Reading

Current Mood: hungry

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Question of the Day
Do you have some table items you only bring out when you entertain guests for dinner?

I picked up this question from

dine. I like to use my precious things rather than save them for special. Otherwise why have them? If it has function, let it function. Some things though are too large for one or two person eating. I have a tin-lined copper couscoussier that is not suitable for cooking small amounts. It also looks amazing when you bring it out and put it on the table, gleaming and full of deliciousness.

Other than that there are platters, serving spoons and such that only come out when I'm feeding a few.

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Daily Happiness

1. We're still having to close the downtown store early, but as of last night a curfew is in effect in the area, which actually makes it easier since we can at least plan the early closing. And despite what the media would like everyone to believe, the protests overall have been peaceful, with little property damage (mainly graffiti). Any danger is from the police and really only in that one small area.

2. I have to go to San Diego again tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to because when I made plans to go it was because I had received one complaint that needed to be dealt with, and in the week and a half since then have received two more unrelated complaints, so now there are three things I have to deal with. But I am planning to go to Disneyland on the way home, since it's pretty much on the way, so at least that will be a nice way to end the day.

3. I finished another puzzle today. This is another 500 piece one.

4. When my Switch 2 came the other day, I put the empty box on my bed and boy were the cats intrigued about this new phenomenon. It seemed like every time I turned around a different cat was in the box checking it out.

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Time Bandits!

Well I watched the Apple+ show Time Bandits, and it was hella fun! I particularly liked Bittelig and Penelope. But now I'm sad because it's been cancelled.

I am desperately trying not to get stressed out about The Omnishambles, but it's kind of hard.

Be safe, y'all!

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reading

current reading

At this very moment I'm reading what may be my last necessary (assigned) chapter from Principles of Economics, 4th ed., by Dirk Mateer and Lee Coppock---introductory macro- and microeconomics. Its microecon chapters are well done as textbooks go (no idea about its macroecon coverage).

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6/11/2025 Loop Road and Laurel Canyon

It was overcast and surprisingly windy for a morning, and I didn't start my list tile 9:45. I was only out about two hours, walking out Loop Road an a shorter way up Laurel Canyon than usual, but just about everyone I expected was there. I got a great view of a gorgeous male Purple Finch; I usually only hear them. I feared Northern House Wren was going to be a no show, but I heard them on the way back. The Lesser Goldfinches were eating thistle seed, I heard all the woodpeckers, even a Downy, and the big flycatchers were calling. Walking up Laurel Canyon Road I found another Red-breasted Nuthatch nest hole. I heard the chatter and found a bird on a snag, watched it go in and out of a hole with a perfect overhang, and eventually drop a fecal sac.:) Nesting is definitely ongoing. ( The list: )

I also heard a Western Tanager in about the same place we had them last week. He didn't call very long but those loud, short, burry phrases are distinctive, not to say electrifying. Wish I could have recorded since in June they are considered unusual, it but it was too far away.

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gaming

Five Things Make a Post, TTRPG edition

I have been reading the TTRPG space on bluesky.

1) Everything is commercial. Soooo much "buy my thing." You might think there'd be a mix of "buy my thing" and "hey come watch/listen to our playthroughs" but no. It's all "buy my thing."

2) It's really, really hard to avoid D&D and Pathfinder.

3) I had managed to forget how wank in TTRPG spaces goes down. It's never just "D&D has taken over the hobby and that sucks." It has to include "people who play D&D are stupid/cowards/wimps/conformist shills." Possibly with a side of, "if people were paying attention to what's good, they would buy my thing..."

(I do not like D&D. I do not play D&D. I have thought many negative things about D&D, and about D&D evangelists. I have never thought the only reason people play D&D was because they were too stupid to look at other game systems. I am damn well aware there is a ton of inertia involved, plus the hassle of convincing your entire gaming group to try something different.)

4) We don't have any shared vocabulary and this is a problem. Or rather: We have some words - crunchy, rules-lite, narrative game, OSR, "role-play vs roll-play," meta-gaming, RAW, probably a few more - but we have zero agreement on what they actually mean, on which games or play styles fall under which term.

5) Unlike the fanfic communities, there has been no serious meta looking into what's changed when a former on-paper hobby went digital. There are blog posts and such, but they're scattered as hell. And 2/3 of the discussion is weird hand-wringing about what people will or won't buy, not about how the hobby itself changes when the rules are on a screen rather than paper.

+1) If there are discussion groups about TTRPGs-as-a-fandom, I can't find them. Dammit.

+2) Don't get me started on the gleeblor.

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project: adventures elsewhere

Adventures Elsewhere — May 2025

Adventures Elsewhere collects our reviews, guest posts, articles, and other content we've spread across the Internet recently! See what we've been up in our other projects. :D

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Our Favourite Media of May 2025

Each month, we look back over the media we loved in the previous month, from books to film to video games and more. This entry in the series was written a while ago, but we haven't posted a favorite media since then, so we're posting it now for maximum completion!

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Pinch Hits Available for Sakura Exchange

sakuraexchange is a spring exchange for relationships in Japanese media, run on Dreamwidth and AO3. Participants create a fic or art piece for one of their assigned recipient's requested fandoms and relationships, and receive in return a fic or art piece for one of their requested fandoms and relationships. Detailed exchange guidelines are here, at our DW community.

We have several pinch hits (unfilled requests) currently in need of creators. If you might be able to fill one of these requests by the current due date (June 20, 11:59PM UTC / 7:59PM EDT), please comment on the pinch hit post with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you'd like to claim.

The minimum requirements are 1000 words for fic, or clean lineart on unlined paper for art.

Available pinch hits (click through for details):

PH 1 - ワンパンマン | One-Punch Man, Gundam Wing, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, 乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… - 山口悟 | My Next Life as a Villainess - Yamaguchi Satoru (Light Novels)

PH 2 - Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, 殺し愛 | Koroshi Ai (Manga), 2.5次元の誘惑 | 2.5-jigen no Ririsa | 2.5 Dimensional Seduction (Anime)

PH 4 - 爆上戦隊ブンブンジャー | Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger (TV), 魔法つかいプリキュア！ | Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure! | Mahou Girls PreCure!, 仮面ライダーギーツ | Kamen Rider Geats, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne | Phantom-Thief Jeanne (manga), Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne | Phantom-Thief Jeanne (Anime)

PH 10 - わんだふるぷりきゅあ! | Wonderful PreCure! (Anime), Crossover Fandom, Show By Rock!! (Video Games), 美男高校地球防衛部HAPPY KISS! | Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Happy Kiss!, Tokyo Mew Mew Olé (Manga), Fairy蘭丸~あなたの心お助けします~ | Fairy Ranmaru: Anata no Kokoro Otasuke Shimasu (Anime)

PH 14 - Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime), Senjou no Merry Christmas | Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence | Furyo (1983), Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Thank you very much!

Current Mood: worried

signal boost

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Daily Happiness

1. A lot of times when Carla goes back to visit her folks, she doesn't get time to hang out with her cousins aside from specific family gatherings where they're just hanging out at the house, but this time she went into Chicago today with one cousin and they went to a museum and got lunch, and yesterday she went with both cousins to a record store.

2. Work was kind of stressful today (just when I think the drama and issues at this one store are finally dealt with, I have three more issues pop up today) but I had a nice evening at Disneyland to make up for it.

3. Chloe and Gemma and Ikea Shark are having a party and you're not invited.

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disney

2025 Disneyland Trip #39 (6/10/25)

Took an after work trip to Disneyland for dinner. Traffic was not bad at all getting down there (and even better getting home) and as of this week both the lower level pass holders are blocked out, so the crowds are lighter. Nice weather, too!

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What I'm Reading: Hello Darkness, vol. 1 (2025)

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The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott

I devoured The Witch Roads in three days. ( Read more... )

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Daily Happiness

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"!

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REC: Untitled Ouizzy Neighbor AU Gifset by emilee (Our Flag Means Death, Frenchie/Izzy Hands)

Fandom 50 #20

Untitled Ouizzy Neighbor AU by

derekstilinski
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Medium: Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: romance, happy ending, getting together, constructed reality, au: modern, domesticity, nature

Description:

In the first gif, Izzy wanders out into a field and happens upon Frenchie, who's sitting alone and obviously having a bad time alone with his thoughts. In the second, the two men are each in their houses, looking out the window at each other's places. In the third, they've finally come together, Frenchie handing a wary Izzy a cup of tea.

I am such a sucker for constructed reality graphics and vids, and all the ways a little tactical harnessing of the Kuleshov effect can bring us the crossovers, AUs, and visual adaptations we crave. I've got a few from this same creator to rec, but I'm starting with this Neighbor AU that imagines a modern day Frenchie and Izzy living next door to each other in the country and catching each other's eye.

First off, I just love how it's put together, from the progression of running into each other by chance, then scoping out each other from their houses, to finally coming together for tea. But I also love how the choice of sources colours the story being told here. I'm pretty sure the Con O'Neill clips are from Vengeance Is Mine and the Joel Fry ones are from In the Earth. These are both harrowing movies where the actual characters are going through some awful things. I appreciate how those scenes get recontextualized here into something cozier that nonetheless paints a picture of both characters having gone through some rough times.

You can easily imagine that this modern Frenchie has just as many terrible things locked up in that little box in his head as his 18th century counterpart had, and that this Izzy has just been through an emotionally and/or physically traumatic breakup with Ed, and now here they are, a little bruised and cautious but finding some potential comfort and love in their own backyard.

Current Mood: excited

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2025's Summer of the 69 is now open!

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6/9/2025 Tilden Nature Area

All three of us were there this morning but I did not go up the trail with them, walking Lower Packrat instead. It was a typical cold, foggy summer morning; the next sunny morning looks like Friday but next week may be warmer and less cloudy. The Swainson's Thrushes sang all morning, and we wondered if they prefer overcast to sun. They usually stop about the time we get started. There was a lot of birdsong at the Lake but although we watched and watched we saw no activity around the Brown Creeper nest. ( The list: )

What was almost certainly the same pair of California Quail were along the road again. It's so unusual, and so nice, to have them there. ETA Forgot to say there was a doe and fawn, not tiny but still mostly spotted, at the Lake. They clearly weren't spooked by people, and it's such a treat to watch the fawn boing-boinging their way up a slope.

Current Mood: pensive

a hard anniversary

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Daily Happiness

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.