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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


In which the weather does not conspire against Ganta and Isaki, although other things do.

Insomniacs After School, volume 9 by Makoto Ojiro

It's no better to be safe than sorry

Apr. 23rd, 2025 08:18 am
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[personal profile] rolanni

What went before ONE: I've shifted some furniture, and I think we're good for tomorrow. There's plenty of room to get the old machines OUT, and the new machines are smaller, ergo.

My one -- well, two -- remaining worries are (1) timing (no phone call from Home Despot yet) and (2) where am I going to put the cats while this is going on? Rookie has an Unhealthy Interest in the front door, so I don't quite trust them all to just run downstairs like sensible cats...

I guess I could try to toss them into my bathroom, though catching Tali isn't by any means easy...

What went before TWO: In case anybody cares, kinematic equations are those equations that can be used to predict unknown information regarding an object's motion. If you know three of four variables, then the fourth can be calculated.

The four variables are: displacement, time, acceleration, velocity.

My head now hurts, but the worst part is that I'm pretty sure I don't have enough of a grasp to actually use this information for what I thought I wanted to use it for.
When they tell writers to "Write what you know"? What that means is that you'll spend a lot of time reading about Z until you know (enough about) Z to write about it.

What went before THREE: Tomorrow! I can look for the delivery of my washer and dryer between the hours of 7:30 and 11:30!

Sigh.

In other news, the lawn guy -- that is to say, One. Single. Guy. with a blower on his back, has been doing Spring Cleanup at my place since 1:00. I'm getting a *little* tired of the noise, though honestly it was perfect for doing ASL. I can't imagine where the lawn guy's head is. He is wearing earphones, but The Long Back Yard really IS long, and four hours is a LONG time to vacuum leaves.

Well. I have Imposed Structure on the WIP. I was going to read through it to make sure it made sense this way, but, um. Maybe tomorrow. While I'm getting up early and waiting for the delivery guys. And, hey. An "early" delivery means I can start in washing clothes before moonrise.

For lunch, I made some kind of bean stew that turned out really well, which is good, because I have a lot left over.

EDITED TO ADD: And help has arrived for my Lone Lawn Guy in the shape of another guy and a truck with a serious vacuum, which is sucking up the Big Pile of Leaves in the driveway.

Wednesday. Sun coming up bright and ambitious.

The Wait for the Washer hasn't quite started, but I thought, just in case I happen to be first on the list, that I should be awake. So! Kettle's on for tea, and Classic Rewind is on for music.

As soon as I have my tea, I'm hitting the comfy chair -- no better not. Better find something to eat. Anyway, first thing up, after caffeine and breakfast is a review of the WIP in its adjusted shape.

I've unplugged the resident washer and dryer, but the delivery crew better -- ah, "Werewolves of London" on the radio -- have a wrench, 'cause there's No Way I'm getting the hoses off of the washer.

That's all I've got this early.

Here -- have a picture of the Long Back Yard.

...I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's and his hair was perfect...

EDITED TO ADD: This Just In! Delivery now scheduled between 9:30 and 1:30. So clearly, I'm not the first on the list. Also? Plot Twist! I need to have an adult present to sign. I wonder if the next door neighbor's home.

Today's blog post brought to you by Ah-Ha, "Take On Me"  (I have always loved this video, but then, I tend to like stories about people Becoming...)


Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin

Apr. 27th, 2025 04:13 am
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[personal profile] conuly
Late in May as the light lengthens
toward summer the young goldfinches
flutter down through the day for the first time
to find themselves among fallen petals
cradling their day's colors in the day's shadows
of the garden beside the old house
after a cold spring with no rain
not a sound comes from the empty village
as I stand eating the black cherries
from the loaded branches above me
saying to myself Remember this


*******


Link

There is a friending meme ongoing

Apr. 26th, 2025 04:05 am
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[personal profile] conuly
Clicky!

Also, I meant to say re: the utilities that you are all the best and I absolutely love you :)

(Still need to call National Grid and still don't wanna.)

World Book Day

Apr. 23rd, 2025 12:10 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The official theme for World Book Day 2025 is:

"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"

This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding
.

Read more... )

Good News

Apr. 23rd, 2025 12:09 am
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[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?

Today's Adventures

Apr. 22nd, 2025 11:08 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went out shopping.

Read more... )

Insect Apocalypse

Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:29 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Insects are disappearing due to agriculture -- and many other drivers, new research reveals

New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research
.

Read more... )

Happy Earth Day!

Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:13 pm
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[personal profile] wyld_dandelyon
I've been under the weather. This time I managed to get Bronchitis just from the end of the winter heating season (unless a friend with a congestive heart condition was actually sick, and not just coughing because of the heart condition). But I think this was coming on earlier, and the med regime my former allergist suggested was keeping my lungs and sinuses a lot clearer than in the past, but not enough for my body to clear out the infection.

Well, I came to this conclusion Friday, with (among other things) singing at the Eurofilk showing me I was unusually short of breath for singing; I already had an appointment with my newish primary doc who I really like on Monday, and when I tried to call the allergist last month to set up an appointment, there was no answer or answering machine on his number, or on the alternate number I found on Google. I did find an article about him listing him as 81 years old, and I'm not sure how long ago that was written, so I'm assuming he died or retired. So, I waited out the weekend and got tireder and tireder, and shorter and shorter of breath.

Happily, she was willing to prescribe antibiotics and steroids (if I'd gotten antibiotics on Friday, that might have been enough), unhappily, when they figured out that the only way they could give me the meds the doc thought most appropriate that didn't have corn in it (kids' liquid, again), it turned out that the pharmacy couldn't fill it until today. It was too late to try to talk the doc into prescribing something different, as the clinic was closed.

So today I woke up way too early, and was NOT falling asleep again (my body does insist on waking when I really need meds, which freaked out my RN mother when I was first sick enough to always be awake when she came in to wake me up to take them). This was handy in that I was able to deal with a bank overdraft for my grown-up kid (she's still using the account I got her when she went to Denmark in 4th grade so I could easily transfer money to her if there was an unexpected need, so, being awake I saw the text notification) (Her birthday is later this month, so an early birthday gift was perfectly reasonable).

And then I had food and called the pharmacy, because I WANTED those meds before the rest of the day's errands, which included getting My Angel to her PT appointment, mailing a thing (in a post office, since there seems to be no more drop-off boxes outside our regular post office any more--WTF, government?--and going to pick up meds at a different pharmacy too.

The strip mall the post office was in had one of the closing JoAnne Fabrics, which had almost no fabric left, and not much of anything else either. I did find some things to buy, including two substantially marked down big bags designed to hold a sewing machine and sewing stuff, but which I plan to use one of for author stuff (books, display, etc.) on the assumption that I'll do signings at cons again, and the other for acrylic paints, brushes, and the like since my current bag and plastic bin plan isn't working out as well as I'd like, and because having that stuff on wheels will be very convenient.

I also got some beads, wire, a thimble and multitool, sewing machine needles, an ironing pad to put on a table, some tape, a couple of pillow forms for planned gifting, and, surprisingly, a basket of tumbled stones to put in the fishtank. Sadly, the heavy-duty dolly they had pictured in the front as available had already been sold. I looked at the jewelry making stuff, thought about the heavy duty crimper and some of those beads, but I haven't been making jewelry lately and can use the hemostats I use for holding autoharp strings to crimp things, so I left those behind. I did also get some very discounted project boards, so if we decide to go to one or more protests, we can take signs.

And I took photos of our daffodils in the middle of all that.

I am cheered by all the photos of protests I'm seeing, and by how badly Elon's car company is doing. It gives me hope. Keep contacting your elected officials, we've got to wear them down until they stand up to our very cruel and foolish leader.

Now I am going to hit post and go watch Rachel show all those pictures of the signs again, and do Duolinguo, so I don't miss a day, and fall in bed. Maybe I'll manage to post Daffodil pics tomorrow.
jjhunter: Watercolor of daisy with blue dots zooming around it like Bohr model electrons (science flower)
[personal profile] jjhunter
Let's take a breath for poetry. It is April, and as good a time as any for a collaborative poetry fest. Please find below a starting stanza or two of a brand new haikai (what's a haikai, you ask? Think extended haiku: alternating stanzas of 5-7-5 and 7-7). Comment with a following stanza to build on that seed. Someone (most likely me) will respond with another stanza, and so on and so forth throughout the day.
===

daffodil focus
bell song, valdrome, pheasant's eye
live stained glass glory

_

Birdfeeding

Apr. 22nd, 2025 02:17 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze, a beautiful spring day.  :D

I fed the birds.  I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two brown-headed cowbirds, a mourning dove, and two fox squirrels.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- We went out shopping.  I picked out roughly 5 flats of plants at DeBuhr's.  We found a garden hose, nozzle, and reel plus a gas can at Home Depot.  Also at Home Depot I spotted a modular garage storage system that looks very promising.  It has mounting rails for shelves and a wide variety of hooks.  That ought to combine well with a pegboard.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- I planted a 'Sugar Snack' cherry tomato and a 'Yellow Pear' tomato in the large pots by the septic garden, each with 4 marigolds around it.

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

(no subject)

Apr. 22nd, 2025 12:25 pm
ursula: bear eating salmon (Default)
[personal profile] ursula
Earth Day call log:

[personal profile] ursula used Governor Gretchen Whitmer's contact form to ask her to deny a permit to the proposed Line 5 oil pipeline, and will further celebrate Earth Day by attending a protest in support of EPA federal employee union members this afternoon.


The Sierra Club is trying to break a record for the most origami fish, if you want a fun craft for celebration.

Retirement T-8 and counting

Apr. 22nd, 2025 09:13 am
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[personal profile] hrj
Medicare Advantage (through Kaiser) is all set up. I've paid my first 3 months of Medicare B through the website, since they can't automatically deduct it from my retirement benefits until they're actually giving me retirement benefits. (Still waiting on that one.)

Sent out my retirement announcement (and celebration invite) at work. I've promised people jars of Heather's Retirement Marmalade as door prizes for as long as they last. (I made 2 dozen.)

Other than the SSA thing, all that's left is:
* last-day stuff at the job (turn in computer/badge, exit interview)
* convert 401K to IRA and select investment strategy (the exact details of which may depend on market details)

Oh, and close my last two investigations. One is in final review, the other is pending completion of some corrections.

(My "retirement checklist" also has some other items on it that aren't directly retirement related but it seemed useful to record them as official to-do items.)

Book Day...

Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:54 am
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[personal profile] sartorias

This is quick, as things have been fraught, with a sick family member who doesn't do well with sickness.

 

Dobrenica 3: Revenant Eve

 

BVC e-book | Kindle | Kobo | Nook |
Amazon paperback | Ingram paperback

Re-edited and reissued: 

It’s now 1795, the rise of Napoleon, and Kim finds herself a guardian spirit for a twelve-year-old kid who will either become Kim’s ancestor . . . or the timeline will alter and Kim will vanish, along with the small, magical European country of Dobrenica. 

Kim hates time travel conundrums, and knows nothing about kids. How is she going to spirit-guide young Aurelie, born on Saint-Domingue, with whom she has nothing in common?

From pirate-infested Jamaica to mannered England to Revolutionary Paris in the early 1800s, Kim and Aurelie travel, sharing adventures and meeting fascinating people, such as the beautiful and charming Josephine, wife of Napoleon. 

 

2025.04.22

Apr. 22nd, 2025 09:26 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Northfield residents warned of elevated levels of manganese in drinking water, advised to use bottled water or filter
Emily Baude KSTP
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/northfield-residents-warned-of-elevated-levels-of-manganese-in-drinking-water-advised-to-use-bottled-water-or-filter/

Rice crisis: Japan imports grain from South Korea for first time in more than 25 years
Japanese consumers who used to treat foreign-grown rice with scepticism have been forced to develop a taste for it amid domestic shortage
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/22/japan-south-korea-rice-import-crisis

Experts talk realism of Conclave movie: ‘Gets a lot of the details right’
After the death of Pope Francis, experts weigh in on how much the real-life papal election will mirror the hit Oscar-winning movie
Adrian Horton
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/22/conclave-movie-pope-francis

How an American businessman lost his job and found himself in an old French vineyard
One day, life as a finance consultant stopped making sense for Peter Hahn, so he took to organic winegrowing in the Loire instead
Genevieve Fox
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/22/how-an-american-businessman-lost-his-job-and-found-himself-in-an-old-french-vineyard

US to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on south-east Asia solar panels
Ahead of a global summit in London comes a warning that lessons on energy security have not been learned
Julia Kollewe
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/22/us-huge-tariffs-south-east-asian-solar-panels-energy-summit

Gold hits $3,500 for first time as US dollar sinks to three-year low
With many stock markets in the red and Dow Jones headed for worst April since 1932, gold could even reach $4,000
Julia Kollewe and Graeme Wearden
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/22/gold-hits-3500-us-dollar-sinks-three-year-low-stock-markets

Ex-US senator's wife convicted in gold bars bribery scheme
Brandon Drenon
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70zlj8dpn8o

Show us your mussels! A mouthwatering trip to Vigo, Spain’s seafood capital
The Galician city on the Atlantic coast has the EU’s largest fishing port, which provides its many bars and restaurants with a spectacular trawl of oysters, clams and mussels
Fiona Dunlop
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/apr/22/food-trip-to-vigo-galicia-spain-seafood-capital

The extraordinary rise of bakery tourism: ‘People travel from all over the world. It’s mind-blowing!’
Beer crawls are out and bakery crawls are in, with people arranging whole days, weekends or even holidays around the search for the perfect loaf or croissant
Chris Marshall
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/22/the-extraordinary-rise-of-bakery-tourism

2025 Sony World Photography Awards: Winners revealed
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9qww2rv0y0o

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