it's 10q time again? already?

Sep. 23rd, 2025 02:12 pm
watersword: Keira Knightley, in Pride and Prejudice (2007), turning her head away from the viewer, the word "elizabeth" written near (Default)
[personal profile] watersword

As per usual: I am not even a little bit ready for the Days of Awe! Emotionally. I'm pretending that the cleaner was scheduled yesterday so I could start 5786 with a clean house. It's gonna be real weird to be with my mother for Y"K, although really most of that day will be spent on the ferry, which will actually be a lovely way to pass the time thinking about Y"K stuff.

I have eaten my apples & honey and gone to the river and filled my cup with friend time, and that's a pretty good way to start the year. L'shana tovah, friends.

Stuff

Sep. 23rd, 2025 05:01 pm
vampwillow: Red Sox (bosox)
[personal profile] vampwillow
Yeah, well, boring life is still pretty boring. The weather, especially the temperature, has led to me deciding that I'm unlikely to take more caravan trips this year, and I'm pondering where I actually want to go next year.

My RedSox are taking it down to the wire as to whether they'll make postseason - with six games to go it's still not guaranteed.

Worryingly there is, aiui, a possibility that DreamWidth might get geoblocked in the UK because of the government's stupid 'child protection demands proof of age' stuff. Already it's blocked from one US State for such a reason.

further in Gilmore Girls experiences

Sep. 22nd, 2025 01:02 pm
watersword: Keira Knightley applying lipstick and looking in a mirror, with the words "a work in progress" nearby (Keira Knightley: lipstick)
[personal profile] watersword

Block party yesterday extremely good: I met someone who keeps bees on his garage roof, and may have acquired volunteers for the pollinator garden, and talked about needlework with someone, and ate delicious fried chicken and upside-down peach cake. A+ community experience.

Today the cleaner is taking a crack at my dishwasher filter because I could not face a further attempt, and I am doing the interesting parts of my job (discussing copyright in archives! writing semantic HTML in preparation for writing modern CSS! prepping for a teaching commitment later this week!), and tomorrow I will go to the river for Tashlich first thing, and then have a co-writing sesh with H., and then the apple tasting flight with local honey (not from the garage bees) with friends in the park.

There is a constituent meeting with my state senator I am planning to go to later this week, he seems mostly useless but not actively evil, wish me luck.

They checked it

Sep. 21st, 2025 05:37 pm
azurelunatic: Hinky: adj: pure evil fuckery afoot. Syn.: suspicious (hinky)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
The worst part of colonoscopy prep turned out to be the sheer number of trips to the bathroom, which knotted up my legs something fierce. The second worst part was the taste of the solution, even with added flavorings. It was salty! (I got the huge jug rather than the Miralax version. Miralax at least isn't salty.) Next time, probably either green unsweetened Kool-Aid or lemonade Crystal Lite or whatever.

Off topic for FFA )

I did make the planned gallon of orange jello, but since it was a little late for me to actually eat it, I put mandarin orange slices in it. Since that's often part of Belovedest's lunch. Today I packed it into smaller boxes to help with that effort and to decrease the crowding in the fridge.

I got a slight nap after everything was about finished. The split prep schedule meant that I started the second half around 12:30 am. Appointment check in time 6 am.

The distance in the facility wasn't super bad, although we brought my chair just in case. (Speaking of the chair, I have decked it out with retroreflective tape and electroluminescent wire. It looks much safer. The cup holder went on Friday.)

The procedure wasn't bad. )

I got dressed again. I had picked a cute nightgown for the outing, black with flowers and butterflies. Instead of a coat (it's getting chilly at night) I wore my dramatic black velvet robe, the one with lace trim and bell sleeves. I received a compliment. And as soon as I proved I could stand up without excessive wobbling, we were off.

Belovedest gathered breakfast for me on our way home, and I took a much needed nap (interrupted a few times to confirm that I could be made conscious and accept hydration).

And that was that.

We did our usual Friday shopping on Saturday. I was still sore. Today my legs are thankfully feeling normal.
watersword: Two women holding hands. (Stock: Holding hands)
[personal profile] watersword

I impulse-made pasta dough in the stand mixer last night, and then today, I:

  • went to the farmer's market, where the good sourdough vendor was in attendance and recognized me, and I also picked up an apple tasting flight (Macoun, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, and Gala) and honey for Rosh Hashanah Tuesday, as well as a dozen gorgeous multicolored eggs, a purple cauliflower, and various other vegetables;
  • meandered around the neighborhood in perfect early-fall sunshine, following the treasure map of local yard sales, and one house was giving away their stuff, including an adorable little pitcher and stationery and stamps and linen napkins I'm going to turn into embroidery projects;
  • did some gardening and met up with a friend and her kid, and hung out with them for a few hours and made play-doh shapes;
  • came home and rolled out half the pasta dough and made ravioli and took a hot bath.

And now I'm going to drink some mint tea and lie on the couch and read a book and cuddle my cat. Tomorrow there is a block party and more fresh pasta to roll. This all feels suspiciously idyllic.

Colonoscopy week.

Sep. 16th, 2025 01:10 am
azurelunatic: A metal sculpture of a walking duck with a duckling on its back, in front of the University Place Library (ducks in a row)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
I'm not looking forward to this.

On the other hand, I wasn't thinking with some of the usual parts of my sense of humor when I was picking out my non-red jello for Liquid Diet Day (24 oz food service pack) and rolled the wrong citrus out of three: orange.

I could have had lemon jelly.
https://youtu.be/ioudby-xooc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Jelly
rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)
[personal profile] rydra_wong
For anyone who may be Dark Souls-curious, here is a very long video essay of which I've only watched part (because I'm trying to limit spoilers) and of which I mainly want to rec part -- the first 30 mins or so, where the essayist discusses something that the mythology about the game’s supposed uber-difficulty tends to obscure, namely the gorgeous, generous array of different tools and options that it gives you for engaging with its difficulties, and how it tries to teach you to use them:



I think this is some of the stuff that prompted me to declaim “Dark Souls loves me and wants me to be happy.”

The game is difficult, it is intended to be difficult (and I still don't know if, for me, it will at some point be insuperably difficult), and progressing and learning through difficulty and failure is the core gameplay loop. As mentioned, it took me a total of seven hours to beat the most recent boss, the Capra Demon. I am currently camped out in the Depths, where I intermittently fall through holes and get cursed by basilisks. I recently got invaded for the first time, by a player who watched as I ran directly under a slime and got enveloped, facepalmed*, and then waited politely while I extricated myself before murdering me**.

And yet my major feeling at this particular moment is of being spoiled (in the pampered sense, not the knowledge sense): I have too many good weapons to try (my beloved halberd, now upgraded to +7, a Balder Side Sword -- a rare and coveted drop -- and a Black Knight Sword)! I'm having to actively try not to over-level! I have so many upgrade materials! I have the world's largest stockpile of charcoal pine resin (purchased on my endless boss runs back to the Capra Demon, so I'd spend any souls I was carrying and not distract myself with losing or trying to retrieve them) so I can make my weapons burst into flame any time I want! I have opened the latest incredibly-convenient shortcut! There's a handy new merchant just before the next boss! I am holding an armful of presents and Dark Souls keeps trying to pile more on top!

{*I went off immediately afterwards to Google "dark souls how to facepalm”, but it looks like you have to join the Forest Hunter covenant to learn that emote and I have other plans. Still tempted, though.}

{**I had expected to loathe being invaded — and had initially planned to play offline mainly to avoid that, but did not for reasons which need to be a different post — but in the event, it was brief, non-inconveniencing, and actually pretty funny.}
azurelunatic: "Where's the goddamn NERF BAT when you *really* need it?" Animated cartoon tech support loses her cool.  (nerf bat)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
Goodbye to bad rubbish BJ, who could make simple things like Madonna being active in the music industry longer than most people of our generation being aware of, plus she didn't look in her early 40s at the time, into some kind of sinister conspiracy theory situation.

You were an absolute jackass, and I honestly don't care if you're alive or not except that I might need to avoid you.

Thanks to Votania and Darkside, who helped me realize what a bad friend BJ was, never mind as a prospective life partner and spouse. Bleck.

This random thought brought to me by the death of Charles Entertainment Kirk, which would probably have been making BJ's circles flail in panic, and hearing a Madonna song on the Doof. (A back episode, we didn't have a SunDoof that I'm aware of.)

1-800-fuck-it

Sep. 14th, 2025 07:57 pm
watersword: Tori Higginson as Elizabeth Weir and the word "elizabeth" (Stargate: Atlantis: Elizabeth)
[personal profile] watersword

Hi, yes, hello? Yeah, I'm encountering some bullshit and I wanted to get on the schedule for an Adult, can you tell me what the availability in my area is? Sure, I can hold.

...

Wow, you're booking that far out? No, it makes sense, I get it, can you also put me on the cancellation list? Like, I know it's a long shot but I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Okay, yeah, you've got my contact information and credit card on file, nothing's changed, sounds good, I'll see you then.


Which is to say, I tried to clean my dishwasher filter, and it was disgusting beyond words and yet the dishwasher is still not cleaning my dishes effectively, and I want an adultier adult.

Friday Five.... Armpit edition???

Sep. 13th, 2025 09:38 am
ofearthandstars: A single tree underneath the stars (Default)
[personal profile] ofearthandstars
From [community profile] thefridayfive:

1. What is your favourite fruit?

I love stone fruits like nectarines, peaches, Ranier cherries.

2. What is the last book you read?

I just finished How to Survive in a Chaotic Climate, which is a decent book with recommendations for how to come to terms with the fact that humans are destroying everything, and even if you mean well, you probably can't extricate yourself from the systems that feed it.

3. Do you like any of your school photos?

I had one good photo my senior year that was taken with the rest of the tennis team, and an individual player photo. But the latter needed a retake due to something I can't remember, and the guy who came out to retake it positioned me facing the sun, squinting, on a windy day so my hair was blowing around my face and taking off like a witch in flight and into my braces as I smiled.... thus resulted my most hated photo that my mother STILL passed out to family members. If I could claw them all back I would.

4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?

WHAT IS THIS QUESTION??!? What deodorant are we using that is so wet??!? The answer is no.

5. What was the last film you watched?

Probably Sinners? Which was decently good although some of the special effects were questionable.

I <3 fandom

Sep. 10th, 2025 05:45 pm
cesy: "Cesy" - An old-fashioned quill and ink (Default)
[personal profile] cesy
I really appreciate when authors of longer fics occasionally put a note in the author's notes at the end of a chapter saying it's a good break point if you're binge-reading. Because yes, sometimes I do find it hard to stop, and it helps to have the author say that the next few chapters are intense and flow closely and you might prefer to pause before them rather than in the middle of them.

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