(morning writing)
Dec. 18th, 2025 07:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elainegreyIf i miss writing in time, i hope everyone is able have the observations that make passing through this solstice period a joy or at least the darkness eased. I am enjoying my LED lit branch (up all year) and tree during the long dark morning, and found that BritBox has streaming holiday light shows to run in the background of doing other things.
Some quick notes
no car news, but we don't really need two vehicles, so we are OK. What we have is a good reliable car (that is now dmaged) and a vehicle for taking things to the dump. Christine managed to find a really nice take things to the dump vehicle some years back, so we'll drive it about more and live with the lousy gas mileage.
Bruno and Marlowe have had a step of improvement in how they get along and how Bruno believes he can access the rest of the house. He doesn't need coaxing to leave his safe room, Marlowe is not nearly as vigilant. It's odd to see how things seem to have little jumps and not gradual change. We went from much coaxing to get him to leave his room on his own to him dashing out in the morning.
Christine is having a more serious flare (infection) of the issue that sent her to the emergency room in June. Less than a month to the surgery that should resolve things.
I am fighting my own self denigration around gift giving and not really winning but avoiding. I hope i can take some time off today to label and wrap and pack and ship. I had so much joy making and thinking about giving -- years of it imagining when i could gift things from the orchard -- and ... anyhow, i will focus on that and try to take the insecure part of me and tell her ... that people already know i am a flake so it's ok? No, wait, that's not the message. We'll work on that.
i've gotten in my (pathetically low count of) steps the past two days. I think i feel better for it. I am worried about how fatigue hit me out of the blue a few weeks ago, but i have no evidence that the fatigue is caused by doing things, i just NOTICE when i am doing things. Acting like i am fatigued all the time is not the solution.
The Day in Spikedluv (Wednesday, Dec 17)
Dec. 18th, 2025 06:59 amspikedluvI had a chiropractic appointment, a pedicure (another, different, red polish; she painted a nice snowflake for the design), AND a massage this morning! (Don’t laugh, but I scheduled the massage so I could get a GC for my niece. This massage therapist is local and works alone; it is very difficult to just walk in because the door is locked while she’s in an appointment, so I was like, screw it, I’ll ~make an appointment so I can get the GC. Win-win!)
I did zero shopping which made the morning even better. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I cooked a strip roast with potatoes and baby carrots for supper. It was really good!
Today is my first injection of the higher dose of Trulicity (as decided when I had the appt with my PCP last Monday). I hope it doesn’t cause me digestive issues because I have not missed those. *fingers crossed*
I started Boyfriend Material, watched another ep of The Pitt and the current ep of one of my favorite HGTV programs, Fixer to Fabulous. Secrets of the Zoo was my background tv in the evening.
Temps started out at 32.9(F) (the temps got down to 22 before we went to bed, so it had warmed up substantially overnight) and reached 45.3!!! It was mostly cloudy, but the snow melted so that it was tough to walk in.
Today is the first of three ‘warm’ days (though it was only supposed to reach 39). Tomorrow is supposed to be mid-40s and Friday is supposed to hit the 50s! And then drop 20 degrees to being cold again. Me no likey.
Mom Update:
Mom didn’t sound good today. ( more back here )
I did zero shopping which made the morning even better. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I cooked a strip roast with potatoes and baby carrots for supper. It was really good!
Today is my first injection of the higher dose of Trulicity (as decided when I had the appt with my PCP last Monday). I hope it doesn’t cause me digestive issues because I have not missed those. *fingers crossed*
I started Boyfriend Material, watched another ep of The Pitt and the current ep of one of my favorite HGTV programs, Fixer to Fabulous. Secrets of the Zoo was my background tv in the evening.
Temps started out at 32.9(F) (the temps got down to 22 before we went to bed, so it had warmed up substantially overnight) and reached 45.3!!! It was mostly cloudy, but the snow melted so that it was tough to walk in.
Today is the first of three ‘warm’ days (though it was only supposed to reach 39). Tomorrow is supposed to be mid-40s and Friday is supposed to hit the 50s! And then drop 20 degrees to being cold again. Me no likey.
Mom Update:
Mom didn’t sound good today. ( more back here )
After strike on American troops, what’s next for the US in Syria?
Dec. 18th, 2025 05:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
csmonitor_main_feedAfter three Americans were killed, President Donald Trump threatened retaliation. How a U.S. response might impact the new U.S.-Syria partnership.
20 Christmas Cats in Santa Hats to Scroll Under the Mistletoe
Dec. 18th, 2025 02:00 pmicanhascheezburger_feedMerry (almost) Christmas, cat lovers. The holidays bring out different things in all of us – for some, it makes us joyful, euphoric, and in an upbeat mood. For others, it can make us pressured, anxious, nervous and overthinking about what to get people for their gifts. Don't be a Scrooge, be a cat loving, meme scrolling, holiday hooligan and enjoy life while we still can! No matter if you're a Scrooge or not, you can still enjoy these cat photos and memes of felines in Santa hats celebrating one of the best holidays yet. And who can deny a little coquettish kiss under some mistletoe. What's more enticing than a pine tree stem hovering above you?
Cats kiss under the mistletoe too. If you don't believe us, go home and try it today, but if you end up with a furball caught in your throat after your cat goes in for first base, don't blame us! If your holiday plans include avoiding awkward mistletoe encounters and aggressively relaxing with your phone, then 25 Christmas Cats in Santa Hats to Scroll Under the Mistletoe is exactly the festive distraction you deserve. These cats have donned their tiny red hats (against their will, legally speaking) and are here to spread cheer, chaos, and an unreasonable amount of judgment.
icanhascheezburger_feedOh, lawd - Biggie Smalls is coming! He's coming, he's going, he's gaining followers, and losing pounds. Biggie arrived to The Big House Sanctuary & Rehab in Ottawa at a shocking 43 pounds. His organs were getting pushed out of the way, and even walking was hard for him. But, the workers at this sanctuary didn't give up on him. We're happy to announce that Biggie has lost… drum roll, please… almost 20 pounds! He's still a chonker, but he's literally lost almost half of himself since he started this journey.
Biggie quickly became an internet celebrity in the cat world due to his purrfectly round nature. He has millions of likes and followers, everyone pawistively invested in his de-chonkification. He's still got about five or ten more pounds to lose, but it's not about racing to the finish, it's about getting there in the furst place! We've been in love with him since the beginning, and we can't wait to see the cat he will become in the future. We're all about body pawsitivity, but we're also equally about healthy cats leading healthy lives.
He may no longer be round in body, but he is still round in spirit. Read more about the notorious C.A.T. by scrolling down!
icanhascheezburger_feedThe year 2025 has been one big challenge. And we mean that in varios ways, of course, but what we are taking about specifically here is the challenge of just… going online. So much negativity, so much drama, so much clickbait and madness. It has been everywhere. But inside all of that madness, something meowgical was happening. It was the same thing that happens every year. Cats. No matter what was going on online, there were always viral stories of cats for us to enjoy. And this year, one genre of cat post that we have seen go viral over and over again was unique and rare cats.
We think that people just wanted a little extra beauty in their lives, espeically on the internet. And so, every week, we would open some social media platform, and every week, there would be at least one unique and beautiful cat for us to stare at. Something about thsese posts captured the hearts of the people, so we thought that it was only right to give the people what they have been asking for, so we put together the coolest cats of 2025.
Gaza families wait ... and wait for answers about missing loved ones
Dec. 18th, 2025 04:10 amcsmonitor_main_feedGaza families search for their missing family members, trusting that clues such as scraps of clothing and rumors will be the key to unlock the mystery
Episode 2715: The Time Travailer
Dec. 18th, 2025 09:11 amdarths_and_droids_feed
Calendars can be pretty cool. Nominally, they're just ways of keeping track of days and seasons for planting crops and stuff. But you can add all sorts of weird and mystical things on top.
- Months are named after animals. Not so strange... but in this calendar the animals aren't fixed! The month names are chosen differently each year based on what animals are spotted in sacred places.
- Travel between specific places only occurs on auspicious days, creating never-ending bottlenecks and traffic jams on those days, while on other days the roads are entirely clear. But woe betide anyone trying to take advantage of the clear roads!
- Week lengths are not fixed. A working week may be as short as 3 days or as many as 15, depending on celestial alignments or arbitrary pronouncements of the church (which nobody can figure out ahead of time).
- Reverse periods, where time is considered to flow backwards, perhaps in alignment with retrograde motion of a planet in the sky. People are considered to be getting younger during these times. It may even "undo" a birthday that qualifies you for something, such as drinking or voting.
- Non-overlapping work schedules for different professions. Farmers work 5 days on and rest 1 day, while merchants work 8 days then rest 2, and scholars and teachers stick to a cycle of 2 days work, a day of rest, 2 more work days, and then 2 days of rest.
- Calendar stones or scrolls are traded, each one containing a number of days as its value. You can "use" the days on a scroll as recreation days whenever you wish, but then have to acquire more.
- Certain days are treated as entirely blank. No events, no records, no history is allowed. All activity ceases so that nothing can happen. Even the gods obey this, so no disasters occur.
aurilee writes:
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Time shenanigans! And of course it's Galen Erso tech again; nobody else in this universe builds super weapons. Or is Mad enough to mess around with time on their own. And since the characters are standing on the Peace Moon again, we're likely going to have a much better set up than that weird cannon last Episode.
Those calendar counts. I recognize the number for the Great Cycle, but I bet each of those others have some sort of meaning as well. Seventeen different calendars seems a little odd however. Unless one of those includes an external source of measurement, they'd all be affected by any time shifts or stretches, wouldn't they?
Hm. Anyone want to also bet that this might still be the original Peace Moon? I mean, what's easier for a mad scientist; making another of the same thing, or just temporally displacing the original for someone who wants a second copy? It wouldn't be the first time we've had such a short cut taken after all, and shifting something in time probably takes a lot of energy that would violently explode if care isn't taken.
Transcript
merci (19 December 2025)
Dec. 18th, 2025 05:11 pmmatsushima posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
thankfulthursdayWhat are you thankful for this week?
· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is shared.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.
· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is shared.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.
2025 Disneyland Trip #78 (12/17/25)
Dec. 17th, 2025 11:40 pmtorachanDisneyland is still way more crowded than I was anticipating. We got over to the parks around 6:30pm and were planning to get dinner from the Festival of Holidays carts at DCA and assumed it would be less crowded there than at Disneyland, but the lines to get in were really long for some reason. Once we were actually inside it wasn't too bad (still crowded, though), so I guess it was just a case of a lot of people arriving for after work trips at the same time.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
12 Days (til) Christmas Day 5
Dec. 17th, 2025 11:13 pmashkittyBack to Kirk and Spock again! Told you they’re almost half the list. Advent 2012. The Enterprise crew carry out their mission to investigate weird shit wherever they find it. Guided by a Christmas star (kind of) they stumble on an unexpected birth (kind of). One of my favourite things about writing Trek fic is how weird and unexplainable you can make things (this will come up again later).
Nativus (Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/Spock)
Rated G
‘By the time they reach the surface, it is no longer the barren wasteland the initial scans had indicated. They stand surrounded by vegetation, lush and thick and a shade of green so bright it's almost gold; by the sound of trickling streams and the growing thrum of insect life. The tricorders vibrate with each new discovery as lifesigns appear around them with increasing rapidity, and above them coloured clouds rush through the sky like a gymnastic rainbow.…’
Song: Silent Night (There are of course many versions; this is the absolutely haunting one by Sinead O'Connor.)
Fic rec: Feast of the Unwise Men by Drayton (Oxford Time Travel)
Rated G
Technically this is an Epiphany fic, but since I'm doing pre-Christmas days and not post-Christmas days, here we are. It's about those few days after Dunworthy and Colin retrieve Kivrin from the Black Death, and the fallout - while knowledge of the canon will definitely help here, it's also a fic for anyone who has had to deal with university administrations.
Back to Day 4 | On to Day 6
Nativus (Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/Spock)
Rated G
‘By the time they reach the surface, it is no longer the barren wasteland the initial scans had indicated. They stand surrounded by vegetation, lush and thick and a shade of green so bright it's almost gold; by the sound of trickling streams and the growing thrum of insect life. The tricorders vibrate with each new discovery as lifesigns appear around them with increasing rapidity, and above them coloured clouds rush through the sky like a gymnastic rainbow.…’
Song: Silent Night (There are of course many versions; this is the absolutely haunting one by Sinead O'Connor.)
Fic rec: Feast of the Unwise Men by Drayton (Oxford Time Travel)
Rated G
Technically this is an Epiphany fic, but since I'm doing pre-Christmas days and not post-Christmas days, here we are. It's about those few days after Dunworthy and Colin retrieve Kivrin from the Black Death, and the fallout - while knowledge of the canon will definitely help here, it's also a fic for anyone who has had to deal with university administrations.
Back to Day 4 | On to Day 6
Daily Happiness
Dec. 17th, 2025 11:17 pmtorachan1. Spent most of the work day cleaning up data and while I originally thought it was going to take me a couple days, I actually got the whole file done today, which was nice.
2. We went to Disneyland for dinner. Still way more crowded than I would have thought with so many passholders blocked out, but not quite as bad as last Monday. We did have some really delicious food, though. And we finally managed to get some more of those cranberry orange loaves from Jolly Holiday and brought them home for breakfast tomorrow.
3. Jasper's really loving the warming bed now that it has lost its sides and become a warming cushion. Not sure if it's because of the new shape or because it's on top of a chest rather than on the floor, but he's into it.
2. We went to Disneyland for dinner. Still way more crowded than I would have thought with so many passholders blocked out, but not quite as bad as last Monday. We did have some really delicious food, though. And we finally managed to get some more of those cranberry orange loaves from Jolly Holiday and brought them home for breakfast tomorrow.
3. Jasper's really loving the warming bed now that it has lost its sides and become a warming cushion. Not sure if it's because of the new shape or because it's on top of a chest rather than on the floor, but he's into it.
icanhascheezburger_feedCats have an extra special way of burrowing into human hearts. Oftentimes, they make us earn their affections, but once we are invited into the exclusive Kitty Friendship Club, that cat will love and trust us for the rest of their days. However, sometimes our soul-cats are taken from us too soon, and like the cat lover in this next story who lost her beloved best friend at only 2 years old, it's tough to replace their meows, their cuddles, and especially their special purrsonalities.
However, only 3 weeks after her cat crossed the rainbow bridge, she discovered a helpless meowing kitten in the snow, literally submerged in the cold. Without her help, the kitten would never have survived, so naturally, she had no choice but to scoop the kitty up. But after inviting the cat into her home, she started noticing unusual behavior from the rambunctious feline.
This cat wasn't just an ordinary stray, but a near carbon copy of her other cat.
Without a shadow of a doubt in her heart, she believed this cat came to her for a reason. Not because he was cold in the snow, needing a home, or because he knew the woman inside was a cat cuddler, but because this cat had been here before.
He was just coming home.
Community Thursday
Dec. 18th, 2025 05:31 amvriddyCommunity Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.
Posted & commented onbnha_fans. Final episode of the anime aired. Main series is truly truly over now!!!
Commented ongoals_on_dw.
Commented ongetyourwordsout.
Commented oncommon_nature.
Promotedgetyourwordsout, worderlands, inkitout, fan_writers.
Posted & commented on
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getyourwordsout, worderlands, inkitout, fan_writers.A poll about socks
Dec. 18th, 2025 12:18 ammxcatmoon I have a burning question (that came to me while putting my socks on), so I made a poll.
Feel free to wax poetically about the topic in the comments. What about your characters? Sonny Crockett famously does not wear them. Rico does, but to tell you the truth, I haven't paid them much attention (I'll have to fix that).
Feel free to wax poetically about the topic in the comments. What about your characters? Sonny Crockett famously does not wear them. Rico does, but to tell you the truth, I haven't paid them much attention (I'll have to fix that).
Poll #33968 Sock Habits
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18
Do you have left and right socks?
View Answers
Of course! Can't wear socks on the wrong feet!
3 (16.7%)
No, it doesn't matter
14 (77.8%)
I don't wear socks
0 (0.0%)
I refuse to answer on the grounds it may incriminate me, but ticky boxes!
1 (5.6%)
(no subject)
Dec. 18th, 2025 12:07 amskygiantsEverything I've previously read by M.T. Anderson emotionally devastated me, so I despite the fact that Nicked was billed as a comedy I went in bravely prepared to be emotionally devastated once again.
This did not happen .... although M.T. Anderson cannot stop himself from wielding a sharp knife on occasion, it it turns out the book is indeed mostly a comedy .....
Nicked is based on a Real Historical Medieval Heist: the city of Bari is plague-ridden, and due to various political pressures the City's powers have decided that the way to resolve this is to steal the bones of St. Nicholas from their home in Myra and bring them to Bari to heal the sick, revive the tourism trade, and generally boost the city's fortunes. The central figures on this quest are Nicephorus, a very nice young monk who had the dubious fortune of receiving a dream about St. Nicholas that might possibly serve as some sort of justification for this endeavor, and Tyun, a professional relic hunter (or con artist? Who Could Say) who is not at really very nice at all but is Very Charismatic And Sexy, which is A Problem for Nicephorus.
The two books that Nicked kept reminding me of, as I read it, were Pratchett's Small Gods and Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland. Both of those books are slightly better books than this, but as both of them are indeed exceptionally good books I don't think it takes too much away from Nicked to say that it's not quite on their level: it's still really very fun! And, unlike in those other somewhat better books, the unlikely companions do indeed get to make out!
I did end it, unsurprisingly, desperately wanting to know more about the sources on which it was based to know what we do know about this Real Historical Medieval Heist, but it turns out they are mostly not translated into English. Foiled again!
This did not happen .... although M.T. Anderson cannot stop himself from wielding a sharp knife on occasion, it it turns out the book is indeed mostly a comedy .....
Nicked is based on a Real Historical Medieval Heist: the city of Bari is plague-ridden, and due to various political pressures the City's powers have decided that the way to resolve this is to steal the bones of St. Nicholas from their home in Myra and bring them to Bari to heal the sick, revive the tourism trade, and generally boost the city's fortunes. The central figures on this quest are Nicephorus, a very nice young monk who had the dubious fortune of receiving a dream about St. Nicholas that might possibly serve as some sort of justification for this endeavor, and Tyun, a professional relic hunter (or con artist? Who Could Say) who is not at really very nice at all but is Very Charismatic And Sexy, which is A Problem for Nicephorus.
The two books that Nicked kept reminding me of, as I read it, were Pratchett's Small Gods and Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland. Both of those books are slightly better books than this, but as both of them are indeed exceptionally good books I don't think it takes too much away from Nicked to say that it's not quite on their level: it's still really very fun! And, unlike in those other somewhat better books, the unlikely companions do indeed get to make out!
I did end it, unsurprisingly, desperately wanting to know more about the sources on which it was based to know what we do know about this Real Historical Medieval Heist, but it turns out they are mostly not translated into English. Foiled again!