April 2026

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Follow Friday 4-24-26: Metal

Apr. 24th, 2026 00:01
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today's theme is Metal.


[community profile] addme_fandom  -- Addme Fandom
Find friends who share your fannish obsessions.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]

[community profile] beautifulmechanical  -- Beautiful Mechanical
Do you love music? We do, too.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]

[community profile] creativity  -- Make It, Build It, Dream It. Creativity.
Sharing creative projects and ideas.
[Somewhat active with last post in June 2025.]

[community profile] onesongaday  -- One Song A Day
Do you love music? So come share, listen & enjoy.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]

[community profile] vkotd  -- V系お勧め
A community for sharing songs by flamboyant Japanese rock/metal bands.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]

Daily Happiness

Apr. 23rd, 2026 21:03
torachan: palmon smiling (palmon)
[personal profile] torachan
1. This morning on my walk I stopped in the bakery I always pass by since there were no customers at the time (a miracle), just to see what pastries they had in the case, and they had a lemon muffin with ube frosting, so I had to get it. Then since I was getting breakfast for myself, I felt I had to stop next door at the bagel place to get something for Carla as well, and they had a new carrot cake latte, so I got that for myself. The latte was fine, but I couldn't really detect anything carroty or cakey about it, but the muffin was really good.

2. Today was a work from home day again and I just took it easy. I am going in tomorrow, but it's been nice to have a mostly WFH week to ease back in to things.

3. One of my regular Thursday meetings was cancelled this morning, and the other (a 4pm one) was cancelled about half an hour before its start. My kind of day!

4. Jasper has claimed the top perch of the new cat tree as his own and has already spent many, many hours curled up there, but Ollie is the only one who's shown interest in the hole. We've never had a cat tree with a hole platform before, but watching him poke up through the hole to play with the dangle toy gave me some of the most joyous moments of my life. Truly a still photo cannot convey how silly and adorable he looked.

2026 Japan Trip Part 2 (4/4)

Apr. 23rd, 2026 20:41
torachan: my glitch character (glitch)
[personal profile] torachan
I had a really hard time getting to sleep that first night despite having gone a long time without sleep during our travel (no sleep for me on the plane) and the bed being relatively comfortable. Carla seemed to sleep well, though. I think I got a total of about 2.5 hours and then ended up getting up around 4am or something.

Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium )

47 million galaxies

Apr. 23rd, 2026 20:43
melagan: John and Rodney blue background (Default)
[personal profile] melagan
a map of the universe

I love APOD.

We are a tiny but unique piece of something grand.

Pool Open!

Apr. 23rd, 2026 15:35
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] fuzzyred is hosting a pool for the half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics. Comment on that post to join the pool.

My main targets will be all of the Shiv poems and "Our Homemade Safety Nets." If there is more interest, I would like to contribute to the open epic "No Faster or Firmer Friendships," then possibly Rutledge poems if people are interested.
[---8<---]
If there is a specific poem you would like, let me know, and it can be added to the pool goals.

Vocabulary: Scabrous

Apr. 23rd, 2026 14:25
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
scabrous (SKAB-ruhs) - adj., covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough; hence, disgusting, repellent; hence, dealing with suggestive, indecent, or scandalous themes; difficult, thorny, troublesome.


In botany, this lacks the negative connotations, and it is used heavily to describe things as diverse as tree bark, fruit, and squashes.

Dragaera reread: Hawk

Apr. 23rd, 2026 11:18
sholio: dragon with quill pen (Dragon)
[personal profile] sholio
Finally getting back to my Dragaera reread, which was originally rereading happening in late 2025. My reread is all over the place - I'm not doing every book - but the last one I read was Vallista in December, and now I'm rereading Hawk, and I just got to A Thing.

Spoilers for Hawk and Tsalmoth )

Edit: originally had noted this as spoilers for Lyorn and changed it to Tsalmoth, as I had apparently forgotten which book that happened in ...

Edit2: Another spoiler for Hawk: Under here )

History

Apr. 23rd, 2026 13:44
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The Pit of Bones: A Death Chamber Time Capsule

In 1997, scientists discovered this small chamber within a much larger complex cave system. They’ve found other human occupation sites within it, but The Pit of Bones was no place for the living. To date, more than 50,000 partially fossilized bones have been collected. These bones include more than 6500 belonging to an ancient hominid species, in addition to bones of over 160 individuals of an extinct species of cave bear, a panther, lynxes, canines, and small mammals.


In addition to some nice details and diagrams of the actual science, there is an amusing discussion of how badly this fits the "young Earth creationism" fantasy.

Birdfeeding

Apr. 23rd, 2026 13:30
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is sunny and hot, with fluffy white clouds in the sky.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I refilled potting soil into the hollow logs at the front of the log garden.  Then I planted a 4-pack of white impatiens in the holes.  

I put the flats of plants outside to get some sun.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I watered the impatiens and flats of plants.

I've seen a starling at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I potted up four green sweet basil plants and one purple ruffles basil, then watered them.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- We hauled the new bag of grass seed out of the car.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I sowed grass seed in the big bare patch at the west edge of the south lot.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- We hauled out the tape hose and the new sprinkler head.  There is not enough hose to reach the grass patch, and with the low water pressure that we have, the spray only covers about 6 feet wide.  *sigh*

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I planted a small trough pot with orange mint, mojito mint, and apple mint.  There is room for one more mint there.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the grass patch using the watering can.

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

Birdfeeding

Apr. 23rd, 2026 13:29
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is sunny and hot, with fluffy white clouds in the sky.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I refilled potting soil into the hollow logs at the front of the log garden.  Then I planted a 4-pack of white impatiens in the holes.  

I put the flats of plants outside to get some sun.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I watered the impatiens and flats of plants.

I've seen a starling at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I potted up four green sweet basil plants and one purple ruffles basil, then watered them.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- We hauled the new bag of grass seed out of the car.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I sowed grass seed in the big bare patch at the west edge of the south lot.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- We hauled out the tape hose and the new sprinkler head.  There is not enough hose to reach the grass patch, and with the low water pressure that we have, the spray only covers about 6 feet wide.  *sigh*

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I planted a small trough pot with orange mint, mojito mint, and apple mint.  There is room for one more mint there.

EDIT 4/23/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the grass patch using the watering can.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
 
kazzy_cee: (3D glasses)
[personal profile] kazzy_cee
It has been a gloriously sunny day today with clear skies and a temperature of 20ºC/68ºF, which was perfect for an outing to a tulip festival about an hour's drive away.

Tulley's Tulip Fest runs for about three weeks each year and is a celebration of beautiful tulips. This week is the peak time to see them, and they have 1.5 million tulips with over 120 different varieties on show. It was lovely to enjoy them in the sunshine today.

This is one of two fields covered in rows and rows of gorgeous colour. Under the cut for giant tulips, floating tulips, windmills, butterflies and unicorns...
IMG_6874.jpeg
Read more... )

There were lots of opportunities to buy from vendors selling food, including Dutch specialities such as bitterballen, pancakes and stroopwaffles, but also lots of street food. We ended up having a delicious, freshly cooked wood-fired pizza for lunch before heading home.

History

Apr. 23rd, 2026 02:19
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The Great Oxidation Event Was Earth’s First Apocalypse

The Great Oxidation Event marks the point when oxygen first began to accumulate in Earth’s atmosphere and shallow oceans, permanently altering the course of life on our planet.


I was really pleased to find this description, since most sources ignore Earth's first mass extinction.

Community Thursdays

Apr. 23rd, 2026 00:08
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] 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...

* Commented on "Gratitude Journaling" in [community profile] journalsandplanners.

* Commented on "just create - beard edition" in [community profile] justcreate.

* Posted "Books" to [community profile] lgbtqiapluswriters.

* Commented on "Just One Thing" in [community profile] awesomeers.

* Posted "Birdfeeding" in [community profile] birdfeeding.
fanweeklymod: (Default)
[personal profile] fanweeklymod posting in [community profile] fandomweekly
Challenge 298:
DISAPPEARANCE
These days, it’s not easy to disappear. There’s legal records, digital records – it’s hard to vanish entirely. But it’s still not impossible, and some people find it much easier than others. Before cellphone cameras, it was a lot easier, and in a world without modern technology, or with much better technology, it might be easier still.

Do your characters want to disappear? Or are they looking for someone who’s gone missing? How hard is it to vanish, for them? How hard is it to find someone who’s disappeared?

Write a story about a disappearance.

BONUS GOAL: “It’s like he just disappeared into thin air.”

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!


Challenge ends Monday, April 27 at 9:00PM EST.
• Post submissions as new entries using the template in the profile
• Tag this week's entries as: [#] submission, 298 – disappearance
• If you have questions about this challenge, please ask them here

fanweeklymod: (Default)
[personal profile] fanweeklymod posting in [community profile] fandomweekly
Here are this week's votes tallied, and below the cut are our winners for Challenge #297 – Unexpected Kindness!

This week's finalists are... )

Total Challenge Words Written: 6530

Congratulations to all this week's participants, and thank you to everyone who took the time to cast their votes! [personal profile] autobotscoutriella will be making this week’s banners, so keep an eye out for those.

You may now post your Challenge 297 entries to any additional communities, blogs, archives or sites as you'd like! We also have a FandomWeekly AO3 Collection if you'd like to add your stories there.

Daily Happiness

Apr. 22nd, 2026 20:02
torachan: tavros from homestuck dressed as pupa pan (pupa pan)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I had a WFH day today so we went down to DCA for lunch. It was such a nice day weather-wise (just the right amount of warm, lots of cloud cover for the most part but not just a grey sky) and the crowds were low. We had some delicious food from the Food and Wine Festival, which wraps up this weekend, and since it's been a month since we were there, there was lots of new merch to admire.

2. We were out for about five hours, which is the longest we've been away from home since we got back, and we were a little worried we might come home to another pee incident, but there was no pee! Jasper was super needy this morning (but he often is on mornings I work from home) and we had a good half-hour snuggle at my desk before leaving. He did hork on the sofa while we were out, but I would rather deal with a hundred incidents of vomit than a single pee incident, so while it wasn't ideal, it wasn't a big deal, either.

3. One thing I do not miss about Japan is the allergies. I have in the past decade or so developed some degree of allergies at home as well, having not ever had any growing up or in my early adulthood, but not to the degree that I get them in Japan. Before our trip, I think the weather here was bringing them out more as I did have some reactions many days, if not all, but I have been blessedly sniffle-free since getting back (though today my eyes are a bit stingy).

4. Molly's showing off her perfect snoot.

ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem is spillover from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from [personal profile] dialecticdreamer, [personal profile] rix_scaedu, and [personal profile] jake67jake. It also fills the "Somebody at the Door" square in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics Bingo fest. It belongs to the Big One thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It is the third in a triptych, after "Where You Find Light" and "When You Learn to Read."

Warning: This poem touches on family tragedies and earthquake aftermath, but the current context is safe and supportive.

This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them. The rate is $0.25/line, so $5 will reveal 20 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page, or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses. So far sponsors include: [personal profile] janetmiles.

515 lines, Buy It Now = $129
Amount donated = $34
Verses posted = 38 of 146

Amount remaining to fund fully = $95
Amount needed to fund next verse = $1.25
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $0.50


Read more... )