Weekly chat reminder

Jun. 12th, 2026 10:52 pm
snycock: (grinning)
[personal profile] snycock posting in [community profile] ts_bluejungle

Please join us for the TS chat on Saturday, June 13th, at 7 pm Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/19:00 UTC. That could be as early as 12 noon if you’re on the west coast of North America, or 3 pm if you’re on the east coast, or 7 pm in the UK, or Sunday morning in Australia or New Zealand.

 

We’re in the usual place: http://us25.chatzy.com/81935648447483. There’s nothing to download or install, just choose a name and a color and click on “join chat.”

 

This week we’ll be watching the episode we should have watched last week – Black and White. Jim reconnects with someone from his rookie days, and we learn just how much of an obfuscator Blair is.

 

And in two weeks (6/27) we’ll be discussing Moonhunt by Dolimir, which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/208771

 

See you there!

 


Philosophical Questions: Change

Jun. 13th, 2026 12:03 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

In the distant past, a person’s life was very similar to their grandparents’ and grandchildren’s lives. How has the rapid pace of technological advancement changed society?

Read more... )

Quote...

Jun. 13th, 2026 12:08 am
fairyniamh: (Sad)
[personal profile] fairyniamh
Quotes:

"Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us."

"What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't even happened yet."

~ Anne Frank

(I will admit that the last quote broke my heart.)
starandrea: (Default)
[personal profile] starandrea
A random collection of notes because it's Friday and I've been vaguely meaning to organize them all day but I didn't!

Good news, the succulents in the planter look very well. One of them is growing a new... leaf? idk, succulents are alien plants.

Yesterday we took down the larger greenhouse because the big tree was getting sunburned at the edge of the patio (the sun was touching it for like a whole four hours a day, maybe, which was fine last year but I guess this year is different) and I needed to move it deeper into the shade, which is where the greenhouse was.

Today we installed a new air conditioner! Why do our air conditioners not last more than a year or two? Are we buying the wrong brand? Do we treat them badly? Our GE is going on its third year which is a record for us (we only moved in five years ago and we've already turned over at least three) so we got one of those Midea inverter units for upstairs because the Midea dehumidifier on the lowest level has been going strong since the summer we moved in.

Actually we moved in five years ago yesterday, I just realized. Happy house-iversary to us! We interviewed agents one weekend in April, viewed two homes the next weekend, and made an offer on Monday which was accepted that night. We moved in two months later. I had to take a day off from client meetings at work to close, and drove a Uhaul van for the first time the next day. Great decision. Best house.

I finished my first 50 hours of video-watching in Chinese and I am going to count monthly going forward because my tracker is not set up for arbitrary number targets. (Which is weird, because who doesn't love an arbitrary number target?) That means the easiest way to keep up is to do 50 hours a month. Ha ha. We'll see.

Lots more great challenges coming up: [personal profile] extrapenguin is advertising [community profile] taggle as a [community profile] battleshipex replacement (battleship isn't running this year), and [community profile] beagoldfish is back immediately afterwards. Summer reading at the library starts somewhere in between, with what I assume will be another bingo challenge.

We were going to watch Project: Hail Mary tonight, but then we found out about [community profile] taggle and had to sign up right away. We watched half of Project: Hail Mary afterwards. Online discussion of how accessible the movie title isn't in other languages is very entertaining. (A "hail mary" is defined in the movie as "what you americans would call a long shot," which is both humorously ironic in English and almost universally ineffective in translation.)

Economics

Jun. 12th, 2026 11:29 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tennessee Joins States Requiring Data Center Owners to Pay Full Electricity, Infrastructure Costs

The Colossus 2 data center – retrieved from xAI
A new law passed in Tennessee will protect residents from incurring rising electricity costs from nearby data centers’ demands on the grid.

Republican-led bill HB 1847 prohibits utilities companies and municipalities from paying for a data center’s electrical needs, or any of the infrastructure costs involved in expansion
.


Bluntly put, data centers have a bad habit of robbing people by driving up electricity, water, and other bills. They must pay ALL of their own bill, not fob it off on other people. This is driving a large and growing backlash against data centers and the AI they enable.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Taste of Home Grand Prize Winners
by Catherine Cassidy (Editor)

Read more... )
cornerofmadness: by <lj user=jordannamorgan> (teaching fury)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
I want to speak to my programmer I have words for them.

Did I mention my tire pressure system alerted last night? So I went out there this morning and all FOUR tires are low. The back ones are minor. the front two are horribly low. Fan-fucking-tastic. I struggled to wake up this morning as is and I don't need this. I call Rio Tire, they're so slammed they can't work me in. That leaves Wal-Mart. They're doing reno so it might take 1-3 hours. But what choice is there?


I get up there and while they're working I try to talk to the pharmacy but they can't run my insurance to see the cost of the dex coms without the prescription so that's no help (meanwhile I can't call cleveland clinic or edwards health or any of the other calls I need to make) Another guy comes in while I'm writing (I came prepared. I was not prepared for plastic grade school chairs and nothing else in the waiting room) and he has been here for FOUR hours while these people try to put on tires. They couldn't even remove his lugnuts. He had to do it himself.

I was going to take my car back at 2:30 after 2 hours of sitting there and give Rio Tire a try anyhow as a walk in and I can walk to my office there and get some work done. But they took my car in and in less than a half hour it's done. 'We replaced all four tire stems.' that seems impossible. I make them repeat it. They charge me 19 bucks...there's no way they did ANYTHING.

Talked to Dad. He looked it up. The stems (with the tire pressure stuff) are 45$ a piece. So you put in four new ones plus labor for 19? Who are we fucking kidding. You put air in my tires and blew some up my ass. If the tires aren't flat again tomorrow I'll drive up to autozone for fix a flat and shove that in. I just need it to last to get home to Costco as these are under warranty.

I don't get home til almost 5 pm. I got nothing done other than the writing. Only to find I wrote the open call's submission dates down wrong (or they closed early). Sigh. Well I have another open call this would fit but it pays much less.

And let's get on to the Fannish 50

Vivziepop has confirmed Valentino will be the spotlight Vee in S3 of Hazbin. I am not surprised by this at all. I just hope Arackniss is in this season (I know he has a voice actor but could be S4 but since the theme of S3 is family I have high hopes) I keep hoping that she's going to announce that they got more episodes like Helluva Boss is. Speaking of which another HB short is out tomorrow.

And here are the Friday Fannish 50 fandom recs

Lines of Data - 50 Sentences of Vox Hazbin Hotel

Blood Ties Hazbin Hotel

stars Hazbin Hotel

Whiskers Hazbin Hotel

using a word he hadn't uttered in over ten years Hazbin Hotel

Stumbling Into Something FAKE

Unending Hazbin Hotel

Learn To Piece My Parts Together The Amazing Digital Circus

creatures hiding in the dark Hazbin Hotel

Swimming Lessons Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins & Final Fantasy XII

To Breathe Easy Supernatural

the Love Songs of the Urban Borahae Bird
방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS

Navigational Skills Bergerac

Always Follow The Recipe Bergerac

Professional Courtesy Bergerac

New Friend, Old Friend, Best Friend The Professionals/due South

Your Princess is in Another Castle Hazbin Hotel

Siren's Song Hazbin Hotel

Ageless Eyes Torchwood

Hazbin Academy Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

Cuteness Aggression Hazbin Hotel

Concealer Hazbin Hotel

Threatened Hazbin Hotel

The Aftershow The Amazing Digital Circus

Searching for Guidance The Sentinel/Numb3rs

Gently in the Darkness Inspector George Gently

Today's Adventures

Jun. 12th, 2026 09:27 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the Marshall Farmer's Market. :D

Read more... )

Landfall.

Jun. 12th, 2026 09:09 pm
hannah: (Support - fooish_icons)
[personal profile] hannah
I don't know how far I can see from my parents' rooftop. I know it's across the Hudson and into New Jersey, but I don't know how many miles it is past the Palisades and beyond. On days like today, it's even farther, because I watched a thunderstorm roll in. It wasn't quite over the horizon because there's no real horizon up there, and it was still a good long ways away, enough of a distance that when I got up there, it was sunny enough I put on sunscreen. It took a while to notice the cloud covering up the sky, a flat, hard gray all the way from here to far out there, because it wasn't doing anything but slowly moving in. There wasn't even any noise. There was a gorgeous set of edges to the clouds closer to us, the kind you get where it's a stark boundary between the clouds and the sky beyond, punched together and folded into itself and never going past that boundary.

It didn't have a smell and it didn't have a sound. It had a feeling from the sight of it, and it had an aura in the air you could feel, if you knew what to feel for. If you'd felt it before. I've seen thunderstorms come in from New Jersey before and it's always a thrilling treat. The anticipation makes you want to sing. I could see how, for all it was covering the sky north to south, there was still a bit of clear sky left far out west. Until there wasn't, and it was something hazy. Until it was gone too, and it was coming in.

My dad and I stood and watched, and took some pictures. We talked about the lightning and the thunder, and of watching the rain start to take over.

Far out west, we could see where rain was from how the clouds were coming down to the horizon line. Nearby west, we could see where the rain was from how the clouds had come down to the ground. It was almost like seeing fog roll into San Francisco, clouds come down to greet the dirt. We could still see the Palisades, the Hudson, and we could feel the rain roll in and fall down onto us. We felt it keep on coming, harder, and we started to hear the rain and not just the thunder. Then it hit. It wasn't a gullywasher as I'd call one because I saw it come in, so it wasn't as sudden as all that. But it was definitely a downpour.

It was something of a disappointment to look up and see it'd cleared up and the sun was shining. I'd been enjoying all the sounds. It was close to an inch of rain in under an hour, so it'd be a gullywasher as others would call such a storm. But I can't, since I saw it come in and touch down.

(no subject)

Jun. 12th, 2026 11:35 pm
shadowhive: (The Void)
[personal profile] shadowhive
The past few nights have been ‘fun’. I dunno if it’s cause of the recent storms but head has been achy as have eyes along with the depression of recent nights. It kinda feels like each one feeds into the others make them worse, even though now the storms have eased but whatever.

The promised Doctor Who Christmas special has been cancelled… though it seems it never actually existed to begin with. Which ugh. And now it seems there won’t be a new series for awhile which makes the mess of the finale even worse.

I have done a few things in the nights in attempts to distract my brain. I’m listened to Welcome To Night Vale again at last and I’m mostly caught up which is good. I’ve really been intrigued by the central murder mystery and I’m curious how it’ll be resolved.

Wednesday I managed to watch Touch Me which was very much a ‘what did I just watch movie’ but that’s to be expected when the main premise is a tentacled alien that can calm anxiety with a touch. (And fucks too.) I love that the alien was pansexual, having sex with both men and women. But yeah it was really wild and strange.

Last night I watched the special features on the disc which was a collection of things the director did. The shirt films were pretty good, all relating to technology (a woman’s consciousness uploaded, another woman making a connection with a holographic dating app in a future, a guy makes a connection with a self driving car). The web series Kappa Force was less good but still pretty unhinged.

Today my head went achy again once the food shop came which… ugh. But at least this morning I woke with midna on my bed which was rare.

I did look on the switch eshop and did an impulse buy of plague inc. I had the game on the odd tablet I had, but I’ve not been able to play for awhile. I did a few games while waiting on the food shop, but damn. Bacteria and virus were pretty easy, but the fungus seems harder. I’ll probably go on it again soon, it’s a good thing to do that doesn’t need much focus.

Next week I’m gonna try and watch some things. Cause Springwatch has finished (and Taskmaster) and the footballs started not much is gonna be on. So I wanna start watching some things. I’m thinking of Three Pines (cause of Joshua Odjick) and finally starting From.

(And, of course, in the nights watch more blu rays and such. I do wanna finish Welcome To Derry but it’s not a show to watch when mood is low.)

Plus there’s meant to be a new directors cut of the second X-Files film, though apparently it’s been delayed.

Tomorrow I should be going to see Disclosure Day and maybe something else depending on how I feel (I’m hoping for Mandalorian And Grogu though it really depends on my head).

I’m sure I had other thoughts but they’re gone.
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
The knee injection went better than expected? I'm icing it now - as ordered. It required an ultra-sound, then an injection. For a bit it felt great, then after an hour of standing and walking - mildly painful (or per usual). I have the next injection on Juneteenth, in the morning. Since I have the day off - this means I don't have to take time off for it. And the one after that - sigh, is a 2:20pm appointment - so I may have to take the day off work for what amounts to a 20 minute doctor visit. Oh, well, maybe I'll visit the book store afterwards (Barnes and Noble is conveniently located three blocks from the doctor, and on the way to and from the doctor) or a coffee shop and read. B&N is selling records and CDs again. Along with journals, art supplies, cards, chocolate, fancy pens, and lovely books. It has a whole section reserved for fantasy. The doctor's office is about a moderately brisk fifteen-twenty five minute walk from the subway. Barnes and Nobel is closer, although it's about a ten-fifteen minute walk to the subway.

So after the knee doctor, I went to B&N (probably shouldn't have - since wandering around a book store for thirty minutes isn't the best for knees).
And bought four large paperbacks, a specialty chocolate bar, and a kind energy bar. Got five dollars off - using my Premium Card. But, that was probably just for the treats.

My hoard includes (honestly, Book Instagram is not good for me - it makes me want to hoard books, and I obviously do not need assistance in that department):

* The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - this is highly rec'd by Book Instagram.

*The controversial Want by Gillian Anderson.
(Nancy Friday's collections of erotica were controversial as well.)

* The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - which I think I may have on Kindle, but I've been eyeing the very pretty paperback for some time now - and I think I want to read it in large paperback? It's a doorstop book.

* Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson- he's extremely popular (kind of Fantasy's take on Stephen King or John Scalzi) and it's been optioned for a television series. But it caught my eye because it's about a caper - with the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a street urchin who must learn to master the power of a Mistborn.

They are all large paperbacks, with slightly larger print - not the teeny tiny print that only someone who doesn't require reading glasses can read.

I love books. I can fall into a book and forget everything. Also I can't eat while I read. Or do much but read. Unlike television - where my hands get twitchy and I want to snack or eat or do things.

I joined Story Graph a while back - mainly because Good Reads was annoying me? Not that I'm good at keeping either up to date.

***

Oh, per Instagram, my union announced that its members had ratified the most recent negotiated contract by an extraordinary margin. (Basically it passed and I'll get my raise sometime this year. Yay. I'll probably retire before the next one gets passed.

***

Apparently it was New York Flag Day? So, of course to commemorate the occasion, they had a mini parade through the Financial Historic District. (Basically in front of my building to roughly Francis Tavern. ) Complete with bagpipes, a marching band (a small one) and lots of big flags. And they were thrusting flags on folks who passed by. I got one. Not feeling all that patriotic at the moment, but I got one and put it in a drawer - in reserve.

It's not a great photo? But below is a picture of the bagpipers at the end of the parade, standing around chatting in the shade. It doesn't look hot? But it was. It was 92 degrees with humidity - high humidity - so had a heat index of well over 100 (I think that's 35 C?). It wasn't that bad where I worked - we had a breeze and we're near the water. But it was hot on the way to the doctor's appointment, even though that's about ten blocks uphill from the water. (I live and work on a group of islands in New York Harbor with over 8 million other people, most of which appear to be under the age of 30 and didn't exist when I first moved here in the 1990s. People had an insane amount of children between now and then and dumped them all in NYC for some reason.)

Wildlife

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:55 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
3 Mule Deer Just Inaugurated California’s Newest Wildlife Crossing Bridge

A California wildlife overpass is already proving popular with the local deer—and it’s not even finished yet.

In what is certainly a ringing endorsement of the $20 million bridge, 3 mule deer were caught on camera traps using the bridge to safely cross I-97 in Siskiyou County
.

Wildlife overpasses work, sometimes even before they're finished! \o/ There's also a different style of underpass for critters like turtles.

Space Exploration

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:50 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Enjoy some great pictures of the recent Venus-Jupiter conjunction

Moment of Silence: Jane Yolen

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:06 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (moment of silence)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Famous author Jane Yolen has passed away. This year she published her 450th book. My favorites included The Pit Dragon Chronicles and Great Alta.

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:06 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is sunny and warm.  It stormed last night.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
 
EDIT 6/12/26 -- We went out to the Marshall Farmer's Market today.  :D
 
EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
 
I am done for the night. 

Birdfeeding

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:05 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is sunny and warm. It stormed last night.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- We went out to the Marshall Farmer's Market today. :D

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

itsabattlefield > icon challenge

Jun. 12th, 2026 02:34 pm
flareonfury: (American Werewolf)
[personal profile] flareonfury posting in [community profile] werewolvesden
mb27
 
[community profile] itsabattlefield is hosting a Supernatural icon battle! See post for more information. Challenge ends Saturday, June 20th @ 11:59pm EDT.

Bunch of random stuff

Jun. 12th, 2026 11:03 am
marinarusalka: (Default)
[personal profile] marinarusalka
My mom is coming to visit this weekend, yay! We are planning to go to the San Diego County Fair tomorrow. Mom has never been to a county fair, and I feel she should have the experience at least once. My contribution this year is this plushie whale:

knitted whale plushie

I don't think this one is going to win me any ribbons, but just submitting it gets me two free tickets, so well worth it.

The cherry tomato plants we planted this spring are starting to produce quite a lot of tomatoes. They're also growing huge -- we had to put up a new trellis a couple of days ago to support the biggest one. I made a Greek salad with the first batch of ripe ones last weekend, and can now confirm that they're way better than supermarket tomatoes. My only gripe is that they don't all ripen at the same time, so there's a limit as to how many I can pick on any given day.

I've watched the first episode of The Vampire Lestat, and it's kind of spooky how perfectly Sam Reid matches my mental image of Lestat from back when I was first reading the books in high school. Like, if I had the artistic talent to draw people from my imagination, that's exactly what I would've drawn back then. I'm enjoying the shift in tone, and the whole cast is as brilliant as ever. Also, I'm pretty sure Eric Bogosian has never had this much fun in his life and never will again. But I'm also pissed that the big network promotion and subsequent attention didn't happen until a white guy took over as lead. The show was awesome from the start! Jacob Anderson and Assad Zaman deserve all the awards, dammit!

Sigh. Anyway, here, have some RockStar!Lestat for your amusement.

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