smellsgood | Member Posts

Around the beginning of March (before I started lifting! it's okay, I promise I am monitoring all of this responsibly <3) I had a couple of weeks where I didn't manage to do as much stretching of my hips as usual. Whereupon. my left leg. pitched a tantrum. So I have been grumbling along with sciatic-nerve pain for the last month and a half, and getting on with life around it because, you know, pain, watcha gonna do.

... this morning, on the way to Acquire Breakfast, it blessedly, unpleasantly, emphatically twanged -- and there ensued several whole hours wherein it didn't hurt.

Tragically I then resumed sitting on the sofa in order to poke at computer some more, and despite position shifting......... yep, it retwanged itself.

I Am Doing My Stretches. :|

Some good things nonetheless:

brief respite from The Grumpy Nerve
we arrived at coot nest #1 when it was still in shade, and hung around long enough for the sun to hit it; whereupon the grown-ups Stood Up and the BABIES went on ADVENTURES. at one point a mallard with went by with her four tiny fluffy ducklings! and then subsequently More Coots! and all the Egyptian goslings are happily pootling about in the water, now, and several of them have discovered that they can go ZOOM under said water :)
there is on the way to the coots a very dramatic tulip, which I have been watching with interest: it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and started out almost entirely white with just a tiny splotch of red at the tips of the petals. it's now got red feathering along all the edges of all of the petals and it's delightful.
bakery treats: v pleasant savoury pastry thing, Bred Puddin, cardamom bun. also enjoyed nibbling some of A's ridiculous raspberry brownie cruffin Situation.
we made a trip to the Household Waste Recycling Centre! I did not acquire a weights bench! ... A did acquire a scooter. for scooting. with The Child. therefore: we successfully got multiple things Out of the house, and the thing that has come in is Not My Fault. (and will make the Child very happy!)
... turns out that doing lots of stapling hurts less when I actually activate muscles all the way down my back than if I just sort of mash my joints...

muccamukk

I really enjoy Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman's Saturday morning "What the Heck Just Happened?" chats. It really does just feel like my aunties talking smack about history.

In today's episode (Video, 41 Minutes), they were discussing ways to think about corruption and how to deal with it—using Hamilton, Lincoln, the Nixon/Kennedy debates and Representative Maxwell Frost as examples. HCR mentioned that a lot of USian students don't learn the technicalities of how the government works, such as "this is the legal definition of [thing], and therefore the law says you can do [such and such] about it" (my paraphrase). And also how when exposed to this information, people of all ages are often amazed and eager to learn more. (Thus both women's teaching and social media strategies).

(I'm not especially ragging on the U.S. education system here; most Canadians don't learn civics either.)

Which reminded me of a class a few weeks ago, where (like most of my classes) most of the students are Gen Z, and either weren't born during the ramp up to the 2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq, or were tiny smol and don't remember it (see me, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall, "you're welcome" to anyone who I just made feel very old). The professor was explaining how it had been sold to the public, the WMD lies, etc, and its echos (or not) in current events.

The class was agog! They were entranced! They were listening the most sensational soap opera unfold! "What? Really!?" they gasped. "Why didn't we know this!?" they demanded.

"It's not taught," the professor answered; "it's not your fault that you don't know."

I think when I was coming up, history ended with the Cold War. To be fair, that was somewhat due to when the textbooks were written (and a couple still had the U.S.S.R. on the maps). In part, it's difficult to write about something you're in the middle of. But how much of what we're doing now needs the context of 9/11, and the second Iraq War, and the Patriot Act, and and and... ? And how we all understood that day that the world would never be the same. (Which also needs the context of events before, of course.) We all need to know this history, but not everyone who is in elected office today is old enough to remember it.

I'm just sad there wasn't time to tell them about Freedom Fries :(

stonepicnicking_okapi

This is a nice puzzle. Unfortunately, it is missing two pieces. This is one of the puzzles I got at the swap at the library. I am not saying I didn't lose them myself, but it is possible that the puzzle itself wasn't complete. But all life is fodder, so I wrote a Sherlock Holmes ficlet for

spring_renewal for it. Ridley's Jigsaw Puzzles. Gin Lover's Jigsaw Puzzle. 500 pieces. It was not a well-constructed puzzle. The pieces didn't lock together as nicely/snugly as I prefer. I shan't be purchasing any from this company.

Title: Missing Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Turner, Watson, Holmes
Content Notes: domestic fluff
Prompt Being Filled: Any, Any, creative uses of [choice]
Length: 400
Rating: Gen
Summary: Mrs. Hudson is missing two jigsaw puzzle pieces.

( Read more... )

stonepicnicking_okapi

Today is National Haiku Day.

The light of a candle by Yosa Buson [translated by Edith Shiffert]

The light of a candle
is transferred to another candle—
spring twilight.

kaberett

( exercise; numbers )

flamingsword

Woke up with a migraine, but took stuff for it as soon as I realized it wasn’t just a sinus headache. Now I get to drive to work and work a whole day and drive home with a migraine hangover. Yesterday sucked, and today is not looking much better.

I’ll be okay, later, but today I’m just kinda hanging on.

Thanks to everyone for recent kind comments. Y’all make my life better.

yuuago

Here is a list of some stuff I've been reading lately:

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. True crime about the search for a serial killer who operated in Florence, Italy in the '70s and '80s. This case - or rather, the investigation - is absolutely batshit. And glancing at more recent developments, it managed to get even more batshit after this book was published.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. About a pair of con artists in Dickensian England who set out to swindle some rich people. I'm not very far into it, but so far I'm really enjoying the story. I've already seen the Korean film adaptation, The Handmaiden, and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow. I'm only about 1/3 into this, but it's really interesting so far. It discusses a lot of stuff about the internet (and other things) that I've noticed and seen discussions about but never had laid out in such an approachable way. Like, the business practices always went over my head; why the hell would a company deliberately make their product worse, and how could making their product worse make the company more money? It still seems crazy to me, but at least I'm kind of grasping it now. The writer's style is very flippant, and that's kind of grating at times, but it's not a deal breaker.

Going to read next: Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti, the f/f romance novel about two rival authors of gothic fiction. It's on one of the goodreads challenge lists, so I figured I might as well tackle it next.

kaberett

( Read more... )

stonepicnicking_okapi

I finally finished the poetry anthology This is the Honey edited by Kwame Alexander and now have moved onto Poetry Unbound: 50 poems to open your world edited by Pádraig Ó Tuama. This is the first one.

Wonder Woman by Ada Limón

Standing at the swell of the muddy Mississippi
after the Urgent Care doctor had just said, Well,
sometimes shit happens, I fell good and hard
for New Orleans all over again. Pain pills swirling
in the purse along with a spell for later. It’s taken
a while for me to admit, I am in a raging battle
with my body, a spinal column thirty-five degrees
bent, vertigo that comes and goes like a DC Comics
villain nobody can kill. Invisible pain is both
a blessing and a curse. You always look so happy,
said a stranger once as I shifted to my good side
grinning. But that day, alone on the riverbank,
brass blaring from the Steamboat Natchez,
out of the corner of my eye, a girl, maybe half my age,
is dressed, for no apparent reason, as Wonder Woman.
She struts by in all her strength and glory, invincible,
eternal, and when I stand to clap (because who wouldn’t),
she bows and poses like she knew I needed the myth,
—a woman, by a river, indestructible

kaberett

( Read more... )

stonepicnicking_okapi

Wednesday's word is a term from poetry...

...litotes.

A form of ironic understatement that often incorporates a negative to create a positive, such as 'not a bad idea,' for example the line from Beowulf: [the sword] was not useless to the warrior [meaning the sword was helpful].

ravena_kade

My sister has left the building.

The last couple of days have had me more exhausted than before. They wanted a huge holiday type dinner on Sunday but could not tell me what time. Then yesterday my Dad's sister and husband showed up at 3 pm to see my sister before she went home and I had to figure out dinner... while dealing with my Dad's restricted now including no salad greens diet.

Last night her partner told me how sad my Sister is to be leaving as she misses everyone, even the loud cousins. I do get it. I'd like to see them once or twice a month to do something fun. Seeing us would be easy if she'd get on a plane. I won't be comfortable for a while to bring Dad on a plane, but the first trip will be to Chicago and they can meet us (the next flight will either be Florida or Vegas...for Dad trips)

I am happy that I am no longer chaos maid.

I have Dad's next 2 Dr appointments scheduled complete with rides. He has been approved by the physical therapist for work, I just need the NP's release and off he goes. I am thinking May 1 because we need to see what the latest meds due with his blood pressure.

I have Friday off and Monday is a holiday so I am planning me time. I want to sleep past 3:30 AM. If it rains I get to put the house back in order. If is not raining I garden and go to the beach.

Oh,and Frankie brought me a gift this morning.. a mouse. Sad for the mouse, but my kitty does his job. Just happy he didn't bring one to me yesterday with company here.

stonepicnicking_okapi

1. Minor leaves on his first trip away from home, 5 days with the chorus in Nashville, at 430 am. I have been rushing around trying to get him ready. When he's finally gone, I'll just collapse.

2. But not completely. I had a new client today and will have another on Thursday and I had a different new client last Friday, all men, all different situations, from mostly independent to hospice care. It's a lot of new things.

3. My client last week had me paint the floor white. That was interesting.

4. Minisculus has gained too much weight per his annual check upand is back on his 'caloric modification' also a lot of parental discussion about sports for next year.

All this to say, it's kind of stressful, even more than usual.

Do you know Fable the raven?

Watch on YouTube

kaberett

This has become a bit of a staple of our rotation for when the veg box is made of brassica, and also brassica, and finally some brassica (I do frequently actively opt in to this, to be clear, but also... brassica). However! As you might have noticed, I have just developed a special interest in picking things up and putting things down again, and this in turn means I am going hmm about eating more protein.

When previously mentioning this recipe I have noted that As Usual my household thinks it wants about twice as much veg as written for the quantity of noodle. To this the protein variation essentially adds: some tofu that you've tossed with soy sauce and five-spice or other flavouring of your choice and then baked; and some edamame beans.

Base recipe can be found at Ocado or the Graun, and a fuller write-up will appear under a cut at Some Point in the Hopefully Near future (if only so the instructions are in the order that I want them to be in!).

yuuago

A new bookstore opened up here this weekend.

It's an independent bookstore specifically for romance novels.

I took a look while I was downtown. It's nice; a little small, but a decent selection given the space, and they do have room to expand the selection by switching up the layout a bit. Everything is divided up by subgenre (contemporary, sports, dark, etc).

Also, they do carry M/M and F/F romance, so there is that. It's mixed in with everything else, rather than having its own section; you'll have to look in the Sports section for your Heated Rivalry and so on. I kind of enjoy that, but I kind of don't; on the one hand, filing it by subgenre treats it the same as everything else. On the other hand, it makes browsing a little less efficient if I know that I want something gay but don't have any other parameters in mind.

I picked up a F/F regency while I was there; Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti. Not sure if it'll be any good, but the premise sounds fun (the protagonists are rival authors of gothic fiction).

I'm a little unsure whether this place will actually be successful; Fort Mac is small, and I don't know if we have the base to sustain a regular indie bookstore, let alone one with a specific genre focus. But I hope it'll do well.

tielan

I really struggle to have breakfast these days.

I have my morning coffee and then I kind of forget to have breakfast until midmorning...

tielan

I got a very nifty gift around Maria and several other women of the MCU (Pepper, Jane, Nebula). My gifter took all the threads of my request and tied them together beautifully!

a piece of history in space
A mysterious fragment of an alien world threatens Earth, and four women must stop it before it fully awakes.

Literally, S.H.I.E.L.D in space!

stonepicnicking_okapi

This is the best version of this song. Jazz man introduced it to me on Friday.

Watch on YouTube

katarik

Stayed home from church yesterday to attend the virtual memorial for Ny, which was heartbreaking in a different way than the in-person memorial was. I'm glad I was able to do both.

Today is my birthday, and next week an out of state friend (not on DW) I've never met in analog space is coming to visit. Even in death, we are in the midst of life.