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Final update on Mr Holmes! He has been officially adopted! His foster mom fell in love with him basically on sight and she and her partner have given Mr Holmes a forever home. I am so grateful that he found a loving family and a comfortable life for the rest of his years.

Picture book readings:
Home is a Wish - Julia Kuo, author and illustrator
Dealing with a big move to a new home, and the worries that come with that. Cute but not memorable. 5/10

A Cat Like That - Lester L. Laminack, author; Nicole Wong, illustrator
A chubby cat and his wanderings around his town. Illustrations were a bit off for me, but I did like the little map that showed the cat's movements. 5/10

Pavlo Gets the Grumps - Natalia Shaloshvili, author and illustrator
Pavlo is a grumpy kid/kitten that doesn't want to play. Mom and friends help with his big feelings. Okay, but nothing special. 5/10

Midnight Motorbike - Maureen Shay Tajsar, author; Ishita Jain, illustrator
I liked the story and setting of this - Amma and daughter take a motorcycle ride through India at night when it's too hot to sleep - but the illustrations were very muddled. Lovely story, not a joy to look at. 4/10

We Are Lion Dancers - Benson Shum, author and illustrator
Lovely book about children watching lion dancers and learning how to do the dance themselves. 7/10

Scamp - Anden Wilder, author and illustrator
Cute story about a little girl who is almost more cat-like than her cat. 7/10

Another Word for Neighbor - Angela Pham Krans, author; Thai My Phuong, illustrator
Gorgeously written, excellent vocabulary, lovely illustrations. This was a winner of a book, where a new family with two kids moves next to an older man who just wants quiet. They make friends and they make pho! 9/10, would definitely buy.

Safe Crossing - Kari Percival, author and illustrator
This was adorable. Environmental education and citizen outreach, plus a diverse set of characters. There is a touch of a sad moment when the unfortunate realities of salamanders and frogs crossing a road gets explained but it's not huge, and treated with compassion. 9/10, would absolutely buy.

Reading goal #9!
Ben Aaronovitch - Masquerades of Spring
If you had set me down and said this is Aaronovitch's Yuletide fic, I would not have been in the slightest bit surprised. This read like a Folly-based Jeeves and Wooster AU, which is not a criticism! It was a frothy book, very enjoyable and fun. 8/10

DNF: Manda Collins - Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. Five chapters in and I kept picking something else to read, so back it went!

Currently checked out:
Boyd and Beth Morrison, Lawless Land
Evie Woods, Lost Bookshop

the_shoshanna

Quick final update: coffee everywhere except at home tasted fine, and coffee at home was vastly improved after we, uh, disassembled and thoroughly cleaned the grinder, which had never been done. So I guess I was just hypersensitive to the buildup of ick after several days away from it? Anyway everything is fine and I did not have COVID and I can enjoy my morning coffee again, yay.

seleneheart

The Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Blurb:

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

I loved this book - such a great ride, an adventure with scary elements, a high fantasy world - complete with right-justified map. But unlike most high fantasy that is grounded in some sort of medieval Europe (even things like Shadow and Bone may be Slavic, but Eastern Europe is still Europe), this series is thoroughly immersed in Japanese mythology and culture. A very fresh take on fantasy narrative. Instead of wizards, there are monks. Instead of orcs and trolls, there are oni and other assorted demon-kind. I liked it enough that I plan to read the rest of the series - I have the second book on hold.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Green Day - Stay the Night

kaffy_r

Bread Dread

I didn't get my first try at whole wheat bread done. I got the yeast mix too hot. It didn't rise at all. Ended up throwing out a lovely smelling brown brick. Still, it's a learning process. I may try again tomorrow.

I also have to make beef stew tomorrow; we're having a friend over. Wish me luck.

Oh, and I've watched episodes 2 and 3 of Dr. Who. I imagine I'll have some thoughts soon.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: RM "Mono"

kaberett

Pain associated with sensory hypersensitivity, e.g. light and sound: is this primarily nociceptive (i.e. nociceptors are firing at a lower threshold) or a feature of central processing (i.e. brain goes "NOPE DON'T LIKE THAT" about stimuli the peripheral nervous system isn't reporting as Harmful)? Or, slightly more comprehensibly to people who are not currently spending lots of time thinking about this particular niche area, when normal light levels cause me pain, is that the nerves that go "YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE SUN AND IT'S A BAD IDEA STOP THAT RIGHT NOW" that are initiating those signals, or a... central... processing... issue... yeah okay maybe I should go to bed instead of trying to words this. BUT a quick shakedown of the internet revealed it's only in the last decade or so that nociceptive signalling relating to Loud Noise Bad has been demonstrated so that's cool.

akash05

i may have realised that the way i'm journalling is negatively impacting my life. i'm making a theatre out of my own moody dysfunction. this, is not. healthy. in my attempts to express everything, i've tied myself down to my thoughts meaning everything. i'm losing passion for my performance. which - is insane. i'm going back to tracking stuff and submersing myself in work. i feel like i've been emotionally jacking myself off to the idea of how things are, rather directly, reflexively, fixing my reality. yeah, screw that.

fred_mouse

hex plant growing game - quick game, simple mechanics, simple win condition. You have to infer those from your interaction with the page; if it isn't clear leave a comment and I'll explain.

found at creator's post

I couldn't get the sudoko land to work - not sure if that is a brower or an extensions issue, but I didn't care to work it out.

svgurl

This is what I wrote for the

unsent_letters_exchange. :)

Title: my heart is with you
Fandom: DCEU
Pairing/Characters: Diana/Steve
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1983
Summary: Diana writes letters for Steve, until she no longer has to.

svgurl

These were the fics I received from the

unsent_letters_exchange. :D

Title: Please Mr Postman
Author:

Ultra
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Pairing/Characters: Lane/Dave
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2855
Summary: When Dave goes off to California for college, he and Lane agree to do the long distance thing, largely through letters... and a lot of pop and rock music references, of course

I was so excited to get Lane/Dave! Loved all the fun music references and the letters were very them. :D

Title: Please Mr Postman - Post Credits Scene
Author:

Ultra
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Pairing/Characters: Rory/Jess
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1097
Summary: Inspired by Dave & Lane's letter writing, Rory writes to Jess.

The Rory/Jess references in the original fic was already nice but it was a lovely delight to get a followup fic with giving them a chance at a happy ending too!

kaberett

Wagamama have once again Done The Thing, by which I mean: the reliable Always Food For Alexes thing they've been doing for the last little while has rotated back off their menu.

The thing I tried instead today was sufficiently food for me to finish the rice but not sufficiently food for me to finish all of the toppings; I am suspicious of pho in "a clear yuzu broth" (which is not the same thing as "I won't try it").

(This is a Thing they have now done Twice, the first time about 15 years ago, and YES I AM HOLDING A GRUDGE.)

sporky_rat

Muscles are annoying. I understand the biological method by which we develop our muscles after using them; they're still annoying when the delayed onset muscle soreness hits. Which it has, and now my hips and quads and hams are in misery.

I am working on pullups as well, and my deltoids hate me. That's fine, I can hate them back just as equally.

On the more cheerful side of working a body and being reasonably good at it, I have had several people ask me to teach them stretching so they don't do anything awkward to themselves during high impact activity.

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: Rat te Kāinga
Current Music: Cicadas

kaffy_r

Overly Loud Music in Ear Buds: Threat or Menace?*

It's been a minute since I last posted. Not, like, a real long minute, but a metaphorical minute nonetheless. For the last few days, it's been dank and grey here in Chicago, and the stress levels at Casa kaffy_rbob continue to be somewhere between Defcon 3 and 2, for all the reasons previously recited at tedious length.

When that happens, or continues happening, my go-to stress reliever, the one that effectively cuts my ability to get things done, but possibly saves a sliver of my sanity, is to put my ear buds in, and blast SKZ or Ateez at skull-rattlingly unhealthy levels right into my brain. It's a good thing that's actually a very bad thing, but I don't really care. If my hearing wasn't damaged by standing on a stage between very loud amplifiers, then my rock and roll card needs to be revoked.

But my stress level is now closer to Defcon 3, which is a bit of a relief. We finally realized that the idea of trying to balance Bob's permanent residence application at the same time as getting the house ready to sell and finding someplace to live in N. S., and getting decent movers who understand getting things across the border was stupid.

We're going to tell the movers who keep bothering us (admittedly because we contacted them first) and our very patient real estate agent that everything will be put on hold until the application is completed, in, and Bob gets accepted for permanent residence. I'd originally fought the idea, thinking that we could actually handle everything at once. I'm very glad that Bob convinced me otherwise.

So perhaps I won't have to turn my ear buds up to 11 for the next couple of days.

* and if you get that reference, congratulations - you've joined the "older than dirt, and still hipper than the room" club.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Ateez, "Say My Name"

kaberett

... have I done the "oh no, why has my pen stopped working, did I break it :(" dance only to realise that in fact, no, THE PEN IS EMPTY. (Once because my first attempt at filling it was apparently fairly inept unless I have massively misjudged how much ink it lays down, which given that it's a Pelikan is not totally implausible, but would still be... surprising.)

On the upside I think I might have worked out why a different pen seems particularly prone to evaporation and drying out. I am not sure how fixable it is, but I do at least have a workaround! (I think the inner cap is a bit reluctant to settle into place; it shouldn't be, but wiggling the pen a bit once capped seems to be helping...)

(This is such a ridiculous hobby.)

glassy_witch

...and I came out with these.

Quite like them, even if my hands hurt like hell after trying to clean and polish them!
Stained glass roses with leaves on twisted wire stems

Stained glass roses with leaves on twisted wire stems

akash05

in procrastinating my revision, i ended up stalking old acquaintance's social medias that were reccomended to me. it was fascinating. i found out some unfortunate news from those who posted about grief. but other than that, it's uh, very interesting to see what choices some people make that do not flatter them. like outfits that are genuinely terrible or extreme makeup that doesn't suit them. but the more i thought about it, the more i just realised that everyone (especially, especially me) tends to be blind to their self-image. normal people do not see themselves very clearly. i know this because i'm the same. people just like being their genre of person, and having friends. so even if they kinda did look stupid, i reminded myself i look stupid most of the time too. it did make me feel better about looking stupid, though. and gross for judging others and thinking about others like this. i'll try not to do this again. i'm not tagging this, it can go into the void.

akash05

( tw: prev chronic illness reflections (it's fine, i just wanna kms) )

Current Mood: pissed off

akash05

after my three-hour exam on monday morning, i got food with my friend. she has extra time, so i went shopping and put it in my kitchen before heading to the train station to meet her on the train. she told me my eyes were red, and i laughed over my sleep deprivation. i actually think in retrospect, it was the fact i'd run out of solution for my contacts a few days ago....and was just re-using what i had. naturally - not the best. i was so pleased to see her, we were both a bit giddy having been done with that damn exam. we got some amazing food, splitting both of our dishes with each other, and wandered around the city centre, dipping into the lego store and debating astral projection. i actually slept that night, enough and well. my eyes were still red, and i went to the shops the next day and it was kinda blissful. i dressed up, fixed my posture and walked around feeling like a young woman for once. there's a miscellaneous feeling to living and walking around running errands as an adult. anyways, i talked myself into buying clothes without considering price, and that too, was obviously euphoric. i feel goddamn free. i've made some promises to myself:

i'm not buying clothes that do not fit me anymore. it has to specifically be my size, or atleast a small. i know i'm still dropping weight, so clothes will fit me within the next month. but more than any of that, i've not realised how damaging to my self-image it's been to dress in ill-fitting clothes. and given my age, i can afford to put more money into clothes that i know i might be wearing for the next decade. plus, i'm specifically commuting next year so i can have money-- so i have many a reason to do this. but what to actually buy, of course?
i'd rather have less clothes and take care of them properly, carefully-- generally treasure them. this includes the clothes i wear at home. after all, if no one was watching, what would i wear? i'd dress up. i know i would. so, why not? god, it feels so insane to consider myself this way, a young woman who adores pretty dresses, who wore good clothes, who enjoys dressing up--- something about this feels so '...oh. i can have this? i'm allowed?' but i remind myself of this everytime i see something cheap, second hand, and know it fits my previous criteria but it'd bulk up my wardrobe and drag me down eventually. so i tell myself now, no, it's fine, spend on what you'd prefer, what you know you like, and treasure it.
i'm being more careful on mood, colour, texture, quality. specifically on colour, i've taken a liking to navy. but these things send a message about who i am to myself and others. i don't want to pretend it doesn't matter anymore, that anything'll do. i've been confused about my clothing and appearance for years, yeah, no more. it's intentional now

and so, i walked out with some very nice, actually well-fitting, practical back joggers, and a beautiful navy three-piece salwar that i intend to wear at home, and new contact solution, of course. i have all the receipts, just in case. i studied a little on the train there and back, and completely tidied my room and boxed away a lot of clothes i wasn't wearing, intending to donate them or resell them, come summer. i got myself to study for a little, and then read omniscient reader, and fell asleep.
this morning, i finally went to the gym again. i died, of course. but it felt good to push my muscles again. i will definitely say that it makes showering a much more pleasant experience when i can feel muscle under my skin. i want to be strong as i age, just enough to keep healthy. mentally, it's good to push yourself too. i bought a ten pack of eggs and coffee on my way home, and showered and changed, and texted my friends....which i'm glad to be doing. i will study, but it's been a good reset.

Current Music: weyes blood - andromeda

cyare

What are you currently reading?

Aurora Australis, of course! This week we're reading another poem, Southward Bound by Lapsus Linguæ, written by an anonymous writer.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished K.J. Charles' "A Charm of Magpies" series. I started listening to the first audiobook last week and I didn't stop until I'd listened to all the books and novellas I could get my hands on. As usual, my opinion is under the cut to avoid spoilers.

( Lots of words :P )

What will you be reading next?

Either porn or some crime books *has very clear ideas* I don't know, I could either go for something light, fun and porny or something extremely heavy and plotty with intense criminal activity. I still have to decide.

A friend recently pointed out that most of the books I've been reading are m/m books and I was like... Yes? Half my library is filled with LGBT books, why is it a surprise if I read them? *shrugs*

Current Mood: pleased

soc_puppet

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: busy

kaberett

This evening we went to the plot so I could water things (and say hi to people). We wandered up past the woodpecker nest; there was a Great Yelling; we heard some wood being pecked; all seemed well.

In the vicinity of ten minutes later, someone heading home realised that Things Sounded Wrong, and established that one of the babies had launched itself out of the nest while really not remotely being fledged yet (it. does not have that many feathers.) by dint of hearing that the yelling was not all coming from up, and also some of it was Louder Than Usual. (I am pretty sure we didn't miss this when we were ambling up? I think it genuinely did go on an incredibly misguided adventure somewhere in that ten minutes.)

... I was delegated to stand guard for the purposes of Dissuading Foxes. Other people went to fetch A Ladder. I subsequently provided A Torch, and Part Of The Ladder Steadying.

The Errant Child was delicately posted back into its hole.

The tenor of the yelling from the hole... changed.

An adult popped its head out, all "what the fuck just happened???" Paused. Quite clearly thought, upon Observing the Assembled, something along the lines of "... right then." Retracted.

And then everyone settled down apparently to sleep.

I was perhaps not in fact The Fae, but I did get to be at least fae-adjacent, and I got to see a shit tiny dinosaur that really I ought not to have but in a way that was minimally bad for the poor thing.

Fascinated by the evolutionary strategy of "screaming incessantly might get me eaten or might get me The Fae, but there's no good outcome from not screaming, so... screm?" Evidently in this case it worked!

(It had the start of its little red hat! It was simultaneously Tiny and Lorge, and definitely Distinctly Round! It was a BABY. I am so glad friend human realised Something Was Wrong.)

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For sheep that dream of Dreamwidth.

2025 Reading #9 plus more

all in good taste

Book Bingo: N2 | YA/Children's | Shadow of the Fox

Dept, of Friday afternoon

today in idle reading about pain

begging for ego death

Web browser clicky game

fic: my heart is with you (diana/steve)

unsent_letters gift fics (1 lane/dave, 1 rory/jess)

[food] ... :|

Self propulsion is a crock

Dept. of Not-White Noise

[stationery] ... twice so far this week...

I hid in the shed for a bit today...

old people, new pictures

a personal dialogue

exam week two: euphoria!!!!!!!

WWW Wednesday

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January 2023

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