Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The following poems from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."


"The Most Prestigious Heritage"
Story Date: Sunday, July 12, 2015
Summary: Syrian families create a language nest in Rutledge.
447 lines, Buy It Now = $224

Sabra Mamoud loved working
at 'Aswat Saghira, or in English,
the Little Voices Language Nest.



These poems form a triptych, to be posted in order:

"Where You Find Light"
Story Date: Early June, 2016
Summary: Josué and Aidan set up a house for earthquake refugees, complete with books.
422 lines, Buy It Now = $211

As soon as Aidan recovered
from the Big One flattening him
with the weight of so many deaths
and disruptions all at once, he
began looking for ways to help.



"When You Learn to Read"
Story Date: Monday, June 13, 2016
Summary: Josué reads aloud to refugee children.
286 lines, Buy It Now = $143

Josué parked his bike and
then bounded up the steps
of the big, bright pink house,
already looking forward to
the afternoon's activities.



"No Faster or Firmer Friendships"
Story Date: Monday, June 13, 2016
Summary: Josué and Maria-Vera read together.
515 lines, Buy It Now = $258

Once they finished putting away
all the groceries, the children
and a few adults drifted back
into the living room area.

Indigenous People

Aug. 29th, 2025 08:14 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Cherokee, Osage, and the Indigenous North American Type Collection

After five years of community-partnered research with First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada and the United States, Typotheque is proud to announce the release of new Cherokee and Osage script fonts. Accompanying these is the Indigenous North American Type Collection, a large set of fonts that support the Indigenous communities in North America and their unique writing systems, in terms of digital access, use, and local typographic needs.


Speak it. Write it. Read it. Live it. Remember it.

"Helium Miner's Song" by Catamariner

Aug. 29th, 2025 08:02 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
"Helium Miner's Song" by [personal profile] catamariner  is up for a Pegasus Award.

Climate Change

Aug. 29th, 2025 05:06 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
New tech makes it easier to cool communities sweltering in urban heat islands

Take two streets in Boston at 4:30 p.m. on a recent day, as an example. Standing in the sun on Lewis Place, the temperature was 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.6 degrees Celsius). On Dudley Common, it was 103 F (39.2 C).

Both streets were hot, but the temperature on one was much more dangerous for people’s health and well-being.

The kicker is that those two streets are only a few blocks apart. The difference epitomizes the urban heat island effect, created as pavement and buildings absorb and trap heat, making some parts of the city hotter
.

Read more... )

Venn Diagram

Aug. 29th, 2025 02:16 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
You are here.

Birdfeeding

Aug. 29th, 2025 02:10 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I cut brush under the maple tree.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I planted 2 Red Masterpiece irises under the maple tree and 2 Twist of Sheree purple-and-white irises in the purple-and-white garden.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I watered the old picnic table, patio plants, and house yard plants.

I picked 6 groundcherries and 1 yellow pear tomato.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the new picnic table, septic garden, telephone pole garden, and a few savanna seedlings.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

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

Writing

Aug. 29th, 2025 01:00 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me, a beginner

“Hello! I am a developer. Here is my relevant experience: I code in Hoobijag and sometimes jabbernocks and of course ABCDE++++ (but never ABCDE+/^+ are you kidding? ha!) and I like working with Shoobababoo and occasionally kleptomitrons. I’ve gotten to work for Company1 doing Shoobaboo-ing code things and that’s what led me to the Snarfus. So, let’s dive in!

Read more... )

(no subject)

Aug. 29th, 2025 10:51 am
greghousesgf: (pic#17096904)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
I was in a really good mood because I had some great plans for the holiday weekend starting early this afternoon but I just got a text and they've all been cancelled. :(

The Thursday Murder Club

Aug. 29th, 2025 05:28 pm
profiterole_reads: (Kings - Jack and David)
[personal profile] profiterole_reads
Netflix's movie The Thursday Murder Club was excellent. It has an amazing cast of senior actors, as well as David Tennant.

It's based on a novel that has sequels, so hopefully we'll get to see more of them.
duckprintspress: (Default)
[personal profile] duckprintspress
8 book covers, text and a graphic of a purple t-shirt with text and an outline of Australia, all on a background of the Rainbow Flag. The text reads: Queer Books From Australia. The text on the t-shirt reads: Wear It Purple Day. The books are: An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows; Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton & Aśka; A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows; The Sweetness Between Us by Sarah Winifred Searle; She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan; A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske; Always Human by Ari North; Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries.

Wear It Purple Day, which is today – August 29th 2025 – is an annual event drawing attention to LGBTQIA+ youth in Australia, with an emphasis on acceptance and education. We thought it’d make a great opportunity to draw attention to some Australian authors and their queer books! The contributors to the list are: Shadaras, Nina Waters, Shea Sullivan, Dei Walker, and an anonymous contributor.


An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.

There, her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, chief among them the Vex’Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.

Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin, a secretive order of storytellers and mystics, the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and magic.

Can one girl – an accidental worldwalker – really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she just die trying?


Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton & Aśka

Maisie has always dreamed of meeting her hero, Kara Bufano, an amputee actor who plays a kick-arse amputee character in her favourite show. Fancon is big and exciting and exhausting. Then she meets Ollie, a cute volunteer who she has a lot in common with. Could this be the start of something, or will her mum, who doesn’t seem to know what boundaries are, embarrass her before she and Ollie have a chance?


A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

“Stolen me? As soon to say a caged bird can be stolen by the sky.”

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love―as both will learn―is quite another.

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry. Foz Meadows’ A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.


The Sweetness Between Us by Sarah Winifred Searle

After health problems wiped out their first few weeks of school, Perley and Amandine are both starting their Junior year behind their classmates, and both have major changes in their lives that they’re struggling to get used to. Perley was diagnosed with diabetes over the summer, and worries that all these new medical expenses will be a hardship on his family. And Amandine, part of a venerated family of vampires, has been turned much younger than she expected to be after a car accident nearly killed her. The two of them form a fast friendship – both feel a little out of step with their old lives, and as a bonus, it turns out that Amandine’s new vampire abilities can help Perley save money on blood glucose tests. But as the year goes on, they’re forced to admit that maybe their coping strategies – and their blood-sipping-turned-romance – aren’t working out so well after all. Will they be able to get their lives back to normal? Or will both have to figure out new ways for their “normal” to look?


She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.


A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.


Always Human by Ari North

In the near-future, people use technology to give the illusion of all kinds of body modifications-but some people have “Egan’s Syndrome,” a highly sensitive immune system that rejects these “mods” and are unable to use them. Those who are affected maintain a “natural” appearance, reliant on cosmetics and hair dye at most to help them play with their looks.

Sunati is attracted to Austen the first time she sees her and is drawn to what she assumes is Austen’s bravery and confidence to live life unmodded. When Sunati learns the truth, she’s still attracted to Austen and asks her on a date. Gradually, their relationship unfolds as they deal with friends, family, and the emotional conflicts that come with every romance. Together, they will learn and grow in a story that reminds us no matter how technology evolves, we will remain . . . always human.


Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries

In the not-too-distant future, most of humanity resides on its last-ditch effort at Meridian, a remote alien planet where you’re more likely to be born superhuman than left-handed.

None of that is important to Oberon Afolayan. Since his mildly public breakdown, his whole life seems to be spiraling out of control—from dropping out of university to breaking up with his boyfriend, it seems like only a karmic inevitability when he wakes up one day with the ability to conjure his dreams in the real world.

Oberon’s newfound powers come with a facsimile of his high school crush, Kon, who mysteriously dropped off the face of the planet almost three years ago and who is a little more infuriating (if not also infuriatingly hot) than Oberon remembers.

Kon makes it his mission to turn Oberon’s life around, and while they struggle to get a handle on his powers and his disastrous personal life (not to mention the appearance of strange nightmare creatures), it turns out this dream version of Kon has secrets of his own—dangerous ones.

Oberon might have more on his plate than he originally thought, but is giving up his dreams—even the one he might have accidentally fallen in love with—the only way to find happiness in reality?

Find these books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!



Friday Five: Garbage and Recycling

Aug. 29th, 2025 10:39 am
duckprintspress: (Default)
[personal profile] duckprintspress
1. Does where you live have regular doorstep rubbish collections or do you have to take your trash somewhere else?

Yep, where I live now does - we just have to drag everything to the back alley on the right day and the municipal garbage trucks take care of it. Most places I've lived do. Only exception was my grandfather's place, which was in a small town - that we'd have to take ourselves.

2. Do you separate recycling? What sort of stuff gets recycled from your household?


Absolutely. Cardboard, plastic when possible, metal, glass, all together cause we have single-stream. We also have can and bottle deposit, those go to the supermarket and we get our 5 cents per can/bottle back - that's, like, beer and soft drinks.

3. Do you take things you don't need to charity shops, or give them away online, or sell them secondhand, or ...?

A mix. We take a lot of eligible things to a charity shop (usually Goodwill, here, or if it's furniture, the ReStore). For stuff that isn't eligible for those, we'll often post them on a "Buy Nothing" group my wife is on FB. Occasionally, if it's actually something with substantial value, we'll sell it. But that's really rare, we mostly give it away. I'd rather something go to a place where someone can use it.

4. Do you pick up litter in your local area, from streets or trails or play areas or parks? Have you ever found anything interesting discarded or lost in a public space?

Not as often as I feel I should, but I try to do a little, yeah. I'll sometimes clean up other dogs' leavings when I get my own, and any trash that blows into our section of the back alley or front yard, I pick up. Sometimes, if it's easy and a garbage can is convenient, I'll grab other stuff too, especially if it's like - I'm out hiking and there's relatively "clean" garbage on the trail. It doesn't belong there! I pick it up. My dad actually often brings a garbage bag when he goes hiking - he did trail maintenance for a while so he Gets It.

5. Are there "repair cafés" near you to help mend fixable items? Have you ever been helped by a community repair service or volunteered for one? Do you do any other kind of upcycling?


I have never heard of a repair cafe but that sounds glorious. I don't know of anything like that around here. I do occasionally upcycle but not often. I also, though it hasn't been mentioned, fairly regularly dumpster dive for furniture or household goods or toys. Since we all put our garbage out in the back alley, when I walk the dog on garbage night/morning I can see what everyone else has put out, and I'll grab things that look good if I'm able to. I often wish I could do more, people throw out so much furniture that looks fine or like it'd be fine with a little repair, but that's outside what I'm able to do rn.

ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Summer 2025 . They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers J-Z.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Read more... )

Friday Five

Aug. 29th, 2025 12:10 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[community profile] thefridayfive posted these today:

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This session's theme was "anything goes." I wrote from 1 PM to 4 AM, so about 11 hours, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday and another 7 later in the week.

Participation was lower, with 7 comments on LiveJournal and another 23 on Dreamwidth. A total of 10 people sent prompts.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the July 15, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Beautiful, Damn Hard, Increasingly Useful"
"Fed from So Many Sources"
"The Future by Consequence, the Past by Redemption"
"In Effigy"
"Strong, Competent, Capable"


Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from July 15. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.


This session's donors include: [personal profile] janetmiles, [personal profile] siliconshaman, and [personal profile] bairnsidhe. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 0 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The following poems from the July 15, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."


"Finding the Gold of the Spirit"
Summary: Shiv grudgingly attends a group therapy session to talk about the chayne incident.
410 lines, Buy It Now = $205

Shiv was so not looking forward to this.

Dr. G had talked him into it, though, and
was paying handsomely for the favor,
so Shiv would give it a fair try
.


"The Four Marks of True Repentance"
Story Date: Monday, August 13, 2013
Summary: Three former child soldiers move to America.
953 lines, Buy It Now = $477

It had taken just over a month
for them to reach America
.


"Indicative of the Extent"
Story Date: Morning of Monday, May 30, 2016 in Taiji, Japan
Summary: Aquariana helps clean up after the tsunami in Taiji, Japan.
259 lines, Buy It Now = $130

Aquariana woke feeling tired,
but not as exhausted as she
had felt when she went to bed
.


"The Well-being of All Our People"
Summary: When bandits attack a caravan, Menachem and Yossele defend their fellow travelers.
69 lines, Buy It Now = $35

Menachem and Yossele
had joined a small caravan of
tradesmen and other travelers
.

I'm a tad worried

Aug. 28th, 2025 11:19 pm
cornerofmadness: (everythings fine)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
All this week the pressure of whatever's in my neck against my windpipe has kept me from sleeping well especially if I accidentally roll onto my right side. Now after the ultrasound and them pressing on it, even sitting up I can feel that pressure. I didn't want to have surgery in October but at this point if it has to be it has to be. I think this might be getting worse.

Also saw the neurologist who looked at my MRI, my back and my leg. Yes I have issues with so many nerves. Did the gabapentin help with the trigeminal neuralgia? Yes. So why aren't you taking it for the other nerve pain. Sigh, yes, point taken (but it has to be low dose because the upper doses make me too out of it)

There has always been a divide between fan artists and fan writers as long as I've been going to cons in the 80s and when I moved online it was worse. It's not a BAD thing. It makes sense (though I was always annoyed that fan artists could sell their transformative works but authors couldn't) Art can be easily digested. Stories require work to consume. But I'm still shaking my head and laughing because I posted this picture of my ship and based off Husk's expression as he looks up at Angel I called him the Smitten Kitten.

I have gotten dozens of likes and comments off the same hashtags I always use for my own stories which gets 4 likes if I'm lucky Even funnier are the people commenting talking about how people (other shippers natch) saying they're just friends. Yeah we all look at our friends with THAT expression (right before we ask to be friends with benefits

I'm mostly ready for tomorrow, work then drive 2 hours to dayton (easy drive, literally 2 turns in over 100 miles). I'm anxious about it because NOTHING is working right online and I feel pressured. It'll be fine. It'll work out. Dayton has no ghost tours that come up online. Wow. I know I have selected a bunch of stuff I'll be interested in. Nothing but museums and cemeteries for three days.


Community recs

[community profile] fandomgiftbasket come join us, get some fannish stuff, make some fannish stuff.


[community profile] spring_renewal A Spring Prompt Fest (okay we're totally going into the wrong season but I'll lose this before spring rolls back around)


[community profile] no_true_pair loosely, a mad-libs-style challenge. You make a list of characters, a set of prompts is posted that uses all the characters in different combinations, and you create works using those characters. Okay that sounds challenging

ChatGPT, Travel Planner

Aug. 28th, 2025 08:04 pm
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

Holy cow. A post on Facebook was about how they used ChatGPT to create their itinerary in Italy, so I asked ChatGPT to create a five-day NYC itinerary that included a list of places that I wanted to see. It delivered, including subway stops and walking directions. Wow. Some of them were what I figured (the Lower Manhattan day was what I had already figured), but there were some surprises. And they told me the best nights to see a play! I need to think about the play nights because I want to stick close to the hotel on the day that I get off the cruise ship so that I can check in, but I won't want to see a play that night because it'll be an early day, unless I can grab a nap. Do I want to take pictures with a GoPro of the cruise departure from Manhattan? Or maybe just use my phone with a tripod? Hey actually, I'd like to do the cruise around Manhattan on my first day. ChatGPT said that it would be better on the Greenwich Village/Chelsea day though.

Hmm, maybe I should do the WTC and lower Manhattan on the first day and make it an early night.

Overslept and woke up a little before 8 AM. I thought about napping at lunchtime and taking my shower after work, but I have a therapy session this afternoon (online). So I need to make myself presentable.

I got everything done at work that I wanted to get done before the long weekend. (I'm taking tomorrow off.)

I'm going around in circles with FedEx about the camera. I think that they delivered it to the pickup facility, but I'm not sure.

My stomach is doing flip-flops.

Crud, AAA had my old address in Lincoln, don't ask me why. The card said that it expired on August 15th. I logged on and changed my address, and it said that it actually expires in December. I asked for a new card. I'll have to wait to jump-start the Kia until I get it. Though I think that I can use my phone app as a card?

Okay, good, my retirement contribution went through.

I checked the weather in Bermuda, and it's raining every day, so I ordered a rain poncho. (I have a raincoat, but it's heavier.) I hope that I can have my beach day though.

Had my therapy session. Nothing much to report; I'm doing everything that I need to do. I just need to wait and see what happens with Gracie.

Yay. CVS has the COVID vaccine, and I made an appointment on the 5th. (I'm getting a flu shot as well.)

Fed us all. Opened up some packages. More used clothes. Some photography books. A tripod for my iPhone. My back hurts.

I'm thinking of going to bed soon and getting up early to do stuff. I don't feel like I have the energy to clean now.

Water

Aug. 28th, 2025 07:46 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Living near the ocean might actually help you live longer, new study finds

The researchers analyzed population data, including life expectancy, of more than 66,000 census tracts throughout the United States, comparing numbers baked on proximity to waterways.

They found that living within miles of the ocean breeze may be linked to a longer life, but that the same benefits don’t apply for living in a riverside city (Sorry, Chicago).



(no subject)

Aug. 28th, 2025 12:58 pm
greghousesgf: (pic#17096873)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
Having some Pride of the Port tea after having come back from getting some groceries at Trader Joe. It's really hot out and the dumb bus taking me back home took a really long time to show up. I'm too tired to go swimming now.