Reading

Entry tags:

links

Links: Moon facts and other useful things

Common Moon Mistakes by MinutePhysics. I knew about the full moon rising opposite the sun, and the crescent moon rising near the sun, but there was a lot here i didn't know presented clearly with quick line drawings. 5 minutes, very worth it!

Jump the Paywalls and Help Others Over the Top by Alan Levine. I keep forgetting to try this, so let me know if it works!

right in your browser, where the address reads https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/ stick right in front of it archive.ph/ making the full link http://archive.ph/https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/

symbol.wtf. A page of useful Unicode symbols like superscript TM, paragraph, accented letters, musical symbols, etc. Labeled with names so you can search. It doesn't have the accented consonants I need for Balkan languages, but on a Mac I can just hold down the letter to get a list of accented versions to choose from.

Good source of masks

Bona Fide Masks has a 15% off code active on the site, and a good price on Powecom KN95 masks ($11.70 for 10 masks, not individually wrapped, black or white. $16 for 10 masks in exciting colors). I tried a few different kinds of masks as masklab.us was clearly fading out and settled on these, in black.

They also have Covid and Flu tests, although the prices didn't look as good to me on those.

via

redbird, thank you! She posted it on Oct 1 and I thought I had missed the sale, but it was still active today. I don't know how much longer it will be active.

Current Mood: contemplative

Nature

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Entry tags:

out & about,
queer

Care bears

Had a fun afternoon celebrating (belatedly) the birthdays of a couple who are both among my favorite people. One asked for sourdough pizza and a wander around the market at Manchester Leather Weekend.

I bought a trans-pride earring at the market and was delighted to see, but didn't manage to determine if available in appropriate size, a t-shirt with a lot of Care-Bear-looking colorful cartoon bears with symbols on their tummies, including a rainbow which is canon in one of the bears I remember from my childhood, but this time the other bears have trans/leather/bear/pup symbols or flags. It seems the absolutely perfect thing for someone like me or A who had to live through being a girl in the 80s but are now cautiously leaning into our bear-y selves. (Like I told the other birthday boy, I, this week when he lamented Fat Bear Week coming to an end: hey, some of us are here all year!)

D bought himself a leather waistcoat too which he looks amazing in, so that's fun. I tried on one like it was that technically my size but made me feel unusually dysphoric. I'm glad the market included vendors with explicitly trans stuff but it also had a lot of very normative bodies. Or, diversity of some kinds but not others. I guess it's why I've always steered clear of such things, despite my long-term yearnings...which I used to think were (just) yearning to be with rather than (also) to be -- lots of queers have this problem.

It was great to hang out with our friends and be silly together for an afternoon/evening.

Tomorrow will be busy in a really different way so I'm going to try to get some sleep.

Fic or Treating

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Fall, leaves, fall by Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

*********

Link

Some saved up videos

( Fake Emergencies )

*********

( Common moon mistakes )

****************

( The Insane Biology of: The Pangolin )

**********

( The Most Dangerous Escalator in Rome )

**********

( Backyard Squirrelympics )

********

( Apparently, the dog dancing championships are a thing? )

************

( The Assassin's Teapot Is Weird )

**************

( All The Non-Passenger Trains in the NYC Subway )

There's a Dunkin Donuts by my house

And every once in a while I end up there during the morning rush, which I try to avoid, and find somebody else bitching about how they "always" mess up their order and "always" take forever.

This is true, by the way - or, maybe not literally always true, but frequently true - but all the same, every time I hear the incessant whining I want to turn around and say "You knew what it was like when you placed your order!"

It's not like they're the only place to get coffee and a breakfast sandwich that's not your own home. There are three corner stores, every once of which will be happy, or at least willing, to make your standing order every day or week or however often you like. There's McDonald's right there, there's Wendy's right there, there's a Dunkin Donuts on the boat and another one just down Bay a bit, if you drive. Or, as I said, you can go home and make your own coffee for faster and cheaper, but you didn't do that, so you can't really complain that you're getting exactly what you obviously expected!

(It is my lack of whining, I think, that always gets me out of there a smidge faster. Should they be more efficient? Should they make fewer mistakes? Should I be able to order a muffin without fear that it'll be a bit raw in the middle? Yes to all three, and I've stopped ordering muffins! But they're close and I don't have to cook it myself, and I imagine that's why everybody else is there, so whatever.)

*********************

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

qotd

QOTD: Charles Baudelaire on regular work

"Inspiration is merely the reward for working every day."

— Charles Baudelaire (in Curiosites Esthetiques [1868])

Certainly not the first or only person to say some variation on this, but I think it's an aesthetically pleasing statement of the concept.

Entry tags:

Surprise Birthday Brahms!

When I turned on my clock radio - which I do on Saturdays to ensure that the time is co-ordinating with the radio time-signal - Radio 3 was playing the finale to Brahms Violin Concerto.

Joy!

Well, this has been an up and downy year as ever, but I am beginning to poke my nose out of my hole. I am still Doing Stuff, even if various projects seem to have got bogged down (not just on my side ahem ahem).

Anyway, in accordance with tradition, I pass round virtual rich dark gingerbread (and also gluten-free, diabetic-friendly, etc, versions), sanitive madeira (eschewing Duke of Clarence jokes) and other beverages of choice, and lift a glass to dr rdrz.

Entry tags:

2025,
nom review

Nominations Queries Post 3

We are 168 hours into tag approving! We began with 6078 individual fandom nominations to sort (where if two people submitted the same fandom, that would count twice towards the total). We have 210 fandom nominations still to sort. Please review the questions below to help us sort them quickly and correctly!

Please link your nominations page if telling us what to do about your nomination - thank you! Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened. (You can find your own nominations at this link; keep in mind this gives you an 'Edit' screen where you can't actually submit any edits, but if you delete /edit, that's the page we're looking for.)

If we've processed any of your nominations and something doesn't look right, please comment (with your nominations page) to tell us about the problem and how you think it should be corrected. Questions are welcome.

Dragon's Dogma - Nominator, we won’t approve the group tag Pawn(s) (Dragon’s Dogma) as there is at least one specific Pawn. We can replace it with Arisen's Companion Pawn (Dragon's Dogma), which we approved last year, or remove this character, as you prefer. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

The Fox and the Hound (Disney Movies) - Nominator, we can't find characters who could be Tod And Vixie's Kits - could you clarify what you were thinking there please? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Ghost in the Shell (Anime & Manga) - this is nominated with Kusanagi Motoko, Batou, Kogusa, and Saito; meanwhile, we also have a nomination for Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Anime) with Batou, Hideo Kuze, Motoko Kusanagi, and Togusa. We would prefer to combine these under Stand Alone Complex but are open to hearing otherwise. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Hell's Belles - Jaysea Lynn and Hell's Belles Series - Jaysea Lynn - Nominators, is For Whom the Belle Tolls the first in a series, or are these nominations a reference to the TikTok series related to the book? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Inner Gold - Lindsey Stirling feat. Royal & the Serpent (Music Video) - We’re wondering about “Lindsey Stirling's Character | Golden Dancer” specifically. Is that the violinist in the gold mesh played by Lindsey Stirling, or the character in red who becomes covered in gold also played by Lindsey Stirling, or are these the same character? Would you be open to us approving the video without characters, to more easily leave these interpretations up to a creator? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

LEGO Castle - This seems to combine more than one playset. Nominator, could you clarify what you are hoping for please? Also, which wizard? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Nestle's Alpine White "Sweet Dreams" Commercials - We'd appreciate some help with the character nominations. Characters nominated are:

Dancing Girl with sparkler #1 (Nestle)

Man in Farmyard (Nestle)

Man in Sweater (Nestle Ad)

White Wolf (Nestle Ad)

Woman in Coat (Nestle Ad)

Woman in White Hood (Nestle)

Woman on Beach (Nestle)

Woman on Swing (Nestle Ad)

Could we please check if the Man in Sweater is the same as the Man in Turtleneck approved last year? We'd like to approve Dancing Girls with Sparklers as a single unit, as it's not clear which one is #1 or what distinguishes her from the others. Lastly, we think that might be a fox rather than a wolf? For anyone curious, though please note the video does contain strobing lights… If you nominated this, please link your nominations page when you reply.

Overcooked (Video Games) - Nominator, we’re not sure how “Customers (Overcooked - Video Games)” and “Passers-by (Overcooked - Video Games)” are two separate groups of characters that also cannot be distinguished from each other within the group. Can you help us understand what you were going for? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Phasmophobia (Video Game) - Nominator, could you please clarify the nomination of Ghost(s)? There seem to be several classes of ghost NPCs - we'd be willing to approve one of the other specific types, or potentially two, since you only used up three character slots. It also looks like 'Shade' is a subset of 'Ghosts' - please clarify? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Relic Master Series - Catherine Fisher - There is a group nomination for The Makers, but it appears to us that some of the makers are named and given individual characteristics. Nominator, could you choose a maker? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Riddick (2013) - Could we please get some information about how this stands alone from the rest of the Chronicles of Riddick saga? If you nominated this, please link your nominations page when you reply.

The Secret Garden - Simon/Norman - We're a little unsure if the character nomination of "the Dreamers" works, since it includes at least two named characters. Nominate, could you expand on your thinking or pick a specific character please? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Soulmate Goose of Enforcement Fandom Trope (Anthropomorphic) - This is causing us some difficulty! We feel this isn’t an anthropomophic fandom, as the goose is already a character, who isn’t in need of anthropomorphising. We don’t generally approve tropes as fandoms; nominator, would it work to nominate under the original tumblr post instead? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Trash Taste (Podcast) - This podcast is nominated without characters, but it's difficult to see what you're looking for aside from RPF of the hosts, as this doesn't seem to contain a fictional narrative. Nominator, please clarify what you were hoping for? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

We Are คือเรารักกัน | We Are (Thailand TV 2024) RPF, เขาจ้างให้ผมจีบนักฆ่า | The Heart Killers (Thailand TV) RPF, รักไม่ระบุสถานะ | Dark Blue Kiss (TV) RPF, เลือดนายลมหายใจฉัน | My Golden Blood (Thailand TV 2024) RPF - Many of these characters were also nominated under GMMTV Actor RPF, so we plan to combine all of these nominations into GMMTV Actor RPF. If you're making a case for an alternate arrangement, please link your nominations page when you reply.

West Coast Avengers (Marvel Comics) - Nominator, did you mean the 2018-19 reboot series? Your character nominations seem to relate to that run, so we'd like to approve as West Coast Avengers (Comics 2018-19), assuming that matches your intention. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Zoo (TV 2015) - We can’t find the character “Alyssa Diaz”, but that seems to be one of the actresses. Did you mean the character “Dariela Marzan”? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Previous queries

13th Century CE Plantagenet Dynasty RPF - this category contains Edward II and Piers Gaveston, who are also both nominated in 14th Century CE RPF. We intend to approve these under the former category; let us know if you have concerns. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Aliens (1986) - Nominator, these characters are also nominated under the broader fandom Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997), so we would like to merge your nominations in with the rest of the original movies. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Batman: Arkham Shadow (Video Game) - we received evidence for this but would like more information, please. Could the nominator, or anyone else who knows this family of games, please help us understand how it is distinct? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

The Breakfast Club (1985) - Brian Johnson’s parents are distinct characters and so we are not willing to approve them as a unit. Nominator, would you like to pick a parent? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold and World of the Five Gods - Lois McMaster Bujold - given that the characters nominated under the canonical tag include some from Hallowed Hunt & the Penric and Desdemona stories, we would like to approve all of these together under World of the Five Gods. Any objections? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Corbenic (Catherine Fisher) - We won’t approve Arthur's Company Ensemble (Corbenic) as this is a group with named members. Nominator, would you like to pick one or two (since you’ve only nominated two other characters)? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Dream Cycle - H. P. Lovecraft - All characters nominated for this fandom (other than Worldbuilding) were approved last year in the fandom Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft; as we have overlapping nominations, we’d like to combine again the same way. We've heard from one nominator but would like to hear from the other. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede - We won’t approve the character nomination Morwen's Cats (Enchanted Forest) as they are all individually named. Nominators, could you please each choose a cat? (Scorn has already been nominated, and another nominator is fine with either Trouble or Fiddlesticks.) Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Hear Me Cry (1984) (CBS Schoolbreak Special) Craig and David’s parents are distinct characters and so we are not willing to approve each set of parents as a single unit. Nominator, would you like to pick two of the four parents? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

History Boys - All Media Types - Nominator, we won’t approve this nomination as All Media Types. Would you prefer the movie or the play? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

MAIJO Otaro - Works - We don’t approve fandoms consisting of all of a creator’s works, and the nominated characters appear to come from at least 2 novels. Nominator, could you pick one of Maijō’s works to nominate, along with the associated characters? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Midsomer Murders - All Media Types - Nominator, we won't approve this nomination as All Media Types. Would you prefer TV or books? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

夢中さきみに。| Muchuu sa Kimi ni (Manga) - We also have a nomination for the Anime; the nominator of that fandom says they have not read the manga but believes these could be combined if needed. We've heard from two Manga nominators who are OK with combining under Anime & Manga; could we hear from the third please? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Oxford Time Travel Universe - Connie Willis and To Say Nothing of the Dog: or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last - Connie Willis - To Say Nothing nominator, do you have any concerns about combining your nominations with the larger universe? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Palais de Reine (Visual Novel) - We can’t find the character “Astrud”. Nominator, is this “Astrad”, or is it just a different localization? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Terminator (Movies) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) - Nominators, please make your cases for splitting or combining these. May we combine them into (Movies 1984 1991 2019), since Dark Fate follows Terminator 2? Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Tron - All Media Types - We won't approve this nomination as All Media Types. Nominator, please pick a canon. Please link your nominations page when you reply.

Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth

Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.

Current Mood: sleepy

Entry tags:

Freeform weekly proof of life: the state of things + some bare-bones reading notes

Suddenly I'm on the other side of the fall crunch at work, early enough that I somehow feel at loose ends even though regular full-time work continues and I have freelance work that badly needs tackling (plus, y'know, the endless litany of things I should do and want to do and only ever make slow progress on).

Despite the crunch, I've gotten some tidying/organizing done in my office; it could still use a lot more work, but I've cleared some surfaces that haven't seen the light of day in a long time, so that feels good. And a couple bits of autumnal decor have crept out here and there around the house, but maybe this weekend we can do a more serious job with that sort of thing.

Quick book notes: I don't think I've specifically mentioned that I did finish and enjoy Caitlin Starling's The Starving Saints (mind the cannibalism, though); I've made further slow, slow progress on Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World; last night I finished Silver and Lead, the new October Daye book, which was a solid installment; and last night I also started reading, for a total change of pace, Her Halloween Treat (romance, Tiffany Reisz), which I presumably saw recced somewhere when it was on sale (I think around this time last year, but I didn't get to it before last Hallowe'en), and which I'm only a couple of chapters into.

I don't generally make a big stab at seasonal media, other than trying to watch a couple of Christmas movies the last year or two, but since I have a few seasonally-appropriate books, that's as good a way of choosing "what next?" as any.

And with the crunch over, I imagine

scruloose and I will soon be back to listening to Murderbot books.

Entry tags:

Birthday in Maui

I spent my birthday on my own in Maui after the conference I attended there, and I had a brilliant time.*

My birthday treat to myself was a boat trip to Molokini crater to snorkel with the fishes, and to Turtle Town off Wailea Point to swim with the sea turtles. I got really lucky with the weather, and Cap'n Doug sailed us around the far side of Molokini so we could see the sea bird nesting sites. Then we pulled into the harbour and we were allowed to jump in the water. I don't have a waterproof camera and I also don't feel too secure snorkeling without a boogie board in hand, so I've no photos of that. But the visibility was incredible, like I remember from Hanauma Bay as a kid. I saw a tube fish and a giant parrot fish. I followed her around for a bit, listening to her chomp the coral and seeing her make sand. I saw wrasse and tangs, sea urchins and crabs, and of course the legendary Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, from whom Eldest gets her moniker. It's colourful, pugnacious, and territorial. Mmhmm.

[Approach to Molokini crater.]

[Seabird nesting sites round the back of Molokini.]

Turtle Town offered excellent fish viewing in the water as well, although to be honest it was much better watching the turtles from the boat as the view was clearer and they got quite close to the bow, where you're not allowed to snorkel.

[Sea turtle next to the tour boat.]

There were lots of older retired couples on the boat - because who else can afford $200+ plus tips for a five hour boat trip - and I could see them looking sidelong at me until finally when we were eating lunch someone sidled up to me and after some desultory introductions, asked if I was scared to travel alone. Hahaha. Nope! Very happy by myself, tyvm.

I pootled back to the hotel in the convertible Mustang** I’d hired with the top down, although “pootled” doesn’t feel like quite the right word for travelling in an absurdly ostentatious car. I had a shower to get all the sand off, liberally slathered on the after-sun, and got dressed again. I had a couple of chats with family and friends. I got myself a cold drink at the 808 market and wandered down to watch my last Maui sunset on this trip.

I got changed into a nice dress and spoke to the family before hopping in the car again to take myself to dinner: Isana in Kihei. I ingested a heroic quantity of nigiri (choice bits pictured below) and part of a silly cocktail (because driving, and that thing was strong).

( Sushi under the cut because raw fish isn't everyone's cup of tea )

I plucked up the courage to ask my waiter a very odd question. I explained to him that I’d grown up in Hawai’i, and I had happy memories of eating something we called “stinky pickle sushi” which you obviously cannot put on a menu in a nice restaurant. After he’d finished guffawing, I explained that it was pickled daikon radish in a maki roll. He said he would go ask the chef if he knew about this.

Two minutes later, he returned, placed a small black dish in front of me, and said, “Yes, chef is from Japan, he knows this ingredient. Is this it?” I popped the bright yellow rectangle into my mouth and clapped my hands with joy. The waiter returned to place my stinky pickle nori roll order. And that, my friends, was my final brave birthday treat to myself: procuring a sushi roll I have not tasted for over twenty years.

[Behold: stinky pickle maki]

* Sorry, family! We would have had a brilliant time together, too. But this conference happens during the school year, and so I was on my own. I love you guys. I also love time to myself.
** I actually wanted to hire the Mazda Miata but they didn’t have any, and also the hire car person said my giant battered old Briggs & Riley suitcase would not have fit in the boot anyway.

THE END.

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ereabouts

Strasbourg cathedral

It's reckoned to be one of the finest on the world.

You firsr see the west front from down a narrow Street and yes, it was supposed to have two spires but one never got built! It was at one time the tallest building in the world.

( More pics! )

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just One Thing (04 October 2025)

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Entry tags:

Moderat - Finder

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: confused

Do you ever wonder if the way you see things visually aren't how other people see them?

Frequently. My partner and I sometimes have very different perceptions of certain colours (and no, he’s not red-green colour-blind).
What kind of sounds are the most annoying?

Sounds I didn’t choose to hear, ha. Seriously, though, I quite often put my noise-cancelling headphones on with nothing coming through them, just to block out background sound.
When walking through a store, do you shop with your hands by touching/feeling the texture of things?

I *want* to do that all the time. I’m very sensitive to touch. I restrain myself most of the time unless it seems like it is OK (like in a clothing shop). I suspect I’d get thrown out of places if I went round running my hands over veg, freshly baked goods or pick-n-mix for example.
If you could only smell three scents for the rest of your life, what would they be?

My cats’ fur when they come in from outside on a cold day. Black Opium by YSL. My partner’s armpits. I am not joking.
What sorts of things do you savor when eating them?

Everything! I love food so much. I especially love very cold fruit juices on a hot day or with a sore throat, the velvety texture of a good chocolate mousse, and the salty satisfaction of slurping ramen noodles.

( Last week's FF )

Ping

https://xkcd.com/3150/

Progress on getting shipwrecked sailors to adopt ICMPv6 has been slow.

https://xkcd.com/3150/

Links: Moon facts and other useful things

Good source of masks

Nature

Care bears

Fic or Treating

Fall, leaves, fall by Emily Brontë

Some saved up videos

There's a Dunkin Donuts by my house

QOTD: Charles Baudelaire on regular work

Surprise Birthday Brahms!

Nominations Queries Post 3

Previous queries

Freeform weekly proof of life: the state of things + some bare-bones reading notes

Birthday in Maui

Strasbourg cathedral

Just One Thing (04 October 2025)

Moderat - Finder

hangs head

Promptober 2025 Day 3: Shattered Glass

The Friday Five on a Friday x2

Ping