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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-19 04:08 pm

American Meadows Order

My fall order from American Meadows has arrived.  :D  Now I just need the weather to break so I can actually get out to plant things.  If you're still shopping, this nursery has some stock of fall bulbs left and some of those are on sale.

Dangerous Mood Bearded Iris (lavender standards with near-black falls)

Montmartre Bearded Iris (purple with yellow edges)

Ziggy Reblooming Bearded Iris (yellow standards with burgundy-and-yellow streaked falls)
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-19 02:38 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is partly cloudy and sweltering.  It rained a little last night.

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

EDIT 8/19/25 -- I put out water for the birds.  I've seen a male cardinal.

EDIT 8/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/19/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/19/25 -- I watered the barrel garden and the old picnic table garden.

EDIT 8/19/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and the septic garden.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
ysabetwordsmith: (Fly Free)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-19 04:24 am

Poem: "He Who Whispers"

This is the freebie for the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] siliconshaman. It also fills the "He Who Whispers" square in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics fest. This poem belongs to An Army of One series.

Read more... )
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-18 07:46 pm
Entry tags:

Earthquakes

Myanmar’s massive quake hints at bigger earthquakes to come

The massive 2025 Myanmar earthquake revealed that strike slip faults can behave in surprising ways. Using satellite data, Caltech researchers found the Sagaing Fault ruptured more dramatically than expected, suggesting faults like the San Andreas could unleash even larger quakes than history shows.


Never assume that the worst thing you know about is the worst thing that can happen.
scrubjayspeaks: Town sign for (fictional) Lake Lewisia, showing icons of mountains and a lake with the letter L (Lake Lewisia)
scrubjayspeaks ([personal profile] scrubjayspeaks) wrote2025-08-18 04:54 pm

Lake Lewisia #1292

The Roving Spindle, a modified camper van on the outside and a spinning, weaving, tailoring workshop on the inside, is passing through Lewisia. If you have longed for a dress spun from actual starlight or a suit of living flowers, the duo of spinsters can create it, all with the convenience of a house call. Unlike many in the business, they have no interest in firstborn children or ransomed kingdoms, though they may require questing for certain raw materials.

---

LL#1292
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-18 03:11 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and sweltering.

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

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a hummingbird in the forest garden. I couldn't tell more detail than that, but presumably it is a rubythroat as that is the only kind typically found in Illinois. It may have been attracted to the water, or the robust colony of red salvia blooming in the barrel garden.

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I did a more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I potted up 24 sweet cherry seeds.

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I watered the old picnic table and the patio plants.

EDIT 8/18/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
ysabetwordsmith: Artwork of the wordsmith typing. (typing)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-18 02:03 pm
Entry tags:

Monday Update 8-18-25

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Writing
Read "For the Many" by Beepbird
How to not build the Torment Nexus
Affordable Housing
Moment of Silence: Terence Stamp
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Robotics
Genetics
Birdfeeding
Crafts
Climate Change
Creative Jam
Philosophical Questions: Diversity
Today's Adventures
Early Humans
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 8-15-25: Indie
Affordable Housing
Celebrate Love Your Bookshop Day
Birdfeeding
Vocabulary: Unintended Sidequences
Conservation
Birdfeeding
Poem: "To Allow in More Light"
Hard Things

Affordable Housing has 26 comments.  Robotics has 46 comments.  Food has 34 comments. "Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 49 comments. "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" has 75 comments.


[community profile] summerofthe69 is open! You can see the calendar here and the current themes are Kinky 69 and Tropefest 69.


There are no open epics at present.


The weather is still sweltering here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mourning dove, a male cardinal, a fox squirrel, a skunk, and a bat. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, 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. Tomatoes, cucumbers, ball carrots, and groundcherries are ripe.

ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-18 12:14 am

Writing

[personal profile] china_shop has posted "Writing meta: What Middles Are For." It's an excellent essay about story structure.
ysabetwordsmith: (gold star)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 11:23 pm

Read "For the Many" by Beepbird

[personal profile] beepbird has written "For the Many," a book about plurality / multiplicity.  It is available at this post with links to download PDF or EPUB formats. 

I know I have a bunch of plural people in my audience, and I write about some plural characters such as Damask in Polychrome Heroics or Bruce-and-Hulk in Love Is For Children (The Avengers), so I'm always watching for good resources on this topic.  Go read the book.  It is very clearly written and includes many practical descriptions of how to achieve healthy multiplicity.  Many of the suggestions are good people skills for living in other communal contexts too.  It's good to read if you have plural friends, so you don't hurt them, because society affords them little or no protection.  If you want to know how to do something, listen to someone who's been doing it a while --  not an "expert" who has never done it.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 11:10 pm

How to not build the Torment Nexus

How to not build the Torment Nexus

This week’s question comes to us from Will Hopkins:
When your job and healthcare depends on building the Torment Nexus, but you actually learned the lesson from the popular book Don't Build the Torment Nexus, how do you keep your soul intact and try to put less torment into the world?



I would add: when your survival requires a job, and most jobs involve building some form of Torment Nexus, be aware that your society is in the toilet, circling the drain.  And it's not an accident for people to feel outright trapped in truly heinous jobs.  That's what homeless people are for: so the boss can say, "Quit dragging your feet and build the goddamn Torment Nexus!  Or do you want to be homeless?"

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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 08:37 pm
Entry tags:

Affordable Housing

Small Changes With Big Impacts in Dallas

On April 23, the Dallas City Council did something worth paying attention to.
They voted unanimously to approve a change to the city’s building code that allows up to eight dwelling units in three-story buildings under a modified version of the International Residential Code (IRC).



Multiplexes and small apartment buildings belong to the "missing middle" of affordable housing.  They mix well with freestanding homes, particularly if you put them on the larger corner lots of a block.  Imagine a block of mostly 2-3 bedroom houses with the corners holding a couple of small apartment buildings or multiplexes and a couple of bigger 4+ bedroom houses that could be for large families, sharehouses, boarding houses, etc.  And some of those single-family homes could also have a garage apartment or a home business on the porch or garage.  Such blocks exist in many of the towns near me, and they are awesome.
ysabetwordsmith: (moment of silence)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 08:12 pm

Moment of Silence: Terence Stamp

Famous actor Terence Stamp has passed away. He was best known for his role in two Superman movies ("Kneel before Zod!") but performed in many other roles as well.


Carry on the Work:

Acting -- how to articles from wikiHow

The Creative Writer's Ultimate Guide to Science Fantasy

How to Study Voice Acting: A Step-by-Step Guide


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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 07:41 pm

Climate Change

Unprecedented climate shocks are changing the Great Lakes forever

Heat waves and cold spells are now more common on the Great Lakes, according to U-M research, with implications for the region's weather, economy and ecology.
Extreme heat waves and cold spells on the Great Lakes have more than doubled since the late 1990s, coinciding with a major El Niño event. Using advanced ocean-style modeling adapted for the lakes, researchers traced temperature trends back to 1940, revealing alarming potential impacts on billion-dollar fishing industries, fragile ecosystems, and drinking water quality
.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 03:21 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/17/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/17/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/17/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the old picnic table garden.

I picked 4 goldenberries.

I've seen a male cardinal.

EDIT 8/17/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden.

I picked 2 red cherry tomatoes.

EDIT 8/17/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and a few of the savanna seedlings.
 
I am done for the night.
 
scrubjayspeaks: hand holding pen over notebook (done this week)
scrubjayspeaks ([personal profile] scrubjayspeaks) wrote2025-08-17 01:00 pm
Entry tags:

Done This Week

The week has been an adventure. While hauling a machine out for decommissioning, we lost control of it and it toppled over. No one was hurt, and it was destined for scrapping anyway. It has, however, sent our upper manager into a frantic tailspin of anxiety (which is pretty much a day that ends in Y with that one). I built something to mitigate future risk, only to have it get rejected with a lot of handwringing about liability over house-made equipment. As though we don’t build stuff constantly, including many of the machines we use to make our product. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yesterday, we got to go to the local farmer’s market, though. That was real nice. Not a ton of produce that I wanted--we’re already inundated with strawberries and stone fruits. I did get some weird eggplant thingies, which are currently roasting.

The weather cooled down as the week went on, but it is set to become absolutely blistering this next week. *sigh*

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written

Day job: 42.5 hours

Cooking: rúgbrauð via KAF (pretty nice, though the smell is a bit more intense than I enjoy)

Gardening: succulent club meeting

Reading: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic (stumbled across a bit of fanart for this on tumblr and have fallen headfirst down a rabbit hole)

Listening: Tangles by S. J. Tucker (how have I gone this far into the year without an album from Sooj?), Fever Dream Radio by Sbassbear (as mentioned)

Clock Mouse: 1298 words--two more names chosen!

Other: farmer’s market visit, mum’s truck to mechanic
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-17 01:38 pm

Robotics

China firm plans world’s first pregnancy humanoid robot using artificial womb

The innovation uses artificial amniotic fluid and nutrient delivery via hose, replicating natural gestation, now to be integrated into humanoid robots.

Read more... )
scrubjayspeaks: close-up photograph of radio tuner dial (tune in)
scrubjayspeaks ([personal profile] scrubjayspeaks) wrote2025-08-16 04:29 pm
Entry tags:

Album: Fever Dream Radio by Sbassbear

Have you ever wanted to hear the sound of ADHD?



I know of Sbassbear by way of their remixes of the Game Grumps. GG just did a reaction vid to the latest such Sbassbear release, and Dan mentioned that Sbassbear had a new album out. He described it as "51 minutes and 77 tracks, it's insanity, and I love it." Which was intriguing, because what, why, how?

I then spent an hour listening to the painfully relatable experience of one's brain just being a frantically spinning radio dial. It's a mix of music and fake ads and spoken word and gibberish. It is probably not everyone's style of humor; I wouldn't have been able to say that it was my style of humor. And yet, the giggling and sputtering did not stop.

I streamed it on YT, as embedded above. It's also on Bandcamp, and yes, I WILL be buying it and listening to it obsessively.

That being said, I actually really recommend listening to it on YT at least once, especially if you do not have any kind of adblocker. The experience of the video cutting to commercials while I was in another room and having no idea it wasn't part of the bit was genuinely hilarious. I got an ad for some hospital, with a person saying earnestly that he thought he was pretty healthy but was having chest pains that turned out to be a "widowmaker" heart attack, and he didn't know it until he walked into the hospital. This was delivered in such a tone of "shucks, I'm just a regular Joe Doofus, and I don't know shit about fuck," I truly believed it was part of the album and kept waiting for a punchline and/or beat to drop. Priceless.

I also got unexpectedly emotional at the penultimate track, when he talks about the very real struggles of being a creator with ADHD.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-16 02:56 pm

Genetics

Great white sharks have a DNA mystery science still can’t explain

Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with a mystery that defies reproductive and evolutionary logic.


The most important part of science is being willing and able to say, "I don't know."
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-16 02:47 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/16/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/16/25 -- I did a more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/16/25 -- I watered the patio plants and old picnic table garden.

EDIT 8/16/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden.

I picked 5 ground cherries and a red cherry tomato.  The ground cherries are related to tomatillos, with a sweet fruit inside a husk.  They are about the size of a chickpea with a faint pineapple flavor.  :D

EDIT 8/16/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and a few of the savanna seedlngs.

Cicacas and crickets are singing.  Fireflies are out.  I saw a bat.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
 
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-08-16 02:15 pm

Crafts

DIY Vader and Leia Coke Can Lights

These turned out so well. :D