bechdel_test | Member Posts

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Vocabulary: Quiddity
Economics
Nature
Birdfeeding
Today's Adventures
Philosophical Questions: City
Food
Birdfeeding
Space Exploration
Gaming
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 4-10-26: Meditation
Nature
Poem: "The Grabber"
Poem: "So DONE with It All"
Poem: Their Hidden Source
Poem: "Beautiful, Tough, Shiny, Resilient"
Food
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Draw a Bird Day
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party

Early Humans has 22 comments. Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy has 65 comments. Safety has 77 comments.

Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I am still writing.

The weather has been variable here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, two turkey vultures, two blue jays, a brown-headed cowbird, a male cardinal, a male goldfinch,and a fox squirrel. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Leafing out: maple, hackberry, mulberry, mayapple, Dutchman's breeches, trillium, yellow trout lily, Asiatic lilies. Currently blooming: daffodils, violets, grape hyacinths, tulips, anemone, leucojum, yellow violet, bluebells, Solomon's seal, pansies, violas, sweet alyssum. Flower buds: peonies, alliums.

Current Mood: busy

jazzfish

One guy at the open house last weekend.

Price drop mid-week.

Nobody at the open house today.

I'd say I am running out of optimism but I didn't have much to start with. I am running out of hope, though.

Fallback plan: all my stuff to storage, rent out the condo for enough to cover the mortgage, take up residence on someone's couch, go looking for a service job to stanch at least some of the bleeding. Steph has offered to take in Mr Tuppert temporarily, so at least I won't be abandoning him entirely.

I hate this more than I can reasonably express.

(Comments off.)

ysabetwordsmith

In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" was another term for the essence of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is." It's the quality that makes something what it is.

My partner Doug mentioned it tonight, and I had only seen it in Scrabble dictionaries. Try to lay that one over a triple word score. It's 8 letters but you can build it onto quid, id, dit, or it.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Annexation Is a Promise Cities Rarely Measure

When cities expand their boundaries, they aren’t just adding land, they’re taking on decades of financial obligations that short-term metrics fail to capture.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Tropical trees favor cooperation over competition

Step into a tropical forest, and something feels different right away. The air feels rich, the ground feels alive, and every plant seems part of a bigger system.

This sense of connection is not just your imagination. Science now shows that trees in these forests actively support one another, creating a strong and balanced ecosystem.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and warm with howling wind.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a brown-headed cowbird.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I emptied the bag of raised bed soil into the hollow by the garden shed.

I picked up the big branch in the south lot.

A third tuft of violet leaves is blooming yellow. That's three now, although this one is smaller. I'm so happy that my yellow violets are spreading. :D 3q3q3q!!!

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the orchard and moved them to the firepit.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder. I heard a bluejay screaming above the south lot but didn't see it.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

I saw two bluejays high in the trees above the house yard, bobbing up and down, screeching at each other. \o/

It's trying to spit rain.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit. We also dragged the biggest branch to the side where it won't block the mow path.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

delphi

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

shallowness

The Other Bennet Girl

1.4/Chapter 4

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1.5/Chapter 5

( Read more... )

wychwood

Going back to work was a bit of a horrible shock. Why must we work, why can I not merely lie around all day doing nothing.

However, before that time I did manage to get the sewing machine out and fix things, and also wash the second net curtain. And I'm wearing the repaired NASA hoodie right now! Not too bad for a week off. Now I just need to make the cookies I've had ingredients sitting on the side for, for the last, uh, several weeks. And maybe the pancakes I bought (and froze) milk for, for Shrove Tuesday, since we're currently up to the second Sunday of Easter.

I've also prodded various social things; as ever, it is a terrible balance between my desire to stay at home and do nothing, and my desire to hang out with cool people who I like. I did finally send out the invite for the David Attenborough Centenary Dinner I decided needed to happen - cool people don't turn 100 every day! And I've been vaguely planning a large group invite to the local food truck place for a while, so this seemed like a good excuse. I've invited twenty-odd people, and am hoping for maybe half-a-dozen - I booked Miss H in advance, so at the absolute worst I would have someone to eat with! And one other person has already signed up, so that seems like a success. If it goes well, perhaps I will repeat the concept (although probably without the Attenborough theme!); I really like the idea of regular social things with a bunch of people, but it's always so complicated (and see above re: staying at home forever). But this is extremely low-key, and doesn't require coordinating anything much, which might make it more sustainable. We'll see.

It's really getting quite spring-like now; still cold overnight, but the sun can be properly warm, and we've had a few really nice days; I'm keeping my windows open a lot because I can although am also sneezing a lot, corroborating the "very high" pollen forecast. But everything is green, the grass is growing, there's blossom and new leaf buds on the trees, flowers are popping up around the place, and a new spider has spent several days hanging around in my room (got me out of bed early one day, when it decided to pop up next to my pillow!).

delphi

The first episode of the newest Dimension 20 campaign premiered on Wednesday, and I am so on board for this one.

City Council of Darkness is in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, the tabletop roleplaying game most commonly set in the modern day, where vampires belonging to various clans and bloodlines engage politically in their home cities while trying to manage their own bestial urges, avoid the vampire hunters of the Second Inquisition, and above all keep the existence of vampires secret from humanity at large. City Council of Darkness is about what happens when a group of ambitious San Francisco vampires' bid for attention from the vampiric elite goes comically wrong, resulting in them being banished to the town of Purpee, Oregon, and forbidden to leave until they establish vampiric dominion there.

So far, it's been supremely silly in the best of ways, well-paced and plotted, full of mayhem, with characters and relationships that I'm looking forward to learning more about and an important reminder that the real monsters of San Francisco are Silicon Valley billionaires. I especially can't wait to see more of the friendship between Ventrue finance hustlers LaVonte Worthy and H.J. Wingstreet (joining Kingston Brown & Pete Conlan and Montgomery LaMontgommery & Olethra MacLeod as characters played by Lou Wilson and Ally Beardsley whose dynamic immediately grabbed me) and whatever the deal is between chaotic '80s(?) Brujah childe Zaeth Bondana and his respectable sire Koschei Severov.

Watch on YouTube

The series as a whole is exclusive to Dropout.tv or through Youtube membership, but I'm pretty sure that in the tradition of Dimension 20, the first episode of the campaign will go up for free on the Youtube channel's Season Premieres playlist.

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the Small Business Fest held just outside Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University. It was several times bigger than we expected, which was awesome. It wrapped around the entire square, and one side had booths down both sides of the walkway. This was nearly the size of the old Celebration fest, with very similar offerings. They do this twice a year now, spring and fall.

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Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

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

What would a perfect city be like?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Truckloads of food are being wasted because computers won’t approve them

Modern food systems may look stable on the surface, but they are increasingly dependent on digital systems that can quietly become a major point of failure. Today, food must be “recognized” by databases and automated platforms to be transported, sold, or even released, meaning that if systems go down, food can effectively become unusable—even when it’s physically available.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- We went out to a Small Business Fest today. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there, a lot longer than expected, but it was four or five times the size I expected and really awesome. :D But now my nose is pink from the sun and my legs feel like they're about to fall off, so that limits my yardening potential for the day.

On the way into town, we saw two turkey vultures visiting the remains of a possum at the edge of the yard.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I potted up most of the remaining flowers.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I potted up the last of the flowers.

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

Current Mood: busy

goodbyebird

+ They landed safely huzzah! Science!!

+ Graveyard Keeper is free on Steam for a short while.

+ Mexico’s monarch butterfly population jumps 64%, offering hope for at-risk species.

+ Scientists watch sperm whales work as a team to assist a birth.

+ Forest growth in the EU outpaces harvesting.

+ Elusive nightjar birds making remarkable comeback, conservationists say.

+ Discovered the on board kiosk stocked my favorite potato chips this trip \o/

Current Music: RAYE - Skin & Bones.

shallowness

Ficlets: all original fiction, probably a PG rating, if that. Anything over 100 words will also be posted at AO3. (This was meant to be my last post, but I've filled a few more prompts.)

Sorceress’s Apprentice, Original fic, OCs, 79 words. Written for the prompt ‘any, any, sorceress's apprentice’ at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

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Where the trees breathe and the water remembers, Original fic, OC, 116 words. Written for the prompt ‘any, any, where the trees breathe and the water remembers’ at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

Trigger warning: passing reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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More than a reflection, Original fic, OCs, 84 words. Written for the prompt ‘Any, any, I’m more than a reflection on you’ [sic] at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

( Read more... )

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists think dark matter might come in two forms

Dark matter may come in two flavors—finally explaining why its signals appear in some galaxies but vanish in others.

A mysterious glow of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way has long hinted at dark matter, but the lack of similar signals in smaller dwarf galaxies has cast doubt on that idea. Now, researchers propose a bold twist: dark matter might not be a single particle at all, but a mix of two different types that must interact with each other to produce detectable signals.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Did you grow up regularly playing board games (either with your family, or in other contexts)? Do you feel that this affected the prominence (or lack of prominence) of board games in your later life?

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Current Mood: busy

shallowness

Butterfly - 1.4 Pohang

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ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and mild.

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

I put out water for the birds.

I am excited to see that the yellow violet has propagated itself, and now there are two little clumps blooming in the forest garden. :D

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I pulled weeds out of two pots so I can plant pansies and violas in them.

I've seen a male cardinal and heard a squirrel barking.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made one pot with a black viola and a black pansy, intending to add some other black plant later. I made another with a black viola, a black pansy, a purple-and-white viola, a blue-shaded viola, and a white alyssum. I watered the pots and added some sticks to discourage squirrels from digging in them.

I also tested out a trick that I saw in a video. Take a large garden staple, push the tines down into a narrow pot, squeeze together like tongs, and pull the plant out. It takes a bit of practice to make it work, but it does work better than other methods I have tried for safely extracting plants from those multipacks.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made a pot with a black viola, a black pansy, a purple-and-yellow pansy, and a white alyssum.

The weather is turning cooler and the breeze is picking up.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made 3 pots with various shades of purple, yellow, and orange pansies and violas. For now these are on the white planters alongside the big pot of mixed Johnny-jump-ups.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made a pot with a mauve pansy, a couple different violas, and a white alyssum.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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The Bechdel-Wallace Test

Applying womanly rubrics to movies

Monday Update 4-13-26

well.

Vocabulary: Quiddity

Economics

Nature

Birdfeeding

Six Sentence Sunday

Bonnets and a London ball

i wonder where the birdies is

What's Making Me Happy Today: Dimension 20 City Council of Darkness

Today's Adventures

Philosophical Questions: City

Food

Birdfeeding

Moonscrolling.

Fic: Another three fills for the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026

Space Exploration

Gaming

Meet the in-laws!

Birdfeeding

Profile

August 2015

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