knowing, slowing, growing things
Mar. 19th, 2026 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnest( lots more rambling about garden, dancing, and stuff )
Costume night at rehearsal this evening. I have accumulated a number of witchy outfit-adjacent items, it will be a matter of figuring out how they fit together. But at least I won't have to go on stage naked, even though that would probably be more authentic than anything else.
🎧 Audiobook Check-in: "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon"
Mar. 19th, 2026 11:50 ambluapapilio
Summary: In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
My thoughts: Somehow this did not feel like just 4 hours, it takes you on a whole journey and they really didn't go that far I think. It follows Minli but you also get lots of other stories along the way told by others that are interconnected and I liked every single one. I was so impressed by this work and am excited to read more of this author's stuff. And to reread this someday!
The narration by Janet Song was fantastic too.
Orchard Bees
Mar. 19th, 2026 04:02 pmbookscorpion posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_nature
( Read more... )
Unusual Names - Now With More Porn!
Mar. 19th, 2026 01:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feedYou know what’s better than unusual names? NOTHING!
And here are some of the names on my list:
Gus:
Ellen & Philip:
Georgia:
Try not to call your friend Georgia "Gorgia" from now on. JUST TRY.
Dallas:
Way to OWN that line spacing, baker.
Sophie & Reilly:
Oh, the irony. It's a two-fer!
???
Is this a real name? Please let this be a real name. If only so I can imagine someone saying, "Well, I should head over to the preschool to pick up my Porn."
Or, "Would you ask the babysitter to watch Porn for me?"
Or, "Hey, Mom, I posted pictures of Porn on your Facebook page!"
Or, "Thanks to Porn, I haven't slept in a week and my house is full of stinky diapers."
[gigglesnort] Yep, it's official: someone needs to at least name their dog/cat Porn, STAT.
***
Um, so I had more cakes to post, but I seem to have completely derailed myself with the Porn thing.
(Bet all you cubicle workers know what I mean, EH? Heyoooo!)
So here, let's just go out with a bang:
(Or did we do that already?? [Ok, Ok, I'll stop.])
I guess the lawyers insisted.
(And I can't even tell you what they renamed Piglet.)
Thanks to Andi V., Amadie H., Bryar, Jennifer A., Mark B., Rich G., Holly S., & Rachel F. for helping make today's post especially classy. (POOP AND PORN 4EVA!!!)
*****
P.S. Here's a (hilarious) reminder that English is almost as confusing as these cakes:
P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
NS: Banksy revealed?
Mar. 19th, 2026 10:13 amcygnia posting in scans_dailySo we set out to determine how Banksy did it – and who he really is. Weeks later, a reporter visited Horenka with a photo lineup of graffiti artists often rumored to be the artist and showed the pictures to locals to see if anyone recognized him. Not long after, we heard that a famous British musician – one of the people often whispered to be Banksy – had been spotted in Kyiv, giving us a theory to pursue.
Reuters interviewed a dozen Banksy-world insiders and experts. None would comment on his identity, but many filled in details about his life and career. We examined photos of the artist, most of which obscured his face but contained critical information. We later unearthed previously undisclosed U.S. court records and police reports.
These included a hand-written confession by the artist to a long-ago misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct – a document that revealed, beyond dispute, Banksy’s true identity.
And in the process, we learned how and why the man behind the name Banksy vanished from the public record more than a decade ago.
(no subject)
Mar. 19th, 2026 09:10 amgaladhir90 discussion questions. 1. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
There are so many places! If I'm imagining myself being as physically limited as I am now - whereby I find walking difficult for more than about half an hour at best - then a cruise might be best.
I would like to cruise up the Danube and see the painted churches of Romania. But then again I would also like to cruise down the Nile and see Luxor. I could take a few lessons with Egyptian Raqs Sharqi teachers and get a new outfit while I was there.
If, on this imaginary trip, I'm also imagining myself as physically fit again, I'd like to go to Mexico and see what remains of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Or perhaps to Peru to visit Machu Picchu
Alternatively, my son would like to go to Japan, so perhaps I would use my imaginary trip to take him there.
home and energy thoughts
Mar. 19th, 2026 07:49 pmtielan( thinky thoughts )
Just One Thing (19 March 2026)
Mar. 19th, 2026 08:01 amnanila posting in awesomeersComment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
My tips for improving my writing focus and/or helping myself get started
Mar. 19th, 2026 07:43 amvriddyFor a few months last year, I set up a weekly planning/review system related to my writing habits. I'm not totally sure when I stopped, but I think it might have been because I've internalised a lot of what I was learning. My goal was to teach myself to write more often, so I'd start the week's planning with "write 8 times this week" with the understanding that 15 minutes puttering around a project counts as a writing session (can be brainstorming, writing, editing, organising my notes if my brain struggles with the other things, so the project at least stays familiar in my head). I wish I could sustain like 4h writing marathons, but at this current point in my life, logistics and health stuff means longer sessions are just not happening. That's why I've been exploring whether writing more often can work for me.
As part of the planning, one of the questions I was told to write the answer for is "What are the obstacles?" That's something I always consider now. For example, if I have family visiting, am travelling, or preparing for a stressful presentation, whatever, it's going to affect my focus. So how am I going to mitigate that? Maybe it's fairer to plan for 5 sessions after all. Or maybe I should assume a session's length of 5 minutes is fair for that week, even if that means just spending 5 minutes rereading what I wrote before to keep the story alive in my head. Maybe both, maybe something else. Preparing and writing down the mitigations as part of the planning really helped me because I don't always think straight in the middle of it all.
Anyway, two obstacles I nearly always ended up writing down are:
- Can't make myself focus
- Can't make myself start
Like, I have a very good system for writing in the morning, it's part of my routine, but later in the day nearly always felt like bodyslamming against a wall. In the end, the solutions that turned out to be effective were the same for both. And after a while, I just printed them out so I have a poster with the list beside my computer! (Not that I always remember to look at it 🥲 but after a couple of days of sighing and doing nothing, my eyes will usually land on it and I'll go, oh!! Who knew!!!!!).
Anyway, here are the tips I landed on to mitigate this in a way that works well with my brain:
- Sanctuary mindset
- Deep breaths, 3-5 times
- Quiet music with no lyrics. If that's not enough, same but with headphones.
- Separate computer profile for writing
- Wifi off
Tutorials
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:15 amysabetwordsmith posting in getting_startedsoc_puppet has posted "Finding Friends and Things to Do on Dreamwidth" and "Uploading Images to Dreamwidth" on newcomers.
Community Thursdayyyy
Mar. 19th, 2026 05:02 amvriddyPosted and commented on
bnha_fans.Commented on
add_a_writer.Commented on
joicon.Commented on
getyourwordsout.Commented on
anime_manga.Commented on
booknook.Edit: Also signal-boosting
newcomers / the_great_tumblr_purge where soc_puppet has been posting helpful Dreamwidth tutorials, since the latest Tumblr hiccup (that TPTB since temporarily reverted) caused another surge of new people popping by Dreamwidth :)Benn Jordan plays the stock market [econ, tech, dataviz, music]
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:46 amsiderea(All about the sound, but visuals also nice.)
2026 Mar 18: Benn Jordan [BennJordan YT]: "I'm here to disrupt the finance synthesizer scene."
Daily Happiness
Mar. 18th, 2026 09:43 pmtorachan2. Tomorrow I have a lot of meetings, but the first one isn't until 11, so I'm going to take my time in the morning to make up for how long today felt (I didn't even get home until after seven, and I left around 8:30 this morning).
3. Carla and I are not fans of the warm weather, but the cats sure love having the front windows open.
Journal flip-through: Jan-Feb (Hobonichi Cousin A5)
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:18 pmhalfcactus posting in journalsandplanners
How is everyone doing with theirs?
(no subject)
Mar. 18th, 2026 08:35 pmcahn( Organ workshop, youth orchestra, stake conference music, stake leadership change )
Did not make yoga
Mar. 18th, 2026 11:24 pmcornerofmadnessGot the midterm grades in. Can't wait for the crying tomorrow.
I looked up the Ohioana book festival because I know it's up and coming but there was a library staff change and the festival was canceled. I'm bummed and angry. I didn't make it last year for reasons and now I don't know if it'll ever be back.
What I Just Finished Reading:
The Snow Child - depressing
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Would have been better without the misogyny and sexual abuse (but would it be Ellison without the misogyny?)
What I am Currently Reading:
Violet Thistlewaite is not a villain any more so far, I really like this one
With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
What I Plan to Read Next: La Grand Familia, and Luna Park history
(no subject)
Mar. 18th, 2026 10:50 pmskygiantsThe central character of Thrall is Lucy Easting, who has just transferred into beautiful, isolated, mountainside Rollins University from community college, in a bid to get away from her stressed and depressed mother and live a life she's excited about for a change.
Alas! her first college party results in a couple of neck puncture marks, a marked tendency to experience severe migraines in sunlight, and a tragic susceptibility to the ominous vampire voice in her head that occasionally takes over her consciousness and directs her towards uncharacteristic action.
Fortunately! the college is full of prospective allies who are willing to take a chance on Lucy despite her regrettable thrall situation, including but not limited to the host of the local college late-night radio show, who has been a target of the vampire since her sophomore year and has been using the airwaves to try and fight back; Lucy's RA, a determined young woman with very nice arms, who came to the school to investigate after a terrible fate befell her high school ex-boyfriend Jonathan; and the very nice, normal party host who has no previous vampire experience but feels just terrible about the whole situation and is not about to relinquish responsibility for sorting the situation out! it was her party!!
It's a really charming book on a number of levels, but my favorite thing about it as a Dracula riff specifically is how much it's thematically invested in Lucy as a side character -- the narrative is consistently very clear that the vampire is not particularly interested in Lucy; he's obsessed with Athena the radio show host and everything else he's doing is part of his elaborate cat-and-mouse game with her, including incidentally overturning Lucy's life as a by-the-by -- and how Lucy makes the book her own story anyway by sheer force of determination not to be cut out of it. Lucy's energy really drives the book: she wants to live, and she wants to live a life on her own terms, and she's not about to let one horrible encounter take that away from her.
Also, I think it's not a huge spoiler ( but I guess is technically a mild one: lesbians! )
AU5k: Two Post Deadline Pinch Hits, Due March 29th
Mar. 18th, 2026 10:59 pmtavina posting in pinchhitsDue: March 29th at 10pm EDT
PH 22 - NoPixel (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
PH 28 - DCU (Comics), Gravity Falls, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Claim via emailing TavinaFanfiction@gmail.com or by commenting at https://au5k.dreamwidth.org/15169.html
Thank you for considering our pinch hits!