Happy Earth Day!
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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.
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.
Was told to plan for a week...
Apr. 22nd, 2025 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
This is a bit confusing as well as rapidly-moving plan that I have been sucked into. This is a figure of speech, and I do get pulled into these jobs from time to time, but I'm wondering about the longevity of this one.
After taxes I was making 60 grand a year in America.
With the background that I have I feel as though I am walking into a lion's den. Yesterday I asked if there were any restaurants that served sichuanese food on their island, but they told me one day I will fly directly to sichuan - which is a date and time unknown to me.
Day by day. Day by day.
After taxes I was making 60 grand a year in America.
With the background that I have I feel as though I am walking into a lion's den. Yesterday I asked if there were any restaurants that served sichuanese food on their island, but they told me one day I will fly directly to sichuan - which is a date and time unknown to me.
Day by day. Day by day.
L&O season 2: Episode 2
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
This one was clearly ripped off the Ashley Madison hack, with a weird reference to Rohinie Bisesar (the woman who stabbed a stranger to death in the PATH Shoppers Drug Mart). The latter is even name-checked in the show, which I'm kind of surprised is legal.
The plot is needlessly convoluted. A hacker gets the database for Not!Ashley!Madison Dot Com, and appears to be blackmailing either the owner or someone in the database. People in the database include a well-regarded judge and a pastor of a megachurch. She's about to reveal the identity of someone in the database to her married best friend, but will only do it in person. They agree to meet in their usual spot in the PATH, but the hacker, who arrives first, is being followed. She makes her way to a Shoppers, where she's stabbed to death by a masked assailant.
( you know the drill )
The plot is needlessly convoluted. A hacker gets the database for Not!Ashley!Madison Dot Com, and appears to be blackmailing either the owner or someone in the database. People in the database include a well-regarded judge and a pastor of a megachurch. She's about to reveal the identity of someone in the database to her married best friend, but will only do it in person. They agree to meet in their usual spot in the PATH, but the hacker, who arrives first, is being followed. She makes her way to a Shoppers, where she's stabbed to death by a masked assailant.
( you know the drill )
Haikai Fest: "'The World's Most Popular Spring Flower'"
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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
_
===
daffodil focus
bell song, valdrome, pheasant's eye
live stained glass glory
_
"Real Science"
Apr. 22nd, 2025 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Title: "Real Science"
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Characters: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 985
Summary: Hex learns about science and why Ace loves it.
Notes: Written for the "chemistry" challenge (#257) at
fandomweekly.
Read it on AO3.
Author's Notes: To be entirely honest, I wrote this in order to portray a scientist like they really are, as opposed to the stereotype we see everywhere in the media. Even though Ace loves explosives and explosions, she couldn't have gotten to the point of inventing nitro-9 and retaining a full set of limbs without rigorous preparation, attention to detail, and stringent safety protocols. So, she's verifying every last digit before starting to experiment; she's isolating her experiment in the right environment and even there, she's putting on safety glasses though they're not technically needed, and she's not allowing Hex to distract her from her work. She's not even wearing a white lab coat -- the things she's working on aren't going to splash on her regular clothes and ruin them, so she doesn't need one.
Yes, she really shouldn't drinking from lab glassware, but not because it's inherently dangerous (lab glassware needs to be very clean, because impurities will alter your experiments) -- it's because if you are working with other glassware, it's really easy to get your drink mixed up with your experiment. But, two things: 1) she wasn't working with any other liquids, and 2) chemists are also human and do stupid things like this. And it lampshaded the usual image everyone has of chemists, always working with vials of brightly colored liquid.
But, I'm still keeping with my story-per-month pace, even if some of them are stupidly short. I've been slaving over a WIP for a while now but it's been slow progress. Soon, I hope.
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Characters: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 985
Summary: Hex learns about science and why Ace loves it.
Notes: Written for the "chemistry" challenge (#257) at
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Read it on AO3.
Author's Notes: To be entirely honest, I wrote this in order to portray a scientist like they really are, as opposed to the stereotype we see everywhere in the media. Even though Ace loves explosives and explosions, she couldn't have gotten to the point of inventing nitro-9 and retaining a full set of limbs without rigorous preparation, attention to detail, and stringent safety protocols. So, she's verifying every last digit before starting to experiment; she's isolating her experiment in the right environment and even there, she's putting on safety glasses though they're not technically needed, and she's not allowing Hex to distract her from her work. She's not even wearing a white lab coat -- the things she's working on aren't going to splash on her regular clothes and ruin them, so she doesn't need one.
Yes, she really shouldn't drinking from lab glassware, but not because it's inherently dangerous (lab glassware needs to be very clean, because impurities will alter your experiments) -- it's because if you are working with other glassware, it's really easy to get your drink mixed up with your experiment. But, two things: 1) she wasn't working with any other liquids, and 2) chemists are also human and do stupid things like this. And it lampshaded the usual image everyone has of chemists, always working with vials of brightly colored liquid.
But, I'm still keeping with my story-per-month pace, even if some of them are stupidly short. I've been slaving over a WIP for a while now but it's been slow progress. Soon, I hope.
(no subject)
Apr. 22nd, 2025 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Earth Day call log:
The Sierra Club is trying to break a record for the most origami fish, if you want a fun craft for celebration.
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.
[Prompt #421 — Amnesty] teen Titans — Total Consumption
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Author: Audrelite Title: Total Consumption Fandom: Teen Titans (2003) Prompt: #421 — New Rating: E (Sexual content) Characters: Leonid Kovar, Koriand'r Word Count: 100 Summary: The sensation: total consumption, a pressure shattering every limit, a rhythm building, breaking, rebuilding its exquisite loop.
[Prompt #429 (Amnesty] Winx Club — Icy And His for the Taking
Apr. 22nd, 2025 02:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Author: Audrelite Title: Icy and His For the Taking Fandom: Winx Club Prompt: #429 — Icy Rating: T Characters: Tritannus, mentioned Icy Word Count: 100 Summary: To lose sight of Icy would be to lose this new constant gifted to him within this desolate wasteland.
Coming to fruition
Apr. 21st, 2025 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Yesterday I had some "back and forth" with the people who are trying to bring me into the business.
To my surprise, they will not only cover my plane ticket to their island paradise, but also my wife's ticket. We won't need to pay for hotel accommodations either.
My wife has shown a bit of reluctance to travel to this island.
I mentioned this to some of my other constituents in cryptocurrency, they have somewhat sarcastically mentioned that I should be careful not to get kidnapped and forced to work at a scam factory.
Ironically enough, I just google searched this location that they are requesting me to travel to. A few cases of human trafficking seem to have begun from this location. It might be a good idea to make a dead man's switch and send it to a journalist friend of mine based in Taipei.
To my surprise, they will not only cover my plane ticket to their island paradise, but also my wife's ticket. We won't need to pay for hotel accommodations either.
My wife has shown a bit of reluctance to travel to this island.
I mentioned this to some of my other constituents in cryptocurrency, they have somewhat sarcastically mentioned that I should be careful not to get kidnapped and forced to work at a scam factory.
Ironically enough, I just google searched this location that they are requesting me to travel to. A few cases of human trafficking seem to have begun from this location. It might be a good idea to make a dead man's switch and send it to a journalist friend of mine based in Taipei.
Prompt: #440 - Amnesty Week
Apr. 21st, 2025 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Every tenth week on
100words is Amnesty Week, when all previous prompts are fair game. Did you miss a prompt the first time around? Write it now! Want to write a prompt again? Please do!
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the appropriate prompt tag with your prompt response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
Here's the template as code for easier pasting:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
The prompts are:
439. refuse
438. shelter
437. flower
436. bitter
435. exile
434. cook
433. scrape
432. mudita (मुदिता)
431. toska (тоска)
( Earlier prompts )
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the appropriate prompt tag with your prompt response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
Here's the template as code for easier pasting:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
The prompts are:
439. refuse
438. shelter
437. flower
436. bitter
435. exile
434. cook
433. scrape
432. mudita (मुदिता)
431. toska (тоска)
( Earlier prompts )
Haikai Fest: "Circadian Cueing"
Apr. 21st, 2025 08:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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.
===
even single cells
know the daytime sync and sleep
for wake tomorrow
_
===
even single cells
know the daytime sync and sleep
for wake tomorrow
_
L&O season 2: Episode 1
Apr. 21st, 2025 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
By no one's request, I have downloaded Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent season 2 so that I can watch it so you don't have to.
This one is bad. Like, I normally like my trash TV but it's possible for a pop culture product to be actively harmful and the season opener, "White Squirrel City," is definitely that. It's also an incredible microcosm of our cultural moment.
Which is to say, a few years ago the cops cleared a tent encampment at Bickford Park. Residents were violently displaced, their possessions confiscated, and either forced to go elsewhere, minus their belongings, or shoved into insufficient temporary shelter. This is a major cause of death for homeless people.* Then, to film the copaganda show, they set up a fake tent encampment in the same place where the city had evicted real ones.
So it's one of those situations where even if it had been Great Art, the price of creation would have been outweighed by the moral violation. That said, it's also bad art.
Here is an article from the excellent Grind magazine about all of the things wrong in this episode. The author says it better than I could, and also points out its most egregious flaws, leaving me to nitpick and mock the minor ones.
( spoilers )
This one is bad. Like, I normally like my trash TV but it's possible for a pop culture product to be actively harmful and the season opener, "White Squirrel City," is definitely that. It's also an incredible microcosm of our cultural moment.
Which is to say, a few years ago the cops cleared a tent encampment at Bickford Park. Residents were violently displaced, their possessions confiscated, and either forced to go elsewhere, minus their belongings, or shoved into insufficient temporary shelter. This is a major cause of death for homeless people.* Then, to film the copaganda show, they set up a fake tent encampment in the same place where the city had evicted real ones.
So it's one of those situations where even if it had been Great Art, the price of creation would have been outweighed by the moral violation. That said, it's also bad art.
Here is an article from the excellent Grind magazine about all of the things wrong in this episode. The author says it better than I could, and also points out its most egregious flaws, leaving me to nitpick and mock the minor ones.
( spoilers )
Nominations Queries
Apr. 21st, 2025 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Signups have just opened, and nominations are still ongoing!
We havetwo three nominations queries at this time. If you were one of the nominators of these tags, we would appreciate you helping us with clarifications:
Thank you!
We have
- Little Shop of Horrors - Menken/Ashman: The tag "Chantel (Little Shop of Horrors)" was nominated, but we are having trouble confirming that this character exists. Could the nominator share information on where they appear in the canon?
- Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! | Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!: The tag "Sheriff Dekastop (Eizouken)" was nominated, but we are having trouble confirming that this character exists. Could the nominator share information on where they appear in the canon?
- Heartbeat (UK TV): The tag "Cup of Tea (Object and Concept Anthropomorphism)" was nominated, but we wanted to double-check if this is indeed a nomination for a cup of tea that appears in Heartbeat—in which case it should be disambiguated with the proper fandom—or if it was an error.
Thank you!
Tiny joys in gross work
Apr. 21st, 2025 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Vacuuming for the flea issue does lead to some glee when you see all the dead fleas in the water tank of the vacuum.
(no subject)
Apr. 21st, 2025 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Title: Certainty
Fandom: Death Note
Rating: Gen
Notes: Spoilers for the end of Death Note; death of a child
( Read more... )
Fandom: Death Note
Rating: Gen
Notes: Spoilers for the end of Death Note; death of a child
( Read more... )