fred_mouse: Night sky, bright star, crescent moon (goals)
fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-04-23 09:49 pm

NYR update - week 16

Only a 'what has actually changed' set of notes today, rather than a reflection on where I am on the goals.

  • craft - the middle of the year 100 days goal to have fewer WIPs is moving along steadily. I have a document and it has a lot of information / ideas in it. I have found yet another list that is to be reconciled into the main list (this one is in trello).
  • reading - ahead 26 'books' and 59 pages (this has not been much of a reading week).
  • music - Malle Symon now mostly doable at what might be a performance speed. Found a recording of someone else playing it, on a much larger recorder than I use, so the last practice I did on the alto rather than the soprano. I'm not sure if that is what made it a better run through, or maybe just I'm nearly dealing with that speed.
  • organisation The three boxes of fabric and yarn have been taken away; two empty boxes have been returned; it is possible some of the fabric will come back but at the moment I'm calling that specific goal complete.
  • writing I have spent some time poking at the neocities site. I have more text in it. I still haven't worked out how I want to handle some stuff. I also now have an airtable base with many Untapped books (it is intensely frustrating that there isn't just a list of them readily accessible, but needs must, and I'm poking at several different sources - I have a search in trove open, it has slightly more books than I've identified already).
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fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-04-23 09:24 pm

New binary, WTAF

So, I've been off poking at recorder playing websites, in an attempt to do some upskilling. At the moment, I'm thinking about experimenting with learning circular breathing, because it looks like fun.

Most of what I've been reading is fine. And then I got to this piece on mouthpieces which was going just fine when talking about two breathing styles.

Then it gets into specifying which playing characteristics go with which breathing style, which had me making that 'what are you talking about' face, because I really don't believe that ones breathing style is going to affect how one positions one's fingers, and I *really* don't believe it goes with footedness.

Then it jumped the shark.

Apparently you can tell which breathing style a person is going to be, based on the ratio of sun energy to moon energy on the day they are born. There are two links to look further in to this, and determine which side of the binary you are, but both are in German, and I decided I'd read enough.

Also: I believe that both breathing styles are useful, and it does rather depend on the type of music you are playing.

Also Also: I'm not convinced that these are all the options.

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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-23 03:19 am
Entry tags:
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conuly ([personal profile] conuly) wrote2025-04-27 04:13 am

Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin

Late in May as the light lengthens
toward summer the young goldfinches
flutter down through the day for the first time
to find themselves among fallen petals
cradling their day's colors in the day's shadows
of the garden beside the old house
after a cold spring with no rain
not a sound comes from the empty village
as I stand eating the black cherries
from the loaded branches above me
saying to myself Remember this


*******


Link
conuly: (Default)
conuly ([personal profile] conuly) wrote2025-04-25 04:06 am
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conuly ([personal profile] conuly) wrote2025-04-26 04:05 am

There is a friending meme ongoing

Clicky!

Also, I meant to say re: the utilities that you are all the best and I absolutely love you :)

(Still need to call National Grid and still don't wanna.)
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-23 12:10 am

World Book Day

The official theme for World Book Day 2025 is:

"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"

This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding
.

Read more... )
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-23 12:09 am
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Good News

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-22 11:08 pm

Today's Adventures

Today we went out shopping.

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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-22 10:29 pm
Entry tags:

Insect Apocalypse

Insects are disappearing due to agriculture -- and many other drivers, new research reveals

New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research
.

Read more... )
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wyld_dandelyon ([personal profile] wyld_dandelyon) wrote2025-04-22 10:13 pm
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Happy Earth Day!

I've been under the weather. This time I managed to get Bronchitis just from the end of the winter heating season (unless a friend with a congestive heart condition was actually sick, and not just coughing because of the heart condition). But I think this was coming on earlier, and the med regime my former allergist suggested was keeping my lungs and sinuses a lot clearer than in the past, but not enough for my body to clear out the infection.

Well, I came to this conclusion Friday, with (among other things) singing at the Eurofilk showing me I was unusually short of breath for singing; I already had an appointment with my newish primary doc who I really like on Monday, and when I tried to call the allergist last month to set up an appointment, there was no answer or answering machine on his number, or on the alternate number I found on Google. I did find an article about him listing him as 81 years old, and I'm not sure how long ago that was written, so I'm assuming he died or retired. So, I waited out the weekend and got tireder and tireder, and shorter and shorter of breath.

Happily, she was willing to prescribe antibiotics and steroids (if I'd gotten antibiotics on Friday, that might have been enough), unhappily, when they figured out that the only way they could give me the meds the doc thought most appropriate that didn't have corn in it (kids' liquid, again), it turned out that the pharmacy couldn't fill it until today. It was too late to try to talk the doc into prescribing something different, as the clinic was closed.

So today I woke up way too early, and was NOT falling asleep again (my body does insist on waking when I really need meds, which freaked out my RN mother when I was first sick enough to always be awake when she came in to wake me up to take them). This was handy in that I was able to deal with a bank overdraft for my grown-up kid (she's still using the account I got her when she went to Denmark in 4th grade so I could easily transfer money to her if there was an unexpected need, so, being awake I saw the text notification) (Her birthday is later this month, so an early birthday gift was perfectly reasonable).

And then I had food and called the pharmacy, because I WANTED those meds before the rest of the day's errands, which included getting My Angel to her PT appointment, mailing a thing (in a post office, since there seems to be no more drop-off boxes outside our regular post office any more--WTF, government?--and going to pick up meds at a different pharmacy too.

The strip mall the post office was in had one of the closing JoAnne Fabrics, which had almost no fabric left, and not much of anything else either. I did find some things to buy, including two substantially marked down big bags designed to hold a sewing machine and sewing stuff, but which I plan to use one of for author stuff (books, display, etc.) on the assumption that I'll do signings at cons again, and the other for acrylic paints, brushes, and the like since my current bag and plastic bin plan isn't working out as well as I'd like, and because having that stuff on wheels will be very convenient.

I also got some beads, wire, a thimble and multitool, sewing machine needles, an ironing pad to put on a table, some tape, a couple of pillow forms for planned gifting, and, surprisingly, a basket of tumbled stones to put in the fishtank. Sadly, the heavy-duty dolly they had pictured in the front as available had already been sold. I looked at the jewelry making stuff, thought about the heavy duty crimper and some of those beads, but I haven't been making jewelry lately and can use the hemostats I use for holding autoharp strings to crimp things, so I left those behind. I did also get some very discounted project boards, so if we decide to go to one or more protests, we can take signs.

And I took photos of our daffodils in the middle of all that.

I am cheered by all the photos of protests I'm seeing, and by how badly Elon's car company is doing. It gives me hope. Keep contacting your elected officials, we've got to wear them down until they stand up to our very cruel and foolish leader.

Now I am going to hit post and go watch Rachel show all those pictures of the signs again, and do Duolinguo, so I don't miss a day, and fall in bed. Maybe I'll manage to post Daffodil pics tomorrow.
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dialecticdreamer ([personal profile] dialecticdreamer) wrote2025-04-22 10:18 pm

Urgent and Unexpected (part 1 of 1, complete)

Urgent and Unexpected
By Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1683
[Landing #5, day 2, then Landing #6, day 1]


:: Schrodinger's Heroes and the Asher family confront the problem of accessing medical care for Anita, in the Heroes’ ineffable style. Part of the Sidestep Travelers universe. This story crosses with a version of the Schrodinger’s Heroes universe. ::



:: Author’s note: I am posting the WHOLE story in one piece, instead of trying to break it into parts. Some weird mistake ate a good chunk of the original draft, so this has moved in a different direction. ::




“We’ve got at least a partial coordinate match for your universe already,” Pat assured her, as Anita paced along longer side of the empty room once labeled for storage and currently empty of even the previous coating of dust. One solitary cobweb clung to the intersection of two walls, about a foot lower than the ceiling, but it was barely the size of the first joint of Anita’s thumb, so she ignored it.
Read more... )
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ericcoleman ([personal profile] ericcoleman) wrote in [community profile] filk2025-04-22 05:55 pm

This week on FilkCast

Leslie Hudson, Clearly Guilty, Phil Allcock, Ariel Cinii, Andrea Dale, Efenwealt Wystle, Chris Weber, Don Neill, Misbehavin' Maidens, Tera Mitchell, Windbourne, Cheshire Moon, Night Watch Paradox, Heather Dale

Available on iTunes, Google Play and most other places you can get podcasts. We can be heard Wednesday at 6am and 9pm Central on scifi.radio.

filkcast.com
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote in [community profile] allbingo2025-04-22 05:46 pm
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-22 02:17 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze, a beautiful spring day.  :D

I fed the birds.  I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two brown-headed cowbirds, a mourning dove, and two fox squirrels.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- We went out shopping.  I picked out roughly 5 flats of plants at DeBuhr's.  We found a garden hose, nozzle, and reel plus a gas can at Home Depot.  Also at Home Depot I spotted a modular garage storage system that looks very promising.  It has mounting rails for shelves and a wide variety of hooks.  That ought to combine well with a pegboard.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- I planted a 'Sugar Snack' cherry tomato and a 'Yellow Pear' tomato in the large pots by the septic garden, each with 4 marigolds around it.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

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kengr ([personal profile] kengr) wrote2025-04-22 11:00 am

Happy Birthday Deety!

April 22, [redacted]
Birthday of Dejah Thoris Carter neé Burroughs

She's one of the intrepid adventurers in in Heinlein's the Number of the Beast from 1980 and in The Pursuit of the Pankera an alternate version published in 2020.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-04-22 12:49 am

Palestinian Speculative Fiction Reading List

The following is a growing reading list for the ReadPalestinianSpecFic challenge. This is a work in progress to create a list of all available Palestinian speculative fiction.