esmenet | Reading

Current Music: Emitt Rhodes, "With My Face on the Floor"

selkie's birthday was duly observed with my parents and my husbands, a meal of much carnivory, and an apricot marmalade cake doused in whipped cream, strawberry sugar, and candles that burned like driftwood salts. Many deeply goofy photos were taken of various combinations of us. So much is wrong with the world and it is still true that my family for an evening is happy. A photogenic snow began to drift the streets as I drove everyone home.

torachan

1. The only big thing I had on my work to-do list today was a meeting, but that was online anyway, so I decided to work from home. I really didn't have a lot of smaller things that needed to get done, either, so it was a pretty chill day.

And the meeting itself was very informative. It was with some people from our store in Guam, who are already using the system we'll be switching to, and I wanted to get an idea of how they're doing some of the things that seem impossible, and it turns out they just aren't lol. So I'm going to see if it would be possible for us to do something similar rather than to try and force our workflow into the mold that IT is insisting on.

2. It was actually chilly today! We closed windows and almost considered turning on the heater. The high was still in the high 70s, but that was just like a brief spike in the late afternoon. So weird. :-/ I'll take it over the constant heat of last week, though.

3. I finished up a puzzle today. This one turned out to be more difficult than I was anticipating, but it was fun to do. And I really love the illustration.

4. One nice thing about working from home is that I can snuggle Jasper when he wants to be snuggled, and he really wanted to be snuggled this morning.

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torachan

1. We had a great day at Disneyland this morning. So many tasty things to eat!

2. The weather today was similar to yesterday, though a little warmer and sunnier through the afternoon. But got very overcast and chilly at night again, whereas this past week it was staying warmer even at night, which I am not a fan of.

3. I finished tweaking the cat/house-sitting document (really just had to edit a bit from last year rather than write it up from scratch) and did a walk through with Alex and her girlfriend tonight. Last time we were only gone for a little over a week and the cats never did get too used to Nessie, but hopefully this time since we'll be gone two weeks, they'll feel a little more comfortable with her by the end. Alex comes over every Sunday for several hours a week, so they are chill with her, but they're used to us being there, too, and also Alex will not be the main one doing the cat sitting.

4. I got some really cute pics of Tuxie in the planter this afternoon.

torachan

This week we made our reservation for Sunday rather than Saturday because today is the first day of a huge new Bluey-themed event at Disneyland.

( Read more... )

sovay

Current Music: Arlo Parks, "Weightless"

I must have slept ten hours. Hestia appears to be watching the rain with almost as much interest as the birds sheltering from it. May it and the recent snowmelt amend the drought. Tomorrow, of course, it is forecast to snow again.

selkie was safely collected from the Penn Station-alike that South Station has done its best to inhume itself into since her last visit, provided with an appropriate quantity of local barbecue for an obligate carnivore, and even successfully checked in to her hotel despite the mishegos attending every stage of her conference even before it started. At no point in this process did we apparently remember to take any pictures of ourselves.

My dreams seem to be branching out in terms of media, since last night's featured a youngish Alec McCowen starring in the radio version of a Tey-like crime novel as the ambiguously poor relation of an upper-class family who is not actually Kind Hearts and Coronets-ing his way through them, but needs to figure out who is before he's so handily scapegoated for the accidents escalating to murder ever since his arrival; he is, naturally, keeping a secret from the family, the authorities, and even the inattentive reader, but it isn't that. I was very pleased to find that a recording had survived, because the original novel had just been reprinted by the British Library Crime Classics. There were images mixed up in it in the way of dreams, but it was definitely on the Internet Archive.

Outside my head, I have been recently listening to Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn (2020), Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin's symbiont (2024), and Huw Marc Bennett's Heol Las (2026), which I found through its ghost-boxish "Cân Gwasael (Wassail Song)." I like that I do not have to dream their remixes of folk and futurism and time.

umadoshi

Current Mood: restless

Having a week's break from the spring crunch (and a couple of those days as actual days off, not just regular workdays) meant I was able to get some reading and a bit of watching done!

Reading: On the novel(la)s front, two by Seanan McGuire and one by Rachel Reid. Butterfly Effects (the newest InCryptid) was good and also one of the major "wow, the reality (or maybe the scope, rather) of this series bears almost no resemblance to the impression given by the first handful of books" installments; the existence of multiple dimensions comes up very promptly in the early books (I think in the very first), but it was still a big shift to have that become part of the hands-on reality that the characters are dealing with.

Next I read Game Changer, the first book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, AKA the Heated Rivalry source material. I expected this to have far more detail on the Scott/Kip relationship than the show did, what with it being a novel that basically got turned into a single episode, but was a bit surprised by how many (most) of the detail in the show was completely different than the book, while the broad strokes are the same. (Also, I feel like I saw more than one reference to show!Kip being very physically different from book!Kip--I'm very sure I saw the word "twink" in play for the book iteration--and am baffled by where that came from, because...no? Anyway.) It was fine. I didn't love it, although I did appreciate many moments that were particularly fun in the context of the show.

And then I read Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, this year's Wayward Children novella. The sheer cost of these novellas made me decide within the last few years to just go for the digital versions rather than hard copies, and this year I opted to simply get the ebook from the library, which is why I read it a couple of months after it came out. I'm just not invested in this particular series. Ah, well.

For manga, I read the fifth omnibus of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which includes the three volumes available in English that I hadn't previously read at all. (Did I buy vol. 13 and 14 in their original single-volume release and then have to buy this omnibus volume to get vol. 15? Yes. >.<) A sixth omnibus English volume has been scheduled and delayed repeatedly, so I knew there was still at least a fair bit to go--the three volumes to be bundled in that one--but after this catch-up was the first time I actually checked for info online, and I was not braced to see that it's up to 31 volumes in Japan and ongoing. o_o I have no clue what's going on with the English release, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it's probably a mess.

Non-fiction: still reading a chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass here and there, and I've also started (but not gotten far into) Crystal Wilkinson's Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks.

Watching: We're caught up on The Pitt and have a couple episodes of Frieren yet to watch. (Am I right that this season of Frieren is over now?)

We also finished our watch of Heated Rivalry--my second time, and basically

scruloose's first, except for the part where they saw most of the finale with minimal context back when I watched it. They also had some random bits of info in advance for their watch, because when I was initially watching it I wasn't at all thinking in terms of "this is a thing they may wind up watching" (they have much less interest in watching things in general than I do), so I'd been blithely telling them random stuff here and there before we got to the point of "perhaps

scruloose will watch Canada's new national export after all". La? But they really enjoyed the show, which is the important thing. ^_^

tropicsbear

⚠️ Mild spoilers

Personal rating 9/10

There were some very interesting story beats this season even if we didn't get much movement on the Operation Strix front!

( Cut for mild spoilers. )

No confirmation yet on a fourth season, but I'd be very surprised if we didn't get one.

tropicsbear

Link nabbed from goodbyebird!

Fifty years after New Zealand stopped whaling, humpback population showing signs of recovery

As the decades rolled on, female whales had more options, and the males were getting more competitive.

"Then we see as the population gets bigger, there's this kind of preference towards older males. And it just shows us that whaling and the reduction in the population size has led to changes in these behaviours through time."

torachan

1. It's still supposed to be unseasonably warm next week, but today seems to be a little break in the weather. When I went out for my walk this morning, it was a bit foggy (though it had burned off by the time I got home), and then while it was sunny for a while midday, around 2pm it got overcast again and has stayed that way. It was really foggy again when we took our walk tonight, too.

2. I made a rhubarb pie earlier and we're going to have some of that for dessert. We still have a bunch of baggies of chopped rhubarb in the freezer from when we were buying it from the farmers market last year lol.

3. Ollie loves to snuggle on my clothes. :)

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Everyone's welcome, no matter where you're posting from! And you can also post in your language (official languages of the community are Spanish, Portuguese and English!)

Come make friends! We have a friending meme going on right now :)

torachan

Recently Finished
Lucky Stiff
Third book in the Lillian Byrd murder mystery series.

The Cartographers
When the MC's father dies, she finds an old road map in his things, the source of a massive fight years ago that resulted in him cutting ties with her and blackballing her from the cartography world. In trying to figure out why her father would have kept the map, she learns about not only the secrets of the map itself, but about her parents. I enjoyed this but it was very slow for the first half or so.

The Hanging Tree
A woman goes on a writing retreat at a remote manor and learns of a local legend about a young woman who was hanged as a witch on the property and decides that's what she wants her next book to be about. The book is told in dual timelines with the present being about her research and the past being the actual events. I liked this, but there was way too much romance focus in both the past and present.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Graphic novel about the author's relationship with her parents, especially focused on caring for them in their final years. I really liked this a lot.

Huda F Cares? and Huda F Wants to Know?
Second and third books in the Huda F series of YA graphic novels about a very religious Muslim teen loosely based on the author's life. I continue to enjoy this series.

Hatsukoi no Tsugi vol. 3
Final volume in this companion series to Koi-iji. I liked this a lot.

sanguinity

Life has been very busy and I am behind on posting all the things, but this morning I had a few free hours. I spent it writing fic.

Better than Tons of Gold and Cases of Diamonds

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas for PhoenixFalls
Edmond Dantès/Abbé Faria
Imprisonment, Canon Compliant, Making the Subtext Text, No Betas We Die Like Abbé Faria
Major Character death, 1300 words

Dantès swore that nothing but death would part them. Nothing but death did. Scenes from a sort of marriage.

The last couple of weeks, I've been reading The Count of Monte Cristo with

monte-cristo-daily. We're only just past the Château d'If, so please don't spoil me, I know nothing. (Right now Dantès is buying everyone boats: I heartily approve!)

But from the moment Abbé Faria was introduced, I shipped it. Alas, when I turned to AO3, I discovered this was a "when not even the sickos on AO3 have your back" kind of moment. So I fixed that. ;-)

Inaugural post for the 'ship, hooray!

sovay

Current Music: Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin, "The Green Road"

The afternoon's mail brought my contributor's copy of Not One of Us #86, containing my poem "Northern Comfort." I wrote it out of my discoveries of the ghost-ground that has been directly underfoot all my life and longer, from King Philip's War to Pomp's Wall, and this administration and its murderous terror of history. It shares a page and an issue of emptiness with a precisely targeted incantation by Gwynne Garfinkle as well the equally hollowing fiction and poetry of Kris Schokrowsky, Penny Durham, Carsten Cheung, Jennifer Crow, and more. I almost referred to the covert art by John and Flo Stanton, obscured by shattered webs of negative space or the rust-light of abandoned industries. Subscribe! Contribute! Make the right kind of strangeness in this world. I am off to South Station to collect one north-traveling seal.

skygiants

I've seen two Boston Ballets in relatively quick succession over the past month, both combo programs featuring two pieces; the first was "The Rite of Spring" (Elo's, not Nijinsky's) paired with Pite's "The Seasons' Canon," and the second was a premiere, Stromile's "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window," paired with Ashton's "The [Midsummer Night's] Dream."

Breaking with the actual curation of the productions, I'm going to talk about "The Rite of Spring" and "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window" together because they both came first in their productions, they had kind of similar vibes, and I experienced similar feelings of mild disappointment about both of them that were not technically the fault of the productions. I was really excited about "The Rite of Spring" because I wanted to see some ballet dancers do a dramatic ritual sacrifice, and I was really excited about "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window" because I wanted to see some ballet dancers slowly install a window. Instead, both of these pieces were kind of abstract explorations through dance of the Relationship between the Individual and Society, and I think both would have been enjoyable for fifteen minutes but ran a bit long at half an hour.

The description for "Window" in the playbill reads:

Eighteen dancers inhabit the work through distinct but interdependent roles. The Seeker stands close to tradition, moving with discipline and clarity. The People operate within shared systems, attentive to both order and its quiet tensions. The Reformers introduce disruption, not as spectacle, but as pressure applied from within.

This did help me understand better what was going on in the dance, as the Seeker stalked around holding a book and then portentously passed it off to some dueting Reformers, but also made it feel a bit like a LARP that I was not participating in. On the other hand Reeves Gabriel of The Cure was There and Participating in Ballet Music (and every bit of marketing wanted you to know that Reeves Gabriel Of The Cure was There and Participating in Ballet Music) and occasionally the music would get very thrillingly electric guitar and you'd be like "Hello, Reeves Gabriel of The Cure!" So it's not that I didn't have a fine time, I just would have been okay with somewhat less of that time.

However, after these very mildly disappointing openers, I loved both "The Seasons' Canon" and "The Dream" very much! The Seasons' Canon is, justifiably, a known Boston Ballet showstopper -- a huge piece with a huge cast, and as you guys know I often have trouble with a piece that is not trying to tell me a story but this piece is truly just Humans Make Big Shapes and it's riveting. Could not take my eyes off it. The trailer here gives a bit of a sense but of course is not that much like seeing it Actually On Stage, but it does let you see one of the things I found most striking about the piece which is how extremely non-gendered it is -- everyone on that stage is dressed identically in pants and nude tank that makes them look topless, the whole corps looks like one and moves like one and there is nothing to distract you from that. Really, really cool experience.

And "The Dream" -- look, I'm a simple soul, and what I have discovered is that I love Ashton's silly panto-esque ballets. They are fun and they are funny and I love it when people get to be funny in dance! Dance jokes are good actually! Titania ballet-hopping her way towards Bottom in a way that manages to be simultaneously fairy-like and hilariously sultry, the arguing lovers constantly picking each other up and pirouetting a partner firmly Away from them Thank You, the rude mechanicals!! we wanted more rude mechanicals but I was so glad we got what we got. A+ Midsummer Night's Dream, would see again.

torachan

1. It is the weekend! Today was fairly hassle-free, work-wise, and I got home by like four or so, which was nice, but it's even nicer to not have work tomorrow.

2. I found a new puzzle site to order from and I really like that they mark their puzzles with a no AI guarantee. (Not all of their puzzles have this guarantee, but you can filter for it and the majority of them seem to be.) I hope other sites implement that as well, because it would definitely make me more likely to order from a site that did that.

3. Carla got a catnip chew rope the other day and all the cats have shown some interest in it, but Molly seems to especially like it. No one's that into actually chewing it, though, just rubbing and writhing lol.

sovay

Current Music: The Electric St. Lucy, "Harlem Roulette"

On the way back from the MRI, in accordance with the local observance of the hundred and twelfth birthday of Wendell Corey, I found and talked to a dry stone wall.

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https://www.loweringthebar.net/?p=47125

As you know, the Federal Emergency Management Administration has the mission of providing help to those affected by natural disasters and other emergencies. One of FEMA’s major divisions is its Office of Response and Recovery, which provides “guidance leadership and oversight to build, sustain and improve the coordination and delivery of support” to citizens and government units that need it. Based on that statement, the office seems to have donated many of its own commas to those in need, and that is a noble sacrifice indeed. But it does much more than that.

So who leads this important office within this critical government agency? Gregg Phillips, that’s who. And what do we know about him? This:

Mr. Phillips brings experience in emergency and humanitarian response, state government operations and large-scale program reform. He has led organizational, process and technology redesign efforts, working closely with state, local, private, and faith-based partners. His disaster work includes implementing technology to rapidly onboard survivors and leveraging algorithms for real-time deployment decisions that supported restoration of communications and the delivery of critical medical capabilities. Mr. Phillips believes in disciplined execution and restoring public trust through measurable performance. He also once teleported to a Waffle House 50 miles away.

Well, I added that last sentence, but I assume FEMA is about to update its site to reflect this new information, which was publicized earlier today by CNN. (Still not subscribing, CNN, but others have already re-reported the important details.) Philips reportedly made this rather startling claim more than a year ago, on the podcast Onward. That podcast discusses “alternative asset investment” opportunities, so it’s not surprising this didn’t get more attention. I’m guessing it didn’t come up in his confirmation hearing, if he was subjected to one, although what people say in those hearings doesn’t seem to matter much anymore.

Before joining FEMA, Phillips was best known for spewing violent rhetoric and promoting bogus election-fraud claims and other conspiracy theories on social media, as well as his insistence that China was smuggling soldiers into the country to assemble a secret army here. He was not at all known for his expertise in emergency management operations, because he had none, according to the Washington Post. But because nobody listens to Onward, he was also not known for his ability to teleport. Or maybe I should say “having been teleported,” because Phillips seemed to be saying he had no direct control over the process. But he was thinking about Waffle House at the time he was teleported there, he said:

I was with my boys one time [Phillips told Onward], and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House—this was in Georgia, and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was.

Phillips then called the boys to give them an update:

And they said, ‘where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And ‘a Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.

Unfortunately, Waffle House is not the only place Phillips has been teleported, he said, describing another incident in which he suddenly found himself in a ditch near a church 40 miles away. The report doesn’t say whether he was thinking about a ditch, let alone that specific ditch, at the time. Given the uncertainty about where he will end up and whether it will be a Waffle House, it isn’t surprising that Phillips seemed to have mixed feelings about this power. “Teleporting is no fun,” he said:

It’s no fun because you don’t really know what you’re doing [he said on the podcast.] You don’t really understand it, it’s scary, but yet um—but so real. And you know it’s happening but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.

It strikes me that he will probably say almost exactly that after the first major national disaster the office responds to while he’s in charge.

That assumes he still has the job after this week, which seems questionable partly because he’s scheduled to testify next week before the House Homeland Security Committee about the risks of the current shutdown. “Lawmakers may also end up asking Phillips about some of his wilder and more extreme comments when that time comes,” one report speculated, and that seems like a pretty solid guess.

Just FYI to the committee, if Phillips does show up for the hearing but suddenly vanishes, you might want to look for him in Dumfries, Virginia, the location of the nearest Waffle House. It’s only about 35 miles from the Capitol, so well within his range.