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days_unfolding

Overslept until 8 AM. No wonder that Gracie was trying to get me up. (I pulled the covers over my head.) I got confused on whether today was Friday or Saturday.

No luck getting Gracie inside. Aargh.

I'm feeling like crying for no good reason. But Gracie came inside. I worry about her when she's outside by herself.

There's a light dusting of snow out.

I think that I figured out the tingling in my left thumb and forefinger: holding my phone. Though I switch off with my right hand.

We’ve got a little sibling rivalry going on. I was petting Gracie, and Bella didn’t like it. She blamed Gracie, not me. Napped.

I checked into how much weight-loss drugs would cost me with my insurance, and it's around $33 a month. That's doable. I'd have to have prior authorization. I have a checkup with my doctor in April, so I said that I want to discuss it then. My big concern is that you lose muscle. I don't have a lot of muscle to lose!

I'm being productive at work. Got two things done that were hanging over my head.

I've got my tax forms from work and Fidelity. It just occurred to me that I might need a tax form from the trust because I got money from the sale of my mom's house. I just sent an email.

Yay. Off for three days. (We get Martin Luther King Day off.)

I've got the check for the electrician ready to mail.

It occurred to me that I should follow the Mediterranean Diet because it's healthy and because I like the food, so I bought more cookbooks.

I'm wondering if my mom knows that her wingback chair has turned into a cat bed. First Mimi and now Oliver love it.

Okay, I'm proud of myself. I saw some really expensive shower gel that I'd probably like, but I logged off Amazon instead. Don't need it.

I scored big with one of the healthy cookbooks I bought. I’m flagging more recipes than not. Lily is “helping” by chewing the book and the tape flags. One of the recipes is for a pear and kale salad that I’d like to make because I bought kale for my soup. I ordered the ingredients.

Gracie is refusing to come inside. Le sigh.

Fed us all. Gracie finally came in. I don’t want to start anything now, so I think that I’ll post and read a little. I want to get to bed early and get up early.

ysabetwordsmith

We made it through the second week of January. This is enough to get a better grasp of progress with New Year's resolutions. It's also into the period of rapid die-off. We have reached the second Friday in January, also known as Quitter's Day because so many people give up their New Year's resolutions then. Watch for the parallel check in post over on

goals_on_dw.

Feel free to copy the idea of a New Year's resolution check-in to your blog or other venue, to encourage yourself and your friends. Many people find that social support helps maintain resolutions. This is one area where online activity works as well as or better than facetime activity. Apps work too, with trackers for most popular goal categories. Consider the pros and cons of getting your friends to help. Here on Dreamwidth we have

awesomeers and

do_it that may prove helpful for social support of goals. Some craft communities like

get_knitted and

justcreate also have check-in posts.

According to an email from Facebook, the survey found that those who shared their New Year's resolution on Facebook were 36 percent more likely to stick to it. Additionally, 52 percent of those surveyed agreed that sharing their resolutions with others is helpful when it comes to accomplishing them. In my experience, saying (or posting) things out loud definitely makes them feel more real. Plus, if other people know about a goal you're trying to achieve, it may motivate you to keep working at it so you can provide future updates on your progress.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Here are the character notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and chilly. It snowed last night, just enough to leave a blanket of white over everything. Most of it has already melted away.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/16/26 -- I saw a mourning dove.

EDIT 1/16/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This post has war pictures from Ukraine focused on anti-drone netting. Back when people first started talking about building drones and how cool they would be, I pointed out how much it would suck because they would very quickly wind up spying on and shooting at people. Nobody believed me. And here we are. >_<

Current Mood: busy

I am really tired of coughing. It's definitely improved some, but I seem to be stuck on a hump where I don't feel terrible, but I'm tired and I can't quite get rid of the cough. Especially in the morning, I cough my face off, sometimes to the point of gagging. My voice seems to be stuck in this somewhat raspy/squeaky phase that is deeply annoying when I'm on the phone. I'm so glad today is Friday.

Last night, I made the halibut and got some sides from Fogo de Chao for dinner. The halibut was a little overcooked and dry, so I'll have to watch that next time it comes in our seafood box. I think next month is shrimp and Cod, so that'll be good. That, I'm definitely going to beer batter. But that won't come for a couple of weeks.

UPS was SO annoying last night. I don't know why they put a time on the order. "Oh, it's 100^ going to be there between 2-4pm!" It finally arrived around 8:15pm. If they'd tell me that up front, I'd prefer it. But we got Jess' teas, though a chunk of them ended up being rooibos tea, which neither of us is particularly fond of, so we may be passing those off to people. The downside of getting sample packs, I suppose. Hopefully,

coyotegestalt and

poisontaster like rooibos, because they're probably getting a care package.

The crab feast also arrived, which is awesome. It's probably going to be a Sunday afternoon crab feast, but that'll be okay. As long as I get to stuff my face with some Dungeness, I'm happy.

I've become a hype person for our vacation. The whole reason I got them is because we have a crab feast in Ketchican, and I wanted to make sure everyone liked Dungeness, since only Jess and I had ever had it, I think. I know my sister hadn't, and I'm pretty sure BIL has not. Plus, it's a little piece of Alaska to help get them excited for the trip. Probably not needed as everyone is pretty excited already.

I've been watching videos of our new room at the Pan Pacific. It looks lovely, and the club lounge is very nice. I will probably take advantage of it, for breakfast and maybe afternoon and evening snacks. I also and considering an evening swim while we're there, weather dependent, of course. It's early may, so it might get up as high as 75 or 80, or it may stay stubbornly in the 60's. To be fair, we swam in the 60's in Disney, so it's not necessarily a dealbreaker. They have this gorgeous rooftop pool where you can swim overlooking the city of Vancouver, which sounds amazing.

Tonight, I believe dinner will be steaks and garlicky brussel sprouts. Tomorrow, no clue. We've got chicken and beef aplenty. Probably chicken. Oooh, or cream of crab soup. I do have a couple containers of crabmeat I could use. Blue crab, as opposed to Dungeness. Though if I wait, I could 100& use the left over Dungeness to make soup stock. Hmmm. I will think on this.

One more day of work til the relaxing weekend. We've got our Arvandor game on Saturday, which I'm looking forward to. It should be super fun. The party just started a fight with the evil empire's king, some body guards and a mage. They've already run a gauntlet of Dracoliches, so they are depleted on spell slots and resources, so this should be good.

I got the email that they're almost done with the typeset and art for the last book of the Monsters of 'Murka game that I kickstarted. I'm looking forward to it, though my enthusiasm for a satiric America is slightly dimmed by current circumstances.

I'm so tired of the news. I go on Bluesky and it's just a constant barrage of bad news and stressful news. I'm trying to limit my consumption because it just stresses me out and depresses me. But at the same time, I don't want to miss anything, so I still sneak on. The world is a shitshow, film at 11.

It makes me nervous about vacation--will Canada let us in for our cruise? Will we have problems coming back into the US? Considering our demographics as all cis-passing white folks, we probably won't have any issues, but the intrusive thought is there.

Okay, time for me to consider the merits of putting on pants. I don't really feel like it, but I shall. Leggings and a t-shirt for the win. Everyone have an outstanding Friday!

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is spillover from the June 4, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from

see_also_friend,

rix_scaedu, and

wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "Activism" square in my 6-1-24 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by

fuzzyred. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's theme is Leverage.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is the linkback perk for the July 5, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl, originally hosted by Dreamwidth user Dialecticdreamer. It is spillover from the March 1, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Heartsinger and Zeeth_kyrah. It also fills the "Colored Pencils" square in my 3-1-22 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

days_unfolding

I’m buying more “Good Energy” and “Clean Eating” cookbooks. I need to build up a set of recipes to make. And I need to work HARD on the kitchen this weekend.

I forgot to mention that I ordered herbs for my Aerogarden yesterday. I'll have fresh herbs with which to cook!

Woke up a little after 7 AM. Lily had a bottle cap with which she was playing. Gracie took her sweet time coming inside. Bella stole her donut. Got my weary butt into the shower.

I was coughing up a storm while I was eating granola. Don't know why. I’m still congested and cranky about it.

Gracie wants to see what Bella is barking at.

I asked the electricians if they would take an electronic check, but no. They said that it was okay if I mailed one, but my peel-and-stick envelopes are not sticking, so I included some in a Walmart order. I'll mail it tomorrow.

I'm having a "cat on computer" crisis. Yesterday, they shut down my work computer three times!

I'm thinking that I'm not going to feel up to going to the DMV tomorrow. I'll set a goal to have the Kia jump-started this weekend and will go next week. Oh, I need to mail the check! Hmm. Have it jump-started tomorrow? Saturday?

Slapped some makeup on because I have an on-camera meeting this afternoon plus therapy. Nap time. Sigh. Dog wrestling on the bed. They finally settled down. I wasn’t able to fall asleep though. Gracie is using me as a heated pillow and I hate to move. I'm up but have a strong impulse to go to sleep. Early night tonight I think.

Uh-oh. The tingling is starting up in my thumb again.

Therapy was okay. I didn't have a lot to talk about. She asked if I was feeling more settled now that things were being accomplished (we were talking about the electricity in the garage), and I said "No." I need to declutter first.

Hmm. If I want to use weight-loss drugs (and I’m not sure that I do), I should use them before getting Medicare. I’ve heard that Medicare doesn’t cover them.

Fed us all. The dogs came in as soon as I opened the door, which left me wondering what the catch was.

I’m tired. I’m going to bed soon.

ysabetwordsmith

My partner Doug tipped me to "Hordes of the Khan" by Scott R. Brooks, a Johnny Quest fancomic.

Check out the "Quest for Knowledge" page. That is very typical of comics in Terramagne, which often throw in some fun facts about the setting, history, flora and fauna, etc. even if the story is wholly fictional.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poll covers the ideas proposed in the recent call for themes. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open until at least Friday night. If there are clear answers then, I'll close it. Otherwise I may leave it open a little longer. If you don't have a Dreamwidth account, you can vote in an anonymous comment or email to me, but include some kind of handle to distinguish yourself.

For this poll, you can vote for as many themes as you find appealing. I recommend that you don't vote for all of them, since that makes it harder to whittle down the list. The themes are arranged in alphabetical order.

Here are your options ...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: curious

ysabetwordsmith

Monkeys With Smaller Testicles Scream Louder to Compensate

It's a "calls vs balls" tradeoff.

It’s a long-held belief that loudmouths overcompensate for something, but in the case of howler monkeys, science has confirmed it’s a biological fact. A landmark study by Dr. Jacob Dunn at Cambridge University, along with 2026 follow-up research, has established that monkeys who scream the loudest effectively “pay” for that volume with significantly smaller testes and lower sperm counts.

You gotta wonder if this applies to humans and some of their absurd behavior.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

sef1029 shared a picture of a tiny bulletin board for neighborhood poetry. This is the kind of thing that anyone could put up, a riff on the Little Free (whatever) concept. It would work just as well for any kind of creative writing that fits on one page, like nature writing or drabbles, as well as things like copies of a journal page with a sketch and description of local flora or fauna.

No poem? No problem! Sponsors of my work get nonexclusive reprint rights. I'd be happy to write one-page poems for neighborhood use. See something of mine that you already like? Chip in, you're a cosponsor, you can pass around free copies.

Also keep an eye out for local poets in your area who might like to participate. Watch for bookstores, libraries, coffeehouses, etc. to host an open mike night, poetry reading, author signing, etc. where you can meet poets from your area. These also make good places to put up a poetry post, indoors or outdoors.

Of course, you could also look up classic poems in the public domain and use those.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and cold.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/15/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/15/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/15/26 -- I did some work around the yard.

I've seen a downy woodpecker drumming on a branch, and a pair of cardinals flying away.

EDIT 1/15/26 -- I dumped out the cloverleaf pots and stacked them upside-down on the patio. Last year I tried growing wild strawberries in towers. This didn't work great because 1) the berries weren't very good, 2) the towers were difficult to water, and 3) they were prone to falling over. However, I learned some things so it wasn't a wasted effort. I'm not sure what I'll try next. Certainly I could plant better strawberries, either my wild ones or the pink-flowered Toscano that produced excellent berries last summer. Watering should be easier with a hose. Stability, hmm, I might try stakes or just spread them out.

.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Snowflake Challenge 8: Creative Process

Talk about your creative process.

This challenge looks at what goes on behind the scenes to produce all the wonderful fannish contents that come to be in the world. By ‘create’ we don’t just mean fic or art or videos -- there’s a process behind every blog post, comment or any other kind of fannish engagement. We’re all creators -- and every creator loves to know about other peoples'.

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

I write fanfic "derive in, extrapolate out." This means I look for something in the canon that could use more explanation, think about how it could have gotten that way, then consider how that could influence further stories.

My biggest fanseries is Love Is For children (The Avengers). Several of these entries dig into the backstory of the characters, starting with a scene in canon that shows something already developed which must have had a way to get started but that part is never mentioned. So I used the character as known, and the context, to build something that would logically fit into that gap.

In the first Iron Man movie, we see Tony Stark build the Mark I suit in a cave, with a box of scraps. Specifically, we see him swinging a hammer, like Hephaestus at his forge. Now blacksmithing is one of those things that cannot be learned entirely from a book. It requires muscles and muscle memory; you actually have to do the work, a lot, over a long time. If you want to learn efficiently and also not set yourself on fire too much, it also requires a master blacksmith to teach you the tools and techniques. But the movie says nothing about how or where or when Tony learned any of that; it shows the end result of a mastersmith building a supergizmo out of junk.

I wrote "What Little Boys Are Made Of" to fill in that part of Tony's backstory. The earliest sections describe, also inspired by canon, examples of Tony's relationship with his father and Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Then it covers college, Tony's boredom because it's too easy, and his continuing efforts to get Howard's attention. The real key comes when Tony revisits Museum Village in Monroe, New York. There he meets a blacksmith and hits on the idea of working as an apprentice for the summer. And the rest is history.

Consider the Six Layers from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. With fanwriting, a creator necessarily starts at the surface of the canon element, in this case a movie. "Derive in" means picking a point on the surface, then delving underneath into the structure which supports it, and often consulting the idiom. To create something new requires an idea, which is the first or core layer. From there, "extrapolate out" simply works back up to the surface again.

There in a nutshell is the process for most of my fanwriting. It works equally well with all sizes and media. I use some other methods, but I usually pair them with this one.

Current Mood: busy

It's Thursday, or as I like to call it, Friday Eve. We're getting there! I'm really looking forward to relaxing for the weekend. I feel like that might help clear out the last of this crud. I'm defintely doing better, but I'm still coughing a bit and my voice varies between semi normal, gravel filled and hoarse and squeaky, sometimes all in the same sentence. It's annoying.

Yesterday was another busy day, though I spent some of it making outbound calls to fill in some slots and get some patients in sooner. Still, I kicked so much ass. One of my favorite things is playing tetris with the schedule. Sometimes, you'll have a 1/2 hour slot in a few days, and then two half hour slots with a patient in between them. So you're going to call that patient and move them. Preferrably to the earlier slot, but if not at least up or down 30min. So you end up with a 60 or 90 minute slot. I have very good luck at getting that 90 minutes. Case in point yesterday, where I opened up two hours (which coincidentally was how much we needed for a patient's MRI).

I got a bunch of clothes delivered from Thredup, which are all pretty nice. There's two pieces that weren't what I expected, so they go into the donate pile. Then, there's one I'm not sure of. But what I definitely got out of it is two fleeces, a cute orange cardigan, a swim cover up and a little black purse for the vow renewal that I absolutely love. Need to have my room key and inhaler with me when I'm out of the cabin.

Then, after work, there was an exciting thing. I was sitting and relaxing and I got a call from a 604 area code. Which is Vancouver, CA. I knew this from setting up stuff for the Alaska trip. So, I picked up. It was our hotel, the Pan Pacific calling to offer an upgrade for our room. Previously, we were staying in kind of the bottom tier of rooms. Still gorgeous, because it is a 5 star hotel, but their basic room. They offered an upgrade to the Club level for $50/night. I of course said yes. So now we're going to have breakfast, snacks, sodas and appetizers in our club lounge. I'm looking forward to trying it out. Looks like it's very nice. So that made me happy.

Something about speaking with an actual human made things feel more real. Like holy shit, y'all, I'm going to see the Pacific Ocean! It's been three years since we had a really good vacation at Disney, so this is very exciting. I've never seen another ocean, always the Atlantic. Even when I went out of country, I saw the other side of the Atlantic from the plane that took me to Scotland.

Today, I shall work, it will hopefully be a less busy day, and I will have some interesting projects.

Today, we have two packages coming. First one is from My Ireland Box. I had gotten my sister a box from Ireland for Christmas, but I ordered it too early and a lot of the baked goods had gotten moldy. (I wasn't sure about shipping time with the shit that was going on with the mail and tarrifs, so I ordered in November.) The second box is from Sitka Seafood. The Dungeness crab that came with our last monthly box was so good that I ordred more. We're going to invite the BIL over for a full out crab feast. It should be delicious, but I'm a little nervous about where we're going to put them while we wait for Feast Day. I need to get some good butter for dipping.

Payday was yesterday, so I paid all the bills this morning, whoo. It's nice not to have the car payment. I still owe money, but I'm paid up til 2027. I just keep putting some money down every month, so hopefully I'll have it paid off early next year. But the internet and car insurance are good.

I didn't end up doing the halibut last night, so I'll have to do that today. I wish I had a beer, so I could do a beer batter, but it's such a pain to order it and wait for delivery. It takes forever to get here. I could just run up the road to a liquor store and grab a six pack, or to the slightly further one and get an individual beer, but that seems like a lot of work. I'm excited to try halibut, as I have never had it before. I may just bake it, we'll see how it goes. I need to get some tartar sauce and lemon. I might make a lemon butter sauce. I'll source it from the internet how it's best to cook it.

This weekend, we have one game on Saturday and nothing else. That's probably for the best, since my voice is so unpredictable. I can get through DMing one game. Plus, it's Arvandor, which is a small party, which makes it a bit easier. Less talking over each other. There is one currently scheduled on Sunday, but that's dependent on how

poisontaster is feeling. And I'm not GMing that, so I don't have to talk nonstop.

Okay, time for me to hop off, and consider getting dressed. Everyone have a stellar Thursday!

ysabetwordsmith

This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...

* Replied to a post by

fox_in_me on

addme.

* Posted "How to use habit science to help you keep your New Year’s resolution" in

goals_on_dw.

* Commented under the January 14 Just One Thing post in

awesomeers.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are the content notes for "The Most Dangerous Animal in the Zoo."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The Call for Themes is still open if you want to suggest topics for early 2026. Now's the time, because I hope to post the poll on Thursday.

Current Mood: busy

Profile

intentional_life

March 2022

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Page Summary

days_unfolding - Off for Three Days
ysabetwordsmith - New Year's Resolutions Check In
ysabetwordsmith - Character notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion" Part 1 Rakin's Family
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith - War Stories
beanside - For everything, I long to do, no matter when or where or who has one thing in common, too
ysabetwordsmith - Poem: "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"
ysabetwordsmith - Follow Friday 1-16-26: Leverage
ysabetwordsmith - Poem: "There's an Art to It"
days_unfolding - More Cookbooks
ysabetwordsmith - Read "Hordes of the Khan"
ysabetwordsmith - Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Early 2026
ysabetwordsmith - Wildlife
ysabetwordsmith - Neighborhood Poetry
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith - Snowflake Challenge 8: Creative Process
beanside - I'm becoming this, all I want to do is be more like me and be less like you
ysabetwordsmith - Community Thursdays
ysabetwordsmith - Content notes for "The Most Dangerous Animal in the Zoo"
ysabetwordsmith - Poetry Fishbowl Update

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