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The Day in Spikedluv (Thursday, Sept 4)

I hit the Feed Bag while I was downtown (because Pip forgot something he’d purchased yesterday) and got in a walk around the park.

I hand-washed dishes, went on a couple walks with Pip and the dogs (including one in the rain), cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

We had burgers and Gus’s potatoes for supper.

I finished the KJ Charles book and started True Gretch, an autobiography, and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 61.3(F) and reached 82.4 that I saw when I got home a little after 3pm. (It had already hit 70.0 by 9am, before I left to visit mom, so I knew it was going to be hot.) It got really windy (there are trees outside mom’s room and they were blowing like crazy); it looked cool, but it was not. We got rain later, but not the forecasted thunderstorms, thankfully, as they drive our dogs nuts.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing better today. Especially after they told her she might be discharged. ( more back here )

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podcasts

podcast friday

Unlike most weeks when I hem and haw, there was no question this week when I saw the titles of these two episodes. Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff covered two of my favourite historical anarchist weirdos this week, one of whom I'm quite obsessed with. Each episode is a standalone despite the format, but you're going to want to listen to both.

The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail Part 1 is about Alejandro Finisterre, who for my money is one of the most interesting people who ever lived. A lot about his story brings happy tears to my eyes. He's best known for inventing foosball when he was a teenager, but (spoiler) he lived to age 87—outliving Franco and Spanish fascism—and did a whole bunch of other things, all of which are also cool as hell. He was a poet, publisher, and anti-fascist activist and also, from all reports, a lovely guy. Come for the foosball, stay for what's probably the best hijacking story of all time.

The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail Part 2 is about Nadar, who is most famous as the guy who took the first aerial photo and was one of the first celebrity photographers, but again, he did all kinds of other stuff. I actually did know about the hot air balloon thing during the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Paris, as well as his politics, but Margaret goes into a lot of detail about the many incredible things he got up to. Do yourself a favour and Google his photos if you haven't seen them, and then go and learn about his backstory.

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Interesting Links for 05-09-2025

1. K-pop Demon Hunters explained by a Korean teacher 😈🧑‍🏫: (tags:Korea music language movie demon video )

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Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3

( Scans under the cut... )

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Justice League #1 (JLI 1 of ?)

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1, with plot and layouts by Keith Giffen, dialogue by J.M. DeMatteis, and finished art by Kevin Maguire, establishing a division of labor that would become a JLI trademark.

The cover is rightly considered a classic. Its layout is counterintuitive--usually a bird's-eye view diminishes figures, but this image is about building the figures up. It was a signal this League would do things differently, and what sells it is the tension between that usual rule and a group of figures who look like they can handle anything, including whoever or whatever is daring to view them from above.

( Could it be...the reader of this comic looking down on it on the shelf? 'Yeah, you BETTER buy it, geek! Or we'll MESS YOU UP.' )

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Hawk and Dove (1989) #7

Writers: Karl and Barbara Kesel

Pencils: Greg Guler

Inks: Scott Hanna

Hawk and Dove fight monsters in Paris.

( Read more... )

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Guy Gardner: Warrior #30

Writer: Beau Smith

Pencils: Mitch Byrd

Inks: Dan Davis

Continued from Action Comics #709.

Superman takes Guy to S.T.A.R. Labs to try and fix his out of control powers.

( Read more... )

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Absolute Green Lantern #5 - "With Fear"

Are the straights okay? Hal Jordan is, to my knowledge, straight, and he is not okay. Jo Mullein isn't straight but isn't doing that well either, frankly. It's the Absolute Universe, folks! Nobody is okay. -- Al Ewing

( Read more... )

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meme

if stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

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August (+ 2025) Writing Roundup

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Update

Reading: I finished The Dictionary of Forgotten Words, which was very good. In an effort not to fall back into MB or ROL I downloaded Liane Moriaty's Here One Moment, read by Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill. People in RL keep pushing her books at me but this is the first one I've actually started.

Watching: We finished S3 of The Good Place and are taking a short break. Why is this show so good?

Gaming: I finally figured out that the door that was stumping me in Ori and the Blind Forest was unnecessary - it just lead to a spirit container and those things are everywhere. So I'm making good progress again. For me, that means it takes me ages to do anything that requires a fast reaction time, but if I really can't do the thing I get the dude to do it for me. :-)

I also played through Gorogoa, as it was on sale. Beautifully made, challenging, just a pleasure. I did have to look up a walkthrough at a couple of puzzles that required you to move quickly.

Making stuff: Still spinning this enormous cabled sock yarn project. I'm knitting a handspun loop scarf for a friend whose birthday is next week, so I need to finish that! I'm pondering making a Basque cheesecake for Father's Day on Sunday.

Other stuff: I wrote an email to my local Member of Parliament about how disgusted I am with the sneaky passing of the Migration Amendment Bills, which allows the government to pay third countries to accept non-citizens, including recognised refugees. /o\ /o\ /o\

This morning I sent an email around at work about setting up your workstation and didn't check that the link I'd pasted in was the correct one. Now all my colleagues know about my Murderbot obsession. /o\ /o\ /o\

Gorgeous Spring weather, blossoms everywhere, people sneezing. Hope you're all well! <3

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Daily Happiness

1. I've been making good progress on the high priority tasks the Japan IT team left for me when they went back to Japan at the end of last week.

2. The other day Carla and I were talking about sandwiches and I remembered this delicious veggie sandwich I used to get back in college. The place isn't around anymore, so I can't look it up to see exactly what was on it, but it was whole wheat bread with cream cheese, sprouts, cucumber, and some other veggies. I have cream cheese and sprouts already so asked Carla to get bread and cucumbers at the store and she found that they sell Cheesecake Factory brown bread in sandwich bread form now at the grocery store (they've been selling the little loaves like in the restaurant for a while) and that goes perfect with this sandwich. She also got some avocados, so I had sprouts, cucumber, and avocado on it and it was so good. Definitely going to make that for lunch again tomorrow.

3. Tuxie is still so wary of me, but he was very cute hiding in the planter the other day.

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Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #2: Putting Together A Team

( Read more, )

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trip trap

Counseling update

I’ve had several 1:1’s with the leadership coach, who I’ll call Verity, over the past couple weeks, as well as a ton of homework including taking a Myers Briggs assessment, and completing an 11-page questionnaire with like 4 pages of essay questions (it’s been a LOT). She interviewed me, Trip, and Margo separately about our issues, and each others strengths and weaknesses as a leader. She also interviewed Grace, Gladys and a few other leaders in the practice. Verity will review consolidated reports of our feedback with each of us privately next week, and I am honestly very open to improving as a leader where the criticism is valid. I am pretty self-aware, have a pretty thick skin, and already straight up admitted to her that I have stalled and obstructed Trip where I could until the new big bosses could shut him down. She asked, “and did they?”. Yes Verity, they did.

It’s Verity’s job to be a neutral observer and coach but I felt like she was genuinely empathetic (and intrigued lol) when I shared some of the examples of Trip’s lying, gaslighting, manipulating, and Margo’s knee-jerk defense of him, and her acting like I’m the problem no matter how many times he pulls that crap. She believes, correctly, that trust is foundational and that these issues will have to be addressed head-on, no sweeping it under the rug as “old grudges” like I know Margo is expecting.

Today we had our first joint session with her, a 2 hour review of our Myers Briggs results and leadership styles. Trip and I are complete opposites, to no one’s surprise, which can make for a really effective leadership team but not in the absence of trust. So next week, Trip and I are meeting 1:1 where we’re tasked with laying all our issues out on the table with each other. So I guess I now have explicit permission - nay, directive - to call him a liar straight to his face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I foresee this going one of two ways:

1) Trip continues to deny and gaslight despite all of the rock solid evidence and we get absolutely nowhere
2) I manage to work my “difficult people in the workplace” magic and coax him into actually admitting he’s a liar by feigning understanding and a sincere desire to be his trusted confidante.

In my experience (with my mother), getting someone with that much dysfunction to admit to their deepest vulnerabilities never really sticks, but hey, I’ll have made the effort. And demonstrating effort and a willingness to compromise is what this is all about.

At one point on today’s call I said something that triggered Margo’s knee-jerk defensiveness and she piped up to share with Verity her opinion that people on our (my) team “have very long memories” and how do we get past that and move forward productively? Verity told her that people have to be accountable for their actions and do what they say they’re going to do. (Also, Margo, last month wasn’t that long ago.)

At the end of the call Verity congratulated us on a productive first call (no virtual scratching out of each others eyes, which apparently she sees a lot of), but that we have a lot of work to do - and then casually dropped the bomb that she has doubts about whether we will succeed! LOLOL WE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE GIRL.

ETA: apparently I haven’t even shared last month’s drama, because all of the prior drama took so much time to write up I didn’t have the energy lol. Maybe I will get to it, having this record has been helpful, but suffice to say that Trip was caught lying again, gaslit me in front of our entire leadership team about what we had agreed on last fall, and Margo supported his recollection of events. I just dropped it and then in our next 1:1 I walked her through all of the events and conversations that had culminated in the three of us getting on a call together to confirm understanding and alignment precisely because I knew Trip wasn’t complying, and I wanted his agreement on the record. She realized her mistake, but did she apologize or even acknowledge that Trip’s behavior was a problem that should be addressed? What do you think?

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: On the Case with Paula Zahn

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All the medical b.s.

Today was my every three month cancer doc appointment. I got there on time and Cabell's parking is absolute ass. I ended up 10 minutes late and that was with me parking in the garage (farthest place you can find from the clinic), there were people double parking, parking on the median strips

So now I have to wait because as it turns out everyone was behind because it's student day. So one of Marshall's students comes in and she's all nervous (as all medical students tend to be. I get it. I was them once upon a time). She does my whole history and then goes to report to the oncology resident. Then she comes in and does pretty much the same and I explain why I never had the CT scan ordered back in May. (they called my home number and not my cell. (I have now had them delete that) and when I called for a new appointment they never ever called me back) I tell her about the thyroid and the pains I get that feel a little like menstrual cramps.

She then goes gets the doc watching over her and for the first time since my surgery, I see my surgeon. The good news is cancer wise I'm fine and after I see them again in December (and if I still have no signs of cancer) they'll bump me to twice a year instead of four times. (yay) but he is a) pissed that Cabell's imaging failed so hard on the follow up. b) agrees with me that I DO need a CT scan if for no other reason than cancer can seed itself along surgical pathways and could have something inside pushing out the hernia.

I didn't tell him about the other surgeon because while I liked him he was dismissive about this issue (I do trust him to do the thyroid stuff) so yes I'll have the CT scan in Huntington and if it requires surgery then I can go there. (it'll be easier to get to than Columbus anyhow) Besides I am LONG overdue for a CT on my abdomen for my adrenal tumor (benign) and cystic kidney.

And then there's my sugar. By the time I hit dinner it was nearly 400. And then the entire time I was in Books a Million, the 60 mile drive home and then an hour being home it was too high to read on the Dexcom (meaning it's over 500 and I should have drove to the ER). I have officially taken enough insulin to kill a non-diabetic and it's still over 200. (don't worry it'll crash to 70 around 3 AM)

WHY so high? I don't know...until I was in the bathroom and out of the corner of my eye I notice the Jardiance bottle is NOT with my other pills. Somehow my idiot self when I was filling my pillbox forgot I was out of that and didn't open the new mailer for it (my insurance will only pay if I buy it from their pharmacy) OMFG. That's why my sugar is between 300-450 for DAYS. Now I need to tell the endocrinologist this on Monday. This is concerning. I shouldn't be doing that badly without that pill but I am.

I did see Michael's has made good on their promise of fabric post Joann's fall. It's not much. I asked for patches (I keep getting holes in brand new t-shirts so I want cute little patches to cover them) and all they have is huge ones for denim, like I'm a farmer who needs to fix a blown out knee. Eye roll. The Lemax Halloween stuff is 100% gone (the one in Dayton still had plenty) I didn't buy any in Dayton because even at 40% it was too expensive and frankly the one I wanted (the casino) looked like an 80s arcade in a mall.... LeMax's quality has fallen off a cliff. Two years ago it was ceramic and neat. Last year it was resin plastic. This year plastic and looks like I made it. I did find a few other things for Halloween.

Homegoods did not have a ton of Halloween stuff like the one in PA did (probably all bought out) but had Halloween candles the other one didn't. Did I buy wone with a mirror with a vague skull in it? Maybe. Do I now own a pink casket butter dish, no not me (shut it)

The comic book store didn't have much for me...i'm like did you forget half my pull list or did things end? Do I remember my titles? Fuck no. Got 2 new horror #1s and a book on appalachian magic and folklore which will help in my stories (and if it has herbal stuff in it might added to my research)

Two community recs today

ladiesbingo I do like this one but I am personally passing on it because I have too many outstanding things as is and I want to save what little free time I have left for

spook_me if it runs this year

And last but definitely not least happy birthday to

fauxklore

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One World Under Doom #6

( Scans under the cut... )

Current Music: Arthur Askey, "I Want a Banana"

You brought me back a lemon and you squeezed me tight

"Would a Calvinist have just scoffed an entire bag of fish jerky?" I reasonably texted

selkie, who had just significantly improved the evening of a week that has taken a deeply unwanted turn for the medical by causing a bagful of groceries and seltzer to appear on the front steps. Hestia professed interest in the little squares of maple-and-coconut salmon, but had to content herself with treats designed for delectation of cat and curling up on the couch next to me. I am fascinated by the pumpkin spice cookies that come ready to bake from refrigerated. The bananas are already having a short shelf life.

ETA: Later texted to

spatch: "Who the hell is going to steal and sell Pedialyte? If you could get high off it, I'd have spent 2023 as a kite."

Current Mood: excited

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ficathon: yuletide

Yuletide

It's been a stressful kind of day because Capitalism™, so let's try to pull my brain over to fandom for at least a little bit tonight.

The Yuletide team posted an announcement that they're going to experiment this year with letting people have more nominations and requests. It's up to 5 fandoms per nomination and 8 fandoms per request for 2025, and they'll make decisions on future years once they see how much chaos is unleashed this year.

I'm very excited, because that means I have extra spots to play with! On the other hand, my current list of possible Yuletide fandoms is at 30something at the moment. Which, you know, is probably less than helpful. I really need to start narrowing it down, huh?

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daily

Daily Check-In

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Thursday, September 4, to midnight on Friday, September 5 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33575 Daily check-in poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 25

How are you doing?

I am OK
17 (68.0%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
8 (32.0%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
9 (36.0%)

One other person
11 (44.0%)

More than one other person
5 (20.0%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

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9/4/2025 Lower Packrat Trail

I hoped that going up early would be productive but it was not. There was heavy overcast and the closest I got to Fall warblers was hearing two distinctive chip notes that later in the season I might be able to identify, but not now, and I could not find the birds. I had to be content with Swainson's Thrushes everywhere, Wilson's Warblers, and Western Tanagers. Eventually I will see a Townsend's Warbler! So I had a nice walk through Riparian habitat, although I hadn't worn enough layers for true enjoyment. ( The list: )

At least there were no chainsaws!