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Poem: "A Walking Song"

This poem is posted as a birthday present for Anthony Barrette.

"A Walking Song"

I walk in the morning, the sun at its rise.
I walk up the hill, and I there feast my eyes
On gardens and fields, and the grass growing green:
The loveliest sight that I ever have seen.

I walk in the midday, the sun at its peak.
I walk through the valley to find all I seek.
I pick the sweet berries, I taste the green leaves,
I gather the nuts underneath forest eaves.

I walk after lunchtime, the sun heading west.
I walk by the river, where fishing is best.
I catch a few catfish to hang on my string
And forage some cattails where young blackbirds sing.

I walk in the evening, the sun sinking low.
My baskets are full, and my heart is aglow.
The fireflies flicker, the fox and deer roam;
I walk down the hill toward the lights of my home.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

blogging,
personal

Monday Update 5-19-25

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Poetry Fishbowl Report for May 6, 2025
Unsold Poems for the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
Poem: "A Lens of Ice"
Artificial Intelligence
Birdfeeding
Summer of the 69
Today's Adventures
Creative Jam
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Distance
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 5-16-25: Heroes
Space Exploration
Hobbies: Jewelry Making
Photos: Cookie Jar Terrarium Part 2: Planting
Corruption
Gengineering
Birdfeeding
Economics
Fossils
Photos: Savanna and Prairie Garden
Photos: House Yard and South Lot
Poem: "The Delicate Balance of Mentoring"
How to Do Anything in 6 Steps
Birdfeeding
Photos: Sunset
How to Secure Trough Pots to a Bench
Good News

"Not a Destination, But a Process" has 133 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 85 comments.

There will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics from Monday, May 19-Sunday May 25.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth ran April 25-May 15. During this time, people post content only visible on Dreamwidth (although it can be reposted elsewhere after the event ends). There's usually a flurry of activity as bloggers share anchor posts, new fiction, icons, banners, questionnaires, friending fests, memes, and other goodies. Community hosts often hold special activities in their communities too. (See the introductory posts from 2022, 2023, 2024.)

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I wrote about goal-setting frameworks for

newcomers.

Goal-Setting Frameworks
* Part 1: Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks
* Part 2: The 1-3-5 Rule
* Part 3: The 12-week Year
* Part 4: ABCS (Achievable, Believable, Committed, Specific)
* Part 5: Backward Goal
* Part 6: BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)
* Part 7: BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick)
* Part 8: CLEAR (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable)
* Part 9: Goal Pyramid
* Part 10: Golden Circle
* Part 11: GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward)
* Part 12: HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult)
* Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators
* Part 14: MASTER (Measurable, Achievable, Specific, Transforming, Evolving, Relevant)
* Part 15: NCT (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks)
* Part 16: OKR (Objectives, Key Results)
* Part 17: PACT (Purposeful, Aligned, Continuous, Tracked)
* Part 18: Tiered Goals
* Part 19: Theme Word
* Part 20: WISE (Written, Integrated, Synergistic, Expansive)
* Part 21: WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
* Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Wrapup

"Babes in the Pineywoods is now complete! Bo-Art and Creamjeans say goodbye to the Pineyspooks.

The weather has been variable here. It was hot, then rainy, then milder. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, several starlings, several catbirds, several blackbirds, several mourning doves, a pair of cardinals, two brown thrashers, a female goldfinch, a grackle, a blue jay, an adult fox squirrel, two young fox squirrels, and a skunk. Daffodils are done blooming. Columbine and lilies of the valley are winding down. Currently blooming: violets, dandelions, honeysuckle, alliums, Solomon's seal, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, wood hyacinths, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, pink peony, poppies, white peony, blackberries, irises, tomatoes. Mulberries and raspberries have green fruit.

Renormalization

https://xkcd.com/3091/

I have a cabbage patch doll from childhood named Emma Charlotte

I named her that, not the company. I thought it was a pretty, old-fashioned name, something buoyed by the fact that Charlotte in Charlotte Sometimes is told by her 50-years-ago counterpart's younger sister that it's funny that she has such an old-fashioned name - and that book was written in the 1960s!

Take a look at how often the names "Emma" and "Charlotte" appear on each state's top three names for girls.

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( Read more... )

Ask a Manager is collectively losing their shit over how people flush toilets

With or without feet.

There's a few people in that thread adamantly going up and down asserting that, duh, how could the rest of us be so dumb as to not know that certain types of toilets are specifically designed to be flushed with the foot. None of them have provided any sort of evidence for this claim, which makes me think that their evidence boils down to "Mommy told me when I was a kid" or "Well, I flush with a foot so I just sort of assumed", and - man, I hate when people do that. Fucking back up your claims, or at least qualify them. "I was told by my preschool teacher, but I've never verified it" would be a lot more honest and less annoying.

Anyway, I have emailed the manufacturer most often mentioned in the comments to ask for their opinion. Mostly because that is how things ought to be done, but also because if these flushers are designed to be flushed with the foot, great, but if not then we have to ask if the other contingent, which is equally vociferously asserting that foot flushing increases wear and tear on the mechanism and causes breakdowns, needs to be taken seriously. Because what's really not okay is breaking the toilet for everybody who comes after you - and sure, you'll say that you are not the sole person responsible for breaking the toilet that much faster, but c'mon, everybody says that.

So let's see what we see, and in the meantime, let's also all wash our hands. With soap and water, thanks.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a catbird, a starling, and a young fox squirrel. I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds.

I put out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- We went shopping. I have 2 new water pans for the giant pots, 4 new large-ish pots, and 2 bags of composed manure. I still need to get more of the Evergreen potting soil, though.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I took a few pictures of flowers.

I've seen two young fox squirrels chasing each other.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I trimmed grass where I will put one of the giant pots.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I filled the giant pot with half composted manure and half potting soil, then planted a pot of 2 zucchini plants.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I trimmed grass where I will put the second giant pot.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I filled the giant pot with half composted manure and half potting soil, then planted a pot of 2 straightneck yellow squash plants.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I watered the giant pots and the picnic table garden.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I sowed Shithouse Marigold seeds in the new giant pots and several others that didn't already have marigolds.

I watered the marigold seeds and some other plants.

I saw the first bat of the season! :D

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

Well, Sebastian has still not been seen (except by my down the block neighbor)

but we've got a new semi-feral slipping into our house, one of last year's kittens. So, uh, I'm still not allowed to fix that basement window I guess?

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(no subject)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250518.html

What if you could fly over

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250518.html

Current Mood: accomplished

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Poetry Fishbowl Report for May 6, 2025

Our theme this time was "Ethical Supervillains." I wrote from 12:45 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 13 hours, accounting for breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday and another 3 later in the week.

Participation was up considerably, with 6 comments on LiveJournal and another 41 on Dreamwidth. A total of 12 people sent prompts.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"The Care and Feeding of Supervillains"
"A Lens of Ice"
"The More Bizarre It Gets"
"Ruling from Beneath"
"Show My True Colors"

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from May 6. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This session's donors include:

siliconshaman,

fuzzyred,

janetmiles, and je_reviens. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 3 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Girl Genius for Monday, May 19, 2025

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20250519

The Girl Genius comic for Monday, May 19, 2025 has been posted.

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20250519

My neighbor around the corner has a Buddha's hand

in a pot, not in the dirt, but still.

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( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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Unsold Poems for the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl

The following poems from the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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Poem: "A Lens of Ice"

This poem is spillover from the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by

goatgodschild. It also fills the "Grey Area" square in my 5-1-25 card for the Color Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes bullying, bigotry, theft, a fistfight, frank discussion of superpowers, angst, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. It follows "Sadness Like a Battle Flag" and "Your Own Blissful Path," so this will make more sense if you have read those first.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Artificial Intelligence

Professors Staffed a Fake Company Entirely With AI Agents

As Business Insider first reported, the results were dismal. The best-performing model was Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which struggled to finish just 24 percent of the jobs assigned to it. The study's authors note that even this meager performance is prohibitively expensive, averaging nearly 30 steps and a cost of over $6 per task.

Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash, meanwhile, averaged a time-consuming 40 steps per finished task, but only had an 11.4 percent rate of success — the second highest of all the models. The worst AI employee was Amazon's Nova Pro v1, which finished just 1.7 percent of its assignments at an average of almost 20 steps.

While corporations may wish to replace human employees with software, it is not yet feasible for complex tasks. Only the simplest jobs are really at risk.

Popeye for 5-18-2025

Posted by rkmilholland

https://somethingpositive.net/2025/05/18/popeye-for-5-18-2025/

https://somethingpositive.net/?p=848

Viewable at Comics Kingdom!

https://somethingpositive.net/2025/05/18/popeye-for-5-18-2025/

https://somethingpositive.net/?p=848

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

I put out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- We drilled drain holes in the 2 giant pots we bought yesterday. I'm wondering if one would work as a water garden, for future reference.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- While working on various projects, I saw a young fox squirrel on the hopper feeder, who has absolutely no sense of self-preservation and stayed put while I walked past within arm's reach.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I intended to fill up one of the giant pots, only to discover that I'm almost out of composted manure. :/

So instead I moved the flats of wildflowers from the ground at the west end of the new picnic table to the ground east of it, then trimmed grass at the west end so I can later set up the tall planter with shelves.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I got a bit more yardwork done.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I set up the tall planter with shelves at the west end of the new picnic table. I haven't put any pots on it yet.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I watered the strawberry towers.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I've seen a blue jay and a starling.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I trimmed brush around the patio.

EDIT 5/18/25 -- I trimmed brush around the barrel garden and a few other places.

I brought in the flats of pots.

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

Current Mood: calm locally / worried globally
Current Location: Schildhaven in Den Haag
Current Music: yes -- see post

Entry tags:

done,
links

Done Since 2025-05-11

So, not a bad week. (Can I accurately call it a "pretty good" week? I'm never able to make judgements like that.) But I did some guitar practice, and got out for a walk four times, and sang a little with m, who came back from the US last Sunday (bringing mail that had accumulated at our US address). N came back from New York yesterday; she gave me a little "engraving and drill pen" as an unbirthday present -- it had arrived while she was gone. j came over as well, so we had all of my Dutch family here. G made baked salmon.

Apparently I totally forgot about posting Thankful Thursday this week. Well, Thursday was pretty eventful, with a urology appointment (I can expect to hear back a week from Wednesday about what my ongoing treatment will be), some singing practice with m, and actually performing the songs we'd practiced at Eurofilk. (Is "at" the right word for attending an event by zoom?)

... and forgot to mention Mother's Day in last week's post, though that's not terribly surprising, since I have no-one to call anymore.

Yesterday I finally stopped waffling and (finally!) pre-ordered a Framework 12" Laptop. I've been eyeing it for some time, and coveting a Framework for years. I increased the specs over what I'd initially configured, but because I'd waffled over it I won't get it until Q3 sometime. Bah! I'll post a lot more once it finally ships.

Also, yesterday was the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia; there's that. Some more trans-related links under Saturday. And today is the 45th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. (Which of course sent me down a rabbit-hole involving magma, hollow-Earth fiction, and so on.)

As for links, here from yesterdat is a list of The world's five happiest cities for 2025. Look for your hometown in the Institute for Quality of Life's Happy City Index 2025. Den Haag ranks #65, and Seattle is #80.

( Notes & links, as usual )