ionelv | Reading

Crazy Org is prepping for the snow armageddon or snow-hurricane that is set to hit us around midnight tonight. My sinuses and head can feel it coming - I've been struggling with a sick sinus headache all day long, along with vertigo - the only thing keeping it at bay are medications. (antihistimine for vertigo, decongestant (that you can take if you have high blood pressure), and migraine meds.). So far it's kind of working. I did fall asleep while watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS Passport around 2pm. ( I decided to donate to PBS - and got access to the app again, at least for the year. If you donate more than $60, you can use the PBS Passport app.)

The Mayor issued a "travel ban" effective at 9pm today (Sunday) and the Long Island Rail Road suspended service, and Crazy Org (major public transportation agency) has advised its non-essential office workers - that you can tele-work from home if you are set up for it or in the program. (I'm not in the program (union) nor am I certain I have the set up any longer - since they've changed the security protocols again - but I've already chosen to take a personal day or vacation day - since the vertigo is hovering in the background and will be an issue. I have enough left that it won't be an issue.)
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I've been binge-watching All Creatures Great and Small - S6, napping, and fending off a vertigo headache for most of the day. I did go to the grocery store around 1 pm (before the storm really hit - and it was just drizzling) to pick up olive oil, coconut oil, honey, Mrs Dash seasoning, toilet paper, chocolate, and recycling bags and trash bags.
Also spoke to mother. Apparently it's raining in Ohau, Hawaii, and almost spring in Montana (according to my niece) , which has received hardly any snow, the plants are springing to life, and the temperatures are in the fifties and sixties. It's also in the 60s in Hilton Head, SC. Sounds lovely. I want to be there. It's 31 F here and rapidly dropping, and snowing.

Now, have decided to try cubicle mate rec'd "Start-Up".

ysabetwordsmith

This poem is spillover from the September 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

librarygeek. It also fills the "How do you want to do this?" square in my 9-1-20 card for the I Want Fries With That! Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Not Quite Kansas.

Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes feeling lost, a headless chicken running around, a fight with bit character fatalities, moderate injuries to a main character, messy medical details, an imprisoned demon, torture, binding magic, demonic healing, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Current Mood: busy

conuly

I didn’t guess that I’d be stuck with the roads closed until at least noon tomorrow.

Well, I’m getting paid every hour I’m here, at least.

ysabetwordsmith

Homo erectus fossils in East Asia rewrite the timeline of human migration

A new analysis dates three Homo erectus skulls from central China to about 1.77 million years ago, making them the oldest securely dated hominin fossils in eastern Asia.

That older age shifts the arrival of early humans in the region back by roughly 600,000 years and compresses the timeline of how quickly our ancestors spread across Eurasia.
[---8<---]
The same layer holds stone tools and animal remains, tying the skulls to a specific moment nearly 1.8 million years ago rather than the younger dates long cited.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows plus one female and two male cardinals separately.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I planted 3 peonies 'Sorbet Mixed' under the apricot tree. The mix includes white, light pink, and dark pink. These cost $14.98, so about $5 a root. That's a great bargain for peonies, which average $20-30 each and catalogs and the high end is downright exorbitant. So if you want peonies, look for cheap ones at home or garden stores this time of year. Due to the unseasonal warmth, the ground here is unfrozen, so I was able to plant them immediately. \o/

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I labeled and mulched the new peonies.

I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I started the process of trimming dead stems from the wildflower garden, which is going to take a while.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I did more trimming in the wildflower garden. I discovered a little wildflower putting up leaves, probably echinacea, possibly penstemon or something else.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I did more trimming in the wildflower garden.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- We hauled in the potting mix bags from last night.

I've seen a fox squirrel in the forest garden.

EDIT 2/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

james_davis_nicoll

Orson finds Trump's approach to Greenland unacceptable and would like the President to keep focus on core American missions, like trade wars and ethnically cleansing Minnesota.

conuly

So, you got my opinion on Heated Rivalry, but I gotta say, I will never not read fanfics structured like ongoing internet sagas.

Also, gotta love the one dude, BostonSportsBro69, who posts in both /r/relationship_advice and /r/hockey going around in /r/hockey saying "Uh, no, it's just normal sportsbro rival stuff, you're all reading way too much into this" ~~when~~ because he absolutely knows better. (I don't think he's supposed to be one of Ilya's teammates, just a fan.)

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

( Links )

james_davis_nicoll

Can America's well-financed, highly-experienced, heavily-armed war machine hope to prevail against a numerically insignificant, poorly-armed, American teen movement?

Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy

ysabetwordsmith

Sunday Word: Bricolage

bricolage [bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]

noun:
1 a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
2 (in literature) a piece created from diverse resources.
3 (in art) a piece of makeshift handiwork.
4 the use of multiple, diverse research methods.

Definitely useful if you like upcycling.

Current Mood: busy

shadowkat

Well, I've accomplished a few things at least. Got up early enough to do my knee exercises, eat breakfast, and get distilled water for the humidifier/Nosh Steam Oven, and veggies/fruit, paper towels, and other mildly essential groceries. When I was putting said groceries away, the kitchen light decided to burn out. I notified the super - that it needs to be replaced (I have light bulbs). And transferred the small lamp that I have in the living room to the kitchen. It fits. So it will work for the interim. (Oh to have a ladder and a handy person to fix it - because I can't do it without killing myself. Tempting. But no. Mother would miss me. And knowing me - I wouldn't die, I'd just critically injure myself.)

Finished my taxes (although it cost me more to do them this year than my actual refund, also I have to pay NY State, damn it). ( tax hell )

It was nice weather today - in the upper thirties and forties, high about 45 degrees F (which is practically balmy considering the temps we've been having in NYC this winter). And the grocery store - was surprisingly sparse, not as many customers as expected, considering a big storm is moving in. (People are procrastinators - so they all probably came late in the day or tomorrow.)

I'm trying not to fret too much about the upcoming hellish winter storm. Breaking Bad warned me, but it didn't register and I didn't get it - I was overwhelmed with work this week - being blind sighted by C leaving. (C tracks everything for us and is my liaison with the project team, also one of the few people I can talk to.) Her last day was Friday. So, I was kind of discombobulated, and recovering from a head cold, so didn't pick up on the fact that a huge winter storm was coming on Sunday night. Figured it out when I got home - and saw the weather report. We're supposed to have blizzard conditions between 1 am and 10 am on Monday. I don't know if I can get to work in that? I walk and take the subways, which are above and below ground?
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I really wish the storm hit Friday night into Saturday instead, like last time. When I actually did take Monday off.

Dinner was "shrimp, brussel sprouts, and aspergus in the air fryer" - seasoned with red pepper, teriaki, fauk garlic salt (this is amazing on shrimp and veggies), and Mrs. Dash. (Which I need to get more of at some point.)

Also watched both Destiny and Harm's Way of Angel S5 rewatch. Picked up on the following:

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***

Question a Day - February Meme:

18. What is your favourite shellfish dish (if you have one)?

Lobster, preferably with melted butter, and lemon.

19. Have you ever worn false eyelashes or had eyelash extensions?

No. Or not that I recall? I might have - I have a vague memory of trying to do that - and it not working, and being a mess. Makeup and me are kind of unmixy things - particularly eye-makeup. I can do foundation but that's it.

20. Are you a fan of mayonnaise in a sandwich (either egg-based or vegan)?

No.

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21. When was the last time you heard music played live (at a concert, in a musical)?

The Broadway musical SMASH this past summer.

I'm not really a live concert person, I'm a live theater person. I like sitting in a seat and watching folks dance, sing, act, and tell a story on stage.

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the Crimson Market and made a few other stops.

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists just mapped mysterious earthquakes deep inside Earth

Scientists at Stanford have unveiled the first-ever global map of rare earthquakes that rumble deep within Earth’s mantle rather than its crust. Long debated and notoriously difficult to confirm, these elusive quakes turn out to cluster in regions like the Himalayas and near the Bering Strait. By developing a breakthrough method that distinguishes mantle quakes using subtle differences in seismic waves, researchers identified hundreds of these hidden tremors worldwide.

Current Mood: busy

conuly

The evening darkens over
After a day so bright
The windcapt waves discover
That wild will be the night.
There’s sound of distant thunder.

The latest sea-birds hover
Along the cliff’s sheer height;
As in the memory wander
Last flutterings of delight,
White wings lost on the white.

There’s not a ship in sight;
And as the sun goes under
Thick clouds conspire to cover
The moon that should rise yonder.
Thou art alone, fond lover.

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

Link

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny and chilly.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/21/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I put out more birdseed in the hopper feeder.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Tomorrow is the last day of the half-price sale in Not Quite Kansas.

fuzzyred is running a pool that will close later today, so if you want in on the quarter-price sale, now's the time to make your selections. If you're still shopping solo, the sale as a whole will close Sunday night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Time and Date has a [Bad username or unknown identity: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/list.html]meteor shower calendar. Next up:

Apr 22–23, 2026
Lyrids
Both Hemispheres

Current Mood: busy

conuly

And lemme tell you, my team picking was solely on the basis of "Are people in this team active" and "Do they have an open slot for me", because active team members send you more lives and you're more likely to win prizes in the team competitions, but most teams are 100% people who joined and never play.

But you can talk to each other, great, except that there's this one person who is very active and posts every single day about how they've changed the game so she can't win, she sucks, she is always stuck, she doesn't like it anymore, she's gonna quit - this all prompts a flood of "Oh, don't go, please stay" responses, and I can't help but wonder if that's the sole reason she posts like this.

One day I'm going to tell her that if she really feels that way she ought to quit, or at least shut up about it, because her posts bring my enjoyment of the game way down. Don't know what sort of response I'll get from everybody else who isn't her, but I can't be the only one who's itching to say it.

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

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conuly

Oh boy....

james_davis_nicoll

Seven books new to me. four fantasy, one horror, one ostensibly non-fiction, and one romance. Three are series. Yeah, there does seem to be a shortage of science fiction.

I had a bunch of stuff come in just after the cut-off time for these. Next week will look very different.

Books Received, February 14 — February 20

Poll #34247 Books Received, February 14 — February 20

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 41

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

I Want You to Be Happy by Jem Calder (May 2026)
3 (7.3%)

In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir by Francis Fukuyama (September 2026)
5 (12.2%)

A Divided Duty: An October Daye Novel by Seanan McGuire (September 2026)
14 (34.1%)

Wickhills by Premee Mohamed (September 2026)
16 (39.0%)

Hallowed Bones: A Sons of Salem Novel by Lucy Smoke (October 2026)
2 (4.9%)

Falling for a Villainous Vampire by Charlotte Stein (October 2026)
6 (14.6%)

I Am the Monster Under the Bed: A Novel by Emily Zinnikas (September 2026)
14 (34.1%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
34 (82.9%)

watervole

via vivdunstan

“The Importance of Being Earnest” with Ncuti Gatwa is going up free on YouTube for a limited period in March."

Love the play, love the actor. Definitely going to try and catch this.

ysabetwordsmith

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

Is it right or wrong that everyone seems to be accustomed to the fact that all of humanity and most of the life on Earth could be wiped out at the whim of a handful of people?

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I picked out what to get from Edible Landscaping. There's not much left this season. I should try them in fall to see if they have a better selection then.

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Because it's nice to let people know that we appreciate them.

In the spirit of love memes, this meme is a place to thank someone who's created something you love, or done something kind that you still remember after all this time, or who has made your fandom life (or your life in general!) better in some way.

🩵Appreciation Meme🩵
my thread is here!

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's project was creating an enclosure behind the log garden. I dragged some more logs back there so I can dump dead leaves inside. That way, they'll stay put, create habitat, hold moisture, and remain available in case I want some leaf litter during the warm season. This is a good use for old logs if you have any lying around.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

UN declares Earth has entered a period of 'water bankruptcy' that is likely impossible to reverse

A new report from the United Nations warns humanity has entered an era that researchers call “water bankruptcy.” In many regions, yearly rainfall and river flows are no longer enough to meet demand.

In response, countries are increasingly drawing down groundwater reserves that can take centuries, or even millennia, to refill.

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Current Mood: busy

thewayne

That's right, the highest court in the land blocked the tariffs in a 6-3 decision. Opposing the decision were - take a big guess - Alito, Thomas, and Kavanaugh.

There were a few problems. HIS use of tariffs were predicated on using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which a lower court declared did not give him the power to impose tariffs. Specifically, the law that created the act did not include the words "tariffs" or "duties" and that those powers did indeed lie in the House of Representatives and their specific control of the country's purse strings.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the ruling. From the NBC article: "The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope," Roberts wrote. But the Trump administration "points to no statute" in which Congress has previously said that the language in IEEPA could apply to tariffs, he added.

As such, "we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs," Roberts wrote.

The 1977 IEEPA has never been previously invoked, so there is no historical precedent to draw from.

To try and throw a bone to the President's supporters, Gorsuch said this:

For those who think it important for the Nation to impose more tariffs, I understand that today’s decision will be disappointing. All I can offer them is that most major decisions affecting the rights and responsibilities of the American people (including the duty to pay taxes and tariffs) are funneled through the legislative process for a reason. Yes, legislating can be hard and take time. And, yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design. Through that process, the Nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man. There, deliberation tempers impulse, and compromise hammers disagreements into workable solutions. And because laws must earn such broad support to survive the legislative process, they tend to endure, allowing ordinary people to plan their lives in ways they cannot when the rules shift from day to day."

Now, I think this is a fine thing to say. But I wonder how many of his followers will be able to parse the meaning of it?

In response to the ruling, a hissy fit was thrown, a certain toddler was heard saying that 'I don't need the IEEPA!' and set all tariffs to 10%, which is a great reduction for lots of countries and an increase for some.

Also from the NBC article: "The decision does not affect all of Trump's tariffs, leaving in place ones he imposed on steel and aluminum using different laws, for example. But it upends his tariffs in two categories. One is country-by-country or “reciprocal” tariffs, which range from 34% for China to a 10% baseline for the rest of the world. The other is a 25% tariff Trump imposed on some goods from Canada, China and Mexico for what the administration said was their failure to curb the flow of fentanyl."

It looks like the $175 billion that has been paid by importers could be subject to refunds, we'll see what happens. It's going to be a huge mess trying to pry that money out of the Treasury, regardless.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/supreme-court-blocks-trumps-emergency-tariffs-billions-in-refunds-may-be-owed/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-strikes-trumps-tariffs-major-blow-president-rcna244827

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-tells-trump-no-on-tariff-power-grab_n_6925ab7ae4b063285310b10f

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3210/

'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.

https://xkcd.com/3210/

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly cloudy, chilly, and windy.

I haven't fed the birds yet. Already I've seen one male and two female house finches, plus a male cardinal. :D

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I fed the birds. I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- Under the big mulberry tree in the house yard, I hauled several logs toward the log garden. I am working on creating a sort of enclosure there where I can pile dead leaves. That will contain raked-off leaves, create habitat, store moisture, and keep the leaf litter available into the growing season.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I hauled more logs to complete the enclosure. \o/

I flushed the great horned owl from the ritual meadow when I went back there.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I took a few pictures of the log garden enclosure.

I've seen a large flock of sparrows and a mourning dove.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I raked leaves away from the base of the barrel garden. So many tulips are sprouting there! :D

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

8 Queer (mostly M/M) Hockey Books We Love!

A week and a half ago, we posted about our favorite sports books with queer characters. When we were collecting the recommendations for that post, we got so many recommendations for hockey books that we decided to break them out into their own post! Today, we bring that post to you, in celebration of the Olympic men’s hockey semi-finals taking place today (game one started just a few minutes before I started this post, in fact). Most of these are m/m, which wasn’t intentional, but here we are I suppose.

Current Mood: busy

sturgeonslawyer

I have been meaning to read this book for years, since it was recommended to me by one of my oldest friends. It was well worth the recommendation and the wait. Indeed, though, as I grow older, I reread fewer and fewer books, this one may get a reread or two in the future. It is, quite simply, a masterpiece of the science fiction fix-up (a series of stories repackaged to look like a novel).

In a future distant enough that humans generally do not have names that we would recognize, though recently-colonized planets do, our hero is Haviland Tuf, who begins as a small interstellar trader and ends as ... but that would be telling.

Tuf is an extremely tall, rather fat, man with no hair anywhere on his body, given to a kind of laconic and verbose way of speaking which amuses the reader and tends to drive other characters slightly mad. He keeps cats.

There is a brief Prolog, in which Tuf does not appear for the good and sufficient reason that he has not yet been born.

In the first story . . . H'mmm. I am going to commit a sort of sidewise spoiler here: I will tell you the end of the story, without telling you anything about how it gets there, because if I don't tell you this, I can't really say anything about the rest of the book at all.

So, at the end of the first story Tuf finds himself in possession of a huge, ancient ship capable of engineering ecologies, for good or for ill.

There.

In the remaining stories, he ... well, that's what he does. He engineers planets' ecologies, at the request of their governments or other leaders, and generally in ways that those leaders do not expect but must admit fulfill the letter of their request.

Martin's imagination here is at wilder play more than in any other book of his than I have read; this is the Martin who wrote the short pieces "Sandkings" and "A Song for Lya," working at full strength.

(And if you don't know those short pieces, shame on you. They are both to be found in his collection of short stories, Dreamsongs, which no home should be without, and which is easily available at the Usual Suspects. Go forth and do likewise. Or something.)

There is a sort of through plot, involving a planet to which he must return at certain intervals for reasons of integrity, honor, and economics.

And that's really all I'm going to say about the book except, really, you should read it. Honest.

Ten out of ten exploding tyranosaurs

prettygoodword

mythomaniac (mith-uh-MAY-nee-ak) - n., someone with an excessive or pathological propensity for lying and exaggerating.

The compulsion itself being mythomania. Created from mythomania, which was coined in 1905 in French in by psychiatrist Ernest Dupré as mythomanie, from Ancient Greek mythos, which meant saying/speech as well as myth but that last is the relevant one here + Latin mania, craze/madness (itself also from Ancient Greek manía, madness/compulsion).

And that's it for a week of fun long words -- and although the first one up for next week is also a fun long one, it really just happened to be next on the list, really. Uh huh. Totally.

---L.

james_davis_nicoll

A successful businesswoman has the opportunity of a lifetime offered to her, only to have an old friend greatly complicate matters.

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho

sturgeonslawyer

A short story, if it's even a story, because not much really happens in the way of "plot," published as an independent whateveritis, set in the Old Man's War 'verse.

The conceit is that Captain John Perry of the Colonial Defense Forces has been sent / invited to the village of New Goa on the Huckleberry Colony, on a goodwill tour. After dinner, rather than give a canned speech, he goes straight to Q&A.

What makes it work as well as it does is that Perry willingly engages with a questioner who could be perceived as a heckler, takes her questions seriously, and answers them honestly, admitting to his own doubts as to the validity of what he does to protect colonies like Huckleberry from alien races, and giving only weak defense to the CDF's policy of recruiting only from Earth, not accepting recruits from colony worlds.

It is, however, a story (or whatever) that will most be appreciated by those who enjoy the rather bluff sort of humor that tends to crop up in military science fiction.

Six out of ten giant scary worms.

sturgeonslawyer

Of course, I don't have to tell you about the book. I have to tell you about the translation: but my French isn't really up to telling you how good a translation it is. Indeed, improving my French is the main reason I picked this up.

Still, I can judge a few things about a translation even without expertise in the language. For example: how does the translator handle the names of characters and places?

I'm happy to say that M. Lauzon mostly maintains the names as Tolkien had them in the English original. Bilbo's last name is changed to Bessac, and his home to Cul de Sac. I suppose the former is to keep the "bag" (sac) in, so that the later boasts to Smaug will make sense; and then "Cul de Sac" makes perfect sense. The other characters' names are, by and large, kept as is, as are those of places: the biggest changes are to Mirkwood, which becomes Forêt de Grand Peur (forest of great fear); the Misty Mountains become les Montaignes de Brûme (mountains of haze); and Wilderland la Sauvagerie, which I can't imagine needs explaining.

Oh, one other detail. The names of the various races. Lauzon does not follow Tolkien's standard of capitalizing the names of the various races, so it's:
Hobbits ==> hobbits
Wizard ==> magicien
Dwarves == nains
Elves ==> elfes
Trolls ==> trolls
Goblins ==> gobelins
Wargs (wolves) ==> wargs (loups)
Eagles ==> aigles
Orcs ==> orcs
Spiders ==> araignées

The other place a non-skilled French-speaker might make a few judgements is on the translation of poetry. I'll keep myself to one sample, Bilbo's song on sighting the Hill near the end of his journey ("The Road goes ever on and on"). In M Lauzon's rendition, the first verse comes out as follows:
La route se poursuit toujours,
Sous l'arbre vert et sur la pierre,
Dans l'antre où jamais ne fait jour,
Par les cours d'eau cherchant la mer;
Sur la neige à l'hiver semée,
Parmi les jolies fleurs de juin,
Sur l'herbe et les chemins pavés,
Et sous les montagnes d'airain.

In terms of prosody, the verse rhymes passably well in an ABABCDCD pattern. The rhythm is not strict, but -- as near as I can tell: my French pronunciation is fairly good, but I don't trust it here -- it keeps to three stressed syllables per line. So at that level, it sounds reasonably like an improvised song.

But it's notoriously hard to keep both sound and sense when translating poetry.

Mechanically translated, this comes out:
The road goes on forever,/Under the green tree and on the stone/In the den where it never comes light,/By the streams seeking the sea;/On the snow in winter sown,/Among the pretty flowers of June,/On the grass and the paved paths,/And under the mountains of brass.

I think it's pretty clear that this is not in any sense a literal translation of JRRT's words. But ... would it be better if the words had been translated literally, and there were no song?

I have no answer to that.

Ten out of thirteen dwarves.

sturgeonslawyer

A rather peculiar historical novel. Our heroine's name is variable: her first name is either Dawn or Aurora. In the Prolog, she informs an engineer (in San Francisco) that "Dawn is dead;" it is not until very late in the book that we find out how and why Dawn has died.

Aurora, as I suppose we should call her then, spends her childhood shuffled back and forth between the United States and the newborn Soviet Union. The first proper chapter sees her arrive from the US, in 1933, at Magnitogorsk, on the Eastern side of the Ural Mountains, a city being built at the command of Stalin to house the largest blast furnaces in the world.

The next chapter flashes back to her childhood in Petrograd (formerly St Petersburg; soon to be Leningrad) in 1920, with her mother and father. They stay in a kommunalka, a sort of commune, with a large number of other men and women; young Aurora seems to be the only child there. She is befriended by Veronika, a veteran of the Red Women's Death Battalion, and has sundry adventures illustrating the changes happening in Mother Russia, including an encounter with the Cheka.

The chapters go on alternating like that, illustrating the years before her arrival in Magnitogorsk, and what happens after she arrives. Both threads are tense, fascinating, historically fraught, and sometimes funny.

Beginning in 1920, she experiences the USSR's new, informal method of divorce -- her father simply takes off his wedding ring, and her mother returns to her family ranch in Montana. After a few years, Papa is sent to the United States as a recruiting agent. He takes Aurora (now to be called Dawn again) with him, and dumps him at Mama's ranch, until he needs her as cover when he joins the Bonus Army and its March on Washington, and ... well, no spoilers here.

Again, starting in 1933, Aurora acts as a translator for an American engineer helping to build Magnitogorsk. Then she is summoned to a hospital for "routine" examinations, which lead her to questioning by an agent of the NKVD, and ... no spoilers.

Along the way she meets a number of historical figures, from a young George Patton to a chilling Lavrentiy Beria, and learns from each of them.

Seven out of ten polo ponies.

ysabetwordsmith

These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2025-2026. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers A-I.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Highly active with multiple posts per day, daily posts, or too many to count easily
Active with (one, multiple, many) posts in (current or recent month)
Somewhat active (latest post within current year, not in last month or few)
Low traffic (latest post in previous year)
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( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

shadowkat

I've finally reached my favorite episode of Angel - Destiny. It's the episode in which Spike and Angel fight for the fake vampire shanshu. I love that episode. Plan on watching tonight or tomorrow night - time permitting.

Rumor has it that Hulu/Disney is waiting for Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 3oth Anniversary - which is next year, to air "Buffy: New Sunnydale". That will be my 60th year on this planet. I was roughly 27 when Buffy first aired. I'd moved to NYC one year prior. And I was watching it live - didn't own a VHS at the time, DVD's didn't exist yet and there was no such thing as streaming. You missed an episode? You prayed for reruns. (And Fox eventually replayed all the episodes of Buffy right before the new episodes aired.) Online fandom back then - was difficult to find, and scattered among various websites, with hidden fan boards. I didn't discover it until November 2001, and fell down the fandom rabbit hole, and haven't really resurfaced since.

**

Feeling much better. Not coughing hardly at all, and not blowing my nose, and no runny eyes. Still wore the mask to and from work, but I'm starting to back off of it.

But have leg cramping and digestive issues tonight. Hmm. I had chickpea mac and cheese, with brussel sprouts, celery, carrots, and broccoli in the air fryer. Maybe too much for the stomach? Sigh.

Eh, no time left. Will do the Question a Day Mememage tomorrow or Saturday.

thewayne

This is the difference between the current administration in the USA and the rest of the world: this admin won't prosecute people who declare loyalty to the current junta.

Andrew was taken into custody early Thursday and held for 12 hours for questioning, then released. According to the latest release of The Trump-Epstein Files, Andrew gave confidential information to Epstein that was available to the Royal Family. There are also allegations that he made arrangements with Epstein to have a woman trafficked to the UK for him to have sex with.

While Andrew was stripped of his royal titles, he is still in the Royal Line of Succession, at #8. The UK would have to pass a law to remove him from that position. The King and rest of the royal family were not given advance notice of his arrest. Today is Andrew's 66th birthday.

He is the first royal in almost 400 years to be arrested and accused of a crime. Other royals have been accused of civil fines, such as speeding.

Virginia Giuffre sued Andrew in 2015, alleging that he raped her on three occasions when she was a teen. She took her own life last year. Her family welcomed news of the arrest.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-prince-andrew-arrested_n_6996e21de4b0cc086c708735

ysabetwordsmith

New sodium ion battery stores twice the energy and desalinates seawater

A surprising breakthrough could help sodium-ion batteries rival lithium—and even turn seawater into drinking water. Scientists discovered that keeping water inside a key battery material, instead of removing it as traditionally done, dramatically boosts performance. The “wet” version stores nearly twice as much charge, charges faster, and remains stable for hundreds of cycles, placing it among the top-performing sodium battery materials ever reported.

This is super exciting because of its double benefit: battery materials and drinking water. Also awesome, unlike rare minerals used in many batteries, sodium is something Earth has in great abundance. \o/

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cooler, but still unseasonably warm.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I saw a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I refilled the hopper feeder.

I raked off the leaves from the goddess garden. There I found one lavender crocus in bloom along with many more sprouts.

Oddly the honeybees are not visiting the crocuses as usual. Instead they are nosing around the seeds in the hopper feeder. Go figure.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I started raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the east side. So many shoots now!

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I finished raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the west side. Just as I wrapped up that activity, it started drizzling rain. *sigh* I was hoping to gather up leaves later and put them somewhere, possibly behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

My seed starting kit arrived! :D What makes this awesome is that it comes with its own light system. That means it's not restricted to window use; it can go anywhere -- within reach of an outlet if we use a USB wall wart, or wherever else with some sort of battery pack. It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.

While I was heading to the mailbox to fetch that package, it started raining again. There are puddles in the street. But then the sun came out, so I looked around -- and glimpsed part of a rainbow to the northeast. Naturally I trotted up the road in pursuit of a better view. It was a bright, full rainbow with a partial double on the outside. :D 3q3q3q!!! Definitely one of the better ones I've seen. I got a lot wetter than was strictly necessary, but I so don't care.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- The rain let up.

I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the rain garden and dumped them behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the daffodil bed, filling the trolley twice, and dumped them behind the log garden. Then I raked the leaves away from the front of the log garden and dumped them behind. This revealed a lot of shoots, mostly grape hyacinths with some crocuses mixed in.

I heard honking overhead and saw a skein of geese flying north. :D

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: calm

james_davis_nicoll

TTRPG campaign idea.

PCs are field agents in charge of finding and dealing with arcane occupational safety violations. That six-sided summoning pentagram? Flagged. That storeroom where the universal solvent is next to the lemonade? Flagged.

That deadly-trap-filled dungeon abandoned by its creator when the maintenance fees got too high? Red tagged.

This isn't the same as my recent FabUlt campaign. That was about discouraging the worst excesses in a world run by oligarch mages and there weren't really regulations. This would be set in a regulatory state, and would be more an exploration of normalization of deviance.

conuly

and then read the books, and I gotta say, I think the author and I fundamentally disagree on a key principle of storywriting.

I believe, strongly, that if you have two viewpoint characters, or two love interests, or two viewpoint characters who are also love interests, then they need to have balanced problems - and, ideally, the interaction of those two characters should affect those problems in some way - by making them realize that they have problems, by making them realize that those problems aren't so bad, by solving or exacerbating those problems - who knows? But they need to start off with the same level of problems, and then by the end of the plot those problems need to have been changed in some way.

And pretty much that never happens in these books. Just look at the two that make up the TV show. We have two couples.

( Read more... )

This opinion on problems was brought to you by: The Overnight Shift! I have so much time on my hands, guys!

conuly

Why am I better than all other men?
I do not have to prove it. I admit it.
Here is the nail, and I am here to hit it.
A blow that glances somewhat now and then.
With pure intention I take up the pen
That writes the truth, if any ever writ it.
Venom is vulgar. I decline to spit it.
Still if I must—Well, nine times out of ten

I do. I am tired. That book must be a bore.
Jones wrote it. He was rude to me at lunch,
And nobody quite likes him in our bunch.
Smith said he liked my novel. In my bones
I feel that I like Smith. But more and more
My conscience tells me to eviscerate Jones.

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

Link

prettygoodword

pseudonymuncle (soo-duh-NIM-uhnk-uhl) - (obs., rare) n., an insignificant person writing under a pseudonym.

A coinage from 1875 and only occasionally used since, from pseudonym, false + name + -uncle, diminutive suffix adapted from Latin -culus.

---L.

james_davis_nicoll

Against the gleefully hypocritical, exploitative Shine, the very gods themselves contend in vain.

Slow Gods by Claire North

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...

* Posted "Esbat" to

dreamwidth_pagans.

* Posted "Climate change" to

environment .

* Posted "Books" to

ethical_society_of_satan.

* Posted "Birdfeeding" to

birdfeeding.

* Posted "Gardening" in

thefreaksclub.

* Posted "Gardening" in

veg_life.

* Posted "Music" in

tfc_musicianships.

* Posted "Esbat" in

the_magick_circle.

* Commented on

moodthemeinayear.

Current Mood: busy

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3209/

My icebox plum trap easily captured William Carlos Williams. It took much less work than the infinite looping network of diverging paths I had to build in that yellow wood to ensnare Robert Frost.

https://xkcd.com/3209/

james_davis_nicoll

Evil Milhouse enraged.

ysabetwordsmith

The first crocuses are blooming! I just had to take pictures when I spotted them this morning. Yesterday they were just buds.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

shadowkat

Finding myself redefining patience of late. I've managed to sink into a routine of not thinking, and just ambling through to the tune of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb.

Right now, half watching the pilot episode of The Rockford Files - Backlash of the Hunter (it's available on Amazon Prime, Roku and Friendly TV), which aired on March 24, 1974, and co-starred a very young Lindsey Wagner - before Bionic Woman. James Garner has an effortless charm, chiseled good looks, and is the best thing in it. It was created by Stephen J Cannel, who did a lot of these sort of action/mystery series. It's kind of a Sam Spade/Raymond Chandler light PI series. My father loved it.( Read more... ) This was one of the better 1970s television series, but it has bland dialogue, which Garner does his best with - better than the supporting actors. (The series gets better ones as it goes). But alas, I've been watching Angel which has better dialogue and is a lot more compelling - this is kind of boring and I don't really care? It reminds me a lot of the writing/direction and acting in Poker Face actually. I remember watching a lot of these shows in the 20th Century and early 21st. It doesn't date well in regards to sexual orientation - uses words like queer in a derogatory manner. (Welcome to 1970s network television!) Also not very diverse in its casting, although more so than other shows on at the time.

Cold is getting better, I think? But I cancelled the second PT appointment - Friday's. Mainly because I don't want to hurt anyone who may be sensitive to germs - and they frown on you coming to their offices with a cough or runny nose. Work isn't an issue - I'm not near anybody at the moment, and only have to mask in public areas (break room, halls, lobby, restroom, and the trains/platforms). And I'm not coughing enough for it to be an actual problem. Although I think this is probably just allergies or a cold. Since switching off the bedroom radiator helped tremendously. I'm taking plenty of Mucinex, cough drops, antihistamines, etc. Runny nose, eyes, and a persistent cough. Also, a sense of being out of breath, tired, and lack of appetite. But other than that, fine. Doesn't prevent me from eating chocolate, unfortunately.

Bee aka cubical mate was discussing a new television show that she'd binged over the weekend and couldn't stop watching - with someone. I kept trying to figure out what it was? She mentioned people starting a company, the FBI hunting them down, insane things happening, and it being kind of twisted in places, and fast paced. Also way off her radar.

I sat there for fifteen minutes trying to figure it out. Gave up. Tried to convince myself not to ask. Gave up. Curiosity killed the cat and all that?

Me: What's the television show that you are discussing?
Bee: I'm about to go on another call, but, it's Start-up.

Start Up??? I look it up. Or rather google "Start Up Television Show". (Weirdly Bing or my work browser has it only on Apple TV and Prime, while Google and Firefox show it is on Netflix. Work browser is not accurate and often brings up different things than home browser. I work on a PC, and at home on a Mac. I'm computer versatile.)

When she gets off the phone - I ask her if it's the one with Martin Freeman playing the FBI agent Rask, and about crypto. She pauses to think and says yes. And she's watching it on Netflix.

I tell her - that I'll try it - but does it require a lot of focus? She says yup. So, I may have to wait - I'm watching old television shows for a reason? Also, my ability to focus on a television series right now is about at the level of Bridgerton. I need characters I love, good dialogue, and plots that aren't too convoluted.

Has anyone else seen "Start Up"? Is it any good? It's an older series - 2016-2018.

I am having the same issues with reading at the moment. I'll read a page and have to re-read it more than once sometimes. So, I'm listening to "Twelve Months" the latest in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, narrated by James Marsters. And still reading The Botanist's Assistant on the train, and various digital comic books.

All I want to do is stare into space and think about nothing. I think it's a combination of the cold, NYC in February, the weather, work, and my knees. And not having much to look forward to at the moment? The knees are slowly getting better or stronger. The exercises appear to be working - and I am doing them every day. At least once a day. So there's that.

Off to do something else.

Current Mood: blank

Profile

JMA-PSOS

February 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
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15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28

Page Summary

shadowkat - Snow-cane or Snow Armageddon 2026
ysabetwordsmith - Poem: "The Spectrum of Your Being"
conuly - I guessed people would call out, and I was right
ysabetwordsmith - Early Humans
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
james_davis_nicoll - If I am reading this correctly
conuly - (no subject)
james_davis_nicoll - Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy
ysabetwordsmith - Vocabulary: Bricolage
shadowkat - Saturday....is accomplished but trying not to fret and dread what lies ahead...
ysabetwordsmith - Today's Adventures
ysabetwordsmith - Science
conuly - [The evening darkens over] by Robert Bridges
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith - Half-Price Sale in Not Quite Kansas
ysabetwordsmith - Meteor Shower Calendar
conuly - So, the silly phone game I play has "teams"
conuly - Over a foot of snow projected for tomorrow!
james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, February 14 — February 20
watervole - Theatre for free
ysabetwordsmith - Philosophical Questions: Life
ysabetwordsmith - Edible Landscaping Order
ysabetwordsmith - Meme
ysabetwordsmith - Photos: House Yard
ysabetwordsmith - Water
thewayne - The Supreme Court blocks the "Emergency" Tariffs!
xkcd_feed - Eliminating the Impossible
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith - Books
sturgeonslawyer - George R.R. Martin: Tuf Voyaging (2026-13)
prettygoodword - mythomaniac
james_davis_nicoll - The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
sturgeonslawyer - John Scalzi: Questions for a Soldier (2026-12)
sturgeonslawyer - JRR Tolkien, translated by Daniel Lauzon: Le Hobbit (2026-11)
sturgeonslawyer - Neal Stephenson: Polostan (2026-10)
ysabetwordsmith - Follow Friday 2-20-26: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Winter 2025-2026 A-I
shadowkat - (no subject)
thewayne - Former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested in connection to the Trump-Epstein Files
ysabetwordsmith - Energy
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
james_davis_nicoll - All Regulations Are Written in Blood
conuly - I watched Heated Rivalry
conuly - Critic by Leonard Bacon
prettygoodword - pseudonymuncle
james_davis_nicoll - Slow Gods by Claire North
ysabetwordsmith - Community Thursdays
xkcd_feed - Plums
james_davis_nicoll - MP Matt Jeneroux leaves Conservatives to join Liberals, citing 'national unity crisis'
ysabetwordsmith - Photos: Flowerbeds
shadowkat - Wednesday is...just there staring into space...humming along to Comfortably Numb

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