Reading

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and quite warm -- it's 75F outside.

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

I put out water for the birds.

.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

dialecticdreamer is running a Magpie prompt call that will stay open until Friday night. Leave prompts, get ficlets!

The theme for this month is Disruption and Opportunity.

Life throws disruptions at us all the time, but sometimes, those disruptions are opportunities. Genna Saint Croix, driving halfway across the country at the invitation of a lazy detective to check a John Doe body, has a major disruption amid a life-altering crisis already going on. That she stopped to help a teenager who convinced his pals not to rob her was an opportunity… for both of them.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Follow Friday 11-14-25: Kink

Today's theme is Kink. Obviously this is NSFW at most places.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Food

5 'foods of the future' that could help save the planet

Fortunately, regenerative agriculture, sustainable farming practices, and eco-friendly approaches are changing the way we farm, fish, and feast. From grain that’s been cultivated since 5000 BC to newly engineered “climate blend” bread, these five foods may have different histories, but they all have a part to play in future food menus.

I am increasingly interested in lesser-known, indigenous, and climate-resistant foods.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

recs

fmv rec friday #2

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

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is partly cloudy and mild.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/13/25 -- I watered the Egyptian walking onions.

I gathered seeds from the 'Shirley' landrace zinnias that I'm developing.

EDIT 11/13/25 -- I emptied the two spigot jugs of comfrey tea. The pure one had so little liquid that I just dumped it out, and it didn't have much of a smell, just kind of moldy. The one with a handful of leaves decanted 2 gallons of tea-colored liquid fertilizer, and not much noticable smell. That's the one I'm more likely to repeat. I never did get around to testing it because the weather was so sweltering most of the time. But I have it to try out in spring.

EDIT 11/13/25 -- I rinsed out the two spigot jugs and brought them in.

EDIT 11/13/25 -- We walked around the yard looking at places in the prairie garden that need to be mowed, trimmed and carried away a few branches, and now my partner Doug is out mowing.

EDIT 11/13/25 -- We walked around the yard again and got another strip mowed.

I did a lot of work around the patio.

I've seen a fox squirrel running through the trees.

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

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Vocabulary: Carcinization

Carcinization is a form of convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans evolve a crab-like body plan. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by Lancelot Alexander Borradaile, who described it in 1916 as "the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab".

Crabs have evolved five separate times – why do the same forms keep appearing in nature?

... including at least one sexbot whose lower body is a mechanical battle crab. :D

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics

The November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl made its $300 goal, so there will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics from Monday 17-Sunday 23. Mark the dates on your calendar, and I hope to see you then!

Entry tags:

Lake Lewisia #1329

Those who enjoyed the lofty views from the tea house as it strutted about were disappointed to find it quite flat to the ground, chicken legs tucked under it and shingles all puffed out, looking more like a sprawling ranch house than an animate cottage. “Is it brooding?” one regular asked over a pot of Darjeeling. “Only in the sense of sulking,” the proprietor tutted as she served forth a plate of scones, “all because I resealed the roof before the rains start, the big baby.”

---

LL#1329

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Q Lazzarus

Entry tags:

Stuff

I had my urologist follow-up appointment this afternoon: things went well. Next checkup is in May.

Spotify has been slow loading on the iPad: annoyingly slow! It loads quickly on my phone and the Roku app. So, I’m playing music into the Bluetooth headphones hooked through the tv.

The Northern Lights and a meteor shower are supposed to be visible here tonight… yes, it’s cloudy.

I’ve been watching the “Welcome to Derry” series on HBO. I’ve read the ‘based on’ book a couple of times and seen both movie adaptations and am having trouble getting into this. I’m looking at this as a wholly separate take on events (like all those different “Star Trek” series). *blush* One thing I’m finding myself doing is nitpicking historical errors. The series starts in 1961, and progresses quickly to 1962, when I would have been seven. The supermarket has some fantastic reproductions of groceries from the era, except that they show Spaghetti-Os, which were introduced in 1965. And then there’s the Kodak Instamatic camera… 1963. And it had a flash cube, four pics per cube: they took many more pics than that and I don’t recall the cube being changed! I had an Instamatic when they first came out.

I tried the “House of Dragons” sequel to “Game of Thrones.” One episode. Meh.

This little update is getting too long.

Quick pic-

Goodbye Horses

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

New Crowdfunding Project: "Monsterotica"

Happy Monsterotica Launch Day!

The crowdfunding campaign to fund publishing of our next erotic anthology, Monsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling, is now live on Kickstarter!

Now through December 2nd, 2025, we seek to raise $10,500 to cover publishing of the anthology and creation of the related merchandise. This awesome book contains 16 queer stories by 16 awesome authors, each story up to 7,500 words long. We encouraged authors to pitch us stories featuring unusual creatures and unconventional genitals; you won’t find any vampires or weres here, but you will find insectoid aliens, mountain cryptids, scales and feathers, tentacles, detachable anatomy, interspecies shenanigans, courtship confusion, and much more. And of course, in addition to featuring monster x monster and monster x human relationships, every single story also includes queer characters and queer relationships!

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Read "GAMING"

My poem "GAMING" is up on

computerworld.

beavertech has been commissioning poems to be posted in The Freaks Club family of communities.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Cyberspace Theory

In praise of the small things in life: DDG Bangs!

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-respecting search engine launched in 2008 that has been slowly expanding into something else truly. (I mean, come on, Identity Theft Restoration?). Well, nevertheless, I still use DuckDuckGo because it's easy, their search results aren't polluted with all sorts of nonsense, they did introduce an AI summarize feature but I don't use it and it's easy to opt out thankfully. But all of that pales in comparison to the best DDG feature, Bangs!

Bangs are… well it's kinda hard to describe them, it's basically a shortcut from your search engine to wherever else, so if you have DuckDuckGo set as your search engine, you can basically search using other search engines quite easily!

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Shopping

Here is an interesting discussion about what it costs to buy kitchen equipment. None of this is how I'd go about it, unless someone handed me grant money earmarked for that purpose. (Fair disclosure: I could make a crude but usable knife by busting a rock, and I could cook on a flat rock or with sticks. Kitchen equipment is a beloved convenience for me.)

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Conservation

Massachusetts is turning retired cranberry bogs into natural wetlands. They’re on track to rewild 1,000 acres

In November 2024, the DER funneled $6 million in grants to the restoration plan. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 500 acres of retired cranberry bogs have already been converted into wetlands — with hopes of restoring 1,000 acres in the next decade.

“These projects will transform degraded former cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands that will provide habitat to important species, flood control in time of storms, and access for all to beautiful natural areas,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement.

This is a brilliant plan that will provide tremendous benefits for wildlife, as wetlands are among the most biodiverse communities. It will be especially helpful to migrating waterfowl of the Atlantic Flyway.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful fall day.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I planted 4 clusters of Egyptian walking onions.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled a trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled another trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.

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

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Cuddle Party

Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, along with various other harvest festivals and feasts. :D Load up the table! I am putting out Delectable Turkey of Gratitude, Buddha's Hand Salad, Mashed Yams with Halva, Persimmon Crumble, and apple cider.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

Aurora

Solar flares are causing auroras to appear in the northern half of the continental USA.

We caught a great show here in central Illinois. :D There was a large bright green blob to the northwest, a paler green streak just south of that, a larger red area just north of it, and some pink off toward the northeast. It's the most distinctive aurora we've seen -- previous examples tended to be solid sheets and less bright.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Space Exploration

This picture of a horse in a spacesuit snagged my attention. There are a lot of things wrong with the picture, but one in particular I wanted to talk about because it's so relevant to science fiction. That horse would be almost blind. Humans see mostly forward with binocular vision. Horses see mostly sideways with monocular vision; they have a narrow blind spot in back, another right in front of them, and a little wedge of binocular vision. This is why you always approach a horse from the side, where they can see you easily, and why they often turn their head to look at you sideways if you are in front of them.

So a spacesuit helmet for a prey species with eyes to the side should have its reinforcement as a strip from front to back, with a faceplate on either side, rather than a small window only in the front. When you design spacesuits for aliens, keep in mind how their sensory organs work, and try to avoid just mimicking equipment designed for humans.

Current Mood: content
Current Music: More 60s

Entry tags:

Winter approaches

It was a blustery, chilly day here. A lot of oak leaves have fallen since our two heavy frosts, and I decided to brave the winds to move the deepening layer out of the driveway. I had a rake and a push broom, but the best tool turned out to be a snow shovel! I’d rake the leaves to the driveway edge and shovel them up into the air somewhat for the wind to help carry them off a ways.

Speaking of snow shovels, we did have some light flurries this afternoon!

Because I missed Halloween posting-