oh, hi, aten't dead

May. 28th, 2025 08:38 pm
watersword: An open book (Stock: book)
[personal profile] watersword

I have been staggering through the past few weeks, holding myself together with string and duct tape, and it is finally the Cottagecore Week.

I have finished a sashiko patch on a pair of jeans and I am very proud of myself, as well as the first of the embroidered numbers for my front & back doors, and I have solved the problem of how to print patterns onto stabilizer (use the library makerspace printer from a USB). The mending circle at the local "sustainable fashion collective" (it's a secondhand store with some mending/tailoring services) was fun and I'll go back when the bus schedule allows. Dropout.tv and the 1995 Pride & Prejudice miniseries have been my companions as I sew this week, and they are both great for that purpose. I think I will move on to North & South and perhaps Horrible Histories next. Is Shakespeare & Hathaway fun?

The knotweed in the garden has been beaten back from the path to the shed, and the asparagus is coming up spindly and feathery (I really hope that they will thicken over time, I will eat a thin asparagus spear without complaining but I love asparagus with some heft); no trace of the rhubarb, which I'm kind of upset about, but seeds are always chancy, and I'm waiting to see what happened with the watermelon and sunflowers, now that I've staked the peas. Surely something will come up? The gladiolus in the front garden are looking more promising, although I don't know what happened to everything else. I have proof that someone in the Parks Department exists, and has just been ignoring my emails (a coworker knows the parks director, and emailed her, and the person I have been trying to get in touch with answered when their boss was on the chain, but no luck since, so this is progress but not by much).

I have been wallowing in books, and can enthusiastically join the chorus of those of you who have been shrieking delightedly about Robert Jackson Bennett's latest, A Drop of Corruption, it's so good, please discuss in the comments; and I finally got my hands on Katherine Addison's The Tomb of Dragons, ditto.

the_shoshanna: little girl screaming with glee: "OMG squee!!" (omgsquee!)
[personal profile] the_shoshanna
When I was ten years old, friends and I came back from seeing a James Bond movie and were playing at James Bond on our bikes, and I swerved too sharply, fell over, and broke my left leg. I broke both the fibia and the tibula, in fact, but they were clean breaks, very tidy. Hurt like screaming hell, though. As was the custom of the time I was in the hospital for several days and came out in a full-leg cast. My father, who lived some distance away, couldn’t get there right away and sent me a dozen roses in the hospital, which made the whole thing absolutely worth it; I had never felt so grown-up!

But that was the end of my bicycling career. For fifty years.

Now, however, I've moved to a small, mostly flat, navigable city, and I want to try getting back on that literal-not-proverbial bike! I fairly often have places to go and errands to run where driving feels silly but walking might take juuuuust too much time, and a bike seems like the obvious option. But do I want to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a new bike and run the risk that I won't enjoy it, or feel safely balanced after so long, or whatever, and will in fact end up not using it much? I do not.

Fortunately this city has a couple of nonprofit bike repairing and reselling organizations! So I stopped by one of them this afternoon and chatted with the head mechanic, and he picked out a bike for me from their (all donated) stock on hand, and we verified that it fits me. It needs some repair work and tuning up, which they will do over the next couple of weeks (him: "There's about six bikes ahead of you in line." me: "It's been fifty years, another two weeks is not a problem!"), and they asked for $125-$175, according to my ability to pay. I wasn't able to actually test-ride it, since it has no tires at the moment, but I was able to balance pretty well; I do feel pretty confident that I haven't forgotten how to ride a bike.

(And this time I hope to learn how to shift gears, too! Kid-me's bike was a three-speed and I just left it in second all the time.)

Now I just need to get a helmet -- which I do know to buy new/unused. And a lock. Whee!

what a find by O. G.

May. 27th, 2025 08:57 pm
musesfool: the ocean (your ocean refuses no river)
[personal profile] musesfool
I slept through for a full 7 hours last night! right up until my alarm went off, actually, without waking up once!

I also got some fantastic videos of Baby Miss L going nuts about TATOES and BROCCOLI and also some mouse game she plays on my sister's tablet. She is such a character! <333

I haven't started the new season of Poker Face or Andor yet - I am still in HGTV mode. No emotional investment, and it satisfies both my nosiness about other people's houses and my need to be judgy about other people's aesthetic taste without hurting anyone's feelings.

Every time someone says they want to go BOLD with color and their palette is black and white I want to punch them. (I'm not saying black and white can't be a bold choice, just that it's not a bold COLOR choice.) Everyone wants POPS of COLOR but then the color turns out to be greige. I just...find it wearisome sometimes. I get it if you are doing a quick refresh in order to sell, since allegedly neutrals sell better? But these are people supposedly doing their "forever homes" or their "dream homes" so why not pick something interesting? At least a little bit? In the downstairs powder room??? I'm begging you, please!

Ahem.

If you asked me what my preferred home decor aesthetic is, I would say beachy with lots of blues and greens in various shades, and okay, a lot of white, a little gray, and some occasional wood or wicker accents. Definitely would want hardwood floors (or LVP that looked like hardwood). I'd want a large zero-access shower with a built-in bench with some fancy tile, and I wouldn't want to waste space on a tub (or double sinks, since I live alone), but I would like more linen/towel storage.

I would obviously want a large chef's kitchen, with FULL SIZE appliances and a big range - I don't go for that countertop stovetop and wall oven set up, I'd want a bigass stove with six burners - and I certainly wouldn't put it (or the sink) on an island. I'd like a large butcher block work surface and a breakfast nook with an eastern exposure, but don't need a formal dining room or a ginormous island. I do like white upper cabinets, probably with reeded glass doors, and then a color on the lower cabinets - a cobalt blue, maybe, or a deep teal.

The place I might go a little modern/industrial/maybe even avant garde would be in the light fixtures. I have seen some WILD chandeliers and lighting options on these shows and some of them are gorgeous.

Obviously I worked a lot of this out in the time between going into contract on my apartment and finally closing, so I was able to pick stuff out that all kind of went together, because I absolutely understand being a renter for years and not really being able to put your stamp on a place. (all the people who already live in their own houses who have no sense of their own style, though - they kind of baffle me, because didn't they paint/decorate their house? I get maybe not knowing what your architectural style is but these are mainly people in their 30s and older - they should have some sense of what they like, shouldn't they, even if they can't pin it to a specific style?)

Anyway, I don't need people to do their own homes in my preferred style, and some of these homes turn out to be gorgeous, but it would be nice if everyone wasn't doing the same things across several different home renovation shows. I guess HGTV has a bit of a house style? But if you've watched any of it, you can see why Keith and Evan from Bargain Block are my favorites - they actually do a lot of fun different things (or they used to, anyway), where even if it isn't something I'd choose, it still has a strong sense of style.

*
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
Vid: One Night Fandoms: A Tribute to Yuletide (1596 words) by eruthros, thingswithwings
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Multi-Fandom, Yuletide - Fandom
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage Sex
Additional Tags: Yuletide, One Night Stands, Bondage, Weddings, Vampires, Musicians, Dancing, Impact Play, Gags, we watched so many things for this vid, basically no fandom gets more than twenty frames, Fanvid
Summary:

Just call me angel of the morning, angel.


*

I revisited this masterpiece today because I accidentally wrote cheek-touching in last night's story, and a friend asked, "Not what you were going for? Or...more like the equivalent of waking up, rolling over, seeing a story in the cold, revealing light of day, and scrambling to get dressed before it wakes up?"

And what better way to get Angel of the Morning stuck in my head than this gorgeous vid?

Ow, my embarrassment squick

May. 26th, 2025 07:10 pm
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
Slow Horses s4 )

at the knees with a cutter

May. 25th, 2025 08:42 pm
musesfool: key lime pie (pie = love)
[personal profile] musesfool
The bbq was fun, even if the weather was chilly and rainy. We saw a huge double rainbow after it rained, and one of them was the most vivid and long-lasting rainbow I ever saw. it was pretty amazing.

Baby Miss L had a grand old time her in personal ball pit, and dancing to both the 90s playlist (it was a 90s-themed party) and later to her own favorite Elmo songs. She was really vibing with Pantera and Alice in Chains - that child is going to be in the mosh pit at the club before you know it.

In other news, Alyssa tried the confetti cookies and really liked them. This morning, she texted me like, "this is exactly what they're supposed to taste like!" Anthony and my sister also liked them, so I guess it's just me, but thy were disgustingly sweet to me. *hands* Trish also liked the brownies, so that worked out too! I will definitely have to make the brownies again, so I can taste them. My sister made ice cream cone cupcakes for the party, which I guess she used to make for the kids to take to school for their birthday's back in the day, so there was a nostalgia factor involved. They were good, though I still like my chocolate cupcake recipe best. *g*

Now I'm watching the Mets, though really, I'm listening to the local radio broadcast because good lord the ESPN broadcast is the worst. Simply terrible in all aspects.

*

give the governor a "harrumph"

May. 25th, 2025 04:56 pm
the_shoshanna: Arthur is too shiny for this shit. (too shiny)
[personal profile] the_shoshanna
I was supposed to meet up with someone yesterday, and we had the following email conversation:

them: We operate out of Location A and Location B. I'll be at Location A Saturday afternoon from 2:00 on.

me: Great, I'll be at Location A a few minutes past 2:00 on Saturday!

me at 2:15 pm: Hey, you're not here yet so I'm going to run a quick errand and come back.

me at 2:30 pm: You're still not here, so I guess we'll try again next week? I hope everything is all right on your end.

them at 3:00 pm, after I was already home again: We're at Location B.

It's not a huge deal, we will connect next week, but damn, I would have appreciated even a perfunctory "Oops, my bad," you know?

The Glorious 25th of May & Towel Day

May. 25th, 2025 01:23 pm
petra: A photo of lilac flowers with the text "How do they rise" from Pratchett's Night Watch (Pratchett - How do they rise)
[personal profile] petra
Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg!

My Tumblr dash runneth over with Terry Pratchett memes, as is only right and proper.

I know where my towel is, and I am thinking of the friends I have lost along the way, as is traditional on this day.

Doctor Who ? 07

May. 25th, 2025 10:41 am
selenak: (Rani - Kathyh)
[personal profile] selenak
Before I get to this week's episode: is an interview with Juno Dawson, who wrote last week's episode. In it, she makes a comment about the Doctor and the Spoiler which I found interesting in term's of this week's episode: which is spoilery. )

Now, on to The Wish World. Basically, classic pre finale set up episode, making things as desperate as possible, though this time the horror is of a very different type compared to other RTD pre finale episodes.

Spoilers live in a Tory Utopia )

Slow Horses s1-s3

May. 24th, 2025 11:57 pm
petra: Two men in beat-up Elizabethan garb. (Ros and Guil - Extras)
[personal profile] petra
I have finished Slow Horses s1-3, as a result of paying for Apple TV to encourage them to Murderbot.

I want to inflict the Slow Horses, AU-ized, on various fandoms. Some of their mistakes are universal; others can be readily translated between universes.

I mean, really, what do the Jedi do with their terminal fuckups, once they've been accepted as padawans -- other than promote them to Council seats?

Not me wanting Roderick Ho the Jedi slicer who thinks he's hot bantha poodoo, nosiree bob.

In other universe-smashing paradigms, I still want to introduce Lamb to Peter Grant. They would loathe each other uncordially. It would be splendid.

Sorry, this is as close as my icon collection gets without going all Gene Hunt -- who would also be deeply entertaining to inflict on Lamb and his merry band, while I'm proposing crossovers.

all in good taste

May. 24th, 2025 10:39 am
the_shoshanna: Professor Farnsworth, of Futurama, with a blackboard on which is written his catchphrase, "Good news, everyone!" (good news everyone)
[personal profile] the_shoshanna
Quick final update: coffee everywhere except at home tasted fine, and coffee at home was vastly improved after we, uh, disassembled and thoroughly cleaned the grinder, which had never been done. So I guess I was just hypersensitive to the buildup of ick after several days away from it? Anyway everything is fine and I did not have COVID and I can enjoy my morning coffee again, yay.

makes the one-hand catch

May. 23rd, 2025 10:48 pm
musesfool: key lime pie (pie = love)
[personal profile] musesfool
I'm so tired of people blowing their deadlines and making it my problem. But at the super last minute, it did finally come together so I was able to log off at 3 pm (it's the first Summer Friday of 2025, and we get to sign off at 2:30 until Labor Day).

My sister is having a birthday bbq tomorrow for my oldest and youngest nieces, who share a birthday, and one requested Smitten Kitchen confetti cookies (even though I told her I found them too sweet) and the other requested brownies (which is why I asked about brownie recipes yesterday - I don't make them often anymore so I don't have a go-to recipe). I couldn't lay hands on dutched cocoa for love or money today, but it turns out that the King Arthur "triple cocoa" or whatever it's called, works in recipes calling for dutched cocoa, and I have that. *hands* But like, nobody even has Hershey's special dark! I was surprised by that. Anyway I ended up making these King Arthur Fudge Brownies and they smell fantastic, though next time I will probably try the microwave to melt the butter instead of doing it on the stove - I did it in a pot on the stove and even on low heat, it got so hot that I had to wait like 30 minutes for it to cool to the temperature required by the recipe (110° - 120°F), so it took a lot longer than I planned for. Other than that, the recipe is really easy. I guess because you beat the cocoa into the eggs, you don't have to worry about the hot butter/sugar mixture scrambling them (you laugh, but that happened to me once with the old mascarpone brownies recipe when I added the melted butter!).

I hope they both enjoy them!

I also bought a banana squishmallow for Baby Miss L, because her response to them has been A++ hilarious every time.

Hopefully the weather tomorrow cooperates. It has rained here so much. Today it rained all morning and then the sun came out late in the afternoon, and then...it poured while the sun was out for a while, and the temperature has lingered in the low 60s. I mean, I'll take the cooler temps for sure, especially at night, but I'm really tired of the rain.

In other news, last night I fell asleep on the couch when I was trying to read, so when I woke up, I decided to just go to bed, and for once, couch sleepy did translate to bed sleepy and I ended up sleeping for almost 10 hours last night! It was glorious! But I don't think I can realistically make myself go to bed at 10:15 every night. *glances at clock* I mean...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

*

Rudest tag possible

May. 23rd, 2025 05:02 pm
petra: Cartoon of Shakespeare saying, "Read my latest, it is god damn glorious." (Beaton - Shakespeare)
[personal profile] petra
Rudest tag I have seen in a month of Sundays:
Life on Mars (UK) spoiler for the finale )

Compare with The Untamed spoiler for the first episode )

Which is kinda like Shakespeare spoiler )

When it could've been Bigger Shakespeare spoiler )

Greek myth spoiler )

When I needed sunshine I got rain

May. 22nd, 2025 05:55 pm
musesfool: key lime pie (pie = love)
[personal profile] musesfool
So it turns out that all that rain and wind last night was due to a nor'easter. In late May. What the actual fuck. But climate change is a hoax.

Anyway, hit me with your favorite brownie recipes! I myself prefer them fudgy instead of cakey, but I am open to variations.

*

(no subject)

May. 21st, 2025 10:39 pm
cofax7: climbing on an abbey wall  (Default)
[personal profile] cofax7
Y'all, things are shitty and going to get worse. I'm so sorry for, well, everyone.

But I heard a story today that was just fucking amazing, and I cannot repeat it, but! Read more... )

And that's all I can say about that.

Anyway I watched the finale of Andor and the first two eps of Murderbot, and lo! they are enjoyable. I have my issues with how Gilroy handled one specific character, but in general, he landed the show really well.

Murderbot is fun and it's nice to see they are hinting at the backstory already. And the casting is excellent.

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dragojustine: (Default)
dragojustine

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