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ysabetwordsmith

Stunning “wonder reptile” discovery rewrites the origins of feathers

An international team of researchers has published a breakthrough study in the journal Nature showing that early reptiles from the Triassic period had unique structures growing from its skin that formed an alternative to feathers.

The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like skull, tree-climbing adaptations, and pigment structures linked to feathers deepen the mystery of reptile evolution.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I put out water for the birds. They had drained the small metal birdbath.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, house yard, and patio plants.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens. I didn't have energy or daylight to pick up the hose, though; I had to turn it off and just leave it out. :/ I'll try to reel it up tomorrow. It's exhausting to maneuver.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I stumbled across this today, while researching hormone use on livestock:

Causing trauma to the reproductive tract can induce bleeding, and since blood is toxic to sperm, this may result in reduced conception rates, permanently infertile animals, or animal death.

It makes me wonder if that's a cause undermining conception from rape, which often features internal injuries from microabrasions up to serious tears. If so, an interesting example of self-sabotage.

And then, what about the handful of species where rough sex is normal or even required? A tomcat's barbed penis, for example. Is their sperm different somehow? Or is there some other protective mechanism in play?

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

How much damage are ultraprocessed foods really doing to your health?

New American Heart Association Science Advisory reviews current evidence about UPFs and their impact on adverse health outcomes and outlines opportunities for research, policy and regulatory reform to improve dietary intake and overall health.
Many foods we consume today are ultraprocessed, packed with unhealthy ingredients, and linked to major health risks. As consumption of these foods rises, so do chronic health issues, especially among lower-income groups. Experts are calling for clearer guidelines, better research, and systemic changes to reduce the impact of ultraprocessed foods on public health.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/9/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

Current Mood: busy

boccaderlupo

Watch on YouTube

Just finished The Magus of Java: Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal by Kostas Danaos. Found it fascinating, both as pure story and as imparting some insights into neikung and the internal Chinese arts.

Without ruining the entire thing (it's a cracking good read), the story concerns one John Chang, a master of this art form who lived in Indonesia. Above is some video showing his purported abilities.

Keeping in mind that I am a neophyte with regard to chi and that nothing herein should be construed as medical advice in any sense, the author made two points that stuck out to me.

1) Even among the various sects and clans, there was no clear, universal agreement as to methodology regarding these internal arts, such that some practitioners would conduct lethal experiments on acolytes to determine what was effective. This suggests that there's an alternative explanation to why some students get sick while attempting these arts, namely—they're doing it wrong, or their school or teacher doesn't know exactly the right way to go, or even if there is a single right way to go.

2) According to the author, Chang's method distinguishes yang and yin chi as being celestial (solar) and terrestrial (telluric?), respectively, and as fundamentally opposed forces—that is, they do not mix, and are used in tandem only with great difficulty. This is highly suggestive, for those of us in the West, as the distinction between Heaven and Earth is recognizable both from a Christian and non-Christian perspective (to say nothing of its resonance in Taoism).

Taken in a non-dogmatic or doctrinal manner—as reportedly Chang himself did—the yin chi evidently provided one some degree of insight into the spirit world, as the author attests, allowing interaction with "earthbound spirits."

As a newbie to this thinking, I found it useful to break this down as such:

Yang chi	Accrues in the dantien (omphalos); intake through the breath	celestial	solar (?)	descending	active
Yin chi	ascends through the feet through the perineum into the area of the kidneys	terrestrial	telluric (?)	ascending	passive

My conjecture is that different cultures had differing degrees of knowledge of these forces and employed them in different ways. I've written before about how I believe spiritus (the Latin equivalent of chi) may be employed in liturgical rites. The difference, I suspect, is that we in the West have an incomplete (or imperfectly articulated) understanding of spiritus (keeping in mind the limitations of my own knowledge of the literature). In the liturgy, for example, I suspect that the congregation is invited to share its solar spiritus (yang) with the presiding priest ("and with your spirit"...intriguingly, in the Roman rites, kneeling in involved, which to me suggests an intentional suppression of exposure to terrestrial/telluric currents (yin)). The presiding priest, then—who, again in the West, is asked to be celibate, which has specific ramifications for the yin, per Chang/Danaos—is involved in the act of transubstantiation, in which the bread and wine become the body and blood...literally the manifestation of Heaven in the form of things on Earth.

Consider, too, the cross, with its vertical axis representing the solar/celestial and its horizontal the terrestrial.

Further conjecture: The solar Logos*, the light that lights every person that comes into the world, through which all things were made, is associated with the yang chi (the celestial). The yin is associated with forces such as gravity, and with the Void, the primordial chaos upon which the Craftsman imposes his vision (the terrestrial). Per the author, the interplay and struggle between these two opposed forces are what confers life itself.

In terms of the spiritual world, then, there are additional possible readings into how this may be understood in a Christian context. We assume that the evil demons are bound to the Earth, and thus hold sway, as "pure spirit." Thus, in their fallen state, they are associated both with the Void/chaos and the yin chi. Yet this force is not "evil" unto itself (although the spirits may themselves be corrupted), and, if the model holds, is integral to life/manifestation. With regard to the yin chi, I am also led to think of Mary, the Blessed Mother (Mater, matter), who in the exorcist literature is thought to be particularly repellent to the evil demons (the powers of this World). It is Mary as a vessel who, through the Holy Spirit, is understood to manifest Jesus Christ—the solar Logos made flesh, the will of Heaven expressed on Earth. In this we can understand the perfect conjunction of two opposing forces—the ascending and the descending—as the Way. If this is the case, consider the proportionate alteration of solar and terrestrial invocations in, say, the Rosary, and some of the miracles associated with its recitation (CF "closed body" phenomena ("corpo fechado")).

Quite apart from these speculations on liturgy and theology, these ideas also may shed light on the hesychast tradition, which, as I noted in another post, already have tendencies that resonate with Chinese methods (as I understand them, at least; CF Symeon the New Theologian, "The Three Ways of Attention and Prayer"). This, too, may be the cultivation of yang chi, insofar as this function was understood among the Desert Fathers. It should be noted, too, that these monks were continuously assailed by demons during their wanderings. According to Chang/Danaos, the yang chi in one's body exists in some proportion to the yin chi. Could it be that the desert monks' cultivation of the "solar spiritus" engendered an equal and opposite reaction from the "terrestrial spiritus" (the demons)?

* I think, too, of those experts who believe that the imprint on the Shroud of Turin documents a sudden, massive burst of radiation, as with nuclear fusion.

boccaderlupo

I dreamed we wandered the streets of Paris, bustling, crowded. I was staying temporarily in an apartment with a hulking, bald Dutchman named Wim Wenders (who was not, apparently, the German filmmaker of the same name). He seemed a gentle giant. There was a slight Frenchwoman in a long, green shirt who was staying there, too, who had allegedly been assaulted by Wenders the night before. On this day, as we walked around, though, things seemed normal between them, although I knew the cops had been called, and also that some sort of American spy type would show up and handcuff Wim to a radiator in the apartment. The latter would not live long. The woman, however, would escape the caper unscathed. "Where will you go?" I asked her, but she told me she had an apartment elsewhere in the city. As for me, I had lost all my luggage, and had only an undershirt, jeans, and my white Adidas. I was bound to leave on the next plane for Newark.

*

I dreamed of a purple-tinged forest. In the sky would appear a large, black tombstone-like spacecraft that would hover and then take off. It had a single, massive window, and three messages painted on it, at the top, then below the window, and at the bottom: "Who Cool," "Super Cool," and "How Cool." My daughter and I would watch it make its descent and then would walk through the woods once it had made its departure.

She was sad because of some other phenomena which I cannot remember, something involving birds, I think. "Not all skies can be personalized," I told her.

*

I dreamed I was in a vast dome of a church. The layout was not my cup of tea, but the paintings on the dome were tremendous, depicting the child Christ surrounded by hosts and hosts of animals and mythological beings, the teeming things of the world, the glories of Creation, all against a blue background, lit subtly by candlelight all around.

Michelangelo Buonarroti had just finished the frescos, but I knew that he was unsatisfied with some of the details. Nonetheless, the pope and those in charge had declared the work finished. I met Michelangelo in a hallway outside. He tried to hide his displeasure, but it was difficult. I asked him about a panel of St. Jerome that he had planned to paint on one of the doors leading into the dome area, but which remained vacant—I knew it was a sticking point for him, and his face became animated when I asked him about it. But just at that moment a cardinal appeared along with a troupe of other priests, and Michelangelo fell silent, fuming. The cardinal showed us a decorated wooden wall unit where they stored the holy oils, that had intricate carvings on the handle. I admitted it was very beautiful, but by then Michelangelo had stormed out and was gone.

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

If everyone said what they were actually thinking, what would happen to society?

KERPLOWIE

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Helsinki just went a full year without traffic fatalities — here's their secret

In the United States, traffic incidents are a leading cause of death, with an average of 120 people dying every day due to motor vehicle collisions.

On a global scale, a person dies from a road-related accident every 24 seconds.

But Finland’s capital city of Helsinki has pulled off something astonishing — the last recorded traffic-related death was over a year ago, in July 2024.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Astronaut Jim Lovell has passed away. He flew four missions, including the famous Apollo 13 in which the crew narrowly averted disaster.

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

( Read more... )

Current Mood: pensive

scrubjayspeaks

“I can’t decide what to name it,” Evgeniya said, scowling at the dish in her hand, proffered less like a prize and more like a puzzle. A shave ice without color might have been uninteresting, if it did not sparkle like mountaintop snow and diamonds and the pearly horns of unicorns, all blazing with an internal starlight. Jamil, blinking like one emerging into the sun suddenly, said, “I’m not sure you need to name it, or even say what flavor it is--just let people see one, and it will sell.”

---

LL#1288

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/8/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/8/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/8/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the new picnic table garden.

I picked a red cherry tomato.

EDIT 8/8/25 -- I watered the savanna seedlings.

EDIT 8/8/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and the septic garden.

I found a baby preying mantis on the burn barrel and moved it to the barrel garden.

Cicadas and crickets are singing. I've seen a few fireflies.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's theme is Icons, a very popular topic on Dreamwidth with several high-traffic communities.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

We went out thrift shopping today.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This student's life-changing injury made him realize how 'outdated' traditional casts are. So he 3D-printed a better one
AUG 7, 2025 12:34 PMPT

It’s an injection-molded lattice forearm cast, made with durable Nylon material that is lightweight, fully breathable, and a lot more comfortable than traditional fiberglass casts.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Illinois is home to one of the ‘world's best fossil sites': Field Museum

"These fossils tell the story of an ancient inland sea, home to alien-looking plants and animals such as squid-like cephalopods, sea scorpions, and the bizarre-looking state fossil of Illinois, the Tully monster," said the release.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/7/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/7/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/7/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens.

EDIT 8/7/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

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

Current Mood: busy

boccaderlupo

I dreamed we lived in a city, on an island in a river. On the other side, the main part of the city. The only way across, besides taking a boat, was to crawl on hands and knees across a beam that was about a hand's width. Below you, the water. In the water swam various fish and sharks, but coursing along atop the water was a basilisk. In the dream, the basilisk was many colored, with strange, luminescent frills. It would roar and hiss, but it could do you no harm—so long as you did not fall down into the water. I would make my way shakily across the hand-bridge, almost a half-mile long, the basilisk roaring all the time, and wondered: How long can I continue doing this?

*

I dreamed we moved to a busy city block across the street from a grand old church. I went inside to go to confession, but could not find the confessionals—there were just rows and rows of endless cubicles and people doing office work.

scrubjayspeaks

Deer generally could not carry humans, unless the humans were young and small and the deer were ancient and large. Their leader, considered grizzled at sixteen, rode a creature with a spreading rack that could only have navigated a forest with a touch of magic, and rare sightings often reported it as an Irish elk or other impossible megafauna. More often, sightings were only of rosebushes with every blossom plucked, save one left as a calling card and ill omen on the front steps by the band of marauders.

---

LL#1287

ysabetwordsmith

Islamophobia Research Hub at York U releases report on Canada's anti-Palestine bias

Documenting the “Palestine Exception": An Overview of Trends in Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian and Anti-Arab Racism in Canada in the aftermath of October 7, 2023.
In the aftermath of October 7, 2023, Canada saw a rise in anti-Palestinian racism (APR), Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism (AAR) and antisemitism that affects many areas of life and work for Canadians.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

The day has gotten sunnier and much hotter.

I've seen a house wren screaming its head off at anything that moves.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I potted up 3 white peach seeds and 4 local yellow peach seeds.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I did a bit more work around the patio.

I picked 3 red cherry tomatoes and a ball carrot from the septic garden.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I picked a handful of blackberries from the second-crop bush.

EDIT 8/6/25 -- I pulled a few weeds around the septic garden.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

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

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The 31-year-old electrical engineer says poor reception is a common frustration for residents of Vermont's Orange County. To address this issue, he's providing his community with a new way to stay connected.

Schlott has taken old pay phones, modified them to make free calls, and set them up in three different towns across the county. He buys the phones secondhand from sites like eBay and Craigslist and restores them in his home workshop.

I've always said that dismantling pay phones was dangerous, because even if most people have cell phones, those can be lost, broken, or out of service. It's nice to see this public good reviving in at least some areas.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly clouding and mild, a beautiful day.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/5/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I checked the new picnic table and septic garden. No new vegetables to pick, but multiple zinnias are now blooming in shades of red and red-violet. :D Also the first of the giant sunflowers are blooming there.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this space as I am still writing.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Books and Learning." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

I'll be soliciting ideas for readers, writers, storytellers, scribes, editors, publishers, students, teachers, caregivers, children, parents, bookworms, nerds, bookstore owners, librarians, an anonymous benefactor, activists, volunteers, superheroes, supervillains, other bookish people, reading, writing, delighting the reader, editing, publishing, bookbinding, shopping for books, telling stories, teaching, inviting students to a lesson, demonstrating tools, educating the whole child, learning, studying, parenting, lending a hand, cooperating, concentrating on a current task, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, respecting people, modeling manners and skills, learning to trust others, observing the environment, engaging all the senses, cultivating a full life, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, choosing your own goals, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, making mistakes, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, other educational activities, books, scrolls, magical tomes, printing presses, pens and pencils, bookstores, libraries, Little Free Libraries, book nooks, windowseats, Montessori schools, other alternative schools, preschools or daycares, Montessori homeschool, prepared environment, colleges and universities, beautiful places, craft centers, community centers, coffeehouses, outdoor classrooms, parks, nature centers, other spaces designed for learning, Triton Teen Centers, mentor circles, intentional communities, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna, the Aqademy of the Qrossroads, Waldorf toys, Montessori materials, intrinsic motivation, child independence, respect for the child, freedom to choose, freedom of time and uninterrupted work periods, absorbent mind, post-traumatic growth, individualized education, three-part cards, language lessons, mathematics, diverse ages and abilities, self-correcting toys and lessons, natural consequences, freedom of movement, intentional neighboring, diversity, inclusivity, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Crime Classics Bingo Card 8-1-25

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One involves education and reading in the Lacuna.

Arts and Crafts America focuses on fine arts and practical crafts, sometimes education. Bookbinding would be a logical craft.

The Bear Tunnels has future books in a past culture.

Daughters of the Apocalypse have to rediscover many historic skills for survival, including earlier methods of sharing knowledge.

Frankenstein's Family has two scientists teaching villagers to be thoughtful instead of stupid, and after a few years, several more people keenly interested in books and education.

Not Quite Kansas started with mishandling a book of spells, and involves trying to learn about a whole new world.

Path of the Paladins includes the Canticle of Thorns and other books.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers in organized crime. The Religious Society of Friends has been greatly involved in education, including abolitionist and natural science publications.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people learning things. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Danso and Family, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully. It includes a healthy magical school.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they learn a lot along the way.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: creative

dandylover1

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

prettygoodword is posting about the Uto-Aztecan language family, and today's word is saguaro. Apparently they have edible fruit.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

dialecticdreamer has expanded her comment under my first Emergency Food post into a separate post with more tips for people with special dietary needs.

Current Mood: busy

dandylover1

Hello, Dear Readers. Let's start with some music, if one can call it that. I will elaborate a bit on part of the commentary between DB and me afterward.

( Thoughts on Ravel: La Valse )

Usually, I write what I call filler entries. They are entries for a specific day, written later, but with the perspective of the date shown. For example, I might post on 1 August, but at the top, you'll see "(Catchup - 4 August 2025)". But this week was quite extraordinary, so I'll just write it here. First, though, here is a bit of an announcement. I posted this to Blob.cat (Akkoma), tried to post to Friendica.world (it didn't work), and even to Facebook, which was a nightmare, as doing anything on that site is always headache-inducing. "After testing the features and accessibility for quite awhile, I have decided that my home on the Fediverse is at Mastodon. More specifically, it's at someplace.social. I mostly post there now, so if you wish to follow me, this is my address. You could also simply search for

dandylover1. It is so difficult to post here from the main page that I must use a third party client and am considering deleting my account. This is not the case with Mastodon.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1

I am also still on Dreamwidth and will be updating it with new entries today.

http://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

Finally, if you use MSN/Windows Live Messenger via Escargot and wish to add me, I am dandylover1@escargot.chat. If you are curious about this wonderful revival of accessible software, go to the following site.

http://www.escargot.chat"

On Saturday, the 26th, my parents were on there way to see Joanie's sister when they were in a car accident. Fortunately, they were completely unharmed, other than being startled. Joanie banged her shoulder and Mom banged her leg. Both were in shock when they came home, and so was I! I was watching Alli, and I had gone downstairs to get an iced tea. Mom said she called me, but I never heard the phone ring. Alli was barking, but he always barks any time he's alone, so I ignored it. Mom also said she sent a text, but it never went through. The thing is this. I don't carry my phone with me. It's not a major part of my life. I could even go out and forget it. I certainly wouldn't take it with me when going to another part of the house. Usually, I would hear a ring, even if I miss a text. But in both cases, once I return to my phone, I have no way of knowing when I receive either. There isn't a persistant notification. If I miss the ring or don't hear the quick sound that indicates a message was sent, I simply don't know I received it, unless, for some reason, I think of checking for missed messages or calls. This is why I love MSN/Windows Live Messenger via Escargot. I always have it running on my computer, it always makes a notification if someone sends me a message, and more importantly, it opens a new window when a new conversation is started, so that I see it when tabbing through my currently open windows, even if I am away from my computer and miss the sound! Anyway, on Sunday, we all just relaxed and recovered from that crazy ordeal.

Early Wednesday morning, Joanie flew to Florida to see her brother. Mom and I spent more time than usual together, which was really nice. We laughed a lot and I helped her with a few things around the house. We even watched a Hallmark film at the same time! I say it that way because while she watched it on television, I watched it from a site for the blind with audio description. It was a lot of fun. Joanie returned on Saturday at one in the morning, much later than planned, because they kept delaying her plane. In the meantime, something very strange happened. I was in the little house, working at my computer. It was after eleven at night. Suddenly, a plane flew over the house and I heard and felt a strange sound. I figured it had just flown really low and while it was odd, I thought nothing of it after a few minutes. Later, I learned that we had a 3.0 magnetude earthquake! What was Joanie doing up there, I wonder.

I wish they had a test to determine what makes the blood of certain people so attractive to mosquitos! Maybe, it's all the lovely, sweet-voiced tenori di grazia I listen to. Perhaps I should try Otello with Melchior or Tamagno, just to balance things. Seriously, I have so many bites on me right now that it's utterly ridiculous! I desperately need to find a way of keeping these bugs away from me that doesn't involve putting harsh chemicals on my skin or dealing with visual things i.e. cartridges and mats that change colour when they need to be refilled.

On a much happier note, Joanie made absolutely delicious steak tonight! I asked her what she had done differently, and she said nothing. It was wonderful, though.

scrubjayspeaks

Everyone occasionally enjoys the pleasure of canceled plans, when a day that had been locked away behind the gates of obligation is opened up into a wide field of freedom, but we can’t always get out of our real schedules. A new service, Change of Plans, is available via phone or email, which allows you to create imaginary appointments, dates, and meetups, then cancel them after a time period of your choosing. Staff will even accept requests for levels of resistance--from cheerful agreement, to passive-aggressive undermining, to tearful pleading--to help you achieve a true sense of having gotten away with something.

---

LL#1286

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/4/25 -- I did a more work around the patio.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side
Emergency Food
Physics
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Threats
Survival Skills
Today's Adventures
Lightning
Cyberspace Theory
Birdfeeding
Crime Classics Bingo Card 8-1-25
Follow Friday 8-1-25: House
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Bingo
Poem: "Maho Shoujo"
Conservation
Birdfeeding
Juggling
Shanidar 1
Conservation
Genocide
Politics
Cuddle Party

"Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 48 comments. "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" has 75 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 148 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 97 comments.

sunshine_revival has concluded. See you next July! Review the schedule, meet the moderators, and use the master post to navigate the event. Meet new folks in the friending meme. Make one last sweep through the community posts to catch anything you missed.

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 1: Light
Poem: "The Pleasure of Escaping the Responsibility"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 2: Tunnel of Love
Poem: "Legs of Grass, Feet of Flowers"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 3: Food

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 4: Fun House
Poem: "The Bee Tree's Gift"

* Sunshine Challenge 5: Carnival Barker

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 6: Game Night
Poem: "A New Twist"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 7: The Ferris Wheel

Sunshine Revival: Sunset

summerofthe69 is open! You can see the calendar here and the current themes are 69 Accommodations and Alternate Sexy Parts 69.

There are no open epics at present.

The weather has been less hot and wet here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a pair of mourning doves, a pair of house wrens, a male cardinal, a gray catbird, a fox squirrel, and a bat. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, gladioli, firewheel, orange butterfly weed. Tomatillo and pepper have green fruit. Wild strawberries, mulberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers are ripe. The second crop of blackberries is ripe. I think the ball carrots might be ripe, but haven't had time to uproot any.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Underground life on Mars? Cosmic rays could make it possible

Research challenges long-held assumptions about where life can exist in the solar system.
Cosmic rays from deep space might be the secret energy source that allows life to exist underground on Mars and icy moons like Enceladus and Europa. New research reveals that when these rays interact with water or ice below the surface, they release energy-carrying electrons that could feed microscopic life, a process known as radiolysis. This breakthrough suggests that life doesn't need sunlight or heat, just some buried water and radiation.

*laugh* Took them long enough. Earth has an ecosystem around the black smokers that runs on heat and chemistry instead of sunlight.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and mild, a beautiful day. :D

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus a fox squirrel screaming at me from the top of a tree.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- My partner Doug mowed the house yard and paths to the fly-through feeder and new picnic table.

I picked up a branch in the house yard.

I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of mourning doves foraging in the cut grass.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- I did ass-busting amounts of effort to haul the hose around, watering the septic garden, new picnic table garden, patio plants, old picnic table garden, and a few other things around the house yard.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- We did more ass-busting amounts of effort to remove the old stretchy hose from the reel, then get the new tape hose onto the reel.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/3/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and savanna seedlings with a watering can. Both of this year's pawpaw seedlings are still alive! :D

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

Current Mood: busy

scrubjayspeaks

Man, come on…

Mum’s phone factory reset itself. While there is some small chance she managed to press the correct series of buttons with the right timing just by squashing it in her pocket, that seems...impressively unlikely. So we’re classifying it as a software issue and getting the service to replace it.

It wasn’t backed up, because we weren’t really interested in letting Google have access to everything we’ve ever done on the devices. So she’s got years of data and contacts lost (though not everything, because we wrote paper lists of contacts when we first got the phones because we couldn’t transfer data from the old ones). We’ll eventually manage to get most of the numbers back. It’s upsetting but not, I suppose, the end of the world.

All the same, I find myself wracked with guilt about it. It feels like, every time something goes wrong at home, there’s a voice in my head saying, why didn’t you keep this from happening? I’ve always had an overdeveloped sense of personal responsibility, but it seems to get worse year by year.

I am reminded of the passage from Restaurant at the End of the Universe:

“Did you know,” interrupting the ghostly figure, fixing Zaphod with a stern look, “that Betelgeuse Five has developed a very slight eccentricy in its orbit?”

Zaphod didn’t and found the information hard to concentrate on what with all the noise and the imminence of death and so on.

“Er, no… look,” he said.

“Me spinning in my grave!” barked the ancestor. He slammed the cup down and pointed a quivering, stick-like see-through finger at Zaphod.

“Your fault!” he screeched.

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written, August posts queued

Day job: 42.75 hours

Reading: The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg (arbitrarily searched Libby for books set in Sweden, which of course means murder mysteries, there’s a lot of shitty “appearance=morality/worth” messages coming from all corners, but I am *reluctantly* invested enough to want to read the next in the series)

Watching: I’ve been doing a casual sort of liveblogging of weird moments from New Scandinavian Cooking on tumblr, which continues to be my obsession du jour

Listening: An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer (always a bit sad to learn about someone cool because they died, but I will enjoy the discovery nonetheless), Braiding the Stories by Gaahl’s WYRD (metal-ish, Nordic-ish, another rec I can’t remember the source of)--as a side note, it sucks that getting into folk music and metal both means navigating a minefield of Nazi shit from artists and/or their fanbase and always feeling reluctant to mention a new artist I’m listening to for fear that I’ve missed some incident or dogwhistle

Clock Mouse: 1431 words--wow, that added up rather nicely

ysabetwordsmith

These pictures show the Coles County Community Garden on Saturday, August 2. (Begin with Part 1: Right Side, Part 2: Left Side.)

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

These are pictures from the left side of the Charleston Food Forest on Saturday, August 2. (Begin with Part 1: Right Side. Continue with Coles County Food Forest.)

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

These are pictures from the Charleston Food Forest. (Continue with Part 2: Left Side, Coles County Food Forest.)

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

The Best Emergency Food Kits

Emergency food kits containing easy-to-prepare, shelf-stable meals can also give you peace of mind, especially if you live in a region where weather events may disrupt your access to fresh food. These meals last for years (sometimes up to 30), they are easy to prepare, and many come in lightweight, portable pouches. Sure, shelf-stable meals don’t provide a gourmet dining experience, but they’re often nutritionally dense and packed with protein. So they can keep you going during a time of great stress.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Rutgers physicists just discovered a strange new state of matter

The finding could lead to advanced technological applications and new quantum devices.
At the edge of two exotic materials, scientists have discovered a new state of matter called a "quantum liquid crystal" that behaves unlike anything we've seen before. When a conductive Weyl semimetal and a magnetic spin ice meet under a powerful magnetic field, strange and exciting quantum behavior emerges—electrons flow in odd directions and break traditional symmetry. These findings could open doors to creating ultra-sensitive quantum sensors and exploring exotic states of matter in extreme environments.

Yep, that's useful in many advanced technologies including supercomputers and rovers for space exploration.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a mourning dove. The thistle feeder was about half empty.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I took some pictures of the metal tray birdfeeder.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I watered the old picnic table plants.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I visited the Charleston Food Forest. Grapes are ripe, which is why we went. These are tiny white grapes -- pea size or a little bigger -- seedless and very sweet. :D I picked 3 bunches and there are plenty left for other folks. I also got a few asparagus berries, a few white marigold heads, and quite a bit of wild indigo seedpods. Some wild indigo has tiny bluish seedpods, while others have thumb-sized brown seedpods.

One of the peach trees has completely overgrown the path behind the welcome sign and is covered in peaches. They are still hard and green. I hope that I can get some from that tree when they ripen, in hopes of sprouting the seeds.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/2/25 -- I trimmed around the goddess garden. One of the silver thyme plants is almost white now. :D

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

Current Mood: busy

I’ve posted this before, but when the included song came on in my Spotify favorites list I had to find it again!

Watch on YouTube

Sony Bravia, commercial only.

Watch on YouTube

Sony Bravia, commercial plus how it was made!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Stones

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What is the biggest threat to the social contract in our country?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I Built a House From Free Scrap Materials in the Forest

I built a beautiful and cozy house in the woods—using only leftover materials found in nature, and hand-crafted tools.No machinery. No noise. Just patience, precision, and the quiet companionship of nature. Each log, each joint, each decision—shaped by instinct, guided by simplicity.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

My supervillains be like ...

Fuck the Devil

Fuck the Devil

Also, this is exactly what would happen if a church group said that Triton Teen Center kids should be going to church, not hanging out with supervillains. A poor life choice swiftly regretted by whomever thought it up.

Current Mood: amused

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to Mattoon for a flea market at the mall.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

scrubjayspeaks

They slipped glass bottles around the freshly pollinated pomegranate blossoms, secured them to the branches, and then waited for the fall to come. By harvest, the bottles contained a fully-formed fruit, which could be preserved in alcohol and corked up like the finest of wine-in-potentia. At last, the bottles were labeled for sale to adventurers, rescue workers, and the terminally unlucky who might find themselves in need of passage through an underworld: Break In Case of Untimely Death.

---

LL#1285

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists finally solve the mystery of what triggers lightning

A Penn State-led research team has unraveled the long-standing mystery of how lightning begins inside thunderclouds. Their findings offer the first quantitative, physics-based explanation for lightning initiation—and a glimpse into the stormy heart of Earth’s atmosphere.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Youtube's new 18+ restriction thing

If you haven't heard: Youtube's gonna be rolling out a thing where they use AI to analyze the types of videos you watch to determine whether or not you're 18. If they think you're under, they're probably gonna limit what kinds of videos you can watch, and if they think you're 18 or over, you're gonna have to provide your ID. And if at any point Youtube has your age wrong, you're gonna have to provide some sort of ID anyways to rectify it.

I hate it all. Some people have posited that this being put in place is to protect kids, which on it's face sounds like a good thing. But having to give your ID to some online company, and Google no less... Not too long ago there was already another incident where an app intended for women only had it's database leaked, resulting in the leakage of several IDs (because this app used IDs to prove that its users were indeed women, a practice I have my own thoughts about).

Evil, but hardly a surprise. So, think about how much you enjoy using YouTube, and if you start hitting barriers there, consider whether there is an alternative that would be less abusive.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful day. :D

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

I took a few pictures around the yard.

EDIT 8/1/25 -- I did a bunch of work on the patio and around the house yard.

EDIT 8/1/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/1/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden.

I picked a couple of cucumbers and herbs so I can make a chop salad later.

Crickets and cicadas are singing.

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

Current Mood: busy

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