snacky | Reading

* "The Rohingya’s Desperate Journey Out of Myanmar:" https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-rohingyas-desperate-journey-out-of-myanmar

* He’s been such a disappointment. "Trudeau Says It's Not Up To His Government To Challenge Quebec's Bill 62:" http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/10/19/trudeau-says-its-not-up-to-his-government-to-challenge-quebecs-bill-62_a_23249467/?ncid=tweetlnkcahpmg00000002

* So Trump's decision to be arbitrarily dickish to our main military ally in North Africa against extremist militants for funsies has dramatically endangered people in the countries chad was protecting and led to the deaths of or Special forces soldiers in Niger, hence Trump slandering Gold Star Families to distract from his terrible decisions. "Inexplicable Trump travel ban decision preceded US Niger exposure:"

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* "Pentagon scrambles for answers on U.S. soldier deaths in Niger:"

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* "Obama: Can’t govern people if you win by dividing them:"

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* "Trump personally interviews candidates for US Attorney:"

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* "Trump offered a grieving military father $25,000 in a phone call:" https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-offered-a-grieving-military-father-25000-in-a-call-but-didnt-follow-through/2017/10/18/8d4cbc8c-b43a-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.1665fb1adbf1

* "Sessions testimony reveals no DoJ plan to protect elections:"

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* "CIA forced to walk back director's statement on Russian meddling:"

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* "Meet Stephen Miller: The 32-year-old in the White House:"

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* Remember Katerina? They've decided people who did a terrible job in NOLA should be paid tax payer money to pretend to help in Puerto Rico. "FEMA grants dubious contracts in wake of hurricane disasters:"

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* "Rep. Gutierrez: Conditions in Puerto Rico 'unacceptable':"

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* "Trump: Federal response in Puerto Rico is 'a ten':"

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* A wee thing on the anti-Richard Spencer protest in Gainsborough. http://taibhsearachd.tumblr.com/post/166588844894/pipistrellus-the-thing-that-went-down-today-in

* "Iron Age home in Sutherland was burned dow:" https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1318012/iron-aged-house-was-burned-down/

* "Excavations at Aspendos continue to uncover ancient riches:" http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/excavations-at-aspendos-continue-to-uncover-ancient-riches-.aspx?pageID=238&nid=117267&NewsCatID=375

* "Five Roman cemeteries discovered in Dakhla Oasis:" http://www.egyptindependent.com/five-roman-cemeteries-discovered-dakhla-oasis/

* "Archaeologists dig in to reveal Roman emporium:" http://www.kentonline.co.uk/faversham/news/archaeologists-dig-in-to-reveal-130738/

* "Archaeologists uncover medieval village in mid-Jutland:" http://cphpost.dk/news/archaeologists-uncover-medieval-village-in-mid-jutland.html

* Joyous Diwali!

* "'Before The Dark Times':"

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* "Values Voter Summit: The Christ-iest Blowout on God's Green Earth:"

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* "Thanks, Big Oil, for Teaching Oklahoma's Kids:"

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* "Trump vs. Gold Star Families: How the President Makes Unnecessary Problems Worse:"

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* "How to Solve the Harvey Weinstein Problem:"

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* Stop making me feel stuff final quote! "That’s a classic: Trinity publishes 50 favourite classical one-liners:" https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/that-s-a-classic-trinity-publishes-50-favourite-classical-one-liners-1.3205032

* Stark/Tyrell Alliance possibilities: http://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/166462794722/hi-if-you-dont-mind-id-like-to-ask-you-to

* Really clever and interesting. “The Mr Collinses of the world who are bewildered and angry that not even Charlotte Lucas will have them now that she has more options.” http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/166513186291/mr-collinses#notes

* On Bastard Weddings in Westeros: http://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/166536707472/do-you-think-two-houses-would-use-a-bastard-couple

* Cersei's Attitude towars her children: http://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/166537189867/im-sorry-if-this-is-a-silly-question-but-i-guess#notes

* On Grandmaester Pycelle: http://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/166588288012/whats-your-take-on-pycelle-is-he-like-ser-arys#notes

* Eddard and Catelyn Stark: http://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/166590036897/do-you-think-ned-loved-catelyn-that-was-the

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

* Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

* This App phones your rep for you: http://takeastance.us/

* Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resistbot.io/

* Help pay for cat food, litter, meds, medical copays: Paypal Lethran@gmail.com

* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com

heliopausa

It's Vietnam Women's Day today (International Women's Day is also celebrated, but in March, as everywhere else.) So to mark the day, here’s something about one of the many notable women in Vietnam's history.

Nguyễn Thị Duệ was born in the late sixteenth century, under the Mạc dynasty. I don't know her parentage, but her name suggests that she was from an undistinguished family - Thị Duệ (pronounced, roughly, tea zway) means more or less "ordinary worker's daughter". (It's possible, though, that this was a name given to deflect unwelcome attention - a name to go unnoticed by?)

At the age of about twenty, she adopted another name, Nguyễn Thị Du, in order to sit the mandarin entrance examination, disguised as a young man. The name Thị still has something of a female ring to it, but the history definitely says she was disguised when so called, and women did not at that time enter the exams or serve as mandarins. Anyway, back to the story:

( Clever woman seeks work: read on... )

Statue of Nguyễn Thị Duệ in her temple in Chí Linh District of Hải Dương province.— VNS Photo Bạch Liên

Of her poetry, I have struggled with the translation of just two lines. I like it very much, but I can't say it neatly enough in English. Here, in fourteen words, she gives a picture of a young girl (nữ nhi) straining to just barely touch the strings (lề) used to bind together the books of her time, and predicts with certainty that the girl who can do so much will advance, first to the humble copy-card used to learn characters (thiếp), and then to take her doctorate (trạng nguyên).

Nữ nhi dù đặng có lề
Ắt là tay thiếp kém gì trạng nguyên

She who uses all means possible to just touch the book's binding
Advances to spell out the words, and to win her doctorate.

(Not literal, but I promise you a heck of a lot closer than G****** translate.)

Crossposts: https://heliopausa.livejournal.com/70949.html

the_rck

I went downtown yesterday early enough to have time to return things to the library and to pick up my holds. I had a little more than forty minutes before the bus I needed to take to get to Skyline. I got out to the school about fifteen minutes before the final bell. Cordelia was a little worried about where to meet because I wanted to give her geometry teacher some Puffs as a donation (the district no longer provides tissues for teachers to put out for the kids who have colds/allergies).

The fundraiser stuff was in two smallish boxes, one of which only contained a beef sausage thingy and so didn't weigh very much. I told the cab dispatcher where we'd be waiting, but he neglected to tell the cabbie. Fortunately, he guessed the front entrance, and we'd positioned ourselves where we could see cars on both loops approaching that (there's one for buses and one for parents dropping off/picking up, but when there aren't buses there, cars can use either).

We had friends over to play games last night. We played a cooperative game called Star Trek Five Year Mission that Scott's planning to run at UCon. We missed a lot of details the first time through. I didn't play the second game because they wanted to do the timed version. I didn't want to deal with that. Instead, I took a short walk and recaptured the Ingress portal down the street. I managed to get a silver (second level out of five) badge for making fields.

I had intended to go out this morning, but Scott's sister texted me with an invitation for Cordelia to go out to a concert this evening, and I spent quite a long time trying to coordinate that (including reaching Cordelia to make sure she even wanted to go). I can only assume that my niece intended to take a friend and had that friend cancel at the last minute. I didn't ask.

I've written 1200 words today, just not on any of my established WIP. Because I needed a new, half completed story. Really, I did.

gwydion

* "Putin rival ties Kushner meeting to Kremlin bankers:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/putin-rival-ties-kushner-meeting-kremlin-bankers-n811631

* So not only did 45 call up the family of one of the special forces men who died in Niger to be deliberately callous to the grieving widow and her family, he then called her, another family member, and her congress women liars when they exposed his cruelty, presumably as part of his vendetta against gold star families he has been openly pursuing since he started to run for present. It also turns out 45 decided to prank the grieving father of a dead soldier last August by calling him up and promising him money, then not sending it, presumably also to show how much he hates gold star families. When called on it in the press the white house claimed it was all a lie as they were totally sending the check later that night. Mmmhmmm. What kind of monster would do these cruel things on purpose to grieving families of people who literally died in service of their country?

* Look, despite being a reasonably up on things person, I totally missed us invading Niger. When did we invade? Why? Shouldn't the Congress Critters have some sort of debate and vote before we go around invading places? Why is trump scared to read what seems a pretty standard statement, is he covering something up, by cruelty and taunting towards gold star star families who just lost people they love to distract us from his refusal to talk about Niger? I have questions and I feel like our government owes us some basic fucking answers here. "White House staff drafted Niger sympathy statement for Trump that was never released:" http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/18/trump-niger-condolence-statement-243917

* "Trump denies telling widow of fallen soldier, 'He knew what he signed up for':" http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-denies-telling-widow-fallen-soldier-knew-signed/story?id=50549664

* I doubt it will make any difference as Republicans voted for him on purpose knowing he held nothing but hatred and contempt for War Veterans and Gold Star families. Why would the lasted examples make any damned difference to people who think pissing on grieving families of our War Dead is hilarious. Again, if they didn't broadly approve, why did they vote for him? Because I’d have cut off a finger before voting for anyone in either party who behaved as he did during the election. "Fallout From Trump's Insult To Green Beret Widow, Use Of Kelly Deemed Political Dynamite:" https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/18/1708040/-Fallout-From-Trump-s-Insult-To-Green-Beret-Widow-Use-Of-Kelly-Deemed-Political-Dynamite

* I feel like there is a pattern here. 45 is deliberately cruel to Gold Star Families mourning recent loss and publicly slanders them. He is at the same time attacking NFL players kneeling in remembrance of murdered innocents during the anthem in the same way Special Forces kneel to honor their dead during the anthem, on the ground that it is somehow unpatriotic. Mike Pence has protested the right of Athletes to mourn at great taxpayers expense as part of 45's broad effort to use the weight of the executive branch to violate athlete's first amendment right to publicly mourn.

Last night while complicating this fundamental outrage, I found myself thinking of Antigone, persecuted by Creon for the crime of mourning her dead brothers and for trying to bury them according to custom, of her bravery in standing in opposition to something so cruel and impious as outlawing mourning. I was thinking of Haemon, Creon's son, who joins her in her protest and their willingness to die for what is right. I was thinking of Jean Anouilh's version which he wrote in 1942 in response to a lone act of resistance and produced in early 1944 still under the NAZI occupation as an antifascist message. The line I draw between the one thing and the other is a clear one, especially as 45 insists that NAZIs and KKK who injured so many and killed one in Charlottesville are "good people" while any resisting tyranny, racism, fascism, and genocide are unpatriotic.

* "Trump Gives Himself 'A 10' Out Of 10 On His Response To Puerto Rico:" https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria_us_59e8d8abe4b0aa3f77dc5f5f

* "Donald Trump tells homophobic hate group they will 'no longer be silenced':" http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/10/13/donald-trump-pledges-to-hate-group-that-homophobes-will-no-longer-be-silenced/#

* "George W. Bush slams Trumpism, without mentioning president by name:" http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/19/george-w-bush-trumpism-243945

* "Second judge halts Trump's latest attempt at travel ban:" http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/18/trump-travel-ban-maryland-judge-blocks-243901

* "GOP calls grow to end Russia investigations this year:" http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/republicans-congress-russia-investigation/index.html

* "Sessions defends Comey firing, dodges questions on Trump:" https://apnews.com/70baab1c054e4837b1d962475bfd6f85/Sessions-defends-Comey-firing,-ties-it-to-Clinton-email-case

* "Trump says Comey knew he was going to exonerate Clinton:" https://apnews.com/1b526916a1de4faa999557d5f214971b/Trump-says-Comey-knew-he-was-going-to-exonerate-Clinton

* The Republican war on health care continues. "Paul Ryan comes out against Alexander-Murray health care bill:" https://www.axios.com/paul-ryan-comes-out-against-alexander-murray-health-bill-2498070386.html

* "GOP to muscle budget through Senate as it eyes tax cuts:" http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/senate-republicans-cruise-passage-budget-plan-50580737

* How you can tell they are lying when they say they believe life begins conception: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gwydionmisha

* "A Judge Just Ordered The Trump Administration To Allow An Undocumented Teen To Obtain An Abortion:" https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/the-trump-administration-just-went-to-court-to-defend?utm_term=.ohEkBGRwD#.lt5raZVnO

* "Spirit Day 2017:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/10/spirit-day-2017.html

* "No Always Means No:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/10/no-always-means-no.html

* "Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Happens To Trans People, Too:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/10/sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment.html

* Jewish Theoretical Physicists vs. the NAZIs: http://satyrday.tumblr.com/post/166549914581/thebibliosphere-clockworkcanary-drst

* "CeaseFire in Chicago: Lowering Crime in the Windy City:"

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* "The Daily Show Takes Chicago: Culture and Crime in Obama's Hometown:"

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* Yesterday was my birthday. There was this whole drama about the cake, which I had been wanting for three years, but my phone inexplicably didn't ring and the bakers decided that the basic black and white checkerboard done exactly the way you normally make it in that bakery only with the white icing purple and the outline of a skull piped onto the glaze meant I wanted the white cake pink which the don't do...? Anyway, they did not have my second choice cake in either it being the wrong day for it, so we ended up with a perfectly nice Victoria Lace, though it was chocolate instead of vanilla as promised. WTF, bakery. It was also pissing down rain and due to a series of unfortunate events we ended up driving all over it. Luckily the partially flooded bit towards the end did not get the brakes, and the good Disabled spot in front of my building had not filled up while I was out. We were all soaked through by this point.

We had the best flavour of take and bake pizza though, and fizzy cider for a toast, and cider to mull to warm up with and all was well. It was a fine party despite the shaky start.

Loot count so far:
Black Sails!
A cute skeleton hand ornament for the Gothmas tree,
Two Candy corn themed mice for Tavy's busy box.
Half a tank of gas.

Tavy is well pleased, as he found the mice in his busy box after left and has been have the best time with them. He also let one of the guests see him and made blinky eyes at him, though he was a hard no on more personal interaction.

* "The Game of Thrones Mystery that Never Was:" https://www.thefandomentals.com/rhaegar-lyanna-jon-magical-mystery-tour/

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

* Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

* This App phones your rep for you: http://takeastance.us/

* Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resistbot.io/

* Help pay for cat food, litter, meds, medical copays: Paypal Lethran@gmail.com

* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com

anonymous_sibyl

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anonymous_sibyl

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goss

Title: Graceful
Artist:

goss
Rating: G
Fandom: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Characters/Pairings: Korra
Content Notes: Created for Inktober - Day 17, word prompt: Graceful. This is my very first attempt at using India Ink with a paintbrush. I found the following video on YouTube to be particularly helpful: How to Draw and Paint Animals with Water: Ink Drip Technique.

The ink drip technique is SO COOL! I only have black ink right now, but would love to get my hands on other colours. So in addition to the original piece, I've also included a digital blue-tinted version below, which I rather like. :)

Preview:

( Click here for entire artwork )

rachelmanija

Two years ago, I meant to go to Japan in November. And then I had the most horrible two years of my entire life, and the trip was shelved.

I'm going to Japan in November! I'll be there for two weeks, divided between Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka. The last is a city further south than I've been before, with some very pretty day trips.

I'm going to use AirBnb, which I also haven't used before, but it looks pretty great. I have two lovely apartments all to myself for cheaper than a hotel room would be, and one room in a house with a lady who cooks breakfast, has a friendly toy poodle named Piccolo, and says understatedly, "I am a former hotelier who worked in the five star hotel. I think I can assist you well during your stay."

Any of you done anything fun in Japan?

Crossposts: https://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/1296485.html

oracne

Our first concert of the season, last night, went really well. They normally go well, but sometimes magic happens and there is intensity and power we hadn't bargained for. Last night was like that. My brain was buzzing with it.

We had a larger audience than usual, and our roster has shifted a bit, and we were singing with only three continuo players instead of our usual instrumental ensemble. Because of the reduced forces, we were able to stand closer to the audience.

I'm not sure if all of those things, or any of them, contributed. But it was great. I could feel it from where I was, and I heard it in audience comments afterwards. I could even feel it ahead of time, a bit, as I was strangely keyed up and needed to stretch and center myself before we went on. The hour flew by.

I continue to love Schütz with the fiery passion of a thousand exploding suns.

Next up, November 15: J.S. Bach: Cantata BWV 79, Gott der Herr ist Sohn und Schild; world premiere of David Carpenter, "A Love So Still," a setting of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's poem "Von guten Mächten"; Martin Luther/Ludwig Senfl, "No Moriar"; Hans Leo Hassler/Michael Praetorius, "Ein Feste Burg"; Johannes Brahms/Hugo Distler, "Es ist das Heil uns kommen Her."

musesfool

The past few nights, I've been in bed by 10:15, so last night when I stayed up until 11 (which is my usual bedtime), I was like, "it's so late!"

It's getting darker earlier, which always makes it feel later than it is, but last night 11 pm felt like 2 am for some reason.

For some reason my DVR didn't pick up the season premiere of Star Wars Rebels on Monday (at any of the times it aired) but it did have the first half hour set to record last night, so I pressed record for the second episode as well (why does it do that? I do not understand!), even though I watched both live.

( spoilers of Mandalore )

***

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Pale Blue Eyes - Velvet Underground

umadoshi

Silks class #4 is the day after tomorrow, so I guess if I'm gonna muster up any semblance of a post about weeks 2 and 3 I'd better do that.

( Week 2 )

( Week 3 )

Three classes done, five to go. My feeling at this point is that this was probably unrealistically ambitious for someone who hasn't taken any physical classes in a long, long time or really done any focused exercise since I stopped climbing several years ago, but despite almost none of it coming naturally, I'm mostly enjoying it. I'm kinda hoping it'll give me a push to taking some kind of class after this (like barre!) that's more suited to where I currently am physically.

It's also probably just as well, in one sense, that (so far) I'm not in love with silks, much as I think they're incredibly cool. The sad reality is that evening classes are rarely feasible around Casual Job, so finding a level 2 (or beyond) timeslot for something as specific as silks that'd actually work for me logistically seems...unlikely. But we'll see. And meanwhile, "enjoying it well enough" is not a bad place to be.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: A Chorus Line OBC - Nothing

mrkinch

High tide was at noon, so when I got to So 51st St about 1:30 it was still a bit early in terms of exposed shoreline; two hours later there were more visible shorebirds but the sun angle was crap. That's shorter days for you. Still, ( not winter yet: )

Walking back to So 51st St I had an experience that reminded me of the butterfly migration a couple weeks ago. Gulls began appearing from the east southeast, evenly spaced over a wide area, uniformly not very high, and soared out over the Bay. I don't think they were landing on the spit opposite, although I admit I was so fascinated I didn't watch to see; they were definitely not landing anywhere short of there and I had the impression they just kept flying. They seemed to materialize out of the haze in front of the hills, and I have no idea where they came from. The reservoirs in Contra Costa? A pond this side of the hills? The Delta? Many of them were small gulls, possibly mews, but as the wave continued I saw the lots of ring-bills as well as Californias and westerns. More than a hundred, I'd guess.

bironic

Hi, friends. Thanks for voting in the poll! Indecisiveness combined with a general suspicion that everything I say and write these days is ~~stupid~~ banal can lead to extra-long periods of not posting.

I have been all right. Going to the gym 4+ days a week is not my natural inclination, and I still hurt in many places, but it is clear the activity is keeping my mood afloat, helping me sleep better and, yes, building strength and stamina. I took tonight off to browse the local library book sale -- $2 for Neil Clarke's Best Science Fiction of the Year vol. 1 and Whale Rider on DVD, yay -- and write a post.

My sister came to visit over Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend. (Wow, it looks even worse to put those side by side than to use one alone. Wish we could just say Indigenous Peoples Day now, but it hasn't permeated the culture yet.) We went to a book event featuring chef Jacques Pépin, daughter Claudine and granddaughter Shorey. Having grown up watching Pépin, Julia Child and the Frugal Gourmet on PBS, it was a real treat -- especially since he came out twenty minutes early, plastic cup of wine in hand, to do photo ops with anyone who wanted.

The discussion itself was quite funny. Claudine, the moderator, got teased by her dad, but she dished it right back. "Never work with family," she quipped at one point. They told stories about things like how PBS timed its filmings so if Claudine wasn't a fast enough learner at rolling out dough or whatever, Jacques would elbow her out of the way and do it himself. Whereas when he partnered with Julia Child, she just told the film crew, "We're going to make this dish and we'll tell you when we're done," meaning some poor editor had to trim 110 minutes down to 20-something. Nor did they work from recipes, so airings were delayed because the producers had to reverse engineer them.

We also went to the county fair in the rain, figuring the crowds would thin out. Incorrect! Nonetheless, we enjoyed many animals, vegetables and ~~minerals~~ crafts. A pair of goats tried to eat our plastic ponchos, and once again the rabbit and cavy tent drove me to look into how feasible it would be to get a couple of guinea pigs to cuddle at home. (Space, climate control and frequency of cage cleaning & feeding are the main concerns, i.e. I could not be away for more than about a day without arranging for care. And I don't know if I trust my ability to maintain the energy levels to do what's needed. This was easier growing up when we had four family members to share tasks.) LOOK AT ITS LITTLE TRIBBLE TUFTS.

Work has been work-y. We were urged to apply for some awards in our field, which took up most of the last three days. I've won a few in this job, so I'm a bit hopeful. Otherwise just trying to keep my head down and enjoy the aspects of this career that I enjoy while our office's overall stress rises and morale dips. Pretty sure [coworker] is about to quit.

Good news is we still get financial support for professional development. Next week I'm flying to San Francisco for a conference. If any of you have food recommendations in the Union Square/SoMa area, especially for breakfast and lunch, share away. I'm already set on returning to a couple of takeout places in Chinatown for tasty tasty dim sum. Still dreaming of the shrimp and leek dumplings from my first visit there a year and a half ago.

Crossposts: https://bironic.livejournal.com/393846.html

edenfalling

I triumphed over the never-ending stack of leases, after which it was a slow-ish day. I showed two apartments and I think some of the people who went on the tour will come in tomorrow to rent an apartment, so that's nice.

I also got a raise! Only a small one, but even so. And what's nicer is that it's retroactive to June 1 (because our owner is an organized human being, really, I swear...) so I have a paper check I get to cash tomorrow. Yay unexpected extra money!

In news from my other job, today I finished one of my two tax update courses, and have registered for three live in-person continuing education classes, one of which is tomorrow night. The other two are next week, and I need to ask Miss Cactus whether she's willing to swap my Tuesday shift for her shift on either Monday or Friday, since the courses all start at 6pm and I work until 7pm on Tuesdays. (Failing that, I will ask Mom Boss if I can leave early that day.)

Continuing education requirements for tax preparers are 18 credit hours per year, allocated as follows: 13 federal tax law, 2 ethics, and 3 tax updates. You can, of course, take more than the minimum. I have currently finished 2 credits of tax law and 2 credits of tax updates. The three live courses will knock off another 9 credits of tax law, I have the second 2 credit tax update course ready to do whenever (probably Friday or Saturday), and the ethics and another 2 credits of tax law won't be too hard to knock off.

Then, of course, there are the New York state requirements, but I will deal with those in November. :)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: ithaca, ny
Crossposts: https://edenfalling.livejournal.com/1044723.html

watersword

this excellent post from

rosefox's

story_hospital_feed — does anyone have thoughts on what warmup exercises for writers might look like? I've encountered the concept, but not at length.

china_shop

Reading
I finished Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch. It was good, but I'm not sure these books are quite my genre -- I want less focus on complicated cases and just a touch more on interpersonal relationships and the process of learning magic. Maybe I should just read the fanfic? Anyway, my TV died over the weekend, so now the boy and I are spending our evenings listening to the audiobook of Midnight Riot, the first Rivers of London book, which is wryly and excellently performed by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who does all the accents and makes me wish they'd stripped out the unnecessary speech tags.

Currently... I still have Cary Elwes waiting for me, but first I'm catching up on fanfic (primarily Les Mis E/R, and Star Wars Finn/Poe) and various internet posts that've been accumulating on my Kindle.

Kdramas
I've watched four episodes of Chicago Typewriter, and I'm soooo confuuuuused. Is it past-lives or time travel? Or a mix of both? Is Yoo a manifestation of the spirit of the typewriter (in which case, am I shipping Han Se Joo/the typewriter o.O)? And did they only name Yoo that so they could use that Platters song "Only You (and You Alone)" in the soundtrack -- hilariously, I might add? What is going onnnn? (Please don't tell me!)

Also, it's a little painful watching him struggle with writer's block, when I too am in a slump. I keep shouting advice at him that I am not taking myself. ;-P

I also watched the 2-episode time-travel/undercover-as-a-eunuch drama, Splash Splash Love, about a high school student who runs away from her SAT exams and jumps through a puddle into drought-stricken Jeoseon, where her identity is immediately mistaken because apparently "high school senior" is a homophone for "eunuch" in Korean. It was cute but felt like a school play compared to Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, by which I mean they didn't manage to sell me on the world-building, and the relationships felt very rushed. And the age difference between the pairing bothered me. And (on an extremely shallow note) the actors weren't as pretty.

J and I have given up on My Girl (I'll finish it on my own) and switched to Master's Sun instead, which is a re-watch for me. Ghosts! Humour! Complicated backstories! Oh, my!

Mystery Queen and Chief Kim are both on hold this week.

Other TV
My TV turned into a radio over the weekend, so our Parks & Recreation re-watch has stalled (though we did watch the Halloween episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine last night on my teeny laptop). Since I failed to buy a replacement over the weekend, I decided to explore the possibility of having my TV repaired after all and yesterday drove half an hour up the motorway and into Lower Hutt to the repair place.

I realise that to many of you, half an hour's drive sounds like nothing, but Wellington is very compact, and when I gave the repair guy my address, he said, "You're a long way from home." Heh.

Anyway, we have the rest of Parks and The Expanse s2 on DVD waiting for us, and Pru comes over to watch dramas with me once a week, so I'm going to have to resolve the issue somehow. I'd rather not watch stuff on my desktop, because it would involve reconfiguring my living room.

Writing
Ha ha ha ha ha. *sigh*

Korean study
I had my first language exchange over the weekend. We talked for over two hours, in a mix of Korean and English, and we're meeting again tomorrow. I'm a little concerned that we want different things, but I guess we'll see how we go.

I've also downloaded Duolingo, now they offer Korean, and I'm working my way through that. It's fun and addictive (game-ification!), but I'm not sure I'm learning a great deal. I need to knuckle down and actually memorise some vocab.

And my classes start up again this evening.

Computer
The guy who used to fix my computer finally emailed me back (\o/) and said he's super busy atm, so I'm hanging in here, waiting until his time frees up enough that he can look at it. Which is 100% better than not having a plan.

Today...
...is sunny and warming up. I have some errands to run, and I think I'm going to bike out and have lunch with the boy. And then, of course, Kclass.

Crossposts: https://china-shop.livejournal.com/1078963.html

mrkinch

This time of year there's little point to going out before sunrise, so it's easy for me to get up too early and then leave too early because why hang about at home? Anyway, I got to Inspiration Point before the sun topped the hills to the east and things were quiet at first, but it wasn't long before it was shining on the trail and waking up the birds. I had a tough time with raptors, just not fast enough to get definitive looks, but I think I had northern harrier, Cooper's hawk, and possibly a barn owl; I disturbed it twice and STILL had no good look. The bird was fairly light colored even in the shade (too light for a harrier, which has a somewhat owl-like face), utterly silent, and I had the impression of a facial disk. But to imagine the best bit of the morning, take a look at ( this toyon tree )

and then imagine it populated by five or so western bluebirds joined by the same number of cedar waxwings. I was so happy. ( Fall east of the ridge: )

I also saw a very healthy-looking coyote.

bironic

As anticipated, gym requirements, travel and guest hosting have eaten into the (already diminished) time and energies that would normally go into writing more DW/LJ posts. But I've got some long plane trips coming up and am optimistic about contributing more.

Would you like to help me prioritize topics?

Poll #18960

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 37

View Respondents

You should post about:

View Answers

Recent read: All Systems Red - Martha Wells
16 (43.2%)

Recent read: Provenance - Ann Leckie
16 (43.2%)

Recent read: Stories of Your Life - Ted Chiang
14 (37.8%)

Recent read: Mash Up - ed. Gardner Dozois
4 (10.8%)

Recent read: From a Certain POV (Star Wars stories)
12 (32.4%)

TV: The Good Place
17 (45.9%)

TV: Star Trek: Discovery
16 (43.2%)

Vid notes for "When I Go"
12 (32.4%)

What I've been up to
23 (62.2%)

Thoughts on personal training and touch
16 (43.2%)

Thoughts on body image
17 (45.9%)

Or something else that you are welcome to suggest in comments. :)

ETA: Whoops, forgot "Movies: Blade Runner 2049." ETA 2: and Festivids. Note to self.

Crossposts: https://bironic.livejournal.com/393632.html

musesfool

There was a most adorable pug in a bag on the subway this morning. It reminded me of Gizmo from Gremlins. It looked a little skeptical about the whole bag situation but was really well-behaved. And so cute!

Work continues to be ridiculously busy because in addition to my own job, they keep adding things to my to do list from jobs that aren't currently filled, so I'm doing three people's jobs. It's bullshit, and I would rant but I'm not locking the post so. Whatever. I don't get paid nearly enough for this.

Yesterday, I got an email from the realtor, who'd gotten an email from the management agent who was like, "There's no estimated monthly mortgage payment in this loan commitment letter" and I said to myself, says I, "I wondered about the exact same thing!" So the loan officer forwarded the loan estimate letter that I'd gotten back in September with the estimated monthly payment. They also wanted proof of my "bonus" since it wasn't listed in my salary verification letter so I had to send them the pay stub and the letter explaining it as a "one time extra wage payment" since that is what they call it in order to not have to tax it like a bonus, but it was a deposit that shows up on my bank statement and then in my taxable income and therefore needs an explanation. Luckily, after all that was forwarded, the agent said she was sending the application to the board for their review, so hopefully I get called for an interview soon.

In other news, I got a clean bill of health from the dentist, so I'm free from that for another six months. Of course, I totally ruined the minty fresh feel of my mouth by having cheesy garlic bread for dinner, but eh, sometimes a woman needs cheesy garlic bread, bad breath be damned.

***

Wednesday reading meme:

What I've just finished
The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3) by Rick Riordan, which I enjoyed a lot, especially the ( spoilers )

What I'm reading now
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, the Practical Magic prequel focusing on the aunts. I love the aunts! I love seeing them as young women! I love everything to do with them and their relationship with their aunt who fills the role for them that they do for Sally and Gillian in PM.

I do not love their super special most handsomest and most powerfulest baby brother who ( spoilers )

What I'm reading next
Too many books to pick one out of the pack just yet!

***

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Human Remains - Tom McRae

oracne

Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Rise of Alpha Flight was a moderately entertaining space story featuring Carol Danvers in Spaaaace with Abigail Brand and three members of Alpha Flight: Aurora, Sasquatch, and my personal favorite, Puck. One annoyance: an entertaining Latina character turned out to be an alien in disguise. Bonus points for portraying human characters of different sizes and the politics of assorted aliens.

Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Vol. 2: Don't Stop Me-Ow remains really cute and fun and drawn in manga-esque style. Vampire Jubilee and her adopted son showed up in this one, as did Jessica Jones and Hellcat's two ex-husbands. Also there was karaoke. In contintuity, this fell into the time period when She-Hulk was in a coma, but that plotline managed to feel hopeful even though Patsy/Hellcat was unhappy.

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison is a mixed bag. There was some insightful commentary on the history of comics from the pov of a major comics writer. There were also some memoir elements and psychological musings that sometimes got a little too convoluted for my taste. I think the book was compiled from various essays and interviews, which would explain why it sometimes looped back on the same ideas after meandering the byways.
Warning for dated but not apparently derogatory use of the word tranny.

But I enjoyed it, overall, for sections like this:

Where Superman strove for modernity in everything from the image of its hero to the kinetic editing of its torn-from-the-headlines narrative, the Batman strip reveled in the trashy aesthetic of the mystery pulps and the penny dreadfuls.

From the very beginning, Batman habitually found himself dealing with crimes involving chemicals and crazy people, and over the years he would take on innumerable villains armed with lethal Laughing Gas, mind-control lipstick, Fear Dust, toxic aerosols, and "artificial phobia" pills. Indeed, his career had barely begun before he was heroically inhaling countless bizarre chemical concoctions cooked up by mad blackmarket alchemists. Superman might have faced a few psychic attacks, but, even if it was against his will every time, Batman was hip to serious mind-bending drugs. Batman knew what it was like to trip balls without seriously losing his shit, and that savoir faire added another layer to his outlaw sexiness and alluring aura of decadence and wealth.

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MS

[Catch-up] Inktober - Day 17 (Graceful)

My long-delayed trip

Bach, Schütz, Nystedt - Welcome to the Reformation

i'd put you in a mirror i put in front of me

"Second week, more advanced, and we had to be a table..." [A post about silks class]

10/18/2017 Meeker Slough

Current poll leader: What I have been up to

a day of less argh :)

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This is turning into a life update disguised as a media update

10/18/2017 Inspiration Trail

A post about posting

why always so blue?

Wednesday Reading

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