spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
[personal profile] spikedluv
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Water Like a Stone (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie and To Darkness and to Death (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming.


What I am Currently Reading: The Ape Who Guards the Balance (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.


What I Plan to Read Next: Still a variety of library books out, so one of those.




Book 46 of 2025: Water Like a Stone (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

Good book! spoilers )

I enjoyed this book and have already requested the next. I'm giving this one five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥




Book 47 of 2025: To Darkness and to Death (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) (Julia Spencer-Fleming)

I enjoyed this book, but even as I was reading it I was thinking it was a very weird mystery. With so many bad choices. It felt like a comedy of errors. spoilers )

Still enjoy the main characters and plan on reading more, but only giving this book three hearts.

♥♥♥
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
[personal profile] spikedluv
I didn’t have to be to mom’s until 10am, so I got some chores done before I left the house. I did two loads of laundry, the usual amount of hand-washing dishes, emptied the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, and changed kitty litter.

I read fanfic and more Amelia Peabody, and finally watched the current ep of Resident Alien. Pip suggested I stop at Dairyland on the way home from mom’s so I picked up soft vanilla ice cream in a dish for him and a milkshake for myself.

Temps started out at 77.9(F) and reached 94.7 (that I’m aware of). I made a couple trips outside (to check mom’s mail and other errands) and it was stifling. There was a breeze, but it was a hot breeze and didn’t help much. The temps are supposed to drop a tiny bit today and be 69 on Thursday, which made both mom and me go o_O.


Mom Update:

Mom is showing more improvement physically; she stayed awake almost all morning and we chit chatted a bit. more back here )

Good News

Jun. 25th, 2025 12:19 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
starwatcher: Western windmill, clouds in background, trees around base. (Default)
[personal profile] starwatcher
 

I don't know how to embed images that aren't mine, so here's the link to the Reddit post --

https://qr.ae/pAl6KF

 

Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, July 1

Jun. 24th, 2025 09:06 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Weaponized Incompetence and Malicious Compliance." I'll be soliciting ideas for activists, rebels, traitors, exes, abuse survivors, refugees, runaway youth, slaves or other captives, slavers, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, leaders, bosses, employees, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, alien or fantasy species, failure analysts, ethicists, other people who get into untenable situations, protesting, dragging your feet, breaking things, causing problems because you were told to, planning, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like someone left the gate open, adventuring, hitchhiking, quitting school, divorcing, disowning, betraying, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, bartering, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, slave ships, slave quarters, abusive homes, trails, sailing ships, campervans or RVs, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, residential school-concentration camps, homeless shelters, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where the intolerable happens, unhappy relationships, crappy jobs, educational abuse, responsibility without authority is abuse, protest rallies, slavery or captivity, locks or chains, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Weaponized incompetence has two modes:
* One is shirking a fair share of work by pretending to be bad at it: for instance, copper-digging men who try to con women into doing all the emotional labor. (Take care to distinguish this from people who don't know how to do things because they were never taught, or people who are genuinely bad at a category of thing.)
* The other is a form of activism, and indeed, one of the leading forms of resistance in slavery: doing work slowly, sloppily, breaking tools, playing dumb, etc. It's exactly how black people got a reputation for being stupid and lazy, because their ancestors were unwilling to be exploited and fought back in subtle ways.

Malicious compliance is following an order to the letter, expecting that to cause problems. It is a form of protest most often used when pointing out a flaw or proposing a better solution would be ignored or even punished.


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One is developing its own neurovariant culture after rebelling against the Galactic Arms.

The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, touching on slavery and rebellion.

Not Quite Kansas includes demons, who are masters of malicious compliance.

The Ocracies has a wide variety of countries crammed together, each with a totally different government. Sometimes people leave their homeland to find something they like better.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evili.

Peculiar Obligations mixes Quakers and pirates, among other things. It's another setting where people strive against slavery.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. The supervillains are the most likely to practice weaponized incompetence and malicious compliance.


Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

[ SECRET POST #6745 ]

Jun. 24th, 2025 07:01 pm
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6745 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 20 secrets from Secret Submission Post #965.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Burnout

Jun. 24th, 2025 03:53 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
You Might Not Recover from Burnout. Ever.

Hea has been unemployed for a little over two years, and she can’t see that ending anytime soon. Her burnout has been catastrophic — and so far, bottomless.

“I went on short-term disability at first, for my mental health, but after that ran out I used up all of my sick days. Then I applied for a longer medical leave, which shockingly, I got for a little while,” she explains. “I was luckier than most people, who don’t get any paid time off. But then they mysteriously eliminated my position. I’ve been floundering ever since.”


Read more... )

(no subject)

Jun. 24th, 2025 09:50 pm
shadowhive: (Ray Hair of sex)
[personal profile] shadowhive
Yipee thank you Mikeyway for posting a pic of Ray! (Frank is there too but Frank pics are pretty common so)



Ahhh look at him!

*feels there’ll be Ray content in my future*

Ok that was the main reason to post but I guess I should post other things. Hmm.

I didn’t watch Saltburn on Sunday night cause my eyes went too achy (ugh) but I did watch Better Man.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect with it, I mean the concept of a Robbie Williams biopic isn’t a bad one but him being a monkey is, at first, an odd choice (Especially as his parents are humans) but once you realise it’s more a metaphor for how he sees himself it actually works. (And huge kudos to the effects team for pulling it off so well.)

What I didn’t expect was to get feels for from it. Like I legit got teary because of his grandma because damn that hit hard. And it also surprised me how… unflinching it was? Like it didn’t exactly paint him in a good light in parts but you have to admire the honesty for showing that. Plus there was some musical numbers! Though it was a lil funny that during the take that era there was a Robbie souping not one of theirs. But overall it was pretty good.

Yesterday was kinda uneventful, mostly cause, again, eyes aching which was bleh.

This morning was my last library stint and I spent the time reading Cards On The Table and the last Rise Of Hellfire comic. It is pretty good and it’s more of a character study about Eddie, so Eddie enjoys will really love it (and I loved the dnd sections). It does make me wanna finish Stranger Things though with my eyes being so achy lately…

Tonight’s plan is watch the new Hell Motel and try and poke fic brain. The ideas are there but when it comes to getting them down? It’s not been happening which is so irritating.

Birdfeeding

Jun. 24th, 2025 01:28 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/24/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/24/25 -- I watered the seedlings in the savanna and the telephone pole garden.

The honeybees have their air conditioning on, roaring away as they flap their wings to cool the hive.  The first fireflies are coming out.

EDIT 6/24/25 -- I watered the new picnic table plants, the septic garden, and the old picnic table plants.

There are sooo many fireflies out tonight.  The grass is sparkling.  :D  Cicadas are singing.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

SPN Drabble: Veil

Jun. 24th, 2025 07:09 pm
kat_lair: (SPN - rest)
[personal profile] kat_lair
***

Title: Veil
Author:[personal profile] kat_lair
Fandom: Supernatural
Character: Bobby
Tags: Drabble, Resurrection
Rating: G
Word count: 100

Summary: Bobby never planned on coming back.

Author notes: 
Prompt = title

Veil on AO3

Veil )

***

hello from the heatwave

Jun. 24th, 2025 01:23 pm
omens: Tiny Titans Robin, with robins (dcu - tiny titans robinses)
[personal profile] omens
Kelly is home :D and to welcome him home, the car did the thing I told him it was doing, right before we were supposed to go shopping! Disastrous >:( It doesn't like to shift out of park, sometimes. Like one of those times, when I was in the drive thru, which was extremely anxiety provoking (trapped AND inconveniencing someone?? NIGHTMARE). But anyway, we put off shopping and he took it to the mechanic on his way to work yesterday morning and they were like "lol we had no idea what you meant until we tried to move the car later." :D Anyway, needs a new shift assembly. They don't have the part, so they have our car a couple days. And we have no car (but a full fridge, so it's fine, just kinda stir crazy)..

Of course, Sunny's eye immediately starts watering. Just clear, no conjunctivitis, but what's with that, Sunny?? I start panicking because our vet is 40 minutes away because I hate change. Anyway, seems resolved today. She slept by my head purring like a machine, which only worried me more, lol.

And then yesterday the AC broke! HAHA 🫠 it's getting pretty sticky here. The dog and cat are into it, though. We are mid-heatwave and it is melting my entire insides. An upside: I have ice cream cones!! Idk how, bc ice cream is already so great, but cones really do make it 300% better. Appt for the AC to be looked at tomorrow morning (hopefully)

Some crow pics 4 of em )

It looks like he's missing a couple feathers - you can see the down poking out. There was a whole tree full of crows yelling about something (no hawk that I could see, but man, I looked!) and this guy was the straggler who stuck around a little longer.

spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
[personal profile] spikedluv
I did a load of laundry, paid some bills online, placed an order online, did the usual amount of hand-washing dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, and scooped kitty litter. I also hit a different Price Chopper than usual (closer to Mom’s) when her friend visited her to give me a couple hours to run errands in the afternoon.

I read fanfic and re-watched the current ep of Murderbot.

Temps started out at 79.9(F) (and already humid) and reached 99.1. It was SOOO hot.


Mom Update:

Mom slept most of the morning. more back here )

Feathering the Nest

Jun. 24th, 2025 12:57 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort.   Leave prompts, get ficlets!

Communication

Jun. 23rd, 2025 05:11 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Americans share their hopes for the country on 'wish walls' nationwide. The responses are surprisingly unifying

On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. To prepare for the big celebration, museums across the country are inviting the public to answer the question: “What’s your wish for America’s future?”

In a project designed by 26-year-old artist Katie Costa and developed by Made By Us, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement among Gen-Z, thousands are responding
.

Read more... )

Solutions

Jun. 23rd, 2025 05:09 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
New cheese packaging decomposes in 300 days, not 1,000 years: 'The solution was in the cheese itself'

As an alternative to single-use plastic wrapping, Ogilvy Colombia and Nestlé Central America have created “Self-Packing Cheese.”

The new biodegradable film is designed to decompose within 300 days of disposal — in stark contrast to the estimated 1,000 years it takes for standard plastic to break down.

And it’s entirely made from cheese waste and whey
.


Now that's brilliant!  Admittedly, we tend to buy block cheese or shredded cheese rather than slices, but lots of people prefer slices.
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