loganberrybunny: Drawing of my lapine character's face by Eliki (Default)
Public


355/365: Birmingham Hippodrome
Click for a larger, sharper image

I was in Birmingham today. I didn't have much time to myself, but I was able to have coffee in the Dragon, which was nice as it's the pub a group of us had our post-UK PonyCon meal in last year. A lot quieter at 10:30am today, though! Here's a photo of the Hippodrome, Birmingham's largest theatre (capacity 1,935 seats), taken with a wide-angle setting hence the odd angles. The pavement decoration is because this area is right on the edge of the city's Gay Village. And the theatre district, obviously. And Chinatown (hence the name of the Dragon). And just down from New Street station. And only a few hundred yards from the UK PonyCon 2025 venue. And rather wet this morning!

Weather

Jan. 21st, 2026 06:54 pm[personal profile] moonhare
moonhare: (carrots)
We had a great snowfall Sunday into Monday: six damp inches. The trees looked like as if covered in marshmallow fluff, with branches drooping under the weight. We had one tree come down in the backyard, and another lean dangerously close to the ground.

IMG_0161_Original.jpeg
The ‘top’ of the tree luckily missed my sheds by about ten feet. Had it hit I would have spent most of the morning clearing the mess to get the snowblower, and generator, free. I’ll get this cut up when the weather improves…

Clearing the snow went very well. I only just realized my machine is nine years old now, and it really hasn’t had a lot of uses. After doing the driveway I of course did the dog’s path out back (in spite of the tree). The most effort for me was clearing the heavy snow off the vehicles and then shoveling that back off the drive.

We’re due for more snow this weekend, possibly eight inches. Due to the arctic cold coming with it, the snow should at least be fluffy this trip. Historically this is the coldest time of the year here. But even though it was 6°F (-14°C) this morning, tomorrow could reach 45°F (7°C), and then go back to 4°F (-16°C) Friday into Saturday. Joy!

IMG_1134.webp
What, no eggs?

Cherons

Jan. 21st, 2026 03:16 pm[personal profile] fayanora
fayanora: qrcode (Default)
In the new Star Trek series taking place in the future Disco era, the Cherons -- the "black on one half, white on the other" species -- are back, and people are asking how that can be, if there were only two of them left alive in the TOS episode about them -- both men, and both dead by the end of the original episode.

My thoughts:
1. We know they were space-faring, otherwise the episode would never have happened. So maybe the ones from their world who weren't racist left together to find another world to colonize, and it was just the ones still on the homeworld that killed each other off.
2. Maybe someone thought "hey, let's give their species a second chance" and cloned members of their species from DNA samples left on the surface.
3. Both of the above.

Personally, I prefer the idea that the non-racists got together and were like "fuck these racist assholes, let's go start a colony together, my mirror-image friends."

Though I do have an additional idea along with the "non-racist Cherons started a colony together." What if two other colonies were also made? Members of one race that were just racist enough to not want to be around the other race, but not so racist that they wanted to hunt down the other race, what if they went off and made a second colony? And then the same kind of middle-ground racists from the other race made a third colony for the same reasons?

Yeah, I like that. And maybe have all three colonies be in the Beta Quadrant. The Beta Quadrant doesn't get as much love and attention as the other quadrants in Star Trek.

Brooke and I also speculated a bit about if the two races could interbreed, and what their mixed-race children would look like. At first I was like "Well let's break out the punett squares and figure it out like it was eye color." Then to be funny, I said "checkerboard pattern!" Brooke said "all black or all white" next. Then we settled on "one or the other must be a dominant trait, or else the conflict would never have started." Or at least would never have been that extreme.

Brr! "14F, feels like 7"

Jan. 25th, 2026 08:16 pm[personal profile] conuly
conuly: (Default)
That is not a sentence I want to read at any time in the morning.

(In celsius terms, it's -10 and feels like death.)

**********************


Read more... )
fox_in_me: fox.in.me (Default)


📝 Оригинальный текст записи
Прерывая мое молчание, хочу поделиться несколькими мыслями о последних событиях в моей жизни. Истории будут позже, но сейчас -несколько наблюдений.
Недавно я давал интервью изданию BBC. Это был длинный разговор, связанный с боевыми действиями, и прозвучал прямой вопрос, на который дипломатично сложно ответить: достаточно ли делают «партнеры» для Украины?
Это глобальный и сложный вопрос, на который я хочу ответить своими ощущениями из города, где относительно спокойно, в отличие от прифронтовых территорий. Попробуйте представить мегаполис без электричества: светофоры не работают, в домах и офисах нет тепла и воды, а на улицах -темнота, туман, дым от прорванных теплотруб и пожаров с запахом гари. В этом городе безумный трафик и тревога, и картина становится более ясной.
Не читая новостей, я узнал, что МВФ выделяет Украине деньги, но при этом ставит условия -сокращать субсидии на коммунальные услуги. Это делает жизнь людей еще тяжелее. Никто при этом не предлагает сначала поднять зарплаты, пенсии и соцвыплаты до европейского уровня, как и оплату военных, чтобы не унижать их, я уже не говорю о пенсионерах.
Я не жалуюсь на холод или отсутствие электричества -мне повезло быть там, где есть возможность согреться. На боевых позициях, в замерзших окопах, этого нет.
Но просто собрать мысли и сосредоточиться на внутренних вопросах сложно, когда за окном вспышки взрывов, окна дрожат от ударных волн, и понимаешь, что происходящее от тебя никак не зависит. Я не описываю здесь, как города стирают с лица земли, а лишь делюсь тем, как это ощущается в городе, где проходят воздушные атаки.
Вывод прост: понять и полностью прочувствовать всё это невозможно. А спрашивать о том, достаточно ли помощи -не понимая, что вся эта ситуация продолжается именно с позволения этих «партнеров» -нелепо


Note translated in assistance with AI.

I want to break my silence and share a few thoughts about what’s been happening in my life recently. The longer stories will come later, but for now, this.

Recently, I gave an interview to BBC. It was a long conversation about the war, and at one point they asked a direct question: are the “partners” doing enough for Ukraine? It’s hard to answer that diplomatically — it’s such a vast, complex question. But I want to try to explain it through what I feel here, in a city that is relatively calm, far from the frontlines.

Imagine a metropolis without electricity: traffic lights don’t work, there’s no heat or water in offices or homes, and at night the streets are dark. There’s smoke from broken heating pipes, fires, the smell of burning, fog, chaotic traffic. You start to see things differently.

I recently heard that the IMF has allocated money to Ukraine, but with new conditions — reducing subsidies on utilities. It makes life harder for ordinary people. No one talks about raising salaries, pensions, or social benefits to European levels, or paying the military fairly so they aren’t humiliated. The elderly are not mentioned at all.

I am not complaining about the cold or the lack of electricity — I am lucky to have a place where I can stay warm. On the frontlines, in frozen trenches, there is nothing like that.

Even just gathering your thoughts here is hard. Outside, explosions flash, windows shake from shockwaves, and you realize that none of what’s happening depends on you. I am not trying to describe how cities are destroyed; I am simply sharing what it feels like in a city under active air attacks.

The truth is: you cannot fully understand it, not unless you’ve been there. Asking if the help is enough — without understanding that the situation continues under the very permission of these “partners” — is absurd.

Living here, you feel the contrast every day: the relative calm of the city, the small routines you can manage, and the chaos that touches you even from afar. It makes you realize how fragile everything is, how small your control, and yet how necessary it is to simply observe, survive, and carry on.

Some metaphors

Jan. 21st, 2026 02:58 pm[personal profile] fayanora
fayanora: cognitive hazard (cognitive hazard)
Using Internet Explorer or Edge to download Chrome is like using a Chevy Nova to bring home an elephant that eats all your food, wrecks all your shit, and sends regular reports about you to the NSA. (Because Chrome is bloatware and spyware combined.)

Using IE or Edge to download Firefox, on the other hand, is like using a Chevy Nova to bring home a complete home entertainment system from Best Buy. One of the non-smart kinds, with Dolby Surround Sound and Bose speakers.

Using IE or Edge to download Brave is like using a Chevy Nova to bring home several Nazi SS officers or ICE agents.

Food

Jan. 21st, 2026 02:55 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
The hidden microbes that decide how sourdough tastes

The microbes living in sourdough starters don’t just appear by chance—they’re shaped by what bakers feed them. New research shows that while the same hardy yeast tends to dominate sourdough starters regardless of flour type, the bacteria tell a more complex story. Different flours—like whole wheat or bread flour—encourage different bacterial communities, which can subtly influence flavor, texture, and fermentation.

Read more... )
lb_lee: A colored pencil drawing of Raige's freckled hand holding a hot pink paperback entitled the Princess and Her Monster (book)
This is a very brief selection from a much larger 1988 book I found in a free box, Brazilian Women Speak: Contemporary Life Stories. It is a life story from a woman involved with Brazilian spiritualism (more specifically, umbanda). The book is still miraculously in print, and there is a screen-readable version for the print-disabled on archive.org.

Citation: Patai, Daphne. “ÂNGELA: ‘In Spiritualism There’s Real Equality.’” In Brazilian Women Speak: Contemporary Life Stories, 109-110, 120-125, 364-365. New Brunswick: Rutgers,1988.


lebateleur: Ukiyo-e image of Japanese woman reading (TWIB)
I managed to finish two books this week despite the competing pressures of work, gaming, and other socializing, and aim to have a few more honkers wrapped up within the next few days.


What I Finished Reading This Week

Internet Security Fundamentals - Nick Ioannou
This self-published freemium book covers exactly what the title suggests it will. Because it's free and frequently updated, the editing is atrocious: typos, omitted words, garbled sentences, and occasionally mistakes that utterly change the meaning of what Ioannou surely meant to say (e.g., the equivalent of accidentally omitting the word "never" from the following sentence: "The absolute most important thing you can do is to never leave your doors unlocked when you go out.") That said, this book is free, it's frequently updated, and the information is solid and presented in a fashion that won't overwhelm readers who need an introductory explanation of these concepts and practices; if you're looking for a book that does just that, you could do far worse than this one.

After the Forest – Kell Woods
This book was excellent and I will eagerly read anything else Woods writes. Set in 16th century Germany against a backdrop of interstate conflict, witch trials, and religious intolerance, it tells the story of the folktale Hansel and Gretel's titular characters (Greta and Hans here) after the woods; that is, as adults, post-witch and -oven, and -gingerbread house. The setting is fantastic, the descriptive language is fantastic. The blend of historical fact and fairy tale elements is fantastic. The pacing is fantastic. The characterizations are wonderful and strike the difficult balance of depicting characters with believable strengths and weaknesses without slipping into caricature or melodrama, and desires and agency without relying on anachronism or unrealistic motivations or capabilities. This is a definite winner, and I will read it again.


What I Am Currently Reading

Mannaz – Malene Sølvsten
I've got just about 100 pages to go and can't wait to see how the trilogy concludes.

Freya the Deer – Meg Richman
There I was, calmly reading the prologue, when Richman casually dropped a sentence that came out of nowhere like a blow to the face. "Gripped me from the very first page" is a cliche in book reviews, but the first page of this volume delivers a mean jolt, and so far Richman has the chops to keep the momentum going.

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 1 – Xue Shan Fei Hu
Mannaz, After the Woods, and Freya the Deer were all affecting my nightmares, so this has become my bedtime reading, a job to which its unapologetically, gleefully over-the-top premise is perfectly suited.


What I’m Reading Next

I acquired no new books this week.


これで以上です。

Check-In Post - Jan 21st 2026

Jan. 21st, 2026 08:20 pm[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] get_knitted
badly_knitted: (Get Knitted)

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: What are your crafting goals for 2026?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!



james_davis_nicoll: (Default)


This all-new Dead Air Bundle presents English-language ebooks for Dead Air: Seasons, the post-apocalyptic tabletop roleplaying game from Italian publisher The World Anvil Publishing about a Blighted world forever changed.

Bundle of Holding: Dead Air: Seasons

Half A Moon 2026

Jan. 21st, 2026 02:34 pm[personal profile] spikedluv
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
Last year I participated in [community profile] halfamoon for the first time. I enjoyed it and have been looking forward to this round. The prompts for this coming round (beginning Feb 1) have been posted HERE.

Per the mod, this year is all about archetypes. So I've listed the seven feminine archetypes on the odd number days and then something that plays against that on the even number days.

I’m including the prompts here because I need to think about them some. Yes, I’m thinking they’ll all be Jessica again, but that’s not set in stone.

prompts )

Wednesday Reading Meme

Jan. 21st, 2026 02:11 pm[personal profile] spikedluv
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Nothing! I’ve watched a lot of tv and did a lot of writing in the last week, which didn’t leave much time for reading.


What I am Currently Reading: Still working on Husband Material (London Calling) by Alexis Hall.


What I Plan to Read Next: Probably the other library book I have out as I've only got one renewal on it.

Birdfeeding

Jan. 21st, 2026 12:57 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today is mostly sunny, breezy, and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and at least one starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the first of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the second of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I put out a peanut suet cake.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night. 

Birdfeeding

Jan. 21st, 2026 12:55 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today is mostly sunny, breezy, and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and at least one starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the first of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the second of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I put out a peanut suet cake.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night. 

An ode to the ninth art

Jan. 21st, 2026 07:31 pm[personal profile] hyperanthropos posting in [community profile] scans_daily
hyperanthropos: storyteller infront of a campfire (Default)
Read more... )

Profile

frenzy: (Default)
frenzy

January 2026

S M T W T F S
    123
456 78910
11121314151617
1819 2021222324
25262728293031
Page generated Jan. 24th, 2026 04:41 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios