the_shoshanna (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-06 05:08 pm
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-06 05:08 pmEntry tags:
It's not an epic fail, it's a shakedown cruise!
It's a fucking learning experience!
We started out to do our first walk today: taking a bus to just outside the town and walking a long (loooong) loop back to our hotel. The company estimates it at five hours of walking, and says to allow seven when you add rest stops and lunch breaks and so on.
First the bus let us off at the wrong place. Then -- epic fail #1 -- we thought it had let us off too soon rather than too late, and walked way too far along the road looking for where we wanted to be, before realizing and backtracking alllll the way again. Having now walked two hours already, we decided to just do an out and back partway along the loop, to a conveniently placed visitors' centre and back, and then catch the reverse bus back home, but -- epic fail #2 -- forgot to check the return bus schedule. (I thought I had it downloaded, so I didn't think to check the bus stop sign; but I did not have it downloaded.)
Then we had to cast about a bit at the start of the walk, because the directions were a bit confusing; we'll be sending a note to the company about a few infelicities. Starting with, they said there was a red phone box at the bus stop we wanted to get off at, and since we'd been watching and hadn't seen one, that's why we thought we'd been let off too soon; but the phone box is not (is no longer?) red, so we'd missed it. (We still should have realized where we were from other clues, but that threw us off at the start. For the rest of it, I blame catastrophic jetlag.)
Anyway, we finally got ourselves oriented and hiked crosscountry to the visitors' centre. It was a lovely walk! Gorgeous scenery of hills and farms, sunny and windy and cool. It amazes and delights me that we can just blithely walk into and across farmers' fields, past (and sometimes carefully through) their cattle and sheep herds.
Thankfully the visitors' centre was open and had (a bathroom and) free wifi -- cellphone signal was bad to nonexistent all day, and never strong enough for a data connection. So we were able to get online and check the return bus schedule, which turned out to be: one passing in an hour, and we could not have backtracked fast enough to catch it, and one passing in four hours, which would mean idling by the side of the road for two and a half hours. And that was it for the day. If we'd remembered to check the schedule before heading out, we could have made sure to turn around and head back in time to catch the first one. Epic fail.
Plus, by the time we got to the centre, Geoff's feet were very tired and he didn't think he was up to backtracking across country the way we had come. Going back along roads would have been easier walking, but significantly longer, plus the roads are quite narrow and have virtually no verge, so walking along them, as we had done in the morning, meant constantly jumping up onto the few steep inches of grass and bramble between the roadway and the hedge whenever a car came by.
So we punked out and phoned the taxi guy who had picked us up at the rail station the day before and taken us to our hotel (as I've remarked to a couple people, yesterday we took a car to a train to a bus to a plane to a train to a train to a train to a taxi to our hotel), and he was willing to come pick us up and take us back to our hotel. (For a lot of money, but our only alternative was to hitchhike, which is our absolute last resort.) He's a friendly guy, very loquacious with details and anecdotes about the area, but his accent is so unfamiliar to us that I think we miss a quarter to a third of what he says! When Geoff phoned him, he wasn't familiar with the visitors' centre we were at and asked for our what3words location, and I was worried that the words would get mistranscribed because his accent and Geoff's are so different. But Geoff spelled each word out, and he did manage to find us, though it took him forty-five minutes to get there: "that's the middle of nowhere!" he'd exclaimed to Geoff when he'd pulled up our location. We had a pleasant wait sitting outside at one of the centre's picnic tables, and after a while struck up a conversation with a local man who was bicycling around the area. He confirmed that it's very isolated; once the volunteer staff of the visitors' centre go home, there's very few people around.
Anyway, now we're back at the hotel, rather earlier than we'd expected to end the day! In the end, though, it wasn't a bad day. Now Geoff is napping and I'm blogging, after which there will be a lot of showering before dinner. And we have learned many mistakes not to make on tomorrow's hike!
An irony here is that I was a little worried that I wasn't in good enough shape for this week, and would be holding Geoff back, and instead it was Geoff who flagged today! In fairness, his pack is heavier than mine; he carries more things. (Even when he was already starting to flag, he offered to take my half-full water bottle in trade for an empty one, to lighten my load at his expense; I declined the offer.)
Tomorrow's hike is listed as "not a long day, but a hard one": four and a half hours of walking, they say to allow six hours in all, and a cumulative ascent of 750 meters. Here's hoping we can make it!
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-06 05:10 am
yhlee) wrote2025-09-06 05:10 amah, yes, this again
At this point, because life is too short, I block on sight people I see recommending anything by/to do with the serial racist TERF harasser Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Zen Cho's summary), who now writes as "Maria Ying" (with someone else)? (WinterFox, Requires Hate, whatever the hell other pseudonyms and/or monikers). There's a chance current readers/recommenders/etc. have no idea and just haven't heard, but like I said, life is too short, so why give any more time of day than "nope, blocking" to someone running around reccing a harasser?
(I was in her targeting crosshairs but fortunately only in a glancing fashion, unlike people I know whom she harassed in pretty awful ways, in an ongoing pattern of behavior.)
(I was in her targeting crosshairs but fortunately only in a glancing fashion, unlike people I know whom she harassed in pretty awful ways, in an ongoing pattern of behavior.)
schneefink (schneefink) wrote2025-09-05 11:53 pm
schneefink) wrote2025-09-05 11:53 pmEntry tags:
Silksong! First impressions
Silksong is finally out! "Fortunately" I didn't make it home by 4pm on Thursday meaning I only had to wait a little over an hour of frequent refreshing until I could finally buy the game xD
It's so much fun! Very reminiscent of Hollow Knight in a good way: atmosphere, gameplay, level design... And very hard. But (most of) the fights are fun to figure out, and the successes feel great. Tbh the main reason why I wish it didn't take me so long is because I'm already really looking forward to watching others play, but I also don't want any spoilers.
( Minor gameplay spoilers )
My actual playthrough, the first almost ten hours, with plenty of spoilers:
(Benchmark, I have three achievements for defeating bosses so far and explored a bit further into the ~next region; and I strongly suspect the first three bosses will probably be the same for most people.)
( My actual playthrough, with spoilers )
Yesterday I played until 2am, today hopefully not quite as long. Tomorrow I'm at a friend's birthday party, and I might think the timing more unfortunate if I didn't suspect my wrists will be glad for the break... But I have no other plans for Sunday except play, looking forward to it. (Well, that and watch a few of the MCSR Playoffs finale matches when I need a break, we'll see.)
It's so much fun! Very reminiscent of Hollow Knight in a good way: atmosphere, gameplay, level design... And very hard. But (most of) the fights are fun to figure out, and the successes feel great. Tbh the main reason why I wish it didn't take me so long is because I'm already really looking forward to watching others play, but I also don't want any spoilers.
( Minor gameplay spoilers )
My actual playthrough, the first almost ten hours, with plenty of spoilers:
(Benchmark, I have three achievements for defeating bosses so far and explored a bit further into the ~next region; and I strongly suspect the first three bosses will probably be the same for most people.)
( My actual playthrough, with spoilers )
Yesterday I played until 2am, today hopefully not quite as long. Tomorrow I'm at a friend's birthday party, and I might think the timing more unfortunate if I didn't suspect my wrists will be glad for the break... But I have no other plans for Sunday except play, looking forward to it. (Well, that and watch a few of the MCSR Playoffs finale matches when I need a break, we'll see.)
trobadora (trobadora) wrote2025-09-05 11:36 pm
trobadora) wrote2025-09-05 11:36 pmfests and exchanges
After not writing anything more than alibi sentences for ages - my last fic was in May (The Consultant, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan), and the one before that in March (Beyond the Gates, the Mountain, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan) - I'm signing up for a lot of stuff now! Deadlines are usually very effective at making me write, so now that I'm not so busy any more and it's actually possible, that should get me back to where I want to be, writing-wise. I hope. *g*
In order of reveals:
What fests or exchanges is everyone else doing?
In order of reveals:
- There's
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rarepairexchange, which has its deadline a little over two weeks from now, though reveals aren't until October. I've been poking at my assignment, and I have a bunch of things I know I want to be in it, but so far I haven't managed to pull it all together into a coherent narrative. Hopefully once I've conquered this one, things will be flowing again! - Then there's guardian_wishlist, for which I just finished my sign-up last night - and we've only just posted the first batch of wishlists. (Mine is here; I'm requesting Guardian drama and RPF, as well as Guardian/Grimm and Guardian/Stargate crossovers.) And there are so many tempting prompts already! Reveals are on 6 October, and I hope to make a bunch of stuff before then.
- Next comes ficinabox, with a deadline in October and reveals in November - assignments aren't out yet, but should come soon. I won't seriously tackle that one until after Rarepair Exchange, though. Plenty of time if I brainstorm and have a plan by then!
- There's also the Guardian Bonus Bingo grace period in November, for which I hope to finish at least some of the things I started and didn't finish so far. *g*
- Yuletide is of course gearing up again as well, so that's what I'll be working on in December. Can't wait to find out which rare fandom I get to write this time!
- Then, hopefully fandomtrees will also run again this year, and I'll get to make a bunch of stuff for that too! Reveals are genearally early to mid-January.
- And finally, there's fffx which doesn't have its deadline until the second half of January. I still need to finish my sign-up for that (planning on doing that this weekend), but that deadline is so far away, there'd still be plenty of time even if I didn't start thinking about it until after Yuletide ends. (Though I hope to have a plan before then!) Of course, an idea might grab me right away and I might be working on this in parallel to everything else, you never know! *g*
What fests or exchanges is everyone else doing?
carenejeans (carenejeans) wrote2025-09-05 02:10 pm
carenejeans) wrote2025-09-05 02:10 pmEntry tags:
Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 5
Quote of the Day:
On following a writing schedule and "finishing for the day:"
"Writing is obsessional and in many ways the hardest work is done when it's buzzing around in your head and you suddenly realise how things should be, and so going back to the typewriter and putting that right is actually easier."
— William Trevor, interview with Tom Adair, The Linen Hall Review (1994).
Today's Writing:
Almost 245 words, and some alibi editing. I sprained my ankle (not badly! It's better!) and was cranky.
Tally
( Days 1-3 )
Day 4:badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, falkner, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme
Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
On following a writing schedule and "finishing for the day:"
"Writing is obsessional and in many ways the hardest work is done when it's buzzing around in your head and you suddenly realise how things should be, and so going back to the typewriter and putting that right is actually easier."
— William Trevor, interview with Tom Adair, The Linen Hall Review (1994).
Today's Writing:
Almost 245 words, and some alibi editing. I sprained my ankle (not badly! It's better!) and was cranky.
Tally
( Days 1-3 )
Day 4:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, falkner, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilmeLet me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
the_shoshanna (the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-05 11:57 am
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-05 11:57 amEntry tags:
made it!
Our flight was delayed by almost an hour and I had serious doubts that we'd make our train out of London, which would have set off a cascade failure of prebooked transit. But by dint of rushing as fast as possible through the infinite hallways from our arrival terminal, through baggage claim and border control (THANK GOD for the e-gates), to the Heathrow Express platform, we actually made out train with time to breathe! That was not how the smart money had been betting, so I'm very relieved.
(Also, as you can tell by the fact that I'm posting this, my UK SIM is working perfectly. £10 for all the service we could possibly need, I'm very pleased.
Now we're relaxing on our first train (of two, followed by a prebooked taxi). Well, I say "relaxing," but we're apparently on the Lad Local; we're sitting directly behind a group of eight young men all talking and laughing uproariously, and consuming vast quantities of sandwiches, crisps, and canned drinks that look like beer but I'm not sure. I can't really follow their conversations but they don't seem unpleasant in any way, just loud. I like hearing people having fun!
ETA: One of the lads just tried a friend's drink and announced that it was some kind of tequila lime grapefruit something something, I didn't catch it all; and he said, "Do you ever feel like they're putting too many flavors into a drink these days? Like, that's a lot of flavors! I like it when I just drink a beer, you know, it's a nice simple refreshing one flavor--"
"In other news," interrupted one of his friends, "old man yells at cloud."
ETA2: Our first train was delayed en route and we had only four minutes to catch our second one, but thankfully it was 1) on the adjacent platform, and 2) also slightly delayed! Everything has fallen into place despite the stresses. On this train, the announcements are made first in Welsh and only afterward in English. I've never actually heard Welsh spoken before; it's so pretty!
(Also, as you can tell by the fact that I'm posting this, my UK SIM is working perfectly. £10 for all the service we could possibly need, I'm very pleased.
Now we're relaxing on our first train (of two, followed by a prebooked taxi). Well, I say "relaxing," but we're apparently on the Lad Local; we're sitting directly behind a group of eight young men all talking and laughing uproariously, and consuming vast quantities of sandwiches, crisps, and canned drinks that look like beer but I'm not sure. I can't really follow their conversations but they don't seem unpleasant in any way, just loud. I like hearing people having fun!
ETA: One of the lads just tried a friend's drink and announced that it was some kind of tequila lime grapefruit something something, I didn't catch it all; and he said, "Do you ever feel like they're putting too many flavors into a drink these days? Like, that's a lot of flavors! I like it when I just drink a beer, you know, it's a nice simple refreshing one flavor--"
"In other news," interrupted one of his friends, "old man yells at cloud."
ETA2: Our first train was delayed en route and we had only four minutes to catch our second one, but thankfully it was 1) on the adjacent platform, and 2) also slightly delayed! Everything has fallen into place despite the stresses. On this train, the announcements are made first in Welsh and only afterward in English. I've never actually heard Welsh spoken before; it's so pretty!
sakana17 (sakana17) wrote2025-09-04 10:52 pm
sakana17) wrote2025-09-04 10:52 pmEntry tags:
Another farmboys picspam, part 1
( Sorry (not sorry) )
(Part 2 to follow in a day or so.)
(Part 2 to follow in a day or so.)
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-04 06:34 pm
yhlee) wrote2025-09-04 06:34 pmwheel wheel
Taking a break from MUD coding.
Latest singles preparing for a 3-ply "leaf" yarn!
This one is also slated for Local Astronomer Knitter Friend. :)
This book has genuinely been my favorite read all YEAR. It's so engagingly written (I love technical/craft instructional books), wry moments of humor, but incredibly clear explanations of the engineering of a spinning wheel along with the MATH.
Latest singles preparing for a 3-ply "leaf" yarn!
This one is also slated for Local Astronomer Knitter Friend. :)
This book has genuinely been my favorite read all YEAR. It's so engagingly written (I love technical/craft instructional books), wry moments of humor, but incredibly clear explanations of the engineering of a spinning wheel along with the MATH.
beatrice_otter (beatrice_otter) wrote2025-09-04 04:10 pm
beatrice_otter) wrote2025-09-04 04:10 pmEntry tags:
The more time I spend talking to elderly people and reading history ...
... the more often I notice little details that are wrong in movies and books.
Like, most recently, I watched a few minutes of Saving Private Ryan, which included the delivery of the telegram about most of her sons dying to Mrs. Ryan. She is doing dishes in the kitchen when she looks out the window and sees a car driving up. She is wearing an apron. She goes to the door to greet the Official Men who are coming.
Me: ... why isn't she taking off the apron, or replacing it with a clean one, or flipping it around?
I have heard stories from multiple women about their mothers working really hard to always have a perfectly pristine apron whenever unexpected company showed up, the 1930s version of "we can't let anybody know we live here!" So, for example, women who would wear their aprons inside out, so that they could flip it around whenever the doorbell rang, and know the pretty side would be perfectly clean. Or women who would take their aprons off and stuff them in a drawer when they saw a car drive up, and pretend they hadn't been working in the kitchen or scrubbing the floor or whatever. Or run to the kitchen and swap out their everyday apron for the fancy one with the ruffles and embroidery or whatnot. In every case, the idea was for the apron to look like a fashion statement, and not an actual functional garment.
But the thing is, no piece of fiction is ever going to be 100% perfect in its presentation of the past, no matter how much they try for accuracy; if for no other reason than that lots of the past simply gets forgotten about. Nobody can possibly know every detail about what life was like in an era before they were born, even if they've studied it extensively. (And the further back in time you go, the less stuff it is possible to know.) And even if you could be accurate, the accuracy might not fit with the story you're trying to tell; it might distract from an emotional moment, or it might signal something completely different to modern eyes, or it might just not register to modern people unless you took the time to stop and explain what's going on. All of which interfere with telling the story you're trying to tell.
Like, most recently, I watched a few minutes of Saving Private Ryan, which included the delivery of the telegram about most of her sons dying to Mrs. Ryan. She is doing dishes in the kitchen when she looks out the window and sees a car driving up. She is wearing an apron. She goes to the door to greet the Official Men who are coming.
Me: ... why isn't she taking off the apron, or replacing it with a clean one, or flipping it around?
I have heard stories from multiple women about their mothers working really hard to always have a perfectly pristine apron whenever unexpected company showed up, the 1930s version of "we can't let anybody know we live here!" So, for example, women who would wear their aprons inside out, so that they could flip it around whenever the doorbell rang, and know the pretty side would be perfectly clean. Or women who would take their aprons off and stuff them in a drawer when they saw a car drive up, and pretend they hadn't been working in the kitchen or scrubbing the floor or whatever. Or run to the kitchen and swap out their everyday apron for the fancy one with the ruffles and embroidery or whatnot. In every case, the idea was for the apron to look like a fashion statement, and not an actual functional garment.
But the thing is, no piece of fiction is ever going to be 100% perfect in its presentation of the past, no matter how much they try for accuracy; if for no other reason than that lots of the past simply gets forgotten about. Nobody can possibly know every detail about what life was like in an era before they were born, even if they've studied it extensively. (And the further back in time you go, the less stuff it is possible to know.) And even if you could be accurate, the accuracy might not fit with the story you're trying to tell; it might distract from an emotional moment, or it might signal something completely different to modern eyes, or it might just not register to modern people unless you took the time to stop and explain what's going on. All of which interfere with telling the story you're trying to tell.
So for me, it's a lot of "they're not wrong to do it that way, that I find it annoying is totally a ME issue and not an objective problem with the story.
carenejeans (carenejeans) wrote2025-09-04 11:37 am
carenejeans) wrote2025-09-04 11:37 amEntry tags:
Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 4
Quote of the Day:
"For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."
--Ernest Hemingway, interview in Writers At Work, Second Series, edited by George Plimpton (1963)
Today's Writing:
Reminded of a tip bygoddess47 (thanks!), I skipped to writing the middle of my essay. This worked! Not enough new words to count, but a goodly amount of rewriting and rearranging and etc. ;-)
Tally
( Days 1-2 )
Day 3:badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, the_siobhan, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme
Day 4:china_shop
Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
"For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."
--Ernest Hemingway, interview in Writers At Work, Second Series, edited by George Plimpton (1963)
Today's Writing:
Reminded of a tip by
goddess47 (thanks!), I skipped to writing the middle of my essay. This worked! Not enough new words to count, but a goodly amount of rewriting and rearranging and etc. ;-)Tally
( Days 1-2 )
Day 3:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, the_siobhan, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilmeDay 4:
china_shopLet me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
Punk (runpunkrun) wrote2025-09-04 07:38 am
runpunkrun) wrote2025-09-04 07:38 amEntry tags:
Fancake's Theme for September: Food & Cooking
It's farm to table—and every stop in between—at
fancake this month! Bring on over your recs for fanworks featuring hunting, farming, ranching, fishing, foraging, grocery shopping, farmer's markets, kitchens, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, food carts, bars, wineries, breweries, waiters, bartenders, baristas, and, of course, cooking and eating.If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!
trobadora (trobadora) wrote2025-09-04 03:09 pm
trobadora) wrote2025-09-04 03:09 pmBohemian Rhapsody (Zulu version)
Via brithistorian: the South African Ndlovu Youth Choir has translated Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody into Zulu. It's gorgeous - and after I saw the video, I just had to share it. It's completely stunning:
brithistorian: the South African Ndlovu Youth Choir has translated Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody into Zulu. It's gorgeous - and after I saw the video, I just had to share it. It's completely stunning:
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-04 02:11 am
yhlee) wrote2025-09-04 02:11 amreel WIP
Music reel. :3 Thoughts/feedback welcome (although I'm still learning industry norms for composition/orchestration); I graduate in 2028 but figure I'd hit the learning curve accreting a reel starting now.
Note: it's the norm for people in composition/orchestration to have audio-only reels (unless, I suppose, you have some gigantic AAA-videogame or Star Wars-level movie credit you have permission to show off as a video clip!).
Note: it's the norm for people in composition/orchestration to have audio-only reels (unless, I suppose, you have some gigantic AAA-videogame or Star Wars-level movie credit you have permission to show off as a video clip!).
The Gauche in the Machine (china_shop) wrote2025-09-04 07:10 pm
china_shop) wrote2025-09-04 07:10 pmEntry tags:
Me-and-media update
Pandemic life
( Nothing to report, really. )
Previous poll review
In the Cluedo poll, by far the most popular weapon was the cassowary (53.3%), followed by extremely elegant clothing (33.3%). In ticky-boxes, musical frogs and the wishing abyss tied for second place with 42.2%, after hugs with 75.6%. Thank you for your votes!
Reading
More of Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins (I'm enjoying it, but it feels like it will never end), more of the latest Rivers of London (also audio), and more of A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (library book). A browse through Low-FODMAP and Vegan: what to eat when you can't eat anything by Joanne Stepaniak (library book), of which more below.
Kdramas/Cdramas
I'm still going with Nothing But Love, eking it out. Pru and I watched two episodes of Mystic Pop-up Bar, and it's pretty great. I don't know why I bounced off last time. It does help that Choi Won-young, one of the dads from Family by Choice, is main cast and I love him.
Other TV/movies
Wow, almost no TV. Some Vir Das standup (very good), finished The Sympathizer with our tv-watching friend (fascinating, dark, very black comedy), two episodes of Fringe season 2 with my sister. One episode of new Magnum PI (very woohoo the military!). A ton more Bluey.
me: .........
Jaws at the cinema for its 50th anniversary rerelease, so fun!
Guardian/Fandom
Everything is happening everywhere all at once. We're wrapping up the readalong, and the Slo-mo Rewatch starts this weekend onsid_guardian! guardian_wishlist is in sign-ups! fan_flashworks stuff is happening behind the scenes! And I have a ton of fan_writers comments to reply to! \o/
Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses are doing a deep dive on Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky. I haven't read it, but I still enjoy their analysis. The last episode gave me ~writing thoughts~, and I scrawled a bunch of extra stuff for my WIP, which I then immediately took out again because it didn't fit, but I'll use it somewhere else. Letters from an American is really good, and 12ish minutes of US politics a day is about all I can take. I started Alba Salix, Royal Physician but am still not sure.
Online life
After I posted my lastfan_writers post, I got a ton of great comments, and... hit a wall with things to reply to. I'm kind of paralysed by my inbox, now, overwhelmed, and not keeping up with my reading page either. Tabs continue to propagate. Also, my arms are such a mess, argh. I'm going to need them for Wishlist, so I'm trying to slow down, but <speech tone="wail">I don't waaaaant toooooo.</speech> :-( tl;dr Sorry if I haven't replied to you! I still plan to! <333
Writing/making things
After a week and a half of brain static, I tried to write a last-minute drabble for the FFW amnesty round and ended up with 1300 words of "srsly, nobody asked for this." Still working on my DNW-kink fic and having a ball.
Life/health/mental state things
Overwhelm plus sore arms, dohhhhhh. But my mood and energy levels are pretty good, despite that.
Korean
I have a theoretical plan to read the Guardian subs in Korean (진혼 자막 한국어으로) as we go through the rewatch. I'm completely 100% expecting to fall behind, but still, any reading is better than none, right?
Food
New things I've made in the last week:
Conclusion: I'm enjoying my experiments. It's fun flailing around, all "Stand Back, I'm Going To TryScience Cooking!" :-) Also, I feel like recipe books are like fan reccers: for best results, you have to find the ones you click with.
Good things
Bluetooth earpieces. Sisters. Reading glasses (but not the needing of them). Libraries. Unexpected story developments. Recipe books. Bluey! Biking.
( Nothing to report, really. )
Previous poll review
In the Cluedo poll, by far the most popular weapon was the cassowary (53.3%), followed by extremely elegant clothing (33.3%). In ticky-boxes, musical frogs and the wishing abyss tied for second place with 42.2%, after hugs with 75.6%. Thank you for your votes!
Reading
More of Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins (I'm enjoying it, but it feels like it will never end), more of the latest Rivers of London (also audio), and more of A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (library book). A browse through Low-FODMAP and Vegan: what to eat when you can't eat anything by Joanne Stepaniak (library book), of which more below.
Kdramas/Cdramas
I'm still going with Nothing But Love, eking it out. Pru and I watched two episodes of Mystic Pop-up Bar, and it's pretty great. I don't know why I bounced off last time. It does help that Choi Won-young, one of the dads from Family by Choice, is main cast and I love him.
Other TV/movies
Wow, almost no TV. Some Vir Das standup (very good), finished The Sympathizer with our tv-watching friend (fascinating, dark, very black comedy), two episodes of Fringe season 2 with my sister. One episode of new Magnum PI (very woohoo the military!). A ton more Bluey.
Bluey observation; ignore if you prefer to watch unquestioningly.
Andrew: Why is the mum always hanging out laundry, when none of them wear clothes?me: .........
Jaws at the cinema for its 50th anniversary rerelease, so fun!
Guardian/Fandom
Everything is happening everywhere all at once. We're wrapping up the readalong, and the Slo-mo Rewatch starts this weekend on
sid_guardian! guardian_wishlist is in sign-ups! fan_flashworks stuff is happening behind the scenes! And I have a ton of fan_writers comments to reply to! \o/Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses are doing a deep dive on Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky. I haven't read it, but I still enjoy their analysis. The last episode gave me ~writing thoughts~, and I scrawled a bunch of extra stuff for my WIP, which I then immediately took out again because it didn't fit, but I'll use it somewhere else. Letters from an American is really good, and 12ish minutes of US politics a day is about all I can take. I started Alba Salix, Royal Physician but am still not sure.
Online life
After I posted my last
fan_writers post, I got a ton of great comments, and... hit a wall with things to reply to. I'm kind of paralysed by my inbox, now, overwhelmed, and not keeping up with my reading page either. Tabs continue to propagate. Also, my arms are such a mess, argh. I'm going to need them for Wishlist, so I'm trying to slow down, but <speech tone="wail">I don't waaaaant toooooo.</speech> :-( tl;dr Sorry if I haven't replied to you! I still plan to! <333Writing/making things
After a week and a half of brain static, I tried to write a last-minute drabble for the FFW amnesty round and ended up with 1300 words of "srsly, nobody asked for this." Still working on my DNW-kink fic and having a ball.
Life/health/mental state things
Overwhelm plus sore arms, dohhhhhh. But my mood and energy levels are pretty good, despite that.
Korean
I have a theoretical plan to read the Guardian subs in Korean (진혼 자막 한국어으로) as we go through the rewatch. I'm completely 100% expecting to fall behind, but still, any reading is better than none, right?
Food
New things I've made in the last week:
- a carrot, walnut and sultana cake, recipe from the back of the sultana packet; as I added a cup of this and a cup of that, I started going, "I'm going to need a bigger cake tin." Then I got to 1 cup of oil and three eggs, and looked at my mixing bowl. "I'm going to need a bigger bowl!!" Ended up cooking it in two unevenly distributed cake tins and taking one out early, lol.
- vegan nutty gravy from the vegan low-FODMAP book; I used so many substitutions (regular miso for light miso, soy sauce for low sodium tamari, etc) that I'm not sure what it was supposed to taste like. It was good but a bit strong.
- baked lemon tofu (ibid); Very Tangy. I tried this twice, and the first time I didn't have enough lemon juice, used some lime instead, and thought that was why it was So Tangy. The second time I followed the recipe more closely (just switched out thyme for oregano and added some maple syrup because yum), and it was still a bit overwhelming. Overall, not unsuccessful, but I don't know how to turn this into a meal.
Conclusion: I'm enjoying my experiments. It's fun flailing around, all "Stand Back, I'm Going To Try
Good things
Bluetooth earpieces. Sisters. Reading glasses (but not the needing of them). Libraries. Unexpected story developments. Recipe books. Bluey! Biking.
Poll #33572 Spice tolerance
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 49
I can handle
View Answers
mild
22 (44.9%)
a vague tingle
20 (40.8%)
a distinct tingle
24 (49.0%)
hot
17 (34.7%)
searing
6 (12.2%)
call the fire department
2 (4.1%)
depends on the cuisine
13 (26.5%)
other
4 (8.2%)
ticky-box full of Michaelangelo's many naked dudes
24 (49.0%)
ticky-box full of someone else is cooking dinner
27 (55.1%)
ticky-box of ducklings debating the merits of existentialism
23 (46.9%)
ticky-box full of chocolate (hot or solid)
32 (65.3%)
ticky-box full of hugs
39 (79.6%)