read more... )

selenak

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Bamberg

Mind you, the non-fannish world feels like one long Good Friday for humanity these days, but still: time to share the annual joy of our Franconian Easter Wells. (And bridges.)

( Lots more eggs and wells beneath the cut )

oursin

It's like the fact that anyone has studied it just gets erased from the record?

24 scientists contribute a preprint on Neuroanatomy of the clitoris:

The clitoris is one of the least studied organs of the human body. The detailed anatomy of the clitoris is challenging to address through a gross dissection, as most of its parts are embedded internally, surrounded by pubic bone and several pelvic organs.

Helen O'Connell and colleagues, 2005, Anatomy of the Clitoris?

O'Connell does feature in the citations, I see. Along with various other scientists who boldly went where no man....

Because one does rather want to enquire 'Least studied BY WHOM???'

Take it away, Lil Johnson:

Watch on YouTube

I feel that this is sort-of related: Founder of ‘orgasmic meditation’ company gets nine years in prison in forced labor conspiracy" - a bit more on What the Hell is Orgasmic Meditation: What to know about the controversial practice of ‘orgasmic meditation’:

“One rule of thumb when exploring sex-positive spaces might be to ask: ‘Is someone getting rich from this?’” says Dr Anouchka Grose, a writer and psychoanalyst in London. “If the answer is yes, there’s a distinct possibility that money is more important to the organizer than your wellbeing.”

Or any spaces, really.

rachelmanija

Click on my Ruth Chew tag to see what sort of books she's known for: small-scale children's fantasies focusing on magic-infused everyday objects and creatures in Brooklyn. This is her hard-to-find first book, which is not a fantasy.

The main characters are a brother and sister who were left, along with their never-seen younger brother and sister, in the care of their grandmother who feeds them canned tomatoes - yuck! They leave a note saying they're doing a long sleepover at a friend's house, then run away to the site where they often went camping, buy a cheap boat, and live on an island.

This is entertaining enough on its own, but mostly of interest because it shows how she course-corrected in her fantasy books: the flaws in this book are corrected, and she melds its strengths (likable kid characters, a focus on the practicalities and small details of both the human and natural worlds, a friendly old woman) with excellent small-scale magic. In all the rest of her books, there are just two kids - no unnecessary and off-page younger siblings. There are no mean kids or bullying (this book has two mean bullies who just drop out of the story). The parents are around but the kids' adventures take place out of sight, so there's no implausible runaway plots. And the old ladies are witches, which makes them even better!

runpunkrun

Two gold rings photographed on top of a dictionary opened to the definition of marriage. Text: Arranged Marriage, at Fancake.

Can I just tell you how many times I looked at the word "marriage" while making this banner and posting theme announcements and just being deeply unsure that's really how it's spelled? Like I'm still not sure. What is that "i" even doing there? What are we doing here?

Anyway,

fancake's theme for April is arranged marriage, spelled some kind of way, and since this is a Flashback Round where we revisit a classic theme from the early years of the comm we've already got 41 recs in the archives in 31 fandoms if you want to browse through the tag.

If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!

zavodilaterrarium

Current Mood: /frown
Current Music: Kiss or Kill — Stela Cole

The video in question is My Doctor Had to Tell Me I Was in Love, which is essentially an audio version of a Substack post by

spencer690184. I may or may not have shed tears or stood up in disbelief at multiple points. Mild warning for the video/post if you're very much not looking forward to brief mentions of sexual attraction and acts. I will not be addressing those here because they're not relevant.

( Mental health and romance talk under cut )

Wow, I hope I never talk about this again, but I just feel utterly compelled to yap about it. Never thought my journal would be like this... I kind of want people to respond to this, yet I have no idea what I want to hear. Something bluntly disapproving? A gentle comfort? "Confess already, you coward"?? "That's rough, buddy"???!!!

Well, it's not like I'm really that unaware of whose response I want. The catharsis of others isn't enough in the end, is it?

nanila

Do you like the look of your country's currency (bills and coins)?

Yes, I do. I still don't live the plasticky feel of the new bills - they don't fold very well - but grudgingly concede that they are far more durable.
Regardless of their actual value, do you like bills or coins better?

I like the UK's coins. Especially the £2 coin, it's very pretty and has a pleasing weight in the hand. A shiny new coppery 2p piece is also quite attractive.
What is your favorite foreign currency? And why?

Euros. You can use them in so many countries. And they're also very pretty.
Do you collect coins or bills? Elaborate.

Not formally, I haven't got an organised folder or anything. But I do try to save a few coins/bills from trips to other countries as souvenirs.
Do you think human society could make do completely without money? Explain.

No. I think the sheer number of us and the vast variety of goods and services we use as individuals would make a bartering system very cumbersome. And it is still useful sometimes to conduct transactions in cash rather than card.

purplecat

Styalised image of the Second Doctor's costume top half. Black and white. Black jacket. Black bow tie with white spots. White shirt with faint grey stripes. Black and grey check trouser top.

From a postcard set I got at some point.

lydamorehouse

It's about a quarter to ten in the morning on Saturday as I start this. I am planning on heading over the convention in a little while, but, once again, I thought I'd try to do an old-timey con report (even though the last time I did this for Capclave, I was well and truly burned by the experience.) Well, you know what they say! Never let the bastards get you down!

As you know, gentle reader, I had a conflict with my two evening panels. For those of you just now tuning in, the conflict was my wife's birthday (observed.) Her actual birthday is (and it is no joke) April 1. We did a bunch of things for her birthday (actual) because, no matter how old she is, she always takes the day off.

Here's a lovely picture of the charcuterie we had for a "light lunch."

charuterie

Image: a table set with fancy cheeses, fancy crackers, and fancy salami

But, you may be saying, that was Wednesday! What happened yesterday at con!?

I did end up missing all of my evening panels, but I went over to the convention around noonish yesterday in order to register/pick-up my badge and to make sure to drop off the reading materials for my body double.

Again, for those of you just tuning in, knowing that I'd be missing a my own reading, I put out a call yesterday on Facebook for folks going to Minicon who might be willing to read my work for any folks who might not get the word that I was unable to attend. I got a DM almost right away from Anna Waltz. She reported to me last night that the reading seemed to go well. Likewise, I got my answers to the moderator's questions for the cyberpunk panel that I also thought I'd be missing. The moderator of that reported this morning that the audience appreicated my additional thoughts, even though I couldn't be there in person. ADULTING for the win! Look at me, being all responsible and everything.

So, as I said I went over to the hotel, got my badge, and then hung around long enough to see if I could run into Anna or

naomikritzer , who I had designated as my contact person for Anna. I ran into Anton P. who spent a lot of time reminding me that I need to let people know that I am going to be one of the guests of honor for his convention in May 15-17, Quantum Con. https://quantum-con.org/ Consider yourselves reminded!

Technically, Tate Hallaway will be the guest as Quantum Con is a paranormal/fantasy con, but, as it happens, Lyda Morehouse will also be there, since we come as a set. I think Anton has a fantasy that I will appear as Tate, in full drag, but that is NOT happening. I gave up on dresses some time ago and, at this point in my life, have none in the house that would fit me, even if I wanted to cosplay my pen name.

I also felt a little bit... I guess hungover? I was at a seder the night before and, because I actually like Mogen David, I was offered not only my cup, but Elijah's too. I did NOT actually drink that much, because I would not have made it home, if I had. (Reader, I am the lightest of the light weights when it comes to alcohol.) But, I do think I ended up drinking a little too much for me? Because I felt cloudy, distracted, and grumpy kind of all morning. Anton took me to the Green Room and filled me up on strong coffee and that seemed to do the trick at least.

After coffee, I ran into Eric H. and Polly, which... is always a little hard, since part of my mind always remembers Eric from before he got sick. Still we had some good back and forth, almost like the old days. Eventually I ran into Naomi and the two of us wandered around trying to find something for her to have that would pass as a late lunch. I suggested we brave the out of doors for the taco place that's just up the street, but unbenownst to me, it had started raining. She ended up having con suite food, which is always fine.

I hung out talking to Greg J., who is somoene I only ever run into at cons, about his early days as a music geek and his recent experience at the Bruce Springstein concert. (This reminds me that I failed to post about No Kings? I will end this post with a picture of me there. I went with Naomi as a rally buddy and we had a lovely time.) But, I really only had a little while before I had to jump back in the car and head back to pick up Shawn.

The thing I was most disappointed to have missed was Terry Garey's memorial. It started exactly when I needed to leave, but Naomi informed me this morning that she picked up the sampler someone had made of Terry's writing. At least I'll have that.

Not much convention news in my con report yet, but I should have much more about the panels and whatnot in tomorrow's round-up.

Me, No Kings, 2026 (Saint Paul)

Me looking dorky at No Kings in Saint Paul, MN. I'm holding my We Keep Us Safe poster with the loon with a baby on its back. I am also holding some signs that a stranger handed to us that is the Minnesota flag (upside down) with H-OPE written on it.

rolanni

Important Stuff First: I saw Firefly's tail at Full Upward Extension last night. This morning, she's preferring half-mast, which may mean it's hurting her still. I can give her the pain meds at noon, and will be doing so. She did come to snuggle with me when I thought I was going to get up this morning, so we stayed in bed a little longer, talking about how scary That Whole Thing was and how was she feeling now, and articles I'd read about dogs who'd broken their tails and had to get them amputated before there was Serious Damage gone to their spines, and how I'd been really, really scared that she'd gotten cancer wrapped around her spine like her Aunt Sprite, and -- well. We promised each other not to do this again.

A little later, she joined me for our sitting-in-the-sunlight session.

Yesterday afternoon, I made an appointment to walk an alpaca at Northern Solstice Farm in a couple weeks. There will be a meet 'n greet with the alpaca who agreed to walk with me that day, who will already have donned halter and lead, then an approximately 30 minute stroll either around the farm, or, if conditions aren't too squishy, on a trail through the woods. Now I remember why I have hiking boots. I'm really looking forward to this, and glad I didn't let myself talk myself out of it.

Other than that, and actually related to the alpaca walk, I'm trying to unfold myself -- which is to say, to find the way back out of my head after the Intense Concentration required to finish Kin Right on time and correctly. Steve would have had us out and about, walking up and down the world, breathing the air, taking photographs, eating out, and striking up conversations with strangers chance-met on beaches, in train stations, or in stores.

I . . . am not that ambitious, left to myself, and the timing's a little unfortunate, as I find it's Easter weekend (how did that happen?). So, unfolding will take the shape of puttering around, straightening up, making hummus, blowing the dust off of my poor, abandoned glass project, maybe finding another movie/tv show to lightly binge, and planning a ride for next Wednesday or Thursday, when the weather is expected to be warmer and sunny.

The secret of writing is that you can't write all the time. So -- aside an infodump, and blog posts, no Writing here at the Confusion Factory for the next bit.

Reading, though . . . I've finished reading Balance of Trade, and also Theo of Golden. I'm about half-way through Seeking Persephone, and after that? Crystal Soldier. Speaking of literary whiplash.

And I think that catches us up.

Here's a picture of Firefly, from this morning's sunshine session:

Today's blog post title brought to you by Dire Straits, "Skateaway"

mtbc

I have always been interested in the paranormal. There have been stories among family that touch on ghosts, telepathy, etc. that are difficult to explain, e.g., seeming rather more than just a person hallucinating a thing. Also, there are historic UFO sightings that include independent witnesses and various kinds of corroboration that are difficult to explain in terms of publicity-seeking liars.

I wouldn't say that I believe in anything concrete in that sphere, goodness knows there's enough of an assorted bag of inconsistency there. Even when there is consistency, one wonders how often it's because of the spread of memes, like when we all saw the striking grey alien staring at us from the cover of Communion in every bookstore. Still, some of it seems trickier to dismiss so it seems to warrant further attention.

For the older incidents, like around Ellsworth AFB, it's difficult to see what more we can discover now. For the newer, it may be rather easier to forge convincing evidence. Still, it would be interesting to collate and look closely at some of the best-evidenced most-inexplicable examples.

Unfortunately, popular treatments of such will tend to be less critical than they should be so as to sell more copies; perhaps Richard Hall's work is an exception. Wikipedia used to detail some interesting incidents but they were one of many regrettable casualties of deleting content on the basis of insignificance. If you want to know what Makka Pakka calls his trumpet, these days you will have to look elsewhere.

hudebnik

Good discussion by three Times writers makes the point that most of the Trump administration has no strategic goals, whether in the Iran war or in domestic policy. They don't think about what they want to achieve in the long run, but instead concentrate on the tactical question of how they can act right now. Trump's entire career has been based on creating an image of success, strength, and winning, and that's all he can think about, not what he wants to win.

Trump and Hegseth haven't made clear why they're at war in Iran (or anywhere else), much less how to do it. For both of them, killing people and blowing things up in war aren't means to an end, but the end itself; that's how you demonstrate how strong you are.

In immigration policy, they haven't made clear why they need to get rid of millions of immigrants, only that using more force is always better.

"It is core to the ethos and world view of MAGA that, on problem after problem after problem, the underlying mistake of previous administrations is that we were never tough enough.... We haven't been punitive enough, we haven't tried to bully people enough.... We have to pummel people harder. That works with Republican members of Congress, but it doesn't work with other sovereign nations, because they don't like to be pummeled, and they will find a way to stop the pummeling, and it's not always the way you want.... It's not as if nobody thought of 'Well, why don't we use force?' before."

Related, Jamelle Bouie points out that since Trump doesn't entirely believe that other people exist or have their own interests and volition, he's completely taken off-guard whenever one of his opponents fails to follow his script. Who could have predicted that Iran, under attack by the US and Israel, would start attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz? Who could have predicted that criminal charges against everybody who's ever investigated or disobeyed Donald Trump would be fought, and would fail, in court? Who could have predicted that killing one Supreme Leader would lead to another one, younger, healthier, and more-extreme, taking his place? Who could have predicted that the Democrats in the Senate would make funding for DHS conditional on ICE and CBP acting like professional law-enforcement agencies? Answer: anyone who tries to put himself in his opponent's shoes could have predicted these things.

Every real military leader has heard the lesson "The enemy always gets a vote". It may work for a real estate promoter to paint a glowing picture of how wonderful things are going to be, get the check signed, and hope that people never notice that the glowing picture didn't happen, or that they dismiss it as "well of course the promoter made things sound wonderful; that's what they do." But when you tell people in March that the pandemic will be over by Easter, and it kills a million Americans in the next year, that's harder to hide. And when you're facing an actual sentient opponent who has a strong vested interest in not following your script, it becomes even harder to hide.

rolanni

13 Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12 *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11 *Scout's Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10 *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9 *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8 Cuckoo's Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7 *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6 Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5 *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4 *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
3 *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
2 A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace Burrowes (e)
1 Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

________
*I'm doing a straight-through series read in publication order

**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order. I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.

moon_custafer

In which Hanna calls in a favour, and plays lawyer.

selenak

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Bamberg

In which Boyd becomes even more my favourite among the new characters, Kelly gets herself a mission, and Ed.... but that would be telling.

( Spoilers are on the case )

james_davis_nicoll

Seven books new to me. Five fantasy, two science fiction, of which at least three are series.

Books Received, March 28 — April 3

Poll #34443 Books Received, March 28 — April 3

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen (April 2026)
6 (33.3%)

Nobody’s Quest by Alyssa Day (June 2026)
4 (22.2%)

This Wild Wanting by Sophie Gonzales (November 2026)
3 (16.7%)

The Killing of a Chestnut Tree by Oliver K. Langmead (November 2026)
6 (33.3%)

Mark of the Warrior by Fonda Lee & Shannon Lee (October 2026)
6 (33.3%)

The Frozen King by Pari Thomson (Ocober 2026)
1 (5.6%)

Wolfpack by Rem Wigmore (April 2026)
6 (33.3%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
14 (77.8%)

settiai

Current Mood: surprised

Ooh, it looks like there's an Animorphs TV show in development over at Disney+.

I'm a little worried that Disney might make them sugarcoat some things, since at its heart the whole point of Animorphs is basically "war is bad and destroys lives," and it doesn't exactly pull punches on that front. But, you know, I'm willing to be cautiously curious at this point.

On a related note, I still have all of my books from the series. They were one of the things that I pulled out of storage when I moved recently. Maybe I should do a re-read...

stonepicnicking_okapi

I didn't get any creativity in yesterday. I was cleaning and decluttering my closet and bedroom so I did a small collage this morning. I am using some rather nice (but tiny!) stickers which came with the PAAS egg dying kit. I am going to do a proper Easter collage with some more. This is done in my smaller 'art' notebook which I haven't used for a long time. Sticking with my rule that five textures make a frame.

And Poetry Foundation tells me today is the birthday of Maya Angelou. Here's their poem of the day.

Awaking in New York by Maya Angelou

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.

marcicat

Heck yeah, it's grocery day! LET'S GOOOOOOOO!

Okay, maybe groceries aren't quite that exciting. But it's definitely a little exciting. Grocery day is great because every time I take myself to the grocery store, I can get myself a little treat. What will it be this week??? Who knows! (Probably scones. I do love a good scone.)

beanside

It's Saturday! Boodle let me sleep til almost 6 am! Since I bumped my wakeup time back to 4 in preparation for school, I it feels a little bit decadent to sleep til six. And now I'm up and I'll be the only one for a while, so it is definitely time to work on some games when I'm done here.

I'm still waffling about college. If I deferred my entrance til July, it would only push me one semester out. But on the other hand, that's still going to be a pain. I don't know, I'll think about it some more. I don't have to pay til the final exam, so if I drop early, I can retake with no problem. I would drop one class, but I'm not sure which one I'd drop. Probably the health sciences intro. I don't think it would let me cancel the introduction to online learning. I dunno. I'll give it a couple of weeks and see where I am.

Plus, I'll have a 5+ hour flight to do some schoolwork during the trip. In both directions. We'll see how it goes. Dropping a class is permissible up til 5/6. I think I'll rely on that.

Yesterday was very phone call light, but still pretty busy. I got at least six patients in, held a couple of more slots and shifted people into other slots to come in a bit sooner. I love when slots open that I can get breast MRIs in. A lot of the ones on the stat list are newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, and I feel for them. They need these for surgical planning, so I keep a close eye out fo openings. That and our Liver and kidney donors. I try to get them in super fast. I got no less than three new cancer patients in yesterday, so I feel pretty good about myself. The sad thing is that there's probably going to be another two or three by the time I get in on Monday. Still the ones I can help make me happy.

Today, we have a fairly busy day. The current plan is for me to run over Chase bank and deposit the last check from Dad's retirement account. They only have a %5000 mobie deposit, so I need to hit the bank. It's honestly right down the street, so it's not a huge deal. I had my sister write four checks for me. Two are for $10,000, one is for $5000 and one is for $1600, and they will be split between my three accounts (the $last two were broken up because Cap one also has a $5000 mobile limit, and I really don't want to drive to either of their locations as they are in less than awesome areas of town. That will be my Alaska money. I won't use all of it, but there's a few things that still aren't paid. One is the ride back from Vancouver to Seattle, the others are the two hotel stays. Everything else is paid in full. I need to start withdrawing money for tips soon. I need at least $3000 in various bills for tips. Also maybe to play a quick game in the casino. I've always wanted to play blackjack once and the tables are ony $15 for a buy in, so that could be fun.

I called the kennel, and they agreed to give Yoda a tryout nest Saturday. He'll be there from 8am-5:30PM, and we'll see how it goes. If not, there are still two other options. He won't be happy about either, but he'll deal. If all goes well, he'll spend the two weekends after being boarded for 3 and 5 days respectively. Then, it'll be time for the big stay while we're in Alaska. I need to find out who we're putting down as the emergency contact for the trip.

Then, last night, we played Vecna: Eve of Ruin. IT was mostly a combat night, as the party fought multiple creatures that hit hard. But no one died! Not even a little bit. So that was good. I had a lot of fun, and discovered that I had forgotten to give a vital bit of knowlegde to the players about a game mechanic. So I corrected that, and we had a good game.

Today, we'll see what we want to do. Do we go to the Asian in a Bite festival and deal with parking, or do I satisfy my dumpling craving another way. I'm planning on getting snacks, which will probably include dumplings from Lao Sze Chuang or <href="https://www.nihaobaltimore.com/menu/">NiHao, so it might be a bit of overkill if we also do the food festival. Then again, can you ever really have too many dumplings?

At some point in there, I also need to get my pills. Then, it's time for Yoda's grooming. Once we get back, I shall make some chicken for his food. He won't like it as much as the lamb, but that's okay. He needs a variety of foods to be healthy. The lamb shank with butternut squash and rice has been a big hit. Definitely one of his favorites. I do still want to get some calcium powder to add still. I should add that to the Amazon cart now if they have it...which they do. Between that and the salmon oil for his omega3's, he should be well supported.

He's been a bit perkier in addition to his digestive tract being a bit more regular, so that's nice to see. And I think he's lost a pound or so. the reality is that while we haven't tested, he probably has Cushing's Disease. He just has too many symptoms of it, plus the out of whack labs. That means we probably have another 2-3 years with him. I can cook for him for that long. I wish I had a kitchen that meant I could cook more than 3-5 days of food at a time, but we'll get there.

I may ask the person who's coming to check on Boodle if for an extra fee, she would take more food up to the kennels, as I don't know, even with the vacuum sealer if they'll be able to store 10 days worth of food. I'll ask when we take him next week. If not, I'm sure someone else will.

Tonight is Monster of the Week, which will definitely call for something special both food and drink wise, as it's the end of an era. Unless the mystery runs 2 sessions. That is possible. Maybe while we're out, I'll pick up a bottle of Asti and put it in the fridge til gametime. I was going to try to also run up the local shelter and pick up the stuff I won, but I don't know if we'll have time with everything else packed in there. Depends on how long energy holds out. It's possible we could go to the Tapas place in that area instead of the dumpling festival. That runs every month this summer, so we could still get down there for it in June if we don't do it today.

I also meed to make dinner, as the dumplings will be strictly snackies. I've got some lovely t-bone steaks and waffle fries to make. I'm definitely using the Hawaiian smoked salt for those. It just has the best flavor.

Tomorrow, my sister is going to the BIL's family's easter party so we'll be home with the doggo all day. Then next Sunday is Greek Easter, so she'll be coming back from that with some treats, I hope.

We added another potential outing to our list. Jess has gotten into a new show, the Amazing Digital Circus, and there's a possibility that they're going to play the last two episodes in the theater sometime in early June in limited theaters. If that is the case, we'll be going to that. If we need to go to DC or Philly for that, we shall. Chances are, if it's DC, it'll be at some of the surrounding areas like Silver Spring or Bethesda, and we can definitely do that.

We're down to thirty three days til we leave. It's utterly bonkers. I want to run around in cirlces and start packing now. And once Yoda has a successful stay, I may well do that. I just want to progress to the vacation. The last 15 days are going to be difficult to sit quietly through. And I figure that last few days of work are going to be interminable. Especially the Wednesday before we leave. I'm going to be useless that day. We're going to go to bed around 6pm to get absolutely any sleep before the 3am pickup time. It was going to be 4:30, but then all the airport shenanigans started, and I got nervous. I bought tickets to the BWI lounge, so that'll give us somewhere to relax while we wait the 3.5 hours til our flight. Then, it's off to Seattle. I'm going to buy tickets to the Space Needle, since I figure we'll do that first. Then Pike's Place Market for lunch, then out of the city and to Vancouver in time for our reservation at Hy's Steakhouse.

I'm really excited about seeing the Pacific NW and Vancouver. First up, Rocky Mountains! I'm looking forward to flying over them. Then the Pacific Ocean!

I ordered another headset for work. Since we're playing a game on the ship, I'll need a headset, but I don't want to risk not having one when I come home, so I'm getting a backup.

I have downloaded a bunch of books onto my kindle, which I need to remember to take. I may just charge it up and then pack it now, since the battery holds a charge forever. I may also be able to pack Jess' Switch, so they have something to play if they so desire. I think I can consolidate some more cords into the tech bag, so that'll free up more space in my already not full carryon. My sister's bag is shipping as I type, so she can also enjoy the joy of organization. This bag is an ADHD person's dream, I swear. Everything has a place, and it's awesome. My hard shell case for my Mounjaro fits right in one of the pockets for Liquids or tech. Tech may be relegated to the inside of the suitcase, which would be fine. I don't expect to have many liquids. I'm just going to take up my CC cream and concealer. I'll probably add eyeliner and maybe eyeshadow and lipgloss to it, but those won't go in the liquid bag. Maybe some combination blush/lip cream. I don't put on makeup often, but for the vow renewal, I'd like to look presentable. I need to also redye my hair. I'm kind of digging the grey on the sides, and purple on top look, so I may stick with that. I will need to make an appt to get things trimmed up between now and then, just to get the undercut freshened up. I also eed to make an appt for Jess. I did not do a great job with their last cut, plus it's already getting longer again. I'd like to have a professional tidy it up so that I can maintain it easier.

Okay, time for me to go forth and maybe take a shower, so I don't stink the people at Chase out. Everyone have a lovely Saturday!

moonhare

Current Mood: thankful
Current Music: 1902, Dominic Lewis

Wednesday I decided to take the ballast out of the truck bed. It had rained off and on all day, but it seemed high time to do this. It took maybe a half hour.

Serendipity. Had I put this off due to the weather I would not have discovered that my hot water heater was leaking. I change into my working kit near the furnace, and upon returning from outside I saw a puddle on top of the tank and water below it :o(

Water seeped out below the fitting, pooled under the flange, and ran off onto the floor. The top of this tank had a fiberglass insulated cover, removed now, that hid the fact that it had gotten wet over time from a leaking Hy-Vent, retained moisture, and corroded the flange and compromised the seal. I’ve been watching this area for a couple of years, but now, 13 years on... The pic was taken after I shut off valves and cleaned things up.

I had a tech assess the situation even though I saw no solution beyond replacing the heater. I spoke with my oil company Thursday, and Friday they installed a new unit.

Woohoo! Fast, professional service, and pricey, but necessary.

My only concern was the water temperature; I measured this at the tap using a meat thermometer and got 150°F. Although I had an idea how to change this, I asked the installer to show me how. Unfortunately he set it a bit higher while explaining: he turned the wheel the wrong way. After hearing the furnace run longer than expected last night I checked the temp again and got 152°F+. Yeeek! Long story short, I went online, felt I got the wrong results from the Duck’s assist, and then found a clear YouTube video that clarified things.

150°+- The Duck said turn the notched wheel counterclockwise to lower the temp. The video agreed with my feeling that it was clockwise. The reason I was having trouble with this was that the control is in a tight spot and it is difficult to read the stamped temperatures on the shiny, notched wheel straight on.