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Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 22:24
Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 09:15
In my defence, most of 2026 so far has been spent dealing with incapacitating levels of fatigue, which might finally be getting better (and that needs to be a separate post).
But the major problem is that I wanted to re-read Cascade, the first book in the trilogy, before starting Blight.
And while I loved Cascade -- here is my rave from way back when -- it produces an overwhelming sense of dread in me, even more than it did so on first read, because it captures, with remarkable precision and effectiveness, the sense of living in a liberal democracy that is teetering on the edge of ceasing to be one, and the stomach-dropping sensation when things begin moving unspeakably fast.
It's a very good book, but -- you see the problem.
Anyway, in recent weeks I finally got myself to re-read Cascade, and then I tore through Blight in a few days. Weirdly, I found it a much less difficult read because it's (both politically and environmentally) a post-apocalyptic novel, in which some kind of fightback is beginning.
Anyway it's fucking fantastic, without any of the common middle-book-of-a-trilogy doldrums. A really spectacular and unique mixture of wild magic, cosmic horror, and organizing for revolution, the last written with gritty specificity. The author is dead and all that, I don't know what's firsthand knowledge and what's research, but this is a book that (for example) writes with deep credibility about what it feels like to be in a crowd being tear-gassed.
As well as being a very good book, it also feels it's maybe a psychologically useful book to read right now.
I would like to do a proper write-up but I still have no idea what my energy's going to be doing day to day, so in the meantime here's a hype post, and if you want a review here's![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
james_davis_nicoll's:
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/land-of-hope
ETA: Also it's on the Aurora Award shortlist for Best Novel:
https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/current-ballot/
Ob!disclaimer that the author is an internet acquaintance, but I do in fact love the book.
But the major problem is that I wanted to re-read Cascade, the first book in the trilogy, before starting Blight.
And while I loved Cascade -- here is my rave from way back when -- it produces an overwhelming sense of dread in me, even more than it did so on first read, because it captures, with remarkable precision and effectiveness, the sense of living in a liberal democracy that is teetering on the edge of ceasing to be one, and the stomach-dropping sensation when things begin moving unspeakably fast.
It's a very good book, but -- you see the problem.
Anyway, in recent weeks I finally got myself to re-read Cascade, and then I tore through Blight in a few days. Weirdly, I found it a much less difficult read because it's (both politically and environmentally) a post-apocalyptic novel, in which some kind of fightback is beginning.
Anyway it's fucking fantastic, without any of the common middle-book-of-a-trilogy doldrums. A really spectacular and unique mixture of wild magic, cosmic horror, and organizing for revolution, the last written with gritty specificity. The author is dead and all that, I don't know what's firsthand knowledge and what's research, but this is a book that (for example) writes with deep credibility about what it feels like to be in a crowd being tear-gassed.
As well as being a very good book, it also feels it's maybe a psychologically useful book to read right now.
I would like to do a proper write-up but I still have no idea what my energy's going to be doing day to day, so in the meantime here's a hype post, and if you want a review here's
james_davis_nicoll's:https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/land-of-hope
ETA: Also it's on the Aurora Award shortlist for Best Novel:
https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/current-ballot/
Ob!disclaimer that the author is an internet acquaintance, but I do in fact love the book.
Tags:
Monday, May 11th, 2026 20:06
1. I had a meeting at our central kitchen location, which is across town from the office and I was feeling like I wanted a snack, so I stopped at Shake Shack on the way and got some fries and a shake. They have a new menu that just started and there's a mango shake with passionfruit bobas and it's so good! Then tonight I took Carla to an optometrist appointment at Costco and suggested we get dinner out afterwards since it was kind of late, and she suggested Shake Shack since there's one not that far from Costco, so we went there and got a couple more items from a new menu, which is BBQ themed for summer. Carla got a rib sandwich and I got a crispy chicken sandwich and both were super tasty. Definitely will be going there again while this menu is on.
2. I caught Jasper mid lick lol. You can see how shiny his shoulder fur is...
2. I caught Jasper mid lick lol. You can see how shiny his shoulder fur is...
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Monday, May 11th, 2026 17:32
On Saturday I saw the Carmina Burana ballet - two of my friends stuck with the chorus for the performance, so I and three other friends got free tickets (although that was offset by having to pay for parking). It was really interesting to see how the choreography underscored the text. However, the music did suffer a bit from the staging; the dancers were between the orchestra in the pit and the choir in the rear part of the stage, so they had trouble staying in sync. But the overall effect was undeniably dramatic. And I'm doubly glad I didn't participate, so that I was able to fully enjoy the show.
The latest symphony drama is that the principal director abruptly resigned (or was dismissed) with four weeks remaining in the season, and they had to scramble to get people to conduct the last few concerts. Luckily, the person they found for Carmina was already familiar with both the music and the choreography, and was likely instrumental (lol) in ultimately making it a success.
I'm definitely going to take at least the next year off from symphony chorus and see how things shake out with the personnel changes. I didn't get a callback from the other choir I was interested in, so I've accepted an invitation to play the G4/A4 position for the community handbell group this coming year. That's the position that Robby would play for our church group and one slot lower than my usual position at B4/C5, but it was where they had a vacancy, and at least it's not any lower (read: heavier) than that.
Our church has a new music director starting this week, hurray. I've known her for years; she's about my age and super nice. No previous church direction experience, but an excellent musician, and she does have experience organizing a local Girls Rock camp, so I don't anticipate her having any difficulty with the role. We're not exactly a demanding group.
I keep forgetting to write about my first Renn Faire experience last month. Going in, I wasn't really sure how to expect it to compare with an SCA event. I guess more than anything, it was like going to a fantasy-medieval version of Disney World with no rides. People dressed however they wanted, and there were lots of food options, tons of shops, and various entertainment shows scheduled throughout the day. My favorites were the electric renaissance musicians from Italy (Rota Temporis) and the audience-participation Shakespeare performance - my companion got drafted into the latter, which was hilarious. Instead of dressing in garb, I wore my TTRPG dice print dress, and got a ton of compliments. I'm really not used to being complimented on my appearance! It was weird but nice!
The latest symphony drama is that the principal director abruptly resigned (or was dismissed) with four weeks remaining in the season, and they had to scramble to get people to conduct the last few concerts. Luckily, the person they found for Carmina was already familiar with both the music and the choreography, and was likely instrumental (lol) in ultimately making it a success.
I'm definitely going to take at least the next year off from symphony chorus and see how things shake out with the personnel changes. I didn't get a callback from the other choir I was interested in, so I've accepted an invitation to play the G4/A4 position for the community handbell group this coming year. That's the position that Robby would play for our church group and one slot lower than my usual position at B4/C5, but it was where they had a vacancy, and at least it's not any lower (read: heavier) than that.
Our church has a new music director starting this week, hurray. I've known her for years; she's about my age and super nice. No previous church direction experience, but an excellent musician, and she does have experience organizing a local Girls Rock camp, so I don't anticipate her having any difficulty with the role. We're not exactly a demanding group.
I keep forgetting to write about my first Renn Faire experience last month. Going in, I wasn't really sure how to expect it to compare with an SCA event. I guess more than anything, it was like going to a fantasy-medieval version of Disney World with no rides. People dressed however they wanted, and there were lots of food options, tons of shops, and various entertainment shows scheduled throughout the day. My favorites were the electric renaissance musicians from Italy (Rota Temporis) and the audience-participation Shakespeare performance - my companion got drafted into the latter, which was hilarious. Instead of dressing in garb, I wore my TTRPG dice print dress, and got a ton of compliments. I'm really not used to being complimented on my appearance! It was weird but nice!
Sunday, May 10th, 2026 19:48
1. I was hoping we'd get the call to pick up the new bikes yesterday or today, but so far no news, so I'm guessing it will be tomorrow. I don't have anything tomorrow or Tuesday morning for work that I have to do at a specific time, though, so we could still easily go pick them up then and not have to wait for next weekend.
2. It was nice to have a weekend at home. We almost always go to Disneyland on the weekend, but since we went on Thursday, that meant both weekend days were just spent at home relaxing.
3. I've been playing Under the Island, a cute Zelda-like for the Switch. It's a lot of fun! I actually started playing the demo when we were in Japan, but I didn't play much there and then haven't played at all since we got home, but I picked it up again Friday and finished the demo, then downloaded the full game. Annoyingly the demo save does not port over to the game, so I had to replay the whole first dungeon, but I was much faster about it having just done it right before. I've played a ton yesterday and today and it seems like a fairly short game, so I think I'll probably finish it soon at this rate, but it's a lot of fun.
4. A couple months ago I built the lego Himeji Castle and put it on a shelf out in the garage, but it's not big enough to fill the whole shelf but also too big to share with another big set. I had a set of bonsai plants that I hadn't built yet, so I built those and put them around the castle to make a shelf of all Japanese themed sets. Then I also did the Japanese maple, and then when we got back from Japan I started working on this cherry blossom landscape, which is a new set that we'd gotten not long before we went on vacation. I wasn't originally planning to put it in the same display, but there was no good place in my room so I decided to see how it looks with the others and I love it.
I added some non-lego figures as well (all stuff we got in Japan and have yet to find a spot for and were sitting in the pile of souvenirs in the garage).
5. It's been a full week since Jasper had any pee incidents. He was fine when Alex was over this evening. Fingers crossed that we stay pee free, but if nothing else I'm glad to have had a whole week without frantic cleaning.
6. Since Carla's been having problems with this same toe for years, she had been doing regular foot soaks a while back and had at one point bought a bunch of bags of epsom salts that were on clearance for like $1.50, and then she stopped doing the soaks and the bags are just out in the shed not getting used. But soaking with epsom salts twice a day was specifically recommended as after care for the nail removal so it was great to have those ready to go and not need to go out and buy anything.
7. Haven't seen Ollie up in the laundry area recently but then this morning he was just up there chilling.
2. It was nice to have a weekend at home. We almost always go to Disneyland on the weekend, but since we went on Thursday, that meant both weekend days were just spent at home relaxing.
3. I've been playing Under the Island, a cute Zelda-like for the Switch. It's a lot of fun! I actually started playing the demo when we were in Japan, but I didn't play much there and then haven't played at all since we got home, but I picked it up again Friday and finished the demo, then downloaded the full game. Annoyingly the demo save does not port over to the game, so I had to replay the whole first dungeon, but I was much faster about it having just done it right before. I've played a ton yesterday and today and it seems like a fairly short game, so I think I'll probably finish it soon at this rate, but it's a lot of fun.
4. A couple months ago I built the lego Himeji Castle and put it on a shelf out in the garage, but it's not big enough to fill the whole shelf but also too big to share with another big set. I had a set of bonsai plants that I hadn't built yet, so I built those and put them around the castle to make a shelf of all Japanese themed sets. Then I also did the Japanese maple, and then when we got back from Japan I started working on this cherry blossom landscape, which is a new set that we'd gotten not long before we went on vacation. I wasn't originally planning to put it in the same display, but there was no good place in my room so I decided to see how it looks with the others and I love it.
I added some non-lego figures as well (all stuff we got in Japan and have yet to find a spot for and were sitting in the pile of souvenirs in the garage).
5. It's been a full week since Jasper had any pee incidents. He was fine when Alex was over this evening. Fingers crossed that we stay pee free, but if nothing else I'm glad to have had a whole week without frantic cleaning.
6. Since Carla's been having problems with this same toe for years, she had been doing regular foot soaks a while back and had at one point bought a bunch of bags of epsom salts that were on clearance for like $1.50, and then she stopped doing the soaks and the bags are just out in the shed not getting used. But soaking with epsom salts twice a day was specifically recommended as after care for the nail removal so it was great to have those ready to go and not need to go out and buy anything.
7. Haven't seen Ollie up in the laundry area recently but then this morning he was just up there chilling.
Tags:
Sunday, May 10th, 2026 19:00
Reading. I am so close to being Fully Up To Date with She's A Beast!!! I have just hit Feb 2026!!! Maybe my brain will let me read literally anything else???
... having said which, I totally managed to take a break from SAB to inhale Platform Decay (Martha Wells), the new Murderbot. Very little of it has stuck with me and also it was a very pleasant way to switch off brain for a few hours.
And I got close enough to the autoreturn on the library loan of another memoir about embodiment -- Run Toward The Danger, Sarah Polley -- that I am actually trying to blitz through it; so far it is not doing a great deal for me but all this really means is that I am not the target audience for everyone!
Watching. In celebration of David Attenborough's 100th birthday, we have now watched The Year Earth Changed. I had an lot of feelings.
Playing. ... yeah so I completed The Game About Shelving Books, in that I now have all of the Steam achievements including the speedrun achievement (I never normally get speedrun achievements; I never normally even bother trying to get them), and am now Taking Breaks from other things by loading the game back up and wandering around reorganising subject shelving bays according to what makes me happiest (by and large: pick one of "colour" and "thematic grouping"; I am not here for trying to work out how to impose Dewey). At this point, though, that is feeling like a small soothing achievable task that can be A Smol Treet, rather than having the driving urgency of hyperfocus, so that's an extremely welcome development.
Eating. Strawberriessssssss. So many strawberries. I Am Luxuriating. Also: British asparagus! Fancy goats' cheese! The supermarket, having Taken Away the raspberry and passionfruit cheesecake Apparently Forever, has reintroduced it as a seasonal food!
Exploring. We went for one of our normal walks! Adam spotted a deer! We pursuit predated it for a little off amongst trees we had not previously poked around in, and discovered a series of neat rectangular brick walls, all of uniform roofless height, now full of mature trees that had clearly been there for Some Time! We have no idea, OpenStreetMap has nothing to say on the topic, and there is something that has merrily dug setts or dens into and around the foundations...
Making & mending. Bike... works again? Bike works again. Still need to unfuck the rear brake some more but maybe I will manage to take it to see the nice bike shop halfway down the hill tomorrow morning on my way Elsewhere.
Growing. Potted up the lemongrass! Have not potted up the aubergine. Ancho flowering merrily. Maybe I will make it to the plot this week and get some of the things I'm intending to put in the ground into the ground?
Observing. A deer! (Probably muntjac.) The bat! Several excellent front gardens!
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Sunday, May 10th, 2026 14:08
Vidders.net has been a fannish vid hosting site for a long time, offering a safe place when others kick legally protected vids off randomly at the request of copyright holders. It currently runs on less than $100 a month. They need a few more people to join their Patreon as regular donors to keep it sustainable.
Their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vidding
Their site: https://vidders.net
Their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vidding
Their site: https://vidders.net
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Saturday, May 9th, 2026 19:14
1. Over the past couple years we've been trying to walk more places around town rather than automatically hopping in the car, and I'm very pleased with myself today for doing all my errands walking. We still have rhubarb in the freezer and I wanted to make a pie today, so I stopped at the neighborhood market I pass on my morning walk every day, but they were out of pie crust, so when I went out to the farmers market later, I continued on to the larger supermarket since I was about halfway there at that point and was able to get pie crust (and it was on sale!). When I got home, Carla reminded me about the Neosporin I was going to get for her toe, but I'd forgotten it. So I went out later this afternoon to the pharmacy and got that. Both the supermarket and the pharmacy are about a mile away, so it's not a long walk at all, but would previously have been just an automatic drive. Instead I got some walking in and made progress on my audiobook.
2. At Costco yesterday Carla got some croissants, and they come in a pack of twelve, so we'll be having sandwiches a lot for the next few days lol. Anyway, she made some tuna salad for dinner and added all sorts of things into it and it was probably the best tuna salad I've ever had. Looking forward to having some more for lunch tomorrow.
3. Molly testing out a new box.
2. At Costco yesterday Carla got some croissants, and they come in a pack of twelve, so we'll be having sandwiches a lot for the next few days lol. Anyway, she made some tuna salad for dinner and added all sorts of things into it and it was probably the best tuna salad I've ever had. Looking forward to having some more for lunch tomorrow.
3. Molly testing out a new box.
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Saturday, May 9th, 2026 21:29
Today I discovered, at approximately 6 p.m., that The Gym is only open until 5 p.m. on Saturdays. We had had a fairly lazy day at home and I had been putting off My Own Gym until after I had talked A through their (second!) Liftoff Phase One workout; I spent the approach going "... this car park is suspiciously empty, I don't think it can possibly be just that the school isn't on today..." and, yep, closed already.
( Read more... )
Saturday, May 9th, 2026 12:09
Important things:
* Just as you should not read The Fortunate Fall if you want a romantic Happily Ever After, you should not read What We Are Seeking if you want a book which neatly ties up all its plot threads.
It's not quite in the same league of non-resolution as Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand (my beloved), but.
Assorted important things happen; the initial situation is radically changed; key decisions are made and alliances are formed. How it will play out is something that will clearly evolve over subsequent years and decades, but the book chooses to leave it at that moment of resolve rather than resolution, with the crucial shifts being internal and interpersonal.
* As an author, Cameron Reed may be the most "not aromantic but she believes in their beliefs" I've ever encountered.
Romantic love is a very real thing in her work, but it doesn't sway the moral or narrative universe of her novels in the way we're trained to expect (and the presence of an explicitly aro character in What We Are Seeking is not accidental).
I love this SO FUCKING MUCH.
* John Maraintha and Iren and Laura and Suddharma and Vo and Pirro andBlue Green.
* Just as you should not read The Fortunate Fall if you want a romantic Happily Ever After, you should not read What We Are Seeking if you want a book which neatly ties up all its plot threads.
It's not quite in the same league of non-resolution as Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand (my beloved), but.
Assorted important things happen; the initial situation is radically changed; key decisions are made and alliances are formed. How it will play out is something that will clearly evolve over subsequent years and decades, but the book chooses to leave it at that moment of resolve rather than resolution, with the crucial shifts being internal and interpersonal.
* As an author, Cameron Reed may be the most "not aromantic but she believes in their beliefs" I've ever encountered.
Romantic love is a very real thing in her work, but it doesn't sway the moral or narrative universe of her novels in the way we're trained to expect (and the presence of an explicitly aro character in What We Are Seeking is not accidental).
I love this SO FUCKING MUCH.
* John Maraintha and Iren and Laura and Suddharma and Vo and Pirro and
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Friday, May 8th, 2026 19:43
1. It's the weekend again! I am looking forward to it, but unlike last week I am not feeling crushed by stress, both because of the decision I made regarging my future position, but also because this was just a much better week at work in general.
2. Carla got her toenail removed this morning with no issue. However, she made the mistake of going to Costco afterwards and walking around for an hour so it kind of bled a lot. But she gave it a good soak tonight and we'll rebandage it and try and be more careful tomorrow. She's had issues with this nail for over ten years, just from a single incident of wearing slightly too tight shoes on a day with a lot of walking and standing, and it just hasn't gotten better in all that time, so it's good to finally get the old nail off and hopefully the new one growing underneath will be in better shape. We probably won't be going to Ikea tomorrow after all, though. :p
3. The old cardboard scratcher lounger we'd put out for Tuxie a couple months ago got ruined in the rain, so we bought him a new one and he seems quite taken with it.
2. Carla got her toenail removed this morning with no issue. However, she made the mistake of going to Costco afterwards and walking around for an hour so it kind of bled a lot. But she gave it a good soak tonight and we'll rebandage it and try and be more careful tomorrow. She's had issues with this nail for over ten years, just from a single incident of wearing slightly too tight shoes on a day with a lot of walking and standing, and it just hasn't gotten better in all that time, so it's good to finally get the old nail off and hopefully the new one growing underneath will be in better shape. We probably won't be going to Ikea tomorrow after all, though. :p
3. The old cardboard scratcher lounger we'd put out for Tuxie a couple months ago got ruined in the rain, so we bought him a new one and he seems quite taken with it.
Tags:
Friday, May 8th, 2026 17:52
Recently Finished
Mystery at the Manor
Third in the Montgomery Bonbon middle grade mystery series. I really like these and am looking forward to the next, as apparently two had been released since the last time I checked on it!
Jesus Land
Memoir about a white woman whose Christian parents adopted a couple of black boys in the 70s, despite being incredibly racist. The blurb makes it sound like it's mostly going to be about the time she and one of the boys were sent to a reform school in the Caribbean, but it's as much about their time before that, too, and their home life that was just as abusive (physically and mentally) as the reform school.
How to Cheat Your Own Death
Third in the Castle Knoll Files series. I continue to enjoy these, and this book set up the next one, so I'm looking forward to that as well.
The Smart Girl's Guide to Revenge
The MC was betrayed by her con artist husband and is just out of jail and looking for revenge. I liked this, but there were multiple instances of the MC lying/trying to misdirect the reader, so I was really worried that it was going to turn out she really had been working with her husband all along and was going to get back together with him, but thankfully not.
Murder by Memory
Sci-fi murder mystery novella, the first in a new series, set on a spaceship traveling hundreds of years to its destination. I enjoyed this a lot and have already requested the sequel from the library.
The Silent Ones
Two ten year old cousins are accused of bludeoning an old woman to death. The entire family is immediately condemned by their entire town, but a therapist brought in to try and get the girls to talk has her doubts. This was a decent read, but the twists and turns ended up getting kind of far fetched by the end.
Skip and Loafer vol. 13
Mystery at the Manor
Third in the Montgomery Bonbon middle grade mystery series. I really like these and am looking forward to the next, as apparently two had been released since the last time I checked on it!
Jesus Land
Memoir about a white woman whose Christian parents adopted a couple of black boys in the 70s, despite being incredibly racist. The blurb makes it sound like it's mostly going to be about the time she and one of the boys were sent to a reform school in the Caribbean, but it's as much about their time before that, too, and their home life that was just as abusive (physically and mentally) as the reform school.
How to Cheat Your Own Death
Third in the Castle Knoll Files series. I continue to enjoy these, and this book set up the next one, so I'm looking forward to that as well.
The Smart Girl's Guide to Revenge
The MC was betrayed by her con artist husband and is just out of jail and looking for revenge. I liked this, but there were multiple instances of the MC lying/trying to misdirect the reader, so I was really worried that it was going to turn out she really had been working with her husband all along and was going to get back together with him, but thankfully not.
Murder by Memory
Sci-fi murder mystery novella, the first in a new series, set on a spaceship traveling hundreds of years to its destination. I enjoyed this a lot and have already requested the sequel from the library.
The Silent Ones
Two ten year old cousins are accused of bludeoning an old woman to death. The entire family is immediately condemned by their entire town, but a therapist brought in to try and get the girls to talk has her doubts. This was a decent read, but the twists and turns ended up getting kind of far fetched by the end.
Skip and Loafer vol. 13
Tags:
Friday, May 8th, 2026 23:15
On the personal front, I've been low-grade sick for a while. ( health stuff )
*
So, I watched S2 of The Pitt and I have thoughts. A lot of them are thinky thoughts about meta narratives and, because I enjoy the show so much, where I think it does poorly, so you know. FYI this is the content below the cut.
( spoilers for The Pitt S2 )
*
So, I watched S2 of The Pitt and I have thoughts. A lot of them are thinky thoughts about meta narratives and, because I enjoy the show so much, where I think it does poorly, so you know. FYI this is the content below the cut.
( spoilers for The Pitt S2 )
Tags:
Friday, May 8th, 2026 21:35
One: the Greens now have five seats on my borough council, up from none. ( Brief further local politics. )
Two: we took ourselves out on a walk this evening; A spotted a deer, we followed it further into the trees, and spent a fun little while following deer (&c) paths through what looked like... they might perhaps once have been greenhouses on half-brick walls? but with proper big trees growing up through them now and zero evidence of any glass or metal frames or anything remaining! Had no idea that was all in there; hurrah for Tiny Explore :)
Three: I have got my bike baaaaaaasically back to working order (I might need to replace the rear brake cable, which is tedious, but braking is actually extant), and am looking forward to taking advantage of the increased mobility it provides!
Four: spent the afternoon inhaling the new Murderbot. That's definitely a Murderbot.
Five: more rye-caraway-poppy bread, including an end-of-loaf with my mother's fig jam and the fancy goats' cheese I got to have with asparagus yesterday. (The nice shop human warned me that it was best before the 11th, and was that okay? I explained that that Would Not Be A Problem. I am very much enjoying causing it to Not Be A Problem.)
Thursday, May 7th, 2026 22:09
We didn't go to Disneyland last weekend because we were going to go to Universal Studios and then skipped it because of Jasper stress, and we're not going this weekend because Carla has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and might get her big toenail removed and might not want to be walking a lot after that, so we decided to do a weeknight trip.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
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Thursday, May 7th, 2026 21:37
1. I got an email from the bike shop this afternoon that they've received the bikes and need a couple days to put them together, so hopefully we should be able to pick them up this weekend! Still haven't sold Carla's old bike, but I did get another inquiry on Nextdoor today, so hopefully they actually follow up on my reply.
2. We were planning on going to Disneyland this weekend, but Carla has a doctor's appointment tomorrow that might result in getting her big toenail removed, and she wasn't sure she'd want to be doing a lot of walking the next day, so we went down tonight for dinner instead and had a very nice time. The sun was still out while we were there, but the temps were pleasant and it wasn't too busy.
3. Sister time!
2. We were planning on going to Disneyland this weekend, but Carla has a doctor's appointment tomorrow that might result in getting her big toenail removed, and she wasn't sure she'd want to be doing a lot of walking the next day, so we went down tonight for dinner instead and had a very nice time. The sun was still out while we were there, but the temps were pleasant and it wasn't too busy.
3. Sister time!
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Thursday, May 7th, 2026 18:49
norabombay is visiting! We hung out yesterday afternoon and had dinner. Additional dinner plans for tonight.
Thursday, May 7th, 2026 23:37
One: bread/avocado/scramble breakfast exactly as good as I had been looking forward to, with bonus realisation that we currently have some plum jam open so I got to finish with the rye-caraway-poppy (still mostly white wheat but those were the flavours) + butter + plum jam and this, too, was magnificent. (Bonus food excellence: ASPARAGUS that is now in season; some brownie bar + strawberries.)
Two: gym!!! I made the decision that the traffic was awful enough that buses would be a bad idea so I got bonus admiration of some excellent front gardens I have been otherwise oblivious to, and also observed More Coot Eggs.
Three: Murderbot is apparently managing to occupy a sweet spot in terms of complexity and degree of emotional engagement that means I'm actually managing to read the new one. (Bookshop.org very much does NOT have the ebook in the UK store so I even don't feel bad that I forgot it existed until after I'd given Kobo money.)
Four: post-therapy treat was Completing The Speedrun Achievement for the arcane library game, thereby sorting me out with All achievements, so I am now probably ready to contentedly move on.
Five: spent a chunk of the evening removing labels from the Child's clothing, and it is very very nice to know that his life will be materially improved as a result.
Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 19:43
1. They opened an Ikea near us! Previously the closest ones were about twenty miles away, but this one is more like five. We need to get another shelf for in the garage (Carla's album collection has grown beyond the shelf its been sharing with my puzzles), so we're going to go check it out this weekend.
2. Yesterday at work I heard a song playing and shazammed it and found out that Damiano David of Maneskin has a solo career, so when I got home I gave his album a listen and it's really good! The song I heard at work was Zombie Lady and I think it might be my favorite off the album but there are a lot of other great tracks, too.
3. Jasper being a brave boy at the vet on Monday.
2. Yesterday at work I heard a song playing and shazammed it and found out that Damiano David of Maneskin has a solo career, so when I got home I gave his album a listen and it's really good! The song I heard at work was Zombie Lady and I think it might be my favorite off the album but there are a lot of other great tracks, too.
3. Jasper being a brave boy at the vet on Monday.
Tags:
Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 23:00
One: I have spent much of the day indulging the desire to Quietly Hyperfocus On Game and it has been a very relaxing autism to have.
Two: I have finished the questionable Ryvita we... somehow... came into possession of (I apparently object to things that are not salt & vinegar extruded potato twirls containing potassium chloride) and can now merrily go back to overpriced high protein crackers until such time as I get around to buying vital wheat gluten with which to make my own.
Three: two loaves of bread (because I strained a Lot of whey off the most recent batch of yoghurt), which are a slightly silly set of shapes but also extremely aesthetic. I am very much looking forward to extravagant breakfast featuring avocado and also scrambled egg. (New oven needs less time to do them than old one; new oven also would ideally get them rotated halfway through baking if I want them done evenly. I am trying to work out what the best way to freeze the second loaf is...)
Four: Adam brought me home British strawberries from the supermarket, all with their petals still attached.
Five: new Murderbot purchased. (When I will get around to reading it is another question, but the possibility exists!)
Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 20:14
1. I got a call from the vet this afternoon and Jasper has a clean bill of health. No crystals in his urine and kidney function is good, so she agreed that it's almost certainly just stress related and we'll continue to try and avoid any possible triggers for him.
2. I actually had a chance to bring up my work decision totally naturally with my former supervisor, as we were talking and he was wondering how much longer I was going to be on this project, so I was like, the thing is, after the project is over, I don't want to go back to being area manager, and explained my decision. He was bummed, but very supportive. I didn't talk to my current supervisor about it because frankly I don't really like him that much and it doesn't really concern him, since once the project is over I would not be in his department anymore anyway (though technically he is now sort of acting vice president so it all concerns him but still). Anyway, I continue to feel good about verbalizing it and making it more real, since having that to look forward to does help to reduce the current stress.
Also last week I felt really stressed and directionless about work, even though it was nice to work from home, but today I had several productive discussions with people and am generally feeling better about the project overall.
3. Yesterday Ollie found (and ate) two spiders! Lucky boy! One of them was under the shoe rack, apparently.
2. I actually had a chance to bring up my work decision totally naturally with my former supervisor, as we were talking and he was wondering how much longer I was going to be on this project, so I was like, the thing is, after the project is over, I don't want to go back to being area manager, and explained my decision. He was bummed, but very supportive. I didn't talk to my current supervisor about it because frankly I don't really like him that much and it doesn't really concern him, since once the project is over I would not be in his department anymore anyway (though technically he is now sort of acting vice president so it all concerns him but still). Anyway, I continue to feel good about verbalizing it and making it more real, since having that to look forward to does help to reduce the current stress.
Also last week I felt really stressed and directionless about work, even though it was nice to work from home, but today I had several productive discussions with people and am generally feeling better about the project overall.
3. Yesterday Ollie found (and ate) two spiders! Lucky boy! One of them was under the shoe rack, apparently.
Tags:
Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 22:24
The other highlight of the day was my ongoing experiments on myself with respect to movement, which I had intended to witter about, but (1) it got late and (2) when I came to actually look up "neuromuscular/movement patterning" as terms for That Thing about The Process Of Learning Physical Skills I could... only find a bunch of people selling movement coaching services. Working out what the academic terminology for this is: now on my infinite todo list.
(tl;dr I made a back muscle very unhappy a few years ago now; ever since it has been prone to Twinges but not actual dysfunction, which I've been interpreting as Nerves Primed To Go AAAAH; managed to push it past twinge into persistent unhappiness on Saturday, and have spent the past few days playing around with how it responds to various kinds of movement in terms of better/worse/about the same...)
Monday, May 4th, 2026 17:04
1. Yesterday I was feeling majorly stressed out by multiple things, but today I'm feeling much better.
2. One thing was this whole pee issue with Jasper. ( long )
3. I have also been majorly stressed about work recently. Well, it's actually been for several years, but I'm feeling it more and more, not necessarily because things are more stressful but just because of the buildup, and the whole world in general is adding so much stress as well. I'd been thinking more and more seriously about what I want to do when this project I'm working on ends. I don't think I want to go back to area manager as that is a pretty stressful position, especially now that the economy is not great and the stores are struggling. I would also like to be closer to home, so I've been thinking about stepping down to a department leader position at the store closest to me.
( also long )
So just making that decision, even if it doesn't change anything right now, has made me less stressed out.
4. Molly was writhing around with that toy just moments before I took the pic.
2. One thing was this whole pee issue with Jasper. ( long )
3. I have also been majorly stressed about work recently. Well, it's actually been for several years, but I'm feeling it more and more, not necessarily because things are more stressful but just because of the buildup, and the whole world in general is adding so much stress as well. I'd been thinking more and more seriously about what I want to do when this project I'm working on ends. I don't think I want to go back to area manager as that is a pretty stressful position, especially now that the economy is not great and the stores are struggling. I would also like to be closer to home, so I've been thinking about stepping down to a department leader position at the store closest to me.
( also long )
So just making that decision, even if it doesn't change anything right now, has made me less stressed out.
4. Molly was writhing around with that toy just moments before I took the pic.
Tags:
Monday, May 4th, 2026 17:19
I'm increasingly bogged down in a mindset where if I didn't do a thing yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before that... it doesn't matter if I don't do it today either. There's always tomorrow.
The only areas where I've been consistently making progress and meeting deadlines are with yarn crafting and book reading. For the latter, I set a goal of getting my number of checked-out library books under 5, which I did last week, and rereading the most recent Murderbot story, which I just now finished. The new one comes out tomorrow. Then I'm going to reread at least the end of the most recent Dungeon Crawler Carl book, because the next installment in that series comes out on the 12th, and that's a big reason why I haven't been in a rush yet to cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
I had been making good progress on working through my backlog of podcast episodes when I was driving Connor an hour each way to school twice a week, but now that he's home until August, I have to remember to find time for them while I'm sitting around the house. Otherwise I'll end up eight months behind again.
Will had gotten me started playing the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door that came out nearly two years ago, but a couple of days ago he disappeared into the new Tomodachi Life game, so it'll probably be a while before he relinquishes the Switch. Meanwhile, Connor has taken more-or-less permanent custody of the Steam Deck. I saw that there was a new LEGO Batman game coming out soon, but it appears to require upgrading either the Switch or the PS4, and that doesn't seem worth the expense and hassle as long as there are lots of other games in the house I haven't finished.
My local friends are excited about the new Mandalorian movie coming out later this month, but I never found time to watch any episodes of the show, so I would be going in blind if I went to see it with them, and I hate doing that. I don't suppose anyone has created a condensed recap?
I'm really glad that I opted out of this year's Carmina Burana performance; apparently it's been a total shitshow behind the scenes. I did get a free ticket from H&P to attend one of the concerts this week, so hopefully it will come together at the last minute.
The only areas where I've been consistently making progress and meeting deadlines are with yarn crafting and book reading. For the latter, I set a goal of getting my number of checked-out library books under 5, which I did last week, and rereading the most recent Murderbot story, which I just now finished. The new one comes out tomorrow. Then I'm going to reread at least the end of the most recent Dungeon Crawler Carl book, because the next installment in that series comes out on the 12th, and that's a big reason why I haven't been in a rush yet to cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
I had been making good progress on working through my backlog of podcast episodes when I was driving Connor an hour each way to school twice a week, but now that he's home until August, I have to remember to find time for them while I'm sitting around the house. Otherwise I'll end up eight months behind again.
Will had gotten me started playing the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door that came out nearly two years ago, but a couple of days ago he disappeared into the new Tomodachi Life game, so it'll probably be a while before he relinquishes the Switch. Meanwhile, Connor has taken more-or-less permanent custody of the Steam Deck. I saw that there was a new LEGO Batman game coming out soon, but it appears to require upgrading either the Switch or the PS4, and that doesn't seem worth the expense and hassle as long as there are lots of other games in the house I haven't finished.
My local friends are excited about the new Mandalorian movie coming out later this month, but I never found time to watch any episodes of the show, so I would be going in blind if I went to see it with them, and I hate doing that. I don't suppose anyone has created a condensed recap?
I'm really glad that I opted out of this year's Carmina Burana performance; apparently it's been a total shitshow behind the scenes. I did get a free ticket from H&P to attend one of the concerts this week, so hopefully it will come together at the last minute.
Monday, May 4th, 2026 23:10
Tags:
Monday, May 4th, 2026 13:45
USJ has a 1.5 day pass, which seemed like the right fit for us. Honestly, I think the single day would have been fine, too, but this let us have the first afternoon to sort of scope out the park and get the lay of the land so we could navigate better on the next day. If we go again, I'd just do the single day, since we're now familiar with the layout.
( Exploring the park )
( Exploring the park )
Tags:
Monday, May 4th, 2026 11:12
People need to read Cameron Reed's What We Are Seeking because I need to have a discussion group, okay? Also it's extremely good.
I've just started listening to the Wizards vs. Lesbians ep on it, and am very pleased that they independently ping on Le Guin and Delany as reference points, and also accurately summarize its timeslip quality by saying it's "from the '70s if the '70s were 2026."
Also they clearly love John Maraintha, which is very important because he's delightful.
I tried to describe the book tovass by saying that it's like picking up a beautiful object -- I'm visualizing some sort of carved stone sculpture or ceramic item -- and finding out that its centre of gravity is wildly different (both in weight and location) from what your hands instinctively anticipated from its appearance.
And it's not a bait-and-switch! The book's initial premise is that it's about a human colony on an alien planet discovering a potentially-sapient species and urgently needing to find out if they are sapient, establish communication (if possible), and manage this First Contact correctly because there are dire consequences if they fuck it up (yes, a retro classic*).
And the book is in fact very much about that, and it drives many of the events that ensue. It is not at any point not about that, and its themes of communication, colonialism, and adaptation to an alien world are, well ... everything the book is about.
It has some casually-spectacular world-building, and a sequence involving a dangerous journey and struggle for survival in an alien landscape which stands up next to any in the canon (including an action sequence which genuinely made me make a noise of startlement and alarm OUT LOUD while reading).
And nonetheless, the scene which I would consider the emotional climax of the book, its great pivot point, is -- well, I refuse to describe it because of spoilers, but it's fair to say that it's not anything you'd ever expect from the above descriptions. It's so bold, in the quietest way.
{*I enjoy the book immediately explaining that alien life on this planet has a weird reproductive cycle, because OBVIOUSLY IT HAS A WEIRD REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE, we've read sf before; that is not being saved to be the Big Reveal.}
ETA: Free sample! Read the first two chapters here!
https://civilianreader.com/2026/03/17/excerpt-what-we-are-seeking-by-cameron-reed-tor-books/
I've just started listening to the Wizards vs. Lesbians ep on it, and am very pleased that they independently ping on Le Guin and Delany as reference points, and also accurately summarize its timeslip quality by saying it's "from the '70s if the '70s were 2026."
Also they clearly love John Maraintha, which is very important because he's delightful.
I tried to describe the book to
vass by saying that it's like picking up a beautiful object -- I'm visualizing some sort of carved stone sculpture or ceramic item -- and finding out that its centre of gravity is wildly different (both in weight and location) from what your hands instinctively anticipated from its appearance.And it's not a bait-and-switch! The book's initial premise is that it's about a human colony on an alien planet discovering a potentially-sapient species and urgently needing to find out if they are sapient, establish communication (if possible), and manage this First Contact correctly because there are dire consequences if they fuck it up (yes, a retro classic*).
And the book is in fact very much about that, and it drives many of the events that ensue. It is not at any point not about that, and its themes of communication, colonialism, and adaptation to an alien world are, well ... everything the book is about.
It has some casually-spectacular world-building, and a sequence involving a dangerous journey and struggle for survival in an alien landscape which stands up next to any in the canon (including an action sequence which genuinely made me make a noise of startlement and alarm OUT LOUD while reading).
And nonetheless, the scene which I would consider the emotional climax of the book, its great pivot point, is -- well, I refuse to describe it because of spoilers, but it's fair to say that it's not anything you'd ever expect from the above descriptions. It's so bold, in the quietest way.
{*I enjoy the book immediately explaining that alien life on this planet has a weird reproductive cycle, because OBVIOUSLY IT HAS A WEIRD REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE, we've read sf before; that is not being saved to be the Big Reveal.}
ETA: Free sample! Read the first two chapters here!
https://civilianreader.com/2026/03/17/excerpt-what-we-are-seeking-by-cameron-reed-tor-books/
Tags:
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 20:33
1. The weather recently has been nice and overcast. It's been very nice for taking walks and not getting overheated.
2. Tuxie's a sweetie guy.
2. Tuxie's a sweetie guy.
Tags:
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 22:06
Reading. I am up to AUGUST 2025 in my She's A Beast back-catalogue catch-up. Will I be able to read Anything Else At All Soon? Maybe?
Among several library holds that have now turned up (... ulp) I have technically started Run Towards the Danger (Sarah Polley), another memoir about embodiment, which I... suspect was recced via SAB one way or another. By "technically" I mean "I am a couple of pages into the preface, and trying to decide whether the formatting fuckery is worth sticking through".
Writing. So. many. e-mails. about. objects. and I have barely even Started the damn Object E-mails good grief.
Progress on Book also continues (look at me not using qualifiers!). Currently I am slightly going in circles about (1) how much background I need to give on why I think "biopsychosocial" can be a useful frame at least to the extent of providing structure for the first big chunk of the book, (2) what you've got to be very careful you're doing if you want that to be the case, and (3) whether I need to engage in depth with the goddamn philosophy of it all in re e.g. "it's not a model if it doesn't have predictive power" (which I am extremely inclined to sidestep by just......... calling it a frame).
Playing. ... we have tripped and fallen and are playing Librarian: Tidy up the arcane library. Initially we were co-playing with A doing most of the driving and me going LOOK THERE'S A PATTERN-- but then it became apparent that my ideal mode of gameplay (keyboard rather than controller, Manually Shelve Each Book Individually) is not compatible with A's (controller rather than keyboard, Use All The Magic). So I got a second copy. And have been playing through it merrily and slowly. To my amusement it turns out that my specific bullshit here............ gets you the rarest of the Steam achievements. (I am about 2/3 of the way through shelving, and things are speeding up substantially in more or less the same way as they do with jigsaw puzzles. This has eaten my brain and I really really need to do Other Things that are Not This but gosh it gets quiet in here when Allow The Brain To Just Focus. Will I do any further rounds of it? Unclear.)
Cooking. Continue to appreciate braised chickpeas in all their forms (still v keen on Adding A Tin Of Artichokes to the party).
Eating. Had my second hundoburger, which I had deferred until after E1, for the purposes of having an additional day where I didn't need to think about food. Also: STRAWBERRIES; bakery brunch (feat. both the bread pudding and the cardamom bun); ... almost certainly other things but the brain it says no.
Exploring. Bakery brunch featured a detour to visit a red horse chestnut I'd spotted from the bus on my way back from yesterday's hospital appointment, and also pointing out to A the pink bits on some of the flowers on the standard horse chestnuts on the way there.
Technically Finchley Memorial hospital, but mostly I got on a bus I was familiar with and played sudoku to keep myself vaguely calm, and then I managed to NOT panic and get onto a bus going in entirely the wrong direction by dint of it pulling out of the stop sufficiently far ahead of me there was no way I was gonna catch up with it, and then got the unfamiliar bus in the correct direction and... spent significantly more of that panicking quietly. There was definitely A Point at which, it having become apparent that the bus was On Diversion and Not Following Its Usual Route and None Of The Normal Stops Were Happening, I equally quietly Gave Up and decided this was simply going to be yet another hospital service I got discharged from for being disabled, BUT in fact that service TERMINATED at the hospital (and was the only one serving it!!!) so it did get there in the end. I would still prefer to not do that journey again please and thank you, even though I did per the above spot a convenient local red horse chestnut on the return leg, and for that matter several dramatic wisteria hidden from road level but NOT from upper-deck-of-bus level.
Growing. A took me to the allotment this afternoon! The josta is setting quite a lot of fruit and the cherry is even managing some despite my utter failure to water them! I put some marigold seeds in the ground in between rows of broad beans though this is clearly futile because the red ants are already Very Definitely farming on them; the oca in the bottom half of that bed are starting to come up despite the utter lack of watering, as above; none of the seedlings at home died while we were away; ... I did some weeding?
Observing. BABY BIRDS incl. cootlets going WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK all the way up and down the river; the Egyptian goslings are now at the stage of mostly having vaguely competent adult plumage coming in but still managing to turn into balls of ungainly fluff when they sit down; a second batch of coot eggs is being Definitively Incubated. We did not see the duckle again but we did see a very small starling. It was a very pleasant brunch down by the aqueduct.
Tags:
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 23:09
The 2025 Most Banned and Challenged List for the American Library Association is out, and the most telling statistic in the report is not what books are there, or what justifications their censors gave for the censorship, but that fully 92% of challenges recorded by ALA originated in pressure and political groups, lawmakers, and administrators. Less than 3 percent of challenges were issued by individual parents. What brings all these boys to the yard? Well, think about it: Capitalists want to enclose the commons and turn it private, so they can control it and force it to their will, and the United States Public Library is a commons.
Billionaires and the wealthy who want to say that their superintelligent AIs will eventually go rogue are also trying to genetically engineer humans to be smarter than those superintelligent AIs, and just about everywhere you look that they've put their money into, it isn't into things like trying to make healthier people, it's trying to make the children of the wealthy into having all the genetic advances and traits, and the rest of us will just be left behind by their super-genius statuses.
Given that these are people who like to post manifestos about they are already the superior people in the superior culture and we all have to bow down to them and let them do whatever they want, I think this is definitely one of those situations where trust is less than the distance someone could throw.
The public bench seems humble and ubiquitous, and yet it is neither, with a long history and significant amounts of contention involved about public seating and which members of the public are allowed to be seated. When benches aren't being removed, they're often having their architecture turned hostile to try and prevent people from sitting for long or for using a bench as a place to catch a nap or to sleep off the ground for a night. Because the cause of the problem is placed in the bodies of the people who might not have a house to go home to, or whose life activities are related to crime and vice because they have no other opportunities to make a living. Those doing the placing, of course, do not believe they are doing anything wrong, or worse, callously believe that they are not obligated in any way to any other person but themselves, and therefore, they are allowed to dictate who they want to see and what they want to be reminded of in their public spaces.
The goal of liberalism is to make all bodies invisible in the eyes of the law, but the way that people are liberated from oppression and bindings often imposed by law is through mutuality. Law has a role to play in this situation, and often that role is in highlighting and making highly visible the bodies that it considers to be illiberal. Law can lay foundations for others to implement toward mutuality, but as we have seen, and as the article-writer points out, law cannot require anything by itself, and those who have been chosen to interpret and enforce law are often the ones deciding for or against mutuality.
( More of men behaving badly, and the repercussions of having let men behave badly in the past )
Last out for tonight, a reminder to put accessibility into your social media as much as possible, so please provide transcripts, describe your images, and the like, so that everyone who's on your social media or enjoying the content can access it..
And A project that is offering clinicians and others guides on thinking of seemingly disparate conditions in people as constellations because of the likelihood of their co-occurrence with autism or ADHD. And to think of them as constellations because trying to treat one of them well might exacerbate another.
(Materials viaadrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Billionaires and the wealthy who want to say that their superintelligent AIs will eventually go rogue are also trying to genetically engineer humans to be smarter than those superintelligent AIs, and just about everywhere you look that they've put their money into, it isn't into things like trying to make healthier people, it's trying to make the children of the wealthy into having all the genetic advances and traits, and the rest of us will just be left behind by their super-genius statuses.
Given that these are people who like to post manifestos about they are already the superior people in the superior culture and we all have to bow down to them and let them do whatever they want, I think this is definitely one of those situations where trust is less than the distance someone could throw.
The public bench seems humble and ubiquitous, and yet it is neither, with a long history and significant amounts of contention involved about public seating and which members of the public are allowed to be seated. When benches aren't being removed, they're often having their architecture turned hostile to try and prevent people from sitting for long or for using a bench as a place to catch a nap or to sleep off the ground for a night. Because the cause of the problem is placed in the bodies of the people who might not have a house to go home to, or whose life activities are related to crime and vice because they have no other opportunities to make a living. Those doing the placing, of course, do not believe they are doing anything wrong, or worse, callously believe that they are not obligated in any way to any other person but themselves, and therefore, they are allowed to dictate who they want to see and what they want to be reminded of in their public spaces.
The goal of liberalism is to make all bodies invisible in the eyes of the law, but the way that people are liberated from oppression and bindings often imposed by law is through mutuality. Law has a role to play in this situation, and often that role is in highlighting and making highly visible the bodies that it considers to be illiberal. Law can lay foundations for others to implement toward mutuality, but as we have seen, and as the article-writer points out, law cannot require anything by itself, and those who have been chosen to interpret and enforce law are often the ones deciding for or against mutuality.
( More of men behaving badly, and the repercussions of having let men behave badly in the past )
Last out for tonight, a reminder to put accessibility into your social media as much as possible, so please provide transcripts, describe your images, and the like, so that everyone who's on your social media or enjoying the content can access it..
And A project that is offering clinicians and others guides on thinking of seemingly disparate conditions in people as constellations because of the likelihood of their co-occurrence with autism or ADHD. And to think of them as constellations because trying to treat one of them well might exacerbate another.
(Materials via
adrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 19:45
1. We went down to the bike shop today and bought ebikes! We both got the Velotric Discover 3 in green (Carla's is a large and mine's a regular, so still easy to tell apart despite the same color). It's a fairly small shop, so they had to order them, but we should be able to pick them up by the end of next week.
2. Across the street from the bike shop is a pizza place that looked enticing, so we went over there for lunch after. We got three slices to share, but their slices are huge and cut up into three pieces each, so we had some to take home.
One was acorn squash, one was potato, sage, and truffle, and the last was proscuitto, pineapple, and jalapeño. All three were delicious, but the potato might be my favorite. I wish more places had potato pizza around here.
3. A couple months ago I saw a post about how Microsoft was going to be raising the price of the Office 365 subscription due to all their unnecessary AI stuff, but that the non-subscription version of Office was on sale. Since I don't need more than the basics, the non-subscription version really is fine and I'm not sure why I didn't get that to begin with. So I bought it and then as it got closer to my renewal time, I went to cancel the subscription only to find I couldn't. I purchased this over ten years ago and did the subscription through the Excel app itself, which apparently charged me through Best Buy, but didn't actually set me up a Best Buy account or anything. I've been paying for it every year through auto-renew, but have no access to any subscriptions on Best Buy, and according to Microsoft, since it was purchased through them, that's the only way to manage my subscription. Best Buy chat and phone customer service was unable to help with this weird issue, and just suggested I cancel the credit card so that the next auto-renew bounces. So yesterday I reported my card lost and now I have the annoyance of having to redo the card info on any sites I was using it on, but at least I won't have this stupid subscription anymore.
4. Speaking of subscriptions, I finally bit the bullet and cancelled Netflix. We really never use it but I keep thinking about some Netflix shows like Disenchantment that I want to watch again, but they raised their prices again and I really don't want to pay $20 a month just because at some point I might want to rewatch one or two shows. So it's done. If we want to rewatch something, we can torrent it.
5. I put our old bikes up on Nextdoor last week and got a flurry of scammy responses about Carla's bike but no real takers (and none at all for mine), so I put them both up on Craigslist today and mine sold right away. I paid like $400 for it originally but it's been 12 years so even though it's in great shape, I just listed it for $100.
6. One of the Little Libraries we passed on our walk tonight had some puzzles in it so I brought two of them home with me. Not so exciting that I would have bought them on my own, but for free puzzles, they seemed nice enough.
7. It's hard to see, but Chloe's got a little blep going on.
2. Across the street from the bike shop is a pizza place that looked enticing, so we went over there for lunch after. We got three slices to share, but their slices are huge and cut up into three pieces each, so we had some to take home.
One was acorn squash, one was potato, sage, and truffle, and the last was proscuitto, pineapple, and jalapeño. All three were delicious, but the potato might be my favorite. I wish more places had potato pizza around here.
3. A couple months ago I saw a post about how Microsoft was going to be raising the price of the Office 365 subscription due to all their unnecessary AI stuff, but that the non-subscription version of Office was on sale. Since I don't need more than the basics, the non-subscription version really is fine and I'm not sure why I didn't get that to begin with. So I bought it and then as it got closer to my renewal time, I went to cancel the subscription only to find I couldn't. I purchased this over ten years ago and did the subscription through the Excel app itself, which apparently charged me through Best Buy, but didn't actually set me up a Best Buy account or anything. I've been paying for it every year through auto-renew, but have no access to any subscriptions on Best Buy, and according to Microsoft, since it was purchased through them, that's the only way to manage my subscription. Best Buy chat and phone customer service was unable to help with this weird issue, and just suggested I cancel the credit card so that the next auto-renew bounces. So yesterday I reported my card lost and now I have the annoyance of having to redo the card info on any sites I was using it on, but at least I won't have this stupid subscription anymore.
4. Speaking of subscriptions, I finally bit the bullet and cancelled Netflix. We really never use it but I keep thinking about some Netflix shows like Disenchantment that I want to watch again, but they raised their prices again and I really don't want to pay $20 a month just because at some point I might want to rewatch one or two shows. So it's done. If we want to rewatch something, we can torrent it.
5. I put our old bikes up on Nextdoor last week and got a flurry of scammy responses about Carla's bike but no real takers (and none at all for mine), so I put them both up on Craigslist today and mine sold right away. I paid like $400 for it originally but it's been 12 years so even though it's in great shape, I just listed it for $100.
6. One of the Little Libraries we passed on our walk tonight had some puzzles in it so I brought two of them home with me. Not so exciting that I would have bought them on my own, but for free puzzles, they seemed nice enough.
7. It's hard to see, but Chloe's got a little blep going on.
Tags:
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 23:45
Today I have:
- successfully navigated some unfamiliar-to-me public transport with only the normal amount of panic
- MADE IT TO THE GYM post-unfamiliar-public-transport (having been Indisposed this morning, when I had planned to--)
- achievement unlocked: asked to borrow a pair of dumbbells from a much-stronger-than-me human For One Set while they were resting (because warm-up); they were a delight
- achievement unlocked: politely asked the human in the next rack if I could have the yellow plates they... seemed highly unlikely to use
- ... tripped and fell into Computer Game instead of doing most of the afternoon/early evening things I had grand plans about...
- and we UNFUCKED THE KITCHEN SOME, good job us.
(Everything is still very much a post-event disaster, but. Made food ate food made a stand against the forces of entropy. It Is Well.)
Friday, May 1st, 2026 19:56
1. It's the weekend! I have been feeling very stressed about work lately and now I have two days where I don't have to think about it. Yay!
2. Last year Carla got a Franz Ferdinand CD box set that came with a reusable cloth shopping bag and it has short handles and also a long strap so it can be worn crossbody and it has become my favorite shopping bag because it's so comfortable! Shoulder straps always fall off my shoulder or are just uncomfortable but this is like wearing nothing at all (queue sexy Flanders meme).
Anyway, it was in the wash yesterday when I wanted to use it (cat pee again...our fault for leaving a pile of shopping bags out on an area where he'd peed before, even if it had been cleaned with enzyme cleaner) so I went looking online for any similar crossbody shopping bags so I could have a backup in the future and while the pickings were very slim, I did find one that looked about right and it arrived today and is perfect! It's this bag, specifically in the blue cat print, if it doesn't go directly to that one. It's a smallish size, which is what I want, and folds down super small and doesn't have a bunch of extra pockets or anything. I just want a small, simple bag with a crossbody strap, but apparently no one else does because this is like the only one I found that was just right (the others were all too large or too complicated or both).
3. I love Gemma's curly tail so much.
2. Last year Carla got a Franz Ferdinand CD box set that came with a reusable cloth shopping bag and it has short handles and also a long strap so it can be worn crossbody and it has become my favorite shopping bag because it's so comfortable! Shoulder straps always fall off my shoulder or are just uncomfortable but this is like wearing nothing at all (queue sexy Flanders meme).
Anyway, it was in the wash yesterday when I wanted to use it (cat pee again...our fault for leaving a pile of shopping bags out on an area where he'd peed before, even if it had been cleaned with enzyme cleaner) so I went looking online for any similar crossbody shopping bags so I could have a backup in the future and while the pickings were very slim, I did find one that looked about right and it arrived today and is perfect! It's this bag, specifically in the blue cat print, if it doesn't go directly to that one. It's a smallish size, which is what I want, and folds down super small and doesn't have a bunch of extra pockets or anything. I just want a small, simple bag with a crossbody strap, but apparently no one else does because this is like the only one I found that was just right (the others were all too large or too complicated or both).
3. I love Gemma's curly tail so much.
Tags:
Friday, May 1st, 2026 17:29
Recently Finished
My Life in Propaganda
Memoir about growing up in communist Poland + the author's thoughts on propaganda in general. This was less interesting than I thought it would be, though I found the parts about how communism worked in Poland in particular to be very interesting and I wish there had been more of that.
Who Is Vera Kelly?
This is told in two timelines, the past when the MC is a teenager and the present when she's a spy in Argentina in the 60s. The first half or so of this was honestly so boring. I did enjoy it more in the second half, but it was really dragging and it didn't help that I was reading this on the Libby app and having connectivity issues while traveling (idk why it won't let me download the file to my phone). It seems like the second book might be more interesting, so I am going to check it out.
Killers of a Certain Age
Four middle aged women are retired assassins who now find themselves targeted by the organization they used to work with. This was a lot of fun. Definitely looking forward to the second book.
Ghost Roast
YA graphic novel about a girl whose dad is a ghost buster type and she herself (unbeknownst to him) can see and even speak with ghosts. This was cute but her friends were pretty awful and I kept expecting that they would either change and apologize for their behavior or she would realize they were awful and dump them, but neither of those happened.
Shiny Misfits
Middle grade graphic novel about a girl with cerebral palsy who loves to dance and is obsessed with going viral and becoming famous. The premise sounded cute but the pacing was all over the place and the dialogue was always trying to be quippy and just came off as obnoxious. Everything was just dialed up to 11 and it was kind of exhausing to read. The random talking (in rhymes, no less) cat also came off as another element that was supposed to be wacky and random but just fell flat for me. I was expecting to love this but was just disappointed. Very cute art, though.
Goodbye, Dolly!
I'm just going to c&p the blurb here: "When celebrity clone sheep Dolly dies, her adult Nepo Lambs come together for the first time to forge an identity as second-generation clones, confront their upbringing, and process their grief around their famous, trailblazing mother. Unreliably narrated by the ghost of Dolly in a mixed media style, GOODBYE, DOLLY! explores the connection, disconnection, hijinks, and despair of six siblings trying to put together the pieces of their broken family and forge a path to their wooly future."
I found this in a Little Library down the street from me and thought it could be interesting. Got home and found multiple copies of it, along with some other works by the author, in my Little Library, so I assume the author is local and trying to promote her stuff. I had to create the entry on goodreads and I feel bad that the first review it now has on there is two stars, but this was just too weird for me lol.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos vol. 3
My Life in Propaganda
Memoir about growing up in communist Poland + the author's thoughts on propaganda in general. This was less interesting than I thought it would be, though I found the parts about how communism worked in Poland in particular to be very interesting and I wish there had been more of that.
Who Is Vera Kelly?
This is told in two timelines, the past when the MC is a teenager and the present when she's a spy in Argentina in the 60s. The first half or so of this was honestly so boring. I did enjoy it more in the second half, but it was really dragging and it didn't help that I was reading this on the Libby app and having connectivity issues while traveling (idk why it won't let me download the file to my phone). It seems like the second book might be more interesting, so I am going to check it out.
Killers of a Certain Age
Four middle aged women are retired assassins who now find themselves targeted by the organization they used to work with. This was a lot of fun. Definitely looking forward to the second book.
Ghost Roast
YA graphic novel about a girl whose dad is a ghost buster type and she herself (unbeknownst to him) can see and even speak with ghosts. This was cute but her friends were pretty awful and I kept expecting that they would either change and apologize for their behavior or she would realize they were awful and dump them, but neither of those happened.
Shiny Misfits
Middle grade graphic novel about a girl with cerebral palsy who loves to dance and is obsessed with going viral and becoming famous. The premise sounded cute but the pacing was all over the place and the dialogue was always trying to be quippy and just came off as obnoxious. Everything was just dialed up to 11 and it was kind of exhausing to read. The random talking (in rhymes, no less) cat also came off as another element that was supposed to be wacky and random but just fell flat for me. I was expecting to love this but was just disappointed. Very cute art, though.
Goodbye, Dolly!
I'm just going to c&p the blurb here: "When celebrity clone sheep Dolly dies, her adult Nepo Lambs come together for the first time to forge an identity as second-generation clones, confront their upbringing, and process their grief around their famous, trailblazing mother. Unreliably narrated by the ghost of Dolly in a mixed media style, GOODBYE, DOLLY! explores the connection, disconnection, hijinks, and despair of six siblings trying to put together the pieces of their broken family and forge a path to their wooly future."
I found this in a Little Library down the street from me and thought it could be interesting. Got home and found multiple copies of it, along with some other works by the author, in my Little Library, so I assume the author is local and trying to promote her stuff. I had to create the entry on goodreads and I feel bad that the first review it now has on there is two stars, but this was just too weird for me lol.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos vol. 3
Tags:
Friday, May 1st, 2026 23:41
Today has been. the first time in A While that I have spent mostly horizontal and mostly asleep on account of migraine, despite drugs. I am Not A Fan.
( Read more... )
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Friday, May 1st, 2026 18:22
It's time for another question thread!
The rules:
- You may ask any dev-related question you have in a comment. (It doesn't even need to be about Dreamwidth, although if it involves a language/library/framework/database Dreamwidth doesn't use, you will probably get answers pointing that out and suggesting a better place to ask.)
- You may also answer any question, using the guidelines given in To Answer, Or Not To Answer and in this comment thread.
The rules:
- You may ask any dev-related question you have in a comment. (It doesn't even need to be about Dreamwidth, although if it involves a language/library/framework/database Dreamwidth doesn't use, you will probably get answers pointing that out and suggesting a better place to ask.)
- You may also answer any question, using the guidelines given in To Answer, Or Not To Answer and in this comment thread.
Tags:
Friday, May 1st, 2026 18:17
I'm listening to thunder rumbling in the distance. (And I missed a month. No connection.)
How's everyone doing?
How's everyone doing?
Tags:
Thursday, April 30th, 2026 22:20
Went into town this afternoon to post some things, and observed Several Creatures. The blue butterfly around the lilac near the top of the hill was very welcome; the Egyptian goslings are starting to look almost grown up, with eye markings and a general reduction in fluff and increase in sleek!
(Elsewise today: SLEEP, post-gym Spatzen, more free electrons and therefore more laundry; both social and solitary wiggles; good therapy; and some Tentatively Positive Communication re Admin: the LRP.)
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 22:56
- DID make it to the post office and get A Parcel into the post!
- DID make it to THE GYM, and was Charmed to notice that one of the other regulars was wearing unexpected-by-me nail varnish.
- We brought home many Field Treets and I am continuing to merrily vacuum them up with my horrid little mouth!
- Saw the bat! Hello bat. What a good bat you are.
- Very much enjoyed the Graun on a photographer who spent a year following the ZSL veterinary team (NB multiple images of post mortems in there).
- Negative electricity prices for a while in there today meant: Much More Laundry (most of which is dry), surprise and delight at A running the underfloor heating in the bathroom (WOM FEET); b r e a d; experimental autopyrolitic oven cleaning.