let us be calm and wise

(Making this a rare public post, feel free to aim people who might find it useful or have relevant thoughts here. If you want to comment, see the note at the end...)

So, I have been frustrated for some time [1] by my inability to manage my to be read list in a way that works reliably for me for than about two weeks.

I am not sure if I'm going to get an answer out of this, but I figure pulling the pieces loose might be helpful for me, might be helpful for someone else, and might let me get on with the writing I really ought to be doing tonight.

Also, I am clearly in A Mood, which I am told is sometimes amusing.

( Starting premises )
( Tech tools I've considered )
( A different approach: aka what I'm considering now )
( Some conclusions )
( Footnotes )

If you'd like to comment and don't have a Dreamwidth or OpenID account, anonymous commenting is turned on as long as the comments are manageable on my end (which mostly means 'be kind, please'). Please pick a name people can use for reference and add it to your comment.

Short version:
Have you read Terri Windling's Tunes for a Monday Morning posts and gone "Hey, I wish all of that were in a playlist?"

If so, here is a Spotify playlist answering that desire. "Tunes for a Monday Morning - Terri Windling"

Longer version:
Since 2008, Terri Windling has been sharing a few songs every Monday on her blog, under the name "Tunes for a Monday Morning". Terri is author and editor of many works, with a particular interest in myth, fairy tales, and folklore. Her Wood Wife remains a book I come back to regularlly.

She draws for these posts from material available via YouTube, including live shows and other performances (some of which are no longer available, or geo-locked). She lives in Dartmoor, and many of the musicians she references are local to her, or she's seen at various in person performances.

The majority of the music is British folk, folk revival, into folk rock, but there's also a solid selection of music from Scandinavia and continental Europe in there, orchestral music (both historical and contemporary), American bluegrass, and music from a wide range of other genres and traditions. She often chooses a theme, and her commentary is often as interesting and glorious for me as the music itself.

I pulled it together specifically because I'd like to be a bit more deliberate about expanding some of my musical horizons, and this is a great mix of 'stuff I know I love' and 'stuff I'm pretty sure I'll like' in a format I can have on while I'm doing other things on the computer.

A few practical details
- Not everything was on Spotify (and in some cases, some albums by an artist are, but not the one I needed.) So there are gaps, we resign ourselves to the imperfection of existence.

- I plan to keep this up, but may have weeks where I don't remember to do it, don't do it until late in the week, etc. because of the realities of schedules, life, time zone differences, etc.
( And a few other minor notes )

This is a rare public entry in my journal, so people can ask questions as needed. Please give me a name I can call you (and so we can keep track of who's who) if you're posting anon.

This is your friendly reminder that I am helping coordinate a benevolent conspiracy for elisem (aka Lionesselise, aka other things.)

Here for more details

One part of that (open to anyone who'd like, no seriously, if you're wondering, I mean you, specifically, you're welcome to join in...) has a deadline of "when I wake up Tuesday morning" (Eastern Standard time, but I'm on vacation, so ... I dunno. 9am) so I can pull it together.

Please do pass along the link with the details to anyone else who might be interested, and feel free to contact me (details at that link) if you've got other ideas/need more info/etc.

I got two completely delightful stories, both about helpful people finding their places (so, y'know, my Hufflepuff heart is right here for this, especially at the moment.)

no direction but its own bright grace (2726 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Labyrinth (1986)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sarah Williams (Labyrinth), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Spring, Water Spirit, Post-Canon
Summary:

“The crows said you could help me.”

A glorious bit of Sarah, in college, figuring things out and being clever and helpful about using words right, and an excellent crow. Among other things.

And Here It Starts (The Magic Is Just Beginning) (1820 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Female Character(s), Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Hogwarts First Year, Worldbuilding
Summary:

It's the first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And no one knows what to expect.

A charming look at the first students at Hogwarts, with some lovely worldbuilding touches (I particularly love the wagons.)

I've had what I refer to as chronically cranky lungs all of my adult life. I've been seeing a lot of people who don't normally worry about lung complexities ask questions about it, and my lungs are also going through their change of season crankiness, so now seems a really good time to write up some notes about things I've found helpful.

Disclaimer: My lungs are not your lungs. I am not a medical professional, and this is not medical advice (though in a couple of places, I will suggest some stuff you might want to discuss with a doctor if it's relevant to you.) Some stuff suggested for lung issues really doesn't work for me, and it's quite possible some of the stuff I suggest won't work for you. Do the stuff that makes sense for you. Consult with doctors if needed.

Sharing: (update, 5pm March 12th) Please share, if you'd like. Here's a Tweet if that's helpful.

For people who don't know me: I'm a librarian with (as you might guess) cranky lungs in my mid-40s in the Boston MA area. If you want other specific coronavirus info, I recommend Siderea's excellent posts or Flatten the Curve.

I am making this a public post, but reserve the right to freeze or delete commenting, or make it non-public if needed. Please be kind. Questions are great. Telling me what I (or others ) should be doing differently, not so much. Please check if advice is welcome before offering it. If you'd like (non-medical/non-legal, etc.) advice from people, feel free to make that clear.
( Background )
( About your lungs (things you may not know) )
( What you can do to help yourself )

This year, I wrote Before, During, After, a look at Pat and Fen before, during, and after the events of K.J. Charles' book, Think of England (Pat and Fen also appear in her Proper English.)

They were absolutely delightful to spend time with, even if the story ended up being longer than I was expecting (at a bit more than 7000 words, it's my longest single story now.)

I'm particularly pleased that multiple commenters were delighted by how much I got Pat's voice.

(Also, in moments of hilarity, I was working on this at the same time as one of the current original works set in 1906, which made the research a little easier in a couple of places.)

The core of 'what am I doing with this prompt' started when I did the canon reread (a joy, all of it), and had this sudden realisation that a) Pat's brother Bill and Archie were roughly the same age, but had gone to different universities and b) that there is absolutely no clear indication of why Pat and Fen were at Peakholme in the first place.

Hello dear Yuletide author (and anyone else reading this)!

I adore the range of creativity and amazingness that comes out of Yuletide every year - I've been doing Yuletide since 2011, and reading since rather earlier than that. I am here for stories exploring things in new ways, people delighting in sharing things they love, and all the things I didn't know I wanted that come out of Yuletide requests.
( General notes and background )
( Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers )
( Society of Gentlemen - K. J. Charles )
( Shadowscapes Tarot )
( Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch  )

Welcome to this week's salon post! (After a couple of weeks hiatus. My life, it sometimes gets busy.)

Welcome to this week's salon post.

Topic of the week
I'm betting you've learned or discovered something recently - feel free to share the useful, interesting, or just plain fun things.

(My example in a comment.)

What I've been up to
Last week was a symposium for work (interesting, but sort of exhausting couple of days) and this week has been the week of a bunch of routine medical visits. (Allergist on Wednesday, nutritionist on Thursday, primary care for my seasonal visit + annual physical today. I like all three of them, but it's a lot of appointments.)

( Reminders and tips for making this post flow better )
( House rules )

Welcome to this week's salon post.

Topic of the week
A friend is taking me out tonight to a nice restaurant as a thank you for cat sitting.

For this week, what's a fun extra-nice outing for you? (Something a little out of your usual routine, for a special occasion.)

What I've been up to
A fun thing I'll talk about when it's public (probably end of April), ritual stuff, prepping for more ritual stuff, and... yeah, that's pretty much my week.

( Reminders and tips for making this post flow better )
( House rules )

A post via Lifehacker reminded me I've been meaning to write this up for a bit.

My body does not do thermoregulation well - specifically I tend to overheat easily, with occasional periods of "Why am I shivering?" And I am a person who expects this may get more so in the next few years, because menopause is on the horizon.

Last summer, I found a really good sale on something I'd been eyeing for a while (they run 20-25% sales fairly regularly if you sign up for their list, and you can sometimes get 30%), namely a Chilipad.

There are lots of things out there you can use if you want to make your bed warmer. (More blankets. Different blankets. Electric blankets and heating pads...) There are not so many you can use to make it cooler - basically, make the room cooler (windows, AC), there's a fan that blows air under the blankets (I tuck my feet into a fold of the blankets at the end, so that doesn't work), and... well, the Chilipad.

Which will cool down to about 55F and heat up to about 110F. I am very glad I have mine, and figure some of you might also be interested, so...

(Note: This is a public post, so people can share it, since there's a number of video reviews up, but not a lot of text-from-individuals. That said, my medical stuff is complicated, and unless you know me and my stuff pretty well, I'm not interested in advice/suggestions (and even if you do know me well, not on this post, please.)

( More within )