Lots of memories...
Aug. 21st, 2025 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chicatingwhen I chose my wheelchairs as an Object to write about.(There was a time when I'd never do that, btw.)( Read more... )
chicating
it's a nuisance, but what can you expect from reptiles?
Aug. 21st, 2025 08:54 pmwychwoodThe weather has abruptly decided that it's autumn. It's still August! It's too early! But schools go back next week, and it's getting dark earlier, and I'm getting up for the office before sunrise now, and while I don't quite believe the person who mentioned that late October is only two months away, we're definitely at the end of the summer now. I very nearly wore a jacket for choir yesterday, and am looking forward to temperatures where I will want it and therefore have access to my many pockets on a regular basis.
For some reason I'm having a bit of a decluttering moment. I was discussing it with some friends this evening, and the other day found myself making a list of things that need decluttering in the longer run so that I stop thinking about them. My space isn't bad, there's not really anything urgent that needs doing, but periodically I remember e.g. the box of random electrical cables under the spare bed and decide yet again that I really ought to do something with them. Maybe it's the change of seasons; I know it's supposed to be a spring thing, but perhaps I'm getting ready to nest for the winter!
And next week I'm on leave again, so perhaps I will do all sorts of exciting domestic things! Or then again, perhaps not. Although I am going to visittoft for an afternoon, which is pretty exciting if not very domestic. Plus the new mattress arrives next Friday. St Augustine's Day on Thursday, Miss H's birthday brunch, a visit to the dental hygienist, choir and SF Readers' Group and singing at St N, it's all go around here.
For some reason I'm having a bit of a decluttering moment. I was discussing it with some friends this evening, and the other day found myself making a list of things that need decluttering in the longer run so that I stop thinking about them. My space isn't bad, there's not really anything urgent that needs doing, but periodically I remember e.g. the box of random electrical cables under the spare bed and decide yet again that I really ought to do something with them. Maybe it's the change of seasons; I know it's supposed to be a spring thing, but perhaps I'm getting ready to nest for the winter!
And next week I'm on leave again, so perhaps I will do all sorts of exciting domestic things! Or then again, perhaps not. Although I am going to visit
toft for an afternoon, which is pretty exciting if not very domestic. Plus the new mattress arrives next Friday. St Augustine's Day on Thursday, Miss H's birthday brunch, a visit to the dental hygienist, choir and SF Readers' Group and singing at St N, it's all go around here.
Not quite the same thing? but in the general ball-park I think
Aug. 21st, 2025 07:29 pmoursinA few days ago Ask A Manager posted stories of co-workers overstepping their expertise.
And I guess this is not quite the same thing but I had a massive flashback to That Morning of Hours I Will Never Get Back when the whole library staff had a session with an outside consultant.
I am honestly not sure what the rationale was for having us give up an entire morning of our precious closed period - during which we did all - well, seldom actually all, but as many as we could manage - of those essential backroom housekeeping tasks which cannot be undertaken when the place has actual readers coming in and USING THE COLLECTIONS dammit.
Possibly we had either just undergone, or were just about to undergo, one of the restructurings of which I saw many during my years there, distinct from the physical relocation upheavals.
But anyway, consultant.
Had consultant been briefed? Had consultant done any due diligence about what sort of institution this was?
Okay, did know it was a LIBRARY.
Had not the slightest apprehension that this was a world-renowned RESEARCH collection and that, you know, we were not lending out books and stamping them with return dates (I am not sure that this practice, by the date in question, even pertained in public libraries).
We were sitting there cringeing and wincing, wondering when it would all be over.
Were we not very restrained by not going, in huge chorus, in the manner he would doubtless have anticipated we learnt as part of our professional training, SSSSSHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH!!!!?
Birdfeeding
Aug. 21st, 2025 01:33 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and mild. :D
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
Smut Wars progress
Aug. 21st, 2025 07:15 amartemisdartMade a bunch of progress on my Smut Wars contribution last night and this morning. We're over the hump -- Chapter 3 is in place! I also chose a song with lyrics and a 'vibe' that I felt were appropriate, changed the title, gave chapter titles, and wrote the chapter end notes.
It's due this Sunday at 11:59 PM my time, so I have plenty of time to finish out the rest of the story and polish it up a bit. This one was a little tough -- the characters are SO opposed to each other that getting them to do 'that' with each other took about 20K words of setup, haha!
It's due this Sunday at 11:59 PM my time, so I have plenty of time to finish out the rest of the story and polish it up a bit. This one was a little tough -- the characters are SO opposed to each other that getting them to do 'that' with each other took about 20K words of setup, haha!
Michigan, again
Aug. 21st, 2025 08:28 amazurelunaticVisiting the out-laws with Belovedest. Last night we had dinner out at the Dirty Bird (chicken bar & grill) so this morning's breakfast is leftovers. Which I had in bed, due to the scarcity of tables in the hotel room, and my general unwillingness to get out of bed before nine.
Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep, 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire
Spicy pillow, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa, far better
Run-run, run-run-run away
Oh-oh-oh
Crash after the editing high
Aug. 21st, 2025 08:46 amvriddyI knew editing at that pace wouldn't be sustainable, and was firmly in "make the most of it while it lasts" mode but man, I've been struggling with the post-high crash. I know, I know, that "being at your 100%" looks very different on different days, and it felt like I was running at like 140% for a while on top of that but damn. The difference is crushing, and I get frustrated enough to tear up. I'm not sure if it's because the first half of the year was so bumpy and it left me more brittle, or because it's so rare that I get a writing high from editing rather than drafting but gaaah. I just remember my first NaNo, the only one I won back in 2006, and how creativity seemed to just feed off itself... like I was writing so much, all of the time, that when a couple of strange little events happened I ended up writing a couple of short stories about them too, on top of my 1.6k words a day. Glorious times. And during the lockdowns I was writing during my lunch breaks, too. Even if not quite at that level of intensity, I'd love to catch that spirit again, and on days when I can have several intense, focused writing sessions, it feels like getting closer. I probably need better systems. Mornings are fine, I have a good routine in place and that time is mostly under my control, but later in the day I struggle and flail to even catch 15 minutes of focused writing time.
I'm not depressed or anything, and I'm still editing for 15-30 minutes a day, sometimes even one hour! Progress is progress! But it still feels like I slammed into a wall I now have to slowly climb with my bare hands and nails, when I was the Road Runner going Meep Meep! and grinning wildly for a while here. And the wall is wet and slimy and it smells weird too XD
Community Thursday
Aug. 21st, 2025 07:12 amvriddyCommunity Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.
Commented in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
finalfantasy, bbtp_challenge.
Signal boosts:
- Just wanted to bring up pinchhits again as it's really great when current Pinch Hits are also shared there. I follow a bunch of exchange comms, but there are others I could also write for occasionally. Meanwhile, you can find recent PHs there for a couple of exchanges like raremaleslashex and justmarried!
[migraine] peripheral vision nonsense
Aug. 20th, 2025 10:54 pmkaberettThe thing about buying new glasses, right, is that I've been feeling avoidant about it in part because I think I was slightly migrainey the day I had the most recent test done and I was already pretty sure that my vision goes... wrong... when migrainey -- most noticeable when moving, but always... there.
Slightly more specifically: it's neither scintillating scotoma nor loss-of-whole-field-of-vision nor any of the other very classic visual auras; instead it's a sense that I'm not managing to track movement properly along the lower edge and especially the lower corners of my field of vision.
... which matches up really well, actually, with the peripheral vision deficiencies that, er, showed up during my last eye test.
I've been noticing the Weirdness on-and-off for quite some time now, and was dithering back and forth about whether it was just confirmation bias in that I was only noticing it when otherwise migrainey -- but then on Monday, while on my way to my GP surgery to pick up some paperwork, it resulted in the railings I was going past (and that I go past regularly!) causing an extremely pronounced and unmistakeable strobing effect. I am very confident that that is not something I would somehow manage to confirmation bias myself out of noticing most of the time, so, hurrah, Definitely A Migraine Symptom (for lo, on Monday I was migrainey) it is.
The thing that is mildly baffling me is that I can't actually find (admittedly on a fairly cursory search) any description of specifically peripheral vision fuckery as a migraine thing! Lots of mentions of tunnel vision, lots of mentions of classic aura, and one case study in which "peripheral vision" is used metaphorically. So, you know, let the record show, &c.
Affordable Housing
Aug. 20th, 2025 03:25 pmysabetwordsmithIn this all-women tiny home neighborhood, rent starts at $450. Residents want it to be a nationwide blueprint
Robyn Yerian, 70, used to live in a two-bedroom tiny home that cost just $57,000.
In 2022, she was yearning for more connection — as well as some “passive income.”
So she took some money from her retirement savings, bought a 5-acre plot of land in Cumby, Texas, and is now the landlord and community leader of The Bird’s Nest, an all-women tiny home neighborhood home to 11 women ages 60 to 80.
( Read more... )
Robyn Yerian, 70, used to live in a two-bedroom tiny home that cost just $57,000.
In 2022, she was yearning for more connection — as well as some “passive income.”
So she took some money from her retirement savings, bought a 5-acre plot of land in Cumby, Texas, and is now the landlord and community leader of The Bird’s Nest, an all-women tiny home neighborhood home to 11 women ages 60 to 80.
( Read more... )
Birdfeeding
Aug. 20th, 2025 03:08 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and cooler. :D
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered spaces to put the irises.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I planted a Dangerous Mood Bearded Iris (lavender standards with near-black falls) in the purple-and-white garden. I planted a Montmartre Bearded Iris (purple with yellow edges) and a Ziggy Reblooming Bearded Iris (yellow standards with burgundy-and-yellow streaked falls) under the maple tree.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the newly planted irises.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the old picnic table and the patio plants.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic garden.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and some of the savanna plants.
Cicadas and crickets are singing. Fireflies are out.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered spaces to put the irises.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I planted a Dangerous Mood Bearded Iris (lavender standards with near-black falls) in the purple-and-white garden. I planted a Montmartre Bearded Iris (purple with yellow edges) and a Ziggy Reblooming Bearded Iris (yellow standards with burgundy-and-yellow streaked falls) under the maple tree.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the newly planted irises.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the old picnic table and the patio plants.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic garden.
EDIT 8/20/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and some of the savanna plants.
Cicadas and crickets are singing. Fireflies are out.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
Wednesday has been asked by SRS academic press to read a manuscript
Aug. 20th, 2025 06:02 pmoursinWhat I read
Finished Dragon Harvest.
Read the latest Literary Review.
Read Angela Thirkell, What Did It Mean? (The Barsetshire Novels Book 23) (1954), which, I depose, is the one where Ange, sighing and groaning, realised that she was going to have to write The One About The Coronation, like what everybody else was doing. (The title alludes to a cryptic prophecy by one of the local peasantry.) So there is a fair amount of phoning it in, but on the other hand, some Better Stuff than one might expect for that period of her output.
On the go
And it's back to Lanny: Upton Sinclair, A World to Win (Lanny Budd #7) (1946), in which WW2 is raging but so far, USA is not in it and Our Hero can still pootle about Europe under the guise of being an art expert while mingling in very elevated company indeed.
Up next
Once that is done, I should probably turn my attention to the very different WW2 experience of Nick Jenkins in the next one up for the Dance to the Music of Time book group, The Soldier's Art.
Cuddle Party
Aug. 20th, 2025 04:45 amysabetwordsmithEveryone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
