I am aware of both these community orgs through their ties to the MALDEF and Raices. Happy to discuss more via DW message if you want more vouching.

Short-term/immediate bail and jail assistance for protesters: Jail Support LA

Jail support campaign of a long-running SGV mutual aid network: Operation Healthy Hearts
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hannah: (Library stacks - fooish_icons)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 9th, 2025 10:31 pm)
The day's major accomplishment was getting some hand-holding for my hard drive problem and getting the man on the other end to laugh a bit when I said I knew enough to get myself into trouble but not how to get out of it. Hopefully I can get my act together enough to send it out for repairs in a day or two.

The secondary accomplishments were taking the stairs to the gym, and making an attempt to reach out when I felt myself going down a spiral.
oracne: turtle (Default)
([personal profile] oracne Jun. 9th, 2025 08:52 am)
Love for our Elders is a program to send handwritten letters to older adults. "Our mission is to alleviate social isolation among older adults through handwritten letters and intergenerational connections."
hannah: (On the pier - fooish_icons)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 8th, 2025 10:12 pm)
Today's luxurious disappointments are in the fields of scheduling issues and data preservation.

The latter is because a hard drive stopped working. I got a couple error messages about moving and deleting files - "Error 0x8007045D: the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" - which was soon followed by Error code 43, then "Cannot open drive for direct access". At this point, I'm pretty secure in saying it's not going to get fixed by trying the hard drive on another computer, or that I can fix it myself. As such, I'm going to leave it alone in the hopes it doesn't get worse and look into local data recovery centers to see which one can best help me.

In the former's case, it's because Escapade is scheduled opposite a few movie screenings at the MOMI I'd very much like to see. I can probably juggle them around, pick which movies versus which panels, and it's more than a little annoying to have to choose between two fun things to look forward to. As I said, luxurious disappointments.
petra: A blonde woman with both hands over her face (Britta - Twohanded facepalm)
([personal profile] petra Jun. 8th, 2025 07:33 pm)
My brain reward cycle is fucked, and the longer I think about it, the more I recognize that it's always been this way.

Case in point: I performed recently after preparing for 5 months.

My mother said, "It went well! That must feel good."

Me: "..."

It didn't. It never really does, not unless someone else gives me external validation.

Whenever I do something hard, my brain's response is, "Well, I did it, so how hard could it have been?"

This applies to excelling academically (which I have done frequently), excelling at my job (which I have done on occasion), every type of performance I've ever undertaken (and there have been a lot), every form of art/craft I've ever done (writing, knitting, crocheting, etc.), and helping friends.

Mostly I just feel relief that it's over, and my brain isn't going to give me the constant round of "You should work on [thing]!" anymore. Nah, the shoulds will switch to something else, but at least it'll be new at first.
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renay: photo of the milky way from new zealand on a clear night (Default)
([personal profile] renay posting in [community profile] ladybusiness Jun. 8th, 2025 01:48 am)
We're counting down until mid-year!

Myy May TBR turned out to be more of a suggestion.


I read What Moves the Dead because I managed to read What Feasts at Night. And although I didn't get to The Brides of High Hill, I did reread The Empress of Salt and Fortune and grab When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain on my way to it. :D

Read more... )
copracat: ronon and john turned away from each other, the image blurred and marked (john absence)
([personal profile] copracat Jun. 8th, 2025 04:09 pm)
I'm been reading a few pages of my DW network link lately and discovered I'm not following people I thought I was following. I suspect I have accidentally unfollowed because on my current layout reply is close to the drop down list that has unsubscribe and ban user. I need an icons to the left layout.

Anyway, happy long weekend, Australians. At least those Australians who get the king's birthday holiday this week. I'm listening to the Classic 100 countdown to not-celebrate. Can we have a republic now, please?
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watersword: Zoe Saldana flexing her biceps (Zoe Saldana: biceps)
([personal profile] watersword Jun. 7th, 2025 05:11 pm)

Over the course of about six hours this week, the weather went from "pleasant warm early-summer" to "holy bananas, it is hot and sticky high summer" and I was not emotionally prepared for it. But I am promised thunderstorms today, and I got cucumbers at the farmer's market, and will finish swapping out the cozy linens for the crisp ones, and all of that will help.

marina: (Erik's got his helmet on)
([personal profile] marina Jun. 7th, 2025 07:59 pm)
Welp, I've started a new job! It has happened!

boring financial things )

*

I've only had 1 day of work at the new place, due to holidays and the fact that I was sick for the past 10 days (boo!!!) and asked to postpone my start date by a few days.

But it definitely feels like a level of fancy tech that I've never personally experienced before, with an actual HR department that made sure I'd have all my equipment ready for me on the first day, and a little welcome sign, and some company merch.

There are things I definitely haven't figured out yet, like how to best get to the office to deal with my disability/health issues, especially considering the fact that the laptop I got is much heavier than anticipated (my previous company replaced some of the laptops shortly after I joined and I managed to get in on the deal and get a really great, light computer).

The office itself is really nice, even though the building is sadly in the middle of a construction zone. My previous work was in an extremely central downtown area where you were close to a bunch of greenery and shops and restaurants. This place is tragically kind of isolated in a sea of dust and hazard signs.

I haven't figured out the dynamics of my team/department/org so much yet, but everyone I've met has been nice, and my boss seems to be a pretty great guy, according to reports. He's also been nothing but kind and respectful towards me.

So, overall first day was pretty overwhelming but nice. Tomorrow will be my first day of work-from-home, and I plan to spend most of it reading a ton of documents. And then Tuesday we're having some kind of all-day workshop for the entire team that means I'll need to get super early to the office, even though the workshop will be virtual. But you know, if it wasn't literally my first week I might find a more sensible way to do it, but since I'm extremely new and this seems to be the expectation, I'll be there with bells on lol.
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selenak: (Damages by Agsmith01)
([personal profile] selenak Jun. 7th, 2025 05:51 pm)
Which I would have watched on the big screen if I could have, but a brief showing time and my tight schedule did not allow it. Anyway: this is the movie in which Natalie Portman plays a (tv) actress, Elizabeth, who wants to play Gracie (Julianne Moore) in a movie based on events taking place about two decades plus earlier than the film's setting, which is 2015. (Though the film itself premiered in 2023.) Said events consisted of Gracie, at age 36, having had a "relationship" with a thirteen years old boy, Joe ,whom she after some years in prison for statuary rape married; he's currently 36 (as is Elizabeth), the same age she was back then, and played by Charles Melton, who I osmosed before this movie was mostly famous for playing a jock type in Riverdale but who is absolutely stunning in this film (and should at least have gotten an Oscar nomination), which given he's working with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman at their best, is truly saying something. There are also kids (the one Gracie was pregnant with when she got caught is now in college, and thn there are twins about to graduate), as well as Gracie's offspring from her earlier marriage, with her son Georgie being the same age as Joe. The movie is directed by Todd Haynes, and dives right into how incredibly messed up a story this is.

Now, if you start the film knot knowing what it's about, then the first few minutes might let you assume it's a black comedy about suburbia; Gracie, Joe and their children live in the proverbial idyllic white fenced area somewhere in South Carolina, with Gracie (who runs a small scale bakery) coming across as somewhat high strung but popular among her neighbours - and then Elizabeth arrives, only to find an anonymous package at the couple's front door which contains feces. There are some comedy beats throughout the remaining movie, but actually I would classify it as emotional horror. Gracie is still absolutely incapable of admitting she ever did anything wrong, and we get an early taste of her ability to manipulate and achieve emotional control when she comments on her daughter's choice of prom dress: "You're so brave to show your arms! I wouldn't have dared", with the result that of course the poor girl doesn't buy that dress but the one Gracie likes. Elizabeth isn't the film's heroine, either, though in the first half her investigation provides the audience bit by bit with the backstory from various povs via the characters Elizabeth talks to; the movie goes full throttle about what a disturbing and ruthlessly exploitative process an actor working on a role can be if that role isn't a fictional character but a real person. (BTW, of course Portman and Moore don't look much alike, but that only helps enhancing the sense of disquiet as Elizabeth adopts more and more of Gracie's mannerisms, with the scene where Gracie gives Elizabeth a makeover with her own makeup and lipstick being a showcase in point.)

Meanwhile, Joe starts out on a quiet background note when compared to the two women, and then the story shows more and more how messed up not just the start of his relationship with Gracie was but how messed up their present day relationship still is. More than one review described Joe as a thirteen years old still locked in the body of an adult man, and before watching the film I assumed this meant Joe would be characterized as a manchild, but no, that's not what was meant at all. If anything, he's the most reasonably and responsibly acting adult in this film. But emotionally, it becomes clear he's never had the chance to process what happened, not least because his entire life is still built around keeping Gracie happy. He became a father years and years before growing up, and the scene where due to his teenage son for the first time sharing pot with him his quiet and calm facade finally cracks and some of that repressed emotion breaks through is incredibly good and heartbreaking.

Incidentally: making a movie which deals with an adult grooming a kid without getting voyeuristic with a young actor sounds near impossible - but May-December by showing us the aftermath and the long term effect everything had on Joe decades later proves it can be done. At the same time, we do get a visual reminder of just how young he was when Elizabeth gets sent video clips of teenagers auditioning to play Joe. (The audition clips don't show more than them introducing themselves with their name and age.) Elizabeth looks appalled, and the audience might think it's because it hits her how young thirteen really is.... and then a few scenes later, she's on the phone with her producer and tells him these guys are just wrong because they don't look sexy enough. Which tells you something about Elizabeth.

Despite how good this film is - with script, acting and cinematography all outstanding - , I'm not surprised it wasn't a box office success (while getting deservedly criticial praise.) It's hardly a subject lending itself to relaxation, and despite its three leads all being very attractive people, any sexual activity is basically the opposite of fanservice - like I said, it's an emotional horror show. Not something I'll rewatch any time soon, though I am glad I watched it once, and am full of admiration for what it achieves.
I deeply enjoyed reading a Star Trek: The Original Series story in which Hanahaki is nonfatal and limited to Vulcans. I enjoyed it all the more because I didn't read the tags beyond noting that it's General Audiences and No Warnings Apply. Having now read the tags and finished the story, which ends hopefully, I recommend that you give the story a try if the idea of Spock coughing up flowers of unrequited love appeals to you -- but page down and skip the tags, unless there are common pairings in the fandom that you need to avoid.

love is an affliction
Padmé, much like Dolly Parton, loses an Amidala look-alike contest. How many of the entrants are in drag? I leave that as an exercise for the reader.

There are definitely drag king portrayals of Anakin and Obi-Wan in their heyday, possibly including makeouts with each other and/or drag king clones.

Anyone who has seen The Empire Strips Back knows what drag!Luke Skywalker is wearing, and as for Leia -- well, I could insert any number of pictures of people doing Leia drag, in any number of costumes, and she’s not even royalty in this galaxy. Who even knows how many hotass drag kings lust after Han’s gender, too.
sakana17: simple minds outside circa 1981 (simple-minds-green)
([personal profile] sakana17 Jun. 5th, 2025 08:44 pm)
This week I watched Dept. Q (2025) on Netflix. Set in Edinburgh, it stars Matthew Goode as a detective who is assigned to a newly formed cold case unit.
It was pretty good. (Spoilers) It's based on a novel series and felt like it, not necessarily in a bad way. It had a bit more graphic violence & gore than I wanted to see, and a major part of the mystery they're investigating is highly disturbing, especially if you have claustrophobia.

Matthew Goode's character falls into the "brilliant asshole" type of detective, which I'm bored with, but Goode played it well and there were signs that he cares a little beneath his assholish exterior. I liked the rest of the team: Rose, Hardy, but especially Akram. I loved Akram!

Good to see Mark Bonnar again. :D

Mystery-wise? Meh. I think I'm too jaded. I had the whodunnit figured out early and could guess at why they did it, despite some major details kept until the final reveals. I'm always bothered by elaborate revenge schemes that involve sizable infrastructure and investment, and though the show leaned heavily into the disturbing atmosphere of it, I could never shake my feeling of "oh puhlease." At least there was some explanation for how they happened to have such things lying around, but I kept wondering about their electricity bills... But the thing that bugged me the most was that it took 4 years for Merritt to figure it out. Really? When she had literally nothing else to do?

Mehness about the mystery aside... I'd watch another season of it should there be one. Mainly for Akram. But also because I'm curious about the unsolved shooting that is probably going to lead to a major corruption scandal because these things usually do. And it was fun to see Edinburgh.


For something completely different in tone, I started watching the Japanese series Inheritance Detective | 相続探偵 (2025), also on Netflix, because it stars Akaso Eiji, who played Adachi in Cherry Magic. I've only watched one episode so far but I enjoyed it enough to keep watching. It has the adapted-from-a-manga style and feel, but I'm kind of used to that by now.

After a groupwatch of it, I'm rewatching the Korean BL Love Tractor | 트랙터는 사랑을 싣고 (2023). It's short (8 episodes of ~25 minutes each) and sweet, with humor and the right amount of seriousness. Great for escapist distraction.

New promo pics are out for upcoming The Truth 3 Bai Yu costumes. (Don't ask me. But compare it to Liu Yuning's look for the same case.) (IDEK) I feel like this season the show figured out half of the fun for the audience is seeing them dressed up in outlandish costumes and decided to run with it. (I don't think anything will top the pirate look, though.)
hannah: (Sam and Dean - soaked)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 5th, 2025 08:56 pm)
I went to a master's program's commencement ceremony at the Apollo Theater today, and while I left after two hours and didn't see it end, based on how those first two hours and the setup went, I doubt anyone blasted any James Brown.

What a wasted opportunity.

I'm glad I went, though, for all its wasted opportunities and long-winded metaphor-straining speeches and a prerecorded speech from a chancellor that included a plug to sign up for the alumni association while detailing its many features. My sister in law E. and older brother J. seemed happy about it, and I'll know I was willing to make an effort to show up.
Title: Because I Promised You
Fandom: Arcane
Music: Dawn, The Front by Talos
Summary: Two sides of the same coin. Inextricably bound.
Notes: Premiered at [community profile] vidukon_cardiff

DW | AO3 | Tumblr | Bluesky | Youtube
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gwyn: (pussypad kerry beary)
([personal profile] gwyn Jun. 4th, 2025 09:25 pm)
Ugh, there's nothing like having to get a new roof on your house. Just the whole thing: the heinous cost, especially at a time when tariff bullshit/supply chain/tanking economy makes that 100 percent more devastating, the having to get multiple bids, then the having to tell people you went with someone else when they're awesome too...it's like something specially designed to make me miserable. I ended up getting bids from some great roofers, and it came down to two and it was so hard to make a decision, they were within a few hundred dollars of each other and they both had 4-star ratings everywhere and lots of good references. But I'm such a coward, the part where you have to tell the one company that you went with the other one is just excruciating omg.

Anyways, in about a month to six weeks, I'll be getting a new roof on the house. Poor Blues will be a wreck, but I don't know where I can really take him so he doesn't have to deal with the noise. I didn't have him when I did the kitchen remodel/addition, and Olive was the chillest cat you could ever have and she was fine with the construction (she literally slept through jackhammering my old concrete back stairs out), but my little sick, decrepit old man Blues will NOT do well in this situation. Home ownership sucks sometimes, so much.

I've been doing small things sporadically here and there--a tiny bit of writing, a bit of reading, lots of watching things. It doesn't feel like I ever accomplish much of anything; some days, the side effects are just awful enough that I don't really have the wherewithal to get much done. I'm trying to do accountability buddies with [personal profile] belmanoir to force myself to walk at least a few days a week, but if I'm having a lot of side effects, even that can be hard to make myself to do.

I *have* been watching things on TV, though--I signed up for a couple months of Disney and Max so I could watch a couple shows there, even though I couldn't really afford it. But the most important one to me was Andor, and so I can't regret spending the money.

Andor season 2 was just...wow. Holy crap. SO FUCKING GOOD. I mean, I can always find things to quibble with or critique, but when something is that amazing, it's just easy to handwave the details. What an incredible series, what an incredible season, what an incredible showcase for good writing and real production values instead of plastic manufactured crap filmed in that giant egg thing they call the volume. The costumes, the sets, the acting, it's all astounding and adult in the best way. I want to talk more at length about it, but I'm still digesting it all, and I need to sit down and rewatch it again, really take it in now that I know where it's going.

While I had HBO Max (or just max or whatever the fuck it's called), I figured I'd try The Pitt, even though I swore off hospital/medical shows a long time ago (I think anyone who knows my history, especially with regards to my sister's death, knows why). But I couldn't escape it on tumblr, and so somehow ended up deciding to give it a whirl, and...well, it is definitely as good as most people say. I do hate the medical show thing where everything has to be ramped up to 11, like, regular medicine in an emergency setting isn't dramatic enough, no, we have to have a mass casualty event. Okay.

I liked most of the characters, and while I've never cared about Noah Wyle, I will say that as Dr. Robby, he was much more appealing to me: I simply can't resist the broken, damaged, compassionate, competent guy who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, fuck my life. And also, *of course* I fall for the piping hot mess of a dude that is Langdon--he has a total WWII Bucky thing going on with his looks (tell me he couldn't be Bucky's double in First Avenger), so it just figures. I *had* to go for the guy with Big Problems who's a little bit of an asshole underneath the really good doctor veneer. I absolutely loathe Santos, every minute with her was torture, and I couldn't stand Javadi, either, with her perpetually wide eyes and grimaced mouth. They are both awful. Lest this sound like I just hate women characters, everyone else I loved, especially Mohan and McKay and Collins and OMG Dana. I adore Dana, I am really hoping she's coming back. And Dr. Ellis, I think was her name? at the end there, please tell me she's going to be front and center next season. It's funny, too, that I despised Shawn Hatosy after Southland, like, he was just the *worst* character ever and so obnoxious that it seemed like it had to be because of the actor, so color me shocked that I kinda...love him? on this show as Abbot. Very weird.

After Andor, I went over to Netflix to find something mindless and soft to watch, and checked out Mike Shur's latest show with Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside. It was very cute, but I couldn't get over the fact that this retirement center, which was very much like my dad's luxurious retirement center (in that it had the same apartment-->assisted living/memory care-->nursing facility progression structure), had only 100 residents and all those incredible amenities. Like, there is just no way to run something that incredible (it made my dad's place look like a dump) with so few residents, especially in the middle of downtown San Francisco. It would cost like $10,000 a week. It's a charming show, but I just could not stop thinking about the financial structure the whole time I watched. But if you're looking for something soft and short, it's a good show, especially if you enjoyed The Good Place.

And as so many people are, I'm enjoying the hell out of Murderbot. I really side-eyed the casting of ASkars as SecUnit, but I have to say, his inherent weirdness and goofiness is really turning out to be an asset. Some of the changes to the stories threw me a bit, but when I went back and rewatched the eps knowing what the changes were, it felt a little less jarring, and now the show really feels like it's hitting its stride. I am excited about Friday nights! I love the casting for Dr. Mensah and of course, the glimpses of Sanctuary Moon are just the fucking best. And anytime John Cho is on my TV is a good time.
hannah: (Sam and Dean - soaked)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 4th, 2025 08:42 pm)
Less than eighteen hours to go and still no texts, emails, or other forms of communication about my sister in law E.'s graduation tomorrow. It's information I can look up fairly easily, and that strikes me as being somewhat beside the point when I don't have anything beyond a verbal "come if you can" offer. It's not exactly sitting peacefully with me. I know a closed mouth doesn't get fed, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to open my mouth or not.

I plan on going, and it's feeling a bit like it's under protest.
selenak: (VanGogh - Lefaym)
([personal profile] selenak Jun. 4th, 2025 02:59 pm)
I think now I must have read all the published work of the estimable Ms Tesh. In reverse order, as she published these two novel(la)s first, and once more demonstrating her bandwidth, being different yet again from both Some Desperate Glory and The Incandescent. (Not solely because in this duology, the two main characters are male, though there are very memorable female supporting characters.) What it reminded me of was fanfiction to some earlier canon, though I could not say which canon, in the way it focused on the central m/m romance. Which isn't to say said romance - which is thoroughly charming - is all it has going for itself, by far not. The books do a wonderful job with its vaguely 19th century AU England which has Wild Men in the woods, dryads, some (not many) fairies, folklore-studying researchers and female vampire hunters. In all her books, Tesh proves she can create beings that feel guinely different, not like humans in costumes, be they demons or aliens or fae, and the while the heart of the duology is in the romance between stoic and brawny Wild Man Tobias Finch and geeky and cheerful gentleman scholar Henry Silver, it's by far not the only interesting relationship going on. There's also Henry's mother, Mrs. Silver the enterprising non-nonsense slayer hunter, with the way she and Tobias come to relate to each other being a welcome surprise, in the first novel Tobias' creepy ex of centuries past and in the second Maud Linderhurst, who is something spoilery ).

One can nitpick (for example, it's not clear to me what the difference between what Bramble the Dyrad is by the end of the duology and what the fairy servant is, to put it as unspoilery as possible), but nothing that takes away from this thoroughly enjoyable duology of stories. And given the daily news horror, they were very welcome distractions indeed.

Speaking of entertaining distractions: Sirens on Netflix is a five episodes miniseries based on a play, both written by Molly Brown Metzler,), which strikes me as unusual (plays usually ending up as movies), though some googling after watching the series which brought me to reviews of the originial play (titled Elemeno Pea), I found the review descriptions of the play made it clear there were enough differences for the play now to feel like a first draft. The miniseries stars Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock and Julianne Moore, and a lot of gorgeous costumes. (Also Kevin Bacon as Julianne Moore's husband.) At first I thought it would be another entry in the "eat the rich" genre, but no, not really. The premise: Our heroine and central character is Devon (Fahy), who is overwhelmed with work, an alcoholic father in the early stages of dementia, and her own past alcoholism (she's barely six months sober), and when after an SOS all she gets from younger sister Simone is an basket full of fruits, she impulsviely goes to the island for the superrich where Simone now works as PA for Michaela (Moore) to have it out with her sister. However, once she's there her anger is soon distracted by the fact Michaela/Kiki (as Simone is allowed to call her) comes across like a cult leader to her, and Simone's relationship with her boss has zero boundaries. The general narrative tone of the entire miniseries is black comedy, though as the Michaela and the audience discover both Simone and Devon have horroundous backstory trauma in their childhood and youth, said backstory trauma isn't played for laughs. The three main performances are terrific, with Julianne Moore having a ball coming across as intensely charismatic and creepy without technically doing anything wrong (so you get both why Devon is weirded out and why Simone seems to worship her), while Milly Alcock, whom I had previously only seen as young Rhaenyra in House of Dragon, also excells both as Simone in Devoted Lieutenant mode and with what's underneath showing up more and more. Meghann Fahy I hadn't seen in anything previously but she's wonderful here, no matter whether chewing someone out or trying to hold it together while things around her get ever more bizarre. Of the supporting cast, the most standout is Felix Solis as Jose, the house manager and general factotum. The fact that the staff hates Simone (who hands down Michaela's orders and is therefore loathed as the taskmaster) is a running gag through the series and gets an ironic pay off at the end, though again, this is not another entry in the "eat the rich" genre. Most of all it strikes me as a comedy of manners, and of course the setting - the island which in the play is Martha's Vineyard but in the miniseries has a fictional name - allows for some great landscaping in addition to everyone dressed up gorgeously. All in all, not something that will change your life, but immensely entertaining to watch, and everyone's fates at the end feel narratively earned.
hannah: (Stargate Atlantis - zaneetas)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 3rd, 2025 10:18 pm)
In trying to tidy my closet and the dresses I've got in there, I'm now seeing how many "nice" dresses I have that cover a fairly wide variety of situations. It's nice to see that the ones I bought well over a decade ago are still largely holding up well.

In other news, while my sister in law E. and my brother J. are planning on going to Cancún, I somehow doubt they're at all interested in visiting the Chicxulub crater. Some people just don't know how to have a good time.
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
([personal profile] redbird posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew Jun. 3rd, 2025 06:06 pm)
It's been a slightly quieter month since the last check-in, but still busy:
May posts )

Thanks to everyone who posted. Here's a check-in poll to tell us what you've been doing:

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21


In the last month, I

View Answers

called one of my senators
10 (47.6%)

called my other senator
10 (47.6%)

called my congressmember
6 (28.6%)

called my governor
0 (0.0%)

called my mayor, state rep, or other local official
2 (9.5%)

did get-out-the-vote work, such as postcarding or phone banking
0 (0.0%)

voted
1 (4.8%)

sent a postcard/email/letter/fax to a government official or agency
9 (42.9%)

went to a protest
3 (14.3%)

attended an in-person activist group
2 (9.5%)

went to a town hall
0 (0.0%)

participated in phone or online training
0 (0.0%)

donated money to a cause
13 (61.9%)

worked for a campaign
1 (4.8%)

did textbanking/phonebanking
0 (0.0%)

took care of myself
12 (57.1%)

not a US citizen, but worked in solidarity in my community
1 (4.8%)

did something else (tell us about it in comments)
3 (14.3%)

committed to action in the coming month
5 (23.8%)




As always, everyone is free to make posts about any issues and actions they think the comm should know about. You can also drop some information into a comment to our sticky post if you'd like the mods to do it.

If you're looking for information on anything else, you can use our tags to check for any ongoing actions or resources relevant to the issues you care about. I try to keep the tag list up-to-date. If you need a tag added, you can DM me.
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selenak: (Thirteen by Fueschgast)
([personal profile] selenak Jun. 2nd, 2025 10:16 am)
This in fannish and rl political matters was not a good past week, but what is anymore, one is tempted to ask. But it wasn't universally bleak, either.

Wheel of Time cancelled: a pity. I was only so so about it in the first season, grew to like it in the second, and was impressed by the third. Where it had felt like starting out on a generic fantasy pattern (heroes called to quest, evil dark overlords and minions wrecking the land), it had truly become its own unique thing. Yes, I could still read the books, but I osmosed that many of the things I liked best about the tv version are in fact different to the books (for example, unless I osmosed wrongly, Rand is the clear main character in the books, while if there is any lead on tv, it's Moraine, Liandrin is a simple Evil McEvil villainess in the book where in the tv version she has backstory and complicated feelings, and "more complicated" is true for other villains as well, Moraine's sister Alvaere (spelling?), wonderfully played by Lindsay Duncan, only exists as a name in the books and her relationship with Moraine not at all, and the books have only same sex subtext where the show has main text, etc.). I wanted to follow this specific version of the tale, and now I won't be able to.

(Also, I'm reminded of how annoying I always found back in the day and sometimes years later when B5 and DS9 were played out against each other; I loved both, and refused to play that game, and interaction with other fans was tricky if you wanted discussions of one only to to come across rants about the other. It's not that I love Rings of Power, but I do like it, and if it was difficult already to come across interesting meta, now there will be additional bile blaming it on a note of "why wasn't this cancelled instead".)

The Mouse channel put up Captain America: Brave New World on its streaming service. I hadn't bothered to see it in the cinema after getting only discouraging noises, and while sometimes I come across media loathed by most which I love or at least like, this wasn't the case here. It had some elements I liked, but simply wasn't very good. I do wonder whether Captain America: The Winter Soldier is for the MCU what Star Trek: Wrath of Khan was for decades for the ST franchise - to wit, the movie most of fandom adores and loves best and which subsequently gets imitated over and over to the detriment of the results because they don't succeed in creating something of equal value and the repeated tropes get less convincing the more they're repeated. In the MCU case, subsequent attempts to combine 70s style political thriller with the superhero formula included the dreadful Secret Invasion which everyone seems to silently agree never to have happened since it's been ignored by the rest of the franchise, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was decidedly mixed in quality and result (though definitely better than Secret Invasion). Some short observations why despite having good actors and some good ideas, Brave New World just didn't stick the landing (imo, as always) in its attempt to recreate Winter Soldier: are spoilery. )


Doctor Who ?.08: Reality War: Which felt at times like RTD throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, at times like (great) trolling, and at times was surprisingly touching giving everything else. Spoilery comments await )


***

Peter David the writer died. Back in the 1990s, I loved reading most of his Star Trek novels, especially but by no means exclusively Imzadi and Q-Squared. (I haven't reread them in decades by now, and have no idea whether they would still hold up, but I remember the reading pleasure they gave me, and how they long before the internet provided me with online fanfic showed how a story can enhance and deepen characterisation as given by a tv show.) On the B5 side of things, he contributed two episodes, including Soul Mates in season 2, which is still one of my all time favourites, and in it he created who is definitely my favourite one episode only on Babylon 5 character, Timov. (His B5 books were more of a mixed affair, but this is not the place to repeat my problems with the Centauri trilogy and its (lack of) worldbuilding.) If a writer is able to gift you with characters that remain with you for the rest of your life, that is more than many of us will ever achieve, so, hail and farewell, Peter David.
Dance in the oldest boots I own (5106 words) by Petra
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Hondo Ohnaka
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hondo Ohnaka, Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Winter Soldier AU, Inspired by Fanart, Not a Superhero AU
Summary:

Hondo finds Obi-Wan frozen in carbonite and decides that he is worth more than the bounty on his head.

Obi-Wan is discomfited to learn what has been happening in the galaxy since he's been out of commission, but not nearly as discomfited as he is by finding out what his erstwhile padawan has been doing.

Two chapters of a Winter Soldier AU.

hannah: (Spike - shadowed-icons)
([personal profile] hannah Jun. 1st, 2025 08:56 pm)
I spent several hours today not knowing where my towel was. I knew I'd taken it down to the laundry room and brought it out from the washer, and somewhere between the dryer and my apartment, it disappeared. Couldn't be found. I went back and checked, and didn't find it. I figured it wasn't a huge loss, all things considered, and tried to move on.

I just went back to check to be sure, and somewhere between the washer and the dryer, it got misplaced without leaving the laundry room, because that's where I found it. Someone had tossed it into the garbage bin - not even hanging it over the sink, but tossing it out entirely, which has me irritated on the general principle of throwing out a good hand towel being a bad idea because hey, free towel.

It's also got me relieved because I again know where my towel is. I couldn't well go hitchhiking otherwise.
evewithanapple: billy smiles at goodnight | <lj user="evewithanapple"</lj> (mag7 | sing you to sleep)
([personal profile] evewithanapple posting in [community profile] vidding Jun. 1st, 2025 04:42 pm)
Title: Blue Song
Fandom: The Blue Caftan (2022)
Music: Your Song by Elton John
Summary: How wonderful life is while you're in the world.
Notes: Premiered at [community profile] vidukon_cardiff  2025
Warnings: major character death

AO3 | Tumblr

Tags:
Title: Can't Help Falling In Love
Fandom: 双兔 | Soul Sisters (2024)
Music: Can't Help Falling in Love by Kacey Musgraves
Summary: 'some things are meant to be'
Notes: Premiered at [community profile] vidukon_cardiff 2025!
Warnings: quick cuts and flashing lights

AO3 | bsky | DW | tumblr | YouTube
copracat: (ace - best girl)
([personal profile] copracat Jun. 1st, 2025 09:14 pm)
So, the Doctor spoilers )
Tags:
So, this season of Doctor Who has come to an end! I thought the last episode was the weakest part of an overall good season. Complete waste of Belinda (something that was a problem with the whole season unfortunately), far too talky, climax happened much too early we spent the last twenty minutes on something that should have probably been an entire season and left a bunch of threads dangling that should probably have been resolved already. Oh well, RTD has always sucked at finales. I'm one of those people who doesn't even like The Parting of the Ways much, although I have a weird soft spot for Army of Ghosts/Doomsday largely because it pleases my fangirl heart to see the Daleks and Cybermen fight.

For this season we've got Lux, The Well, The Story & The Engine and The Interstellar Song Contest so I'd still say I loved it as a whole even though the end wasn't great. But on to the spoilery part!

I don't even know why I'm cutting when this was all over the newspaper headlines in Britain and here in Australia, but at least I can say I didn't spoil anyone ... )

Anyway, whatever happens next I await it with interest!
Tags:
hannah: (Interns at Meredith's - gosh_darn_icons)
([personal profile] hannah May. 31st, 2025 10:30 pm)
At present, settling into telling myself the story and figuring out how it's put together, is the important part. What the story's about, its purpose and intentions, can come later. Right now, I'm telling it to myself. Well, myself and the accountability readers. Mostly myself. Nobody else is thinking about it as much as I am.

Keeping to that tunnel vision of one word at a time, no matter how good the word happens to be or how much I like it, is where I'm at. I'm likely going to opt to stay in New York for most of the vacation my parents planned for upstate and that's only in part because I'm not sure how I feel about always automatically being included. It's a lot of complicated feelings, and what's not complicated is it's easier to keep writing when I'm in my apartment. All my stuff is here. My notes, my research materials. Also the practical momentum of sitting down and getting the words out.
thatyourefuse: ([wv] I've made a huge mistake.)
([personal profile] thatyourefuse May. 31st, 2025 07:17 pm)
oh my goddddddddddd I am never going to get out of this scennnnnnnne
aurumcalendula: Gu Xiaomeng (in red) and Li Ningyu (in white) dancing (dancing)
([personal profile] aurumcalendula posting in [community profile] vidding May. 31st, 2025 06:14 pm)
Title: 5 Out Of 6
Fandom: 风声 | The Message (2020)
Music: 5 Out Of 6 by Dessa
Summary: 'I ain't afraid of it'
Notes: Premiered at [community profile] vidukon_cardiff 2025!
Warnings: quick cuts and flashing lights, old film effects (sepia filter and random dark spots and lines) in some footage, violence, major character death

AO3 | bsky | DW | tumblr | YouTube
Title: I Don't Even Care About You
Characters: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
TV Series: Teen Wolf
Music: I Don't Even Care About You by MISSIO
Length: 1:57
Streaming/download at: DW | Tumblr
hannah: (James Wilson - maker unknown)
([personal profile] hannah May. 30th, 2025 09:18 pm)
Earlier this week, my older brother J. wanted to inflate an exercise ball for his wife E. My younger brother R. and his wife G. who live about a block away have several bike pumps that could be used to that precise task. Now, they're a block away from each other. J. doesn't walk to R.'s apartment to borrow the pump, inflate the ball at his place, and walk back to return the pump when he's done. He doesn't ask R. or G. to bring a bike pump over to inflate the ball at his apartment. He brings the un-flated ball to their apartment to inflate it there.

I know I have my own set of strengths and weaknesses, and I know I'd aim for a more practical solution to the problem of how to move around a fully inflated exercise ball. Like keeping it in one location. The pump's a far more modular device.

Also of note is that E. told G. - not in confidence, not in secret - that she wasn't interested in coming to Friday night dinners anymore. She didn't feel up to it. I know she's pregnant right now, but even before she was expecting, she was pulling the exact same excuse of having a long week at work. She's been using that excuse for several years now, and I'd figured not every week could be that long. I'd apparently figured right. At the same time, it's nice to know that if she's not making the effort, I don't have to worry about it. I'd had a small bit of concern my attempt at polite behavior - attentive listening, eye contact, not interrupting, waiting patiently for people to finish their sentences - had sent the wrong message, what with being told that she probably found it intimidating. Maybe she did, and thinking it's just on me is something where I can't afford that level of vanity. This part isn't me thinking, this part is me realizing: no matter what I do, at some point she needs to make the effort. And G. told me she told E. that at some point, she needed to make the effort, and E. didn't seem all that interested.
Surprise! By a heroic effort of [personal profile] eruthros, a virtual Vid Party happened at this year's Wisconline.

Here is the playlist for the whole show, including warnings/notes and links to watch the vids.

I want to highlight one Premiere: Deep Space by [personal profile] garrideb

If you check out and enjoy any of the vids from this show, I know the creators would really appreciate a comment!
hannah: (Perry Cox - rullaroo)
([personal profile] hannah May. 29th, 2025 11:46 pm)
You know a drink's good when you take a sip and all you can say is, "Hot damn." It was a 35mm at Metrograph, one of the in-house cocktails. I was in the mood to give something like that a try and I'm happy I did. Also worth a "hot damn" tonight was the bar making two Pink Flamingos by accident and giving us one for free, and getting home by midnight.

I took my younger brother and his wife out to see Magnolia on, yes, 35mm film. They covered the tickets and I covered dinner, food and drinks both. They said it was a lot, and it might have been; I don't have a good frame of reference for a fairly upscale dinner for three with dessert and drinks included, especially when I usually drink at home and the closest I ordinarily come to eating out is buying some ready-made food at a grocery store. Especially when it was my genuine pleasure to do so. A great movie followed by a good meal with lovely company - well worth the end cost.
sakana17: bai yu poses in profile (bai-yu-side)
([personal profile] sakana17 May. 29th, 2025 07:13 pm)
Cdramas: I finished watching Blossom | 九重紫 (34 episodes) starring Meng Ziyi and Li Yunrui. It's a historical romance with a fantasy element at the beginning.
I loved it! (Spoilers!) It's a "do over" fantasy where the main character, Dou Zhao, is magically sent back in time and gets the chance to avoid the pitfalls that led to her disastrous marriage and ill fate the first time. This time around she crosses paths with Song Mo, a young general who's drawn to her. There's a good political plot revolving around Song Mo and his complicated family, but the main plot is about how Dou Zhao, aware of how and why her life turned out so horribly the first time, doesn't back down from changing her life this time.

I loved Meng Ziyi and Li Yunrui in this and thought they had great chemistry together. The relationship between Dou Zhao and Song Mo was nicely developed, and when they get together it didn't lose interest for me. They're both strong and supportive of each other, which I loved to see. Dou Zhao also has great female friendships.

The families in this show rank among the most horrible Cdrama families I've ever seen! (Which is saying something.) But what I absolutely loved is that we see the reasons why everyone is the way they are, and some of the reasons are quite poignant. Not all the antagonists get fully fleshed-out backstories, but they all get at least some indication of their motivations, which I really appreciated. I was amazed how I came to see Dou Zhao's scheming stepmother (played by Alina Zhang) as a tragic character after loathing her so much.

Another thing I loved was the dramatic do-over version of Dou Zhao's awful husband and his affair with Dou Zhao's half-sister. That was handled so well and ended up so painfully tragic!

The series has a happy ending for the leads! ♥

The actor Xia Zhiguang was in it as a major side character, so I've started watching The Spirealm, where he's one of the leads. I'm only on episode 4 but I'm finding it interesting so far.

After Blossom, I watched The Story of Pearl Girl | 珠帘玉幕 (40 episodes) starring Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning. Another historical romance, this one about the rise of Duanwu, a pearl diver, who meets Yan Zijing, a mysterious trader.
I really liked this a lot. A great cast in a high quality production, gorgeous costumes, and an interesting story that grabbed me from the start. (Spoilers!) I want to say I loved it, but unfortunately there are two halves to this drama, and the second half was just not as strong as the first half, although the story as a whole was still interesting. There are some pacing problems in the second half (as well as some disconcerting editing jumps, where things seem to happen out of order), but for me the main problem with the second half is that the focus moves away from Duanwu and Yan Zijing and we seem to spend a lot more time with the villains. Also, unlike Blossom, not all of the antagonists feel well-rounded or sufficiently motivated.

But on the other hand! I loved Duanwu and her growth and strength as she goes from mere survival to pursuing her ambitions. I especially loved how she learns to treat others with kindness, and how that is contrasted against Yan Zijing's obsessive drive for revenge that underlies everything he does. I liked their relationship, and I loved that the set-up for a love triangle where Yan Zijing and Zhang Jinran (played by Tang Xiaotian) compete for Duanwu never really goes anywhere and Zhang Jinran remains a friend to them both. Zhao Lusi is so good in this and I was really impressed with Liu Yuning. (Plus he looks great in the costumes and braided wig. *g*)

There are some great side characters, too. I especially loved Kang Ju, Yan Zijing's right-hand man and confidante. But I have to say, Cui Shijiu (played by Xie Keyin), nearly stole the show with her ruthless determination (and crossdressing swagger). I enjoy stories where two strong, competent women go from enemies to frenemies to wary friends. The drama delivered on that point, but I wasn't crazy about how in the second half both Cui Shijiu and Duanwu seemed more passive and in peril.

I didn't find the ending very sad despite the tragic, doomed romance. Yan Zijing's fate is set up from the moment we meet him and I never really believed it would play out differently. I liked that Duanwu knew and just wanted as much time as they could have together. The very end, where we find out Duanwu went on to become successful for the next 40 years, felt oddly tacked-on but was a nice conclusion to what should've been a story that stayed focused on the female lead and women's empowerment against the odds.

Speaking of Liu Yuning, I'm currently watching The Truth 3 with him, Bai Yu, Zhang Linhe, Dilraba, Jin Jing, and Zhou Keyu. The show is kind of like celebrities doing RPG to solve murder mysteries in escape rooms. It's fun! Loving the costumes this season. ♥ Hope this BlueSky link to Bai Yu's pirate look works. :D

The other Cdrama I finished recently is Love in Pavilion | 淮水竹亭 (36 episodes) starring Zhang Yunlong and Liu Shishi. This is the second series in the "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" xianxia romance trilogy, and I didn't watch the first one but I don't think that would've changed my feelings about this one.
I ended up skimming a lot and only watching it because one of my beloved farmboys, Zhao Yibo, had a supporting role and was surprisingly good in it, I thought. (Spoilers) I started off very frustrated by this drama and ended up losing interest. I tried to find the leads compelling, tried not to be bored by all the effects-heavy swooshing fights, tried to follow the plot through its complex detours and mostly one-dimensional villains. That was a lot of effort and unfortunately I couldn't sustain it. I thought the pacing was slow and the production which was apparently quite expensive didn't look it.

On the plus side, some of the embedded mini-arc stories were interesting (though, to be fair, they were part of why I felt the pacing was so bad). And I own my bias in this, but Zhao Yibo as Li Quzhou brought a welcome liveliness and spark. And his character didn't die! (Though what we see of the end of his story isn't happy, either.) Content warning for ableism in Li Quzhou's storyline.

It ends tragically, which unfortunately I wasn't particularly moved by because I'd lost interest by then. Just not my cup of tea.

Speaking of the farmboys, I found Chen Shaoxi's movie The Midsummer's Voice | 倒仓 on YouTube. I thought it was a well-made coming-of-age story about three friends in a school for traditional opera singers. Shaoxi plays the male lead's friend and though he doesn't get to sing he has a good role. It was interesting and enjoyable.

More speaking of the farmboys: Wang Yang returned as a guest in season 3 and it was wonderful. He seems like a big fan (he wowed them by knowing all of their birth years) and they think he's the bee's knees and cat's pajamas and I was so happy for everyone. ♥___♥ The episode is on YouTube: part 1 and part 2.

I finished reading Golden Terrace, translated by E Danglars.
I enjoyed it so much! (Spoilers) Arranged marriage, yay! I loved the reveals of the characters' feelings for each other, their competence, and the political plot. If anyone ever did a poll for "Cnovel BL couple most likely to switch" I think my vote would go to Yan Xiaohan/Fu Shen, lol.

And in non-Chinese media, I watched Andor season 2.
SO GOOD! (Spoilers!) I rewatched the first season before starting season 2, and season 1 is nearly perfect in my opinion, so I was pretty wary about season 2. But I thought season 2 was almost as good as season 1, and it kept the same feel throughout. Great storytelling and sustained tension. And the cast is so, so good. ♥ Diego Luna.

I wasn't surprised by Brasso's death but it was still a gut punch. *sob* I didn't hate the ending with Bix. I just kept thinking how awful for her, because we know Cassian's never coming back. *sob* (And who knows what happens to the planet she's on...) The whole episode about Kleya and Luthien! And "Who are you?" Wow.

I really appreciated how the force was mentioned and its context. It was a great way of including that part of Star Wars lore but in a way that didn't jerk me out of the very specific worldbuilding of Andor. In the same way, I appreciated seeing the backstory of how K2SO joins Cassian.

I'm so glad season 2 didn't disappoint. I KNOW I will be rewatching it soon.


Chinese language stuff )

There's probably other stuff I'm forgetting. Ah, well.
vaznetti: (rock the cradle)
([personal profile] vaznetti May. 29th, 2025 04:36 pm)
I feel like I have recently seen more than one person on my reading list linking to the Ever-Fixed Mark series by [archiveofourown.org profile] AMarguerite -- which I enjoy very much whenever I reread it, but I was poking around and reminded of And Now the Storm-Blast Came, so now I am rereading that. It appears to be unfinished (and probably forever so) but is giving me exactly what I come to Jane Austen fanfiction for, which is extra-intense woobification of her iron woobie underappreciated heroines, of whom Anne Elliot is an excellent example. I am sure I read the story before, but have no real memory of anything that happens in it, so it's as if it's all new to me.

Having finished Andor (which did come together well in the end, I felt, with some touches I really appreciated, especially everything to do with Dedra's story and how she ended up) I decided to give Murderbot a try; I never have read the books, so it's all new to me, and I've seen the first two episodes. It seems enjoyable so far?

Also, a while ago I agreed to do some editing for English usage for someone on a different website where I use a different username (which is why I am mentioning it here not under flock) but I have not been back to work on it for about a month and now the avoidance is making everything worse and I can't make myself go to that website at all! Why is my brain doing this to me? It is literally the matter of sending a quick apology and getting my act together.
On May 8th, I offered to read the first five books people recced - assuming they were available (preferably from the library) - and I'd give a short review [https://bethbethbeth.dreamwidth.org/701769.html].

This is the sixth recced book review.

Rules for Ghosting (2024), by Shelly Jay Shore (recced by mx-sno on bluesky)

Yes, this is a romance (gay cis man/bi trans-man), but it's also a story about family dynamics, grief, birth and death, found family, Judaism, and a dog named Sappho.

Oh, and ghosts!

I'm passing on the rec, but I'd offer two caveats:

One...if you have anxiety surrounding death rituals, including taharah (the "ritual washing, purification, and dressing of a deceased Jewish person before burial"), you might want to think twice.

Second, on a pure story level, there's sometimes a little too much "not telling people important things either for their own good or because you don't know how to start the conversation" for my personal tastes, but for all I know, that's your favorite trope. :)

However, Rules for Ghosting is generally an interesting, good-hearted story with a clever premise and a diverse group of likable characters.
Last year I wrote an essay about cozy SFF. I started out writing a passionate defense of cozy SFF, then I wasn't quite happy with it and put it on the shelf for a while. When I got back to it, I realized there were some things about the current moment of cozy SFF that I don't really like. So I had to edit my piece. But even then I felt the conversation was getting away from me.

I've only become more frustrated with what's being marketed as cozy SFF and the discourse around it. I find the stuff being published isn't digging into the themes that I want to see. Meanwhile the discourse is both dismissive and full of moral panic. I think both that domestic labor and community building are important and worth telling stories about and shouldn’t be dismissed, and that it's ok to read soft comforting stories. I wish people would calm down a bit.

Read more... )
mxcatmoon: Dukes Waterfall (Dukes Waterfall)
([personal profile] mxcatmoon posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew May. 29th, 2025 02:08 am)
There's so many bad things going on requiring our attention that the cuts/firing in the meteorology and climate science communities gets less attention, but having a fully staffed NOAA is an important issue. Right now, there is a 100-hour livestream going on to call attention to how vital these services are, especially as hurricane season is upon us.  I have it on in the background right now.

What can we do? Watch the livestream, call our Representatives, and go to 5 Calls for sample script/letters.

Info and schedule: The Weather and Climate Livestream

Direct YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rG4ePBqD-E

watersword: An open book (Stock: book)
([personal profile] watersword May. 28th, 2025 08:38 pm)

I have been staggering through the past few weeks, holding myself together with string and duct tape, and it is finally the Cottagecore Week.

I have finished a sashiko patch on a pair of jeans and I am very proud of myself, as well as the first of the embroidered numbers for my front & back doors, and I have solved the problem of how to print patterns onto stabilizer (use the library makerspace printer from a USB). The mending circle at the local "sustainable fashion collective" (it's a secondhand store with some mending/tailoring services) was fun and I'll go back when the bus schedule allows. Dropout.tv and the 1995 Pride & Prejudice miniseries have been my companions as I sew this week, and they are both great for that purpose. I think I will move on to North & South and perhaps Horrible Histories next. Is Shakespeare & Hathaway fun?

The knotweed in the garden has been beaten back from the path to the shed, and the asparagus is coming up spindly and feathery (I really hope that they will thicken over time, I will eat a thin asparagus spear without complaining but I love asparagus with some heft); no trace of the rhubarb, which I'm kind of upset about, but seeds are always chancy, and I'm waiting to see what happened with the watermelon and sunflowers, now that I've staked the peas. Surely something will come up? The gladiolus in the front garden are looking more promising, although I don't know what happened to everything else. I have proof that someone in the Parks Department exists, and has just been ignoring my emails (a coworker knows the parks director, and emailed her, and the person I have been trying to get in touch with answered when their boss was on the chain, but no luck since, so this is progress but not by much).

I have been wallowing in books, and can enthusiastically join the chorus of those of you who have been shrieking delightedly about Robert Jackson Bennett's latest, A Drop of Corruption, it's so good, please discuss in the comments; and I finally got my hands on Katherine Addison's The Tomb of Dragons, ditto.

When I was ten years old, friends and I came back from seeing a James Bond movie and were playing at James Bond on our bikes, and I swerved too sharply, fell over, and broke my left leg. I broke both the fibia and the tibula, in fact, but they were clean breaks, very tidy. Hurt like screaming hell, though. As was the custom of the time I was in the hospital for several days and came out in a full-leg cast. My father, who lived some distance away, couldn’t get there right away and sent me a dozen roses in the hospital, which made the whole thing absolutely worth it; I had never felt so grown-up!

But that was the end of my bicycling career. For fifty years.

Now, however, I've moved to a small, mostly flat, navigable city, and I want to try getting back on that literal-not-proverbial bike! I fairly often have places to go and errands to run where driving feels silly but walking might take juuuuust too much time, and a bike seems like the obvious option. But do I want to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a new bike and run the risk that I won't enjoy it, or feel safely balanced after so long, or whatever, and will in fact end up not using it much? I do not.

Fortunately this city has a couple of nonprofit bike repairing and reselling organizations! So I stopped by one of them this afternoon and chatted with the head mechanic, and he picked out a bike for me from their (all donated) stock on hand, and we verified that it fits me. It needs some repair work and tuning up, which they will do over the next couple of weeks (him: "There's about six bikes ahead of you in line." me: "It's been fifty years, another two weeks is not a problem!"), and they asked for $125-$175, according to my ability to pay. I wasn't able to actually test-ride it, since it has no tires at the moment, but I was able to balance pretty well; I do feel pretty confident that I haven't forgotten how to ride a bike.

(And this time I hope to learn how to shift gears, too! Kid-me's bike was a three-speed and I just left it in second all the time.)

Now I just need to get a helmet -- which I do know to buy new/unused. And a lock. Whee!
hannah: (On the pier - fooish_icons)
([personal profile] hannah May. 27th, 2025 10:54 pm)
I ended up recording a video and uploading it to Google Drive, and providing a link to that. I emailed the organization for advice on how to go forward and that was their suggestion, and it's my hope that it'll at least get the application looked at by a person, though I'm trying to be realistic and not hold out hope for anything more than that. Just take what comes, whatever that happens to be.

Same with having sent out another novel query today. It's out and off, and it's not something I'll be thinking about until I get a response - and if I never do, then I'm going to let myself forget about it. It's a little odd to conceptualize this as having been fairly productive as days spent in my apartment go, for the productive things to be forgotten almost immediately, but then again, that's how doing the laundry usually works.
oracne: turtle (Default)
([personal profile] oracne May. 27th, 2025 04:01 pm)
1. I participated in Science! This involved an MRI of my right calf while at rest and before, during, and after doing a minute of movement. I got paid, and used part of it to finally buy the Shape Note song book a college friend (from choir) worked on. The next step is to try and make at least a few of the monthly sings in my neighborhood this summer, while I'm off from regular choir.

Read more... )
brokenframe: (Default)
([personal profile] brokenframe posting in [community profile] vidding May. 27th, 2025 11:32 am)
Title: California Dreamin'
Characters: Ensemble - Derek Hale, Peter Hale, Scott McCall, Liam Dunbar, Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Jackson Whittemore
TV Series: Teen Wolf
Music: California Dreamin' cover by Sia
Length: 3:36
Notes: Werewolf centric
Streaming/download at: DW | Tumblr
brainwane: My smiling face, including a small gold bindi (Default)
([personal profile] brainwane posting in [community profile] vidding May. 27th, 2025 12:58 pm)
Just came across this on Bluesky: a Star Wars: Andor vid, centering on Season 2 Dedra, using Taylor Swift's "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart".
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