ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 09:12 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 09:12 pm
clavally (clavally) wrote2025-09-27 10:53 pm
clavally) wrote2025-09-27 10:53 pmEntry tags:
General Update
1. For the past few years I've participated in The Sentinel Secret Santa Fic Exchange. I kept remembering and then forgetting and then remembering and then forgetting about it and apparently I was two minutes too late to sign up this year. She offered to open it back up, but the minute I thought I couldn't do it, I started thinking about the drabble part where there are prompts or themes or whathaveyou on certain days and I really enjoyed some of the ones from last year where people created their own kind of AU and each drabble was connected. I might do that this year and I don't think I can do both that and the exchange at the same time. All in all, I think it was fate I was too late. I'm choosing to see it as a good omen.
2. My health has been seriously devolving over the past year. My knees are shot to hell, and I can barely stand or walk more than five minutes at a time. I know I need to lose weight and that would help, but I haven't been able to convince myself to do anything about it, yet. Also, I'm really tired during the day, especially mornings. I keep falling asleep and being sleepy during the day. I think, and don't quote me on this, but I think something might be wrong with my CPAP machine. We shall see. Eventually.
In more positive news:
3. It is quickly becoming Advent calendar season. At least, Advent calendar buying season. I've looked over my notes from last year (I am SO glad I reviewed everything last year!) and I've already bought the chocolate calendar, the pen/pencil calendar, and the gaming dice calendar. I've also purchased the Diamine Inkvent calendar, which is 25 days of fountain pen ink, all different colors with some being sheening and some being glimmering. Also on my list to get soon is the book advent calendar. I need one or two more that are just 12 days, so I can do the 12 days of Christmas again. The book is one....I was thinking of one of the hand-dyed yarn calendars. I think I saw one that was only 12 days. If anyone sees a cool 12 day calendar, hit me up!
4. I've also decided to make a concerted effort to improve my writing. For part of that, I wanted to read Steering the Craft from Ursula K. Le Guin. She includes exercises in each chapter to do, but I thought I probably wouldn't be motivated to do them without help. Luckily, my friend Rachel has agreed to read the book with me and complete the exercises together. We've done one chapter so far and it was a lot of fun. I wrote a few lines I really liked. I'm gonna read chapter 2 tomorrow for next week.
5. And, I started to attempt knitting again. I've never gotten very far in the past, so I'm being very regimental about it this time. Like a couple weeks ago I was solely focusing on knit stitches until it became second nature, and now I've moved on to practicing purling and will continue until that feels natural. Then I'll move on to knitting a scarf with stockinette.
6. Reading fiction has been up and down for me, although I'm still hopeful I can finish all the books from the calendar before I order the next one. At least, I'll finish all the sci-fi ones since I think I'm only getting sci-fi this time around.
I guess that's all of my updates. How are all of you? I admit I haven't been following much on dw lately. Hope everyone is well!
2. My health has been seriously devolving over the past year. My knees are shot to hell, and I can barely stand or walk more than five minutes at a time. I know I need to lose weight and that would help, but I haven't been able to convince myself to do anything about it, yet. Also, I'm really tired during the day, especially mornings. I keep falling asleep and being sleepy during the day. I think, and don't quote me on this, but I think something might be wrong with my CPAP machine. We shall see. Eventually.
In more positive news:
3. It is quickly becoming Advent calendar season. At least, Advent calendar buying season. I've looked over my notes from last year (I am SO glad I reviewed everything last year!) and I've already bought the chocolate calendar, the pen/pencil calendar, and the gaming dice calendar. I've also purchased the Diamine Inkvent calendar, which is 25 days of fountain pen ink, all different colors with some being sheening and some being glimmering. Also on my list to get soon is the book advent calendar. I need one or two more that are just 12 days, so I can do the 12 days of Christmas again. The book is one....I was thinking of one of the hand-dyed yarn calendars. I think I saw one that was only 12 days. If anyone sees a cool 12 day calendar, hit me up!
4. I've also decided to make a concerted effort to improve my writing. For part of that, I wanted to read Steering the Craft from Ursula K. Le Guin. She includes exercises in each chapter to do, but I thought I probably wouldn't be motivated to do them without help. Luckily, my friend Rachel has agreed to read the book with me and complete the exercises together. We've done one chapter so far and it was a lot of fun. I wrote a few lines I really liked. I'm gonna read chapter 2 tomorrow for next week.
5. And, I started to attempt knitting again. I've never gotten very far in the past, so I'm being very regimental about it this time. Like a couple weeks ago I was solely focusing on knit stitches until it became second nature, and now I've moved on to practicing purling and will continue until that feels natural. Then I'll move on to knitting a scarf with stockinette.
6. Reading fiction has been up and down for me, although I'm still hopeful I can finish all the books from the calendar before I order the next one. At least, I'll finish all the sci-fi ones since I think I'm only getting sci-fi this time around.
I guess that's all of my updates. How are all of you? I admit I haven't been following much on dw lately. Hope everyone is well!
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 08:47 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 08:47 pm
Entry tags:
Sustainability
Why Better Is Less
Let’s talk about something that few people talk about. It’s the idea that provisioning quality, making sure everyone has access to what they truly need, matters more than chasing GDP numbers. In other words, it’s not about growing bigger. It’s about growing smarter.
GDP measures production but ignores unpaid caregiving, environmental costs, and well-being, a flaw even its creator, Simon Kuznets himself warned, “the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.”
But if we think of provisioning systems as the real things people need, like healthcare, education, housing, and electricity. When these systems work well and are universal, many social thresholds can be met using relatively low resources. Meaning you don’t need a sky‑high GDP to ensure people get what they need.
( Read more... )
Let’s talk about something that few people talk about. It’s the idea that provisioning quality, making sure everyone has access to what they truly need, matters more than chasing GDP numbers. In other words, it’s not about growing bigger. It’s about growing smarter.
GDP measures production but ignores unpaid caregiving, environmental costs, and well-being, a flaw even its creator, Simon Kuznets himself warned, “the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.”
But if we think of provisioning systems as the real things people need, like healthcare, education, housing, and electricity. When these systems work well and are universal, many social thresholds can be met using relatively low resources. Meaning you don’t need a sky‑high GDP to ensure people get what they need.
( Read more... )
mistressofmuses (mistressofmuses) wrote2025-09-27 07:31 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-09-27 07:31 pm
Entry tags:
Monday, September 15: Belmar Park
We were still in recovery mode from the show on Saturday, and then a late night going out to look for the northern lights on Sunday night, so we wanted something fairly easy, but still taking advantage of the nice weather.
So we headed over to Belmar park, for a fairly short walk down to the turtles, ha.
We did make it down over to the turtle pond area, but the star of the spot was an egret! I love the ridiculously yellow enormous feet. (And a lot of swirly algae, ha.)
Will a day come that I don't take closeups of honeybees? Perhaps, but the day was not this day.
Nice dramatic spider web.
Alas, blurry! But a nice bright red dragonfly.
Around here we also managed to actually spot one of the huge, loud cicadas up in one of the trees. Couldn't get a picture where it was visible, but it was nice to see one, ha.
Boxelder bug on some milkweed seeds.
Pretty good-sized spider in a web on the milkweeds.
A couple very big turtles up on their branch.
The egret over by the turtles and the muskrat lodge, hopping from one branch to another.
I really like the reflection. :)
As we turned around to head back, there was a flock of the tragically-named bushtits.
They're such cute little things.
A beefly! I love them. We saw several, but they were frustratingly hard to get clear pictures of.
It was a nice day and a nice walk. :)
So we headed over to Belmar park, for a fairly short walk down to the turtles, ha.
We did make it down over to the turtle pond area, but the star of the spot was an egret! I love the ridiculously yellow enormous feet. (And a lot of swirly algae, ha.)
Will a day come that I don't take closeups of honeybees? Perhaps, but the day was not this day.
Ten more pictures of insects, spiders, birds, etc.:
Nice dramatic spider web.
Alas, blurry! But a nice bright red dragonfly.
Around here we also managed to actually spot one of the huge, loud cicadas up in one of the trees. Couldn't get a picture where it was visible, but it was nice to see one, ha.
Boxelder bug on some milkweed seeds.
Pretty good-sized spider in a web on the milkweeds.
A couple very big turtles up on their branch.
The egret over by the turtles and the muskrat lodge, hopping from one branch to another.
I really like the reflection. :)
As we turned around to head back, there was a flock of the tragically-named bushtits.
They're such cute little things.
A beefly! I love them. We saw several, but they were frustratingly hard to get clear pictures of.
It was a nice day and a nice walk. :)
Jesse the K (jesse_the_k) wrote2025-09-27 01:30 pm
jesse_the_k) wrote2025-09-27 01:30 pmWhy More and More of Us Are Using Captions/Subtitles to Understand Dialog
Just found a great episode on 20,000 Hz, a favorite podcast of mine.
SUBTITLES ON: WHY IS MOVIE DIALOGUE SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?
Answer at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
access_fandom, a comm I co-mod where we talk about making sure the full fandom experience works for all of us, no matter how our bodyminds work. Like many DW comms, it hosts useful knowledge going back a while, and is always ready to be revived.
Oliver Moss (olivermoss) wrote2025-09-27 10:44 am
olivermoss) wrote2025-09-27 10:44 am(no subject)
I'm about two weeks out of the loop on DW. There are replies and comments I want to get to and I'm sorry, but my brain had just been... I don't even know. But I am here, I exist and am trying to muddle through.
Because of how run down I've been, I almost didn't go to the D&D event in the gorge. But, I last minute scraped myself up and went. When Eliot said that he'd arrange a party bus as a transportation option I didn't imagine:
Going helped a lot. But I'm still... I don't know how to describe it. My brain's just suddenly weird about doing things I usually do. Maybe I just need a few weeks and come back to it.
So, I might do random sporadic updates and if I am not replying to comments I'm sorry. I really value the conversations I have here, so I feel bad about just random posts for a bit. Just sort of resetting or something.
Because of how run down I've been, I almost didn't go to the D&D event in the gorge. But, I last minute scraped myself up and went. When Eliot said that he'd arrange a party bus as a transportation option I didn't imagine:
Going helped a lot. But I'm still... I don't know how to describe it. My brain's just suddenly weird about doing things I usually do. Maybe I just need a few weeks and come back to it.
So, I might do random sporadic updates and if I am not replying to comments I'm sorry. I really value the conversations I have here, so I feel bad about just random posts for a bit. Just sort of resetting or something.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 12:41 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 12:41 pmEntry tags:
Birdfeeding
Today is mostly sunny and warm.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 9/27/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 9/27/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
The cornfield across from us has been harvested. It's a bit of a wreck though, looks like Bubba Fail the Farmer set his blades too high.
As it is suppertime, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 9/27/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 9/27/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
The cornfield across from us has been harvested. It's a bit of a wreck though, looks like Bubba Fail the Farmer set his blades too high.
As it is suppertime, I am done for the night.
Frejr Eldlilja (thepasteldyke) wrote2025-09-27 07:20 pm
thepasteldyke) wrote2025-09-27 07:20 pmOh no kitty cat
Kalma is looking awfully cute for a cat who is probably (~99% chance) the reason why I can't find the USB I had several unpublished fanfics on
(i know it was on my desk, now it isn't there. Kalma likes to plant his butt on said desk, and thinks everything small is a toy - it only takes one BAP with a tiny little paw and something will be lost in the void)
this is what i get for trying to not have to deal with constantly having to log into private browsing to use gdocs
luckily i don't think i had anything actually important on there but it's a bummer for sure, hadn't had the time to back the latest stuff up yet
(i know it was on my desk, now it isn't there. Kalma likes to plant his butt on said desk, and thinks everything small is a toy - it only takes one BAP with a tiny little paw and something will be lost in the void)
goliathus (goliathus) wrote2025-09-27 06:42 pm
goliathus) wrote2025-09-27 06:42 pm
Befriending my neighbors (spoiler alert, they're not people)
I'm determined to befriend my neighborhood crows and luckily there's a few that like to hang out right by my house. I've fed lots of corvids before but I think befriending them will be easier now that I live in the city. City crows are much more used to humans and get spooked less.
I met one today and gave it some dog treats. It was cawing and I whistled at it but tried to mimic the number and frequency of the caws. Then I gave it more food and it made this cute rattling/clicking sound and a funny little "weh" noise. I hope it was a good thing. I think so because it seemed to enjoy the food. Its buddy came over too, tried to give it some food but it got spooked by a car and flew away. I tried to mimic the clicking as well but I don't think I did a very good job, hope I didn't accidentally cuss them out in crow language lol
They're such fascinating animals fr, intelligent and full of personality. Hope I can get to know them.
I met one today and gave it some dog treats. It was cawing and I whistled at it but tried to mimic the number and frequency of the caws. Then I gave it more food and it made this cute rattling/clicking sound and a funny little "weh" noise. I hope it was a good thing. I think so because it seemed to enjoy the food. Its buddy came over too, tried to give it some food but it got spooked by a car and flew away. I tried to mimic the clicking as well but I don't think I did a very good job, hope I didn't accidentally cuss them out in crow language lol
They're such fascinating animals fr, intelligent and full of personality. Hope I can get to know them.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 12:39 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-27 12:39 amEntry tags:
Philosophical Questions: Effects
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
What do you think the long-term effects of so many people being glued to their screens will be?
( Read more... )
What do you think the long-term effects of so many people being glued to their screens will be?
( Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-26 08:49 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-09-26 08:49 pmEntry tags:
Pigeon Pea Recipes
We found a new international grocery store in Charleston, Amelica & Louky Market. Among the things they had were bags of dry pigeon peas, which I recognized but hadn't seen before. They're similar to black-eyed peas but instead of white or ivory these are light gray or putty-colored. Pigeon peas appear in African, Caribbean, and East Indian cuisines. So I thought I'd look up some recipes for dry pigeon peas.
... aaaaand now I'm hungry again. O.O
( Read more... )
... aaaaand now I'm hungry again. O.O
( Read more... )
Socchan (soc_puppet) wrote2025-09-26 09:37 pm
soc_puppet) wrote2025-09-26 09:37 pm
Entry tags:
New fic meme journal
Go check out ao3_isdown! It's a journal that hosts fic prompt memes whenever AO3 goes down.
Prompts for the first meme are open for close to another three hours, as of this post; prompts will be open to fills for another week after the post closes to new prompts.
Anyway, go take a look! I've already made a little fill myself for Avery and Zeek, which I'll cross-post here, uh. Sooner or later, I promise!
ao3_isdown! It's a journal that hosts fic prompt memes whenever AO3 goes down.Prompts for the first meme are open for close to another three hours, as of this post; prompts will be open to fills for another week after the post closes to new prompts.
Anyway, go take a look! I've already made a little fill myself for Avery and Zeek, which I'll cross-post here, uh. Sooner or later, I promise!
mistressofmuses (mistressofmuses) wrote2025-09-26 07:21 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-09-26 07:21 pmEntry tags:
Sunday, September 14: Stargazing
On the evening of September 14th, we saw some reports that the northern lights might be visible in Colorado. We saw them last year (first time I ever saw them!) and it was very cool. We decided to head up to the plains to find some good dark areas and see if we could catch them again.
We saw some very cool pictures from other people... almost exactly where we'd been the previous night, driving home from the model show, haha.
Unfortunately, by the time we got up to some truly dark areas, the numbers had dropped pretty sharply. There wasn't much of anything visible, and even using a camera, there was just the faintest pinkish glow. (Not sure how visible it even is in the picture, unless you're in the dark, haha.)
The faintest glow along the horizon, ha.
However, the stars were spectacular! For the first time in a very long time, we saw the milky way. While that certainly didn't show up on my cell phone camera, I was honestly impressed that my cell phone does capture stars at all!
Look at all those stars!
So many stars!
The glow faded from the horizon, but the stars were nice. And the big dipper was right there!
Zoomed in a bit, the big dipper again!
There was also a very dramatic moonrise, which was cool.
As usual, especially with celestial stuff, I swear it was cooler in person, haha. But even though the northern lights wound up being a bust for the night, the stars were beautiful, and I was glad we went out and saw them.
We saw some very cool pictures from other people... almost exactly where we'd been the previous night, driving home from the model show, haha.
Unfortunately, by the time we got up to some truly dark areas, the numbers had dropped pretty sharply. There wasn't much of anything visible, and even using a camera, there was just the faintest pinkish glow. (Not sure how visible it even is in the picture, unless you're in the dark, haha.)
The faintest glow along the horizon, ha.
However, the stars were spectacular! For the first time in a very long time, we saw the milky way. While that certainly didn't show up on my cell phone camera, I was honestly impressed that my cell phone does capture stars at all!
Look at all those stars!
So many stars!
The glow faded from the horizon, but the stars were nice. And the big dipper was right there!
Zoomed in a bit, the big dipper again!
There was also a very dramatic moonrise, which was cool.
As usual, especially with celestial stuff, I swear it was cooler in person, haha. But even though the northern lights wound up being a bust for the night, the stars were beautiful, and I was glad we went out and saw them.