Greek Myth: Fanfic: Charity

Jun. 10th, 2025 04:43 pm
drabblewriter: (Epic - Troy Saga)
[personal profile] drabblewriter posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Charity
Fandom: Greek Myth
Characters: Apollo/Admetus
Rating: G
Length: 220
Summary: It's the end of another long day, Apollo's head against Admetus's shoulder as they watch the sun go down, when the god-turned-mortal blurts, "Tell me you're not only kind to me out of a sense of charity."

Read more... )

johnpalmer: (Default)
[personal profile] johnpalmer
So, I’ve been trying to figure out how to say what I next want to say.

Do I dislike who, and what, I am? Of course not. That’s ludicrous. I know that I’m a good person, even though people have said I’m such a horrible person, I shouldn’t even hang out with people who want to see me, because I’m that toxic. Thanks, Pat and Barbara!, et. al.

Do I despise who I am? Even more ludicrous. I was born to understand love and humanity. Yes, I know, some people will view me with contempt and disdain, because I’m injured – thanks again, y’all! – and don’t think there’s any reason to listen to me, to find out if maybe there’s a good explanation for why I’m acting strangly.

Well – do I feel unwavering contempt for myself, for doing, and acting, strangely, in ways that people will later view as contempt-worthy, and hateful, even though I can see that my actions allowed a hateful person to see me as contempt-worthy and hateful? Dude – I really do not do self-hatred, nor do I hate the disabled and injured. Why are we discussing all of these stupid questions?

Here’s why: Do I feel completely and thoroughly ashamed of being someone, who, on occasion, suffers from extreme fatigue, neurodivergence, infrequent emotional lability too extreme to allow rationality, and, do I further feel totally ashamed and worthless, because I can’t always be a mature, responsible, emotionally-stable grown-up able to hold productive discussions about relationships?

Yes. 100%, and totally. It’s why I can’t write anything these days – everything sounds like the whining of an ugly, faceless, useless hunk of biomass.

There’s a song that’s been ringing through my head – probably Odetta’s version, it sounds like her strong, wise, voice, leading “this little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine….” One of my gifts, insofar as it’s worthy of the name, is, I see lights that shine, better than many. I could see it in both of my brothers – I later realized it was in me, too, but I wasn’t aware of the signs.

Once I hit maturity, I learned about my own heart’s ability to shine, to see joy, and beauty, love, and, all manner of wonderful things. Even better, I learned to have some control over it. I learned to shine it. I could see the effect it had on people. It made me happy.

One really awful thing about being me – about having my particular set of circumstances – is that parts of me shut down, without warning. Once a person sees this light from me, I understand that it can be painful if it’s gone, so I exert a lot of energy to turn it on, when needed, and to keep it going while I’m with someone. But over the long term, my life has been one where the light is bound to go out, and I’m no longer completely human. That’s how it feels, and not having something all humans have is, in a sense, being “not completely human.” You see what I’m saying? I’m human, but something is missing, just as surely as if it was amputated, except, a light to shine can grow back. Hypothetically, at least.

The worst thing is, due to my disabilities, I sometimes turn ugly, in mood, expression, mannerisms, or appearance. Sometimes, even if I know I’m ugly, I’m too tired to fix it. And people can justifiably freak out because of that, you see? I can’t blame someone for freaking out – it’s not a normal kind of ugly, so people have to adapt. The problem is shame.

Because I’m ashamed of being broken, damaged goods, toxic, etc., I never think through how I’m broken, why people say I’m damaged goods, what specific toxins are present, and how can they be neutralized, etc.. I avoid it – it’s past the door labeled “shameful stuff, do not disturb.” So, when someone freaks the eff out, I’m not ready to explain things to them.

Just out of the blue, I came up with “I’m sorry – sometimes, my emotions express themselves in a weird way, due to my PTSD.” But first, I had to confront the shame enough to recognize that I’m not crucifying myself in front of people, I’m just offering an explanation. Instead, my shame leads me to try to ignore the times I’m damaged goods, or toxic, and hope the other person just forgets. That’s not a terrible strategy, to hope a friend forgets a behavioral outlier – but an explanation makes it easier for them to understand, and not need to forget, the outlier.

I’m ashamed that I need to remind myself to be a good, happy-making, human being – it’s not enough to do nothing wrong, you need to do some things that are right. I’m deeply ashamed of having weaknesses that could be pointed to and mocked, which would hurt when I’m exhausted, or mentally/emotionally injured. And I couldn’t tell you, not if my brain clicked on, and I was no longer damaged goods, and not if I had a million years, could I tell you, how ashamed I am that I can’t turn on “this little light of mine.”

I miss you – all of you out there. But without that light, nothing really seems to make any sense, so, it’s really, really, difficult to engage.
analogbasilisk: (FICTION)
[personal profile] analogbasilisk posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Prompt: 481. Charity
Word count: 695
Rating: T
Summary: there are three versions of what happened to Prett when she was sixteen.
Warning for homophobia, mentioned conversion camps, mentioned teen pregnancy, implied child abuse.

Read more... )

Suits : fanfic : Giving

Jun. 10th, 2025 03:23 pm
highlander_ii: Harvey Specter in boxing gloves leaning on the ring ropes with text 'kick ass lawyer' ([Harvey] 001)
[personal profile] highlander_ii posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Giving
Fandom: Suits
Rating: PG
Length: short
Content notes: none applySummary: would you look at that, Mike might be in trouble again...


Giving )

The Double: fanfic: competition

Jun. 10th, 2025 12:11 pm
teaotter: (Default)
[personal profile] teaotter posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: competition
Fandom: The Double (cdrama)
Content notes: none
Length: 100 words

Summary: Jiang Li stole everything.


Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Jun. 10th, 2025 01:02 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and at least one mourning dove.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've been outside a couple of times to walk around the yard.  Fireflies are starting to come out, but it's still so light that they're hard to see.  I may try again later. I've seen a bat over the south lot, and a skunk on the patio.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- We went out a little later to see the fireflies.  This is the most I've seen so far, earlier it was just ones and twos.  There aren't as many as there will be later in the season, but it's the first big flush so we're pleased to see them.

I am done for the night.

Extract from the WIP

Jun. 10th, 2025 07:01 pm
tig_b: cartoon from nMC set (Default)
[personal profile] tig_b
One night

I heard a faint sound as I walked past a closed shop. So quiet I nearly ignored it but then it came again.
“Meow”
I looked around but could not see anything. Then I noticed a movement in the window.
“Meow”
A black cat moved from behind the mannequin to paw at the glass.
I didn’t know what to do, call the police, the fire service?
Maybe it lived in the shop?
“Meow”
I couldn’t just walk away; what if it was trapped?
I got out my tools, opened the door, and as the alarm rang out we both ran.

Star Trek Voyager: fic: substitute

Jun. 10th, 2025 06:44 pm
lilly_c: Kathryn and Chakotay looking at the command console (Kathryn & Chakotay)
[personal profile] lilly_c posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: substitute
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager
Rating: G
Length: 275 words
Content notes: missing scene, implied food poisoning from Neelix’s coffee substitute, early in canon and developing friendship
Author notes: Missing scene from The Cloud, takes place shortly after Neelix tries to give Kathryn the “even better than coffee substitute” and I borrowed two lines from the ep but everything else is mines. If you spot a wild goof give me a prod and I’ll try to fix it, the dyslexia is kicking my arse at the moment.
Summary: Kathryn looked at him, realising he was referring to the three days earlier in the month when he insisted he couldn’t leave his quarters and wouldn’t tell anyone the reason for it. “You tried it? What happened?”

substitute )

2025.06.10

Jun. 10th, 2025 06:58 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell sticks by false 2020 election claims in defamation trial
Lindell took the stand for the first time during the trial in Denver.
by Colleen Slevin Associated Press
https://www.minnpost.com/national/2025/06/mypillow-founder-mike-lindell-sticks-by-false-2020-election-claims-in-defamation-trial/

From Bring Me The News: “Anxiety over current U.S. border and LGBTQ policies under the Trump administration has led a Canadian group to scrap the Minnesota leg of its annual cross-border Pride parade. Borderland Pride has announced that its cross-border Pride March will not start in International Falls this year. The event will instead take place entirely within Fort Frances on the Canadian side of the border.” Via MinnPost

Sumer is icumen in: From MPR News: “Our weather pattern will take a more typical summery and thundery June turn this week. Tuesday brings plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures in the 80s to much of Minnesota. Then a warm front will stall across southern Minnesota along the Interstate 90 corridor between Wednesday and Friday. That front will be the focus of a few rounds of thunderstorms.” Via MinnPost

‘They tell you every minor inconvenience’: bartenders on which generation has the worst behavior
Gen Z patrons have stopped opening bar tabs and can’t order quickly, but older customers’ etiquette isn’t perfect either
Alaina Demopoulos
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2025/jun/10/gen-z-bar-tabs-etiquette

Compare the courage of Greta Thunberg’s Gaza aid mission with the inaction and complicity of western governments
Owen Jones
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/10/greta-thunberg-gaza-aid-mission-madleen

New blood test for coeliac disease can diagnose autoimmune condition without need to eat gluten
Australian researchers hope test is a ‘game-changer’ for diagnosing those following a strict gluten-free diet
Natasha May Health reporter
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/10/new-blood-test-for-coeliac-disease-can-diagnose-autoimmune-condition-without-need-to-eat-gluten

Mythica: Stormbound review – new chunk of swords and sorcery tale ripe for avid franchise audience
The sixth instalment in this low-budget series has a meagre plot and shonky visual effects but the director and cast clearly care about the franchise’s audience
Leslie Felperin
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/09/mythica-stormbound-review-new-chunk-of-swords-and-sorcery-tale-ripe-for-avid-franchise-audience

‘It makes me sick!’ How the French impressionists went from ‘lunatics’ to luminaries
The National Gallery of Victoria’s new show, French Impressionism, celebrates the likes of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot and Pissarro, who painted in the face of public outrage
Sian Cain
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jun/09/it-makes-me-sick-how-the-likes-of-the-french-impressionists-went-from-lunatics-to-luminaries

Frederick Forsyth, Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent, dies aged 86
Writer used his experience reporting on De Gaulle’s France to plot his thriller, and continued to draw on real-world research for subsequent bestsellers
Richard Lea
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/09/frederick-forsyth-day-of-the-jackal-author-and-former-mi6-agent-dies-aged-86

Sly Stone obituary
Funk and soul musician whose band, Sly and the Family Stone, had a profound effect on US music in the 1960s and 70s
Garth Cartwright
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/10/sly-stone-obituary

CodeSOD: The Pirate's Code

Jun. 10th, 2025 06:30 am
[syndicated profile] the_daily_wtf_feed

Posted by Remy Porter

We've talked about ASP .Net WebForms in the past. In this style of development, everything was event driven: click a button, and the browser sends an HTTP request to the server which triggers a series of events, including a "Button Click" event, and renders a new page.

When ASP .Net launched, one of the "features" was a lazy repaint in browsers which supported it (aka, Internet Explorer), where you'd click the button, the page would render on the server, download, and then the browser would repaint only the changed areas, making it feel more like a desktop application, albeit a laggy one.

This model didn't translate super naturally to AJAX style calls, where JavaScript updated only portions of the page. The .Net team added some hooks for it- special "AJAX enabled" controls, as well as helper functions, like __doPostBack, in the UI to generate URLs for "postbacks" to trigger server side execution. A postback is just a POST request with .NET specific state data in the body.

All this said, Chris maintains a booking system for a boat rental company. Specifically, he's a developer at a company which the boat rental company hires to maintain their site. The original developer left behind a barnacle covered mess of tangled lines and rotting hull.

Let's start with the view ASPX definition:

<script>
function btnSave_Click()
{
    if (someCondition) 
    {
    //Trimmed for your own sanity
    
    //PostBack to Save Data into the Database.
        javascript:<%#getPostBack()%>;                   
    }
    else
    {
        return false;
    }
}
</script>
<html>
      <body>
          <input type="button" value="  Save  Booking  " id="btnSave" class="button" title="Save [Alt]" onclick="btnSave_Click()" />
      </body>
</html>

__doPostBack is the .NET method for generating URLs for performing postbacks, and specifically, it populates two request fields: __EVENTTARGET (the ID of the UI element triggering the event) and __EVENTARGUMENT, an arbitrary field for your use. I assume getPostBack() is a helper method which calls that. The code in btnSave_Click is as submitted, and I think our submitter may have mangled it a bit in "trimming", but I can see the goal is to ensure than when the onclick event fires, we perform a "postback" operation with some hard-coded values for __EVENTTARGET and __EVENTELEMENT.

Or maybe it isn't mangled, and this code just doesn't work?

I enjoy that the tool-tip "title" field specifies that it's "[Alt]" text, and that the name of the button includes extra whitespace to ensure that it's padded out to a good rendering size, instead of using CSS.

But we can skip past this into the real meat. How this gets handled on the server side:

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    '// Trimmed more garbage
    If Page.IsPostBack Then
        'Check if save button has been Clicked.
        Dim eventArg As String = Request("__EVENTARGUMENT")
        Dim offset As Integer = eventArg.IndexOf("@@@@@")
        If (offset > -1) Then
            'this is an event that we raised. so do whatever you need to here.
            Save()
        End If
    End If
End Sub

From this, I conclude that getPostBack populates the __EVENTARGUMENT field with a pile of "@", and we use that to recognize that the save button was clicked. Except, and this is the important thing, if they populated the ID property with btnSave, then ASP .Net would automatically call btnSave_Click. The entire point of the __doPostBack functionality is that it hooks into the event handling pattern and acts just like any other postback, but lets you have JavaScript execute as part of sending the request.

The entire application is a boat with multiple holes in it; it's taking on water and going down, and like a good captain, Chris is absolutely not going down with it and looking for a lifeboat.

Chris writes:

The thing in its entirety is probably one of the biggest WTFs I've ever had to work with.
I've held off submitting because nothing was ever straight forward enough to be understood without posting the entire website.

Honestly, I'm still not sure I understand it, but I do hate it.

[Advertisement] BuildMaster allows you to create a self-service release management platform that allows different teams to manage their applications. Explore how!

Conservation

Jun. 10th, 2025 03:37 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Farmers are creating a brighter future for Bolivia’s red-fronted macaws

Once rural landowners learned they could generate income by protecting macaws, the endangered birds went from burdens to boons.


Progress!

Magpie Monday

Jun. 10th, 2025 03:05 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "recovering from nightmares."


For each person who sends at least one prompt, I’ll write a story, send it via private message or (for too long fills) an email, then write a brief thumbnail summary and post that in reply to the comment, and move on.

The prompt call will be open until around midnight local time on late Tuesday/early Wednesday, which gives everyone time to join in
.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 9th, 2025 10:54 pm
torachan: jason momoa/ronon smiling (ronon)
[personal profile] torachan
1. A few months ago I started having problems with itunes where every time I tried to add a song to a playlist it froze. I tried a few solutions I found online and nothing worked, so I just stopped listening to music at my desk and basically only listened to it in the car through Apple Music. Finally the other day I just gave up and uninstalled itunes and reinstalled it again, and at first I was really regretting my decision because even after logging in, it wasn't showing any of the music I'd downloaded over the past few years from Apple Music, only my library on my HD, but then I logged out and logged in again and everything showed up, and adding songs to playlists seems to work again, so maybe now I'll actually get back to listening to music at home.

2. There is DLC for Sea of Stars, a whole new quest that I've seen a few reviews say is about eight hours or so of gameplay. I started it the other day and am enjoying it so far. Sea of Stars is definitely one of my favorite games from the past year or so, so I'm excited to be able to play more of it. (In between Mario Kart World, of course.)

3. Our Little Tokyo store is right next to city hall, so things have been kind of rough down there the past couple days with the protests. Both yesterday and today the store had to close early so employees could get home safe. This morning there was a ton of graffiti (all varities of "fuck ICE") along the windows of one side of the building, but thankfully no actual damage to the store and the property manager was able to get it cleaned up easily.

4. Chloe also says "fuck ICE"!

ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I started making liquid fertilizer from Russian comfrey. Begin with Part 1: Jugs. With those done, I harvested leaves.

Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I started making liquid fertilizer from Russian comfrey. This plant fills a lot of guild roles in permaculture including fertilizer, miner, mulcher, protector, attractor. I have been using it primarily as a bee plant that I can also slash-and-drop several times a season. I grow it under many of my trees and there's some in the prairie garden too.

There are various ways to make liquid fertilizer from comfrey. I will be testing two: 1) a small amount of comfrey leaves in a large amount of water, and 2) only comfrey leaves crammed tightly in a jug. (See Part 2: Leaves.)

Walk with me ... )

Spring Cleaning

Jun. 9th, 2025 10:03 pm
billroper: (Default)
[personal profile] billroper
It is amazing how deleting roughly 150,000 lines of obsolete code will improve the quality of your code base.

Brains

Jun. 9th, 2025 09:08 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Krakencoder predicts brain function 20x better than past methods

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a new algorithm, the Krakencoder, that merges multiple types of brain imaging data to better understand how the brain s wiring underpins behavior, thought, and recovery after injury. This cutting-edge tool can predict brain function from structure with unprecedented accuracy 20 times better than past models and even estimate traits like age, sex, and cognitive ability.


That ... sounds pretty exactly like something over in Terramagne. It's part of Thalassia's health care system, although they've had theirs for a while. *ponder* I think the ~20 year gap between here and there is holding steady.

Summer of the 69

Jun. 9th, 2025 09:03 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[community profile] summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the comment prompt post.  The initial theme is "First Time 69: Everyone has to start somewhere."

Welcome to Summer of the 69, an event focused on creative works about the sexual position, open to all fandoms and to original works. Participation is through two means: A comment meme and weekly themes, running from June 9th through September 6th.


Poke a bigot in the eye, make some sexy stuff!

At least work is back to normal

Jun. 9th, 2025 10:03 pm
mousme: A text icon, dark green text on pale green, that reads There is no normal life. There's just life. (No Normal Life)
[personal profile] mousme
It is SO nice not to have to be the SitRep writer anymore! I spent a small chunk of today holding the hand of the new SitRep writer as she navigated her first day of writing SitReps, just as the previous SitRep writer did for me last week. It is a job and a half, and honestly the instructions we were given are, uh, not very clear. I am sort of tempted to re-write them and submit the proposal to the "Core" team of supervisors/managers so that future SitRep writers don't find themselves navigating a sea of practically indecipherable text. Okay, it's not that bad, but whoever wrote the instructions did so with no regard for brevity or clarity, nor is it particularly well ordered. Technical writing is a skill, after all.

I'm working from home tomorrow, which is a blessing. It's the only WFH day I have this week, so I plan to take full advantage of that. I have to get up early enough to take out the recycling and the green bin, but at least I don't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn. Also, since I'm not the SitRep writer this week, it ought to make for a much more chill day. If that turns out to be the case, I am going to try to take advantage of the "extra" time to keep packing up the house.

KK is finally home after being out with H most of the weekend. We drove to the new house this evening and took the dogs out for a run, checked the mail, and picked up the cat food that had been delivered there (we didn't want to leave it outside in case the smell was too enticing for the local wildlife). I also wandered over to the road that leads to the neighbour's farm and said a respectful hello to some of the dairy cows that were hanging out nearby. They were pretty nonplussed at my presence, but they didn't seem overly concerned otherwise. I quite like cows, so I'm hoping we will be on good terms with our neighbours in general. I also spotted the same cat I'd seen over the weekend (I think) trotting down the path in the direction of the farm, so I am reasonably confident that the cat must belong to them.

Okay, time for bed. Catch you on the flip side, friends!

Call for Themes

Jun. 9th, 2025 08:28 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
We've reached the end of scheduled themes for the Poetry Fishbowl project. It's time to brainstorm some new themes! These are a few that I've jotted down earlier, ones that I've thought up or people have suggested, to give you an idea what kind of stuff might be suitable:

* Angels and Demons
* Apocalyptic Visions
* Emotional Regulation
* Faeries and Fey
* Fixit
* Pirates, Rascals, and Rogues
* Time Travel
* Westerns

What other themes would you like to see me write about? What would you like to buy? Suggest them in a comment below this post.

Read more... )

History

Jun. 9th, 2025 04:27 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
New evidence reveals advanced maritime technology in the philippines 35,000 years ago

In a bold reimagining of Southeast Asia s prehistory, scientists reveal that the Philippine island of Mindoro was a hub of human innovation and migration as far back as 35,000 years ago. Advanced tools, deep-sea fishing capabilities, and early burial customs show that early humans here weren t isolated they were maritime pioneers shaping a wide-reaching network across the region.

Monday Update 6-9-25

Jun. 9th, 2025 01:39 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Artwork of the wordsmith typing. (typing)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Pride Month
Birdfeeding
Early Humans
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Looks
Today's Adventures
Poem: "The Result of Your Own Bad Behavior"
Poem: "When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed"
Poem: "Emodox"
Birdfeeding
Skate Park
Follow Friday 6-6-25: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Spring 2025 J-Z
Recipes
New Crowdfunding Project: "Aces and Aros"
Poem: "All It Takes to Be Invulnerable"
Poem: "The Bond with a Dog"
Birdfeeding
Read "Do you ever dream of land?"
Books
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Good News

"Not a Destination, But a Process" has 138 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 89 comments.


Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I actually finished a draft of the last obligatory poem yesterday, just need to get that tallied, proofread, and thumnailed. \o/


[community profile] summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the initial theme is "First Time 69: Everyone has to start somewhere."


"In the Heart of the Hidden Garden" belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It needs $86 to be fully funded. Lawrence shows Stan around the campus at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.


The weather has been warm and wet here. It rained again last night. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, two mourning doves, a male cardinal, a catbird, and a fox squirrel. Astilbe, snowball bush, and daylilies have flower buds. Peonies are done blooming. Privet and mock orange are winding down. Currently blooming: dandelions, honeysuckle, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, red coreopsis, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, dogwood, Asiatic lilies, cucumber. Raspberries, blackberries, and tomatoes have green fruit. Wild strawberries and mulberries are ripe.

June 2025 Magpie Monday

Jun. 9th, 2025 04:25 pm
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Welcome to the Magpie Monday prompt call for June of 2025! We are halfway through the year, and I’m not sure how THAT managed to sneak up on me!
Read more... )

The Witch Roads, by Kate Elliott

Jun. 9th, 2025 01:35 pm
mrissa: (Default)
[personal profile] mrissa
 

Review copy provided by the publisher.

This is the first book in a duology, and it's the kind of duology that's really one book split into two volumes. The end of this book is merely the stopping point of this book, not in any way an ending. If that bothers you, wait around until the other half is out.

Honestly I can't tell you why I didn't love this book. I wanted to love this book. It's a secondary world fantasy where one of the central relationships of the book is an aunt and nephew, and that kind of non-standard central relationship is absolutely up my alley. It's a fantasy world where magical environmental contamination is a major threat, which is also of great interest to me. Sensitive yet matter-of-fact handling of trans characters, check. Worldbuilding that deviates from standard, check. And there wasn't anything that made me roll my eyes or say ugh! It was just fine! But for me, at least, it was just fine. Honestly if this is your sort of thing I kind of wish you'd read it and tell me what you think might have been going on here, or if it's just...that some books and some people are ships passing in the night.

Whales

Jun. 9th, 2025 01:34 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Whales blow bubble rings--And they might be talking to us

Newly documented behavior in a recently published paper by SETI Institute and UC Davis team members may offer insights into nonhuman intelligence--and help shape the search for life beyond Earth.
Humpback whales have been observed blowing bubble rings during friendly interactions with humans a behavior never before documented. This surprising display may be more than play; it could represent a sophisticated form of non-verbal communication. Scientists from the SETI Institute and UC Davis believe these interactions offer valuable insights into non-human intelligence, potentially helping refine our methods for detecting extraterrestrial life. Their findings underscore the intelligence, curiosity, and social complexity of whales, making them ideal analogues for developing communication models beyond Earth
.

Birdfeeding

Jun. 9th, 2025 01:15 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny, mild, and damp.  It rained thoroughly last night.

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen much activity today though.

I put out water for the birds.

On the old picnic table, a cucumber is blooming.

EDIT 6/9/23 -- I did the indoor setup for the two jugs I'll be using to make comfrey liquid fertilizer, and took pictures.

EDIT 6/9/23 -- I tore up a handful of comfrey leaves for the first jug, put them in it, and filled the rest of the way with water.  If it works, this will produce a dilute solution of liquid fertilizer.

EDIT 6/9/23 -- I started filling the second jug.  This one needs to be entirely full of comfrey leaves.  I only got about halfway before I ran out of energy.  I'll have to work on it more later.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus two mourning doves.

EDIT 6/9/23 -- We went out to Fox Ridge and Lake Charleston.  So many things are blooming!  :D

EDIT 6/9/23 -- I added more comfrey leaves to the second jug.  It's mostly full now, but not tightly packed, so it still needs more leaves stuffed in.

EDIT 6/9/23 -- I added more comfrey leaves to the second jug.  While it's possible to push down the mass, it springs back immediately, making it hard to keep additional material inside.  I'll call it done for now.  If the stuff wilts down by tomorrow, I may add more then.

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

conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Every day is perfect, if
when you wake, you hear birds
in the garden, in the yard. Birds

up and down, ushering in one more day
in all the houses on Shaker Way. Birds
on telephone lines, light posts. Birds

twit, twittering on trees
hailing fellow birds
with a nod of  beak—gray kingbird;

top-hatted, streamertail
tuxedoed, doctor bird—
busy-bodied hummingbird

tucking in, out, of pink, red ixoras
punch-drunk in love. Birds
preening for, chatting up other birds—

the oriole, the grass quit, in mid-song
on the lawn, in a dance of  birds
an all-day-long conference of bird;

red-headed woodpecker
—drummer boy, or girl bird
in this daily symphony of  birds

—an orchestra on Shaker Way
in serenade of each perfect day with birds—
from the very first mockingbird

heralding, in solo warble
one more day, filled with birds—
brightened, lightened, trilled by birds:

precious, diamond-throated
sweet song, miracle-toting birds
the-gift-of-day-is-here birds.

Bird, bird, bird. Hello bird.
You lift me up bird.
You sing the day beautiful, bird.


***********


Link
[syndicated profile] dumbingofage_feed

Posted by David M Willis

All right, who wants a plushie Dina?

Starting today, June 9, Makeship has begun the Petition period for producing a Dina plushie!  What that means is, if during this 10-day Petition period at least 200 people pledge for the plushie, the plushie will be put into production!  You put down $2 now, and if it gets the 200 (or more) people required, they’ll then charge the rest (~$28 + shipping/tax) and they’ll make that thing!  For us!  To have!

I strongly believe we can make this happen!  Go pledge for Tricerahoodie Dina!

conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Rok continues to be the best at everything, and deserves all the hugs. Though I remain baffled how ST thinks they can on one hand have post-scarcity nearly everywhere (including, one presumes, in places just outside of the Federation where they can easily abscond with probable Federation citizens) and also have seedy underbellies everywhere as well. The problem is that they never actually worked out how it all works, and I think the only solution is to ditch the idea that even the Federation really has no currency and is totally post-scarcity. Everybody has their basic needs met, I'll agree is supported by the writing. Anything past that, no.

Anyway, Rok's friend in her tragic backstory was clearly no more able to leave that situation than she was and though I can see there's too much plot for that to happen in canon I really hope they could rescue him.

Speaking of tragic backstories, I cannot believe a. that Dal tried to say his was the worst and b. his version of being "the worst" absolutely skips past the part where Read more... ) But seriously, dude, you grew up as a slave on a mine full of child slaves. It's not a situation people get into because their life was just so great beforehand. If everything was hunky-dory, none of you would've been targeted in the first damn place. You all have a terrible backstory, you don't need to prove it!

Moving on, Murf continues to also be the best, but ffs, can somebody get him an AAC? Or a whiteboard, at least? Teach him sign language? This is a solved problem even in the real world, surely Starfleet can figure it out!

Nothing to say about Jankom, he's just there. *shrug* And I feel kinda ditto about Zero, tbh. I mean, I like them, but....

Ma'Jel, between her cool hair and her increasingly consternated expression as the turbolift got more and more crowded, is clearly not one of the most unemotional Vulcans out there. (I don't care what Vulcans say, the opposite of "logical" is not "emotional", it's just "illogical".) I feel like she and our darling T'Lyn would have a lot to talk about.

The adults on the ship - this show is clearly trying to walk a fine line between keeping them competent and allowing the kids to run circles around them. I'm not sure it always works, but I appreciate the effort, and also I appreciate how they were careful to make it clear that the adults, whether they're being strict or a bit Too Much, are only acting the way they do because they're sympathetic. (Frankly, all the kids could stand to appreciate their new situation a bit more - except Rok, she already gets it - but I understand why they're struggling a bit.)

Gets a bit spoilery )

**************


Ugh, the news )
[syndicated profile] grrlpowercomic_feed

Posted by DaveB

Panel three may not be quite how Scion usually acquires his DNA samples. Not that he hasn’t considered it, but he kept ripping the stockings with his tentacle toes.

I will cop to it. In that last word balloon, I don’t know if I used the semicolon correctly. I’m partially admitting to it because this way someone will either affirm or correct me without me having to not only google it, but, like, comprehend the results, but also it gives the grammar nerds an opportunity to strut their stuff. Maybe there’s an even more appropriate bit of punctuation, like three dots in a triangle that looks like the Predator is sighting in on you. I like interrobangs, personally. Not the right mark for that sentence in the last panel. I just like an excuse to say/type “interrobang.” ‽ Also, as a comic writer, there’s a lot of cases where people are shouting questions. Though I will say, in my head, there’s a difference between “?!” and “!?” The former denoting incredulousness, (What are you doing?!) the latter being for exasperation or alarm. (What are you doing!?) An interrobang lacks that distinction.


The vote incentive is finally done!

The update to the TWC image is pretty minor, but the Patreon version has the bonus comic as well as nude versions. I will strive to make the next one more timely.

 

 

 


Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.

2025.06.09

Jun. 9th, 2025 06:11 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Lojo Russo Pop-Up Concert
The Warehouse at Wonderwoman
3715 Minnehaha Ave
Monday, June 9 between 7p and 9p.
Hope you can make!
https://facebook.com/events/s/pop-up-lojo/715128571213095/

Trump news at a glance: California’s Newsom compares Trump to a ‘dictator’ over national guard deployment
The governor is in a showdown with the president over the policing of protests in LA and Paramount – key US politics stories from Sunday 8 June at a glance
Guardian staff
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/trump-administration-news-updates-today

A free flat for a fortnight: the German city offering perks to fight depopulation
Eisenhüttenstadt, once a socialist vision but now at risk of becoming a ghost town, seeks to ditch its far-right image
Deborah Cole in Eisenhüttenstadt
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/a-free-flat-for-a-fortnight-the-german-city-offering-perks-to-fight-depopulation

Toxic truth? The cookware craze redefining ‘ceramic’ and ‘nontoxic’
Designer brands such as Always Pan and Caraway are booming – but safety experts are raising questions
Tom Perkins
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/09/ceramic-nontoxic-cookware

Inside one of the world's most advanced supercomputers
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0lgb2xd/inside-one-of-the-world-s-most-advanced-supercomputers

Will the Trump-Musk rift really change anything?
Jan-Werner Müller
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/musk-trump-rift-change

The Guardian view on coming-out tales: from A Boy’s Own Story to What It Feels Like for a Girl
Editorial
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/08/the-guardian-view-on-coming-out-tales-from-a-boys-own-story-to-what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl

Who drank all the matcha? How tourism drained a Japanese town
Marina Wang
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250606-matcha-how-tourism-drained-a-japanese-town

From Tabasco sauce to Taiwanese Tex-Mex: Felicity Cloake's American odyssey
Laura Hall
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250606-felicity-cloakes-american-food-odyssey

CodeSOD: A Real POS Report

Jun. 9th, 2025 06:30 am
[syndicated profile] the_daily_wtf_feed

Posted by Remy Porter

Eddie's company hired a Highly Paid Consultant to help them retool their systems for a major upgrade. Of course, the HPC needed more and more time, and the project ran later and later and ended up wildly over budget, so the HPC had to be released, and Eddie inherited the code.

What followed was a massive crunch to try and hit absolutely hard delivery dates. Management didn't want their team "rewriting" the expensive code they'd already paid for, they just wanted "quick fixes" to get it live. Obviously, the HPC's code must be better than theirs, right?

After release, a problem appeared in one of their sales related reports. The point-of-sale report was meant to deliver a report about which items were available at any given retail outlet, in addition to sales figures. Because their business dealt in a high volume of seasonal items, every quarter the list of items was expected to change regularly.

The users weren't seeing the new items appear in the report. This didn't make very much sense- it was a report. The data was in the database. The report was driven by a view, also in the database, which clearly was returning the correct values? So the bug must be in the code which generated the report…

If POSItemDesc = "Large Sign" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "Large Sign"
End If
If POSItemDesc = "Small Sign" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "Small Sign"
End If
If POSItemDesc = "2x2 Hanging Sign" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "2x2 Hanging Sign"
End If
If POSItemDesc = "1x1 Sign" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "1x1 Sign"
End If
'.........Snipping more of these........
If POSItemDesc = "Light Thief" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "Light Thief"
End If
If POSItemDesc = "Door Strike" Then
        grdResults.Columns.FromKey("FColumn12").Header.Caption = "Door Strike"
End If

First, it's worth noting that inside of the results grid display item, the HPC named the field FColumn12, which is such a wonderfully self documenting name, I'm surprised we aren't all using that everywhere. But the more obvious problem is that the list of possible items is hard-coded into the report; items which don't fit one of these if statements don't get displayed.

At no point, did the person writing this see the pattern of "I check if a field equals a string, and then set another field equal to that string," and say, "maybe there's a better way?" At no point, in the testing process, did anyone try this report with a new item?

It was easy enough for Eddie to change the name of the column in the results grid, and replace all this code with a simpler: grdResults.Columns.FromKey("POSItem").Header.Caption = POSItemDesc, which also had the benefit of actually working, but we're all left puzzling over why this happened in the first place. It's not like the HPC was getting paid per line of code. Right? Right?

Of course not- no HPC would willingly be paid based on any metric that has an objective standard, even if the metric is dumb.

[Advertisement] ProGet’s got you covered with security and access controls on your NuGet feeds. Learn more.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 8th, 2025 08:41 pm
torachan: karkat from homestuck headdesking (karkat headdesk)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I had another quiet day at home, though I did go out for two nice walks, including a longer one in which I stopped for ice cream to cool off. (It wasn't that hot today but it was late afternoon and quite sunny and muggy.)

2. Molly is a super cutie.

dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Location, Location, Location
By Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 3
Word count (story only): 1116
[Landing #7, day 3, 2 p.m. local time]


:: Thalassian representatives arrive to offer options to the Asher family, and Backstep recovers under their watchful eyes. Part of the Sidestep Travelers universe. ::




The dozen files roamed around the room, passed hand to hand in no particular order or direction. Eventually, Grandmama tapped one file against her knee, then laid it on the coffee table. Wrinkled hands aligned the file perfectly parallel to the edges of the table, then nudged it an inch to the left to put it in the exact center of the surface. “I’ve already got opinions and preferences. Why don’t we each pick a location that we’re interested in, which will cut the list in half, at most. If more than one person really likes the look of a property, it jumps to the top of the list.”

Zipper ambled into the living room, carrying an oval wicker bread basket full of bread, kept warm under a red and white dishtowel with a narrow plaid. “Are you ready for a proper snack, Backstep?”

She beamed. “You sneaked off to get me aish baladi?” One hand automatically reached for the basket.
Read more... )

El Goonish Shive - falsekings-014

Jun. 9th, 2025 12:00 am
[syndicated profile] egs_comic_feed

New comic!

Today's News:

- Pandora Chaos Raven (a page from Sister 3 with all three "default" forms)

I chose that reference for easy visuals, but it might inadvertently imply "Pandora" and "Raven" were separate forms. They were not. There's basically the original Pandora, chaos Pandora, and kid Pandora. All three of those were technically default forms.

The inclusion of a "perpetually morphing nightmare cloud" as a standard state of being might have been a red flag.

Tedd's question

Tedd originally asked if the form he talked to was Pandora's default form, a result of Tedd knowing Pandora had a kid form.

It's something a person might have wondered, but Tedd actually would have taken it for granted that the form Pandora was in when they talked was the default. He only would have been shocked at himself for making such an assumption were someone so bold as to point it out to him.

Not only that, but Tedd wouldn't have felt compelled to ask that question right now anyway.

This put me in a bit of a pickle, because I really wanted to establish that Pandora had three default forms, and it felt like Hope wouldn't volunteer that information unless somehow asked.

(Darn characters actually having conditions for being in-character!)

The question I ultimately went with from Tedd might seem equally out of place, if not more so, but there's a reason Tedd asks: Tedd's genderfluid. This is basically Tedd wanting to know if genderfluid immortals with multiple default forms are a thing, and impulsively asking about it indirectly.

Really, it's for the best that Tedd asked. It would have been in the back of his mind distracting him until he did.

--

- Saturday EGSNP

Embracing Summer

Jun. 8th, 2025 09:51 pm
billroper: (Default)
[personal profile] billroper
The weather has twisted into something resembling early summer and I have decided it is time to embrace it.

One of the fellows that I used to coach softball with came by to pick up the items we had to donate to the league. We had fun catching up. His team has a big game coming up on Wednesday. One of the other coaches that I worked with has talked about going to catch a game, so I texted her and if plans hold together, we'll both be at Wednesday's game to see how things are going. It's been a while. There are definitely days when I miss coaching softball, but I have to admit that I enjoy the additional sleep. :)

K starts her summer job (her *first* job!) tomorrow. Today, we went out to lunch and then I took her over to Walmart to pick up additional summer camp appropriate work clothes. She also used the gift card that she'd gotten for graduation to grab some more games for the Switch, which seems like a fine idea. (We gave her a pair of additional controllers so that four person games are now possible.)

While both cars were out of the garage temporarily, I took advantage of the access to do a bit of minor rearranging so that things fit better. My side of the garage now seems fine. Gretchen's side may need another tweak or two. We'll see. (The branch chipper that we acquired in the interim is taking up a bit of space that I'd rather it not, but the options for where to put it are limited.)

Yesterday, we had grilled hamburgers and sweet corn for dinner. Today, Gretchen made some grilled onions for me which I added to some pan-fried Polish sausage. Gretchen had boiled stadium brats. Dinner was simple and tasty.

And I spent some time down in the studio hunting for an ADAT tape for a project that a friend is working on. The ADAT tape has not turned up and I have run out of places to look, so I've sent off an email apologizing. I have a *lot* of ADAT tapes in my basement, but apparently not *this* one.

*sigh*

Recording is resuming shortly. *Very* shortly.

An uneventful day

Jun. 8th, 2025 10:12 pm
mousme: A view of a woman's legs from behind, wearing knee-high rainbow socks. The rest of the picture is black and white. (Default)
[personal profile] mousme
I feel like today was a bit of a wash. I was the Greeter at Meeting online today, but someone in the Meeting House (the same person who is constantly complaining about the "technology" in the Meeting House) took it upon herself to, as another Friend put it, "cosplay as Ministry & Counsel." I am trying and failing to not be annoyed by it. It honestly doesn't matter who says the things as long as the Meeting unfolds the way it should, and it did, but I have a red trigger button that revolves around people thinking I'm incompetent/can't do my job or telling me how to do my job, and apparently this hit the same button. In conclusion, I am MIFFED.

Otherwise I packed more boxes in the basement, which took more time than I anticipated. What's left in the basement is all stuff that's weirdly shaped or a bit too big to fit in most boxes, and a lot of it is really random shit that belongs to KK that I can't even identify, which makes labelling the boxes a bit of a challenge. Still, I made some headway, which is something.

KK is spending tonight at her friend H's hotel again, and so I have to medicate Rika the Chihuahua and feed Libby (the long-haired tabby) her special kidney food on top of the regular bedtime routine stuff. I'll be doing that in a few minutes, as soon as I've put the quail to bed.

I have also, because I am a special kind of crazy, applied to adopt a senior Brittany from a rescue group. His name is Odin, and he's 10 years old, and he looks like an absolute sweetheart, albeit with the same escape artist and counter surfing tendencies as my current set of hooligans. So, you know, he'll fit right in! Of course, there's no guarantee my application will be accepted. Rescues are notoriously finicky about placing animals, so they may find something wrong with either the new house, the new property, or my general attitude and philosophy with regards to owning dogs and the care and treatment thereof. I don't have a fence yet, although we do definitely plan on building a six-foot fence to keep the current set of hooligans from haring off and terrorizing our neighbour's dairy cows. I don't want to constantly be worried that my dogs are being a nuisance to the neighbours. Anyway, we shall see.

Now, I am off to medicate the dog, feed the cat, take a quick shower, and then lapse into a hopefully at least slightly restorative slumber. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but last week I fell asleep one night before putting on my CPAP mask, and I felt like absolute garbage the next day. So while I hadn't noticed the night-and-day difference in energy levels that other people have said come with using a CPAP, I can report with full confidence that it is, in fact, doing something.
m_findlow: (Ianto Jones)
[personal profile] m_findlow posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: You get what you give
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Owen, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,363 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 481 - Charity
Summary: Ianto has charged himself and Owen with a less than ordinary Torchwood assignment.

Read more... )

Pride Month

Jun. 8th, 2025 07:39 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
31 Ideas To Take Action & Celebrate Pride Month In 2025

June is Pride Month! This month-long celebration is an opportunity to celebrate the very human and very beautiful spectrum of gender and sexuality, all while coming together to fight for widespread equality and justice in the LGBTQ+ community.


Well, I read the news

Jun. 9th, 2025 08:33 pm
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Or, anyway, I glanced at the headlines and oh fuck no. Can I just go back to bed, and somebody wake me when things improve?

Nintendo Switch for sale

Jun. 8th, 2025 03:16 pm
torachan: (Default)
[personal profile] torachan
Anyone in the US interested in a used Switch? No original box, but I've got the dock, AC adapter, HDMI cable, two sets of joycons (black and red/blue), the holder thingy that turns the joycons into a regular controller, one set of wrist straps for the joycons, and a charging station. It also has a memory card already installed.

I'm looking for $100 including shipping.

Profile

freetrav

October 2022

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728 29
3031     

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags