Reading

Poem, 5/27/25

Frustration

You don't have to have perfection
Of each movement of your hand.
As you learn to do a new thing
Though your brain may understand,
It may take a bit of practice
To have this at your command.
So stop giving up the moment
You aren't master of the land.
-K Royka, 5/27/2025

Current Mood: ditzy
Current Music: Suburban War - Arcade Fire

Distant stars.

I ended up recording a video and uploading it to Google Drive, and providing a link to that. I emailed the organization for advice on how to go forward and that was their suggestion, and it's my hope that it'll at least get the application looked at by a person, though I'm trying to be realistic and not hold out hope for anything more than that. Just take what comes, whatever that happens to be.

Same with having sent out another novel query today. It's out and off, and it's not something I'll be thinking about until I get a response - and if I never do, then I'm going to let myself forget about it. It's a little odd to conceptualize this as having been fairly productive as days spent in my apartment go, for the productive things to be forgotten almost immediately, but then again, that's how doing the laundry usually works.

waving from a land far, far away.

Name: Syrene

Age: 37

I mostly post about: WRITING. No, honestly, 99% of my entries will talk about what I'm working on currently (the chances that it's historical fiction are good), what plans I have for writing, my story ideas (it's mostly original, once in a while fanfic) and asking for input and/or help with stuff I'm doing, writing-wise. OTHER THAN THAT, my posts are about everyday stuff, some family drama which is an ongoing issue, health since I broke my ankle very badly in January and still am in a process of rehabilitation, therapy things and similar. But, yeah, 99% writing.

My hobbies are: Writing, Dreamwidth roleplaying, obscure Japanese musicals (Takarazuka), watching ballet and reading/doing a lot of research, making icons (I'm not very good at it, but it's a nice pastime) and spending way too much time on Discord.

My fandoms are: A lot of classic literature (Sappho, Dumas' The Lady of the Camellias, Mishima's Spring Snow, Vivien's A Woman Appeared to Me) and other literature (big Murakami and André Aciman fan), plus some ballet fandoms - I call myself the Queen of Obscure Fandoms, because most of my fandom participation is in fandoms where I am the only one or one of a few who have uploaded fic to AO3. I used to be very engaged in the community around the Royal Danish Ballet and attended almost everything they put on, but after covid that has unfortunately changed, I am, however, still a big ballet enthusiast although from afar and with a more nostalgic approach to it, looking back fondly on old memories.

I'm looking to meet people who: Will gush with me about beautiful things (writing, ballet, films, whatever) and discuss writing stuff with me or literature and sometimes come with thoughts and comments on the rest of the things I post about.

My posting schedule tends to be: Generally a couple of times a week, once in a while several times a day.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Politics. I am politically invested, as most people are, but in my DW space, I just don't have spoons for all that negativity, worry and ranting. I've got enough of that in real life. So, my journal is as far as possible a politics-free zone.

Before adding me, you should know: I sometimes take long breaks from posting, due to mental health reasons, but I always come back after a month or two and will as a rule keep people updated on what went down. As part of writing about my RL, I will touch upon my relationship (I'm a lesbian in an almost 20-year-long relationship this year), past school and family trauma (though I never go into great detail), my interest in religion (mostly academically these days, but I grew up pretty Protestant Christian) and mental health issues like anxiety and bipolar disorder. If that isn't your cup of tea, you should probably not friend me.

Entry tags:

rl: health

Daily Check In

*\o/*	Word Count	Step Count	Headache?
Daily	629	9,104	no
Monthly	18,284	261,199	9 days

Hi! waves

Name: Nicole (she/her)

Age: early 40s

I mostly post about: General life and thoughts, for the most part. I do try to do a weekly media post of what I've been reading and watching (those posts are public, whereas everything else is friends-locked)

My hobbies are: Lots of different things, most of which are in my profile interests. The main ones are reading, cooking and baking, board games, trying out new restaurants/cuisines. I'm trying to get back into fiction writing, but life has me a bit frazzled lately.

My fandoms are: I'm not into fandom. I enjoy a lot of things, but not really to the level of what I consider fandom.

I'm looking to meet people who: write about their lives and like to get to know others. I try to comment when I can, but I do always read and try to keep up, and that's all I can expect of others, too. So comments are nice, but I'm not going to cut you for not commenting "enough."

My posting schedule tends to be: I try to post at least once a week. Sometimes it's every day, which I try to keep to as much as possible so that I can have a record of my life and thoughts.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: If you espouse right-wing ideals, or are homo- or transphobic, or racist, then we're probably not going to get along.

Before adding me, you should know: see dealbreakers above. If you add me, you can get up to speed with my basics from my sticky post (and at the bottom of that one, I have linked a longer version with more details, heh)

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: Golden Girls

Entry tags:

fannish 50

Yeah so it's bronchitis

Like I figured it would be but it's not pneumonia yet. I have antibiotics now. Yay. Zpack but boo to them telling me there has been a rise in resistance to it especially since I'm allergic to a lot of antibiotics. Here's hoping this helps. Dad went to see the cousin with sepsis today and said she looks and sounds better than me. Thanks. (to be fair I look like I have the plague)

So not technically for fannish 50 but can we NOT do stuff like this. Watching the second episode of the new Librarians (which isn't bad) and we have one character who is supposed to be a bad ass. She kicked the ass of everyone in E1 but in E2, she's easily restrained by a couple tiny ballerinas. How am I expected to believe she can toss men three times her size but a 100 pound girl in a tutu can stop her cold?

And now for the real fannish 50 I decided on Tuesdays I'll talk about the women of anime/animation (to start with) because fanfic especially is still heavily male oriented (and yes I'm 100% guilty of that) so I plan to start with my newest fandoms and work back.

To that end, here's Millie from Helluva Boss. I admit it. I'm not a fan of most of the female characters in this. I doubt we're meant to like Stella. Loona could be a compelling character if she was moved off the stock angry teen trope, ditto Octavia. Those two have potential but it hasn't been explored enough. Verosaka also is just a side character barely explored.

That leaves me Millie who definitely has potential. She is beautifully, protectively in love with her husband, Moxxie. She is a staunch friend for Blitz even when he might not deserve it. She cares deeply for her people and she will violently protect them to the point of wondering should she keep her baby (which is what the fandom is assuming is why she's wondering, thinking she can't do her job while pregnant and I really hope they come up with something more inventive than that). She's also a good sister to Sallie May, who is a transwoman (hoping we see more of her in the future)

Entry tags:

fanfic:promptfic

Only One Bed meme

Stolen / respectfully borrowed from

rionaleonhart, a Tumblr meme now removed from its native ecosystem and repotted on DW [ETA: now tweaked a bit]:

Give me any two (or more) characters from a canon I’m familiar with, and I’ll tell you how they would cope in an ‘oh no, there’s only one bed’ scenario!

What you get might be anything from brief headcanons/thoughts to a small fic, depending on how much I have to say about those particular characters.

(Currently traveling, staying overnight on the road, would enjoy some fun distraction.)

Update: Based on how the comments are going, I edited the instructions slightly to hopefully bend the requests a little more towards characters from the same canon. (If you want two characters from different canons, feel free to ask for it - there are no wrong answers, it's very open-ended - but I'm really only going to be able to do headcanons for those, as I can't easily write crossovers, and I'm hoping for some fic prompts too!)

(no subject)

Returning to the real world has been rough.

I think part of it is that I didn't sleep well --the whole previous week, I managed to actually get out of bed on the first alarm without hitting snooze multiple times. Today....I did not manage that. Part of the problem is waking up and it being _cold_ and part is just being tired and cranky. But I definitely spent _way_ longer in bed than I should've today.

I did make it to work, and then it took over half an hour to get my 40 copies finished, which like...fucking hell, I wish I worked for a school that had sufficient materials, etc. For all that I'm part of my union's bargaining team, this is really not something that has made it onto the list, because it's just...stupid. It's stupid that we don't have sufficient copiers in my fucking building. At least the one in my wing was even actually working today, just slow as fuck, and being behind literally one other person fucked it all up.

But it was mostly okay, just...braindead. I am burnt out and tired and really want to go back to camp and be at Pinewoods again. I do not want to be in school anymore. The children are tired and I am also tired. I liked the parts where I could do simple mindless physical labour instead of abundant emotional and mental labour.

I'm also just real tired about being _busy_ all the time. I know where my break comes --right after Scottish Sessions-- and there's a _long_ way to go before then. A lot of said way is quite good! But there's a lot of it. Union meetings, dance meetings, eventually preparing my ESCape classes.

Stuff costs energy, especially when the background radiation is _real_ bad right now. I hope I can find the energy I need to do the stuff I want, and I hope you can too.

~Sor

MOOP!

Entry tags:

wiscon,
wiscon 2025

Wiscon report

This year's Wiscon was all-online, and billed as a "gap year," with fewer program items than I'm used to, and no dealers room.

I went to two program items--a "US immigration law and worldwide fandom roundtable" and a panel on "the wild world of modern agtech and why isn't it showing up in current SF."

The roundtable was about as cheerful as you'd expect, with a lot of discussion of both past and feared legal difficulties in traveling to cons, and alternatives like smaller gatherings and online cons. Most of us thought that online wasn't as good as in person, but that it's significantly better than nothing. (There may be some selection bias here: people who didn't think an online con was better than nothing wouldn't bother attending.) And a couple of people noted that their choice has been online or nothing at least since 2020, for reasons like disability or budge that don't have much to do with Trump.

The panel on current and future agriculture was fun. Some of the "what SF is getting wrong" was about TV and movies, showing a garden plot that's much too small for the population it's allegedly feeding, and that the fictional future is even worse/stupider about monoculture than the real world today.

Other than that, I hung out on the Discord server. Most if not all of the program items were recorded, and will be available to convention members for a week after the end of the con, but I may not get around to watching any of them, even less interactive things like readings and the guest of honor speeches.

New Substack post

Short takes -- three brief considerations of life in America now. COVID shots, travel advisories and Hegseth.

Current Mood: bitchy

Entry tags:

annoyances,
tv

Crap I'm old!

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

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

news,
politics

Politics

Elongated Muskrat has left the White House in disgrace. While smart people could tell instantly that he is a giant asshole with delusions of competence, it took Republicans nearly 5 months to figure it out.

Entry tags:

And back!

Well, technically back on Sunday. How was Red Wing? Mostly delightful! Drive down was uneventful. I stopped to visit the Anderson Center, which is an art space/art residency/studio space/alternative high school at the edge of town. I had had a writing residency there back in 1999 or so and did not have the best memories (combination of medical emergency and wildly incompatible other residents engaged in ongoing social conflict) and was delighted to find that the energy is very different now. The high school was hopping, the sculpture park is very nice and the gallery shows were really good. Staff is also more pleasant so big thumbs up, all around.

From there, I went to the tea shop, after killing some time in the big geek garage sale place next door and picking up a couple of DVDs. The Wisteria Tea Room is, alas, closing this week as they have lost their space and the owner wants to retire. Tea was very tasty and the ambiance was entertaining so I’m sorry not to visit again. I picked up A Life of Laetitia Pilkington by Norma Clarke on Charlie Jane’s recommendation and it’s brilliant. Read it through multiple meals, including this one. 18th century poet, wit, fallen woman, former Swift-protege and more - this bio is glorious. Highly recommended, though sadly out of print.

From there, I went to the St. James Hotel, a glorious Victorian pile in the middle of downtown, settled into my very pleasant room and vegged for a bit, then went for a walk and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Then went back to my room, puttered on things and took a bath in the whirlpool tub, which was heavenly. Saturday was puttering around downtown after breakfast, hitting the one remaining bookstore, visiting the Red Wing Shoe store, wandering until lunch, then eating lunch before going on a self tour of the Sheldon, the gorgeous restored Victorian jewel box theater. I then ambling into the Uffda Scandinavian Gift store, where I acquired a large and ornate statue of the goddess Hel (“Is it a gift?” The salesperson asked. “Who would I give her to? I mean, the mountain of skulls alone…” I responded.), then winged it back to my room for my WisCon panel. It went reasonably well and I went for a walk afterwards and got dinner at the only place that was open for dinner nearby, apart from the hotel. The wings at Otto’s Public House are excellent, by the way, and they are better about the whole showing up with a book thing that some of those places are. Then it was back to my room for more puttering, reading and Second Bath.

I had forgotten that the St. James is right next to the Amtrak station and the freight train lines and Saturday night was a train horn party. I got myself together on Sunday morning, ate breakfast and decided to skip the pottery museum in favor of driving home. Got there just in time to unload, feed cats and go to a very long vendor meeting for Twin Cities Pride. Then errands, and collapse with kitties on Sunday night. Monday was puttering, barbecue and “Killjoys” with friends and then sundry catchup things Monday night.

How was the trip overall? Well, the whole newly widowed, get used to be on your own a lot thing was both relaxing and sad. Downtown Red Wing needs a lot of love - so much has closed since I was there last! Definitely a bit depressing, but people were friendly and pleasant. I got in some great reading and the baths were a wonder. My cat sitter camping out overnight seemed to go well. I feel positively taller and more relaxed.

All of which was much needed. I still need to do a bunch of catchup on things and the work contract end date looming not super helpful. I do not enjoy this job at all…but it’s pure WFH, Shu is not doing super well and I would have a much tougher time of things with a commute. I can’t afford to retire any time soon - house needs work, I’m still in debt and trying to replenishing savings from years of paying for my wife’s care, etc., etc. Better than a lot of people, worse than others, but need to suck it up if I get extended and try to get things more on track. Sigh. Anyway, hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Entry tags:

5 Things Always Make a Post!

1. I participated in Science! This involved an MRI of my right calf while at rest and before, during, and after doing a minute of movement. I got paid, and used part of it to finally buy the Shape Note song book a college friend (from choir) worked on. The next step is to try and make at least a few of the monthly sings in my neighborhood this summer, while I'm off from regular choir.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: just past Mickey D's
Current Music: Defcon One

Recaf

We know about Decaf, where by some process, caffeine is removed from coffee or whatever.

I present: Recaf. Where maybe decaf isn't doing it today so you add in a bit of caffeine powder or something.

(I have a flask of decaf on me today, and then we stopped for breakfast and got Coke, and I said "recaf" and had to make the definition.)

Entry tags:

language

Began another to-do category

Started the day by biking down to Walnut Creek for some routine lab work. Dropped by Brioche de Paris for breakfast afterward combined with LHMP reading/note-taking. (My plan to reduce my "eating out expenditures" is being stymied by my current routine of doing LHMP reading in coffee shops. I'm not beating myself up about it, since I also combine it with my bike ride.) Texted the former co-workers to see if anyone wanted to meet up for lunch when I pop over to Berkeley Bowl tomorrow (since Wednesday is their on-site day).

When I brainstormed about how to structure my days in retirement, I came up with the idea of having a list of "activity categories" where I would try to regularly check off a certain number of different categories each day. (The point is the doing, not the checking off.) Most of them are things I'd been doing previously, though not on a close-to-every-day basis, like exercise, yard work, housework, LHMP reading, LHMP blogging, etc. But I added three categories for activities that had largely fallen off my routine: writing fiction (duh!), playing music, and--after some thought--working in non-English languages.

I'm still working on getting the first two into my routines, but yesterday I pulled out a Medieval Welsh text that I haven't previously translated (Owein) and started working through it. It helps that editions of Medieval Welsh texts generally have a glossary at the end, so in the event I don't know a word, I don't have to be going back and forth with a dictionary. But I was a bit surprised at how few items I had to check.

My current process is to copy out the original on every third line of a ruled notebook, take notes for vocab I had to look up, or verb forms I needed to work out on the second line, and write my translation on the third line. Out of two notebook pages, there were four words I didn't know, three I checked but had remembered correctly, and one verb form I needed to look up. There's also a passage where I know all the words, but I'm still working on the overall sense.

It helps that I'm intimately familiar with several of the branches of the Mabinogi, and the overall grammar and vocabulary of the medieval tales tend to be highly similar. (Also: I know the general shape of the literature.) But it was still gratifying to find that I could pretty much sight-translate 90% of the material. After I finish Owein, I want to try some poetry because I want to work up to translating a poem that doesn't appear to have an English translation published yet.

Given all the language study I've done across the decades, it's felt sad that I don't use most of it except as general background radiation. I'd like to brush up on my Latin, and I'd like to get a more formal grounding in reading French (at least academic French), which I can get the overall gist of, but don't have the grammar for.

Geez, maybe today is not the day to hang out at /r/whatsthatbook....

OP: Hey, looking for a board book series from when I was a kid! It was traditional fairy tales and fables, and the part I really remember is the illustrations! I'm sure if I see those illustrations I'll know it's the right book!

Me: Care to describe these illustrations? Even a little? Were they brightly colorful or more muted, or maybe black and white? Were they realistic or cartoony?

OP: Oh, they looked similar to the hare and the tortoise board game! Like, when I saw that I first thought it was the books!

Me: Oh, I guess you're gonna make me google that instead of providing a link, cool.

Guys, it turns out there are at least five different editions of this game, each one with a totally different art style.

Meanwhile, on a different thread on the same post:

Other Commenter: Could it be Aesop's fables?

Me, silently: WTF, buddy? That's not a suggestion.

OP: Oh, no, it was more colorful than that!

Me, a bit less silently: WTF? Like... what edition are we talking about? You need to help us help you!

All comments are paraphrased, but seriously.

Edit: I am absolutely dying at this point to ask who, exactly, OP thinks Aesop is, but that conversation is not going to go anywhere productive. I'd really better forget the whole thing.

Tech/code question

I'm trying to write a scene where two co-workers are trouble-shooting a new custom security or encryption routine. Someone else (who isn't present) wrote the code and he will have been careful to ensure it works before sending it to them. So maybe something in the implementation of it?

The scene is dual purpose, showing their interaction growing closer while also hiding something else in plain sight. The tech part of it can be whatever is plausible and easy to convey without bogging it down in details. I am so out of touch with that sort of thing I don't know what's plausible any more.

What could go wrong with uploading the new code into their office network or onto their phones which would need a bit of trouble-shooting? The kind of thing one person might overlook and another catch. Preferably with them being literally close while they do this. And again - easy to convey without bogging it down in details. Jargon is fine.

Entry tags:

a poem a day

evanescence

evanescence

will the words come together
or will they crumble into dust?
will we spend our nights together
or will we vanish upon dusk?

2025.05.27

Entry tags:

SOTD: ifeye (이프아이), "Nerdy"

I had a few minutes to spare today, so I was trying to get caught up on recent K-pop releases. One that I found was "Nerdy," by ifeye, which came out on 8 April. I know nothing about this band, but I liked this song and I loved the video. The video is like a cross between i-dle's "I Do" and Weeekly's "Tag Me", "Zig Zag", and "After School" (which I think of as a trilogy), so it hit in a really enjoyable place for me. I hope you like it!

Watch on YouTube