Nature
Apr. 9th, 2026 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithPrairie plants reveal a hidden defense against climate extremes
It looks peaceful – but these places are basically training grounds for weather whiplash.
A new study says prairies really do have a built-in advantage when the climate gets nasty: biodiversity helps. But it’s not as simple as the old slogan “more species = more resilience.”
The researchers found that different kinds of biodiversity matter depending on the kind of extreme – drought versus flood – and that nuance could matter a lot as heat, floods, and dry spells become more common.
( Read more... )
It looks peaceful – but these places are basically training grounds for weather whiplash.
A new study says prairies really do have a built-in advantage when the climate gets nasty: biodiversity helps. But it’s not as simple as the old slogan “more species = more resilience.”
The researchers found that different kinds of biodiversity matter depending on the kind of extreme – drought versus flood – and that nuance could matter a lot as heat, floods, and dry spells become more common.
( Read more... )
Poem: "The Grabber"
Apr. 9th, 2026 10:35 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from ravan. It also fills the "Exception" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Monster House.
( Read more... )
ravan. It also fills the "Exception" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Monster House.( Read more... )
Poem: "So DONE with It All"
Apr. 9th, 2026 10:18 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo.
( Read more... )
janetmiles. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. ( Read more... )
Poem: Their Hidden Source
Apr. 9th, 2026 10:15 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis. It directly follows "Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober" so read that first or this won't make much sense.
( Read more... )
siliconshaman. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis. It directly follows "Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober" so read that first or this won't make much sense.( Read more... )
Rose Planting Day
Apr. 9th, 2026 09:58 pmdays_unfoldingI ordered some peonies also. I should be done with buying stuff for the garden. Wait, no, I want to buy blueberry and raspberry bushes. And I’d like strawberries, but the birds eat them. Hmm. Okay, I bought the blueberries and raspberries with bird netting. I’m not sure how many strawberries to get. I have a big strawberry pot, but don’t remember how many pockets it has. Ordered a new lilac bush, and I’ll put chicken wire around it.
Gracie was biting me because I was trying to disentangle the blanket. Then she rolled over to have her belly scratched. Dog logic. Young dog logic. Bella wanted her belly rubbed too, but at least she wasn’t biting me to begin with.
Got up a little after 7 AM. I’m charging my cordless drill. Showered, and it feels good to be clean. I really want a nap.
The Japanese Maple should arrive today. Arrived. I have lots of planting to do. Oh, and the chicken wire top for the raised bed for the tomatoes arrived yesterday.
Got the registration renewed for the Honda. Yay. And I hope that they will email me a reminder in the future.
Napped. I’m feeling groggy. My work computer crashed but came back up. Someone was running around here and unplugged two devices.
Received the cane with a seat and the small stepper.
Hmm. Someone in a Facebook group online starts extra plants and sells the seedings. I was looking into that for next year (I want to get a setup for starting seeds next year), but apparently I’d need a couple of licenses to do that. Might not be worth it. My other plan for next year is to get a third planter with legs for herbs (I’m growing herbs in pots this year) and to clean out the area behind the garage and put down mulch. Eventually, I’ll want to take down the trees there and plant redbuds, some pink grass with a name that I’ve forgotten, and lavender. Maybe have stepping stones that lead to the back.
Had my therapy session. She told me that there are straw “blankets” for grass seed, so what I’m going to do is get the “dog-safe” seed and buy those blankets. Excellent. I need to remember to bring the measuring tape out when I go outside after work. Ordered the “dog-safe” grass seed.
Garage guy called me back. He’s coming over on Sunday (note to self–3ish) to rake up the gravel and talk to me about what I want for the driveway. Things are taking shape.
I planted the three roses and four ferns. Watered the side garden, roses, and crabapple tree. The Japanese Maple is soaking in a bucket. (This sounds so simple, but it was a lot of work.) My small Craftsman shovel worked better than my big shovel, so I’m wondering if I should order a big Craftsman shovel. And I need a rake to loosen the dirt for the grass seed.
Oh, I also got my Astilbe in, so I’ll need to plant it on Sunday.
I’m beat. Bella came in but Gracie did not. I need to sit for a minute and then I’ll feed the cats. Fed the cats and dogs. Ate dinner while watching the latest episode of The Pitt.
Ordered the grass blanket, stakes, and a rake.
Gracie was biting me because I was trying to disentangle the blanket. Then she rolled over to have her belly scratched. Dog logic. Young dog logic. Bella wanted her belly rubbed too, but at least she wasn’t biting me to begin with.
Got up a little after 7 AM. I’m charging my cordless drill. Showered, and it feels good to be clean. I really want a nap.
The Japanese Maple should arrive today. Arrived. I have lots of planting to do. Oh, and the chicken wire top for the raised bed for the tomatoes arrived yesterday.
Got the registration renewed for the Honda. Yay. And I hope that they will email me a reminder in the future.
Napped. I’m feeling groggy. My work computer crashed but came back up. Someone was running around here and unplugged two devices.
Received the cane with a seat and the small stepper.
Hmm. Someone in a Facebook group online starts extra plants and sells the seedings. I was looking into that for next year (I want to get a setup for starting seeds next year), but apparently I’d need a couple of licenses to do that. Might not be worth it. My other plan for next year is to get a third planter with legs for herbs (I’m growing herbs in pots this year) and to clean out the area behind the garage and put down mulch. Eventually, I’ll want to take down the trees there and plant redbuds, some pink grass with a name that I’ve forgotten, and lavender. Maybe have stepping stones that lead to the back.
Had my therapy session. She told me that there are straw “blankets” for grass seed, so what I’m going to do is get the “dog-safe” seed and buy those blankets. Excellent. I need to remember to bring the measuring tape out when I go outside after work. Ordered the “dog-safe” grass seed.
Garage guy called me back. He’s coming over on Sunday (note to self–3ish) to rake up the gravel and talk to me about what I want for the driveway. Things are taking shape.
I planted the three roses and four ferns. Watered the side garden, roses, and crabapple tree. The Japanese Maple is soaking in a bucket. (This sounds so simple, but it was a lot of work.) My small Craftsman shovel worked better than my big shovel, so I’m wondering if I should order a big Craftsman shovel. And I need a rake to loosen the dirt for the grass seed.
Oh, I also got my Astilbe in, so I’ll need to plant it on Sunday.
I’m beat. Bella came in but Gracie did not. I need to sit for a minute and then I’ll feed the cats. Fed the cats and dogs. Ate dinner while watching the latest episode of The Pitt.
Ordered the grass blanket, stakes, and a rake.
Poem: "Beautiful, Tough, Shiny, Resilient"
Apr. 9th, 2026 08:21 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from alatefeline and a previous discussion with siliconshaman about the life aspects of geodes. It also fills the "Lilac" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to The Blueshift Troupers series.
( Read more... )
alatefeline and a previous discussion with siliconshaman about the life aspects of geodes. It also fills the "Lilac" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to The Blueshift Troupers series.( Read more... )
Well done, Donald
Apr. 10th, 2026 12:46 amloganberrybunnyPublic
Sir Keir Starmer, the most desperate-to-avoid-an-actual-opinion Prime Minister in living memory, said on ITV's Talking Politics last night:
"I'm fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses' bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump."
It's mostly the usual waffle, and all major politicians seem to think "families" means the same as "people". But the end is what matters. For Starmer of all people to publicly put Putin's name and Trump's right next to each other is astonishing.
Sir Keir Starmer, the most desperate-to-avoid-an-actual-opinion Prime Minister in living memory, said on ITV's Talking Politics last night:
"I'm fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses' bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump."
It's mostly the usual waffle, and all major politicians seem to think "families" means the same as "people". But the end is what matters. For Starmer of all people to publicly put Putin's name and Trump's right next to each other is astonishing.
Food
Apr. 9th, 2026 02:15 pmysabetwordsmithScientists discover spice synergy that boosts anti-inflammation 100x
Mixing everyday plant compounds may unlock a powerful, hidden anti-inflammatory effect far greater than any single ingredient alone.
Chronic inflammation often works quietly in the background but can fuel serious diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. New research reveals that everyday plant compounds—like menthol from mint, cineole from eucalyptus, and capsaicin from chili peppers—can team up inside immune cells to dramatically boost their anti-inflammatory power. While individual compounds showed modest effects, certain combinations amplified results hundreds of times over by activating different cellular pathways at once.
( Read more... )
Mixing everyday plant compounds may unlock a powerful, hidden anti-inflammatory effect far greater than any single ingredient alone.
Chronic inflammation often works quietly in the background but can fuel serious diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. New research reveals that everyday plant compounds—like menthol from mint, cineole from eucalyptus, and capsaicin from chili peppers—can team up inside immune cells to dramatically boost their anti-inflammatory power. While individual compounds showed modest effects, certain combinations amplified results hundreds of times over by activating different cellular pathways at once.
( Read more... )
Birdfeeding
Apr. 9th, 2026 01:28 pmysabetwordsmithToday is sunny and warm with howling wind. :/ The wind really complicates my plans to plant anything today, so I'm trying to think of ways to compensate for that.
I fed the birds. I've seen a fox squirrel on the ground and at the hopper feeder.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I used salvaged string to fasten together 4 white single-pot plant stands, with the taller 2 in back and shorter 2 in front, forming a square. Due to the angled legs, it is not snug, but at least they are more stable than any one would be alone.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I put the pot of mixed Johnny-jump-ups on one of the tall white plant stands. This is not necessarily its final location, but allows me to get it out of the house without exposing it to too much wind.
I sorted out the black single-pot stands. There is a tall one, a medium one, and two short ones. I started by fastening the tall one to a folding multipot stand.
I've seen a flock of house finches, a male goldfinch molting, and a male cardinal.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work securing the black one-pot planters. There's one left to attach. Progress.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I finished securing the last black planter. The resulting structure, while not perfectly tight, is still a great deal more stable overall due to more legs connected in some manner. It doesn't have to look fancy, just do better than last year's constantly tipping pots.
I've seen several sparrows in the forest garden.
It got up to 80°F today, but is cooling down now.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a fox squirrel on the ground and at the hopper feeder.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I used salvaged string to fasten together 4 white single-pot plant stands, with the taller 2 in back and shorter 2 in front, forming a square. Due to the angled legs, it is not snug, but at least they are more stable than any one would be alone.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I put the pot of mixed Johnny-jump-ups on one of the tall white plant stands. This is not necessarily its final location, but allows me to get it out of the house without exposing it to too much wind.
I sorted out the black single-pot stands. There is a tall one, a medium one, and two short ones. I started by fastening the tall one to a folding multipot stand.
I've seen a flock of house finches, a male goldfinch molting, and a male cardinal.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work securing the black one-pot planters. There's one left to attach. Progress.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I finished securing the last black planter. The resulting structure, while not perfectly tight, is still a great deal more stable overall due to more legs connected in some manner. It doesn't have to look fancy, just do better than last year's constantly tipping pots.
I've seen several sparrows in the forest garden.
It got up to 80°F today, but is cooling down now.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 4/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
Fox Is Gonna Fox
Apr. 9th, 2026 01:52 pmmallorys_cameraOn Tuesday, my nervous system told my body, Babe you cannot do this anymore.
My hands started shaking while I was doing taxes in the Middletown office.
Shaking? That's actually an understatement: My hands thought they were conducting an invisible philharmonic orchestra.
Mister and Missus McGoo were sitting in my cubicle. My hands shook so hard, I couldn't input their driver's license numbers.
Oozing apologeticness, I ushered the McGoo's to another tax preparer, expressed remorse to Leslie, and took off.
Not sure which of the many, many straws was the one that broke the camel's back.
Was it panic over impending nuclear cataclysm? Open the fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!
Was it watching a fox break Grey Chicken's neck in the golden hour, the afternoon before?
Or knowing I wasn't going home in any true sense of the word "home," but only to some place where I'd parked my stuff and cats (I hoped) temporarily.
###
This episode happened following about 36 hours off, which I tried to turn into quality time by going to the New Paltz Community Garden and breakfasting with real-life Flavia.
I planted peas and put some strawberries and marigolds into one of the upraised beds the previous plot tenant had conveniently left behind:
Following morning, I motored up to Ellenville for breakfast with real-life Flavia, who may have found a good home for Brian's beloved piano:
It's sad that nobody seems to want Brian's beloved piano. It's an awfully good piano, though real-life Mimi's tenancy with its wood fires, clouds of marijuana smoke, dust, and Japanese beetle infestation has been hard on it. Still. It managed to plong in tune when the head of SUNY New Paltz's music department came up to play some notes.
And real-life Mimi surprised us both—pleasantly!—by actually finding a campsite where she can live in the camper Brian helped her buy, come May. That was a relief!
"So, I'm going to spend May cleaning out the house, and then I'll put the property on the market," Flavia said. "Tim seems to think I can get a lot of money for it?"
"How much?"
Flavia hesitated for a moment. But in the nine months since Brian's death, we have become intimate friends who can talk about money. "Million or so."
"And the first thing the new owners will do is pull down Brian's house," I said.
"Probably," said Flavia.
I had a Shlock shift in Montgomery after hanging out with Flavia. I didn't want to be there, but when I got back to the casa after work, I didn't want to be there either since Icky was in residence, and my antipathy toward Icky just grows and grows and grows. Icky marches around the house talking to people on the phone or alternately haranguing and cajoling the Spawn in a loud voice, pretty much ignoring me. It's like he thinks I'm invisible, and when I'm around him, I pretty much feel invisible. Fortunately, he's only up 10 days out of the month.
Anyway, I was keeping Sonia and Sunny company in the Patrizia-torium on the glorious couch Mr. & Mrs. Neighbor Ed gifted me with when I left Dutchess County, when I heard loud squawking from the back lawn.
Looked out—
A fox had the grey chicken in its mouth.
Ran downstairs and out onto the porch.
Icky had heard the squawking, too, and had raced out onto the lawn. The fox dropped the chicken and leaped—its fur golden in the golden light of the late afternoon sun—before running into the small copse of trees that mark the property's boundaries. But either it had broken the chicken's neck, or Icky had broken it, carrying her back to the porch.
The grey chicken was the shyest of the chicken GurlZ. I liked her. I appreciated her hesitancy. So, this was very sad.
But fox is gonna fox. And I have told Icky at least 50 times: There are too many predators around here to let the chickens free-range! You have to build them a run!
He ignored me, of course. Like I say, I am completely invisible to him.
But that essentially means that Black Chicken and her sole surviving companion, an almost identical black chicken, are Dead Chickens Walking. It's a bad situation. And frustrating. Because I can't do a damn thing about it.
I didn't sleep well.
Is that why my hands started shaking so badly in the Schlock office?
I don't know.
###
Before Schlock, I did taxes for a handful of friends every year through TaxBwana. One of those friends is my good pal Tom, whom I first met on LJ back in the Jurassic. Anyway, Tom contacted me that evening: Could I...?
Yes, but Schlock won't let me do freebies, I said. So, I'd have to charge you.
He described his tax documents. They were pretty basic. But Schlock would have charged him a minimum of $250, which seemed like highway robbery to me. So, I snooped around online for a bit and found a site that lets you do and file your federal taxes for free-eee-eeee! and only charges you $20 for filing your state taxes.
"So, you'll set up the account," I said to him over the phone, "and then I'll use that account to input your tax stuff."
"Good show," he said. "But how are you? You sound down."
I described what had happened at the Schlock office that morning. How my hands started shaking, how I couldn't control them, how Mister and Missus McGoo had gawked at me in horror with their big, googly, cartoon eyes.
"Honestly, I couldn't blame them," I said. "I wouldn't have wanted me to do my taxes either at that point. But it would have been less embarrassing if I had taken a big dump and begun fingerpainting on the walls."
"God, that sounds awful," Tom said.
"It was," I said. "But working there has been awful from the start. What you won't do, you'll do for money."
"Has it been bad?" he asked.
"Really bad. And housing insecurity plays into that in a major way. You and I should be housemates! We'd have a good time and save a ton of money."
I said this in a random, joking way. But the minute the words came out of my mouth, I thought: Hmmmm... That's not a bad idea.
Tom has a house. Since his daughter moved out, he lives there alone.
Tom and I are very much in synch psychologically. We both subscribe to the Larry McMurtry ideal of friendship. We are not romantically attracted to one another. We are both more-or-less in the same financial situation.
The more we talked about it, the more appealing the arrangement sounded.
But there is one major caveat: Tom lives in Holland, Michigan. Where I have never been. Holland, Michigan, ranks high on Architectural Digest and Forbes lists of the prettiest small towns in the U.S. It's a college town. It has an arthouse cinema! But it is also Trumpy, plus it has brutal winters.
At any rate, I am probably gonna fly out for a visit sometime in the next couple of months.
If I like what I see, the plan becomes a possibility.
I'm also going to book a consultation with a neurologist. I've been assuming the hand tremors are stress-related. But who knows? Maybe I have Parkinson's disease.
My hands started shaking while I was doing taxes in the Middletown office.
Shaking? That's actually an understatement: My hands thought they were conducting an invisible philharmonic orchestra.
Mister and Missus McGoo were sitting in my cubicle. My hands shook so hard, I couldn't input their driver's license numbers.
Oozing apologeticness, I ushered the McGoo's to another tax preparer, expressed remorse to Leslie, and took off.
Not sure which of the many, many straws was the one that broke the camel's back.
Was it panic over impending nuclear cataclysm? Open the fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!
Was it watching a fox break Grey Chicken's neck in the golden hour, the afternoon before?
Or knowing I wasn't going home in any true sense of the word "home," but only to some place where I'd parked my stuff and cats (I hoped) temporarily.
###
This episode happened following about 36 hours off, which I tried to turn into quality time by going to the New Paltz Community Garden and breakfasting with real-life Flavia.
I planted peas and put some strawberries and marigolds into one of the upraised beds the previous plot tenant had conveniently left behind:
Following morning, I motored up to Ellenville for breakfast with real-life Flavia, who may have found a good home for Brian's beloved piano:
It's sad that nobody seems to want Brian's beloved piano. It's an awfully good piano, though real-life Mimi's tenancy with its wood fires, clouds of marijuana smoke, dust, and Japanese beetle infestation has been hard on it. Still. It managed to plong in tune when the head of SUNY New Paltz's music department came up to play some notes.
And real-life Mimi surprised us both—pleasantly!—by actually finding a campsite where she can live in the camper Brian helped her buy, come May. That was a relief!
"So, I'm going to spend May cleaning out the house, and then I'll put the property on the market," Flavia said. "Tim seems to think I can get a lot of money for it?"
"How much?"
Flavia hesitated for a moment. But in the nine months since Brian's death, we have become intimate friends who can talk about money. "Million or so."
"And the first thing the new owners will do is pull down Brian's house," I said.
"Probably," said Flavia.
I had a Shlock shift in Montgomery after hanging out with Flavia. I didn't want to be there, but when I got back to the casa after work, I didn't want to be there either since Icky was in residence, and my antipathy toward Icky just grows and grows and grows. Icky marches around the house talking to people on the phone or alternately haranguing and cajoling the Spawn in a loud voice, pretty much ignoring me. It's like he thinks I'm invisible, and when I'm around him, I pretty much feel invisible. Fortunately, he's only up 10 days out of the month.
Anyway, I was keeping Sonia and Sunny company in the Patrizia-torium on the glorious couch Mr. & Mrs. Neighbor Ed gifted me with when I left Dutchess County, when I heard loud squawking from the back lawn.
Looked out—
A fox had the grey chicken in its mouth.
Ran downstairs and out onto the porch.
Icky had heard the squawking, too, and had raced out onto the lawn. The fox dropped the chicken and leaped—its fur golden in the golden light of the late afternoon sun—before running into the small copse of trees that mark the property's boundaries. But either it had broken the chicken's neck, or Icky had broken it, carrying her back to the porch.
The grey chicken was the shyest of the chicken GurlZ. I liked her. I appreciated her hesitancy. So, this was very sad.
But fox is gonna fox. And I have told Icky at least 50 times: There are too many predators around here to let the chickens free-range! You have to build them a run!
He ignored me, of course. Like I say, I am completely invisible to him.
But that essentially means that Black Chicken and her sole surviving companion, an almost identical black chicken, are Dead Chickens Walking. It's a bad situation. And frustrating. Because I can't do a damn thing about it.
I didn't sleep well.
Is that why my hands started shaking so badly in the Schlock office?
I don't know.
###
Before Schlock, I did taxes for a handful of friends every year through TaxBwana. One of those friends is my good pal Tom, whom I first met on LJ back in the Jurassic. Anyway, Tom contacted me that evening: Could I...?
Yes, but Schlock won't let me do freebies, I said. So, I'd have to charge you.
He described his tax documents. They were pretty basic. But Schlock would have charged him a minimum of $250, which seemed like highway robbery to me. So, I snooped around online for a bit and found a site that lets you do and file your federal taxes for free-eee-eeee! and only charges you $20 for filing your state taxes.
"So, you'll set up the account," I said to him over the phone, "and then I'll use that account to input your tax stuff."
"Good show," he said. "But how are you? You sound down."
I described what had happened at the Schlock office that morning. How my hands started shaking, how I couldn't control them, how Mister and Missus McGoo had gawked at me in horror with their big, googly, cartoon eyes.
"Honestly, I couldn't blame them," I said. "I wouldn't have wanted me to do my taxes either at that point. But it would have been less embarrassing if I had taken a big dump and begun fingerpainting on the walls."
"God, that sounds awful," Tom said.
"It was," I said. "But working there has been awful from the start. What you won't do, you'll do for money."
"Has it been bad?" he asked.
"Really bad. And housing insecurity plays into that in a major way. You and I should be housemates! We'd have a good time and save a ton of money."
I said this in a random, joking way. But the minute the words came out of my mouth, I thought: Hmmmm... That's not a bad idea.
Tom has a house. Since his daughter moved out, he lives there alone.
Tom and I are very much in synch psychologically. We both subscribe to the Larry McMurtry ideal of friendship. We are not romantically attracted to one another. We are both more-or-less in the same financial situation.
The more we talked about it, the more appealing the arrangement sounded.
But there is one major caveat: Tom lives in Holland, Michigan. Where I have never been. Holland, Michigan, ranks high on Architectural Digest and Forbes lists of the prettiest small towns in the U.S. It's a college town. It has an arthouse cinema! But it is also Trumpy, plus it has brutal winters.
At any rate, I am probably gonna fly out for a visit sometime in the next couple of months.
If I like what I see, the plan becomes a possibility.
I'm also going to book a consultation with a neurologist. I've been assuming the hand tremors are stress-related. But who knows? Maybe I have Parkinson's disease.
Many achievements
Apr. 9th, 2026 06:18 pmcosmolinguistI got through the latest meeting with my manager this afternoon! I was good and brave and he's happy with how it went.
It's the usual thing he's doing lately where he's like "what DO you do anyway Erik" but this time with an added dose of "and what should you do for the next few months, when both our internal ways of working and the external legislative environment will be different".
Right after this, I got an email that says that as a result of this year's pay ballot my pay has gone up 2.69% (nice). I really can't complain. I'm so glad I'm able to send money to Gaza and Minneapolis and Black trans pals all over the place and whatnot.
And despite being very tired, after I finished work I prepped some dinner, because I wanted to go to the gym and I knew if I didn't do food first it wouldn't happen and I'm very clearly still The One With The Spoon in our household for the second day in a row. (I haven't been doing as ridiculously well since Tuesday, but I'm still feeling that good longer-days energy!)
And then, despite being even more tired, I did actually get changed and go to the gym. It would've been so easy to just flop down on my bed. I'm so proud of myself that I didn't.
Graphic Novel Favorites From My Recent Reading
Apr. 9th, 2026 09:14 amforestofglory posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ladybusinessAfter years of struggling to read new-to-me fiction, I’ve recently entered a phase of reading graphic novels and comics and I’ve been reading so much! (It helps that I accidentally got into a comics-based fandom via stress-reading fic late last year.) It’s only April yet I have already read more books this year than I have in any year since 2020, it's truly wild. I haven’t had this much fun reading in ages!
I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been enjoying, so I thought I’d write a rec list. I find graphic novels easier to focus on when I’m stressed than prose novels, and I also love getting to see so much art. I’ve been mostly reading MG and YA works – it feels like there is a lot going on in that space right now! Plus it’s a space where there tend to be many stories focused on friendship, which I really enjoy. I’ve also been choosing more lighthearted things to read. The world is stressful and I can’t deal with stressful reading at the moment.
( Read more... )
I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been enjoying, so I thought I’d write a rec list. I find graphic novels easier to focus on when I’m stressed than prose novels, and I also love getting to see so much art. I’ve been mostly reading MG and YA works – it feels like there is a lot going on in that space right now! Plus it’s a space where there tend to be many stories focused on friendship, which I really enjoy. I’ve also been choosing more lighthearted things to read. The world is stressful and I can’t deal with stressful reading at the moment.
( Read more... )
If you're frightened right now...
Apr. 9th, 2026 04:50 pmloganberrybunnyPublic
...then at least know that you're not alone. I'm frightened too. Everyone deals with what's going on in a different way, and I wouldn't presume to suggest anything specific to other people. But if it makes anyone out there feel even a tiny bit better to know that they're not the only person feeling fear at the moment, then that's what this post is for. This isn't posted with any expectation of or hope for getting comments. It's simply because I hope it might help someone in some small way.
...then at least know that you're not alone. I'm frightened too. Everyone deals with what's going on in a different way, and I wouldn't presume to suggest anything specific to other people. But if it makes anyone out there feel even a tiny bit better to know that they're not the only person feeling fear at the moment, then that's what this post is for. This isn't posted with any expectation of or hope for getting comments. It's simply because I hope it might help someone in some small way.
Six or seven impossible things
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:34 pmcosmolinguistNot before breakfast, but also I felt like I was doing the impossible things, not just thinking them...
Work was a lot; I had meetings all afternoon, overrunning into each other, beset by people missing the point. I think another way the power dynamic of people with no (disclosed) disabilities who have to consult disabled people for their work... sometimes someone missed a crucial bit -- we're not just ranking these on their effectiveness but also their difficulty of implementation -- and sometimes one person thinks we need every detail of the specific symbols on the Berlin U-bahn and/or S-bahn maps (this is a breach of the maxim of quantity: as much information as is needed, and no more).
That latter person talked so much at the end that I missed the first train home that I wanted.
And as these meetings were going on, I also had to get something to my manager (artificial sense of urgency!) which I was really unsure of, something I've never done before and am not sure I'm doing right, so that was stressful. I almost think it was easier trying to do it at the same time as the meetings, since it kept me from being able to get too anxious about it; I just had to go "good enough!" and send him the documents at some point.
By the time of the second one, V had put dinner in the oven which meant I didn't have to cook, which was nice (we keep frozen meals around for precisely this kind of day; D was sleeping and V had already used a lot of spoons they didn't really have today and I wasn't home yet).
I just had time to eat that and watch the first inning or so of the Tigers-Twins game (which I didn't have high hopes for because it was a Skubal start, but it apparently went well! (has something happened to the Tigers?? silveradept, you doin' okay?)) before it was time to go help angelofthenorth get two heavy pieces of furniture down two flights of stairs.
I figured it was the kind of thing that would either be pretty quick or pretty grueling, and it was pretty quick. We didn't break anything, including ourselves. I rehydrated a little and walked home because buses are disappointing that time of night; the walk was actually nice: it was still warm even after dark (I'm not used to that yet!), it was clear and quiet, and the exercise was probably good for my muscles. I still struggled to even get myself into the shower when I got home though, heh.
And now painkillers and bed!
In Memoriam (Winn)
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:25 pmcahn5/5. I am having SO many feelings about this book that I am not sure I can actually articulate them all. But also I am very aware that my feelings are entangled partially in, uh, currently being obsessed with a fanon ship that maps super easily on to this one, so you know, as usual, I am not to be trusted about my feelings and I'm very willing to believe that it might not hit quite right if one doesn't happen to be exactly in that situation? Anyway... it's about these two eighteen-year-old boys who start the book at boarding school together in 1914. Sidney Ellwood is half-Jewish, social, charismatic, demonstrative, loves and writes poetry. Henry Gaunt is half-German, intense, introverted, anxious, loves ancient Greek. (...I also have Feelings about characters who quote poetry. And, as it turns out, ancient Greek.) The two of them have strong and more-or-less repressed feelings for each other. (Gaunt's feelings are particularly repressed.)
But. It being 1914, it rapidly starts being about something else than boarding school.
I should probably also mention a huge, extremely gigantic content note for trench warfare and historical levels of wounds and death.
( no spoilers, perhaps mild meta-spoilers, but at least I am more-or-less coherent )
I was so sure that one or both of Elly and Gaunt would die because it struck me as That Kind of heartbreaking book plus which I guess I've been socialized to understand that Teh Gays Always Die (and Carruthers and Sandys died so early on!! :( :( ), and I really REALLY wanted them to have a happy ending, I can't actually think of the last time I've wanted that so much for a couple, and when they got together I felt like, okay, at least they got one happy time before one of them died! All I wanted was for someone somewhere to get some happiness in the end.
The only thing that surprised me was that Gaunt died when the book was only half over. (BURGOYNE.) I was sure then that the next half would be Ellwood writing poetry about him, like Tennyson, or like Sassoon. I was SO surprised when he turned out to have survived! And then my reaction was that the book was now going to find new and exciting ways to break me (true, but not in the way I thought), and I spent most of the second half of the book worried Gaunt would die in some other way, and expressed that I was never going to forgive Winn if Gaunt died, or Ellwood did, without Ellwood finding out that Gaunt was still alive.
I absolutely absolutely adored Hayes and his friendship with Gaunt and his more prickly friendship with Ellwood and the contrast between him and the public schoolboys (who always get promoted over him, the poor guy), and him looking after Ellwood (both physically and e.g. warning him away from Watts) even though he thought Ellwood was looking down on him. I was also convinced he was going to die because I loved him so much (I actually said that I thought he would make it to the end of the war and then die, just to spite me. I actually said this!) And he didn't die but he ended up with BOTH LEGS (or at least 1 1/2) gone! I was like. Winn. Could you not have left him ONE leg?! COME ON. I would rather Gaunt or Ellwood had lost their legs. HAYES.
(Also Hayes panicking to Ellwood and Ellwood trying very very badly to reassure him (no wonder Hayes doesn't want to write him), then Ellwood having that exact panic after he's invalided out, omg)
I absolutely loved that Elly was into poetry and used poetry to basically articulate his emotions (I do the same kind of thing -- a lot of how I understand the world is made up of quotations from novels and poems and songs; my head has been full of Sassoon and Owen writing this post) and that moment when he declaimed Keats at Gaunt and Gaunt had to accept that he was in love with him, except that was when Gaunt knew he was going to die, auuuuugh. And also when Elly lost his poetry and then -- that little glimpse of how he might be getting it back at the end -- auuuuuugh
And also Gaunt and his ancient Greek and how sometimes he just quotes in Greek and I love it
And also I love that Winn doesn't just give us the one side, when Gaunt gets captured by the Germans it's a very stark reminder that although we've been POV English, the English aren't the only ones dying in this war and that even if it's easy for the English soldiers not to see the German soldiers as people and vice versa, they both are. And Gaunt being half-German of course knew this from the beginning, which adds another layer. This line, augh: Had it not been for his khaki uniform, no one should have known he was the enemy.
(And that shattering German POV, for just a minute.)
And also the prisoner-of-war scenes which are almost comic, we needed some of that at that point in the book, and ALSO Pritchard and Devi totally being like oh, yeah, no big deal at all about Gaunt being an "invert," and making ordinary jokes about it like they would about anything else and being totally accepting, instead of all the rejection and awfulness Gaunt's been fearing (and might have gotten from someone else), and that healing something in Gaunt so that he can face his love for Elly and actually tell him that, and be okay with it even if Ellwood can't love him back, I LOVE THIS and I know it's absolutely wish-fulfillment, but we already saw the part where Caruthers basically committed suicide so he didn't have to deal with the terrible consequences of being homosexual (augh!), so yeeeeeah I didn't need that to happen again, that was quite all right.
And then I read the bit where Maud says she's not going to marry Elly and I was cheering for her and also thinking that okay, even if everyone else's life is messed up (I still worried that Ellwood and Gaunt wouldn't find each other again, at this point) maybe Maud is the one character things will work out for, because it would be awful if she married Ellwood
AND THEN THEY DID MEET AGAIN
And they were both so damaged! Except that Gaunt, having been in the POW camp instead of fighting for a while, had recovered a bit mentally if not physically, and Ellwood was completely broken, augh. I had not thought that they would have to deal with shell shock instead of death, but of course they did
And Maud and Gaunt making up, and Maud being supportive and Gaunt apologizing (he really has been awful to her) and them speaking in Greek to each other <3
This bit: "Sometimes I think the War is harder on parents than on soldiers," said Pritchard. Gaunt could tell he was lying, but Gaunt would have lied too, if he had thought of it. And then, having learned from Pritchard, he says it to Mrs. Ellwood AUUUUUGH
(I said this before, but, now that I have the spoilers to back me up: all the little moments of kindness between characters that didn't have to happen, but did anyway, are I think what make me so hopelessly a fan of this book)
I think as we get close to the ending my thoughts just get more and more incoherent as Winn breaks my heart over and over again and I hadn't at all thought it would be because things were more-or-less going to be okay except that they can't exactly be okay but they can be as okay as possible:
Devi being ALIVE
CYRIL ROSEVEARE giving them the Brazil out!
Also: KEATS
Gaunt giving Hayes a JOB (and not a job as his freaking valet, either, not that I don't love Lord Peter but... like, let's let Hayes have a little class mobility here, that's the LEAST we can do)
"I'm not playing, either."
I mean, the rational part of my brain knows that the book is doing a few backflips to give them an ending where they can be alive and togetherand not be Alan Turing (although hi I found while writing this post that Robert Graves actually had the experience of almost dying of a lung wound and being reported dead, like Gaunt, though not because he was a pow, so it's not like she's completely making UP backflips, either) but the rest of my brain does not really care -- I think because we saw all the ways in which things could go wrong, it's a little like Carruthers and Sandys ( :(((((( ) and Aldworth and the Roseveare brothers and Lantham and -- and everyone else -- are the other stories that didn't work, that ended tragically, so in a sense my brain thinks of it like survivor bias; not everyone did die in WWI, or even most of everyone; someone had to survive; it might as well be them.
And also because they didn't survive unscathed. At all. Either physically or mentally. Which also seems -- reasonable, statistically speaking.
Also because no one should be Alan Turing (including especially Alan Turing) and I don't at all mind a universe where my characters ARE NOT (now, can I have a fix-it AU for Turing)
Physically speaking: Sassoon (who admittedly did not get his face shot off) lived until age 81 and Graves lived until age 90 after getting shot in the lung, so my headcanon is that Ellwood and Gaunt lived a very long time together :P
And then that last, awful twist of the knife. OH COME ON, the book was DONE and we were all going to live happily (or at least hopefully) EVER AFTER and now the third Roseveare brother is dead (as he dreamed back in the beginning, that was a shoe I had been bracing to drop for forever and when I finally let my guard down...). (While I was reading about WWII poets... I guess this happened to Wilfred Owen. Augh!)
And the LAST PARAGRAPH which didn't even register for me the first time -- I might not have actually read it properly then, because I was too busy trying not to throw the book across the room because Cyril was dead: Let us, like the soldiers of Waterloo, have our century of peace and prosperity, for we have paid for it in blood.
:(
Well, I'm thinking about that a lot this week.
( Here, have the Sassoon poem 'They', because it's been rattling around in my head for days now )
And I suppose reading this book, now, is: well: I think this should be required reading for anyone who tells the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
But. It being 1914, it rapidly starts being about something else than boarding school.
I should probably also mention a huge, extremely gigantic content note for trench warfare and historical levels of wounds and death.
( no spoilers, perhaps mild meta-spoilers, but at least I am more-or-less coherent )
Major spoilers, starts reasonably coherent but rapidly devolves into word-vomiting
I was so sure that one or both of Elly and Gaunt would die because it struck me as That Kind of heartbreaking book plus which I guess I've been socialized to understand that Teh Gays Always Die (and Carruthers and Sandys died so early on!! :( :( ), and I really REALLY wanted them to have a happy ending, I can't actually think of the last time I've wanted that so much for a couple, and when they got together I felt like, okay, at least they got one happy time before one of them died! All I wanted was for someone somewhere to get some happiness in the end.
The only thing that surprised me was that Gaunt died when the book was only half over. (BURGOYNE.) I was sure then that the next half would be Ellwood writing poetry about him, like Tennyson, or like Sassoon. I was SO surprised when he turned out to have survived! And then my reaction was that the book was now going to find new and exciting ways to break me (true, but not in the way I thought), and I spent most of the second half of the book worried Gaunt would die in some other way, and expressed that I was never going to forgive Winn if Gaunt died, or Ellwood did, without Ellwood finding out that Gaunt was still alive.
I absolutely absolutely adored Hayes and his friendship with Gaunt and his more prickly friendship with Ellwood and the contrast between him and the public schoolboys (who always get promoted over him, the poor guy), and him looking after Ellwood (both physically and e.g. warning him away from Watts) even though he thought Ellwood was looking down on him. I was also convinced he was going to die because I loved him so much (I actually said that I thought he would make it to the end of the war and then die, just to spite me. I actually said this!) And he didn't die but he ended up with BOTH LEGS (or at least 1 1/2) gone! I was like. Winn. Could you not have left him ONE leg?! COME ON. I would rather Gaunt or Ellwood had lost their legs. HAYES.
(Also Hayes panicking to Ellwood and Ellwood trying very very badly to reassure him (no wonder Hayes doesn't want to write him), then Ellwood having that exact panic after he's invalided out, omg)
I absolutely loved that Elly was into poetry and used poetry to basically articulate his emotions (I do the same kind of thing -- a lot of how I understand the world is made up of quotations from novels and poems and songs; my head has been full of Sassoon and Owen writing this post) and that moment when he declaimed Keats at Gaunt and Gaunt had to accept that he was in love with him, except that was when Gaunt knew he was going to die, auuuuugh. And also when Elly lost his poetry and then -- that little glimpse of how he might be getting it back at the end -- auuuuuugh
And also Gaunt and his ancient Greek and how sometimes he just quotes in Greek and I love it
And also I love that Winn doesn't just give us the one side, when Gaunt gets captured by the Germans it's a very stark reminder that although we've been POV English, the English aren't the only ones dying in this war and that even if it's easy for the English soldiers not to see the German soldiers as people and vice versa, they both are. And Gaunt being half-German of course knew this from the beginning, which adds another layer. This line, augh: Had it not been for his khaki uniform, no one should have known he was the enemy.
(And that shattering German POV, for just a minute.)
And also the prisoner-of-war scenes which are almost comic, we needed some of that at that point in the book, and ALSO Pritchard and Devi totally being like oh, yeah, no big deal at all about Gaunt being an "invert," and making ordinary jokes about it like they would about anything else and being totally accepting, instead of all the rejection and awfulness Gaunt's been fearing (and might have gotten from someone else), and that healing something in Gaunt so that he can face his love for Elly and actually tell him that, and be okay with it even if Ellwood can't love him back, I LOVE THIS and I know it's absolutely wish-fulfillment, but we already saw the part where Caruthers basically committed suicide so he didn't have to deal with the terrible consequences of being homosexual (augh!), so yeeeeeah I didn't need that to happen again, that was quite all right.
And then I read the bit where Maud says she's not going to marry Elly and I was cheering for her and also thinking that okay, even if everyone else's life is messed up (I still worried that Ellwood and Gaunt wouldn't find each other again, at this point) maybe Maud is the one character things will work out for, because it would be awful if she married Ellwood
AND THEN THEY DID MEET AGAIN
And they were both so damaged! Except that Gaunt, having been in the POW camp instead of fighting for a while, had recovered a bit mentally if not physically, and Ellwood was completely broken, augh. I had not thought that they would have to deal with shell shock instead of death, but of course they did
And Maud and Gaunt making up, and Maud being supportive and Gaunt apologizing (he really has been awful to her) and them speaking in Greek to each other <3
This bit: "Sometimes I think the War is harder on parents than on soldiers," said Pritchard. Gaunt could tell he was lying, but Gaunt would have lied too, if he had thought of it. And then, having learned from Pritchard, he says it to Mrs. Ellwood AUUUUUGH
(I said this before, but, now that I have the spoilers to back me up: all the little moments of kindness between characters that didn't have to happen, but did anyway, are I think what make me so hopelessly a fan of this book)
I think as we get close to the ending my thoughts just get more and more incoherent as Winn breaks my heart over and over again and I hadn't at all thought it would be because things were more-or-less going to be okay except that they can't exactly be okay but they can be as okay as possible:
Devi being ALIVE
CYRIL ROSEVEARE giving them the Brazil out!
"You don't have to give me your answer now, of course," said Roseveare. "I've already written to my uncle about you, just in case--"
He didn't finish. They both knew what he meant: in case I'm killed before I can help you.
Also: KEATS
Gaunt giving Hayes a JOB (and not a job as his freaking valet, either, not that I don't love Lord Peter but... like, let's let Hayes have a little class mobility here, that's the LEAST we can do)
"I'm not playing, either."
I mean, the rational part of my brain knows that the book is doing a few backflips to give them an ending where they can be alive and together
And also because they didn't survive unscathed. At all. Either physically or mentally. Which also seems -- reasonable, statistically speaking.
Also because no one should be Alan Turing (including especially Alan Turing) and I don't at all mind a universe where my characters ARE NOT (now, can I have a fix-it AU for Turing)
Physically speaking: Sassoon (who admittedly did not get his face shot off) lived until age 81 and Graves lived until age 90 after getting shot in the lung, so my headcanon is that Ellwood and Gaunt lived a very long time together :P
And then that last, awful twist of the knife. OH COME ON, the book was DONE and we were all going to live happily (or at least hopefully) EVER AFTER and now the third Roseveare brother is dead (as he dreamed back in the beginning, that was a shoe I had been bracing to drop for forever and when I finally let my guard down...). (While I was reading about WWII poets... I guess this happened to Wilfred Owen. Augh!)
And the LAST PARAGRAPH which didn't even register for me the first time -- I might not have actually read it properly then, because I was too busy trying not to throw the book across the room because Cyril was dead: Let us, like the soldiers of Waterloo, have our century of peace and prosperity, for we have paid for it in blood.
:(
Well, I'm thinking about that a lot this week.
( Here, have the Sassoon poem 'They', because it's been rattling around in my head for days now )
And I suppose reading this book, now, is: well: I think this should be required reading for anyone who tells the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
Community Thursdays
Apr. 9th, 2026 12:15 amysabetwordsmithThis year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...
* Posted "Draw a Bird Day" ingreen_joy.
* Posted "Crafts" ingreen_living.
* Posted "Poem: Haiku for Natural Monuments of Japan 1-10-26" tohaiku_gallery.
* Posted "Birdfeeding" inbirdfeeding.
* Commented on "Just One Thing (09 April 2026)" inawesomeers.
* Posted "Draw a Bird Day" in
green_joy.* Posted "Crafts" in
green_living.* Posted "Poem: Haiku for Natural Monuments of Japan 1-10-26" to
haiku_gallery.* Posted "Birdfeeding" in
birdfeeding.* Commented on "Just One Thing (09 April 2026)" in
awesomeers.At Home Day/Piano Class
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:10 pmdays_unfoldingI was doing my PT exercises, and Gracie and Oliver had to get in the middle of what I was doing. The hazards of doing exercises at home.
Someone on a frugal living Facebook group suggested getting shoes on Poshmark. That never occurred to me, and they have some nice shoes in my size. Also, I have some boots that I want to sell, so I’ll try selling them there.
Woke up before my alarm a little before 7 AM. Let the dogs out. Went back to sleep. Got up a little before 9. The dogs must have gotten good exercise because Gracie is totally crashed out. (Bella probably is too, but she’s downstairs.)
Called about rescheduling Zara’s appointment at the vet. Apparently the vet with whom we were scheduled is out sick. The new appointment is a little over a week out.
Overslept my nap a little. I’m getting caught up on my sleep.
Made some phone calls. Started to call the Secretary of State for the registration number and PIN for online renewal, but the Web site said that it should be on the prior registration card. Left a message for the garage guy about getting the gravel out of my yard.
There’s a lively conversation on one of the listservs at work about whether the new Obama Presidential Library would join our consortium. That would be pretty cool. I’d like to see it when it opens. (The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield is a member of our consortium, and I’ve been to the museum.) I’m wondering if we could get a group of people from high school to go together.
One of the books that I requested from the university library is in. I want to wait for the rest of them, though, before I trek over there.
Ordered a ton of fall bulbs from Breck’s. This time, I will stash the bulbs in my garage until I’m ready to plant them. (My last set got stolen.) I still need to order peonies for the front garden.
I’m waiting for my piano class and talking to Zara. I told her that she’s one tough kitty. Of the older contingent of my mom, Mimi, and Zara, I wouldn’t have thought that Zara would be the last one alive. (I think that she’s 17 now.) Piano went okay. I was working on a pretty piece (simplified Gurlitt Andante? I’m not near the music.)
I shut Oliver in the bedroom so that he won’t eat Zara’s food. Also, I need him in there when I get the recycling out.
Got the recycling out. I didn’t get the boxes on the porch, but I did put out some boxes from inside. Got the registration card for the Honda, and it did NOT have the registration number and PIN, so I need to call them tomorrow. I also discovered that the battery on the Honda is dead. Sigh.
Filed my taxes. It was more expensive than I thought because I had to pay for TurboTax as well as pay the taxes. Life is expensive right now (says the person who spent a pile of money on bulbs). I forgot to mention that the refrigerator isn’t working properly, so I need to get it fixed or replace it after I finish the kitchen.
Anyway, I should wrap things up and head to bed.
Someone on a frugal living Facebook group suggested getting shoes on Poshmark. That never occurred to me, and they have some nice shoes in my size. Also, I have some boots that I want to sell, so I’ll try selling them there.
Woke up before my alarm a little before 7 AM. Let the dogs out. Went back to sleep. Got up a little before 9. The dogs must have gotten good exercise because Gracie is totally crashed out. (Bella probably is too, but she’s downstairs.)
Called about rescheduling Zara’s appointment at the vet. Apparently the vet with whom we were scheduled is out sick. The new appointment is a little over a week out.
Overslept my nap a little. I’m getting caught up on my sleep.
Made some phone calls. Started to call the Secretary of State for the registration number and PIN for online renewal, but the Web site said that it should be on the prior registration card. Left a message for the garage guy about getting the gravel out of my yard.
There’s a lively conversation on one of the listservs at work about whether the new Obama Presidential Library would join our consortium. That would be pretty cool. I’d like to see it when it opens. (The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield is a member of our consortium, and I’ve been to the museum.) I’m wondering if we could get a group of people from high school to go together.
One of the books that I requested from the university library is in. I want to wait for the rest of them, though, before I trek over there.
Ordered a ton of fall bulbs from Breck’s. This time, I will stash the bulbs in my garage until I’m ready to plant them. (My last set got stolen.) I still need to order peonies for the front garden.
I’m waiting for my piano class and talking to Zara. I told her that she’s one tough kitty. Of the older contingent of my mom, Mimi, and Zara, I wouldn’t have thought that Zara would be the last one alive. (I think that she’s 17 now.) Piano went okay. I was working on a pretty piece (simplified Gurlitt Andante? I’m not near the music.)
I shut Oliver in the bedroom so that he won’t eat Zara’s food. Also, I need him in there when I get the recycling out.
Got the recycling out. I didn’t get the boxes on the porch, but I did put out some boxes from inside. Got the registration card for the Honda, and it did NOT have the registration number and PIN, so I need to call them tomorrow. I also discovered that the battery on the Honda is dead. Sigh.
Filed my taxes. It was more expensive than I thought because I had to pay for TurboTax as well as pay the taxes. Life is expensive right now (says the person who spent a pile of money on bulbs). I forgot to mention that the refrigerator isn’t working properly, so I need to get it fixed or replace it after I finish the kitchen.
Anyway, I should wrap things up and head to bed.
