michaelboy

Since the day that I had no brain juice, I feel like I've been improving slowly, but from a low bar.

I had to miss a social thing that D's girlfriend organized on Thursday night, and I didn't go to D&D (also at her house) this afternoon because I've had a stabby bad-nystagmus-day headache on and off all afternoon and didn't think anything so visuals-intensive would be good for me. Between this and no lift club yesterday, I've been feeling in need of more socializing. And I feel like I didn't make much of my weekend, last night aside.

Last night was amazing though. After a little bit of annoyance at the insufficiency of the transport information given between the Britain First rally (ugh) that afternoon and preparations for the marathon today, both of which were between my house and the Bridgewater Hall, I determined the train would be best and -- with a little bit of running at the last minute -- it went smoothly. Like I said, it was angelofthenorth's first visit to the Bridgewater Hall, and I was glad that she liked it as much as I hoped she would -- she already wants to go back in the next few days.

We had surprisingly great seats, considering that when I called up to get tickets and was asked where I want to sit, I said I didn;'t care and I just didn't want to pay a lot. I don't think I'd heard Duke Ellington's Harlem before, but just like all the Duke Ellington I had heard it was a delight -- highlights were watching the conductor Joshua Weilerstein bouncing and flailing around, almost as if he was dancing to the music himself. Miriam exclaimed to me afterwards about the harp matching the double-basses.

The second piece, Nikolai Kapustin's Piano Concerto No. 4 was introduced to us as "wacky jazz but with rock, soul and maybe even funk hiding behind the very bland name. From where we were sitting, I could admire the pano soloist Frank Dupree in his forest-green suit who always had his hans flying around the piano keyboard, but next to his grand piano was a drummer at a trap set who was arguably a second soloist for the piece. It was really extraordinary, a ton of fun. When they finished, the pianist said "Would you like to hear some more?" (much to the surprise of the conductor, M later told me! she did the best audio description) and the well-mannered audience cheered enthusiastically enough that he seemed genuinely surprised in his reply, "Wow!"

For this obviously the orchestra wasn't involved, just him and his drummer pal whose name I didn't catch. The other musicians on stage watched along with the rest of the audience as these two played Kapustin's Concert etude No. 1. It had a drum solo! During which Dupree "snuck" away from his piano to come up behind the drum kit, theatrically grab a couple of drum sticks, and play right along with the drummer in a call-and-response way that deserved the chuckles it got (including what sounded like some use of the music stands etc.), with him getting back to his piano stool and send his fingers flying across the keys.

And then after the interval the main event, Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’ which the intro said some of those players might have played 100 times, or 50 times. He described it as helping them pay their mortgages. The audience was asked how many had seen it performed before, how many had listened to it... M was expecting us to be asked how many of us had played it, to which of course I'd have been so excited to raise my hand. I hadn't listened to it in about 20 years, but I knew almost all of the symphony, and when we got to my beloved last movement, I couldn't sit still in my seat. I played bassoon for that in a band that didn't have strings, so I heard familiar parts not just in the bassoon but cello and double bass. Neurons that haven't gotten to light up for 25 years got to glow.

We joined the crowds decanting ourselves into the shiny darkness and on to Oxford Road station, with about ten minutes before our train home. I was still so excited I couldn't sit down while we waited.

So I wish I'd made more of my weekend to fend off burnout and some challenging things ahead of me this week, but last night was better than I had any expectation it would be.

kaberett

Reading. She's A Beast: up to November 2024. (Does it count as book research? Maybe, possibly: I'm having a lot of thoughts about the extent to which exercise reduces versus increases risk of injuries.)

Writing. I've... added another section or, perhaps, done another rearrangement? I continue to make notes on the current special interest that is movement? I am... not managing focussed writing time.

Listening. Hidden Almanac! I had The Realisation that it would be a good thing to play while we were laminating infinite potions! We have Emerged from the Accursed Hole! The paper wasps do architecture!

Cooking. O V E N. Still v excited about this. More Kaiserschmarrn, and I am about to bake some bread, and additionally and furthermore I successfully added protein to noodles.

Eating. A celebratory burger for reaching a nice round number on a lift. I have subsequently achieved said nice round number on a second lift, but that one is being banked for The Future.

More fancy bakery treats. :)

Exploring. On Wednesday A gave me a lift into town, and then rather than getting the bus the rest of the way to the gym I decided I would wander. Thus I encountered the former Enfield Electrical Works, a delightful building, and also had a brief adventure through a park I had not previously met.

Making & mending. Have I woven in the ends on A's glove? HAHAHAHAHA.

Growing. I have managed several short trips to the plot! And the free agapanthus I acquired from a garden post in Salisbury is looking happy with its new living arrangements. There are many things I wish to sow and none that I have got around to.

Observing. MANY BIRDS: a goldfinch on a trip down to the bakery! Ducklings! Multiple families of baby coots! The Egyptian goslings are all now happy to Paddle Industriously!

Plantwise: there is a fascinating tulip in a garden near coots the first that I do not understand at all; it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and it started out all white except for some tiny blotches of red on the very very tips. The surprising (to me) part is that as it has unfurled further the red has gradually spread down the petal edges, and it's now got this bright red rim feathering ever-so-slightly into the still-white main body of the petal. (I do have photos and might even manage to post them, but not tonight.) The wisteria are firmly on their way out; my cherry tree has finally finally flowered; the redcurrant and gooseberry are flowering, and the josta is setting fruit. It's warm. I'm enjoying it so much.

oursin

This week's bread: brown oatmeal loaf: strong brown flour, medium oatmeal, turned out a little dense and crust a little cracking, the yeast that was rather delayed in transit coming to the end of its useful life.

Saturday breakfast rolls: (fresh yeast acquired) brown grated apple, light spelt flour, molasses.

Today's lunch: chestnut mushrooms quartered in olive oil, when checking recipe in Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food spotted the adjacent recipe for sweet and sour okra - saute for 5 minutes in olive oil, add sugar, salt, pepper and lemon juice (as I had half a lime going spare I also added that) and a little water and simmer for 20 or so minutes, I also added half of a red bell pepper than was going spare (possibly rather younger okra would have been nicer but this turned out quite well); aubergine cuts into rounds, placed on oiled foil on grill and grilled (turning a few times) until tender (the recipe was a little optimistic as to how long this might take) and then splashed with teriyaki sauce mixed with ginger paste; served with couscous with raisins.

ysabetwordsmith

This is a poem about how things turn into crabs.

Current Mood: amused

umadoshi

(Thank you for the comments on my post yesterday about Claudia. I'll try to respond at least a bit.)

Reading: I finished Rachel Reid's Tough Guy, and then my digital hold on Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud came in from the Queens library, so I started in on that. I'm maybe a bit more than halfway through that now? It's interesting and I plan to finish it, but it took a long before I actually got interested, and I mainly kept reading through that chunk because I've enjoyed the handful of Tchaikovsky's other work that I've read quite a lot more than I was enjoying the beginning of this one, so I kept figuring I'd give it a bit longer. I doubt I'll wind up loving it, but I do want to see how things play out.

Watching:

scruloose and I have finished everything we were watching! (And glancing at last week's proof-of-life post to see where we were then reminded me to cancel Crave just now, so yay for that. We'll be back eventually, Crave.) "Everything" in this case was the second seasons of OPLA, Frieren, and The Pitt.

My thoughts on Frieren at this point are, I think, more to do with the experience as filtered through its translation, and I'm going to ignore that for now and instead say the most important thing that I can possibly say at the end of that week of TV watching.

And that thing is this: against all odds, the live-action One Piece (which, as I have said countless times aloud and probably at least once here, if not more, should never have worked at all because it's One Piece, FFS) pulled off Chopper. I am floored. I am agog. I am delighted. I am still sort of mumbling "WTF???" about it under my breath once in a while. CHOPPER.

I won't say that he ever feels so natural to me that I forget he's a marvel of technology onscreen, but he works, and the voice is wonderful, and somehow even when I was at my most aware that he's not being performed by an actor in intensive makeup, he felt like...a stuffed animal/puppet brought to life? Not like CG? (Nothing like the plush Luna from the Sailor Moon drama, for the record.) It's incredible work and I love him so much. (I should also note that I haven't watched any making-of material, so all I know about the creation of Chopper is what Naye mentioned about his huge, shiny eyes accurately reflecting what he's looking at.)

As for what I'll/we'll watch next...I still haven't seen past the initially-released chunk of Justice in the Dark, so I'm trying the tactic of seeing if

scruloose will watch it with me, which means an excuse to start over and refresh myself on the drama, as opposed to my blurry combination of memories from watching those episodes and from reading the fan translation of the novel ages ago.

scruloose is willing to at least give it a shot, so hopefully even if they don't wind up sticking with the show, I'll get some momentum on it.

Current Mood: enthralled

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny, breezy, and cool. There is a frost warning for tonight, so I'm doing non-planting tasks today.

I set out my flats of plants to get some sun.

EDIT 4/19/26 -- I fed the birds. I've seen a few house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/19/26 -- I wanted to waterseal the solid-top pallet today. But while I was trying to lay out the dropcloth for that, the wind picked up so much that it wouldn't lay still no matter how I weighted the edges or middle. I had to give up and undo everything. >_< Frustrating.

EDIT 4/19/26 -- I started finishing the apothecary cabinet that I plan to use as a spice cabinet. It has doors over the shelves to block light. We set up the worktable in the garden shed and covered it with a garbage bag, then set the cabinet on top. I used an old hand towel to spread the finish, which is made of orange oil and beeswax, very pleasant to work with. I wanted something reasonably natural for a spice cabinet, although it doesn't need a finish meant for food preparation like butcher block wax. I spread on a very thin coat over the top and sides, and that will need some time to dry before I do another section. I still need to coat the inside and the back. While I don't have the woodworking skills of my parents and grandparents, I did pick up the "assistant" level skills, so I'm very pleased that I still know how to finish a piece of furniture that someone else constructed. :D

EDIT 4/19/26 -- I did more work on the apothecary cabinet, covering the inside with the door open. It turns out there will be very little work to do on the back, as much of that space is covered by a thin fiberboard to minimize weight, which doesn't need to be waxed. Progress!

.

Current Mood: busy

thistleingrey

The start of Lorkowska's Scarflette sits, for now; I've been asked to make something smaller and have begun Good Winds. There's enough yarn for both.

(Nixed: Hazel, too wintry. Honorable mention: Mae, too customizable; this time I'd like to knit to the end of a row, then knit the next row.)

Capsa remains quasi-meditative and slow, with its long rows of aran-weight yarn and heavy, warm result.

This post-draft began weeks ago, while I was struggling with a sequence-oriented pattern, one of these. Campochiaro's design effects are lovely; for me in 2026, nope.

While looking for another pattern that uses 3-5 colorways in rather small amounts, I found a few that don't quite match my parameters:

* Haslock, Gudrun Johnston

* Hapkerchief, also by Johnston, for people with small heads

* Asti, Natasja Hornby---though my post-#2020 eyes couldn't handle her larger-format shawl a few years ago, a neckwarmer-sized amount would probably be okay, except that my yarn amounts don't fit

* Mosaic Cowl, Justyna Lorkowska

What I chose is simpler and barely needed looking at, ChrisBerlin's V (little) (with a nod to Nimm Vier, a band I don't know). The fifth colorway has become an applied icord selvedge, to balance things and help hide the yarn-ends. It's drying now, almost kite-shaped---triangular delta style, similar to a wide, short Starfleet insignia, I suppose, except balanced left/right.

shadowkat

Finished The Pitt S2 and here's an interview with Noah Wyle, producer, writer, director and star of The Pitt (he wrote the 14th Episode). I admittedly started watching it because of Noah Wyle (well that and I have a weakness for medical dramas). Now I love most if not all the characters. It's my favorite show at the moment. The Bear is close second. The only two characters I wasn't overly fond of - left the show during S1 or are about to. So, lucky me? I'm ignoring the fandom, because it's insane and doesn't appear to understand how television works. Sigh. Online fandom has become increasingly insane and insufferable since the early 00s, which considering it wasn't exactly sane to begin with... The nerd fandom is a little less crazy but not nearly as insufferable (nerds don't tend to ship romantic pairings (or care who is with whom) and are more into debating consistency issues, such as why is Spike's reflection visible in the glass of that store, along with the nitty gritty details of how a worm hole actually works and can you really fly that that thing through space - which is much easier to deal with.) (I miss the days in which I didn't know shows like the Pitt had a fandom.)

The Pitt is not a melodrama. Even if the crazy marketing folks online keep trying to pretend it is. It's a strict medical procedural that is hyper-realism, kind of like Homicide Life on the Streets was or Law and Order, or This is Going to Hurt (except more so than that).

Anyhow it was a good season. And I found it relatable and comforting. In the interview, Wyle provides five reasons for why it works so well and how it differs from other medical dramas (I'm a medical drama fan - so have seen all of them.)

Five things that make the Pitt work so well

"“It’s a couple of things that work beautifully in concert.

1.) No music. ( Read more... )

2) Shooting it with almost exclusively 50-millimeter or 65-millimeter lenses, which is the most comparable to the human eye—and only shooting from the point of view of a human being that’s present in this space. ( Read more... )

3) Taking place in real time. ( Read more... )

4). The election went the other way,” he says with a shrug. ( Read more... )

5.) This is essentially competence porn. ( Read more... )

Note, while the article may have spoilers, the above does not, and if anything tells you whether you'd enjoy the series. It's not for everyone? I don't like criminal procedurals for example - for some of the same reasons a lot of folks don't like medical dramas.

***

I completed Grantchester S2 as well. It surprised me, and not necessarily in a good way. I thought it was swinging more towards hyper-realism than, well it actually is? At the end of the final episode of S2, ( major spoilers )

***

It was very warm this past week, but over the past three days it's cooled a bit, and we're back to spring like temperatures. It's in the 50s and upper 40s today, overcast, with a slight breeze. Rain is in the forecast.

While this did affect my health a bit, it didn't as much as usual - ie. no vertigo. Which means what I'm taking to fend off the vertigo and doing to fend it off - seems to be working? I still think it is a combination of neck and sinus issues. The neck resulting in the vestibular, the sinus resulting in the headaches.

Had troubles getting to sleep last night. Spent time before bed on social media - which probably caused it. I got triggered - and as a result, my brain wouldn't shut off. But, I found a cure finally? My Calm App - I used two separate sleep meditations which managed to calm my brain and dis-spell the onslaught of negative thoughts churned up by time wasted on the internet. Note to self - stay off the internet at night.

puddleshark

( +2 )

ysabetwordsmith

These are the notes for "Food Is Everything We Are."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This is the freebie for the April 2026

crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by fan art from

gs_silva, plus comments on "Walnut Park" from

chanter1944,

wispfox, and

readera. It also fills the "match" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the Broken Angels thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

sallymn posting in

1word1day

compos mentis [kohm-pohs men-tis, kom-puhs men-tis]

adjective:
(Latin) of sound mind, memory, and understanding

Examples:

Each of these stories was, in some measure, autobiographical, and each a reassurance that, despite my worrying, I was still compos mentis. (John L'Heureux, John L'Heureux on Death and Dignity, The New Yorker, April 2019)

Erica Wagner tells us that sometime after 1917, when, in Washington's words, Edmund was "a harmless white haired old man of over 70," a doctor engaged on behalf of the estate of his recently deceased brother Ferdinand had declined to say whether Edmund was compos mentis. Apparently this had been something of a life-long concern. (Richard Howe, Erica Wagner's Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge, The Gotham Center for New York City History, September 2018)

"I had little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head," she later recalled on The Jonathan Ross Show. "And I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am to make sure I was compos mentis." (Nuray Bulbul, Brit Awards: 10 memorable moments ahead of 40th ceremony, BBC, February 2020)

Eldridge gives no facts to support his assumption. If Whitman was compos mentis at this time, the only way to attack his story is to attack the moral character or the memory of the witness. (Emory Holloway, 'Whitman Pursued', American Literature March 1955)

"It is getting the better of me," he said aloud, "and I must not give way. Lunacy is often the development of one idea, while, in other respects, the patient is compos mentis. No, no; a lunatic could not feel as I do." (George Manville Fenn, The Man with a Shadow)

Origin:
Latin, literally 'in command of one's mind,' from compos 'having the mastery of,' from com 'with, together' + stem of potis 'powerful, master' (from PIE root poti- 'powerful; lord'), + mentis, genitive of mens 'mind' (from PIE root men<.em>- 'to think') (Online Etymology Dictionary)

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

sorcyress

Dang, today was really good!

And like......I've been saying for a while now that my hypersimplified political stance is "community is good". And while it wasn't the first thing I did today, it was pretty early in the sequence that I looked at the young woman with the small child standing in Park Street station and looking _extremely_ confused about the lack of a map, and so went over with my phone and helped her identify the station she wanted to be at and which train to get on. Then I sat on a bench and did some knitting until my own train arrived. This wasn't the entirety of the day, but it did set the tone really really nicely!

Before that, I had a lovely long phone chat with my mom as she was driving to her sister's to do more work with their dad's stuff --we organized when and how I'll be going to MD to visit this summer, and then chatted about many lovely inconsequential things. And I visited the post office to mail off a book for a friend (I was point person for a kickstarter a bunch of folks on my discord were excited about). And then it was off to bells, where I arrived halfway through but had a jolly time ringing everything after. Not going to bells very frequently means that we suddenly have an all new crop of skilled ringers and that's quite neat to observe!

Bells lunch was lovely, and taking the T home with Laura lovlier still --I got to hear some of her exciting upcoming plans for adventure! And then I was home long enough to change my clothes and take a quick rest and then off to my work-bestie's old house to help him move a bunch of boxen out of his attic. Originally the plan was three of us and I think he was expecting it to take 2-3 hours. The two of us were handily done in well under an hour and I near melted in delight as he said "you being the stupendous badass you are"¹.

(His attic ladder broke right before moving out, so he'd rigged a quite nice pulley setup with a little handmade cargo net. But I don't think he realized how strong I am, and subsequently how quickly I could get things out of the netting and stacked up in the room downstairs. It was a very jolly time!)

Afterwards, I got to see his new house, which is absolutely gorgeous in every way except that it's diagonally opposite our principal's house (which like, isn't an inherent flaw but is very very funny). And he treated me to dinner, which we did at a nice sushi place on Mass Ave that has set out their outdoor seating --it was just warm enough to be happy, and I think we spent the entire time joyfully discussing Taskmaster. I'm real lucky!

Home again home again, and I managed to kick my brain into enough order to get started the newest bit of knitting project (or rather, the first in a series of swatches for thus) before getting into the car(?!) and driving to the airport. It's Magus and Keira's car, on loan while they were overseas, so we can do grocery runs in exchange for giving them rides to and from the airport.

It was my first time hanging out in the cell phone lot, and that was actually quite jolly as well. "Take your time", texts I, "I have music and knitting" and I did and they were both quite good, which was especially good because their airplane did not have access to any stairs for quite a long time and so what could've been a 45 minute errand had everything worked optimally was actually about two hours. But again, I had music and knitting and that was _lovely_. I only had to work on two of the projects (and listen to my CD twice through) and then suddenly we were back at my house and I was handing them the keys.

Dishes properly done *before* coming upstairs to fuck around, and that's where I am now. I have a few hours before bed, I expect, and while I can never guilt-free do things (there is grading and my desk is a disaster) today really was enough that I feel like I can really relax into whatever else I decide to do with my evening.

Community is good! I am so happy I am a part of mine.

~Sor
MOOP!

1: Call me pretty and I will smile, call me useful and I will melt. I know what I'm about. (5'2" and carrying classic oldest daughter trauma)

ysabetwordsmith

Nature may ease loneliness in ways exercise cannot

The results show that everyday activities in nature can shape emotional wellbeing.

“The conclusion is that outdoor activities in natural environments largely have a protective effect against loneliness,” said Sindre Johan Cottis Hoff, a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

So let's look at how loneliness works, how nature can lift it, and some things you can do to encourage that...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Sid Krofft has passed away. He and his brother Marty created the TV show Land of the Lost, among a great many other things. I remember that show fondly. The age shows now, but at the time, it looked pretty cool.

Carry on the Work

How to Build a Quality Puppet: 11 Steps

How to Make a Stop Motion Video (Quick Step Guide)

Puppetry 101

A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a TV Show

Current Mood: pensive

flemmings

Evidently walking 7000 steps leads to, conservatively, eleven hours of sleep, if we suppose it took me over an hour to fall asleep, which I don't think it did. So I finally woke up well after noon and forewent my usual exercises to have breakfast instead. But did them afterwards because heavy rain meant no going out. So I am stretched and no less limber than usual.

Succeeded in one long postponed task, which was sweeping the basement stairs, something I've probably never done since returningfrom Japan thirty years ago. But six years back when next door was moving stuff into my basement my s-i-l cleaned the place up and my did it make a difference. So I've known I should do it but I've never been happy on the stairs since tripping on them last year. However, did get them swept off, with my backyard broom because basement dust is nasty, and need only bring a dustpan and garbage bag down to dispose of the piles. Which will do when I rescue the laundry I did today after it dries in the furnace's heat. Furnace is still not on because temps won't drop until the wee hours, but have bumped the thermostat up to 15 so I won't freeze in those same wee hours.

yourlibrarian posting in

common_nature

We have seen grebes many times but very often they are solo or there may be two. It was unusual to see a group swimming together, which this one did for some time.

( Read more... )