![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Just a post this week because I've been trying to write weekly...
The weather here has been pretty crummy. Wet, stormy, windy and cold. Climate change is a thing! I've gotten a bit of gardening done but not much. I need to learn what this one ground cover plant is that I have on my hill. I got it years ago from a patient I took care of when I did home health care. It's been growing nicely along with my lilac bushes I'm planting and hoping to have spread-out so I don't have to mow. Earlier this week I got my mower stuck several times on my hill and it was annoying. So the sooner I don't have to mow the better.
My house has sort of become a mess - not too horrible... but enough that I'm over it. But it's hard - I have moved a-lot of my hobbies and projects to the living room to keep an eye on Wiley since we've been keeping him closed off to just a few rooms in the house - mainly just the living room. It'll be nice when I can get my office together and set back up the way I wanted/needed. I have several books I want to organize better on my book shelves.
Bits and pieces of the news has stressed me out enough to remind me why I hate the news and that it's good to avoid it mostly. I do hear bits of NPR in the mornings and afternoons to and from work. Thinking about the damage he has been causing in this country and the world reminds me of a migraine that doesn't seem to go away. It just lingers. I wonder how many of his supporters still support him after the things he has done in the last several months.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Dept, of Friday afternoon
I didn't get my first try at whole wheat bread done. I got the yeast mix too hot. It didn't rise at all. Ended up throwing out a lovely smelling brown brick. Still, it's a learning process. I may try again tomorrow.
I also have to make beef stew tomorrow; we're having a friend over. Wish me luck.
Oh, and I've watched episodes 2 and 3 of Dr. Who. I imagine I'll have some thoughts soon.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Murderbot TV episode 3
Unsure how I feel about having 22 minute episodes (sorry, "30 minute episodes"). On the one hand, short and quick enough to watch. On the other hand, this entire episode is essentially half an episode: In Which Our Heroes Travel To DeltFall And MurderBot Looks Around.
Enjoyable, but this kind of episode feels like it is meant for watching entire seasons all at once, where it would just blend in to the before and after. They spent too much time arguing in the shuttle for it to feel like it stands alone at all.
The security footage of what the Gurathin and Bharadwaj are doing back home was pointless, but I guess Character Building or something.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Reveals delayed 1 more week to June 1 - remaining PHs #1, #5
These Pinch Hits will have a deadline of May 31 at 10 PM US Eastern Time!
Thank you everyone for your patience, and to the Pinch Hitters who are helping make sure everyone gets a gift.
Remaining Pinch Hits!
Please reply to this post or email sufficiently.advanced.ex@gmail.com to claim. Please include your Ao3 username and the number of the pinch hit you are claiming. These will be due Saturday May 31 at 10 PM US Eastern Time.
We have granted extensions to some participants, so don't worry if you still don't have a gift but don't see your name here!
( PH 1 - The Riftwar Saga - Raymond E. Feist, Neuromancer | Sprawl Trilogy - William Gibson, Parahumans Series - Wildbow )
( PH 5 - The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova, Hallo itt Mtys kirly! - Bogti Pter, Crossover Fandom )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
[ SECRET POST #6713 ]
⌈ Secret Post #6713 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.

( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #959..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
"Mythes et légendes" artbook review
It's published by YBY Éditions, with text in both French and English. The text is titles for the illustrations and sometimes a few sentences about the content.
My favourites were (featured here as pictures of the pages):
I like the use of light to portray intimacy.
Eros and Psyche, by Robbuz
The minimalist use of colour here is really neat.
Doctor Faustus, by Couple Of Kooks
The green and purple work so well together!
Blind Love, by KME
I love the multiple light sources.
Moonlight, by Sara Deek
Transmasc/transfem yin/yang is so cool!
Yin and Yang, by Mathilde Périé
The book contains 46 illustrations total and I enjoyed all of them.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
because I'm at it again ...
When I write or finish a fic, I think about (or actually start) a sequel ...
These sequels are actually finished and posted ...
Ticky boxes?
ticky boxes!
14 (48.3%)
more tickyboxes
9 (31.0%)
tickyboxes propagating further tickyboxes
25 (86.2%)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Book Review Poll
Which of these books would you MOST like me to review?
When the Wolf Comes Home, by Nat Cassidy. Horror novel about an out of work actress on the run with a little boy.
7 (8.0%)
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty. The rollicking adventures of a middle-aged mom PIRATE in fantasy medieval Middle East.
44 (50.0%)
Diary of a Witchcraft Shop, by Trevor Jones and Liz Williams. What it says on the can: a diary of owning a witchcraft shop in Glastonbury.
14 (15.9%)
Sisters of the Vast Black, by Nina Rather. SPACE NUNS aboard a GIANT SPACE SEA SLUG.
31 (35.2%)
Making Bombs for Hitler, by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. Children's historical fiction about Ukrainian children kidnapped and enslaved in WWII, by a Ukrainian-Canadian author.
10 (11.4%)
Under One Banner, by Graydon Saunders. Commonweal # 4!
14 (15.9%)
Archangel (etc), by Sharon Shinn. Lost colony romantic SF about genetically engineered angels.
14 (15.9%)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton. Historical murder mystery with time loops and body switching.
21 (23.9%)
Irontown Blues, by John Varley. Faux-noir SF with an intelligent dog.
5 (5.7%)
Blood Over Bright Haven, by M. L. Wang. Standalone fantasy that kind of looks like romantast but isn't, with anvillicious anti-colonial themes.
13 (14.8%)
An Immense World, by Ed Yong. Outstanding nonfiction about how animals sense the world.
27 (30.7%)
Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling, by Henry Lien ("Peasprout Chen"). Nonfiction, what it says on the can. Not all stories are in three acts!
29 (33.0%)
Blacktongue Thief, by Christopher Buehlman. World's greatest D&D campaign in a truly fucked world.
14 (15.9%)
Have you read any of these? What did you think?
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
Kurd Laßwitz Preis 2025 Winners
The Kurd Laßwitz Preis 2025 winners have been announced. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year. The award ceremony will take place during …![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
(no subject)
Yesterday I gave my credit card number to the tax guy so he could organise the payment for doing the taxes. Because he actually did two returns (our personal joint return and S's trust return), he put through two payments, or at least tried to. The bank accepted the first but declined the second because it was almost identical to the first and therefore, apparently, possibly fraudulent. The bank sent me both an email and a text message about the declined charge, but, unlike my previous experiences of issues like this, I couldn't find any way to let the bank know by clicking on a link that the second charge was legitimate, so I called the bank and got put through to their fraud centre.
Here is where it got really weird. The first person I spoke to was obviously human, but the "person" she put me through to in the fraud centre must have been a bot. The way they spoke lacked expression, and there was an unexpectedly long pause after everything I said before they answered, although they did seem to understand everything I said and the questions I asked and, eventually, responded appropriately.
I just felt strange and extremely creepy, and I hope I don't have to deal with this kind of thing too often. I didn't like it at all.
It's finally stopped raining and I actually went for a run this morning. S's son is coming over this afternoon and we'll probably go for a walk.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Book Review: Gluten-Free Flour Power, by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot
The recipes have measurements in volume and weight (grams). They're sweet and savory and cover the basic to the very fancy. I mean, the authors pulled out a loaf pan with dimensions I'd never seen before in my life. They also think you have the time, resources, and energy to cold-smoke masa harina. Don't ask.
The font choices are kind of annoying, but it has a useful index, and if I hadn't already hitched my gluten-free wagon to America's Test Kitchen's custom flour mix, I might have given this a try.
This review appeared on my journal in a slightly different form.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin

News that her supernatural aunt has been murdered upends a young woman's life.
Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Daily Check In (Belated)
*\o/* | Word Count | Step Count | Headache? |
Daily | 1,282 | 8,879 | no |
Monthly | 13,415 | 203,498 | 7 days |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Deal
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Characters/Pairings: n/a
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
JustWatch’s Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2025
As the summer movie season ramps up, JustWatch reveals the most eagerly awaited films landing in theaters and on streaming platforms through August 31, 2025. Drawing from user behavior data—trailer views, watchlist and likelist additions, and overall page engagement—this exclusive …![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Daily Happiness
2. Yesterday I found Jasper with his arms around Ollie's neck for grooming, and he kept pausing in the grooming but keeping his hold on Ollie and Ollie honestly just loved it.

![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Sidetracks - May 22, 2025
Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag. You can also support Sidetracks and our other work on Patreon.
( Read more... )