Birdfeeding

Oct. 28th, 2025 12:19 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

I haven't fed the birds yet, but we heard a great horned owl hoo-hooing out in our yard!  :D  That's awesome.  I don't think we've had one since a few years back when an owl and several crows fought over the yard for the whole summer.

EDIT 10/28/25 -- I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, possibly goldfinches.

I put out water for the birds.

It's spitting rain.










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Crafts

Oct. 28th, 2025 12:05 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Unraveling the Drama Between Hank Green and the Knitting Community

Hank Green has been a knotty boy. One of the latest episodes of his YouTube show, SciShow, is all about knitting and how science is elevating the lowly craft to a place of actual importance. You know who finds that take distasteful? Knitters.

Read more... )

Science

Oct. 28th, 2025 01:34 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Hidden 5-mile wide asteroid crater beneath the Atlantic revealed in stunning 3D

A massive crater hidden beneath the Atlantic seafloor has been confirmed as the result of an asteroid strike from 66 million years ago. The new 3D seismic data reveals astonishing details about the violent minutes following impact—towering tsunamis, liquefied rock, and shifting seabeds. Researchers call it a once-in-a-lifetime look at how oceanic impacts unfold.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Fairies and Fey." I'll be soliciting ideas for fairies, seelie or unseelie sidhe, the Wild Hunt, elves, other types of fey, Radical Faeries, other queers, tricksters, contraries, rebels, adventurers, mentors, historians, explorers, magic users, partners, teachers, leaders, dark lords, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, fantasy species, activists, other unusual fantasy folk, doing magic, doing things backwards, causing mischief, breaking rules, caring for the land, exploring new territory, meeting new species, upsetting predictions, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, Underhill, faery rings, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, castles, ruins, dungeons, dragon lairs, schools, kitchens, campfires, libraries, apothecary shops, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, farmer's markets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, faerie magic, unusual magical systems, magical artifacts, enchanted musical instruments or weapons, quests, time periods other than medieval, governments other than monarchy, dragons, unicorns, enchantments, potions, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, fey time distortions, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.

Clay of Life is Jewish fantasy about a blacksmith and a golem.

Dragonsilk is about trauma and recovery.

Hart's Farm is a free love community with a few really exotic characters.

Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.

The Ocracies features all the political systems other than monarchy.

The Odd Trio is about a family consisting of a dwarf, an elf, and a human.

P.I.E. is urban fantasy about paranormal investigations,

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Eric the Elven King has interdimensional refugees. Officer Pink features centaurs and mystic shifters. Vybra of the Broken Angels specializes in fantasy sex and often dresses as a fairy.

Practical Magics is low fantasy with a prosaic focus.

Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.

The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent King Arthur.

Or you can ask for something new.

Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

Poem: "The Clearest Signal"

Oct. 27th, 2025 09:42 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the October 2025 [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by prompts from [personal profile] dialecticdreamer and [personal profile] readera. It also fills the "Broken" square in my 10-1-25 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem is posted in exchange for the City Engines stories that [personal profile] dialecticdreamer has been posting about Frank the Crank and belongs to that thread in Polychrome Heroics.

Read more... )

Today's Adventures

Oct. 27th, 2025 08:43 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went shopping for Samhain supplies.

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Oct. 27th, 2025 01:17 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two goldfinches, and a male cardinal.  :D

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/27/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 10/27/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Feathering the Nest

Oct. 27th, 2025 12:44 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest today, with its standard theme of fluff and comfort.  Leave prompts, get ficlets!

Worldbuilding

Oct. 27th, 2025 12:30 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Alien Anthropology: Towns without Farms

Explore diverse Neotect cultures thriving without agriculture on the planet Tira 292b. This video examines nomadic and sedentary societies, showcasing unique adaptations to varied environments. Observe how these sapient beings navigate resource scarcity and seasonal changes.

This video not only does a great job of showing how Neotect aliens develop culturally, it uses examples from diverse human cultures and technologies. I have a suspicion that it was made by someone who, like me, learned history and social studies by getting kicked out of those classes for saying "The book is wrong."  It is an unusually astute example of a creature that "thinks as well as a human, but not like  a human," which is my favorite kind of alien.  :D

I advise establishing a secure anchor before rappelling down into the rabbithole.

Monday Update 10-27-25

Oct. 27th, 2025 02:41 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Books
Birdfeeding
Moment of Silence: June Lockheart
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Privacy
Recipe: "Apple Pie Cookies"
Birdfeeding
Friday Five
Follow Friday 10-24-25: Jpop and Jrock
Affordable Housing
Activism
Advice
Birdfeeding
Today's Smoothie
Photography
Birdfeeding
Mad Science
Cuddle Party

Trauma has 31 comments. Affordable Housing has 55 comments. Robotics has 91 comments.


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.


The weather is cool and fall-like now. It dribbled a bit on Saturday but didn't amount to much. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches. I saw a downy woodpecker vigorously drilling insects from the dead stems of cup plants. Currently blooming: dandelions, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, moss rose, firecracker plant, tomatoes, morning glory, cypress vine, sedum, violas. Tomatoes, ball carrots, and groundcherries are ripe. Fields are about 3/4 harvested.

Books

Oct. 26th, 2025 04:14 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Ten Books for Intersex Awareness Day!

Happy Intersex Awareness Day! We sought out stories from our book recommendation crew of books with intersex rep – explicit or implied, clear-cut or open to interpretation. Intersex characters are upsettingly underrepresented, and finding “unproblematic” representation is even harder, but we did our best and are here with ten titles that we think are worth a read (or, in one case, a watch, should you get the opportunity to see it staged)! The contributors to the list are: Meera S., Nina Waters, Shannon and an anonymous contributor.

Birdfeeding

Oct. 26th, 2025 04:05 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.  Yesterday it spit rain a couple times, but never amounted to much.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches -- they were all over the feeders this morning.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/26/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 10/26/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 10/26/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

(no subject)

Oct. 26th, 2025 02:43 pm
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[personal profile] therealtrash posting in [community profile] addme
Name: Max Natan (Or just Max)

Age: 61, but reversed lol.

I mostly post about: Anything I want to express, but I usually talk about my life experiences and my thoughts on random topics.

My hobbies are: Writing, drawing, making comics, petting my cat, taking photos, observing nature, sometimes reading, imagining surreal things, watching YouTube animations.

My fandoms are: I’m not really a fandom guy, I like some media, but I don’t interact with the fandom often. There are some media I like: Madoka Magica, Dandadan, Deltarune, Undertale, Ghost and Pals, Gorillaz, Weezer, Vewn Channel, Ghosttundra Channel.

I’m looking to meet people who: Enjoy things like romance stories, horror stories, surrealism, nature, and people who don’t mind me being a little weird.

My posting schedule tends to be: irregular lol.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: extremists, people over 19.

Before adding me, you should know: I’m Brazilian, so my English isn’t the best, I’m kinda obsessed with certain words, like “lol,” I’m a bit insecure and anxious, My memory is kinda bad, and I don’t know very well how to start a conversation.

Today's Adventures

Oct. 25th, 2025 09:22 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to Champaign and Danville.

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Oct. 25th, 2025 01:06 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

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

I put out water for the birds.

I am done for the night.

Database maintenance

Oct. 25th, 2025 08:42 am
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

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