yourlibrarian: Small Green Waterfall (NAT-Waterfall-niki_vakita)
yourlibrarian ([personal profile] yourlibrarian) wrote2025-06-08 02:15 pm

Oregon Trip, Days 2 through 6

1) We only spent one day in Portland, and M had to nurse her feet after all the walking required the day before. So K and I went to see the International Rose Test Garden which was supposed to have hundreds of rose varieties which were expected to be in bloom by mid-May. While some clearly were, the beds were hit and miss with many varieties not yet available. What roses were in bloom however were attractive to see and some of the blooms were huge. The garden itself though was smaller than expected.

Nonetheless despite the overcast day and the difficulty with parking, the visit to the park was worthwhile as it's overall a great feature of the city. We drove up to the top of the hill for the trees and the view, though none were in a spot where we could park and take pictures. Read more... )

Anyhow, discussing the cards made us discuss the Star Wars series as K had recently watched Ahsoka but found it confusing. I told her this seemed inevitable to me because so much of the meaning in the series comes from it being a stealth 5th season of Rebels. So we started watching. M really liked Hera and Chopper. K liked making the connections to what came later in Ahsoka. My partner and I had rewatched S4 before seeing Ahsoka so it would be fresh. But I hadn't seen the first 3 seasons for some 4 years or so.

I found it really picked up speed quickly, and I my favorite thing was the mentor and apprentice relationship between Ezra and Kanan. The first time around I'd seen it mostly from Ezra's viewpoint since we're in it for much of the series. But this time I was seeing it from Kanan's and really liked how well done this was. And while most of it was in the writing I also liked the animation and the small gestures and expressions. It was quite rich and certainly had a long arc.

We got all the way through S2 during the trip and it made me want to see S3 through as well. I remember how tense I found it watching the season finale the first time around because it seemed quite possible anything could happen.

3) The time since my return has been something of a headache. My partner's sister had a roof leak which damaged a mattress in the room where he stays on his visits. The roof has been patched but reroofing will take place soon. In the meantime he is planning to leave for Ohio around the 25th. After discussion we decided to have him take his current bed to Ohio as a replacement. (She has already removed the damaged mattress but the box spring is ok). That means a new bed on our end. Read more... )

4) In less important news, my 3 water weights arrived, 2 while I was away and the last after. The laggard proved not to be worth the wait. While my partner tested out the first two while I was away this third one has a poor design that had it leaking within an hour. I contacted Amazon to return it and they refunded me and told me not to bother sending it back. I re-ordered a second copy of the smaller weight instead.

5) We've signed back up to Apple+ and so are going to pick up new seasons of things and try out some new shows. So far we've started up the latest seasons of Slow Horses, Mythic Quest, and Pachinko and are trying out Buccaneers and Your Friends and Neighbors.

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lightreads: a partial image of a etymology tree for the Indo-European word 'leuk done in white neon on black'; in the lower left is (Default)
lightreads ([personal profile] lightreads) wrote2025-06-07 12:02 pm

Asunder by Kerstin Hall

Asunder

4/5. For reasons, an isolated death speaker, who gained her powers through a deadly compact with an eldritch demon thing, gets bound at the soul to a man from another culture. Their attempts to separate take them on a long road trip across this strange fantasy world with a complicated recent political/religious history.

I liked this. It is about many kinds of joining and sundering – social, political, romantic, familial, religious. But the heart of it is the relationship that forms between two people unwillingly joined and forced to trust each other. Our protagonist is the sort who has a really hard time understanding when people are kind to her, because she’s had almost no experience of that. She doesn’t really figure it all out in this book, but she does come a long way.

I will say, there is supposed to be a sequel to this book, but my understanding is that the publisher didn’t buy it. Yet, hopefully? This got a surprise award nomination, so. But my point is, if the sequel happens, then great. If it doesn’t, then this ending is really not okay.

Content notes: Recollections of child abuse/domestic violence, a threat of . . . forced pregnancy by a demon is I guess what you’d call it.
mific: (Murderbot reddish)
mific ([personal profile] mific) wrote2025-06-06 07:51 pm
Entry tags:

Murderbot's morning routine

Alexander Skarsgård getting pushed and pulled into his costume each day! On tumblr
mecurtin: better living through chemisty motto with bubbling retort (better living thru chemistry)
mecurtin ([personal profile] mecurtin) wrote2025-06-05 11:58 pm
Entry tags:

3 Purrcys, chemical adventures

It's been a long time since I posted a Purrcy pic, I've let The Horrors eat up too much of my emotional energy. Here's what I saw first thing when I woke up the other day--a little latter than I meant to, but it was *so hard* to get out of bed!

And look at those toe beans!

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby is curled in a gentle arch, just waking up. His white fluffy tummy is partly visible, and one front paw is stretched out to pull up a back foot just a little, enough to expose a few pink and black toe beans.
-----------
After an exciting session of tail!shenanigans in the empty shelf, Purrcy sat down as a rather plump loaf and stared at me with both light-green eyebeams.

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby sits in loaf position on an empty white shelf, facing front, white whiskers outspread, light green eyes staring intently at the viewer.

----
Sometimes #Purrcy gets overstimulated and wants his playtime to involve Fierce Fighting With Mom. I'm trying to train him to go for alternatives that do NOT involve human bloodshed -- like displacement scratching, that works!
#cats #CatsOfBluesky

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby is on his cat perch, fur on his back raised, pupils dialated, one paw raised as though about to thwap the person holding the camera. He is not joking!

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby crouches on his cat perch, scratching at the corner as he glares at the camera. The fur on his back is standing up, his pupils are dialated, he is NOT happy with the human




There was a mess-up with one of my prescriptions, and I went off one of my "minor" brain meds cold turkey this week. By today it was NOT minor, but I finally got the right pills and within 30 minutes I felt like myself again. And then had to have a nap, because mania does NOT lead to adequate sleep.

Fortunately, my family could tell what was going on and mostly refused to engage, and didn't hold it against me. But I've had enough therapy recently talking about my mother & our relationship that I can now really see why a friend who's a shrink told me years ago, "You know your mother's bipolar, right?"

I mean, I took her word for it, diagnosing people was her *job*. But I really *felt* it today, when I realized that I'd been having a (mild-medium) manic episode and I was reacting to things *just the way my mother did*.

So. I'll make sure to remember those feelings--which include a fair bit of paranoia as well as driving intensity--and know what to call them, and look first for the chemical imbalance behind them, knowing that they lie.

"Trust your feelings" yeah no, I like *data*.
mific: (ear trumpet)
mific ([personal profile] mific) wrote2025-06-06 02:12 pm

Summer Podfic Swap - Dear Creator letter

Signups on AO3 - still open until 15th June.

Dear Podficcer
First, thanks so much for making me a gift! I'll love whatever you want to make, but here are a few general guidelines about things I prefer and those I'd rather not receive. Things I like: Competence, snark, partners/buddies/teamwork, plot, drama, and adventures, humor, traditional fandom tropes given a new breath of life or subverted/inverted. I love AUs, crossovers, and worldbuilding, be it an alien world, or fantasy, or the past or far future.

Read more... )
mific: (ear trumpet)
mific ([personal profile] mific) wrote2025-06-06 01:47 am

Podficcing, and stuff

I'm doing a longer podfic, about 22,000 words, and have happened on a new technique, partly because my new system of using my iPhone necessitates recording and editing at about the same time because recording sessions separated in time can sound quite different. Also, my voice can't cope with marathon recording sessions - about 2000 words at one time is best. So my new system is to record that much, which takes less than an hour. Then that same day I edit that segment, re-recording any flubbed words if needed. It's manageable and gives me a nice sense of achievement to have a definite chunk completed each day. The best way is to divide the chunks at a section break in the fic, which is luckily possible with this story. It covers slight changes in how my voice sounds on consecutive days.

Overall, it's a far better process than my old way when I used to record in long sessions, tiring my voice, and then I'd be faced with days or weeks of editing, which can get tedious.

A minor annoyance in the last few days has been red, itchy eyes, weeping like crazy. I wouldn't have thought there were pollens about now, in early winter, unless it's my Mexican sunflower which continues in full flower, full of buzzing bees. Not an infection, not painful - pretty sure it's some sort of allergy. Luckily it's a lot better now, thanks to camomile teabags. You make tea (pure camomile teabag, no sugar - mine are Nerada organic brand) then remove the bag to a saucer and let it cool. It's soothing as evaporation makes it cooler than room temp, and camomile also treats the eye inflammation. I put one side of the bag on each eye, in sequence, leaving it on a few minutes when the irritation is bad. It's almost cleared up now.

Made my orange almond mini-muffins, and have eaten too many. I'm telling myself all the fibre's good for me!

esteefee: John in black and white in a dark cloudy background. (bw_john)
esteefee ([personal profile] esteefee) wrote2025-06-05 01:11 am

bad scout

So, I sympathize with John Sheppard, because one time they took us to Joshua Tree National Park and tried to make me use a compass and a map and I got us so lost even the troop master couldn't get us found and we were 3 hours late getting back to the bus.
yourlibrarian: Merlin sleeps (MERL-SleepingMerlin-adsullatta)
yourlibrarian ([personal profile] yourlibrarian) wrote2025-06-04 12:23 pm

Oregon Trip, Day 1

1) Just returned from a road trip from Portland to L.A. Almost had a hitch at the very start when it turned out my partner couldn't take me to pick up the car until 12:30 and the pickup had been scheduled for noon. I figured, not a big deal, right, to move it to 1 PM? Tried doing so with the 800 number since I couldn't seem to alter the reservation (and the local office usually can't be reached). I was told that if the car wasn't picked up by soon after 12 it would no longer be available. That sounded ridiculous, so I went to the office in person. Yup, no problem at all to move it to 1 PM. They told me I couldn't prepay for the pickup since it had to be tied to a specific vehicle.

I then asked if I could add the pre-paid fuel and tolls since the Chicago dropoff meant it wouldn't even cost me much more than if I did it myself. No but I could do that online. In fact, I couldn't. I was never offered the option.

Despite all this had no trouble with the pickup on the day, nor the drive up other than rain all the way. And I did rather like the light that would flash if someone was coming up on my left or right side to alert me to possible blind spots. The other thing was that as soon as I'd sat in the rental the service agent let me know to ignore the constantly signaling "maintenance warning" light. They had just gotten it back from the dealership and nothing could be found wrong with the car. Read more... )

The flight was definitely unfun. I had a middle seat and was very tired from a poor night's sleep followed by a 3 hour drive. I tried resting for an hour but gave up and watched Wicked on the in flight panels. I thought it was fine, certainly big budget, some nice dance routines and performances. I was surprised to realize it was only Pt. 1 of the story. I guess it was a good spot to end it to get the audience back in for the sequel. Read more... )

2) It took me a while but I did catch up on Pillowfort posts. Here at Dreamwidth though one can't scroll back longer than 2 weeks, which was skip=350. So there may be posts from from the 21st I can't see.

That said I'm having to skim through a lot because it's a ton of posts and I have things to catch up on now that I'm home again. More on that later.

3) Yesterday was unpacking, laundry, and refrigerator triage before today's weekly shop. I thought I was shockingly tired yesterday given that Monday night I had the most sleep since before the trip and the general stress was over. I even wondered if I was coming down with something but I feel ok today too, just...tired.

4) One nice bit post-trip is that I still had some of K's curry pretzels which she gifted M and me with. People love them so much she was urged to make it a side hustle but she said she didn't have the time for that, and preferred getting to relax rather than have a second job when she came home. She made some to order for Christmas sales a few years ago and said she didn't want to go through that twice.

5) Usually my partner complains that he never has time to watch his TV stuff because he has so little viewing time, and when he does have it we watch things together. My being away is clearly helpful on this front as he's looking forward to some of our joint viewing again 😉

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esteefee: john sheppard with his tongue sticking out (blep)
esteefee ([personal profile] esteefee) wrote2025-06-03 12:24 pm

am I english?

people, I have heard many things about growing old: that it sucks, that it's not for the weak, that it sneaks up on you, but never have I heard it turns you English.

and yet, here am I: a lifelong coffee drinker and lover of the brew, yet recently I've started to crave...tea?

I know! yet slowly but surely, I more often reach for a tea bag than my trusty beans. it's a pure mystery!

so, having long since found my favorite coffee, I'm now on the hunt for the perfect decaf tea.

hit me with it, my fine tea friends!

John Sheppard lifts a cup to his lips and then makes a face and wiggles his tongue in disgust. The slight smile on Teyla's face behind him might indicate she monkeyed with his beverage.
GIF by [tumblr.com profile] happycabbage
mific: (A rainbow)
mific ([personal profile] mific) wrote2025-06-01 11:35 pm

Update, and today I learned...

It's double Sunday here in NZ - Monday's a public holiday, King's Birthday. Agh, that sounds so wrong - it's been Queen's Birthday all my life and I can't get used to the change. Elizabeth I is a hero of mine and even though Elizabeth II was nothing like her, at least she had the name. Anyway, another day to do Sunday things before I have to put out the garbage and tidy my flat so Fionna, who helps me beat it into shape once a week, can see the floor to do vacuuming and get at the kitchen sink without it being full of dishes.

Recently I learned how to warn for Major Character Death. AO3 have been doing a series of explanatory posts, and this time it was on ratings and warnings. I thought I knew what MCD meant although it's a trope I hardly ever write or otherwise depict, but I hadn't thought through what "major" means. I'd assumed it meant a protagonist or leading character from canon and fandom - one of the regulars, like Rodney, John, Teyla or Ronon from SGA, Fraser and the Rays from due South. But no, it means the prominence of the character in my transformative work. So if I write a fic focussing on Chuck the Gate Room technician and I kill him off at the end (he is rather in the front line, that close to the Stargate) then I need to warn for MCD because although he didn't even get a last name in canon, in my fic he was the protagonist. If I get you invested in a character, no matter how insignificant they are in canon, I need to warn you (or use CNTW) if I end up killing them. Makes sense; I just never thought it through before. Same goes for any original characters I invent.

Over at Drawesome we've finished the Mermay challenge and the theme for June is Pride! I hope people still mobilise to support each other in the US, while the corporates abandon their empty, performative support (fuck you, google, home depot, and the rest).

drawing of a group of smiling, diverse people holding up the pride flag, and smaller asexual and bisexual pennants. Two women are kissing. Text at right says: Pride! Drawesome Challenge #71.

mortmere: (Default)
mortmere ([personal profile] mortmere) wrote in [community profile] ds_noticeboard2025-06-01 09:17 am
Entry tags:

Monthly dS Art Digest (May 2025)

It’s June, so let’s look back at May art - we have some new artists here:
 

ARTIST: cherry-cola-wolfie
 
RayK, Dief and Fraser
 
 
ARTIST: cherubsbarewetass’s sister
 
The pope is from Chicago
 
 
ARTIST: dirtyzucchini
 
Red ships and green ships mug design
 
 
ARTIST: gjdraws
 
Fraser in James Allodi’s Mountie costume from Chicago Holiday
 
Salmon Fraser and RayV for MerMay
 
Salmon Fraser gets another underwater buddy (RayK)
 
 
ARTIST: heart-of-leo
 
RayV is a supportive best friend
 
 
ARTIST: lookturtles
 
Dief and Bear and Flower Crowns (fancomic) 
 
 
ARTIST: mariemeetsmisery
 
RayK’s outfits from Burning Down the House
 
RayK’s outfits from Eclipse
 
 
ARTIST: mekare
 
Fraser and the alligator (originally posted on AO3 in 2019, but probably new for many)
 

ARTIST: mortmere
 
Final chapters 34 to 38 in the dS Stacked Rewatch Art Project (the link goes to Ch. 34, please follow the links to the next chapters from there):
 
 
C6D bonus:
 
CKR in Star Trek Discovery by mangust5623
 
Paul Gross pencil drawings by LonVal
 
(Thanks to Regina for spotting that last link.I don’t actively look for C6D works to include in these digests, I focus on due South stuff, but when I see something else with our guys, I might as well add it here.)
superbadgirl: (Default)
superbadgirl ([personal profile] superbadgirl) wrote2025-05-31 09:19 pm
Entry tags:

May (and I've had enough)

I got the 'vid AGAIN. I swear my immune system is now garbage. It never used to be. Pre COVID, I rarely even got colds. This is the third round since October. It just really goes for my throat, too. I've had variations of soreness for six days, with a couple of those pretty severe overnight. It's fine at daytime, but once I lie down it's like someone's shoved a handful of razorblades down my throat.

Anyway. Pretty sure I'm instantaneously impacted. On the 24th I went to pick up a friend at the emergency department - he's newly diagnosed with a-fib and had had an episode requiring care, and couldn't drive home. I had to go back into the unit to listen to the follow up orders, since he was doped up. When I got there, I got an, "Oh, btw, he tested positive for COVID." By the 26th I was feeling the sore throat.

Blargh.

Spring babies
^I have never seen goslings in the wild. They were so cute. Mama immediately deemed me a threat.

Crouching Heron
^Can't resist 'em.

Blossoming
^Not sure what this is, but it was kinda cool.

Hank and the P
^You know, I miss her every day, but since Johnny died my house has been pretty peaceful. I wouldn't say the remaining three are besties, but there are so many less fights and often I'll find all three of them sharing the same window cushion. I guess maybe Johnny was a brat!

Victim
^No comment.

Speaking of windows, I signed a contract on 28 May 2024 with a promise of windows by end of summer. I ... do not have windows. And the abysmal communication continues. I emailed the contractor and said, "I feel I need to demand windows or my money back, please." The reply: gosh, sorry for not staying in contact. R's knee surgery recovery hasn't gone as smoothly as we'd hoped, we'll get to you in July."

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...
grey853: (ds_BFRK3_koshi700)
grey853 ([personal profile] grey853) wrote in [community profile] ds_noticeboard2025-05-31 05:11 pm

DS Story: W Is For Wolf

Series: The Due South Alphabet Series
Title: W Is For Wolf
Author: Grey/Grey853
Fandom: Due South
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 39,932
Tags: male slash, alternate universe-canon divergent, explicit language, explicit suggested sexual content, angst, Christmas

Summary: Dief has a medical problem. Vecchio has a close call. There's a big winter storm. Will Ben and Ray have a great Christmas?

Link:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/66072517

Snippet:

″Have you noticed anything different about Dief lately?″

Ben turned from doing the supper dishes and stared at Ray in surprise. ″What?″

″I said have you noticed him being off a little lately.″

″Off?″ Ben dried his hands on the towel and walked over to his partner. ″In what way?″

″Slower, sleeping more, not really eating as much. He’s got a little come-and-go limp on his right front leg, too.″

Ben frowned and came around to sit next to Ray on the sofa. He kept his eyes on his sleeping friend. ″You’ve noticed these things?″

″I was asking you that.″

″To be honest, I’ve been so busy with work lately I’ve not paid that much attention.″

Ray hated to bring it up, but he’d been noticing changes for a while. At first he’d hoped he was just imagining it, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t, not anymore, not after the whole turning down the doughnut situation. Dief never met a treat he wouldn’t eat. ″It’s been going on for a few weeks. I wanted to brush it off, but today when Cheri had a powdered doughnut, he wasn’t even interested. Only ate about half his kibble, too. I’ve never known Furface to turn down food. You think something’s wrong?″

″He’s not said anything.″

″I know he’s not due for his shots, but maybe I should take him to the vet tomorrow.″

″I suppose it couldn’t hurt.″

Ray noted Ben’s worried expression and put his hand on his arm for comfort. ″I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe he just needs a tonic or something. He’s getting older.″

″I hope that’s the case, but it could be something serious. I should’ve been paying closer attention.″

″Like you said, you’ve been busy. It’s getting closer to Christmas. Things get hectic for cops this time of year.″

″You’ve been busy, too, Ray.″

″I know. I’ll call the vet first thing tomorrow morning and take him in. I’m sure it’s nothing big. Maybe he ate a bad rabbit or vole or something just as disgusting.″

″Perhaps.″

″Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.″

″No, I’m glad you did.″ Ben got up and stooped beside Dief and petted his head several times. It was their regular signal to go out for their nightly walk. The animal opened its eyes, but instead of getting up, Dief only snuffled softly before closing his eyes again.

His expression darkened and Ben took the time to run his hand slowly over Dief’s back, along his sides, then under his belly and his over neck. His hand stopped right at where the right leg met his chest. ″There’s a lump here.″
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
twistedchick ([personal profile] twistedchick) wrote2025-05-31 01:59 am

what walking?

Sometime during lockdown in the last four years, my arches fell. They had never been particularly high, but they felt fine in Birkies and so on. But now I am doing foot exercises to get them to show up at all, and if I don't it is really painful to walk any distance.

This cuts into my abiity to regain stamina and general fitness.

The exercises are starting to help significantly, so now all I need is a day or two without a major rainstorm or enough after a rainstorm that I won't be getting wet just by walking around near trees and bushes.

A friend told me that it takes at least 6 months to get one's energy back after COVID. Well, I was diagnosed Jan. 20 and it went for a couple of weeks actively and a few more overall. It took more time to be rid of the bad taste from the Pax than I expected. So I'm still within six months of it. I keep telling myself this.

The other thing that interferes with my health at the moment is variable tinitis, as in it comes and goes, and when it's there I have to find a soundscape in my CALM app that has that tone in it, so that the app's sounds distract me from the one inside my brain. Usually it works, but last night the inner sound had apparently retuned itself (autotune is the plague) and did not match anything on Calm except a wind in the trees, so I wasn't able to sleep, since the 'wind in pines' just didn't work. There is a downside to having perfect pitch and noticing when the inner-produced noises change.