ironphoenix | Network

I take for granted so much of my life and only in talking to someone else realize how rich and varied it has been. But today I got a reminder in my news stream.

The Eerie canal opened a hundred years ago. More importantly I had the great opportunity to take a five day trip with Mom and Dad and Dana on a canal boat. The amazing thing is that it was entirely unescorted. The four of us were given a boat and told to have a good time. It was kind of like this but there were no other boats that we ran into. We went from town to town passing through locks as we went up and down the canal. It was great fun and so fortunate to have spent the time with my parents. It was the last trip I took with them.

Dana made us t-shirts. Here is mine:

I was, of course, Captin. Mom was "Eerie Queen". Dad was "Popeye" and Dana was "Third Mate".

Somehow we don't have a picture of it. Cell phones were not much in existance at that time (I think in the very late 90's or just after the century turn). There is probably a physical snapshot somewhere but it might have just disappeared.

We had a great time, saw the canal and some of the the history of that area, of which there is a lot.

So easy to take times like that for granted but now many people have had the opportunity to sail the Great Lakes on a Navy ship and the canal on a family boat? It does amaze me in retrospect.

We're meeting a couple of the employees of my company with whom I'm still in contact. Bryant and Thomas are still in the area and we meet a couple or three times a year. This time we're meeting at a Thai restaurant. We were going to meet at Thomas' apartment until he told us he lives on the third floor. I pulled out the Dana card. It would be hard enough for me to go up three floors but worse for her and even more dangerous going down.

So we're meeting at a ground floor restaurant on the other side of town.

And it is time to take a shower and get ready.

I got up early and went to the gym and then basically went right to the Springsteen movie, and now I feel physically and emotionally amazing but by 2pm on Saturday I'd done everything that I had planned for the weekend and it's a weird feeling!

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- Current reading quote: "Yu cyaan go wrong wid lan', he declares, cah dem nah mek no mo' a it." /seen

- Halloweek: so glad I didn't grow up in a culture with haunted murderous bedding, especially as I spent my childhood sleeping under patched bedding that first belong to my grandmother's household: "The Boroboroton is described as a tattered futon who comes to life at night. It rises up into the air and throws its former owner out of bed, then begins to twine around the head and neck of the sleeper with the intent of strangling him." /wik-eep-edia

( - Habitat )

Current Location: Seeing Jamaica

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Apparently, we had a power outage last night. Not for very long, but long enough to reset the coffee maker and the microwave clock. Everything else recovered before I woke up. We did have storms - wind and rain. Not as bad as Seattle and other areas but enough, I guess.

I spent most of the day making snowmen. The first one is nearly the best but it is way too fiddly and I don't like the nose. I fixed the nose issue, but don't like the second - non fiddly - one nearly as much. I want them to be easy to produce a bunch without getting tired of them. And they need to be cute. I have some new ideas for prototype number 3. I'll do it up today.

There is nothing killer on the brunch menu so I think I'll go swim and then come home and make my own brunch. Then I plan to give all the filters on the washing machine, a good scrub and try a small test load.

Julio has two new toys that are, of course, automated. They turn on at intervals. One will start up if he plays with it hard enough. Just now they are both 'asleep' and he is wandering from one to the other looking for some action and not getting any. It's pretty funny.

I think I'll go pop into my suit and get my swim in. They are closing the pool next week to change the sand filters. The scheduler told me I could swim in the morning as long as I was out my 9 and then that is it, probably until Friday or Saturday. It is so wonderful to have such a beautifully maintained pool, it is hard to begrudge them a week so I'm going to be happy that my skin will maybe not be as dry and I can sleep late every single day.

The best of Galileo Magazine.

Starry Messenger edited by Charles C. Ryan

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I faithfully go to the Kensington Festival of Lights every year, but I haven't been to its darker, spookier, sister festival, the Night of Dread, in forever. It's run by Clay and Paper out of Dufferin Grove Park (for non-Torontonians, this is one of the best parks in the city, though in recent years it has fallen victim to violent encampment sweeps over the protests of nearly everyone who uses it).

( what lies within? )

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1. Battery storage in California has grown more than 3,000% since 2020, entirely getting rid of blackouts: (tags:electricity batteries infrastructure USA )

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Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Cloud Cuckooland
Current Music: Chirpy Chirpy Cheep

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I know it is no longer news in the ravenous cycle of horrors that passes for the front page these days, but the fact that the man in the White House took a literal wrecking ball to it feels once again so unnecessarily on the nose, at least if it were satire I could be laughing. I know buildings are not human lives such as this administration ends and ruins with such pleasure of ownership, but the roses of the concrete-choked garden were real things, not just symbols, and so were the bricks and the tiles of the East Wing. I have nothing revelatory to say about this particular destruction in the midst of so much more personal violence except that I didn't want to let it slide into a tacit shrug, as if it were an ordinary exercise of presidential powers, another rock through the Overton window. Or a bulldozer.

Current Music: Niecy Blues, "The Architect"

Heck of a day today! The con was fun, as usual, but they really need to be booking larger venues. There's no way the amount of people they had in the ballroom at once was up to code. I kept worrying about my niece getting squished, even though everyone was doing their best to be careful and respectful of everyone else. I felt so bad for the people using wheelchairs and crutches.

Better Late Than Never.....

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I had a nice time with my friend earlier today at this thing they do every Saturday before Halloween in my neighborhood where they wear costumes and give out candy and stuff. It was raining so they didn't do the outdoor live music and some of the other stuff, I missed the free rub on tattoos, but we had fun.

Current Music: Ndumiso

Oh you played the Trap Card! You asked about 2 near & dear movies!

( 5 things about the Moore boys. )

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Usually I wait until at least the end of the month to do these, but this happens to be convenient for me to do right now, while I try to find all the various scraps of paper listing other things I want to write about.

1. What was your favourite subject in high school? In general, I liked my science classes, particularly chemistry. I also really liked the Great Books class I took one semester senior year.

2. Name three people whose lives have been improved by knowing you, and explain why. Cindy, because I listen to her complaints about work and help her plan travel. Kim, because I’m supportive when she’s depressed and I come up with interesting things for us to do. The Gentleman with Whom I am Conducting the World’s Longest Running Brief Meaningless Fling for somewhat obvious reasons.

3. What profession would you have chosen, if not your current one? Maybe a bookseller.

4. How do you react when you realize you've made a mistake? Mistake? What’s that? Seriously, my first instinct is denial, but then I try to figure out how I can fix things.

5. Describe your favorite sound. Waves crashing against a beach, especially on a stormy day.

6. Imagine you are attending your dream concert—what songs would you want to be played? What does the stage look like? I rarely attend concerts that have more than one performer. I would love to see Jonathan Richman again and I wish he would perform both “Give Paris One More Chance” and “Here Come the Martian Martians,” neither of which I’ve seen him do live. Beyond that, I’ve never seen Luka Bloom live and would like to. And it’s been years since I’ve seen Eric Bogle, but I don’t think he's touring any more.

7. Where are you from? I grew up in a ridiculously small town on (well, off the south shore of) Long Island.

8. If there was one person who you had the power of giving immortality to, who would it be and why? I have read enough fantasy to believe that immortality is not a gift, since it doesn’t guarantee eternal health. And one would invariably outlive the people one loved the most.

9. What is your favorite game? Why? Well, the game I play most often (with two different groups of friends) is Code Names. But, if I had to choose one game, it would probably be backgammon. I used to play it all the time, both with a couple of different friends and with my mother (who I taught to play).

10. What is your all-time favorite sports team? First is the Red Sox and second is whoever is playing against the Yankees, aka the Source of All Evil in the Universe.

11. What is a smell that you remember from growing up? The smell of the ocean. I also really love the smells of a couple of flowers - honeysuckle (though it can get overwhelming) and lily of the valley.

12. What is the best decision you have ever made in your life? Probably going to MIT. It opened up a lot of doors to me. And the great thing about MIT is that people there tend to be very devoted to whatever they are passionate about, which is not necessarily their studies.

13. What is something you are optimistic about? It’s rather hard to be optimistic given the politics of our times, but I like to think we’ll get past the more ridiculous aspects of the current world situation and regain the rule of law.

14. What would you say is the biggest accomplishment in your life so far? I had a successful career and am in a good financial situation in retirement. That has enabled me to see much of how magnificent our world is.

15. When was the last time you failed at something? I’ve continually failed to achieve total world domination, but I’d settle for having a clean and organized home.

16. Which wild animal would you adopt as a pet and why? I wouldn’t adopt any wild animal as a pet. Wild animals need to be in their proper environments and suburban America wouldn’t cut it as ideal for any of them.

17. When was the last time you tried something new? I think the paper conservation class I went to in Greece in June counts.

18. What is your favorite room in your home and why? Probably my bedroom, which is usually the least chaotic part of my house.

19. If TV and the internet didn’t exist, what would you do with your time? I’d spend a lot of time reading and listening to music and, hopefully, also making music.

20. What are some major inventions that happened during your lifetime? I am old enough that there are lots of things that didn’t exist in my youth. The most obvious is personal computing and, especially, cell phones.

21. What have you done that was "out of character.” I was almost 40 before I ever slept a night in a tent. With is something I discovered that I really enjoy doing.

22. Name four items that can always be found in your refrigerator. The things I always have in my refrigerator are mostly condiments, e.g. mustard, sriracha, and orange marmalade. There’s pretty much always packets of yeast. There’s also probably things like butter, sour cream, and some sort of fruit, often oranges and/or apples.

23. Do you have any fantasies of living in the jungle? Only for brief periods of time. The jungle tends to be hot and humid and have scary insects.

24. What is on your mind right now, and will it affect your sleep? I’m trying to get some travel plans finalized. I doubt that will affect my sleep.

25. What childhood character traits did you have to let go of but wish you didn’t? What can you do to adopt these traits again? I can’t really think of anything. I think I’m a better person than I was as a child.

26. Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven novels? Why? I definitely prefer plot-driven novels. If nothing happens and it’s just people talking to one another, it’s hard to keep my attention.

27. What is your favorite type of weather and why? I like dry and crisp air, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s Fahrenheit and slightly cloudy skies (to avoid glare). That way I’m comfortable and, as long as it’s dry out, my hair won’t be entering the room an hour before the rest of me.

28. How are you going to entertain yourself when you’re retired? If you are retired already, are you spending your time the way you envisioned it? I think I’m spending my retirement more or less the way I thought I would. The first thing I did after I retired was the Smithsonian Certificate Program in World Art History. I try to go to a fair number of educational events. And, of course, I travel a lot, though there are always more places I want to go.

29. What conspiracy theory do you believe is true? I don’t believe any of them are true.

30. Which person would you like to see more often than you do now? The gentleman with whom I am conducting the world’s longest running brief meaningless fling, of course.

31. What qualities do you judge harshly in others, and how might they reflect parts of yourself? The things I look on harshly in other people are definitely traits that I feel bad about myself for. Those include being disorganized and lazy and being judgemental.

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meme

Their Holidays or read at SquidgeWorld (100 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Leverage (US TV 2008)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Characters: Eliot Spencer (Leverage), Parker (Leverage), Alec Hardison
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:

They each have their own.

Eliot paid attention to the veteran holidays. He didn't much care for the complex behind it now, having seen all the ways it was abused, but most of those vets had died believing in an impossible dream worth protecting.

Parker, of course, was all about Santa and Christmas. She got to make up for the shitty holidays she'd seen as a kid.

But Hardison? Hardison went all out for Halloween. Decorations, costumes, and enough candy to kill a dentist was his philosophy. No one who showed up left empty handed, not even the parents. He needed them to be happy.

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Aww, we lost one of the great tv moms and a wonderful actress.....

June Lockhart, Lassie and Lost in Space Actress Who Was One of the Last Surviving Stars from Hollywood's Golden Age, Dies at 100

She was also known for movies like 'A Christmas Carol' and 'Meet Me in St. Louis'

By Victoria Edel and Nicholas Rice

https://people.com/june-lockhart-dead-lassie-and-lost-in-space-actress-dies-at-100-8621340?hid=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&did=20001102-20251025&utm_source=ppl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ppl-breaking-news_newsletter&utm_content=102525&lctg=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&lr_input=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&campaign=15366907

In fairness to June Lockhart, the first time I ever saw her she was sharing the same episode of Babylon 5 (1994–98) as Londo's card-sharping tentadicks and the latter seared themselves rather more indelibly into my brain, but with less than five minutes of her own in T-Men (1947) she stole far more of the film for me, so much that even knowing that a century is a graceful point to depart from, I am still sorry the world no longer contains her and all of her time. She moved from film to television so early that I always wondered if she had been blacklisted like Marsha Hunt, but the answer looks like not. I loved finding out about her tastes in rock music and my experience of her most famous and long-running roles was almost nil. It means I remember her, perhaps unfairly, twenty-two years old and looking like the fair-haired avatar of all the white picket fences in the world, coming effortlessly up to speed on their shadows. She should have worked with David Lynch.

Current Music: Olivia Dean, "Nice to Each Other"

oooh let's see what I've wandered over recently in this wondrous world of ours:

Doll's Eyes - I have never seen it in the wild, but I have recognized its use in some creepy movies where the plants seemingly watch people. Honestly, I was glad I stumbled over it in reading things before I ever had a chance to see it in the wild. It's nice and spooky.

The Black Bat Flower is less creepy to me, and more o.O at how it developed. Plants that mimic animal shapes fascinate me. (There's a carrion plant that resembles a sea-star / star fish, for instance).

Bleeding Heart - the first "creepy" flower I ever read about, I think. I think they look fascinating, actually.

and critters:

Dragon Headed Caterpillar - it evolves, as all catties do, but the larval stage is just so CUTE to me.

Flying Snakes - My uncle's worst nightmare, given his deep-seated phobia once led him to sink the boat he was in due to a snake flopping into it with him. I love the idea of these guys just LAUNCHING themselves through the air.

Fossa - the jokes about cats running on dog software (hyena) and dogs running on cat software (foxes), have NOTHING on this critter that is a mongoose-type running on cat software. Very predator, very fierce.

Markhor - but it's just a goat, right? CHECK OUT THOSE HORNS! I had to give my tiefling OC those horns because they are TOO COOL.

Tufted Deer - cute name, right? When's the last time you saw a deer with FANGS?! Seriously, I saw these and started trying to figure out WHY they evolved those.

I hope you enjoyed these!

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rl: nature

A YA novel about five friends who once played a spooky game that only four of them survived. Four years later, their friendship now broken, the ghost of their dead friend returns to drag them into a gameworld based on Japanese folklore. They must play again, for higher stakes, or else.

I like Japanese folklore, "years ago our group of friends did something bad that's now come back to haunt us," and deathworlds/gameworlds. This book sometimes hit the spot for me but more often didn't; it feels like the bones of a good book that needed a couple more drafts. The main issue, I think, is pacing. It's very fast-paced once it hits the gameworld, to the point where it feels like it's rushing from one scenario to the next, without having time to breathe. This also affects character. The characters are there, but they're a bit shallow because of the go-go-go pacing.

The best parts are a really excellent twist I did not at all see coming, and the scene where they all have to play truth or dare with younger versions of themselves at the ages they were when they first played the game. That part digs into character and relationships, not to mention the feeling of that game itself, in a really satisfying way. If the whole book worked on that level, it would have been much better.

There's a sequel that doesn't sound like it goes anywhere interesting.

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So apparently, my fancy assed GE combo washer/drier which I really love, needs hand holding by a representative of the mother ship every six months. Yesterday, after 5 hours, the clothes were still wet. Really wet. So I hung them up all over the apartment and logged into my extended warranty and set up an appointment. Tuesday afternoon. I just cleaned all the filters but I'll do it again and then do a test run in hopes that it was just a one time glitch. I really do love the machine but fuck me, I'd love it better if it weren't so needy.

I had just finished watching something Oh the new Boston Blue (I think one episode is enough of that one), when I got a text from my nephew. "What do you think of this?" hmmmmm It was a head scratcher. I try to keep up with the kids these days but I failed... so I responded "What this?"

Turns out he meant the world series game which I had ignored so successfully, I forgot it was even on. I popped over to Fox and OMG. The score was Blue Jays 11 and Dodgers 2 in the 7th. NOT what I expected. I actually watched a little but those broadcasters chased me into mute and then I gave up entirely. I'm glad they won one.

Steve reminded me this morning that it's time to start working on Christmas dolls. He thinks, since the bunnies of last Easter and the pumpkin people/ghosts, that I'll be doing every season. Nope. BUT I might make up a bunch of snow men. I don't have a pattern perfected but I have some ideas. I need some brown pipe cleaner and orange fimo clay. After elbow coffee.

I have this weird patch of dry skin on the palm of my right hand. I've actually had it before and now it's back. I think it's from the pool. While doing laps, I push off the side with the palm of my right hand. I need to not do that and see if the dry patch clears up. It's itchy and uncomfortable.

I need to get dressed and put away all the now dry clothes hanging around before I head out to the elbow.

[Podfic of] Stake-Out? (38 words) by kbirb pods
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Faith Lehane, Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Drabble, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: Download
Series: Part 55 of graveyard smash, Part 72 of vending machine of podfic snacks [under 5 min pods, 2025 edition]
Summary:

Length: 1 minute
Summary:

She knows better than to follow him on the weird cases.

Podfic of Stake-Out? by Merfilly.

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One of these children won at Ticket To Ride: First Journey, the other...did not.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

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photos,
pixelfed

Eight works new to me. Three fantasies, two horror, two SF, and one hard-to-classify RPG. One of the SF books is pretty horrory, so maybe that should be three fantasies, three horror, one SF, and one hard-to-classify RPG.

Books Received, October 18 — October 24

Poll #33761 Books Received, October 18 — October 24

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Abyss by Nicholas Binge (May 2026)
5 (11.4%)

Testimony of Mute Things by Lois McMaster Bujold (October 2025)
24 (54.5%)

Morsel by Carter Keane (April 2026)
3 (6.8%)

The Cove by Claire Rose (May 2026)
5 (11.4%)

Outgunned by Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano & Simone Formicola, with art by Daniela Giubellini (December 2024)
4 (9.1%)

And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer (May 2026)
16 (36.4%)

Lightning Runes by Harry Turtledove (March 2026)
8 (18.2%)

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo (May 2026)
22 (50.0%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
34 (77.3%)

Tags:

books received

(cross-post with more technical details:

prototypediablerie)

Three-ply yarns where each single is a different wool variety since I was going through and spinning up some samples. Next up will be an experiment in dyeing.

Also, the next owner of this spinning wheel is going to have to live with the aftermarket addition of Warhammer 40,000 base magnets to hold the hecking orifice hook because I keep losing them (and having to DIY new ones out of paper clips - this works quite well and is easy but also, I'm running embarrassingly low on paper clips).

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crafts: spinning

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Current Mood: nerdy
Current Location: Upper Middle Earth
Current Music: Journey of the Sorceror

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The Rapture really happened a month ago, just as many had foretold. But as soon as the people disappeared, so too did all physical evidence of their ever having existed, and all memories of them. All of the catastrophic damage that resulted from the vanishing of machine operators, vehicle drivers, controllers of generating stations, etc. was erased. It's just as though a massive alien invasion occurred and then ended. Everyone left behind now believes that the whole thing was merely a mass delusion.

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Boxes of Manga, Staged for Sorting and Shelving
iPhone 13 mini photo

Two Weeks Ago I did not have any functional bookshelves and was waiting for delivery of replacements. I expected a long wait, but, surprisingly, the bookshelves were delivered and installed one week later, on Friday, October 17. I could finally start sorting and loading books into the bookwall.

( Meticulous Chaos, Below the Cut )

I’ve had to cut a lot of books. *snif* But it’s pretty clear (to me) that all the books that are now visible in the bookwall are books that I really love. I want to revisit them all (and I’ll be hard-pressed for time to do just that).

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We made it in good time to Chicago, even though we took a little longer than expected for lunch. Did I mention/confirm that my niece-- sister's oldest-- came with us? Well, she did. The two of us got our tickets registered tonight, so we'll be able to go right in when we get there tomorrow morning.

Gonna try and sleep immediately after posting this-- it's already a little later than I wanted, tbh. We need to get up early if we're gonna have breakfast before catching the shuttle!

I have been thinking about picking up some extra groceries and dropping them off at the local food bank in Rochester.

I went to their web site to check out there hours and see if they had suggestion lists.

So imagine my surprise when I read that they no long accept non perishable donations from the public.
They only accept "cash".
They say it costs too much for people to do food drives.
Excuse me, but if I am buying food and dropping it off at your door, what the bloody hell is that costing you? :o :o :o

From WOTC: exit their VTT

We have made the difficult decision to end development on Sigil. T

And on to 2009. Totally working for the Evol Empire and I think picking up security shifts to try and make ends meet. Doubt I had much time for movies.

Hmm, four films. Saw a couple others, but they were less memorable.

Fast & Furious - The point when I knew for fact the franchise didn't actually aim for the direction I had seen. Fun, but not my cuppa in the end.

Star Trek - I'd been on the fence, Stuart talked me into it, and the first few minutes were RAD as FUCK! My introduction to Chris Hemsworth. A fun movie, Urban fucking nailed it.

Up - another film where the first few minutes were just phenomenal. Shortest, best love story ever. And then the film kept me loving it.

Where the Wild Things Are - I was never on the fence. I knew I was going to see it. I had no idea how much it was going to tear into my childhood trauma and issues, but it did it the best way possible.

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I can't listen to podcasts. It's the same problem as audio commentaries. They are difficult for me to extract information from. I make the occasional effort for friends or colleagues and otherwise read transcripts where available.

I have just discovered that Bill Nighy has a podcast. Apparently it launched on my birthday. It is the half-hour ill-advised by Bill Nighy. I am as we speak listening to the first episode which I selected at not very random considering there are only three so far:

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are on the planet. Welcome to ill-advised by Bill Nighy—and the clue is in the title, particularly on the first word. The risk of getting to my age is that you can not infrequently be mistaken for somebody who knows what's happening or how to carry on, and you only have to take a quick look around the world to see how that's going, and how my generation are managing the planet, for instance. I mean, you may have picked up a few things along the way which might be of use, like, I don't know, parking, or online shopping, or not taking cocaine, obviously. But other than that, in all the big important things, I remain profoundly in the dark. But I try and keep a straight face when people start acting weird.

After which he immediately begins to tell the listener about his recent eye operation. It does eventually pertain to the nature of the podcast, but frankly it was such an ideal segue for a programme that bills itself as "a podcast for people who don't get out much and can't handle it when they do . . . a refuge for the clumsy and the awkward . . . an invitation to squander time" that it won me over to treating it as an audio drama whose laconically anxious and slightly acid narrator has a very good fund of self-deprecating stories that wind their way around to some species of advice, defined by Nighy as "not actually making things worse." He sounds unsurprisingly the way his interviews read. The difficulty of extracting information does not improve just because I like the speaker, but apparently I will now make the occasional effort for actors, too.

Update: the parking is a lie. Nighy spends most of the introduction to the second episode explaining that he cannot and never could park successfully. "I'd drive miles to find somewhere where you didn't actually have to park, you could just leave the car." Well done, Reginald?

Current Music: Desperate Journalist, "Unsympathetic Parts 1 & 2"

Squeaky or read at SquidgeWorld (100 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jack Harkness
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:

After the Zygons, Jack has a conundrum

Escaping the latest Zygon impersonation had been hard enough, Jack decided, but now he had a conundrum.

It looked at him with its tail sticking up like the antenna of a bumper car and meowed at him with the most pitiful squeak ever.

"I saved you this time. What if you're a Zygon in disguise? Hmm? Or just if you wander into my life all the time, you're going to get hurt, or worse!" Jack admonished.

Another squeaky meow, and Jack tucked the kitten in his coat pocket again, adding a stop at the local shop to his must do.

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"I saw an ad for the talking dog car movie on the toilet that came up out of the ground!"

That's a real sentence that I heard diffrentcolours say this afternoon.

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A middle grade fantasy novel about A, a Jewish trans kid who has not yet chosen a name, and whose parents are forcing him to attend a teen conversion therapy group. He secretly texts with the other trans kids in the group and they support each other. When one of his friends disappears, he meets a strange being that constitutes itself from any discarded objects it can sweep up in a wind - a trash golem - that sets him on a mission.

A hooks up with a bunch of LGBTQ people living in a kind of homemade squat, discovers that the conversion therapy leaders are either demons or possessed by demons, and meet a very supportive rabbi and her husband, who know a lot about Jewish folklore, though - and what could be more Jewish? - they don't always agree about what any of it means.

( Read more... )

This is a sweet, affirming book for all the trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, and suchlike kids out there, and God knows they can use the affirmation. There's some quite beautiful and affecting moments - the first encounter with the trash golem has a blend of the numinous and comedic that reminded me of Terry Pratchett - and I loved the treatment of A's Jewishness and how that connects to both the fantasy elements and his community. I also liked how A being in a liminal space - he's given up his old name but not yet chosen a new one, he's parted from his family and joining a new one, etc - ties in with the book's time period, the Days of Awe, when all is written but not yet sealed.

The elements I did not enjoy so much were the pace, which gets very rushed toward the end, the sometimes Tumblr-esque quality which did make sense as it's about Tumblr kids but which I still find grating, and, unexpectedly, A himself. He's so self-centered and judgy, and though he does eventually learn better I did not like him. I did not enjoy reading all the scenes where he scolds his friends or they scold him, or when they end up telling him exactly why he's a bad friend and refuse to help him with his mission. I've read this exact form of conflict in multiple books recently, and while it's a real thing that happens, reading about it feels like nails on a chalkboard.

I didn't ultimately end up loving this book, but it has a lot of heart and I'm glad it exists. The somewhat similar book that I did love, which doesn't have those unpleasant "bad friends" dynamics, was Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus.

Content notes: Transphobia is central to the story.

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The Kraken, by Alfred Tennyson, 1830

1. Below the thunders of the upper deep,
2. Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
3. His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
4. The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
5. About his shadowy sides; above him swell
6. Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
7. And far away into the sickly light,
8. From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
9. Unnumbered and enormous polypi
10. Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
11. There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
12. Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,
13. Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
14. Then once by man and angels to be seen,
15. In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Notes
1. For "Below the thunders of the upper deep" read indigestion and the consequences thereof.
2. For "abysmal" read "abyssal".
3. "O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie." "His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep" "the silent stars go by."
4. The Kraken lispth, the faint sunlight feints.
6. An early reference to Sponging Millennials.
7-8. O light, thou art sick. The invisible worms that swim in the deep, in the grotty sea.
8. For "wondrous grot" read car boot sale. For "secret cell" read burner phone.
9-10. Enormous octopuses use giant mecha to break village greens into smithereens and pitch them into the air.
11. For "ages" read "ageth".
12. "Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep": Paging Dr Freud!
13. Travel kettle.
14-15 Certainly knocks "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" into a cocked hat.

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Woken up at six in the morning by the goddamned fucking phone scammers. I needed sleep far more than usual because of everything that happened yesterday. I don't even pick up the phone that early. Interestingly enough they NEVER call my cell, only my home phone. My old home phone used to have a setting on it where the voice mail would take messages but the phone wouldn't ring which was perfect for when I wanted to sleep or was really busy or something. I was seriously considering having the home phone taken out and just using the cell but the way my apt bldg is wired the home computer goes through the phone lines. At least it's not like it was in the 90's where you couldn't use the phone and the computer at the same time.
I'm not going out today at all if I can avoid it, my leg is killing me. I didn't mention the facts that yesterday I had to stand up while waiting for a lot of buses because some of the benches at the bus stops had water all over them, or the fact that I had to walk up and down a lot of stairs while trying unsuccessfully to get ahold of the maintenance guys to fix my stove.

Current Music: Thievery Corporation

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

Current Mood: tired

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Two new, original novellas—Donaldson's first publication since finishing the Thomas Covenant series—are a sure cause for celebration among his many fans.

In The King's Justice, a stranger dressed in black arrives in the village of Settle's Crossways, following the scent of a terrible crime. He even calls himself "Black," though almost certainly that is not his name. The people of the village discover that they have a surprising urge to cooperate with this stranger, though the desire of inhabitants of quiet villages to cooperate with strangers is not common in their land, or most lands. But this gift will not save him as he discovers the nature of the evil concealed in Settle's Crossways.

The "Augur's Gambit" is a daring plan created by Mayhew Gordian, Hieronomer to the Queen of Indemnie, a plan to save his Queen and his country. Gordian is a reader of entrails. In the bodies of chickens, lambs, piglets, and one stillborn infant he sees the same the island nation of Indemnie is doomed. But even in the face of certain destruction a man may fight, and the Hieronomer is utterly loyal to his beautiful Queen--and to her only daughter. The "Augur's Gambit" is his mad attempt to save a kingdom.

Donaldson seems to be trying to write in the style of a previous time. Way previous. But, at least for me, it doesn’t really work. Especially in The King’s Justice. It makes the characters rather stilted, which is a major problem because the story is told imostly from Black’s point of view. It’s only near the end that I started to feel a connection to him. Even then his personality is rather stark. He does what he does because…well, pretty much just because.

Fortunately, it works better with Augur’s Gambit, maybe because the story is longer. What also helps is that there are more characters, each with their own distinct personalities. The story is told from the point of view of Mathew Gordian, the augur, who risks all to save all. It still took a while for me to get into the story. So much of it is the setting up of the kingdom’s history and that of its main citizens.

So, not a bad book, but not a great one. A disappointment, though, considering how much I’ve loved Donaldson’s other works.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-45 )

46. A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and Its Implications by Carl Sagan
47. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
48. Curfew by Phil Rickman
49. The King's Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson

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I got an email message yesterday that my eye appointment - in January - was canceled because the doctor had left the practice. Best I can tell he was the only ophthalmologist there. And, my insurance has a very lame, and incorrect, directory of in-network doctors. Many of the ones listed may have practiced here once, but sure don't now. Ugh. I can't even decide whether or not to worry about it. I'll call over there this morning. 'There' is a large cadre of medical peops all over the northwest so I'm sure they will want me to go a doctor in Seattle and that is not happening. Now I'm worried about my primary care physician. I do not want to lose her!

It's so dark so late into the mornings these days. That will clear up next weekend when we switch the time again. But, now it's very spooky so, I'm thinking, seasonal.

Plus it looks like here it will be a rainyish day - spit rain - a little here, a little there - just constant. Which suits me fine.

It's new menu day. They publish the menus for next week. This week has been loaded with excellent options. If next week is back to not so excellent, I'll order up extra meals today to eat next week. Some of their stuff just freezes beautifully and serves me well when the menu is blah. New menu day is like planning the weekly grocery shopping except I don't have to go anywhere and it's already paid for... and cooked. The best of all.

I finished up Task on HBO. It was one of the more excellent series I've seen recently.

I think I'll go swim. I still have my Dollar Store list and the car still needs gas and still neither of those things has to be done today. Also I'm out of those good ham/cheese croisant-ish rolls that I like for breakfast. Costco. Sigh. So... who knows.

https://xkcd.com/3159/

High school student and semi-professional tarot card reader Danika Dizon assists her PI mother to look for a missing person... a teen who vanished after Danika gave her a tarot card reading.

Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala

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Today's featured episode is "Smart Glasses Are Ushering In an Anti-Social World ft. Chris Gilliard" from Tech Won't Save Us.

This is a good episode for a number of reasons. First of all, it reminds us that just because tech companies want a thing, and invest a lot of money to convince you that this thing is the inevitable progression of humanity, you can as an individual reject that thing and convince others to do so too. Google Glasses are a great example of a thing that was heavily pushed but no one other than glassholes wanted it, and so people were shamed, mocked, and bullied out of public spaces for wearing them. This is a good use of shame, bullying, and mockery. (Note: Chris points out that the latest attempt at making glasses that control you happen is a bit different, as it's being aimed at controlling workers rather than as a status symbol for the rich. Obviously, do not bully an Amazon delivery guy for being forced to wear them.) Another great comparison is the Metaverse—Zuck spent a fortune on his fantasy of not having a body that sweats too much, and no one bought it. No one asked for LLMs and you—yes you, one person who thinks you're too insignificant to do anything—can stop them from being forced on you. We finally get to use our mean girl powers for good, and I have a mean streak a mile wide.

Another thing that kind of blew my mind is the way Chris talks about the phases of Big Tech-driven media—first it was used to connect you to your friends (and make you dependent), then it was about a trade where the companies gave you connection and visibility in exchange for privacy, and now the deal has shifted. You are expected to be controlled by the technology. You are now being programmed and instructed. Chris notes that some people very much desire this as it reduces decision fatigue. Of course this dovetails nicely with the broader move towards fascism in former Western democracies.

Finally, there is some good talk about affordances. An affordance is basically what the environment or technology allows you to do. A button allows you to press it. A car not only allows you to go faster than you could otherwise, but it creates physical and geographic isolation, the development of suburban spaces around roads rather than common areas, and reactionary politics caused by mistrusting your neighbour and especially Those People In Cities. The replacement of Dreamwidth-style fixed-page scrolling on most social media sites by endless scrolling is what enables social media dependency and doomscrolling. Etc. Chris talks about what, specifically, LLMs are designed to do as their ideal use-case, which is forcing your worldview on someone else. They are primarily for deepfakes, stalking, propaganda, and CSAM. That you can do other things with them is a side-effect. I think this is a very strong argument and not one I'd really thought about. The characterization of LLMs as an inherently antisocial technology is not one I'd thought much about either.

Never forget that our billionaire enemies are forcing LLMs into everything because they want girlfriends without having to talk to women, they want slaves without having to see a Black person, and they have a fantasy of immorality via being uploaded into Machine Heaven. This is fundamentally silly and risible and actually batshit insane, and you are smarter and more reality-based than they are.

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podcasts

1. Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards: (tags:funny photos wildlife )
2. Scotland to get 8% of UK's fishing funding, despite landing 60% of its fish: (tags:fish Scotland UK money wtf )
3. Aerial Photos Highlight Beauty of Kazakhstan's Mangystau Plateau: (tags:kazakhstan photos )

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What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?
The canal lock. No boats coming through, though, it’s quiet season now.
Who was the last person coming into your room?
Astro. He is now lounging on the day bed, as is his wont (example below).
What is the most predominant colour around you?
A gentle pastel green. It is very soothing.
What is right behind you?
A box containing a bunch of stuff that I need to take to work. Thanks for the reminder, meme. :/
What is on today's calendar sheet?
More than I could possibly accomplish in one day, and several meetings of different types.

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I had a run-off-my-feet day, but I love the newly revealed cover for Afterlives 2024: The Year's Best Death Fiction, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas and shortly forthcoming from Psychopomp, in whose liminal mosaic is reprinted my queer, maritime, ice-dreaming story "Twice Every Day Returning." I am looking forward to that table of contents for myself. Have some links.

1. Courtesy of

isis: British Airways' "May We Haveth One's Attention" (2024) may be the most charming safety video I have seen since the legendary "Dumb Ways to Die" (2012). My only excuse for missing it last year is that I can't remember sleeping that month.

2. Courtesy of

moon_custafer: James Cagney, Chester Morris, and Edward G. Robinson on a Ferris wheel in 1934. The dark glasses donned by Mr. Morris are doing him no favors whatsoever except that he's making enthusiastic eye contact in the sun-flooded overhead shot.

3. Courtesy of

fleurdelis41: "The thread about the Loyal Edinburgh Spearmen; a force of very doubtful military significance." The caricature of "Mr Dundas" with his beaver hat and spectacles reminds me irresistibly of an Edward Gorey character. The overenthusiastic lighting of the beacons actually made me laugh out loud.

4. I discovered the inimitably named Blackbeard's Tea Party some years ago with the furious drumbeat of their "Ford o' Kabul River" and then almost immediately lost track of them again, but as they seem to have come out since with the whaling EP Leviathan! (2018) and the nightmare siren song of "Mother Carey," we're still good. Since they closed their first album with "Chicken on a Raft," I am delighted that their recorded repertoire now also includes "Roll and Go."

5. I meant last week to link the Divine Comedy's "Invisible Thread" (2025), especially since it was my father who found it after I had sent him another song from the same album.

Her memory for a blessing, Darleane Hoffman who studied transuranic elements and still got to die at ninety-eight. She was not unstable.

Current Music: Blackbeard's Tea Party, "The Diamond"

Today went much better than yesterday!

I got to the DMV very early, forgot to bring a book with me and just sat and did practice tests on my phone for the hour or so that I had to wait. Almost none of the practice questions turned out to be on the test I took, go figure, but I passed anyway and that's the important part. They gave me a printout version of my new permit-- the photo looks absolutely awful because of course-- and said that I'd get the card version within forty-five days. Which amuses me since I won't need it in forty-five days if I stick to my intended time table. But, hey, might not be able to make that happen, so might as well, eh?

My brother and I did much better work on his costume today than on Tuesday, pretty pleased to have redeemed ourselves there. He's going to do some work on it while I'm out of town and then I can go over and help some more when I get back. Won't have as much time since my vacation will be over, natch, but it should still be plenty, especially if he's working on it independently. I'm going to bring my costume stuff with me so I can do some work on it on the road. I'm bringing the book I'm reading, too, but I'm less likely to get carsick crocheting or sewing than reading.

Travis's tank is about ninety percent set up. I want to get him a new water dish and some fresh substrate. Might try some plants again, Idk. This tank isn't as tall as the old one and so it'd be easier to care for them without disturbing him. I'm watching him explore as I type this. Kinda funny-- in a bit of a mean way, I guess-- to watch him be surprised by the lower ceiling after he spent so much time not bothering to make use of the old tank's height. This tank does look smaller than I thought now that he's in it but it's within the recommended size range and he's always spent most of his time curled up no matter how much space he has anyway, so I'm sure it's fine. Not like he'll be doing any more growing, old man that he is.

I didn't get as thorough of a cleaning done as hoped but it still looks better than it did. I can already feel myself missing having a day off after the trip, since that would be the perfect time to put on some finishing touches. Alas. I can do a little at a time through the week and there's always next weekend for more involved stuff.

Anyhow, my laundry got left until late and just recently came out. Gonna get that handled and finish packing :)

Had some Lapsang Souchong this morning before I went out. I had a great breakfast of a crab and jack cheese omelet, grits and an orange ginger scone. One of the buses had the extra comfortable seats (the local buses usually don't have those). Had a gimongous bowl of hot chocolate at a cafe I hadn't been to before. Couldn't get the skull cakes, Nabolom didn't have them for some reason. Heard some live jazz over at the Berkeley cheese board collective, bought some of their pastries to make up for not being able to get the skull cakes. When I got home my stove was busted for some reason I can't even guess at and I needed to fix dinner but I couldn't find the maintenance guys so I wound up having to do it myself.

Current Music: A Peace of Ebony

Even though there is ostensibly a ceasefire in place, not enough aid is getting in, Israel is also bombing Lebanon despite the ceasefire they agreed to with the Lebanese, and Israeli settlers beat Palestinian farmers during their olive harvest in the West Bank.

So 1 thing I've been doing is joining a weekly Zoom "Power Hours for Palestine" every Thursday at 9am PST. Feel free to join me. Today we called our reps regarding HR 3565, sent a few letters, and were updated on different things going on. It's hosted by Rising Majority.

Also a Jews Demand Action letter toolkit, signed by many including Spencer Ackerman, Debra Winger, etc.

Since last I posted:

There are now 55 co-sponsors for HR 3565.
27 members of Congress signed a letter urging Rubio and Huckabee to secure the release of 16-year-old Palestinian-American Mohammed Ibrahim from Israel, where he's been held without trial for nearly 8 months.
Mahmoud Khalil is still fighting deportation.

Some things to read/watch:

This PBS Newshour interview with Marwan Barghouti's son, Arab. Marwan Barghouti is often referred to as the "Palestinian Nelson Mandela", and Palestinians have been trying to secure his release for a long time, as it is thought that he is the one political figure Palestinians can unite behind.
How the politics for Democrats on Israel have changed.

Places to donate to:

Birds who've flown the old coop

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