Short and Sweet

Jul. 8th, 2025 12:18 am
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

Woke up at 6:30 AM. Bella did her business relatively quickly, so I’m going to go back to sleep for a half hour.

I changed the printer ink and got the return pages to print. Packaged up the laptop to return.

Called the guy about the garage to sign the contract tomorrow.

I’m in bed, and Bella and Gracie gave me a thorough face washing. Shit, Bella was trying to chew the new sheets!

Mailed my returns. And drat, I forgot to mail my letter.

Fed us all. I want to take a nap, but I need to log back onto work. I compromised on taking a "short" nap and slept for three hours. Oops.

Anime Summer 2025: At the Start

Jul. 7th, 2025 05:27 pm
lovelyangel: Sayaka Saeki from Bloom Into You (Chibi Sayaka)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
Ayumu Niikura
Should we tell her that DSLRs are passé?
Ayumu Niikura
CITY the Animation, Episode 1

I used to start every anime season with an orderly sampling of every new show – and begin the evaluation of which shows I’ll follow through the season. I no longer have the time nor patience, and my schedule is highly stressed this month. At the moment I’m just randomly viewing shows, looking for quick decisions. Orderly, this is not.

However, there are some continuing series that I will definitely be watching. Most will fall into my Time Permitting list. Later on, I’ll figure out my mandatories. I don’t even have to sample the shows. So I’m seeding the Time Permitting list with:

Dan Da Dan S2 (Thu)
Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus (Sat)
My Dress-Up Darling S2 (Sat)
I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince... S2 (Wed)
The Rising of the Shield Hero S4 (Wed)

Special note for CITY the Animation. KyoAni is one of my favorite studios, and Sakuga Blog has done stellar work in doing a deep dive with CITY the Animation Production Notes 01. As always, their stuff is worth reading.

New Shows I’ve Sampled, Below This Cut )

I’ve been too busy to do my final writeup for the Spring Anime Season. Sorry!

Bonus: Looking ahead – New Trailer for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End S2

7/7

Jul. 7th, 2025 11:39 pm
loganberrybunny: Drawing of my lapine character's face by Eliki (Default)
[personal profile] loganberrybunny
Public

The White Swan, Bewdley, 7th July 2025
157/365: The White Swan, Bewdley
Click for a larger, sharper image

It is twenty years to the day since more than 50 people were killed and nearly 800 hurt in the London bombings, caused by extreme Islamist suicide bombers. This was the first Islamist suicide attack in Britain, as well as being the deadliest terrorist attack since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. It was a terrible shock at the time, all the more so because the targets were public transport vehicles: three London Underground trains and one double-decker bus. At first the news was simply of a "power surge" on the Tube, and it took a couple of hours before it was fully clear that it was something more sinister than a simple fault.

On a happier note, someone on my list here asked me recently whether the White Swan pub in Bewdley was still around. I said yes to them at the time, but here's some visual evidence! The White Swan was for a long time a slightly down-at-heel pub -- not dangerous or anything, just rather shabby and tired -- but it's had a substantial makeover in the last year and has gone significantly upmarket. It's recently started to sell itself more on food than beer, and the patio area at the back has been given a good polishing up as well. It's at the top of Load Street, Bewdley's main street.

Poem: "Tomato Seedlings in Tin Cans"

Jul. 7th, 2025 04:48 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem is spillover from the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "growth" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the series Daughters of the Apocalypse.

Read more... )

Bee Food Flowers

Jul. 7th, 2025 03:11 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Scientists’ top 10 bee-magnet blooms—turn any lawn into a pollinator paradise

Botanists from the University of Copenhagen and the UK set out to find the best flower combinations for bees and hoverflies.
Danish and Welsh botanists sifted through 400 studies, field-tested seed mixes, and uncovered a lineup of native and exotic blooms that both thrill human eyes and lure bees and hoverflies in droves, offering ready-made recipes for transforming lawns, parks, and patios into vibrant pollinator hotspots
.


Below are the plants recommended for European and United Kingdom uses...

Read more... )

Monday Update 7-7-25

Jul. 7th, 2025 02:10 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Artwork of the wordsmith typing. (typing)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Poem: "An Interest in the Affairs of Your Government"
Poem: "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness"
Poem: "Always Surprised by Consequences"
Poem: "No Such Thing as Finished"
Geology
Birdfeeding
Today's Smoothie
Early Humans
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Government
Fireworks
Writing About Fireworks
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 7-4-25: Historical Fiction
Blazing the Trail: Celebrating Indigenous Fire Stewardship
Birdfeeding
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Problem-Solving
Hard Things

"Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 41 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 146 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 95 comments.


[community profile] sunshine_revival is running through July. See the schedule, meet the moderators, and use the master post to navigate the event. Meet new folks in the friending meme. Spread the word!

Sunshine-Revival-2025-Banner-3.png

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 1: Light
Poem: "The Pleasure of Escaping the Responsibility"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 2: Tunnel of Love
Poem: "Legs of Grass, Feet of Flowers"


[community profile] summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the current themes are Tetris 69 and Body Worship 69.


"In the Heart of the Hidden Garden" is now complete! Lawrence shows Stan more of his favorite places.


The weather has been variable here. It rained yesterday and last night. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a pair of mourning doves, a male cardinal, a gray catbird, a fox squirrel, a skunk, and at least 1 probably 2 bats. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, snowball bush, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, narrow-leaf mountain mint, black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower, wild bergamot, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant. Daylilies are done blooming. Cucumbers, tomatillo, and pepper have green fruit. The first 'Chocolate Sprinkles' tomato ripened and some other tomatoes are showing color. Wild strawberries, mulberries, peas, and blackberries are ripe. Black raspberries are done.

Birdfeeding

Jul. 7th, 2025 01:59 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny and warm. It rained yesterday and last night.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and at least one mourning dove.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/7/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/7/25 -- I harvested a handful of peapods for supper. :D

EDIT 7/7/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

EDIT 7/7/25 -- I trimmed brush in the prairie garden.

The first of the gladioli are blooming in the telephone pole garden and notch of the prairie garden. A sunflower is blooming in the telephone pole garden too.

EDIT 7/7/25 -- I cut some of the brush into sticks for making bonfire cores.




.

Weekend Update - Getting Shit Done

Jul. 7th, 2025 10:26 am
brickhousewench: (Get 'er done)
[personal profile] brickhousewench
Saturday and Sunday were devoted to getting MOAR shit done around the house.

This weekend I tried to do at least one 20/10 in each room of the house (that's another UFYH trick).

In the bedroom I took down the Christmas lights in the sunroom, because someone complained about them (technically they’re illegal, but other people have way more fugly illegal junk on their balconies and decks, it’s just that my simple white Christmas lights are at eye level as you walk into our building. Then I weeded the T-shirt drawers, because I’d gotten to the point where I have too many t-shirts to be able to fit them in the dresser and they’ve been piling up on my bedroom chair. Then I weeded the bra drawer, and got rid of anything that I don’t wear or is too stretched out. Then I weeded the underwear drawer and tossed a couple of pairs where the elastic was starting to fail.

I called Mom around lunchtime on Saturday to tell her really quick about an article I’d read that I thought would interest her. We only chatted for a few minutes, because they were busy with their after lunch card game. But then she called me back around 3:00 to let me know that they’d had an offer on the condo they've been trying to sell for months now. And mom accepted before dad could dither too long about it. So yay, the second condo is finally sold!

After mom called me the second time I realized that I was pretty tired. I started exercising this week, and between that and all the housework on Friday, my body was pretty cranky with me. So I had a snack and sat in the Comfy Chair for about two hours. Then I had a long shower and washed my hair, because I wasn’t fit for polite company at that point. The hot shower also helped loosen up my tight back.

I threw in a load of laundry and decided to pretty much call it a day once I got that all folded and put away (which is why the t-shirt drawer got weeded).

Sunday I tried to fix the vacuum, because it’s been clogged and wasn’t sucking. But it turns out it wasn’t clogged, it’s just on its last legs. I ordered a new vacuum, but it won’t be here until Wednesday at the earliest. And my carpets are just grotty, and now I have to wait a couple more days for the new vacuum to come in (and for me to make time to assemble it) before I can do the Hoovering. BAH! I might have to vacuum every day for a week once it arrives, just to see how much dirt I can get up before I pull out the steam cleaner and tackle the stains.

Not being able to vacuum really threw me off, and I can’t say that I got as much done as I’d hoped after I discovered that I wasn’t going to be able to fix it. But I did spend a lot of time just putting random things away, trying to clear some surfaces. Hanging up clothes, shelving books, putting things back in their cabinets or drawers. And things are starting to look SO much better around here. I’ve been slowly getting caught up on tidying, but this weekend was a big leap forward in that I got through enough tidying to actually get to do some cleaning before I ran out of steam. I wouldn’t quite call the house “clean” right now, but the kitchen and bedroom are SO MUCH better than they were at the beginning of the weekend. If I can get in a couple more productive weekends this summer, I will be quite pleased with myself.

This week (month?) I’ll be taking a crack at the books and papers in the living room. I’d really like to move down at least one more photo on the hoarding reference scale. Just to be clear, I don’t think my kitchen or bedroom has ever been worse than a three, but the living room? My living room is probably about a five right now. And I’d like to get it down to a three. But that means purging boxes and papers and books. So purging stuff out of the living room is going to be my ongoing project for the rest of the summer.

A Determinate Point In the Future

Jul. 7th, 2025 09:09 am
mallorys_camera: (Default)
[personal profile] mallorys_camera
They are dropping like flies!

Got the news through the Well network this morning that Mattu had dropped dead—also unexpectedly, also sitting in his favorite chair. Eerily like Brian.

Mattu was my boyfriend in the late '80s/early '90s.

We lived together for a couple of years in Oakland. The breakup was bitter.

Some years after, by a weird coincidence, he ended up living in Monterey just four blocks away from where I lived in Monterey. I walked Xena the Warrior Russell by his house twice a day; often, he would be sitting outside on his porch, and he would glare at me. I could have walked the dog on a different route, but I kind of enjoyed needling him.

He had married; he had procreated.

And then one day, his house burned down. No shit!

He smoked. And when I was living with him, would occasionally drink till he passed out. A vestige of his Midwestern Bad Boy past.

So, I always kind of assumed he had burned down his house by passing out drunk with a lit cigarette butt in his hand.

Many years later when we'd gotten back on civil terms—who remembers how?—he told me, no, it had been an electrical fire. Mattu was an electronics fanatic. The electrical systems in those old Monterey houses were not built to support three computers, two modems, a monitor, a plug-in boombox, and a printer on a single outlet.

###

Mattu had a habit of dropping in and out of online hangouts. For a month or so, he'd post up a storm & then he'd disappear. He was a really terrific writer. The bio he posted in his kamakazi Internet runs reads thus: Born some time back, dead at some indeterminate point in the future, everything else is now. Which I think is really quite terrific.

Our last exchange:

Mattu: Hey, pdil! I’ve got a question that’s been tormenting me for decades now: remember the Mexican restaurant that we used to eat at in Berkeley, Max’s preschool days? As nearly as I can tell, we were just a few blocks from 924 Gilman, soon-to-be world famous as the launching pad of Fugazi, Operation Ivy, any number of terrific bands. I never once stepped foot in the place, alas. But a few years later, Mike Cowperthwaite was dating Ian MacKaye’s (Fugazi guitarist) sister, and they used to stay at our house in Monterey. Ach, the days.

(What’s the point? I honestly couldn’t say. My mind tends to be more focused at 3am than 10am. Maybe I should email you then,)


Me: Ah, yes, those 3am treasure hunts through ancient memories... I don't remember any Mexican restaurants on Gilman. I DO remember Juan's, which was on Carleton Street in southwest Berkeley (pretty near Max's daycare provider's house.) I had lunch there on a Berkeley trip maybe five years ago, so it may well still be there

Mattu: THAT’S the one. Sam and I went by there in…2015?, when we passed through. Wanted to pick up some coffee at my old place on College, but it had turned over (Coles?), so we went across the street and had some strawberries. Time to go back, I’m losing traction,

I didn't really feel sad when I heard Mattu had died. It was more like when I heard Bradburn had died. This picking off of the old gang just feels so random. Am I next?

###

In other news, I am meeting Flavia & Mimi up at BB's house in a couple of hours to clean the perishables out of the fridge & do whatever else needs to be done to lock the house down till Flavia decides what to do with it.

I am quite numb.

Utterly incapable of anything remotely resembling thought or emotion.

No One Was More Surprised Than Me

Jul. 7th, 2025 01:37 pm
glinda: I want everything I've ever seen in the movies (movies)
[personal profile] glinda
So I’m hideously behind on my writing target for the year - even by the standard I was working to last year of having written more at the end of each month than I had the previous year I’m behind - so when I saw that [personal profile] nafs was hosting write every day this month I decided that was probably exactly what I needed. And apparently I was correct? Most days I’ve only written a couple of hundred words but it’s adding up and in some cases it turned out that actually that half written draft article/post I had lurking actually only needed 240 words in the right places to be finished. Very satisfying.

And uh, on Friday I opened my prompt file and stuck its associated playlists on and umm, wrote like 600 words of a fic. I’ve been picking away at it over the weekend and, while it’s not my best work I don’t think it’s terrible. (One of my re-watches the other month was Ocean’s Eight and apparently I had a bunch of Daphne Kluger feelings lurking. The original prompt for this fic was Casual by Chappel Roan but it kinda drifted.) So yeah, first finished fic in almost exactly two years, go me.

Someone You Couldn’t Lose (1341 words) by Glinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Daphne Kluger/Lou Miller, Daphne Kluger/Debbie Ocean, Daphne Kluger/Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean
Characters: Daphne Kluger, Lou Miller (Ocean's), Debbie Ocean
Additional Tags: Friendship, Friends With Benefits, Planning Adventures, Less casual than anyone wants to admit, Thirty-something problems
Summary:

The thing no one tells you, is that it’s kinda hard to make new friends in your 30s. (Daphne Kluger would far rather plan a heist.)

ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem is spillover from the March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "Secrets" square in my 3-1-25 card for the Tolkien Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Victor Frankenstein in his fancy clothes (Frankenstein)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It also fills the "close-knit community" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. It belongs to the series Frankenstein's Family; it follows "Signs of Their Trespass," so read that first or this won't make much sense.

Read more... )

At Home Day

Jul. 6th, 2025 10:27 pm
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

I was debating whether to weed this morning—I really want a nap—when it started raining. Well, that settles that. Bella and Gracie were chewing a branch that the tree people left.

I really like Bella and Gracie’s new personalized collars with my phone number on them. I think that I want to get some for Oliver and Lily too. (Zara will never get out. Well, maybe I’ll try one for her too, but she probably will resist it.)

There’s a cat (Oliver) in my face. Someone wants to eat.

Serendipity. I got a mail-order form for a “Comfort Tower Pro” that heats and cools. I’ll put it upstairs.

I think that I’ll stay home today and get the package ready to send tomorrow. My Walmart order hasn’t arrived yet. And I need to empty the storage shed. The dogs are barking at nothing in particular.

Got my groceries in. Crud, my donuts fell down and the dogs helped themselves to two of them.

They are saying thunderstorms later in the afternoon, but I have stuff to do inside.

Ate lunch. Gracie: "Why won’t you give me your food?" Me: "Because it’s my food. I get to eat too." Gracie: "Oh."

The Washington Post suggested taking your bank statements and some highlighters to see where your money is going. That’s easy. I’ll try that. Ordered highlighters.

I got my new loofahs, which I put in the shower. A program to wipe files off my old computer plus some transfer software. And I got the purse in which the tablet fits.

Went to order markers for delivery from Walgreens, but they are "age-restricted items," so I need to be available to receive them. Now they’re saying thunderstorms after 6 PM, so I need to get outside.

Well, I made it to 5 PM. I was dripping sweat, and I figured that the dogs (who were outside with me) were hot too, so we came in. Gracie liked being staked out on a long leash. I got some weeding done in front and almost emptied out the storage shed. (There are a few bags of leaves that I need to take out in the morning. Everything else, including my bicycles and the lawn mower, are out and in the basement.) And the markers arrived.

I’m looking at day lilies for the patch at the corner. I’m going to move some of my orange day lilies and add some additional ones for a day lily patch. But I should deal with the plants that I have first.

The Week keeps on trying to get my mom to resubscribe. I like The Week, so I subscribed on a discount magazines site.

I really want a nap, but I need to feed the beasts first. Here comes the storm. Fed us all. Nap time. Gracie loves having her belly rubbed. Had a nice nap. There was an alert about a severe thunderstorm, but I went back to sleep.

Me: “Bella, leave your brother (Oliver) alone." Bella: “But I like bothering him.” Sigh.

Hmm. Now I’m wondering if I should get up a half-hour early and get the package together to send tomorrow. I’m having stomach cramps and want to go back to sleep.

I'm still having issues with Semagic. It won't let me post to multiple journals.

ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] rix_scaedu. It also fills "The Harder They Fall" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

Read more... )

Poem: "No Such Thing as Finished"

Jul. 6th, 2025 06:18 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem is spillover from the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] jake67jake. It also fills the "He's all hat and no cattle." square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

Read more... )

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