Entry tags:
hannah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hannah) wrote2026-02-05 10:10 pm
hannah) wrote2026-02-05 10:10 pm
Space consciousness.
In trying to get rid of objects in my apartment, some are easy, like lighting candles. Some, like hard plastic water carafes, present more of an issue and require outside help. As such, I'm looking for help right now.
I have three plastic tumblers from past ConFabCons, including one from when it was Wincon. They're all in decent condition, and while the straw to one broke, it's easily replaced. I don't use them and I'd want them to go to a good home if they could. If anyone in the greater NYC metro area wants them, they're yours. If anyone in the greater NYC metro area knows someone who wants them, please put me in touch.
I have three plastic tumblers from past ConFabCons, including one from when it was Wincon. They're all in decent condition, and while the straw to one broke, it's easily replaced. I don't use them and I'd want them to go to a good home if they could. If anyone in the greater NYC metro area wants them, they're yours. If anyone in the greater NYC metro area knows someone who wants them, please put me in touch.
Keeper of the Cocks (torino10154) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
neville1002026-02-05 10:03 pm
torino10154) wrote in neville1002026-02-05 10:03 pmEntry tags:
Prompt 583: Azkaban
Happy Neville Thursday!!
For our last round:
digthewriter wrote Muggle Technology FTW Neville/Charlie
The new challenge is:
Prompt 583: Azkaban
This prompt will run until February 19.
As always, we encourage responses to any prompt at any time, so if an older challenge inspires you, please feel free to post for it!
For our last round:
digthewriter wrote Muggle Technology FTW Neville/CharlieThe new challenge is:
Prompt 583: Azkaban
This prompt will run until February 19.
As always, we encourage responses to any prompt at any time, so if an older challenge inspires you, please feel free to post for it!
formidablepassion (formidablepassion) wrote in weekendwritingmarathon2026-02-05 08:56 pm
formidablepassion) wrote in weekendwritingmarathon2026-02-05 08:56 pmSign Up February 6 - 8!
SIGN UP!!
Need to get some words in? The Weekend Writing Marathon (WWM) is a writing challenge designed to help you do just that. You set your own writing goal for the weekend and work to achieve it before reporting back to the group on Sunday night.
How do I participate?
1. Reply to this post with your weekend writing plans–be as specific (or not) as you’d like.
2. Start writing on Friday 12:01 am local time. Work to meet your goal by Sunday night at 11:59 pm local time. You can work on whatever you want during this time.
3. Post your accomplishments to the Finish Line post at the end of the weekend (even if you didn’t reach your goal).
How do I report my accomplishments?
A Finish Line post will go up on Sunday. Reblog that post with your final word count/accomplished goal(s) by Monday at midnight local time. Totals from the weekend will be posted on Tuesday.
This challenge is currently running on 2 platforms: pillowfort, and dreamwidth. If you sign up on this platform, please respond to the Finish Line post on this platform.
Let us know if you have any questions!
alchemicink (alchemicink) wrote in halfamoon2026-02-05 09:53 pm
alchemicink) wrote in halfamoon2026-02-05 09:53 pmEntry tags:
Day 5: Fic - Star Trek Voyager - B'Elanna
B'Elanna might be my favorite character ever, and I'm always very interested in her pre-canon days as a fighter in the Maquis. A good way to cope with all her anger? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it fit perfectly for "The Outlaw" prompt.
Title: Hitting back
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Character: B'Elanna Torres
Rating: G
Length: 150 words
Summary: B'Elanna loves having a reason to fight now
Link: here on ao3 or you can read it under the cut below
( Read more... )
Title: Hitting back
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Character: B'Elanna Torres
Rating: G
Length: 150 words
Summary: B'Elanna loves having a reason to fight now
Link: here on ao3 or you can read it under the cut below
( Read more... )
Socchan (soc_puppet) wrote in moodthemeinayear2026-02-05 08:26 pm
soc_puppet) wrote in moodthemeinayear2026-02-05 08:26 pmEntry tags:
Part 1, Week 6
Here we are, the final week of Part 1!
This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Relaxed, Silly, Uncomfortable
These three moods help diversify your mood theme; if you want maximum different images with the fewest possible graphics, these are good to include.
But what do you think about the moods themselves? Relaxed and Uncomfortable are almost polar opposites here! Hopefully, once you figure out the one, the other will come easily. Silly is always kinda fun, IMO, but if you're working with a serious character, you might have a bit of trouble with it. Do you put them in clown makeup, or a funny hat? Or maybe there's a scene where their drama is being crashed by a much more unserious character that you can draw from? Let's talk about it!
This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Relaxed, Silly, Uncomfortable
These three moods help diversify your mood theme; if you want maximum different images with the fewest possible graphics, these are good to include.
But what do you think about the moods themselves? Relaxed and Uncomfortable are almost polar opposites here! Hopefully, once you figure out the one, the other will come easily. Silly is always kinda fun, IMO, but if you're working with a serious character, you might have a bit of trouble with it. Do you put them in clown makeup, or a funny hat? Or maybe there's a scene where their drama is being crashed by a much more unserious character that you can draw from? Let's talk about it!
Language Log (![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
languagelog_feed) wrote2026-02-06 02:09 am
languagelog_feed) wrote2026-02-06 02:09 amStrange Chinese on South African album cover
From Charles Belov:
YouTube music's algorithm suggested to me an album, 24 Hours in Soweto, in the amapiano genre that I love which mostly comes from the Zulu community in South Africa. I was struck by the album cover, which seems to have some random Chinese characters, some garbled. Wondering if it's AI art. Can you make any sense of it?
If the Chinese on the cover is AI-generated, I'd have to say that the machine did a pretty good job of mimicking what characters look like and how they are constructed.
Although at the opposite extreme of complexity, in terms of conveying meaning, they're not much worse than this:
or these:
Selected readings
- "How to generate fake Chinese characters automatically" (12/30/15)
- "The unpredictability of Chinese character formation and pronunciation" (2/6/12)
- "Chinese characters formed from letters of the alphabet" (8/20/14)
- "The infinitude of Chinese characters" (9/9/20) — with a huge bibliography
- "AI writes sinoglyphs" (2/25/24)
- "Stochastic popinjay and Perso-Arabic art / adab" (1/20/24)
- "AI is producing ‘fake’ Indigenous art trained on real artists’ work without permission: One Indigenous artist said the process of using their art to train AI models that competes with them for work is a ‘very colonial mindset’." Cam Wilson, Crikey (Jan 19, 2024). — just to keep up to date on some other aspects of AI
- "More AI shenanigans" (10/21/23)
- "AI encroachments" (7/21/23)
yourlibrarian (yourlibrarian) wrote in common_nature2026-02-05 07:52 pm
yourlibrarian) wrote in common_nature2026-02-05 07:52 pmEntry tags:
Fire in the Sky Sunset
Some weeks back I saw one of the most fiery color sunsets I've yet seen. It's usually the case that sunsets look even more colorful to the camera, but in this case it was already a strong red, and was widespread.
( Read more... )
Fan Art: Day 5, Zoey Washburne
Title: Tough as Nails
Fandom: Firefly
Character: Zoe Washburne
Prompt: Day 5-Outlaw
Rating: Teen (Just because she’s tough as nails.)
Summary: After reading CMK418’s little story, I couldn’t help but make a moodboard for Zoe Washburne.
Click here.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/78979996
Fandom: Firefly
Character: Zoe Washburne
Prompt: Day 5-Outlaw
Rating: Teen (Just because she’s tough as nails.)
Summary: After reading CMK418’s little story, I couldn’t help but make a moodboard for Zoe Washburne.
Click here.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/78979996
petra (petra) wrote2026-02-05 08:34 pm
petra) wrote2026-02-05 08:34 pmEntry tags:
US Politics - The Crazification Factor - a very old John Rogers post
I was despairing of the 73% of American Republicans who are on team GO ICE in a poll NPR just published asking whether ICE has gone too far -- and the 7% of Democrats and 29% percent of Independents who are with them.
hannah talked me down by pointing out that, as discussed in the linked conversation, 27% of Illinois voted for Alan Keyes over Barack Obama, which was patently bananas.
I remember a certain male role model in my life talking up Alan Keyes. This does not increase my faith in his understanding of politics, or indeed his inhabiting of the same planet I do.
hannah talked me down by pointing out that, as discussed in the linked conversation, 27% of Illinois voted for Alan Keyes over Barack Obama, which was patently bananas.I remember a certain male role model in my life talking up Alan Keyes. This does not increase my faith in his understanding of politics, or indeed his inhabiting of the same planet I do.
shadaras (shadaras) wrote2026-02-05 07:48 pm
shadaras) wrote2026-02-05 07:48 pmEntry tags:
pretty sure I listen to podcasts more when I feel unwell
On Sunday I was like "I am dragging myself to aikido out of obligation and habit" and my friend C was like "yeah you look beat". Aikido was good, though, two of K-sensei's students who mostly only show up to her Tues/Thurs morning classes were at weapons class, and showed up early to learn some more basic weapon stuff, which meant that when I showed up my typical ~15min early I got pulled into immediately demonstrating an exercise and then practicing in with the others.
Also went "yeah, the absolute hardest thing to do when practicing ma'ai with weapons is for uke to not flinch" to one of those students, prompting sensei to pause class so that she could more formally talk about how difficult yet important a practice this is. Because, well, the natural instinct when someone is stabbing at you with a weapon is to move out of the way. This is an excellent survival instinct! However! That is not the practice when nage is supposed to be learning how to enter in such that they can properly stab through uke.
On Monday I woke up and was like "I feel like shit!" and have proceeded to spend the entire week thus far dragging myself to work because Capitalism while keeping myself vaguely person-shaped via cold medicine. This has worked out alright mostly because for the majority of this week I haven't had to do anything particularly cognitively difficult at work. (Tasks included: "Put up linears on this floor", which was interrupted by "Be firewatch for the person doing welding", before I was allowed to return to that first task, and then told to do various other things that meant putting up one set of linears that should've taken a few hours took like three days.)
I also went to bed at like 8:30pm last night (due to being at work from 6:30am-2:30pm and class from 5pm-7:45pm... not counting commute time for either, of course...) and woke up this morning like "wow I feel like a person!" until I got up and was like "oh we have CHANGED kinds of feeling ugh, not removed it, rip".
Things I have spent time doing:
- Catching up on the Great Gundam Project (podcast), by which I mean I have now caught up to like last autumn/the end of the Dragonball Z season (which is about the Gundam adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is apparently surprisingly good, but they spent more time talking about DBZ, their backup/non-Gundam show) (considering that this is a podcast I listen to in large part for going "please let me gain knowledge of anime people talk about but which I am only occasionally interested in watching", learning more about DBZ is genuinely a delight.) There is still so much more GGP to catch up on. xD This is a great podcast for listening to during work so long as I'm working alone, because I think it's generally entertaining and also I don't care if I miss a bit due to NOISE or BRIEF CONVERSATION, since I'm not invested in the details of the anime. (I am invested in The Episode Number Pokemon Name Game, though. I do not care about Pokemon. I do not know Pokemon. I think making the host who did not grow up playing Pokemon guess what Pokemon the episode number belongs to is a very funny game because I also do not know Pokemon and so listening to someone go "uh it looks like this, maybe it's called [something related to what it looks like]?" is very fun.)
- Watching FatT's Outward letsplay (which is technically a patreon bonus for their side podcast about videogams xD), by which I mean putting it on as background noise and looking over at the video every time Jack and Austin start going "oh no" or "what's THAT". The idle noise of people playing a videogame I don't have specific investment in but do enjoy seeing progression for is such a particular form of entertainment that usually I only like as background for doing chores, but hey if I'm feeling meh it works well more broadly.
- Thinking about, but not writing, story xD Like. How does one make it impossible to know what happened to someone who got kidnapped when "you can magically communicate short messages to known people over distance and get a response" is a given? The answer is magic warding, which is Deeply Concerning when other states that get No Connection (rather than No Response) would be, like. Unconsciousness/death. (Sleep probably feels different.) (This isn't even going to come up until I get through another few things!)
- I have also been keeping up with FatT: Perpetua, FatT: Realis, and CR: Araman and am enjoying them all. xD No deep thoughts, they're all fun but in very different ways/genres.
Also went "yeah, the absolute hardest thing to do when practicing ma'ai with weapons is for uke to not flinch" to one of those students, prompting sensei to pause class so that she could more formally talk about how difficult yet important a practice this is. Because, well, the natural instinct when someone is stabbing at you with a weapon is to move out of the way. This is an excellent survival instinct! However! That is not the practice when nage is supposed to be learning how to enter in such that they can properly stab through uke.
On Monday I woke up and was like "I feel like shit!" and have proceeded to spend the entire week thus far dragging myself to work because Capitalism while keeping myself vaguely person-shaped via cold medicine. This has worked out alright mostly because for the majority of this week I haven't had to do anything particularly cognitively difficult at work. (Tasks included: "Put up linears on this floor", which was interrupted by "Be firewatch for the person doing welding", before I was allowed to return to that first task, and then told to do various other things that meant putting up one set of linears that should've taken a few hours took like three days.)
I also went to bed at like 8:30pm last night (due to being at work from 6:30am-2:30pm and class from 5pm-7:45pm... not counting commute time for either, of course...) and woke up this morning like "wow I feel like a person!" until I got up and was like "oh we have CHANGED kinds of feeling ugh, not removed it, rip".
Things I have spent time doing:
- Catching up on the Great Gundam Project (podcast), by which I mean I have now caught up to like last autumn/the end of the Dragonball Z season (which is about the Gundam adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is apparently surprisingly good, but they spent more time talking about DBZ, their backup/non-Gundam show) (considering that this is a podcast I listen to in large part for going "please let me gain knowledge of anime people talk about but which I am only occasionally interested in watching", learning more about DBZ is genuinely a delight.) There is still so much more GGP to catch up on. xD This is a great podcast for listening to during work so long as I'm working alone, because I think it's generally entertaining and also I don't care if I miss a bit due to NOISE or BRIEF CONVERSATION, since I'm not invested in the details of the anime. (I am invested in The Episode Number Pokemon Name Game, though. I do not care about Pokemon. I do not know Pokemon. I think making the host who did not grow up playing Pokemon guess what Pokemon the episode number belongs to is a very funny game because I also do not know Pokemon and so listening to someone go "uh it looks like this, maybe it's called [something related to what it looks like]?" is very fun.)
- Watching FatT's Outward letsplay (which is technically a patreon bonus for their side podcast about videogams xD), by which I mean putting it on as background noise and looking over at the video every time Jack and Austin start going "oh no" or "what's THAT". The idle noise of people playing a videogame I don't have specific investment in but do enjoy seeing progression for is such a particular form of entertainment that usually I only like as background for doing chores, but hey if I'm feeling meh it works well more broadly.
- Thinking about, but not writing, story xD Like. How does one make it impossible to know what happened to someone who got kidnapped when "you can magically communicate short messages to known people over distance and get a response" is a given? The answer is magic warding, which is Deeply Concerning when other states that get No Connection (rather than No Response) would be, like. Unconsciousness/death. (Sleep probably feels different.) (This isn't even going to come up until I get through another few things!)
- I have also been keeping up with FatT: Perpetua, FatT: Realis, and CR: Araman and am enjoying them all. xD No deep thoughts, they're all fun but in very different ways/genres.
Mad Scientess (nanila) wrote2026-02-06 01:16 am
nanila) wrote2026-02-06 01:16 amConversations with my father
[phone rings in my hotel room]
Me: “Hello?”
Concierge, sounding very uncertain and slightly bemused: “Um, hello, is that Nanila, who just checked in with us today?”
Me: “Yes, that’s correct.”
Concierge: “Um…I have a gentleman on the line who would like to speak to you. I…I think he’s your father? I’m so sorry, I’m really not sure.”
Me, chuckling: “That sounds like him. Did he say his name was [Firstname Lastname]?”
Concierge: “I couldn’t understand him when he said his name. I think it’s my phone line.”
Me, drily: “Please don’t be sorry. That will be one of two things: his accent, or he hasn’t got his teeth in.”
Concierge, now relaxing a bit and giggling: “Would you like me to put him through?”
Me: “Please do, thank you.”
*pause*
Me: “Hi Dad, how are you doing?”
Dad: “I tried to call you but I kept getting the prison! Where are you? Are you in XX hotel?!”
Me, patiently: “Yes, Dad, I’m in the hotel.”
Dad: “What room are you in? I need to write it down. Are you sure? Are you okay?”
Me: “Dad. I’m in Room NN. I am fine. And if this is the prison then it’s had a tremendous facilities upgrade.”
Dad: “Oh, okay. Was the traffic awful? Are you very tired? When do you want to meet for dinner? Should we go to the sushi place? Do you remember the sushi place? I need to put my teeth in!”
Me: “Yes, yes, whenever you want to eat, yes, yes, and yes, you do.”
For anyone who has met me in person and has thought to themselves, “This woman has no idea how to hold a conversation like a normal human being,” this is 100% where I got it from. Thanks, Dad.
Me: “Hello?”
Concierge, sounding very uncertain and slightly bemused: “Um, hello, is that Nanila, who just checked in with us today?”
Me: “Yes, that’s correct.”
Concierge: “Um…I have a gentleman on the line who would like to speak to you. I…I think he’s your father? I’m so sorry, I’m really not sure.”
Me, chuckling: “That sounds like him. Did he say his name was [Firstname Lastname]?”
Concierge: “I couldn’t understand him when he said his name. I think it’s my phone line.”
Me, drily: “Please don’t be sorry. That will be one of two things: his accent, or he hasn’t got his teeth in.”
Concierge, now relaxing a bit and giggling: “Would you like me to put him through?”
Me: “Please do, thank you.”
*pause*
Me: “Hi Dad, how are you doing?”
Dad: “I tried to call you but I kept getting the prison! Where are you? Are you in XX hotel?!”
Me, patiently: “Yes, Dad, I’m in the hotel.”
Dad: “What room are you in? I need to write it down. Are you sure? Are you okay?”
Me: “Dad. I’m in Room NN. I am fine. And if this is the prison then it’s had a tremendous facilities upgrade.”
Dad: “Oh, okay. Was the traffic awful? Are you very tired? When do you want to meet for dinner? Should we go to the sushi place? Do you remember the sushi place? I need to put my teeth in!”
Me: “Yes, yes, whenever you want to eat, yes, yes, and yes, you do.”
For anyone who has met me in person and has thought to themselves, “This woman has no idea how to hold a conversation like a normal human being,” this is 100% where I got it from. Thanks, Dad.
Entry tags:
Day 5 - Fic - Suikoden III - Queen & Aila
Title: High Kick of his Life
Fandom: Suikoden III
Character(s): Queen & Aila
Rating: PG
Summary: Queen is bragging about one of her past accomplishments.
( Melon soda vs. Queen's braggery )
Fandom: Suikoden III
Character(s): Queen & Aila
Rating: PG
Summary: Queen is bragging about one of her past accomplishments.
( Melon soda vs. Queen's braggery )
nnozomi (nnozomi) wrote in guardian_learning2026-02-06 09:24 am
nnozomi) wrote in guardian_learning2026-02-06 09:24 am第五年第二十七天
部首
手 part 13
拆, to tear open; 拇, thumb; 拉, to pull ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
语法
2.23 Directional complements 上，下，出，进，回，过
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar
词汇
纯, pure; 纯净水, pure water; 单纯, simple ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
赵处，你千万别拆散他们两个, Chief Zhao, don't you dare tear the two of them apart
能进去了吗, can we go in now?
她是一个心思单纯的姑娘, she's a girl with simple thoughts
Me:
别拉我了，我自己来。
你快回来吧。
手 part 13
拆, to tear open; 拇, thumb; 拉, to pull ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
语法
2.23 Directional complements 上，下，出，进，回，过
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar
词汇
纯, pure; 纯净水, pure water; 单纯, simple ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
赵处，你千万别拆散他们两个, Chief Zhao, don't you dare tear the two of them apart
能进去了吗, can we go in now?
她是一个心思单纯的姑娘, she's a girl with simple thoughts
Me:
别拉我了，我自己来。
你快回来吧。
stonepicnicking_okapi (stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2026-02-05 07:21 pm
stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2026-02-05 07:21 pmEntry tags:
Poet's Corner: Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars) by Nikki Giovanni
For Black History Month, I am reading This is Honey: an Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets edited by Kwame Alexander. This is the first poem in this anthology. This is the first stanza. It is a long poem and the formatting (which I can't do here) is important.
Here is the whole poem formatted properly: https://issues.org/quilting-the-black-eyed-pea-going-to-mars-poem-giovanni/
Here is a video of her reading it aloud in 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMKSSlaqTLE
Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni
We're going to Mars
for the same reason Marco Polo rocketed to China,
for the same reason Columbus trimmed his sails on a dream of spices,
for the very same reason Shackelford was enchanted with penguins,
for the reason we fall in love.
It's the only adventure.
Here is the whole poem formatted properly: https://issues.org/quilting-the-black-eyed-pea-going-to-mars-poem-giovanni/
Here is a video of her reading it aloud in 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMKSSlaqTLE
Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni
We're going to Mars
for the same reason Marco Polo rocketed to China,
for the same reason Columbus trimmed his sails on a dream of spices,
for the very same reason Shackelford was enchanted with penguins,
for the reason we fall in love.
It's the only adventure.
mecurtin (mecurtin) wrote2026-02-05 07:14 pm
mecurtin) wrote2026-02-05 07:14 pmTwo Purrcies; This week in books
Sometimes as I head to the bathroom for my bedtime rituals Purrcy comes racing to the windowsill outside the door for Wild! Shenanigans! Who can spot such a creature?!?
Comfort and self-care are SO important In These Trying Times, says Purrcy. Don't you agree? You, too, can combine sprawling with personal hygiene, if you're a cat!
This week in books (up through yesterday, because I completely blanked on that's what Wednesday is for).
#21 There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm
It's very mind-bendingly creepy, but it fundamentally doesn't work for me because there's an underlying premise that the only minds on Earth are human. I spend too much time reading science where we deduce the existence of things we can't see to be convinced that there could be things that would be that good at messing with human minds without leaving 2nd or 3rd-order effects on the physical world.
#22 Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
An extremely cheerful post-this-apoc story about robots & humans clawing their way out of war and societal collapse to make good-tasting food, dammit. A love note to San Francisco. I described the vibe as "you're wet now, but you're going to get dried off and have some delicious noodles to warm up while you hang with your friends".
#23 The Poet Empress, by Shen Tao
Such a relief to read a book based on Chinese imperial harem/court politics that reflects the power-driven, unromantic historical reality. Also a relief to read a book about *any* royal-level struggle where the protagonist understands how much and how little royalty are truly important.
#24 Asunder, by Kerstin Hall
The cover represents this book *extremely* poorly: it implies the subject is a contemporary young woman (judging by haircut & clothing), which is 100% not the case, and the grasping/entangling hands are very hard to see.
The actual setting is extremely interesting & deserved to be conveyed by the cover: it's a fantasy landscape inspired by South Africa, which took me a while to pick up. Just like our South Africa, the world has a complex, layered history -- in this case of magic, invasion, gods and their deaths, and of how most people are just trying to make their lives among the machinations of the powerful. The *feel* of the history as well as the landscape isn't the usual pseudo-Euroasian, but I don't get the feeling that it maps to the history of southern Africa in any direct way. But it's definitely *different*, which is good.
Karys Eska is bound twice, once to the terrifying eldritch entity Sabaster who gives her the power of a deathspeaker by which she earns her living, and now to the spirit of Ferrian, a wealthy young man who promises he can pay her all the money she needs if she can carry him to safety--inside her head. Her journey to try to release herself from these two bindings is vivid and increasingly complex. The ending is not completely satisfying, and I see that's because she's writing a direct sequel.
Comfort and self-care are SO important In These Trying Times, says Purrcy. Don't you agree? You, too, can combine sprawling with personal hygiene, if you're a cat!
This week in books (up through yesterday, because I completely blanked on that's what Wednesday is for).
#21 There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm
It's very mind-bendingly creepy, but it fundamentally doesn't work for me because there's an underlying premise that the only minds on Earth are human. I spend too much time reading science where we deduce the existence of things we can't see to be convinced that there could be things that would be that good at messing with human minds without leaving 2nd or 3rd-order effects on the physical world.
#22 Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
An extremely cheerful post-this-apoc story about robots & humans clawing their way out of war and societal collapse to make good-tasting food, dammit. A love note to San Francisco. I described the vibe as "you're wet now, but you're going to get dried off and have some delicious noodles to warm up while you hang with your friends".
#23 The Poet Empress, by Shen Tao
Such a relief to read a book based on Chinese imperial harem/court politics that reflects the power-driven, unromantic historical reality. Also a relief to read a book about *any* royal-level struggle where the protagonist understands how much and how little royalty are truly important.
#24 Asunder, by Kerstin Hall
The cover represents this book *extremely* poorly: it implies the subject is a contemporary young woman (judging by haircut & clothing), which is 100% not the case, and the grasping/entangling hands are very hard to see.
The actual setting is extremely interesting & deserved to be conveyed by the cover: it's a fantasy landscape inspired by South Africa, which took me a while to pick up. Just like our South Africa, the world has a complex, layered history -- in this case of magic, invasion, gods and their deaths, and of how most people are just trying to make their lives among the machinations of the powerful. The *feel* of the history as well as the landscape isn't the usual pseudo-Euroasian, but I don't get the feeling that it maps to the history of southern Africa in any direct way. But it's definitely *different*, which is good.
Karys Eska is bound twice, once to the terrifying eldritch entity Sabaster who gives her the power of a deathspeaker by which she earns her living, and now to the spirit of Ferrian, a wealthy young man who promises he can pay her all the money she needs if she can carry him to safety--inside her head. Her journey to try to release herself from these two bindings is vivid and increasingly complex. The ending is not completely satisfying, and I see that's because she's writing a direct sequel.
snickfic (snickfic) wrote2026-02-05 04:05 pm
snickfic) wrote2026-02-05 04:05 pmEntry tags:
linkdump
Cleaning ALL my non-fandom links out of my to-rec list. Enjoy?
How Nicki Broke the Blueprint (YouTube) by FD Signifier. She's been going ever farther off the deep end the past few years, but damn when she was good, she was good. I really loved this older look at the hip hop landscape at the time she got big, and what she meant to a lot of female hip hop fans at the time.
The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer. Short story about mutual aid and community building during an apocalypse. Hopeful.
Older LGBT science fiction database. I've not really explored this yet, but seems cool.
Why the Democratic Tea Party Failed (and How It Could Succeed) (New Republic). What this article says about the giant hole in mainstream normie liberal media has shifted my whole perspective of the political landscape and the barriers we're facing.
Twins’ peaks: The Gilbertson brothers want to rewrite your country’s map (originally NYT). About two mountain climbing brothers who are measuring a bunch of tall peaks with more accurate instruments. A fun coda to all my mountain climbing reading last fall.
What Horrible Things Did We Do To Our Penises Last Year? (Defector). You cannot read these all at once; it'd be like looking into the sun. You have to savor.
‘I can understand being brought to your knees’: Amanda Seyfried on obsession, devotion and the joy of socks (Gaurdian). Really interesting interview Amanda Seyfried and director Mona Fastvold on The Testament of Ann Lee. I read a number of pieces on the movie, but this was my favorite.
How Nicki Broke the Blueprint (YouTube) by FD Signifier. She's been going ever farther off the deep end the past few years, but damn when she was good, she was good. I really loved this older look at the hip hop landscape at the time she got big, and what she meant to a lot of female hip hop fans at the time.
The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer. Short story about mutual aid and community building during an apocalypse. Hopeful.
Older LGBT science fiction database. I've not really explored this yet, but seems cool.
Why the Democratic Tea Party Failed (and How It Could Succeed) (New Republic). What this article says about the giant hole in mainstream normie liberal media has shifted my whole perspective of the political landscape and the barriers we're facing.
Twins’ peaks: The Gilbertson brothers want to rewrite your country’s map (originally NYT). About two mountain climbing brothers who are measuring a bunch of tall peaks with more accurate instruments. A fun coda to all my mountain climbing reading last fall.
What Horrible Things Did We Do To Our Penises Last Year? (Defector). You cannot read these all at once; it'd be like looking into the sun. You have to savor.
‘I can understand being brought to your knees’: Amanda Seyfried on obsession, devotion and the joy of socks (Gaurdian). Really interesting interview Amanda Seyfried and director Mona Fastvold on The Testament of Ann Lee. I read a number of pieces on the movie, but this was my favorite.
mrkinch (mrkinch) wrote2026-02-05 03:38 pm
mrkinch) wrote2026-02-05 03:38 pmEntry tags:
2/5/2026 Lower Codornices Creek
This morning between recycling a bag of wire hangars and picking up two bottles of picaridin from REI I spent an hour at Lower Codornices Creek. It's a beautiful bit of riparian habitat, with water in the creek and everything green. Not so very many species, but almost all the locals were in pairs and many seemed to be engaged in pre-nesting activity. A pair of Dark-eyed Juncos, ground nesters, were poking around along the creek bank, not seeming to be foraging but perhaps looking for a good spot. Bushtits were collecting spiderweb and the Bewick's Wren may have been doing the same. Even two Black Phoebes were hanging out together. ( The list: )
There weren't any surprises, not even a pair of Mallards in the creek, as I've seen before. The only less common bird, at least for me, were three American Goldfinches, heard but not seen.
There weren't any surprises, not even a pair of Mallards in the creek, as I've seen before. The only less common bird, at least for me, were three American Goldfinches, heard but not seen.